Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: 42. Paradise (6)
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"Alive."
I shouted urgently into the radio.
"Airstrikes incoming. If it's around the U.S. base, well, rest in peace."
"Don't bomb the airport."
"Why?"
"The warheads aren't loaded yet."
I stared through the periscope and spoke in a low, rapid voice.
"Really? No way. Oh, it really is."
At the airport that she, I, and the other soldier were watching, another jet engine roared high like a beast howling.
Weeeeeeng---
Park Cheol-ju's plane.
Who's flying it?
The pilot? Did they bribe the pilot?
No.
Among the fallen bodies was one in a pilot's uniform.
The sleek plane wagged its wing flaps back and forth.
"No way...?"
Park Cheol-ju himself?
Is the Seokju Group chairman personally piloting the plane?
Come to think of it, Koo Ki-joon had mentioned it.
Park Cheol-ju had a pilot's license.
"That crazy old man! Stop him! Hurry!"
As the roar of vehicles echoed, the plane slowly taxied toward the runway.
Bang! Tatatata-bang!
Sharp gunfire rang out midway between the airport and my territory.
Warning shots, probably.
But the plane didn't stop.
Bullet holes pierced its elegant surface, yet it proudly mounted the runway, revving up and accelerating its graceful fuselage.
Weeeeeeng--
Amid the roar, the radio spat out a man's clear voice.
"Ladies and gentlemen. This is Seokju Group Flight 1 from Korea to Japan. The current time is 12:22, temperature 15 degrees. Weather is clear and..."
The voice, broadcast over the airwaves, belonged to none other than Park Cheol-ju.
"Destination: Paradise~."
The plane lifted off.
At the same time, the jets tearing through the sky above scattered in all directions.
They had detected several anti-air missiles streaking in from the east.
As the fighters dispensed chaff for signal jamming and performed dazzling evasion maneuvers, the beautiful passenger plane racing down the runway soared into the sky, its silver body gleaming.
Watching it, I unconsciously clenched my fist.
I felt an absurd beauty.
Maybe envy.
Jealousy at the freedom of leaving this hellish land of death for somewhere else.
Perhaps because I'd felt drowsy earlier, I slipped into a hazy daze, like walking in a dream.
"SKELTON!"
Not until the urgent voice snapped me back to reality.
"SKELTON!"
It was Defender's voice.
The communicator was buzzing.
"Yeah. Yeah."
"You alive? What the hell's going on? Where are you?!"
"Well, a little skirmish broke out?"
"You okay? Not getting attacked, right?"
"Hm."
What to say?
Should I be honest?
But no need.
"Hold on."
"What?"
"Just a sec."
I set down the communicator and stared at the bunker entrance.
A man was slowly descending the stairs.
One hand held a massive bulletproof shield to cover his body, the other a blunt Chinese greatsword.
Kim Pil-seong grinned at me.
For a moment, I recalled the buzz-cut kid from our school days.
He seemed to say to me:
Rematch.
I stood up.
Grabbing my two axes, leaving countless death traps behind.
Thud.
Kim Pil-seong tossed his shield aside and shut the bunker door.
"Lock it like this?"
I nodded.
Now, inside the bunker were just two hunters sharing the same past.
Gunfire outside, missile explosions, shouts, and unidentified roars—no longer mattered.
Because here we were, classmates from the same school, same training, same fate on the line, now facing each other with the same thoughts.
Kim Pil-seong grinned.
Seeing that smile, I grinned too.
This guy.
Really wanted a real fight.
That must be the true desire I'd been suppressing.
Well, a childhood defeat lingers forever.
As the one who beat him rose triumphantly, becoming half a legend, that sense of defeat must have deepened.
But he never abandoned faith in his skills.
Judging by the characters on the greatsword blade.
(Strongest)
Kim Pil-seong suddenly staggered back.
"Wh-what...?"
"What?"
"Why's the toilet there?"
"Got a problem?"
"Anyway, nice bunker you've built."
Kim Pil-seong lifted the grenade net with his hand and stepped into my territory.
His gaze fixed on the Claymore with crossed sights.
"Earlier, Kwon Jung-sa wanted to push with shields. Would've been wiped out."
He nodded in acknowledgment.
"Top of the class, huh."
Almost simultaneously, our smiles faded.
Kim Pil-seong raised his greatsword engraved with "Strongest."
I gripped my axes.
"Sunbae? Sunbae?"
The radio buzzed.
Kim Pil-seong recognized the voice instantly.
He said nothing.
Instead, he lunged at me with the greatsword raised.
His speed was like a leopard's, his momentum like a mountain.
Clang-
The two axes clashed with the greatsword in mid-air.
Beyond our straining weapons, Kim Pil-seong's eyes glared at me.
As we vied for strength, he nimbly retreated and struck again fiercely.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Three exchanges in an instant, sparks flying each time.
"Oh my."
Woo Min-hee's voice came from the radio.
"Sunbae seems busy right now?"
A cheerful tune followed.
A merry melody, like she was in a good mood.
In moments, the bunker filled with a bizarre atmosphere.
Gloomy yet cheerful, psychotic humming as two hunters unleashed the deadly dances they'd honed their lives for.
Kim Pil-seong seized the initiative first.
Clang!
One axe got caught in his greatsword and arced through the air.
Without pause, he thrust at my now-exposed left side.
I mixed in some feint.
Stepping left as if dodging, then as he twisted the blade to pursue, I hastily backpedaled.
The greatsword's sharp edge barely grazed my throat.
Beyond it, Kim Pil-seong's blazing eyes held regret.
The moment the attack passed, I lightly flicked the awkwardly held axe with wrist strength.
Thuk!
The axe embedded in his knee.
Shallow wound, but on the knee.
"Kuhk!"
I spun full circle, retrieved the dropped axe, and charged.
Like a wounded tiger, Kim Pil-seong swung wildly, but a true swordsman's power comes from the lower body.
Thuk!
The axe dug into his elbow, twisting the joint backward.
"Gahk!"
Clang-
The greatsword fell.
I habitually checked my watch.
30.7 seconds.
Time to disarm him.
His skills had improved, for sure.
But that dirty temper hadn't changed a bit.
"Park Gyu!"
Kim Pil-seong shed his jacket, revealing hidden bombs.
His hand reached for the detonator, but
Crack!
My axe split his head first.
The hand, severed from neural commands, flailed, but soon groped the cold floor with his torso.
Thud.
Another hunter down.
The humming on the radio stopped.
"Who won?"
Irritated, I answered Woo Min-hee.
"Sorry. Me surviving again."
I pulled the axe from Kim Pil-seong's head, wiped blood and brains on his clothes, and sighed.
"I was rooting for sunbae?"
"Anyway, couldn't you spare him?"
"Use bait as bait."
Woo Min-hee mimicked my voice.
It matched the stern, merciless tone of my China days perfectly.
She laughed.
"It's the way you taught me, throwing Chinese meat shields."
"..."
"Hide for a bit. Don't move. Helicopters coming soon—they said kill anything that moves."
Cannon fire echoed distantly.
Airstrikes, maybe.
Probably National Assembly fighters shredding Legion artillery.
Use pioneers as bait to locate enemy forces and threats, then silence with main force.
Solid plan.
Soon, helicopters appeared from the west.
True to her word, they tore apart, smashed, and burned everything moving.
After they left, I exited the bunker and checked around.
"..."
Everything destroyed.
No survivors, likely.
I sat on the charred bunker, lit a cigarette taken from a corpse.
"Fuu..."
What a long day, finally ending.
I glanced south absentmindedly.
A long, innocent white contrail stretched southward.
*
Of the Legion survivors dispatched to the airport, only Ji Young-hee and the technician who'd left the day before made it.
Combat helos pursued even fleeing vehicles from my area, turning them to fireballs.
Once cleared, they took the nuke warheads and leisurely headed north.
I searched for hidden survivors but found only one body in a ravine.
"Shoulda called me?"
Defender grumbled, looking miffed.
"Didn't seem necessary."
I hadn't used the Defender summon ticket.
But I called him anyway.
Couldn't handle all these bodies alone, especially in rotting season.
Defender griped about not being called but soon helped efficiently with cleanup.
True to "experienced eaters eat best," his body handling was pro-level.
He knew how to grab and carry for ease, how to clean and process damaged remains.
Made clearing my area smooth.
Thud-
Last body loaded on the truck.
My classmate Kim Pil-seong's.
"...Call next time it gets dicey."
"This was war-scale. One more you wouldn't change much."
"Get the situation, but still feels bad."
"Sorry. This is my natural tone."
"Must've been unpopular."
"Won't deny."
Defender waved.
As he prepared to leave, I gave recompense: beef and fuel from Ji Young-hee.
"Thanks."
I bowed to him.
Sincerely.
"Really grateful. Won't forget this favor."
How many in this hell would clean bodies?
"...Call next time."
Defender took the gifts, mounted his bike.
"Yeah. You too if it's risky."
That day, our board buzzed with guesses and rumors about the previous night's plane roars and artillery.
At the center: our reporter.
The reporter's post included what looked like combat photos from a helo.
Burned trucks and wreckage, crashed helo in rice paddies, fighter debris, missile remnants—plenty of thought-provoking scenes.
Thanks to that, the reporter topped hot posts on both PaleNet and our board.
"..."
At this point, is the reporter Woo Min-hee?
This incident didn't end the truce between National Assembly and Legion factions.
Neither side commented officially.
Just a happening.
With casualties, but unclear perpetrator or cause.
The board boiled over, but couldn't enjoy 100% online life.
I took heavy losses too.
Dummy bunker gone, ventilation and facilities damaged.
Worse, my bunker no longer safe.
Made enemies of Legion.
No survivors, but some knew me.
Kim Daram.
She hated my paradise, left, tried to destroy hers, and aided those targeting mine.
"..."
Still, no regrets showing her my bunker.
This event gave me a clear purpose, in a way.
Hope emerged.
Rifts can close.
Don't know if Woo Min-hee's words are true.
But if they closed one, maybe real.
Think of comrades chosen by gods, unlike me.
With stronger, refined new allies' support, maybe they could close Jeju rift.
So, I can wait.
Beyond death day, now goal: rift-closing day.
Living with hope world improves vs. certainty all others die—worlds apart.
Maybe this thin hope thread is the path to Park Cheol-ju's paradise?
So, I have true paradise now.
*
A Japanese user appeared on our board.
He shared a popular post from Viva! Apocalypse! Japan board.
An endless blue sea on a southern island.
A surreal beautiful plane landed on an abandoned runway mid-construction.
No one found inside when discovered.
But I know that plane.
Park Cheol-ju's.
Where'd he go?
Clue in another board post by a Japanese.
Among crowd viewing plane, one man in Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses flashed double Vs at the camera.
I couldn't help laughing.
Park Cheol-ju.
Another chaebol chairman found his paradise.
To honor his will, I broke taboo: took MBTI first time.
"..."
Result: INFP.
Mediator who loves introspection?
Introverted, lost in own world...
Feels off...
Asked gentle Daram, who seems to like MBTI.
"INFP?"
She snapped curtly.
"That's total loner traits."