Silence in the Storm
Silence in the Storm
Memories.
Memories are like sticky sugar water—close your eyes, stay still, and one by one they come drifting back to you, whether you want them or not.
That goes for everyone.
Even a hero with incredible power is no exception.
'No. You can do this.'
'That means you owe me one now, right?'
'How could I not come when my hero is like this?'
"...."
Sometimes old memories returned to her in the shape of dreams. Like today.
"....It's raining."
Propped against the headboard, Shin Ha-ru lingered over the old memories the dream had shown her. She glanced at the window beside her and murmured without realizing it.
The sky was a muggy gray, rain falling steadily.
It was the kind of weather that made it feel as though something was about to happen.
"....Maybe I should go to the Association."
Shin Ha-ru shook off the memories she had been turning over in bed and got up.
The weather gave her an ominous feeling, but it was probably only her imagination.
With that thought, she went to the Association and sat down in her office.
A few hours later, the sirens started blaring—the Association declaring a state of emergency.
Her bad feeling had been right on the money.
***
The largest room in the Korean Hero Association building: the Emergency Response Headquarters.
Calling the place a madhouse right now wouldn't be an exaggeration.
"Damn it all! What's the situation?"
The control center was a vast space lined with countless monitors and one enormous screen.
The Association President burst in, shouting the question.
A staffer, fixed on his own monitor with a tense expression, answered without looking away.
"...Not good! Coastal cities near every major nation are under assault by a massive number of sea monsters right now. The scale isn't something we can ignore!"
"What about our country?"
"...I expect it'll hit us soon!"
"Damn it, why does every disaster have to happen during my term?"
The Chairman was practically wailing at the injustice of it all when the office door swung open and Stardus strode in.
"Chairman, I came as soon as I heard. What exactly is going on?"
At her grim question, the Chairman wiped the sweat from his forehead and explained.
"...A group called Latis, believed to be a North American villain organization, has declared war on the entire world. They claim the sea is superior to the land, so they intend to expand it. They're attacking the coasts of every major nation simultaneously, and we're probably next! Have you ever seen lunatics like these?"
The Association President shook with fury as he shouted. He choked mid-rant and hurriedly reached for water, so another Association agent pointed to a monitor and continued the explanation for Stardus.
"Their leader is someone called Atlas. Seems to have the ability to mutate marine life into monsters. I'm told the monsters are assaulting coastlines all across the Americas and Europe right now, and the numbers are staggering."
The moment he finished, footage lit up the giant wall screen.
Huge squid and bizarre creatures rampaging through a coastal city.
Stardus's face hardened further as she watched.
...The numbers were overwhelming.
"The North American and European Associations—already under attack—report that invasions are coming from multiple directions even within a single country, and the damage is growing by the minute!"
"I'm told the more coastline a country has, the larger the scale of the invasion!"
Urgent voices from Association agents rang out across every corner of the control center.
Clutching what remained of his hair, the Chairman cursed his own luck and started issuing orders.
"Hah... goddammit. Recall all B-rank and below heroes immediately. Reach out to Icicle and have her defend Busan. Shadow Walker is no use right now. Stardus, stand by for the moment—you need to know exactly where we take a hit before you deploy."
"...Understood."
Stardus answered curtly, then turned her attention back to the situation board.
A huge sky-blue world map filled the large screen.
Red dots were splattered across it.
Asia stayed clean, but the coasts of the Americas and Europe were blinking red. Those had to be the current invasion sites.
And now, one by one, red dots were starting to flicker on farther to the east as well.
"Reports coming in—India is under attack as of now!"
At the agent's frantic announcement, red dots began blooming on several points of India's coastline on the world map.
Right on its heels, urgent shouts erupted from every corner of the control center.
"We have reports that the Philippines and Vietnam are under assault!"
The words had barely finished when another tense voice called out from close by.
"China is finally under attack! The assault has begun right across from our own West Sea!"
"The Japanese Association has also issued an air-raid alert! Their major metropolitan strongholds are being hit!"
As they spoke, the world map came alive with red dots, popping up rapid-fire.
By then, hardly a single coastal nation remained without a red dot.
Inside the Association, the air grew thick with the atmosphere of impending battle.
"...Everyone, be ready. Eyes wide open. Watch where the invasion hits us!"
After the Chairman's final bark, a suffocating silence descended.
Rigid with tension, everyone began waiting for the attack that was supposed to strike somewhere along their own shores any second.
One anxious minute passed.
Three minutes.
Ten minutes.
"...Damn it, why are they not coming? Is this a staggered attack?"
The Chairman stomped his foot, muttering impatiently.
Stardus and the agents stayed on edge, waiting.
Thirty minutes passed.
As it approached the one-hour mark—
"...Something's off."
The Association, buzzing with pure tension just a short while ago, was now filled with something else: bewilderment.
"What's the current situation?"
"Yes, sir. The attacks on the major developed nations are continuing. The local heroes are barely holding them off. Japan especially—being surrounded by sea on all sides—is taking significantly worse damage."
"...Wait. Japan, right next door, is getting hammered from every direction. So why hasn't anything hit us yet?"
As the Chairman grumbled, Stardus felt something strange.
...Did it make any sense that every other country was under assault and theirs alone was spared?
But with no way to know yet, nobody let their guard down.
Ten more hours went by.
"Chairman, it's getting dark."
"Chairman, Latis is retreating across the globe. It appears the attack is over."
"...Should we just go home?"
And in the end, South Korea was never attacked.
***
[(Column) Latis Ends Its Global Invasion... Why Was South Korea the Only Country Left Untouched?]
The whole world has been wounded.
The villain organization Latis attacked countless coastal nations in a planet-wide assault.
Black smoke rises everywhere. Scores of coastal cities have been reduced to rubble.
Just looking at Japan next door, reports are already coming in of astronomical damage.
The United States, Europe, and many other countries have suffered invasion, and while all ultimately repelled the assault, they sustained heavy losses along the way.
One thing, however, is strange: our own nation was not attacked.
While every other country reels in fire and ruin, no unidentified aquatic lifeforms have been confirmed anywhere in South Korea.
What could be the reason?
I cannot say why—but it is truly a great relief.
—Reporter Kim Hwan-seok
=[Comments]=
[come on I read this to find out why and now you're saying you don't know]
[lmaooo I turned on the news and nearly freaked thinking another attack had started, then nothing happened and I got so confused lol]
[the whole world is in chaos, so why is South Korea the only peaceful place? weird]
[what kind of insane luck is this lol]
[??? what did I miss while I was at work]
The invasion was over.
The half-day-long terror that struck the entire globe ended the same way it began: abruptly. Every sea monster retreated back into the ocean in unison.
What remained after they left were the ruined cities. While associations around the world scrambled—barely enough manpower to go around—handling the post-disaster recovery,
The Korean Hero Association simply had nothing to do.
"...I don't know why, but this is a stroke of heavenly luck! Hahaha, is this what young people call a massive win? Hahahahaha!"
The Chairman, delighted that his workload had shrunk, and staffers genuinely relieved that no attack had come.
And behind them all, standing quietly—Stardus.
She let out a breath of relief too, yet somewhere in the back of her mind, a sense of puzzlement lingered.
...Why? Why had South Korea alone been spared?
"Why...?"
She was still mulling it over when
A loud voice suddenly rang out from one side of the Association office.
"Chairman! Egostic has put up a notice!"
"...Egostic? What's he popping up for all of a sudden? And what kind of notice?"
The Chairman looked baffled.
Stardus was already on the Ego Stream homepage, faster than anyone.
Sure enough, there it was—a single post on the notice board.
(new!)[Ego Stream X Other Villain Alliance Partnership Announcement]
"...?"