EP 36- Lost Capital(4)
“First, we need to find a way to communicate with the command line. I don’t even know what happened in Busan right now… … .”
“But, Senator? Is there any commander who brought a signalman in this situation?”
“Ugh.”
It was as pointed out by Hong Seon-ah.
If you’re going to catch a monster, who’s going to tell you to pack up the heavy telecommunication equipment and drive it to the antenna?
Even if you’re fighting in a city where even Wi-Fi is exploding, it’s not like you really don’t see the telecommunicator as a person to have them put in antennas.
In the first place, will there still be a soldier called a telecommunication soldier? Will the monster-fighting army still have signalmen?
However, Gam Ji-yoon had a different idea.
“It’s just that I don’t know the Korean military well.”
“what?”
“Do you think I am?”
there was.
“Ah yes. We installed it because the division commander told us to install a communication network.”
“Did you put it on?”
“yes.”
If it’s black, what should I do?
The communications company commander I met near Changwon was an overly honest person.
“But it will take some time to communicate with other divisions. This is because other units have reduced or eliminated their signal units in the process of enlisting advanced soldiers.”
“Then why are you here? … .”
“I didn’t hear well.”
“No, no.”
* * *
Even if population density causes the gate crisis, the idea of controlling the gate incident by adjusting the population density was not something anyone could come up with.
Who dares to study magic? The definition of magic is ‘power that deviates from the laws of nature’, and in order to study magic, we had to throw away everything that mankind had built up.
Therefore, the only country that was able to establish a foundation for the study of ‘Magic Mechanics’ was the United States, where a city could be filled with scientists.
Therefore, it was an American scientist who came up with the idea to induce a gate incident between Gwangju and Busan by controlling the population density.
In fact, it was the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command that controlled the population density by evacuating citizens by looking into the Horus system.
It was also an American scientist who was dragged out in front of President Won Ok-bun, who was furious when things went awry.
“Please explain.”
“… … dismissal.”
“All electronics have been disabled. The ROK Army is now blind and fighting the monster. Is this also an American plan?”
One of Won Ok-bun’s scars crossed one of his eyes and the hazy eyes that flickered between the scars had the power to make people dazed.
But even though the old American scientist was nervous, he didn’t flinch. It was because he was proud of himself.
“After success in New York and Philadelphia, this operation has been attempted several times across the United States. And it never failed.”
“Then, did the first failure occur on the Korean Peninsula? I think we should hold a ceremony for this.”
“… … dismissal. This was unexpected for our lab.”
Overcrowding causes a gate crisis.
However, it is impossible to evacuate the entire population of a large city.
In particular, evacuation was impossible in large cities in the eastern United States, where citizens were protected with radiation shields.
So when the New York gate crisis was foreseen, the federal government concentrated the population in Philadelphia, near New York.
It was to abandon Philadelphia and save New York.
But a miracle happened.
Neither New York nor Philadelphia have been hit by disaster. The Gates incident occurred in the wasteland between New York and Philadelphia.
As a result of the analysis of the Horus system, magical powers were condensed over New York and Philadelphia respectively.
It was in the form of a vortex. And when two vortices collided, it turned into one huge vortex, and as a result, a gate avalanche occurred in the middle zone.
In other words, if the population density of two adjacent large cities was adjusted in the shape of an hourglass, the location of the gate avalanche could be controlled.
It is not clear why this happens, but the federal government intentionally created this ‘magic agglomeration’ to protect large cities.
Houston and Beaumont, Baltimore and Washington, Los Angeles and San Diego… … It is only Busan and Gwangju this time.
Rather, it was safe to say that the U.S. did a favor to Korea, since it transferred the technology that had been managed as a state secret to Korea.
However, if there is a problem, in normal times, such a concentrated magical energy was consumed due to the occurrence of the gate avalanche… … .
“… … Now, the Korean Peninsula is facing the second grand catastrophe, not the usual gate crisis. In other words, similar to the first contact or the first grand catastrophe, there is a rapid influx of magic from another dimension.”
The scientist shook his head with a calm expression.
“So the unspent magical power caused an anomaly that we didn’t expect. I presume that the electromagnetic pulse was caused by the enormous amount of horsepower being converted into electromagnetic force, which disturbed the magnetic field of the ionosphere, but whether this is an EMP or if the problem is really in the dimension of electromagnetic force, it is not known at this time.”
In the end, he said he didn’t know anything. At that point, Won Ok-bun was furious and tried to slap the lion’s head. It was more of a habit than of patriotism.
Inside the bunker and beyond the monitor, many people were watching the current conversation.
So, emotions naturally moved in order to lay the political foundation for ‘this is all because of the Americans’. Politics is about timing.
But now Won Ok-bun was the president, not a politician. She calmed her emotions.
“Special Minister Kim Doo-shik, what do you think?”
“In order to reduce human casualties, we must first form a defense line. If monsters invade the city, the damage will increase exponentially.”
“Then do it. And let’s take the long view, not with the mindset that the portrait management department will put an end to the situation while the military is running out of time. long… … . The Gates crisis isn’t about us ending it, it’s about holding on until it’s over. Hunters, don’t forcefully turn them around, while preserving them as much as possible. yes?”
“Yes, I understand!”
When the Seoul encirclement collapsed, she was acting president. She knew what she had to do.
Facial palsy made it easy to manage facial expressions.
I don’t know what’s going to happen, but even if I put an iron plate on it and hold on to it, it was more than half the job. It’s the president’s trick.
Complaints do not come out of the mouth.
‘What the hell is going on… … .’
* * *
“It’s ruined.”
“… … .”
“Ehyo, X arm… … .”
I never even thought of scolding Ga Ji-yoon. The surrounding landscape was so terrifying.
collapsed field. crushed soldiers. The tank units in the Honam Plain were literally split apart.
“What the hell is this… … .”
The incomplete communication network was nothing more than a point organization between soldiers from all over the world.
Operational discussions between divisions were absurd, even communication between companies was not working properly, and there were times when one had to rely on information sent by one platoon.
All information was uncertain. In most cases, the signalmen who were not officers were terrified and babbled about the rumors they had heard.
A huge group of flying monsters came to Busan, an SS-class or higher sea monster smashed a cruiser in the Namhae, and the monsters invaded the city of Daegu, causing astronomical casualties… … .
In fact, even if it was close to Chirashi, none of them could easily be dismissed as false rumors.
In the meantime, the only ‘official’ support request was the mechanized infantry battalion in the Honam Plains.
The battalion commander screamed and asked for help, and our party flew in the sky and headed for Jeonju.
But it seems too late.
“… … .”
The Honam Plain, where golden paddy rice should be scattered, has become a hilly area with piles of dirt everywhere.
Tanks were parked upside down everywhere. A burning armored vehicle was also seen.
There were relatively few corpses, whether they succeeded in retreating, or none at all.
“Anyone alive!?”
Gam Ji-yoon, very familiar with the dirt, went through the piles of dirt to collect the bodies of the soldiers and search for survivors.
We met a survivor not too far away. Some of the escaped tankers were shivering and hiding in the rubble.
“Go, thank you! thank you!”
“I have received a request for assistance, but what the hell happened?”
The testimonies were not coherent because they were people who had passed the point of death, but they were able to grasp the situation roughly.
These were separate units to annihilate the monsters that escaped from the siege of Jirisan Mountain.
A mechanized infantry battalion, including tanks, ran through the Honam plains and pursued the monster.
“But the monster attacked you?”
“Yes, yes! Suddenly, suddenly from above, what… … .”
“Did you come down from heaven?”
“Yeah, yes. Descend from above and smash the tank turrets and kill the people inside… … .”
Are you a flying monster? When I wanted to, a relatively calm soldier stepped forward. He was a young soldier who looked to be in his early 20s.
“It was a person.”
“I beg your pardon!?”
“Oh no! It was a monster that looked like a human… … .”
I didn’t have a clue, but I decided to keep listening.
The soldier swallowed his saliva and calmly continued his explanation while shaking his hands and feet.
“It was white. It was about the size of a traffic light. Not a traffic light on the sidewalk, but a traffic light hanging on the road, and… … .”
“And?”
“Oh, my right hand was as long as a spear. While wielding it, he smashed the tank turret. The skin was bumpy like a rock. It seems that there was a radio saying that it was safe even after being hit by a few shells… … .”
“Yes. That will be fine. Keep talking.”
“It was very fast. Everything happened in an instant.”
The soldier raised his trembling finger and pointed to the horizon. The plain was already in full swing.
“There, standing there blankly in the field, looked at us, and ran up to us in an instant and got on the chariot. The battalion commander yelled at him to retreat, probably less than a minute after he was ambushed. him, and… … .”
“And?”
“It was one.”
* * *
The soldiers were dropped off in Jeonju, but the faces of our party were still dark.
Half a day has already passed since the second catastrophe hit the Korean Peninsula. The sunset was setting on the wrinkled horizon.
We sat down on the rooftop of Jeonju City Hall to quench our hunger with cup noodles brought by government officials.
Gam Ga-yoon hurriedly swallowed the cup noodles like water and then began to doze off, and I started the meeting with Hong Seon-ah muttering.
“What do you do with that bastard of Heoyeon Clebey?”
“I do not know. To be honest, wouldn’t it be possible to reduce casualties by closing the surrounding gates first? Yes, there is only one.”
“It is now, but I am more afraid of his growth potential. Even now, it’s not even a surprise attack in any forest, it’s the mechanized infantry battalion being razed in the plains.”
“Well, going into the mountains, killing people, eating hunters, and absorbing monsters is a pain in the ass. It might be better to catch them early before they get bigger.”
“I’m talking about when tracking is possible, but… … .”
“Then you have to get rid of it from where you touch it. You’ve been receiving data from public officials, but did you get any useful information?”
“I will tell you as we go. Seon-ah is also waking up. Hey, Jiyoon-ah.”
By the time we finished eating the cup noodles, the sunset had completely passed. The sky was dark and Gam Ji-yoon was asleep.
“Uh, um… … .”
The hand that was outstretched to wake Ga Ji-yoon froze.
He doesn’t even go to school properly, and it’s his daily routine that he’s called around for catching monsters. I knew him well because he called me often when I was young.
In addition, he wore only a hoodie that covered his face as he suffered from camera baptism all day, and he was too small for a middle school student because he couldn’t sleep well during his growing years.
Suddenly, I remembered the image of Gam Ji-yoon, who had just been accustomed to clearing the rubble of a building and retrieving the body.
The young man didn’t even show a sign of disgust when he saw the corpse.
Is this all my karma? After being frozen for such a long time, Ga Ji-yoon’s eyes fluttered open.
“Ham… … .”
“… … .”
“What, the sun has gone down? Why didn’t you wake me up?”
It yawns like a cat, then stretches and gets up. Gam Ji-yoon reached out to me.
“let’s go!”
His hands were small and warm. We soared into the night sky again.
* * *
“I have heard many stories from public officials. Fortunately, rumors about Daegu being destroyed are fake news from YouTube.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“But there were SS-class marine monsters in the South Sea. Namhae is not the South Sea, but Namhae-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do. Yeosu and Gwangyang are right next door… … .”
“Isn’t Tongyeong next to you? Your hometown?”
“Write.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Anyway, the SS class has popped up in a town where there are a lot of people, so I would like to start there. The gate on the side of Mt. Jirisan was also scattered once.”
“Is the rumor that flying monsters attacked Busan true?”
“So far, they don’t know. But I heard that a very large gate was opened in a mountain near Gimhae?”
“Then it is not a very unlikely story. I think I can take a picture of the South Sea and run to Busan-”
While looking at the map with Hong Seon-ah, Ga Ga-yoon shouted in surprise.
“That one down there!”
“what?”
While checking the ground for something, the gas station exploded and red flames soared. Even the building next to it collapsed sideways.
Gam Ji-yoon started the descent without even explaining.
Hong Seon-ah was startled and hugged me. Screaming into my ear was like death.
“Ahhh… … !”
“Whoa!”
When I woke up, it was near the ground. Gam Ji-yoon started aerobatics between buildings.
I came to my senses and balanced myself. Only then did the flight stabilize.
“Jiyoon-ah! What is it!”
“The white one has entered the city!”
“What? White guy?”
“That bastard I mentioned earlier!”
Before I could even think of the bastard who smashed the mechanized infantry battalion in the Honam plain at those words, ‘that bastard’ popped out and crossed the forest of buildings.
The appearance of ‘that bastard’ was a little more creepy than the soldier’s explanation.
His elongated right arm was more like a tentacle than a blade, and decidedly he was half-flying rather than running around.
Maybe it has evolved in the meantime.
He had no features on his white face, but only a single yellow light from his left cheek.
“Uh, uh, that… … !”
In the meantime, a lot of knowledge I had read in the thesis hovered in my mouth.
Humanoid-type knight-type transformation object, Instant Gate, tactical specificity of human-type variant, Manastone weapon core transformation… … .
It was like seeing a weapon-wielding monster in a Chinese paper, or a humanoid-type monster in a European Union report.
However, it is not yet clearly defined what to call such people.
My knowledge and academic research were too short to explain Gam Ga-yoon and Hong Seon-ah with English words, picking up and serving plausible sounds.
“Oh! That bastard, that bastard, catch him and kill him!”
“die!”
An untimely chase began.
The gate opened on the first day of my tenure episode 237