EP 28 – No Country for Superman (7)
It rained in the cloudy sky. It was raining in the desert. The smell of decaying corpses mixed in the water and reached the post office.
When the stench that pierced his nose was frowned upon, Cho Byeong 哨兵 pulled out a walkie-talkie from his waist.
“Spot number six. morning report. Headquarters response.”
– Report it.
“The 1 CSR Humvee passes through the Belslin Gate. Blue Mountains National Park confirmed the death of four dispatched hunters. And rainwater got into my pants and it itched my nose.”
-If you give me one more report, I’ll staple you in the head. So is there anything wrong with it?
“It’s okay, no, wait a minute. It seems that something is wrong now.”
-Mom, is it a monster?
“There is something on the horizon. I will check.”
– Be careful.
A watchman from Richmond, a satellite city of Sydney, raised his telescope and looked at the horizon.
“Okay… … .”
The pouring rain showers obstructed the view.
Over the horizon, the ruins of the city are blurred.
Between the city and the watchtower, there was a desert created by air raids,
Something trembled through the mist of water in the wilderness.
“… … Person?”
Fortunately, it was not a monster that appeared in the desert, but a human. It is also an Asian woman with a slender appearance.
But it wasn’t pretty. A woman in a suit was covered in blood. And the storm washed away the blood and walked.
Blood dripped from his damp hair, and the eyes reflected through his hair looked like a man who made life his business.
In summary, it was a figure that anyone who looked at would withdrew by itself,
“Who are you?”
“Hunter.”
She was a hunter.
The guard pointed his gun at her. However, neither the one who aimed the gun at the beak nor the one who faced it did not feel that it was a threat.
“Uh, where are you from? All of the hunters who were recently dispatched have either returned or died… … .”
“korea.”
“Hey, Korea? So, are you the volunteers from the UN?”
“okay.”
In an instant, the guard’s eyes frowned. There was only one reinforcements sent by the UN confidently. Does that mean it’s an Asian woman?
No one resented the international community as much as Australia now. Because while others were talking about politics, they were talking about survival.
“Hey, damn… … .”
At first, they said that the U.S. military was coming. President Trump spoke confidently. Everyone saw it and wept. But no one has arrived on this land.
After that, the hunters said they would come. A writer named Han Seung-moon confidently declared. However, it was only Lumière’s advance squad that actually arrived.
In the end, only one hunter was supported here in Richmond. And this was the place where dozens of hunters died every month.
“… … under.”
What can one hunter change? The guard bowed his head in the rain. And emptied self-help in the rain.
“Hey.”
“… … Why, why?”
at that time. Hunter put his hand on the guard’s shoulder. Knowing that the hunter would go to a tough man’s goal if he mismanaged his power, the guard froze like a mouse in front of a cat.
“Guide me.”
“Uh, where are you going?”
“To the hunting ground.”
“… … !”
It was a very concise statement. All the politicians in the world flirted with all kinds of rhetoric, but at least the hunter in front of him promised to catch the monster.
So, in the raining wilderness.
The guard looked at the Hunter and smiled softly.
“… … under! You’re more hard-boiled than this. good! Let’s go hunting. But I think you should stop by the headquarters first. There is such a thing as a small procedure.”
“Does not matter.”
“great! let’s go!”
The sentinel really liked the hard-boiled attitude of the Hunter.
His attitude, as if announcing that he would blow away the bones of the monsters immediately, felt like a dark hero who always splits the bones of villains in action movies.
Of course, Yeo Do-yeon couldn’t speak English, so she could only use that kind of tone.
* * *
What Monsterland is has not yet been clearly defined.
Some say that this is the place where the queen resides, while others say that it is a place where the monsters are left unattended until they are able to reproduce.
One thing is for sure, most monsters in Monsterland are born on Earth.
They are born adapted to their environment, so they are stronger,
It is more difficult because the natural environment and topography are used appropriately.
They are even more numerous because they reproduce in all sorts of unusual ways.
“A typical Monster Land is this Australia. There were only 25 million people on the damn wide continent. Of course, it is much less than that now.”
“Ugh.”
“Actually, Korea has a bit of a navy and an air force. But the army collapsed in an instant. Now, the oil has run out, and the army has become an asshole. That’s why vigilantes like us are working with the military to stop the monster.”
“Ugh.”
“Still, although this land is large, the area inhabited by people is very small, so it is a good place to defend. It’s convenient to defend only Sydney along the Hawkesbury River like here. The problem is that we only survived on the corners of the continent and left the desert completely unattended, and after that, what… … As you know, it has become Monster Land.”
“Ugh.”
“Do you know what a sandworm is? The monsters evolved to resemble desert snakes, but they hid under the ground when they hit the bottom of the raid. Sandworms in fantasy have appeared in reality like that. The problem is that it’s too big… … .”
The road from the post to the city.
The guards who wanted to get to know the Hunter gave all kinds of explanations, but Yeo Do-yeon did not understand half of them.
‘what… … .’
English proficiency was lacking.
But soon, she knew the land not with her ears, but with her eyes and nose.
“Come on, you have arrived. Welcome to Richmond.”
“… … .”
Richmond’s appearance was terrifying. The smell of death wafted from the raining city. The smell of blood, drugs, and rotting meat.
There was no hope in people’s faces. The blunt limbs of the wounded soldiers were covered with bandages soaked in blood and pus.
The Hunter suddenly reminded me of the survivor camp, which you can only see in The Walking Dead. And that thought became more firm when we arrived at the vigilante headquarters.
A person without a military uniform gave an order to a person wearing a military uniform, and the eyes of the hunters looking at the vigilante leader were full of distrust and suspicion.
Everyone was cursing this land.
As if to prove him, the vigilante’s face was full of shadows.
“Nice to meet you. This is the vigilante leader, Joanna Meyer. Welcome to Camp Richmond. Hunter.”
“Yeo Do-yeon.”
“… … Are you a volunteer from the UN?”
Yeo Do-yeon nodded, and Meyer seemed to be disappointed in something.
Realizing that it was rude, General Mayer shook his head hurriedly.
“Oh, I’m sorry. It’s not that I’m disappointed with Hunter-sama, but things are a little… … .”
“I understand.”
“Then thank you. In fact, until last week, everyone was excited about the arrival of the US military, but now… … .”
The situation in Australia was very poor. The vigilante leader did not have to explain it, and Yeo Do-yeon was able to understand the situation roughly without explanation.
They started a practical story.
“Hunter-sama, are you a healer?”
“no.”
“Then you must be a telecommunication magician. It’s not a huge support group, but it’s good. Because there is so little heavy equipment, the facilities are-”
“I don’t use telemetry.”
“Yes? If not… … ?”
“I use my fist.”
The English grammar was awkward, but it was roughly the sound of a rigid body magician. At this, Vigilante Mayer thought that the UN had finally abandoned us.
A healer restores a lot of manpower, and a telecaster restores a lot of buildings. So, usually, if a person had a strategic effect, unless it was a special occupation, it was that branch.
But the UN sent a body magician. Of course, it had to be that powerful, but at least it was useless from the standpoint of running the city.
“… … It’s a pretentious statement, but the monsters here are different from other places. They are better adapted to this place than humans. So you shouldn’t think like any other place.”
This is where the famous hunters from abroad come and die. The monsters here were qualitatively different from other places. Because he had a knack for killing people.
“The monster here has definitely evolved. You shouldn’t think of it as a mere level of power.”
A monster that hides under a car, then goes into his pants, enters the genitals and anus, eats the intestines, and lays eggs.
A monster that pretends to be an ordinary bird and flies away and drops acidic excrement on people’s faces, causing blindness and pecking.
A monster that hides in the sand, punctures a car tire with a thorn on its back, overturns the car, and eats people.
A monster with a huge body that crushes a village and then digs into the ground when it hears the sound of a bomber.
It looks like an ordinary starfish, but it’s actually half-liquid, so bullets don’t go through it well, and even monsters who live in groups.
“Be careful. It’s full of A-class people who came all the way here in search of fame and magic stones and couldn’t return-“
Whoo-!
“What the hell… … !”
The ground shook as if there had been an earthquake. While Yeo Do-yeon was taken aback for a moment, the personnel at the headquarters, including the vigilante leader, moved in unison.
“Observer! where are you!?”
“North! It’s from Lawlands!”
“shit… … ! Because every rainy day is this shit! Put on standby!”
“Morison! Margot! Holt! Get your tools and come out to the north gate!”
As everyone moved in unison like firefighters dispatched to the sound of a siren, Yeo Do-yeon remained like a duck egg on the Nakdong River.
The guard who guided her to the headquarters approached her with a touch.
“Are you wondering why all of a sudden it’s this shit?”
“What’s going on?”
“Sandworm. A creature that evolved like a desert snake escaped bombardment and went into the sand, and since it had no natural enemies, it became as huge as a sea monster. It’s impossible to breathe on a rainy day, so it climbs up to the ground like an earthworm and wriggles.”
Even as the guard continued to explain, the earthquake did not subside.
Do-yeon Yeo was first surprised that a living organism could cause an earthquake like this, and that people are accustomed to behaving in such an earthquake.
“Actually, there is a named mob around here. Jormungandra is the grandiose name given to it, and it is the 26th S-class dangerous species to appear in Australia.”
“Are you strong?”
“Uh-huh, I know the blood boils, but you can’t catch it by yourself. On rainy days, it sometimes comes up here, but after a few beats, it runs away. The Sydney Headquarters side is killing them little by little by bombing them, so we just—”
Whoo-!
“Hey, f**k, I’m a little tired today.”
“… … The sound got louder.”
“It must be an illusion. He’s very scared, so if you touch it a little, he will run away-“
Woo-woo-woo!
I felt a huge earth pounding.
As the earthquake did not subside, the atmosphere at the base became chaotic. Even the vigilante’s face turned white.
“Hey! How did this happen!?”
“Bah, all my friends who just left have retreated! He’s the first to counterattack!”
“What!?”
“Looks like we’ve learned not to be a threat! He’s approaching here!”
“Call the Air Force, bastard!”
“It took about 4 hours because of the weather!”
The signalman’s words were no less than a death sentence. No one here knew about it.
That was the reason for the creepy silence.
“… … .”
“… … .”
“… … .”
Of course, it’s not the first time they’ve been through a crisis like this. They have gone through countless crises, some of them more serious.
However, overcoming the crisis does not mean that there are no wounds.
Even if you survived, it does not mean that the person next to you survived.
Crisis always leaves scars, and those scars become scars that cannot be erased.
Therefore, no matter how often we overcome a crisis, we can never get used to it.
I don’t know if they’ll get through this crisis, but it was clear that at least one of them was going to die soon.
They were accepting it silently.
Then, someone broke the silence.
“Can I go?”
“… … ?”
“To catch the monster.”
Yeo Do-yeon’s serious question was taken irresponsibly because it was futile.
The vigilante leader, who had maintained a respectful attitude toward customers, shot at her for the first time.
“… … under. okay. How are you going to catch a monster the size of an opera house?”
Yeo Do-yeon thought about it for a moment. It wasn’t because I didn’t know how to catch it, it was because I was confused about how to say it in English.
So this is what came out
“… … hit you?”
* * *
[The 26th S-class monster, Jormungand, has been subjugated in North Richmond! Surprisingly, only one hunter was known to go hunting. The hunter went into the monster’s mouth and crushed the skull-]
“No, crazy, beat that.”
“The monster is huge.”
Go inside your body and smash your head. From the monster’s point of view, it was truly a horror.
“What is a Zi-Alien? … ?”
“Maybe I should have caught it.”
“Yeah, yes, but… … .”
On TV, Yeo Do-yeon, wet with the brains of a monster, was surrounded by all kinds of people and received a lot of affection.
In particular, a woman named Richmond vigilante leader cried and hung on Yeo Do-yeon’s back, and while continuing to kiss her, she was often beaten and fell.
When I saw it, I got a strange feeling, so I changed the channel.
[This is Canberra. Noah Lumiere healed the 932th Hunter. Everyone who received her light walked out with new limbs, like a miracle from God-]
[Kakadu National Park is on fire as the eruption operation succeeds. The military authorities have lured all the monsters in the vicinity to this place, and it is expected that about 260,000 monsters, including the plant, will be wiped out-]
[UN Hunters succeeded in killing the Queen of Tarkula. The queen object was an erosion-type tree monster about 120m tall, and the hunters were absorbing the queen’s manastone and escaping through the sky-]
Fortunately, there is only good news. I put the remote down.
“Chaewon-ah. What happened to the news that wasn’t on the news?”
“On the Chinese side, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs succeeded in negotiating. The United States is watching, satisfied with the situation at heart.”
“Okay. and?”
“First of all, there were no deaths among the 47 members of the advance squad. The problem is that Team 4 was operating in the city center and killed a few looters… … .”
“If you don’t notice, there’s no problem.”
“There was an article on the Internet… … .”
“Remove the part-timer and erase it.”
“yes… … .”
Chae-won Pi sent a cold glance to my reckless leadership. Now, I was fortunate to have adapted to some extent the way he looked at human garbage.
I patted him gently.
“Hey man. Am I the only one who is bad? You are also an accomplice now.”
“Garbage… … .”
“It’s all for the country and the people… … .”
This kind of stigma can be tolerated.
Anyway, I controlled the whole of Australia from a hotel penthouse in New York. With the help of the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Intelligence Service.
On the lower floor, there was a guest room in which Gam (and Inspector General of the Ministry of Portrait Management), President Cheon, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the 4th Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service lived, and they frequently went to and from the rooftop to cooperate with each other.
As a result, a map was completed.
After dinner. Chaewon Pi and I looked at the map with satisfaction.
“Ah, this is a good choice.”
“In general, the monsters are weak in the outskirts, and the center of the continent seems to be quite dangerous.”
“You can’t ignore the lakes in the middle. Is the lake bigger than Gyeongsang-do? … ?”
“The ecology of monsters around that area is changing.”
“The more diverse the monsters, the more dangerous it is for hunters. The safest place is northwest. It is a wilderness without a sandy desert, so there are very few unexpected variables.”
“Is it relatively close to Darwin Military Airport?”
“right.”
Contrary to the grand promise, the hunter support for Australia was delayed by about two weeks. In fact, only 47 people, including Lumière, are active in Australia.
However, I swept the headwinds with active media play and shifting responsibility. Proud of the achievements of the advance team, they incited public opinion, and continued the precarious tightrope between the United States and China.
Fortunately, the media play was successful thanks to the advance team’s great performance, and the political quality was moderately smooth thanks to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, which is experts in US-China tightrope diplomacy with decades of experience.
and,
This map was the result of all these efforts.
“… … our selection team. No, our scouts did a great job.”
“This is about getting a rough idea.”
“okay.”
where is dangerous where is safe
In what region, in what terrain, what kind of monster evolved, and in what form.
All the information obtained so far was organized on this map.
“okay. Northwest is the safest, isn’t it?”
“yes.”
“There are very few types of monsters. There are no sandy deserts, so there are no giant species. It is also close to Darwin Airport. Southeast Asia’s supply network is also connected, and there are forests to drive in and burn if misbehaved… … .”
After much preparation, I finally threw the dice.
“great. Hunters are sent to Australia.”
“… … All right.”
“Koreans are definitely from the northwest.”
The game started.
The probability manipulation is already over.