The Next Destination

Jo Yong-han's office. It had been a while.

Quiet.

I'd expected the sisters to be here too. They weren't.

"My sister and An-na are packing survival supplies."

"And you?"

"I am going out as well, of course. Cast out, if you prefer. My bags are already packed."

So even Jo Yong-han hadn't been able to slip free. Only two office staff could accompany a mission. One of the three siblings had been bound to get left behind. Throw them outside and the one with the highest chance of living was Jo Shin-hye — a different species entirely from Jo Yong-han, whose shooting stance was a wreck from the first position. Even so, he was the one split off. Probably a judgment that weighed the bond between the sisters.

"Not that it's any of my business, but who are you going out with?"

"That is not something for you to concern yourself with, Mr. Jeong-guk."

Of course it wasn't.

"I heard your mission failed."

Digging, was he.

"I'm not superhuman. It happens."

"It should not have been possible. I was told it was the first failure of your entire postman career."

"Which is why I'm saying it's possible now."

"I heard the office staff who went with you was a sick man, well on in years. If it was a natural death from old age, there would have been nothing you could do."

He'd dug hard. Not quite deep enough.

"There was an air raid, and I couldn't get her out. Not that I could have stopped that either."

"I saw that report as well. It could not have been so."

"Think what you like. Believing it or not is your business."

"A natural death is difficult to prove. Claiming the air raid left you no choice would have been the cleaner way to avoid a penalty."

"There really was an air raid. You can't see that kind of information?"

"I am aware of it. But you and Ms. Myung Hwa-young came back alive and perfectly intact."

"Is there a law that says all three of us had to live?"

"You are not just anyone, Mr. Jeong-guk. There is no possibility you failed to save her."

Not getting through.

"People have underestimated you, and that is how you have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lived quietly until now. I understand that well enough."

I told him to think what he wanted, and here he went.

"But that... that matter is truly regrettable."

"Hm?"

"You went through something terrible. As a fellow man, I am sorry."

Jo Yong-han's gaze dropped.

Why the sudden solemnity? Had word gotten out about the beating I'd taken fighting a boss-class creature? Or the time the Human Meat Factory snatched me? There shouldn't have been a witness to the kidnapping. Unless—

Had that been Future Technology Department business?

"It is... unfortunate. But you need not mind the pitying looks. You did not want it, and it is certainly nothing to be ashamed of. It is a matter the rest of us ought to hold with care."

He wasn't wrong.

Tsk. So the ugly business of getting caught had gotten out.

"I'm fine. And nothing like that is ever happening again."

"Of course not. There is no chance of you going through that a second time. It is impossible."

This man's faith in me was something else.

"Which is why I mention it. If you do not wish the rumor to spread, I can intervene from this side."

What was this? He wasn't the type to coddle someone this far. A return favor for taking the sisters on, maybe. Either way, he was offering to kill the rumor.

That wouldn't do.

"Spread it as far as you can."

"...Pardon?"

He had definitely called it a regrettable thing. A bad thing. Which meant he didn't know it had started as a kidnapping and ended happily. If my ties to the Human Meat Factory were going to stay a secret, it was better for the story to keep circulating exactly as it did now — that I'd been put through something ugly.

"I'm asking you to push that rumor, just as it stands, as far as it'll go. If it's a bother, leave it alone. Rumors travel fast on their own anyway."

"I see... Is this what they call a real man? A charge straight through the front."

"Something like that."

"An inner masculinity strong enough to transcend mere biology. Understood. I will do as you wish."

I had no idea why he had to make it so complicated, but it worked out. A genuinely useful man.

"Much obliged."

"In any case, even if everyone at Headquarters learns of it, not one of them will pretend to know in front of you."

True enough.

"At any rate, you are aware that because you took no penalty, you may choose your next mission yourself."

I'd figured this was why he'd called me in.

"As you know, a B-rank mission would suit you. Missions at C-rank and below draw fierce competition, and because assignment is by lottery, even I find it difficult to intervene there. So, realistically, a B-rank mission—"

"I'm not interested in B-rank. Not C-rank. Nothing below that either."

"...?"

Aside from Yeongdeungpo, the postings I'd had my eye on were Animal Farm at B-plus and Busan at A-minus.

"I'm going to Busan."

I'd already checked the latest on both, of course. The Physiognomist really was useful. The postman network had already given me a look at how things stood inside Busan.

What came after, I got from Hocheol. He'd done a faithful job of the order to collect whatever was circulating among the postmen. Mother, come down from Seoul, had joined an unidentified military unit and driven out Busan's native faction.

Whether Busan had a new master was none of my concern. What mattered was that the war had only just ended. They'd be binding the place together from the inside, which meant they wouldn't be looking outward. In other words, now was the safest time there was going to be.

I already had a safe route to Busan, handed over by Clock-out Man. He hadn't merely come up from there recently. A tracker by trade, he was a natural at finding the safest road. Know the way, and distance stops being much of a problem. A place close by that you don't know is far more dangerous. Like Animal Farm.

Boss, I heard, had been through Geumcheon-gu. The black market was shut, so he'd gone looking for a new trading partner to get back on his feet. He hadn't found a way in. The sentries packed along the top of the barrier had looked ready to open fire on the spot. Internal cleanup should have been long finished. Something else must have happened in there.

"A B-rank mission is only less competitive than C-rank. The competition is still there. Lose the lottery, and only then will people line up claiming they'll take A-rank."

"Even so, you should at least try the B-rank line first—"

"Once the B-rank lottery is over, everyone piles ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠onto A-minus. Then A-rank. Then A-plus."

"...So you mean to claim an empty A-minus before the crowd arrives?"

"That's right."

If I could commune ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with the lottery machine, I might flip the odds. Laying hands on a Headquarters security facility while everyone was watching was another matter. And I wasn't even sure it was worth burning six Cores.

"Seeking a compromise without entering the competition... That is unlike you, Mr. Jeong-guk."

That tone, as if he'd already taken my measure. All the more irritating because he was right.

"It might look that way. But I didn't pick a compromise."

The Busan run would be safer than it looked. That was the calculation. Saying so would spoil the taste. Better to serve something he could swallow clean.

"Jo Shin-hye's life is on the line, and Jo An-na's. The only life I can gamble is my own."

Call it business.

"...Very well. An A-minus mission can be registered and claimed at once."

His face wasn't entirely satisfied. He knew well enough I wouldn't bend.

"I'll leave the paperwork to you. It'll move faster in your hands than mine."

"Understood. And as promised, I will do what I can so that you receive Decisive Contribution Points."

"No guarantee it'll happen, I see."

"Correct. It is bait."

Brutally honest.

"Bait you threw at me? Or was the Decisive Contribution Points system bait from the start?"

"Both."

"Throwing bait as bait."

"Yes."

"One mountain past another."

"High risk, high return. If it succeeds, your entry into Geofront moves up by several years."

In truth the points were a bonus. Going out with sisters who already had Core abilities, and whose survival had been proven, was a gain for me as well. Points on top of that would be best of all. If I could actually receive them, Geofront would be right in front of me.

"Then I'll be counting on you."

"Hm?"

"Your sister and An-na, I mean."

"Hm."

"What's the matter? Is there a problem?"

"Your voice is different from usual."

"Is it?"

The Busan run clearly didn't sit well with him. Worried about the sisters, by the look of it. Even so, no problem.

"We'll come back alive. Without fail."

The way we always had.

Bae Guk-jang's reaction was exactly what I'd expected.

"Jeong-guk! What are you saying!"

"I'm going to Busan. I picked an A-minus mission."

"You should have applied for B-rank first! Even if you didn't win—"

"It's already filed."

"You did a thing like that without even consulting me...!"

"If I recall, the contract said I was free to choose whatever work I wanted."

"Haa..."

Worried I'd die again? He looked far more sunken than last time. Had his affection for me deepened while we were apart? Creepily so.

"If it's already filed, then there's no other way... Tch. All right. I'm uneasy, but—"

"I'll come back alive. Without fail."

"I'll trust that you will. Then I'll attach my wife and daughter as your companions, so please—"

"Sorry?"

"Nothing to be surprised about. It isn't a legal procedure, but I have enough money to influence how a mission is staffed."

"That's not it. My companions are already decided."

"Huh?"

So this was why Jo Yong-han had hurried.

"When did you already...?"

I thought so. He hadn't been worried I'd die. It was about his family. That was unexpected. I'd assumed Bae Guk-jang's family wouldn't be driven out. His power was a different kind from Jo Yong-han's.

The Future Technology Department at Jo Yong-han's back let him do a great deal. That was also exactly where his limit lay. He couldn't do anything that crossed it. This man's seat as Post Office Director, by contrast, carried no great power at all. On an ordinary day he could do even less than Jo Yong-han. But a spring of money made crossing the limit possible. Bribes squirreled away, or something else — I didn't know. He simply had a suspicious amount of it.

"You're not going out, Director? Only your family?"

"Ah. The terms changed. Director-grade personnel are exempt."

"Was there talk of that?"

"It's not information a bottom-rung employee needs to know. Ahem..."

So only Bae Guk-jang himself had slipped out. Had the money run short?

"This is a problem. I was counting on you alone..."

"Even so, if you use your influence, can't you entrust them somewhere trustworthy enough?"

"That much is true. Since you say you can't, I'll have to look into hunters..."

At that level, they ought to make it back alive.

"Or, well... you wouldn't consider going out one more time, would you?"

Crossing the line.

"Wanting to go again doesn't mean I can, as I understand it."

"If this mission fails the way the last one did..."

Was he actually crossing it?

"Fail on purpose?"

"Too much to ask? If you grant the favor, I'll compensate you with a few magazines..."

There it was again, that pitiful face. Even so, no was no.

"It's not that I can't sympathize with your position—"

The wish to save one's family. Bae Guk-jang himself was a creepy man, but his family wasn't creepy along with him. We weren't particularly close, though I'd seen their faces a few times. If they'd been headed for a slaughterhouse, there might have been room to hesitate. Going outside didn't mean everyone died. Most of the first wave had, in fact, come back alive.

"They're not going out to die, and my being with them doesn't mean everyone lives. Besides—"

Think about it coldly. Asking me to take a mission like this one more time meant asking me to sacrifice myself one more time.

"It doesn't seem like something a man sitting comfortably at Headquarters ought to say."

"..."

Strange, too, that a man who always moved by calculation wouldn't promise a large reward for something this important. Jo Yong-han had dangled Decisive Contribution and the rest of it. Had this man really run out of money?

"Something's off."

"...?"

"I know very well you don't live a particularly righteous life, Director. If you wanted to pull your family out, you could."

"I don't have that kind of power—"

"Money does."

"Mm."

In an instant the pitiful look washed off, and Bae Guk-jang's face went hard. Only now did it feel like I was meeting honest eyes. A gaze that seemed to say, this is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my real face.

"Without money, even family can't be kept alive."

A very him way of putting it. I understood what he meant, but—

"If your whole family disappears, what good is the money?"

"Run out of money and you're a dead man anyway. Don't you think about that?"

"So you still have quite a lot of it, even now?"

"Always. Because I have to survive."

It wasn't that I couldn't follow Bae Guk-jang's logic. There would be eras, suitable times and places, where those words held. But—

"You don't look like a man who'll survive easily, Director."

From the standpoint of survival craft, he was wrong. A complete wrong answer.

And the speech he always gave.

"Everyone figures they'll die someday, just not this time. Why do you suppose that is?"

"Well, if you thought that way every single day—"

"Because they've never died. People learn the most through failure, and failure at survival is death. Surviving isn't something you learn by failing. That's why everyone is ignorant."

"Hm. A difference in values, I suppose."

Yes. A difference in values. And that difference would bring a difference in results. In the end, the only way a man like Bae Guk-jang learned how to survive was by watching death, over and over.

"I sincerely hope the day never comes when you master survival craft, Director."

"...What do you mean by that?"

The Director's affairs had already left my hands. I had plenty of my own to deal with. The destination was set.

Busan.

Time to get ready.