The Evil God's Touch (3)
The headquarters of the Haninhae, established on the ruins of the old Seoul City Hall.
"Captain! You're back!"
As Yeomyeong approached the headquarters, the guards on duty greeted him with loud, welcoming shouts. Despite the late hour, there was no hesitation in their voices. Though they usually dozed off during night shifts, right now they shouted with absolute clarity.
Energized by the guards' voices, others from the headquarters began pouring out. These were members of the Special Suppression Team who hadn't joined this operation, and the secretarial staff who assisted Yeomyeong as part of the Haninhae.
It was a bright, spirited welcome, fit for a returning conqueror. Facing such an enthusiastic reception after a half-failed mission, Yeomyeong felt a twinge of shame. However, he wasn't so tactless as to ruin the mood by needlessly announcing their failure right then and there.
"Yeah. I'm back. Have you all been well?"
"Of course! You worked hard, Captain! If you're going to rest, we'll draw a bath for you!"
"In a little bit, please. I have to report to the President first."
Yeomyeong gave casual replies to the welcoming crowd and gestured to dismiss the Special Suppression Team members who had accompanied him. The people rescued from the church were transferred to a pre-prepared facility. Since operations like this were fairly common, temporary quarters had already been set up in the same building as Yeomyeong's lodging.
After placing the unconscious women in their respective rooms, Yeomyeong headed toward the largest building among the countless structures of the Haninhae headquarters. It was the largest, tallest, and most lavishly decorated: the presidential office of the Haninhae.
Upon his arrival at the entrance, the President's personal secretary guided Yeomyeong, leading him to a well-maintained mahogany door.
"Mr. President. It's me. I'm coming in."
He knocked lightly and opened the door. The room was completely sealed, without a single window. Cluttered piles of documents lay scattered in chaotic disarray. Yeomyeong carefully navigated around the sea of paperwork. Turning a corner, he was greeted by a massive executive desk.
However, no one was sitting in the presidential chair, which had been meticulously selected from the finest furniture of the old world. Instead, a rustling sound came from a mattress on a makeshift cot shoved into a corner of the office.
Yeomyeong turned his head toward the noise. A man in his fifties lay on the mattress with his belly half-exposed, holding a document in one hand and stuffing snacks into his mouth with the other. Even while lying down, his bloated abdominal fat made a striking impression. This man was the master of the Haninhae and the President of Korea.
Yeomyeong looked at the man, who didn't even acknowledge his presence, and spoke slowly.
"Mr. President. I am sorry. The mission was a failure."
Only then did the President react. He turned his head as if just realizing Yeomyeong was there. His thinning scalp gleamed under the office lights. The President stopped chewing his snacks and pushed himself up.
"Ugh... Ngggh. Belch."
Sitting up, the President glared at Yeomyeong with a scowl. Perhaps due to the sudden movement, he let out a long, loud burp. Since he spent most of his time in this office equipped with CBRN defense systems, the President wasn't even wearing a gas mask. Consequently, the sound of the burp rang out with agonizing clarity.
"Failed? You?"
The President asked back after a moment, his voice dripping with disbelief as if he had just heard a terrible joke. Yeomyeong bowed his head lower.
"Yes. I failed to capture the cult leader alive as you ordered."
"Why? How did you fail? Did you finally get too lazy to do your job?"
"No, sir. It is just... the opponent was too strong. I could not guarantee victory with my current capabilities, so I chose to retreat for now."
The President let out a scoffing laugh at Yeomyeong's words. Unswallowed snack crumbs sprayed from his mouth along with spit.
"Pfft, haha! Make it make sense, will you? You couldn't win? A freak monster like you? Shit, if you're going to lie to me, at least make it believable."
Mocking Yeomyeong to his heart's content, the President rolled up the document he was holding into a cylinder and swung it.
Smack! The rolled-up papers struck Yeomyeong's head. It didn't hurt, but the loud crack echoed sharply through the presidential office. Yeomyeong kept his head bowed and replied.
"I am sorry."
At Yeomyeong's calm response, the President threw the rolled-up papers to the floor and shouted.
"No! You shouldn't be apologizing to me, you should be apologizing to Lady Miraj! You know who requested that mission you just botched, right? Go report to her... and beg for forgiveness."
At the President's words, Yeomyeong raised his bowed head.
"...Mr. President. Reporting mission details to someone who is not even a member of the Haninhae goes against proper protocol."
"What?"
"We have not even properly verified that woman's identity. While her claim of being from another world seems accurate, taking everything she says at face value is—"
Yeomyeong couldn't finish his sentence. The President cut him off with a loud shout.
"Hey! Once the news reaches me, she's going to find out anyway. But what, do you expect me to go tell her myself? Huh? Do you not see the mountain of work piled up here?!"
"..."
"Fuck, no matter how much I work, it never ends! Why? Because the duties of the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary are all dumped on me! Do you really think I have the time to run errands in the middle of all this?!"
Yeomyeong shut his mouth in the face of the President's furious shouting. Emboldened by his silence, the President pressed on.
"Shut up and just go report your failure. She'll give us an answer, whether she wants us to raid them again or find another way. You should be able to see her by tomorrow."
"...Understood."
"Now get the hell out!"
Having said his piece, the President threw himself back onto the cot. The mattress groaned under the heavy weight of the middle-aged man. As if he had forgotten Yeomyeong's existence in an instant, the President began scratching his head while staring at the documents again. Yeomyeong quietly backed away and slipped out of the office.
Behind Yeomyeong's retreating back, the President muttered softly under his breath.
"That crazy monster bastard... Just wait a few more days."
After leaving the presidential office, Yeomyeong headed to his quarters. As he walked, watching the sun slowly dip below the horizon, strange noises began echoing from the lodging building.
"Whoa, watch out!"
"Hey, there! Careful over there! It's scratching!"
"Myaaa!"
"Aaargh, little girl?? Please, make it stop! If the Captain comes back and sees this—"
"Meow... ooow!"
The panicked shouts of his subordinates were punctuated by the sharp meows of cats. Sensing that something had gone awry, Yeomyeong quickened his pace.
He arrived at the quarters in no time. Inside, a scene unfolded that even the battle-hardened Yeomyeong had never anticipated. Around ten of his subordinates were hovering in utter confusion around a single young girl. The moment they spotted Yeomyeong, they cried out in desperation.
"C-Captain! Watch out! That kid's Awakened ability is bizarre!"
Deep, distinct claw marks were already etched into the gas masks of the shouting men. It was blindingly obvious who had made them. Four cats were pacing protectively around Nisyona, the young girl rescued from the church.
"She somehow tamed these cats and is making them attack us, but they're too fast to catch...!"
"Hiss!"
As the subordinate who had helped rescue the Awakened spoke, a feline warning hiss rang out. Amusingly, the sound hadn't come from the cats. It had come straight from the mouth of the girl they were guarding—Nisyona herself.
I figured she might resist since she was being brainwashed by the church, but this is worse than I expected.
Letting out a dry chuckle at the absurd situation, Yeomyeong waved his hand at his subordinates.
"That's enough. I get the gist of what's happening. Everyone, go back to your duties. I'll handle her."
Though hesitant, the men dispersed to their respective rooms. Once the area quieted down, Yeomyeong approached the girl, who was curled up with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees.
"Hiss!"
Naturally, the cats lunged at Yeomyeong. They scratched with sharp claws, tried to blind him with their split tails, and bared their fangs to sink them into his flesh. However, Yeomyeong had already consumed more than enough magic stones related to physical reinforcement. His skin, which even bullets couldn't fully pierce, was far too tough for mere wild animals to scratch.
"Up we go."
Yeomyeong scooped up all the cats attacking him. Tucking the four felines under his arms, he sat down right next to the girl. He sat quietly beside Nisyona for a moment to let her get used to his presence before gently speaking to her.
"What's wrong? Is there something you don't like?"
"...Are you seriously asking me that right now?"
"Yes, I am. So tell me. Is something bothering you?"
Dumbfounded by his casual attitude, Nisyona muttered in disbelief.
"You kidnapped me. Away from the angel sister. The beast-eared men were all nice, and even though we couldn't understand each other, I made friends there—"
"—No, we rescued you."
Yeomyeong firmly cut off the girl's rising, sharp tone.
"Nisyona. You were being brainwashed. Gaslighted... or more accurately, groomed. They abuse you, and then, by helping you recover, they trick you into believing they are good people."
His thick hand gently grasped Nisyona's slender forearm. He pointed to the scars that, though slowly healing, were still vividly etched into her skin.
"Look. They might treat you well right now, but in the end, they only want to use you."
"No! What do you know, mister? The angel sister rescued me! Before that, I was in a smelly underground place where they barely fed me, treated like a toy by fat misters..."
"Nisyona. That brothel... was likely one of their businesses too."
Yeomyeong spoke as he recalled the mission directive he had received. An underground brothel catering only to VIPs—a rumor that had circulated like an urban legend in this chaotic world. Apparently, it had ceased operations a few months ago, shut down by a suddenly emerging faction. Coincidentally, that was around the same time the church, claiming to be from another world, had begun establishing its presence in earnest.
"Nisyona. I've read the reports on the church's activities. After appearing from beyond the Gate, they armed themselves with guns of unknown origin and claimed an abandoned bunker as their home in the blink of an eye. They quickly subdued the surrounding area and gathered necessary supplies."
"..."
"Foreigners who can't even speak proper Korean... there is no way they could have accomplished all of that in just a few days on their own."
Yeomyeong didn't voice his next thought, but his implication was fully conveyed to the girl. The church's actions were highly suspicious. For a group claiming to come from a fantasy world without firearms, they navigated Earth with far too much familiarity. In particular, their raid on Lee Junho's subway brothel, where they executed him and seized his generators and captives—
"—It is far more accurate to assume they had a local collaborator from the very beginning. Otherwise, how could they have located a temporary subway base that had no fixed address? Within the Haninhae, we suspect it was an internal split."
"...That... that must have been revealed by the God the angel sister serves... surely..."
Nisyona protested against Yeomyeong's cold logic. However, her voice lacked conviction. Even she didn't seem to fully believe her own words. Yeomyeong drove the point home, sealing the doubts of the wavering girl.
"Nisyona. There is no God in this world. A God watching over everything from above? If such a being existed, the world would never look like this."
"..."
Nisyona fell silent and buried her face between her knees. Yeomyeong watched her for a moment, then reached out and scooped her up. He carried the girl, along with the four cats, back to her room. In this dormitory-style building housing both the Special Suppression Team and the rescued survivors, Nisyona's room was right next to Yeomyeong's.
"Get some sleep for tonight. If we need to talk more, we can do it tomorrow."
Yeomyeong whispered softly as he placed the girl and the cats onto the bed.
"And... I'm sorry. I should have rescued you when I first saw you. But I didn't know how many captives there were, so I couldn't act rashly."
"...It's fine."
"But you're safe now. The Haninhae will protect you until you're ready to stand on your own."
"..."
"Goodnight. You can put out the candle with the snuffer next to it."
Yeomyeong reached out and gently stroked the girl's hair. He could feel the girl, who had been hissing like a cat just moments ago, slowly succumbing to exhaustion and drifting off to sleep.
Once Nisyona had fallen into a deep, dead sleep, Yeomyeong stared down at her and muttered to himself.
"...I don't know what's gotten into me."
He had conducted countless rescue operations before, and saving abused children was nothing new to him. Yet, for some reason, this girl, Nisyona, stirred something deeper within him than usual. Sympathy, pity, a strange sense of familiarity... emotions so powerful that it was hard to believe they had only met a couple of times. He couldn't comprehend why he felt this way.
"Sigh. Enough."
Chewing over his tangled emotions in confusion, the young man finally let out a sigh and stood up. I swore to restore order to Korea. What is this pathetic display? Chastising himself, he stepped out of the room.
"I should get out of here before anyone sees me..."
The corridor of the dormitory was empty. Yeomyeong felt a wave of relief, glad that no one had witnessed his momentary lapse of composure.
"What's this? They look awfully affectionate."
Watching Yeomyeong and Nisyona through the celestial observer, I tilted my head at the unexpectedly heavy atmosphere between them. The favor Yeomyeong showed Nisyona was weightier than I had anticipated. While it wasn't quite love yet, a complex web of tangled emotions was clearly visible.
Has he ever acted like that before?
I shook my head as I asked myself the question. I had been watching Yeomyeong's life for quite a long time. I had voyeuristically observed his attempts to become a ruler, his subsequent failure, and the alternative path he eventually chose. Though young, his life had been full of twists and turns. Yet, in all the time I had watched him, this was the first time he had ever displayed such a vibe.
"...Love at first sight, maybe?"
I weighed the possibility. Of course, the actual reason didn't really matter. Whether it was due to Yeomyeong's past, or because the beast traits mixed into his bloodline were reacting to Nisyona's taming ability. Whichever it was, the crucial part was that his current feelings were genuine. Because if they were, it gave me a perfect angle to exploit.
"I can use this."
I reviewed the vast amount of data stored within the celestial observer. The President of the Haninhae. The man who held perhaps the greatest power in this ruined land of Korea. Yet, even a man like him could not escape the gaze of the celestial observer for a single second. Consequently, my hands were already full of the President's dirty little secrets. And one of them—
—if played right, could tear the entire Haninhae right down the middle.
It would fit the current situation perfectly.