Apocalypse Shelter Administrator-Chapter 75: Nina

Nina

"People live there too."

This is a common phrase often said to comfort someone about to head to a difficult place. For men in South Korea, it's something they often hear from their parents or acquaintances before going to the military. The same goes for prison. No matter how filthy the place is, in the end, it’s still a place where people live.

Humans are adaptable creatures, so eventually, they get used to it. But the first night after being imprisoned has no comparison—it’s horrifying. It’s like being reborn through the anus of a man who has hemorrhoids after returning to the fetal state. It’s suffocating, trash is everywhere, and darkness surrounds you. There's no hope in sight.

When you look at it this way, the women who entered the shelter have indeed undergone an extreme experience. The horrific monsters that appeared after the outbreak, the countless corpses, the refugee procession, and the sight of the entire country burning. All of these things were witnessed firsthand before being transported to a maritime prison.

Some were glad, thinking that being on an island surrounded by the sea would be safe, but that’s like running to the second floor when the first floor is on fire.

Before they could even recover from the shock of the hellish scenes, they had to fight against cold, hunger, isolation, and the chaos of survival of the fittest. And finally, they arrived at the shelter, where peace and their basic needs were guaranteed. Compared to anything in their lives, it must have felt like the ultimate reward after hardship. Yet, surprisingly, they stayed quiet for a while.

One of the key principles of prison life is to lie low when transferred to a new prison. You need to learn the new rules and avoid getting noticed by the guards. Especially the veteran guards—getting marked by them makes your life very difficult.

If you hear something like, “You’re on my list, you bastard,” It won’t just end with being called out for demonstrations in every drill like in the military. From that moment on, you become prey for all the inmates in the prison. You can’t wash in peace, can’t use the bathroom without worry, and can’t even buy anything from the black market.

It’s also important to identify influential inmates, often referred to as power players. In the case of the shelter, everyone was a newcomer, so this didn’t apply. Because of these unspoken rules, over 2,000 inmates have behaved quietly for the past while. But now, it seems they all think they’ve gotten a good feel for the place.

[Several factions are forming simultaneously inside the shelter. There are already multiple disputes of various sizes occurring.]

Rose reported.

The fact that groups are moving together and fighting means that the period of settling into the new place is over. But there’s an even more obvious sign than faction wars—the emergence of ‘the lovebirds.’

There are women known as the Sisters. Just hearing their name gives you a sense, doesn’t it? That’s right. They’re lesbians.

“Don’t you need a friend?”

“See those girls over there? They’ve got their eyes on you.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll protect you. It’s lonely to be by yourself in a place like this.”

They approached with a method disguised as kindness, offering friendship. It seems like gays trying to expand another man’s anus in prison and lesbians rubbing up against each other here have the same pickup lines. Maybe birds of a feather do flock together.

Meanwhile, there were also requests for education. It’s common for the government to teach prisoners something in the name of rehabilitation, but for the prisoners themselves to voluntarily ask for education is rare. Due to the shelter’s unique situation, such a miracle occurred.

[Let’s live good lives.]

Kiz said.

“Let’s live good lives.”

A large group of foreign women repeated the phrase awkwardly. Not all foreigners, like pimp Sasha, water dealer Sophia, or fighter Nina, were fluent in Korean. Many had smuggled themselves in and were very poor at Korean.

It was impossible for them to return to society, and they had to survive here. They realized during the last aptitude test that how well they spoke Korean and understood Hangul translated directly to their social status. At the very least, being able to get a slightly better job was a sure thing.

So they started requesting, “I want to learn Korean~” and the AI in charge of life management, Kiz, asked for my permission to set up a class.

Teaching a language is usually no easy task, but the AI teacher was different. It analyzed each woman’s level in real time and made an individualized education plan, implementing 1:1 tutoring for homework, separate from the general lessons.

AI can exist in multiple places at once or hold conversations with dozens or even hundreds of people simultaneously. Kiz’s ability to hold completely different conversations through the PDAs handed out during class was impressive.

“Isn’t it confusing?”

[I may not be as good as Artemis, but I’m a supercomputer too. This is nothing! Haha!]

It was the first time I’d seen a positive example of multi-tasking. Or should it be called multi-legging? Of course, there were women who didn’t like this.

“You bitches should get the hell back to your country!”

“Nope! Nope! Not going! I’ll stay here till I’m old and die!”

They didn’t like that the foreigners were studying and trying to climb up the ladder.

“How dare those illegal immigrants act so cocky and arrogant?”

“So what? We got permission from the Administrator! What did you contribute to building this place, huh?”

This competitive instinct quickly led to a conflict between a faction of native-born inmates and some foreign inmates.

“We paid taxes!”

“Did you pay taxes here, dumbasses?”

The argument escalated to petty name-calling, and the atmosphere grew more hostile, eventually leading to physical clashes. And whenever that happened, there was a woman who often appeared.

Swoosh! A Ukrainian woman with brown hair flying through the air as she delivered a beautiful flying kick, Nina. Like General Guan Yu splitting an army in two, her flying kick split the crowd about to explode and ended the fight.

“Wow.”

I couldn’t help but be amazed while watching the videos of these disputes provided by Rose.

Every fight ended the moment Nina was involved. The women who had been spewing foul language at each other instantly shut up. Even the black woman who had been flailing and hitting her own comrades couldn’t resist Nina’s hand. She was truly like a lioness standing alone amidst a pack of jackals.

Curious, I checked her profile and found she wasn’t just any woman. She had been passed from orphanage to orphanage and repeatedly adopted and then returned. Even though adoption and return procedures had become easier due to changes in the law, her case was unusual.

Reason for return?

“Her first adoption involved multiple incidents of sexual molestation and one attempted rape by her adoptive father. After a police investigation, the father was arrested, and she returned to the orphanage.”

I turned the page.

"Her second adoption was marked by repeated involvement in school violence incidents. After being expelled for excessive use of violence, she was left unattended at home when her adoptive parents divorced, until a social worker discovered her and reported the situation."

At the time, Nina was being bullied, and according to records, when she was slapped by her tormentors, she went berserk and began throwing punches.

Even considering the fact that she was a victim of bullying and that she was attacked first, the extent of violence she used far exceeded any claim of self-defense. Photos of the girls she assaulted were included in the attached files, and it was hard to believe the injuries could result from a fight between girls.

But what was even more surprising…

"Even after that, there were still people wanting to adopt her."

Despite being a troublemaker, adoptive parents continued to express interest in adopting her. Looking at pictures of Nina when she was younger, it was easy to understand why.

Her doll-like features. A beautifully proportioned figure. Pale white skin and piercing blue eyes, full of strong will. Even at a young age, she exuded an overwhelming allure.

Nina stood out even when surrounded by other children at the orphanage. Prospective parents, who intended to adopt a child to pour their love, effort, and resources into for life, were left with no other choice. After seeing Nina, the idea of giving that kind of care to any other child felt like a waste.

Those prospective parents who even briefly entertained such unseemly thoughts scolded themselves, yet they couldn’t help but keep their eyes on this girl. Because of that, despite her violent record and history of being returned after failed adoptions, adoptive parents continued to line up for Nina.

However, fate did not leave her alone. Everywhere she went, she was caught up in one problem or another, and her circumstances hardened her, making her uncontrollable by the time she reached high school.

"Is there no record from before her first adoption, I mean, regarding her biological parents?"

[No, the only information available from the records at the archive of the offshore prison pertains to the period around her first adoption.]

Rose responded.

It seemed that Nina had come to Korea at a young age and bounced from one orphanage to another, but she had been born abroad and spent her early years there.

[She’s a very combative woman, but she clearly has leadership qualities. Surprisingly, she adheres to rules quite well.]

"She adheres to rules?"

Nina had always been a troublemaker, and even during her time in prison, she frequently went in and out of solitary confinement.

[The rules here are different from those in external prisons. This lifestyle seems to suit her. She has a rather ascetic personality and never neglects her training.]

Footage from her daily life showed that while other residents lazed around in their quarters when not assigned work, Nina was training in the courtyard by herself. Watching her take a disciplined stance and gaze straight ahead, the only word that came to mind was ‘beautiful.’ Anything more would be excessive.

Her involvement in the faction fights between domestic and foreign women wasn’t born out of any solidarity with fellow foreigners. Apparently, it reminded her of her similar experiences in school, and she found it unpleasant.

Rose recommended Nina as a peacekeeper, and for a high-ranking position at that.

[She may be a lone wolf, but she commands immense influence among the inmates. She's violent, but it's within manageable limits. Considering the uniqueness of our city, there’s no better candidate for the role of peacekeeper.]

"You seem to like her?"

At my words, Rose played a video. It was from the final stage of the occupational aptitude test—the VR test.

“Screeeech!”

Thud!

A shrieking infected creature charged at her, only to be knocked down by a precise high kick. Before it could even rise, Nina smashed its head with a fire extinguisher in her hands.

“Screeeech!”

At the same time, another infected creature lunged at her from behind, but Nina quickly flipped her body and pinned it to the ground in a mount position.

Bam! Bam!

She threw a few punches, then grabbed the nearby fire extinguisher again and slammed it down repeatedly to finish it off. Although she sustained injuries, none were fatal.

[Nina is one of the very few who succeeded in the 4th VR test—eliminating the infected. She was the only one to take down two of them.]

Rose spoke with certainty in her voice.

[I want to work with Nina.]

There was no reason to oppose her. As a soldier before being an administrator, I was always eager to have a strong woman by my side whom I could trust.

"Do as you wish."

[Thank you.]

Rose bowed respectfully.