Episode 17
A woman in a maid uniform with a jet-black bob opened the door.
The cramped, windowless room greeted her with a heavy darkness.
She walked in without hesitation and stood right in the center. A moment later, the door shut behind her.
Her face did not so much as twitch as she stared straight ahead, calm and unreadable.
The light spread outward like scattered puzzle pieces, and with a soft electronic chime, her vivid eyes were illuminated.
Two more people joined them after that.
“Good to see everyone. It’s been a while.”
With her usual flat, emotionless greeting, Shin Hyun-ah looked around at the seats that were still unlit.
This was the regular summit they held, and yet even though the time had come, so many were absent.
Shin Hyun-ah closed her eyes briefly, swallowing her irritation, and then the next voice made them open again.
A husky low voice, carrying the weight of steel-hard will. With just one line, the image of a ruler with overwhelming charisma came clearly into view, and yet beneath it all there was a quiet warmth that made her feel unmistakably human.
Unlike the others at the meeting, she was the only one Shin Hyun-ah had ever met face to face. Someone who resembled her, and yet differed from her in ways that mattered.
Archangel.
The Guardian of the United States. Perhaps the strongest woman in humanity.
No. 01 stepped in and cut them off with absolute firmness.
Without another word, she went straight to the main subject.
Let me begin with the current situation report. As of roughly 43 hours ago, the United States successfully reclaimed Montana. They have now begun constructing the Wall and carrying out city cleansing and restoration work.
“Congratulations on your victory. And my condolences to the heroes who gave their lives.”
As she spoke, Shin Hyun-ah quietly clenched her fist.
The news from the United States was clearly good, and yet she could not simply rejoice.
The catastrophe-class monster that had gnawed away at America, commonly called the Spider, was an evil on par with the creature that had come south out of North Korea eight years ago, though the Spider’s measured level had been higher.
Even so, the United States had reclaimed its territory with dignity, while Korea had only managed to bring down its own monster after losing half the Gangwon region and suffering a staggering number of casualties.
The difference between the two countries ached at her like an old bruise.
Korea certainly had a large number of high-level returnees, but the fact that their numbers were sharply lower than those of other nations had always been seen as a problem.
Put kindly, they were an elite few. Put another way, Korea was a country with a severe imbalance of power.
No matter how strong one person was, there were limits to what a single body could accomplish. They always tried to move exactly where they were needed, but reality was brutally indifferent and rarely cooperated.
This was one of the results.
Even after exterminating five catastrophe-class monsters, there were still four left.
It was a bleak situation no matter how you heard it. And yet America would no doubt keep pushing through, just as it always had.
Because America’s Number One Hero, that rigid woman, would always be the first to step forward.
Everyone spoke lightly about their own situation.
But even the content of those reports was anything but light.
Since this was a place gathered not for political gain, ideology, or personal opinion, but solely for the recovery of humanity, they exchanged information and spoke honestly with one another.
It was a fitting display for the Guardians who represented each nation.
And Shin Hyun-ah, as Korea’s Guardian, finally spoke as well.
“May I have your attention for a moment?”
“Yes. It may be a matter even more serious than the appearance of a new catastrophe.”
“First, please look over the data and video I’m sending now. We can discuss it afterward.”
As Shin Hyun-ah thrust her hand forward as if pushing something away, a video attachment arrived on the screen marked with each Guardian’s number.
A moment of silence followed.
The Guardians each erupted in their own kind of shock.
By the time the video reached its end, No. 01, who had remained quietly silent, spoke to Shin Hyun-ah.
It was a rebuke.
“Because that person is evil.”
“That’s right.”
“She committed murder.”
“As you can see from the video, she’s abnormal.”
“I won’t deny it.”
“I’ll admit that too.”
“I have nothing to say.”
Shin Hyun-ah lowered her head, admitting to her own past recklessness.
Blinded by the vast evil hanging over them, she had been obsessed with the idea that something had to be done and had made a terrible mistake.
Only belatedly had she realized that she had nearly put both the people and the country in danger.
It had been unworthy of a Guardian.
“Yes. My Doll was obliterated in an instant without being able to resist at all.”
Doll was her trait, one that allowed her to endlessly create autonomous bodies that could act with seventy percent of her true power and abilities, up to the limit her mental strength could sustain.
Shin Hyun-ah had been protecting Korea’s deficient public order and stability through those bodies, and she had never imagined that she would lose one so completely, in that way.
“There isn’t much difference.”
“Yes, probably.”
Shin Hyun-ah shook her head.
“Kim Su-hyun has hardly left the room of stasis since that day.”
“I appreciate your kindness.”
“I have no objections either.”
Shin Hyun-ah’s hand twitched for an instant.
Before the tremor could fade, the voice came again, and she snapped her head up.