Chapter 1896 – 1896. Eternal Eden
Park Hae-gil sped down the road.
The area near Seongak Elementary School was safe. Seong Yu-jin and the security team periodically came out to clear the zombies. Word had gotten around, and people had gathered around Seongak Elementary School, setting up temporary shelters. Even without entering the school, just being outside provided a certain level of safety.
Park Hae-gil had decided to die. However, he didn’t want to hang himself or jump into the Han River. If he was going to die, he wanted it to be meaningful.
And in this world, there were many meaningful ways to die. The D-virus had spread, and zombies were roaming everywhere.
‘If I kill even one zombie, it’ll be meaningful… It’ll be meaningful, right?’
He saw a zombie. Park Hae-gil struck the zombie’s head from behind with his insect hand.
*Crack!*
The zombie’s head shattered like a watermelon. His evolution had progressed in an unwanted direction, but his body had become incomparably stronger than an average person. Now, zombies were nothing to him. Of course, he was no match for the variants.
“Aaaah! A monster!!”
“It’s a variant!”
“S-save me!”
Until sunset, he dealt with the zombies he saw and rescued people in danger. However, no one thanked him directly. His hands, as well as his head, were transforming to resemble those of an insect.
Park Hae-gil looked at himself in the mirror and despaired. Even he thought he looked like a monster, not a human. An insect monster.
‘They said that the more an ability user uses their power, the stronger they become. Is it the same for evolvers?’
―――――.
He heard a sound from somewhere.
No, was it a sound? What was certain was that something was calling for help. Park Hae-gil, who had been despairing while looking in the mirror, headed towards the sound.
In a dark alley, a variant with three heads was fighting large insect monsters. The insect monsters were at a disadvantage. Even though they surrounded the variant, they were being unilaterally beaten.
―――――.
This was the sound. It was the sound insects made. The insects were saying, let’s help them kill this monster.
Park Hae-gil was bewildered. When he thought about it, wasn’t his evolution like this because of those insect monsters? So, he should feel hatred towards the insect monsters. But he didn’t feel any hatred at all. Rather, he was pleased by their presence. It felt like meeting an old friend.
‘…I don’t know. When have I ever thought deeply before acting?’
He moved as his instincts dictated. He rushed at the variant and attacked its back. One of the variant’s heads, which had been distracted while fighting the insect monsters, flew off.
‘It’s a low-intelligence variant. When dealing with these guys… hit and run is the best strategy.’
The security team had dealt with variants a few times under Seong Yu-jin’s instructions. Seong Yu-jin was better than anyone else at hunting variants, if nothing else. Seong Yu-jin was an expert at hunting monsters. On the other hand, she was terrible at commanding.
“―――(There! Pretend to attack and then pull back!)”
He commanded the insect monsters with high-frequency sounds. The insect monsters moved as if they understood.
He could command them.
The movements of the insect monsters, who had only been moving on instinct, became organized. The insect variant hunt began.
Five minutes later.
The variant was lying on the ground, a corpse, killed by the insect monsters. The insects were trying to cut up the corpse and take it into the manhole.
‘What did I just do? Why did I help the insect monsters….’
Just as he was about to turn around, the insect monsters all looked at Park Hae-gil. Park Hae-gil flinched and reflexively took a fighting stance. But the insect monsters didn’t attack.
――――――.
The insect monsters were telling him to follow them. The insects’ intentions were filled with familiarity. Some of them even rubbed against Park Hae-gil’s legs.
‘…I see. I’ve become their comrade, haven’t I?’
They needed him. Park Hae-gil followed the insect monsters into the manhole as if he were possessed.
• • •
Park Hae-gil had disappeared.
He had left Seongak Elementary School after his mental state broke down from seeing me and Yang Su-bin having sex.
‘I thought he’d hold out a bit longer, but he left the elementary school right away. That’s a bit unexpected.’
But I wasn’t anxious or uneasy. I just figured that was how it was. Park Hae-gil was a guy I didn’t like from the start. I just couldn’t deal with him directly because I was mindful of Yang Su-bin. It was better that he disappeared on his own.
He holds a grudge against me? So be it. It didn’t seem like he was the type to hold grudges against others anyway.
‘He had plenty of chances to stab me in the back. The fact that he didn’t means he knows his place? No, he’s not that kind of guy. He just gave up. He’s the type to die a lonely death somewhere.’
What was important was Yang Su-bin’s reaction. If Yang Su-bin wanted to go out and look for Park Hae-gil, it would be a headache.
“…Is that Hae-gil’s choice? It can’t be helped. I don’t know why, but I had a feeling this would happen. Ever since that day, when he was injected with the evolution serum.”
That was all Yang Su-bin said with a sigh. Her reaction was more composed than I expected.
‘Had she given up on him? Park Hae-gil’s insect hands were a bit much for a human.’
It meant that there was a genetic problem in the evolution process. Yang Su-bin, being a doctor, would know that, so she would have gradually lost her attraction to Park Hae-gil as a man, or more fundamentally, as a human. Especially if she hated insects.
‘But to go out and find him to kill him… that’s too much trouble.’
Park Hae-gil was a guy I didn’t like. A guy I would kill without hesitation if I had the chance. But unlike David Kim, I didn’t have a deep enough grudge to go through the trouble.
I decided to just ignore him.
I reached out and touched Yang Su-bin’s thigh. Yang Su-bin flinched. She didn’t reject my touch. The medical room heated up again, just like yesterday.
• • •
“It’s my first time meeting you in person. Let me formally introduce myself. I’m Lee Yeon-hee, the 4th Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service.”
A beautiful woman in a black suit introduced herself with a bright smile. She was a beauty that made your eyes pop. Long black hair and fair skin. She was the very definition of a pure and delicate beauty.
My favorability towards the NIS increased. I had originally planned to just have a casual conversation and leave. I straightened my posture and spoke with a serious expression.
“I’m Seong Yu-jin from Seongak Elementary School.”
“Yes. I know. You may or may not know, but we were the ones who spread the video of you on the internet.”
“You were?”
“Yes. Back then, the internet and news were full of depressing content. The only thing that gave people hope was news about the awakened. We thought that the video of you fighting the monster spider would give people hope, so we spread it. It was a rash action. Of course, I don’t intend to apologize empty-handed.”
I had actually liked it. Everyone was praising me. I didn’t dislike people sucking up to me. Besides, it was helpful for my goals.
“Ahem. It was a bit unpleasant. What’s the compensation? I hope you didn’t bring something trivial.”
“Do you know about Antisper?”
What she took out of her pocket was a glass bottle containing gray pills.
“I know about it. Is that really Antisper? It must have been difficult to make?”
Antisper. Pills that protect the mind.
I, with my absolute mind, didn’t need it, but it was essential for Na Chae-young and Choi Hye-jin. Taking it would temporarily greatly increase their mental resistance.
“It seems you really dislike mental abilities.”
Lee Yeon-hee was hitting the nail on the head. It meant that she perfectly understood the cause and effect of this situation. Unlike her delicate face, her aura was sharp.
‘She looks like she’s in her 20s, but there’s a reason she became a deputy director.’
I took the Antisper for now. If I thought I was being affected by a mental ability, I could give them this. It was also effective to take it in advance when facing a mental ability user. Though I wouldn’t need to take it myself.
“I’ll make good use of this.”
“Yes. If you don’t mind, may I ask what your goal is, Yu-jin?”
“First, it’s survival. I need to survive no matter what.”
“And after that? From what I see, it seems you’ve already achieved that goal.”
That’s right.
This area had been completely cleared. Just the absence of zombies greatly reduced the probability of dangerous variants appearing. Safety was guaranteed.
‘To rule South Korea.’
I couldn’t say that. The other party was the NIS. In a way, they were potential enemies.
‘Actually, I don’t have a concrete goal yet.’
The world hadn’t completely collapsed yet. No, South Korea hadn’t completely collapsed. Normally, the TV and water supply should have been cut off.
But even though it had been several months since the D-virus outbreak, the water and electricity hadn’t been cut off, the internet was still working, and broadcasts were still being aired.
Of course, this was only the case in a few cities, including Seoul. Some South Korean cities had been devastated. The death toll alone was at least hundreds of thousands. Including the missing, it was in the millions. Maybe even over ten million.
‘It needs to collapse more.’
It would collapse more.
“Survival is still ongoing.”
“I see. We need your help, Yu-jin.”
“You want to use me like a dog?”
“Absolutely not. We will pay a fair price. South Korea is in desperate need of the help of every powerful awakened individual.”
“Speaking of which, what is the military doing in this situation? Are they just playing around?”
“…It’s classified, but I don’t want to hide it from you, Yu-jin, who is a hero of South Korea. Currently, they are sealing off the cities that have been destroyed by variants. They are doing their best to prevent zombies and variants from crawling out. They are also recovering soldiers who have become zombies due to the D-virus, and the front lines are preparing for a North Korean invasion.”
“They’re doing useless things. Do you think North Korea would invade at this time? They don’t have anything.”
“The North Korean dictatorship is on the verge of collapse. For them, invading South Korea is their last resort. We believe there is a 70% chance that North Korea will invade.”
“…A South Korean war.”
“Yes. It’s unfortunate.”
I frowned.
If a war broke out, South Korea would win. Because I was here. Even if I wasn’t, the result would be South Korea’s victory. The gap between South Korea and North Korea was too great for South Korea to lose now.
But Seoul would burn. At the very least, they would drop a few missiles on Seoul. Seoul, the heart of South Korea.
‘The South Korea I’m going to rule will become weaker.’
And North Korea was also a country I had to rule. A South Korean war was not good for me in any way.
After thinking for a moment, I made a decision and said to Lee Yeon-hee.
“Let’s unify.”
“…Excuse me?”
“I’ll go to the North.”
