Chapter 50
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Omens (6), Atascadero
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#Omens (6), Atascadero
The next day, Winter returned to Atascadero. It was for the search for the missing. More troops had been deployed than the day before, with additional reinforcements from camps to the south. They had arrived first and established a bridgehead on the south side of the city. They launched reconnaissance drones to assist in the search operation.
The missing had become undead that didn't die, wandering the streets.
Thud!
A muffled gunshot. Winter granted peace to an infected soldier. Considering appearances, he shot the heart instead of the head. The body that fell onto the asphalt convulsed.
"Bravo Company must be in mourning."
Elliot grumbled today as well, dragged out again. All the missing personnel from Atascadero were from 2nd Company. It wasn't a concentrated hit by chance; it was just due to the rotation of missions by company.
"Fair enough for the US military, but how do we identify the missing Chinese?"
Elliot's complaint had merit. US military infected were easy to spot. They were in combat uniforms. They could be pinpointed clearly with aerial reconnaissance alone.
But the volunteer refugees from China were different. They had no distinguishing marks. In fact, command had essentially given up on them. However, Winter knew the answer.
"It's not impossible. We can narrow the search to East Asian infected, and above all, they'll have tattoos."
"Tattoos? What, like Red Mafia?"
Another soldier looked baffled. Russia's criminals, the Red Mafia, tattooed their affiliations and criminal histories. The details were incredibly specific. If they'd killed someone, how they did it; what sentence they got in court; how many years they served if imprisoned. It was their own kind of service record.
Winter replied.
"Similar. Most of the missing Chinese are Triad members."
The soldiers shook their heads. The Triads were infamous crime syndicates even before the disaster. From the soldiers' perspective, it didn't look good that the refugees were admitting to being criminals.
Finding the Chinese missing proved difficult. Even after Winter shared the info, from the soldiers to the NCOs and officers, everyone involved in the search was passive.
So once all US missing were confirmed, the search essentially proceeded only in the sector Winter was handling. It was based on cold calculation.
'They're a group that talks about righteousness despite being a crime organization, so I should make them owe me one this time.'
Groups that don't follow societal norms emphasize justifications to maintain order. Of course, the boss might think differently. But they couldn't deny the organization's identity. That would be suicidal.
Soldiers unaware of the circumstances admired Winter's character.
"You're working hard to find them even though they're from another country. Lieutenant, you seem amazing in every way."
In truth, Winter believed the living came before the dead. That's why he didn't spare himself to make the roses bloom.
That said, there was no need to shatter the soldiers' positive misconception. Winter silently focused on the search. If they didn't look Asian at a glance, he shot the head; if they did, he tried to capture them with minimal damage.
"Found one."
Winter sliced open the corpse's chest and beckoned the soldiers. To show the tattoo. Inside a triangle was a single character.
"What letter is that?"
Hanja was hard for Westerners. To Winter, it was a character that needed no technical correction.
"Hong (洪). It means vast."
One of the Triads' signature symbols. The three strokes of the water radical (氵) represented the three organizations that formed the Triads' foundation: Cheongbang (靑房), Honghwahoe (紅花會), and Heuksa (黑蛇會—different from Hei She Hui). In other words, the meaning of the three organizations together (共).
"So these three dots represent the original three organizations? Ha, meaningful. How do you know this stuff, Lieutenant?"
A soldier's question after the explanation. Winter gave a suitable answer.
"China and Korea are in similar cultural spheres. I picked it up somewhere."
A plausible excuse. The soldier nodded as if to say, "I see."
The Chinese corpse's back and chest were covered in all sorts of tattoos. Even Winter couldn't identify every symbol. But from the extravagance, he could tell it wasn't a regular member. Just a dragon would be flashy but empty. Here, there were clearly distinct symbols.
'Cadre level.'
The rival organizations to the Triads vying for leadership, the Hei She Hui (Black Society), were under the protection of 1st Company CO, Captain Markert. This was why Winter pegged the missing Chinese as Triads.
Winter gauged the blow the Triads must have taken. They'd already admitted to heavy losses. Losing nearly a hundred including cadres would make even self-defense impossible.
When he got back, they'd likely reach out again with high probability.
His thoughts were interrupted. A warning from HQ came through the receiver.
「Halt at current position. Infected variant pack approaching from alley on front left. Size approx. 50. No special or enhanced variants detected.」
The soldiers knelt into prone firing positions following the boy officer.
The first variant died as soon as it appeared. Winter didn't even give the soldiers a chance. He shot them down one after another, and they collapsed without knowing what hit them. Exactly fifty-three. Two magazines sufficed.
Winter held out his hand to the soldiers for spare magazines.
"Why are we even here?"
Elliot grumbled as he handed over his share. Instead of answering, Winter asked something else.
"Elliot. Doesn't this strike you as odd?"
"Odd? What?"
Elliot countered while swatting a cockroach. Winter pointed to the bodies.
"They're all adults."
"Huh?"
"Remember the infected babies we saw yesterday?"
Not just Elliot, but all the listening soldiers grimaced. No matter how twisted, they were babies. Shooting them would leave trauma. But Winter hadn't brought it up to torment the soldiers.
"There were so many babies yesterday—why none today?"
"Uh... yeah."
Yesterday, there had been tons of infected babies. So many they couldn't handle with rifles and had to use shotgun mines. To their troubled faces, Winter posed the same point differently.
"For that matter, why did the 「Trickster」 only summon babies? If it was testing our firepower, calling adult variants would've been way better."
「Trickster」 was the mutation code for the special variant that manipulated radio waves. Officially assigned that morning. A name fitting its cunning actions.
"What do you think, Lieutenant?"
"Generation gap."
Winter answered immediately. The soldiers blanked for a moment, then hurried to catch up with the boy lieutenant leading the way.
"I don't get it. What generations?"
"Listen while you work."
Winter stripped off the shirt of an East Asian male corpse. Soldiers reminded of their duties scattered awkwardly. They half-heartedly checked bodies and asked again. What did he mean?
"First off, I find it weird that so many babies burst out in a group like that. To me, it looks like the variants are breeding."
"What the f..."
Elliot swallowed his curse in front of the officer. Another frozen soldier mumbled.
"Uh... could be. They rely on human functions, so pregnancy isn't impossible. God..."
Winter laid out the rest of his hypothesis.
"My theory is this: The 「Trickster」 didn't choose not to call adults—it couldn't."
Quick-witted soldiers shuddered. Winter affirmed their fears.
"Yes, that's it. Offspring better than parents. New generation, new abilities. 「Trickster」 is a special variant handling radio waves. Newborn variants might at least have the ability to receive radio waves."
"Could that really happen?"
A soldier objected. When faced with horrific reality, denial was natural.
"Isn't the possibility high? 「Trickster」 itself is absurd. A creature tuning bioelectricity to frequency for jamming signals—who could've imagined?"
"..."
"Don't make that face. If you always prepare for the worst, no situation will bring despair. At least that's my take."
Indeed. Wisdom gained young in life. Winter had always lived assuming the worst. He'd never expected anything from his parents.
Elliot said seriously.
"That's a valid point. We should report to higher-ups."
"Don't worry. I have to submit a report anyway."
Winter spotted a spot where cockroaches were especially clustered after confirming nine more Chinese bodies. A few shots scattered them in a swarm.
He went with the soldiers and rummaged around. One said.
"Airdropped emergency ration wrappers."
A large quantity. At least for dozens of people. No matter how you looked, recently opened. Probably pinned down by the weight of the bug swarm, unable to fly off.
"Could've been the missing's last supper."
Elliot's voice held sorrow.
Winter inwardly shook his head. But this time, he kept the thought to himself.
#Unread Messages (3)
「Владимир: The first thing I experienced breaking through the heinous ActiveX barrier was the horrific sensation of cockroaches crawling over my body...」
「액티브X좆까: Ha...」
「여민ROCK: Real talk, it was a legit horror experience. Now I get why 「Day after Apocalypse」 bombed.」
「불심으로대동단결: Did you feel the texture when Jeffrey caught the bugs? That crunch when they crack. Horrifying, right? Folks, this is the weight of taking life.」
「전자발찌: Piss off, monk.」
「SALHAE: What the hell was that streamer doing? Cockroaches crawling on him and he's fine? I nearly died.」
「폭풍224: Exactly. Made me wanna pass out.」
「친목질OUT: Idiots. Then turn off sync.」
「명퇴청년: 22222222」
「호굿호구굿: 33333333」
「두치: Right? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Why stick around dying like that, morons ㅋㅋㅋㅋ」
「짜라빠빠: Wasn't that easy...」
「폭풍224: Agreed. Couldn't do it.」
「뿌꾸: Why? System glitch?」
「SALHAE: Glitch my ass. Just hated breaking immersion, you fucks.」
「뿌꾸: Why? Why hate it? Proving you're idiots?」
「에엑따: You're the one proving it. Shitty attitude.」
「친목질OUT: Can't even explain yourself ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Taking it out on others ㅋㅋㅋㅋ」
「SALHAE: Clique bitch. Do you even know what real immersion is?」
「SALHAE: It's wanting to forget this isn't real.」
「SALHAE: Surface-level watchers like you won't get it in a hundred years.」
「まつみん: Why are you all fighting? After such a great experience.」
「AngryNeeson55: ...Great experience?」
「에엑따: Oh! Matsumin! Hiya!」
「まつみん: Hello!」
「프랑크소시지: Sex diplomat girl, hi! Thought you'd quit, so quiet!」
「김정은 개새끼: Btw Matsumin, what'd you mean earlier? Great experience?」
「마그나카르타: Matsumin broke again?」
「まつみん: No! It was literally a great experience!」
「まつみん: I synced with a cockroach!」
「똥댕댕이: Huh? What?」
「올드스파이스: Cockroaches are syncable objects?」
「분노의포도: No way.」
「まつみん: Yes! Only sight and smell sync, but that's enough!」
「まつみん: Peeking inside Winter's clothes! Sniffing Winter's sweat-mixed body scent! Sniff sniff! Sniff sniff! Sniff sniff! Ah, Matsumin can die happy now! はあはあはあはあはあはあはあ#!%[email protected]#%」
<>
「마그나카르타: Broke in the end...」
「려권내라우: Cockroach sync? Never even imagined.」
「호굿호구굿: What drug lets you think like that?」
「まつみん: Rude! Matsumin doesn't do drugs! Just read the sensory sync manual! It explains everything!」
「AngryNeeson55: Reading those unfriendly hundreds of pages is way more shocking.」
「맛줌법: ㅇㄱㄹㅇ」
「닉으로드립치지마라: Who'd actually read that.」
「국빵의의무: Didn't even know it existed.」
「まつみん: Ahem! Japanese are thorough!」
「분노의포도: Want a girlfriend like that...」
「SALHAE: But knowing doesn't help.」
「SALHAE: Who immerses with bugs? Just widens the gap.」
「SALHAE: I wanna be the protagonist...」
============================ Author's Note ============================
1. As announced, premium conversion is indefinitely on hold.
Setting aside Noblesse's identity or Joara's irresponsible management, purely from writer-reader relations, I concluded the writer should feel a moral obligation.
Readers who found this via Noblesse naturally expect to finish it on the same service. It was an implicit promise from the start. Paid serialization presupposes completion.
I know per-episode payments benefit many readers.
But if 99 are happy and 1 feels cheated, that's not right. At least that's my thought.
Especially since I can contract with a publisher for per-episode on other platforms.
2. Point raised: Moving to premium offers no guarantee it's better than Noblesse.
True. Never thought it'd generate enough revenue. Expected under 500 buyers.
Still planned to move because of Kakao Page. They don't take well Noblesse series. Confirmed by publisher contact. They tried dissuading me.
Is Kakao Page important? Yes. Back-calculating from revenue share, Joara Noblesse monthly sales ~350-400 million won. Down from last year. Kakao Page does that daily. Daily peak 380 million, Q1 2016 over 100 million sales works: 143.
No need for 100% success guarantee. Just a shot at a much bigger market. Not hurting for living expenses... Didn't go to work for nothing. Haha.
Staying on Noblesse means delaying Kakao Page entry big time. Maybe after completion, but by then, given Joara's security, text dumps will be everywhere.
Mentioning this 'cause I'm worried about bothering other writers considering platform moves.
Might be overthinking... I worry a lot, so bear with me.
Don't want "Columbarium writer does that, what about you?" talk.
Joara failed to take proper responsibility for work and writer—fact.
3. Note's getting long.
Lately, fights in comments increasing.
Fights shorten lifespans, hinder world peace, hasten Atlantis sinking, etc.—beneficial effects, but hope my readers don't need them.
If you can't hold back, just curse the writer. "Go back to army," "Looks like Won Bin," "Has two legs"—those Sanchi Pinchi curses are hard... But "ugly," "stupid," "crawl in chaos"—I can endure a thousand heartaches.
Especially don't fight in ch1. Bad comments? Fine. Opinions differ. Unless personal attacks or excessive bashing, all deserve respect.
Please.