Chapter 2401 – 2401. Eternal Eden
Seeing the Nazahogs scatter like that, it was clear this guy was the one controlling the variants. I cut off its head along with Marcus.
‘I’ll take it to Sungak Elementary, restore it, and extract information.’
I see the corpses of other soldiers too. I can’t cut up and take all of their bodies. It would just increase the load. I can revive them with just a finger, but… it takes much more effort than reviving them based on their heads.
‘Those guys look like they’re just the bottom of the barrel. Even if I take them and interrogate them, they probably won’t know anything.’
The reason I’m taking the heads is because it’s more efficient to use recovery based on the head among the corpse pieces.
I was about to leave with the two heads when I felt a vibration from the ground. It felt different from the recent frequent earthquakes.
‘Something is coming this way from underground.’
Feeling the vibration getting closer, I climbed up a nearby tree. The tree’s roots were quite deep and tough. It would be hard to move freely underground.
‘The standard tactic for worm-type monsters is to attack when they reveal themselves.’
I’d faced them a few times in reality. They’re monsters whose ranks vary depending on their specific type, but they’re not difficult to deal with if you follow the tactics.
As expected, the thing popped out of the ground. But it wasn’t a monster. It was a machine. A robot shaped like a mole.
The robot’s red sensors, embedded like eyes, glowed ominously as it opened its mouth wide. A gun barrel popped out and spat fire. As soon as I saw the gun barrel, I jumped and dropped lightning on the robot.
KWAANG!
The robot, seemingly prepared for electricity, paused for a moment and then fired bullets. They were special bullets that easily pierced the tree trunk. They created a small shockwave upon impact. The technology was impressive in many ways.
‘Keep dropping them.’
KWANG KWANG KWANG!
Three lightning bolts fell in quick succession. The robot’s red sensors went haywire, and it stopped moving. POP! With a small explosion, the robot emitted smoke.
‘Is it broken? Anyway, taking this will be helpful. An unexpected score.’
I approached the robot. Judging by how late it appeared, it seems they weren’t originally planning to deploy it. It feels like it was monitoring from a distance and came when it realized things weren’t going well.
‘Did it see me taking their heads? Hmm. I don’t think so. The communication is still down. Surely they’re not the only ones who can use communication here.’
Even so, that would be too much of a technological gap. If they had that kind of technology, they wouldn’t have attacked in this way.
‘Damn it. Since I don’t have an inventory, I have to carry it myself.’
The scattered Nazahogs were also a problem. Looking at them, they were attacking the surroundings indiscriminately. It would take time to deal with them one by one.
‘Ugh. Why is this tin can so heavy? It must be about 80kg.’
I felt a bit pathetic at my situation, struggling with this weight.
I was moving and resting when three familiar-looking combat drones flew in from the sky. The guns on the drones looked quite threatening.
The sensors scanned my face. I had thrown away the broken helmet, so my face was bare.
-Appearance confirmed. Sungak Elementary representative, Sung Yujin, recognized.
The AI had a cold female voice. It was to my liking. If possible, a female voice was better. Even if it was a combat AI, I didn’t want to hear a man’s voice.
“Perfect timing. Take this. It’s too heavy, and I can barely move.”
The fact that the combat drones came all the way here meant that the aggro was all on me as planned, so Na Chaeyoung and the others should be safe.
-Maximum load exceeded. This unit can carry up to 80kg, and the current available load is 30kg.
The combat drones were loaded with bullets and bombs. That’s why there was a limit to the load.
“Then take these heads at least.”
-This unit does not have hands and cannot carry them.
“The AI is talking back…”
I had to hang the heads on the combat drone. That was a task in itself.
-…I’m glad you seem safe. Did you find out who the enemies are?
Na Chaeyoung’s voice came from the combat drone’s speaker.
“What? You can communicate?”
-It just connected. How’s the situation?
I explained what had just happened. Then I heard a sigh from the speaker.
-Wait there. I’ll bring people and go to you.
“What? It’s better for me to go.”
-You said the enemy soldiers had bulletproof suits, combat helmets, and special weapons, right? Of course, we have to take them all. We have to recover them before North Korea does. We don’t have enough manpower to move on our own, so we need to ask the NIS for help. We’ll have to share the technology we get, but… it’s still a win for us.
“I can’t share this robot, though. It’s a spoil of war I captured.”
-I was thinking the same thing. We shouldn’t share the really important stuff. So, keep that robot safe.
I could feel the desire in Na Chaeyoung’s voice. She seemed motivated by discovering advanced technology.
“What’s the current situation? Did the North Korean leader or the South Korean president die? It’s quiet, so did they both die?”
-You sound like you really want them to die. If that were the case, it would be disappointing news for you. They’re both alive.
“……Weren’t the missiles concentrated on the area where the South Korean president was? But he’s alive?”
Honestly, even I would have a hard time surviving if those missiles were coming at me.
-Apparently, there were many awakened people protecting the president. That woman told me, so it must be true. Kim Jaeji’s location was unharmed. It was a bunker built to prepare for missile attacks from the start? He’s incredibly meticulous about his own safety.
They’re both safe. We can say we avoided the worst-case scenario.
At least they know that neither of them is the culprit. The two countries are already on the brink of war. If they wanted war, there was no need for a summit. To build a cause? They already had more than enough cause.
“We should hand over the bodies and equipment to the South Korean and North Korean governments.”
-That’s the best way to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. But not the robot. Hide it as much as possible.
“Even if I hide it… it’s big, so it’s hard to hide.”
-Just say it’s our robot.
“Okay.”
Soon, NIS agents in black suits and North Korean soldiers in military uniforms appeared and began to clean up the situation. They were acting quickly, as if orders had already been given from above.
I sat on the robot and watched them. Lee Yeonhee approached me.
“Yujin-ssi. You’re safe, as expected.”
“Lee Yeonhee. What’s going to happen with this incident?”
“President Jung and Kim Jaeji wanted to bury this incident, but the reporters had already written the articles, so it was impossible to make it like it never happened. We plan to announce it as the work of terrorists who want a Korean war. We haven’t identified the enemy yet… but they are probably people who actually want a Korean war. They probably wanted North Korea to use nuclear weapons in this Korean war.”
“You’ve already figured that out?”
“It’s just a guess for now. I’ll let you know as soon as we get concrete information. And in my opinion, I think the real target was you, Yujin-ssi.”
Even though she had far less information than I did, she could guess this much. She was indeed an amazing woman.
“What about the summit? Is it postponed?”
“No. It’s scheduled to start in two hours. Since we were attacked, we can’t back down. That would mean we’ve succumbed to mere terrorism. Especially in these precarious times.”
“I want to take a picture with the president. Is that possible?”
“Of course. His Excellency is also looking forward to meeting you.”
After the cleanup was finished, I was able to meet the South Korean president. He was a well-maintained man in his fifties. He seemed easygoing. He had the feel of a typical neighborhood uncle. But unlike his appearance, his actions were quite unconventional.
“Haha. Finally, I get to meet the hero of South Korea. I’m Jung Woo-hyun.”
“I’m Sung Yujin. It’s an honor to meet the President of South Korea.”
We shook hands with smiles on our faces.
Click! Click!
The reporters next to us pressed their camera shutters.
‘Was the president’s term two years left?’
The world is collapsing in real-time. Are we handling it well? What a joke. Humans are powerless in the face of natural disasters.
New ecosystems will form where human eyes cannot reach, and variants and mutations will become stronger day by day.
South Korea in two years will be in a much more serious state than it is now. Not just me, but Na Chaeyoung, who is also a player, thinks so too.
‘She’ll extend her term and stay in the presidential seat because South Korea is in danger. So, I have to kill the president before that.’
Before power becomes entrenched.
After taking the pictures, I went into the waiting room with the president. We didn’t talk separately. I don’t know what the president’s intentions are. What’s certain is that he’s definitely not an ordinary guy, just like Kim Jaeji.
After that, the summit ended successfully. We took a group photo and enjoyed a luncheon. My women were in the waiting room. I tasted the famous Pyongyang cold noodles at the dining hall.
‘It’s delicious. I want to take the chef with me.’
After that, it was time for small talk.
I was popular with both South and North Koreans. Or rather, there were many powerful people who coveted my abilities. The fact that I had not only combat abilities but also healing abilities had already spread among the powerful.
I put their requests aside for now and just made a good impression.
After that, I returned to Sungak Elementary around 10 PM.
• • •
“Kkyaaaaaaak!”
Jo Jeonghong screamed. I shoved a small chainsaw into his abdomen, cutting and stirring his insides into a mess.
He was an esper with the ability to control variants as a player.
He spilled everything he knew when he died for the eighth time.
“Stop!! Stooooop! I’ve told you everything I know! I’ll pledge my loyalty, so please spare me!!”
“You’ve only died 15 times. How can I trust your loyalty? And I don’t need someone like you.”
“Then, just kill me!!”
“Hehe. I don’t want to? You have to pay the price for trying to kill me.”
WHEEEEEENG.
The small chainsaw spun with a gruesome sound.
Marcus, a white man with orange hair, was sitting next to me, his limbs cut off and hung on the wall. He had died while out of his mind. Of course, I planned to revive him, extract more information, torture him, and then kill him again.
They were the ones who tried to kill me and make clones out of my corpse pieces, so I had to kill them at least 100 times.
‘I can also practice my abilities at the same time. My abilities get stronger little by little each time I use them. In the case of recovery, the recovery speed is getting faster. Plus, the amount I can recover when restoring the same amount of stamina.’
After finishing the interrogation, I left the guys dead in the underground prison and headed to the lab.
Na Chaeyoung was disassembling and examining the robot we had obtained this time.
“Perfect timing. Some of the parts were so damaged they were unusable. Fix them.”
I took the broken parts she handed me and used recovery. My recovery worked on non-living things as well.
Na Chaeyoung, who received the repaired parts, nodded with a smile.
“As always, your ability is a cheat. So, why did you come?”
I slumped into an empty chair.
“We need to discuss what to do next. We need to decide how to deal with those guys called Signals. And I want to kill the president.”
“……”
Na Chaeyoung’s expression instantly soured.
