Chapter 196
Chapter 196
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 196
Chapter Title: 89. Forbidden Record (6)
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It's been a while since I last had an experience like this.
I spotted a man named Kim Byung-chul from a distance.
He wasn't particularly tall.
His build was average, nothing eye-catching about him.
His hair was cropped short, and he wore a neat military uniform adorned with a simple medal on the jacket.
But one thing stood out: his eye gleamed unnaturally bright, which puzzled me until I realized he was wearing a monocle.
I'd heard that monocles were tricky for East Asians without prominent brow ridges, but Commander Kim seemed to have his own trick to it. Every time he turned his head, the monocle's gleam caught the sunlight and scattered sparkles everywhere.
Standing before Kim Byung-chul, Kim Daram explained the strategy with a stiff expression.
She was probably arguing that the current situation was extremely unfavorable and it would be better to regroup for another try. Kim Byung-chul listened silently to her, then suddenly threw his head back and let out a strange yell.
"Achtung!"
What was that about?
The other personnel stiffened at attention, listening intently to Kim Byung-chul.
His voice was too low to make out from here, but judging by their faces, things weren't heading in a good direction.
Soon, Kim Daram let out a sigh and walked over to me.
"......He says we have to take it down by the end of today, no exceptions."
"Really?"
"He has his reasons."
"What reasons?"
"Tomorrow, there'll be even more zealots."
"Can't argue with that."
Kim Byung-chul was right.
Now that the National Assembly building had been declared a holy site, more zealots would flock to it.
And with those numbers, they'd fortify it into an impregnable stronghold.
"But how? I can't see a way through."
Reinforcements had arrived at the National Assembly, spreading out everywhere. All our hours of work had been undone. We'd have to wipe out each resistance point one by one again. That was the safest way to minimize casualties while taking down the monsters.
But it was already 4 p.m.
The sun was setting.
We had to finish before nightfall.
"Hold on. Let me think."
I entered the strategy tent with Kim Daram and reviewed our options from square one.
Various ideas flickered in and out of my mind.
It had been ages since I'd last done this.
Squeezing my brain for a battle plan.
I'd hunted monsters sporadically after the war, but deploying and maneuvering a team unit on the battlefield was something I hadn't done since leaving it behind.
Honestly, it gave me a headache, but I rather enjoyed it.
Because I was the one laying out the entire board.
Watching my blueprint come to life organically, unfolding exactly as predicted—that crisp satisfaction was one of the few pleasures the battlefield offered.
I could feel Kim Daram's gaze on me.
With my eyepatch fully exposed now that everything was out in the open, she looked baffled, but since I limped around constantly myself, she had no reason to pry.
Still, her face reminded me of the old days.
The face of a loyal deputy waiting solely for me to speak.
"Let's do it this way."
I proposed a rather reckless plan.
Kim Daram looked dumbfounded.
"You need a helicopter?"
"Talk to the general. If he wants the Assembly building today, this is the only way."
Kim Daram rubbed her chin irritably and spoke as if pleading with me.
"It might not work."
*
Beeeep—
The horn blared across the twilight sky over Seoul.
A total of 55 combatants advanced toward the National Assembly.
We'd scraped together every available fighter deployed in Seoul.
Drones floated everywhere in the sky, monitoring all directions without blind spots. In the rear, three armored vehicles and five designated snipers provided covering fire.
Their job was to keep the enemy heads down completely.
Bang!
Any shadow flickering at a window drew bullets or 20mm autocannon rounds.
Relying on this overwhelming suppressive fire, the combatants stormed the Assembly building.
Tat-tat-tat-bang!
Boom!
The battle erupted fiercely from the start.
These zealots were far better armed than the ones we'd taken out earlier, and they fought with even more ferocity.
"Protect the divine one!"
"They're trying to steal the divine one from us!"
They were desperate too.
But so was I.
I wanted to go home.
Could there be a more desperate reason than that?
As the fight intensified, I boarded the helicopter.
Beyond the chopper, an old soldier with four stars gleaming watched me from afar.
Ignoring his gaze, I said to Kim Daram,
"Let's go."
The helicopter lifted off.
This was the most dangerous phase.
Did the enemy have Stinger-like anti-air weapons?
I was betting my life they didn't.
To boost survival odds, the snipers and armored vehicles laid down relentless cover fire, preventing enemies in our approach vector from even peeking out. But on the battlefield, anything could happen.
"Approach as planned."
No signs of anti-air guided weapons yet.
I gripped the rope, securing it to the harness already strapped on, without letting my guard down.
"Distance 500."
The pilot's flat voice came through.
Amid the heavy rotor thrum that felt like it would burst my heart, the military chopper slowly closed in on the Assembly.
"300."
I took deep breaths, mentally reviewing my weapons' positions once more.
"200."
Bang!
A gunshot rang out.
Kim Daram's.
"Tango down."
Click—
She reloaded and spoke curtly.
"100."
Below, I could see the Assembly's abandoned gardens, countless tents, armored vehicles, and snipers still pouring fire from prone positions.
"50!"
I gripped the rope and glared downward.
Suddenly, the pilot screamed.
"S-Stinger!"
Bang!
In that moment, Kim Daram fired her powerful rifle again, staggering from the recoil.
"Tango down."
"30!"
I could see it.
The building at the heart of Korea's constitutional history, formed of a square and a hemisphere.
Its iconic hemispherical dome had half-collapsed during the war.
We knew that beneath that dome lay the Assembly chamber where the people's representatives had gathered.
And I knew.
About the single monster lurking there.
It was a standard spider type, yet anything but ordinary.
The thing summoned from the capsule had literally flipped the human carrying it over its head like a hat at the moment of summoning.
"10!"
At the pilot's shout, I rappelled down the rope.
"Descending."
Heading straight for that gap.
To avoid tipping them off, we hadn't done any prior recon.
Which meant, since the battle started, I was the only one—drone footage included—to go down through this hole.
All we knew was that the hole connected to the Assembly chamber.
The view blurred past in an instant.
But my eyes locked on one thing.
The massive hall below with about 300 seats, visible through the half-collapsed hole.
Bang!
Even then, Kim Daram's gun barked from above.
And I saw it.
The Assembly floor, stained ashen-gray.
Thud!
I landed, cut the rope, and sought cover.
"What?!"
"The enemy! It's the enemy!"
People, as expected.
Two of them.
But they weren't ready.
Bang! Bang!
After confirming both down, I scanned the room.
There it was.
The Assembly's master.
The so-called spider type.
Named for resembling a spider, but this one looked markedly different from others.
It wore a human's torn upper body atop its head like a statue.
The man's face, turned ashen-gray and frozen like a decoration, was one I knew well.
"......"
Park Sang-min.
It had been quite some time, but his face remained frozen in the moment of the capsule explosion, as if time had stopped.
That must be why.
The zealots called this monster the "divine one."
Without a second thought to how this poor man had ended up as the monster's ornament.
"Protect the divine one!"
"The enemy targets the divine one!"
Bang! Bang!
Gunfire echoed from the roof.
Kim Daram had already rappelled down nearby and was providing support.
"I've got your back."
From afar, she'd ditched the eyepatch entirely.
Then I had no choice but to give my all too.
I gazed steadily at the spider type as it slowly rose, releasing tension from my left leg—the one with the limp gimmick.
Shing—
I drew my two axes.
Already within reflection field range.
The spider type couldn't beat me up close.
The twin axes danced in perfect circles.
Chop!
Snap!
Chop!
Carving and shattering the monster's tree-trunk-like body was addictive.
What was it? As it disassembled and edged toward oblivion, I felt a dual rush: manic excitement sharpening my mind.
I didn't know if it was vengeance fulfilled or some unconscious sadism toward monsters.
What mattered was that I enjoyed the process.
Chop!
This wasn't some fleeting thought.
It was an objective fact, proven by the forbidden record I'd built killing countless foes on the battlefield.
"Clear!"
"Assembly penetration complete!"
Perfect timing—the audience arrived.
The decoy hunters had entered the building.
Among them was the rugged man with tattoos.
He looked shocked to see me, but I was purely glad for him.
Their arrival signaled another clean hunt finished.
I cleaved the monster's front legs—already mangled from multiple strikes—with both axes at once.
Its legs buckled backward, and it collapsed.
With it, Park Sang-min's upper body dropped to my eye level.
Staring at his ashen, gaping face, I said calmly,
"......You're a bit late."
After finishing our unfinished talk, I buried an axe in his head.
Chop!
May eternal rest come to the Assembly's last lawmaker.
*
The hunt was over, and night had fallen.
The zealots, who had resisted fiercely, fled into the ruins the moment their divine one vanished, as if it had never happened.
Around the Assembly, hunters celebrated their victory with modest toasts.
As expected, I didn't join their festivities.
Amid the raucous cheers, Kim Daram approached me.
Our eyes met, and we both cracked awkward smiles, as if by prior agreement.
Kim Daram acted first.
With a wry smile, she removed her eyepatch.
Where I'd expected nothing, her eye sparkled as sharply and vividly as ever.
I shot her a questioning look, and she protested with another wry smile.
"You did cosplay too, didn't you, sunbae? Anyway, I figured your personality would make you follow me. Fat chance, right?"
Kim Daram laughed wistfully at the air.
I laughed along, but I could feel it clearly.
The invisible, transparent wall between us—one that seemed eternal.
But today, I wanted to end on a candid note.
"Kim Daram. You too......"
That was the vibe.
"I'm a mom now, you know."
With an ambiguous smile—wry or cynical?—she signaled the armored vehicle.
The door opened, and she boarded.
"We're heading out."
The vehicle rolled off.
Even as it departed, Kim Daram stood by the roadside, seeing me off alone.
I glanced back at my junior instinctively.
Her tall, sturdy frame exuded a dignity rivaling any man's.
And with the grace of a leopard I'd first seen at school, she strode into the bright festival.
"Team leader!"
"Kim Team Leader!"
She was in the light.
Bathed in cheers, respect, and welcomes from the crowd.
Once, I'd been in that world of light—and wanted to be again.
But now, it wasn't just dazzling.
What was it? Stale? Or ill-fitting?
As my thoughts reached that point, one idea suddenly dominated my mind.
Maybe my true forbidden record wasn't SKELTON's online exploits, but the history of hatred I'd written on the battlefield?
Given how I thrilled at hunting alongside my old comrade Kim Daram—knowing it was wrong—and savored it.
At least, my subconscious equating my long hatred with that armband made it plausible.
"Halt!"
The armored vehicle stopped abruptly.
Someone who issued the halt wanted to see me, so I stepped out.
Standing before the headlights was a soldier in sunglasses, sporting four stars.
"Are you that hunter Park Gyu?"
Kim Byung-chul.
I'd wondered where he'd vanished to mid-operation; who'd have thought he'd seek me out here. Even swapping the monocle for shades at night.
"Well done. Thanks to you, we've reclaimed Korea's heart."
Kim Byung-chul smiled kindly and clasped my hand.
His monocle gleamed eerily under the starlight.
"I can't help but lament why a fine hunter like you had to hide away. Awakens truly are humanity's foes—they cloud men's eyes. I don't like the Chinese, but we could learn from their attitude toward Awakens."
This guy.
He seemed to like me.
Naturally—I'd earned it.
With all the extra service I'd provided him today.
"You. Got a K-walkie-talkie? If not, I'll send you one with a personal ID code."
"I have one."
"Oh? Really? Then call it out for me. Just a sec."
No choice, really.
Not from Kim Daram, but the Legion faction's leader himself—Korea's most powerful man right now.
Better not get on his bad side.
"Good! Verlite! Ready!"
Kim Byung-chul fiddled with his smartwatch, improbably modern for his age.
"Go on, call it."
"SKELTON."
He inputted my personal ID code, then suddenly looked up at me.
"......Skeleton?"
He stared hard.
Intensely so.
"Skeleton......"
Kim Byung-chul smiled meaningfully and asked in a low voice,
"Do you go on the internet by any chance?"
"?"
"Viva! Apocalypse!?"
What?
What did that mean?