Chapter 6
Chapter 6: Special Forces
The location I returned to on Earth was somewhere I didn't recognize.
But what I did recognize were these guys.
"Kieeeeeeek!"
I didn't know why, but the damn goblins were here too.
"Summon."
What appeared at my words was none other than the raptor pack and Low-Grade units.
Honestly speaking, the Lowest-Grade units suited the role of support tools for the Engineers better.
They were really good at cutting wood and stone.
"Kyaaaaaah! A new monster!"
"What the?! They said only goblins appear up to floor 10!"
People starting to flee in a hurry.
Leaving them behind, I decided to first rescue those whose bodies had frozen up and couldn't even run.
"Move out."
I had naturally summoned a great number of Combatants.
[Path of the Unique Trait (2)]
[Increase the Mechanical Legion's numbers to 10,000.]
[Reward: Command Unit Summon Ticket (1)]
My urge to summon a Command Unit was burning, but up to Mid-Grade I could still control them myself.
They were listening very well too.
I ordered the hundreds of raptors to never attack anyone who was human like me.
The problem, however, was pets.
"Damn…just kill the goblins only! Will they even understand that?"
At that, the raptor that had been about to deal with a dog stopped moving.
The issue, though, was the Low-Grade Combatant.
It had been about to bring its mace down on a stray cat, and I hurriedly stopped it.
"Raptors, all of you hunt only goblins. Low-Grade, rescue people instead. Transports!"
It was fortunate that I had summoned quite a few Transports just in case.
5 Transports appeared, and people were quickly loaded onto them.
"Over here!"
The goblins currently summoned matched the Stage 9 wave—30 warriors and 70 ordinary goblins.
"They shouted that a Defender had died. Could it be that when someone dies there, the remaining goblins get summoned here?"
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tang!
Rat-tat-tat-tang!
Bang! Bang!
"Not bad work."
Soldiers appeared 5 minutes after the incident broke out.
Everything except the Transports was reverse-summoned.
I stood quietly at the center of the incident when someone who looked to be a fairly high rank approached.
Looking closely, it was a lieutenant, no less.
"Salute. Are you by any chance a Returnee?"
"That's correct."
"Confirmed. Were those machines earlier summoned through your Unique Trait?"
"…That's correct."
I'd considered just hiding it, but there was no way to hide this anyway, and this person looked like they'd only just pinned on the lieutenant's bar.
They were clearly nervous at a glance, so I figured there was no need for that.
"…Phew…thank you. There are quite a lot of people who make a scene and cause trouble, you see."
"I understand. Everyone probably thinks they're the main character."
"For now, would you be able to accompany us? I will explain the current situation."
Nod.
Following his words, I moved and boarded a military truck.
I naturally evacuated the people from the Transports first, then reverse-summoned them.
Once aboard the military truck, the lieutenant from earlier followed and sat beside me.
"First, I will explain the current situation. So then…what is your name?"
"Kim Hyeon-woo."
"Ah, yes. Returnees like Kim Hyeon-woo. That is, the military calls them Returnees, but in America they're called Defenders. So the government is currently debating whether to go with Returnee or Defender."
According to him, the number of people who had gone missing in the Republic of Korea alone was in the thousands.
On the first day, missing person reports had poured in from across the country all at once.
It was known that those missing person reports were not normal.
After all, there were people who had radiated light in restaurants and suddenly disappeared.
While debating what to do about those people, something had suddenly appeared.
None other than the gates that only appeared in web novels.
The gates that appeared in an instant had begun spitting out goblins.
Apparently, the rabbit had only appeared exactly 2 times up until now.
"So when someone dies, the monsters from that wave stage get summoned here?"
"That's correct. The fortunate thing is that normally there's something like a mana barrier—making guns useless—but in this real world that isn't the case, which is a relief."
"I see. Then how many Returnees—Defenders—are there?"
"The number of people called to the other dimension is approximately 6,000. Of those, the Defenders who have returned here number only about 30."
"Certainly…it wouldn't be easy."
"Yes. Up to now, all but 1 have been confirmed to possess a Unique Trait."
While gathering information through various exchanges like that, we arrived somewhere.
The military headquarters in Paju.
"So I landed in Paju. I'm from Daegu."
"Ah, the landing location was random for each person. Fortunately, you arrived normally without being summoned underground or in the sky or anything like that."
"Hmm. If you returned underground, that would be truly…"
Horrifying.
Regardless, gates had begun appearing here every day, and as a result many people were reportedly reluctant to step outside.
The President had immediately declared a Stage 1 state of emergency, and when it showed no signs of dying down—only growing stronger and more frequent—he had ultimately elevated it to Stage 2.
As a result, emergency phones were always kept ready to call the military nearby, and soldiers were also conducting regular patrols.
"The fortunate thing is this."
What was in his hand.
"…A magic stone?"
"That's correct. The ones dealt with in reality carry magic stones inside their bodies rather than coins. A single magic stone from a goblin can power the headquarters for an entire day."
"In that case, for something like an orc…"
"Exactly. It's a new-generation energy source that can substitute roughly a week's worth of power, and the stock price of the first company to successfully develop new applications for magic stones is rising by 30% every day."
What a ruinous age.
After arriving at the Paju headquarters like that, with the help of various soldiers, I was able to make a phone call to my family.
"Dad. Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Your mom and your sibling are fine too."
"Wow, I actually made it back alive. I can't believe it."
"What's wrong with you?!"
The sound of my sibling exclaiming in astonishment could be heard through the call.
And matching that, my mother's voice sniffling and hitting my sibling.
"Got it. Yes, yes. I'll be there soon."
Beep…beep…
"…Thank goodness."
Honestly, hearing about the situation I'd thought they might all be dead.
But hearing that every member of the family was safe, I felt an enormous sense of relief.
And the fact that guns worked on goblins was also an enormous relief.
"Haaah…"
Perhaps because it was so comfortable and the anxiety had been resolved—I fell asleep almost immediately.
***
"Hello. I am Yi Jin-seok, serving as the director of the Returnee Headquarters. Please come with me from here."
Departing from Paju and riding a military truck, I arrived in Seoul in no time.
Going there, a massive building visible even from within Seoul had been repurposed for this situation.
"The name hasn't been decided yet—Returnee or Defender—but first let me offer my thanks. Thank you sincerely for surviving and making it back."
"Ah…it's nothing. Ha ha ha."
"Then let's go."
Following his words, I entered the room to find 3 people inside.
"Oh, a new Returnee?"
"What's your Unique Trait?"
Of the group made up entirely of burly men, 2 approached slowly and asked.
The first one who had asked if I was a new Returnee extended his hand to me, and I took it and shook it.
"My Unique Trait is [Explosive Warrior]. I fight using explosions, just as the name suggests."
Grin—
"Ah…so Explosion Maniac?"
"Kuhahahahahahaha! That's right! That's me! I cleared everything at 100% except once. I even have a whopping 4 traits."
'4? I have 3. Are the rewards different for each person? Come to think of it, I never saw anyone else mention getting a Question Ticket.'
"My Unique Trait is [Super Regeneration]. Like this."
Slice.
Without a word, a crazy man cut off his own finger.
But not long after, the finger simply regenerated.
The finger had regenerated in just 10 seconds.
"How about it? Insane, right? Huh?"
"Yes. You genuinely seem insane."
"What's this? That look in your eyes is a bit impure."
"Kuhahahahahahaha! There really are only absolute nutcases here!"
He laughed heartily, then let go of the hand and spoke.
"My name is Ju-hwan."
"I'm Kim Min-gyeol. My Community nickname is Troll."
"It really suits you. Your build and your trait"
"Heheh…right?"
Kim Min-gyeol's build was genuinely massive too.
As I was thinking how interesting that was, the one who had been quietly watching me approached.
Grin.
"My name is Hwang Jin-hyeok. Nickname is 777. After Special Forces 7th Division."
"Ah! That 777!"
"That's right. A celebrity. Same as you, Mechanic."
"What?! You're Mechanic?! Why are you only arriving now?!"
"Ha ha…"
Fair enough.
I had appeared using a legion of machines—there was no way reports about that hadn't reached these people.
After all, they were all wearing special forces uniforms.
So Ju-hwan and Hwang Jin-hyeok were in the same special forces unit, yet they'd had that standoff in the Community?
As I was thinking that was somehow funny, Hwang Jin-hyeok spoke.
"Using the Question Ticket to share information was the right call. You disappeared before you could know this, but thanks to you there were truly many people who found hope and challenged themselves again."
"Yeah. Honestly, I was at a loss. I'm really grateful."
"Weaklings."
Explosion Maniac truly is something else.
Anyway, after receiving their thanks, we headed to the cafeteria together.
"So in any case, I become a soldier no matter what?"
"That's right. Among us, these 3 were originally special forces soldiers and know tactics, so we each became squad leaders. Which unit do you want to join?"
Hearing what they had to say, it was clear at a glance.
Hwang Jin-hyeok. Nickname: 777.
Said to be an elite unit prepared for when truly powerful monsters appear.
Ju-hwan. Nickname: Explosion Maniac.
A unit that feels like it sweeps through any monster in sight.
Kim Min-gyeol. Nickname: Troll.
Said to be a unit that focuses more on stalling for time than rescuing people. A setup where soldiers finish off the goblins with guns while this unit acts as a shield.
The difference between Ju-hwan's and Kim Min-gyeol's units was that Ju-hwan's consisted solely of Returnees, while Kim Min-gyeol's had a feel of fighting in cooperation with soldiers.
In that case, the unit I should naturally join was already decided.