Chapter 56
Chapter 56
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Find the Right Path (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
4.
“He possesses a unique skill called Subordination.”
My head rang.
What now? Subordination? I barely managed to move my lips.
“Does that mean he could turn into a subordinate at any moment?”
“That’s true, but it’s not possible here. Apparently, it’s unusable in the Paradise Zone.”
The room stirred in an instant, and Choi Uk shot to his feet with a growl.
“We have to kill her! She’s a murderer! A subordinate! Why are we even having this meeting about killing a subordinate? We should’ve done it right there on the spot!”
Yoo Seong-deok, the former Support Team 1 Leader, nodded.
“He’s right. Why are we keeping her alive?”
Scout Left Wing Leader Lee Seong-mi and Support Team 3 Leader Go Hoon chimed in as well.
“I agree. We should kill her immediately.”
“What happens if she suddenly turns into a subordinate?”
A shadow fell over Do Sujin’s face, and in that moment, she gripped the hilt of her sword tightly.
“Touch a single finger to my little sister, and I’ll rip every one of those fingers off.”
A suffocating tension settled over the room.
She’s too young... Such an emotional reaction wasn’t wise right now.
Just as I was about to step in, Choi Uk sighed and spoke up.
“Stop acting like a child.”
“Like a child? You want me to just sit still? She’s my own flesh and blood!”
“She’s also a subordinate who murdered twelve team members. That’s reality too.”
Do Sujin flinched uncomfortably.
“She has no memory after being possessed.”
“Does that make her crimes vanish? Then go ahead and bring back the murdered hunters.”
“That’s...”
Choi Uk’s words felt off somehow.
They lacked his usual rationality... I could guess what he was aiming for.
- A storm to shatter the raid team’s unity.
His top priority right now must be preserving the raid team’s cohesion.
But... if her statement is true, isn’t that girl just another victim of the apocalypse like us?
“That’s...”
Do Sujin’s voice trailed off weakly.
She glanced at me with eyes full of hope, but... there was nothing I could do for her now.
“We’ve judged that we can’t decide this matter on our own.”
Choi Uk narrowed his eyes in thought, then stood from his seat the next moment.
“We’ll hold a full assembly meeting at noon tomorrow.”
A full assembly?
How thoroughly does he plan to tie this up?
“We’ll hear Do Yejin’s final statement, then vote, and decide based on the results.”
“What... did you say?”
“Whether to spare your sister Do Yejin or execute her.”
Do Sujin’s expression turned fierce.
She whirled around to leave the leader’s office at once, but...
“You need to stay in headquarters today.”
“Why?”
“Because she might try to escape with Do Yejin. That’s an order.”
“The operation is essentially over, so isn’t disobeying orders allowed?”
When Do Sujin pushed back defiantly, Choi Uk drove the nail in.
“Of course disobeying is allowed. But so is punishment for it. Go ahead and disobey. If you’re confident you can take down Im Yong-gon guarding the prison.”
5.
“Uncle Choi Uk plans to kill Do Yejin.”
Shin Tae-yeop said glumly.
We were descending the quiet headquarters stairs, lit by the blue glow of the lanterns.
“If it goes to a vote, the calls to kill her will overwhelmingly outnumber those to spare her...”
I answered his prediction with a sigh.
“Uncle. Is... killing Do Yejin really the right answer?”
“To Choi Uk, it probably is. He seems to prioritize the raid team’s unity above all.”
Just calling the assembly proved it.
He probably wants to continue the raid with this exact lineup. Not a bad call at all.
“Even if it means cutting out the <Guard> entirely.”
Shin Tae-yeop hopped up, skipping several stairs at once to land on the landing. He turned to me.
“You think so too, Uncle?”
The unexpected question.
Brought me to a sudden halt.
“Me?”
My emotions.
Which way did my judgment lean?
My feelings toward Do Yejin were nothing but confused.
- Live.
The enemy of Kim Gye-sang, yet also a victim of the apocalypse...
“Baek-jun!”
Someone threw their arm around my neck then. I didn’t need to look to know who... And sure enough.
Light brown ponytail, dressed in white.
Turning around, a tall female hunter beamed at me.
“...Seo Hwa-yun.”
Right.
She was from <Romance>.
I hadn’t even considered running into her. Seo Hwa-yun slapped my back.
“I told you to call me Noona. So, how’s it going with Ha-kyeong?”
“...”
“Where’s your sword? Huh? I don’t see it. I said I’d let you study it.”
“When did I... It can’t be studied anyway. It deactivates if another hunter touches it.”
As I shook off her grip on my arm, Seo Hwa-yun paused for a moment. Not because of my resistance.
She’d locked eyes with Shin Tae-yeop, who grinned and said,
“Hey! Noona Hwa-yun.”
“That’s the one who made the trebuchet, right? In just one day... Impressive!”
“R-Really...?”
“Yeah! What did you do before?”
Seo Hwa-yun blushed awkwardly, uncharacteristically.
“I was a chief engineer at S Corp.”
S Corp...?
If my memory served, Korea’s top defense contractor. She must’ve recreated the [Electric Barrier] based on that experience.
“Whoa! No wonder you’re so talented. Nice eye from S Corp. Your unique skill in that line too?”
“《Shape Memory》.”
Seo Hwa-yun clasped her hands together, and a fist-sized trebuchet materialized.
“If I remember the structure and material 100%, I can produce it in one go.”
My jaw dropped.
Ah... The electric barrier too... But she remembered all that?
“Noona’s awesome. Can I just call you Noona from now on?”
This kid’s flattery skills were no joke. He’d have been the office favorite if he’d had a regular job.
“To think such a perfect being existed.”
Seo Hwa-yun hugged Shin Tae-yeop.
She ruffled his hair wildly and pinched his cheeks, but he didn’t show a hint of displeasure.
“Love it! I’m in a great mood! As a special treat today, I’ll show you the underground lab.”
“Underground lab?”
“Yeah. Ever heard of mechanical weaponry?”
Mechanical weaponry?
First time hearing that term.
If my memory was right, weapons in this world fell into just three categories.
[Unique Weapons] like the Dawn Sword.
[Refined Weapons] forged with soul stones. And [Standard Weapons] from the <Forge>.
Pure curiosity sparked.
“What’s mechanical weaponry?”
That question was a mistake. Madness gleamed in Seo Hwa-yun’s expression instantly.
“Curious?”
Eyes flashing.
Face flushed red. Licking her lips.
“Yeah yeah yeah! Gotta know what you’re curious about! Awesome! I’ll show Baek-jun too, special treat.”
“I suddenly have urgent business...”
“No way! Don’t refuse!”
No chance to decline.
In a flash, she grabbed our arms—one each—and dragged us down to the basement.
“Come on in, no holding back.”
After descending endless stairs, she opened the underground lab door, and I grimaced.
Chilling cold... Gloomy darkness. And.
“What’s that smell?”
“Chemical agents. Can’t let the corpses rot.”
Corpses?
“Simply put, this is it.”
Seo Hwa-yun lit an oil lamp on the wall with a match. The dim basement came into murky view.
“Ta-da! My collection!!”
Nausea surged up.
Glass display cases.
Filled with body parts from all sorts of heteromorphs.
Human spider legs.
Human wheel antennae.
Old one tentacles... and more.
“Took some effort collecting these cuties. You know? Heteromorphs disintegrate completely upon death, leaving only soul stones.”
“So you severed just the body parts and left the main bodies alive?”
At Shin Tae-yeop’s question, Seo Hwa-yun stroked his blond ponytail proudly.
“Right. I’d love to do live experiments, but they die on contact with the mist.”
She pulled out a jar with a tentacle and shook it side to side like a trophy.
“Look closely. Even in this state, it’s not dead. Shake it like this... Haha! See it wriggling? This one’s strong! I’ll show you the others.”
It was disorienting.
I felt alienated from Seo Hwa-yun.
Is this person really human like me? No fear or disgust toward heteromorphs.
Just treating them as Specimen A or B.
“Why collect... things like this?”
“Why...? Why do you hunt them?”
Her puzzled counterquestion.
I hesitated. Simple, yet profound.
“...To win.”
“Exactly! Same here. I study them to win. Everything about them.”
Seo Hwa-yun walked to the left experiment table.
Tools neatly arranged atop it.
“You know anything about these heteromorphs beyond ‘octopus head with green skin, horrific bastard’?”
I was speechless.
“That’s not enough. Old saying: Know yourself and your enemy, win every battle. These days, even that barely gets you a win?”
“...You’re right.”
“Hmm, you know, you remind me of Im Yong-gon.”
Me, like Im Yong-gon?
She saw my face and burst out laughing.
“Not looks, don’t worry. You two are uniquely strong. So you can’t think from the weak’s perspective.”
“No.”
“Really? Deep down, you’re thinking, ‘Why go this far? Just hunt them.’ Right?”
...Spot on.
Seo Hwa-yun fitted the tentacle into a device.
One that pulled both ways with the force of an unwinding spring.
“Blind slaughter like you do brings no progress. It makes you stronger, not humanity.”
Unbelievable.
Her eyes were utterly serious, unlike her usual self.
“You need to know exactly what they’re strong against, weak against. How much force it takes to fight them.”
“Why?”
“Because only then can you create the power to fight back.”
Shin Tae-yeop and I exchanged glances.
The feeling was... respect. Seo Hwa-yun activated the device.
“Let’s see. How much force to yank this tentacle off?”
──Drdrdrdr.
The spring whirred laboriously.
Then—ping—the device flew apart. The stretching tentacle snapped back wildly, overwhelming the device’s resistance.
Obvious outcome.
Even hunters empowered by the Holy Apostles struggled against heteromorphs. No way a tool could handle it.
“Aw. Failed again. Need to wind the spring tighter. Next time’ll be better.”
Seo Hwa-yun grinned sheepishly.
No despair as she grabbed the twitching tentacle and shoved it back in the jar.
“But do you really need such precise measurements?”
At Shin Tae-yeop’s question, she grinned wider.
“Of course! Everything’s necessary. Follow me.”
Heading from the [Lab] to the [Workshop], she asked,
“You know human history is the history of tools?”
“Seen it in books a lot.”
“Yeah. The stars knew that too. That’s why they regressed civilization.”
“...So?”
“To make us dependent on their power. Like slaves.”
...Slaves?
A massive suit of armor stood in the [Workshop] center.
“Brass [Light Armor]...?”
No, what’s with all those dangling bits? Yet oddly familiar.
“Gas-propelled exoskeleton.”
I jolted in shock.
Right... An exoskeleton. Shape differed from my spec ops days, but overall vibe was similar.
“This is the pinnacle of mechanical weaponry.”
Which made it all the more baffling.
Recreating tech lost when civilization reset?