44. What the Crazy Man Has Been Waiting For. (2)

Special Forces Commander Seong Gyu-hyuk nodded and asked:

“Two methods, you say. What are they?”

The crazy man in the white coat stiffened his face and looked at him.

“Both methods are not easy.”

Seong Gyu-hyuk tilted his head.

“What makes them difficult?”

“Basically, both methods involve cutting off the power first and then reconnecting it.”

Our expressions changed.

The power will be cut off.

Our large supermarket building has been reinforced with shutters and windows by Soo-hyeon and her team. Seo-rae Village has also set up barricades. Both groups are heavily armed with heavy weapons, so even if the power is cut, there shouldn’t be a problem with defense.

However, what about other survivors or groups?

No one knows what will happen to them when the power is cut.

Special Forces Commander Seong Gyu-hyuk looked at me.

Sergeant Song also turned his gaze to me.

They were seeking my judgment.

…Cutting the power.

I looked at the crazy man in the white coat.

“Will cutting and reconnecting the power definitely extend the lifespan of the power plant?”

The crazy man in the white coat smiled.

“The lifespan of the power plant is the same either way. If fuel is supplied, it’s almost permanent. The key is the fuel. Where can we get nuclear fuel now? Even if it exists somewhere, how do we bring it here? Fuel management? If there’s exposure, you know it’s over. The world is already ending, but still.”

He chuckled and continued:

“Ha, ha. Anyway, about the operational rate. If we can lower it, it’s better. Why wouldn’t it be? It would extend the usage from one year to two or three.”

That’s what I asked about.

He thought I was asking about the power plant’s aging, but I meant the lifespan in terms of fuel usage.

I shook my head and asked:

“How much do you think the usage will decrease after cutting the power?”

The crazy man in the white coat nodded and said:

“I’m not sure of the exact numbers. Analog systems will likely remain operational. For example, if a light is left on in a house, it will turn back on as soon as the power comes back.”

That makes sense.

We nodded. He continued:

“But all digital devices and equipment will shut down. For example, computers, and air conditioners that were running at high rates due to the heat. Before the chaos, there were companies mining cryptocurrency, running computers non-stop.”

Choke.

Cryptocurrency.

I’ve never tried it, but I have a friend who lost everything he earned from part-time jobs over a few years on it.

Sergeant Song’s eyes widened.

His expression turned sour.

…Sergeant Song must have lost money on cryptocurrency too.

The crazy man in the white coat smirked and said:

“How much power do you think they were using for something that isn’t even money? Those companies are probably still running. Most digital devices, including air conditioners, internet cafes, and mining operations, will shut down, significantly reducing usage. Factories and their equipment will also stop running.”

This man is definitely crazy, but his reasoning is quite rational.

I nodded and asked:

“I understand your point. You mentioned two methods. What are they?”

The crazy man in the white coat smiled.

“Overload the transmission towers and blow them up.”

Special Forces Commander Seong Gyu-hyuk’s eyebrows twitched.

“You mean blow up the transmission towers? How do you reconnect the power afterward?”

The crazy man in the white coat laughed and said:

“Don’t worry. It’s just a figure of speech. You just need to lower the power at the connected transmission towers and then raise it again.”

Special Forces Commander Seong Gyu-hyuk tilted his head and asked:

“Where are they?”

“Where else?”

He pointed out the window.

…It’s the mountain.

The high-voltage lines and towers on the mountain ridge.

Special Forces Commander Seong Gyu-hyuk let out a low sigh as he looked out the window.

“…That’s definitely a problem.”

“Isn’t it?”

The man in the white coat smiled bitterly and said:

“Lowering the power at the transmission towers isn’t difficult. You just open the panel, grab the handle, and lower it. But how do you get there? Do you know what’s in the mountain?”

Sergeant Song asked urgently:

“What’s in the mountain?”

The crazy man in the white coat slowly blinked.

He seemed to be recalling something.

He said:

“…I don’t know. I know there were mice, cats, and maybe some deer originally in the mountain. But that’s… I can’t be sure from a distance. I don’t know.”

…This is important information.

From what he’s saying, he didn’t see anything in detail. He saw some silhouettes, which is useful for me.

I asked:

“What exactly did you see?”

The crazy man in the white coat opened his mouth halfway and looked out the window.

“…I’m not sure when it was. Probably last month. It was raining, and the weather was bad. I was checking the water purification system and heard some noise from the mountain.”

He slowly raised his head.

He was recalling what he saw that day.

“It sounded like an owl, but it was strange. I looked at the mountain in the rain. There was a new hill.”

Special Forces Commander Seong Gyu-hyuk’s eyes narrowed.

“…A hill…?”

The man in the white coat said:

“Yes. At first, I thought it was a hill. But it wasn’t. It moved. Something bulged up… I’m sure it was a head. I couldn’t believe how big it was.”

He said softly, with a blank expression:

“At first, when the chaos started and we were left here, we didn’t consider the mountain a threat. We set up the electric fence to keep the monsters and human beasts from the nearby village out. But they didn’t come here. They were huddled in buildings and stores, not moving. I thought the electric fence was unnecessary.”

He chuckled and said:

“But that day, when I saw it, I thought it was lucky. Lucky that we had the electric fence. It would at least provide some protection. I thought it was really lucky.”

Sergeant Song swallowed hard and asked:

“…What was it?”

The man in the white coat shook his head.

“I don’t know. It’s just a guess.”

“Even a guess would be helpful. Any information is important to us.”

At Special Forces Commander Seong Gyu-hyuk’s words, the man in the white coat slowly nodded.

“Um… Yes. At first, I thought it was a wild boar… or something like that. But that doesn’t make sense. There’s no such thing as a wild boar that big. It was too big. It was too far away, and it was raining, so I couldn’t see or hear clearly, but it made a sound like an owl with a sore throat.”

…It’s possible.

A giant wild boar.

Special Forces Commander Seong Gyu-hyuk looked at me.

His expression was serious.

If it’s just a wild boar, I can handle it.

I slowly nodded.

Special Forces Commander Seong Gyu-hyuk, confirming my nod, gave me a slight nod and turned his gaze back to the man in the white coat.

“Have you seen any other animals? Just the wild boar?”

The man in the white coat shook his head.

“I haven’t looked at the mountain since that day. It’s scary. I don’t know if there are other things there.”

Special Forces Commander Seong Gyu-hyuk nodded and whispered to me:

“…If it’s like in Pyeongtaek, the boar will definitely lead other animals. Even you, Seong Hoon, can’t handle it alone.”

I had the same thought.

If it’s just a wild boar, it’s manageable.

I can handle it.

The problem is not knowing what else might be there.

If hundreds of animals, big and small, attack in a group, it would be too much for me alone.

I whispered to the Special Forces Commander:

“…If we spend some time cleaning the mountain every day, it might be possible.”

We did something similar in Seo-rae Village and around the supermarket building.

Seong Gyu-hyuk nodded and said:

“It’s a good idea, but if the wild boar and other animals attack while we’re doing it, our team’s weapons won’t be enough.”

Sergeant Song, who had been listening to our conversation, turned to me and the Special Forces Commander and said:

“What if we go back home and bring the minigun and anti-tank rockets?”

The Special Forces Commander thought for a moment and shook his head.

“…No. We can’t leave this place. We can’t predict how this man will act if we leave.”

That’s a valid concern.

The man in the white coat is crazy.

If he thinks we’ve abandoned him, who knows what a crazy man who talks to the air might do.

I don’t believe in gods, but only God knows.

At that moment, the man in the white coat asked:

“Pyeongtaek? You mentioned Pyeongtaek earlier.”

Special Forces Commander Seong Gyu-hyuk nodded and said:

“This isn’t our first operation. We’ve been to Pyeongtaek. There, we… hunted the wild boar you mentioned. This person did it.”

The man in the white coat’s eyes widened.

He looked at me and asked:

“…You hunted that huge beast?”

Um.

I got the Spatial Claw and came back to life, but ultimately, yes.

I nodded and shrugged.

The man in the white coat looked me up and down in amazement.

“How did you do it? With that sword? No way. That beast would just treat it like a toothpick.”

Um.

It’s hard to explain.

I glanced at the Special Forces Commander.

Noticing my gaze, the Special Forces Commander asked the man in the white coat:

“I understand the first method, but you mentioned a second one. What is the second method?”