Chapter 67

The designer of the Chungcheong defense line and the pragmatist who aligned himself with Won Ok-bun to wipe out the higher-ups.

Commander Kim Doo-sik thought bitterly.

‘The people of this country are truly pitiable.’

“I know telling you to think about the nation and the people sounds old-fashioned! But you have to save lives first!”

The Minister of National Defense, drunk on half a year of peace, had traded defense and power and now needed someone to take the bullet.

“Why are you talking as if our lives are yours to command?”

“President Hong Seon-ah…!”

“The dispatch agreement for our headquarters’ Hunters clearly includes a veto.”

But the hero no longer wished to be a hero.

However.

“Eighty thousand! Eighty thousand people!”

It didn’t matter if you were a hero or a villain. The minister didn’t need a hero—he needed someone to take the bullet.

“They aren’t just numbers; each is a precious life! While we argue like this, the monsters…”

The egotist masqueraded as a philanthropist, and even the hero abandoned the world.

In a world where only advantage, not reason, exists, and righteousness yields only to suspicion.

The people of this country are truly unfortunate—

“There is a way to save Korea!”

—

‘Damn it…’

Minister Yoo Jae-kyung was still unaccustomed to power, the third in line to the presidency. No, since the Prime Minister’s seat was vacant, he was technically second.

In any case, his mindset was still that of a humble senior civil servant, so even now, standing here felt unreal to him.

About twenty-six people joined this video conference.

Politicians, ministers, businesspeople, bureaucrats, and soldiers continued heated discussions on major channels. The decisions made were instantly relayed to the field.

CEO Chun Geum-soon’s borrowed container ships from abroad were handed to the Vice Minister of Public Administration and Security and then entered into the maritime control of the Chief of the Coast Guard, leading to the evacuation of seventy thousand refugees to another port, reported immediately to Major General Yoo Hyun-jong’s line.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, having bullied the U.S. into giving them missiles, reported directly to the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, which immediately bombed the major monster concentration zones in the capital region.

The death of the chairman of SG Company, the second-largest conglomerate, was buried in the shadows as the vice-chairman and the Financial Services Commission chairman struck a secret deal.

Countless underground bunkers transcended authority and responsibility for coordinated action.

Chungmu Facilities.

This was the brain of the Republic of Korea.

And at this very moment, the central nervous system of the state was focused on the words of a single person.

Acting President Won Ok-bun, unable to believe her ears, asked again.

“Assemblyman Han Seung-Moon, what did you just say?”

“I said, let’s push all the monsters north.”

The lame Assemblyman explained in a flat voice into the mic. No one could ignore him—if he were over forty, he’d be president by now.

The young politician stood tall before the large screen, lifting his chin.

“The northern military is on the brink of collapse. Eight hundred thousand citizens stranded in the southern part of the capital are on the verge of being massacred. If monsters keep pouring out and the Chungcheong defense line collapses, the country will be—”

“Keep it brief.”

“This all happened because the monsters spread everywhere, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Let’s control the direction. Let’s push them north, away from the Chungcheong defense line.”

For a moment, a dazed look crossed Acting President Won Ok-bun’s face.

Minister Yoo Jae-kyung thought inwardly, ‘There he goes again,’ biting his lower lip hard. Outwardly, he looked utterly serious.

Next to him, Assemblyman Yang Pan-seok, who had been silent and observing, broke into a sweat and whispered for Han Seung-Moon to stop, but this lunatic’s attitude didn’t change.

The lunatic spoke madness with a convincing expression. At least, that’s how Minister Yoo Jae-kyung saw it.

“The monsters are spreading from a hole only one kilometer wide. Whether we pile up mountains for walls, scare them off, dig giant trenches, or burn the area with napalm, now’s the only time we can control the spread.”

“Is that even possible?”

Assemblyman Han Seung-Moon shrugged as if asking why not.

“Why not?”

“Are you joking—”

“I’ll go to Seoul with Gam Ji-yoon.”

A psychic acknowledged internationally as a strategic weapon.

Gam Ji-yoon, the psychic who blocked the upper Han River in two hours by moving earth from Mt. Simhak—no one knew what might happen if her power doubled.

Only one thought flashed through everyone’s minds.

‘Maybe…’

Everyone turned to Han Seung-Moon with uncertain expressions, and just before anyone could exclaim in admiration—

“Are you crazy!?”

Only one person,

Major General Yoo Hyun-jong, who was in the midst of a desperate retreat in the north, stood up foaming at the mouth.

“I’ve told you so many times, there’s no defense line in the north!”

He screamed, his face flushed red.

“In three hours! No, now in two hours and forty minutes, when the monsters reach us, we’ll all be dead. Push them all north!?”

Major General Yoo Hyun-jong was frantic.

“I never thought Assemblyman Han Seung-Moon would say something like this! How could you…!”

“Major General Yoo Hyun-jong.”

“You want us all to die!?”

Han Seung-Moon smiled calmly.

“You’re saying if we can’t run in three hours, we all die anyway, right?”

“You know that and still—!?”

“……Hmm.”

Han Seung-Moon, smiling kindly, limped over and placed his hand on Yoo Hyun-jong’s shoulder.

As Han Seung-Moon’s hand touched the epaulet on Yoo Hyun-jong’s shoulder with a light tap,

Yoo Hyun-jong slapped his hand away with a stunned expression.

Denied physical contact, Han Seung-Moon smiled.

“I’m saying this because I trust you, Major General Yoo.”

“Why are you acting friendly all of a sudden?”

“In a game where everyone dies if we don’t escape in three hours, the number of monsters doesn’t matter.”

It’s a time attack.

Han Seung-Moon smiled faintly and placed a hand over his heart.

“The leadership you showed during the Uijeongbu retreat operation, I still—”

“Cut the nonsense!”

“I believe in your command, no— I believe in Yoo Hyun-jong, the one-of-a-kind field commander.”

Han Seung-Moon, after his scuffle with Yoo Hyun-jong, turned around and waved his cane in the air as he spoke. To address Won Ok-bun, he needed to speak toward the monitor and microphone, but

right now, he was persuading everyone present.

“There are six million in Gangwon Province. Eight hundred thousand in the southern capital region. Thirty-five million citizens south of the Chungcheong defense line. Let’s push the monsters north. Together with the Air Force, with Gam Ji-yoon, I’ll go to Seoul.”

“Ha, Han Seung-Moon…! Hey! Hey, you!”

Yoo Hyun-jong stood up to grab Han Seung-Moon.

“Everyone, think about it. Monsters don’t care about nationality. If they’re pushed to northern Gyeonggi, would they really bother crossing the Taebaek Mountains into Gangwon?”

“Stop! Stooop! This brat—!”

It was already too late.

Han Seung-Moon raised his clenched fist high.

“Push the monsters into North Korea! That’s what I’m saying!”

Yoo Hyun-jong, his legs giving out, sat back down.

Minister Yoo Jae-kyung, watching, didn’t feel much different.

In his fifty-six years, he’d never seen a lunatic like this.

All the more so, considering the guy was the same age as his own daughter.

It was the moment Finance Minister Yoo Jae-kyung began to truly fear Han Seung-Moon for the rest of his life.

* * *

This wasn’t agitation.

It was close to meticulously calculated political engineering.

Honestly, they’re about the same thing.

But agitation sways emotions, while politics calculates interests.

And for an Assemblyman, this was daily life.

The U.S. Forces Korea Commander spoke through an interpreter.

He promised Seventh Fleet air support to Yoo Hyun-jong, the one in charge of the retreat operation. In short, it meant, “Take this and hit where we tell you.” It was a decision to reduce casualties among U.S. troops stationed in Pyeongtaek. Kim Doo-sik was the same.

If the northern part of Gyeonggi was truly abandoned, it was indeed likely that the monsters would spread toward North Korea, not Gangwon. His top priority was defending the Chungcheong line. He silently agreed.

For the Minister of National Defense, the outcome of the operation didn’t matter.

If it succeeded, it would lessen his responsibility. If it failed, he’d have a perfect scapegoat. This was the same for most of the cabinet officials. They too indirectly supported the idea from a step behind.

Yoo Hyun-jong made one last desperate plea.

“There could be a war with North Korea. If they fire a nuclear bomb, will you take responsibility!?”

Unfortunately,

there were fewer than ten people in the world who knew Won Ok-bun planned to strike North Korea before the presidential election,

“Let’s do it.”

“A- Acting President…!?”

Han Seung-Moon was one of those few, and a key figure.

“……”

And the only person who knew this was all because a little brother wanted to save his big sister was Yang Pan-seok.

* * *

There was one person thinking the same thing as Han Seung-Moon.

“So, what was it? The monsters are pouring out of a one-kilometer-wide hole? Wouldn’t solving that fix everything?”

“Block the entrance?”

“Yep.”

David Kim nodded lightly, crossing his legs.

He sat on a plastic chair under a secluded overpass in Incheon, surrounded by people.

The scout team leader with a sullen face pulled out his phone from inside his school uniform and checked a message.

“They say the monsters are heading this way.”

“Wasn’t this place already monster land anyway?”

“Small gates spit out small ones. A one-kilometer gate will have big ones, right?”

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

David Kim spat out his chewed-up cigarette. It was a filthy habit carried over from Iraq.

He looked around at the group. All twenty-five—no,

now only twenty-five were left—guild Hunters had gathered.

After Hong Seon-ah left, the new Team 2 Leader was Kim Hanbit,

and after his death, Park Jeong-gu became the new Team 2 Leader and spoke in a relaxed tone.

“So, we just need to smash them all, right?”

“It’s not that simple, sir.”

“If a paddy dike leaks, you just plug the hole. What’s so complicated?”

Seo Jeong-ah from Support Team 1 hung her head gloomily.

“Even if we plug it, the gate won’t close…”

“So, what.”

“Nobody knows when it’ll close, and twenty-five people covering one kilometer just means fighting monsters until we die—”

“You little… Hey, you brat, what were you doing not following Hong Seon-ah? Huh? Always whining, you coward!”

Translation: “You’re young, don’t wander around dangerous places—just go home.”

“Mister! Stop nagging me! You’re really getting on my nerves!”

“Sorry!”

As the floor froze over at Seo Jeong-ah’s teary face, Park Jeong-gu quickly apologized and stepped back.

Jeong Bok-rye, the attack team ace and an original member of the Apgujeong Survivor Club, tapped her shoulder with a steel pipe and spoke in a dry tone.

“Anyone here care about their life?”

She gave a light, unconcerned laugh.

“I haven’t slept since my little puppy got eaten by monsters. Who’d complain about going monster hunting? I still remember, you know. Back in Mok-dong Paris Park, I ran away holding my grandchild’s hand, and when we finally got out of the park, only his wrist was left—”

The sullen scout team leader interrupted irritably.

“Grandma, how many times is this now? I’m sick of hearing it.”

“You brat…”

“I get it’s sad, but is there anyone here who hasn’t lost family to monsters? I watched my own parents get torn apart.”

The scout team leader in a school uniform frowned and swept his gaze across the crowd.

“If you’ve got even one family member left to support, raise your hand. See? No one. I get how Grandma Bok-rye feels, but going into Seoul is a whole other matter—”

A middle school girl with a rifle timidly stepped forward from the crowd.

“Um… my mom’s still alive!”

“Shut up. I’ve still got a little sister, too.”

The army-trained middle schooler shrank back into the group. The scout team leader fussed with his school tie, his expression still irritable.

“Anyway. There’s a difference between doing your best to hunt monsters and throwing your life away to hunt monsters.”

“So what do you want us to do about it?”

“I’m saying, don’t use monster hunting as an excuse to throw your life away just because you’ve lost your family. I’d be really sad if Grandma died.”

As the scout team leader spoke, Madam Jeong Bok-rye crushed her steel pipe, but at his last words, her eyes welled up and she lost her edge.

Kim Chun-sik, watching, grinned slyly.

“Ma’am, are you crying again? Is it menopause?”

“It’s old age, you brat…”

“Looks like menopause to me. Anyway. Hands up if you want to go to Seoul.”

About half raised their hands.

“Two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve, fourteen, fifteen… If you don’t want to go, raise your hand.”

The other half raised their hands.

David Kim thought for a moment, then pulled a 100-won coin from his inner pocket.

He grinned, holding up the coin and flipping it back and forth.

“Alright, if it’s heads, we’re going to Seoul—”

KRAAAAAAAH!

A thunderous roar shook the world.

Chunks of concrete rained down from under the overpass.

It felt like an earthquake.

“…What the hell.”

“Hey, hey, let’s get up on the bridge.”

“Yeah, we’re screwed…”

“This feels bad…”

The Hunters climbed up to the top of the bridge and looked out over the Seoul sky.

From the massive Gate, something was coming down.

No, it was being forcibly dragged down.