Chapter 55

EP 10 - The End of Winter (5)

Bang! Bang!

We were outside the building of the Northern Gyeonggi Police Station, tapping on the window with our palms. The commander was so busy shouting into the radio that he didn't even look outside.

“Hey! Damn it! Get everyone under the black goat to evacuate! Tell the planes not to approach! Long range! What? Just fire missiles from a distance! If they miss, so what! Just do it!”

Bang! Bang!

“Don’t panic and follow the plan to evacuate! There’s no way to stop it, so just get out! Ah, ah, ah! Control access to Ho-won 1-dong, and have everyone south of there go over Bukaksan and Buyongsan to Route 29! There are some kids who escaped from Seoul, so let Lieutenant Park go down and drive the tank!”

I kept tapping on the window to get the commander’s attention, but he was only focused on the radio and didn’t look outside.

Unable to bear it any longer, Gam Ji-yoon stretched out his arm.

“Hey, hey.”

- Crash!

The building’s exterior and window were completely torn away.

“Ah!”

The commander squeezed his eyes shut, covered his head with his hands, and fell to the ground. We entered through the large hole.

“Colonel Yu!”

“Wh-what? Why are you here, Representative Han...?”

“Is air support possible!?”

“W-why are you here? We’re on the 4th floor...?”

“Is that important right now!?”

“Ah! Then what is important!?”

Gam Ji-yoon shouted.

“We need to catch that thing!”

* * *

Cheon Hwa-ran fell to the ground in despair. Despite her desperate attempts to stop her, her daughter flew away without looking back.

“Ugh, ugh...!”

“Dear...”

Cheon Hwa-ran, unable to contain her frustration, wiped away her tears and clutched her chest, while Gam Ji-yoon gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

“...Are you okay?”

“She’s just like her father...!”

“Eh...?”

Yang Pan-seok looked down at the ground from the rooftop railing with a serious expression.

“Jang Won-jang.”

“Yes?”

“...Take a look over there.”

At the spot Yang Pan-seok pointed to, people covered in black ooze were staggering and wandering around.

A few soldiers approached them.

And.

They pounced on the soldiers. Jang Won-jang said while adjusting his glasses.

“That’s a mental disorder.”

“...What?”

Bang!

The ankle of an infected person trying to attack a refugee was blown off.

He smiled slightly.

“You can’t just kill them.”

*

I soared through the sky, cutting through the snowstorm, with Gam Ji-yoon in my arms, swaying in the air.

“Auntie! Be careful!”

“Yeah, thanks-”

“Lame!?”

"...You’ve been hanging out with the construction workers, haven’t you?"

What have you learned in the past six months at the construction site? Gam Ji-yoon shouted at the top of his lungs, pointing at the monster.

“Front! Front!”

“Too close, and you’ll get hit by the tentacles!”

“Closer means stronger!”

Damn, he’s reckless. I was responsible for our flight using telekinesis. The commander’s voice came through the earpiece.

[Uh, Representative! You’re too close!]

“...I’ll set up a barrier!”

[Are you sure you’re okay?]

“I’ll set the direction, so give me the signal!”

We slowly circled the monster to get into position. The fighter jets that had been flying by were also hit by the tentacles. We can’t get within range of the tentacles.

[Going! 10, 9, 8,]

“Ji-yoon! Barrier!”

“A, alright!”

Gam Ji-yoon clenched his teeth in tension and created a telekinetic field around us. The flight became difficult due to the clash of the two forces.

[7, 7654!]

It seemed there was a mistake, as the countdown suddenly sped up, making it unreliable.

[3!]

The sound of a sonic boom was heard.

[2!]

The sound of fighter jet engines passed by behind us, like surround sound.

[1!]

A missile launched from behind us flew towards the monster.

The smell of smoke filled the air.

- Boom!

I leaned forward. Gam Ji-yoon extended his hand.

I set up multiple layers of barriers.

The monster quickly regenerated and flew towards us.

And.

- Crack!

“Shit!”

Cursing, I was hit by a tentacle and fell to the ground.

The scenery changed in an instant. The cloudy sky, the snowstorm, the trees, the brown ground.

Bang! Crack! Crunch!

We plummeted from hundreds of meters in the air to the ground in an instant.

“Huh...! Ahh!”

I trembled and tightly hugged Gam Ji-yoon. Fighter jets usually crash when they hit pigeons, so I didn’t expect the tentacles to be so strong.

The barriers I set up were instantly shattered. Fortunately, Gam Ji-yoon added to the barrier at the last moment.

He seemed to have used his instinctive control, as he was unconscious, either from the cold or fear, his arms were covered in goosebumps.

A crater was formed in the forest floor, centered around us.

That’s right, it’s a forest.

More precisely, Bukhansan National Park. The monster was above us.

The commander’s voice came through the earpiece.

[Tumor! The tumor is falling! Get out of the way!]

A black sphere fell to the ground. I clenched my teeth and hugged Gam Ji-yoon, flying up.

I moved like a fly, dodging the falling tumors.

Blood dripped from my chin onto my white shirt.

I watched the tumors explode from a distance.

The forest turned black.

The commander laughed.

[Half! Half is a success! Success!]

Hundreds of people died in each bombing, but this time, no one died.

[First objective achieved!]

We drove the monster out of the city’s airspace.

The monster was now above Bukhansan.

I slowly descended to the ground, sitting down and holding the monster in the air.

The monster stopped in mid-air.

Of course, it continued to regenerate, increasing in mass, making it harder to control.

[Fire!]

- Boom!

All the artillery on Bukhansan, which were retreating towards Gangwon Province, fired simultaneously.

*

“Isn’t it the same?”

“That’s an old story! I’m just an administrative soldier who received basic training! They gave me 6 credits-”

Thud.

Jang Won-jang handed a pistol to Yang Il-ho.

“Since you received basic training, that’s enough. In the 3rd world, even kids handle guns.”

“...Yes?”

“Let’s go.”

While Yang Il-ho hesitated for a moment, Jang Won-jang took a blue syringe from his inner pocket.

He calmly smiled and injected it into his arm.

“Oh, it’s vision enhancement. The worst one... I just wasted my lifespan.”

“...”

“Mr. Yang?”

“Ah! Yes! I’ll go! I’m going!”

*

Gam Ji-yoon, who was in my arms, opened his eyes. He blinked with a dazed look and mumbled.

“...Fireworks?”

I chuckled. Yeah, not a bad analogy.

Boom!

The self-propelled artillery stationed on Bukhansan, which were retreating, suddenly fired in unison.

The tentacles moved around, deflecting the shells, but shells aren’t something that can be deflected. They exploded.

- Come me eoSh......

The giant monster let out a strange cry, but it had no effect. It was just caught in the barrage of self-propelled artillery and missiles, repeating destruction and regeneration.

Gam Ji-yoon said.

“That! That! We need to absorb the mana stones!”

“Our goal is to retreat. It’s important to buy time for people to escape. I’m sorry, but I don’t have the strength to keep that thing in place and fly.”

Stopping the deaths from a single tumor bombing is already a challenge.

“No, no...!”

“Look at it. No matter how much you hit it, it won’t go below a third. If you get too close, you might get hit by the tentacles-”

Gam Ji-yoon grabbed my cheeks and screamed.

“It’s coming!”

And.

It felt like the barrage from the self-propelled artillery had decreased. Soon, a half-crying voice came through the earpiece.

[Uh, the monsters are all gathering around Uijeongbu! They’ve attacked the Bukhansan artillery! It’s turning into a monster field, so get out of there immediately!]

Damn, really.

Now the monsters are using strategy. Crunch! Crunch! They chewed on a nearby trash can but didn’t enter the back alley.

Jang Won-jang felt a moment of relief.

“Almost a disaster-”

Bang!

“...”

Thud. An infected person who had sneaked up from behind was shot by Yang Il-ho and fell, a hole in his forehead.

“Ugh, ugh...!”

“...Thanks to you, we survived. Well done.”

“I, I’m-”

“It’s a mental disorder, but it’s incurable. Don’t worry.”

Jang Won-jang comforted Yang Il-ho with a kind lie and quickly navigated the back alleys towards the commander.

And.

Seven minutes later, the indiscriminate killing of infected individuals was stopped.

*

- omse ......

Tumors swelled again on the body of the black goat.

[Uh, black goat! It’s coming back to Uijeongbu!]

“How far has the retreat progressed!”

[The soldiers are breaking through towards Yangju, and civilians are following in between!]

“No! How far has the retreat progressed!”

[How can I know that in this situation, you desk jockey!]

“I’m sorry.”

[If I estimate the area and the size of the units, 47% have escaped!]

“...”

I was hiding with Gam Ji-yoon at the foot of Bukhansan. Monsters were advancing from the south.

[Damn! The monsters are surrounding us centered around Uijeongbu! It’s fine on the Yangju side because there are many tanks, but the rest is a problem!]

“There are soldiers, right!?”

[What! Fake zombies appeared! I just roughly dealt with them! The police caught them quickly because they’re used to arresting troublemakers!]

“What do you mean by that!”

[Ah, I shouldn’t have said that to a Democrat-]

“Stop talking nonsense and focus, you!”

Cough! I coughed up blood, possibly from a broken rib. I definitely don’t get along with this guy.

“...”

I accidentally spat blood on Gam Ji-yoon’s forehead. I wiped it off with my sleeve.

“? Why are you suddenly petting me?”

“Because you’re impressive.”

“I know!”

Gam Ji-yoon closed his eyes again and sensed the positions of the surrounding monsters. I couldn’t grasp the vague feeling he was picking up.

Gam Ji-yoon shivered and mumbled.

“Hmm... From here, a bit to the right below? Slightly above that? A bit further away!”

I translated. And.

“Wow.”

A familiar voice came from behind.

I was startled and turned around.

“I came up from South Seoul when I heard it was a mess. It’s not as bad as I thought.”

“It’s not South Seoul, it’s southern Seoul, you ignorant person.”

“That’s what I meant. Tsk, Kim, be quiet.”

Kim Chun-sik was arguing with a guild hunter next to him.

“D-David Kim...!”

“What! Why is our Representative covered in blood?”

Kim Chun-sik looked at me and smiled.

And behind him, in the forest of Bukhansan.

"Roar!"

"Is there a monster here too?"

"Guess we’re just unlucky, huh..."

Dozens of guild hunters appeared one after another.