Chapter 1860 – 1860. Eternal Eden
The next day.
Gu Tae-hee, the boss of Taehwang, arrived at the headquarters in the afternoon. It wasn’t the Gangnam headquarters she used to have. After learning that the zombie virus would soon spread, she urgently moved the headquarters to Yongsan. The headquarters in Gangnam was not suitable for stopping the zombie hordes.
Gu Tae-hee checked the empty office and habitually walked towards the window. The quietly flowing Han River was visible. She liked looking at the Han River from a high place. This view was the achievement of her fiercely lived life, her victory.
“A Han River view… You’ve really succeeded, President.”
A neat, flawless woman’s voice was heard. Gu Tae-hee, startled, turned her head. A woman was sitting at her desk.
She was a woman with jet-black hair. She was wearing a black suit, sitting upright with her back straight. It was a textbook posture. Her hands were slender and delicate. Her skin was so clear it was almost transparent.
“…I didn’t expect the 4th Deputy Director of the NIS to come to such a humble place.”
“Humble? This office with a Han River view? Is that perhaps a mockery?”
She asked in a soft voice. Gu Tae-hee was on guard.
“How did you get in? The security at headquarters is top-notch. Even you shouldn’t be able to get in so easily. No, until just now, I was the only one in this office. …Did you perhaps awaken your ability?”
“You’re quick to notice. Yes. I’ve awakened my ability. I was lucky.”
“……”
“Aren’t you curious what my ability is?”
“You wouldn’t tell me anyway.”
“It’s a national secret.”
Gu Tae-hee sighed. The woman in front of her was the last person in the world she wanted to deal with.
“What’s with that damn Hahoe mask?”
“I just came up from Andong after dealing with the early awakeners. This is a souvenir. Would you like it?”
Lee Yeon-hee lowered the Hahoe mask. What was revealed was a face that could only be described as pure and innocent.
“You always look like a virgin ghost.”
“You’re the only one who calls me that when you see my face, Tae-hee. I may be a virgin, but I’m not a ghost.”
“Oh, right. I was too harsh on the virgin ghost. Can you just get to the point and get out of here?”
“When I came up to Seoul today, I heard the owner of Gangseo-gu had changed.”
“There was a bit of a struggle last night. Don’t worry about Gangseo-gu. As always, we won’t touch the civilians.”
“You have a knack for answering the obvious as if it’s something special. What I’m curious about is why you dealt with the Gosan faction, which was allied with Taehwang. The two of you weren’t on bad terms, were you? Why did you suddenly attack them?”
“I attacked them because I could. Besides, the Gosan faction has been going too far lately, so it was necessary to clean them up.”
“I see.”
“…That’s strange. You came to see me just to ask that? The NIS should already know that much, shouldn’t they?”
“The NIS is busier than ever. We have to prepare for how North Korea will react when the day comes, and we also have to keep an eye on Japan, which has secured awakeners and players. China seems to be having riots, so that’s a bit easier… Russia is a variable. We can’t ignore the US and Europe either. I wish I had ten bodies.”
Ten bodies. Was she implying Oh Sung-sang? Or was it just a random remark?
‘The opponent is Lee Yeon-hee. She’s likely aware of Oh Sung-sang, who is a player. The problem is that Oh Sung-sang is dead…’
She had no intention of telling her about Na Chae-young and Sung Yu-jin. She had just made a connection, and she wasn’t about to hand it over to Lee Yeon-hee.
‘If she went down to Andong herself to handle things, it must be true that the NIS is busy. So, if I put up a smokescreen, I can hide it.’
She decided to move on from this topic first. Gu Tae-hee narrowed her one eye sharply and asked Lee Yeon-hee.
“…The leaders of various countries, including Korea, know about the upcoming zombie outbreak. But why aren’t they telling the people? What kind of agreement was made between the leaders?”
“It’s a national secret. But you probably already suspect it, so it’s okay to tell you. Those in power hate responsibility.”
“The people will eventually find out. That the government already knew about this situation. And they’ll try to hold them accountable.”
“Would you believe it if someone told you the world was going to end tomorrow?”
“……”
“Should the government believe it? Should they tell the people that the world is going to end tomorrow, so they should enjoy their remaining time? Korea is making the best choice. Oh, that was a boring thing to say, wasn’t it? You’re not Korean, after all.”
“…I am Korean. I have Korean citizenship.”
“On the surface, yes. But you have Japanese blood, don’t you? You’re an honorary Korean.”
“You crazy bitch.”
Gu Tae-hee felt fatigue washing over her. Dealing with a crazy woman who thinks she’s normal was much more tiring than fighting.
“By the way, what happened to the scar on your chest?”
“……What are you talking about?”
“You have a cut on your chest. It looks recent… You wouldn’t have hurt yourself to check your lungs, which are damaged from marijuana, would you… Did you fight?”
“How did you know? Is that your ability?”
Gu Tae-hee looked down to check her clothes. She was wearing a suit as usual, with a jacket over it. From the outside, there was no way to see any scars.
“That ‘demon hand’ got hurt… I’m really curious who hurt you.”
“I just let my guard down for a moment when I was dealing with Jung Go-san.”
“Jung Go-san, of all people.”
“…I also have something to say about Bister I. What happens if you take dozens of them at once?”
It was a blatant topic change. Lee Yeon-hee played along, knowing full well what she was doing.
“You’d gain transcendent power for a moment. It varies from person to person, but… you’d become a superhuman for about a minute. After that, all the blood vessels in your body would burst, though.”
“You’re so sure, as if you’ve seen it yourself. Did you do an experiment?”
“Well, I just saw it in a report.”
Lee Yeon-hee just smiled quietly. Then, she placed a stack of documents on the desk. Gu Tae-hee’s eyes turned cold.
Gu Tae-hee picked up the stack of documents. There were 13 pages in total. Each page had the names and personal information of more than 10 people.
Most of them were foreigners pretending to be Korean. North Korean spies, Chinese operatives, Japanese agents, American informants, killers of unknown origin, Korean traitors, and so on.
“Deal with them next week.”
“…The price?”
“I’ll turn a blind eye to the Gosan faction incident. If that’s not enough, take care of it yourself.”
Gu Tae-hee looked through the documents once more and placed them back on the desk. She was about to ask Lee Yeon-hee a question, but the chair where she had been sitting was already empty.
“That damn bitch…”
She deliberately cursed to provoke her and looked around. The office door was closed. There were no signs of it being opened. The same was true for the window. It was a perfect locked room. If there had been any sign of her leaving, there was no way she wouldn’t have noticed.
“That ghost-like bitch. She awakened an ability just like her.”
A third time. She looked through the documents. Most of the people listed here were related to the government. If she dealt with all of them, there would be a backlash. And yet, she was ordering her to deal with them? Was she planning to throw her away after using her?
‘She told me to deal with them next week. She’s probably planning to use this zombie outbreak as an excuse to clean them up.’
It was a cover-up, but once the zombie virus broke out, other countries wouldn’t have the time to worry about such things. In a way, it was the perfect time to weed out spies.
• • •
D-13.
It was the day before the attack on the War Research Institute.
There hadn’t been anything particularly special happening. Gu Tae-hee, the boss of Taehwang, kept her promise. She provided money and food, and even sent people to repair and renovate Sungak Elementary School. Well, that was just the basic framework. Sungak Elementary School would eventually be slowly fortified with Na Chae-young’s technologist ability.
The generator was running smoothly, the inside of the dormitory was converted into a prison, the gymnasium was filled with exercise equipment, and the cafeteria was operating normally. Sungak Elementary School had become a shelter capable of accommodating about 500 people without any problems. Of course, it was by no means a shelter safe from a nuclear attack.
‘Even if dozens or hundreds of zombies come, it’ll be safe.’
I focused on exercising again. In the past few days, when I had nothing to do, I either teased Na Chae-young or devoted myself to exercise. The exercise had an effect. At least, I was definitely stronger than when I first came to this world.
“Yu-jin. It’s done.”
Na Chae-young called me. What she handed me was a black outfit. Of course, it wasn’t an ordinary outfit. It was a kind of armor. I changed my clothes right in front of Na Chae-young. Na Chae-young, who was used to my body, just stood there expressionlessly.
“It’s heavier than I thought.”
“It’s bulletproof and stab-proof. If it weren’t for the resources Taehwang provided, I wouldn’t have been able to make it in time.”
“Good. Now that I have armor, I can attack the War Research Institute tomorrow.”
“I’m the one who brought up the idea, but should we really risk attacking the institute? It would be good to have the combat AI data, but even without it, it’s not difficult to survive right now. Besides, with your skills, you’re much better than any combat AI.”
“We have to do what we can. We’ve already made a plan, haven’t we?”
“……Okay.”
“Tell me more about what’s in that institute.”
“I don’t know either. The game Eternal Eden has roguelike elements. There are things that change and things that don’t.”
“Is it a game of luck?”
“…You’re not wrong. Every time you play, the NPCs and companies are different. However, there are a few things that don’t change. The major events like the zombie outbreak are one of them. And special places like the Korean War Weapons Research Institute. There are always special monsters in the Korean War Research Institute. Awakeners, test subjects, soldiers, and so on… It’s a difficult place to attack in the beginning.”
Na Chae-young said with a serious face. But I wasn’t scared at all. In fact, I was a little excited. I felt like my body had stiffened up from just exercising.
“Don’t worry too much. You know my skills. If things get bad, I can just take the Bister I that I bought from Taehwang.”
“I don’t like relying on drugs.”
“Do you think I’m going to become a drug addict?”
“It’s not that. If you keep taking drugs, you can develop drug tolerance. Usually, you develop drug addiction, but… you have absolute mental strength, so addiction is out of the question. Drug tolerance means that you develop tolerance faster each time you take the same drug, and eventually you become immune to certain drugs. So, you should avoid drugs as much as possible unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
“There was such a thing. That’s a shame.”
I scratched my head in disappointment. The transcendent power I had gained from taking dozens of Bister I. Just thinking about that power made me want to gulp down Bister I right now. There was the side effect of blood vessels bursting, but I had recovery, so I just had to endure a little pain.
‘Drug tolerance was unexpected. I can’t help it. I’ll have to take the drugs only when it’s necessary, as Chae-young said.’
And that night, I went up to the 5th floor. The renovated 5th floor had been turned into a dormitory. There were small rooms attached to each other. Of course, my room was bigger than three rooms combined. It was my privilege as the owner of Sungak Elementary School.
I entered my room. There was a closet and a bed. Na Chae-young was sitting naked on the king-size bed. As I had told her, she was waiting naked. I smiled at her admirable behavior.
Na Chae-young blushed when she saw me. I paused at her unusual reaction. She then turned her body towards me and spread her legs. Her plump, white thighs spread apart, exposing her genitals. Na Chae-young spread her pink pussy under her thick pubic hair with her fingers and said in a trembling voice.
“Today… use your dick to fuck my pussy.”
