Chapter 33: Our Shelter

“From the sound of it, our young customer here wants one of the PCP models—Pre-Charged Pneumatic—but specifically something easy to maintain. In that case, this one’s just about perfect.”

The gun-shop owner handled a sporty-looking air rifle as he explained.

“This one’s the Viper 635, a Chinese OEM model. Aluminum receiver, basic polymer stock. Good for beginners, and perfectly fine for intermediate shooters too.”

“I see.”

When Junho responded without much enthusiasm, the owner quickly picked up another model and continued.

“Chinese-made still doesn’t quite do it for you, huh? Then you want the domestic Sable Pro. Matte wooden stock, and if you add the semiauto kit option, it’ll go up to ten rounds. Just look at it—solid, steady, serious feel, right? The bolt handle and trigger guard are metal-finished too, so its durability is outstanding. Good caliber, and the air cylinder’s 480cc, so it checks every box you mentioned.”

“Would it be all right if I took a closer look?”

“Of course.”

Junho carefully examined the air rifle the owner handed him.

From what he had researched online, Chinese air rifles performed well these days too, but Korean-made air rifles were said to be recognized as top-tier even on the global market.

And this was one of the models he had already shortlisted while looking into air rifles online.

Sensing that Junho liked it, the gun-shop owner quickly kept talking.

“That one’s got an effective range of up to eighty meters using twenty-five-gram pellets. Birds like pheasants, magpies, crows, little critters like squirrels—one shot does the job. Durability’s number one, and since it’s domestic, parts compatibility is great. The only downside is that it’s a little heavy, but... whew, looking at your build, that won’t be a problem at all.”

The owner clicked his tongue as he looked Junho up and down.

“And that model can take something like a Picadi—Picadi—rail too, so you can mount a dot sight.”

“A Picatinny rail?”

“Ah, right. Picatinny. Anyway, it came certified from the start as an approved accessory setup, so it’s not illegal. And it’s a model that can take a dedicated scope anyway, so you’re fine.”

“Nice. I like it. How much?”

“Two-twenty, but since you said you’re buying several, I’ll knock twenty off.”

“Thank you. Do you have anything else you’d recommend?”

“Oh, of course I do! This one’s British, and Britain’s one of the heavyweights in air rifles too, isn’t it? This one...”

And so, over the next thirty minutes or so, after being shown and talked through several models, Junho selected two Korean-made rifles and one British one.

The domestic models had excellent durability, balance, and versatility, while the British rifle, priced at a full five million won, boasted extreme accuracy and was a premium piece with almost no noise or residual vibration.

After buying the three air rifles on a thirty-six-month installment plan, Junho decided to go with the gun-shop owner to a civilian shooting range and test-fire them.

Even during transport by car, they were stored in dedicated locked gun cases, with the ammunition kept separately.

It made Junho realize all over again just how strict Korea’s gun laws really were.

Once they arrived at the range, Junho followed the owner’s guidance and learned the bolt action of all three models, where to fill the air, and how to adjust the scopes.

After that, he test-fired them at fifty-meter targets. The domestic rifles had clean shot groupings, low noise, and manageable recoil, which he liked quite a bit.

But the premium British rifle really was different.

“Wow, I mean, the gun’s a beauty, but you can really shoot.”

The gun-shop owner sounded genuinely impressed as Junho put on a performance of firing ten shots and landing every one of them in the nine or ten rings.

“That’s just because the gun’s good.”

Answering modestly, Junho resumed shooting, and over the course of about an hour of test fire, he was able to get a rough grasp of each model’s characteristics.

“But sir, about these air rifles. At this range, you can disassemble them for inspection and all that, right?”

“Of course. It’s for measuring and inspection, so naturally that’s allowed. And...”

The owner glanced around, then lowered his voice almost to a whisper.

“We can do 3D modeling design work and CAD drafting too. As long as there’s no actual physical manufacture, it’s legal. There are some people who are really into guns, so if you read the room, it’s fine.”

To Junho, who had just handed him a single sale of three rifles totaling ten million won, the owner was being extremely friendly and cooperative.

With the domestic hunting market shrinking as it was, a young man who looked like he had serious money getting genuinely into hunting was a huge stroke of luck for a gun-shop owner too.

Because most people treated the first shop where they bought a gun as their regular place and did not go elsewhere. Which meant if he kept hold of someone like Junho, who practically radiated wealth, he had effectively secured future sales too.

“I see. Anyway, thank you very much, sir.”

“Oh, come on now. Don’t mention it. Stop by and shoot once in a while. Since you work out, you probably already know this, but with shooting too, if you don’t want to lose your feel, you’ve got to do it regularly. I’ll take good care of you.”

“All right. Understood.”

After finishing the test fire at the range, Junho went to the firearms-storage department at the police station with jurisdiction over the area, submitted his possession permit, test-fire confirmation, and purchase receipt, and consigned the air rifles.

“All right, three air rifles confirmed. These firearms are now registered for consignment storage, and when you take them out, you’ll need either a hunting permit or a prior declaration proving the relevant activity. And remember, using them outside the permitted scope is illegal.”

The police officer, a sergeant, gave the air rifles a rough once-over before speaking in a flat, businesslike tone.

“Yes.”

After signing the paperwork and coming back out, Junho parted ways with the gun-shop owner and got into the driver’s seat.

“That was a big haul.”

Buying the air rifles he intended to use in the apocalypse and getting a rough understanding of their features and performance through live firing had been worthwhile, of course.

But the biggest gain, in Junho’s mind, was something else.

“The cops only gave them a cursory check.”

As bored and perfunctory as his expression had been, the officer in charge had only looked the air rifles over briefly.

For Junho, who somehow had to get them out and replicate them to prepare for the coming apocalypse, that was very good news.

“This might be easier than I thought...”

Muttering under his breath, Junho drove on.

He had another important errand today.

***

“I heard about it. You’re planning to start a private security company after completing the Zero Sign Tactical School program?”

“It’s not that I’m planning to start a private security company. Actually, I...”

Junho briefly explained “our pension,” then held out his firearms possession permit, hunting license, and the private security company registration certificate Lee Dongcheol had arranged for him.

“Since it’s a place only VVIPs will be using, we’re planning to have trained guards stationed there full-time. We also want to monitor the mountain area around the pension for wildfires and operate two or three units for private disaster-response drills.”

“Ah, I see.”

Park Jaehyun, the head of a specialty-vehicle company and a retired Army lieutenant colonel, nodded.

When the head of the tactical school, someone he knew from his military days, had told him that one of his students—a young rich man with serious backing—was preparing a private security company and wanted to buy armored vehicles, his first thought had been,

What kind of nonsense is this?

Still, the referral had come from the head of a tactical school who was himself a former special-operations officer, and the man’s identity checked out, so he had figured he might as well meet him first.

A villa used by the ultra-elite? No doubt there are a politician’s kid or a judge or prosecutor’s kid mixed in there too.

For that kind of reason, commissioning special vehicles made perfect sense.

“To be honest, at first I was thinking about importing directly from the U.S. or Germany. But those companies kept recommending nothing but midsize and large sedans, basically chauffeur-style vehicles. And the prices were just... insane.”

“They’re bad about that. Basic armored vehicles don’t even require some amazing level of technology, but they’re in the habit of gouging Asian customers they think are easy marks and don’t know much.”

As if he had some personal grudge about it, Park Jaehyun replied irritably.

“Yes. I was stunned too when they started talking six or seven hundred million won for a single armored SUV. But then I happened to hear about your company. I was told you’ve got a lot of experience and your work is excellent.”

“Yes. ADT Mobil was founded in 2015, and ever since then we’ve been producing fully customized armored vehicles from NIJ Level 2 to Level 4. We comply with Korean, American, and European standards, and recently we successfully developed modular armored units for EV platforms as well. Battery-cell protection, EMP shielding—”

Park Jaehyun went on at length, chest puffed out with confidence in his company’s technology.

It was all information Junho already knew well, but after patiently listening to the whole company pitch, he smiled and said,

“Yes. I was impressed even from what I’d heard secondhand, but hearing it directly from you makes me trust you completely. In any case, what you’re saying is that as long as the structural modification approval goes through, there’s no issue with commissioning production from your company, correct?”

“We handle everything from the structural-modification application to the final vehicle inspection on your behalf. Frankly, if we do it, it goes through a lot more smoothly and with less noise. Of course, if we’re handling all that, the cost goes up a little...”

“Seven hundred million won total. Three hundred million per vehicle at NIJ Level 3, plus your service fee. I’ll need wireless communications, drone linkage capability, and infrared thermal imaging cameras installed as options.”

“Leave it to us. Even giving ourselves plenty of room, you should be able to take delivery in fifteen or sixteen weeks.”

The prolonged recession from the pandemic had not spared specialty-vehicle companies either, so Park Jaehyun smiled broadly enough to deepen the lines on his face.

***

Time passed quickly.

Together, Junho and Junhyeok completed the Krav Maga and tactical school programs, and thanks to a body that had already transformed into something on the level of an elite athlete, Junho had also reached intermediate parkour ability in just a few months.

And in the meantime, Junho’s body underwent another change.

His height reached one hundred eighty centimeters, and though his weight had dropped slightly to seventy-six kilograms, his body had turned into something like a sharpened human weapon.

Baek Hail safely cashed out the Selene coin position, having invested 1.2 billion won and made a profit of over 800 million.

Out of a total of 2 billion won, he then went all-in with 1.5 billion on NVIDIA.

The funny part was that he had managed to buy in even lower than Junho had, so if he sold around March 2024 as planned, the final liquidation value could reach a full 8 billion won.

That was because Junho only knew from Han Youngjung that NVIDIA would eventually rise; he had not known that it would fall to around fifteen dollars in 2022, so he had bought around thirty.

In any case, Junho and Baek Hail were satisfied that by March or April of 2024, the two of them together would be able to make nearly 20 billion won in additional funds.

And the “Our Pension” site underwent enormous changes too, just like its owner.

Consumed by the bonus incentive, Woorim Engineering Design Office launched into construction like men going to war under Baek Hail’s supervision, and before summer even arrived, they managed the remarkable feat of finishing the ground work, the water and sewage systems, the wastewater treatment system, and nearly the entire main building.

Since Baek Hail had personally overseen the work and even joined in himself, there was nothing slapdash about the construction.

The laborers seemed a little bored living in accommodations made from converted shipping containers, but they could go out on weekends and the extra pay was decent, so they seemed more or less satisfied with the work.

And so the hot summer passed, autumn quietly crept in, and around the promised mid-October date, “Our Pension” stood on the verge of completion.

“You’ve all worked very hard, Director Park, and you too, CEO Hwang.”

“Ah, come on now. It ain’t like that. My site manager and the workers are the ones who did all the hard work, not me...”

“Same here. Team Leader Yoon and the staff were the ones working day and night.”

Park Chanyeong waved it off, and Hwang Sejun modestly credited their staff instead.

But Junho knew both men had put considerable care into making this major project—the biggest either [N O V E L I G H T] had landed in a long time—absolutely perfect.

Even if the driving force behind that effort was the desire for the 250 million won bonus per company, doing your absolute best for a fair reward in a capitalist society was something worthy of applause.

“The bonus should’ve hit your accounts just a little while ago. You may want to check.”

“Ah... then...”

The heads of the two companies cautiously pulled out their phones and checked the screens, and soon both of them were wearing smiles as wide as washbasins.

“Thank you so much, President Lee Junho.”

“Man, if only all clients were like you, President Lee Junho. Thank you kindly.”

“It’s nothing. You all earned it by working hard.”

After thanking both companies once again, Junho looked around with emotion swelling in his chest.

Built at a total cost of 10.3 billion won, just slightly over budget, “Our Pension”—no, Our Shelter—stood there in dignified splendor, welcoming its owner.