Choices

"Strange announcement, isn't it?"

So it was starting already.

Whether Mr. Myeong, the three Jo siblings, and the black-market people had finished their preparations, he couldn't say.

"Sending desk personnel out on an operation? What are they talking about?"

"Who knows."

The moment the announcement hit, about half the people in the plaza flinched and took off running for somewhere. The rest stayed perfectly calm.

"Mm... well, I mean! It's not like there's anything for us to do anyway, right?"

And they were calm too.

For him and Min Yeo-jin, it was someone else's problem. A postman and a hunter instructor weren't desk personnel. A hunter instructor did spend most of their time at headquarters, true, but even so they weren't classified as desk staff. The higher-ups had filed them that way on purpose, so they could be sent outside at a moment's notice.

In any case, Min Yeo-jin had something else she needed to do right now.

"Clock-out Man will be waiting on work with his neck about to fall off. He's camping out in front of headquarters."

"Oh, really? Should I contact him right now, then?"

He marked the spot where Clock-out Man was squatting on the map. That finished everything that had to be handled immediately. Now all that remained was to wait for the new jobs to come down—work on the Subway reconstruction project, and the mail runs.

Back to ordinary days.

"It's a shame. Why does work keep piling up like this? When am I ever going to get some quiet time alone with you, Teacher?"

A day like that was never coming, as far as he could tell.

"Think positive. Work that never runs out means you're pulling your weight as a person."

"And if I don't particularly feel like pulling a full person's weight?"

A very Min Yeo-jin counterattack. If the talk ran long, he'd be the only one who got tired.

"Anyway, go find Clock-out Man. I've got a person's share to pull."

Back to bed.

"Next time, you have to make time for me!"

"Sure."

"That's not an empty promise, right? You have to!"

He was going to have to start avoiding her.

"Ah! Wait! I remembered. There was something I meant to tell you when you got here—"

What useless thing was she about to say now.

"You know, that thing I told you about before."

Min Yeo-jin glanced around, then stepped in close. He took a step back before he realized it.

"The story about someone using an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ability Core three times. You remember, right?"

Hard to forget.

"What about it?"

"I think there's one more, besides the hunter who entered the Geofront. Here. At headquarters."

"...So it's another rumor."

"Something like that?"

It occurred to him that Boss might actually like Min Yeo-jin. Was there anyone else who fed a man this many entertaining stories? Then again, her network was thin. Where was she even picking rumors like this up?

"Who'd you hear it from?"

"A student!"

She'd gone her entire stretch as a field hunter without a single friend. Did things really change once you became a superior? Well. From a trainee's side of things, the person called Teacher wasn't someone you could ignore.

"There's exactly one, you know! A student who actually hangs out with me!"

No. Nothing had changed at all.

"Their skill is no joke, so they stand out among the trainees by a mile. Oh, and they're pretty cute and good-looking, which makes them stand out even more."

"A girl?"

"No, a boy! He's fifteen now, and he's not ordinary. Not his skill, and not his looks!"

"That... you shouldn't lay a hand on a kid..."

"Sorry?"

"Mm. Never mind."

A useless worry. For a second he'd forgotten how thoroughly law-abiding Min Yeo-jin was. No matter how far her eyes rolled back, she'd keep the lines that needed keeping.

That wasn't the important part.

"The source of the rumor is a fifteen-year-old hunter trainee? And you believe everything that kid tells you?"

"Maybe because he's young, you could call him honest."

"That's not the issue."

"These days the hunters treat him like a genius, so the higher-ups summon him all the time. Everyone's expectations are piled on him at once, so he probably hears more than I do."

So there was a kid like that. If the chance came, he'd need to check whether the boy was actually useful.

"Watching him, I keep thinking this must be what you were like as a child, Teacher. Sharp, and fair-faced, exactly—"

Like his childhood.

Still pouring a curse over a child like it was nothing.

"If there's ever a chance, I'll introduce you! He wants to see you too, Teacher."

"Me? How does he know who I am?"

"Because I talk about you every single day!"

They hadn't even exchanged names, and it already felt ruined.

"Ah, don't worry. About your record, I only said you were a postman!"

"...Talk about it every day, and he doesn't get sick of it?"

"Not at all? If anything, he really wants to meet you."

He had to remember. Min Yeo-jin had no sense for people. A great deal of no sense.

"Exactly what did the kid say about wanting to meet me?"

"Mm, what was it... Oh. Something like, how impressive can this person be? I've got to see that face for myself. Don't you already feel the affection just pouring off that?"

Properly ruined.

"Anyway, he's a student I'm close with! That quiet place that's good for being alone together, the one I wanted to go to with you—he told me about that too."

Tsk. One more person he'd have to avoid. They hadn't even met, and the tragedy was already complete.

So there's a human at headquarters who's used an Ability Core three times...

Among the veteran hunters, maybe. Finding out would be impossible anyway. Still, the mere fact that another human had lived through a misfortune like that three times and survived meant something. It let him turn the possibility over one more time.

"Interesting story."

"You're grateful, right? Right? If you're grateful—"

"I'll take the gratitude and nothing else."

"Eh... Isn't that usually something the person receiving it is supposed to say? I—"

The siren tore through the air again.

For a brief moment he was even grateful that it kept sounding at such convenient times.

The army poured into the plaza.

"Everyone, hold your positions!"

"We will conduct inspections!"

Mr. Myeong heard the announcement while he was deep in concentration, stitching a patient's wound.

"Doctor?"

"Mm?"

"What happens when martial law drops? They were raising hell, telling me to come the moment treatment's done."

The private looked down at the torn gash in his arm and scratched his head with the one that still worked.

"All you need to know is that hunters and the army will be walking around with their shoulders squared. You'll be fine."

The first martial law since the end of the world began was bound to be unfamiliar to everyone.

"You think the Governor decided this?"

"No. Headquarters doesn't have the authority. The Geofront decided. Headquarters can't even exercise a veto."

"But hunters and the army take their orders from headquarters—"

"Once martial law drops, command of every combat force directly under headquarters transfers to the Geofront."

"That's..."

The announcement kept calling the names of those to be thrown into the operation at once.

"Even so, why are they screaming for the wounded to jump out right this second? This is honestly miserable."

"Nothing else? About the operation."

"Didn't sound any different from usual. I heard we're going out to beat down monsters, zombies, and raiders."

A sigh left Mr. Myeong on its own.

"So being thrown into a dangerous operation meant combat... This time, you aren't going out on your own."

"Sorry? Ow!"

"Quit the theatrics."

"It really hurts!"

"Want the anesthetic now?"

"I-if I get it now, is it cheaper than before?"

"No. More expensive. Because you're bothering me."

"Ghk... I can endure."

"..."

"Um... Doctor?"

"Mm?"

"Are you unwell?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I thought you just wrinkled your face a little. Are you not feeling—aaagh!"

"Hold still."

"I'll just take the anesthetic!"

"Too late."

"What!?"

Mr. Myeong's hands moved faster.

Min Yeo-jin left first, to get in touch with Clock-out Man. He, however, was still not free.

"Thumb on the scanner."

The corporal bastard carrying on the inspection. The same guy who'd been bowing and scraping at Min Yeo-jin turned into a different person the moment he stood in front of him.

"Name."

"Woo Jungkook."

"Assignment?"

"None. Finished a delivery. Resting."

"Awfully short with your words."

"No assignment. Finished a delivery, and I'm resting. Ah. I'm tired."

"...Fine. Pass."

Even while the inspections ground on across the plaza, the announcement never stopped.

Bullshit, dribbling on and on. They seemed to know it was a waste of airwaves themselves; the preamble blew past in a flash. Then came the point.

To think things would move this fast.

I really ought to find an owner for that radio soon.

In the end, he hadn't given one to Min Yeo-jin either. It was as obvious as watching a fire catch that she'd scrap with Kkamagwi. Boss might be able to handle her. Kkamagwi would not. A loose little circle of colleagues that came to a measly four people even if you gathered every one of them. If any of those members collided, there was truly no answer.

What a nuisance. What chore were they trying to stick him with.

"Senior? Long time no see, sir!"

A familiar limping gait. Hocheol, who these days looked reasonably like a postman.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Uniform's grimy enough that you finally look the part."

"Been working like a madman, sir! Have you been well?"

"I've been peaceful. Doesn't look like this place has."

Even in the middle of it, the announcement never let up, and inspections kept rolling on from every side. A few people were being taken down hard. They must have refused the check and tried to run.

"Do you know what all this commotion is about, sir?"

Not all of it, but the rough shape, yes. Still, it was desk personnel's business. No need to lay the whole thing out for Hocheol. He didn't know it precisely himself.

"Hard to say."

"The thing is, I heard a bit, sir."

Hocheol leaned in and dropped his voice.

"What you told me, Senior, sir. I haven't forgotten it for a single moment, sir!"

The thing he'd said while pushing through a permit for black-market dealings.

Unlike him, who spoke only with the Director, Hocheol had been assigned into the department, and he was good with people. He'd figured this one could actually gather information. Excellent.

"Pick up anything good?"

"There's this and that, but if I tell you only what's urgent right now—I got my hands on the official notice they say is coming to us soon, sir!"

Hocheol drew out a few sheets of paper. Whether they'd been folded or simply crushed, they were such a wreck it was impossible to tell.

"Piping-hot latest intelligence, sir!"

He was keeping it a mess on purpose, so it would look like nothing. All the more so with inspections breaking out on every side. Truly excellent.

"They say it'll be delivered soon, but better to see it even a little earlier, right, sir? With information, speed is life, sir."

"How'd you get this?"

"I bribed an employee at the print shop, sir!"

Talented, too.

"By the way, Senior, you haven't seen Director Bae today, have you, sir?"

"Saw him yesterday. Why that man?"

"I've been going around looking for the Director, sir. Figured I ought to show him this quickly, sir."

Scoring points with the Director as well. Doing well.

"Then please look it over, sir! I've got a few more copies, so I'll go find the Director!"

Hocheol vanished through the soldiers mid-inspection. Grimy uniform, limping besides—nobody paid him much mind.

What about giving the radio to Hocheol.

He was good with people, so he'd probably get along with Kkamagwi well enough. But he doubted there'd ever be an urgent call that required putting a radio in Hocheol's hands. Even as things stood, Hocheol was already doing his share.

First, the notice.

What troublesome thing were they cooking up this time.

Three pages in all. The first was concise. The two documents behind it were crammed with the names of regions and settlements.