Chapter 68: To Suwon (5)

About a week ago from now.

Ji-hye and Ha-eun’s group arrived in Suwon shortly after leaving Seoul, and immediately went to find their families.

As a result, Ji-hye was reunited with her parents, and Ha-eun and Eun-ji were also able to meet their mother and younger brother respectively.

“Of course, we had to stay in the quarantine area for three days, so we couldn’t hug or anything like that.”

Still, they were happy just to have met their families, and that’s how the first day ended. Nothing particularly noteworthy happened on the second day either.

The incident occurred on the third day, when the quarantine was lifted.

It happened just as they were finishing the final inspection. None other than the Sejong Provisional Government contacted them.

“To be precise, they announced a special statement through radio and the Information Strategy Board. The martial law and mobilization order I mentioned briefly earlier.”

The Sejong Provisional Government declared the current situation a national emergency and imposed martial law.

Up to this point, it was an understandable decision.

After the Upheaval, Seoul had turned into a zombie field, and great threats like elite monsters and champion monsters were lurking all over the country.

“The problem was the mobilization order.”

The mobilization order included supplies such as food and means of transportation, as well as troops to face the monsters.

Originally, troops would have been organized mainly around reservists and civil defense forces, but given the situation, the criteria for troop classification were clearly different from before.

“How different?”

“All citizens level 10 and above.”

Han-seong nodded at those words.

This too was a rational decision.

After all, a high level means they’ve had a lot of experience dealing with zombies or other monsters.

But what’s the problem?

“Actually, up to this point there wasn’t much of an issue, but there was a lot of backlash because people had to be separated from their families.”

“Separated? What do you mean?”

“For example, if I’m currently level 25 but my parents are below level 10, it means I’d have to go to Sejong alone.”

He understood what she meant.

Of course, in theory, there’s nothing wrong with that.

Citizens not subject to the mobilization order are treated as civilians, so there’s no particular reason for them to go to Sejong.

‘However…’

There’s a blind spot in this criterion.

What if there are elderly people or young children in the family who need care? Would people really be willing to respond to the call-up and leave them behind?

‘It would probably be difficult.’

Despite talk of rebuilding the nation and whatnot, at this point, what’s most important to people is their own survival and the well-being of their families.

Not many people would respond to the call-up while ignoring this. This prediction was proven true by Ji-hye’s answer.

“A day passed after the mobilization order was issued, but no one was willing to respond to the call-up. So the next day, administrators from Sejong came.”

“Oh, you mentioned conscription officers earlier, right?”

“That’s right. They said they have a skill that allows them to know someone’s level and job just by making eye contact.”

A man in a suit.

The conscription officer reportedly stayed at the air base for two days, compiling a list of residents.

The list, which included the residents’ levels, jobs, ages, and genders, was then handed over to Brigadier General Lee Jong-pil, the commander of the Suwon Air Base.

“Ah, right. I forgot to mention earlier, but Brigadier General Lee Jong-pil is my uncle.”

“I see.”

Han-seong nodded silently.

He had somewhat expected this, so it wasn’t particularly surprising. Ji-hye then steered the conversation that had briefly strayed back to the original topic.

“The conscription officer demanded that all the people on the list be handed over. He brandished the statement issued by the government. But my uncle refused the conscription officer’s request.”

Han-seong found this fact puzzling.

Lee Jong-pil is a soldier. He’s in a position where he should be the first to follow the government’s will when a mobilization order is issued, so why did he refuse the request?

Han-seong conveyed this question to Ji-hye, and she immediately provided an answer.

“Their goals were different.”

“Goals?”

“The Sejong Provisional Government’s goal is to activate government functions and rebuild the nation. That’s why they were trying to gather supplies and troops.”

“Then Suwon’s goal is…”

“My uncle believes that protecting individual citizens and expanding the safe zone should be the top priority, rather than rebuilding the nation.”

To expand the safe zone beyond its current boundaries, people with abundant combat experience are needed.

But if all survivors level 10 and above are taken away to Sejong according to the mobilization order?

Not only would expanding the safe zone be impossible, but even defending the air base itself would become problematic. For this reason, the brigadier general refused the government’s request.

Han-seong made an expression of understanding.

“So that’s why he said he’d leave it to individual choice. That way, there’s some justification.”

“Yes, although the conscription officer’s stance is that they should use force if necessary to hand over the troops.”

The two sides’ opinions remained irreconcilable.

In the end, the conscription officer left Suwon this afternoon to return to Sejong. Saying that next time he visits, he’ll use more forceful means.

“That’s all I experienced.”

Ji-hye’s story ended there.

Han-seong nodded, trying to organize his thoughts. But then, Ji-hye spoke up as if she had forgotten something.

“Ah, and this is just a side note, but yesterday an additional list of special mobilization targets was announced.”

“Hmm? What’s that?”

“It’s a list of powerful individuals who have gained fame in various regions. Of course, you’re included too, Mage.”

“…I’m on the list?”

“Of course. The Mage of Fire Thunder is famous enough to be known even in other countries.”

This was unexpected news.

He had seen himself mentioned occasionally on the auction house or information strategy board, but he never imagined they would openly compile a list like this.

“Where can I check this list?”

“On the Information Strategy Board. It was posted last night, so you should be able to find it quickly.”

At her answer, Han-seong searched the Information Strategy Board. Soon after, he found the list of special mobilization targets Ji-hye had mentioned.

[Title]: Notice from the Sejong Provisional Government

(Subtitle: List of Special Mobilization Targets)

[Author]: Lieutenant Colonel Park Min-su

[Residence]: Republic of Korea

▷The Sejong Provisional Government announces:

As the special mobilization targets mentioned previously have been finalized, we are releasing the list of these individuals.

[Seoul]: Mage of Fire Thunder

[Daejeon]: Vigilante Group Leader / Militia Leader

[Busan]: Berserk Racer

[Gwangju]: Burning Puppeteer

If you have information about any of the targets listed above, please leave a comment.

Also, we ask that the individuals named on this list join us in Sejong as soon as possible. The government promises to offer treatment up to the level of field-grade officers in recognition of your efforts.

Please lend your strength for the recapture of the capital Seoul and the rebuilding of the nation. Thank you.

The list of special mobilization targets included not only Han-seong, but also Lee Seok-hwan, the vigilante group leader of Daejeon, and even the militia leader who had already died.

It was probably compiled based on information obtained from the auction house and information strategy board.

‘Berserk Racer and Burning Puppeteer…’

What kind of people could they be?

Han-seong’s eyes shone with curiosity.

As he was doing this, the comments below the post caught his attention.

↳ Wow, special treatment? Look at this discrimination.

↳ Then why don’t you become famous too? lol

↳ But I think that level is okay?

↳ For real. If they don’t offer anything, who would go?

Envy, acknowledgment, jealousy, and so on.

Various reactions were mixed in the hundreds of comments. However, there were no comments providing the personal information of the targets that the Sejong Provisional Government wanted.

As he was skimming through the comments like that.

“Huh?”

He found a notable comment.

It was a comment left by someone presumed to be one of the special mobilization targets.

[Enchanter]: This isn’t even funny.

[Enchanter]: You did nothing when the Upheaval hit and people were dying left and right, but now that things have stabilized a bit, what? Martial law? Mobilization order?

[Enchanter]: Yeah, I’m absolutely not going.

[Enchanter]: If you’re upset, come and find me.

Just looking at the tone, he seems to have considerable distrust towards the provisional government. And below that, comments from other people followed in a stream.

↳ What? Is this for real?

↳ Oh, it seems so?

↳ Wow lol He’s straight-up criticizing them.

↳ But honestly, he’s right.

↳ And they probably can’t catch him anyway, right? If he decides to hide, how are they going to find him?

Most of the comments were supportive or sympathetic to Enchanter’s post. It was a scene that showed how many people were dissatisfied with the government.

As he was skimming through this, Ji-hye, who was beside him, spoke up in a careful tone.

“Um, what are you going to do, Mage?”

“I’m not going.”

Han-seong replied curtly.

Mobilization order or whatever, finding his sister was far more important to him. Also, even if he went, he would probably lose more than he gained.

Because he would have to reveal his physical weakness of limited mobility. He had no desire to work with the government while exposing this.

‘Honestly, I don’t trust them either.’

Like Enchanter’s comment, Han-seong also had strong distrust towards the government. After all, they had done almost nothing as a government from the Upheaval until now.

Unless the threats disappear and the situation stabilizes, he had no inclination whatsoever to respond to the mobilization order.

Meanwhile, at Han-seong’s firm answer, Ji-hye seemed to inwardly sigh with relief.

“Phew, that’s a relief.”

“What is?”

“I’m not going either. I don’t want to part with my family that I’ve just reunited with.”

Ji-hye smiled brightly.

A perfectly understandable answer. He nodded. Just as the conversation was wrapping up.

Han-seong suddenly turned to Ji-hye and asked.

“Ah, right.”

“By the way, what’s this about Hwaseong?”

It was something mentioned during the conversation between Brigadier General Lee Jong-pil and the conscription officer. At the time, the conscription officer said he would entrust everything regarding Hwaseong to Brigadier General Lee Jong-pil.

That’s all Han-seong had heard.

He didn’t know what had happened in Hwaseong. So when he asked out of curiosity, Ji-hye’s eyes widened.

“Oh, I didn’t tell you about that?”

As if she had forgotten to mention it. She cleared her throat briefly before speaking.

“Two days ago, a rescue request came from Hwaseong.”

“A rescue request?”

“Yes, it was a radio transmission from an army unit, but they just said ‘help us’ and then cut off.”

The unit in question was not far from the Suwon Air Base. A place that would appear after crossing the city boundary and going about 10km further.

The air base dispatched a search party to assess the situation. It was an elite unit consisting of twenty soldiers, all level 15 or higher.

“But we lost contact with the search party.”

“What? Don’t tell me they were attacked…”

“We thought so at first too, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. Because they were in constant radio contact throughout the search.”

If they had engaged in combat with monsters, they would have heard fighting sounds or at least screams.

But without any warning signs, suddenly the radio transmission just cut off.

“My uncle tried to send up a helicopter to find where the search party’s signal was lost. But even this was impossible.”

“Huh? Why?”

“The fog was incredibly thick. So thick that it was difficult to secure visibility even at high altitudes.”

The only fact they managed to discover was that the entire Hwaseong city was shrouded in dense fog. Seeing Ji-hye sigh, Han-seong immediately spoke up.

“You should have just told me.”

“I should have, but I was so flustered that I forgot. And I was also worried about the conscription officer roaming around the base.”

Now that I hear it, I can understand.

He nodded silently.

“Alright. I’ll look into it now.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it.”

Ji-hye bowed her head politely.

Han-seong opened his mouth towards the empty air.

“Open Map.”

A map unfolded in the empty space.

He moved the coordinates to observe the entire Hwaseong city. Soon after, his eyes widened. He was faced with a peculiar sight he had never seen before.

‘Red dots…’

There are none at all. Throughout the city and outskirts, only blue dots are marked on the map. The same is true for the army unit area Ji-hye mentioned.

Even in Suwon, there are no zombies only around the air base where survivors have gathered, but looking at Suwon city as a whole, there are far more red dots than blue dots.

‘But there’s not a single zombie?’

This is beyond strange, it’s suspicious.

And one more peculiar point he discovered.

None of the blue dots on the map showed any movement. Even when he zoomed in on the coordinates as much as possible, no one was moving at all.

Han-seong decided to take a closer look.

[Activating Precise Observation.]

[Vision is shared.]

The location was the middle of the city.

The area with the most survivors.

A moment later, when the vision of those coordinates was shared, he involuntarily widened his eyes.

Streets covered in thick fog.

Then he saw fallen people.

Building entrances, stairs, roads – everywhere was full of collapsed people. But that wasn’t the only reason he was surprised.

‘That is…!’

In the middle of the street. At the center of the fog.

What was there was a grotesque monster.

A giant sphere riddled with holes all over its body. It floated in the air, emitting grayish-white smoke, which mixed with the fog and settled on the streets.

Han-seong’s face hardened at this sight.

‘But why isn’t it showing on the map?’

Anyone could see it was at least an elite-grade monster.

But when he looked at the map again, the creature’s existence wasn’t marked. As he was bewildered by something that had never happened before, that’s when.

Twitch!

The sphere suddenly shuddered.

Then it turned and stared intently at the empty air. It was in the direction of the artificial viewpoint created by the Precise Observation function.

‘No way…’

Did it notice I was watching?

Just as that thought crossed his mind, dense smoke burst out from the sphere. At the same time, the vision was blocked, and he could no longer see anything.

At that moment.

[Activating skill.]

[Remote: Detection]

Han-seong used the skill to uncover the monster’s identity before it could hide its appearance.

Some time later.

The monster’s information was revealed.