Chapter 164
Chapter 164
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 164
Chapter Title: 80. Breed (3)
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"Send us to Jeju Island too. Please send us to Jeju Island."
"I want to go to Jeju Island. Please."
"Can't we go to Jeju Island? We're out of food. We'll starve to death like this~"
"Are you just going to let us die?"
"If we die, we'll come back as ghosts and haunt you!"
Sergeant Jang's kids were beggars from the start.
Still clinging to their old beggar tricks even now, they took turns pleading over the communicator all night long.
It was still the dead of night, but I contacted the researchers anyway.
"We need to leave this place as fast as possible. Any word from headquarters?"
After trying three times, I finally got through.
Utterly oblivious to my boiling frustration, Team Leader Jang yawned lazily as he responded over the comms.
"Not yet. What's up?"
One question popped into my head.
How cushy and comfortable must these researchers' lives be?
Every time I visited the lab, they seemed like pre-war office workers punching the clock and stealing salaries. But this was beyond imagination.
They had no clue about the dangers lurking in this wasteland.
"Can't you hear the public channel? Those raider kids are still yapping about Jeju Island."
"Oh~ Yeah, I guess they are."
"Raiders or Legion goons passing by might pick it up."
"That would be bad."
"This isn't something to brush off. Either shut those kids up right now, or we haul ass out of here."
"Alright, here's what we do."
Team Leader Jang made a suggestion.
"Call the kids over."
I couldn't fathom what he was thinking.
"Test them too. If any show promise, we take them along."
"And if none do?"
Team Leader Jang paused at my question before answering.
"......I've got a plan for that."
I had a vague idea of what Woo Min-hee's lab was like.
The smell of alcohol, an eerily spotless atmosphere, dim indoor lighting, researchers in white coats bustling about like they were pretending to be busy.
But I'd never once considered what kind of people they were or how they thought.
"That's the plan."
When I heard Team Leader Jang's scheme, I sized him up seriously for the first time.
A perfectly ordinary face, the kind you see anywhere—born to excel in school.
Pre-war, he'd have gone to a top university, landed a cushy research job at a big company, lived a life without envy.
That must have been the path he planned.
But when plans twist and you're forced into unwanted shit, doesn't it make sense for the person to twist and change too?
"Ta-da~ Here's our makeshift screening device!"
The structure of the simple screening device Jang Mok-hyeon designed and Jo Hyun-su refined was ridiculously straightforward.
All you needed: a long straight corridor, a robot armed with a 7.62mm machine gun, and a screen to hide the robot.
Just like when dealing with the chosen kids, Jang Mok-hyeon beamed innocently as he explained.
"When the kids come, we hand out test sheets. Passers go this way, failures stay in the corridor. Once screening's done, hit the button."
He pressed the remote button, and the killer robot's sensors glowed with an eerie red light, clanking to life with metallic whirs.
Team Leader Jang grinned at me cheerfully.
"What do you think, Hunter Park? Clean, right? We scout for any potential high-rankers while cleaning up society's trash in one go."
Living comfy in the lab with good food doesn't mean they haven't broken.
These researchers were plenty broken.
By pre-war standards, and even more so post-war.
"Should I call them now?"
Jo Hyun-su picked up the radio and looked at me.
"......"
What the hell was I supposed to say?
"Isn't this your idea, Hunter Park? Getting those kids to shut up. If we leave it like this, Legion's gonna come sniffing."
Jo Hyun-su urged me in her soft, coaxing tone.
I sighed and opened my mouth.
"......Leave the robot off."
"What?!"
"Huh?"
Team Leader Jang and Assistant Leader Jo stared at me in unison.
"They're not targeting us directly. Killing on suspicion alone is too much, don't you think? What'll the kids inside think if they see?"
"Aw, don't worry about the kids."
Team Leader Jang chuckled.
"They won't last long anyway......"
I started to protest, but Assistant Leader Jo smiled with her eyes.
"Survival rates for auxiliary Awakeners in rifts aren't high. They just neutralize rift waves while the main Awakeners rest."
Without warning, I got the exact info I'd been dying for.
I kept my face neutral and asked.
"What does that mean?"
"You know pit props in mines? Exactly like that."
"Pit props?"
"Yeah. Mines use sturdy timber, but we don't have much of that anymore. The decent stuff goes elsewhere. So we're left with cornstalks."
She continued,
"They just need to hold for a bit, so we use 'em anyway. But we see it as noble sacrifice. Close the Jeju rifts, and at least Korea won't vanish."
Jo Hyun-su glanced at the kids' room with pity and added,
"Poor things. That's why we treat them well until deployment. Give 'em whatever they ask for. That's why we handed over the radio."
A year ago, they wouldn't have told me this.
Secrets are like that.
A solid org with a future keeps them locked tight, but a crumbling one? Secrets leak like processed meat oozing from dented cans amid rift cracks.
Anyway, I got what they were doing on Jeju.
"I'll watch them. Robot stays off."
The living must live.
Past me would've scoffed at this, but my mind's made up.
Look at our board—the empty spots scream huge.
So many nicknames I knew are gone, replaced by ones I don't or don't want to.
If even they vanish?
Gov still treats people like a chore to cull, but someday they'll be precious. No idea when, but not far off.
"Call the kids. I'll take responsibility."
*
In the chaotic airfield, ragged kids appeared.
Eight of them.
The number had dropped.
Seemed like more before.
The kid whose eyes I remembered faintly glowing wasn't among them.
I tried not to dwell.
Checked their arms.
The two biggest boys held rifles.
Standard military issue, but one stock had "Man-Slayer" in flashy Hanja printing. Maybe Sergeant Jang's old gun.
At the airbase entrance, I waved them over.
The girl in the lead, wearing a faded character T-shirt, spotted me and waved back.
"Huh?"
The girl recognized me.
"The uncle who brought booze that time?"
The kids followed me.
Some gasped aloud at the plane.
"Whoa! A real plane!"
"We riding this to Jeju?"
"Wanna go quick."
At the cargo hold entrance, pilots eyed us with pistols drawn.
A few kids waved, but the sunglassed pilots gave no reply, no reaction.
In the weird silence, we reached the bunker.
A black maw yawned before us.
"Researchers inside will check your aptitude."
"Aptitude?"
The girl asked.
The one always cursing over the radio.
"Only Awakeners with special powers go to Jeju. You know the rumors about the Guard, right?"
"No such thing."
"There is. Just take the test."
We traded words calmly, but my eyes sharply watched the boys with guns behind her.
Couldn't tell when they'd spray bullets.
Yeah, danger I invited, but can't blame 'em entirely.
Fear's mutual.
Clinging to guns when scared? Common even in adults.
At corridor's end, two stone-faced researchers watched.
Team Leader Jang held the killer robot remote.
Any trouble, he'd activate it.
That bot shrugs off most gunfire, controls 7.62mm recoil effortlessly for precise shots. In this narrow hall, it's the Grim Reaper.
Brought grenades for emergencies, but doubtful.
Range issue. Might get swiss-cheesed mid-throw.
White chalk marked the spot in the corridor.
Our agreed test zone.
Team Leader Jang signaled me.
"No guns from here."
The boys hesitated.
I unloaded my mag first, set rifle down.
Felt the hidden pistol's position with my body.
Only then did the kids eject mags and drop rifles at ankle level.
The tensest moment passed surprisingly easy.
Weapons down, Assistant Leader Jo stepped forward from the pale-lit back, sheets in hand.
"Hi, kids."
Like someone used to kids, she approached with warm smile and voice.
"I'm Researcher Jo Hyun-su from the National Crisis Committee's Ability Aptitude Examiners. We're doing a quick test now."
She held out black sheets.
"One at a time, come here?"
Test began.
Kids reluctant but complied one by one.
Results seemed poor.
No sign of black sheets turning color in their mouths.
Assistant Leader Jo stared at me blankly.
Close up, she whispered,
"Zero so far. Not one."
She sighed.
"All mutts. No purebreds."
Outcome set.
Zero.
No Jeju-bound kids here.
Now the baton passed to me.
I had to send them away.
Back to that cold, filthy hideout with nothing—abandoned beggar kids exposed to murder and horrors.
"Sorry, but..."
I faced the kids.
"All failed."
"Why?"
The tallest girl asked.
"Why? We don't make the cut?"
Past me would've led with the gun.
If adults, might've dropped one or two first.
"You failed the test."
"What test? Just black paper?"
What to say?
Resort to violence?
As I pondered words and actions carefully,
"It's not just black paper."
A cold voice echoed.
Not mine.
It came from deep back, the chosen kids' room behind Team Leader Jang and robot. At the door stood the International Residence's eldest daughter, straight in the dim light.
"Do-hee?"
Team Leader Jang beside the robot gaped at her.
She brushed past him, heading straight for the kids.
He tried to block; she replied, eyes fixed ahead.
"I'll explain."
She stood before Sergeant Jang's kids.
Pretty face, tall and slender ideally, nice clothes—stark contrast to the ragged, filthy, scrawny trash-pickers.
Same Korean teens, but she felt like Jo Hyun-su's "purebred."
Taller than the boys, she faced the scrawny leader girl.
"Hand over the sheet."
"Who're you?"
Strong defiance on the scrawny girl's face.
Jealousy? Rage? Fear extension? Couldn't tell.
"The sheet. Scared it'll show different for me?"
Scrawny girl's shaky eyes took in the eldest's ear piercings and neck tattoo.
"Gone full punk, huh?"
"Yeah."
"How old?"
"Nineteen."
"No way. Thought you were an auntie."
Eldest extended hand.
For the sheet.
Jo Hyun-su hurriedly offered a new one; eldest refused.
"No. Fresh one's no proof. Using hers."
Scrawny girl snorted.
"What middle school?"
"Daegyo."
Scrawny snorted again.
"Never heard. Shithole hood?"
"Yeah."
Unlike the sneering, heated scrawny girl, eldest stayed blank, cold.
Scrawny hurled sheet at eldest's face.
Eldest brought it to her mouth as it stuck.
Undeniable proof appeared before us.
Sheet that seemed eternally black faded, converging to near-white.
Eldest removed it, waved at scrawny.
"See?"
"......Fuck off."
Tears welled in scrawny girl's eyes.
Her face twisted ugly.
"Hey! Kill her!"
As expected.
I moved the instant her expression warped.
Snatched rifle and mag, assembled, aimed at boys grabbing theirs.
"Freeze."
One boy kept reaching.
Bang!
Bullet hit right before his gun, ricocheted.
"Not a warning."
Boy grinned, reached again.
Bang!
Hit the gun.
It jerked, smashed his shinbone.
"Argh!"
I charged, kicked, bashed with stock.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Aaaagh! Agh!"
Beating people ain't my thing, nor mission-fit.
But trained for it.
How to attack, subdue, inflict pain.
Crack!
Fear's effect? Confirmed via Chinese troops.
Warning-ignoring boy writhed on floor.
Not dead.
No major injury.
Just hurt bad, stinging.
Self-inflicted.
If not me, his skull would've been lead-filled.
Anyway, beatdown worked.
Air chilled.
Fearful stares.
"Push guns here."
Kids obeyed now.
Like with their raider boss.
Guns secured, I glared at scrawny leader.
"Test over. Go home."
"No."
Raised hand.
She squeezed eyes shut.
"No......"
Tears from clenched eyes.
Sob. Threat hand lowered slowly.
She suddenly opened eyes, looked at Jo Hyun-su.
"I studied abroad in the States as a kid!"
Still not giving up.
"Good English! US citizen! Math whiz! Junior Olympiad, placed!"
Jo Hyun-su shook head at me.
Team Leader Jang back there laughed hollowly.
"......"
Now I get it.
Why their extreme method.
Seen this endless times.
Desperate kids, parents—hundreds, thousands.
Hence the cruel screening bot.
Don't wanna become that.
Plan quiet, gentle send-off.
Even if hypocritical, my selfishness here.
But world won't wait.
Two soldiers burst in from entrance, rifles ready.
Pilots.
"Multiple drones spotted!"
The major-turned man looked back.
"Enemies. They're close!"