Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Paradise
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My bunker isn't just some simple shelter.
It's a fortress meticulously designed and built with massive resources to let me maintain my old lifestyle even if the world ends.
It might not match the castles of some chaebols, but I've prepared everything I could possibly need—and then some.
Food, fuel, daily necessities, medicine, all sorts of gear, even random knick-knacks I don't even know the use for. Nothing's missing.
Now that I've stocked up on firearms and ammo too, my fortress is perfect.
And that fortress is for me alone.
From the design stage, I never once considered accommodating anyone else.
Take the toilet, for instance. It's an open type, right in the center of the bunker's living area.
The positioning was optimized for plumbing and other design conveniences, but if I lived with others, it'd mean putting on a show every time I had to go.
The stockpiles are the same.
Plenty for me alone, but sharing with others? Not so much.
That's right.
My bunker is my personal paradise.
"Maybe we should head there."
Someone's trying to invade that paradise.
Someone I know well.
Someone I'd normally welcome without hesitation, given our history.
But she's not alone.
"...Three people?"
Too many.
Even one would be a stretch, but two more on top?
Strangers with no connection to me.
I can guess who they are.
Kim Daram's husband and son.
No relation to me.
I've only shaken hands with her husband at their wedding, and I know her son's name is Dongtak, but I've never actually met the kid.
"Sorry, sunbae. I know it's sudden. You must be shocked."
Among all the people I've met, Kim Daram ranks among the best.
Her positivity especially won me over.
No matter how desperate or hopeless the situation, she never lost her smile or hope.
Now she's a wife, a mother, and a high-ranking member of a group, so that side of her has faded a bit. But the Kim Daram I first met was different.
An awkward silence pulled me back to the past.
It was back when I was leading a hunting team as team leader.
I wasn't exactly popular then.
If anything, I was avoided.
And for good reason. Back then, Park Gyu was sharp-edged, uncompromising, harsh on himself and others alike.
Because of that rotten personality, my peers bailed first, seniors distanced themselves in disgust, and juniors never even approached after hearing the rumors.
"Get out of my team. I don't need anyone who just stands around gawking."
I was a terror to my team members too.
"This isn't some setup for talentless hacks. If you can't keep up, quit. I don't want to die because of you."
I always spat harsh words, pushing team members who didn't meet my standards to their limits.
The result? In my first year as leader, I built the top kill-score team of the year, but no one wanted in.
"I hate to badmouth you on my way out, but sunbae, you're insufferable."
"Why force everyone to fit your standards? Not everyone's the same. Even if this place demands uniformity, people have differences, right?"
"Let's never meet again."
With people already leaving, who would join?
Ah, there was one guy who took interest.
"Hahaha! Second place again! Always second!"
Lee Sanghun, now fully enlightened, burst into his usual hearty laugh and approached me.
"But next year'll be different, right, Professor?"
Lee Sanghun, ever the womanizer then and now, even brought a woman I'd never seen to the year-end party.
"You think your skills magically improve with the new year?"
I deliberately stared at the cast on his left arm.
"Not exactly, but... hey, can you even recruit team members?"
"..."
"Word's spread. 'Work under the Professor, and you'll die of stress before any monster gets you.'"
"Easy to say when you haven't been through it."
"Look, you're starving. Two restaurants: one has great food but shit service, the other decent food and great service. Which do you pick?"
"The latter."
"You know it."
"Battlefield's like a restaurant?"
Back then, I didn't think much of it.
I was so consumed by hatred for monsters that I assumed everyone was the same.
Honestly, I wouldn't have minded a colleague like me.
As long as I could kill monsters—the things that took everything from me—with my own hands, I'd endure any cold treatment.
Reality doesn't sugarcoat.
Lee Sanghun's words, sounding like some sham shaman's curse, came true.
Even with top records and the leader taking the riskiest jobs, no one joined my team.
Transferring to another team as a member? Not easy. No one accepted me.
It wasn't just my leadership.
Park Gyu himself had become persona non grata.
Stuck in limbo, I watched colleagues head to China one by one, sinking into deep despair. That must've been when I first touched alcohol.
Then one guy appeared.
A year below me, he'd been bedridden for months after a major battlefield injury.
I vaguely knew his face, so I stared blankly until he grinned and introduced himself.
"I'm Kim Daram. Daram."
"...Squirrel?"
"...Haha."
Random lame jokes like that might've been why I was unpopular.
Kim Daram was more forgiving than most.
"Everyone says you're boring and scary, sunbae, but I'm fine with it. I did the math—your survival rate's the highest."
That was our proper first meeting.
Time snapped back to the present.
The heavy silence lingered.
"What's going on?"
I broke the long quiet first.
"Why's a big shot from the National Crisis Committee suddenly slumming it here?"
"Situation's bad."
Kim Daram let out a deep sigh.
"That bastard Yang Sang-gil says Jeju doesn't need the incompetent."
"Yang Sang-gil..."
Chairman of the National Crisis Committee.
Not a hunter or soldier—a pure bureaucrat who's never seen a battlefield. But since hunters were absorbed into government agencies, he's handled all the admin.
His skills are top-notch.
Other non-hunters in similar positions got shredded, but he held his seat and even got promoted to chairman.
"Yang Sang-gil said in a meeting, 'Shouldn't we keep the Old School around?'"
Old School means hunters like me from the old era.
Back when humanity didn't understand monster-like superpowers, we fought with raw skill, senses, guts, and resolve—rough-and-tumble hunters.
Contrasting us are the new hunters who wield psychic energy through processes like Eye Opening, Soul Enlightenment, Awakening, and more.
They were first called New Kids, now Awakened.
Kim Daram and Lee Sanghun are Old School like me.
Once the first Awakened appeared and we figured out mass-producing them, Old School hunters like us got phased out fast on the battlefield.
Average efficiency for the cost, sky-high death rates—natural outcome, maybe.
Those who weren't needed shed their uniforms for suits.
Well, guys like them had it good.
Most Old School ended up stripped of rank or living as second-class "legacy hunters."
Some, like Baek Seung-hyeon, went another path, came back, and now get called "uncle" by juniors nearly a decade younger, scraping by.
"If Lee Sanghun had Yang's talent, it'd be Yang getting suicided."
"..."
"Anyway, that's the situation."
"While we're at it—how much time's left for Seoul?"
"Not much."
She answered without hesitation.
"You heard about the food and supplies sent to Seoul?"
"Roughly."
"That was meant for the front lines. Stuff for army units already at their limit."
"I see."
"Frontline commanders are already showing signs of going warlord. Telling us to stay in Seoul? Might as well say 'die.'"
"So you're coming here?"
"Too much?"
"Three's too many."
"Can't abandon any."
"...I see."
"Of course, not coming empty-handed. I have a conscience. I'll bring rent that'll make you nod."
That ended the conversation.
No firm answer, but knowing her bold personality, she's coming—fact.
I pondered.
Kim Daram's an excellent fighter.
Sure, desk life dulled her senses a bit, but I don't doubt her combat prowess.
Vs. humans, mutations, monsters—she proved her worth on China's battlefields.
Plus, we've synced up long-term.
Great match; just us two could take down another monster.
Her husband's a doctor.
Dermatologist, but still a doctor.
Not like my unlicensed quack ass.
Not a fighter, but useful in cases.
Their son? Toddler, not old enough for kindergarten. No utility there.
Objectively, this family's top-tier for apocalypse companionship.
But my fortress is my solo paradise.
Couldn't decide, so I consulted my sanctuary—my mind—and the community.
I'm a veteran user now.
I know the community's norms and taboos.
Can't give up my signature John_nenon-style headers like my identity, but I avoid their biggest no-nos.
Donned the Anonymous mask after a while and posted.
Basically: What about letting an active hunter with a kid and a doctor couple into my bunker?
Posted anonymously because asking this is deceptive in itself.
Lots of snark, but overall positive.
Consensus: That caliber's better than solo.
Honestly disappointed in the community.
Our thinking's way off.
"..."
Well, can't expect them to always match me.
Still, some shared my concerns, if not full agreement.
Opinions like that.
Kim Daram acted fast.
"Mind if we check it out before deciding?"
She's coming to tour the place.
Ignoring her's an option, but meeting her was set the moment she called.
Without her, I wouldn't be here now.
Her positivity glued new members to me and me to hunter life.
Sure, she hooked me up with psychos like Woo Minhui or Gong Kyungmin sometimes, but my team survived thanks to her.
If things hadn't changed, I'd still be fighting monsters alongside her.
Probably.
She harbored hatred as fierce as mine.
Then that junior arrived in my domain.
Pulled up in a military jeep, muddy boots trampling into my paradise.
I scanned her face with mixed feelings, but her expression was way off my guess.
"Whoa..."
Visibly shocked.
"Barren as hell."
Yeah, it is barren.
"What, this? Trash heap? People live here?"
But this level of disgust?
I didn't expect awe, but this feels like straight-up disdain for my paradise.
What about my bunker, then?
A spark of defiance hit me. I showed her my paradise.
Threw open the massive bunker door, revealing the secret main bunker to an outsider.
"Welcome to Skeleton Proud Palace...!!"
"...!!"
Shock lit up Kim Daram's eyes.
There we go.
Who else could build a bunker this big, cool, and flashy solo?
"You built all this yourself, sunbae?"
"Proud."
Only I could.
But her shock quickly turned to disappointment and contempt.
"What's with the toilet?"
And what I took for awe was pure horror.
She muttered turning away.
"...Can't raise a kid in a dump like this."
Then I noticed the logo on her clothes, like a status symbol.
Right, she always wore high-end stuff.
Worked in fancy offices that smelled nice, with sea views, getting called "Committee Member."
Even getting pushed out, she'd climbed too high while I built my bunker.
Beyond my humble imagination.
"I really appreciate you considering it, but we can't live here. Thought it over—Dongtak seems to have claustrophobia too."
She showed me her son's photo.
"Damn, great name for the kid."
"What do you mean?"
Half irritation, half relief. I asked.
"What's next?"
"What else? Figure it out and survive."
Kim Daram grinned wide.
"I'm Kim Daram."
"...Daram-ah."
"I rolled under that Professor too."
Her beaming face overlaid with the old Kim Daram.
Yeah, she was positive.
Foolishly so.
"Won't give up on Jeju, but I'll touch base with the military too. Warlord factions are on the table."
She handed me a luxury paper bag.
"Here, a gift."
Inside: premium yanggaetteok.
As she climbed into the jeep, she looked back.
"Didn't seem aged at all up close, but in the sunlight... yeah, a bit."
"R-Really?"
"Brighter expression?"
She stared at me.
"Seeing someone lately?"
"No."
"Anyway, I'll call once I settle."
I watched her whirlwind arrival and departure with a wry smile for a while.
Everything's relative.
One person's proud paradise is another's hellhole.
Her leftover pastries nailed this bittersweet truth.
"Whoa, fuck."
These are seriously premium.