Chapter 21. National Treasure, Part I
Translator: Khan
Editor: RED
1.
Kim Yu-ri and Kim Joo-hyuk, who were affiliated with the 35th Commandos, had the same nickname, “Ace”.
Even within the 35th Commandos, where the elite gathered, they showed a unique attitude. They had different natural qualities, higher goals than others, and better posture to reach those goals. Of course, they had everything: self-esteem, pride, and confidence!
All these things gave them confidence in the end. They were confident that they would be able to fulfill the duties assigned to them, no matter what happened.
But on December 31, everything the two had was shattered. They did nothing in the battles that began with the sudden appearance of the monsters. They did not get rid of the monsters to be killed, they did not reach their goals, they did not protect the ones they needed to protect, and they did not save the one they needed to save.
It was a series of failures, a series of miserable days. The end of the tragedy was despair.
When they could afford to turn their heads to the ongoing battle with monsters, the scenery in Seoul was not what they had remembered.
Skyscrapers were scattered all over the ground, half eaten by monsters everywhere, and screams burst out all over the place, like a ticking clock.
The climax of despair was the future given to survivors. Many people were mad at the fact that they had to face even greater despair because they had survived. Of course, Kim Yu-ri and Kim Joo-hyuk thought this would be the case everywhere in the world. It was the same in reality.
Wherever outside of Seoul, there was despair and nothing that could be called hope. But this place, Bucheon, was different.
In Bucheon, which existed only on the map, and they saw only on the map, there was vitality they thought had already disappeared.
In the broad park, construction was underway to create space for solar panels, while in other places, disassembling monsters was taking place in real time, along with clearing debris from collapsed buildings, and clearing roads.
The workers were either smoking for a short break, or laughing and talking with chocolate bars and Ramen as their food.
‘How can they laugh?’
Those who did the hard work in a miserable place were laughing and talking. It was a landscape not seen in Seoul. Seoul did similar work, but it was virtually forced labor. If they wanted rations, they had to work in front of guns.
‘Only this place is like a different world.’
The biggest surprise was the appearance of those who noticed Kim’s coming. It wasn’t just words like respect, faith, or love.
It was more than that. So, they couldn’t find words to express what they were seeing. That was another point. The Awakeners and soldiers who became superhuman to the survivors of Seoul were another source of fear, rather than the ones who protected them.
It was shocking in many ways. It was so shocking that Kim Yu-ri and Kim Joo-hyuk followed Kim, but did not have the slightest intention to escape. Eventually, the two followed Kim into Bucheon City Hall without making any plans.
Bang Hyun-wook was the first person to greet them.
“Big brother!” Appearing welcoming with all his body, he flinched when he saw Kim Joo-hyuk and Kim Yu-ri, who were behind Kim.
“Uh? Who are these?”
Not only did Kim bring in people, but Kim Joo-hyuk and Kim Yu-ri felt similar to when Bang first had met Kim.
“The watchmen.” Kim explained the two briefly.
“Yes?”
“If you feel they are doing an unreliable thing, kill them.”
“Yes?” Bang looked as if he didn’t know what’s going on.
The same was true of Kim Joo-hyuk and Kim Yu-ri. They could not figure what kind of expression to make in Kim Tae-hoon’s bottomless image, whether to ask a question or just keep quiet. Eventually, the two stood blankly like robots with a program error.
In the meantime, a new person appeared. It was Kim Soo-ji, who saluted Kim Tae-hoon immediately after appearing.
“Is the Major here?” She immediately looked at the two behind Kim Tae-hoon and changed her eyes.
‘Are they members of special forces?’
She was raised in a military family. A moment was enough for her to know what kind of class the two were.
‘Soldier? ‘Is the Mac Guild a force built on a military basis?’ The same was true of Kim Yu-ri and Kim Joo-hyuk. The two also changed their eyes the moment they saw Kim Soo-ji.
“They are Sergeant Kim Yu-ri and Kim Joo-hyuk. Keep an eye on them so they do escape from the City Hall.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What about Jang Sung-hoon?”
“He is on his way.”
“Boss!” Jang appeared as if he were trying to take his time. As soon as he approached, he looked at the two behind Kim.
“There are two new faces. Similar feelings… couples?? Are you married?” Kim Joo-hyuk and Kim Yu-ri shook their heads with puzzled looks on their faces.
“Oh, no.”
“We do not have that kind of relationship.”
“The man seems to be happy about something, and the woman looks so determined, I can draw a picture of it.”
They looked at each other at the repeated remarks by Jang. Kim Ju-hyuk gave out a cough and Kim Yu-ri made her face colder. Jang took advantage of the gap and looked over Kim Ju-hyuk.
Kim Tae-hoon raised his eyebrows. It meant talking in the mayor’s office. In other words, Kim Yu-ri and Kim Joo-hyuk needed to be separated for a while.
“Well, good to see you. I’ll treat you as a guest. Hyun Wook, take them to the meeting room next to the mayor’s office. Why don’t you join them, Lieutenant Kim Soo-ji?”
Jang naturally prepared everything.
2.
“So, what happened?” Jang, facing Kim across the desk, asked his questions with a serious expression.
Kim explained all his experiences at Gimpo International Airport.
The first thing Jang did when the story finished was to breathe out a long sigh.
“There is no president or prime minister. Is this it? Wait, who’s going to take over without them?”
“If the situation was normal, it would follow the order of deputy prime minister for economy, then the deputy prime minister for social affairs.”
“Does the chairman of the national assembly or the chief justice of the supreme court have no influence in this situation?”
“The forces that have survived are the military, after all, but only the president and the prime minister have influence over them. It’s a fight for justification.”
“Are they really dead? Or are they hiding them?”
“I can’t be sure, but the former would be better if we had to choose a favorable situation. In the latter case, it means that there are those who are willing to use the decision makers… ”
Jang knocked on the desk with his fingers.
“To sum up the situation, Seoul has been taken by the Capital Defense Command. And one of the Six Snakes that the boss was talking about in your dream is building up his power in the Capital Defense Command.”
Kim nodded once.
“The best thing is to cut off the buds early… but it won’t end with killing a guy named Oh Se-bum. Rather, it would be even worse if you killed Oh. No, even if you want to kill him, you can’t go straight to Seoul. It’s a problem.”
‘The problem is that whatever they do in this situation, there are a lot of constraints. Going to Seoul from Bucheon alone is too much to consider, and Seoul City, which was destroyed by monsters, is no longer a city in memory. It is a maze of hell.’
“We cannot leave the Six Snakes alone until they grow bigger by taking the Capital Defense Command little by little.”
The biggest problem was that they treated this whole situation as if it were another country’s. Fate was now fixed. Kim Tae-hoon lived only if he broke that fate.
“A zero-sum game is that a winner takes everything, after all.” In this situation, Kim’s answer was simple.
“Yes. Eventually, the same pie is shared, and the person who ate the most will eat everything.”
Jang was able to infer the answer that Kim gave. “The relics and the monster stones. The more one eats, the more one wins, after all.
“You’re going to take the relics of the Capital Defense Command, instead of taking care of the government work?”
The board was ready.
From now on, the Mac Guild would be hunting monsters on behalf of the Capital Defense Command, which occupied Seoul as the government of the Republic of Korea. They would do the work that had to be done instead of the government. Of course, they would be paid for it. They would also kill monsters, and receive relics in exchange; that was killing two birds with one stone.
“But will the Capital Defense Command pay you so easily?”
The Capital Defense Command should know that, and that’s why they would not easily give out relics. They would do something about it.
“I’m not asking for them, I’m going to make them give them out.”
“Is that possible?”
“What if the other person has something I want and doesn’t give it to me?”
Jang immediately answered the sudden question of Kim Tae-hoon, “You’ll ask if he wants to sell it.”
“What if he doesn’t want to sell it?”
“If you really need it, take it away from him with threats…” Jang looked at Kim in surprise. He understood Kim’s intentions.
What Kim wanted was not just a reward he had earned. He wanted a one-sided robbery. If they say they didn’t want to give it, he’d bite it out.
“I want you to make a list of national treasures that the Capital Defense Command might have.”
Jang’s eyes changed when he heard the command. The tension in his eyes faded and instead, expectations began to grow.
“The day finally comes when I might touch the national treasures. Yes, we should do something big. If we’re going to steal something, rather than steal a petty thing, we should take the national treasures with force! No problem! Leave it to me!”
Kim did not smile at Jang who answered so happily.
‘A relic can be obtained.’
It was possible to obtain a relic. It was also possible to take it with force.
But it was also true of their unknown enemy, who were expected to be the Six Snakes. They were also nibbling away at what the Capital Defense Command had even now.
There was no competition between a man who eats the peel outside and a man who eats only the fruit inside.
‘I have to put my man in there.’
Above all, the military was not an organization that simply worked by profit. They couldn’t exist if they had their interests in mind in the first place. There was no organization more wasteful and unproductive than the military.
The same went for soldiers. Frankly speaking, no one becomes a soldier simply for financial and material gain. If those soldiers chose what they wanted, they want to leave their names in history. Because the history of mankind was the history of war, it is a golden opportunity to leave their name in the war as soldiers.
‘Lieutenant Colonel Yoo Dae-hyun is an ambitious man.’
In the first place, the 35th Commandos would have to be close to those in power. If Kim Tae-hoon had been in power, Lieutenant Colonel Yoo would have visited him when things happened in Seoul.
But now he was in a bad situation. Rather, his situation was the worst.
First, he himself was not an Awakener. It was a big penalty. Now, even within the military, an Awakener has no choice but to take power. Not only did a single person’s military might have more power than the military, but there was no need for a Commander who became powerless when exposed to fear.
Evidence of that was that he was out there now.
‘A man in power never goes to the front. The confusion that occurs when a man in power dies eventually leads to defeat and causes great damage.’
‘He is an abandoned card.’
In other words, the Capital Defense Command at this moment did not care if Lieutenant Colonel Yoo died at any time. It meant that Lieutenant Colonel Yoo couldn’t help it in this situation.
Anyone could see it by looking at Oh Se-bum’s treatment of Lieutenant Colonel Yoo. If Lieutenant Colonel Yoo had the right power, the arrogant Oh would not have smoked in his face.
‘Even if it’s not a good situation, running the actual fight means he is not going to kneel just like that.’
Nevertheless, the reason why he took risks and acted as an active-duty soldier was that his ambition was not turned off. That’s the characteristic of ambition.
Kim Tae-hoon closed his eyes and listened for the sounds that could not be heard normally, and they became clear.
Naturally, he could hear the voices of Kim Soo-ji and the two talking in the meeting room near the mayor’s office.
Kim Tae-hoon opened his eyes.
“Is any one of the yellow-grade monsters near?”
“Yes, there’s one on the Incheon side.”
“We will hunt it.”
“What do you want the troops to do?”
“I will do it alone, and I will take the two of them.”
Kim made a decision.
‘I will use Lieutenant Colonel Yoo to dig into the Capital Defense Command.’
