Translator/Editor: TranslatingNovice

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Chapter 1: Old Man Kim

The story of how the world fell into chaos and disarray is long, tedious, and complex, but even within it, there are plenty of interesting episodes.

For instance, let's talk about my, Park Gyu’s, wise preparation for the future.

The impending crisis for humanity was a topic discussed by everyone, from pseudo-intellectuals to YouTuber cyber wreckers, but only two types of civilians actually prepared for it: those who were so rich that they could afford bomb shelters on their private land, and those who were bold enough to deny reality and invest everything in vague possibilities.

I belonged to the latter.

As soon as I sensed the crisis, I boldly liquidated my assets and prepared for the coming apocalypse.

I didn't inherit much, but I had accumulated some wealth.

I worked in a profession where I had no choice but to save money, and in the final stages, I increased my workload insanely, sleeping only about four hours a day.

Still, since I wasn’t as rich as a tycoon, I learned various skills in my spare time, even while being overwhelmed with work.

Simple electrical work, construction, heavy machinery operation, drug and chemical synthesis, basic medical skills, etc. Anything I didn't understand, I bought books or video tutorials and stored them for future reference.

The most important thing was choosing the location.

It was a difficult decision to make.

I consulted survival experts, veterans who survived war zones, explorers of uncharted territories, and a doomsday preparation community I’ll introduce later, ‘Viva! Apocalypse!’

After long consideration and deliberation, I chose the site based on four key criterias.

First, it has to be a place where people don’t live and wouldn’t seek out in an emergency.

Second, despite the first requirement, it needs to be at an appropriate distance from a major city.

Third, the geography of the hideout.

Fourth, the price.

The first criteria is fundamental.

The most dangerous thing for someone building their own fortress in preparation for the apocalypse is neither monsters nor hordes of zombies, but humans themselves.

Indeed, humans have always been the primary threat to my apocalypse life.

But it’s difficult for humans to live alone.

The second criteria might seem contradictory to the first, but it’s extremely important.

If you can interact with a city, you can obtain necessary supplies and valuable information in case of an emergency.

Leaving the safety of the hideout for the dangerous outside world is risky, but staying holed up in a bunker and not seeing the approaching storm is tantamount to a guaranteed death.

The third criteria is the foundation for the eternal struggle I will face until I die.

The hideout must be surveillable from all sides and not easily detectable from the outside.

Defense is a secondary consideration.

No matter how defensible the terrain, once the hideout is discovered, it’s not easy to defend alone.

Humans are the most numerous animal species, excluding insects.

Oh, soil and groundwater are important too.

The soil must be soft so you can dig deep, and groundwater will become my lifeline once the water supply is cut off.

Of course, all these conditions had to be considered within the limits of my budget.

Currency becomes scraps of paper when the world collapses, but you need money to prepare before that happens.

The site I chose was a forested valley sandwiched between an air force base and a golf course.

It was rarely visited by people, easy to observe, and at an appropriate distance from the city, but it had a critical flaw.

The land was a so-called blind spot, without roads.

It was an unavoidable choice.

Blind spots are dozens of times cheaper than lands with road access.

The low price was also influenced by unscrupulous waste disposal workers who used it as an illegal dumping ground for construction waste and industrial garbage.

Still, thanks to that, I secured quite a large site.

It was as vast as the adjacent golf course.

The problem of no roads was solved by negotiating with the adjacent landowner to pay usage fees and provide free labor during harvest, but it wasn’t easy.

'You came from Seoul? Well, let's do well.'

I don’t remember the old man's name now, but he was definitely a Kim.

He was a lean and short man from Chungcheong Province, about seventy years old, and his first impression wasn’t good.

Sure enough, Old Man Kim’s temper was so bad that even I, who was somewhat enlightened, occasionally felt murderous. (enlightened as in buddhism)

He would constantly get annoyed, demanding restoration to the original land. Blocking the only road with obstacles was commonplace, and he would come over all the time asking for help with chores.

When he knocked on the door of my container house at 3 am asking for help, I really felt like throwing him into a rice paddy.

Well, what can you do? You get what you pay for.

With the money saved from buying cheap land, I invested everything in heavy machinery, construction materials, and other survival essentials.

For heavy equipment, I acquired excavators, loaders, drilling machines, forklifts, etc.

Hiring professionals to build a single air-raid shelter would be cheaper and more efficient, but my plan was to continuously expand and modify my hideout.

My 220,000 pyeong of land (approx 73,000 square meters) is the foundation and stronghold for my life in the coming crumbling world, a place where I will live.

Naturally, I had to call in people at first.

With just the knowledge I learned from the internet and my own studies, I couldn’t match the skills and know-how of those in the field.

‘'Wow, sir, is all this equipment yours? What exactly are you planning to do?'’

The contractors were all surprised when they saw my collection of heavy machinery.

‘'Well, I just got into this as a hobby,.’

I replied vaguely, trying to win their favor.

At first, they were reluctant to let a client join the work, but after a few drinks and meals, we moved as one team.

I learned invaluable skills from them that I could never get from lectures or textbooks: how to dig into the ground, support the dug land, the ideal mix ratio of cement, and casting techniques.

But as they say, fortune and disaster reside side by side.

When the actual construction began, Old Man Kim started to cause trouble.

‘'What the hell are you doing there, gathering all these people and making a fuss? Did you get a development permit?'’

After about a month of putting up with his temper, I understood why he was behaving this way.

He just needed a target for his stress.

His aging body, unresolved issues, unbearable loneliness, the impending reality of death.

These were the reasons for his transformation into a grumpy old man, a despair so deep that even I could somewhat understand.

Well, looking at his reputation in the village, it seems he didn’t have a good temperament to begin with.

His nickname, my gosh, was Horosangnom. Horosangnom. (derogatory term for despicable bastard)

Thanks to that Sangnom’s (bastard’s) meddling, the construction of my first bunker was constantly hindered, eventually leading to dissatisfaction among the workers.

As I'm no saint myself, I was reaching the limits of my patience when I noticed an unfamiliar vehicle parked at Old Man Kim's remote house.

It was a flashy, new-model Mercedes.

There stood a man who resembled Old Man Kim but was much larger and younger, with a middle-aged woman whose lips were puckered up.

''Is that the son of the Sangnom (bastard).''

The words just slipped out of my mouth.

Old Man Kim had never talked about his family. I knew he had one because he frequently fiddled with his phone and occasionally tried to make calls while I was helping with work, but this was the first time I actually saw them.

Then that day, I discovered the true knot on Old Man Kim's heart.

‘'Sell this land! We will take care of you. We're offering to take you in, why are you making a fuss!'’

The man who resembled Old Man Kim grabbed him by the collar and shook him like a toy.

The puckered-lipped woman just watched and didn't seem to have any intention of stopping him. In fact, she looked almost pleased, silently supporting the man who appeared to be her husband with a bitter sneer.

'’Fuck. After enduring all those shitty injections when I was young, you give the valuable land to my older sister and the trash land to the eldest son. Do you even know how much that Park has been looking down on me?'’

The man's voice grew louder. He must have had a lot built up.

Old Man Kim's temperament was bad enough to occasionally make even me, somewhat enlightened, feel murderous. But it was getting out of hand.

‘'That son of a bitch from the company is now living in a much better apartment than me, strutting around, while your son who carries your surname is struggling without enough money for his grandson's English kindergarten fees!'’’

He kept amplifying his inner anger, increasing the emotional output.

‘'Are you going to sell the land? Or not?'’

When the man raised his fist, I coughed loudly.

He glared at me with a rotten face.

I wondered what he was to do as he slowly lowered his face and grumbled something inaudible as I stared back.

Meanwhile, Old Man Kim, still grabbed by the collar, hung his head weakly, uncharacteristically.

His gaze was fixed on his collapsing house.

‘'Shit!!!'’

The man cursed, let go of Old Man Kim, and walked towards the Mercedes with his wife.

As he opened the door of the car, he threw a cruel remark.

‘'From this Thanksgiving (Chuseok), we won't bring Yeong-jin anymore!'’

After the car left, I hesitated for a moment.

Should I just pass by Old Man Kim who was sitting there dazed, or say a word of comfort?

I didn't like Old Man Kim any less than his son, but I still needed Old Man Kim's cooperation right now.

Suppressing my irritation, I approached Old Man Kim.

‘'It looks like you've seen everything.'’

Old Man Kim spoke without looking at me.

His gaze was still fixed on his collapsing house.

I took out a lollipop, sat down next to him, and watched the old house he was looking at.

‘'Is that your son?'’

‘'...Do you have parents?'’

I shook my head.

‘'They passed away in an accident.'’

‘'Oh dear.'’

‘'It was a long time ago. But it seems like you have a serious problem?’’

‘'It wasn’t cheap land.'’

Old Man Kim sighed deeply, looking at the departing Mercedes.

'When I gave that land, it was much more expensive...'

‘'You mean the land you gifted to your son.'’

Kim nodded and took out a cigarette.

As I helped him light it, he began to speak with a hollow laugh.

‘'The land I gave to my daughter was a blind spot like yours. It was even a worthless dirt hill. But who would have known that a 10-lane road would be built in front of that land? Who would have thought that a tunnel would be dug and a new city would emerge there?'’

His life was just as I had expected.

He was neither a good father nor an excellent one.

He was a worthless father who frequently abused and was violent towards his family.

He had lived his life as a despicable man, only to level up to a rich father in his old age when his land was appropriated, touching a large sum of money.

Had it not been for that, his children would have cut ties with Old Man Kim long ago.

I abruptly asked to end the conversation quickly.

‘'Why don't you sell that house? Can't you solve the problem by selling it and moving somewhere else?'’

'I can't do that. I just can't.'

The old man exhaled white smoke and looked up at the sky.

"The ghost of my dead wife is still there. She put up with the temperament of a scoundrel like me all her life...."

I still don't know what I did right by Old Man Kim, even now.

One thing's for sure, that brief conversation paved a 10-lane road to Old Man Kim's heart.

After that day, he no longer obstructed the construction vehicles coming and going or voiced complaints.

As there were no more confrontations, our relationship naturally improved, and I even started offering to help Old Man Kim with his work.

There's nothing wrong with getting along with a neighbor in the next town over.

I also gained some benefits.

I learned agricultural knowledge from Old Man Kim, which is hard to acquire for someone from the city.

"Farming, you see, follows the lunar calendar. The solar calendar is useless. You have to look at the lunar calendar. The seasonal divisions. The seasonal divisions are important."

He seemed to have a hunch about what I was up to.

"You're one of those survivalists, right? An apocalyptist or something?"

"Well, something like that."

"Don't you need things like seedlings for that? Even if the world ends, you'll still need to eat vegetables, right?"

"Is there something I can grow underground?"

"With sunlight, water, and fertilizer, you can grow anything. Nowadays, the seedlings are really good. What's important is care."

Several solar terms passed, but his children never came to visit him.

On Lunar New Year and Thanksgiving (Chuseok), I would see him standing alone, dazed, in the yard of his collapsing house, looking towards the road.

Later, when China started a war and missiles launched from China struck the capital region, Old Man Kim hurried to my bunker.

It was the first time I had seen him panic since I met him.

"My son, find out what happened to my son."

After communications were restored and the list of the deceased was confirmed, I had to deliver the unfortunate news.

Old Man Kim just hung his head in silence.

He didn't cry or sob.

I wondered what wind had blown.

"The world will soon come to an end. Would you like to come to my bunker?"

I made an offer that didn't suit my principles.

Old Man Kim looked up at me.

He smiled at me.

"Just wait a moment. I have something to prepare."

"Something to prepare?"

"I have something for you."

He was a man who could smile warmer than I thought.

When I found Old Man Kim again, he was hanging from the main beam of his collapsing house, swinging like a fern.

At his cooling feet, there were neatly packed seedlings, arranged with care.

I couldn't do anything about his body.

Nuclear attack alarms were blaring everywhere, signaling the end of the world.

I quickly gathered only the seedlings and fled to the bunker.

In hindsight, it was a wise choice.

The raging flames of nuclear fission that followed burned the collapsing house and the body to ashes without a trace.

Translator Notes: Welcome everyone! TranslatingNovice here. I decided to pick up this series. Usually, I read much further ahead, translate a stockpile of chapters, and then finally release the first chapter. However, this series managed to captivated me instantly and made me want to share it with you all as quck as possible.

There are previously translated chapters, but I recommend folllowing this translation from the start as there are a couple inaccuricies with the previous translation. Anyway, glad you came and hope you stay for the ride!