Ch.9999. Ulsan Airport (3)

Jeong Dong-geon was evading the fierce attacks with astonishment while trying his best to maintain focus.

Each strike was incredibly fast and heavy, almost invisible to the naked eye.

If he took a direct hit, it would be powerful enough to knock all the air out of his lungs.

“W-wait. C-calm… Calm down!”

Jeong Dong-geon desperately shouted at his opponent, whose face was hidden behind a motorcycle helmet, while somehow managing to dodge the attacks.

“Calm down? I’ll calm down when I’ve subdued you!”

“No, we really didn’t come here to fight…!”

The opponent charged toward Jeong Dong-geon’s vicinity, ignoring his words, and began thrusting with the staff in hand.

This superhuman who was repeatedly thrusting with a sharpened staff seemed all too familiar with fighting humans.

After all, zombies were monsters in human form, so it was natural they’d become accustomed to fighting humans whether they wanted to or not.

‘This one clearly fights living humans regularly!’

The opponent seemed more experienced fighting living humans than zombies.

When fighting zombies, targeting the head was the quickest way to subdue them, but this superhuman was aiming for human vital points instead.

They were thrusting at the eyes, throat, groin, and heart—areas where a single wound could cause irreparable damage.

Occasional feints targeting the shoulders and arms gave Jeong Dong-geon a genuine sense of mortal danger.

“Not bad… at all!”

“Please calm down a bit!”

However, Jeong Dong-geon was also a superhuman who had surpassed level 20.

Though he had initially been caught off guard and taken a hit, he was now accurately tracking the superhuman’s staff and responding appropriately. When he couldn’t dodge physically, he defended with his weapon, effectively turning the fight into an even match.

‘Their skill is superior. But we have an overwhelming advantage in equipment.’

In terms of pure skill, it was slightly frustrating to admit, but the opponent had the upper hand.

However, compared to their skill level, the opponent’s weapon was incredibly crude compared to Jeong Dong-geon’s equipment.

Compared to Jeong Dong-geon’s gear, the superhuman’s equipment looked like trash picked up from the street.

‘Damn it. Where did someone like this come from? Even where I was, things weren’t this desperate.’

The superhuman fighting Jeong Dong-geon could sense this disparity too.

From their recent exchange, they knew their skill surpassed Jeong Dong-geon’s.

But the reason Jeong Dong-geon could hold his ground and fight evenly was his overwhelming equipment advantage.

The opponent realized how vast the gap was between their equipment and Jeong Dong-geon’s—their staff looked like a worthless wooden stick in comparison.

‘This staff doesn’t even have a metal core inside. It’s just a wooden mop handle with the tip crudely whittled with a carving knife. If I fight carefully, victory is mine.’

The staff wasn’t reinforced with a metal core to increase attack power and weight—it was merely a crude spear with the tip roughly carved with a knife.

And it wasn’t just the staff; looking at the superhuman’s other equipment, apart from the motorcycle helmet protecting their head, the rest was just clothing with fabric patches crudely sewn on for protection.

It wasn’t even military-grade combat gear like what Jeong Dong-geon wore.

There’s a saying that a master doesn’t blame their tools, but in this apocalypse, strong equipment greatly affected survival, so survivors needed to focus on obtaining powerful weapons.

Even America was giving massive resources to the cult to obtain Bahamut coins for powerful magical weapons for national survival, weren’t they?

‘With equipment of that quality, even a direct thrust… My body armor can easily withstand several direct hits. Subduing them should be quite possible.’

Jeong Dong-geon could tell from their clash that the Awakened’s staff had no magical effects.

It was truly just an ordinary staff made from readily available materials, with no special abilities, relying solely on the Awakened’s skill.

With that assessment, he felt confident he could subdue them. Jeong Dong-geon put down his rifle and drew a knife from his holster, creating a standoff to prevent the opponent from attacking recklessly.

“Ha. Think I’m scared?”

Despite Jeong Dong-geon drawing his weapon, the superhuman showed no fear, intimidatingly spinning their staff.

However, unlike before, they weren’t rushing in and thrusting wildly, suggesting they were indeed wary of Jeong Dong-geon’s drawn weapon.

‘At least the situation has evolved into a one-on-one confrontation. The others are just spectators now.’

As the opponent hesitated at Jeong Dong-geon’s stance, he had a moment to glance around.

He could see that the situation had developed into a duel between leaders—a form of single combat.

The opponent’s subordinates were watching Jeong Dong-geon’s team warily, while his own subordinates, under Son Sang-hui’s command, were maintaining their positions and trying to de-escalate the situation.

No one had fired their weapons yet.

‘At least no one has pulled a trigger. If I can just calm this opponent down, we can end this meaningless fight.’

If he could just calm the opponent, dialogue would be possible.

Confident they hadn’t crossed a point of no return, Jeong Dong-geon attempted to subdue the opponent.

“Where are you looking?!”

Noticing Jeong Dong-geon’s attention had shifted elsewhere, the opponent boldly thrust forward again.

Jeong Dong-geon deflected the thrust with his knife and tried to grab the staff to disarm them, but—

“What?!”

The staff was withdrawn instantly and another thrust came.

The speed was faster than expected, and Jeong Dong-geon couldn’t even think about blocking with his knife. He ducked to avoid it and performed a back tumble to create distance.

But the Awakened wasn’t about to let him escape. They transitioned from thrusting to a pole vault stance, leaped into the air, spun, and attempted to strike Jeong Dong-geon from above using the centrifugal force.

“Got you!”

“Oh no?!”

But Jeong Dong-geon wasn’t called the cult’s strongest Awakened for nothing. He instantly recovered his posture, deflected the downward strike with his knife, and managed to grab the staff.

Using all his strength, he swung the staff, throwing off the airborne superhuman. Having lost their weapon to Jeong Dong-geon, the superhuman abandoned the wildly swinging staff without hesitation and landed lightly on the ground.

“We didn’t come here to fight.”

Having seized the weapon and gained the advantage, Jeong Dong-geon threw the staff far outside the building and slowly approached the superhuman who was now kneeling.

“Don’t make me laugh. Do you know how many people in Ulsan have been sacrificed because of your sweet talk?! If you have any conscience, know your limits!”

But the hostile Awakened didn’t believe Jeong Dong-geon’s words and shouted about the sacrifices of Ulsan residents.

The Awakened’s companions seemed to share their sentiment, giving hostile looks to Jeong Dong-geon’s group.

Sensing this hostility, Son Sang-hui opened her mouth to clarify their affiliation on Jeong Dong-geon’s behalf.

“We know nothing about that. Because… Ah!”

But Son Sang-hui’s next words were cut short.

Her magical detection sensed the superhuman’s magic wrapping around the staff that had been thrown outside.

“Look out! Mr. Jeong Dong-geon!”

“What?!”

At Son Sang-hui’s scream, Jeong Dong-geon immediately turned around to see the staff he had disarmed and thrown away flying straight toward him.

For Jeong Dong-geon, who had confirmed the staff had no magical abilities, this was astounding. If Son Sang-hui hadn’t warned him, he might have been impaled before noticing it himself.

He rolled sideways to avoid the staff’s trajectory, but the thought of nearly being skewered turned his face pale.

The strike was so threatening that he wondered if his protective gear could have withstood it.

“Not a warrior, but a mage?”

“That’s right. I’m a mage. Why are you only realizing this now?”

The staff that had flown at Jeong Dong-geon with incredible speed now settled in the superhuman’s hand as if drawn in, contradicting its earlier speed and power.

Having reclaimed their weapon, the superhuman spun the staff and resumed their stance. Jeong Dong-geon, recovering from the shock, spoke with a cold gaze about what had just happened.

“That was psychokinesis just now. I knew from American reports that there were mages who could use telekinesis, but…”

“What a monster. You actually dodged that? And you figured out my ability from seeing it once?”

Psychokinesis was a term for the representative supernatural ability to move objects without touching them.

Jeong Dong-geon mentioned that America had reported mages with similar abilities, implying such telekinetic mages were rare.

Unlike Jeong Dong-geon, who was experiencing telekinesis for the first time, the opponent looked somewhat perplexed, calling Jeong Dong-geon a monster for dodging their attack and breaking into a cold sweat.

Even with Son Sang-hui’s warning, the staff had already come very close to Jeong Dong-geon.

Considering that all other Awakened who had faced this trick had fallen, it was natural for the Awakened to show fear toward Jeong Dong-geon who had evaded it.

“Wait—America?”

The word “America” in Jeong Dong-geon’s statement drew a reaction from the opponent.

With an expression that seemed to question why that word was being mentioned here, the Awakened showed a curious reaction and lowered their staff weakly, as if somewhat calmed.

“Have you calmed down a bit?”

“America? Don’t tell me you’re not affiliated with the Cult of Immortality?”

“That’s right. We are not affiliated with the Cult of Immortality, but are collaborators with America.”

The Awakened questioned why America was mentioned and brought up the Cult of Immortality.

Jeong Dong-geon answered honestly to the Awakened’s question.

“That’s hard to believe. Is contact with foreign countries even possible in this apocalypse?”

“I understand your disbelief. But didn’t you just gauge our strength through our brief combat?”

“Well…”

Indeed, Jeong Dong-geon was strong enough that the Awakened might question whether they could easily defeat him.

If they continued fighting, it could end in a draw or with Jeong Dong-geon’s victory, and since one defeat meant death, there was understandable hesitation about fighting to the death.

Now that America had been mentioned and they claimed not to be affiliated with the Cult of Immortality, the staff in their hand was gradually lowering.

“You mentioned a cult? If not the Cult of Immortality, what cult are you from?”

“We are from the Balhut Cult.”

“B-Balhut Cult? That… Could it be the Balhut Cult that supposedly ruled South Gyeongju?”

The opponent seemed to know about the Balhut Cult, asking with surprise if it was that Balhut Cult.

It seemed they weren’t completely cut off from outside news, and other survivors began showing various reactions to Jeong Dong-geon’s mention of the Balhut Cult.

“Yes, that Balhut Cult. Your news is quite outdated. Gyeongju has already been unified, and we’ve liberated Pohang and made it our territory.”

“I-I already knew that! About Pohang being unified. I remember when I came here, there was a commotion about some Jo-something trial!”

“Trial? Ah. You mean Jo Sun-do. And who might you be? With that motorcycle helmet covering your face, I can’t tell at all.”

Knowing about Jo Sun-do’s trial meant this person had known about the Balhut Cult for quite some time.

“…Right. If you’re from the Balhut Cult, then… Jeong Dong-geon is the name of the military official of the Balhut Cult, correct?”

“You know of me?”

“There’s probably no one in Yeongnam who doesn’t know the name Jeong Dong-geon by now.”

As if they knew Jeong Dong-geon well, they said no one in Yeongnam would be unfamiliar with that name. Seemingly frustrated, they removed the motorcycle helmet they were wearing and threw it aside.

With a thud, the helmet hit the ground, finally revealing the identity of the superhuman Jeong Dong-geon had been curious about.

“A woman?”

The revealed face belonged to a young woman with silky, flowing black hair and red eyes—likely changed color due to her awakening—who appeared to be at the boundary between a girl and a woman, looking like a young professional just starting her career.

Yes, the person who had been fighting Jeong Dong-geon was a young woman.

However, what surprised Jeong Dong-geon and his male team members was…

“Not a man, but a woman.”

“Oh, I thought she was a man because her chest is so flat.”

“I agree. I thought she was a cute guy. Surprise! She’s a woman.”

“Who said my chest is flat?! You bastards!”

…the fact that they had mistaken her for a man.

Her appearance was indeed androgynous, and her chest was beyond small—flat as a suction cup—but while everyone had mistaken her for a man, the face revealed was that of a pretty woman who simply lacked a chest.

This seemed to bother her, as she took issue with the muttering team members, but then proceeded to introduce herself to Jeong Dong-geon.

“My name is Jin A-yeon.”

“Jin A-yeon…! Come to think of it, you’re the Korean Awakened who became famous in Japan. I thought you were in Japan. I never expected to find you here.”

Jeong Dong-geon couldn’t help but recognize that name.

Her fame wasn’t from the Korean peninsula but from the Japanese archipelago.

In Japan, Fukuoka was the first city to be reclaimed from zombies, and the hero who reclaimed the city from zombies—the hero of Fukuoka—was none other than Jin A-yeon.

But why was she in Ulsan instead of Fukuoka?

“That’s not what’s important right now.”

“Yes, that’s not important. So what has happened in this land?”

Though curiosity arose about that, it wasn’t the immediate concern.

The priority was understanding why this famous hero was occupying Ulsan Airport and being hostile to outsiders.

“We are resistance fighters against the Cult of Immortality.”

“The Cult of Immortality…”

And they introduced themselves as resistance fighters against the Cult of Immortality.