episode_0133

In advanced modern society, communication is extremely important.

Trivial banter between friends is also conversation.

Sweet whispers between lovers are also conversation.

The annoying, condescending nagging of a boss that crushes one’s self-esteem is also conversation.

A negotiation ground, where one hides their true intentions to screw over the other party and gain an advantage, is also conversation.

In that sense, what I am doing right now could also be called a conversation.

Although the eye levels are different and we are not in equal positions.

While it differs in that physical means are employed instead of delicious alcohol and food for smooth conversation, a dictionary-defined conversation is taking place.

Skills for opening hearts in conversation, or laws of successful conversation, are not needed.

Regardless of East or West, ancient or modern, physical means are excellent communication tools.

This is Gun, the fist closer than the law.

It is indeed a timeless saying.

As proof, we had a short ice-breaking session and exchanged names without hindrance.

First to reveal his name was Park Gyunam from the Infectious Disease Crisis Response Bureau.

Unexpectedly, the woman leading the Daehan gang, Team Leader Han.

Supporting her was the hulking middle-aged Mr. Kim.

And others besides.

A situation was set up where their mouths gradually opened.

I tilted the remaining large water bottle and continued the conversation.

“Why did you come to Sagajeong?”

“Sagajeong? Did you come here alone from there?”

“Answer.”

“…Because of mission execution.”

“Was that mission pointing guns at people and stomping on women to drag them away?”

“Wh-what! We’re not villains, there’s no reason to do such a thing—”

“You didn’t even hesitate, though?”

I briefly recounted what happened in Sagajeong to the Team Leader, who was denying it as if about to jump up, despite kneeling uncomfortably.

The Daehan gang members who heard my explanation did not acknowledge it.

“Th-that’s impossible….”

“What on earth is that crazy bastard doing?!”

“We absolutely had no such intention. We were clearly told to bring them respectfully—”

“Well… if you point a gun at someone and stomp on them with a military boot, anyone would become respectful.”

“…….”

“That was absolutely not what we ordered. I can swear it.”

“Swear to that person up there, then. So? Was the mission to respectfully drag all the doctors and women away?”

“We really didn’t order that!!”

At the woman’s indignant shriek, I slowly placed my hand on the table.

Clink-

“……!”

As I lifted the hacksaw, their mouths instantly closed.

Their bodies wriggled, as if wanting to escape.

At my menacing appearance, the hulking man shouted instead.

“N-no, really! We planned to escort one doctor and related people. We absolutely had no other intentions!”

Watching the hulking Mr. Kim speak rapidly, alternating glances between me and the hacksaw, I stroked the hacksaw.

‘…Doesn’t seem like a lie….’

As I assessed the truthfulness based on their eyes and breathing, Park Gyunam interjected.

“What these people are saying is all true.”

“?”

“In the meeting, it was clearly requested that they be brought in respectfully, safely, and moderately. That’s why these people forced their way through and even sent an escort vehicle.”

Listening to his calm and coherent explanation, it seemed plausible.

It truly sounded that way.

“And you weren’t fully armed with guns and grenades to kill everyone?”

“That’s because it’s dangerous outside…”

“But the guy who’s the sub-team leader shot a doctor?”

“W-what?”

“…….”

“Looks like doctors are really damn dangerous, considering they get bullets embedded in them.”

At my mocking words, the Daehan gang members ground their teeth.

“That crazy bastard! He finally caused trouble!”

“To go that far… he really was a crazy bastard.”

“Hey. Talk behind his back later and just answer, will you?”

I clicked my tongue softly at them swearing among themselves.

Mr. Kim and the Team Leader closed their eyes for a moment and tried to suppress their anger.

“Hoo…. Is the person who was shot safe?”

‘Hmm?’

In her wavering eyes, absurdity, difficulty, and apology were mixed.

The Team Leader’s cautious question didn’t seem to be a lie.

“…I saw him go into surgery before coming here.”

“You did?”

“I personally laid him down in the operating room and even spoke to him before I left.”

“…I see.”

“He won’t die. Director Jang guaranteed it.”

“Director Jang? Are you talking about Professor Jang Myeonghwan?”

Calling him a professor instead of a doctor…

“Yes.”

“He’s safe. That’s a relief.”

“Yes, they’re safe. The market people are too. The beaten women are also safe.”

At my dry words, the two fell silent.

“But your gang isn’t. They all died.”

“Wh-what did you say?”

“Don’t misunderstand. I only subdued them. I didn’t kill them.”

“What?!”

“The market people killed them.”

“Pe-people?”

“The guys who were threatening with guns and using violence were incapacitated. Do you think those who were suffering could just stand by?”

“That’s…”

“I didn’t intend that. That’s why I went to all this trouble to come all the way here.”

“…Are they all dead?”

“Yeah. Oh! That sub-team leader committed suicide with a grenade.”

“……What?”

“Haa… that psycho bastard really….”

When I asked about the continuous laments and curses, it turned out that sub-team leader was mentally flawed. They said he suffered from PTSD.

When I probed a little more, it seemed many members of the Daehan gang had experienced war. Things like foreign mercenaries or military deployments.

‘So that’s why.’

The reason I wondered why they didn’t hesitate to shoot zombies or people was that they were experienced individuals.

They weren’t just any random bunch, after all.

The only problem was that they had a lot of flaws.

Whether he suffered from a mental illness or not, it had nothing to do with me.

What was important was the fact that he threw the first punch.

Those who realized that the situation unfolded this way as a result of shooting at me sighed deeply and began to speak.

“Hoo…. Hey. Can I have a sip of that?”

The Team Leader pointed at the vodka with her chin.

“…Are you serious?”

“Because I feel like I’m going crazy. Please….”

“Heh~”

I let out an incredulous chuckle and gave her a sip of vodka.

The Team Leader, who had swallowed a large gulp greedily, coughed it out.

Cough! Khhhh…

“…….”

“Haa…. Among the orders we received, there was one to guard and escort an important figure.”

“Was that Director Jang?”

“That’s right. They didn’t explain why, but they emphasized that he was a very important person.”

“That’s it?”

“…Originally, it wasn’t our mission. I understood that another team was in charge of it…”

In place of the Team Leader, whose words trailed off, the hulking Mr. Kim spoke.

“The team originally in charge lost contact. Headquarters judged that as a failure. So they tried to send another team, but the situation got tangled.”

“…….”

“That’s why we came. Our main mission was originally intelligence gathering and support.”

“What was that tangled situation?”

“…Most of the personnel were mobilized for a military operation.”

“Operation? Was that… Gangnam?”

The Daehan gang members nodded heavily.

The Team Leader, who confirmed, spoke heavily.

“It was the largest scale operation that could be launched at the time. There was strong opposition, but the analysis indicated a possibility. As you can see, it failed, though.”

At her words, I chuckled.

Indeed, possibility is just possibility.

Perhaps thinking my chuckle was mockery, the Team Leader’s expression, glaring at me, twisted slightly.

“If you intended to succeed with that, you should have mobilized powerful firepower, whether tanks or artillery. But you didn’t, did you?”

“…How do you know that?”

“You don’t need to know that.”

I heard about that situation with everyone at the shelter.

Thanks to that, Incheol and Lee Sohee burst into tears.

The explanation at the time used the expression “ground in.”

Among the troops that were “ground in,” there were no armored units.

And of course, no missile or artillery support.

‘They must have been worried about the gains and losses to the destroyed city and facilities.’

It’s familiar and within the predictable range.

The ideas of politicians or businessmen don’t stray far from the main framework.

Deployment of infantry forces to minimize losses.

The result of being blinded by profit and hoarding money, as you can see, was a huge failure.

To make matters worse, zombies only increased in Gangnam, which was presumed to be the origin point.

It’s impossible for those who only did desk work, calculated numbers, and engaged in infighting to understand a life-or-death situation. The current situation is the natural consequence of blind greed.

Something suddenly came to mind while thinking, so I asked before I forgot.

“You said there were private groups besides the soldiers formed at that time. That was you guys, right?”

“…That’s right.”

She didn’t deny it.

I stared directly at the Team Leader and asked in a low voice.

“What were you looking for while doing that crazy stunt?”

“Th-that…”

“Don’t even think about denying it now. You’d better answer well if you don’t want to chew and swallow your own intestines alive.”

I warned, growling with sincerity.

At my suddenly changed demeanor, the pair looked weary.

The Team Leader, whose complexion had turned pale, swallowed with difficulty.

“I don’t know the details because the mission changed and we pulled back then. But I do know that the purpose was to acquire samples and data.”

“Samples, huh….”

I pointed at the bag on the table and asked.

“Are you talking about zombie samples?”

“H-how did you know that?”

“It was poorly hidden, so I found it right away.”

At my words, the Team Leader glared at Mr. Kim.

It seems that the hulking Mr. Kim was the one who hid it poorly.

“…But I hid it under a pile of luggage….”

“When looting, searching to the bottom is basic.”

“…….”

“But it’s strange. If it’s zombies, they’re everywhere on the streets. I don’t know how important it is, but is it important enough to push all those young soldiers into a death trap?”

“…I’m sorry. I really haven’t heard anything.”

“It’s probably important.”

It was the civil servant Park Gyunam who spoke up instead of the Team Leader, who was wilting dejectedly.

“We don’t know if it’s valuable enough to sacrifice human lives. We also don’t know exactly what it is.”

“Then what makes you say it’s important?”

“…Upstairs, they believe it holds the clue to the current situation.”

“What?”

I was flustered by the suddenly grand title.

The Team Leader and Mr. Kim next to me were the same.

They were conveying a “what nonsense is this” vibe with their eyes.

Regardless, Park Gyunam cleared his throat briefly and carefully chose his words.

“Headquarters views this incident as an infection outbreak caused by a virus. Not only our country but the entire world is the same. The damage is immense nationwide, but among them, Seoul, especially Gangnam, is being watched closely.”

“…The reason?”

“Aside from the dense population, the damage spread most rapidly. And at the center of it is Taeseong Medical Center.”

“Most rapidly, huh….”

“Compared to other major cities nationwide, the danger level is incomparable.”

“Because of the variants?”

At my casual remark, the gang’s gazes converged on me.

“…Did you know about the mutated forms?”

“I’ve seen a few. There are a few caught here too, aren’t there?”

“But how… Ah, never mind.”

It seemed they wanted to ask how I was alive, but seeing them quickly compose their expressions, it felt like they were letting it slide.

I was more curious about how they caught the variants.

Park Gyunam, who quietly composed his expression, continued calmly.

“Infected individuals in the Gangnam area… meaning zombies and mutated forms, have been identified as much more dangerous than those in other regions.”

“More dangerous?”

Park Gyunam, nodding heavily, spoke in a somewhat subdued voice.

“We don’t know the cause, but they are faster and stronger. Some mutated forms are not easily affected by bullets.”

“Certainly… since they’re the kind that can withstand grenades.”

“Y-you! Have you fought mutated forms?”

Park Deokgyu, greatly surprised, looked as if he was about to rush at me, but being bound, it ended with him merely twitching.

“Never mind that. So what’s in that hospital?”

“…We only presume there’s something dangerous.”

Swoosh- Clink-

“No, no! It’s because Taeseong Medical Center is the origin point where highly dangerous zombies appeared in large numbers!”

Park Gyunam, startled, spoke rapidly like a machine gun.

I, who had stood up holding the heavy hammer, paused for a moment upon hearing his rapid-fire speech.

‘Huh? Wait a minute….’

Something was tickling my mind, almost within grasp.

What was the reason for this feeling?

I was lost in thought for a moment.

I seriously organized my thoughts and began rummaging through my memories.

Hiss-

I lit a cigarette, perched on a chair, and pondered.

Danger level, zombies, variants, appearance, hospital…

One puff, two puffs.

Just as the sound of the cigarette burning down was ending.

“Ah!”

I couldn’t be certain comparing it to Gangnam.

But I had experienced a somewhat similar situation before.

“…Lee Deokgyu.”

“Yes? What did you just say…”

“Nothing.”

A small event that happened at a hospital in Yeongdeungpo.

Damn gold badges and gangsters.

When zombies attack people, they tear into them ravenously.

But the variant that bit Lee Deokgyu, for some unknown reason, only tasted him and let him go.

As a result, Lee Deokgyu, bitten by the variant, was rejuvenated into a camel cricket.

It had only happened once.

It might or might not be related to the situation Park Gyunam was explaining.

It’s just a premature guess, but…

‘Could there be a variant that creates other variants…?’

If such an entity truly exists, it’s not unreasonable to conclude it’s dangerous.

Or perhaps they randomly turn into variants while being bitten.

I continued thinking for a moment, then shook my head and chuckled.

‘It’s not like there’s an Alien Queen or something.’

Ripley also caused a nuclear explosion, devastating the site.

If such a creature truly existed, wouldn’t sweeping it away with missile bombardment be the answer?

And now that I think about it, variants appear sporadically, but we don’t know how they come into being, and their numbers aren’t large either. It feels forced to fit it to Park Gyunam’s explanation.

Or perhaps, something the world shouldn’t know about is dormant there.

It’s strange that Taeseong, which is just a corporation, got mixed up with the military and caused such a ruckus.

When groups driven by profit foam at the mouth and rise up, there’s a reason.

Either to gain profit, or to harm profit.

With nothing clear, my mind just gets jumbled.

If anything, the suspicion is only increasing.

Still, one thing is certain: Gangnam is dangerous.

‘I shouldn’t even look in that direction.’

I roughly organized my thoughts and looked at Park Gyunam.

And then I voiced the question that just came to mind.

“But then again. How can I trust your words?”

“…Yes?”

“You said you were a civil servant. How can I believe the baseless words of someone who only did desk work?”

“Ah….”

“Park Gyunam is an investigator.”

“Investigator?”

“Yes. He joined us during the process of conducting a field investigation.”

‘A civil servant working in the field, huh…’

For me, the only true civil servants are firefighters who risk their lives in the field.

As for other civil servants, my trust isn’t very…

“…I am an investigator who conducts field investigations based on information provided by the Director-nim’s orders.”

“Director? Investigator?”

“Yes. We were dividing into teams to investigate outbreak sites and trace backward.”

After listening to his brief explanation that followed, it seemed he wasn’t just the desk-bound type.

It also seemed true that he had definitely traversed the field.

And that among the surviving investigators, he was the only one left.

The others, whether alive or dead, were currently out of contact, he said.

Investigator Park continued speaking in a somewhat somber mood.

According to him, the initial outbreak site was not Gangnam.

“…Not Gangnam?”

“That’s right.”

The Daehan gang also knew the origin to be Gangnam.

I also thought so, but…

“Gangwon Province?”

“…How did you know?”

Investigator Park, his eyes gleaming sharply as he asked seriously at my nonchalant words, suddenly became stern.

“I just overheard it.”

“…….”

“No, really.”

They didn’t believe me.

Investigator Park, who was being stern, and the Team Leader, who was looking at me with suspicious eyes.

It seemed they had forgotten their own predicament and were suspiciously doubting me.

Just as I was wondering if I should pick up the hammer.

“…What exactly is your identity?”

At the hulking Mr. Kim’s words, everyone’s gazes began to pierce me.