Chapter 47

EP 9 - Jininsadaecheongmyeong盡人事待天命 (3)

There are a few powerful elements that move the world.

[Deputy Minister Cha Jae-kyun sought to ensure everyone's survival and promote the evolution and development of humanity, but a few ignorant politicians obstructed the nation's mission.]

[We have kidnapped Representative Han Seung-moon. He will be the first to experience the evolution of humanity.]

[This is a tribute to Deputy Minister Cha Jae-kyun.]

Symbol.

[The Cha Jae-kyunists have announced a chemical terror attack! The authorities are making every effort to locate the terrorists' base and the target of the attack—]

[The terrorist group has announced that they will release the 'monsterization' drug in three hours. A state of martial law has been declared nationwide—]

[The authorities have confirmed the location of the terrorists' base! Some are considering using missiles to suppress the situation, but discussions are ongoing regarding the method of suppression due to Representative Han Seung-moon being held hostage!]

Fear.

[The terrorists' base has suddenly been engulfed in flames! S, someone is walking out! Hong Seon-ah! Deputy Guild Leader Hong Seon-ah! She is supporting Representative Han Seung-moon! Deputy Guild Leader Hong Seon-ah has successfully rescued Representative Han Seung-moon!]

Hero.

Thirty-Six Stratagems 三十六計

Stratagems of Defeat 败战计

Stratagem 31

The Beauty Stratagem 美人计

: To bewitch the enemy with a beautiful person

* * *

Crack.

Yeo Do-yeon stepped on the giant's skull and crushed it. Even though the giant's head, which was as big as a person's waist, was on the ground, Yeo Do-yeon's suit pants were stained dark blue with blood.

“Hey.”

David Kim, equally covered in blood, threw a mink coat at Yeo Do-yeon. She caught it without turning her head.

“A shop nearby. Use it as a towel.”

“......Thank you.”

Yeo Do-yeon finally wiped her face roughly.

While rubbing her corneas with the coat, she momentarily pondered whether this body was really human, but was brought back to reality by David Kim's call.

“It seems we're done with this area.”

“Well done.”

“Yeah. This is the first time I've seen something like this.”

Kim Chun-sik kicked the head Yeo Do-yeon had just crushed.

“Hiding in the corner of the building and smashing cars...”

“......”

“Pretty weak.”

Yeo Do-yeon wiped the blood with the mink coat without changing her expression. Checking the price tag, she found it was ten times her old salary, but she now shrugged it off and threw the coat on the ground.

David Kim stroked his stylish beard and muttered.

“I've never seen a giant this big use its head...”

“......”

“If it wasn't for the two of us in the car, it would have been a disaster. We should be careful in this area for a while.”

Yeo Do-yeon thought the monster would have been more surprised to see two people crawl out of a completely crushed car, but she didn't say it out loud.

Clap! David Kim clapped his hands cheerfully and laughed.

“Well! Let's head back. Did you absorb the mana stone during the fight?”

“No, it's probably still inside the body.”

“Want to absorb it?”

“No.”

“I'll call the cleanup team then. Keep an eye on things while I... go to the bathroom...”

“......Okay.”

“Thanks.”

As David Kim ran to the bathroom in the ruined building, Yeo Do-yeon was left alone in the devastated city.

She leaned against the giant's corpse and let out a small sigh.

“Phew......”

It's comfortable. The overcast sky visible between the skyscrapers and the blue gate are now very familiar.

She smiled faintly, wiped away her sweat, and grabbed the neck of the monster that had attacked her.

“Gyaah!”

She forcibly hugged the wolf-sized monster and stroked it.

“Kaaah! Kieek!”

If she were an ordinary person, her face would have been torn off and her wrists severed by now, but to her, it was no more than a dog's play.

She plunged her fingers into the monster's writhing body to absorb the mana stone, then grabbed its hind legs and threw it far away.

The monster's corpse crashed through the fourth-floor window of a building. Yeo Do-yeon smiled contentedly, crossed her long legs, and leaned against the giant's corpse.

Yeo Do-yeon closed her eyes for a moment. A familiar voice echoed in her head.

‘You look average, but your attitude is terrible.’

‘You lack star quality, so you can't be used.’

‘Where did you learn such a low-class act? Trying to pick up trash in your old age?’

‘There's a kind person who wants to meet you. He's a fan of yours.’

‘If you want to sell more tickets, you need to change your clothes and get in the ring.’

‘You have no talent, but you have a lot of pride.’

“Damn bastards...”

She laughed softly and threw a piece of asphalt at the approaching wolf monster, blowing its head off.

...Is it too trashy to think it's lucky that the gate is open?

She suddenly thought about her brother, who seemed to be struggling lately. It was a completely unrelated thought, but thinking about her brother often came to her even in her sleep.

After overworking for half a year, the bastard turned 30. He can't walk properly these days, and he's out of breath after a short walk. It's not very reliable.

Yeo Do-yeon realized it was payday this Thursday and was wondering whether to give him herbal medicine or a chicken soup when her phone suddenly rang.

“...!”

She heard that her brother had been kidnapped.

David Kim returned.

“I buried a body in the bathroom because someone committed suicide there, um...”

He could tell she had left in a hurry.

Her footprints were deeply imprinted on the asphalt.

*

I called the agent sitting on the opposite sofa.

“Agent.”

The agent, who was fidgeting with a medicine packet, looked up at me. I asked the agent.

“Why did you join the National Intelligence Service?”

“Uh, well, I passed the exam...?”

“I mean, not that.”

“I passed the civil service exam. The 7th-grade open recruitment.”

The agent casually played with a pistol. I smiled bitterly and asked the agent.

“Can you tell me? I need to remember too.”

“It's fine.”

“You didn't even tell me your name.”

“I'm Kim Bop-shik.”

“Why did you end up doing this job, Bop-shik?”

The agent smiled sheepishly, as if admitting defeat, and began to speak. He wasn't a great orator.

“007. A bit cliché, right?”

“What's cliché? It sounds romantic.”

“Just... beating up villains was really cool. My uncle was in the NIS too.”

“Hmm!”

I smiled positively and nodded. The agent straightened his clothes and continued.

“But when I was on a foreign assignment, I became the villain.”

“Ah...”

“I took a family of industrial spies from Croatia hostage and shot them. Just...”

The agent quickly covered his mouth.

“Ah! Shit! That was top secret...!”

“Huh...”

Embarrassed by accidentally revealing top-secret information, the agent scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly.

“Um... Can you keep it a secret?”

“Why would I tell anyone in the civil service?”

“Thank you.”

The agent looked at his watch again.

“...Can you listen to my story a bit more?”

“Of course.”

The agent opened his mouth to speak but remained silent.

“...Ah, well, when I try to speak, I can't think of what to say.”

“Just speak freely. I'll remember.”

Twenty-six seconds later, the agent suddenly spoke.

“...In the end, I just blamed the country.”

The agent stood up and drank water from the water dispenser in large gulps.

“Just... I lost myself as an individual. Yes... just...”

“I understand what you mean.”

“I deliberately thought of myself as a part... Ah.”

The agent drank eight cups of water in a row and returned to his seat.

He wiped his face as if washing it with his hands.

“...Yoo Se-jin. Yoo Se-jin. Yoo Se-jin.”

The agent, muttering a name obsessively, asked me.

“Representative. Do you remember the name Yoo Se-jin? You don't have to remember me.”

“Yoo Se-jin. I remember.”

“He was much better than me. He was shot and killed by a communist in London instead of me...”

A tear rolled down the agent's eye as he continued speaking.

“...Ah, I'm sorry. I suddenly got emotional.”

“No, it's fine. Should I step out for a moment?”

“No, it's okay. You can stay.”

“Okay.”

The agent found a tissue nearby, pulled out several sheets, and wiped his face.

“I must have loved him.”

“...”

“I just realized it now.”

“...”

“Am I crazy? I think so. I'm sorry.”

“No, it's fine.”

Sniff. The agent checked his wristwatch with bloodshot eyes.

Silence followed for about a minute. The agent spoke.

“...Um. Biological experiments.”

“Okay.”

“I didn't really feel guilty about imprisoning civilians. I just felt sorry for them.”

“Okay.”

“I did much worse things than that.”

“Okay.”

“But why do I regret not apologizing to those people?”

“...”

The agent pulled out tissues frantically and wiped his face mechanically. I watched the crying agent silently.

“...Agent.”

“...No.”

“We can stop here—”

“No.”

The agent covered his face with both hands, and a confession slipped through his fingers.

“Five in Croatia. Nine North Koreans. Twelve in Moldova. One in Russia. Five hundred and sixty-four South Koreans.”

“...”

“This is patriotism. Patriotism. And then I ran away. Now I'm finally paying the price.”

The agent removed his hands and showed me a twisted smile.

It was an expression I had never seen in my life.

“I've lived a sinful life.”

“I'm sorry, Agent.”

“...Will it be a better country?”

“I'll make it that way.”

“In the end, I'm just blaming the country.”

“That's what countries are for, right?”

The agent laughed while crying.

“...Time's up.”

Bang! Bang! Gunshots began to echo from a distance.

- !

The agent stood up and fired several shots to create the appearance of a gunfight.

“Ah, right. Representative.”

“Yes?”

“Remember when you were sitting with the test subject on the fourth floor of Home Plus?”

“Yes.”

“I was the one who shot you.”

“You were a sniper?”

“Yes. So if you don't shoot to hurt, it doesn't hurt, right?”

Bang.

The agent shot my left thigh with a pistol.

It's hot.

It hurts.

The smell of blood spreads.

I scream and roll to the side.

I fall off the sofa.

The agent took the medicine.

The agent sat on the sofa and slowly closed his eyes. I watched him roll on the floor.

“...Se-jin.” The terrorists are all dead.

*

I must have lost a lot of blood.

My mind is slightly fuzzy.

The pain is so intense that tears are streaming down my face.

Someone shakes me, and I regain consciousness.

There's a smell of burning.

“Ah! There you are!”

“Hong... Seon-ah.”

Amidst the smoke rising from the lower floors, Hong Seon-ah found me. She gasped and covered her mouth when she saw my thigh.

“Ah! Should I pour a potion on you?”

“My thigh, th-there's a bullet, ah...! Damn...! You should pull it out first.”

She pulled out a bandage from her inner pocket.

“Got it! Then I'll just apply pressure to stop the bleeding.”

Hong Seon-ah hesitated while unwrapping the bandage.

“Is it too obvious?”

“Why did you bring a bandage if you were coming to rescue a hostage?”

“I was worried you might get hurt! Why don't you understand my heart!”

“Why! Why! Why! Why are there only crazy women around me!”

“If you keep saying that, Seon-ah will get upset...”

Hong Seon-ah carefully supported me. I endured the pain in my thigh and urged her.

“L-let's, tidy up, and, huff... let's go.”

“Fire in the front in 8 seconds!”

Hong Seon-ah shouted the slogan she used in the Shinbundang Line and spewed fire. I used her ability to clean up the agent's body.

As the two flames combined, the red fire turned blue.

Everything in the room turned to ashes, and I asked her.

“Where did you set the fire?”

“I burned the first floor completely and the second floor too.”

The room was already filled with flames. Hong Seon-ah put her arm around me and clung to me.

“Representative. If you lose contact with me from now on, it will be a big problem! Understand?”

“Yoo Se-jin... Yoo Se-jin...”

“Yes!? You have to hold on to me! Can you walk?”

“Ah, I got shot in the left thigh...”

“You can't use your left foot anyway! Pull yourself together!”

“...Now that I think about it, I've always been hopping around with my right foot.”

“Come on, lean on me!”

With Hong Seon-ah's help, I hopped out of the burning building. The molten metal from the wires didn't burn me. I looked at the agents' bodies in the hallway.

People who shouldn't have died killed people who shouldn't have died.

They were the key figures in the biological experiments and

among the surviving NIS agents from the test subject rampage,

those who chose to die.

That is, all but Jang Won-jang.

They created the appearance of a gunfight and committed suicide by poisoning. As I left the building, I turned their bodies to ashes again.

I hesitated for a moment before burning them. Hong Seon-ah, who had been watching silently, burned the bodies for me.

“Come on, let's go!”

“...Hong Seon-ah, are you... okay?”

“Yes?”

“...Burning people.”

“No?”

Right. It was a stupid question. Burning people isn't a mentally healthy thing to do.

“Um! Burning people isn't something you do in your right mind, you know? I'm also struggling a lot, even though I look like this.”

“...I see.”

“It's better than burning living things, though!”

In the chaos of Seoul, when dealing with looters, Hong Seon-ah must have had no choice but to burn them alive.

“Smile! That's how you survive!”

I looked at her wide smile and suddenly spoke.

“...I'm sorry. For making you do something you shouldn't.”

Hong Seon-ah, as always, looked at me with an ambiguous expression that I couldn't tell if she was smiling or not, and said casually.

“...Do you have to keep your promise?”

*

Yeo Do-yeon was in the crowd.

She could see the burning building in the distance and the two figures emerging from it.

“Ah, ah, this is the scene! Now Deputy Guild Leader Hong Seon-ah has rescued Representative Han Seung-moon. Representative Han Seung-moon is injured, yes. Visually, he has a wound on his left thigh—”

“Deputy Guild Leader Hong Seon-ah is desperately calling for medical help! Medical personnel are rushing to treat Representative Han Seung-moon. Ah, it seems he is injured.”

Yeo Do-yeon had a secret that no one knew.

More accurately, no one had asked, so she didn't feel the need to tell.

“Pack gauze in! Stop the bleeding! Stop the bleeding!”

“Move the helicopter a bit! Han Seung-moon is hidden by the tree! Camera! Camera! Okay!”

Everyone thought she had become tough and incredibly strong.

“Wow, is that the burning building?”

“T, terrorists were caught!”

“What? The signal is bad? No, the news director Kim Yong-hyun is broadcasting live right in front of us. You can't air it on the news?”

Yeo Do-yeon was a human with enhanced senses, including hearing and sight.

As soon as she heard about her brother's kidnapping, she rushed to the location mentioned in the news and approached the building occupied by the terrorists to infiltrate it.

She heard all the conversations that took place inside the building.

“......”

She didn't think she was particularly smart.

But at least one thing was clear.

This wasn't usually called a terrorist attack.

*

January 8, 22:00 PM.

Representative Han Seung-moon was rescued by Deputy Guild Leader Hong Seon-ah. The 14 terrorists who had announced a large-scale biological terror attack were found dead at the scene. They were former NIS agents who had conducted biological experiments under the orders of Mr. Cha Jae-kyun.