Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 033
Chapter Title: The Direction of the Counterattack, Second Strategy Meeting for the Conquest (4)
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5.
After the full participation vote.
Systematic team assignments were carried out.
Explaining everyone would get too complicated with all the relationships, so I'll just cover the major raid teams and Hong Byeong-gyu's group for now.
First, [National Army Headquarters].
Wielding automatic weapons as their main arms and rich in field experience, they were all assigned to the [Scout Team].
For the same reason, Jeong Ha-kyeong went to the Scout Team as well.
Then, [Inner Guard].
They were split into Support Team 2 and Support Team 3. The one left over was thrown into the [Scout Team].
Finally, Hong Byeong-gyu's group.
As the elite right behind the [Decoy Team], they were assigned to Support Team 6.
It was a dangerous and crucial role—guarding the main force's rear while also intercepting any enemies that managed to penetrate deep into the main body.
The reclamation operation's start date was set.
April 19th, three days later, at exactly 12:00 noon. The three days were for rehearsal training and final preparations.
6.
“Gye-sang.”
I said quietly.
The library attached to the cathedral was cozy and quiet.
Shelves packed with leather-bound books formed a maze, and navigating it gave me an eerie feeling.
Of course it did.
Ever since Brainphones became widespread, paper books had gone the way of extinct civilizations.
Finding Kim Gye-sang was easy.
I just followed the faint glow of the oil lamps. There he was, sitting at a table in one corner, turning the pages.
“Here you were, hiding away.”
“Oh, Baek-jun.”
Kim Gye-sang lifted his head slightly from the book.
It was like a scene from a painting. If Do-su-jin was the top beauty in Seodaemun-gu, Kim Gye-sang had to be the top handsome man.
“Well, looks like you've caught me already. Guess it's my turn to be the seeker?”
A lazy smile formed on his face. I chuckled and sat down across from him.
“We'll play that next time.”
“Alright. What brings you here?”
“Think you could help me out right now? I need to go prep some essential gear for the conquest.”
“At this late hour in the dead of night? Where to?”
“Hunting Zone. Thinking of heading to Jung-gu.”
Kim Gye-sang paused in thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Jung-gu, huh. Yeah. The two of us should be fine there.”
I started to stand with Kim Gye-sang. But then my eyes drifted to the book he was reading.
“What are you reading?”
“Nothing special. I was fumbling through it, and the title seems to be 'Origin and History of the End.'”
Kim Gye-sang lightly shook the massive leather-bound tome.
The characters on it were visible, but I couldn't read them.
“Can you read it?”
“Barely piecing together the meaning. The Star Messenger lent me a wordbook.”
Curiosity suddenly struck me.
“What does it say?”
“It's a bit late for a good kid to be hearing scary stories.”
“I won't draw maps under the covers.”
“How are you so charming?”
Kim Gye-sang chuckled and lowered his gaze to the page.
“I've only just started at the beginning.”
“That's fine.”
“The end of the Genesis World began with betrayal... betrayal. The stars... invaded the world the Genesis Gods created? No, the world made by the Genesis Gods became possible for the stars to invade.”
Genesis Gods? Stars? Invasion?
Kim Gye-sang looked up at me.
“How about that? Already giving you a headache?”
“No. I'm curious. Tell me more.”
“Unexpected. Alright. The innocent? Pure creations that the Genesis Gods made with love... provided immense amusement to the stars in the process of ■■. Not sure about this word.”
The story was still shrouded in fog.
But amusement?
It just confirmed again that the stars were bastards.
“There are two reasons. Now... the heavens... no, outer space has nothing pure left.”
Kim Gye-sang suddenly stopped speaking. I swallowed dryly, feeling a strange tension.
“And even those stars worship... overwhelming? Absolute? The Star of the Throne... but even they lacked the power of creation.”
Kim Gye-sang suddenly looked up.
“Don't you think that's strange?”
“......?”
“The power of creation... meaning the power to make something. So how are Heteromorphs still popping up nonstop?”
I clamped my mouth shut for a moment.
Kim Gye-sang.
This guy was as sharp as Choi Uk... he'd spotted the anomaly right away.
“Aren't they just being summoned from other worlds, like the Hunters or aliens from different realms?”
“Yeah, that's true, but... hold on. It was here... where... ah, here it is. Take a look at this.”
Kim Gye-sang pushed aside the book he was reading and opened another.
“This is the final volume of 'Origin and History of the End.' Nothing's written from the middle onward, but the last line is this.”
=====
Since the door opened with betrayal, will it close with betrayal?
=====
I stayed silent for a moment.
My head couldn't quite grasp what it meant.
“You know item tooltips, right, Baek-jun?”
“Yeah. Like the poem at the end of item descriptions.”
“The phrase '[Nameless Demigod]'s Betrayal' shows up a lot. Which means...”
I caught it for a split second.
The serious look on Kim Gye-sang's face twisting into misery.
“Which means what?”
I waited for him to continue, then finally prodded.
“What exactly does that mean?”
At that moment.
Kim Gye-sang forced a smile.
“No... it's nothing... Just had some absurd thought.”
He hurriedly closed the book and shoved it far away.
......Why's he acting like that?
But I didn't press further.
No need to badger him if he didn't want to say. Instead, I changed the subject.
“Isn't it tough? Learning... another language like that. And it's not even from Earth.”
It was an era where Brainphones handled brain translations. Studying foreign languages was something only fools did.
“It's tough, but I need to know the truth. The truth of this apocalypse.”
“......?”
“The process of uncovering that truth is how I truly mourn those brutally murdered.”
I think I blanked out for a second.
Why were all the people around me so damn admirable? It was a mystery.
“You're really strong, Gye-sang.”
“Me? No.”
He shook his head firmly, as if it were absolutely not true. Then he stood, smiling.
A smile so unbearably sad.
“If I'd been as strong as you, Baek-jun... that day... back then... everything would have been different...”
I didn't know the story behind that smile. But at that moment, a thought struck me.
If Shin Tae-yeop's driving force was humanity... then Kim Gye-sang's was guilt.
7.
“Let me introduce the key equipment for this conquest.”
I said.
Kim Gye-sang, my assistant, held up a revolver high.
“S&W - MP62. Standard-issue revolver for the Republic of Korea police.”
One of the twenty we dug up from abandoned police stations in the Hunting Zone at dawn with Kim Gye-sang.
“Compatible with blank rounds, live rounds, signal rounds, tracer rounds, and sonic rounds. A versatile revolver.”
The small chapel in the cathedral.
It was the second muster day for the Gyo-nam-dong conquest team.
The members listened to my explanation around the round table lit by candles.
“We'll be using two types of ammo this time: tracers and sonics.”
I held up a tracer round first.
There are two kinds of tracers. One coated blue on the casing, the other red.
“The blue-coated ones produce blue lights. The red-coated ones shoot up red lights.”
This was where it got important.
“Blue tracers for standard Heteromorph swarms.”
Standard Heteromorphs meant things like human wheels, human centipedes, ancients—the smaller types.
“And red for giant types.”
The members shifted uncomfortably. The terror of a giant shaking the earth as it charged was probably flashing through their minds.
“What about the sonics?”
“The sonics...”
Finally, the silver rounds.
Rounds that let out a piercing boom, once used for dispersing peaceful protests.
But now...
“......Emergency situations only. That is, when Subordinates appear.”
The members' faces hardened.
It was the core of the operation and the worst-case scenario. Even I, who'd taken contradictory missions in special forces, felt uneasy—how tangled must their feelings be.
“A signal announcing disaster.”
“Cool, huh.”
A few members let out bitter sighs.
Then, National Army leader Choi Jeong-gyun snapped them back to reality.
“Whether you know it or not, this is war. War.”
No one needed reminding.
That it would be a battle of grim deaths. I knew it too. That's when.
- Brothers, let's go win this. Message ends.
“Everyone.”
I don't know why those words came to mind. Or why I smiled just like he did.
“Let's go win this.”
Right before the conquest, Shin Tae-yeop had smiled.
It was simple, but pure in its simplicity.
It stuck with me so much that I'd remembered it, and the reaction was pretty good.
“Of course we're going to win.”
“Who wants to lose?”
One by one, grim smiles.
Hong Byeong-gyu's group and Jeong Ha-kyeong, who knew the source, exchanged bitter smiles... but...
“That covers the explanation.”
I nodded to Choi Uk, handing over the floor.
Choi Uk, who'd been silently reviewing the operation overview, finally spoke.
“I trust you all know. That the old city streets are where we must assume every possible variable risk.”
The mood sank low in an instant.
'Variable risk' carried a different weight here.
It was just another word for death.
“But etch this in: the strategic value of reclaiming Gyo-nam-dong outweighs those risks.”
“What is it?”
“Think about it. If we reclaim Gyo-nam-dong after Muak-dong, what happens?”
“……………?!”
“Won't a good number of rear Hunters join the Nightmare expeditions?”
......New recruits joining.
I was impressed he'd foreseen that far.
I'd only been hoping for expanded human survival zones and population growth in Paradise.
- The goal is to give hope that we can end this disaster. To everyone.
Was it the same foresight, just phrased differently from Shin Tae-yeop?
No... no.
Something fundamental was different from Shin Tae-yeop. Something vicious.
If Shin Tae-yeop's drive was humanity, maybe Choi Uk's was hatred.
“That's why this hunt is ours.”
Choi Uk rolled up the operation overview and stood from the head seat.
“Like it or not, it's a hunt for real Hunters like us— one only we can do.”
8.
“Five minutes to gate open.”
Choi Uk's voice echoed in chorus.
Training was over. Maintenance done. It was conquest day, and the entire team was lined up before the east gate, Independence Gate.
“Report by sub-unit.”
Team leaders chorused their ready status. Everyone had military experience, so formations were crisp.
“Scout Right ready!”
“Scout Left ready!”
“Support 1 ready!”
“Support 2 ready!”
“Support 3 ready!”
“Support 4 ready!”
“Support 5 ready!”
“Support 6 ready!”
“Strategy Tech ready!”
A drizzle was falling.
The smell of wet earth mixed thickly with blood.
It was always like this heading into the Nightmare Zone. Death seeped from everything in the world.
......Time to step back into the nightmare.
I steadied my breath, clenching and unclenching my fists.
“Commence gate open.”
At Choi Uk's signal, a few Hunters operated the gate mechanism.
Kiiiiiing—
The chains and pulleys strained as Independence Gate began to rise.
......Dong... dong... dong...
At the same time, the east clock towers rang, their tolls thudding heavily into our bodies.
Signaling exactly 12:00.
Signaling the start of the second Subordinate hunt.
────Kuuuung.
Finally, the heavy boom.
The door to the nightmare gaped wide. A hush fell for a moment.
“Gyo-nam-dong reclamation.”
Then, in the next instant, Choi Uk slashed his raised hand forward.
“Operation start.”
April 19, 2045.
On the fifteenth day of the apocalypse, humanity at last fired the opening shot of the second counteroffensive.