Chapter 31: Mind If I Give It a Try?

After coming back from the mountain trail he had discovered, Junho subtly motioned to Baek Hail with his eyes. The two stepped aside a little and continued talking in low voices.

“Brother. That trail runs a little over ten kilometers total. It goes all the way to the highway near Gahyeon-ri. But...”

Junho told him about the trail and the ideas he had come up with while traveling back and forth along it.

Baek Hail listened to everything, nodding the whole time, then added his own thoughts.

“...You’re right. But if we say we’re gonna build something like a watchtower, we’d have to get city approval, wouldn’t we? Sure, we could build it quietly, but if we got caught, it’d turn into a pain in the ass... Ah, this would work.”

“You’ve got a good idea?”

“We work something out with city hall and get the lease rights to the back mountain here. That won’t even cost much. If we call it a lease, a hundred or two hundred million won a year ought to do the trick.”

“That sounds good. Then I’ll ask Attorney Lee Dongcheol about it.”

“I’ll handle it. If we say we’re putting in a private log rest stop or evacuation shelter for VIPs, the officials’ll probably sign off on it.”

Junho nodded in satisfaction.

The high-performance surveillance cameras could identify targets out to a range of four hundred meters even at night.

That meant if they put up watchtowers every seven to eight hundred meters along the mountain trail and installed cameras on them, they would be able to monitor not only the trail they had found today, but the entire mountain wrapping around the back and both sides of the shelter twenty-four hours a day.

And if they added a system where high-performance drones automatically launched and tracked anything from overhead whenever the surveillance cameras detected something abnormal—

“That’s perfect. At minimum, everything within a five-kilometer radius of the shelter should be safe.”

“Right. And if we pick a few points here and there and string up concertina wire, people won’t be able to get in and animals won’t be able to get over it either.”

That was already one of the methods Junho had in mind.

Right now, in this peaceful era, facilities like that would be illegal, but once the apocalypse began, distinctions like that would stop meaning anything.

Especially in the early days of the apocalypse, wild animals would increase sharply, so barbed wire was essential.

“We put a concrete wall around the shelter grounds too, then install double-layered electric fencing on top of that. Add detection sensors and concertina wire above it, and that should make it airtight.”

“Exactly. We’ve got plenty of time, so let’s do it right one piece at a time. I’ll make damn sure it’s handled.”

“Yes, sir. I trust you.”

Now that the shelter’s construction had truly begun, Junho knew Baek Hail’s role mattered far more than his own.

Besides, he had already shared the shelter’s structure and functions with Baek Hail in perfect detail, so honestly, even without him, the man would build it properly on his own.

Still, as the shelter’s “owner,” Junho had to stay on top of the site until the very end.

“Starting next week, the foundation work’s going in right away. Oh, right, just like you said, I got all the laborers lined up in Busan. I raised the percentage of foreign workers too, but their identities are all solid, and they’re guys who’ve been working in Korea for years, so they’re hardworking as hell and they know their jobs.”

“That’s reassuring. Then I’ll leave it in your hands.”

“Got it. Get moving. Your schedule’s packed again today, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I’ve got a lot to do, and a mountain of things to learn. Then I’ll head out first.”

“Okay. Go say your goodbyes before you leave.”

“Everybody’s busy. No need for that. Just let them know I left.”

After a brief farewell with Baek Hail, Junho loaded Purdy into the car and left the site.

Part of him wanted to stay with it to the very end, but like he had said, he truly had a lot to do right now.

And on top of that, he had business in Gangnam today.

***

As befitted a gym where people came to learn to fight, there was a light smell of sweat in the air, but the Krav Maga academy was bright and clean.

“Oh, hey, hyung. You made it?”

Junhyeok, who had come early and was already warming up, waved with a bright expression.

“Yeah.”

Junho gave him a quick nod, then looked past him.

Patter patter!

A young man with a build much bigger than Junhyeok’s came hurrying over with almost comically quick steps.

“Junho hyung! You’re here, sir! It’s been a while!”

At the sight of the huge young man, Choi Hyunwoo, bowing ninety degrees like some gangster, Junho smiled awkwardly.

“Yeah, okay. Hyunwoo, it’s been a while. Looks like you’ve been doing... well.”

“Yes, sir, I’ve been doing well thanks to you. Thank you, hyung.”

What the hell was he thanking him for... Junho felt a little burdened by his younger brother’s best friend, who bent sharply at the waist again.

“Right, Junhyeok told me. You want to learn Krav Maga too?”

Hyunwoo, who had never cared at all about MMA, had suddenly started saying he wanted to learn Krav Maga, and had followed Junhyeok here and signed up last week.

“Yes, sir. I’ve always been interested in military stuff, right? That’s why I joined the Marines.”

“Right, you were in the Marines. Must’ve been rough.”

Junho remembered Junhyeok’s assessment that he had coasted while stationed on Jeju, but pretended not to know and played along.

“Yes, sir. But I did some joint training with the U.S. military while I was in the Marines, you know? Back then the American guys were using this weird fighting style. It looked cool, but I just brushed it off at the time. Then it turned out that was Krav Maga. I heard it’s useful for self-defense in everyday life too, so I wanted to try learning it, hyung.”

“Right. But you...”

“Yes, sir?”

Junho swallowed the words

Who the hell would dare pick a fight with someone who’s six-two and over ninety kilos?

and shook his head.

“Nothing. Anyway, let’s both work hard.”

“Yes, hyung! I’ll work hard!”

Hyunwoo’s booming answer, from a guy who was already huge and built like a laborer, was so loud it felt like it made the gym floor vibrate.

A few members couldn’t help sneaking glances and suppressing laughter at the sight of a giant bear bowing and scraping, but Junho deliberately pretended not to notice.

After all, Hyunwoo was his younger brother’s best friend, a kid who had stayed through their father’s funeral all the way to the final send-off and was unfailingly polite in everyday life too, so Junho thought very highly of him.

“But hyung, it’s kind of a shame. I wanted to learn in the advanced class with you and Junhyeok.”

Unlike Choi Hyunwoo, who was only on his second class, the Lee brothers had moved up to the advanced class starting with their fourth lesson.

Their skills were on a completely different level from the average members, practically near semi-pro MMA level, and since the advanced class cost more than twice as much, the system there was that the head coach and instructor taught it personally.

“Hey, your fundamentals are good too, so you’ll probably move up to the advanced class pretty fast. But this place is crazy expensive.”

“Seriously? How much?”

“For me and hyung together, 1.6 million won.”

“Holy shit. That’s expensive as fuck.”

“Right? But the head coach and the instructor are both insanely good, so it’s probably worth the money. Hey, looks like class is starting over there.”

“Huh? Junho hyung, then I’ll see you later after it’s over!”

Hyunwoo, who had been chatting with Junhyeok, gave another stiff folding bow, then ran off toward the group-class area.

Maybe because the uniform was black, but the way he charged in among the shorter female members looked like a sea lion suddenly popping up among a bunch of baby penguins.

“Choi Hyunwoo is fucking hilarious. It’s even funnier because there wasn’t a uniform that actually fit him.”

Snickering, Junhyeok glanced at Hyunwoo, whose uniform pants and top were both about half a handspan too short.

“Bet he has a hard time finding clothes that fit in general.”

“Yeah. No matter what he wears, it turns into forced skinny-fit. His frame’s just too damn big. That’s why he always walks around in sweats.”

“Really? But today too, and when he came to our house to see you, wasn’t he dressed pretty normally?”

“Ah, that was... maybe he just felt like wearing decent clothes that day. He’s kind of weird like that.”

Junhyeok couldn’t very well say,

He wanted to show respect to you and make a good impression on you, hyung

, so he waved it off vaguely and shook his head.

Then suddenly, his eyes narrowed a little.

“Huh?”

“What is it...?”

Following Junhyeok’s gaze, Junho turned his head too.

The instructor who had been assigned to give private lessons to Junho and Junhyeok starting today was walking toward them while talking to someone else dressed in a crisp uniform.

And the moment he saw who it was, Junho’s eyes widened without him meaning to.

“Manager Yoon Seolhee...?”

Yoon Seolhee, Kang Baekho’s guard and attendant, was walking over and met Junho’s eyes. Her own eyes widened into circles too.

***

“All right then, Seolhee, you work with Mr. Junhyeok. Mr. Junho, let’s have you work with me.”

As it turned out, the head coach and the instructor at the Krav Maga academy had known Yoon Seolhee since her days in special forces.

So whenever she was off duty, she would stop by here to loosen up and train, and today just happened to be one of those days.

“All right, Mr. Junho.”

The instructor, a former special-forces NCO from the 707th Special Mission Group, stood in front of Junho holding a rubber knife.

“Your fundamentals are already so solid, Mr. Junho, that I’m going to teach you techniques focused on real-world combat, things they don’t teach in civilian Krav Maga. CQB, close-quarters specialized techniques.”

“Yes.”

Junho nodded. He had already been given a heads-up about that after class last week.

The instructor handed Junho a military-style rubber knife, then closed the distance.

“All right. If an opponent holding a knife closes the distance?”

“You create distance.”

“That’s correct. But that’s based on ordinary self-defense or police restraint techniques. When you need to be certain you eliminate—or rather, neutralize—someone in the same space as you, it’s a little different. Try stabbing once. Slowly.”

When Junho thrust the rubber knife straight forward, the instructor lightly knocked his wrist aside with his left hand and twisted it away, while at the same time pressing the side of Junho’s neck with the knife-edge of his right hand.

“This is a sympathetic nerve point below the carotid artery. If it’s hit correctly, your head rings and your muscle response dulls. It’s a sensitive enough area that even a trained person’s posture can collapse for a moment. Feel the difference between civilian and military technique?”

“Yes. It’s definitely different.”

“Good. Now let’s repeat it. We’ll start slow like this, then pick up the speed bit by bit.”

This time the instructor took the rubber knife and played the attacker.

The points he stabbed at gradually grew more varied—face, side, abdomen—but Junho responded accurately every single time.

Knocking the wrist aside, then following through with a knife-hand strike aimed at the nerve point, the entire sequence of his movements stayed perfectly steady.

And then—

Swish!

Without any warning, the instructor suddenly whipped the arm that had just been deflected and stabbed in again with the rubber knife.

Junho responded without the slightest hesitation.

At the same instant he knocked the instructor’s wrist away with his left hand, he brought his right knife-hand toward the neck and slipped the opponent’s elbow under his own elbow.

It was a technique that broke the opponent’s center of balance.

“Oh?”

The instructor had deliberately held back some strength, but the moment his knee hit the mat, his eyes went wide.

He already knew Junho was unusual, but that one had really surprised him.

He had deliberately ignored the trained pattern and gone for a blind spot, but Junho had kept his eyes on the knife and responded instinctively.

“You okay? I just tried applying something I’d learned from doing MMA...”

“It’s good. Very good. You’re not wasting any strength, and your movements are precise. Honestly, at your level, unless someone has formally trained in close-quarters combat with a special unit, they probably wouldn’t be able to handle you.”

Genuinely impressed, the instructor went on, his eyes shining at the rare rough gem he had found after so long.

“At this level, I don’t think there’s any need to go step by step. I’ll just teach you techniques meant for real combat right away. You’ll probably only need to learn a few, and then you’ll be able to combine the rest on your own.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“All right, then—”

Just as the instructor was about to explain the next technique, Yoon Seolhee’s voice rang out.

“Senior, would you mind if I gave it a try?”

In the span of just a few minutes, Junhyeok was already drenched in sweat and sitting on the mat with a look of admiration, while Yoon Seolhee—the one who had been working with him—approached looking just as neat and composed as she had at the start.