Chapter 262: Record – Daily Life on the Siberian Front
Chapter 262: Record – Daily Life on the Siberian Front
Another day far from peaceful at the easternmost tip of the Siberian Front.
"Goddamn it, why the hell are they attacking first thing in the morning?"
I was on my way back from subjugating a pack of monsters that had appeared at the crack of dawn in this bone-chilling cold.
Why did I have to be on the standby shift?
Why did the guys on standby with me have to be those Soviet red grunts?
Why did my lighter have to break so I couldn't even smoke?
Why did a blizzard have to blow in, cutting off armored unit support?
And why did Diamond Dust have to flare up at the same time, cutting off artillery support because they couldn't see a damn thing?
"Shit, if that Soviet political officer bastard starts bitching about one person dying after all this, I’m going to kill him."
It was his job to give the Awakened grief every time someone died.
But if we settled this with only one casualty in this mess, I should be getting a medal. Give me a medal, damn it.
If there was one small mercy in this godforsaken situation...
It was that the Soviet soldiers, impressed by my performance, had pooled the cigarettes they were smoking into an empty pack and given me a box of matches.
They said matches were better in this cold where even lighter fluid might freeze.
I shouldn't have bought a zippo just because the ad said it was guaranteed to work in permafrost; I should have just stuck with a regular gas lighter. At minus 60 or 70 degrees, that guarantee didn't mean squat.
"Hey, Hammer, can't you spit some fire?"
I muttered to myself, tapping my cold weapon.
Well, maybe that wasn't quite right.
Thinking about it, I could blast fire using the boosters. It was just that I didn't have enough control to use it to light a cigarette.
"I feel like I could figure it out eventually..."
At first, The Hammer could barely extend its cylinders, but now it spews fire and transforms into all sorts of shapes. Maybe if I get stronger, I'll manage.
"I'll just have to endure until then."
With that thought, I struck the white tip of the red-and-white match against The Wall.
Fwoosh.
This is convenient.
Strike-anywhere matches.
I’d been told to be careful because they were dangerous, but my body was long past the point of being hurt by something like that.
I brought the flaming match to the cigarette between my lips.
I took a deep drag of the smoke, which was full of impurities and had that thick, heavy stickiness unique to Soviet cigarettes.
"I feel like even this is getting duller."
I hadn't noticed it before, but as I got stronger, my senses seemed to polarize.
They either became hyper-sensitive.
Or completely dull.
I thought I was imagining it, but it became certain after I realized I could barely taste the sweetness when I chewed on the ration chocolate.
Hmm...
It feels like my pleasures are slowly disappearing. I wonder what'll happen later.
Even so, I have no intention of stopping my growth.
If I stop getting stronger for the sake of taste and then end up dead, worrying about flavor won't matter anyway.
With that thought, I kicked the ice off my boots and stood before the door of the Awakened Command and Control Room.
The non-Awakened soldiers would have reported to their own commanders.
But as an Awakened, I had my own duty to report.
"Phew..."
Right before opening the door, I took one last hurried drag to finish the cigarette.
"Cough. Cough."
I tossed the butt into a snowbank and stepped into the headquarters.
Honestly, I wasn't sure if anyone would be awake right now.
If no one was there, I could just go to sleep, so it didn't really matter.
It was just a formal report anyway; if no one was there to receive it, I could just do it later.
I pushed the door, praying that no one would be inside so I could go straight to bed.
"Crazy, even this is frozen."
Perhaps because of the record-breaking cold wave, even the door was frozen shut and wouldn't budge.
...Please don't break.
All I could do was pray as I yanked on the door.
Cr-crack. Craaaack.
A sound that could have been ice shattering or the door splintering echoed.
Grrrnnn.
Snap.
With one final loud crack as I applied force...
Clunk.
The Resistance vanished, and the door swung open.
Fortunately, it didn't seem broken.
It opened cleanly without warping.
The moment I stepped into the Awakened Command and Control Room, I was met with warm air and a voice.
"You've worked hard so early in the morning."
Sitting squarely in the commander's seat was our commander, Macbeth.
"What are you doing up? Aren't you supposed to be hibernating?"
And sitting there was our Siberian idol, Misha.
His hair was as disheveled as ever.
"I've told you many times, I can transform into a bear, but I am not a bear."
"It's a joke. A joke."
As if I didn't know that by now.
Still, it was hard to see Misha in his normal state, so there wasn't much else to talk about.
During combat, he was more like a madman.
As I was cordially building rapport with Misha...
"Save the small talk for after the report. That way you can go rest, can't you?"
Commander Macbeth interjected, sounding displeased.
Still as prickly as ever.
But he was right.
I pulled up a chair and sat in front of Macbeth’s desk to lay out the report.
"One B-Rank Wolf Monster with intelligence, and a large number of C-Rank wolf monsters under its command. Couldn't get an exact count. Their collective combat power was likely A-Rank."
"Then, the fact that you're back alive means you managed to repel them. What was the extent of the friendly casualties?"
"One dead, one incapacitated, and several with minor injuries."
As a side note, the one who was incapacitated wasn't hurt by the wolves; his foot froze to the ground on the way back, so they had to amputate it on the spot.
Of all places, he had to step in a puddle and get frostbite. Talk about bad luck.
"...The damage is too light. How did you repel them? At that scale, a head-on fight should have been difficult."
Well, that was true.
The only actual power on our side was me, a B-Rank.
The rest were just grunts who couldn't even get support.
"Ah, even if it had intelligence, a beast is still a beast. I lured them away while running, then blasted them with claymores and grenades, and it worked out."
The leader didn't die even after taking all that, so I had to crush him with my hammer.
Sometimes B-Rank monsters are immune to conventional weaponry, but luckily this one wasn't the physically sturdy type. It was torn to shreds, and I was able to finish it off.
"I see. I'll relay that to The High Command. It's good timing; I needed some achievements for you anyway."
Achievements for me?
Was there a use for that?
Well, if Macbeth said so, he'd use them somewhere.
Anyway.
"Can I go to sleep now? I'm dying of exhaustion."
I was basically saying, there's nothing else, right? Just let me go.
"Unfortunately, I can't do that."
Macbeth ignored my plea and waved his hand for me to stay seated.
Nothing for it, then.
I sat back in the chair and stared blankly at Misha.
"Coffee or black tea, which do you prefer?"
"Coffee."
I answered the voice of the field officer coming from across the room.
"Then, I have some very good news and some news that might be good or might be... complicated. Which would you like to hear first?"
What kind of crazy options were those?
"Just checking, but has that man finally lost it?"
I lowered my voice and asked Misha if the commander was sane.
"I understand why you'd think that, but it's worth hearing. The other Awakened heard it while you were out."
Hmm.
So Macbeth hadn't gone crazy from the isolated life of an Awakened in the wilderness, throwing away his career.
Well, I suppose his career hit rock bottom the moment he became an Awakened anyway.
"I'll hear the very good news first."
Usually, it's better to hear the bad news first.
But since he said both were good, it shouldn't be a problem.
I expressed my opinion to the officer who was bringing two cups.
"I see. Have some tea."
...Where did my coffee go?
I was handed a cup of orange-colored tea that was strangely warm and free of impurities.
Still, I wasn't shameless enough to ask him to swap it for coffee.
As I sipped the tasteless, bitter water...
"Congratulations, Awakened Lee Ha-ram. The Council has 'almost' officially promoted you to B-Rank. Accordingly, you've been granted a private room, a salary increase, and permission to request personal luxury items."
Oh? This really was good news.
When I first applied, they were babbling about how there was no precedent for The Lowest rank rising so quickly.
They told me not to get my hopes up, but it actually went through.
However, there was one thing that bothered me.
"What's the 'almost' part?"
"The higher-ups asked for an achievement to prove you're B-Rank. But since you just happened to subjugate a B-Rank Monster virtually single-handedly, that should satisfy them."
Then all that suffering in this bitter cold was worth it.
Thinking that made the tea taste a little sweeter.
Even though it was still just as tasteless.
I crossed my legs and sipped the tea with a bit more decorum before speaking.
"What's the 'complicated' good news?"
"For that, it's better to just watch this rather than have me explain."
Beep.
At Macbeth’s words, a television turned on.
I didn't think there'd be anything on at this hour.
But on the screen, Cyrillic characters I didn't know were scrolling over a red bar.
The news reporter was excitedly shouting breaking news despite it being the crack of dawn.
"...I don't know Soviet."
"Ah, is your translation ability based on telepathy?"
"Probably."
It didn't work on televisions or books.
It only worked between people.
"Then I'll cast it for you."
Macbeth stood up, pulled an RPG-7 out of nowhere, and swung it.
The dangerous weapon spun around before thumping into the ground.
Hummm.
A white Magic Circle glowed, and a halo of light showered over my head.
'—As you can see, leaders from all over the world...'
Simultaneously, the television voice that had been complete gibberish began to make sense.
"It'll only last about twenty minutes, but that should be enough to hear the news."
I also heard Macbeth’s voice explaining the magic's duration.
I quietly focused on the television screen.
The President of the United States, along with several familiar leaders and those appearing via video call.
They were standing in a row in front of a conference room door, waiting for someone.
"Is there anyone important enough for all of them to come out and greet like that?"
Even when an A-Rank Hero comes to the front to support us, the most we see is some over-the-hill Brigadier General who looks like he can't even fight anymore.
"You'll be quite surprised. I wondered if such a thing was even possible when I first saw it."
Misha’s voice was calm.
I'd mostly seen him during battle, so I wasn't used to this composed tone.
But this must be his true personality.
I heard he even went to university.
To think such a person turns into a berserker whose eyes roll back the moment combat starts, forcing everyone nearby to evacuate.
Anyway.
What could this big news be that surprised both Macbeth and Misha?
With that thought, I also waited for the guest these people were greeting.
Humanity will change.
New technology.
The resulting ripple effects.
They kept rambling on, but for about three minutes, they didn't show 'who' exactly was coming to cause such a stir.
'Ah! They are entering the conference hall now!'
The camera, which had only been showing the news studio, quickly switched.
The massive doors opened, and the entity so many had been waiting for was revealed.
Skin so white it was almost transparent.
A slender frame with long limbs.
Hair that fluttered softly like waves.
Eyes so clear they seemed to reflect others.
Lips so thin they were almost translucent.
Well, overall, she could be called a typical beauty.
But fundamentally, she was different from a human.
"...That's an Otherworlder."
The hair and eyes.
And parts of her body were rippling.
A humanoid lifeform made of water.
I was seeing this specific entity for the first time.
But among the enemies that endlessly poured out of The Hole, I had seen several with similar appearances.
For example, violent creatures made of fire instead of water.
Or similar ones, but with scales.
There were even beings much closer to humans, like the elves from fantasy stories.
'Ariadne, who is entering now, is the leader of a race. Trusting in Earth, her entire race has surrendered...'
An entire race? Surrendered?
Those goddamn Otherworlders?
Despite my thoughts, the news continued.
'...For the sake of peace on Earth, they have agreed to share their technology and information...'
The television news showed only an incredibly positive image, continuously broadcasting messages of reconciliation.
"Shit, haven't we been backstabbed enough?"
Finally, my anger exploded.
How much damage had we suffered from Otherworlders already?
There was the incident where a whole squad was massacred because of one idiot soldier who was fooled by an elf's beautiful appearance and brought her into the camp.
There was the one who pretended to surrender, sold our information, and then had his head crushed by my hammer on the spot when he was caught by the eavesdropping countermeasures.
And those were minor in terms of pure damage.
On a larger scale, there was the time the higher-ups ordered one to be captured alive, only for it to go berserk in some research lab and blow the place up.
Or the crazy incident where one was brought into a base, only for it to commit suicide on the spot and rip open a Hole right there.
The front lines are a mess like that, and they're trusting Otherworlders?
"Why don't they just say they're selling Earth to the Otherworld?"
I continued to vent my rage alone.
"Calm down. The High Command isn't unaware of the dangers of Otherworlders."
"Do I look like I can calm down? If that thing just swings its magic once right now, all those 'great' higher-ups will be wiped out in an instant."
Imagining that scene actually made me feel a bit better.
But that was just my personal sentiment; if it actually happened, countless people would die, so it was something that must not occur.
"That's probably why they can trust that race."
In contrast to my shouting and screaming, Misha spoke while watching the television with cold eyes.
"Even for us, a situation where the leader of a race stakes their fate and the entire race surrenders is a first."
"...Well, that's true."
Usually, it was five or six individuals at most.
"The High Command isn't stupid. They must have made the decision after weighing the risks and the benefits. New knowledge and technology. And even non-human combatants."
When she put it that way, I didn't have much to say...
But there was one thing I was worried about.
"What if even that... is a disguise to gain our trust?"
"Then a country or two might easily vanish. But we cannot move until something actually happens."
Because that's what The High Command decided.
For some reason, it felt like those final words were left unsaid.