Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 040
Chapter Title: Counterattack Begins, Gyo-nam-dong Recapture Operation (7)
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12.
Park Je-ho.
Commonly known as Madman Teacher.
He was the young homeroom teacher for Class 3 of the 5th grade, where Kim Gye-sang had been assigned. Their first exchange went like this.
“You’re that fucking bastard, aren’t you? Why do you always walk around with your eyes down? Did you commit a crime or something?”
He was a man who was anything but teacherly in every way.
He lived with curses hanging from his lips.
He took such an interest in his students that second- and third-round parent-teacher conferences were standard, and he’d even tail them if their behavior seemed off.
“Lift your eyes and our gazes will meet.”
“And that’s a problem?”
“Then…… something will happen.”
“What? What’s gonna happen?”
Kim Gye-sang clamped his mouth shut for a moment.
He couldn’t muster the courage. He’d been told he’d be killed if he blabbed. They’d even threatened to burn down the orphanage.
“Not gonna say?”
“…….”
“Spit it out, you punk! Whatever happens, I’ll protect you. Trust your teacher and tell me.”
That day, Kim Gye-sang cried for the first time. Sobbing, he finally poured out the horrors of the past four years.
When the story ended.
Park Je-ho’s face wore an expression Kim Gye-sang had never seen before. He wouldn’t learn what it was until later.
It was the rage only a parent could feel.
Park Je-ho stormed straight to the teachers’ office and smashed his fist into the head of Lee Young-hwan, who was 54 at the time.
“You fucking bastard. You…… you…… how the fuck could you do that to one of our kids? How could a human being…… you goddamn octopus-headed fuck. No wonder you’re balding.”
Our kid……
Even now, Kim Gye-sang doesn’t know why those words made his heart tremble so fiercely.
The teachers’ office turned into a madhouse.
The world turned the incident into headline news for days as the infamous [Elementary School Sexual Abuse Case].
The teachers who had sexually abused Kim Gye-sang were dragged one by one to court. Amid the legal battles, Park Je-ho became his legal guardian.
“You’re like a dad to me, Teacher. That’s what I think.”
“Why?”
“Why the fuck do you need a reason? That’s just what I think.”
Park Je-ho was a teacher and a Christian, yet he smoked cigarettes with utter relish.
“Keep this between us. My dad was a piece of shit.”
“……?!”
“That’s why I thought, ‘I gotta be a good dad.’”
Park Je-ho flashed a grin.
“But look at my mug. You think I’m marriage material?”
“…….”
“You little shit. At times like this, you’re supposed to politely say, ‘No, Teacher!’”
“No, Teacher.”
“You punk?”
Park Je-ho smacked Kim Gye-sang on the head, then burst out laughing.
“Whatever. Point is, I wanted to play dad at an elementary school.”
“What’s a good dad?”
“Nothing special. Listen when they vent about tough times, help when they ask. And no matter what, believe in them.”
In that sense, Park Je-ho had become Kim Gye-sang’s father.
12 years old.
There had never been a year as happy as that one.
But life wasn’t so kind. They won in court, but Park Je-ho’s earlier violence became an issue.
The Board of Education issued a 70-day suspension, and the elementary school used it as an excuse to force his resignation.
“Will I ever see you again?”
“You think I’m going to hell? Gangwon-do mountains are hell enough.”
Park Je-ho patted Kim Gye-sang’s head.
“Yeah. Keep your back straight like that, head up. Like a man. With style.”
“I want to be like you, Teacher.”
“Your dreams are too big. Might as well say you wanna be president—that’s more realistic.”
That’s what he wanted to become.
A teacher who could reach out to the weak and powerless kids.
A teacher who could be a father.
So he did.
He followed in Park Je-ho’s footsteps.
Seoul National University College of Education (teacher’s colleges had all vanished due to low birth rates, so even elementary teachers had to go to a college of education). Church attendance. Becoming a smoker (that one ultimately failed).
When he showed up in Gangwon-do with his diploma, he remembered Park Je-ho greeting him with a beaming smile.
“I’m going to be a teacher soon, too.”
“You tragic bastard. I told you not to.”
“Kids don’t listen to their parents, right?”
Over drinks that day, Kim Gye-sang received advice on how to live as a teacher.
“There’s a passage in the Christian Bible about it. A story about soil.”
The Parable of the Sower.
Matthew 13:1-9.
“A farmer scattered seeds. Some fell on the path and became bird food. Others fell on rocky ground, sprouted quick but died soon after because the soil wasn’t deep enough.”
“And others fell among thorns.”
“Yeah. Finally, the seeds that fell on good soil became trees heavy with fruit.”
Park Je-ho poured soju into Kim Gye-sang’s glass with a trickle.
“Teachers are the soil, Gye-sang. Kids are fragile seeds. You’ve gotta be good soil for them.”
“Yes.”
Kim Gye-sang smiled brightly.
“That’s why I became a teacher. I want to live like you did for me.”
“You silver-tongued punk…….”
That day, Park Je-ho shed tears for the first time.
After the world ended.
Kim Gye-sang dreams every night.
Sometimes of meeting Park Je-ho, but mostly of the kids from Class 3 of the 2nd grade that he taught.
“Atten-tion! Salute the Sun-saeng-nim!”
The class president with the lisp.
The vice president who giggled whenever their eyes met.
The prankster Jang Tae-ha.
Kim Hong-rae, who was good at soccer.
Jin Tae-kyeong, who excelled at math.
Park Chan-ju. Do Min-jun. Seo Ji-won. Yoo Seo-young. Song Do-hyun. Im Jeong-woo. Kang Shin-min. Park Kwang-woo……
The scene in his dreams is a spring classroom.
Curtains swaying in the spring breeze. Nose tingling with thick floral scents.
While spring bugs hum hazily outside, the class president reads from the Korean textbook.
That spring sunlight. That spring breeze.
The kids’ angelic faces as they dozed peacefully.
An everyday scene.
But one he loved so dearly.
Yet in every dream.
Just like the day the world ended, a massive pure-white being appears out of nowhere.
「Humanity is no longer alone.」
The dream turns into a nightmare in an instant.
That day, Kim Gye-sang failed to be a Park Je-ho for the kids in Class 3 of the 2nd grade.
There was the young Kim Gye-sang of old.
A powerless, powerless, powerless, utterly powerless man.
As the darkness lifted from his consciousness.
Every time he was dragged from a brilliant spring dream into a horrific nightmare.
Kim Gye-sang wished for death.
Hope died and vanished.
In a world filled only with despair and tears.
There was no reason to live, no hope.
“I won’t abandon you. Nor anyone else here. If I win, we can make it all happen, right?”
Into that brink of despair.
The second Park Je-ho appeared on the day he joined the raid, attempting suicide.
His name was Kim Baek-jun.
And now, that Kim Baek-jun was dying right before his eyes.
In that desperate moment.
The thought of needing to survive didn’t cross his mind. He only recalled his final conversation with Park Je-ho.
What you stake your life to protect is hope.
May this fragile seed sprout and bear fruit of hope in this cruel world.
“This is a small repayment.”
He resolved to be good soil. That’s why, even facing death, he could smile.
“Live.”
Someday.
The smile he’d practiced to wear the day he saved a kid like himself. The smile Park Je-ho had shown him as a child.
Yes…… the smile from the dream.
Cha Seung-hyeon and Hong Byeong-gyu’s laughter.
Yoon Geon-woo’s stutter.
Jeong Ha-kyeong’s curses.
Kim Baek-jun’s smile.
Farewell…… everyone.
13.
Gigantic heteromorphs rampaged from all directions, and the old downtown shook as if struck by an earthquake.
Amid the grotesque roars of collapsing high-rises, the surroundings were shrouded in choking dust.
“Give it up.”
Im Yong-gon didn’t respond to Choi Uk’s words.
In that instant, a heteromorph lunged.
Choi Uk pierced its throat with his staff-sword and pressed again.
“Carrying the wounded will jeopardize our safety as well.”
Choi Uk felt confusion for the first time in ages. Im Yong-gon wasn’t a doll or a robot, yet he had never once defied Choi Uk’s judgment.
“Why?”
“…….”
“Your body isn’t unscathed from the fall’s impact.”
Im Yong-gon’s former job was firefighter.
Stationed at Seodaemun Fire Station. Rank: Senior Firefighter.
Im Yong-gon, who had received commendations seven times for risking his life for public safety, had a tragic past.
[Disaster Control AI ‘Gongmin’ broadcasts. C877 area rescue operation is now abandoned. Rescue teams, withdraw until the fire-extinguishing drones arrive.]
An apartment engulfed in ferocious flames.
Even firefighters were shaking their heads, ready to give up.
Before that inferno.
The senior firefighter couple he truly admired didn’t hesitate for a second.
- Senior! You’ll die if you go in. Can’t you see that?
- If we don’t go in, they will. Check the sensors. Life signs inside. Two of them, even. Are your eyes busted?
Im Yong-gon grabbed the arm of his suited-up senior again.
- Look at those flames! Are your eyes busted?
- You punk, Yong-gon.
The suited senior patted Im Yong-gon’s hand.
- You become a firefighter because you’re scared of fire? Or to save people?
Firefighters live on a sense of duty. Without it, they couldn’t last a day in the job.
But even among them, that couple was special.
The sheer size and depth of their pure sense of duty. And the skill to back it up.
They were true heroes, straight out of the movies.
- Then I’m going too.
Do ordinary people get drawn to heroes?
On that day of calamity.
Im Yong-gon followed his senior firefighters and rescued two citizens trapped in the flames.
That’s when the problem hit.
The path to the exit.
It was blocked by collapse debris. Someone had to lift it.
Oxygen and suits were at their limit.
Whoever it was would have to sacrifice themselves.
Why was it.
In that moment, Im Yong-gon couldn’t step forward. His arms, carrying the two citizens, trembled.
- Looks like we’ve gotta do it.
But the two were different.
At Kim Jae-shin the firefighter’s words, Park Mi-kyeong the firefighter nodded.
- Yong-gon. Get them out. We’ll lift it.
- Once Yong-gon’s out, you follow. I’ll stay.
Even as they spoke, they were already working together to lift the debris.
- Whoa, it’s hot. Yong-gon. Count of three. Go when I say three. Take them. Three.
Im Yong-gon finally spoke.
- I’ll do it.
- Two. Cutting in line now?
- Think of your son. The one you just adopted.
At that, smiles seemed to spread inside the couple’s fire masks.
- Baek-jun? Smart as hell, just like me. One. Got it up. Get out, punk. You’ve got your mom.
There was no time for arguments. Im Yong-gon hugged the two citizens and squeezed through the narrow gap.
- Yong-gon, you were badass today, kid.
An oddly final tone to the farewell.
The moment instinct made him look back.
Crack— the ceiling split, then………………… came crashing down.
Through the pouring debris.
Beyond it, his seniors were left behind.
- Senioooorrrrrrs!
That desperate scream.
Was swallowed by the roar of flames.
Their bodies crumbled to ash in the firestorm. No corpses were ever found.
- Kim Jae-shin, the father of the fire headquarters. Park Mi-kyeong, the mother……
He was dazed with guilt throughout the memorial. If he’d stepped up then…… he could’ve saved them and died in their place.
Im Yong-gon had the ability, but not the courage.
He saw the boy who came as chief mourner.
Tall and handsome.
He hadn’t learned it yet, but he already carried himself with dignity.
They bragged every day about how much he resembled them…… but he looked nothing like his seniors. Being adopted, it was natural.
Yet strangely, their auras matched in a subtle way.
On the way to offer chrysanthemums.
He saw the boy’s sorrowful eyes. It was his birthday today.
- Thank you for coming.
The boy bowed his head with a smile. In that instant, Kim Jae-shin’s smile overlapped with it.
He really…… does look like him.
A smile like a light piercing the darkness.
After offering the chrysanthemum, Im Yong-gon fled the memorial.
He didn’t even speak to him.
He thought they should never meet again, that he didn’t deserve to.
From that day, Im Yong-gon wore a mask even off-duty. His face had been grotesquely scarred by burns during the rescue.
Of course, that was just an excuse.
Maybe he feared the day he’d run into the boy again. With his massive build and burns, he’d be recognized instantly……
The boy he’d pushed from memory appeared before him as a steadfast young man in the ruined world.
As strong as he was gentle and kind.
Looking so much like Kim Jae-shin.
And now, he was dying on Im Yong-gon’s back.
The exact same situation as back then.
And now.
In this post-apocalyptic world.
What did Im Yong-gon have, and what did he lack, in terms of courage and ability?
He would soon find out.