Apocalypse Hunter

How a megalopolis named New Hong Kong came to be was simple.

The area, which used to be heavily populated in the past, had four MCPs: Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou.

Due to the Wargraves’ penchant for building fortresses on MCPs, the four Fortresses had been built relatively close to each other, and the link between the four Fortresses was the start of the Wargrave Central Asian Army.

Naturally, the four Fortress systems of cooperation brought about security and stability to the area. Thanks to this, civilians had flocked there, and people who leveraged safety had gathered to form the New Hong Kong that it was now.

In fact, the Wargraves had no interest in civilian lives, but a big city had eventually been created.

Still, on the surface, the Fortresses and New Hong Kong had nothing to do with each other. However, it was obvious that the Wargraves were somehow meddling in the affairs of the megalopolis.

No one knew how it was being done.

New Hong Kong was also the place where hunters were most active, so chips were constantly in circulation. The fact that the megalopolis was a place people could live without worrying about monsters was a good enough reason for it to grow. The production facilities were there, and the factories were in operation.

The service industry still remained there.

As such, the megalopolis was a unique place for the people of the wilderness. Since it was also Wargraves’ territory, Zin’s team had to park the armored vehicle at the entrance to the city. Although there was a risk of theft, it was better than letting the Wargraves hear about an unidentified armored vehicle having appeared in the city.

“Let’s walk from here.”

Fortunately, the armored vehicle could be hidden under the rubble, where no one would look for it. The three got out of the car and started walking toward New Hong Kong.

Where there was bright light, there was always shadow.

There were no monsters in the megalopolis, but there was violence, and rampant high-pressure extortion, robbery, murder, theft, and crime.

The only force that could maintain the security of such a huge conglomeration was the Wargraves, but they were not interested in that.

The Reavers who had been happy eating human flesh in the fields clumsily became civilized and, in turn, became huge organized gangs, and the gangsters waged war to take control of the city. There were shootings and people dying in broad daylight.

After the apocalypse, the monsters had become the enemies of man. But from the time, before the apocalypse, as well as at the time of the barbarians and the primitive people, man’s greatest enemy had always been man, and this fact was also being recreated in this barbaric metropolis.

As the Wargrave and large city coexisted, the city’s rulers kept changing. There were many ways in which this bizarre world could be experience, and the people who came to the city for the first time could see things that had once ruled the world but were now gone…

[All of you can use Odin Corporation’s products! Guns and Bullets! Come see all of our products at a low price!]

… They were advertisements.

[Experience Atomic Chemical’s Excellent Medication Now! It’s incredibly fast, incredibly thrilling, and incredibly safe!]

Although they had not yet walked past the border of the city, a number of advertising slogans could be seen.

In big cities, there were corporations that were the darlings of capitalism. And corporations used the medium of advertisement to endear themselves to the public.

What had been a normal in the past had become a strange scene. The signs were overlaid with letters written with a red lacquer or scraped by a steel pen.

[Stop Odin Corporation’s Ownership of War!]

That was written on the Odin Corporation billboard.

[Atomic Chemical, stop dumping industrial waste at Taeho! We can’t live with dirty water that smells like medicine! (What our company released in Taeho was a disinfectant which is harmless to the human body and neutralizes the CP concentration in the water. We’ll be happy to answer any further questions you may have at your office. — P.R. Manager of Atomic Chemical)]

The Atomic Chemical billboards had been scraped by a steel pen, and the objections to the criticisms were written there as well. Of course, if anyone was to visit the office for real, he/she would not be happy with what awaited there.

Leona was able to discern some of the realities of Shanghai’s megalopolis just by reading the billboards.

“I’ve lost my desire to go in there now.” Leona, who could already foresee many troubling issues, shook her head.

As she watched the gray fog flowing over the distant horizon, she could feel that she would be experiencing events beyond her expectations again this time.

There was no place in the world that had no problems. In front of their eyes was the sight of the tallest building in the towering metropolis in the distance.

Ramphil, who had perfect vision, could see the flashing sign and even the letters on the top of the building.

[The Odin Corporation is always with you!]

“Hmmm…” Rampil didn’t feel like the words were somehow positive.

“With you…?”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Ramphil walked on, but for some reason, the letters of the huge building stayed with him.

————–

“Wow…”

Leona couldn’t keep her mouth shut as she observed the flashing neon signs and countless people on the street.

[Avatar Noodles]

[Fork and Injection]

[Epsilon Meatballs]

Leona pointed her fingers to this and that as she walked through the streets with flashing letters she couldn’t quite understand.

“Hey, what’s that over there?”

“It’s a restaurant. It sells food.”

“That one?”

“Ummm… I think it’s a place that sells synthetic meat.”

“Synthetic meat? What’s that?”

“It’s fake meat that’s been artificially made to taste like meat…” Zin replied and stared at Leona. “Stop asking about everything like you’re some country bumpkin. Just understand that that’s the way it is.”

“But it’s true that I am a country bumpkin. How can I not act like one?”

Zin frowned even though she had a point. Ramphil didn’t make it too obvious, but he too was mesmerized and was scanning the area quickly.

The passers-by wore things that looked shabby, but they were still properly dressed, and some were wearing faded suits. It was certainly a sight that couldn’t be seen anywhere else.

Since this was the place where all the chips in the neighborhood gathered, the place was quite abundant with energy. In addition, it was the only place that had newly constructed buildings after the apocalypse.

[Sigma Security–We guarantee your safety.]

There were private security corporations everywhere. Where there were a lot of chips, there were also people trying to steal them, so by paying a certain amount, one could get a security guard.

In fact, some rich-looking people were travelling together with their personal bodyguards, but others were sitting in an alley, staring sideways at the roads. It wasn’t very difficult to figure out that they were looking for people to steal from.

Some walked along the boulevard with bodyguards, some peeked out of the alley for someone to pickpocket, some were drunk on something, some were on the streets, badly beaten, with people unable to discern whether they were dead or alive.

There were a great deal of people talking all around.

“Please, if I can’t work here, I…”

“Tomorrow, it’s going to be at Zone 49B. Don’t forget.”

“You’re not making payments on time. It’s not going to be pretty if you keep this up.”

“You have to at least pay the interest regularly. Isn’t it your fault for using the money with the high interest rate?”

“Today, this drug is all I have…”

“Please, forgive me this one last time.”

“Hey, mister, do you have a lot of chips?”

Leona was feeling dizzy from listening to the words loaded with personal stories. She could not understand the emotions of the words she was hearing without wanting to and she felt dizzy.

Zin walked on cooly, without looking anywhere.

As if he was familiar with the city, he went about his way while looking around. And perhaps because of such familiarity, he didn’t attract the attention of pickpockets and robbers even though he was traveling with two visitors.

Ramphil, who had been walking for a long time, asked, “How much longer until we get there?”

There were men and buildings everywhere in sight, and beyond that there were cities. It was difficult to reach the destination by walking. Zin looked around and when he spotted a sign, he said, “Just a little further.”

Zin was pointing to a sign that said: [! Station 34]

—————————————

Leona’s eyes widened when she saw the subway station. The sight of countless people standing outside the rail had, of course, peaked her curiosity.

“What’s this?”

“It’s like a railway. It’s similar to the one used to transport goods inside fortresses.”

The megalopolis was quite large and not easy to get around. The railway, which was built by renovating and repairing the railroad lines and facilities that existed in the past, was designed to facilitate travel throughout the megalopolis region.

As goods were made by demand, and with a substantial production base in the megalopolis, the railways were in operation, albeit at a lesser capacity when compared to the past.

Zin lined up at the ticket booth and waited for his turn. He looked at the route map and said, “Three to Station 43.”

“That will be nine chips, sir. Please board at Line Four.”

There was no electronic card, so one had to buy a ticket to get on the rail. The ticket agent greeted Zin with a warm smile.

“Thank you for using the Odin Corporation’s train today.” As they were greeted in the friendly but business-like manner, they walked passed the ticket office and went inside.

Ramphil and Leona followed Zin like baby birds chasing after their mother. Both of them did not even understand what was going on.

“Stay together. If you got lost, it would be a headache.”

“Uh-huh, OK. I was just thinking the same thing.”

There was a sudden panic as she thought about getting lost in that crowded place, where she could end up being a lost child. Leona grabbed the ends of Zin’s coat. Of course, Zin could understand that much.

“… Um… What are you doing?” To Zin’s right, Ramphil was grabbing his arm.

“I don’t want any problems, either.”

Zin sighed and headed for platform number four with the two people hanging on to him. The train wasn’t an underground subway system, so one could see outside, but in order to prevent people from entering the station over the walls, there were fences all along the station limits and armed guards patrolling the area.

Many people were waiting to board the train, and everyone had a stressed-out look on their faces. Ramphil was looking around and reading the advertisements.

Zin succinctly explained the principle and utility of advertising, while Leona and Ramphil nodded. The train stations were facilities with a significant transient population and, therefore, a very effective place for advertisements.

The cost of maintaining such a large facility would be too high to cover with just fares alone, so the main source of income was likely advertising. And as such, the countless advertisements at the station were enough to mesmerize people.

Ramphil was in deep thought for a while, before opening his mouth and asking, “Does the Odin Corporation control the railway?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that they control it… Um, but, I guess that’s not totally off base. Sure.”

Somehow, Zin found Ramphil’s comment funny and laughed. After all, the two were country bumpkins although Zin wasn’t.

‘Chug, chug!’

It was only natural that their eyes were turned over once again at the sight of the train coming in.

—————————–

It had been a long time since Zin visited New Hong Kong. The big cities were constantly changing, and Zin was seeing most things for the first time as well. In the case of the railways, they had become worse and slower than in the past. Many corporations had either disappeared or were newly formed.

Everything changed in big cities. Although there were numerous advertisements and facilities from corporations that had never existed before, Zin was familiar with the city so it wasn’t difficult to get around.

Some progressed and some regressed.

Leona asked questions in the heavily turbulent train. As if she had decided to accept things as they were, Leona gave herself up to the flow. The city was so full of things she had never seen, and if she were to be surprised by everything she saw, she might die of a heart attack. “So, there’s no lord or a leader here?”

“No, because it’s too big.”

The laws of free cities and castles were not enforced at all, and there were corporations here, which was a concept that didn’t exist anywhere else.

The biggest force in the big city was the corporations. And places like Harlem and the slums were dominated by gangs. The atmosphere of the city itself changed according to the situation of the corporations.

Each corporation had a different area of influence. And urbanized Reaver gangs dominated the slums that businesses didn’t care about.

“So, even Reavers can’t do much to the corporations?” asked Raphil, and Zin nodded.

“The difference is as big as the difference between an army and street gangs.”

In order to protect themselves, corporations trained security guards very similarly to the military, and the scales were big because it was a big city. Naturally, even though the Reavers were brutal, they could not stand up to the corporations.

“It’s almost like a symbiotic relationship.”

Sometimes, corporations used gangs to do their dirty work. Gangs sometimes took over uncomfortable matters that were difficult to do in the name of a corporation, even though there was no law in the first place.

Rather, gangsters were sometimes servants of the corporations here.

“The hands of power change all the time, so it’s difficult to tell, but there are groups that are strong in every region.”

In some cases, even if it was not a corporation or a gang, a wealthy group holding the capital of the surrounding area could control half of the region.

The big city was a competitive arena for many capitalists. Even though there was no war, it would be more fair to see it as a collection of hundreds of free cities where the rulers changed from time to time.

‘The city is divided into hundreds of sections. Each has a group or an individual in charge of an area, even if not a ruler.”

“What a mess…”

One empire, a big city was a stressful place even as a member.

“So, in the end, there are a lot of leaders in different regions, not just one?” At Leona’s question, Zin nodded.

“Yes. Except for one place.”

“Where?”

“Where we’re going now.” Zin pointed toward the direction they were heading nonchalantly.

The only place in the big city that was not on anyone’s side and belonged to no one. A perfect neutral zone.

That was the hunter’s nest.

The group got off at Station 43, returned their tickets and went back to the street. People were coming and going, but there were certainly fewer people there than at anywhere else.

The word “neutral” itself was a curiosity.

“But why do people leave this place alone? In the first place, how do you choose an area to control?”

“If you have a zone under control, you can exert influence on all the chips that come and go from there. In a big city, a rich man is a powerful man, and you can make more money if you dominate a certain area. This is not the only place that was neutral, but it’s the only place that’s left.”

“Why?”

If you took over any region, you became the money. Anyone who had a nest full of chipmakers like hunters would want to have them within their grasp.

“Well, what happens when you try to collect taxes from people who make a living out of killing things?”

It didn’t take both of them long to realize it wasn’t worth asking.