Chapter 92
Chapter 92
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: Rest to This Ruined World, Siege of Gyeongbok Palace (1)
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0.
“What the hell happened?”
As we returned to the camp,
Jeong Ha-kyeong came rushing out, grabbed my shoulder, and froze when she saw what I was holding in my hand.
“What’s with the map…?”
“Yeah. It’s a map.”
“That’s not what I’m asking. What’s marked on it?”
That was when Do Su-jin pushed through the onlookers and hugged Do Ye-jin. Jeong Ha-kyeong furrowed her brow.
“Ah, fuck… My head hurts. What about that otherworld Hunter? You said you went after that bastard? What happened? Did you win? Lose? No way you lost…”
“I’ll explain everything once all the Association members are gathered.”
I placed a hand on Jeong Ha-kyeong’s shoulder as she panted with a confused expression.
“Ha-kyeong, assemble all the Association members. Tell them it’s an order from the Association President.”
“At this hour in the morning…? Why all of a sudden?”
“To hold the Fifth Raid Conference. I know everything now. What the Subordinates are, and where they are.”
1.
It takes time to assemble the conference.
During that spare time, I roughly shoved open the door to the abandoned building Choi Uk had been using as his quarters.
Even at dawn, Choi Uk was awake.
Wide awake, he had several notebooks spread out, summarizing information. Im Yong-gon sat atop a pile of rubble like a bodyguard.
“Promise me.”
At my abrupt words, Choi Uk looked up with an expressionless face.
“Promise you’ll never throw Do Ye-jin into the fire like that again.”
“Looks like she made it back alive, from the way you’re talking.”
“I said promise me now. This is an order from the Association President.”
“An order?”
“Do Ye-jin nearly died. Not just her—the entire First Hunting Squad!”
At my aggressive tone, Choi Uk set his old-fashioned silver-rimmed glasses down on the table.
“You seem to blame me.”
“More like I almost did. So promise me now.”
“The Association isn’t a daycare. Hunters aren’t kids that need coddling.”
Before Choi Uk could firmly shake his head, I spoke.
“I’m not asking for special treatment. The Association already has veterans and rookies coexisting. I’m just asking you to treat her like the other rookies.”
“Let me ask you seriously. Do you really think I wanted Do Ye-jin dead?”
As I started to retort, Choi Uk raised a hand to stop me and continued.
“Do Ye-jin is a Subordinate Weapon. Let’s make that clear. A Subordinate armament.”
“She’s a person.”
“A person? Fine… I won’t quibble with you over terminology. Whether person or Subordinate, one thing’s certain: she’s a concentration of explosive power. We can’t just leave a clueless weakling like that unchecked.”
Choi Uk spoke in a scolding tone.
“She can’t stay a child forever. In this era, there’s no such thing as childhood.”
“……?”
“April 5, 2045. That day marked the end of humanity’s childhood. No matter the age, it’s time to become adults. Those who don’t get weeded out.”
The end of childhood?
I let out a bitter sigh and replied.
“Do we have to push them off a cliff to end their childhood? Acknowledge them only if they come back alive? Isn’t that just beastly?”
“Beastly. Good word. The age of reason is over. The era we live in is one of barbarism.”
“No! The reason we fight is to remain human. To prevent that barbaric age from coming, to protect the age of humanity!”
Choi Uk’s expression showed no agreement.
“Let me be direct. What’s your answer, then?”
I’d expected as much.
His driving force is revenge, after all.
“What soft thinking will get you through this hellish world? How do you plan to deploy Do Ye-jin in combat?”
I can’t win against Choi Uk with logic.
“Simple.”
I’ll say what I can.
I’ll put into words the life I’ve seen, admired, and followed.
“If they don’t know, teach them. Right?”
“……?”
“If they’re weak, help them stand. Right?”
I have a creed.
A creed passed down from my parents.
“Why should we?”
No one lives in the world alone.
The character for person: 人.
People become people by helping each other.
“Because you and I are human.”
In that moment, I could see Choi Uk’s pupils dilate as he looked at me. I heard Im Yong-gon hold his breath.
“We’re human because we know how to care for each other and love each other.”
That’s why I knew.
I wanted to protect the beautiful world created by such people.
A brief silence fell.
The one who broke it… was surprisingly a third party eavesdropping on our conversation.
「Human. Human. Human. Human.」
Rin.
Choi Uk’s deceased only daughter.
The poor child whose soul had been bound to that grenade launcher by the gods’ prank.
「Daddy. Human. Daddy. human. Daddy.」
Choi Uk’s eyes trembled.
The expression he showed then… was something I’d never seen before.
「Daddy. Daddy. Human. Don’t like beasts. Daddy is human.」
He stared down at Rin for a long while.
Then, like a father caressing his daughter, he gently stroked her.
“I promise.”
I doubted my ears for a moment. This easily?
“Let me clarify beforehand: it’s not because I’ve turned sentimental like you.”
“……Then?”
“It’s a realistic compromise. I need your strength, and you need my intellect. I have no intention of splitting from you over a Subordinate Weapon.”
Someone knocked on the door then. The person who entered had the insignia of the Signal Corps on their shoulder.
“All three of you are here. Assembly complete. Everyone’s gathered.”
“Assembly?”
“Huh…? You didn’t hear? The Association President called for the Fifth Raid Conference…”
Choi Uk glanced at me.
The man looked back and forth between me and Choi Uk with a troubled expression. Choi Uk beckoned to him.
“Even this Cheonun Hyoja-dong expedition is nearing its end. Fine, we’ll head over soon. Go on ahead.”
“Understood.”
“Is that necessary? We can just go together.”
After the man left, I asked, and Choi Uk said quietly.
“Give me a little time, too.”
In that moment,
The smile Choi Uk gave while looking down at Rin was the most genuine one I’d ever seen from him.
“Just a moment alone with my daughter…”
Yeah.
I can say without a doubt that it was.
A brilliant legacy of a bygone era. A father’s smile.
2.
“The Fifth Subordinate is in Gyeongbok Palace.”
A short silence passed as the Association members processed those words in their minds. Someone shouted.
“Fuck me.”
Gyeongbok Palace was no longer a tourist spot.
According to the advance scouts, it was now more like a fortress.
攻略 or scouting with small numbers was impossible.
Impregnable walls.
Tightly shut gates.
Countless undead knights and soldiers defending it.
Sneaking in was out of the question.
“We’re screwed. That’s the one place I hoped it wasn’t.”
“How the hell do we breach that?”
That’s why the Association had deliberately avoided scouting Gyeongbok Palace.
Two reasons.
One. No Subordinates had ever been in the outskirts before.
Two. Even if it was there, there was no viable way to attack it.
Someone raised their hand.
Second Hunting Squad Leader, Ko Hoon.
“Hold on. Can I ask how you found that out?”
“I interrogated the otherworld Hunter before killing him.”
“……?!”
Ko Hoon froze for a moment.
Of course, it was a clumsy lie. I fiddled with the necklace around my neck.
The Orb of Void.
Roheiritz was hiding his presence here right now. I couldn’t openly bring the Association’s archenemy along.
“You already interrogated him?”
“Yes.”
“Is the intel reliable? Can we trust that bastard?”
“Are you doubting my judgment right now?”
I pushed back hard on purpose.
If they kept prying into the source, I’d be in trouble. My answers would stay vague no matter what.
“It’s natural to fear Gyeongbok Palace. But now’s the time to find a way somehow. Seo Hwa-yun.”
I turned to Seo Hwa-yun.
“Couldn’t we breach it with siege weapons like catapults or battering rams?”
“It’s not impossible… but it’d take too long. And it’d be risky.”
“……?”
“Gyonnam-dong was right in front of the gate. How long would it take to haul that stuff all the way to Gyeongbok Palace? It’s far from the gate.”
I let out a short groan.
Seo Hwa-yun had pointed out reality. Overcoming that reality was the key…
“How about leaving it to a monster like Im Yong-gon? Tell him to smash the gate with his hammer. Or you could do it yourself.”
“That won’t work.”
The one who refuted was Lee Seong-mi. Former leader of the Gyeongbok Palace scouting team, now Reconnaissance Sergeant.
“The gate isn’t wood like before. It’s steel. From what I could tell, it’s this thick.”
The distance Lee Seong-mi gauged with her hands was at least 50cm.
“Even Im Yong-gon or the President would struggle, in my judgment.”
I nodded.
Lee Seong-mi was paranoid, but she had a good grasp on reality.
It might work.
The Sacred Dawn Sword had a maximum of three uses.
If I poured all three into it… But I wanted to face the Subordinate with as much power conserved as possible.
“If that’s the issue, smash the gate and retreat, then try again the next day. Right?”
“No. Too many variables. We saw what happened in Muak-dong when a Subordinate crawled out of their base.”
Several other plans were suggested, but none were adopted. The best one came then.
“Then I’ll do it.”
I doubted my ears for a moment.
This voice… no way… I turned, and there in the middle of the crowd stood Do Ye-jin.
“With the power of a Subordinate, those things are no problem. Right?”
True enough.
But there was a massive issue, so I shook my head.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“You can’t control that power.”
Do Ye-jin let out a hi laugh.
“But it’s something only I can do. Something I have to do.”
The Association members immediately buzzed. They figured if the Subordinate Weapon went berserk, they could just hunt it down.
“Yeah. That’d work.”
“If we could unleash a Subordinate on Gyeongbok Palace… Breaching the walls would be a piece of cake.”
I urgently sought out Jeong Ha-kyeong and Do Su-jin. Do Su-jin’s mouth hung open, but Jeong Ha-kyeong read my gaze, moved quickly, and dragged Do Ye-jin over.
“Let’s take a short recess.”
I calmed the excited members and led Do Ye-jin out of the temporary conference room to a corner of the hallway.
“You… why are you doing this? How hard have I tried to protect you…?”
Do Ye-jin’s body trembled. It showed just how terrified she was.
“You said it back then, didn’t you?”
“……?”
“That the only thing that can stand against this world is the Subordinate power I have.”
I froze for a moment.
Do Ye-jin looked up with a resolute smile.
“Be honest. Back then, did you really believe I could become that kind of existence?”
I paused briefly, then gave a sigh-mingled smile.
“I’ll let you in on a secret about your uncle. I’ve never been good at lying since I was a kid. It was hell when I was a cop.”
“The dragon lady meant it sincerely too, right?”
Dragon lady?
She meant Kserinia.
“She’s not the type to lie.”
Even from our brief meeting, I could tell. The depth of her life and her sincerity.
“See?”
Do Ye-jin looked down at her hands and smiled through tears.
“Hwa-yun unnie said it too, and so did Byeong-gyu uncle. That I—I—would save the world.”
“……What?”
“I’m here, right? I didn’t want to be that. I never wanted this power. Ever since it appeared, it’s only brought me misery.”
Everything was in past tense. Didn’t want? Never wanted? Only misery? I asked.
“So not anymore?”
“Now…”
Do Ye-jin clenched her trembling hands into fists and nodded.
“I want to be that existence. The one who ends this nightmare. I want to give this world rest. Know what my nickname is?”
“……What?”
“The middle-school magical girl who summons typhoons.”
What kind of ridiculous… Ah. I let out a bitter laugh.
“You dueled the former First Hunting Squad!”
“Yeah. That’s where the nickname came from. It feels like the dream Byeong-gyu uncle, Geon-woo oppa, and Seung-hyeon left me.”
Do Ye-jin flashed a girl’s innocent smile.
“I’ll make that dream come true. I’m done just crying. I’ll face the despair. I’ll overcome it.”
She pointed to her chest with her index finger.
Just like I had that day at Seodaemun Prison.
“Uncle, believe in me. I’ll become the Subordinate and open the way.”