14
Chapter 14
When I was young, there were times I played by walking the wrong way up the escalator.
I vividly remember running up the downward escalator, fascinated by my first time on the subway, only to get a sharp smack on the back from my mother. Looking around, the subway was filled with office workers tidying their clothes with indifferent expressions and glowing cosmetic advertisements.
But now, I was moving forward, wiping wet concrete dust off my gas mask lenses with my hand.
*Huff... Huff...*
The inside of the mask was thick with humidity from sweat and heavy breathing. I felt a damp droplet roll down my glistening cheek, but I couldn't afford to stop.
*Splash.*
Beyond the rising mist, the concrete dust tangled under the pouring sprinklers weighed down my poncho.
As the reddish emergency lights scattered against the pale fog, water streaks continued to flow down my lenses, no matter how much I wiped them.
Above the escalator, an advertisement sign, tilted from the impact, swayed on a long cable like a severed arm, and the sound of wet mud leaking through the gaps in the steps sounded unnervingly loud.
But the sound of the untimely stream flowing along the sprinklers was instantly buried by the subsequent gunfire and screams.
*Bang, ba-bang...*
Even with the poncho over me, the sound of dust and small particles tapping against my helmet overlapped with the gunfire echoing from the stairs below the escalator.
Guilt?
My mind was too numb to feel that. In fact, damn it, I felt like I'd done my part as a citizen of Korea just by making it this far.
However, this thick grey cloud of dust didn't seem inclined to let us go easily.
When the red glow of the emergency lights vanished, I pushed upward out of anxiety, only to find a large advertisement panel with a shattered screen blocking our path. It had fused with broken ceiling materials to form a natural barricade.
"Huu... Huu... Mr. Baek Jemin?"
Father Jeong Yong-hwan's breathing was equally ragged.
I lowered myself carefully, hoping to find a small gap to squeeze through, poking around with my buttstock, but there seemed to be no opening for a person. I was also afraid that hitting it too hard might block the path entirely.
I forced myself up again, fighting the weight of the wet poncho.
"It's blocked. We'll have to cross the escalator and head for the stairs."
"...Lord, please protect us."
"Watch your step, don't slip."
*Ba-bang, bang...*
Gunfire was still echoing from below.
How many survived? I wondered how many of Captain Bae Seol-gi's seventy-two soldiers and the mages had survived to escape.
To shake off these thoughts, I wiped the damp mud and moisture off the guardrail and secured the sling of my weapon over my shoulder instead of moving recklessly. If I slipped while crossing the escalator and plummeted down there, I was certain I'd rather bite my tongue and die.
"Damn it."
The wet poncho was heavier than I thought, and I barely managed to keep my balance.
Father Jeong Yong-hwan and I crossed the escalator sideways and began climbing again in search of a clear path. The splashing footsteps echoed with a subtle reverberation, as if bouncing off the walls of a cave, sounding far more ominous than I expected.
Occasionally, I saw severed cables swaying in the fog, emitting blue flashes as they hit puddles of water.
It was dizzying to think I could be fried by electricity before being eaten by a monster.
I unslung my weapon, gripping it so I could fire at any moment, and caught my breath. I wiped away the dust to make the damn gas mask filter last just a bit longer.
*Huff... Huff...*
The filter was so far gone that it felt suffocating unless I breathed quite heavily. I considered taking it off, but the concentration of dust made me fear my lungs would give out if I did.
After climbing a considerable distance, a metallic screech grated against my eardrums.
*Screeeech.*
It was the first time a green emergency light had scattered through the fog in a place filled only with red. A security shutter was descending along a twisted guide rail, creating that metallic sound.
"Is this the way out?"
"Mr. Baek Jemin."
The one who dampened my hope of escape was none other than Father Jeong Yong-hwan.
When I turned to see why, I found him quietly reciting a prayer while looking down the stairs.
"Anima Christi, sanctifica me. Ab hoste maligno defende me."
"What?"
"I told you I learned heat detection through Alteration-type magic. Someone is coming up the stairs. Please check."
In that moment, I had to make a choice.
If I ran now, I might escape slightly faster. But if the number of those monsters called Amalgams grew and they came up through another route, my escape would likely be thwarted.
Moreover, my ammunition was limited, and I couldn't even accurately gauge how many Amalgams there were.
Aside from the noble goal of saving others, it was in my own best interest to save whoever I could for the sake of my own survival. Especially since the Amalgams seemed terrified once they realized I possessed Future Sight.
Even if I couldn't exert significant physical force, I could at least make them retreat in fear.
Feeling my eyes sting, I followed Father Jeong's gaze and aimed my muzzle. While Amalgams were monsters that haphazardly added faces to themselves, their bodies beneath those faces remained the same, meaning they likely didn't far exceed human physical capabilities.
If I cooperated with Father Jeong Yong-hwan, a mage of Holy Communion who could detect heat...
[Rules of Engagement 6. No saving lives.]
The memory of Han Myeong-un's end flashed through my mind, snapping me back to reality.
I immediately readjusted my grip on the gun and grabbed the priest's shoulder.
"Father, quit it and let's just go."
"Mr. Baek Jemin..."
"If they were firing guns, maybe. But we can't trust people just walking calmly."
Father Jeong Yong-hwan finally seemed to understand, letting go of his lingering regret and following me.
The shutter was slowly descending along the guide rail, and we became the first survivors to escape the underground platform through these stairs. Then, with a heavy vibration, the entire station began to groan.
I grimaced as I felt my internal organs shake, and soon after, a loud sound of collapse echoed from below.
"I think they're detonating grenades."
...
The priest and I could say no more, moving forward again amidst the heavy breathing echoing in our gas masks.
*Splash, splash...*
In that moment, both Father Jeong Yong-hwan and I felt something strange and locked eyes.
Father Jeong Yong-hwan wasn't holding a weapon since he used Holy Communion magic, but armed as I was, I steadied my stance without hesitation, aiming through the shutter blurred by the grey dust clouds below.
I could see spots where this dreadful mist was clearing.
10 seconds into the future.
Countless footsteps followed beneath the shutter. Footsteps that were unnaturally dragged and eerily overlapping to be the stride of a single person. I was afraid to even pull out a grenade, fearing I might miss the timing.
How many bullets did I have left? 16?
The moment a human figure finally appeared through the mist, I pulled the trigger without a second thought.
A heavy recoil pressed against my shoulder as the sound of ejected casings rolling across the floor rang in my ears. The gunshot pierced deep into my eardrums, vibrating heavily, and the acrid, salty stench of gunpowder hit my nose, prompting me to pull the trigger several more times.
Every time flames spewed from the muzzle, the people beyond the mist flailed.
It didn't matter if they were real, living people or monsters called Amalgams. If they approached, I would shoot. Driven by that single thought, I pulled the trigger like a madman, and the sound of metal hitting flesh and tissue tearing apart echoed with a deafening reverberation.
Fortunately, they weren't human, but monsters.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
The moment the trigger clicked but no bullets left the overheated barrel, Father Jeong Yong-hwan stepped in front of me, raising both arms radiating an eerie light.
"Aet iube me venire ad te. In saecula saeculorum!"
Like a river pouring through a broken dam, a tangled flood of human faces surged forward.
A grandfather who looked like he enjoyed playing Go, a grandmother with a peaceful complexion, a ten-year-old child, a tiny baby, a man worn out by fatigue...
All those faces overlapped and stacked together, rolling eyes that had merged into compound eyes and sharing a single mouth, pouring in to mix with the face of the priest, who was holding his ground beneath the eerie glow of Holy Communion's forearm.
Trembling at the horrifying sight, I fumbled to pull a fresh magazine from my chest rig.
With no time to care about the empty magazine clattering to the floor, I had to slam the new one in with the palm of my hand because my fingers were shaking so violently.
The charging handle didn't catch properly, so I lifted my gas mask slightly, bit my finger to bend it, and hooked it onto the handle, pulling my stiffened shoulder back as if yanking my own palm.
Clack.
There was no time for a chamber check or anything else.
When I raised my muzzle again, aiming past the priest's shoulder, my burning eyes showed me the future 10 seconds from now. The faces were screaming out grotesque noises from their merged mouths and vocal cords toward the priest, as if in anger, as if in a tantrum.
Not wanting to see that sight, I pulled the trigger incessantly.
Bang, ba-bang, bang-bang...
Because Father Jeong Yong-hwan was being weighed down by its mass, shooting was actually easier. The monster's face, which had been preparing to pour through the gap between his arms, was pierced by the searing hot bullets.
Then, the monster called Amalgam let out a bizarre scream and retreated. Pouring a pus-like fluid from its bullet-riddled face, it began to whimper as it caressed its wounds.
Sob, sob... Waaaah...
Faced with that grotesque terror, I grabbed the sling, slung the rifle over my shoulder, and pulled the priest up to his feet.
"Father! Hurry!"
"It's, it's splitting..."
"Father!"
"Oh, Lord... It's splitting..."
Father Jeong Yong-hwan seemed out of his mind, but he was dead set on running away together. Only then did the shutter finally come down with a loud metallic screech. The problem was, it wasn't fully closed.
The shutter had only lowered enough to reveal the silhouette of the Amalgam's lower body.
"Why the fuck isn't it closing all the way!"
"F-Fire safety laws... They're designed to buy time to evacuate..."
"Fuck me, what a great country to live in!"
And the moment I forced my head around, I saw the mist scattering, leaving countless footprints drawn all over the place.
Why were there suddenly so many footprints appearing all over the stairs?
I could intuit the answer to that question through the sounds coming from behind me.
Gurgle...
Phlegmatic gurgles overlapped, and soon, countless voices began speaking all at once, each one saying something different.
"Mom!" "My son, you haven't visited me lately." "Waaah!" "Assistant Manager, that's not it..."
Finally, the sound of the shutter closing completely echoed loudly, but it didn't offer much reassurance.
I could hear the monsters throwing their bodies against the shutter. And beyond that, the overlapping sound of countless footsteps splashing up the escalator stairs.
Huff, huff, huff...
I wanted to take off the gas mask, but I didn't have the courage. The fear that taking it off would cause me to literally fuse with them made me decide to just breathe a little less.
However, the situation in the first basement floor concourse, which we reached after climbing all the stairs, wasn't much better.
Gunshots were ringing out from all directions.
And beyond the flashing lights and flickering red glow, static-filled radio chatter could be heard under the faint, scattered green emergency lights.
It was then that the loud voice of Pastor Park Yo-han, who wore glasses and had a sly impression, resonated through the air.
"What? Are you crazy? How am I supposed to bring the Operators here in this mess? You're telling me to just let the soldiers die!"
There were survivors.
Seeing as they were shooting and resisting, they seemed to be proper survivors. At the very least, they were far more human than the things banging on the shutter behind me.
Exhausted, I headed over there with Father Jeong Yong-hwan, and we heard the terrified voice of Corporal Park Se-hyeok.
"Stop! I can hear a heartbeat. It's... definitely human. Fuck, who's there!"
The mist in the concourse wasn't as thick yet, but the flickering emergency lights made it hard to distinguish people clearly.
Just then, a bright flashlight shone from somewhere, illuminating the surroundings before eventually sweeping over to us.
The person turning on the flashlight with a smartphone was none other than Pastor Park Yo-han.
Pastor Park Yo-han looked our way, frowned, and then let out a smirk, spitting a loogie onto the floor with a ptui.
"You're alive, Father. Since you use Holy Communion magic, I figured you wouldn't get eaten. And who's that next to you?"
"It's... Baek Jemin, Pastor. The one who can see 10 seconds into the future."
"What a reliable bunch you are."
It was an implicit permission to join them.
As soon as we barely managed to join Pastor Park Yo-han's group, I noticed several muzzles aimed at me and the priest, but I let it slide.
If it were me, I would have shot first and asked questions later. Catching my breath and looking around, the number of people who successfully escaped from the second basement floor platform to the first basement concourse was extremely small.
Even that would have been impossible if not for Pastor Park Yo-han's magic, Soteriological Certainty.
"When the train derailed and crushed the platform, miraculously, the soldiers near me and those who ran my way survived because they tangled up together. Those who are saved do not doubt their salvation. It's all thanks to the Lord's grace."
"Pastor. Are these the only people who fled up the stairs?"
"Tsk. I guess the priest finally thought of it now? After running away first... There are people who fled down the opposite tracks. I only caught a glimpse, so I don't know the details, but Captain Bae Seol-gi and the other mages probably went that way. The ones who came up the stairs are just me, the monk, this grumbler, and eight soldiers."
Pastor Park Yo-han casually took a cleaning cloth from his glasses case and wiped his lenses, speaking in an indifferent tone.
Beside him, Monk Cheong-hwi had his hands pressed together in prayer, murmuring something strange.
"Om mani padme hum."
It was an eerie echo.
If the bizarre noises and buzzing from the Amalgams' unified vocal cords frayed people's nerves and clouded their judgment, Monk Cheong-hwi's magic... or whatever you'd call it. Regardless, that mantra contained a harmony that stopped my hands from shaking.
I was sure of it, as I could actually feel the hand gripping my sling growing calm.
Amidst the acrid gun smoke wafting everywhere, I finally felt safe enough to adjust my gas mask.
In front of our group, the Amalgams with their neutralized bodies were twitching and dying, pouring pus-like fluids from their faces.
Putting his glasses back on, Pastor Park Yo-han huffed on his gas mask, then grimaced at the Amalgams' demise and threw the mask down.
"To desecrate the flesh given by the Lord like that. Disgusting bastards. Anyway, since you've made it here, we'll catch our breath for just a moment, swap magazines, and get moving again."
"We're not moving right now?"
"Hah. Mr. Baek Jemin, I'm glad you're full of energy, but we were just shooting at those monsters a moment ago?"
"I was just shooting at faces with compound eyes packed together too. It split its own face to increase its numbers. Unless you want to see more of them, let's just swap magazines and get going."
As expected, the most effective way to persuade someone is with a sincere heart and the truth.
Pastor Park Yo-han immediately patted Monk Cheong-hwi's shoulder to wake him, and then pulled Corporal Park Se-hyeok to his feet.
"Alright, everyone move. According to Mr. Baek Jemin, some real vicious bastards are chasing us, so hurry!"
***
Having a group to travel with was a blessing.
This was the moment I, who usually found meeting friends and going to a convenience store 10 minutes away too annoying, truly realized the value of human company. Advancing by stepping on crunching glass fragments, following only the green emergency lights blurred by the mist that had now risen to chest level between the shattered windows and red emergency lights, required extreme tension.
In this situation, Monk Cheong-hwi's Mantra Chant was surprisingly useful.
"Om mani padme hum."
It was simply a repetition, but it calmed my trembling hands and enabled me to survey my surroundings and keep moving forward.
The low tone, which seemed to wash my mind clear, gave us the courage to keep moving forward. However, those who could afford courage were the ignorant soldiers; to me, with Future Sight making my eyes burn like shampoo had gotten in them, it was pure hell.
For me, Baek Jemin, forced to take the lead simply because I could see 10 seconds into the future, the footprints appearing indiscriminately as the mist cleared only made cold sweat run down my back. Every time a bead of sweat rolled down my glistening nose, I felt the inside of my mouth drying up and cracking.
I had to stop and speak up about the footprints that would be stamped on the ceiling 10 seconds from now.
"There's something on the ceiling coming down."
"The ceiling?"
There was no time to answer Pastor Park Yo-han's bewildered question.
Before the future 10 seconds from now arrived, I raised my gun first and pulled the trigger toward the spot where the mist was clearing, where the red emergency lights were fully visible.
Along with the popcorn-like gunshots, I heard the sound of casings hitting the glass fragments on the floor. And not long after, a bizarre, heavy thud reached our ears.
Feeling apprehensive, Pastor Park Yo-han turned on his smartphone flashlight; seeing what had fallen from the ceiling, he desperately tried to suppress a bursting scream, but barely managed to choke it out.
Me?
I had already crapped my pants a little.
"What the fuck is that..."
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if a human wasn't whole, but each body part was an independent entity? Have you ever wondered what form human bones would take if they became independent organisms, refusing to coexist and instead turning into thorough plunderers and predators?
The identity of the thing illuminated by the flashlight was exactly that.
While a human head with its lower jaw ripped off rolled its pale eyes senselessly, ribs acting as legs curled up like a dead insect, and a spinal column acting as a tail flopped around, leaking spinal fluid as it died.
There was no flesh or muscle to be seen. Only the traces of nerves and blood vessels dried onto the bones, only the blood-soaked spine, hinted that this had once been inside someone's body.
The curled ribs twitched and thrashed about like an arthropod with countless legs, only to belatedly realize its life had ended due to the bullet already piercing the skull, and fell still.
Priest Jeong Yong-hwan prayed inwardly, Pastor Park Yo-han began scanning the ceiling with his flashlight, and Monk Cheong-hwi narrowed his eyes before reciting his Mantra Chant again to guide the soldiers. Corporal Park Se-hyeok was too stunned to even swear, frozen stiff as he scanned his surroundings with paranoid vigilance, swinging his muzzle in every direction.
The soldiers couldn't even breathe properly in their gas masks because of the horrific scene they had just witnessed.
We passed the corpse of the monster derived from a human and headed toward where the green emergency light was visible.
However, the mist rose rapidly, and before long, it reached a point where it covered right up to our gas mask lenses. Then, someone muttered in a despairing voice.
"Mist visibility under 20 meters..."
The flashlight was practically useless now.
In this dark underground, where even the faint red light of the emergency lights was scattered by the mist and turned hazy, my sense of distance was completely distorted. The paranoid vigilance that the mist drifting past the shattered windows might be a monster's breath quickly eroded my sanity.
Crunch, crunch, crunch...
Only the sound of footsteps stepping on glass fragments and stone gravel reached my ears. Even Monk Cheong-hwi, who had been reciting his Mantra Chant, couldn't hide his extreme exhaustion, his steps slowly lagging behind.
It was bad enough that Pastor Park Yo-han silently supported Monk Cheong-hwi.
At that moment, Corporal Park Se-hyeok muttered in a strangling voice, as if his breath had been cut off.
"They're coming. Footsteps."
The sound of them pounding on the shutter echoed all the way here.
Voiceless echoes ringing through the underground cavity began to pressure our group from all directions. Because the bodies of the people eaten by the Amalgams were still wearing their clothes, their shoes were all different, or they were barefoot.
Paradoxically, in this first basement floor concourse filled with dust, mud, and glass fragments, the footsteps of the dead were far more overwhelming and distinct than when they were alive.
The mist parted ceaselessly.
So clear that it looked as if there had never been any mist to begin with, the area was filled with footprints from 10 seconds into the future.
When I inadvertently looked back at the group, Corporal Park Se-hyeok had already dropped his gun and fallen to his knees.
"Fucking hell, there's so many..."
Vwooooooom....
The unified breath spewing from their unified vocal cords resonated throughout the underground like a wind instrument. A breath of such terrifying weight that it even vibrated the air flowing through the ventilation shafts settled over my already soaked poncho.
Pastor Park Yo-han crossed himself, supported Monk Cheong-hwi, and shouted.
"Follow me! Those who do not doubt their salvation shall be saved!"
"Fire! Fire!"
The reactions were mixed.
While Pastor Park Yo-han supported Monk Cheong-hwi and tried to flee with the survivors, Priest Jeong Yong-hwan raised both arms and stayed behind with the rearguard soldiers.
I decided to stay with him because I trusted the priest.
We had to drive them back at least once.
But the moment I saw the mist already covering the top of my head, the moment I realized I couldn't see an inch ahead, I inadvertently lowered my gun. I only had one thought at that moment.
Guns aren't enough.
My hands were already reaching for the Magic Special Lecture booklet I had kept safely tucked away.
Alteration-type magic, which could only be learned within the mist. I had put it off because things were so urgent, but now that my life was on the line, I finally took it out.
The booklet was damp with moisture and sweat, the pages stuck together and so ruined that I worried they might tear. Even so, kneeling on the ground, I carefully rubbed the pages with trembling hands, determined to move on to the next page.
In the face of this disaster, I remembered what my daily life was like.
And now, standing before this calamity, I felt a single emotion. It wasn't an active emotion like unfairness or anger.
Lamentation.
This was closer to resignation.
The helplessness of facing a disaster that humans couldn't possibly resist. The heart of a flood victim watching their house swept away by a storm. A stage where you want to blame something, but unable to find a target, you just sit down and dumbly chew on the sorrow.
At that moment, the Magic Runes allowed me to see the next page.
No... it forced my brain to understand.
These characters, these bizarre symbols, ransacked and twisted the empty skull of an idiot, forcefully cramming knowledge inside.
A magic that forces human eyes, which could only see three dimensions, to see four or more. I had finally passed the first stage of Alteration-type magic and reached the second stage.
The smudged ink on the wet pages squirmed as if alive, forming sentences on its own and drawing circles containing triangles and squares, and my mind rearranged itself along with it.
Eyes are perception.
Most of the standards by which humans judge and measure the world rely strictly on sight, so the concept of how we perceive the world is even used as the term [Worldview]. The act of seeing is almost synonymous with perception for humans, and the Alteration-type Magic - Eye branch is a magic that utilizes this perception.
If the first stage is Retrospection, merely an expansion of daily life and the perceiving area.
The second stage is Lamentation. The distortion of perception begins through suffering.
Because human time slows down when experiencing pain...
I gripped my gun and aimed it at my left hand.
By then, Priest Jeong Yong-hwan's magic had already lost its effect.
The moment I aimed my muzzle at my left hand, Priest Jeong Yong-hwan was being dragged away with his shoulder clamped in an Amalgam's teeth, shedding tears of terror.
"Lord... Lord...! Aaaagh...!!!"
Beyond him, more Amalgams were surging forward.
Through the scattering mist, the Amalgams approached as if mocking the panicked gunfire of the soldiers. They merged and split their faces, seeming to thrill at the opportunity for Predation and reproduction.
At that moment, I pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Bang!
When the pain is too intense, people either squeeze their eyes shut or wide open.
Fortunately for me, it was the latter.
"Agh! Ugh! Aaaaaagh!"
Screaming, I clutched my profusely bleeding left hand, desperately glaring at the Amalgams rushing in through the mist with my eyes wide open.
Forcing my gaze to stay fixed, even as it kept drifting down to my bleeding hand.
Happy times are short, and painful times are long.
And right now, my pain is longer and deeper than any other time in the world.
"What... what the."
"They stopped?"
"Shoot! Shoot their fucking heads off right now, you bastards!"
Fighting to keep my heavy eyelids from closing, I screamed out, enduring the pain that felt like having my eyes scrubbed clean with shampoo, with no time to wipe away the stinging tears streaming down my cheeks.
Realizing this was an opportunity, Pastor Park Yo-han and Monk Cheong-hwi also gathered their strength to urge the soldiers on.
"Om- mani- padme- hum-."
"It's Mr. Baek Jemin's magic! He stopped them, kill them all right now!"
Alteration-type Magic - Eyes.
If the 1st stage is perceiving higher-dimensional information, like seeing time, the 2nd stage is the true beginning of reality distortion through perception.
For this moment, as long as my eyes are wide open, until I blink again.
I can halt my opponents for as long as the intensity of the pain I feel.
"Hehehehe... fuck... fuck, it hurts so fucking much...!"
I thrilled at the greatness of that magic, and cursed my own fucking stupidity for shooting my left hand instead of just biting it, clutching my hand and sobbing before slowly closing my eyes.
Blink.
The Amalgams, having experienced Stasis once, let out bizarre screams and fled. Watching the monsters disappear back into the mist, the rough breathing of the soldiers in their gas masks could be heard.
Huff, huff...
After staying like that for about 10 seconds, everyone realized.
We had successfully repelled them.
However, I couldn't stop the familiar voice from scattering in the wind.
Uuuim..... Uuuuiiim.... Aaaagh....
Holding my profusely bleeding left hand, I laughed as if I had lost my mind.
"I'm sorry, Father."
Thanks for buying us some time, but next time we meet, I'll be sure to put a bullet right between your eyebrows.
End