Chapter 353
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 353
Chapter Title: Faith (1)
There's a saying that the world can change overnight.
Just a few days ago, I was sitting alone in a dark bunker. Now, in the span of a single day, I'd risen to command a tactical unit of over a hundred hunters.
Woo Min-hee, the one who'd given me this opportunity, gazed down at the vast camp sprawling beneath The Hope and got straight to the "main point."
"Rifts can't be closed anymore."
I knew that already.
Screeech—Woo Min-hee scraped her hook finger across the desk as she continued.
"But people still need to survive."
"What's the plan?"
"We're going to create an artificial Shangri-La zone."
"An artificial Shangri-La zone?"
"Shangri-La is a safe zone where erosion boundaries overlap, right? We're going to artificially adjust those boundaries."
The government's original plan had been to close the Jeju Rift and use the combat experience gained there to seal all the rifts across Paju and the rest of the Korean Peninsula.
But after suffering near-total annihilation on Jeju, that plan was scrapped.
As Woo Min-hee said, people have to survive.
Only if people survive can they have children, and from those, a new generation can be born.
"Most babies born last year are Awakened. We confirmed it on Jeju. And quite a few of them have potential surpassing standard Awakened. Those kids will grow up to form the new generation fighting the next rifts."
Woo Min-hee said it so matter-of-factly.
I felt a moment of confusion, then sobered up and replied.
"The Chinese data. You know about it?"
"I do."
We were well aware of the data left behind by John_nenon from that Chinese scientist.
Awakened can't produce proper offspring.
Just like the hybrid offspring of lions and tigers, or horses and donkeys, which can't reproduce.
Like in Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park, only female children are born, and even those have an extremely high chance of being deformed.
Even in the rare cases where a normal child is born, it's still Awakened.
Erosion is, quite literally, a death sentence for humanity.
"The government's not run by idiots, sunbae. What do you think the ratio of test-tube babies was among last year's newborns?"
Screeech—Woo Min-hee scraped the desk again.
"New children are being raised on Jeju."
"Sounds like you've set up a human factory."
Woo Min-hee beamed.
"Spot on. A human factory. Yeah, maybe. But if we don't use methods like that, won't humanity just end right there?"
She smiled, glancing slyly at me as she added in a teasing tone,
"Since it came up, why don't you donate some sperm, sunbae? Someone like you could probably produce some pretty superior offspring. Honestly, are there any normal people with genes as good as yours?"
"I don't want to see kids I don't know running around who look like me."
Come to think of it, I'd gotten a similar offer even before retiring.
They'd promised a hefty bonus on top of my retirement pay if I donated.
I turned it down flat.
I figured one person in this world who looked like me was enough, and I still felt the same way.
"Anyway, until those new children are born and grow up, we're going to establish and defend a base around Seoul."
"That'll take more than ten years."
"We'll just have to hold out. It's not like there are no precedents."
Woo Min-hee showed me a photo.
It looked like somewhere in China.
The horizon was painted gray from end to end, but like an oasis in the desert, one spot retained its full spectrum of colors.
"No animal is as tenacious as humans."
Woo Min-hee flipped to the next photo.
It showed several settlements, much like the first, that had kept their colors even within erosion zones.
Just looking at them from afar, you could feel the desperate will to live and survival instinct in this parade of photos. Woo Min-hee's voice wormed into my ear.
"You said that once, sunbae."
I had.
Probably about the people surviving in China's erosion zones.
"You want to turn Seoul into something like that?"
"The conditions are good. We've got a big river connected to the sea, and as you know, Korean cities are fortresses in themselves."
That was true.
Each reinforced concrete apartment building was a well-built modern castle.
"And reinforcements will be coming from Jeju soon."
"...Kang Han-min?"
"Yeah."
"I see."
"What? You don't like the idea of him coming here?"
"Nah."
There might have been a time when I did.
I'd even refused to hear his name mentioned.
Not anymore.
Time had changed me.
Whether that was growth or regression, I didn't know. But at least I wouldn't avoid him now.
Whether my resolve showed on my face, or if it was just Woo Min-hee's twisted imagination, she stared at me with an unusually tender gaze for a long, awkward stretch of time.
"Alright."
After what felt like an eternity, Woo Min-hee let out a shallow sigh and turned away.
"Now, let me explain what you'll be doing from here on."
"...It won't be easy, will it?"
In response to my question, Woo Min-hee burst out laughing and sharply scraped the floor with her prosthetic leg.
Screeech!!
"Right."
*The Seoul Hunter HQ—a group with a rather uninspired name—had the following personnel:
92 regular hunters.
33 special hunters.
11 formal hunters.
52 combat support personnel.
A total of 168 under my command.
My title, simply put, was Captain.
Reflecting the trend in a world where hierarchies had collapsed, options like Commander, Colonel, or Special Seat were available. But none suited someone who'd be leaving in three months.
As noted earlier, the terminology for hunters had changed.
Regular hunters referred to us old-school types.
Special hunters were low-level Awakened.
Formal hunters were Awakened level 5 and above.
Combat support handled everything from barracks management, meals, and medical duties to base security and drone operations—military roles assisting us.
Like any newly reorganized unit, Seoul HQ was riddled with issues, the biggest being insubordination from the formal hunters—our top combat assets.
"They just don't want to mix with us. They got special treatment back on Jeju, too."
They pretended to listen in front of Woo Min-hee, but ignored everything once she was gone.
My predecessor knew the details.
"Hey, sunbae."
I reunited with my junior, Kim Daram.
Her eyepatch off, her eye scar exposed, she looked gaunt and exhausted, her cheeks hollowed as if to prove her hardships.
"...I knew you'd come. Woo Min-hee kept asking for you."
In the locker-filled lounge, she sat haphazardly. I pulled out an empty ammo crate, used it as a chair, and sat facing her.
Waiting for her distant gaze to turn to me, I smiled faintly and spoke.
"What? You keep comparing us?"
Kim Daram let out a hollow laugh.
"You know it."
"I do."
"Haa..."
Buoyed by the light joke, Kim Daram managed a faint smile and continued.
"Never marry a woman like that. I don't know about anything else, but living with someone who compulsively compares you will give you cancer."
I doubted my ears for a second.
Wasn't she talking about herself?
Whatever. It was good.
The important thing wasn't that.
I actually felt some relief that, though a bit down, Kim Daram—true to her tough nature—had kept her sanity despite Woo Min-hee's comparisons and scoldings.
"Who's the problem?"
I'd dealt with plenty of issues like this in groups.
We old-school hunters were second-rate now, but once we'd been the elite at humanity's forefront.
More than one friend had found rear-echelon infighting harder than battlefields where life and death hinged on split seconds.
To my question, Kim Daram spun a dagger with eerie skill, gathering her thoughts, and spoke slowly about our issues.
"There's this guy named Ahn Seung-hwan, from the 22nd batch. He's the Awakened leader. He bows his head in front of Woo Min-hee, but that's it. He knows she can't touch them. They're precious assets, right? Especially after Jeju wiped out most of their kind."
I asked in detail how Ahn Seung-hwan and his crew showed their insubordination.
As expected, not outright refusal, but slacking on missions.
They deployed to the field but ignored responses, failed orders, or did them half-heartedly.
An annoying type.
If they'd refused deployment outright, we could've weeded them out politically. But sneaky types like this? No easy fix.
That was probably why Woo Min-hee called me.
She valued my experience and skill, sure, but what she really wanted was the glory of my past as "Professor."
Honor at least lent some authority.
"They might pretend to listen to you, sunbae. After all, you were once at the top."
That's what Woo Min-hee had said when mentioning the issue.
And she gave me another task.
"How's the city situation?"
We needed to secure the neighboring Hanam City area.
Even with people gathering around The Hope, the infrastructure couldn't handle the influx from the capital region and Jeju.
Hanam had been evacuated early in the war and served as a reserve defense line for the national army, so its infrastructure was relatively intact.
Rivers on three sides and mountains to the rear made it defensible against monsters or humans.
Strictly speaking, The Hope complex straddled more of Hanam than Seoul proper.
Anyway, the well-preserved city had fallen to monster outbreaks and escaped human control.
I expected it to be bad.
Maybe even tied to the formal Awakened's slacking.
Even lazy guys pretend to work on easy jobs.
"Haa. Well..."
Kim Daram sighed, pulled out a tablet, and explained the situation.
"Hm."
I'd expected bad, but it was worse.
They'd slack off, alright, I thought.
Monsters, zombies, mutations, and fanatics.
The full apocalypse gift set had taken over swaths of the city.
The fanatics were the biggest problem.
Estimated hundreds, armed with guns and heavy weapons, and even formal Awakened sighted among them.
After the brief, Kim Daram sighed and looked up at me wearily.
"Got any bright ideas, sunbae?"
"Who knows."
Honestly, hunters alone couldn't handle this.
In China, we'd moved with the military.
But for New Seoul, barely holding its palm-sized turf, the only force available was this uninspired Seoul Hunter HQ.
"Luckily, a few specials are willing to help. They look down on us, but the formals look down on them even more."
"You know Hong Jeong-ho?"
I'd spotted him during the inspection with Woo Min-hee.
My internet buddy, Defender.
Still sporting that chilling gaze and striking looks.
He had weaknesses against big monsters, sure, but that Defender was a natural human-slayer was a fact any Viva! Apocalypse! oldbie would nod to.
"Hong Jeong-ho?"
Kim Daram tilted her head.
"Why him?"
"What? Did Jeong-ho cause trouble?"
"No, not that..."
Kim Daram clicked her tongue.
"...Isn't he kinda dangerous?"
*Most Wanted.
Defender's new callsign, apparently.
True to it, he was the fanatics' favorite target, yet he doggedly kept hunting.
Five ambushes by them, and not a scratch on him—he'd killed every attacker instead.
Not just luck.
He was a born killer with innate talent for handling and slaying humans.
"SKELTON."
Alone together, we bumped fists.
"Never thought you'd end up here. Figured you'd stay cooped up in that stuffy place."
Time and bonds transcended distance and years, bringing instant familiarity.
We hadn't drifted apart, and reuniting let us laugh and reminisce easily after so long.
"Why'd you leave? I know the gist."
I stirred the cheap tea in my plastic cup, waiting.
Defender chuckled emptily, shook his head, and let a chilling killing intent slip.
"If I stayed, I'd have killed them."
"Who?"
"Bang-ga and her mom."
"Ah."
"I'd really do it if I stayed longer. Plus, Bang Jae-hyuk caught on. He got wary—set booby traps at the bunker entrance when he went on duty."
"That bad?"
"Yeah, and the conflict wouldn't resolve easily."
With a hollow laugh, I pressed. Defender nodded and went on.
"And you know how we think of killing easier than most."
"Well, yeah."
"They were mulling murder over nothing, knowing what it'd lead to."
To me, it looked like mild friction, but that was my view.
The Defender siblings were psychopaths.
Low barriers to murder.
Bad moods alone sparked killing thoughts.
Like honking at a slow driver— they'd grab the golf club or bat in the back.
Maybe that's why Dajeongi kept her distance.
It was, in fact.
The siblings leaving was right.
Still, I wanted to defend Bang Jae-hyuk a bit.
I was closer to Defender, and I'd pick him over Bang, but fairness mattered.
"Bang Jae-hyuk never mentioned it or showed it."
"Jae-hyuk's fine. But what can you do? Family. Once rift forms, it festers. Like that Yankee meme, 'Haters gonna hate.' Once you hate, you keep hating."
Good riddance anyway.
Water under the bridge.
Focus on what we could do now.
I explained the situation to Defender.
"Hanam?"
Chilling intent flashed in his eyes.
"Yeah. I know. The fanatics, right?"
He'd thought ahead, as expected.
Not impulsive—a planner.
He'd schemed mass killings against groups hunting him plenty.
Defender rummaged in his pack and unfolded a faded blueprint.
"This?"
Building plans.
[Hanam Starworld]
Probably a former shopping complex.
Defender pointed to his marked checks on the intricate diagram.
A pillar extending from underground.
"If we reach this and blow TNT..."
Defender grinned, tapping the pillar.
"Those bugs'll dry up."