The Mysterious Underground Shelter (2)

Whether the door opened, stayed shut, or cracked just a little, Units 1 through 3 could have crumpled it with a single punch. Still, I had no desire to smash a perfectly good survivor's underground bunker. I ordered the golems to wait a safe distance from the door.

☆: Shields are all up, right? Want me to try talking to them alone?

Only then did the massive vault-like hatch ease open, revealing the survivor inside bit by bit.

"......Hmm. There seemed to be quite a few of you."

The voice coming through the video feed belonged to a young woman—clear and resonant, the kind that could belong to a voice actor or news anchor.

Taeho: What should I say back?

I used Taeho as my messenger through the chat. A mage living in what used to be a university district. This man was the mage's herald. The things hanging back were the mage's golems. I saw no reason to lie or hide anything. I wasn't good at it anyway, and with so few survivors left, there was no point in secrecy or fighting among ourselves.

Taeho: She says that sounds completely ridiculous and is laughing.

Taeho: Doesn't seem like she doesn't believe us, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠though.

Luckily, she was just cautious rather than hostile.

"You're not bandits?"

She chuckled, then added, "I know. Even though you could wipe out this whole area, the fact that you didn't force the door open is enough for me to trust you."

She backed off as if it had been a joke. "So if you pull any stunts, the mage will take back all the magic he gave you? Come on in."

Then she laughed again, playful, saying she trusted the mage, not the messenger. Strange person.

The revealed basement was exactly what she'd described.

Taeho: Whew, smells dusty.

Taeho: Whoa. A game room......?

It was a dim room packed with every kind of game console imaginable—stations, boxes, you name it. Hundreds of game discs lined the wall shelves, from famous titles everyone had heard of to obscure indie games. All powered off, of course.

"Even if nuclear war broke out, I still wanted to play games."

The short woman had her rough bob dyed a vivid red. "Ah, my name's Jihee. Jeong Jihee."

With an oddly mischievous glint in her eyes, she introduced herself and swept the darkness away with a large flashlight, revealing the surreal sight all at once. She hadn't been exaggerating. The very existence of a place like this in Korea was terrifying. A space where you could spend the rest of your life gaming even if the world ended.

What kind of lunatic does this? I couldn't even begin to guess how much money it must have taken.

"Anyway, I think it's safe to open up now. That weird gas outside seems to have cleared."

Even that wasn't the end of it. The shelter was as large as two regular apartments combined. Cabinets overflowed with premium preserved food that looked like it could last decades.

There was a massive water tank and rainwater purification system. Luxuriously furnished bedrooms and even a movie-theater-style room. She led Taeho through them without much fanfare.

At the end of the hallway stood another thick steel door. Behind it was the generator room, which doubled as a mechanical and ventilation room.

"The air must've been pretty stuffy, right?"

She filled the generator with fuel and removed the cover blocking the vent. The generator rattled to life, and the ventilation fan began spinning.

Taeho: It's loud.

Electricity returned to the entire facility. Lights flicked on one after another, and the hum of machinery filled the once-silent space. The high-tech shelter's systems were finally coming online.

Taeho: Whoa......

While Taeho stood there dazed, she suddenly confessed something out of nowhere.

"Actually, I almost died."

"From suffocation."

The mechanical room had ultra-high-performance ventilation filters designed for nuclear war, but even those couldn't have kept out the strange air outside. The moment she sensed something was wrong, she sealed the vents and turned the entire shelter into a sealed room. That's how she'd survived this long.

"I would've died from oxygen deprivation pretty soon. Just a little while ago, my body was already acting weird."

She laughed as if it were nothing. The shelter was far too large for one person, yet she'd stayed put, risking suffocation from carbon dioxide buildup.

"Or maybe not? If you hadn't shown up, I might've opened the vent if I really thought I was going to die."

She spoke as if discussing someone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠else's problem. Is she the same type as Taeho? Maybe she was the kind of person who valued thrilling experiences over mere survival. I, who prized my own life above all and was full of fear, could never understand people like that.

Taeho: From what we've seen, research labs and places like that are full of corpses. She probably would've died if she hadn't sealed the vents.

☆: How did you know......?

When I asked through Taeho, she answered, "Just a hunch. How could I trust science and technology in a world where zombies are walking around in broad daylight?"

Is she insane? Her reasoning sounded like the ravings of a madwoman. A hunch? Not trusting science? As she spoke, she tossed a survival manual that had been sitting on her bedside table onto the bed.

Taeho: It's nonsense, but it makes a weird kind ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of sense.

Taeho: I think the same way, honestly.

Of course lunatics understand each other. It was all crazy talk. But in this insane world, the sane ones had all died. That's why only someone spouting nonsense like "Even if nuclear war breaks out, I still want to play games" or "I might die from oxygen deprivation and carbon dioxide poisoning, but I sealed the vents on a hunch" had survived.

"Ah, and sorry, but this isn't a military facility or anything. It's just my personal shelter. I made a fortune with coins and decided to build one."

She wasn't some high-ranking government official or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠someone with incredible abilities. Just a slightly unhinged nouveau riche who'd gotten rich off cryptocurrency.

"Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of having my own bunker. I'm a military otaku."

"......"

When I asked why she'd built this place, she brushed it off with that incomprehensible nonsense. I'd suspected something was off ever since she tried communicating in Morse code.

"So. You'll teach me magic?"

☆: Yes.

"Sounds good."

At least she was willing to learn magic. I needed a fifth disciple to complete the requirement anyway. I'd been wondering how to bring it up.

"I was hoping for a realistic military-style bunker survival sim, but if the genre's fantasy, I guess there's no helping it."

She muttered something strange and convinced herself. Then she offered to hand over her resources if I cleared the spores and taught her magic.

"By the way, is there anything you need? I can give you as many coins as you want."

☆: Ask her what she has besides games.

"High-spec computers, a beam projector...... Do you need a sound system? I've got tons of albums by genre. Or survival and technical manuals?"

Just how much money did she have? She looked young—about my age.

Taeho: How much money did she make from coins?

☆: This bunker is way too big to have been built "just for fun"......

She even offered to let me take whatever supplies I needed. The massive stock of preserved food, the game packs—everything. Was it really okay to just give away resources like this?

"I can't eat all this by myself before I die anyway. And you seem to be doing better than me, right?"

I wasn't sure. With a shelter this luxurious, she might actually have the better resources. Honestly, having games and consoles would be nice.

Things were fine now, but staying in the same building every day, eating the same meals, doing the same things, and only seeing the same zombies might cause problems eventually.

I'm fine staying holed up forever, but...... Most people weren't. If stress led to fights, reckless behavior, or loss of motivation, that would be trouble.

When I hesitated, she made another offer. "I can personally recommend games too."

Somehow I got the feeling that accepting recommendations would mean hours of gaming-related rambling. I shook my head and picked only the action games I'd liked and one console that supported them.

For everything else, I asked for some high-grade preserved food and a few of the survival manuals she'd tossed onto the bed.

When I told her she'd have to come to me to learn magic, she appeared wearing a full set of bulletproof gear, standing tall and confident.

Taeho: Honestly, I didn't want to go outside. I planned to live underground forever.

Taeho: But now she's saying she's glad she came out. I can't understand what's going on in her head.

Taeho: Anyway, I'll bring her back the same way, carried by a golem.

Definitely a strange person......

Still, I'd gained a fifth disciple I never thought I'd get and some interesting items. Today had been productive.

Once I bring her in, the school establishment conditions will be complete. It was finally time to see what the School System was really about.