Chapter. 23. Gedreutz’s heir, Field (14)
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?
“hey. “Cheonryuje.”
“hmm.”
“Look at me. “The sky is blue.”
“That’s unfamiliar.”
According to the information the dumpling guy in front of me was talking about, this model called AN-2 was developed in the Soviet Union in 1947.
It has a very simple structure, so even non-majors like Mandu can make simple repairs and maintenance by studying the drawings in a short period of time. It weighs only 3 tons, but can be loaded up to 2.1 tons. It also uses charged batteries rather than a separate electricity supply vehicle. And for refueling, it has its own fuel pump, so you can refuel without a gas pump just by loading a drum on the plane, etc….
To sum it up, ‘There is no one in the damn Apocalypse World that is as simple to use as this!’ The content was: It could be said to be an example of simple is best.
There was only one thing I knew about this plane. He has memories of serving on active duty during World War III.
After the 14th Special Operations Unit was free from being treated as a bastard and was carrying out operations while going back and forth frantically, I saw a scene where an airborne unit jumped out with the distinctive sound of a biplane, ‘Baaaaang-‘, which can be heard now. I don’t remember the details, but when I saw it from below, it seemed to be similar to the one we were on.
“North Korean kids probably launched it?”
“I remember it. It was often called the ‘one-way transport’. “I have never survived being exposed to an enemy air defense.”
“Ah, I’ve heard of it. When I saw it with my own eyes, I thought, ‘Is it a bug?’ “I thought about it.”
.
.
.
.
“Were you a soldier too?”
“He’s a mercenary. “They were sold and brought to the vicinity of North Korea, which was the starting point of the war.”
“Where are you originally from?”
“Sao Paulo, Brazil. Cracolanzia. “It is an area that has now disappeared.”
.
.
.
.
Dumpling’s humming was filling the gaps in the conversation that was disconnected and disconnected.
[The blood is pouring, the blood is pouring, what a hell of a death~♪]
[The blood is pouring, the blood is pouring, he can’t descend anymore~♬]
That’s a song I heard somewhere too.
“It’s a military song.”
“I can understand that much just by listening to the lyrics.”
“It’s an airborne unit military song.”
“also. Was that guy there? The obsession with flying-”
“It must be an aftereffect of the war. “I saw a lot of people like that.”
– Most of them are dead now.
Emperor Chen Liu added that and turned his head towards the sea of clouds outside the window.
“This is one of the horrors of war you were so concerned about. “Some experiences are engraved in the bone marrow, and their lifespan is independent of time.”
“and. Only those who had such stake-like memories stuck in their hearts were able to maintain their balance and survive in the harsh wasteland. “I believe you know what this means.”
It was a random topic, but at the same time, it was a fitting topic for a moment like this when we had to sit face to face for 14 hours on a 12-seater transport plane.
“You… know how to talk at length?”
“I don’t prefer it.”
During the two days driving the truck from Area 47 to Area 40, I was so stuffed in the luggage compartment that I couldn’t even sense his presence. After I found Cheonryuje riding for free at the bottom of the mountain, no matter what I said, ‘I see.’ ‘I followed you.’ This is a guy who only gives short answers.
‘Were you waiting for a time to talk at length alone?’
Definitely then, it’s a good choice. The flying noise of a biplane is so bad that you can’t hear anything unless you’re right next to it. Even the dumpling guy can’t hear anything unless he connects the radio to his flight headset, and the sky above the dust and electromagnetic storm is beyond the reach of wiretapping. Because it’s not a place.
Of course, there were plenty of opportunities like that when I was in Area 47… but he was too close to a bizarre person to be judged by common sense in the first place. He must have had his own reason.
‘And – it means that he followed my travel route for [his own reason]…’
Cheonryuje.
Long hair on a slim body. A tactically perfect all-weather protective suit for outdoor activities, a multi-laser blade chainsaw strapped to his back, and an old katana strapped to his waist.
Now that I think about it, even after finding out a lot, things about this guy were still a mystery. If there’s one thing I know, it’s that this guy, who is obviously a genius, is quite interested in me.
Well, okay. If you ask me now, I’m sure you’ll get a different answer than yesterday.
“hey.”
“hmm.”
“Why did you follow me?”
“Observance is protected personal curiosity.”
“It’s observation, protection and curiosity. “It’s probably related to that ‘Han Seo-ho’ character you mentioned when you first saw him, right?”
Emperor Chen Liu nodded silently. How much influence the character Han Seo-ho had on him was clearly revealed in Cheon Ryu-je’s facial expression that distorted every time that name appeared.
“Do you have a dream? “Can you express in one sentence the reason why you maintain your life?”
“It’s the reason for living…. One sentence must be difficult, right?”
“I am possible.”
Emperor Chen Liu took a deep breath, stroking the handle of the sword at his waist, as if making a declaration to someone who did not exist.
“Becoming a person like Han Seo-ho. To become a great personality who does not lose his own light even in the most terrible abyss. “My life moves only towards that.”
“Self-prayer. “I dream just like Tibetan monks.”
“It’s not much different. The only difference is that they are trying to approach an absolute being that does not exist, and they are trying to approach the image of my only real friend.”
“so. What does that have to do with why you followed me?”
“It’s because you resemble Han Seo-ho, Professor Park.”
As he said those words, Emperor Cheonryu’s eyes looked at me from deep inside, as if he had died.
“He was a reporter who had been unluckily brought into a place that was like a prison without bars.”
“Even in a place where drugs, crime, violence, and fornication flowed like a river, Seoho never crossed the line he had drawn within himself. “Until death comes before my eyes and by my own hands.”
“….so.”
“Professor Park. You are one of the few people in a land full of murderers that deserves their envy. Thrown into the harshest world, he did not lose himself like Seo-ho, but instead led others with his light. At this point, you are the only person I know who is ‘almost’ close to Han Seo-ho. “Until now, there had never been a similar person or a person who was as crazy as him.”
“You said it was almost close, so that means there are other parts as well, right?”
“Because he’s still alive.”
He put emphasis on the word ‘yet’ and said it with a look in his eyes that, if necessary, he would change his current state of being alive right now.
“Professor Park, I sincerely hope that you die just as you are.”
“wow.”
Cheon Liu-je’s calm voice seeped in between the sound of the biplane’s powerful propeller and the song of Dumpling, which had passed into the part where the brain was wondering what to do.
“You don’t know. The feeling of chasing an ideal that gets further away every time you stretch out your hand. I could never reach such a shining personality as him. I had to admit that my past life of debauchery had wrecked my brain. Even if that wasn’t the reason, I acknowledged that I could never get there on my own.”
“What I thought of as an alternative is imitation. “I promised myself that if I saw just one more person like Seoho who could lift himself up from the ugliest abyss, I would imitate everything he did and become like him.”
“Professor Park, you have only one step left to prove that you have a transcendent ego like Han Seo-ho. Doesn’t it change even when the last flicker of life passes away at the moment of death? I followed you to see it with my own eyes. “I can’t miss your death.”
“That’s why they chased me around so strangely… I guess the first judgment was the 3 World clear video, right?”
“hmm.”
Hey! I knew he was no ordinary guy, but he was following me for a more sinister reason than I thought. He must see me die with his own eyes. This is….
“Are you okay? “Thank you for following along.”
-Isn’t it like a very reliable and useful tile followed suit on its own?
“…It’s convenient because I don’t have to explain it at length.”
Cheonryuje also nodded as if he was satisfied with my reaction.
Cheonryuje wants to see with his own eyes ‘whether I will not change until the moment of death.’ Once that is confirmed, I will begin the process of imitating my entire life recorded on video so far. In some ways, it can be said that you have developed an incredibly polarizing fan base.
The important thing is that he needs ‘my appreciation in the face of death.’ So, in the middle of a melee, I was hit by a bullet that I couldn’t avoid! And die by getting your head pierced. This means that we must never be torn apart by the concentrated fire of a high-firepower tank division without being able to leave a single word.
If ‘observation’ is about my feelings before death, then ‘protection’ means protecting the object of observation from such sudden death.
“Cheonryuje. You played the role of opposing force during the last person-to-person combat training, right? “How many opponents did you have at that time?”
“57 action agents on the dome side. BDSM newcomers 15. Veterans 27. Total 99 people. It was a training filled with just 100 people, including me. It was training for Raptor’s urban combat ability against cyborgs, whose individual performance capabilities had increased dramatically. “The president seemed to want to continue sequentially, but he did not feel the need to do more and refused.”
So I can only say that it is useful.
It’s not just 99 people, it’s a fully armed agent in the dome, and a guy like Second Coming Lu Bu, who single-handedly took down 99 people, including many veteran mercenaries who were trained by defeating Type 3 mutants in the wasteland, with something like a baton, to prevent me from being killed by accident. I heard that they followed up for you and how reassuring it was.
‘If I’m dying because I’m injured beyond repair, or if I’m bleeding and cooling down, even if there’s a cure nearby, I’ll just kick it away and watch myself dying as if I’ve been waiting. Still, it is not easy to find better reinforcements than this in a battle with only a small number of people.’
It was an unexpected gift and a perfect ally for the current situation of visiting an unidentified group of Type 3 mutants.
“…Ian, did that guy give you a ride? Or Vex?”
“hmm.”
“I thought I would let those damn bastards go obediently.”
Cheon Ryu-je was staying at the BDSM headquarters, and since he and Vex and Ian had eaten enough wasteland jjambap, they would naturally have gone through the process of checking whether this mysterious human weapon was dangerous to their allies.
Cheon Ryu-je This person doesn’t seem to have any intention of hiding his goals when someone asks, so it’s highly likely that he told them the same thing he just told me.
Vex, I would have rushed in as soon as I heard something like “I really need to see that guy slowly die in front of my eyes,” but there’s no way a post-human Cheonryuje would die that easily.
Ian, who has a brain full of gunpowder most of the time and is quite capable of thinking,
would have come to the conclusion that my human weapon obsessed with ‘slow death’ would be very useful.
[A company of weapons was packed in the truck with enough weapons for a month.]
He said so, but when I opened the luggage compartment, there were only a few boxes of firearms and equipment that had been modified to my current size, and other than that, it was loaded at the request of Heungan Mandu. There were only a few drums of aviation fuel and a Cheonryuje curled up in a corner.
‘In Ian’s judgment, this means that one Tian Liu Emperor has the firepower of a fully armed company.’
It’s my personal weapon, the grenades I brought with me, and the fact that I have several boxes of ammunition is a characteristic of a guy.
“good. “Let’s try to die as slowly and in a long, painful way as possible.”
“Thank you. I prepared video recording media in case I needed it. “I will leave a video of you dying and deliver it to your family.”
“Of course, that video is being used as teaching material for you, Cheon Ryu-je?”
“hmm. “As long as you don’t die ugly.”
“Tsk tsk tsk tsk! “You really are a bully.”
He held out his hand to ask for his favor in the future, but Cheonryuje glanced down at it and turned his gaze out the window without saying a word. Actually, this is the guy.
I didn’t even bother to hold his hand and just looked out the window.
Baaaaaaang –
The unique sound of the biplane’s propeller was still loud, and Dumpling’s military song was now moving to the ‘I’m pouring out you in my shoes~♪’ part.
The old airplane flew across the sky at a speed that could not be compared to the speed of movement on the ground.
“…Professor Park.”
“why.”
[Oh~! He can’t go down anymore~♬]
“If you can silence that disabled soldier, I’ll consider giving him a dose of painkillers.”
“When I die? Wow, that’s a great benefit!”
Mandu’s singing skills were so bad that he was like an incarnation of Goryeon and had to break the Cheonryu system.
****
Crackling-
[Ah, I will inform the passengers. Passengers who are sleeping, please wake up immediately-]
As soon as I heard a hissing noise, I opened my eyes. I closed my eyes for a moment, but my son-in-law was already dark.
[Current time 21:37. This transport plane is scheduled to lower its altitude for landing – Below is a damn environment full of familiar sandstorms, unfamiliar electromagnetic storms, and a variety of radioactive isotopes that no one in their right mind would go near – Our passengers who came here anyway. We inform you that this is an environment we will face soon -]
Even if Heungan Dumpling’s scathing in-flight announcement did not tell us, the thick sand dust visible below the clouds gave off an atmosphere of danger.
[Also, as a pilot, I have not been provided with any topographical information about the landing site – as you can see, it is impossible to check the landing site with the naked eye – oh, control.]
Chiik –
[Passengers, please check the rollers loaded on the back of the transport plane. Ah-]
“Roller? “Are you talking about the wheeled cart that the plane was placed on when ejecting from the catapult?”
“There you are.”
Cheon Ryu-je took out a large cart-like thing that had been placed under an aviation fuel drum. Perhaps because of its size, it looks as if the catapult that the plane was on was split in two.
[Did you find it? great. Now, let’s strap on the provided parachutes, each of us taking one at a time, and stand in the drop position.]
Before I knew it, the frustrated voice of the guy wearing a gas mask gave instructions.
[When you are ready, grab the roller and descend. I have to receive it before the aircraft goes down.]
“…?”
“Hmm…”
Cheonryuje also seemed to be struggling this time. It means that that guy, like me, didn’t understand what the dumpling guy was talking about.
“What are you talking about! Where is the aircraft carrier? Aren’t you going to drop us and then turn back? “I never told you to follow me to that radioactive, mutant-infested neighborhood!”
[Haaa. This is why it’s troublesome to run operations with ignorant people.]
“Ignorant?”
Crackling-
[Okay, I don’t know about this plane. AN-2 consumes 162 liters of aviation fuel per hour. We flew for 14 hours so we consumed 2268 liters. Right?]
“Yes… right?”
[As I kindly explained earlier, the effective payload of AN-2 is 2140 kg. There was already more than enough aviation fuel to load, but the three of us barely managed to load it with our personal equipment and various other things. What does this mean?]
You guys are shaking!
[I mean, we used up all the fuel we brought to get here. There’s no fuel to go back. We have to land at all costs.]
“What?! “You used up everything you brought with you?”
[okay. Airplanes consume so much oil that ordinary people can’t even imagine.]
Empty –
When Cheon Ryu-je knocked on the drums connected to the pump as if to check, they all made a hollow, clear sound.
[So we have to land. Since there is a problem I mentioned earlier, I need you two monsters to help me out.]
“….Holy shit!”
I didn’t want to understand it at all, but sadly my bright mind understood his intentions based on a few clues.
“Go down first and catch the three-ton airplane descending on the rollers! “Tell me to act as a human landing gear!”
[Durability close to that of a tank! The strength of a large hydraulic device! It even acts as a biological gyro to maintain perfect front, rear, left and right balance depending on irregular ground conditions! Professor Park, if all the specifications you have revealed are true, it will show performance that surpasses any existing landing gear!]
“Is that possible?”
.
.
.
.
Chijiik-
[No. In fact, now that I’ve flown again, there’s no point in looking back.]
Oh my God, Roharam. There are all these bastards in the world.
[For fuel to go around… we have to get it from the landing site. What kind of spaceship center is your destination? Could it be that there is no fuel to launch an airplane in a place that also launches spaceships?]
Alas. It was difficult to say that it was the headquarters of the Artists’ Union, so I told them that the Next Space space base right next door was the destination. I never thought a dumpling bastard would have thoughts like this.
[There is a thousand stream system. Ask them to help you too. He says he’s a monster too.]
“….”
“….”
“Thousand-”
“I’m going to fall. “My body is not built the same way as yours.”
“Shit.”
For some reason, compared to what I knew in the chat room, I thought a good, sane guy popped out. Sure enough, at a critical moment, anathema like ‘no, not’ came out.
[The Jar Roller is made from the latest fighter jet composite exterior, so it will never break! All you have to do is accept it! I will drive delicately and adjust the rendezvous point properly – descend!]
“Oh no-”
[If you are late, the aircraft will fall before you! Shut up and get down! If you don’t like it, just walk back! descent! Drop!!!]
“Erai-san! Cheonryuje! “Just ride!”
“Thank you.”
As the ground became noticeably closer, I had no choice but to jump out the wide open door.
Kwaaaaaa!
A wind mixed with dust hit my face. The air feels familiar yet somehow distinctly different. As I fell, I looked up and saw the dumpling guy wearing a gas mask and protective clothing looking down at me, nodding his head as if he was humming something.
‘You crazy bastard! ‘You really came here with the intention of landing in this radioactive area, Area 25!’
The aircraft was closer to the ground than I thought, probably because he meant it.
‘There is no time to open a parachute!’
Flap!
I opened the bag and quickly grabbed the parachute spilling out.
Squirt!
And then he fell quickly, and just a few meters before reaching the ground, he
shouted “Hwaaaap!”
I grabbed both ends of the unopened parachute and swung it with all my might as if shaking out laundry.
Although he doesn’t have regenerative power, his body’s strength is close to that of Professor Park from 3 World. The parachute he swung with all his might inflated in an instant –
boom!
At that moment, the pressure applied inside could not be overcome and it exploded with a loud sound.
Of course, the speed at which I was falling decreased that much.
Whi profit!
The wheeled cart that Cheonryuje had thrown from above (strong enough to hold an airplane, as dumplings say) fell at my feet.
The distance from the plane is such that rust from roughly tightened bolts is visible.
Chijiik-
[Confirm landing point, 5 to rendezvous. 4. Hey, don’t use your hands, turn back and take it with your chest. Yes, as if I’m going to hug you.]
“Like this?!”
[okay. It would be ugly if there were handprints left on the exterior.]
“-*#^&!! *#^***!!!!”
[Two one. Arrival-]
“Wow!”
I couldn’t hear anything behind it. It was literally like riding a skateboard while catching a falling plane with your body!
Dedddddddddddd!
The ruts of the rollers that placed my body on the uneven ground continued for a long time, and I could feel the speed of the plane that was pushing me gradually decreasing.
[Hey – it seems like it’s done! Put it down now! You can use up the remaining energy by rolling forward!]
When the pilot finally gave the okay sign, I pushed away the head of the airplane that was pressing down on my body and rolled to the side.
“Huh! Huh! “You’re such a bastard!”
No matter how many tests at the dome showed numerical performance, I was surprised by the idea of putting people on a cart and using it as landing gear.
I was surprised by the crazy mindset that risked my life for it as if it was natural, and
more than anything, I was surprised at myself for doing it.
“This… isn’t a game, is it? “It’s reality, right?”
Maybe I was feeling rejected myself. That such inhuman power can be exerted in real life.
When a situation arises, it is a topic that you can use with familiarity as if you have been using this power for decades.
Chiik-
[Yaa-! This is it!]
An excited radio call from Dumpling was heard from the plane that had moved forward for a long time.
[Cheonryuje posted this video! I shared it too! Can I post this on my kids’ chat room?]
“Is that something a guy who came back from the dead would say?”
[I’m saying this because I came back from the dead! If I just get fuel here, I can fly one more time and go back! I don’t want to stay on the ground even for a second!]
“Hey.”
It’s not a big deal to be around crazy people while living in the wasteland, but in my case, it seemed like the spectrum of crazy people was quite broad.
Surprise. Surprise. Surprise.
[It is a Cheonryu system. Is this the correct frequency for the communication device built into your body?]
Cheon Ryu-je had come up next to me and was looking down at me, stretched out in the contaminated area, wearing a thick protective suit like a space suit.
[I’m jealous.]
“Well. “You wouldn’t think that way if you didn’t know when you might become a type 3 mutant.”
[That’s true too. If you are not seriously injured, get up. The pilot is very skilled.]
“Dumplings?”
[okay. [I landed as if taking aim at the coordinates given to me.]
As I stood up at Cheonryuje’s words, I began to see things that I had not been able to see because I was so distracted when I landed.
The ruins of a city where forests of buildings have disappeared due to bombing. Meanwhile, someone paved the way.
A small candy bar, a rusty rocking chair, a broken grandfather clock, a restaurant billboard, a mountain of broken smartphones, and the remains of a sports car that was once a symbol of wealth gathered together to form a hill, and a small path was created by clearing the center of the hill.
Chiik-
[It doesn’t look like a space base anyway. Are these coordinates right?]
“….Dumplings.”
[Oh well. I have no intention of getting involved in the monster feast. I’ll be staying here and maintaining the aircraft.]
“Damn. “You’re quick to notice.”
[Bring aviation fuel. If not, diesel.]
As he was a survivor, he seemed to have the sense to know where to die and avoid it.
That’s because on the hill of all kinds of old items that would stimulate someone’s nostalgia, things like old TV monitors were on screen at the same time.
The 4 World record in the GG play video that is currently being shown in the dome.
[They say hello to you and say you’ve come to a good place.]
“It looks like that.”
….rummaging around.
“Do you have cigarettes? “I think I fell somewhere while descending.”
[I don’t smoke.]
[Oh, I do. I’ll give you a pack, so go in and smoke it.]
“It’s okay. “Just give me one.”
He caught the cigarette pack that the dumpling guy threw with all his might, took out one, and threw the rest towards the road guy.
“If I remember correctly, there is a high probability that smoking is prohibited in there.”
Artists’ Union. I don’t know what their identity is, but since the atmosphere is not hostile right now, it would be appropriate to adjust to some degree.
“Smoking is prohibited in the museum, right?”
I grinned at the familiar object that caught my eye among all the old items.
A painting in a sturdy frame.
One day, which feels like a long time ago, my friends and I stole a famous piece from the old world while raiding the underground bunker in Area 45.
My painting, which I had sold to the Artists’ Association, hung in the window of a house buried in Junk Hill.
Rattling!
Whoosh!
When I gently pulled on it, the door to the house that appeared to have already collapsed opened, revealing a hole inside.
Chiik-
[It’s like a dungeon.]
“Uh, there were quite a few dungeons with a horror theme, I guess?”
This was the sentiment expressed by the two game rankers as they entered the reality of the Wasteland’s First Wonder Artists’ Union.
****
