Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: The Western Gate
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After finishing our maintenance, we headed to the unit where Major Kim Juncheol was waiting.
The newly built command and control center at the northern end of the "Ruined Village" was a bunker-style building in the familiar national defense camouflage pattern.
['Kim Juncheol' Major's soldiers welcome the Kim Cheonjae player group.]
'The trust we've built up beforehand is paying off.'
A soldier wearing a goblin mask saluted me sharply.
-One! Two!
"Yes, is Major Kim Juncheol inside?"
"Yes, he said he's waiting inside."
The soldiers parted to make way.
One of them pushed open the iron door, and it creaked open on its hinges.
Kiiiiiik.
We entered along the dark, narrow, elongated passageway. It was so pitch black you could barely see an inch ahead, but since the path wasn't wide, we could walk straight.
One of the devices to block entry by light-sensitive zombies.
It wouldn't work on advanced zombies or modified zombies with keen senses of smell, though.
Click-clack. Click-clack. Click-clack. Click-clack.
Our footsteps echoed through the corridor.
The soldier guiding us shouted from ahead.
"We're almost there!"
I replied softly.
"Yes."
At the end of the corridor, a faint light was visible. It was probably signaling that we'd meet there.
When we reached the light, we saw a slightly ajar iron door.
Kang! Kang! Kang!
The soldier knocked on the door.
"Major Kim Juncheol. The Kim Cheonjae group has arrived."
['Kim Juncheol' Major's Room]
[Would you like to enter? Y/N]
Why ask the obvious?
"YES."
The door opened on its own, revealing the inside of the room. For a mithril bunker that could withstand a nuclear bomb, the facilities inside were surprisingly crude.
No emergency food or medicine—just a space that looked like a study.
Major Kim Juncheol, who had been holding a strategy meeting, stood up to greet us.
"Come on in!"
His officers rose with him.
-One! Two!.
Maybe because they were non-commissioned officers, they all had resolute faces.
On the map were the words: "Those who seek death shall live, those who seek life shall die."
Words from Admiral Yi Sun-sin during the Battle of Myeongnyang.
Those who seek to die will live,
Those who seek to live will die.
'Hmm.'
Come to think of it, one of the creators of this game was a historian, or so I'd heard. Probably one of the story writers.
All the narratives unfolding in the "Land of Ruin" were designed to repeat the flow of past history.
Major Kim Juncheol approached me, grabbed my hand, and shook it.
"Thanks for coming all this way."
"No trouble."
"I'm sorry for making you come here. There's something I absolutely have to tell you, Cheonjae."
I played dumb even though I knew.
"Something to tell me?"
[System Message.]
[The sixth round of 'Land of Ruin' begins.]
At Kim Juncheol's glance, all the officers in the bunker filed out.
Everyone except his right-hand man, the operations officer.
'No Hyoman....'
Trash who created modified zombies with Dr. Oh.
Kim Juncheol didn't know yet.
I turned my head to see another figure besides the soldiers.
A boy in ragged clothes sat stiffly with a frightened expression.
He turned his gaze to us and spoke.
"Hello."
Beep.
['Kim Cheonjae' player's group]
[Please select the story progression for the upcoming sixth round of 'Land of Ruin.']
A. Annihilate the enemy. (Difficulty A)
-Eliminate all enemies.
B. Protect the city. (Difficulty A)
-Keep 300 or more residents alive until the round ends.
Those arriving at the sixth round for the first time wouldn't understand these choices.
Wouldn't annihilating the enemy naturally protect the city?
But in this round, annihilating the enemy doesn't protect the city.
Protecting the city doesn't annihilate the enemy either.
It's the most agonizing choice for players.
Same rewards, same difficulty rating.
"...... I choose B."
[System Message]
[All players in the Kim Cheonjae group have completed their story progression selection.]
[Selection - B]
Once the choice was made, Kim Juncheol spoke.
"Cheonjae, have you finished scouting the gate near the Conqueror's Tomb?"
"Yes."
"What was in there?"
Kim Juncheol's expression hardened.
I shrugged and answered.
"You're asking what's inside the gate?"
"Yes."
"There were elves, dwarves, and orcs."
Kim Juncheol furrowed his brow.
"...... Are you joking?"
It would sound like a joke. Names straight out of games or fantasy novels.
"No joke."
At my flat response, Kim Juncheol's expression softened a bit.
He seemed to be gauging me.
"Well, you're not the type to joke, Cheonjae."
"...... But why the gate?"
"The gate...."
Kim Juncheol glanced at my group behind me, then clapped his hands with a smack! and continued.
"Ah, sorry. Come in and have a seat first."
"...... Yes, sir."
* * * * *
At the oval table sat Major Kim Juncheol, the operations officer, and our group.
Kim Juncheol spread a map on the table and said to me.
"Near here, another gate was discovered besides the one you entered, Cheonjae."
"...... Is that so."
"Your reaction is lukewarm."
I scratched my head with an awkward smile.
"Long trip, a bit tired."
"Ah! Sorry. I forgot you just got back today. Things have been so busy lately...."
"No, no. Please continue."
"...... Since you're tired, I'll keep it brief. A new gate has appeared on the west side of this village. Incidents have occurred because of that gate.... Operations officer, brief them."
No Hyoman adjusted his glasses and pointed at the map with a baton.
"Reporting. First, the new gate was found at the entrance to the 'Peria Desert' on the west side of the village. It's connected to the southern Peria Desert."
I looked at the map and asked him.
"The southwest of the Peria Desert, right?"
"Yes."
"What are these incidents?"
"Well.... A person came out from inside that gate. And that's this child right here."
The little boy forced a smile at us. His yellowed teeth gleamed smoothly in the light.
No Hyoman patted the boy's head and continued.
"This child came out from inside the gate and brought us news from there."
I feigned ignorance and asked.
"What news?"
"...... The city where this child lived. It was destroyed."
[System Message]
['Land of Ruin' Part Two, the door to the west opens.]
'Good....'
It might seem minor, but it's the 'west' part that only activates after completing all main events in the south.
Means we've progressed all main events perfectly so far.
We're entering the mid-game now.
I deliberately made a bitter expression.
"The city was destroyed?"
"Yes. According to the child, a few years ago, a gate opened in the center of the city, and giant monsters appeared...."
The little boy shook his head and chimed in.
"Not monsters, giants! Giants!"
"Ah, right, giants. Giants appeared and swept through the city."
The boy looked at me excitedly, like he was telling a fun story.
"Yeah! Giants suddenly appeared and went boom-boom! smashing buildings and grabbing people."
I tilted my head.
"Grabbing people?"
"Yeah! They said they had to take them alive, so they broke their legs to stop them from running and grabbed them."
"...... But why are you so cheerful? Didn't you come from there?"
"A guy can't mope just because it's tough."
That didn't seem like the point.
Did the devs mess up the NPC programming?
This was totally different from the 'boy who witnessed giants' I knew.
He should be sullen, spouting grim tales about the city, but this kid was actively talking.
'The NPC's personality has changed....'
I turned my chair toward the boy.
"Kid. How did you get here?"
"Uh.... I was just walking along the road, and suddenly a gate appeared right in front of me."
"So you went through that gate?"
"Yeah!"
Okay.
This matches the story I know.
"Then, after coming through the gate, who was the first person you met?"
"First person I met? This uncle. Uncle No Hyoman."
I looked at No Hyoman.
"Uncle No Hyoman? Operations officer. Why were you in the western desert?"
For a split second, he looked flustered. No need to react like that.
"Uh, well, that. Ah! I stopped by on an errand for Dr. Oh Ji-myeong. To get claws from the rampaging zombies there...."
"Zombie claws?"
"...... Yes."
Sweat dripped from his forehead.
"...... I see."
The soldier who first finds the boy gets deployed into the sixth round with him.
Meaning the operations officer will go with us into the sixth round.
I let out a sigh involuntarily.
Hoo-.
Major Kim Juncheol checked the time on his phone and asked me.
"Cheonjae."
The moment of choice had arrived.
"Yes."
"I'm short on time, so I'll be direct."
"...... Go ahead."
"Tomorrow morning, we're sending a scouting party to the western gate to investigate it."
"...... And?"
Kim Juncheol clenched his fists and looked at me.
"I formally request—no, I beg you—to join that operation."
The operations officer fidgeted, tapping the table with his fingers.
His behavior was something you couldn't tell from the PC version.
He cautiously interjected.
"Sir, this is just a scouting mission. We can handle it ourselves."
"I know. But with Cheonjae, who has gate experience, we might get even better results, right?"
"Well...."
Sweat beaded on No Hyoman's forehead. Why was he so against me going through the gate with them?
Kim Juncheol leaned back in his chair with a firm expression.
No Hyoman dropped his head, saying no more.
I didn't know how my answer would affect the upcoming story,
But one thing was clear: no room for choice in the dialogue.
Having chosen the story path, we had to proceed decisively.
I smiled brightly and accepted Kim Juncheol's request.
"Yes, I'll go. In return, give me operational authority to command the soldiers."
* * * * *
After the conversation, we followed Major Kim Juncheol out of the bunker.
As the door opened, bright light poured down on us. I raised my hand to shield my eyes from the sun.
"...... Major, one more question?"
Kim Juncheol glanced around and replied.
"Go ahead."
"Why didn't the government side scout the southern gate?"
This question.
I even asked it on the 'Land of Ruin' devs' Q&A board.
Why don't soldiers get involved only in the southern gate incidents?
The official response back then was short and to the point.
[The story writer quit, so we don't know either. Sorry.]
They don't know.
But here, I figured I'd get an answer.
Kim Juncheol was a main NPC set by the system, after all. They'd prepared responses for questions like this.
He answered the easy question lightly.
"No permission from higher-ups."
"Higher-ups? Who?"
"Capital Defense Command. Specifically, the duty officer at command didn't approve it for us."
"...... Do you need permission to move?"
"Yes, our policy is to report all operations in unclear areas to the duty room before proceeding."
The duty room—doesn't that mean the game devs?
Hoo....
No real answer this time either. Or maybe there wasn't one.
No story writer, after all.
"Did the duty room approve the gate scout this time?"
"Yes. They said scout for three days, assess the risk level, and report back."
"Ah.... Got it. See you tomorrow morning then."
"Yes, sir! Tomorrow morning, come here, and Captain No Hyoman will have the scouting party ready. Please lead them."
The operations officer saluted me cockily.
I returned a casual wave and said to Kim Juncheol.
"Yes. Well.... Have a good rest of your day."