Chapter 47

There are a few powerful forces that move the world.

> [Vice Minister Cha Jae-Kyun sought the survival of all, promoting humanity’s evolution and advancement, yet a few foolish politicians obstructed the mission of our people.]

> [We have kidnapped Assemblyman Han Seung-Moon. He will be the first to experience the evolution of humanity.]

> [This is a tribute to Vice Minister Cha Jae-Kyun.]

Symbolism.

> [The Cha Jae-Kyun extremists have announced a chemical terror attack! Authorities are making every effort to locate both the terrorists’ base and the site of the planned attack—]

> [The terror group has declared that they will release the ‘Beastification’ agent in three hours. Martial law has been declared nationwide—]

> [Authorities have identified the terrorists’ stronghold! Some are considering a missile strike to neutralize the threat, but as Assemblyman Han Seung-Moon is being held hostage, a debate is ongoing regarding the method of intervention!]

Fear.

> [The terrorists’ stronghold has suddenly erupted in flames! W-wait! Someone is emerging! It’s Hong Seon-Ah! The Vice Guild Master, Hong Seon-Ah, is escorting Assemblyman Han Seung-Moon! She has successfully rescued him!]

Heroism.

—

[The Thirty-Six Stratagems

The Defeat Stratagems

The 31st Stratagem

The Honey Trap.
Use beauty to ensnare the enemy.]

—

CRACK.

Yeo Do-Yeon stomped down on the giant’s skull, crushing it.

Even though it was lying on the ground, the size of its head still reached up to a person’s waist.

Naturally, Yeo Do-Yeon’s suit pants were soaked in blue-black blood.

“Hey.”

David Kim, equally covered in gore, tossed a mink coat her way. Without even looking, she caught it.

“I grabbed it from a clothing store nearby. Use it as a towel.”

“…Thanks.”

Yeo Do-Yeon finally wiped her face, roughly scrubbing her corneas with the fur.

For a brief moment, she wondered if her body still qualified as human, but David Kim’s next words pulled her out of her thoughts.

“Looks like we’ve cleared this area.”

“Good work.”

“Yeah. I’ve never seen one like this before.”

David Kim lightly kicked the head Yeo Do-Yeon had just crushed.

“Hiding at the corner of a building just to slam into a car…”

“…”

“Clever bastard.”

Without much reaction, Yeo Do-Yeon continued wiping off the blood with the mink coat. The price tag showed a number with an extra zero compared to her old weekly salary, but she simply tossed the coat aside.

David Kim stroked his well-groomed beard and murmured,

“I’ve never seen one this big actually use its brain…”

“…”

“If it had been anyone else in that car, we’d be in real trouble. We should warn people to be careful in this area.”

Yeo Do-Yeon thought the monster was probably more shocked to see two people crawl out unharmed after it had completely flattened their car.

Clap!

David Kim grinned and clapped his hands together.

“Well! Let’s head back. Did you absorb the mana stone while fighting?”

“No, it’s probably still inside its body.”

“Want to take it?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll call in the cleanup crew. Hold down the fort while I, uh, hit the restroom.”

“…Okay.”

“Thanks.”

As David Kim jogged off to the ruined building’s restroom, Yeo Do-Yeon stood alone amidst the destroyed cityscape.

She leaned against the giant’s corpse and let out a small sigh.

“Haa…”

It was comfortable.

The cloudy sky peeking through the forest of ruined buildings, the ominous blue Gate—it all felt strangely familiar now.

She smiled faintly, wiping the sweat from her brow before grabbing onto the monster that had lunged at her.

“Kyaaaak!”

She forcibly hugged the beast, about the size of a large stray dog, and began stroking it.

“Kyaaaak! Keeek!”

If it had been anyone else, their face would’ve been ripped apart, their wrists severed. But to her, it was nothing more than a puppy’s playful antics.

Jamming her fingers into the thrashing creature’s torso, she absorbed its mana stone, then grabbed its hind leg and flung it far into the distance.

The monster’s corpse crashed through the fourth-floor window of a nearby building.

Feeling satisfied, Yeo Do-Yeon leaned back against the giant’s corpse, casually crossing her long legs.

She closed her eyes for a moment, and familiar voices echoed in her mind.

– “Good-looking, but such a nasty temper.”

– “No charisma. She’s useless.”

– “What, did she pick up some cheap street tricks to survive? Planning to scavenge for scraps when she’s old?”

– “She’s a nice person. You should meet her. She’s a fan of yours.”

– “If you want to sell tickets, at least dress properly before stepping into the ring.”

– “No talent, but too damn proud.”

– “Fucking bastards…”

She chuckled softly, picking up a chunk of asphalt and hurling it at another stray beast approaching her. Its head exploded on impact.

…Would it be too twisted to think she was glad the Gate had opened?

She suddenly thought about Han Seung-Moon, wondering if he had been looking sickly lately.

There was no context for the thought—it just surfaced, the way thoughts of siblings randomly did.

That idiot had overworked himself for half a year and now looked like he was in his thirties.

He could barely walk straight anymore. Just a little movement left him gasping for breath. It was worrying.

Yeo Do-Yeon realized that payday was coming up on Thursday.

Should she get him some herbal medicine? Maybe cook some chicken soup?

Just as she was debating this, her phone rang.

“…!”

She picked up.

And learned that Han Seung-Moon had been kidnapped.

Just as David Kim returned.

“There was a guy who committed suicide in the restroom, so I buried the—Uh…”

He instantly realized that she was gone.

Her footprints were deeply imprinted in the asphalt road.

—

I called over the agent sitting on the opposite couch.

“Agent.”

The agent, who had been fiddling with a medicine pouch, lifted his head to look at me.

I asked,

“How did you end up joining the National Intelligence Service?”

“Uh, well… I passed the test…?”

“Not that.”

“I passed the civil service exam. The level 7 open recruitment.”

The agent absentmindedly toyed with his pistol.

I smirked bitterly and asked again.

“Tell me more. Someone’s gotta remember it.”

“That’s enough.”

“You didn’t even tell me your name.”

“It’s Kim Pposik.”

“So, Mr. Pposik, how did you end up doing this job?”

The agent smirked, as if admitting defeat, and started talking. He wasn’t exactly eloquent.

“007. Bit cliché, right?”

“What’s so cliché? That’s pretty romantic.”

“I mean… catching bad guys seemed really cool. My uncle was in the NIS too.”

“Mm!”

I smiled as reassuringly as I could, nodding along. The agent adjusted his uniform and continued.

“But once I got sent overseas… I realized I was the bad guy.”

“Ah…”

“Like, kidnapping the families of Croatian industrial spies and executing them, just—”

The agent abruptly slapped a hand over his mouth.

“Oh, fuck! That was classified—!”

“Heh…”

Realizing he had just casually blurted out a top-secret mission, the agent awkwardly scratched the back of his head and let out a dry laugh.

“Um… You’ll keep that to yourself, right?”

“Civil servants gotta have each other’s backs.”

“Thanks.”

He glanced at his watch before speaking again.

“…Would you mind listening for a little longer?”

“As long as you need.”

The agent opened his mouth to speak, hesitated, and then fell silent.

“…Ah, I… Now that I’m about to say it, I don’t know where to start.”

“You can say whatever comes to mind. I’ll remember it.”

After exactly 26 seconds, the agent finally spoke.

“…In the end, I just ended up blaming the country.”

He got up, walked to the water dispenser, and gulped down cup after cup.

“It’s like… I disappeared as a person. Like…”

“I get what you mean.”

“I forced myself to think of myself as just another cog in the machine… Ah, fuck.”

He downed eight paper cups of water in rapid succession before returning to his seat.

Then, as if washing his face, he ran his hands down his gaunt features.

“…Yoo Se-Jin. Yoo Se-Jin. Yoo Se-Jin.”

Muttering a name over and over like a compulsion, the agent looked at me.

“Assemblyman. Can you remember the name Yoo Se-Jin? You don’t have to remember me, but please remember him.”

“Yoo Se-Jin. I’ll remember.”

“He was much better than me. He took a bullet from a commie in London instead of me—”

A single tear rolled down the agent’s cheek.

“…Ah, sorry. I don’t know why I’m getting like this.”

“It’s fine. Should I leave you alone for a bit?”

“No, it’s okay. You can stay.”

“Alright.”

He grabbed a tissue from nearby and wiped his face.

“You must have loved him.”

“…”

“Only realizing it now?”

“…”

“You probably think I’m crazy. I do too. Sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

Sniff. The agent, eyes bloodshot, checked his wristwatch.

Then, after about a minute of silence, he spoke.

“…Uh, right. The human experiments.”

“Yeah.”

“Even when we locked up civilians, I don’t think I ever felt guilty. I just… pitied them.”

“I see.”

“I mean, I’ve done far worse things.”

“Right.”

“But why do I regret never telling them I was sorry?”

“…”

He began tearing tissue after tissue, wiping his face mechanically.

I sat in silence, watching as the agent wept openly.

“…Agent.”

“No.”

“You can stop here—”

“No.”

The agent covered his face with both hands, his confession spilling through his fingers.

“Croatia, five. North Koreans, nine. Moldova, twelve. Russia, one. South Koreans, five hundred sixty-four.”

“…”

“They told me this was patriotism. That it was for the country. So I ran away. And now, for the first time, I feel like I’m paying for my sins.”

Lowering his hands, the agent gave me a twisted smile.

I had never seen an expression like that before in my life.

“It’s been a life of sin.”

“I’m sorry, Agent.”

“…It’ll be a good country, right?”

“I’ll make sure of it.”

“In the end, I’m still blaming the country.”

“That’s what the government is for.”

The agent let out a laugh as he cried.

“…It’s time.”

Tang! Tatang!

Gunfire erupted in the distance.

– !

The agent stood up and fired several rounds into the wall, creating the illusion of a shootout.

“Oh, right. Assemblyman.”

“Yes?”

“Remember when you were sitting on the fourth floor of that Homeplus with that test subject?”

“Yeah?”

“I was the one who shot you.”

“Ah… You were the sniper?”

“Yeah. You know, if you shoot someone right, it doesn’t even hurt that much?”

Tang.

The agent shot me in the left thigh.

It burned.

It hurt like hell.

The scent of blood instantly filled the air.

I screamed, rolling to the side.

Then tumbled off the couch onto the floor.

The agent swallowed a pill.

He slumped onto the sofa, slowly closing his eyes.

I writhed on the ground, watching him.

“…Se-Jin.”

All the terrorists were dead.

—

I had lost a lot of blood.

My head felt light.

It hurt so much I was crying.

Someone was shaking me, pulling me back to my senses.

Something was burning.

“Oh! There you are!”

“Hong… Seon-Ah.”

Smoke was seeping in from below.

Hong Seon-Ah had found me.

She covered her mouth in shock when she saw my leg.

“Ah! Should I pour a potion on it?”

“There’s… a-a bullet… still in there, fuck…! Pull it out first…!”

She pulled a roll of bandages from her inner pocket.

“Got it! I’ll at least wrap it for now—”

She hesitated.

“Would that make it too obvious?”

“Why the hell did you bring bandages when you were coming to rescue a hostage!?”

“I was worried you’d be hurt! Why don’t you ever appreciate me?!”

“Why?! Why the fuck am I surrounded by crazy women?!”

“Keep talking like that and I’m not gonna be nice anymore…”

Hong Seon-Ah carefully helped me up.

I gritted my teeth, pushing through the pain.

“F-finish up… let’s… go.”

“Frontline fire, eight seconds!”

Hong Seon-Ah shouted a battle command she used on the Shinbundang Line—

And unleashed a wave of flames.

I used Hong Seon-Ah’s flames to deal with the agent’s corpse.

As our flames intertwined, the red fire turned blue.

While everything in the room turned to ash, I asked her a question.

“Where else did you set fire?”

“I torched the first floor completely. The second floor too.”

By now, the fire had filled the entire room. Hong Seon-Ah wrapped an arm around my shoulder, pressing close.

“Assemblyman, if you let go of me now, we’re both dead! Got it?!”

“Yoo Se-Jin… Yoo Se-Jin…”

“Huh!? Hold on tight! Can you walk?”

“Ah, I got shot in my left thigh—”

“You weren’t using that leg anyway! Focus!”

“…Come to think of it, I have been hopping around on my right foot all this time.”

“Alright, lean on me!”

With Hong Seon-Ah’s support, I hobbled my way out of the burning building.

The molten metal from the melted electrical wires didn’t burn me.

As we exited, I looked at the corpses of the agents in the hallway.

Those who killed people who should not have died—were now dead themselves.

These men had been central figures in the human experiments.

Among the surviving NIS officers from the experiment outbreak, they were the ones who had chosen to die.

That meant everyone except for Director Jang.

They staged a shootout and then committed suicide by poison.

As I left the building, I burned their bodies to ash once more.

I hesitated for a moment.

Hong Seon-Ah, watching silently from the side, took over and incinerated the corpses instead.

“Alright! Let’s go!”

“…Hong Seon-Ah, are you okay?”

“Hm?”

“…Burning people.”

“Huh? Oh, no?”

Right. That was a stupid question. Burning people alive was never something a sane person could handle.

“Ugh, I mean! Burning people isn’t exactly something you can do with a clear mind, you know? Even I’m struggling right now!”

“…Right.”

“At least it’s easier than when they’re still alive!”

During the chaos in Seoul, when looters ran rampant, Hong Seon-Ah must have had no choice but to burn people to death.

“Smile! You have to keep smiling to survive!”

As I looked at her wide grin, I suddenly blurted out,

“…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have made you do this.”

As always, Hong Seon-Ah gave me that same unreadable expression—somewhere between a smile and a blank stare.

Then, she murmured quietly,

“…You have to keep your promise, okay?”

—

Yeo Do-Yeon stood among the crowd.

In the distance, she saw the burning building—and two figures emerging from it.

> “Ah, ah! This is the scene! Hong Seon-Ah, the Vice Guild Master, has just rescued Assemblyman Han Seung-Moon! Assemblyman Han appears to be injured, yes. From what we can see, his left thigh—”

> “Hong Seon-Ah is urgently calling for medical personnel! Medics are rushing in to treat Assemblyman Han! Ah, he does appear to be wounded.”

Yeo Do-Yeon had a secret.

Or rather, no one had asked, so she never had a reason to tell.

> “Stuff the gauze in! Stop the bleeding! Stop the bleeding!”

> “Move the helicopter a bit! Han Seung-Moon is behind the trees, we can’t see him! Camera! Camera! Okay!”

People only knew that she had grown stronger.

> “Whoa, is that place on fire?”

> “T-the terrorists got caught!”

> “What? The signal isn’t coming through? No way, Kim Yong-Hyun, the head of the news bureau, is literally right there filming, and you’re saying we can’t air this?”

But they didn’t know—her senses, including sight and hearing, had reached their absolute limit.

The moment she heard about her brother’s abduction, she dashed to the location reported on the news.

She reached the terrorist-occupied building in an instant, preparing to infiltrate.

And she heard everything that happened inside.

“…”

She had never considered herself particularly smart.

But one thing was clear.

This—

Wasn’t what you normally called terrorism.

—

[January 8, 10:00 PM.]

Assemblyman Han Seung-Moon was rescued by Vice Guild Master Hong Seon-Ah.

All 14 terrorists, who had previously announced plans for a large-scale bioterror attack, were killed on-site.

It was revealed that they were former National Intelligence Service agents who had conducted human experiments under the orders of Cha Jae-Kyun.