Acid Rain Apocalypse: My Reborn Wife Stole My Shelter

"Shut up! Give the industrial city to your brother-in-law!"

My wife's voice rang out across the Human Alliance's territorial allocation office.

I opened my eyes and saw two territory draw results flashing on the virtual screen:

[SSS-Rank Territory: Industrial City]

[C-Rank Territory: Frozen Tundra Iron Mine]

I turned to look at my wife, Irene. She wasn't even glancing at the industrial city—the one that represented endless wealth. Instead, her eyes were fixed on the cold, barren frozen tundra iron mine, practically shining.

In that instant, I understood everything.

I had been reborn. And Irene had been reborn too.

In my previous life, it had happened here too.

Irene forced me to give the industrial city to her brother, Luke, while I was pushed into the frozen tundra iron mine. They lived comfortably in the industrial city, squeezing the workers dry and getting rich with ease, while I struggled to dig ore in underground tunnels at forty below, trading blood and sweat for Federal credits just to keep those leeches fed.

Then the acid rain apocalypse descended on the wasteland.

The industrial city's already hollow foundation was eaten away by the acid. Before the scientists could come up with a solution, the whole city came crashing down. The frozen tundra, however, lay deep in the icefields. Its thick, hardened ground hadn't yet been corroded in the early stages, so I remained safe underground for a time.

When Irene's family was left covered in rotting acid burns, I was the one who charged into the acid rain and risked my life to drag them back to the mine tunnels.

I thought I would earn their gratitude.

What I got instead was Luke and my father-in-law, Jack, pinning down my arms and legs while my mother-in-law, Mary, held the knife.

And Irene was nestled sweetly in the arms of the man she had always truly loved—Dario.

"Darling, if he doesn't die, control of the mine will never belong to us." Smiling, Dario drove a poisoned blade into my heart.

Irene looked at me with naked disgust. "If Dario didn't need a safe place to stay during the apocalypse, why would I have tolerated a filthy, sweat-soaked brute like you for this long? Just die already!"

Bone-deep despair swallowed me whole.

I hated my own stupidity even more than I hated this nest of vipers. Right before I died, I hit the detonator and set off every explosive in the mine, dragging those animals down with me.

"A-Are you insane, Irene? That's an SSS-rank industrial city! Why should he get it?!" Luke's voice yanked me back to reality.

His face was full of greed as he reached eagerly for the industrial city selection.

Smack!

Irene slapped his hand away.

"I said, give it to your brother-in-law!" she repeated sharply.

Mary took her son's hand and checked it with a pained expression, then asked in confusion, "Irene, that's an industrial city. Thousands of people live there. Why would we choose the frozen tundra iron mine instead, when it's so cold and barely populated?"

Jack chimed in with a frown. "Y-Yeah. A C-rank dump like the frozen tundra iron mine... not even a dog would go there..."

"Trust me." Irene's voice was firm.

Their family usually followed Irene's lead, so even now, they had no choice but to accept her decision.

Once they gave in, they immediately turned their frustration on me.

Mary let out a cold snort and pointed at me arrogantly. "Listen carefully. If we hadn't supported you from behind the scenes, do you think you would've earned enough military merit to trade for territory? Irene loves you, that's why she's letting you have the industrial city. You'd better learn some gratitude!"

Jack nodded along. "Don't think you're getting lucky here. Every Federal credit the industrial city makes, every last cent squeezed out in profit, gets transferred to our account on time. That's what you owe us!"

Looking at these shameless parasites, I forced down the killing intent rising in my chest and kept up the same spineless, obedient act as before.

"Okay. Thank you, Irene," I said, lowering my head in a humble tone. "Don't worry. I'll hand over all the industrial city's earnings to you, just like I always did."

But hidden in the shadows, the corner of my mouth curled into a cold sneer.

Stupid woman.

Irene thought that by choosing the frozen tundra iron mine, she could avoid the industrial city's collapse and ride out the apocalypse underground with her precious Dario?

She had no idea.

In my previous life, by the later stages of the acid rain disaster, that frozen mine had already been corroded through by the nonstop rain. The tunnels wouldn't have held up much longer before collapsing.

I was planning to find another way out.

Instead, they murdered me first.

This time, I really want to see how your whole family screams in that frozen hell.