Chapter 14: The codename is Police. (1)

We ducked into an empty gas station for a moment.

“What should we do? Keep digging for information on Goblins?”

Jang Hoseop’s ability is ‘Veiled Manager.’

He has an invisibility skill, so at first glance, it seems like an offensive ability.

‘At first, I thought it was a good ability for running away….’

According to him, he thought he was a rogue.

He also used expressions like assassin or close-range dealer.

Jang Hoseop said he realized not long after his Awakening that his invisibility was a secondary ability.

“What do you want to do?”

The main ability of the ‘Veiled Manager’ is information checking.

That’s why he classified himself as a support type.

Ah, the class distinction was also a concept Jang Hoseop mentioned.

I am a close-range dealer.

“I want to dig for information on Mana Stones rather than Goblins.”

“Then do that.”

Jang Hoseop can ask the System one question a day.

He can’t just ask any question.

The restrictions are severe.

He says the restrictions will gradually ease as his level increases.

And the System’s answers will also likely become more specific.

‘What is happening to the world?’

That was the question Jang Hoseop asked on the first day of the cataclysm.

The System didn’t answer, and the question opportunity was wasted.

‘Have Goblins appeared all over the Korean peninsula?’

That was the question on the second day.

The System’s answer was ‘Yes.’

Through this question, we concluded that the world was ruined.

It was a conclusion based on a leap of logic, but we also had what we were seeing and feeling.

‘Are Goblins poisonous?’

That was yesterday’s question.

The answer was ‘No.’

We couldn’t feel safe with just the answer that they weren’t poisonous, so we planned to ask several questions about Goblins.

He changed that to Mana Stones.

“Hyungnim.”

“Yeah. Did you ask?”

“Yes. I asked if humans can use Mana Stones.”

While I was recalling the past questions, Jang Hoseop finished using his skill.

Jang Hoseop has to keep his eyes closed while using his skill.

“What did it say?”

“It said we can use them.”

“Then we’ll keep collecting them.”

It seems for now, we can only get ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answers.

But suddenly, there’s one thing I don’t understand.

Jang Hoseop said he can ask a question once a day, but why is the standard for that in the morning?

‘It’s around 6 AM….’

If the System understands human standards, shouldn’t the cooldown reset at midnight?

Considering time differences, even.

“I have a question.”

“Yes, Hyungnim.”

“Why does the cooldown reset in the morning?”

“Huh? Uh….”

Jang Hoseop said it before.

That the cooldown resets when the day ends.

I naturally assumed it was based on midnight.

“Usually, when you say the end of the day, you think of night.”

“That’s… because it’s adjusted to me.”

Jang Hoseop stammers.

“Really?”

“Yes… Due to the nature of the work I used to do….”

I can feel his embarrassment.

I can tell just by looking at his face, not even needing a skill.

“You’re a college student… Ah, you said you were on a leave of absence. What kind of work did you do?”

“So… um. It’s a bit complicated to explain….”

His embarrassment grows.

He seems to want to avoid this topic.

“It’s okay if it’s difficult to talk about.”

“No, it’s not that. I… I managed several galleries and monitored them regularly.”

I had no intention of prying.

But Jang Hoseop seemed to think he had to answer my question.

“Galleries?”

“Yes. They’re like internet servers.”

“I see. Okay. It’s a field I don’t know much about.”

“Yes… Haha.”

As Jang Hoseop laughed awkwardly, the aunt who had gone off alone to relieve herself returned.

“Looks like your work often finished late.”

“Huh? Ah… Yes. That’s right, well.”

“I also used to work at night sometimes.”

I stood up, finishing my rest.

Then, the aunt tilted her head.

“Work? What work? Hoseop?”

“Aah… Mom. That’s not it… Ah! Hurry and pack your things! We need to leave.”

“Huh? Oh… Okay.”

People who have worked night shifts know.

How inconvenient it is to live with a different life pattern than others.

I thought Jang Hoseop was a completely different type of person from me, but I found one thing in common.

---

We entered the National Assembly Building grounds through the back gate and were heading towards the main gate.

The National Assembly Building itself was completely destroyed.

Not even the frame remained, as if something had crushed it.

‘It’s quiet.’

Until yesterday, we would encounter one or two Goblins that weren’t in a group while walking on the road.

There are no such stray monsters around here.

No people either.

Just as we were exiting the National Assembly grounds.

Hwaak

Suddenly, the fog lifted.

My stuffy vision cleared.

“Oh… Ah.”

Jang Hoseop let out a low gasp.

‘That’s….’

There was an enormous monster in Yeouido.

A monster so large it distorted the sense of perspective.

It doesn’t make sense, but it looked like it was made of stone, not flesh and blood.

It had two arms and two legs, and also wings.

Its body looked bigger than the nearby commercial buildings.

“That’s totally Galliu—”

Strangely, no emotion or energy could be felt from that enormous monster.

Still, it seemed we needed to change our route.

I was hoping there wouldn’t be any variables.

Thud

“Mom!”

While I was having those thoughts.

Aunt Sujeong suddenly collapsed.

“Ugh.”

She couldn’t speak, her eyes fixed on the stone statue monster.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay? Is it because you’re scared?”

Aunt Sujeong barely managed to nod.

“We should turn back. At that size… its range of activity must be enormous.”

As far as I know, the spot where that monster is sitting is the broadcasting station area.

Right now, it’s motionless with its eyes closed.

If a monster of that size starts rampaging, Yeouido is hopeless.

Assuming it can even move that massive body.

“Hyungnim. But it’s a bit strange.”

“What is?”

“Um… Isn’t that thing a bit blurry?”

I could sense fear in Jang Hoseop too.

Still, unlike his mother, he was looking directly at the stone monster.

“It looks that way to me too. Above the chest area.”

“Right? And there’s like a band in the air, isn’t there?”

“Yeah.”

It looks like a planet’s ring.

“Above that band, it’s blurry, and below it, it’s clear.”

“You’re right.”

“Could that also be a Gate? If it’s that big, it should have been visible from the hospital rooftop… It’s also strange that we didn’t see it yesterday.”

Jang Hoseop said, supporting his mother and helping her up, as he explained his guess.

“It’s being sucked into the Gate, right? That’s why it stopped moving.”

His guess sounded quite plausible.

But I couldn’t be sure.

“Let’s get out of here. The aunt is having a hard time too.”

“Yep.”

Just when we finally decided to go back the way we came.

“Hey! You police officer!”

A voice called out to us from a nearby building.

---

I had a conversation with a group of people.

Not me, but Jang Hoseop.

“What did they say?”

Jang Hoseop relayed what he heard from them.

“They said it’s been there since the first day. At first, it was at the National Assembly Building, then it walked a bit and stopped moving.”

“It walked a little and got all the way over there?”

“Yes, it seems so. Um… On the first day, when the System talked about an immune response. They said it’s been standing still like that ever since.”

Apparently, the stone-type monster destroyed everything its feet touched as it moved.

Just walking was a disaster for people.

“The monsters?”

“They said they all ran away. Some were dealt with by those people.”

There were originally more people, they said.

Most had left, and the ones who remained were the ones who called out to us.

“Ah, they also said Mom will be okay soon. They said they were too scared to think at first too.”

“Hmm… How long will it take?”

“About 30 minutes or so.”

Aunt Sujeong sat there blankly.

According to Jang Hoseop, it was like she was under a debuff.

“But what about you? Why are you okay?”

“Huh? Why is that? Hyungnim has always had guts, so… what is it?”

We soon came to a conclusion.

It was thanks to Aunt Sujeong’s skill.

“I think that’s right. I also felt lethargic and stuff.”

While waiting for the aunt’s condition to recover, we exchanged information with the survivors in this building.

Unfortunately, they didn’t know much.

They were just holding out here, waiting for rescue.

“Ho- Hoseop-ah.”

“Mom? How are you feeling? Are you okay?”

As they said, after about 30 minutes, the aunt regained her senses.

“Mom. Look in the mirror here and try using your skill. See if it works on yourself.”

“Huh? Ah… Okay, I’ll try.”

The aunt used her skill on herself.

A moment later, she was happy, saying the skill had been used.

“How do you feel? Can you feel a difference?”

“Yes. Much better. I’m still a little scared, but… I’m okay.”

We confirmed the effect of Aunt Sujeong’s skill sooner than expected.

After regrouping, we set off again immediately.

I’m just planning to cross Yeouido as scheduled.

‘The timing of when it stopped moving, and since they say that Gate is slowly descending….’

Jang Hoseop’s guess seems to be correct.

---

In Yeouido, there’s a park that runs along the Han River.

We are currently on the road next to that park.

“Wow, cherry blossoms.”

Jang Hoseop says quietly, looking at a fallen cherry blossom tree.

This road is famous for its cherry blossoms.

At any other time, it would have been teeming with people who came to see the cherry blossoms.

Now, the atmosphere of the road is endlessly gloomy.

There are some intact cherry blossom trees, but due to the rain, most of the petals have fallen.

“I’m going to stop by that department store.”

“Yep.”

After crossing Mapo Bridge, there’s a large department store.

I plan to get supplies there.

Things Aunt Sujeong needs, and food.

If possible, I need to find a weapon too.

The metal rod I’m using is dented all over and seems like it will give out soon.

A moment later.

Just as one of the department store’s entrances came into view, it started raining again.

“Grab her!”

The department store door burst open, and a man’s voice was heard.

At the same time, a woman wearing a hood darted out.

“F*ck, go after her!”

The woman ran hard on the cracked asphalt road.

She runs well.

Several men chased after her.

“Hyungnim, what should we do?”

“Let’s just focus on supplies.”

“Okay.”

There’s no reason to get involved in other people’s business.

But things don’t always go our way.

The woman suddenly changed direction towards us.

“Heok… Heup. Ha.”

The woman, who had been running hard, came and stood next to Jang Hoseop and me.

Then she struggled to catch her ragged breath.

“Huh? Police….”

“Ah, d*mn.”

The reason Jang Hoseop and I keep wearing these bloodstained police uniforms is because they’re convenient.

I realized it at the hospital building.

Wearing a police uniform makes it easier to get people’s cooperation.

“Please help me.”

Instead, there are side effects like this.

People naturally ask for help, like the group of survivors we encountered a little while ago.

“Those bastards tried to r*pe me—”

“That’s not true! We were trying to catch her because she was stealing!”

A man immediately refuted the hooded woman’s words, cutting her off.

“Stealing what? Is that yours?”

“That b*tch doesn’t know gratitude—”

“What gratitude? I haven’t received anything, you know?”

The group of men and the hooded woman confronted each other sharply.

They raised their voices, with us in between.

The hooded woman looked to be in her early twenties at most, but she didn’t back down from several men and shouted back at them.

‘Haa.’

My head started to ache, so I looked at Jang Hoseop.

Jang Hoseop received my signal and stepped forward.

“Everyone! Hey, just a moment.”

“Officer! Those guys are total thugs!”

“Thugs? What about you? Your debut is ruined and all…”

“Is that my fault?”

Did they know each other from before?

Jang Hoseop tried to mediate, but their voices only got louder.

They continued to talk about things only they knew, getting soaked by the falling rain.

‘It seems like we could just leave them to fight….’

Just as I was about to take Jang Hoseop and the aunt and head to the department store.

The only man who had been silent stepped forward.

He was in a suit and looked to be in his 30s.

When he stepped forward, the other men shut their mouths.

“Stop. It’s raining. Let’s not waste energy and go inside.”

“Get lost! Who knows what you’ll do to me.”

“Haa… Then you’ll have to be dragged forcibly.”

The woman looked back at me.

“Did you hear that?”

Then the group of men also looked at me in unison.

Even though I deliberately put Jang Hoseop forward.

“Officer? As you know, the world isn’t what it used to be.”

I nodded.

Because he was right.

The strange thing was that the emotion I felt from him was full of hostility.

As if he had always hated the police.

“Do you also know this? Awakening itself is hard… but even fewer people Awaken attack skills.”

I didn’t know this.

Jang Hoseop has been writing down the Awakening skills of the people we’ve met, but the sample size is too small.

“Are you going to keep living as the people’s cane? Or… will you mind your own business and go on your way?”

That man must be the leader of the group.

At his gesture, the other men spread out.

As if to surround and threaten us.

“For your information, I have Awakened an attack skill. My level is also very high.”

The man in the suit approached me.

“I’m telling you this kindly because you were a police officer. I am….”

Then he placed his hand on my shoulder and patted it a couple of times.

“Level 6.”

His expression said he thought I should have understood well enough by now.

“Crazy… Level 6….”

When Jang Hoseop exclaimed in admiration, the man smirked.

“Will this help your decision?”

The man in the suit asked, bringing his face close to mine.

I nodded.

It really was a big help.