Chapter 151
A scream, almost a shriek, echoed loudly through the mountains.
The sharp tail of the mutant mosquito struck Seri’s guard. With a heavy sound, Seri was knocked backward, rolling on the ground.
The creature hesitated, seemingly shocked that its prey hadn’t been pierced by its tail.
Then, in the next instant, the tail that had soared into the air plummeted straight down. Seri reflexively rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding it.
The tail stabbed into the dirt with a dull sound. At that same moment, Sweeper, who had arrived first, severed the creature’s tail with his hand axe.
Kyaaaaaa—!
An unpleasant screech echoed through the mountains like a reverberation. The creature, now tailless, writhed like a lizard. Almost simultaneously, Yohan and Noah arrived and removed one arm and one leg each. It struggled wildly as if going mad, but it was not a meaningful resistance.
The pained screams of the monster rang out repeatedly.
Just as Hajin, who had arrived last, was about to shove a mutant grenade into the creature’s mouth,
“Hajin. Stop!”
Yohan’s shout rang out, and Hajin paused.
Cold weapons worked on this creature. There was no need to waste a precious mutant grenade.
Yohan raised his machete high to finish it off. The creature crawled awkwardly across the ground. The machete shot down like lightning toward the creature’s neck. Unlike the exoskeleton mutants, it felt strange to cut through—it was like tearing horsehide. With that unpleasant sensation, the creature’s neck was severed.
Even after the neck was cut, the mutant’s scream continued to erupt. Yohan smashed the creature’s head down, pounding it as if kneading dough.
Then, he quickly turned and headed over to Seri, who was being helped up by Hajin.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded silently.
Yohan slowly lifted her arm and took off her mutant suit. A dark bruise had formed above her left elbow.
Fortunately, there was no penetrating wound. The mutant’s sting hadn’t pierced the suit. The mutant suit had saved her life.
Yohan let out a sigh of relief.
Then he praised Seri.
“Good job.”
If she had swung her weapon to counterattack and the impact had hit her abdomen instead of her arm, she could have been seriously injured. Not only that, she had avoided the dangerous second attack as well. He was proud of her.
Yohan gently patted her head, and Seri nodded.
“You did well. Let’s head back.”
Yohan started down the mountain, supporting her. Hajin tried to help her too, but Sweeper stopped him. When he looked at Sweeper, Sweeper just shook his head.
‘Why?’
‘Just carry the gear. Unless you want to hear you’re clueless.’
When Hajin looked puzzled, Sweeper tossed the mutant’s severed head to him. Hajin reflexively pulled out his prosthetic hand and skewered the creature’s head like a kebab.
Watching the two, Noah shook his head.
In Sweeper’s eyes, Seri, half leaning on Yohan as she walked, came into view.
That’s right.
That’s enough.
It might look a little slow or frustrating to some people.
After the deaths of Junghwan and Ji-hye, two cherished comrades, Yohan had especially put up walls with women. The fact that he could open his heart to someone this much,
And that Seri, who used to be so wild, could act this quiet in front of him—
That alone was enough reason to applaud. It was a good sight.
Sweeper smiled like a proud dad and patted the two men on the shoulders.
“What are you doing, you background props? Let’s carry the luggage.”
As Sweeper shook his head at the two men who just stood there blankly—
Yeah. What would you guys know.
—
Auckland.
Conference room for eleven.
“……”
“……”
Even in Camp Yohan, known for its strong cohesion, there were combinations that were rather awkward.
Sometimes they’d bump into each other a lot but didn’t really get along, so when they met, they just stared off into the distance all day, or else they’d bicker and fight like cats and dogs.
This was more like the former.
Elder Yong and Jae-ho.
“So… you came to attend the briefing?”
“That’s right, kid. Why are you just standing there?”
Except for the island managers who had returned to their own islands, only two administrative managers were left on the mainland, so the two had no choice but to run into each other, whether they liked it or not.
The problem was, they were incredibly awkward together.
Once, a long time ago, the 1st Squad had gone on an extended expedition.
When they returned, Elder Yong once made Yohan tilt his head with a grumble, “I guess I don’t get along with four-eyes bookworms, kid.”
“Uh… so, if there’s nothing special going on, you don’t have to come by just to report…”
Jae-ho spoke to Elder Yong, who had come by first thing in the morning saying they needed to have a meeting. Elder Yong, of course, pushed back.
“Hey, four-eyes kid. Aren’t you the deputy for the young leader?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Don’t you know the combat team holds a separate morning meeting every day?”
“I… do know.”
“Then obviously, even if nobody says anything, you should be holding a meeting, and I should be attending. Why are you talking so much?”
Despite Elder Yong’s stubborn tone, Jae-ho just pushed up his glasses. The old man, uncharacteristically by-the-book, wasted a lot of time on pointless routines. With plenty to do already, Jae-ho just couldn’t understand it.
“But in reality, we’re not going to be out for long, and unless something special happens, these ceremonies are pointless, aren’t they? The leader holds meetings to coordinate the search teams, but since those are temporarily suspended…”
“So the kid leader told you not to do it?”
“That’s not it…”
“Then do it. When you’re told to do something, just do it. Want to go through basic military training again?”
“…No. Sorry.”
It was only the first day since they’d returned from an expedition. Yohan had already taken care of anything urgent, and there was no other topic to discuss between the two during the meeting. In the end, the two just stared off into the distance for the entire meeting.
Jae-ho was flipping through a book, while Elder Yong sat with his legs crossed, his chair leaning so far back he looked ready to topple over.
What felt like hours—though only dozens of minutes—passed before Elder Yong suddenly spoke.
“Hey, four-eyes.”
“Yes?”
“Before I joined the camp, I didn’t notice you much, but you look more and more haggard lately.”
Jae-ho flinched at his words. He wasn’t very good at hiding his expressions.
“I don’t know what’s bothering you, but why are you bottling everything up by yourself? Tsk. You’re supposed to be an officer. If something happens to the kid and he dies a dog’s death, what do you think will happen then?”
The old man spoke carelessly about something terrible. If Yohan were to die? Jae-ho shook his head at the thought that followed.
‘That’d be the end of the camp, wouldn’t it.’
It would be utter chaos.
There were four capable combat squad leaders, and the only one all four recognized was Yohan. If he died, they might not start fighting each other immediately, but the decision-making would become twice as complicated.
In the end, someone would have to step up and take responsibility for the camp. If they had to pick a successor…
Jae-ho thought about it.
He wasn’t fit to be a leader. It made sense for one of the combat squad leaders to take the position.
Hajin would find the role itself too much. Noah didn’t have much of a support base within the camp. Elder Yong was too rough and excessively by-the-book, while Sweeper was the complete opposite.
In the end, people who didn’t really fit together would just end up splitting off in confusion.
Come to think of it, the leader was an impressive person. To bring together such strong and unique personalities and manage them so thoroughly—while still earning loyalty close to devotion.
Jae-ho glanced at his watch.
“Fourth squad leader.”
“What.”
“Time’s up. Have a good one today.”
“Tsk, are you starting to act like the leader, or just imitating him?”
Still, today was the most the two had ever spoken. They parted ways with awkward expressions.
It wasn’t that they disliked each other or bore any grudges.
They were just awkward with each other.
Back at his desk, Jae-ho slumped into his chair. He really did look haggard in the mirror.
‘I don’t know what’s bothering you, but why are you bottling everything up by yourself? Tsk. You’re supposed to be an officer.’
Was it that obvious?
He’d always been skinny for his height, but he kept losing weight.
He didn’t really feel alive anymore; at some point, he’d just started working mechanically.
Worries and anguish never ended.
Problems that couldn’t be solved. Questions no one answered.
At first, it was just a shocking fact, but over time it started to eat away at his sanity. It felt like a red blaze in his mind was burning up a part of his brain.
Jae-ho slowly opened the book. The book that had tormented him for over ten months.
He had never been able to talk to anyone about it, always worrying alone, and he still hadn’t found any answers, wandering through a maze of torment.
And the last page.
Jae-ho habitually brushed his hand across the last page. At that moment, the door suddenly opened.
It was Yohan.
“……!”
Startled, Jae-ho quickly hid the book. Yohan stared at him for a moment before heading to his office.
He came back early. He’d caught the mutant they’d been struggling with for weeks in a single night.
“Uh… Boss. You’re back early.”
“What are you doing? Did you commit a crime?”
“Ah, nothing.”
It was suspicious to anyone. And the pathetic part was, this wasn’t the first time.
There’s no way he didn’t know. Yohan exhaled quietly and spoke in a calm tone.
“Jae-ho.”
“Yes?”
“I wasn’t going to ask what you’re hiding or what you’re struggling with. But you should at least not show it. If you keep wearing a face that screams you’re in trouble, acting all suspicious, it just makes the person pretending not to notice feel like an idiot.”
Yohan’s words weren’t an interrogation. He already knew something was being hidden, but he was just saying not to make it so obvious if he didn’t want to be asked.
Jae-ho felt both grateful and resentful.
“Boss.”
“What.”
“You know why I went to the National Library.”
“Not just me. Everyone knows.”
“Then why have you never asked me about it?”
Maybe it was a presumptuous and shameless question. He was the one who hadn’t brought it up in the first place.
Yet here he was, asking Yohan why he hadn’t asked.
Fortunately, Yohan didn’t look offended. He was just indifferent.
“If you found something useful for our survival, you would’ve told us. But the day you got back, you just talked about something else—like you’d forgotten all about why you went.”
“……”
“Should I go on?”
Jae-ho said nothing. Yohan sat down across from him and continued.
“If you’d come back with nothing, you’d have said so. But you saw something, and you didn’t tell me. You couldn’t. You must have thought ignorance was bliss. You must have thought the knowledge, the information you had, could spread like a disease among the survivors, eating away at their bodies and minds just like it’s eating away at yours. Am I right?”
“…Boss.”
“What are you hiding?”
Yohan’s words that started as an inference became a direct question.
“What do you know?”
“Boss……”
“No, let me rephrase.”
Ignoring Jae-ho, who kept calling him, Yohan asked his final question.
“What’s the truth you’re carrying alone?”
Jae-ho’s voice that followed was desperate.
“Boss, please… save me.”
