The Superhuman Soldier, Ha Jinwoo (2)
The name echoed through the chamber like a ghost from another life. Ha Jinwoo.
It had been a very long time ago. Back when he hadn’t fought alone. Back when South Korea still had more than one superhuman soldier.
The captain had called his name while staring out across the battlefield.
At the time, Jinwoo had still been young. Seventeen. Freshly deployed. He had completed every part of his training, but experience was something he still lacked.
The captain had been older than him. A strange man who had volunteered for the military three separate times. Once in the regular army. Twice with the special forces. And after World War III broke out, he had undergone modification to become a superhuman soldier for the third time. Despite all that, he was surprisingly warm. If Jinwoo had ever had an older brother, he imagined it would have felt something like this.
The captain had looked at him with pity—the boy who had come to the military at such a young age screaming for revenge. He had taken it upon himself to look after Jinwoo with genuine care. Whenever there was something good to eat, he gave it to him first. He would chat about trivial things just to fill the silence.
And then one day, the captain had handed him something.
He had passed it over with a deliberately casual expression, yet his eyes had lingered, hoping for a happy reaction. Jinwoo couldn’t quite remember how he had responded back then. Whatever it was, it clearly hadn’t been what the captain expected.
Thinking back on how the man had explained himself while awkwardly scratching the back of his neck, Jinwoo wished he had shown a bit more joy. At the time, though, he simply hadn’t known how. Even without that, the awkwardness had been inevitable. A war orphan who had spent his days scavenging through trash before becoming a superhuman soldier—what could he possibly have known about gifts?
It had been a smartphone.
The very same one he would later use for one hundred and twenty years, replacing every single part like the Ship of Theseus. His treasure.
That smartphone was no longer with him now.
The container he had stored it in was gone. Both the shotgun and the phone had vanished. A surge of unease rose in his chest; he forced it down. This isn’t the time.
Following his old conscious routine, his mind settled. Only then did the voices reach him.
“First we need to deal with the outside—”
“H-hey… he’s awake. He’s looking this way…?!”
The people in front of him were whispering among themselves as they stared. And only then did one realization hit him.
The hibernation pod had definitely output its voice in Russian. Yet somehow he had understood it instantly, without any need for translation. The language these humans were using was the same. It felt completely different from any tongue he had ever heard or spoken, yet its meaning came to him naturally.
As he watched them in silence, it became clear they were more wary of whatever waited outside than they were of him. They either didn’t know who he was, or they considered the threat beyond the door far more dangerous. If they showed hostility, how long would it take to subdue them? Without other armaments or biological modifications, it would be instantaneous. Less than a second per person.
Their equipment was that crude.
What about beyond the door, then?
He couldn’t see anything. The piled-up shielding material blocked the entrance well, but more importantly, the door to his bunker itself was exceptionally sturdy. It rattled but refused to open. Considering it was a pull-style door, the only way through would be to break it down. He wondered why they hadn’t done so yet.
Judging by the technological level of the people inside this room… perhaps they couldn’t break it? Or maybe there was a reason they wouldn’t. Either way, there might be room for negotiation. His thoughts flowed naturally from there.
Just how did I end up in this situation?
And how much time has passed?
The hibernation had exceeded its recommended duration. The fact that he could instantly understand both this unknown language and Russian. The medieval-style clothing the people before him wore. None of it connected, and yet only absurd ideas came to mind. Stories he had read out of boredom long ago. Another world. That sort of thing. It was so ridiculous that a laugh almost escaped him.
Maybe this was a hallucination. Perhaps the hibernation device had malfunctioned and he was seeing visions. If so, that would actually be a relief. Dying inside this absurd fantasy would be far better than waking in agony only to perish.
BOOOOM!
The door shook violently. A smell tickled his nose—something burning. The people who had been exchanging opinions while watching the door flinched and froze. They gripped their weapons tightly. They clearly intended to fight, but the emotion in their eyes was all too familiar.
It was the look of people who had no confidence they could win against whatever waited beyond that door. People who had the will to fight, yet already anticipated what was about to happen.
Despair.
It was the same expression the soldiers had worn when facing the tide of Russia’s biological weapons that had filled the horizon. The ordinary people who had willingly shared their chocolate rations with a superhuman soldier who had been nothing more than a high schooler. The normal folks who had gathered in the trenches, chatting about their children and calling him “kid.” People who had died in an instant despite all that.
At the memory that rose unbidden, something stirred inside Jinwoo’s chest. An old habit he still hadn’t managed to break. It had always been this way. The knowledge that everyone would die before him, that they would vanish so easily. The innate nature that still drove him to approach and connect with others even while knowing it would only leave another scar on his heart. If anything, it was more like an incurable disease.
Well. What could he do? That was simply how he was made.
He opened his mouth.
*
After Ha Jinwoo opened the secret passage and left, and quite some time had passed…
A sigh came from beyond the door. Perhaps because they had no other choice, however unwilling they were.
With those words mixed into the sigh, the tightly sealed door began to glow red-hot. From red to orange, from orange to a vivid yellow.
KWAAAAAAAAANG!
The door blasted off its hinges with an explosion and slid into the hibernation chamber. The piled shielding material melted and burst into flame. As scattered debris burned with lingering embers, small bare feet strode boldly into the room.
Even though the bunker was engulfed in fire, the bare feet moved calmly, stopping only in front of the open hibernation pod. Just like the pod, the secret passage stood open. A gust of wind from outside made the ash-gray hooded cloak flutter, and another sigh was heard.
*
When he finally emerged from the passage and thought he had reached the familiar snowfields, Jinwoo had to widen his eyes at the strange yet somehow familiar scenery that filled his vision.
The sunlight pouring down was warm. The autumn wind that blew was chilly but pleasant. After waking from such a long hibernation, the oxygen felt like an excellent stimulus to his body. A familiar smell tickled his nose. He had never imagined he would grow used to it.
The narrow alley before his eyes could only be described as… distinctly Korean. It was definitely Seoul. Roughly Jongno District. The exact location was hazy; he couldn’t quite remember. After all, ever since he had come of age, he had spent far more time on battlefields near China or in foreign countries than in Seoul itself.
He only confirmed it was Jongno thanks to the subway entrance he had passed and the large sign that clearly read “Jonggak Station.”
None of it made sense. He had fallen asleep in the Russian snowfields, yet suddenly he was in Seoul? And this was no hallucination seen while the hibernation pod failed and he died. It possessed both the crudeness and precision that only reality could hold. The two contradictory qualities blended together perfectly.
That was why, even while easily catching up to the people running desperately ahead, he had the leisure to observe his surroundings.
The buildings. They were tall. They looked as if they had never experienced war and had somehow avoided the ravages of time. The roads. The pavement was peeling, but still usable. Electricity. The lights weren’t on, but that was only natural if no one maintained them. Considering the medieval level of his companions, that wasn’t strange either.
But everything except the lack of electricity felt wrong. It was as if someone had deliberately set a limit on the degree of damage and broken things just enough. His thoughts were growing deeper when—
“Huff, huff… let’s… stop here for a moment—”
The man running at the front panted heavily and stopped him.
Even as he gasped for breath, it was obvious he had already reached his limit long ago and had been forcing his lungs and muscles to keep going.
“Y-yes…”
Starting with the panting man, the others collapsed onto the ground one by one. The road wasn’t particularly clean, but their clothes were far filthier, so they didn’t seem to mind. Or perhaps they were simply too exhausted.
Perfect timing. Jinwoo looked at them. There were many questions. Many things he didn’t understand. Since he could no longer return to the hibernation pod, he needed to resolve these doubts.
Should he start the conversation?
“—As you’ve seen.”
Eyes turned toward him. It felt strangely good to have people looking at him again. The slight wariness in their gazes was rather pleasant too. It meant they hadn’t let their guard down. To them, he was a truly unfamiliar, incomprehensible being. In that sense, showing a bit of humanity might not be a bad idea.
“I don’t know much. I’ve only just woken up.”
Among the blank stares directed at him, hesitation appeared. Well, even he would find it difficult to explain in this situation, so he could understand.
“What…?”
Judging by their clothing, they seemed like some kind of warrior class, but their light gear suggested they were closer to a reconnaissance team than an expedition party. Yet they weren’t hurrying back to their main force, nor had they sent any message. He had wondered if they might fire a signal flare, but there had been none of that either. Falling asleep in Russia only to wake in what looked like Seoul was strange enough, but there were far too many things that didn’t add up.
That was when the suspicion formed—that this might not be the world he knew. And that suspicion became certainty at their reaction to his question.
The people who received his question exchanged glances. They opened their mouths, then closed them again. They even checked his expression. As he watched the whirlwind of emotions in their eyes, each of them showed a different response. Some clenched their teeth. Others reached toward the man they called captain, then withdrew their hands. In the end, the captain spoke.
“Adventurers?”
Adventurers. He had almost never heard the word. At least not after the war. Feeling a faint thrill at the unfamiliar term, he listened as the adventurer explained.
The language still felt foreign, but the meaning came through perfectly. He didn’t understand the principle, but the word “adventurer” carried exactly the meaning he knew. He had no idea how Seoul had become a labyrinth… but did they know about his bunker? It had originally been built during the Cold War; he had simply taken it over.
It must have been a difficult question. No answer came.
“We don’t really—”
At that moment, the captain cut off the speaker. His face carried a look of resolve.
Another unfamiliar term. The Dark Cult. Just the name alone didn’t sound like a good place. And sure enough—
It really didn’t sound like a good place. Of course a group that worshipped darkness would be like that. But another emotion stood out clearly. Their heartbeats had quickened. The gazes directed at him were no longer friendly.
His bunker was a holy site of such a cult? He could roughly guess what they were thinking. If that was his bunker, if he had been sleeping there, and if that place was a holy site of the Dark Cult… then it was only natural they would see him as a member of the Dark Cult.
“…I see.”
Ah. They didn’t believe him. It was the truth, though. He felt a little wronged, but he couldn’t exactly blame them. He decided he could explain slowly later and changed the subject.
“Yes… we were looking for something.”
He hesitated at the question. Jinwoo had assumed it was some kind of holy relic since they had called it a holy site. The answer that came back was completely unexpected.
Suddenly? Of course light would exist if there was darkness, but it felt far too abrupt. And then Jinwoo noticed the sound of approaching footsteps. He realized they weren’t trying to dodge the question or change the subject.
Their gazes had already slid past him, staring intently at the path they had come from. He lifted his head at the presence approaching from the opposite direction. People were walking toward them from afar. Pure white robes, pure white attire, pure white armor. No one needed to tell him that these were the Order of Light. A bad feeling settled in his gut. The sense that something was wrong. The same unease he used to feel right before an ambush.
When he frowned slightly, the adventurers were already rising to their feet.
““The Incarnation of Darkness.””
The adventurer’s words overlapped perfectly with those of the woman standing at the front of the Order of Light.
They spread out as if to surround him, having caught their breath. The Incarnation of Darkness. It was obvious who that referred to. The one inside the coffin had been him, and the place he had been was called a holy site of the Dark Cult.
There was no reply. He saw them draw their weapons. Now that he looked closely, many of them carried bows. Bows with melee weapons as sidearms.
Even as he attempted negotiation, they remained silent, glaring at him. Their eyes were already filled with hostility. He couldn’t understand it.
There were many things he wanted to say, but he already knew the words would be meaningless. The feeling that this wasn’t the first time suddenly struck him. Hibernation pods had been common technology. There were even technologies that made humans practically ageless, so hibernation pods were nothing special. There must have been many others who had gone into hibernation. And those people would have been killed according to this prophecy.
Just what has become of this world?
A hollow laugh almost escaped him. A woman with crimson hair braided over one shoulder, wearing a white hood pulled low over a gloomy face, looked at him and spoke.
The adventurer captain nodded and gave a hand signal. The encirclement tightened. Members of the Order of Light in armor, longswords drawn, mixed with the adventurers as they closed in.
He had thought they had simply fled in panic. He had been wrong. Their goal from the very beginning had been to bring him here. Had his senses grown dull after sleeping so long? Or had it simply been too long since he last moved? After all, he had spent thirty-seven years away from the battlefield. It wasn’t strange.
There was no possibility of conversation or negotiation. He had tried, only to be ignored. They had even said “as always.” They were probably adventurers who hunted down people like him who had gone into hibernation. How many had already died? How many people, filled with anxiety, fear, and hope, had been killed while sleeping or right after waking?
Imagining the final pain they must have felt, he surrendered himself to the slow-burning displeasure rising within him. He followed the familiar routine and awakened his fighting spirit. It had always been this way. Kill, or be killed.
Warmth raced down his spine. Fierce pulses spread heat throughout his body, waking his muscles. His sweat glands seemed to open; his skin itched. His heart pounded. The anger he had consciously summoned surged upward.
Come to think of it, there were so many questions he hadn’t asked. Where had the smartphone and shotgun he had stored in the bunker gone? What had happened to the remains of his close friends? If this was a labyrinth, what was outside it? Why was Seoul, which should have been wiped out by nuclear strikes, still standing? Why was he in Seoul? Did the labyrinth encompass the entire Earth? How far had they explored it? When adventurers weren’t doing jobs like this, what kind of adventures did they go on, and what thrilling discoveries had they made—
Cutting off that train of thought, he exhaled the oxygen that had filled his greatly expanded lungs. He lowered his gaze and clenched his fist, then opened it again. The micro-current that flowed from his entire body read the space around him. An extremely fine current that an ordinary human couldn’t even feel. His ability as a superhuman soldier. With it, he sensed every detail—the texture of muscle fibers, their movements, the rhythm of heartbeats, even the smallest motions.
His modified brain let out a cry of admiration at the flood of information it greedily absorbed. Even though he hadn’t used the sense in a long time, his unaging body drew out its full capability without flaw.
He didn’t clench his fist. His body simply moved quickly and naturally. The target was the man who had secretly circled behind him and raised his weapon. His rotating arm, hand not even formed into a fist, struck the man’s jaw in a surprise attack.
CRACK!
The sound of a jaw shattering rang out. He watched the man lose balance as his brain shook and collapse. Before the man’s knees even touched the ground, Jinwoo snatched the weapon floating in the air. A blunt instrument that fit perfectly in his hand. It was a mace crafted in a medieval style. A weapon humans had created to kill humans. It looked exactly like him.
Gripping the weapon, he twisted his body, put strength into his waist, and swung it toward the next head. Those wide-open eyes. Eyes dazed as the brain inside rattled. Staring into them, Jinwoo killed his emotions and brought the mace down within the slowed flow of time.
CRUNCH!
A person died. The task he had performed every single day for eighty-three years fit perfectly in his hand even after so long. As the body missing its head collapsed, he finally finished his sentence.