Chapter 69

42. Paradise (2)

The fact that Hunter is among Chairman Park Chul-ju's bodyguards isn't particularly surprising, but I didn't expect that this bodyguard would be someone I know. Kim Pil-sung, a man who had attended the same school as me, came to my bunker with Ji Young-hee. We were classmates, and there were about 1,200 of us. Well, it's not that surprising. Out of 1,200 classmates, most are dead, but quite a few are still alive and shamelessly active.

"Park Kyu, it really is you."

When there are about 1,200 classmates, it's natural to forget some faces, but Kim Pil-sung is someone whose face I remember. I remember him because he managed to withstand my attacks for a long time during a simulated combat using cold weapons. 7.8 seconds. That's how long it took to knock his weapon out of his hand.

"......Shit."

Right after his defeat, he let out a curse. In a school where all indecent behavior was strictly prohibited, cursing was a taboo. Especially, our instructor, Jang Gi-yeong, thought that cursing was a very vulgar act.

"You! Come here! You uncultured brute! Hunters don't curse! Repeat after me!"

Jang Gi-yeong called him out with a loud voice and scolded him. Later, I heard that Kim Pil-sung came from a family of swordsmen who had run a kendo dojo for generations, and he himself was a kendo black belt. That's why he showed such strong anger when he lost in the sparring match.

After that, he never appeared in my life again. He was probably in China, but he was assigned to a different mission and fought on a different front. After more than ten years, the two classmates met again. The scrawny boy with a nearly bald head had transformed into a muscular man with a tan, and his long hair was tied back in a ponytail.

"Wow."

When Kim Pil-sung saw my camouflage house, he let out a hollow laugh. He looked at me with an expression of amazement.

"Can anyone live in such a place?"

Of course not. But there was nothing good about telling the truth, so I put on a poker face and said calmly.

"Mountains are mountains, and water is water. If you get attached, it becomes your home."

I'm not good at lying, but I've been through a lot. Even pretending to be a woman, so a small lie like this is nothing.

"Take this first."

Kim Pil-sung was still a polite friend. It was clear he didn't come empty-handed. He was carrying a large oil drum, and Ji Young-hee had a black bag filled with yesterday's leftover beef, vegetables, instant rice, and ready-to-eat combat rations, as well as a water purification capsule.

"Really, why did you bring all this?"

I felt unprofessional for accepting it with a wave of my hand, but what could I do? It's all food, and when will I get to eat such high-quality vegetables and protein again? I'd rather live a thousand days eating beef than a hundred days eating roe deer sausages.

Ji Young-hee looked at me and spoke.

"We've been in your debt before, and I thought you might be in a tough spot, so I prepared this."

She seemed to have put a lot of thought into it. I bowed my head in gratitude, and Kim Pil-sung, looking around my territory, suddenly asked.

"Have you been living here all this time?"

At that moment, I felt a sense of bewilderment. We were classmates, but it seemed like we had no common ground to ask about each other's well-being. Even if we were classmates, we might as well be strangers, and it felt awkward to suddenly close the distance.

After a moment of silence, Kim Pil-sung looked at me. I felt I needed to say something, so I gave a vague answer.

"Occasionally. I've been to Incheon, and when the work dried up, I came back here."

"I see."

He shifted his gaze to the small hill where my main bunker was located.

"That's the highest ground around here. You can keep an eye on everything."

"......"

"By the way......"

Kim Pil-sung trailed off, a meaningful smile on his face as he glanced at me.

"Does it feel like the whole neighborhood is hostile?"

He seemed to have noticed the death traps lurking in my seemingly loose territory.

He grinned and asked.

"Did you set up booby traps?"

Indeed, he must be a war veteran.

"I did set up some traps."

Acknowledging it halfway,

"Sure enough."

Kim Pil-sung nodded, a satisfied look on his face. For some reason, he seemed quite pleased.

"By the way, I heard you're going to Japan."

I quickly changed the subject.

Kim Pil-sung looked at Ji Young-hee.

"Please hear the details from Young-hee. I'll take a quick nap in the car. I didn't sleep at all last night, keeping watch."

Kim Pil-sung walked around my territory once, yawned widely, and sat in the passenger seat of the SUV. His military boots stuck out from the open door.

"By the way, how is your father?"

It wasn't a question I had intended to ask. I just wanted to buy some time because Kim Pil-sung seemed more difficult to deal with than I expected. Fortunately, Ji Young-hee answered with a smile.

"He's at Chairman Park Chul-ju's house."

She raised her hands and shook her head, as if to say he had no plan.

"He got what he wanted."

"What do you mean, 'got what he wanted'?"

"Yes. He became the owner of a chaebol family, just as he always wanted."

From her explanation, I learned the details of the situation. Ji Young-hee's father, Ji Chang-soo, had bought the half-ruined house of Park Chul-ju. I don't know how he earned the money in this post-apocalyptic era, but Ji Chang-soo bought Park Chul-ju's chaebol house and became its owner. In the photo Ji Young-hee showed, Ji Chang-soo was taking a group photo with a bunch of people in front of the well-known ruins of Park Chul-ju's house. They were wearing something like aprons, and some of them had bloodstains on their aprons. Had they changed their business to butchery?

As far as I know, Ji Chang-soo manufactured automotive electronics. The aprons aside, standing confidently in the center as the owner of a chaebol family seemed a bit awkward. I thought Ji Chang-soo was a loyal minister to his chairman, Jepungho.

"......My father wanted to become a chaebol. That's why he did such reckless things. I never understood it before, but seeing him smile after getting Park Chairman's house, all his strange actions suddenly felt real."

Ji Young-hee said with a wistful smile.

"My father found his paradise."

An expression of satisfaction or resentment, I couldn't tell. He must have felt a lot of resentment and disappointment. Perhaps the loss of those feelings is still ongoing.

"Are you going to Japan?"

Ji Young-hee stared at me, looked around, and whispered in a low voice.

"Can I be honest?"

"......"

I didn't need to hear it, but I didn't have a chance to avoid it. A wolf's howl, which I hadn't heard in a long time, echoed from the west. The barking of dogs. Ji Young-hee shivered and bared her teeth.

"Mutations!"

That's right. There are dogs in the west. Gold, the one who brought a wild boar, a roe deer, and three each of pheasants and chickens, was leading a pack and growling threateningly at us.

"Ms. Young-hee! We have to go!"

Kim Pil-sung shouted. Ji Young-hee turned around and, as if remembering something, looked at me and asked.

"Hunter Park."

"Yes."

"Can you help us?"

I need to help. Not Park Chul-ju's gang, but Gold's gang.

Click—

The moment I saw Kim Pil-sung loading a large-caliber rifle for mutations from inside the car, I knew I had to.

*

Chairman Park Chul-ju's bodyguards seemed far superior to the ragtag group Ji Chang-soo brought. They were people with military or similar experience. Their attitude towards firearms and their general outlook on the world, as well as the