Heroes Deployed (Plus Conversion Complete)
The security checks were finally complete, and the intercity bus began to rumble forward with a low vibration.
The armored plates on the outer body wall sealed with a sharp click, and the vibration-dampening units inside the vehicle hummed smoothly.
The bus was heading slowly toward the Third Barrier Gate on the city outskirts.
There stood a titanium composite wall, at least 120 meters high and 15 meters thick.
It was made of a special alloy that didn’t corrode even with monster blood—humanity’s last “skin” wrapping the city.
“Route 3 to Wando, Jeollanam-do. Four passengers. Civilian transport permit code C-17.”
A transmitter on the driver’s seat sent out electronic signals.
[Biometric authentication in progress… weapon check in progress… authorization granted.]
“Confirmed. Approved for passage through the Seoul-Southern Border. External threat level Grade 3. Safe travels.”
A soldier’s voice came over the speaker, heavy with caution.
Beyond it lay rows of heavy machine guns and automatic guard towers.
Smoke still curled from the barrels of the cannons, and beyond the wall, faint scraps of monster remains lay in the darkness.
The inside of the bus was silent.
Only the children stared out the window and gasped, “Whoa…”
Gang Ji-hyeong glanced at the kids and let out a quiet chuckle.
*Heh, they’re just kids… even that’s impressive.*
But the man sitting directly across from her, wearing the white bone mask, looked at the barrier with the same wide-eyed wonder as the children.
“?! …Y-you too… find this amazing?”
“Hm? Ah… yeah, a little.”
To most people in this world, the city barrier was just background scenery—something as ordinary as a sigh of relief.
Yet the man’s reaction made Gang Ji-hyeong feel oddly unfamiliar.
And then the gate finally opened completely.
“Then we’re departing~.”
The driver chuckled briefly.
“Everyone hold on tight. The wind outside the barrier is rough~.”
BRRRR—
The engine rumbled deep, and the bus started moving.
The sound of the massive steel barrier gate slowly closing behind them.
The city’s “safety” faded into the distance.
***
Once the bus left the city, the scenery outside the window began to change.
The daylight faded slowly, and the sunset light streaked along the soundproof walls.
Dust floated over the road, and far off, the highway signs melted into the red sunlight.
The children had already fallen asleep to the smell of bread, and the bus was quiet except for the low engine vibration.
“Currently, the government seems to be trying to label you as a villain.”
Gang Ji-hyeong spoke quietly.
“The reason is simple. They’re scared of the power they can’t control becoming ‘hope’ for the citizens.”
A short silence followed.
Lee Seunghwan glanced at her from behind the mask.
“…You’re government, right? Still saying that? What if people like me think you’re being too nice and cause problems?”
But Gang Ji-hyeong let out a soft laugh.
“Then what can I do? I already saw it.”
She turned her head to watch the sunset outside the window.
“Whatever anyone says, you saved people. Anyone who calls that bad should probably check their own conscience first.”
Seunghwan was left speechless for a moment.
A short breath escaped behind the mask.
“…Are you worried about me?”
“Of course.”
Gang Ji-hyeong smiled as if it were obvious, but a strange warmth flickered in her eyes.
“Thank you. For worrying.”
“No. Actually… I’m the one who should be thanking you.”
After that, a brief silence fell.
The bus continued its steady vibration.
“Okay, first rest stop in thirty minutes! Don’t scowl too much, just hang in there~.”
The driver’s light chatter made the bus laugh for a moment.
The children stretched, and Gang Ji-hyeong and Seunghwan twisted in their seats.
It was a real “trip” for a little while.
Then.
【Master. Multiple entities approaching the bus you’re on right now.】
Sora’s voice sliced sharply into the bone mask.
Seunghwan’s eyes instantly cooled.
His arms, which had been stretching, lowered slowly, and the temperature in the air dropped.
*Multiple entities…? Monsters? Threat level?*
A moment of stillness.
Only the bus engine rattled and shook.
“Bone Mask guy? What’s wrong?”
“Oppa? Why are you standing up all of a sudden?”
“Aigoo, we haven’t even reached the rest stop yet and you’re standing—don’t do it, okay~!”
All eyes in the bus turned toward him.
But he didn’t answer.
Behind the mask, his gaze simply grew darker.
【…Something’s off.】
Sora’s voice split low.
【Not monster reaction. I analyzed temperature, movement, and radio interference… and it’s humans.】
“…What?”
【Precisely—humans. This is… illegal super soldiers! Chinese military-grade parts, synthetic muscles, cheap steel, and—】
CRASH!!
Before the words even finished, the entire bus shook.
The ceiling caved in, steel plates tore, and the passengers’ screams erupted together.
“Kyah!”
“Aurum, bend down!”
“What the— no monster reaction?! Could it be… the ‘Raiders’?!”
The steering wheel wobbled, and the bus swerved.
Gang Ji-hyeong slammed the windows open reflexively.
With the wind came a metallic scent like blood.
Above the ceiling.
There, things barely maintaining human form were crawling up.
Their arms and legs were too long and uneven, and mechanical parts poked out from their skin.
The limbs weren’t domestic parts.
Illegal military-industry parts from Chinese supply lines.
Rusty pistons, cheap reinforcing muscles, and numbers stamped directly onto their skin like brands instead of control devices.
Three were on the bus ceiling, seven chasing from behind.
Ten in total.
Gang Ji-hyeong swallowed.
Her pupils darted automatically as she caught shadows passing outside the bus wall.
“…Real illegal modified super soldiers exist.”
She checked the window once more, then turned back.
Her voice had already switched to “soldier mode.”
“Driver, keep going straight! Don’t slow down! Don’t use any weapons! If it were monsters I’d fight, but against humans, recoil is dangerous!”
“R-right!”
The driver gripped the wheel tightly.
Gang Ji-hyeong looked back.
“And… your names are Aulim and Yuna, right?”
“Yes!”
“Stay put until I get back. Keep your seatbelts on tight. Hold each other tight. Got it?”
“Y-yeah… yeah!”
“Bu-but, unnie… are you okay? Raiders are scary people who eat people, right? I learned it at school…”
The children looked ready to cry any second.
But Gang Ji-hyeong placed her hand gently on their heads.
“Don’t worry. Even if I look like this, I’m strong.”
She smiled softly and gently placed her hat on Yuna’s head.
In the next moment.
CLACK.
The zipper of the leather jacket opened slowly.
A thin line of light slipped in, revealing the outline of something that could barely be called a “human arm”—a sleek metal form.
The surface was polished to a glossy titanium alloy, with thin blue power lines pulsing regularly along its length.
What drew the eye most was the red mark carved in the center of the forearm.
“The Taegeuk.”
It looked exactly like the national insignia on a fighter jet’s wing—official weapon of the state.
For a moment, the bus fell completely silent.
The children’s eyes widened, and even the driver couldn’t tear his gaze from the arm reflected in the rearview mirror.
It wasn’t the loose joints of a cheap smuggled modification.
No welding marks—smoothly connected like real human muscle, a perfect finished product.
Anyone could see it was “real.”
“Eh, unnie? Is it that super soldier from the TV…?”
Gang Ji-hyeong lowered her head slightly and chuckled.
There was both warmth and resolve in her smile.
“Yeah. I’ll explain the sign at the rest stop. Right now… staying alive comes first.”
The words had barely left her mouth when another metallic thud echoed from the ceiling.
The children’s breaths stopped.
Gang Ji-hyeong’s eyes had completely changed into a soldier’s gaze.
“You don’t need to help?”
“It’s just some thugs. This is nothing I can handle. Bone Mask guy, please stay inside and protect the people like usual.”
***
In one of the hillside hideouts.
Only the phone screen light flickered in the darkness.
A man sat on an old chair, listening slowly to the incoming call.
The voice was Korean but somewhere awkward, with a foreign accent on every syllable.
“No matter what happens to that bone-masked guy, Sergeant Gang Ji-hyeong is quite a rare talent, isn’t she? Could we just… dispose of her without worry?”
The answer was cold.
“No problem. From the rumors, she’s the type who’s been ‘brainwashed’ by the bone mask. If she’s trying to break the current peace, we have no choice but to eliminate her.”
At those words, a smile spread across the man’s lips.
One of his arms wasn’t human.
The joints were covered in smooth alloy, and at the end hung a sapphire-like blade gleaming in the light.
“So… we can really handle it quietly? The higher-ups want this case buried.”
“Of course.”
He stroked the handle of the blade with his fingertip.
“After decades of ruling the power, they’re suddenly suspicious of us… How disappointing.”
His gaze slowly lowered to the floor.
On the ground he was stepping on lay half-dried monster remains.
Erosion class.
The massive body was twisted and cold, black liquid slowly hardening from the flesh-and-metal shell.
“The blade I supported this time has already been tested. It’s made from a piece of a ‘Catastrophe-class monster’ I heard rumors about, and it really is impressive. Erosion-class stuff rots and dies in three seconds if it even touches it.”
“Of course. It’s a piece of the monster that split the African continent in two. It was hard for us to get. Don’t mess up.”
The man moved the blade as if polishing it.
The sapphire light shone even heavier in the darkness.
“Don’t worry. We’ll cook that bone-masked monster soon and send it to you.”
The organization he belonged to was ‘Yeonbyeon.’
A fixer group that had been handling dirty work under the government’s shadow for decades.
And Yeonbyeon’s action leader, Wang Feng, was still today.
To kill a stupid fool who had angered the higher-ups.
"Looks like we'll have to see some blood today."
Lifting the corner of his mouth, he slowly stood from his seat.