The New Recruits
"We are definitely short on combat personnel. Even though the AI is monitoring everything via CCTV, we absolutely need dedicated guards."
In the shelter's lounge, Jun-ho looked around at the two people sitting there with tense expressions and continued. "But... you both realize that being a 'Shelter Guard' isn't like being a regular security guard, right?"
"Yes, I understand."
"I know, sir."
The two who answered, fiddling with coffee cups that had long since gone cold, were Baek Su-ho and Park Deok-cheol.
"Deok-cheol, you said you hunted often in the States, right? With your grandfather, using guns?"
"Yes, sir."
"But can you shoot a person?"
"......!"
Jun-ho watched Park Deok-cheol's flinch with an indifferent gaze. "The 'people' I just mentioned also include zombies. Regardless, they look exactly like humans on the outside. Well? Can you pull the trigger?"
"May I speak honestly?"
Watching Jun-ho, who answered with a nod, Park Deok-cheol swallowed hard. "I think I'll only know for sure when the situation actually hits. But... when I think of my younger sister, Sunny, and the people here, I think I can do it. Because if I don't shoot, everyone is in danger."
"...I see. And you, Su-ho?"
"I can do it. For real." Baek Su-ho continued, his face hardened, shedding his usual playful demeanor. "Actually, I used to check my friends' social media online. I saw a lot of the posts and videos they uploaded."
While Yun Yeong-su and the AI censored the network so they couldn't post comments or chat, it was possible to read posts or watch videos on the shelter's internet connection. Of course, it was meaningless now that the servers were all dead.
"There are friends who died on the first day. Friends who held out with their families... and ended up like that. And there are friends who are still somehow hanging on. I can't connect anymore, but I just have a feeling. I don't know about the others, but I'm sure Sang-yong and Jin-su are still alive."
Twenty-two years old—the prime age to be hanging out with friends. Moreover, Baek Su-ho, who had only recently been discharged from the military, had been working part-time with his friends to save up for an overseas trip before returning to college. The apocalypse had broken out while he was taking a short break from work for a family trip.
"So, are you learning to fight to go look for your friends in Busan later?"
"Yes. The world isn't going to be like this forever, right? Isn't it possible that one day I could go from here to Busan? I want to find my friends when that happens. Of course, if Dad or Uncle says no, I won't do it."
Jun-ho watched Baek Su-ho in silence for a long time—the boy was watching him cautiously, yet still speaking his mind. It was an immature thought, one that didn't understand the reality of the world. But it was by no means a wrong thought. Baek Su-ho was talking about 'hope' right now, and Jun-ho knew better than anyone how important that value was in an apocalypse.
Hope that things would get better. That was directly linked to the will to survive. It went without saying for our shelter, but the Hanalreum Nursing Home, the people of Beoksagol, and the residents of The First Apartments who defended the mart with Song Ki-jun—they all fought and lived on because they didn't lose hope in desperate situations. That was why Jun-ho held Baek Su-ho's desire to find his friends on the day they could finally reach Busan in high regard.
"Alright. When that day comes, do it. I'll help you."
"R-really?"
"Really. If I only intended to move around this neighborhood for the rest of my life, why would I have bought a diesel vehicle instead of an electric one?"
"Ah..."
At Jun-ho's words, Baek Su-ho thought of the diesel armored vehicle sleeping in the parking lot built next to the workshop, which only had its status maintained by being driven around the inside of the shelter once a week. There were many other diesel vehicles in the shelter besides that armored car. They just hadn't been properly utilized until now.
"I'm telling you this because you both said you wanted to be combat personnel..." Jun-ho said to the two, who were looking at him with eyes full of expectation and tension. "The training is going to be incredibly brutal. And even after training ends, for the time being, you'll only be doing guard duty and you have to move with the G1. You know why, right?"
"Yes."
"Yes, sir."
Both of them were, of course, well aware of the shelter's turrets and drones. In particular, the G1 ground drone was capable of faster and more precise shooting than they were, so it was actually safer and more reassuring for them to move together.
"Then let's start training early tomorrow morning. And don't be lazy with your work."
"Don't worry, Uncle!"
"We'll both work hard."
Baek Su-ho, who wanted to save his friends one day, and Park Deok-cheol, who wanted to protect his younger sister and the people here—the two twenty-two-year-olds answered in unison. With this, our shelter had two more 'combat personnel.'
While the snow fell, piled up, and was cleared away a few times, the people of our shelter finished setting up their assigned areas almost perfectly. With the addition of Choi Jung-woo, the workshop could handle more work quickly, and above all, the power room, which required frequent inspection, became stable. The medical room was set up by the couple Choi Ui-su and Kim Hui-yeong to handle not only neighborhood clinic-level care but also various emergency situations, including most trauma surgeries. The pharmacy, with the help of the medical couple and the AI, allowed Baek Su-ah to succeed in manufacturing various frequently used and essential medicines using the API they had purchased in advance.
Also, the five greenhouses and the chicken coop, which were mainly Jun-hyeok's responsibility and occasionally checked by Baek Su-ho and Kim Ha-yun, were now exclusively handled by Jo Yu-na, with Kim Ha-yun assisting.
And the role of the shelter's 'Dolsoe' (hard worker), which was originally Baek Su-ho's share, was unexpectedly taken over by Park Seon-hui, not Park Deok-cheol. Despite her flashy appearance, Park Seon-hui was diligent and responsible by nature; she never complained and handled everything she was called to do with ease. Because she was quick on her feet and had excellent dexterity, everyone in the shelter liked her and treated her as if she had been a member from the very beginning. And Park Seon-hui also quickly became close with the shelter members, who didn't have a single person with a prickly personality among them. Except for just one person—the 'owner' of our shelter.
"Park Seon-hui."
"Y-yes!"
Park Seon-hui, who was heading up to the second floor after finishing a bath in the underground bathhouse with Jo Yu-na and Baek Su-ah, stiffened like a robot and turned her head with a creak. Jun-ho, looking at her with his usual indifferent gaze, said, "If you're not busy, come see me for a moment."
"O-okay, I understand."
"W-we'll go first."
"See you later, Sunny."
Jo Yu-na and Baek Su-ah, who found Jun-ho just as intimidating, bowed their heads to him and disappeared quickly.
"Let's go."
"Okay..."
Glancing at the backs of the two traitors (?) who had been laughing and chatting so happily just a moment ago, Park Seon-hui followed behind Jun-ho with a demure gait, unlike her usual self.
'This is...'
It had been about two months since she moved into the shelter, but this was her first time entering Jun-ho's private room, so Park Seon-hui glanced around with curious eyes. Overall, it wasn't much different from the room she shared with Jo Yu-na... 'I-it's very different.'
Park Seon-hui felt a sudden tension upon seeing the overwhelmingly large main monitor, the sub-monitor, and the PC linked to the shelter's AI. Moreover, what was at Jun-ho's bedside was— 'A gun. And it's an AR, too?'
It wasn't exactly normal for a twenty-year-old female idol to recognize an AR-15, but she had a unique history of learning marksmanship and self-defense from her 'Rooftop Korean' grandfather since she was a child. Because of that, Park Seon-hui looked at the AR-15, which had various accessories attached, with eyes full of nostalgia (?), and Jun-ho said to her, "Did you shoot one when you were in the States?"
"Pardon? Oh, yes. A few times. And I mostly used .22 Short, so twenty-two..."
"I know. The ammo is cheap and the recoil is low, so even women can shoot it easily in the States. Anyway, have you never shot anything other than .22 or 9mm? What about an air rifle?"
"I've shot an air rifle when hunting with my grandfather."
While answering honestly, Park Seon-hui had a strange thought. Because this man in front of her was a 'die-hard fan' of Psyche Flare, he should know everything about her, right?
"Right. Then how about you learn to shoot properly with your brother this time?"
"M-me too?"
"Yeah. It's partly to prepare for emergencies, and generally, the more people who know how to shoot, the better."
Baek Su-ho and Park Deok-cheol, who would become shelter guards, and Park Seon-hui, who would be the only female reserve combatant, would only handle modified air rifles. Jun-ho and Jun-hyeok didn't have enough ammo for the 9mm and 5.56mm to spare. It wasn't that the modified air rifles lacked power, though they did have the drawback of needing their air tanks replaced every 20 shots or so due to a lack of rapid-fire capability. In fact, because they had less recoil, the modified air rifles were better suited for guards and reserve combatants who would focus strictly on 'defense.'
In terms of preparing for unexpected emergency situations, it was good for Park Seon-hui, who had handled guns in the States, to at least practice shooting with a modified air rifle occasionally.
"Anyway, that's not what's important."
Jun-ho paused for a moment and handed something to Park Seon-hui. It was a desk calendar for 2024, which didn't have much time left. Park Seon-hui, who received the calendar by accident, tilted her head, not knowing why.
"See the circles marked there?"
"Yes."
"That day is Ji-woo and Baek Su-ah's birthday."
"Oh..."
Jun-ho continued to Park Seon-hui, who tilted her cat-like eyes slightly. "It's the first shelter member birthday we're celebrating since the world became like this. But as it happens, they're only three days apart. So I was thinking of throwing a party for both of them at once."
"I-I see."
Well, since they were only three days apart, it would be a bit awkward to have separate birthday parties. But that wasn't what flustered Park Seon-hui.
"You're... even celebrating birthdays?"
A birthday party even though the world had ended like this? Park Seon-hui was quite surprised. And—
"Of course. And because the world has become like this, we have to celebrate them even more. That's the purpose of why I built this place."
"......"
At Jun-ho's follow-up words, she felt a tickling sensation in her chest for some reason. Park Seon-hui knew now. She knew that while he was endlessly cold and cruel to his enemies, Jun-ho was the warmest and most reliable person in the world to 'us.' Especially after hearing that he had saved Choi Jung-woo, his daughter Choi Ji-woo, and the Kim Ha-yun siblings—people he had no relation to—without a moment's hesitation on the first day of the apocalypse, her eyes had grown hot before she knew it. And she realized it then: this man, Lee Jun-ho, the owner of this shelter, was not just a cold-blooded killer.
Because of that, although Jun-ho was still intimidating, the extreme fear she had felt when she first saw him had subsided to some extent. Moreover, because she was almost certain that he was a 'die-hard fan' of Psyche Flare and that she might even be his favorite, she had even been feeling a bit fluttery lately. Seeing him show such a 'sweet' side, wanting to celebrate people's birthdays, only added to that.
"Then, will you celebrate my birthday too?"
She blurted out the thought that had popped into her head before she could stop herself.
"Huh? Of course. I'll celebrate every shelter member's birthday without exception. Anyway, I'm planning a party, but no matter how I think about it, you seem like the right person for the job. It's not like I know Ji-woo and Baek Su-ah's tastes well."
He would have consulted and left it to Choi Ha-neul, but she was far too busy. As anyone who has served in the military knows, just as a 'cook' is one of the most grueling positions in the army, it was a bit much to ask Choi Ha-neul, who was responsible for every meal for the shelter members—and at a quality that went beyond home-cooked meals—to take on that task as well.
"It'll be hard to do it alone, so take Ha-yun and Jo Yu-na with you..."
"No! I can do it alone. I'll definitely do it. And this is just my thought, but how about we prepare for a Christmas party as well?"
"Oh, that sounds good. It's only four days after their birthdays anyway."
"Yes. Leave it to me. When I was in the States, I prepared for Christmas and Thanksgiving... no, I prepared for them with my mom."
"Alright. Then I'll leave it to you. I'll leave the inventory list category open on the tablet. If you need anything, just take it and use it."
"Yes!"
Park Seon-hui, who answered as energetically as she was motivated, turned around as she was leaving Jun-ho's room.
"B-but."
"Yeah?"
"You obviously know my birthday, but... I was wondering if you could leave the preparations for that to Yu-na?"
"Well, that's fine. But I don't know your birthday? Oh, while you're at it, tell me your, Deok-cheol's, and Jo Yu-na's birthdays."
"...Pardon? Weren't you our fan?"
"Fan? Me? I've never even listened to your songs properly, what are you talking about?"
Jun-ho, who still occasionally confused the names of Psyche Flare, let alone being a fan, made an absurd expression. But Park Seon-hui was not the same.
"......"
Park Seon-hui, who had been almost certain until now that Jun-ho was a die-hard fan of Psyche Flare and that she was his favorite, recalled the words and actions she had said and done until now in that short moment.
"A-ack, h-huk."
She let out a strange sound, and in an instant, her face and even her neck turned bright red as she backed out of the door.
"...Why is she acting like that?"
Jun-ho just tilted his head with an absurd look on his face.