Chapter 53. The Darkest Place Is Under the Candlestick.
Chapter 53. The Darkest Place Is Under the Candlestick.
Once everyone had gathered, I stood there drumming my fingers on the table without a word. The president was the first to speak.
"What's the reason for this sudden meeting?"
"The situation we feared has finally come to pass."
"And what exactly is 'the situation we feared'?"
"The races of Titan have crossed over."
The moment I said that entire races—not just a single entity—had crossed over, the assembly hall broke out into murmurs. I told my people I'd heard it from David and patched the comms through to him again.
"David, my apologies for cutting the transmission short. It was important news, so I called everyone together."
"Mister Cheon, I was about to reconnect with you myself. Urgent intel came in while I was waiting for your transmission."
"What's happened in the meantime?"
"Yes... we've confirmed they've been capturing humans. We deployed a small drone from the UAV for a closer look, and what appear to be human remains were discovered at their dwelling site."
"...Were there any other characteristics?"
"Unusually, they also fired some kind of strange flame, much like an Awakened. That's what caused the drone to crash."
'That settles it—those races have definitely crossed over...'
"In any case, please be careful, Mister Cheon. There may be mutant entities somewhere in Korea, just as there are here."
"Thank you for the valuable intel. If we confirm anything unusual on our end, we'll radio you immediately."
I ended the transmission with everyone listening in, then turned to face them again. The president, unable to contain his curiosity, asked a question.
"Mister Sihu, do you know anything about these races Commander David mentioned?"
"There are two races I suspect. If they have green skin, use crude weaponry, and carry off humans..."
"Could you tell us which races?"
"Yes. The races I'm guessing are goblins and orcs."
The group reacted with surprise at those oddly familiar names, and Min-cheol tossed in a light joke.
"Ha-ha, you mean the goblins and orcs from The Lord of the Rings?"
"They look remarkably similar."
"...Are you serious, hyung?"
"The reason I'm guessing two possibilities is that orcs are far larger than humans, but according to David, some had the build of a child. I can't tell if that's simply a juvenile orc or an actual goblin until I see them in person."
"Mister Sihu, so the reason they carry people off... is to use them as food?"
"For the human males, yes. Food."
"Human males...?"
The president noticed I'd deliberately specified human males and asked again, clearly uneasy.
"Then the women..."
"Orcs capture the females of other races and impregnate them. Their pregnancies typically conclude with childbirth in about a month."
At that, the group began to grimace, each of them likely imagining a horrific scene.
"Then what should we do going forward?"
"Their skin is thicker and tougher than a human's, but the good news is they can be sufficiently suppressed with rifles."
"Whew, that's a relief. At least they aren't much of a problem."
"Still, don't relax just yet. You probably heard it during my transmission with David, but there's one that uses a strange flame like an Awakened. They're a somewhat evolved type compared to the standard ones—these can use magic. And they're a fair bit more cunning."
"Hah... so we can't assume Korea is safe either. We'll have to operate under the assumption they're somewhere out there."
"Yes, and we must also assume other races have crossed over. We'd be lucky if they're an intelligent species capable of communication..."
"Do they have any other traits?"
"They generally live in forests. And they're always setting traps in those forests—genuinely lethal ones at that. That said, unlike zombies, their standard vital points are identical to a human's."
"Hah... we'll have to deploy UAVs quickly as well. I'll ask Lieutenant General Go Seong-hyeon about this and see if he can pull any qualified personnel."
Even if we deployed UAVs, it wasn't going to be easy. Seventy percent of South Korea's landmass is mountainous. If they're hiding somewhere in dense forest that a UAV can't see, we won't find them. Unless we send a drone deep in to scout, tracking them down would be far from simple.
'The other forest-dwelling clans...'
I let out a snort at my own ridiculous speculation. The group, still looking grim, tilted their heads at me as I suddenly laughed.
"Oppa, why are you laughing all of a sudden? Did you think of something good?"
"Something good? Don't tell me, 'Calamity'—you were just thinking about the forest tribe?"
'What a fiendishly sharp old man... well, he's already dead, so I guess that makes him a literal fiend.'
"In any case, the fact that goblins and orcs have appeared doesn't change anything about our daily lives. Please explain the situation to the survivors at your own discretion."
With that last remark, the meeting ended and everyone dispersed. Then I started thinking on my own.
'Mana appearing on Earth, Terion, Leviathan, and even the System... something is off here...'
Up until now, I'd just let it slide. But now that Titan's races were crossing over, I grew even more curious about the System. A tool that allows Earthlings—who only recently had mana appear—to handle mana.
If so, did a divine authority from Earth assist them?
No. If a divine authority had existed on Earth, I would have known.
Then, did the divine authorities of Titan help?
No. The System already existed before I even crossed over here.
And, out of all the countless dimensions in this universe, why did it have to connect to Titan?
Was it because I crossed over and created a dimensional passage linking to Titan? That's the most plausible hypothesis. Terion also claimed it was likely.
'Ugh... trying to think through so much at once is giving me a headache. Anyway, what the hell is going on in other countries besides the US right now?'
"Other countries can figure their own shit out..."
I muttered the thought under my breath and resolved not to care much about it. And so a few more days passed without incident.
* * * * * * * *
As the endlessly repetitive daily routine went on, the president summoned the group to the assembly hall. Once I was the last one inside, he started to speak.
"Talking with the United States via satellite communication made me realize something. We, too, need to restore communication quickly by activating cell towers."
"Do we have the engineers for it?"
"Yes, I already put in a request to them, and they actually volunteered to help."
"Securing all the cell towers in Korea is going to take a very long time..."
"First, we need to restore the Gyeonggi-do area at least. And do you remember me saying before that we would distribute flyers?"
"Yes. Did anyone actually come...?"
"Once communications go live this time, I intend to distribute flyers thoroughly, at least across the Gyeonggi region. Then they'll at least have a way to contact us. Right now, the best we can manage is just using the radio."
"Is there a separate document showing the locations of the cell towers?"
I took the documents and looked them over. There were an overwhelming number of sites—downtown areas, residential zones, commercial districts, mountain regions.
"First, we'll take care of the easily accessible sites and leave the mountain regions for last."
"Yes, I will draft the plan with that in mind."
"Do we have enough drones on hand right now?"
"Thanks to visiting our nation's military bases and the US military base, we have a sufficient number, though not an enormous amount. Why do you ask?"
"Because of the special entities. It seems best to check with the drone before entering a building. There's no way we can inspect every site in person ourselves. Let's split our people up and go."
"Understood. Since we're talking about urban centers, there likely aren't many places a helicopter can land. We'll rappel in from the choppers instead. The civilian members should manage just fine if they wear a rappelling harness."
"Good. Once the plan is complete, we'll depart first thing the next morning."
About a week passed as we put our heads together with the engineers, refining the plan until it was finished. Starting the next day, we began clearing and restoring buildings, and over the course of several days, we steadily secured the cell towers one by one.
The critical towers in the Gyeonggi region came back online one after another. With only the most troublesome mountain sites left, we attempted to land the helicopter on a mountainside and proceed on foot.
We activated the cell tower here without much trouble, and safely at that. And so, for the first time in almost half a year since the apocalypse erupted, we were able to make phone calls. Of course, YouTube and social media were still out, but being able to call and text—how long had it been?
We finished activating the tower, and just before boarding the helicopter to head back with satisfied looks all around, someone called out.
"There seem to be survivors here."
At those words, the group looked toward where he was pointing. There, they spotted snares and traps for catching wild animals, and confirmed scattered droppings here and there. The group was thinking of survivors. I, alone, was thinking something else.
'So they were this close all along...'
I gave the group a vague excuse and ordered them to return.
"We'll come back for the survivors later with proper supplies."
The moment we arrived, I went straight to the assembly hall, where the group's faces were full of smiles over the reactivated cell towers.
'Sigh... I feel like I'm about to kill the mood, but I have to tell them...'
"I've confirmed traces of goblins and orcs."
The moment my words crushed the harmonious atmosphere, everyone stared at me in shock. Then the quick-witted Choi Jae-hyeok looked at me and spoke.
"If you're telling us now... does that mean they were on Bukhansan, where you just returned from?"
"That's right. I just found their traces."
The president suddenly furrowed his brow and sighed, muttering under his breath.
"The light is always darkest under the lamp... so the bastards were on Bukhansan all along..."