Chapter 2397 – 2397. Eternal Eden
I bolted out of the building and shivered in the cold.
‘Ugh, damn it. It’s hard to even move.’
I immediately went back inside.
If this were my real body, this level of cold wouldn’t be anything.
Right now, my physical abilities are similar to or below an E-rank hunter in the real world. Plus, I can’t even use mana.
-Yujin. You didn’t even bring your weapons. Are you out of your mind?
Na Chaeyoung’s voice, coming through the building’s speakers, was full of disbelief.
‘That’s right. I can’t put them in my inventory. I can put them in, but I can’t take them out in this world. I’ve been using the inventory so much that I forgot.’
Things like swords and equipment have to be carried around. I sighed at the inconvenience and turned to go get my gear.
The cutlass I use in this world, the cold-weather gear I have to wear because of the weather, and a gun and grenades just in case.
-Choi Hyejin and Irina are on standby too. Should I deploy them?
They were the strongest forces at Seongak Elementary School right now. Except for me, of course.
Sending them to fight the Variants was out of the question. If the weather were better, maybe. But sending them to fight Variants in this awful weather was a bad idea. And Na Chaeyoung needed to be protected in case something happened.
“Leave them be. The Holy Guard needs to gain experience too. And the combat AI as well. But when can we start using the combat AI?”
-We can use it right away. It’s probably much better than the elite soldiers. The downside is that it’s not good at dealing with variables… And there aren’t many combat machines for the combat AI to control. You know that. Our resources are limited. Resources are steadily accumulating, but not enough to produce combat machines.
There was nothing to be done about it for now.
Seongak Elementary School didn’t control all of Seoul.
‘It’s just a matter of time. The seeds of the plan to swallow all of Seoul, and then all of Korea, have already been sown.’
I gathered my gear and went outside.
The cold-weather gear didn’t completely block the cold. But it seemed like I could be active for a few hours. It was hard to even move earlier.
I was wearing a combat helmet, which felt awkward.
-Can you hear me?
“I can hear you fine. But do I really have to wear this?”
-That helmet will also block the cold. Why? Can’t you see well?
“I can see fine. The HUD design is pretty good too. But it’s a bit stuffy.”
A UHD display appeared. A small map, weather information, heart rate, etc., were being transmitted in real time. The game mini-map was useful, if nothing else.
-There’s nothing we can do about it being stuffy. Get used to it. I’ll put up the navigation, so just go where it tells you.
The mini-map reacted. I wasn’t controlling it; Na Chaeyoung was controlling it in real time.
-The blue dot on the map is you. Allies are green, and enemies are red. The red triangles are Variants or boss-level enemies. You understand the situation from the map, right?
The Variants were outside the elementary school. They weren’t moving yet. I didn’t know why. Thanks to that, I could take my time.
“The Holy Guard is fighting well. Show me the video. I want to see how they fight.”
A video appeared on the display.
The Holy Guard members, armed with combat helmets, cold-weather gear, assault rifles, swords, and grenades, were overwhelming the Mutant Mu Hounds. They calmly fired their assault rifles from a distance, and when the distance closed, two members stepped forward to block and slash.
“Finished. No injuries.”
“Five Mu Hounds spotted at 2 o’clock. They’re running this way. Squad leader, may I use grenades?”
“It’s an open area. Use them.”
There was no fear in the members’ voices. I nodded in satisfaction.
“Good. They’re useful.”
-We’ve invested quite a bit in them. It’s their first real battle against Mu Hounds, but there’s no problem. The real problem is the Variants. We don’t know what abilities they have yet. Be careful.
Na Chaeyoung was overly cautious about the Variants. Of course, I understood her. Even well-trained military units had a hard time dealing with Variants.
I ran across the snow-covered field and arrived where the Variant was. There was a red-skinned dog over 2 meters tall. It was hairless, so I was amazed at how it was enduring the cold.
“Krrr….”
The Variant growled, drooling. White steam came out of its mouth, revealing sharp teeth.
“Something’s weird.”
-What’s weird? …You’re not being careless, are you?
“Its eyes are weird.”
-……You can tell by the Variant’s eyes?
Na Chaeyoung asked back. Her reaction was natural. It would look like a normal monster to her, not something with weird eyes.
I could tell because I’d faced all kinds of monsters in many worlds.
“Its eyes are messed up. Variants and Mutants aren’t normal, but this feels like it’s messed up in a different way.”
-……You mean the Variant isn’t in its right mind right now?
“That’s how it feels to me.”
-Maybe it’s the work of a Player. Some Espers have the ability to control the minds of Variants.
“Someone deliberately sent a Variant here to attack?”
-It’s just a guess. But it’s highly likely.
There were more than three suspicious people.
First, the raider group. They were criminals. They could do anything. I had cleaned up the raiders nearby, but they kept reappearing like cockroaches.
The Ilwoo Group, with whom I had a bad relationship. They might have been involved again.
The American CIA. I didn’t have a good relationship with them either.
It wouldn’t be strange if another enemy suddenly appeared.
‘…Anyway. This dog bastard has been sizing me up for a while now. Why isn’t it attacking?’
I was constantly preparing to counterattack if it attacked. It was much easier to aim for a one-hit kill than to get into a brawl.
‘Could it be that this dog bastard knows it’ll die if it comes in? It’s pretty smart for a dog bastard.’
If it wasn’t coming, I had to go.
I walked through the snow. Then, I got caught in the snow and my leg sank in. My balance was temporarily broken. The Mutant Mu Hound Variant took advantage of that gap and charged.
‘So it was playing tricks. Is this its trick? Or….’
The Mu Hound swung its front paw with sharp claws. I quickly regained my balance and blocked the claws with my cutlass, and pulled out the pistol from my thigh with my left hand.
‘Even if my shooting skills are terrible, I can’t miss at this distance.’
Bang bang bang bang!
Special armor-piercing rounds made for Variants hit its body. It didn’t even flinch and lunged its snout. It was clearly strange. Even if it was a Variant, it was still a living thing and had to feel pain. But it didn’t even show any signs of feeling pain.
Thunderclap Style (雷天流) – Thunderclap Burst (裂雷).
Dozens of strands of lightning shot out from the blade of the cutlass and pierced the Variant’s torso. I stabbed the silver blade into its neck as it paused, seemingly paralyzed. Just in case, I immediately cut off its head and killed it.
“It’s over. It was nothing.”
-I saw. We’re done here too. Two injured. They didn’t get hurt fighting; they slipped because of the snow. The injuries are minor.
“So, in short, there’s no damage? Good. Not bad. I’m returning.”
-Bring the Variant’s corpse. The Variant’s corpse is a valuable resource.
“Ah.”
I paused, about to put it in my inventory. Not being able to use the inventory was really annoying.
• • •
Jo Jeonghong, who had been sitting in a chair, opened his eyes. A drop of sweat trickled down his forehead. Marcus, a white man next to him, brushed his orange hair back and asked.
“How did the operation go? Was it successful?”
Jo Jeonghong’s eyes twitched. He touched his neck with his right hand. He didn’t feel any pain.
“It failed. He was no ordinary opponent. Seong Yujin stepped in and killed me… no, the Variant.”
“So the rumors about him being the strongest Awakened in Korea aren’t just rumors. What about his forces?”
“There were troops armed to the level of special forces. They were all elites. They didn’t hesitate to fight the Mu Hounds.”
“So we can’t break through with just Mutants. This is troublesome.”
Marcus stroked his chin.
He and Jo Jeonghong were members of ‘Signals,’ an American faction. A faction created by powerful people and businessmen to prepare for the apocalypse.
They had two goals.
To secure Seong Yujin, a healer. Healers were very rare among the Awakened, so they had to succeed.
The other goal was to ruin the summit between South and North Korea. Many in their faction, ‘Signals,’ were not happy with the summit itself. Specifically, those who would benefit from a Korean war.
“It’s hard to kidnap Seong Yujin by force… so the only thing left is to persuade him.”
“It’s impossible. If he could be persuaded, the CIA would have already persuaded him. There’s also information that he maintains a good relationship with the NIS. And Seong Yujin has created a cult called Seongjin Church.”
“A cult with real healing powers.”
“Even if I were Seong Yujin, I wouldn’t abandon all the power and foundation I’ve built in Korea and come to America.”
“Me neither. But there’s no way to do it like this. Our force is limited. Maybe in America. But this is Korea.”
“…Let’s report to the higher-ups and wait for orders.”
“The higher-ups won’t give up on Seong Yujin. They say he even cured the American president’s son of Lou Gehrig’s disease. How can they give up?”
Signals was a faction of people with money and power. A faction preparing for the end of humanity. And those with money and power wanted their safety first and dreamed of immortality. Research for immortality was still underway somewhere in America.
The higher-ups believed that Seong Yujin could be the key to the immortality project. In many ways, Seong Yujin was very much needed.
“Still, we have to report, don’t we?”
“I guess so.”
Marcus picked up his communicator. He used a dedicated communicator to prevent possible eavesdropping.
The communication lasted about five minutes.
Afterward, Marcus sighed deeply.
“What’s wrong?”
“The summit between South and North Korea is going as planned. They told us to disrupt the summit. And to bring Seong Yujin back no matter what. It’s best to bring him back alive… but if that’s difficult, bring back his corpse.”
“……Even if it means killing him? Did they really say that?”
“Yes. They said to bring back the corpse no matter what. You’re a Player. What do you think the higher-ups are thinking?”
Jo Jeonghong thought for a moment and said.
“If Bionics develops the technology, they can create clones. Of course, that’s impossible right now… so I think they plan to keep Seong Yujin’s corpse and create a clone later when the technology is complete.”
“Is a clone of an Awakened also an Awakened?”
“No. Most of them are ordinary people without abilities. But very rarely, a clone appears that awakens the same abilities as the original. I think they’re aiming for that.”
Marcus smiled bitterly.
“It seems like the world has already ended.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Is there a choice? We have to do what the higher-ups tell us. Fortunately, they said they’d provide support… so we have to make sure we don’t fail. You’re in a worse position than me. You’re a Player, but you’re just acting like a hunting dog.”
“This is right. Espers are the most brilliant class in the early stages of the apocalypse.”
