Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Remnants (1)
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According to the foreign word notation rules announced by the Ministry of Education in 1986, foreign personal names should be written according to their local pronunciation.
I didn't follow that rule when I was in China, and the reasons were complex.
At the time, I had no interest in learning their language or even trying to understand it.
We were unwelcome guests, and in truth, we'd come for a purpose that ensured we wouldn't be welcomed.
Our goal wasn't some salvation for China.
The orders I received from the government were to collect data on the types and behavioral patterns of monsters emerging from high-intensity rifts, changes occurring in the rift areas—especially their effects on humans—and the like.
As a result, we dodged the fierce battles they desperately needed with all sorts of excuses, selecting only the regions and fights we wanted.
It's true that the vast experience and data we gained there greatly aided Korea's defense later on, and it's also true that it contributed to turning me into a doomsayer.
There was a man named Ma Won-gap in that China.
A mere ordinary resident of the erosion zone, he had a great epiphany when he saw a monster pass right by him without any hostility. And like anyone who has a great epiphany, he founded a new religion.
The name of that new religion drew great ridicule from the Chinese man I was working with at the time. He said it was the kind of name someone who lounged around jobless in their room all day reading xianxia or wuxia novels would come up with.
But unlike their mockery, the Ten Thousand Streams Return to One Sect spread rapidly through the erosion zones, tracing a path similar to the cults that toppled the Qing Dynasty.
Among the Korean dispatched hunters, there were even those who killed more of these cultists than monsters.
Defender was probably one of those rankers.
Now, Ma Won-gap, his religion, and his followers have all perished in the flames of destruction, but things that burn share similar properties.
For instance, like trees in a forest—they don't flee but stand their ground, waiting to be consumed by the fire.
Someone I knew had that same flammability.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Cannon fire echoes from the distance.
It's starting again.
The radio said they were negotiating.
It's been two years and two months since the war began.
Still no word from Kim Daram.
Checking the outside temperature, it's minus 5 degrees Celsius.
Maybe because of the global nuclear war last year, the weather feels colder than average.
I got up in the heating tent, washed my face, and prepared breakfast.
For breakfast, half a head of cabbage harvested recently.
I roughly chopped it and tore off chunks to eat by hand.
Before the war, I couldn't have imagined making a meal out of half a cabbage, but now, jaded by canned goods and preserved rations, it's a passable fresh seasonal delicacy.
As I stuffed myself moderately, I scanned the surroundings with binoculars.
Another group of refugees is passing through the golf course, heading south.
Is that direction where the sniper mom and daughter live?
Might hear gunfire soon.
After eating, I did a light patrol of the area to aid digestion.
Nothing unusual.
It might be too hasty a conclusion, but maybe today will be another peaceful day?
Unlike our peaceful neighborhood, Seoul is in the midst of a civil war.
A war that could change the fate of the Republic of Korea is holding millions of citizens hostage, right this moment spewing fire and rain at each other in a slaughterfest.
The civil war hasn't brought only bad effects.
At least for me, it's a short-term boon.
As soon as the civil war started, refugees appeared, but those annoying pioneers vanished completely.
Since pioneer teams were under military management, they probably got dragged to the front lines.
Yet, strangely, you hardly see talk about the civil war on the community boards. Occasionally, someone posts proof pics of shells landing near their house—that's it.
Compared to before the civil war, when civil war rumors flooded the boards, it's a complete reversal.
The direct cause is probably that the reporter in Seoul who fed us info has gone silent, but honestly, at this point, the civil war is a topic that doesn't need discussing.
It's already happened, we can't do anything about it, and above all, the civil war is inextricably tied to our harsh reality.
No matter who wins, who seizes power, who takes Seoul—the aftermath will shake our lives profoundly.
And in a very bad way.
Maybe that's why.
On the community, bright, frivolous topics unrelated to the civil war are blooming.
An unspoken agreement to ignore reality, perhaps.
I joined in that collective denial by posting something meaningless.
Such boring days continued until a massive event shook the entire board.
As expected, big things come from big players.
One of the board's Four Heavenly Kings, former webtoon artist DragonC, announced a new series.
DragonC's latest work, The Remnant—meaning remnants or dregs—can be summed up in one word: us, the doomsayers.
As creators who make it their profession tend to do, DragonC is preparing his final masterpiece to grant him immortality, and he's chosen the last remnants of humanity, soon to die or vanish, as the theme.
That alone would flip the entire board, but DragonC went a step further.
As if putting into practice that art reflects reality, he posted a casting call for main and supporting roles from our community members.
"...Heh."
The moment I first saw the notice, I wore a smug smile for the first time in ages.
I had no choice.
These conditions are practically made for me?
Well, excluding 3 and 4.
I have a unique personality and background worth telling, neighbors, and countless episodes.
Though I'm branded an unpopular user whining away, if I could appear in DragonC's latest work, not only would my standing on the board soar, but I might even achieve immortality myself.
Park Gyu's personal details are top-secret, but with the country in ruins, who cares?
Without a shred of hesitation, I compiled a new top-secret document and sent it to DragonC.
-Graduate of Hunter Training Institution "Guard" Class 13 (Top of class)
-Former S-Rank Hunter (highest grade before Level Zero change)
-Active 5 years in Beijing countermeasures, callsign "Professor"
-Major contributions to discovering mutation mechanisms
-Fucking badass
-Owns neighbors (including cute girl)
...
...
When I sent the application via message, I was absolutely certain I'd snag the lead role.
I was so confident that even excluding the provocative Defender siblings topic, I filled every blank densely.
The reply came in one minute.
Isn't that too fast?
No, maybe he was so moved by my illustrious career that he contacted me immediately upon seeing it.
"?"
My starring debut fell through for inexplicable reasons, but I wasn't the only one rejected.
Countless users got cut, including some I knew well.
Defender showed strong enthusiasm for appearing in The Remnant, but DragonC, true to his experience serializing on national portal sites, stuck to censorship standards and avoided provocative material like school violence, except perhaps.
By those standards, Defender was obviously out.
But Defender clung persistently, and uncharacteristically, DragonC publicly scolded him.
It was only natural that Defender, stung by DragonC, messaged me next.
Defender's weird, but he won't reveal his full identity.
Revealing the little sister would mean discarding one of the killer duo's trump cards: the male-female, two-person team.
Anyway, unlike Defender whose Remnant appearance is blocked forever, I still have an ace up my sleeve.
That ace was listed in the casting app I sent DragonC: the sniper mom and daughter to the southeast.
If I take a photo with them and send a touching story, maybe DragonC will bite?
As the saying goes, pull the ox horn while it's fresh—I immediately contacted the sniper duo.
"Skeleton? What's up?"
"Can I drop by for a sec?"
"Drugs?"
"What drugs?"
"Morphine, fentanyl, etc."
They say a dog from the schoolyard recites poetry after three months— the sniper's Korean has improved a lot.
Her daily job is listening to radio or walkie-talkies on building rooftops, so it had to.
"Skeleton!"
The daughter greeted me warmly.
Feels like ages since I last saw her, but maybe soon.
Christmas is coming up.
"Skeleton, what'd you eat today?"
"Cabbage."
"Cabbage? What's that?"
"Like primitive kimchi?"
"Primitive kimchi?"
As I chatted with a fond smile,
"Drugs."
The mom cut in.
"No drugs, no meet."
"One second. Photo snap. OK? Chocolate!"
Communication cut off.
Operation failed.
Can't be helped.
Drugs are the last resort for surgery or unbearable agony.
Even I had a hard time getting them, and there's only a little—can't hand them out for trivial reasons.
I wonder if that mom and daughter will make it through this winter properly.
Food aside, surviving two Korean winters isn't simple.
Anyway, my ambitious webtoon debut ended in failure.
Three days later.
The day a fighter jet flying overhead took a missile hit and shattered mid-air, plummeting west.
DragonC announced the protagonist of The Remnant.
Shockingly, it was one of the few people I knew by face on the community.
Kyle_Dos.
He was active often on the boards with a decent rep and part of friendly groups like Anonymous848, Anonymous458.
But that's about it.
Nothing to hate, but no standout merits either.
When I met him in person to get the capsule, he was just an average Korean guy in his early 30s.
Definitely not a hunter, not even trained military.
What made him so special to sway DragonC?
The reason was in Kyle_Dos's own post.
The story starts shortly after I collected capsules around the bunker.
Relieved of worries, veteran doomsayer Kyle_Dos patrolled the bunker perimeter daily with intense vigilance, allowing no minor changes.
Then one day.
Late spring, Kyle_Dos recalls.
He encountered something he'd forgotten but always thought about.
A woman.
Young, attractive, and above all, in need of protection.
The process of unflappable Kyle_Dos fatefully meeting an alluring woman, shyly growing close, and ultimately uniting was not only a staple of universal storytelling but carried the potent pheromones to stimulate a lonely man's fantasies.