8
Chapter 8
Me, Baek Jemin.
I can confidently say that in my 28 years of life, I've done my absolute best to just slack off and have fun.
Who was it that bubbled in the college entrance exam answer sheet in a single straight line and slept like a baby? Yours truly. While others were frantically scribbling down answers with their lives on the line, I was nodding off, using the scratching sounds of pens on paper as a lullaby to frolic in dreamland.
If my friends were to see me filling out a questionnaire in the middle of this sweltering heat, they would finally realize what the end of the world truly meant.
They would probably guess the world was ending just from the cold sweat running down my spine. The atmosphere in the first-round interview room, set up inside Suwon City Hall, was precisely that intense and solemn.
That was because people from all walks of life, even religious figures mixed in, were scribbling away at their papers.
The questions were as follows.
[1. Please describe any phenomena you have caused through Localized Invasive Structural Alteration, or any phenomena that violate existing physical laws or common sense.]
I put a lot of thought into the first answer.
Just how much does the military really know about magic? Given that even I don't fully understand magic, would it really be wise to hastily reveal the true value of the magic I possess?
Since I was basically taking the initiative to show my hand, I couldn't help but feel anxious and unsettled.
But there was no other way. Considering the fog had started in late November 2027, the government must have been facing this bizarre phenomenon and the monsters for at least two months.
I decided to just answer, considering it the price to pay for accessing that kind of information.
[I can see approximately ten seconds ahead of how my opponent will move in the future.]
Next was the second question.
It was plainly obvious that this section was a trick question designed to filter people out.
[2. Please describe what role the text shared by the military played in your use of magic, and how you were able to read it.]
The military was no longer questioning the practicality of magic.
They clearly knew that the characters disguised as crooked handwriting were directly linked to magic.
If so, they must have deduced that one could only truly comprehend them inside the fog, and that there was no right or wrong interpretation. If they were so incompetent that they couldn't figure that much out in two months, I don't think they would have survived this long.
While I didn't exactly trust the South Korean military, I prayed they at least had this much intelligence as I wrote down my answer.
[I was able to awaken to it within the fog.]
From then on, the questions were mostly religious in nature.
What religion I believed in, my views on the afterlife, my thoughts on other established religions, and so forth.
They persistently pried into things like how many times I'd visited fortune-telling parlors or if I liked tarot cards. I couldn't help but wonder if this was truly necessary for a mage, but I figured it was what it was and finished writing it down.
Just as I finished filling out the questionnaire, the supervisor, who had been quietly watching over us, blew a whistle.
Fweeeeeet-!
"Stop what you're doing. You may all leave as you are. We will take care of the questionnaires and writing utensils, so please return to the waiting area."
The first-round interview ended just like that.
Stepping out of the exam room disguised as an interview room, I was guided by First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi straight into the break room. The Private First Class driver, who had gone out for a smoke, had thoughtfully prepared some instant coffee for us in advance.
"Yes, sir! I made it with Maxim Mocha Gold."
"Mmm~. Good. Let's do our best, team."
"Yes, sir!"
First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi happily took the paper cup and took a sip, then gestured toward the sofa.
At his signal to sit, I took the coffee the driver handed me and plopped down.
Slurp...
Only after the warm coffee moistened my throat did I finally feel some of the tension ease. First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi looked my way, raising an eyebrow as he spoke.
"Mr. Baek Jemin, you'll pass the first interview easily. There are almost no cases of people surviving an encounter with a monster during the Night Watch except for those who can use Localized Invasive Structural Alteration."
"Then can't I just go straight to the second interview?"
"Times like this are exactly when we need to keep up appearances of following protocol."
"I don't think the military was ever really about following principles."
"Haha. But it is a place that's good at faking it to look like protocol. A convincing fake is the real standard operating procedure. Haven't you heard that before?"
Saying that, First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi also gestured to the driver with his chin.
"Driver, you take a break and have some coffee too. Oh, and you can't tell anyone about what you hear here, alright?"
"Yes, sir! Please rest comfortably!"
"The bathrooms will probably be crowded. You said your phone died? I'll lend you mine, so try calling your parents."
"Th... thank you!"
The sharply disciplined driver received the phone from First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi with trembling hands.
While the driver huddled in the corner trying to make a call, First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi and I sipped our coffee, watching each other.
I was the first to break the silence.
"That monster. You know about it, right? What does the military call it?"
First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi glanced briefly at the driver in the corner, then let out a sigh before answering.
"Amalgam."
"Amalgam?"
Was he talking about that stuff they use for fillings at the dentist?
When I asked again in disbelief, First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi let out a hollow laugh.
"It's the first monster discovered and classified within the restricted zone. Monster. I really can't think of any other word to use. Its official designation is 'Head-Fusion Mimic Beast'."
"Tell me more. Fuck, you're still trying to hide it from someone who almost died because of that thing."
Thinking about how they put me on Night Watch without telling me a single thing about the monster I wanted to curse at with every fiber of my being, a fire of rage flared up inside me.
As if sensing my feelings, First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi tapped his paper cup with his index finger before finally giving in and explaining.
"It's a monster that targets the heads or faces of its victims and induces physical contact. Upon contact, it melts and fuses right onto them. Do you remember me saying it takes a squad of eight or more forming a firing line to repel it?"
"Yes, of course."
"I said repel. Not kill."
At those words, I saw the driver's shoulders flinch, but both First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi and I deliberately feigned ignorance.
"The monster's main body is the fused head. The physical body is judged to be an accessory-like organ that supports its vital functions... You can target and shoot the bodies of the devoured victims to restrict its movement, but it uses the bodies as shields or bait to induce instinctive human reactions, then rushes in at once to attempt fusion."
"Have you tried dissecting it?"
"Shooting the main body, the head, has little effect. We suspect that to completely kill it, you have to burn it, rapidly freeze it, or obliterate all its cells with an immense dose of radiation. It's so dangerous that even retrieving the corpses is prohibited. And there's another horrific detail."
First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi crumpled his empty paper cup with a frown.
"It wasn't named a Mimic Beast for nothing. The thing can mimic the voices of its victims. No one can determine whether it's the true ego of the victim or just the monster imitating them. The military has long since classified them as monsters and issued orders to shoot on sight. And... sometimes this monster only has one head, just like a normal human, making it fatally difficult to distinguish from civilians."
He couldn't continue speaking for a moment.
So, what he was saying was that such a gruesome monster had been roaming the foggy streets of Seoul for two months.
"How did you catch them for two months?"
"We have response tactics. We use fire hydrants or fire extinguishers to temporarily lower its body temperature and make its movements sluggish, then pour a barrage of fire over its entire body to restrict its actions before incinerating it. We had to brace for some extent of fire spreading, so we even mobilized the firefighters to carry it out."
I was about to chew him out, but I stopped myself.
It was because I finally understood why the government had kept it a secret.
If they had actually told the public that monsters were appearing, running amok, and eating people, all of Seoul would have already fallen into a panic. As long as the fog didn't spread, it would have been much easier for other regions outside of Seoul to maintain relative order.
With a troubled expression, First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi tossed his paper cup into the trash can and spoke.
"I haven't seen it in person either, only video footage. It was an absolute bitch. But if you are confirmed as an Operator, you'll probably see more of them."
"Excuse me?"
"I said it was the first monster discovered and classified."
First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi smacked his lips for no reason and stared intently at the wall as if looking off into the distance.
"Currently, there are exactly three monsters that the military has officially named and established response tactics for, including Amalgam. There are also rumored or circumstantial monsters without footage or proper identification, and we speculate there are over ten more species out there."
"Fuck."
A curse slipped out before I even realized it.
Since there was still some coffee left, I gulped it all down, then threw my paper cup near First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi's feet.
Thud.
"If you really fail to evacuate my parents, it's going to be the death of you and me both, you bastards."
"Yes. We definitely need to guarantee that. In return, let's cooperate with each other."
First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi replied smoothly.
***
The results of the first interview came out roughly three hours later.
January 7th, 2:56 PM.
Guided by First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi, I made my way deeper into Suwon City Hall, passing through soldiers standing guard with stern vigilance.
The place we arrived at was a situation room where all the curtains were drawn and a dehumidifier was humming away.
Waiting inside were a Catholic Priest in clerical clothing, a Pastor with striking wrinkles around his eyes, an old Monk in traditional robes, a foreigner who hadn't even removed his turban in this situation, a Shaman wearing something akin to Prayer Beads around her neck, and finally, four soldiers in Combat Uniforms just like me.
The situation room was already swarming with field-grade and general officers, and among them, a Colonel who had deliberately removed his name tag stepped forward.
"You all must now realize what kind of unprecedented crisis this is since the founding of the Republic of Korea."
The Colonel scanned his surroundings wearily with bloodshot eyes from pulling all-nighters, his skin unmanaged and dried out.
"Those gathered here are the individuals identified by the Republic of Korea Army as being capable of using Localized Invasive Structural Alteration in the southern Gyeonggi-do region. Taking into consideration the circumstances of your so-called magical awakenings and the utility of your magic... the military hereby appoints you as a Civilian Advisory Group and requests your cooperation. To facilitate this, the military will now provide you with a detailed briefing."
As the Colonel stepped aside, a projector brought up a PowerPoint presentation.
Frowning at the unmistakable military-style PPT format I'd seen to death during my service, I took my seat while the others threw me fleeting glances before turning their attention back to the screen.
Holding a pointer, the Colonel tapped the screen and explained the situation.
"Starting on November 24, 2027, this fog began to appear around Seoul's Gangbuk area and the vicinity of Bukhansan. The first official encounter with a Head-Fusion Mimic, designated as Amalgam, was reported at 2:43 AM on December 3, 2027. This was based on eyewitness accounts from police officers dispatched after nearby residents called in reports. The government first recognized the threat through footage of the creature attempting to attack near a police substation, only to be startled by the sirens and flee."
A grim timeline poured from the Colonel's mouth.
His tone was utterly matter-of-fact, which only made everyone listening shrink back in unease.
"As this fog rapidly spread starting December 14, 2027, it became difficult to respond with existing police forces alone. Under the guise of civilian volunteer service, the military began deploying units under the Capital Defense Command. To prevent citizens from panicking over these troop movements, we established information control and began relocating and stockpiling human and material resources. It was around this time that magical texts were discovered and collected based on sightings and testimonies from civilians, soldiers, and police officers... Simultaneously, the number of missing person reports, suspected to be the work of Amalgam, began to rise sharply."
As the slides progressed, the screens displayed the frequency, radius, and locations of missing person reports over time.
"Of particular concern are Amalgam's active hours, its operational radius, and its list of victims. It is estimated that Amalgams tend to be active primarily around midnight and 4:00 AM. They operate mostly in alleyways and underdeveloped areas where they can easily ambush their prey, seemingly targeting the socially vulnerable first. Through local community organizations involved in civilian volunteer work and outreach, the government estimates the actual number of missing cases to be 642, far exceeding the 200 officially reported. This suggests that Amalgam is not a mere beast, but possesses the intelligence to understand and infiltrate human society..."
The Colonel without a name tag looked our way once more as he finished speaking.
"Currently, the military's top priority is locking down Seoul. We have temporarily abandoned the cities north of the capital, maintaining communication and administrative control with coastal cities like Incheon via the West Sea. At the same time, we are continuously conducting reconnaissance operations within Seoul to classify these monsters, with the primary objective of securing texts related to magic."
"...."
"I will now take any questions from the Civilian Advisory Group."
However, no one could bring themselves to ask a question right away.
When I sneaked a glance at First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi, he caught my eye and simply offered a sheepish shrug and a wry smile.
Things were... far worse than I had imagined.
End
(c) Hard Explosion#151df