A Gate Opened On My First Day As A Politician - Chapter 5: Superpowers on the Red Han River (2)

“Seung-Moon, I mean, Assemblyman Han. Come here.”

I was poking at the cheeks of Gam’s baby, whom his wife Chun Hwa-ran was holding, but at Yang Pan-seok’s call, I got up and hurried over. Responding immediately to “Seung-Moon” had become a habit—a somewhat sad one.

“The Ilsan Bridge has collapsed.”

We were in trouble.

My concern wasn’t just that the bridge was down.

Yang Pan-seok looked at the collapsed Ilsan Bridge blocking the Han River and muttered, “What do we do… We can’t go any further by yacht.”

“Head toward the riverbank, to the right bank. Quickly!”

“Hm?”

“Head north, along the riverbank! The right bank, hurry!”

Monsters target people. To destroy a bridge, a creature would need to go underwater.

But why would it go down there when there were so many more people on the bridge above? It seemed unlikely a monster would dive down to break the bridge supports unless it had higher intelligence. If it did, well, that was even worse.

Until now, we’d passed under several bridges, including Yanghwa Bridge, which were intact. The key difference was that Ilsan Bridge was the outermost bridge on the river.

This suggested something might have come in from the sea, entering the Han River and smashing the bridge.

In other words…

“There might be monsters in the water too.”

There was no time for lengthy explanations. Yang Pan-seok instantly shifted course, steering at full speed toward the north bank.

And that was a mistake.

The sudden increase in engine noise seemed to attract something in the water.

—Thud!

A massive impact rocked the yacht. We were still speeding toward the north bank.

“What the hell was that?!”

“Aaaaaah!”

—Thud!

A second, stronger impact hit the yacht.

I shouted at the top of my lungs.

“Swim in the direction the yacht’s headed! Head toward the shore!”

—Crunch!

The third impact sounded different. I didn’t need to look to know that the back of the yacht had been smashed.

Stay calm. If the attacks from behind keep destroying the yacht, leaving through the side door would be risky.

I grabbed a fire extinguisher and threw it to Noona.

“Noona! Break the front of the yacht with this!”

Without hesitation, Yeo Do-yeon grabbed the extinguisher and charged forward, smashing it into the front window. I took off my jacket to shield Yang Pan-seok from the shattered glass.

We were close to the shore.

“Get out through the front window!”

Following my lead, Noona and the aides headed toward the front of the yacht. Admittedly, it was a desperate move—the only exit was the narrow front window.

So, some students tried to escape over the sides, while the family stood frozen, unsure of what to do.

—Crack!

At the fourth impact, two of the students fell into the river. One student, who hadn’t yet exited, was sobbing uncontrollably, retreating back inside.

Noona and Yang Pan-seok had already climbed out through the front window, and Il-ho was behind them, pushing Ho-jung out as she scrambled to escape.

The family slowly moved forward.

—Boom!

The back of the cabin shattered, and a monstrous figure loomed over the deck. The yacht was burning as people frantically ran toward the front. Damn, now it was my turn to get out.

The creature was a 30-meter-long monstrous crocodile with six eyes, razor-sharp teeth, and a body covered in purple scales.

“Ahhh!”

And it shot tentacles from its mouth. The tentacles grabbed Gam’s young daughter by the ankle.

Without thinking, Gam and I each grabbed one of her hands.

“Ji-yoon-ah!”

“Daddy!”

It was a terrifying standoff.

A tentacle from the monster’s maw held the young girl, her small body suspended in mid-air.

And there we were—her father and me—desperately gripping her arms.

Behind us, the yacht had finally reached the shore, and people were disembarking onto solid ground.

Ahead, the massive crocodile’s jaws loomed open. The tentacle held onto the girl, and Gam and I barely held onto her.

I’m a quick thinker.

If—if I let go of the girl’s hand, father and daughter would both be pulled into the monster’s mouth. While it devoured them, I could potentially escape.

I made my decision in an instant, throwing myself at the tentacle and kicking it with all my might.

The tentacle loosened, and the girl fell into her father’s arms.

The monster snapped its jaws shut.

My foot was caught.

“Seung-Moon!”

Noona’s scream pierced the air as she smashed through the glass to reach me.

But it was too late. The crocodile, with my leg clamped in its jaws, began to sink underwater.

* * *

I was rescued by Yeo Do-yeon.

But my prosthetic leg was gone.

While the crocodile was occupied devouring the remains of the yacht, Noona pulled me free and dragged me to shore.

The crocodile tried to bite me again but only caught hold of my empty pant leg.

“Assemblyman Han!”

“Oh! Assemblyman!”

We finally made it to the riverbank. The yacht disappeared into the water, and I lay gasping in Yeo Do-yeon’s arms, exhausted.

“Is this your back or your chest…?”

“Shut up, you little jerk…!”

She held me tightly, burying her face in my hair as she cried.

Gam approached me, voice shaking.

“A-Assemblyman…! Thank you so much…!”

He knelt before me, staring at my empty left leg.

“Thank you…! My daughter’s alive because of you…!”

Dazed, I mumbled,

“Noona.”

“What?”

“From now on, don’t say my leg was lost in a car accident. Tell people a crocodile took it in the Han River.”

Her bear hug turned into a chokehold.

“Ugh! Ack! Urgh!”

“…You idiot.”

Gam’s daughter, Ji-yoon, clung to her mother in shock, while Gam, realizing my leg was already prosthetic, gave a relieved smile.

Yang Pan-seok lay sprawled on the ground, his tie loosened, utterly drained, and Il-ho and Ho-jung embraced, sharing a passionate kiss.

The lone surviving student, who had lost two friends, stood silently, gazing at the blood-red Han River. I didn’t even know his name—the only one in our group whose name I hadn’t learned.

…Now that I thought about it.

The way Yeo Do-yeon had moved when she saved me—it had been less human and more… monstrous.

* * *

“The sun is setting. Let’s move quickly.”

I couldn’t walk now. My left foot was gone.

Noona and Gam helped support me as we moved along the muddy, blood-soaked riverbank, finally reaching an abandoned factory nearby.

This place had been a functioning factory just earlier today, but from now on, it was just another ruined site.

Yang Pan-seok let out a frustrated sigh at the entrance.

“Damn, it’s locked.”

Time to test my theory.

“Noona, try breaking that lock with your hand.”

“…Are you insane?”

“No, I’m serious.”

Yeo Do-yeon always had a keen sense of my intentions. Realizing I was serious, she gave me a doubtful look and took hold of the lock.

—Crunch!

“Whoa!”

“Ah!”

“Hah!”

“Huh?!”

“Damn.”

A chorus of exclamations filled the air. The last curse was Yeo Do-yeon’s own.

“I’ll explain later. For now, let’s get inside.”

The evening glow was fading. We hurried into the factory.

* * *

Fortunately, this factory had been a textile facility, allowing us to scavenge warm blankets.

Everyone was soaked and shivering, especially Gam’s infant son, who was clearly in poor condition.

Our group included Representative Yang Pan-seok, Yeo Do-yeon, Yang Il-ho, and Lee Ho-jung.

Gam’s family: his wife, daughter, and son.

And a student, who had lost two friends.

I had somehow become the de facto leader—my judgment and willingness to sacrifice had been proven. Gam approached me cautiously.

“Would it be all right if we started a fire…?”

We didn’t know if the flames would attract monsters, but without warmth, the baby might not survive the night, and everyone else could catch a cold.

“…Il-ho, Ho-jung, use the scraps of fabric here to seal up the ventilation ducts, cracks in the door, any place light could escape. Noona, please help.”

“Oh, thank you…!”

“Gam, do you have a lighter?”

Gam, apparently a smoker, patted his pockets only to find he’d lost it. He looked disappointed.

But then I remembered that Yang Pan-seok smoked.

“Assemblyman, do you have a lighter?”

“I don’t carry one… always had someone light it for me.”

“Right, of course.”

“Ah, here it is.”

I took a lighter from my pocket.

“Why’s that still with you?”

“I forgot to return it…”

“So you’ll keep lighting my smokes?”

“I think I’ll hang onto it a bit longer.”

Even in this grim situation, we managed a slight smile.

The lone student sat quietly in a corner, withdrawn.

* * *

“Assemblyman, I can’t count how many times you’ve saved us today.”

“Oh, come on. I haven’t even finished my first day on the job…”

“Still, as an elected official, you represent the people. And it’s your first day?”

“It just happened that way…”

We sat around the fire, warming ourselves like campers.

“…Hyung, what’s going on?”

Yang Il-ho asked anxiously.

“I have no idea.”

That was all I could say.

“…Noona.”

“…”

“Noona.”

“What?”

Yeo Do-yeon was still tense, likely because of how she’d broken the lock with her bare hands.

“When you saved me from the crocodile, you broke the glass with your body, right?”

“…”

“Didn’t that hurt?”

This question carried both concern and a hint of suspicion.

“…No.”

“Because from what I saw, you weren’t moving at human speed.”

“I know.”

The atmosphere grew solemn. No one was accusing her of being a monster, but there was a touch of unease in the air.

“I don’t have any solid evidence, but… with monsters falling from the sky, there’s no point in overthinking the rationale.”

“…”

“Maybe… Noona changed in order to save me.”

No one responded, and only the crackling of the fire filled the silence.

“With monsters appearing, isn’t it possible for people to become stronger?”

“…”

“Well, that’s what I think.”

It was a tender exchange between siblings, yet I had already established this as fact.

No one would reject Yeo Do-yeon. To do so would defy my directive. In a small way, I had just issued a warning.

I didn’t have any proof, but I had my reasons for saying it.

Honestly.

I felt like something in me had changed too.

Facing the monster’s jaws, I hadn’t flinched, kicking its tentacle away in an instant.

Even when Yeo Do-yeon hugged me with newfound strength, none of my bones broke.

This wasn’t something a normal person should be able to do.