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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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The US military commander picked up his cigar from the ashtray and put it to his lips. Then he spoke to me. “Did you say you have a proposal?”
I nodded as Sung Ga-yeon translated. “You said you couldn’t get the cooperation of the residents. We’ll get that cooperation for you.” I tapped the ash off my cigar and continued, “We’ll help you get to the East Sea. In return, we get weapons. Including mines and small to medium-sized guided missiles. Javelins, was it?”
The US military commander stared at me for a moment and then replied, “If this proposal had been made a month ago, and if you had enough troops, it would have been quite tempting. But with all due respect, you have only ten people. And we are fully trained. We don’t need your help.”
Hmm… so that’s how he wanted to play it… I crossed my arms and took a drag from my cigar. …This cigar was good. So this was what the fuss over Cuban cigars was all about. Exhale. I savored the smoke and looked at the US military commander. His eyes were already hard. He wouldn’t change his mind. Persuasion would be futile. In that case… I glanced at the young American soldiers standing behind him. …Four hundred of them. Should I just kill them all…
The thought crossed my mind as I turned my gaze back to the US military commander. He was looking at me, unaware that his life was hanging by a thread, with an expression that seemed to ask if I had anything else to say. He took a drag from his cigar. Strangely, our timing was the same. We exhaled smoke together. The rich, brown, woody scent swirled around my nose and mouth and then dispersed. …The taste of the cigar… was… good. …Tsk. I shouldn’t have accepted the cigar. I nodded and stood up. “Alright. I’ll see you around.”
The US military commander smiled benevolently and said something. It was probably a farewell, but Sung Ga-yeon didn’t bother to translate.
We walked out of the barracks-like building and onto the runway, escorted by the young American soldiers. Our special forces members and the American soldiers were standing a few steps apart, chatting. They seemed to be exchanging jokes, as there were faint smiles on their faces. When they saw us, both the special forces members and the American soldiers turned to look at us.
Sung Kyu-hyuk handed me my Ingram MAC-10s and swords. “What happened?”
I took the weapons and slowly shook my head. A shadow fell over the special forces leader’s face. As I armed myself and started walking, the other special forces members followed. I could hear Sung Ga-yeon’s voice behind me. She was probably telling them what had just happened.
I walked along the runway, thinking. I couldn’t go back empty-handed. If something happened to the US military while they were on the move, their weapons would fall into the hands of the local residents. I was sorry for the residents, but I wanted those weapons. A base of this size would have a considerable amount of supplies. I couldn’t just let them go.
“Sung-hoon. What do you plan to do? Should I call the helicopter?” Sung Ga-yeon asked, walking up to me.
Sung Kyu-hyuk came up on my other side. “No, we can’t call the helicopter. We need those weapons.”
“But Oppa, the President told us not to push ourselves too hard.”
Sung Kyu-hyuk didn’t answer. His expression was firm. He seemed determined to get the weapons, no matter what.
I said quietly, “Let’s not call the helicopter today. Let’s stay here.”
Sung Ga-yeon said worriedly, “He said the animals come out at night. And we have nowhere to stay here.”
Right. The animals. I needed to see them at least once. I said, “This is just south of Seoul. What happens here could happen in Seoul. I need to see what these ‘animals’ are.”
Worry bloomed on Sung Ga-yeon’s face. I said, “I don’t know when the US military will leave, but it’s a long way from here to the East Sea. They can’t use cars, so they’ll have to walk. That long way. And you think they won’t suffer any casualties? I don’t think so. They say they don’t need our help now, but they don’t know that for sure.”
I was the only one talking as we walked down the runway. No one really objected to what I was saying. I continued, “We need weapons. There’s no disagreement on that. We could try another military base, but it would probably be just as chaotic as this one. There’s no guarantee that what we can’t get here, we can get somewhere else.”
At the end of the runway, buildings loomed in the distance. I was walking towards them. “Let’s do what we can.”
Sung Kyu-hyuk nodded. “It will take some time. I’ll report to the President.”
“Yes.”
As we were walking down the runway, Sung Ga-yeon looked at her phone and said, “The place where the residents went back to is Dongchang-ri. It’s along the river, so the submerged monsters will probably come back up. The people could be in danger.”
Sung Kyu-hyuk, who was sending a message, glanced at Sung Ga-yeon. “We’re in more danger right now. The sun will set in a few hours. We need to find a place to stay.”
Sung Ga-yeon bit her lip and nodded.
The town at the end of the runway was Anjeong-ri. I didn’t know how long the runway was, with two villages bordering it. We walked for a while and entered the downtown area of Anjeong-ri. A downtown lined with ordinary shops like a bean sprout soup restaurant, a PC bang, a billiard hall, and a karaoke bar. The buildings were quite small, but it was still a decent-sized residential and commercial area that could be called a downtown. It must have been a town that catered to the US military base. We walked around the downtown area, looking for a suitable place to stay.
The scenery of the downtown was not much different from Seoul. The roads were a mix of congested and clear, and there were some overturned cars from collisions. That wasn’t anything special. The fact that the windows of most of the shops were shattered wasn’t a particularly remarkable sight for us either. What caught my eye was something else.
“…There’s no one here?” I muttered quietly. As I said, there were no human beasts in any of the shops on this street.
Sung Kyu-hyuk said with a groan, “…It seems our helicopter dragged all the monsters that were left here into the river.”
Sung Ga-yeon, looking through a beauty salon window, said quietly, “…He said the animals would attack people when there was nothing left to eat.”
The special forces members looked at each other. I slowly nodded. “The fact that it’s quiet here is good news. Let’s find a suitable place and stay for a while.”
“Sung-hoon. What about the animals? They might attack the people.”
I didn’t answer. She was right. There was nothing to eat here. Except for the special forces members, but they were heavily armed, so they wouldn’t be easy prey. In that case, there was only one place the animals would target. That was fortunate for me. Because it was clear where the animals would gather.
“That place looks good.” Sung Kyu-hyuk pointed to a building that was relatively tall. A building with an internal medicine clinic, a pediatric clinic, a pharmacy, and a McDonald’s. It was the tallest building in the downtown area. There was also a convenience store, so food wouldn’t be a problem. I nodded. “Let’s go with that. The top floor would be best.”
We entered the building and first raided the convenience store. From the top floor, the 7th floor, we could see that there was only one entrance. The owner of the building must have lived on the top floor. One of the special forces members took out a small toolbox from his pocket and picked the lock. It wasn’t a lockpick, but he ripped off the doorknob itself. He was definitely not a locksmith. It reminded me of Soo-hyun. I already missed her.
The house was quite large. Since it took up the entire floor, the living room was as big as a playground. There wasn’t much furniture, so there was enough space for all of us to lie down. I said, “Let’s have dinner here. And let’s keep the curtains drawn and the noise down, if possible. I’m sure you all know that.”
The special forces members, who were sitting on the floor and stretching, nodded.
“What do you plan to do now?”
I looked at Sung Ga-yeon. “What was it called? The village where the people went back to?”
“Dongchang-ri.” Sung Ga-yeon answered and then her eyes widened. “You’re not thinking of going, are you?”
I smiled and nodded. “I have to go. You said people are dying, right?” The truth was, I didn’t really care if people were dying. I was going to see the animals and see if I could kill them. But there was no need to say that out loud.
Sung Ga-yeon opened her mouth and then closed it. “It’s dangerous.”
I chuckled. “When have I ever had it easy? Being covered in blood is nothing. Don’t worry.” At that, Sung Ga-yeon and the special forces members’ expressions changed as if they had remembered something. They must have remembered the sight of me walking around covered in blood. I smiled. “I’m hungry. Who’s making dinner?”
Sung Kyu-hyuk stood up, patting one of the special forces members on the shoulder. “Don’t you like sesame ramen?”
I smiled. “Sounds great.”
It would be a while before the sun set. I could eat, digest, and then go out. I sat on the sofa and watched Sung Kyu-hyuk and two other special forces members find two large pots in the kitchen and fill them with water.
…A nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the East Sea… I chuckled. It was useless. I wasn’t going to cross the sea or anything. A tank would have been more useful. It could just crush the cars on the road and a few human beasts wouldn’t be a problem. I’d never been in a tank, but I heard the K2 Black Panther was good. Were there any tanks at the US military base? I should have asked.
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