Chapter 5
"Captain. You need not worry so much. Neither issue is a particularly serious problem."
Hyperia's smile was gentle, her voice perfectly calm. Kang Jihyun waited for whatever came next with a considerably lighter heart. It wasn't merely Hyperia's demeanor that had loosened the knot in her chest. Hyperia was far smarter than she was, and Hyperia had said it was fine. That meant it genuinely wouldn't be a major problem. Or so Kang Jihyun believed.
"Captain. I will begin with the first issue. Having calculated the damage inflicted upon Taereung's cultural heritage sites and surrounding facilities, property damage is projected at approximately 4.23 billion won. Figures of ten million won or less have been omitted."
Kang Jihyun froze where she stood, unable to get a single word out. It felt as though she'd been clubbed across the back of the skull.
Property damage?!
She had poured every ounce of her attention into saving people. The possibility of financial fallout hadn't even crossed her mind. Four point two billion. That was not an amount she could pay off working convenience store shifts. She couldn't even begin to imagine how she'd come up with that kind of money. If she'd known an easy way to get rich, she wouldn't have been stocking shelves in the first place.
No. Think positive.
The situation now was nothing like it had been before her awakening. She had the Hyperion. The enormous battlecruiser itself was a staggering commercial asset — the kind of thing science-fiction film and television studios would kill to get their hands on. Requests to rent the ship's interior as a shooting location were bound to come in. Just using the Hyperion as a backdrop would generate enormous buzz, and the same went for commercial shoots.
There's no need to grind myself into the dirt. A little exposure for the Hyperion and I'll make back 4.2 billion in no time.
A rosy little fantasy bloomed in Kang Jihyun's mind. Four point two billion. At first the number had felt absurd. Thinking it over again, though, it wasn't necessarily impossible. The rigidity in her face began to ease, and a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
This might even work out better. We've already drawn a massive amount of attention. Let's just call it free advertising.
Kang Jihyun's wishful-thinking engine was roaring at full throttle when Hyperia's voice cut through it.
"The property damage is not the end of the matter. Additional legal complications arise from the destruction of Taereung's cultural heritage. In the event that a nationally designated cultural heritage site is damaged, the Cultural Heritage Act may impose criminal liability."
Kang Jihyun went rigid as stone. The wishful-thinking engine blazing in her head detonated on the spot.
Property damage, she'd figured, could be paid off with money somehow. Cultural heritage was a different beast entirely. On top of that, the Hyperion had just been branded with the worst possible image: a cultural-heritage terrorist.
What advertising agency in their right mind would call us now?
No company on earth was going to put a battleship that had blown up a cultural treasure in their commercials. Kang Jihyun turned her head and looked at Hyperia. She was on the hook for 4.2 billion won. She was about to be stamped a cultural-heritage terrorist. In the worst case, she could end up a criminal. And yet Hyperia looked completely unbothered. Kang Jihyun's brow furrowed.
"Hyperia. How is any of this a small problem? Four billion won is a huge problem. Criminal liability is a huge problem."
Hyperia smiled softly, and answered as if none of it were of any particular concern.
"There is no need for you to worry, Captain. Anyone who demands compensation for the property damage. Anyone who attempts to put you in prison. I will permit none of them to approach you."
Listening to her, Kang Jihyun felt the tightness in her chest ease. The anxiety that had been clawing at her settled, little by little. She felt strangely reassured.
Right. Don't think so negatively. They rebuilt Namdaemun after it burned down, didn't they? They can restore Taereung the same way.
Kang Jihyun's wrecked wishful-thinking engine sputtered back to life. If they could restore it to its original state, wouldn't the damaged image recover to some degree as well? And if that happened — if she could spend her days loafing around playing games, shoot one commercial whenever the money ran out, and go right back to taking it easy — wouldn't that easy-mode life actually be possible? She sincerely hoped it would work out that way.
Please. Let it be restorable.
She looked at the monitor, intending to check the scale of the damage at Taereung and confirm whether restoration was even feasible. The moment she did, her gaze locked onto one spot on the screen.
A strange object had entered her field of view. A Gate.
"...?!"
Kang Jihyun's eyes went wide. The appearance of a Gate itself wasn't surprising. Ever since the Tower had arrived, Gates had been spawning at random all over the world. The problem was the size. It was the largest Gate that had ever formed in South Korea. There was no need to bother measuring its rank. Anyone could tell just by looking at it.
It was an S-class Gate.
...Did I cause this?
Four point two billion won and a cultural-heritage restoration had already been more than she could handle. Now an S-class Gate had spawned on top of it. The hope she had been nursing vanished in an instant.
"Hyperia. Please tell me that isn't the second problem."
"It is not. That Gate is unrelated to the Hyperion. The Hyperion is not equipped with any device capable of generating Gates. Accordingly, the Gate is judged to have occurred naturally."
There had been an explosion at Taereung, and then a Gate had appeared. Of course she had assumed it was their doing. But Hyperia had said it had nothing to do with the Hyperion. That meant the Gate, at least, was not her responsibility. Kang Jihyun reached that conclusion and let out a long breath of relief.
"Hah..."
Then another thought snagged in her mind.
A Gate could not simply be left alone. If the monsters inside weren't all dealt with, a Gate Break would eventually occur. The monsters would come pouring out, and the city would turn into a living hell in a matter of moments. A Gate Break could happen in as little as a month. Nobody knew exactly when it would trigger after that. But it would happen. That much was certain.
This almost feels like a gift from heaven.
An S-class Gate. A rank that South Korea had never once successfully cleared.
Four point two billion in property damage. A cultural treasure blown to pieces. But if we become the first in Korea to clear an S-class Gate and save countless people... wouldn't they call us heroes?
The way people looked at them would change. The Korean hero who first conquered an S-class Gate. There was a high chance the story would be packaged that way. Of course, there was one catch. Even with the Hyperion, could she — a mere Level 1 — actually clear an S-class Gate?
Kang Jihyun's gaze shifted to Hyperia. She couldn't make that call herself. But Hyperia, she suspected, would already have the answer.
"Is there any chance we could clear that Gate? We don't have to force our way in. Just tell me whether we can take it on safely."
"It is possible."
Hyperia answered without a shred of hesitation.
"For real?!"
Kang Jihyun's face lit up all at once, a smile spreading across it.
"However, Captain. It is not possible at this moment. Clearing an S-class Gate will require consecutive use of the Hyperion's main gun. Twenty-four hours have not yet elapsed. If the main gun is fired now, the probability of a malfunction is 100%."
"Waiting twenty-four hours is no problem. It's not like we have to clear it right this second."
Hyperia understood the Hyperion's condition better than anyone. And that Hyperia had said it was possible. She had no reason to claim an impossible thing was possible.
A Level 1 clearing an S-class Gate...
Kang Jihyun kept her expression carefully neutral.
Holy shit. This class is completely broken!
She cheered on the inside. On the outside, she remained composed to the very end. She had her dignity as Captain to maintain. If Hyperia hadn't been standing right there, she might well have whooped and sprinted laps around the bridge.
"Hyperia. What's the one remaining problem?"
"The cause of the fire at the stern has been eliminated. Residual flames, however, remain. Fully extinguishing them will require activation of the fire-suppression system. And activating the system requires water."
"...Huh?!"
Kang Jihyun's eyes went round.
"It's a space battleship and it doesn't even have water?"
"It is not merely water that is lacking. At present, the Hyperion is deficient even in basic facilities. Its only means of attack is a single main gun. The defensive systems cannot be used. New facilities can be installed only as the Captain's level increases. To operate the Hyperion as a proper battlecruiser, additional equipment must be installed and the vessel overhauled."
"So basically, right now the Hyperion is just a giant spaceship that can only fire its main gun?"
"There is other installed equipment besides the main gun, but put simply, yes."
If they could clear an S-class Gate with the main gun alone, did they even need additional facilities?
It's already more than strong enough.
Kang Jihyun felt her shoulders square with a little unearned pride. Then something snagged.
But where are we supposed to get the water?
"Hyperia. Exactly how much water does the fire-suppression system need?"
"274 tons."
"...I'm sorry? That much?"
Two hundred and seventy-four tons. The number barely registered.
How many bottles of water would 274 tons even be?!
At the convenience store where she worked, a two-liter bottle of water went for about a dollar. She started doing the math. She gave up not long after. The numbers were too big; her mental arithmetic wasn't going to get her there. She didn't know the exact figure, but one thing was certain: neither her wallet nor her bank account had anything close to that kind of money.
Bottled water isn't going to cut it.
Kang Jihyun's brow furrowed. She needed another approach. A place with a lot of water. A place she could get it for free.
"The Han River. Let's go to the Han River. We can just scoop the water up from there."
"Order confirmed. Proceeding to the Han River."
With a deep, rumbling vibration, the Hyperion began to move. Seoul's glittering nightscape slid past beneath them.
They're not going to charge me for using a bit of water, right?
Save money, save the ship. She couldn't think of a more perfect solution. Kang Jihyun gave herself a little pat on the back for her own ingenuity.
Might as well check the community while we're in transit.
She suddenly wondered how people were taking all of this. She pulled her smartphone from her pocket — and the moment she went to turn on the screen, she realized she was still wearing her convenience store vest. Her actual job was Captain. And yet here she was, still dressed like a part-timer.
...This isn't a good look, is it?
She suddenly wanted a captain's uniform. Seeing Hyperia in hers only made it worse.
I'll have to ask Hyperia later if they have any spare ship uniforms.
She tapped the phone on and went straight to the community she always browsed, starting with the best posts.
This place is an absolute circus.
Kang Jihyun worked through the posts that snagged her attention, one after another.
After reading through the posts and comments, Kang Jihyun chewed on a fingernail. She had done it to save people. And yet everyone was going on about an alien invasion, a war in space. Misunderstandings about the Hyperion were spreading at an alarming rate. If she left it like this, it was only going to get worse.
She looked down at her phone.
Shouldn't I do something?
Her fingers flew across the screen. She was writing a post of her own.