Chapter 195
Chapter 195
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 195
Chapter Title: 89. Forbidden Record (5)
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The landscape inside the National Assembly building had changed beyond recognition.
The spider-type's innate architect instincts had predictably transformed the entire structure into a labyrinth as convoluted as the one that had trapped the Minotaur.
Engineering teams had deployed bombs and bulldozers to blast paths open, but counterattacks from the minions and fanatics kept them from fully clearing the way.
In short, they had to carry out the operation with the spider-type fortress's defenses still fully operational.
And to top it off, there were fanatics inside the building.
I walked down a gloomy corridor, once carpeted in lavish rugs but now eroded to a drab grayish-white, and asked Kim Daram,
"Don't you have fanatics on your side too?"
"We do."
"If we kill these guys, won't your people get pissed?"
"Not particularly? Those folks would be way more furious about the monsters we've taken down than some fanatics here."
Kim Daram let out a sigh.
"It's the mess Wangsu stirred up."
"Wangsu?"
"That idiot's bright idea. Said since there are plenty of Awakened among the fanatics, bringing them in would boost our forces."
Kim Daram spoke with uncharacteristic emotion in her voice.
"...Like hell. It was just a bunch of drug-addled North Korean trash."
Analysts pinpointed the North Korean royal family's abrupt annihilation as the top cause of the regime's collapse.
With the brutal ruling clan that had dominated for decades suddenly gone, the chain of command crumbled—literally—leading straight to total breakdown.
But soldiers dispatched to North Korea before the war and scholars on the ground offered a different take.
Like in China, fanatics played a key role in North Korea's downfall.
Monster invasions and erosion cracked open the rigid control society, spawning countless rebels that toppled the state itself.
Right or wrong, it was undeniable that North Korea teemed with fanatics, and many had slipped south disguised as ordinary refugees.
Not every refugee is bad, but some carried baggage too toxic for Korean society to absorb.
"Like the headquarters chief said, I wish we could round 'em up and gas 'em."
If even Kim Daram, who's got a neutral streak like me, was talking this extreme, they had to be a real headache.
That fanatic girl we'd seen in Sejong didn't strike me as normal either.
If thousands like her went on a rampage, it'd breed hatred out of thin air.
I don't like fanatics myself.
I wouldn't go as far as gassing them wholesale like Kim Daram suggested, but on the battlefield, they're obstacles you prioritize over monsters.
In fact, we were heading straight for a fanatic-held zone, not a monster one.
Our team: me, Kim Daram, and three nameless grunts.
One of them carried a flamethrower.
Outside the building, Song Yujin was using her sensing ability to scan the walls, feeding us real-time intel on any humans approaching.
"Sam! All clear. They're holding in one spot. Got it."
Song Yujin's bubbly chatter poured nonstop through the comms. Man, this girl could talk.
"Sam. What's the deal with you and Team Leader Kim? Not like, dating or anything, right? She's married, you know. Whoa?! Wait... an affair?!"
"Pipe down."
Private channel let her ramble like this; on public, Kim Daram would've yanked her forward to lead point.
After the scolding, a slightly pouty voice drifted from the other end.
"I wanna be quiet, but it's safe now, yeah? Minions are cleared out, just people left. When else am I gonna get one-on-one priest time with Sam?"
Kim Daram, walking beside me, glanced back.
"What?"
"Looks like my old disciple's got something to say."
"Oh, yeah? Then I'll take point."
The reason I'd crushed on Kim Daram back in my active days? She put people at ease.
That comfort hadn't faded a bit.
Whether she knew it or not, Song Yujin piped up again.
"Not curious about Director Woo Minhee?"
"Now that's intriguing."
"...Director Woo did ditch us, but what could we do? We'd just be dead weight with no power to back it up."
"That rough?"
"Total hellhole! Hell! Director Woo lured those things north, or this place would've been monster paradise by now."
Woo Minhee.
Hard at work, which wasn't like her at all.
One thing bugged me: why would a free spirit like her volunteer for a suicide gig in a hellpit like that?
Her type usually bailed early for cushy rear-echelon living.
"Oh, Director Woo mentioned maybe some good news coming soon."
"Good news?"
That's when Kim Daram raised her left arm. Halt signal.
She'd spotted something.
"Later."
I dialed down the comm volume and focused ahead.
A barricade came into view.
Fanatics' handiwork, most likely.
No silhouettes beyond it, but better safe.
"Song Yujin."
Kim Daram spoke into the comms.
"How many up ahead?"
"Nobody there."
"Send a drone to check for explosives."
The small recon drone trailing us zipped past and peered behind the barricade. Crude pipe bombs and flammables spotted.
Kim Daram pulled a grenade and lobbed it over.
Boom!
"Fuse confirmed."
Kim Daram called it, and the drone operator replied.
"Cut."
She waved her subordinates forward.
They hopped the barricade, secured the explosives, and flashed us an OK.
"..."
This was the hassle of fighting people.
It dragged on.
Spot a problem, eliminate the source, then advance.
You could bulldoze through sloppy, but that meant having hordes of disposable grunts. Ones you wouldn't miss crippled or dead.
"Forward barricade."
Another obstacle.
But this one felt off.
People were there.
Not behind the barricade, but inside the doorway in front of it.
Looked like some nameless assemblyman's office, doorless, angled almost perpendicular to us—inside hidden.
But Song Yujin reported about five fanatics tucked away in there.
Click-
Click-
The grunts trained their muzzles on the entrance as the drone buzzed in.
Bang! Bang!
Gunfire erupted from the office, punching the drone twice before it plummeted limply. Definitely occupied.
Kim Daram signaled the flamethrower grunt.
"Torch 'em."
"Hold up."
I scanned the surroundings.
Sealed tight on all sides.
And that dead-end barricade spot.
I considered another possibility.
This was the hassle of fighting people.
It dragged on.
Spot a problem, eliminate the source, then advance.
You could bulldoze through sloppy, but that meant having hordes of disposable grunts. Ones you wouldn't miss crippled or dead.
"Forward barricade."
Another obstacle.
But this one felt off.
People were there.
Not behind the barricade, but inside the doorway in front of it.
Looked like some nameless assemblyman's office, doorless, angled almost perpendicular to us—inside hidden.
Something ominous hung in the air.
High-explosives like C4 or accelerants weren't likely. Stuff like that was legion-scale military org territory.
A handful of ragtag fanatics couldn't just snag it easily.
No, it screamed mutual suicide—their specialty.
Fanatics never hesitated to take their enemies with them.
They might've stashed something behind that barricade to belch toxic fumes once ignited.
Petrochemical junk like that littered apocalypse sites everywhere, disguised as trash.
"Remember that golden piggy bank apartment? The one with the Maotai shop on the first floor."
I murmured to Kim Daram.
"Oh, the Chinese residential complex in Wudakou?"
"Smells like that time."
Years of joint ops meant minimal effort to convince her.
"Yeah?"
Even now.
Kim Daram, who'd shown subtle resentment at my orders before, nodded and pulled back the flamethrower.
I met her eyes and said calmly,
"Same play as back then."
Kim Daram nodded, cleared her throat toward the door, and called out in a clear, resonant voice.
"This is the National Army."
Kim Daram opened negotiations.
"We mean you no harm. Lay down your arms and surrender, and we promise leniency."
Neither Kim Daram nor I expected fanatics to buy it.
Her surrender call was a feint.
Just like intimidation during monster fights, we pulled the same dummy on fanatics.
For the record, Kim Daram spoke Chinese like a native.
I'd never bothered learning, but Chinese folks said her Beijing Mandarin was flawless.
Her Korean was crisp too, voice pleasant.
Above all, her powerful projection masked my approach.
"..."
We reached the entrance.
Fanatics hadn't clocked us, but their ragged breaths and tense vibes vibrated the air inside, crystal clear.
Slowly, I pulled grenades, yanked pins.
One, then two.
Gripping them, a sigh escaped me.
This wasn't our job, really.
But damn, we'd done it plenty.
A much shriller scream echoed as I drew my pistol.
Boom!
Blast.
Assess.
Pounding footsteps rushed our way.
Then.
"Stop them!"
A frenzied bellow exploded.
"Our faith!!!"
A shadowy figure lunged from ahead. A fanatic belted in bombs head to toe.
Long-haired woman.
But gender hardly mattered now.
Her bulging eyes locked on me, brimming with pure madness.
Bang!
I aimed for the doorframe corner, bounced one grenade inside.
Bang! Rat-tat-tat-bang!
Reflex fire pierced her forehead. Bomb-laden body pitched forward.
Beep-beep-beep-
Grenade sighted, gunfire erupted.
Red lights on her bombs flashed.
Not over yet.
I sprinted full tilt toward Kim Daram.
No limp this time.
I wasn't that deep into the act.
But.
"?!"
Guess I wasn't the only con artist.
Kim Daram had nudged her eyepatch up, pistol trained ahead.
Beneath the patch, a perfectly fine eye stared at me in surprise.
"..."
We played it off, bolting down the corridor.
Kaboom!!!
Explosion rocked, followed by a barricade stockpile of junk spewing black smoke, engulfing everything.
The choking smog designed to suffocate humans swiftly blanketed the Assembly halls.
Fanatic corpses, hidden holdouts in the office, the awkward hallway silence—even our little cosplay.
We fell back to the entrance.
Catch breath, eye the building.
Black smoke billowed from the holed roof.
"Ha."
Kim Daram cracked a wry smile, finally readjusting her eyepatch.
I played dumb, limping along.
"..."
Awkward silence hung as Song Yujin's baffled "Huh?" burst from comms.
Then urgently,
"More people! Coming from the rear!"
Kim Daram whipped around sharply.
"No one's supposed to live here?"
The mild-mannered guy behind nodded.
"Per National Crisis Committee intel, as of last December 31st, only one soul in Seoul."
"The guy in that leaning apartment?"
"Yes."
"Which means."
Kim Daram eyed me.
"Fanatics. No clue why, but this place is..."
"Their holy site?"
Kim Daram nodded.
Fanatic motives shifted wildly, defying human logic, making prediction near impossible—but certain patterns emerged.
One: holy sites.
By inscrutable criteria, they spawned endless shrines, saints, sacred symbols, flocking to them.
Radios crackled with static nationwide.
"This is where the Divine Human was born."
A fanatic barked in thick North Korean dialect.
"Withdraw. Or we drive our bayonets into the enemy's chests to the last soul!"
A bitter laugh escaped me.
This wouldn't fly. Better not. But.
Thud-thud-thud-thud---
A drumming roar pounded from above.
Helicopter.
Military chopper.
I could guess the passenger, but to confirm, I asked Kim Daram.
"Who's aboard?"
She sighed with a defeated look.
"...Headquarters Commander Kim Byungchul."
Kim Byungchul, Integrated National Army Command HQ chief.
He ruled the legion faction dominating Korea now.
<89. Forbidden Record (5)> End
Recommendation 59
Lolololol the con artist duo is hilarious af lololol
Recommendation 52
All cons, no marks lol
Recommendation 48
Maybe Park Gyu actually dislikes Kim Daram cuz of kin hate...? Feels like he gets extra annoyed cuz she's so much like him
Recommendation 12
Wait, why's Kim Daram wearing an eyepatch if it's fake? Didn't all the other hunters know? Lololol
Recommendation 5
"Of course her voice is nice too"
Lol, peak ex-captain confidence