In the House (16)
Chapter 129: In the house (16)
The Cosmos hive ship. On the mother ship Cosmos, where dozens of vessels are connected to form a city, a voice delivering an announcement echoes through all its structures.
──This is an announcement from the mother ship.
It is the first regular broadcast in nearly three years, filling the corridors shrouded in darkness.
──This is a notice to anyone who may still be alive and surviving.
Corridors where only trash and dust roll about. Suddenly, the floor tiles at the very bottom begin to tremble.
──Preparations for rescue will begin shortly.
Rumble... Slowly, the tiles rise, and three faces peek out. Gaunt and emaciated, but unmistakably alive—three sisters.
Having endured three years in this hell, surviving by relying on one another, they communicate with their eyes.
...Rescue?
Do you think that's real?
It must be real. Honestly, it's about time rescue teams showed up.
They've come several times before. All failed and died.
But none of them made it to the mother ship.
Breaking the silence, a low voice continues.
──Soon, all gates of the hive will be opened, so please do not panic.
──After all the zombies have left.
This place is a hideout made by remodeling the ship's piping section, barely large enough for two people to lie down. A man and a child perk up their ears at the voice.
The child's eyes go wide.
"Daddy. What does it mean to open the gates?"
"...It means we can go to places we couldn't go before."
"Places we couldn't go?"
The father smiles sadly. The child was born on this ship. Six months before the virus outbreak.
So she knows nothing of the outside world.
"It's called a trip. I told you about it before, remember?"
"A trip!"
"Want to go on a trip with Daddy?"
"Yeah! I want to!"
The child smiles brightly. Meeting her eyes, the father feels a gratitude incomparable to anything else.
"Yeah. Let's go together with Daddy."
A child who grew up so quietly, thank you. You are my very life...
With a resolute face, he holds the child in his arms.
──I repeat, as this is important.
──Soon, all gates of the hive will be opened, so please do not panic.
The education ship Lumian. Inside a cave on the school's back mountain, decorated for experiential learning, a young group of two boys and three girls stealthily climb up and scan their surroundings.
Dressed in rags, they were students of Lumian Ave School.
The school was in better shape than other ships. Thanks to the automated meal dispenser, they didn't starve, and they had accidentally built a secret base with friends.
The secret base built with the innocent hearts of 13-year-olds became their only sanctuary, even now as their growing years have passed.
──After all the zombies have left.
"...Ah, shit. Where the hell are the zombies supposed to leave to?"
"Shh!"
At the man's grumbling, the leader gritted her teeth. She glared and gestured with her chin.
"Let's listen first, okay?"
"Yes."
──Please gather at the civilian ship Esmos.
──The location of the civilian ship Esmos is...
The civilian ship Erdian, in the basement of the residential area.
"If it's Esmos... that's right next door?"
A hairy, pot-bellied middle-aged fat man looked up at the ceiling, blinking.
A bit of a doomsday prepper, he had deliberately bought a first-floor apartment and further renovated the optional basement, successfully surviving.
Of course, the ship's end he had predicted was more about pirates than zombies.
"Oh... so a day like this would come."
Even now, his wife's expression from when they first came down here is as vivid as if it were yesterday. A face where relief, sadness, and joy coexisted. That day she held him tightly—a precious memory he will carry for life.
"I should pack some luggage."
Anyway, the support he'd been waiting for had finally arrived.
Well, they wouldn't just throw away such an expensive hull.
He packed clothes, books, and the game console and radio he'd used so well into a carrier, then suddenly looked at the wall.
"...Honey."
There she was—his wife.
She was bitten by a zombie trying to save some unnamed child, but she restrained herself before becoming a monster.
"They say the rescue team has arrived."
His wife's dying wish was for him to kill her.
He couldn't bring himself to do it.
"I'm sorry."
My long love and lifelong companion. The only woman who fills my life.
The fat man smiled at her.
"For not being able to stay with you..."
His wife opened her eyes.
She could no longer recognize her husband forever, but today, for some reason, her eyes seemed to tremble especially delicately.
"I loved you. More than I loved myself."
The reason he didn't die is his wife's final note.
[My love, Fatty. Someday you will be able to return to our star. You must. So please, don't lose hope and survive.]
Because you knew all too well what a husband without his wife would do. Because you knew me better than I knew myself...
"I will keep my final promise. I swear it."
──Let me say it once more.
──To anyone who may still be alive and in hiding.
Thud. Two feet land in a warehouse somewhere on the ship.
"...Hey. We're survivors too, right?"
"Of course."
Kim Dong-ha and Lee Jong-su. They were originally from different parties, but somehow ended up meeting.
"But is this another supervisor again?"
Kim Dong-ha had been betrayed by some supervisor. After he'd gone out of his way to save him.
"Wait. Be quiet."
Lee Jong-su listened carefully.
──After all the zombies have left. Please gather at the Esmos ship.
"Hey, that's Mal-ok hyung's voice!"
Lee Jong-su's eyes widened. A smile spread across his face.
"This is definitely it. Let's go to Esmos."
In situations like this, just following Mal-ok's words gets you halfway there.
Kim Dong-ha let out a hollow laugh.
"Weren't you the one saying we should keep Mal-ok in check?"
"When did I ever."
"...Do you have dementia? Defense Labyrinth—"
"When did I ever!"
Lee Jong-su shouted and glared with both eyes wide.
"It was more like 'I trust Mal-ok hyung and leave the East to him'—you know, that kind of nuance. Mal-ok hyung is already an elite soldier who's been through the battlefield, so we should leave the East to him and let the rest of us scrubs try to break through the West—it was a strategic discussion! And you've misinterpreted my intentions so badly, Dong-ha. If you keep suspecting Mal-ok hyung, I won't be able to look at you kindly anymore, and..."
He spat out his follower's faith like a rapid-fire cannon.
──The location of the Esmos ship is...
Kate's party looked up at the ceiling where Seol Ha-un's voice echoed.
"It seems they're trying to rescue survivors."
Supervisor James said. Jo-un gripped his staff and nodded repeatedly.
"This is wonderful. As expected of our explorers."
He seemed moved, even tearing up.
"...That's good."
Kate also nodded.
It wasn't something she had to do, but it helped with image. So she smiled.
"Let's do our best to help too."
"Yeah!"
Yoon Hwa-rim clenched both fists.
"As expected of Ji-woo! Ji-woo must have persuaded everyone! That we absolutely have to rescue the survivors too!"
"...I wouldn't know about that."
Kate sat down on the sofa.
Even though she had been the first to reach this point, being forced to wait for rescue was humiliating—and honestly, it irritated her.
But it couldn't be helped.
"......"
She secretly glanced at Supervisor James.
A thought bordering on suspicion.
Why did that supervisor guide us to this dead end?
* * *
「Hacking successful」
「Opening all gates of the ships connected to the mother ship.」
"I'm done on this side. Now I just need to strike that substance, right?"
After finishing the hack, I asked the truck.
─Yeah. It doesn't seem like you need to threaten it too hard. That substance has been continuously emitting wavelengths even now. Just a light tap will make it emit stronger wavelengths. It'll attract all the zombies.
The truck interpreted the research results filling the screens and continued.
─But here's the thing. Isn't it strange? According to the administrators' logs and various witness accounts, the zombies were moving toward the center like they were possessed right from the moment they appeared.
The truck's robotic arm tapped the keyboard.
─That means the substance was being threatened from the start.
"...So the research they were doing—was this substance in pain?"
Seo Ji-woo, standing next to the truck, reached the correct conclusion. The truck also turned to look at her briefly.
─Right. This substance isn't highly intelligent, but it's definitely a sentient being. The researchers were torturing that substance... And here's an even more astonishing fact.
Creak, creak. The truck spun its wheels and continued meaningfully.
─The substance wasn't originally like this. The mother ship first acquired the 'original' ten years ago.
The robotic arm tapped the console in the supervisor's office. The original footage of the substance appeared.
A pure white crystal, without a single flaw.
─And the mother ship invented the wormhole generator ten years ago too. Back then, I was a broke student. Still broke now though... Ha!
The truck repeatedly enlarged and shrank certain data, letting out a hollow laugh.
─A wormhole generator—does that even make sense? How did they implement that artifact-level technology in the middle of space... As an engineering student, I was completely shocked. It was revolutionary.
I'm curious too. In this day and age, when the hypothesis that dark matter in space might actually be mana is just starting to gain credibility, a world with such fourth-dimensional technology seems incredible.
How exactly are labyrinths created?
Where do they come from, and where do they go?
─Look at this data. The substance generates an enormous amount of mana. That means the energy source for the wormhole generator is precisely this substance.
Seo Ji-woo, also surprised, placed her hand on the console.
"That substance?"
─Yeah. But the mother ship's researchers modified it however they wanted. They turned a flawless energy source—something that was already brilliant on its own and could have glorified humanity's future—into that monstrous lump of flesh...
The truck's eyes glistened sadly. Its headlights actually flickered.
─Selfish bastards who only think of themselves and their own advancement.
"Wow..."
Im Hae-joon marveled as if watching a movie.
"They're really terrible people...!"
He looked like he'd eat popcorn if I gave him some.
I picked up my staff.
"Yes. Thanks to you, Truck, we've learned the full story."
The full story of this space zombie incident, which the viewers must be curious about, is the final resistance of the 'substance' worn down by torture. A tragedy caused by humans who harbored the delusional greed of eternal life.
Thus, we reached the end of the labyrinth.
"Truck. I'll leave the wormhole generation to you."
─Yeah. We need to end that child's suffering with our own hands.
I gestured to Seo Ji-woo.
"Ji-woo. Is your gravity field usable now?"
I paused at the sudden tone that came out.
Words I had said in the past flashed through my mind.
'Ji-hyeok. Is your spell usable now?'
The same question.
"Yeah! I'm ready."
The same answer.
"...Let's go."
I didn't show it.
"Im Hae-joon, you guard Truck. That's your mission."
"Yes! Captain, I'll protect them!"
─...That's reassuring.
First, we need to get the explorers trapped inside out.
The method isn't difficult. Similar to what we did at the casino.
A jump using Seo Ji-woo's skill, Gravity Field.
As we exited the supervisor's office, Kang Hyun, who had been waiting outside, naturally fell into step behind us.
The three of us got into the elevator and descended to the core research lab where the party led by Ke Jun-ho was trapped.
Only to the 'middle' floor.
I hacked the elevator midway.
「Hacking successful」
I opened the ceiling of the elevator that had stopped with a jolt. It was connected to the ventilation shaft according to the blueprints.
Seo Ji-woo and Kang Hyun climbed up first.
"Grab on."
I took Kang Hyun's outstretched hand and climbed up. Then we crawled through the ventilation shaft. Inch by inch.
"...We're here. Should I open it?"
"Yeah."
Seo Ji-woo opened the vent at the end of the shaft.
We peered outside.
"There really are a lot."
So many zombies. They formed a sea. The cacophony of all their grotesque cries was deafening, and the smell of rotting flesh stung our noses.
"Ugh."
Seo Ji-woo quickly covered her mouth. I signaled to her with my eyes. She handed me a mana rope.
"It'll never break. It'll last for three hours."
"Turn on the gravity field too."
"Got it."
I leaned my body out of the vent.
Vwoom. My body slowly began to rise. Seo Ji-woo had activated the gravity field.
I floated through the air, then stuck to the ceiling with tape on my palms.
Wheee.
The gravity field's effect wore off at just the right moment. I crossed the ceiling, installing tape like a gymnast on a bar.
Soon, I reached the wall of the maintenance room where the party was trapped.
I prepared to breach.
Of course, it's a steel plate made of spaceship material, but my mana is of a different quality. You could say it's on a higher level. It should be enough to punch a hole.
After concentrating mana and xenon batteries onto the steel plate, I wrapped it tightly with tape.
Breaching is quite dangerous. If the explosive charge is set incorrectly, the breacher could be caught in the blast.
So I needed to set it so the explosion would be directed inward as much as possible.
I stepped back.
Detonation.
——!
Thud. Along with the impact, the tape tore. A section of the wall was cleanly breached.
I sat on the edge of the gap.
"Oh?"
"You're here!"
Lee Jun-ho and Jo-un looked up at me.
"Seol Ha-un~!!!"
Yoon Hwa-rim waved her arms wildly. Kate was already ready to leave.
However, there was a fifth person beside them.
Supervisor James.
"...Hold on."
The height is considerable. About 10 meters, maybe.
I jumped down. I reduced the impact as much as possible by spraying mana, but my knees ached.
"As expected of Seol Ha-un!"
I handed the rope to Yoon Hwa-rim, who ran over.
"So we just climb up this? You didn't have to come down~"
She smiled brightly, and Supervisor James also let out a sigh of relief.
Thud! I deliberately tapped my staff on the floor. James turned to look at me.
He was a handsome man with a smiling face. I also smiled brightly and asked.
"Are you the supervisor?"
"Yes. I'm James. I was the supervisor of the Echorn ship. I escaped during the riot, but I was worried about the survivors..."
"He's been with us from start to finish. Thanks to him, we were the first to make it here."
Lee Jun-ho explained.
"Unfortunately we got trapped here—"
"By any chance. Do you know Eldia?"
I asked James. At that moment, I activated the sequence.
"Well..."
James's face, thinking of an answer.
Every facial wrinkle, every iris contraction, and every physical reaction of his flows into my wide-open retinas without missing a single detail.
"Eldia... No, I don't know her."
"I see. That's a relief. Are you feeling alright?"
I pulled out my revolver.
"Yes. I'm fine...?"
I aimed at James's smiling face. I fired at the center of his forehead as his eyes slowly widened.
─Fwoosh!
His head burst. Blood, skull fragments, and brain matter scattered in all directions.
Only James's body remained, collapsing peacefully to the floor. As quietly as grass bending.
"Fine, my ass."
Considering what you all have done.
The remaining four were slow to react. No words. No movement even.
Perhaps James was to them what the truck was to me.
But it couldn't be helped.
I don't want to converse with humans who aren't human.
...It's always been a habit of mine.