The Apocalypse Regressor's All-Purpose Shelter

“...Mom, this isn’t right. Think it over one more time—agh!”

Whack!

“You little shit, sitting there acting like a devoted son for the first time in your life. Stop talking nonsense and get going already.”

“M-Mom....”

After getting thoroughly smacked across the back, Choi Hyunwoo looked at his mother, Lee Myeongseon, with a tearful face.

Lee Myeongseon, who had been glaring at Choi Hyunwoo like she was genuinely angry, shifted her gaze to Junho and spoke.

“Mr. Junho, please take good care of him. Like I said before, feel free to work him as hard as you want. But... please promise me one thing.”

“...Yes. Please tell me, ma’am.”

“No matter when it is, please bring this kid back to me and our Choi Gilheon.”

“Mom...?”

“Can you promise me that? I don’t want anything else. Just bring him back... safe and sound. That’ll be enough. All right?”

“...I promise.”

To a wife who firmly believed her husband, whose contact had been lost at sea, was still alive and would definitely return, and to a mother desperately wishing for her child’s safety, Junho gave his promise.

“Thank you so much. And you, Choi Hyunwoo, listen carefully to your boss, okay? Make sure you eat properly too, okay? Got it?”

“Yeah, Mom.... I’ll eat all my meals and listen carefully to Boss Junho.”

“Good. And....”

Turning his gaze away from the mother and son sharing their farewell, Junho looked at Kim Taeyoung.

When Kim Taeyoung met Junho’s eyes, he grinned.

“What’s with that look?”

“Are you really going to be okay, Coach?”

“What’s there not to be okay about? You’re the one who said this place was livable too.”

That was true.

Just like Lee Myeongseon, Kim Taeyoung had also decided not to go to the shelter and instead remain here at the youth training center.

The reason was simple.

“A fair number of Alphas are gone now, right? Then Bucheon survivors should be a bit safer too, shouldn’t they?”

“That’s true, but....”

Counting the ones Junho and his group had killed, along with the Alphas likely caught in yesterday’s naval bombardment, there had to be at least more than ten.

Of course, considering Bucheon’s population and the ratio at which Alphas emerged, it might still only amount to pissing on a frozen foot.

But plenty of Alphas must have also died through competition and fighting among themselves, so compared to other major cities, the situation had definitely improved.

However, that was not the real reason Kim Taeyoung had decided not to leave Bucheon with Junho.

“Youngchan, Youngjin... and the other kids too. They’re definitely hiding somewhere and staying alive. I can’t leave while abandoning them here, Junho. Please understand.”

“...Yes.”

It seemed the end of gym owner Choi Yuchan—who had put down his zombified wife and child with his own hands before taking his own life—had remained as trauma for Kim Taeyoung.

That was why he said he intended to search for the people from the gym, most of whom had lived in Bucheon. At the very least, he had come to believe it was his duty to confirm whether they were alive or dead.

Junho could not break Kim Taeyoung’s noble resolve.

“And take good care of her too. Whew, I’m worried. Really worried.”

“Seriously, big brother... hic.”

Han Areum, who had been standing there with piles of luggage packed around her and tears shimmering in her eyes, finally burst into tears that rolled down like chicken droppings.

To her, Kim Taeyoung was now truly like a real older brother.

He had saved her when she nearly suffered something terrible at the hands of looters, and after living together for the past ten months, the bond between them could not even be described.

“I’ll come back again. Until then, you really have to stay healthy, okay? Don’t get hurt, don’t get sick. Got it?”

“You’re the one who shouldn’t get hurt. Damn girl’s got her guts hanging outside her body.”

“Hic, seriously....”

In the end, unable to hold it back any longer, Han Areum suddenly threw her arms around Kim Taeyoung.

“Huh? Seriously now.”

Flustered, Kim Taeyoung soon patted Han Areum, who was practically like his youngest sister.

Meanwhile, Junho approached Shin Hocheol and the reservists, who had somehow grown very close with the convent survivors.

***

“As promised, I’ll give you the air rifles, tungsten rounds, and the rest of the equipment as well. It’s not much, but it should help to some degree.”

“Huh? What do you mean, not much? This is a huge help. Right?”

“That’s right. Heh.”

Junho decided to give them both modified air rifles used by Choi Hyunwoo and Yoon Seolhee, along with all the tungsten rounds.

He also left behind all the equipment used at the Bucheon house, including the drones.

The quantities were not large, but since these were things used during training and preparation for the apocalypse, they would be a tremendous help to these people.

On top of that, he even left behind the PRC-999K radio that Kim Hojun’s group had possessed when they met on Maebong Mountain.

“The UDT guys over at World Cup Park know about this training center and your existence now, so they’ll probably send transmissions regularly.”

“Well, honestly, even if they don’t, I think we can survive fine on our own.”

“Right. Honestly, just looking at the supplies, this place almost feels better than Jeju.”

At Shin Hocheol and Kang Juyoung’s words, the other reservists nodded as well.

That was how much the supplies Junho had handed over contained all sorts of useful things, and in fairly large quantities too.

“It’s all thanks to you, Mr. Junho. But are they really sending troops here again?”

“Yes. According to the UDT, there’s a high possibility. Thanks to the naval bombardment, this area now has the fewest zombies in the capital region.”

Unless the government and military leadership were completely full of idiots, they would try to make use of this region stretching from Wonmi Mountain to Maebong Mountain.

He did not know the exact number, but at least twenty to thirty thousand zombies had been annihilated by the bombardment.

Of course, several times that number still remained, but the important thing was this.

“The government knows now too. That the answer is to carve in from the outside, lure zombies into one place, and wipe them out through bombardment.”

The biggest reason they had been unable to conduct indiscriminate bombardment was because survivors—citizens—were still living inside the cities.

But when zombies poured out onto broad roads like this, and their exact positions and coordinates were identified, the story changed.

It became possible to precisely wipe them out while minimizing sacrifices among city survivors.

And for that to become possible, there absolutely had to be a place capable of serving as a “starting point.” And right now, in the capital region, the most suitable area was this whole zone centered around Kkachiul Station, stretching across Sinwol-dong, Oryu-dong, Wonmi-dong, and Yeokgok.

Because thanks to the navy bombardment, this area—including Wonmi Mountain, Waryong Mountain, and Maebong Mountain—had become the place in the capital region where zombie numbers had decreased the most.

“Anyway, according to the UDT operators, they’ll definitely retake this place and Gimpo Airport. So if you hold out well for about six months to a year, that should be enough.”

“That much is completely manageable. Anyway, you really worked hard, Mr. Junho. And... thank you. Truly.”

“Thank you, Mr. Junho.”

“Whew, in a filthy world like this, I can’t tell you how lucky we were to meet someone as precious as you.”

At Shin Hocheol’s words, Kang Juyoung and the other reservists all expressed their gratitude to Junho one after another.

“It’s nothing. I benefited from this too.”

“Come on, even so....”

Even when he told them the truth, the reservists did not seem willing to believe it and instead appeared to regard Junho as a “good person” and a “righteous man.”

And perhaps that was only natural.

Because they did not know the real reason Junho had exploded the fuel tanker the cultists had been keeping on church grounds and using as fuel, drawing massive aggro before using the navy to wipe out the zombies.

'The dragged-in survivors escaped through the subway tracks toward warehouses, factories, and the mountains....'

Up to that point, it had been the same as before the regression, but because of Junho’s intervention and the naval bombardment, the situation afterward changed.

Before the regression, these reservists had panicked after the fuel tanker explosion and simply fled into the mountains.

This time, however, Junho alone entered the church grounds while the reservists continued firing from positions along the mountainside.

As a result, most of the cultists, including the pastor cult leader and the deaconesses, were killed on the spot.

And thanks to that, the starting point of the Wave that had spread from Guro-gu through Gwangmyeong, Siheung, Gwacheon, and all the way to Seongnam never formed in the first place.

In other words, Junho had achieved every single objective he established before leaving for Bucheon.

In fact, he had exceeded them.

“Then everyone, take care. And don’t push yourselves too hard.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll live quietly like dead mice for a while. You be careful on your way too, Mr. Junho.”

“Though the road ahead may be long and difficult, I will pray that the Lord protects your steps.”

“Ah, thank you, sirs! Hyung, noona, take care!”

“Hyunwoo! Bring this with you, you dumb bastard!”

“Ah.”

And so, leaving the training center survivors behind them, Junho and his group began the return journey toward “our shelter.”

***

Just like when they came, entering Gyeongin Expressway from Chunui Mountain and heading toward Cheonsang Bridge was not particularly difficult.

Thanks to Junho’s actions and the naval bombardment, not only ordinary zombies but quite a few Alphas and slave zombies had disappeared.

That was because other Alphas had moved in large numbers to seize territories whose owners were gone.

The boat and supplies they had hidden carefully beneath Cheonsang Bridge were safe.

“Whoa? You came all the way here riding this?”

Seeing the inflatable boat fully reinflated and puffed up again, Oh Hyunsu and the Maebong Mountain reservists stared wide-eyed.

“Yes. By the way, anyone here who can’t swim?”

At Junho’s question, two people raised their hands.

Han Areum, and Park Seongtaek, the only active-duty soldier among them.

“I get Areum, but what about you? Bastard... what are you, weak? Slacking off?”

When Choi Hyunwoo, who had served in the Jeju Marine 9th Brigade and was effectively his direct senior, glared at him, Park Seongtaek answered in a low but heavily disciplined voice.

“S-Sir. It’s not that, sir. I was originally an administrative soldier in boot camp, sir.”

“You little shit... put this on.”

“S-Sir.”

“Quit the ‘sir’ crap. Just answer comfortably.”

“Yes.”

Answering awkwardly, Park Seongtaek put on a life vest together with Han Areum.

Meanwhile, Junho installed the battery and motor onto the inflatable boat.

Kim Jimin monitored the surroundings with the drone, while Oh Hyunsu and the other six Maebong Mountain personnel stood guard around the area together with Yoon Seolhee.

“All set. Everyone, get on.”

At last, after finishing all preparations, Junho floated the boat onto Gulpo Stream and spoke.

“But can this really hold everyone?”

Oh Hyunsu asked, apparently uneasy about all eleven of them riding in a single inflatable boat.

“Well, it’s technically a twelve-person boat, and it was designed assuming overload conditions, so it should be fine.”

Most of the supplies they had brought when departing from the shelter had either been consumed or left behind at the training center, so all Junho’s group had left now were firearms, small amounts of food, and essential equipment like drones.

“And we won’t be riding it for long. If something happens, we’ve got another method too.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes. Like this.”

Junho pulled something out from the backpack hidden together with the inflatable boat.

It was a black wetsuit sealed flat in vacuum packaging, and...

“A water scooter. If things go bad, three or four people can put on wetsuits and hang onto the boat, or use this. It looks small, but it lasts over an hour.”

“Holy shit...?”

Several reservists, learning such a thing even existed for the first time, stared with their mouths hanging open.

At the same time, they became even more curious about how someone could prepare equipment like this, and just what Junho’s true identity actually was.

But none of them dared ask.

Junho was their benefactor who had not only helped them while they wandered Maebong Mountain, but was even trying to escort them to safety.

And on top of that—

'Fuck, wasn’t that insane?'

All of them had witnessed Junho entering Saekkeut Grace Church alone and fighting.

They had clearly seen him slaughtering the large men called deacons of the cult while wielding a suppressed pistol and a machete.

That was not something they could regard as human anymore.

'He’s a monster. An actual monster.'

'Let’s just not piss him off and do what he says.'

Having realized the overwhelming “difference in power,” the reservists now did exactly what most people who had temporarily traveled alongside Junho ended up doing.

They merely climbed into the inflatable boat while glancing at him with eyes filled with gratitude, fear, and awe all mixed together.

***

The boat traveling upstream through Gulpo Stream entered Ara Waterway and safely reached the Han River.

Perhaps thanks to the fact that they had eliminated several Alphas in Ara Waterway while coming to Bucheon, there were no major threats.

Thinking he should inform them of this as well, Junho guided the boat beneath Gayang Bridge along the Han River.

Because he had informed them in advance before leaving the training center, Moon Younghoon and two UDT operators were already waiting beneath Gayang Bridge.

“Thank you so much. Thanks to all of you, truly....”

Moon Younghoon enthusiastically welcomed not only Junho, but also the Maebong Mountain reservists operating under the callsign “Halla Four.”

Suppressing his excitement as best he could, he explained just how much the navy that carried out the bombardment—and even the Jeju government and military leadership—had celebrated and how grateful they were toward them.

“...There are especially many people curious about Mr. Lee Junho. Circumstances aren’t ideal right now, but in Jeju—”

“Please tell them there’s no need.”

“Excuse me?”

To the startled Moon Younghoon, Junho answered calmly.

“I helped you and these people because I had something I wanted too. No, rather than helping, it was a transaction. The transaction ends here, and now we each go do our own jobs.”

“Ah....”

Like the experienced soldier he was, and as someone who had repeatedly suffered bullshit from people rather than zombies while surviving the apocalypse, Moon Younghoon immediately understood Junho’s meaning.

“You don’t want to get entangled with the government or military.”

“Exactly.”

“Hoo, understood. Personally, it’s unfortunate, but if that’s what you want, Mr. Junho, it can’t be helped. But you know.”

“......?”

To Junho, who narrowed his eyes, Moon Younghoon sent a meaningful grin.

“Your name has probably already spread among people similar to us. Of course I didn’t tell them, but the higher-ups kept asking what unit you belonged to.”

“...At least I’m lucky my name is common.”

For once grateful for having an ordinary name, Junho parted ways with the UDT operators and the “Halla Four” personnel from Maebong Mountain.

***

Wiiiiiiing...!

The inflatable boat, now carrying only Yoon Seolhee, Kim Jimin, Choi Hyunwoo, and Han Areum, once again traveled upstream along the Han River.

“So are we heading straight to Namyangju now, oppa?”

Perhaps because it had truly been a long time since she had seen the blue Han River, Han Areum sounded much more relaxed as she asked.

But Junho shook his head.

“No. I’ve got a quick errand first.”

“An errand? What kind?”

Junho shifted the satellite map displayed on the tablet toward the Han River, then pointed at one location and spoke.

“We need to raid some computer parts and game consoles here.”

The place he pointed to was the Techno Mart building sitting directly beside the Han River.

- If only we had like thirty or forty Play Terminal 5s, they’d be perfect for data caching and temporary storage!

Junho had not forgotten what Yoon Youngsu said—that it would greatly help the shelter AI computing system if AI Akina could focus exclusively on managing core facilities.