42
Chapter 42
Of our Supreme Mages, Pastor Park Yo-han showed the most interest in the Phone Grave.
After checking dozens of phones, he'd discovered there were families who attended church; perhaps that's why his gaze became more poignant.
While Hamza spread the blankets, the Pastor rearranged the phones resting modestly among candles that had melted onto the floor.
Not wanting to work, I took a few sips from my canteen and approached the Pastor.
"What are you doing?"
"Praying."
"Uh, praying for them to be burned gently?"
"A prayer for all of us."
Behind the glasses that gave him a sly appearance, Pastor Park Yo-han's eyes were firm.
He seemed to believe there were no exceptions to the doctrine that the gates of heaven remain closed to non-believers.
Yet, I could clearly feel his sorrow and pity as he slowly scanned the cracked, soiled screens.
Pastor Park Yo-han scanned the Phone Grave several times and spoke in a low, calm voice.
"I don't think the military and government made the wrong decision; they did their best, and if they'd spoken of these monsters, the collapse would've only been faster. They did the right thing, or we wouldn't have survived until today."
The Pastor picked up a pink phone decorated with heart stickers and tried to wipe the dust off.
He let out a hearty laugh and set it back down after seeing a smudge from his fingerprint.
The phone of a girl who once chattered brightly now sat in cold silence among the blackened screens.
"I only pray for the courage to not ignore my sins and the honesty to admit my wrongs at judgment."
"How many people actually do that?"
"You brat. You have to be like that to become the salt and light of the world."
He noted that as a member of the clergy, he must be strictly honest with himself, just as salt must be salty.
Pastor Park Yo-han looked back at me and smirked.
"Baek Jemin, don't throw away your chance to repent and come to church already."
"I'll even give you the Youth Group Leader position."
"If you turn into a monster before that, you'll lose your chance at heaven."
"Heaven's probably just full of people like Shin Na-in."
"That's true."
I didn't have a grudge against heaven, but a neighborhood of Shin Na-in variants would be a nightmare.
I patted the Pastor's shoulder and pointed behind me.
"Since you're done praying, let's spread the blankets and get ready for the night watch."
"This brat doesn't even give me time to be sentimental."
The Pastor grumbled as he reluctantly turned his head away from the Phone Grave.
He seemed shaken; perhaps he was comparing himself to the Hearing Line mage who led the survivors at Jangji Station.
I scanned the Phone Grave in his stead and wondered what a leader could do when their people are doomed.
The mage of Jangji Station chose an altruistic path, burning the infected and himself in the bathrooms.
But what would a selfish person do?
I couldn't help but smirk as I looked at the Phone Grave.
If there was a mage who killed others and himself out of altruism, there'd be one who killed everyone to survive.
The moment of a magical confrontation was slowly approaching.
However, my profound musings were cut short by the sharp voices of Lee Se-jun and Shin Na-in.
"Jemin, stop playing around and just tell us when you're taking your shift."
"The last watch."
"Don't give me that crap."
The battle over the shifts was as fierce as ever, and my attempt to act sentimental failed miserably.
I stepped into the middle of the group with my gun slung over my shoulder.
"I'll take the first watch, since I'm old and need a proper night's sleep."
"Pastor, stop talking nonsense and let's settle this with rock-paper-scissors, by the Lord's will."
"Baek Jemin, you little brat...!"
The Pastor shuddered at me, feeling deeply betrayed.
But I, Baek Jemin, wasn't about to let him sneak into the first watch just by acting all emotional.
It was simply out of the question.
Even if every god and buddha in the world permitted it, as long as I, Baek Jemin, hadn't secured the last watch, it was simply not happening.
***
April 16, 2028, 8:47 AM.
It wasn't an alarm that woke us up at Jangji Station, but the roar of heavy artillery.
Each explosion sent a thud through the entire station, shaking dust from the cracks in the ruined ceiling; staying here for days would rot a person's lungs.
However, we couldn't recklessly head to the surface while the shelling continued.
Someone suggested using the Line 8 tracks to make efficient use of our time, but I provided a very rational counter-argument.
"The monsters aren't completely mindless; they're definitely hiding from the shelling, whether in concrete ruins or underground; we killed nearly a hundred of them just moving one station from Bokjeong to Jangji, so if we try to push through the tunnels now, we'll only encounter more."
This was the same reason Seoul's survivors used subway stations as shelters to avoid artillery and monster raids.
At the very least, the monsters on the outskirts would hide in buildings or underground to avoid the blasts, likely to hunt any human survivors hiding with them.
Naturally, the monster density would be much higher than before.
Just getting from Bokjeong Station to Jangji Station cost us two grenades and two 30-round magazines per person for the three Alteration-types.
We each brought ten magazines, but we'd already burned through two—along with two grenades—in a single day.
Even though we carried two 800-round ammo cans, we'd used about 180 rounds on the first day, meaning we'd eventually be swinging empty guns like clubs.
Thus, I tapped my temple with my index finger and pointed out these issues one by one.
"Moreover, looking at those Freedom Colony monsters, there's a high chance Seoul is no longer the city we once knew."
"Since Bokjeong and Jangji are on the outskirts, the constant shelling might have reduced the contamination; as we head toward the center where shelling is less frequent, the contamination will likely be worse."
After seeing that flesh-colored slime—the Freedom Colony—yesterday, I was certain.
Seoul was no longer a human city.
It was easier to think of it as an otherworld, a Concrete Jungle overflowing with the kind of diverse monsters found in horror movies or creature features.
Now, Seoul was a foreign land where non-human creatures, born from humans, had seized the ecosystem.
Just as the jungle is called a green hell, Seoul had become a Grey Hell.
"At the very least, I believe we should avoid moving through underground passages until the shelling stops and the monsters return to the surface."
"Our firepower is limited, and since South Korea isn't a country where firearms are legal, resupplying ammo locally is nearly impossible."
"To be safe, we should all learn at least level one Hand Line magic to be effective in close combat or gather more local intel before moving cautiously."
I then looked around the vicinity of Jangji Station.
Though we'd tidied up a bit, it was still a mess, proving that no one else had reached the platform.
Originally, our Supreme Mages were positioned as the follow-up reconnaissance unit.
The plan was for Special Forces from the U.S. and Korean armies to pave the way, followed by regular soldiers establishing a base.
But something had gone wrong somewhere.
Gripping the sling of my gun, I offered a theory.
"Perhaps the vanguard attempted to use surface roads rather than the subway tunnels, as relying solely on ground-pounders against that kind of monster density would be overwhelming."
Upon hearing my theory, the Supreme Mages looked at me with strange expressions.
Pastor Park Yo-han, of course; Lee Se-jun raised an eyebrow, and Shin Na-in wore a satisfied smile.
Hamza was even mimicking a round of applause.
"What the... Baek Jemin, what's with you?"
"What do you mean?"
He remarked that I didn't seem this smart; I knew that damn pastor had looked down on me, but he seemed to think my point was valid.
We agreed to regroup at the Phone Grave, eating hardtack and drinking water.
However, not everyone understood the importance of saving water.
Watching Lee Se-jun devour everything, Shin Na-in reminded him that if he ran out, he'd have to find a tap in the bathroom.
Startled by the thought of the Freedom Colony slimes, Se-jun choked and struggled to swallow.
After a few dry coughs, he began to tip his canteen much more carefully.
We spent time eating, drinking, studying magic runes in the fog, and checking the phone records.
Shelling stopped at 1:31 PM.
As I tapped the dark blue screen, the falling dust in the station ceased.
But the anomaly occurred not in the station or on the surface, but on the phone.
Just as I was putting it down, a familiar yet eerie sound echoed through the station.
*KaTalk.*
Everyone froze; after another chime, I saw the glowing screen and Hamza's pale, bewildered face, while Shin Na-in, unable to read the phone's mind, instinctively reached for his gun.
Lee Se-jun was busy hiccuping and pounding his chest.
Only Pastor Park Yo-han spoke after letting out a short sigh.
"Check it. We need the information, even if it's risky."
Most phones in the Phone Grave remained locked.
However, the phone of the Jangji Station mage and this dark blue one were unlocked.
I didn't know if the original users were just careless or if there was another reason.
What was certain was that we could check messages on phones with no data or Wi-Fi.
I slid my thumb across the screen twice.
I could then see the KaTalk messages on the display.
[Soldiers spotted near Songpa-gu, Seoul.]
That was the first message.
It seemed someone had found the military units sent to scout Seoul.
Had they found us, or was this related to the soldiers who vanished at Bokjeong Station?
There were too many possibilities, so I checked the next message.
[Thick fog. External activity is easy.]
The second message seemed simpler and less significant.
It was the kind of thing you had to chew over to realize something was off.
I shared both messages, and the Supreme Mages focused on the second one.
The Pastor pondered with his chin in his hand, and Shin Na-in replied with a casual gesture.
"External activity is easy even though the fog is thick?"
"Could it be because they're a survival group centered around mages?"
"You said the magical backlash is lower when the fog is denser, right? That would make sense..."
"Either way, it's hard for normal people to survive."
Lee Se-jun's last remark was the conclusion for all of us.
I don't know how fog affects monsters, but as it clears, their vision will likely improve.
A bizarre environment had been created where thick fog, enabling free magic, ensured better survival.
But the most important information was elsewhere.
What the dark blue phone's message implied was significant.
Like the mysterious mage in the Seongnam command tent, the Seoul mages could communicate without data or Wi-Fi.
That was not good news.
After confirming our own phones were off, we decided to keep the dark blue one.
The number '1' had disappeared, and the sender's profile was just a period, so I couldn't verify them.
Being the cautious professionals we were, the Supreme Mages made a decision.
"According to the friendly survivor Go Ryeo-ha, most Seoul mages have gone mad."
"Altruistic people like the Jangji Station mage would've committed suicide long ago."
"If the sender knows the owners' locations and knows soldiers have entered the outskirts, they'll pursue us immediately."
"There's a high chance that Alteration-type Holy War Formulas include means like psychometry."
"I don't know the limit, but we shouldn't easily give up this dark blue phone."
This led to the question of whether we should destroy the Phone Grave.
Lee Se-jun and Hamza hesitated at the idea of destroying it for safety.
They felt bad for the people who hadn't even left behind bodies.
Hamza prayed for the Angel to remain silent, unsure of the right move.
I found the solution.
I suggested we just give them back.
We threw the phones from the Phone Grave toward the bathroom entrance.
In front of the self-sacrificing mage's body, the traces of humans met the monsters that were once human.
The flesh slime extended its grotesque pseudopods, fumbling with the broken phones like a blind person in a dark room.
The Freedom Colony's pale eyes stared at the devices before pulling them into its body.
As the phones sank into the translucent flesh, the monster crawled back into the bathroom and vanished.
I watched the scene for a moment and then asked Shin Na-in.
"What's it saying?"
"It says it's hungry."
"I guess the love for phones persists even through hunger."
The Supreme Mages turned away.
No further words were necessary.
We had returned the items to their owners, and now we move toward Seoul once more.
We walked, following the fog leaking through the cracks of the emergency shutter.
We donned our gas masks, pulled up our poncho hoods, checked our weapons, and steadied our breathing.
Then, we flung open the side door of the emergency shutter leading to the surface.
The fog was already thick.
Visibility seemed to be less than ten meters.
Even Lee Se-jun, Hamza, Shin Na-in, and the Pastor, who were right in front of me, looked blurry.
So, we ascended the stairs, stepping forward with caution.
But just as we felt a breeze replace the damp, stagnant air of the underground, we spotted a single beam of light piercing the fog.
We naturally followed that light upward.
*Whoosh—*
Someone exhaled a deep breath.
It sent a sudden shiver down my spine.
It was only natural; at the end of that beam of light sat a 2.5-ton military truck.
A Humvee equipped with a machine gun and two military trucks stood abandoned in the gloom.
This time, however, there seemed to be some signs of human presence.
Just as I was about to knock on the driver's side window, the Pastor tapped my shoulder and pointed to the ground.
In the dirt seeping through the cracks of the shell-blasted asphalt, footprints were clearly imprinted.
I was just about to kneel for a closer look.
*Rat-tat-tat...*
Gunshots.
Every one of us Supreme Mages looked toward the sound.
The thick fog obscured the view, but since we had exited through Jangji Station's Exit 3, I could roughly guess the direction.
It was toward the department store.
I immediately recalled the records of the Jangji Station mage, who suspected the artillery had intentionally missed the building.
Had the soldiers entered the department store?
At that moment, a groan like a scream leaked from the vehicle's radio.
[...Hostile survivors spotted...]
The voice was ragged.
Judging by the gasping, the speaker's life was about to end.
[Local... local... damn mage...]
Our gazes met through the lenses of our gas masks.
Vanishing soldiers, elusive survival groups, thick fog, cryptic messages, and monsters that could appear at any time.
And mages.
We were moving forward to unravel an unprecedented disaster and mystery that had befallen humanity in 2028.
Feeling a thrill of exhilaration and joy, and anticipating the countless spells I would encounter, I spoke in a trembling voice.
"Let's go."
*Hooo—*
My breath escaped through the gas mask filter.
We stepped forward into the swirling fog.
Gripping our guns, our eyes wide with a mixture of terror and excitement.
We intend to explore a place that is no longer a city of humans.
Day 2 of exploration. We are heading toward the department store where the gunshots rang out.