Chapter 194
Chapter 194
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: 89. Forbidden Record (4)
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I came up with countless excuses, but deep down, my heart was always on the battlefield.
The three high-level mental resonance tests that nearly killed me, the litmus paper soaked with my saliva across dozens of sheets, dragging I Am Gjeser along—even those were all because of that.
If I Awakened, I could return to the battlefield.
But I didn't Awaken.
That's why I hated Kang Han-min and Na Hye-in.
I envied and resented them for taking the battlefield away from me.
I hoped they would fail.
That was the honest truth of this Park Gyu.
Not anymore, though.
"...As expected of Senior Park. Not a bit rusty, huh? Even with that leg of yours."
When I took down the thirteenth one, Kim Daram finally offered some praise. I shot back with something similar.
"You're not actually blind in that eye, are you?"
You couldn't pull off over thirty-two Intimidations relying on senses alone.
"I was always a good shot, you know? But you're the one whose leg looks just fine, Senior."
"..."
It didn't matter.
Whether her eye was fine or she was really shooting by feel.
My body was heating up for the first time in ages.
How long had it been?
The last time I'd felt this alive...
Probably not since I first wore the armband.
"?!"
Hold on.
This didn't feel right.
The armband was great, but could it really compare to the fulfillment of the battlefield?
"Senior?"
Kim Daram tilted her head at me.
"Something bad happen?"
"Me?"
"Your face looks pale."
"The armband."
"Armband?"
"No, nothing."
"Tired? Wanna take a break?"
"Nah, let's keep going. I finally got my groove back. Don't wanna lose this feeling."
Kim Daram pointed to the lone, massive blue building in the distance.
"Last one."
Our final destination was revealed.
The National Assembly building.
*
Maybe because it was the last spot, but the suppression wasn't finished yet.
Bang! Bang! Rat-a-tat-tat!
Boom!
With gunfire and explosions echoing, it looked like it'd take a while.
Last time I'd gone into the National Assembly because of Park Sang-min, the Spider types had already woven a pretty complex maze.
That level of difficulty was probably as dangerous as taking down the Spider queen herself.
I didn't want to rest, but barging in during suppression risked friendly fire, so we decided to hold position for now.
We were given standby time side by side, but Kim Daram and I weren't together.
I rested in my private barracks, while she stayed inside the armored vehicle.
People around us found it odd that the combo who'd synced up to hunt were acting separately, but from our perspective, it was only natural.
Sure, we'd synced up for fun and mowed down monsters, but nothing between us was resolved.
I'd never forgiven her, and she hadn't exactly asked for forgiveness.
Circumstances had just forced us back together. Once today was over, this brief alliance would mean nothing.
It was true I wanted back on the battlefield, but that didn't mean I wanted to die like a dog.
I was a Professor, but I was Skeleton too.
Cherishing both the battlefield and the armband.
Beep-beep-beep-
As I sorted my thoughts, the radio crackled.
Not mine—the soldiers outside.
Hunters and soldiers rushed about busily.
Their murmurs pushed into my ears whether I liked it or not.
"Heard the Commander-General's coming?"
"The Commander-General?"
"It's dangerous, though."
"Ah, Colonel Park said to stay put. The Commander-General hates pointless risks."
I stepped out of the tent, wandering around, when the armored vehicle's door opened and Kim Daram emerged.
She looked like she had something to say.
"Looks like it's almost done."
Sure enough, a vehicle peeled off from the Assembly side, heading straight our way. Among the suppression team piling in were faces I recognized.
"Sam!"
It was Song Yujin.
"Heard you were amazing again today?!"
"I didn't do much. Just picked off scraps from the table you guys set."
Half-true.
The problem was eating from that table wasn't easy.
Song Yujin, beaming at me, belatedly noticed Kim Daram and shrank, reporting awkwardly.
"T-Team Leader!"
"Yeah."
Unlike Woo Min-hee, Kim Daram didn't have the nasty hobby of tormenting people for fun.
She might stab you in the back, but Kim Daram had exceeded Woo Min-hee since school days in meeting society's basic human standards.
Song Yujin reported to that Kim Daram in a trembling voice.
"There are people inside."
"People?"
"Yes, weird ones. That... Ma-Mandu Church?"
"Manryu Ghost Return Sect."
Kim Daram glanced back at me.
"Looks like there are fanatics."
"This just got annoying."
Fanatics living in a monster den might as well be with the monsters.
Even if the monsters didn't see them as allies, fanatics cohabiting with monsters acted like their minions.
Unlike monsters with fixed, if high-difficulty patterns, humans who could bolt anywhere skyrocketed mission difficulty.
Of course, our manual had contingencies for this.
I scanned the Assembly with binoculars, checking for snipers or human traces, and casually told Kim Daram.
"Let's go by the manual."
When hostile humans and monsters shared a spot, field manual recommended artillery. Best if it wiped monsters, but primary target was humans.
In other words, dry up their seed first.
In China, field commanders could deploy biochemicals on judgment alone.
International society condemned it as inhuman, but from my on-site view? Eh. Worth condemning?
Humans siding with monsters against humanity weren't much different from monsters themselves.
"You mean request artillery?"
Kim Daram double-checked.
"Forget the manual already?"
"Just confirming."
Kim Daram ducked into the armored vehicle.
Probably using the comms inside to call in fire.
She came back out soon.
Her expression was sour.
I watched silently as she shook her head and approached.
"It's... tricky."
"Why?"
"Higher-ups say we can't destroy a symbolic building like the National Assembly just because of mission difficulty."
“People could die? Isn’t cherishing every soldier’s life the Legion faction’s motto?”
"They're making excuses, but point boils down to one thing."
She glanced around, then whispered.
"Commander-General plans to give a speech there. Doesn't want the building more damaged. Gotta at least patch the exterior for Memorial Day."
"Figures."
“I knew, but the Legion faction was frustratingly bureaucratic.”
All that "Republic of Korea Army" pomp, but really just a stronger, more organized warlord crew.
No different from the King's Sejong City.
"That Commander-General's coming here soon. Recapturing the Assembly is his long-cherished dream."
"No helping it."
I pointed to the armored vehicle.
"Let's start before he arrives."
"Push ahead like this?"
"Wanna wrap it quick before interference. But make it solid. Could use more combat personnel."
"Can add three more teams."
"Get exact monster positions from the suppression team."
Maybe I'd emphasized humans as the biggest threat post-war start because I'd been burned enough by their unpredictability on the field.
Facing monsters only had fewer variables.
Tough or doable.
Humans in the mix exploded the variables.
So minimize them upfront.
Like striking sensory-deprived zones, preempting kill zones, crushing them early, vigilant scouting ambush-prone or flank spots.
"Oh, and that Song Yujin I just talked to—put her in reserves."
"She's a sensor, right?"
"Yeah. Swap if someone else available."
"Why? 'Cause you know her?"
"No, can't trust her."
Kim Daram called Song Yujin over.
"You're a sensor, right?"
"Y-Yes?!"
"Good. Join B Squad."
"Yes!"
Song Yujin dashed off eagerly, and Kim Daram turned to me.
"She's the only sensor."
"Guess no choice then."
Broken trust snowballs into troubles.
Just now, I wondered if Kim Daram was lying about no other sensors.
Pointless suspicion, but that's broken trust.
Doubting every move, suspicion breeding malice. One op together? Fine.
Sustainable relations? Impossible.
Aware of that, I boarded the armored vehicle with Kim Daram.
"...Remember Baek Seung-hyeon?"
I opened, staring out the window.
"Baek Seung-hyeon?"
Kim Daram feigned ignorance—or forgot—with a blank look.
"One class senior."
"Ah, that freelance hunter? Coming back to me now."
"Know where he is?"
"Incheon?"
"China."
"China?"
Kim Daram rarely showed emotion, but she did now.
"On the evacuation fleet."
"First wave? Second?"
"Second."
"First was total wipe. Second probably same?"
"No, some survivors."
"He's among them?"
"Yeah."
As the Assembly loomed closer, I added,
"He has a kid too."
Kim Daram's remaining eye contracted briefly.
"...He said he's clung to life this long to protect that child."
I packed uncharacteristic bite into my words.
Kim Daram showed no reaction.
Did it hit home?
No fact-check, even.
Awkward silence as more vehicles tailed us to the Assembly.
"Disembark! Deploy now!"
Hunters and soldiers in combat gear took positions orderly.
Click-
Marksmen deployed everywhere.
Anti-personnel snipers, not anti-monster.
They covered every angle where humans might emerge from the ruins to attack, guarding us.
Whirr---
Drones—this era's eyes—lifted into the sky.
Some even entered the building.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunfire rang out.
"Drones 4 and 7 lost."
The bespectacled drone operator tapped his boxy computer, reporting.
"Fanatic-held zone per suppression team's intel."
Kim Daram passed me, instructing her subordinates.
"Handguns? .22 caliber."
Staring at the advance team, she asked sharply.
"No other weapons? Any Awakening signs?"
Kim Daram drew her pistol, turning aside.
Coincidentally, so did I.
Something human-like emerged from the ruins.
"What, zombies?"
Kim Daram holstered and gestured for her team to handle it.
I eyed the zombies.
One female with sharp shrapnel in her head, another elderly in dust-caked, tattered but luxury clothes.
I knew that old zombie's face.
"..."
Park Sang-min's mother, the proportional rep who'd met her end here.
The mother who'd fussed over her son, projecting herself onto him—even in death, doomed to haunt his side.
Two burly men with heavy iron bars—more maces than clubs—approached and smashed the zombies.
Thud! Thud!
Heads caved, zombies crumpled pathetically.
The big guy, looking barely twenty, grinned at me, teeth tattooed.
[LIVE OR DIE]
Live or die, maybe.
Whatever—those eyes like Kim Pil-seong's.
“There were plenty in the Legion faction who were deluded into thinking that killing me would make my achievements theirs—just like him.”
Not trustworthy, but Kim Daram reining them in was real enough.
"...Let's go."
Last hunt of the day.
[89. Forbidden Record (4)] End