Chapter 72

EP 12 - Those Who Bear the Burden (10)

Someone must enter the center of the gate, disrupt the axis, and come out.

All the blood shed until now was for this very purpose,

and the era was desperately calling for a hero.

And.

No one was born a hero,

but those who somehow found themselves in such a position gathered,

and no one there spared their own life.

“I’m going first.”

“Why do you sound like you’re going alone?”

A soldier with a condition that would kill him if he couldn’t save people led the way, and the fire mage with the same condition followed behind.

“...Let’s go.”

“Ah, got it...! Got it!”

A boy who had grown up too quickly joined with a guilty scientist,

“Shit...! I’m going-”

“Are you crazy!? If you want to go, step on me and go, gaaaah!”

“Alright.”

An adult who was obsessed with playing the hero trampled his own brother and joined in,

“Uncle, are you going?”

“...I can’t live a full life.”

“Everyone’s like that. I even gave all my Pororo dolls to my little brother. As the eldest, we have to endure for a harmonious family-”

“That’s my sister.”

“Why are you so bitter, Uncle!?”

Gan Ji-yoon and Han Seung-moon also joined the expedition.

Eventually,

“Everyone, keep your balance! We’re going up!”

The seven hunters entered the Seoul gate.

* * *

There were things that couldn’t be distinguished as jungle, cave, plant, or blood vessel.

Everything visible was something they had never seen before, and a sense of revulsion welled up.

This was their first encounter with the other world.

However, there was no time to admire the scenery.

In front of them was a cave,

“Get out of the way!”

The cave was the mouth of a monster.

A giant lizard stretched its long neck like lightning, opening its mouth as wide as a tennis court.

Everyone scattered instantly, but the monster turned its neck and swallowed one of them.

Crunch! The sound of bones being crushed was heard inside the monster’s mouth.

And.

“Shit...”

Through the shattered teeth, Yeo Do-yeon crawled out, breaking the monster’s skull.

She crawled on all fours, grabbed me, stood up, and hugged me tightly.

Then, she rubbed her body against me, wiping all sorts of smelly, dirty, and disgusting things on my suit.

While Hong Seon-ah was burning approaching monsters with fire, Kim Chun-sik kicked the monster’s corpse.

“It must feel like eating rocks.”

“Don’t treat people like rocks.”

“He was chewing meat, and his teeth broke, so he must have been confused.”

- Smack!

I hit the back of Yeo Do-yeon’s head, who was rubbing her back against me. She seemed to be in more pain than when the monster bit her, but I lightly clicked my tongue and looked around the group.

“Let’s form up first.”

Two A-rank bullet magnets, David Kim and Yeo Do-yeon.

One A-rank nuker, Hong Seon-ah.

And Seol Jin-woon and the gambler...

“Excuse me, but what are your abilities...?”

Seol Jin-woon silently emitted a blue sword aura, and the gambler grinned, saying “Neee...” and opened his mouth to show a large tongue.

Seol Jin-woon gently adjusted his sword aura.

“The gambler and I are entering for the second time. The doctor knows the way. I’ll lead.”

Okay. A-rank and B-rank.

When the boy poked the scientist’s side with a pipe, the gambler sniffed and pointed somewhere.

“Over there!”

“Yeo Do-yeon and David Kim, please clear the way. And Representative Han Seung-moon and the others-”

“No.”

I interrupted the boy.

There was an SSS-rank kid.

“The kid will clear the way.”

I held the struggling Gan Ji-yoon in my arms and floated up.

“And I’ll carry you all.”

The entire group floated in the air.

“...Where to?”

Before the gambler’s finger could fully extend, we were already gone.

*

While flying toward the coordinates, cutting through various monsters, Seol Jin-woon warned us.

“The monsters here are stronger than outside.”

“How much stronger!?”

“Six out of the nine who entered last time died. They were officers who had survived with me for half a year.”

The gambler backed this up.

“They’re basically squeezed out because of the lack of space! The weaker ones go out first, and the bigger, stronger ones come out later!”

This meant that there were powerful territorial monsters inside the gate,

and the warning was not wrong.

The number of monsters coming from all directions was so overwhelming that we couldn’t avoid battles at some point.

Hong Seon-ah burned swarms of killer insects, and Yeo Do-yeon destroyed humanoid creatures, but enemies beyond our imagination kept coming.

Giants, spiders, centipedes, octopuses.

These were just the creatures that could be associated with Earth animals.

An octopus with centipede legs walked like a spider, showing a human face and threatening us with sharp teeth. It was large enough to cover a small apartment complex.

We couldn’t classify it, and just twisted its neck in disgust, while Seol Jin-woon swiftly swung his sword to absorb the mana stone.

Suddenly, I thought of the solitary gu (a type of poison) made from centipedes and scorpions.

It felt like we had become ants in a jar filled with all sorts of bizarre and poisonous creatures.

Under the red sky, the only things illuminating the world were Seol Jin-woon’s blue sword aura and Hong Seon-ah’s red flames,

and the only ones who could survive a direct confrontation with the enemies were Yeo Do-yeon and Kim Chun-sik.

Our common sense didn’t apply to them, and there was nothing in this land that we could recognize.

Among the non-human things, there were humans.

This was not a world for humans.

*

“Just before reaching the center of the gate, Gan Ji-yoon finally collapsed from exhaustion. Do you understand how strong they were?”

“...Yes.”

“That, in the pulsating center of the gate. When the gambler threw a fake core, all the monsters inside went berserk, trying to kill us.”

The soldier asked me.

“Do you think they have a collective intelligence?”

“I even thought that maybe they were all part of a single organism that wanted to kill humans...”

The soldier asked me.

“And, is there anything else?”

“We crossed countless death lines. The gambler’s body was cut in half, and Seol Jin-woon’s colleagues’ corpses swelled grotesquely and approached us.”

The soldier asked.

“Do you think they are a new type of infection?”

“There was nothing new there.”

“We need to change the tactical manual.”

“From now on, in the war against these creatures, we must not be surprised by anything that happens.”

“I will remember that.”

The soldier took out a notebook and wrote something down.

There was silence. A night breeze blew on the hospital rooftop.

I gripped the railing with trembling hands. The fear had not yet subsided.

However, when I raised my head and looked at the world, the night view of Busan, stretching to the horizon, was still brilliantly lit.

The world of humans was still standing.

We successfully closed the gate.

The soldier asked me.

“Have you heard of the Seven Heroes of Seoul?”

“I believe you know better than anyone how ridiculous that title is.”

“...Well, yes. Still, without heroes, the world wouldn’t function, right?”

The soldier said to me.

“Now, we should be called 40 million citizens.”

“...”

It was a terrifying number.

“Actually, confirming casualties in war is mostly guesswork. It’s difficult to get an accurate count, especially when most are missing.”

Still, the mention of 40 million citizens means...

“...Even if we think positively. Are you saying that more than 10 million people died?”

“More precisely, at least 12 million people have died since the gate opened.”

I bowed my head in sorrow, but the night view of Busan was still brilliantly lit.

Bright enough to block out all the stars in the sky.

When I closed my eyes, red eyes came rushing at me.

Red eyes rushing from the darkness.

Bizarre flesh and sharp teeth.

The terrifying sound of wings and approaching insects.

The red sky.

The blue mana.

The black mana stone.

Something, something indescribable, disgusting, and terrifying,

a place that felt like a mix of centipedes and scorpions.

That was the other side of the gate.

“...I still can’t believe I made it back alive.”

“Good job.”

“I’m sorry, General Kim Doo-sik.”

The soldier was in a suit.

“...How was the escape process?”

“Just before the queen was completed, the gambler successfully mixed in the fake core, and the world inside the gate began to collapse. The monsters started to go berserk almost simultaneously. I carried the unconscious Gan Ji-yoon and used his ability to clear the way. It was practically a chaotic battle.”

“I see.”

The soldier’s arm had a yellow armband indicating the role of a funeral director.

The soldier asked me.

“How did Guild Leader Kim Chun-sik die?”

“He’s not dead but missing.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Then, exactly...?”

I answered the soldier.

“I don’t know much since I escaped first. But I heard he held off the enemies until the last person passed through.”

“I see.”

“Hong Seon-ah’s legs were badly injured, so she was thrown through the gate at the last moment. Then the door closed.”

“Did you see it yourself?”

“I also passed out and was carried on someone’s back.”

The soldier nodded lightly.

“I understand. Thank you. I’ll add this to the tactical manual and inform all field commanders-”

“General Kim Doo-sik.”

“Yes?”

I asked the soldier.

“Why was there no backup?”

“...”

“Even if Lee Chul-jin was busy, weren’t we always monitoring Seoul?”

The soldier answered.

“We were rescuing 120,000 people in southern Gyeonggi and supporting 150,000 national troops in northern Gyeonggi.”

“Couldn’t you at least send the air force?”

“If we did, the flying monsters would have crossed the Chungcheong defense line.”

“I see. At that time, closing the Seoul gate didn’t seem like a priority. It was a reasonable decision.”

“Thank you.”

The soldier stood up.

I still look so young.

I shouldn’t be like this.

Unable to hold back my anger, I spat out my words.

“If you had sent backup, could Guild Leader Kim Chun-sik have survived?”

“More people would have died. That was the judgment at the time.”

“Since we successfully closed the Seoul gate with just us, you saved more people.”

“I see.”

Kim Doo-sik stopped.

He was not a big man, and in middle age, he looked very frail.

“...Representative.”

“Yes.”

“Guild Leader Kim Chun-sik...”

The commander of the Chungcheong defense line, General Kim Doo-sik, asked.

“No, Chun-sik, he, he...”

He couldn’t calm his heart and stopped speaking, remaining silent for a long time.

After a while.

Kim Chun-sik’s uncle, Kim Doo-sik, asked.

“What was his last words?”

I bowed my head to the bereaved family.

“You should hear it directly from Hunter Hong Seon-ah.”

“...Is that so?”

“That’s the only way it will have meaning.”

*

Hong Seon-ah can’t forget.

When she was terrified of death, abandoned her friends, and ran alone, only to fall on the stairs of a subway station and wait for death in front of a monster.

The short gunshot, the fallen monster, and the Western soldier who appeared from somewhere.

- Miss, can you move?

- ...Yes?

- Get up. And hide.

She can’t forget.

- Monsters catch people. Go where there are no people.

- Where in Seoul are there no people...?

- Namsan.

- You fucking sweety!

Dark Namsan was a truly terrifying place.

- I...! This is insane! It’s really insane!

- Hey! Cutie! Get in!

- Haha...! I told you this would work! Yes!?

Pushing monsters and vehicles with a truck and crossing the Han River Bridge was something she never wanted to do again.

But it was a bit fun.

- Why...! Why didn’t you run?

- Where would I go without you, Seon-ah.

That sister really loved tteokbokki.

- Set the oil on fire, damn it!

- I dropped the lighter!

- Seon-ah, you...!?

- Ah...! Leave it to me!

At first, she was shocked to find her hands on fire.

- I’m sorry. I can’t leave these people.

- ...These people will die without us.

- That’s right. What’s the reason for saving people?

- Ah! I don’t know! You idiots! Stay! Yes! Stay!

Actually, she wanted to run.

- Seon-ah, at least you...

- ...I’ll stay too!

- ...I’m sorry. And really, thank you.

She thought she wouldn’t regret it.

She deeply regretted sending precious people away.

- Ah, Uncle. We, we can’t run, right?

- ...I’m sorry.

- In Seoul, please. Please...!

She was resentful.

- Let’s get out of Seoul!

- ...I’m sorry.

- Ah! Ahhhh!

In the end, she couldn’t resent him.

- In Iraq, a woman in a tent offered me a small, charred piece of meat. And she said it in a terrible accent.

- ...

- You killed my son.

- ...

- Seon-ah. I, I...! I have to save. I have to live. Not for others. I have to save this to live.

- ...

- I can’t leave Seoul.

David Kim.

Kim Chun-sik saved Hong Seon-ah’s life. He gave her life.

And he showed her what was most precious to her. And he made her lose it.

He taught her what true fulfillment was and what true loss was.

He gave her a friend and made her lose that friend.

Because of him, she gained and lost everything,

her joys, sorrows, loves, and hates were entirely David Kim’s.

He made her want to understand him.

And Hong Seon-ah, in the corner of an apartment in Apgujeong, understood David Kim through nine bottles of soju.

David Kim was a U.S. soldier who killed 41 people in Iraq.

He was a murderer who burned seven infants alive.

He was a mental patient who couldn’t live without saving people,

and a sinner who walked into hell, determined to save.

Only Hong Seon-ah knew such a person.

He was not a hero.

He was just a crazy bastard.

And that crazy bastard was her benefactor, her enemy, her teacher, her friend,

and her hero.

That’s why she can’t forget.

Under the red sky, where the monsters were swarming, the sight of him pushing her through the gate, just big enough for one person to pass through, and the path of salvation covered by the dedication of that sinful hero.

The last faint voice she heard.

“Seon-ah.”

And.

The command that would bind her for life.

“You, go.”