Ch.161Intelligence Operation

Yoon Daju grips the microphone and steps in front of the crowd.

“Everyone, attention please!”

Her voice resonates powerfully through the massive crowd.

All eyes suddenly turn toward us.

“Oppa. Say it now.”

I step forward to address the people after receiving the microphone from Daju.

“As you all know, our situation is extremely urgent. The end of the world is right before us, and countless people are losing their lives even now. Perhaps even this place isn’t safe anymore.”

I swallow hard.

I’m naturally introverted. Being the focus of so many stares automatically makes me nervous.

And it’s impossible not to worry.

Can I really mobilize all these people?

But. I have to do this.

Even if I can’t do it well, I have to try.

That’s the only way forward.

“Right now, we need volunteers to go outside and gather information.”

We need people with specific abilities.

But I’m not putting restrictions on who can volunteer.

“The organization trying to destroy the world is called the Foundation. We need to find out what the Foundation is planning. That information is essential for our survival.”

I then delivered just the plain facts.

“Of course, there’s a high chance of death. Going into enemy territory to gather intelligence is the most dangerous action you can take right now.”

“But it’s absolutely necessary.”

The people gathered in the cabin murmur among themselves.

Yet no one steps forward.

Risking your life for others is incredibly difficult and challenging.

“You all made it here safely because someone risked their lives to secure an escape route. I heard someone asking earlier why there isn’t proper leadership here. Why things aren’t being properly controlled.”

“It’s obvious why.”

“The leadership is currently outside securing escape routes. Outside this safe cabin! Thanks to their sacrifices, so many people have survived. Even now, someone is out there working tirelessly to maintain the emergency broadcasts that guided your evacuation.”

This is news to the people gathered here.

The reactions grow more intense.

Some are confused, others raise their hands to speak but hesitate.

“This is Robin. She’s a former Foundation executive who’s now working with us to survive.”

Robin awkwardly steps forward.

A wave of shock spreads through the crowd.

“Then… can we trust her?”

A woman with an injured child beside her asks.

“This is all happening because of the Foundation. How can we possibly trust her?”

Starting with that, raised voices begin to emerge from all directions.

Given the situation outside, everyone is on edge.

There are numerous injured people. Some of them are in critical condition.

“I understand your suspicion. But please… trust us.”

My words get drowned out by the agitated crowd.

If I had been more persuasive. If I had been better at public speaking.

Things might have gone differently.

I was afraid.

I’ve faced countless monsters in the apartment.

I thought I’d grown accustomed to fear.

But this situation terrified me.

Everything could fall apart because of my inadequacy.

“Wait!!!”

That’s when Heo Yoon jumped in.

Her already powerful voice becomes even louder through the microphone.

“Listen to what they have to say first! Arguing here won’t change anything.”

“And. Didn’t you all hear about the Foundation’s goal? They’re trying to kill everyone! Do you think only the outside world will be destroyed and we’ll be safe here? If we just stay here, we’ll all die too!”

Heo Yoon speaks passionately.

The atmosphere, which had been like a disturbed beehive, suddenly calms.

However, several people raise their voices in objection.

“Isn’t it too hasty to move now? We should wait for the leadership to return, regroup, and then act.”

“That’s right. Just moving without a plan won’t solve anything!”

“There are many injured people here. Shouldn’t we take care of them first before doing anything else?”

“I’m telling you! The leadership is gone!”

Heo Yoon shouts at the top of her lungs, pounding her chest in frustration.

Just then, someone quietly raises their hand.

“Um… we can trust her.”

It was the mother from earlier.

“She told me she’s a nurse and has been helping the injured without rest. And, and I! My child also received help… Everyone around here knows. You’ve all received help from her at some point.”

“…”

While we were resting in bed, Heo Yoon had been absent.

I thought we had simply missed each other.

I had no idea she was helping people.

Thanks to her, the atmosphere softened considerably.

That’s also why Robin was able to step forward and address the crowd.

“Hello. I’m Robin, formerly of the Foundation’s governing council.”

Despite the hostile atmosphere, Robin speaks calmly.

“Until this crisis began, my role at the Foundation was to protect humanity. That was the Foundation’s original purpose. But now, the Foundation has gone rogue. Council members like me who disagreed have all been purged, and only an extremist called ‘the Professor’ is leading the entire Foundation. Even I don’t fully understand why this is happening.”

There’s some deception mixed in, but it makes it easier for people to understand.

Robin’s approach is different from mine.

“Let me repeat: the Foundation has gone rogue due to one person’s unilateral decision. We need to understand the cause to stop it.”

The hostile atmosphere has somewhat dissipated, but distrust still fills the air.

It seemed like not a single person believed us.

An individual is powerless before a crowd.

The opinions, views, and tendencies of gathered people have a compelling force that controls us more powerfully than we realize.

But sometimes. One person’s courageous action can change everything.

“Will you accept non-powered people too?”

A man raises his hand and steps forward from the crowd.

I recognized him immediately.

The man I saw in the water tank memory on that rainy spring day.

It was Choi Won.

I recalled the memory.

It was a point slightly in the future.

In the apartment, he had desperately abandoned a female colleague who was melting from an anomaly.

He couldn’t refuse another male colleague’s suggestion.

Along with other colleagues, Choi Won threw their colleague, who no longer looked human, into a water tank.

It was to secure safe drinking water by using their colleague’s purification ability.

An unforgivable act, but one for everyone’s benefit.

Choi Won was the kind of person who reluctantly nodded in the face of such situations.

But I can’t see any of that darkness in the current Choi Won.

He’s just an incredibly bright and cheerful man.

I stared at his face for a moment, then nodded.

“Yes. Of course.”

The courage Choi Won is showing now will eventually transform into cruelty.

In the future, Choi Won becomes Serim’s father. Her mother was Sim Jihee, who led the Association.

Thinking about what might have changed Choi Won makes me feel bitter.

“Come this way.”

Serim is still sound asleep.

Once one person courageously stepped forward, the atmosphere began to change quickly.

People who had been hesitating finally started to move.

Once the first step is taken, things become easier.

People began to show interest in volunteering.

Only then could I state the necessary conditions.

“Is there anyone with teleportation abilities? We need someone with teleportation-related abilities to move into the Foundation’s facilities!”

“If there’s anyone with teleportation abilities, please speak up!”

“We absolutely need someone with teleportation abilities. If your ability is related to teleportation, please let us know!”

Starting with Daju and Heo Yoon, then Seok Hyunmin, Jung Haewon, Yebin, Riko, Robin, and Dan—everyone joined in the search for the necessary ability user.

It’s similar to looking for a doctor on an airplane.

With this kind of encouragement, even those who were hesitating would soon step forward with a sense of duty.

“There’s a teleporter here!”

A young man raises his hand and steps forward.

“Yes! Please come this way!”

The young man made his way through the crowd to reach us.

“Um… just call me Milly.”

“I’m Lim Dabin. Nice to meet you.”

Milly was a thin man who looked about the same age as Jung Haewon or younger.

He was wearing a large gray hoodie, perhaps to hide his build, with the hood pulled down low.

Now that we’ve secured a teleporter, it’s time to form the team.

This isn’t an all-out battle but a mission to secure an information route—essentially espionage.

As such, reducing the number of people is essential.

I’ll only take those who are absolutely necessary.

“Yoon noona, I mean, unni, and hyung, please stay here and help treat the injured. Haewon, you stay here too and help the people. Dan, I’m counting on you as well.”

Heo Yoon, Seok Hyunmin, Jung Haewon, and Dan.

These four would stay behind.

Robin is a key person, and Serim’s ability is useful in many ways. Riko is needed to open a communication channel connected to the Foundation.

I’m in charge of information. Daju is necessary for combat, so the only one I’m still considering is Yebin.

“Yebin. What do you want to do?”

Yebin thinks for a moment.

In the past, she would have thoughtlessly wanted to just follow me around. I was proud to see that Yebin had grown without me realizing it.

“I’ll come too. You know, Dabin and I are connected through our thoughts. That might be helpful.”

“Okay. Let’s do that. First, let’s wake up Serim noo—unni.”

“I’m already awake, Dabin.”

Serim was sitting on the bed, looking at us with the same mysterious appearance as when I first saw her.

Her gaze slowly moves away from me to the person beside me.

Where Choi Won is standing.

“Huh?”

“Ah. It’s nothing.”

Serim hurriedly averts her gaze.

She turns her eyes back to me, almost as if escaping.

She seems to feel awkward again this time.

Just like with Sim Jihee earlier. Since she’s meeting the people who will become her parents in the future, Serim seems to find it embarrassing.

Before the atmosphere could get any more awkward, I quickly changed the subject.

“Unni. I’m really sorry, but could you help us one more time?”

“What do you need me to do?”

“This is Milly. He has teleportation abilities, but he can only teleport to places he knows. And now we need to go to the Foundation.”

“Ah…”

Serim slowly processes the situation.

“So Robin would know the Foundation’s location, and I need to show Robin’s thoughts to Milly here?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Serim gets up from her seat and extends both arms to hold Robin’s and Milly’s hands.

“Both of you need to close your eyes and concentrate.”

“Wait. Just a moment.”

Milly nervously wipes his sweaty hands on the hem of his hoodie.

“Oh right. And everyone else needs to hold hands too. That’s how we can teleport together.”

“So we just need to hold hands in a circle like this?”

“Yes. Like that. That’s how it works.”

We gathered in a circle and held each other’s hands.

It looks like we’re about to play a game, but there’s tension within the circle.

Robin speaks in a calm voice.

“Now I’ll visualize the coordinates of the Foundation facility. Serim, please transmit it well.”

“Yes, Robin. Milly, is it working on your end?”

“Um… yes… I’ll concentrate a bit more.”

A moment later.

“It’s working now. Let’s go!”

With a sensation of our bodies lifting, we teleported to a completely different location.