Chapter 78

EP 13 - International Hunter's Perspective (5)

I appreciated the hand extended to me, but it's currently impossible to push any substantial policy. Let's meet and talk after the election.

That's how I sent General Li Zhongbin back. Good. At least I've bought some time.

They thought I was the biological weapon we created. It's a very reasonable guess, considering we are the only country in the world to have successfully induced artificial awakening.

Awakening Promoter.

A drug that spreads magic power throughout the human body to promote mutation. The amount of telomere consumption varies depending on the type of ability one awakens with.

In other words, one's lifespan decreases randomly.

Despite this, countless people injected themselves with the awakening agent.

To kill monsters, because they had nothing left but their bodies, to survive somehow, to save someone, to make money.

The reasons were varied, but the results were clear.

The society of Hunters began.

The number of registered PMCs in the country is increasing exponentially, and there was even a case where a survivor group in Incheon escaped all the way to Chungcheong Province after being injected with the publicly distributed awakening agent.

Considering that the awakening probability in the rear areas, where no gates had opened, was less than 0.01%, and the awakening probability in the Apgujeong Camp, which was right below a gate, was around 3%,

it would not be an exaggeration to say that the superhuman society in Korea grew thanks to the power of the awakening promoter.

However, now, because of that awakening agent, the international community has started to pay attention to us.

Let's start with the basics. Why was the awakening agent developed?

An endless war of attrition leading to a predetermined destruction.

A sustainable war theory proposed as a solution.

A defense method that doesn't consume ammunition or oil.

Hunters.

...The planner of the project, Cha Jae-gyun.

And the biological experiments.

I'm heading to meet that dark history.

* * *

Jinbo-myeon, Cheongsong-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do. An island on land surrounded by the cliffs of Gwangdeoksan and the Nakdonggang Banbyeoncheon.

Cheongsong Prison.

The place where the heinous criminals used for biological experiments were originally detained. Now, it's an empty, secluded prison in the mountains.

There, a gambler was there.

"This is a bit ironic, isn't it? I'm in the cell where I used to inject people with needles. Of course, I didn't physically catch them myself!"

He greeted me with a somewhat bizarre appearance.

A face that looked like it was smiling, paper-white skin, and blue veins visible beneath it. A large mouth that started from his cheeks and ended at his neck.

He talked incessantly. According to him, his facial muscles press on his nerves, and if he doesn't move his mouth for a day, thorns grow in his central nervous system.

"If you ask about the development process of the awakening agent, I can only say that it was a series of failures."

The gambler, dressed in a white lab coat, crossed his arms and nodded his head.

"Our research policy was to inject it first and then check the results. It might seem crude, but it's actually the essence of experimentation. The problem is using humans instead of white mice."

"......"

"Actually, all the people involved back then had a foot in this field. In my case, I was the one who made the nerve toxins and truth serums for the National Intelligence Service..."

"......"

"......Hmm. In fact, we even created more terrifying things. South Korea is, well, a bit of an authority on chemical weapons internationally. We can't make nuclear bombs because uranium imports are easily detected, so we secretly made these... Ah, damn. It's top secret..."

Squeak. The sound of a door opening from behind. As Jang Won-jang carefully brought in plastic bags, the gambler chuckled.

"Director, you're here?"

"Your skin seems a bit paler."

"72.81% of me is a monster, so my hormone glands are destroyed, and I lost my melanin. Have you heard of melanocyte-stimulating hormone? Anyway, what you're holding is more important. Oh, the fragrance is extraordinary?"

The former National Intelligence Service agent and secret researcher from a defense company reunited through me. They knew each other, apparently. Before the Gate incident, they had a relationship of supervisor and supervisee.

On the other hand, Jang Won-jang was the overall director of the underground bunker in Yeoninsan where the biological experiments were conducted, and the gambler was one of the core researchers of the biological experiments.

"Oh, right. I bit my tongue yesterday, and it grew back?"

"I didn't ask."

"Hey, Director, why are you like that?"

"And I'm not a director anymore."

Jang Won-jang, who was now the warden of Cheongsong Prison, smiled and placed the white plastic bags on the table. The smell of dumplings filled the air.

"Bean rice is ready."

He is now the warden of Cheongsong Prison. The only prisoner is the gambler. The cells are equipped with the latest research facilities.

The secluded prison in the mountains has already transformed into a research institute. So, in a sense, both of them have half-returned to the National Intelligence Service.

Of course, if their identities were exposed, they would immediately become black agents, but—

"I was always a black agent. What's the difference?"

It seems to be a part of his daily life. Jang Won-jang joined us at the table where the gambler and I were sitting, and as he laid out the wooden chopsticks, he tilted his head.

"Biological experiments... I was the overall director, but I don't know much about the research."

The gambler interjected cheerfully.

"Like drinking and driving, but not drunk driving?"

"Shut up."

"If so, then it's so, and if not, then it's not. Why are you being so harsh to people..."

The gambler continued to mumble under his breath, and we chatted with his chatter as the background.

I sighed and began to speak.

"Actually, if the awakening agent was developed through biological experiments, China would have developed it long ago. The same goes for the United States and Russia. How did we develop the awakening agent? I'm completely ignorant..."

"Didn't you, as a legislator, participate in the research to improve the awakening agent with Dr. Tianhua?"

"How would a lab mouse know about research?"

"That's true. Then, what about Dr. Tianhua...?"

"He just changed the magic power arrangement to reduce side effects. He said he had to rely on intuition because he didn't understand the principles. He's not completely clueless, but it's like feeling an elephant in the dark."

Jang Won-jang nodded with a half-closed smile.

"We did the same."

"Really?"

The gambler answered for him.

"We injected the needle first and then thought about it! Everyone was screaming that they were innocent, but we didn't know that one in fifty was actually innocent..."

"You knew, didn't you?"

"Actually, yes. We had a sense of it."

The gambler laughed at his own appearance. He ran his index finger from his mouth to his neck, a somewhat grotesque sight.

"We tried to hold on for the sake of the country and the people, but how did it end up like this? Surviving the rampage of the test subjects. Fleeing to Seoul, a monster-infested area, out of fear of being shot. Dreams of dead people kept making me research ways to save people!"

Jang Won-jang scolded him.

"Isn't that a sudden confession?"

"Just listen. Anyway, after the injection, we gradually developed regenerative abilities. We conducted various studies... regenerative abilities, physical mutations, the mechanism of how superhumans absorb magic stones, the effects of magic stones on monsters, the other side of the Gate, and the awakening agent..."

The gambler stuck out his tongue. It extended to his collarbone, a bit disgusting.

"The awakening agent. I couldn't figure out how to improve it at all."

"How did you make it...?"

"Professor So. A dead man now, but he was working hard in the lab and suddenly called us. It was around 4 a.m. Anyway, that man said,

Ah, damn, stop sucking your thumbs and come here. I accidentally did this and it worked!"

The gambler imitated the middle-aged voice accurately, a bit disgusting.

Regardless of my feelings, the gambler leaned on one cheek and muttered indifferently.

"When we went to see, Professor So had done it. He was the one who killed the most prisoners among us. He had a bit of a perverted streak..."

"So, what's the exact principle behind it?"

"Genetic and cellular mutations are mostly luck. It's called a mutation, after all. But how ridiculous is it to promote a mutation never heard of in human history?"

"Just the conclusion."

"Miraculous luck. That crude prototype showed the ideal form by breaking through all the possibilities of the cells. If it hadn't, we wouldn't have even thought about improving it."

After that, it was mostly known content. I nodded. The gambler's explanation was simple.

We turned one success into two out of three. We made very serious side effects less serious.

"It's complicated if you go into detail, but that's the gist of it. We injected the needle randomly, and someone succeeded once, so we just refined it a bit."

"......There was no special research method, then?"

"Correct. It's embarrassing to say, but most of the people involved were just crazy. In reality—"

"What's the probability that other countries will develop the awakening agent?"

"When Professor So succeeded the first time, the probability was one in several million. We calculated it later."

"......"

"It would take centuries to develop it by trial and error without a formula. Making it was really a kind of miracle—"

"What's the probability that other countries will develop it?"

"Almost zero. Wait, let me think. Um, 2 million? No, 1.5 million... Yes, assuming 1.5 million are injected annually, the probability is about 3%."

It means it can't be made anytime soon.

"......"

I closed my eyes for a moment and tapped the desk with my fingers.

Just as the gambler had calculated the probability in his head, I was now calculating political engineering.

If the world is in such a chaotic state, most countries would have already conducted biological experiments. They probably created something like a squishy monster by injecting magic power into human bodies.

But the only country that succeeded is South Korea. Not only that, but it has gone through primary development and secondary improvement and is now operating very stably.

Meanwhile, South Korea has successfully maintained its social infrastructure and political system while defending and attacking.

Then,

What do you think is the reason for that? Probably because of the awakening agent.

So,

If we think that we can defeat the monsters with the awakening agent.

Therefore,

If we try every method to obtain the manufacturing method of the awakening agent.

In the end,

The only options are to become friendly with South Korea and obtain it or to attack South Korea and take it.

"......Sigh."

Balanced diplomacy is needed.

Pretending to give the awakening agent, pretending to grant awakening, pretending to share the formula, while not offending the other party.

Such cunning is necessary.

Thanks to this, I was confident.

I picked up the phone to find an expert.

- ...What is it, Representative Han?

"Ah, Acting President Yang. I have something urgent to tell you."

*

"So, what did you do?"

"What could I do? I told them that since other countries are obsessed with the awakening agent and can't replicate it, we should tighten security and find ways to bully other countries."

"What did they say?"

"Balanced diplomacy. They said it might look good."

Yang Pan-seok clicked his tongue in disappointment.

"Tsk. Why didn't you do it?"

"Why would the legislature interfere with the government? I'm not even a minister."

"But you're good at forcing things through, aren't you?"

"Well, I guess so!"

I laughed it off. I don't have much time left, so there's no need to indulge in my desires.

When the National Assembly expands back to 300 members, I plan to enjoy a leisurely retirement with my family, helping President Yang Pan-seok along the way.

Although I didn't say it, Yang Pan-seok sighed and expressed his regret.

"You were quick when the situation was urgent, but you're a bit of a slacker when it's peaceful."

"A person can't just live for their own benefit."

"......Hmm. Maybe my personality is a bit too hasty."

"Just live at your own pace."

"Don't act like you're old..."

Outside the window, spring flowers were swaying in the strong wind. Inside the cafe, it was warm, and the cozy aroma of coffee filled the air.

Yang Pan-seok mumbled about life as he sipped his coffee, and I smiled and nodded in agreement.

"So, the reason marriage is crazy is that life becomes very meaningless if only one of the two is left—"

Yang Pan-seok's phone rang.

"Ah, I'll take the call. ...Ahem!"

Yang Pan-seok cleared his throat to sound more serious.

"Yes, what is it? Oh, turn on the TV...?"

I cleverly picked up the remote and turned on the news.

- Breaking news! Noah Lumière, the EU Joint Army Executive Chairman, has expressed a willingness to visit Korea, no, has visited Korea?

The anchor couldn't even speak properly, so I changed the channel.

- EU Joint Army Executive Chairman Noah Lumière has secretly visited Korea through Jeju International Airport. We are now live on the scene.

A blonde woman, glowing faintly with magic power, spoke in a stern tone in French.

I read the real-time translated subtitles.

I dropped the remote.

"Korea's successful defense is a model for humanity. The European Union is prepared to accept Korea as a member of the union, transcending continents and ethnicities, and I have come to assist in the treatment of Representative Han Seung-moon to prove cooperation among Hunters."

The world's best healer was holding a small vial in her hand.