Chapter 2400 – Eternal Eden
The building collapses from the shock of the explosion. Fortunately, it didn’t completely crumble, and it wasn’t a high-rise. The building’s pillars and walls held up, perhaps due to their sturdy construction.
‘It’s also fortunate that the missile didn’t hit us directly.’
I look at Na Chaeyoung, whom I’m holding in my arms. Her eyes are tightly shut. The table blocked the falling debris, so she doesn’t seem to be hurt. Choi Hyejin and Irina are also fine. As Awakened beings, they have superior physical abilities compared to ordinary humans, so there’s no need to worry too much.
“What a goddamn mess. We shouldn’t have come.”
“Yujin! Are you okay?!”
Choi Hyejin and Irina approach. Of course, I’m fine. Na Chaeyoung also opens her eyes and sits up. Her lips are trembling, as if she’s nervous. Well, Na Chaeyoung is naturally the type to take action.
“What should we do? Anyone have any ideas?”
“Can’t we just smash everything?”
“Um, shouldn’t we hijack a helicopter and escape? But maybe we can’t because of the missiles…”
Choi Hyejin was reckless, and Irina wanted to avoid fighting.
Na Chaeyoung brushes off the gray stone dust from her clothes and hair and says,
“We need to assess the situation first. Who do you think the enemy is?”
“Isn’t it North Korea? This is North Korea, and as soon as the South Korean president entered the building, a missile came flying as if they were waiting for it.”
That was Irina’s opinion. Come to think of it, most of the missiles seemed to have fallen towards the South Korean president. I didn’t see it clearly, so I can’t be sure, but that’s how it felt.
“No. Yujin said it, North Korea wants a truce. Of course, South Korea doesn’t want war either. So, this attack isn’t by South or North Korea, but by another force. Yujin, do you remember the mutant attack three days ago?”
“It would be weird if I didn’t. Are you saying it’s the work of the guy who was controlling them?”
“I think that’s highly likely. It’s too coincidental. If so, there are probably two goals. One is to ruin the talks. The other is… you. Sung Yujin. The Awakened being with healing abilities, Sung Yujin. If a force has some resources, they’d want you at any cost.”
“…So, it’s not South Korea at least. Dr. Na, where do you think it’s from?”
“The United States. Most players will choose the United States. As such, they have more power than any other country. It’s probably not the US government. It’s too extreme for them. I think it’s a faction within the US.”
Just then, Choi Hyejin pointed beyond the collapsed wall with one hand.
“There are some cobras crawling over here?!”
Hundreds of cobra mutants, appearing from nowhere, are crawling towards us. They’re a bit bigger than large dogs. They look like cobras, but their backs are covered with dense spines like a hedgehog.
“…They’re not cobras, they’re hedgehog mutants. To be precise, they’re artificially created mutants. Nazahogs. They have almost no intelligence and can be easily controlled with a little training. They’re weaker than naturally occurring mutants, but… they have venom in their spines, and they can shoot spines through their tongues.”
“How strong is the venom? It’s not like you die instantly if you get hit, right?”
“It’s not that strong. For humans, an adult can survive for about 2 hours even if poisoned. It’ll be a bit painful, though.”
Ta-ta-ta-ta-tang!
Gunshots ring out.
Not from outside, but from inside.
“You son of a bitch! Taste the spicy flavor of the Republic!!”
North Korean soldiers were firing their guns. The guns were effective. Bullets pierced or penetrated the Nazahogs’ bodies. But the Nazahogs didn’t stop. They needed at least 30 bullets in their bodies to fall to the ground and twitch.
Na Chaeyoung explained, groaning as she watched them.
“Nazahogs are biological weapons. They were designed for combat. Nazahogs don’t feel pain. The best way to kill them is to aim for the head.”
“Dr. Na, you brought a drone, right? Can you activate it now?”
“No. The signal is jammed. It seems like there’s a signal jammer. There’s a combat AI, so I can run an automatic combat mode, but… I have to go there and activate it myself.”
The plan to escape by flying with the combat drone was scrapped.
“…There’s no choice. If they’re after me, I have to be the bait. In the meantime, you guys secure a helicopter and the drone. The helicopter we came in landed on the other side, so it should be fine now.”
“That’s crazy. You’re going to be bait when you don’t even know what the enemy has prepared?”
“Dr. Na, trust me. If we get trapped here with the helicopter destroyed, it’s over. We have to avoid the worst-case scenario.”
“……The worst-case scenario here is you getting killed or kidnapped.”
“I know. Don’t worry about that. There’s no way I’d be taken down by those guys.”
I made the best decision.
At least, that’s what I thought.
‘Did Kim Jaeji and the South Korean president… die? If they’re both alive, it’s fine, but… if either one of them died, a Korean war is almost certain. I’d rather they both died. If not… should I go and kill them myself?’
I grabbed the equipment in the corner. The ceiling collapsed and buried it under debris, but most of the equipment was fine.
I put on my combat helmet. It couldn’t perform its proper functions due to the signal jamming, but it had a gas mask effect, filtering out dust and smoke. It was easier to breathe than without it.
“I’m going. See you later. Choi Hyejin, Irina. Protect Dr. Na at all costs.”
I ran outside through the collapsed wall.
Fzzzt.
A white blade crackles with electricity. The blade shines silver, drawing attention.
The mutant Nazahogs around me all turn towards me at once. They reacted at the same time, as if their minds were connected.
‘It’s definitely being controlled by someone.’
It’s a kind of psychic ability user. But they’re specialized in controlling mutants, not people.
Since they’re controlling them directly, they must be hiding somewhere nearby.
‘Find that guy and kill him. No need to show mercy. Even if there are only pieces of his corpse, I can revive him with my healing. I can extract information later.’
Dozens of Nazahogs tilt their heads back slightly. It was a preparatory motion to shoot their venomous spines. I dashed towards the back of the building. Venomous spines flew and stuck into the concrete floor. None of them hit me.
‘I hope Lee Yeonhee is… safe. She’s not an ordinary woman.’
Dozens of Nazahogs chase after me. Their target was indeed me.
‘It’s inconvenient that the mini-map isn’t working due to the communication issues.’
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Electromagnetic Wave (電磁氣波).
Electromagnetic waves spread in all directions. I could sense information within a 30-meter radius in real-time. But the information was severely lacking. 30 meters was too short. Even in reality, the range of electromagnetic waves is over 500 meters. Feeling frustrated, I head towards a secluded walking path.
Doo-doo-doo-doo.
A North Korean military helicopter flies overhead. Communication is still jammed. They must have realized the anomaly at the talks and deployed on their own. Armed soldiers descend from the military helicopter and begin fighting the mutants.
I, who was running away towards the walking path, stopped. I could sense the presence of enemies surrounding me through the electromagnetic waves.
‘Eight in total. All are wearing bulletproof suits and armed with assault rifles. They’re even wearing combat helmets like me.’
They appeared, aiming their guns at me. I realized their equipment was far superior to the Holy Guard.
“Who are you guys?”
“Woah, woah. Calm down.”
A man stepped forward. He was the only one among them not wearing a helmet. His equipment was weaker compared to the others. He didn’t even have a gun.
He was a white man with orange hair.
“Are you an American?”
“Yes. I’ve come from America to escort you.”
“The US government has gone mad.”
“My name is Marcus. Unfortunately, I’m not from the government. You have two choices right now. One is to come with us to America peacefully. You’ll be treated as a VIP. Of course, your future life is guaranteed. You can live a comfortable life with privileges in this dying world. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, so you’ll just have to fulfill some obligations.”
“You’ve piqued my curiosity. What’s the second option?”
“To be beaten like a dog and dragged away. There will be no comfortable life. You’ll be a slave for sure. You know which one is the right answer, don’t you?”
“Yeah. The second one is the right answer. If you can drag me away, that is.”
As soon as I raised my galchi sword, Marcus shouted.
“Fire!”
Bullets rained down from all directions.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Electromagnetic Barrier (電磁氣幕).
Even if I’m weaker in this world than in reality, I could block bullets with an electromagnetic barrier. But not now. The bullets pierced through the electromagnetic barrier. Their power was weakened, but they still hit my body.
They didn’t penetrate. It felt like being punched. The problem was that there were dozens of bullets. Humans die if they’re punched dozens of times. I fell onto the snowy ground.
Marcus approached me. I quietly used my healing.
“Luckily, you didn’t die. Ah, looking at your eyes, you seem curious about why the bullets are working. We knew you could manipulate electricity. So, we prepared special bullets that aren’t affected by electricity. They’re special bullets similar to rubber bullets.”
Marcus took out a syringe from his pocket. It was filled with a green liquid. It was probably an anesthetic. Their main goal was to capture me alive.
“When you wake up after a nap, a new life will unfold. It might be a somewhat terrible life… but what can you do? It’s the life you chose, so accept it.”
Marcus grabbed my collar. I swung my sword at him. I was aiming for his neck.
Clang.
A translucent energy barrier appeared in front of Marcus’s neck.
‘Is he an ability user? I suspected it when his equipment was weak.’
I knocked away the hand grabbing my collar and created some distance. They fired at me again.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Electromagnetic Barrier (電磁氣幕).
I reduced the power of the bullets with the electromagnetic barrier and dodged the vital points with minimal movement. It was okay to be hit on the arms, shoulders, and legs. I could endure it.
“Dodge! Create distance! I authorize the use of grenades!”
Before the soldiers could react to his command, I approached them first. My footwork shone.
“You’re too slow, you should die.”
I swung my galchi sword. The tight-fitting suit the soldier was wearing seemed to block the blade, but when I applied force, the blade cut through the suit and dug in.
“Kuh-euk! It, it was supposed to have anti-blade function…!”
“My sword is a bit special. In this state, it can even cut through steel.”
Even if I couldn’t cut through thick steel, I could easily cut through anti-blade suits.
Swish!
‘One down for now.’
I sensed something flying towards me. It was too big and slow to be a bullet. It was a grenade. I lifted the corpse of the guy I just killed and used it as a shield.
Bang!
I couldn’t completely block the impact with the corpse shield. My combat helmet shattered, and my left arm was mangled. It was more powerful than a regular grenade.
I started running while using my healing. Bullets poured down. It was fortunate that it was a walking path. I could take cover behind the trees.
‘If I stop, I’ll die.’
I killed them one by one as I ran. I didn’t care about being hit by bullets. I could just heal.
Swish!
I killed another one.
“You monster!!”
The soldier next to the dead soldier shouted and took out a grenade from his pocket. It wasn’t an ordinary grenade. It was a grenade with a flashing light on a machine.
The important thing was that it was mechanical.
Fzzzt.
Using electromagnetic force, I reversed the grenade flying towards me. The soldier seemed surprised and flinched. I couldn’t see his face because of the helmet, but… he must be in shock.
KWA-AAANG!
The grenade exploded, and flames erupted. The flames that shot up for a moment burned the surroundings and then died down.
‘Did they even make flame bombs?’
It wasn’t a complete weapon, it seemed to be a prototype.
Something flew towards me. A slash made of translucent energy. I kicked off a nearby tree and jumped up to avoid the slash.
‘Marcus. Is that his ability? An energy manipulation ability? Judging by how he uses it, he’s nothing special.’
I had killed all the soldiers, and only Marcus was left.
Clap!
Marcus clapped his hands. Immediately after, invisible walls appeared on both sides of me, closing in at once. Before that, I kicked off the ground and ran forward, stabbing Marcus in the abdomen with my sword.
“How did you dodge when you couldn’t even see it? Was it luck?”
“I can feel it even if I can’t see it. And you’re too obvious that you haven’t used your power before. You should get some training.”
“…No one ever taught me how to train superpowers.”
I twisted the sword. A painful groan escaped from Marcus’s mouth. I looked around at the Nazahogs surrounding us and asked him.
“Where is the guy controlling the mutants?”
“Do you think I’d tell you? You’re going to die here with me. Ah, before you die, I’ll tell you something good. We’re going to recover your body and make a clone. You know why, don’t you? Now, let’s go to hell together. I’m so glad I’m not alone.”
Dozens of Nazahogs opened their mouths and shot out venomous spines at once. There was nowhere to dodge. Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack! Dozens of venomous spines pierced my body and Marcus’s body.
‘Hmm. It didn’t kill me instantly. Should I pretend to be dead for a bit? Maybe someone will come to collect my body.’
Swoosh. Swoosh.
The Nazahogs around me scattered. And about 3 minutes later, someone came out of the bushes, stared at the dead Marcus for a moment, and then slung me over his shoulder.
Thud.
I stabbed the guy in the solar plexus with my sword.
“You idiot. You should have checked if I was really dead first. No, wait. Does that mean my acting was that good?”
“To be alive after being hit by dozens of Nazahog venomous spines…!?”
“My healing ability is pretty good. More importantly, I’m looking forward to finding out who you guys are that started this.”
