The Apocalypse Regressor's All-Purpose Shelter

There were three bridge piers connected to Yeouido: Seogang Bridge, Mapo Bridge, and Wonhyo Bridge.

If those bridges were collapsed or destroyed in the middle.

And if every passage connected to Yeouido, including major roads like Gukhoe-daero and Gyeongin-ro, could be sealed off?

It meant they would be able to cover both Gangnam and Gangbuk from right in the middle of the Han River.

“That friend named Lee Junho said that, didn’t he? That we had to shave it down from the outside in. That no matter how long it took, even if it was frustratingly slow, we had to proceed step by step with patience.”

“...Yes. According to the Halla Four personnel, he definitely said something along those lines.”

“Right. That’s why our Navy, and even those stiff-headed gentlemen on Jeju, partially agreed with it. The problem is, it’s impossible to surround this huge metropolitan area and Seoul altogether. So they’re thinking of doing it from the inside outward instead. And besides, in Bucheon and Guro, what were those mountains called again?”

“Chunui Mountain, Wonmi Mountain, and Maebong Mountain.”

“Right, those. There are also sites there that Vulcan units used in the past, and anyway, there are plenty of places where we can airlift towed howitzers by helicopter and deploy them. Then we pound Yeouido from there. The mortar units deploy on Seonyudo.”

“Don’t we have our warships, sir? Do we really need to use things like that...?”

At Moon Younghoon’s words, the deputy chief twisted his face into the deepest frown possible.

“Fuck me. The people on Jeju are feeling nervous as hell. Every ship except one frigate has pulled back to Jeju. The East Sea and South Sea have also been a bit of a problem lately. Anyway, don’t concern yourself with the complicated circumstances of the higher-ups. Younghoon, you and your team go to Jamsil and secure the point there, just like here.”

“Yes, sir.”

As Moon Younghoon snapped into rigid attention, the deputy chief patted him on the shoulder and continued.

“If possible, the Minister wants you to advance as far as Hanam and Namyangju and determine whether there are any remaining military units there. Personally, I don’t think you need to go that far. Use your judgment depending on the situation.”

“Understood.”

“Right. Anyway, suffer your ass off a little longer.”

“I think the one suffering his ass off more is you, Deputy Chief, after suddenly getting promoted. Heh heh. Victory.”

“You little bastard.... Nothing is impossible.”

The deputy chief chuckled and walked away.

After lowering his salute, Moon Younghoon thought.

Even though the man had become a brigadier general, he was still personally participating in operations while running all over the place, from the islands of the Yellow Sea to various combat ships and even Jeju.

And in the middle of a country collapsing into ruin, he also had to deal with bastards who were still busy playing politics and fighting power struggles.

The deputy chief’s burden was surely far heavier than his own.

“By the way, I wonder which frigate they left behind. It’d be nice if it was that Daegu-class one from back then....”

Thinking of the dependable frigate that had achieved a brilliant combat record by pouring missiles and naval gunfire into the Oryu-dong area and wiping out tens of thousands of zombies, Moon Younghoon smiled faintly.

But now that the true “recapture” was finally beginning in earnest, and the vanguard was none other than himself and his teammates, his expression hardened at once.

It was not because of fear.

“As a Navy special warfare warrior who strengthens his belief in certain victory through honor and pride. One, I pledge loyalty to my country and people. One, I obey orders and stake my life on special operations. One....”

It was the sense of mission he held as a member of UDT/SEAL, which he took pride in as the Republic of Korea’s very best.

And the astonishing courage and breathtaking achievements shown by one man made Moon Younghoon’s motivation burn even hotter.

***

A merchant vessel about fifty meters long, once used for coastal cargo transport around Jeju, slowly approached the port side of the Daegu-class frigate.

Once the distance between the two vessels was fixed at around twenty meters, a signal went up from the merchant ship acting as the supply vessel.

Immediately, the line-boat team moved.

“Keep level! Receive the towline and prepare!”

Soon, the two vessels were secured in a floating mooring state.

Using a temporary crane installed on the deck through rapid modification, supplies repacked onto pallets were transferred to the frigate.

As Captain Choi Gilheon watched the pallets being passed from ship to ship from the bridge, their wrapping plastic flapping in the sea wind, the weapons officer said,

“Eight Haeryong ship-to-ground missiles, sixty high-explosive naval gun rounds, forty proximity-fuze rounds, fuzes, and combined tool sets have been supplied according to the figures. Also, combat rations, medical supplies, and maintenance materials total two pallets....”

“.......”

“...That is all.”

After silently listening to the weapons officer’s entire report, Choi Gilheon chuckled and said,

“They must be hard-up over there too, but they packed us plenty.”

“I suspect it’s because we’re the only intact asset on this side. Um... Captain.”

“What?”

The weapons officer, a major, asked cautiously.

“I heard the next operation may be toward Yeouido. Aren’t there still many people alive there?”

“...How would I know?”

He answered that way, but Choi Gilheon thought the weapons officer’s guess was probably right.

“This time, we won’t have someone guiding targets for us like last time. If things go wrong, we could accidentally hit civilians, couldn’t we? Frankly speaking, it’s not as if our Navy has been sitting still until now because we couldn’t fire naval guns or missiles.”

“Mm....”

Choi Gilheon’s expression grew heavy.

The weapons officer was right.

The Navy still had several combat ships in working condition.

There were more ships that could not be contacted or had become ghost ships after being overrun by zombies, but as far as Choi Gilheon knew, more than ten frigates and destroyers could still conduct operations.

Of course, their movement was restricted because of fuel shortages, but like this frigate now, it was entirely possible to sit almost anchored near the coast and fire naval guns and missiles precisely at target points.

But there was a problem.

—Where exactly are we supposed to shoot?

—The metropolitan area is all civilian residential districts. Are we allowed to sacrifice those people just to kill zombies?

What the government and military leadership on Jeju longed for day and night °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° was none other than the recapture of the metropolitan area.

But no one knew how many citizens were still alive there, in the place where half the population of the Republic of Korea had once been concentrated.

They could not blindly launch shells and missiles into a place like that.

Of course, there was a way.

Just like during the previous “Guro bombardment,” someone on the ground could continuously provide targets and coordinates.

But that was not easy, and there was an even more important problem.

“And besides. Not all the infected in Yeouido are outside, are they?”

That was the greatest reason the Navy had been unable to recklessly conduct operations until now.

There were so many zombies that counting them was impossible, but most of them were usually inside buildings.

Because the damned infection outbreak had started early in the morning on a holiday, and because of that so-called “homing instinct” or whatever it was.

Unless they saw prey—that is, a living human—or heard a sound, most of them stayed indoors.

“The accepted theory is that the ones roaming around outside are only about ten percent of the total. And they aren’t even gathered in one place.”

In other words, they could not recklessly fire high-explosive shells or missiles, whose quantities were limited because producing more was now difficult, just to kill a few dozen scattered creatures at a time.

They had also burned through far too much ammunition in the early stages by pouring out firepower indiscriminately.

“You’re right. In the end, our only option is to gather the zombies in one place like last time and mark the coordinates.”

Greatly encouraged by the success of the “Guro bombardment,” the military leadership had tried to apply the same method to Jinhae and Geoje Island, key strategic locations close to Jeju, using the situation at that time as reference.

The operation was to trigger explosions at appropriate points to lure zombies, then have coastal warships pour naval gunfire into them.

But as was usually the case with improvised plans, it did not succeed.

Because simply causing explosions only made some nearby ordinary individuals react.

The Alphas, who had already learned human methods to some extent—especially the military’s methods—only sent reconnaissance groups of a few dozen, while their true forces did not move.

The Alphas, who had continued evolving and accumulating experience over the past ten months, rarely moved unless some special movement occurred in hunting grounds they had already identified, or unless a large amount of new prey appeared.

And those hunting grounds were places where civilian survivors lived.

The new prey was also living humans.

In other words, to draw out the Alphas and the slaves they controlled, civilians would have to be sacrificed, or someone would have to go in personally and attract their attention.

“The problem is... who the hell is going to do that?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. If a lot of survivors remain in Yeouido, we need to rescue those people and draw the zombies outside, don’t we? Only then can we bombard them and recapture the place like last time. So, about that....”

As the weapons officer said that, the operations officer, his senior by one year at the Naval Academy, slipped closer and said,

“You’re talking about that guy from last time, aren’t you? Lee Junho.”

“Yes. I was wondering if that man Lee Junho might be able to do it again.”

The testimony of the Lynx pilots and the lieutenant who had boarded the helicopter and carried out the mission at that time had truly been astonishing.

That unidentified man named Lee Junho had shown achievements that seemed possible only for an ace from a Tier One special operations unit like UDT.

The plan itself had been good: use the cult that had abandoned being human to gather the zombies, personally annihilate the cultists, and leave the zombies to the military.

But the tactical responses and movement he showed on-site, and his outstanding skill that made them wonder if he was even the same kind of human, were simply enough to make one click his tongue in disbelief.

“I agree with the weapons officer, Captain. If that man Lee Junho steps forward....”

“Why would he step forward?”

“...I beg your pardon?”

Choi Gilheon clicked his tongue at the flustered officers.

“The government still doesn’t even know who that friend is, right? And the UDT kids at World Cup Park said he didn’t seem to be active-duty military. Then he’s just one of the people abandoned in the metropolitan area. I’m asking why a man like that would help us.”

“Ah....”

In their hearts, phrases like proper duty and responsibility came to mind, but the officers could not bring themselves to say them out loud.

“He might just be a civilian struggling desperately to survive in a ruined world. Besides, he already helped us once in a huge way. And you want to ask someone like that to risk his life and fight again? If a human being has any shame, he can’t do that. Ah.”

While speaking cynically, Choi Gilheon seemed to remember something and continued with a bitter smile.

“Though the people on Jeju don’t have much shame, so maybe they might. When I think of what they did to my wife, I just... ugh.”

“.......”

At the mention of the captain’s wife, who had been an executive officer at Bucheon Police Station, the subordinate officers grew solemn.

They had heard that even though the police station in the middle of the city had already turned into chaos and countless police officers had been sacrificed, the government had ignored all of it and ordered them to hold the station.

While they themselves had fled to Jeju long ago.

“Anyway, if you’re human—no, if you’re soldiers—don’t bring up that friend Lee Junho again. The ones who protect the nation and its people are soldiers like us. We make a civilian do something dangerous enough to risk his life, while we sit here flicking our fingers, firing naval guns and launching missiles? Don’t you think something about that is wrong?”

“...I apologize.”

“My thinking was short-sighted.”

“As long as you understand. At any rate, even Jeju won’t have the shameless thought of entrusting such an important and dangerous mission to a civilian. If they do, are they even human? They’d be morons with anchors driven into their heads.”

Choi Gilheon chuckled, finishing it as a joke.

But he still did not know.

That the government and military leadership on Jeju not only had no sense of shame, but were no different from morons with anchors driven into their heads.

***

“Nice to meet you.”

“Ah, yes, yes. Hello.”

A man who looked to be in his mid-to-late thirties sat awkwardly in the chair.

But his gaze kept darting not toward the large man right in front of him, but toward the young, pretty women in the room.

Compared to the women at the resort where he had been staying until that morning, their expressions were much brighter and healthier. On top of that, the way they were dressed was not much different from before the world had ended, which gave him a strange feeling that was both familiar and alien.

“You must have had a hard time coming all this way. You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

“Well, I did eat a little, but....”

“President Lee Wonoh. Please bring some snacks.”

“Yes, sir.”

A man with a ponytail disappeared, then soon returned carrying a plate loaded with rice cakes and several Choco Pies, which were truly difficult to see in the current world.

“Huh!? C-can I eat this? I-is it not expired?”

Junho grinned at the man, who was stammering from shock, and picked up one of the Choco Pies.

“Yes. You can eat it. It was sealed and kept frozen, so it’s fine. Eat as much as you like.”

“Ah... th-thank you!”

The man accepted the Choco Pie, something he would not have even glanced at in the past, thinking it was only for children, as if it were a lump of gold, then took a bite.

At the sensation of it melting and softly crumbling under the warmth of his mouth, and the sweetness spreading across the tip of his tongue, the man unknowingly let his eyes slide shut.

But only for a moment.

Then he wolfed down three Choco Pies as if possessed by a starving spirit.

Junho patiently waited for the man to finish eating the Choco Pies, which were practically a symbol of civilization, then spoke to him as he drank water with an utterly blissful expression.

“So, sir, I heard you know quite a bit about the situation around Pohang and Ulsan.”

“Ah, yes. That’s right.”

“You said there are... many foreigners in Ulsan. Is that true?”

“Uh, yes. To be precise, around the national industrial complex and the oil refining complex. They say there are many foreigners there. Not foreign laborers, but white men carrying guns. Ah, and I also heard that several enormous oil tankers entered the waters off Ulsan.”

“...I see.”

Without realizing it, Junho lightly clenched his fist.

There was no mistake.

Just like the rumors he had heard before regression, Russian mafia who almost certainly belonged to Volcano Group had established territory around Ulsan and Pohang.

And this time, unlike before regression, there was an extremely high possibility that Viktor Volk Choi had come from Vladivostok to Korea not as a fugitive, but under different circumstances.

And that meant the person who possessed territory capable of “producing” and supplying not only the ammunition currently most lacking in our shelter, but also the fuel and petrochemical products everyone desperately wanted, might be none other than Junho’s “brat.”

So Junho absolutely had to confirm it.

He had to meet him.