Ep.2 The Sky Opens (4)
Yeah. That's right. It's rare, but it's a joint operation. We'll pin them down first, and tame them later.
Moon Sangjun readily affirmed my guess.
"I don't know much about it. But I have no intention of touching it right now."
"If I scratch that side right now, the Minhyuk Party—that is, the Democratic Innovation Party and the VIP side—will go ballistic. I'm not strong enough to withstand that backlash yet."
"And these guys on our side are going to be a pain too... Even if it's not actual internal betrayal, it's basically the same as saying they're going to fight. No matter how much of a grandson Moon Jintae the lawmaker is or how soon he's getting a nomination, there isn't a single crazy bastard in this world I'd want to keep alive."
"I get that you're worried about your friends, but before the real problem breaks out and spills out into the open, I have no intention of poking the hornet's nest."
My casual overestimation had turned out to be spot on.
I couldn't read Moon Sangjun's true intentions, but the political world was already in motion.
After all, when you think about it, it was only natural.
Look at the bizarre abilities of awakened humans—fire spitting from their hands, concrete-crushing bodies, people turning into dragons.
No nation could ignore superhumans like these.
Even if they wanted to ignore them, they had no choice but to use them.
Other nations would use them.
Officially, they weren't other nations, but right above them was North Korea.
But still...
"No way, hyung. Even if they're awakened, they have limits. No matter how small a handful they are, there are boundaries. They're going to beat the shit out of them and feed them to use them—that's no different from taming beasts."
"Shut up. Humans are animals too."
Moon Sangjun chuckled and answered.
I clenched my fists and asked.
"Then what about resistance? Forget about running overseas. What if awakened people go crazy and form gangs? What then? Would that be like how it was during the Roh Tae-woo era and become a quarantine?"
"Well, that's something we handle on our side. We were already talking about it while playing golf today. A non-official summit is probably going to be held soon. Details will be decided after the results come in. And they won't push too hard. If they do, it might backfire."
"Maybe they'll push a little, then create special units for awakened people, special police for awakened abilities, special conscription for awakened abilities, feed them, hype them up in the media, and milk them dry. They'll probably set aside a few retired ones to make them bow their heads."
"...Hah."
"And listen. Were awakened people just dropped from the sky? Awakened people have families too, and they have positions in society. Those who go crazy and throw all that away are the real handfuls, right? If we give them a little boost later, they'll figure it out among themselves."
"Divide and rule? What the hell kind of imperialism is that? Or split them up?"
"Wait. You got too worked up."
Moon Sangjun chided me.
"Siwol. You know this doesn't apply to you, right?"
"No—"
At that moment, the thought hit me.
This human Moon Sangjun was also born into this world.
This human also had monstrous sides.
I knew it, but I didn't want to think about it like this.
"You're my little sister before you're an awakened person. You don't have to worry."
From beginning to end, Moon Sangjun's tone remained warm.
It was only natural.
To him, this was obvious.
The essence of politics is the authoritative distribution of social value.
And Moon Sangjun was born with that authority wrapped around him.
Moon Sangjun wasn't someone like me who was 'distributed to'.
It was a difference in birth.
My logic didn't match his.
Since he couldn't adapt to me, I had to adapt to him.
"Then hyung, if something like biological experiments breaks out in the military, and it spills out into the open, will you move then?"
"I'll time it right when that happens, I guess. Once our setup reaches a certain trajectory, there won't be anyone who can stop the military from beating them and doing image-making. There might be some who beg to be helped, though."
"Why? Did the friend I met this time say they did biological experiments in the military? If that's the case, tell me in advance. I could kill them completely when it blows up. If I'm lucky, the VIPs will take direct hits and the party will provide support fire."
"...No. I just said it in case."
"You bastard. You're too naive."
Yeah.
At least this much was enough.
I couldn't prevent it in advance, but Moon Sangjun had room to intervene in a worst-case scenario.
It was worrying.
But this was beyond the reach of my pleas.
This was as far as I could go.
I wasn't someone who could bring great benefits to Moon Sangjun.
Especially not to Moon Jintae the lawmaker.
I let out a deep sigh and looked out the window.
Soon, Dongseoul Terminal came into view.
The rain that had been falling was getting heavier.
It had been light drizzle earlier, but now the sound of it lashing down was audible.
Raindrops slammed against the car window, shattered, merged, left trails, and raced across the glass.
And.
Those raindrops were red.
*
'What the fuck is this.'
I rubbed my eyes.
It was still red.
No.
It wasn't the raindrops that were red—
"Siwol? Can I hang up now? The congressmen are calling me to go eat dinner with them."
"Wait. Hold on."
I looked around.
People with umbrellas waited at the crosswalk.
Cars splashed water as they passed, and a woman who got hit furrowed her brow.
A group of middle-to-high-school girls in uniforms flicked water at each other with their umbrellas.
A little kid holding a parent's hand jumped around with short legs, and the parents smiled indulgently while trying to stop it.
And everything was red.
"I really have to go. Can I hang up?"
"Hyung. Wait. Something's weird. Don't hang up—"
"Clunk."
"Kuk, ugeuk. Ghehek—"
"Siwol?"
"Ddukkong. Ddukkong."
My pounding heart crushed my lungs.
My stomach twisted as if I had motion sickness.
My vision blurred and my head spun dizzily.
'Hurts. No. Is it cold?'
With conflicting sensations, something pushed into my heart.
"Uwk, uk. Uwek!"
"What's happening! Siwol! Hey! Yoo Siwol!!!"
"Sseup— huh. I'm fine. It's nothing. Don't hang up."
I took a deep breath and looked at the sky.
The dark sky had turned completely black.
The Seoul sky, where stars couldn't be seen because of fine dust, was like a hole with a hole punched through it.
...But.
Was it really like that?
There was something glittering in my eyes.
I felt the heat on my skin.
The power gushing from my heart spread countless tentacles and stroked the empty air.
This sensation denied my vision.
The sky I saw again was red.
It was a sea of red light.
The swirling red stars created turbulent surfaces.
"Hyung. There's something in the sky."
"What?"
"A gap. A crack. Something like a surface being pulled just before I step into a puddle."
"Something strange is there. Something overlapped a moment ago. No, it touched."
I blurted out the things that came to mind.
It was hard to explain.
Just that some surface had touched and the boundaries overlapped.
And power welled up.
It was what I felt when I turned into a dragon.
It was also what made me feel the suffocating emptiness after returning to human form.
It was the foreign power I had dismissed as too faint, thinking it was because my body changed—
And now it was the power gushing from inside me.
This power filled every place my senses reached.
The dizziness that had made me want to vomit earlier vanished, and vitality surged through my whole body.
The awakened senses guided my gaze.
Just beyond that sky, small powers took on the shape of spheres.
From the other side of those spheres, something was wriggling.
It was the light I had seen earlier.
"Hyung. The sky is red."
"What?"
"Something dangerous is coming. It's going to fall from the sky."
The red surface pulsed like a heartbeat and sprayed power similar to mine.
I instinctively measured the degree of distortion.
"It's long to the west and north... The east and south are the shortest. Hyung, where are you right now?"
"No, what. Ha... Gwangju. Gwangju, Gyeonggi. Baekil Country Club."
"Good. Then head south. Right now, take your grandfather and family and go south."
"Hey. What the fuck, from earlier. Speak clearly."
My chest felt tight.
Was the situation not clear yet?
It was only natural if he couldn't feel it.
Even though I knew, anger surged.
I shot back coldly.
"You can't understand? I'll say it again? Something opened in the sky, something dangerous is falling. So, take your sister-in-law and family and run south."
"Explain more clearly. What opened? What's dangerous?"
"I don't know that either. But just do as I say. You believe me when I'm a dragon, but you can't believe my words? Just—!"
"No, fuck! What kind of bullshit is this from earlier, you bastard! Did a gate open in Seoul?!"
"Yes, fuck!"
I spat out.
"Something came out from the sky! I don't know exactly if it's a monster or what, but something came out! And if that's a monster, then Moon Jintae the lawmaker, your parents, your sister-in-law, and even the baby in her belly are all screwed, you frustrating bastard!!!!"
"Huk. Huk."
I was out of breath.
Everyone on the bus was staring at me.
'What?'
'I don't know. Must be a crazy person.'
'Aish, fuck. Keep it down while sleeping.'
I ignored it.
"Huu. So, hyung, protect your family and go south. You're an awakened person too. Run while protecting your family."
"......"
"If you still don't believe me, change your mind about Moon Jintae. Take out some debt this chance."
Moon Jintae the lawmaker would at least understand a little.
Moon Sangjun must have known that Moon Jintae didn't know about my identity while resolving it.
I knew I was an awakened person, and I knew I was a dragon.
And old people are more desperate for self-preservation than the young.
Surprisingly, he was open.
A four-term congressman and party leader wasn't just a title.
His survival instinct was terrifying, so he would understand the seriousness of my words.
While I was trying to come up with words to persuade Moon Jintae, Moon Sangjun asked in a low voice.
"...Then you?"
"What?"
"Then Yoo Siwol. You?"
Right.
I was in Dongseoul right now.
"You're not in Dongseoul? What are you going to do?"
"I..."
Yeah.
What could I do?
"I'm alone. I don't have family like you. My one body is enough."
"What kind of bullshit is this, you crazy bastard. You're an awakened person."
"That's true, but I can still do it. Just know."
I hadn't known until now, but my instinct was telling me.
In Korea, or perhaps in this world, there was no one more familiar with this power than me.
I was a dragon.
I was an existence that spewed power like the surface of the sky.
"You saw a dragon limping because it was an awakened person? I can do it."
"......"
Moon Sangjun stayed silent for a long time.
Once I poured it all out, my head cooled.
The surface— no.
Let's call it a gate now.
The gate would soon spew out monsters.
By range, it would at least cover all of Seoul.
It might even reach Gwangju where Moon Sangjun was.
Upwards, it might reach Yangju.
Suddenly, I thought of Kim Juwon at Sinpyeong Station.
That guy would be better off.
I had seen him before.
Those who become instructors in wartime have to retreat to the rear.
Kim Juwon would be the same.
...But,
'Awakened' Kim Juwon would do the same?
The military was pulling out awakened people.
Politicians were pushing them in, and accordingly, the media was demonizing awakened people.
What would come out from the sky.
If it was a monster, what kind of monster.
How many people would die was still unknown.
But a lot would die.
Then resentment would pile up for those left.
The direction of that resentment was obvious.
Awakened people.
It was also age.
"—Right?"
"......If what you said is true. If a monster falls from the Seoul sky and kills hundreds of thousands of people... it would be like that. We have to control the direction of hatred, but monsters alone probably aren't enough."
"Of course we'll give awakened people a boost... but I think they'll put a leash on them with something like the 'Special Law on Awakened Ability Manifestation.' No exit, forced conscription."
"Then the awakened people who fight after that will be milked, and the rest will be demonized... After that it's simple. The people will do it on their own. The masses are like that."
"Ha, fuck. An orphanage even got a military spot."
A hollow laugh came out.
But since the gate had already opened, it was a foreseen future.
I knew it was an unavoidable thing.
I knew it, but...
I couldn't help but feel shitty.
"Hyung. You know that?"
"What?"
Maybe I wouldn't have another chance to talk to Moon Sangjun.
If so, I had to say it now.
"Since ancient times, I've wanted a home of my own."
"What the hell are you saying, crazy bastard."
"Hyung T? When it's like this, shut up and listen. I wanted a home."
From middle school.
Or maybe from elementary school when I didn't know anything and was a drug mule.
I earned money that way.
With that money, I barely managed to get one house.
That house collapsed on the first night.
It felt like the world was saying there was no place for me.
And when I became like this and clung to Moon Sangjun.
When everything around me was solved even if I did nothing.
"I thought that was really shitty. Selfish thought, but even if I stayed still, hyung could solve all my problems, even if it ended in a few hours of sleep."
"......"
"But what was the most shitty thing? That I was living off your family's house."
I hated that.
It wasn't that I hated owing Moon Sangjun, but that I hated being grateful.
I felt like I couldn't secure even one spot in the world on my own.
I hated clinging to the orphanage and to Moon Sangjun.
"I'm sick of it."
I looked out the window.
The rain kept falling.
"Being born without parents isn't such a big crime.
But when I woke up, I became a dragon and made a fortune, but the house I lived in collapsed,
my human form is a girl so I have to cling to hyung."
"Siwol-ah."
"I thought the world was going to end, but now it's really going to end and even orphans are being sent to the military."
A hollow laugh came out.
"This is asking me to fight, right?"
"......"
Moon Sangjun didn't answer.
I didn't laugh either.
Hundreds of thousands.
Maybe millions would die.
One person passing by would bring a world with photos of the dead.
People would want awakened people to fight for them.
Politicians would turn those awakened into heroes or demons according to their taste.
Not because they wanted it, but because the times wanted it.
Existing power was just an illusion in the face of the madness of the times.
Moon Sangjun couldn't protect me anymore.
And.
I didn't want to be protected anymore.
Arming awakened people was unavoidable.
Then.
Since it was something I couldn't avoid anyway.
"I'll become a hero."
At least, I wouldn't remain a leashed beast.
*
I looked at the red sky.
The flickering sky looked like it was about to spew something.
I muttered like a soliloquy.
"How many people do I have to save."
"What?"
"How many people do I have to save so people think of me as a hero."
There was a moment of silence.
Moon Sangjun let out a sigh and answered reluctantly.
"That's not a numbers problem."
"Then."
Raindrops ran down the car window.
Some particularly thick raindrops swallowed other raindrops.
"It's a story problem. Even if you save a hundred, the forgotten ones stay forgotten, and even if you save ten, the ones who become heroes become heroes. To be honest..."
Moon Sangjun's voice lowered.
"A few dozen would be enough."
"Who saved a person. Who fought in front. Just that story is enough. The masses like stories. The people need heroes."
"But if you think politically, it could be a child or an old man. Or creating a large-scale survivor group. Either way, it's eye-catching."
I thought for a moment.
A few dozen.
A few hundred.
A few thousand.
It didn't matter.
"Hyung."
"Why."
"I don't want to be a hero."
"Then what?"
"I want to become a hero."
Moon Sangjun was silent for a moment.
"...Okay."
A short answer.
The sound of breathing came from beyond the phone.
"...Then do as you want."
"Okay."
"Actually, I'm still against it. I don't know what opened, and I don't know what came out, whether it's a monster or not."
I don't know what an awakened person can do, and most of all, I don't know what a dragon is."
"I don't know that either."
"Yeah. But since you decided that, your life is yours. What can I say to that."
I smiled faintly.
There was a moment of silence.
Moon Sangjun said in a tired voice.
"But promise me one thing."
"What."
"Don't die."
"Of course. My own life is the most precious to me."
"Yeah. Good."
Moon Sangjun let out a long sigh.
I smiled and asked Moon Sangjun.
"Hyung. That secretary thing I mentioned last time. Is it still valid?"
"Of course, you bastard. Do you think I'm someone who says one thing and means another?"
"I'm thinking about that in advance. If possible, even make it an aide."
"As long as you come back alive, what does aide matter. I'll even give you a gold star. How long it will take, I don't know."
Moon Sangjun answered with a chuckle.
I laughed along.
"Then hang up now. Take care of your grandfather and family and get out quickly."
"Yeah. See you alive."
"Don't stick a death flag and get lost."
"Whatever, bastard. Okay. Be careful."
"You too."
I hung up.
I couldn't put the phone down for a while.
Then I turned on the map app.
I checked my location and scanned the surrounding terrain as far as I could.
Main roads. Alleys. Buildings and empty lots. Subway lines.
I took screenshots of everything.
Whether this would help or not, I didn't know.
But it might be needed later.
I almost decided to change into a dragon, but I stopped.
Right now, I had to save people.
To save people among people, I had to be a person too.
'Aish. It's really noisy.'
'Middle schooler came hard. You had enemies like that too, right?'
'Aish, shut up.'
The people on the bus were murmuring.
It didn't bother me.
The world that was spreading red flowed down my cheeks.
"Student... Are you okay? You were crying so sadly..."
Aunty in the seat next to me handed me a tissue.
She was kind-hearted.
I decided to act kind-hearted too.
"Put on your seatbelt and cover your head with your arms."
"Huh?"
A black sphere-like thing fell from the sky.
"Fuck! Put on your seatbelt—"
"Kwaang—!"
The bus windshield shattered.
Among thousands of transparent glass shards slowly covering, beyond the sparkling fragments.
The sky opens.
EP.2 The Sky Opens.
End