〈 Episode 6 〉 Part 1 Chapter 1 (5)
Ryu Yo-ho, the branch manager, stubbed out his burning cigarette in the ashtray.
“Hoo.”
He knew better than anyone how harmful cigarettes were, but the person he had to call now was someone he couldn’t face sober without the help of nicotine.
Turu-ru-ru-
The phone rang several times. With a click, the other person’s voice came through.
[You’ve worked hard, Comrade Ryu.]
“No, CEO.”
He swallowed hard. His whole body stiffened with tension.
[The Chairman is quite satisfied with these results as well.]
“Is that so?”
The branch manager breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.
[Indeed. When I told the Chairman about your ingenious plan to send the unidentified Monster toward Joseon, he was impressed. Of course, we figured out the specific execution method on our end.]
The branch manager was still bothered by that execution method. He fully understood that the other party harbored ill feelings toward Korea and even called it by a different name, but this time it was too much.
“Yes. You… fired a missile, right?”
[Of course, that alone wouldn’t harm an S-class Monster. But it’s enough to send the Monster flying, isn’t it?]
“…An S-class Monster?”
[Huhu. No one knows anymore whether it’s a villain or a Monster.]
A low laugh came from the other end of the line.
[The news will report that Unjang was the one who was active. A Monster, heavily damaged by Unjang’s ultimate technique, fled toward Joseon. What can we do? The Monster has already crossed into Joseon’s airspace. We can’t break international law, can we?]
“Yes, that’s right.”
As Monsters began to appear all over the world, and as their corpses and cores became new resources, the world made a single promise.
‘The sovereign nation of the territory is responsible for subduing Monsters.’
An international agreement that grants the sovereign right to subdue Monsters within its own territory while excluding interference from other countries. The Hero Association, a transnational organization, naturally protested, but it had no choice but to comply with the agreement due to the ongoing problem of disposing of Monster byproducts.
The branch manager exploited that agreement to push the Monster from China’s territorial waters into Korea. Now, the primary responsibility for subduing that blue-haired girl villain, or rather, the S-class Monster, has been passed on to Korea.
“It’s been a while since an S-class Monster appeared. Korea is truly blessed.”
[If they can hunt it, that is. Heh heh.]
The branch manager smiled along with the CEO’s sneer. Eight years ago—in 2012—after the ‘Pyongyang Incident’ that shook the world, Korea’s status in the hero community plummeted.
[Anyway, our Party can’t rashly mobilize heroes right now. As you know—]
“Yes. A black scorpion hatchling appeared in the desert.”
[That’s right. Most of our forces are inland. Fortunately, thanks to our War God taking charge of the coast, we were able to ‘drive away the Monster’ without any problems.]
There was a brief pause in the conversation. The branch manager, still concerned, opened his mouth to speak.
“By the way, what if Korea manages to hunt down that Phoenix?”
[Don’t say such unlucky things. Weren’t you the one who devised the strategy of sending an unmanageable Monster toward Joseon to make them beg for our assistance?]
“Yes, that’s right. But…”
The branch manager recalled the two S-class heroes in Korea registered in the Hero Association’s database.
But what if the two of them joined forces and succeeded in catching that girl—
[Don’t talk nonsense. You just need to quietly manage the branch. Isn’t it about time you came to the Central?]
“Ah, yes! Yes! That’s right!”
[Good. Continue to work hard for the Party in the future.]
Click. As the phone disconnected, the branch manager’s body relaxed, and he leaned back in his chair.
“Headache.”
As the existence of Monsters became a threat to the world, the status of the Hero Association, the organization responsible for countermeasures, also rose.
What sets China apart from other countries is that the power of the Party, called the Central, especially the ‘Monster Management Countermeasures Bureau,’ is higher than that of the Association.
‘The Association has many heroes, but the Headquarters has the War God.’
Unjang is only one person, but he is currently the strongest in China and a hero to all the people.
The Association wants to register Unjang with the Association at all costs, but the Party is instead trying to seize control of the Association by leveraging Unjang’s power.
‘It still looks like the Association’s connections are stronger…’
He is currently affiliated with the Association, but he is prepared to transfer to the Headquarters at any time. That’s why he is currently using his authority as branch manager to delete the combat data of Unjang’s battle today.
[Data deletion in progress… 90%.]
The black box installed in the Red Hare’s armor. The video containing the battle with the girl was being erased by the branch manager without anyone having a chance to see it.
“But…”
The branch manager grabbed a new cigarette and lit it. The end of the battle video he had played out of curiosity.
Unjang’s last action, with the swarm of fireballs embroidering the sky before him, was closer to ‘escape’ than ‘retreat.’
“…There’s no way.”
For Unjang to be frightened and turn back would be something that would get him dragged away by public security. The branch manager sucked on his cigarette and deleted the video.
* * *
Yeongjongdo, Eulwangri Beach.
Old Man Park took a walk along the desolate beach, now deserted by people, every day.
Everyone in the neighborhood had evacuated to a safe place because it was a dangerous area where Monsters appeared, and even the military had withdrawn, but the old man couldn’t leave this neighborhood yet.
“Those damn Monsters.”
The old man shivered in the cold sea breeze and turned on the radio.
The telecommunications companies, which had been taking fees like ghosts, cut off the signal as soon as Incheon was occupied by Monsters, and the smartphone he had been using became a brick.
In the end, Old Man Park took out the radio that had been sleeping in the warehouse. Fortunately, the radio’s frequency reached this place without any problems.
[…We will now replay the announcement from the Ministry of National Defense spokesman.]
As the announcer’s words, filled with fatigue, ended, a man with a solemn voice began to speak.
[The Ministry of National Defense has confirmed that China fired a missile into the West Sea…]
[…That’s what the government said. What do you think, Professor Do?]
[No, the Chinese government denies it, doesn’t it? Logically speaking, what country fires a missile at a Monster?]
[It’s clear that China fired a missile. This is something that the United States has also acknowledged! They definitely fired it!]
[So where did that missile explode? The missile exploded in the middle of the West Sea, but where is the evidence?
Professor Do, who had been sneering, continued with a mocking tone.
[If a missile had really been fired, there would have been an explosion somewhere. But there isn’t a single place like that on Earth. Did the surrounding Monsters even get agitated by the missile and start rampaging? As far as this issue is concerned, I think our Ministry of National Defense has made a big mistake—]
[There was an explosion! Hero Unjang fought a Monster off the coast of the West Sea at that time!]
The person representing the Ministry of National Defense interrupted and shouted. He was a former career soldier and currently a hero dispatched from the Association.
[Although Unjang is affiliated with China, he is clearly one of the 12 Heroes, so he would have somehow dealt with the missile fired from his own country—]
[You know yourself that’s an absurd claim, don’t you? You might as well say the Monster ate the missile.]
“Talking nonsense.”
Old Man Park turned off the radio amidst the increasingly heated debate between the two panelists.
“What’s the point of military dogs or anything else when the world is in this state?”
The south may be peaceful, but the area that used to border North Korea is a separate hell.
“When I was young, they made a fuss about the communists coming down, but they’re all dead, and now only Monsters are coming down like swarms of dogs.”
Since the tragedy that occurred in Pyongyang in 2012, so much has changed in this country. Old Man Park recalled the memory of that day at sea—
Kugugugugu–!
“Wh, what is it?!”
The ground is shaking. The intense shaking, enough to make one think it was an earthquake, caused Old Man Park to collapse to the ground.
“A Mo, Monster?!”
Paaaaat—!
Before he could even think of running away, a huge shadow soared from the sea. The shadow of a giant water snake leaping out of the sea. Old Man Park screamed when he saw the identity of that shadow.
“West Sea Weapon?!”
Kuuung!
Why did an A-class Monster living deep in the West Sea appear in a place like this? Before Old Man Park could even think of escaping, the West Sea Weapon slammed its snout into the beach.
“…Mph?”
He had been a fisherman for decades, so he could tell at a glance whether a fish was dead or alive. The same was true for the Monsters that used to be fish, and he sensed the condition of the giant sea dragon-like Monster as soon as he saw its eyes.
“Is it dead?”
There’s no way. It was such a cunning creature that it never came out of the sea, so it was practically impossible to capture. But now it was lying on the beach with its tongue sticking out.
Moreover, from the middle of its body, it was tattered as if a bomb had exploded inside, exposing all its hideous flesh.
“Is it my time to die now…?”
The radio was saying that the missile had disappeared or something, and now a sea Monster appeared dead before his eyes. Old Man Park grabbed his throbbing head and got up from his seat, cautiously approaching the West Sea Weapon’s corpse—or what he presumed to be its corpse.
“Gulp.”
He swallowed hard, grabbed a broken soju bottle from the beach, and walked step by step toward its snout.
About ten steps away.
Jjeo-eok
“Ugh, damn it!”
Startled by the West Sea Weapon’s snout suddenly being raised, Old Man Park instinctively threw the broken soju bottle.
The green-tinted weapon spun several times and struck the head of the blue-haired girl who had emerged from the snout.
Thud.
“Uh, uh?”
Her build was similar to that of his granddaughter, who was about to enter high school. However, the Mana barrier that floated above her hair upon colliding with the soju bottle quickly revealed the girl’s identity.
“A He, Hero?”
In response to Old Man Park’s question, the girl silently crawled out of the West Sea Weapon’s mouth. The body revealed beneath the light green veil clinging to her body was so seductive that it would have tempted the old man if he were 10 years younger.
The girl looked blankly at Old Man Park and the West Sea Weapon, then opened her mouth.
“…Kkeueu.”
The girl’s vision swayed back and forth. Old Man Park rushed to the girl and sat down.
“Are you okay? Did you get eaten while on some kind of raid?”
“Ugh.”
The girl suddenly covered her mouth. Old Man Park avoided her, based on his experience.
“Uwaeeeeeeeeeck!!!”
The girl violently vomited seawater from her mouth. The pungent, sour smell made Old Man Park take another step back.
“Mao….”
The girl, her focus returning, reached out her hand toward Old Man Park and said.
“Mao Zedong shi….”
The girl cursed at the current head of China’s Monster Management Countermeasures Bureau and collapsed, burying her face in her own vomit.
“……Who’s Mao Zedong?”
Old Man Park tilted his head, but still dragged the unconscious girl out of the West Sea Weapon’s snout.
Jjigeok, jjigeok.
“Ugh?!”
Old Man Park slipped and let go of the girl’s arm as he was pulling her. The girl’s head remained buried in the seawater she had vomited, and she was still unconscious.
“Ugh….”
Should I carry her? If I touch her, won’t I get into big trouble later? Even as the old man’s worries deepened, the girl continued to drool seawater from her mouth while unconscious.
“……How did she end up like this?”
The old man felt sorry and lifted the girl’s body. The girl, who was a head shorter than the old man, who was of average height, was much smaller and more petite than his granddaughter.
“Poor thing.”
He didn’t know the details. She might not be a hero. But Old Man Park’s conscience wouldn’t allow him to leave the unconscious girl on the beach to be eaten by Monsters.
Even if the world was being destroyed by Monsters, people should help each other, shouldn’t they?
“So don’t die, just live. I don’t want to deal with any more corpses.”
The old man carried the girl on his back and trudged home. Perhaps it was from the jostling, but the girl began to regain consciousness, groaning.
“Hngh, uhh….”
“Ah, are you coming to?”
“Uuurgh—-”
“……..”