Pre-Inspection (2)
No matter how deep in the mountains it was, it was impossible for a shelter of this scale to remain hidden forever. Even if they thoroughly buried it underground and never stepped outside, it was bound to be discovered by others eventually, especially since it was built on the surface. That was why Jun-ho had set the "contact with other survivor groups" as a constant from the very beginning.
"Brother, have you ever thought about this? Why Namyangju? Why not just buy an uninhabited island on the southern coast and live there? Ever thought about that?"
"Whoa... did you crawl inside my head or something?"
"That’s something you actually said to me once, brother."
"Ah... a prophetic dream."
Jun-ho nodded and continued. "Yes. The reason I excluded islands as potential shelter sites is simple. First of all, uninhabited islands with a reliable water source are incredibly rare."
"Ah... that’s true."
"And even if an island has groundwater, it’s usually high in salinity, making it extremely difficult to use as drinking water. Plus, development restrictions are even stricter than on the mainland. But there’s a bigger problem."
"There's something even bigger than that?"
"Yes. Do you think we’re the only ones who would think of going to an island? Especially people living near the coast or in coastal regions."
"......!"
"For months after the apocalypse hit, people living by the sea took boats and headed for islands in the West or South Sea. I lived in Bucheon, so I heard news from Incheon. They said every island, whether it was a decent size or a tiny, uninhabited rock, became a total war zone."
"Good heavens..."
"Let’s say we found an uninhabited island with groundwater and built a shelter similar to this one. I guarantee you, within a year, dozens of people would have tried to sail over. Unidentified strangers."
"Ha... you’re right. If I had stayed in Busan, I might have hopped on an acquaintance’s boat in Myeongji and headed for some island myself."
Jun-ho followed Baek Ha-il, who was shaking his head, as they walked out of the cold storage facility.
"We can’t entrust our fate to such unstable and uncertain circumstances, can we? It’s a gamble with less than a fifty-fifty chance of survival. That’s why I chose this place. At least here, no one has come for over two years since the apocalypse started. And, crucially..."
Stepping out of the ultra-low-temperature warehouse, which had been carved directly into the mountain, Jun-ho pointed toward the distant mountain range across the valley where the stream flowed.
"Gahyeon-ri, just over that mountain. I know the survivors there."
"......!"
"I know roughly how many survived. How many survivor groups there are. Which one has the most power. Who leads the groups, whether they’re looters or survivors. What their tendencies are... We’re starting this with knowledge about the people most likely to come into contact with us."
"Hoya... then, you mean..."
To Baek Ha-il, who seemed to have guessed something, Jun-ho nodded with a calm expression.
"Yes, brother. After the apocalypse hits, I’m going to use those people."
"......!"
"Some, we will support and cooperate with. We’ll use them as our shelter’s first line of defense. But others... I will deal with them without mercy."
Jun-ho meant it. It wasn’t a thought that had just appeared; it was something he had held onto since the moment he regressed. But he couldn’t tell just anyone. He couldn’t even tell his younger brother, Jun-hyeok, right now. Yet, Baek Ha-il needed to know to some extent. Among the shelter members, he was the only "true adult" Jun-ho recognized, a rare person who understood what responsibility meant. If anything were to happen to him, the shelter had to continue to survive with Baek Ha-il at its center. It wasn’t for nothing that Jun-ho had sought out Baek Ha-il first, even sharing the truth about the apocalypse, excluding only his own blood, Jun-hyeok.
"......"
At the sudden shift in Jun-ho’s aura, Baek Ha-il swallowed hard. It felt like he wasn’t the same Jun-ho he had known until now. But "something" was clearly conveyed. And that something was understood without needing to be spoken. The young man before him would prioritize "Our Shelter" and the people living there above all else.
"Alright. No matter what anyone says, I support you, Hoya. Whatever path you take... I won’t say a word and I will follow."
"Thank you, brother."
"What’s there to thank? I’m the one who’s grateful to you."
To Baek Ha-il, who finally gave a faint smile, Jun-ho said firmly.
"Regardless, brother. Gahyeon-ri will become our shelter’s shield. I will make sure of it. That’s the only way we can truly be safe."
Even with the same people, a lot changes depending on when, in what situation, and how you form your first relationship. And Jun-ho knew the survivor group in Gahyeon-ri well. It meant that "Our Shelter" held all the information and the initiative. They say you can know the depth of a thousand-fathom river, but not the heart of a man? Even so, if they just hid and did nothing, they would never survive long in the apocalypse. Survival in the apocalypse is a continuous struggle, and to win that struggle, "we" must engage on our own terms, deciding the time, place, and situation.
"Acting recklessly is dangerous, but when we need to step up, we must. And the one who decides that... will be us, who have prepared and planned for everything, brother."
Jun-ho, having toured even the general warehouses converted from the teacher’s quarters, returned to the main building. Finally, after checking the basement floor—which featured a bathhouse that could accommodate over ten people at once, a gym equipped with most exercise machines for combat training, and the fully automated sewage and wastewater treatment facility—he finished his inspection.
"Are you processing the sludge here as well?"
"Only until the solid sludge is discharged. You just take that out and burn it. The incinerator will be built separately next to the entrance of that mountain path, you know? If we install a 100kg dual-combustion incinerator, it won’t even smoke; it’ll be clean."
"Will there be any legal issues with that?"
"It should be fine as long as it’s not industrial-grade. Burning things randomly is illegal, but that equipment costs hundreds of millions of won, so not just anyone can install it. The civil servants were actually happy about it, weren’t they? They were moved after seeing our wastewater treatment facility. Hehe."
As Baek Ha-il said, the shelter’s wastewater treatment system was truly perfect. Just as Jun-ho had envisioned at his home in Bucheon, he had poured in a massive amount of money to implement a state-of-the-art automated facility where a person only needed to periodically burn the solid sludge that had been automatically dehydrated and dried. Furthermore, the primary treated water from here didn’t go directly into the stream but passed through an artificial wetland in the form of a pond created on the outskirts of the shelter for secondary natural purification before being discharged.
This level of system was something no accommodation facility in Namyangju would dare to introduce, and the environmental officials who toured it were not just satisfied—they were genuinely moved.
"Brother, when did you say the environmental department came to inspect it?"
"Let’s see... I think it was about two weeks ago. Why?"
"You said they come for an on-site inspection once a year, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then let’s get rid of the pond after they inspect it next year."
"Eh? What for?"
Baek Ha-il’s eyes widened at the suggestion to demolish the artificial wetland they had put so much effort into creating. But Jun-ho had a firm reason.
"That pond has a 100 percent chance of attracting mosquitoes and wild animals. Since it’s only 100 meters away from here, we have to assume we’ll be affected by it."
He felt sorry for the civil servants who had been moved, but for Jun-ho, the shelter’s sanitation was the priority. So, he planned to find an opportunity before the apocalypse hit to remove the artificial wetland and discharge the water directly into the valley.
"Ah... you’re right. That makes sense." Baek Ha-il nodded.
"Anyway, discharging it directly into the valley in front is fine. It flows for over 2 kilometers from there to Gahyeon-ri. It’s the same Grade 2 water, after all."
In any case, once the apocalypse hit, no survivor with enough guts would drink that water as is. At the very least, they would filter and boil it once, so it wouldn’t matter.
"Well, I suppose that’s true. Anyway, let’s have the civil servant boys inspect it next year and then deal with it."
"Yes. Then, is there anything else to see..."
"Nah, we’ve seen it all. The soundproofing for the underground shooting range in the workshop can be done slowly. The rest are all minor things. I can do it myself in less than half a year."
"Understood. But, doesn’t Su-ho say anything? You’ve been staying here for a long time, brother."
Although he went back down to Busan on weekends, Baek Ha-il had stayed in Namyangju for almost the past half-year. For Baek Su-ho, suddenly left alone at home, it must have felt strange and worrisome.
"What would he say? He’s actually loving it. With his dad gone, he’s inviting friends over to play every single day, it’s a mess. When is that brat ever going to come to his senses? Aigoo, my life."
"Haha. Still, that’s only possible because he’s healthy."
"You’re right. Oh, but what should we do about our Su-ho’s military service?"
In Baek Su-ho’s case, he had to go to the military next year. Baek Ha-il seemed worried, as he might be an active-duty soldier when the apocalypse occurred.
"Just leave him be. He’ll probably get his draft notice soon and go in January or February next year. By the time the apocalypse hits, he’ll have been discharged, or at the very least, he’ll be on his final leave, so there’s no need to worry."
He remembered that Baek Su-ho’s military life had been uneventful, aside from his pancreatic cancer being discovered during his final leave. If that was the case, it was right to let things flow as they originally had.
"I suppose so? Phew, as time goes by... I’m just full of worries, so please understand, Hoya."
"I understand. I fully understand, brother."
Jun-ho said sincerely to Baek Ha-il, who was heaving a long sigh.
"You’ll probably feel more anxious as time passes. They say the future is set, and that the world is going to end—who wouldn’t be anxious? I know it’ll be awkward to meet people you know, and your heart will grow weak. But brother, just remember this one thing."
"......?"
"Su-ho and Su-ah, your children."
"......!"
For a moment, Baek Ha-il’s eyes widened. But soon, a firm resolve settled into his gaze and expression.
"Right. You’re right, Hoya. If I don’t take care of my kids, who will? I shouldn’t be weak as a father. Indeed. You’re a hundred times right."
Before the regression, the only reason Baek Ha-il had been able to endure in the cult was because of his two children. It wasn’t the will of Baek Ha-il the survivor, but the will of a father that had kept him alive. However, that firm will had been severed when Baek Su-ho was murdered. If that was the case, as long as his children, the source of his will, were safe, Baek Ha-il would not change. Even if he collapsed or fell into despair, his will as a father would raise him up again.
"Since the pre-inspection is done, let’s go now."
"Let’s do that. But when are you planning to move in?"
"I’ll move in by myself next month. I won’t stay here permanently; I’ll have to go back and forth between here and Bucheon. Oh, and I think I need to find a few houses in Gahyeon-ri."
"Eh? A few houses? Why?"
Jun-ho grinned at Baek Ha-il, who was tilting his head.
"We need one or two outposts and safe houses outside. I’ll rent a high-rise apartment, install surveillance cameras there, and stock up on emergency rations."
The mountain outpost used as a secret bypass was not enough to overlook Gahyeon-ri. Creating a few safe houses in the middle of the village and installing CCTV would allow them to grasp the situation there to some extent, and it would be a great help in the "event of needing to enter" Gahyeon-ri in an emergency. And Jun-ho had a gut feeling that such an event would happen with high probability.