Hiding a House in the Apocalypse

It was during the early days when Awakened beings, led by Kang Han-min and Na Hye-in, had just begun making their presence known to the world, and soon after, new Awakened individuals started emerging one after another.

Even then, we old-school hunters were still at the core of the hunter world, the most crucial force on the monster front.

Although every indicator suggested that we were relics of the past, destined to be washed away, we did everything in our power to survive.

Most of the ideas that surfaced were common yet costly and time-consuming—developing more efficient tactics, futuristic equipment like exosuits, and deploying cutting-edge Chinese drones. But there were also more extreme suggestions, such as enhancement drugs and genetic modification.

As evident from the examples above, most of our survival strategies revolved around strengthening the old-school hunters themselves. However, behind the scenes, some truly unsettling propositions were put forward.

One of them suggested classifying all Awakened as mutated beings and placing them within the category of enemies that needed to be eliminated.

Looking back now, it was a thoroughly Chinese way of thinking, but in reality, the first place this idea took root was the United States.

The background was simple: the massive corporations that had been making a fortune from monsters were now on the verge of collapse due to the emergence of the Awakened. In response, they lobbied politicians, who in turn exerted influence over the military and hunter organizations—a story as old as time.

We, too, had developed tactics against the Awakened.

I wasn’t personally involved, but I knew that Jang Ki-young had spearheaded a fairly serious initiative.

Not long after, funding was cut, the Awakened system took over, and everyone involved ended up jobless.

Still, a few useful lessons from that research remained etched in my mind.

Understanding how Awakened individuals perceive humans, the way clairvoyants see through objects and their limitations, methods to prevent limited telepaths from reading one’s thoughts, and theoretical countermeasures against Awakened of level five or higher.

I have no way of knowing the exact level of the Awakened approaching me now.

The ones who’ve revealed themselves are low-level Awakened, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a level five or higher among them.

Not that it would make much of a difference.

The battlefield I’ve chosen is a maze of debris and rubble, a tight space designed for close-quarters combat.

“He’s inside! He’s alone!”

The atmosphere is noticeably different from before.

Previously, they hunted me like prey, quietly and discreetly, and then withdrew.

But this time, they’ve come in force, with the explicit goal of killing me.

“Ahhh!”

A distant scream echoes from beyond the wall.

Someone fell into a trap.

At the very least, they’ve lost the use of their ankle. If they don’t die outright, they’ll be left with a wound severe enough to be fatal in this environment.

I had embedded rusted metal shards and filthy glass pieces into the trap, just like a beast’s fangs.

A simple sneaker sole wouldn’t have been enough to protect them. The shards would’ve pierced right through, leaving a gaping hole in their foot.@@novelbin@@

“Aaagh! Fuck! It hurts! It fucking hurts!”

The agonized wails continued, and from them, I reaffirmed something—my enemy was young.

But youth does not equal innocence or kindness.