The Mole (1)
Oh Jeonghwan’s expression was peculiar.
His eyes were burning with rage, yet the corners of his mouth were twisted into a grimace.
"When the search team goes out on a development mission, we’ll track down Daeheung."
"Daeheung? You mean that Daeheung from back in the day?"
Han Jiyoung’s face was a picture of confusion.
"Yes. They’re definitely close by. If they know our operational patterns, they’ll come crawling out like cockroaches."
"Wait, didn’t they go under? What is all this? Am I the only one who doesn’t get it?"
"It seems there are remnants left. I don’t know if it’s the original Daeheung or a new faction, but Daeheung is the only group that’s ever targeted our shelter."
I provided some additional context for Han Jiyoung.
True to her hot-headed nature, she flared up immediately.
"See! I told you! It was a trap, wasn't it? Do I look like an idiot? Can’t I even tell the difference between that?"
"I get it, so keep your voice down. Even the shelter leader was pretending not to know."
"Ah, right!"
Oh Jeonghwan’s plan was vastly different from what I had expected.
I had naturally assumed we would be looking for an internal mole, but he was painting a much larger picture.
"But shouldn't we catch the mole first?"
"There are two ways to catch a mole. One is to set a trap."
"Why’d you stop talking?"
The second way is to plow the entire field.
Oh Jeonghwan intended to wipe them out completely.
He likely planned to kill everyone who knew the location of Osori Shelter to ensure this never happened again.
It was a point that made his fury palpable.
Oh Jeonghwan pulled out a map that clearly showed signs of heavy deliberation.
I wondered if he washed this map every time, as it looked brand new for every operation.
"Finding their base is the top priority. In my estimation, even if they’re far, they’re within a 5km radius. And yet, they haven't been caught by us."
"Are they hiding in places not worth searching?"
"Exactly."
Hwang Gyunam answered, and Oh Jeonghwan nodded in agreement.
The purpose of a search mission is to secure supplies like food, ammunition, materials, and vaccines. Conversely, this meant that buildings that appeared to have no supplies were excluded from the search targets—places like academies, law offices, churches, or laundromats.
Those were the spots marked on the map.
"The fact that they’re pulling these stunts means their combat power is lower than ours. I estimate their size to be under 20 people."
"It will be a place that is easy to guard and advantageous for concealment."
"Cheonil is right. From now on, let’s narrow down the scope by filtering for potential locations."
The conditions were as follows:
A space within a 5km radius that could hold up to 20 people.
A place with good visibility that was not worth searching.
I added one more condition.
"Let’s also exclude areas where zombies are likely to be gathered."
"Agreed."
The range narrowed rapidly.
The final candidates remaining were an abandoned factory, an 8-story office building, and a bank built along the main road.
"One of these three."
"What if they aren't here either?"
"We have to hope they are... We only have tomorrow."
If we were absent from the development mission, the spy would grow suspicious and report it to their main base. Once suspicion took root, additional operations wouldn't work.
As Oh Jeonghwan said, if we didn't find them by tomorrow, we might never get another chance.
"Let’s meet early tomorrow. I’ll deploy the development team and join you late."
"But why aren't you suspicious of me? Honestly, I could be the spy, right?"
Han Jiyoung asked in a playful tone, and Oh Jeonghwan answered as if it were obvious.
"You were the one arguing tooth and nail that it was a trap."
"What if it was high-level acting?"
"You aren't that smart."
"Wow, are you dissing me to my face? Then what about the others?"
Han Jiyoung looked at me and Hwang Gyunam, realized her slip of the tongue, and quickly waved her hands.
"S-senior, you obviously wouldn't be... Haha. Why is this old man excluded?"
"I know President Hwang better than anyone. And Lee Cheonil is the one who discovered the existence of the spy in the first place."
"Aha."
"I’ve only excluded the people I’m certain of. I can't trust anyone else."
From what I heard, the search team was composed only of original members. Excluding Jang Youngmin, who had joined recently, these were people who had lived and worked together for years.
The fact that there was a spy among them seemed like a huge shock even to Han Jiyoung.
"Then... is it possible it’s Inbeom?"
"Everyone except the people here."
"What will you do if Inbeom is the spy? What about that old guy Choi Hyunho? No, what about Jang?"
Han Jiyoung swallowed hard.
"Are you... going to kill them?"
Oh Jeonghwan stared at her, then answered with silence.
Only then did Han Jiyoung seem to realize how heavy this matter truly was.
Operation ‘Mole.’
We arrived an hour earlier than the original meeting time and left the shelter early.
"Senior, you brought your revolver."
"Yeah."
"Did you sleep well? I didn't get a wink of sleep yesterday."
Han Jiyoung sighed heavily.
Hwang Gyunam wasn't much different.
Their emotions were incomparable to mine. Even though I had only been here for about two weeks, their relationships were far heavier.
"Do you really think there’s a spy among the search team?"
"It’s highly probable."
"I thought about everyone one by one, but I really don’t know. I feel like I’d be shocked no matter who it is..."
It was a world where you had to kill others to survive. Even if they were comrades who had shared their lives, or colleagues.
Han Jiyoung wiped away a stray tear, uncharacteristic of her.
There was only one thing I could say to such a junior.
"Whoever it is, don’t hesitate. I don’t want to lose a junior."
"...Yes."
A silence heavier than gold descended upon us.
No one opened their mouths. We just walked toward our destination.
"Is it there?"
Hwang Gyunam asked, and I nodded.
The first place we arrived at was the 8-story office building. It was the place that would take the longest to search.
"President Hwang, please keep watch outside. If you see anything strange, let us know via radio. Jiyoung and I will go inside."
"Right. Let’s do that."
I passed through the building entrance with Han Jiyoung and hid my body.
There was a trick to entering buildings, and it seemed Han Jiyoung hadn't forgotten what she learned at the training facility.
"Next floor."
"Yes."
We communicated while keeping our decibels as low as possible.
Finished the 2nd floor, then the 3rd, then the 4th. When we finally reached the 8th floor, we could finally relax our tension.
"It’s not here."
"Let’s move to the next location."
The bank was only about 700 meters away. We searched the interior in the same way, but as expected, there were no traces of people.
When I shook my head, Hwang Gyunam wore a troubled expression.
"That leaves only one..."
"Senior, what if they aren't there either?"
I had thought the probability was highest for the bank, but that was a bust too. An uneasy feeling began to creep up.
'The abandoned factory was the place with the lowest possibility.'
The location was good, but the problem was that it was too large. A large site meant there were too many places to defend. It was impossible for a group of up to 20 people to cover.
'What if there are more than 20?'
I thought their scale might be larger than we expected. But that was just a hasty guess. We were in a situation where we had to believe only what we could see.
I shook my head to clear my distracting thoughts.
"Let’s go for now. Nothing is certain yet."
"Right... let’s not get discouraged yet."
"I know the location where they ambushed us yesterday. They said they would wait until today, so if it really comes down to it, we can catch them and interrogate them."
Having one ace up our sleeve was a great comfort. We regained our energy and headed to the next destination. Oh Jeonghwan joined us midway, carrying an aluminum bat wrapped in wire.
"Let’s hurry a little."
The abandoned factory was in the opposite direction, so the travel time was quite long. We spotted a few zombies on the way, and Oh Jeonghwan smashed their heads in an instant.
His bat swing was extraordinary.
Oh Jeonghwan wiped off the blood and made some idle chatter.
"I would have been good if I’d been a batter, right?"
"I suppose so."
"I was a batter until high school. The 4th hitter for Dujeong High. I almost became the Ohtani of Korea."
"Ah."
"But when I joined the major league team, they only let me pitch."
Come to think of it, this was my first time in the field with Oh Jeonghwan. Contrary to my first impression, he was quite the chatterbox.
Thanks to him, the atmosphere wasn't as gloomy as before, though I couldn't tell if it was simply the difference between being with three people versus four, or if it was his intentional behavior.
One thing was certain: Oh Jeonghwan wasn't nervous at all.
"Is that the right way?"
"This is the shortcut. Just follow me."
I had memorized the map thoroughly with Cheonsa last night. Despite my efforts, Oh Jeonghwan’s escort was flawless.
After passing through buildings and taking side paths repeatedly, the abandoned factory soon came into view.
'He acts like he lived here.'
The large doors were tattered like rags. Every time they swayed in the wind, the sound of them clashing against each other grated on my ears.
It was only one story, but the ceiling was very high, and it was a structure where the roof could also be used. There were many places that needed work, but if we had enough members, it wouldn't be a bad place to use as a shelter.
"Lee Cheonil. What do you think?"
"Well."
"In my opinion, this is Daeheung’s main base."
The idle chatter was gone. Oh Jeonghwan’s expression was as stiff as his left hand, and his eyes were burning once again.
"You can kill everyone except one."
He said, looking at my revolver. As someone who had received ammunition as a gift, I felt a sense of debt.
"Let’s do that."
I answered briefly and entered the factory.
The sound of wind leaking through the old exterior walls. The dull sound of iron doors clashing.
The smell of stale dust and paint wafted through the air.
'...It really was here.'
I examined the floor. Footprints were visible on the thick layer of dust. They were very vivid traces of a person.
I held up two fingers and pointed inside. A hand signal that the enemy was present.
Han Jiyoung nodded and took a position on the opposite side of me.
'Advance in turns.'
'Yes.'
We communicated with hand signals and slowly closed the distance. The suspected location was the office inside the factory. It was a form that connected to the staff break room and shower room.
'Can you hear anything?'
'No.'
We were right on top of them, but we couldn't hear a sound. It was strange. If there were people, it shouldn't be like this.
'Have we been caught?'
'Probably.'
'What should we do?'
If we had been spotted first, they would be waiting inside. They would spray bullets the moment we opened the door.
I put down my rifle and took out a grenade. Han Jiyoung, having understood my intention, nodded.
Han Jiyoung approached the office door while hunched over. She quickly opened the door and rolled to the side. I threw the grenade through the gap in the door.
BOOM—!
A massive explosion rang out. The windows shattered, and glass shards scattered everywhere along with metal fragments.
I pulled the revolver from my waist and held it in both hands. Every sense in my body became as taut as a bowstring.
"...!"
As I entered the interior, my strength left me. Han Jiyoung, who entered right behind me, spat out a curse.
-What’s going on? Lee Cheonil! Han Jiyoung!
"Ha... Boss, you need to come see this."
Oh Jeonghwan and Hwang Gyunam, who arrived a moment later, could only stare in futility just like us.
On the wall, riddled with countless metal shards, were words painted in red spray paint.
[LOOOL]
The operation had been leaked. And there were only four people here who knew about the ‘Mole’ operation.
Now, I couldn't trust anyone.