novelraw Chapter 161 : Intern Jae-hee (2)
Chapter 161 : Intern Jae-hee (2)
“When ‘the Gate’ opens, only the ‘Old Humanity’ will be destroyed.”
Inside a limousine speeding through the wasteland, Chun-hyang, leader of the Crimson Poverty Front, spoke as President San Kim’s address to the nation concluded.
“The ‘New Humanity’ will survive.”
Chun-hyang covered her mouth and chuckled.
“But really… it’s not exactly about survival. This whole grand battle of life and death is a tutorial of sorts, meant to awaken humanity anew…”
Iljimae’s characteristically gloomy eyes shifted around in confusion. “Um… Party Leader, what’s New Humanity? And Old Humanity?”
“It’s simple.”
Chun-hyang raised a hand, flicking her fingers once to the left and once to the right.
“The Awakened are New Humanity, the non-Awakened are Old Humanity. Easy, right?”
“Ah…”
After offering such a crude and cruel classification, Chun-hyang continued her explanation.
“When the New Humanity has used their Awakened abilities enough to fully assimilate our world with the Otherworld, ‘the Gate’ will open—and we will be able to enter a new world.”
Looking around at her comrades in the car, Chun-hyang smiled sweetly. “At last, humanity’s infancy will end, and we will advance to the next era.”
Then, she shrugged and added, “Of course, the Old Humanity will be wiped out in the process.”
Her tone was casual, as if she were mentioning something trivial, but her words were terrifying.
Jeon Woo-chi, scratching his matted hair, asked, “But why is the President hiding all this?”
“Currently, over seventy percent of ‘humanity’ are non-Awakened—the ‘Old Humanity.’”
Chun-hyang smiled coyly.
“When ‘the Gate’ opens, they will perish. From the perspective of a President who represents the entire nation, it’s only natural he’d want to delay that for as long as possible.”
The President himself was an Awakened, but he had a duty to protect the non-Awakened majority.
His beloved wife and daughter were also said to be non-Awakened, so as President, he must have resorted to these measures to protect his people and his family for as long as possible.
“Besides, if this truth came out, it’s obvious the Awakened and non-Awakened… the New and Old Humanity… would split apart and fight, wouldn’t they? Just imagine it. What a filthy mess it would be.”
Chun-hyang’s tone was so cheerful that it was as if she were saying, Wouldn’t that be fun?
“Even the Old Five Heroes, when they first learned the truth, were desperate to cover it up. After all, they wanted to protect ‘the world.’”
Chun-hyang took out her long tobacco pipe, placed it in her mouth, and smirked.
“But I have no such intention. I will reveal the whole truth… and I will remove the cuffs from the hands of our New Humanity.”
The Awakened Protection Act had already gone into effect, and starting with today’s address, the government would begin cuffing the Awakened all across the country.
No matter how noble the cause, such control and suppression were bound to make discontent boil over.
“There’s no better time for a liberation army—for righteous thieves—to make their appearance.”
Exhaling a long stream of smoke, Chun-hyang looked ahead, her eyes smiling.
“It is time for our Crimson Poverty Front to rise up in earnest.”
In the seat before her, a young man with a cross-shaped scar on his cheek—the Hunter known as Chevalier—held a Butcher’s Mask and silently met her gaze. Beneath his quiet exterior, he concealed a blazing will.
Screech—
Before long, the limousine came to a stop at an abandoned, closed-off port. Neglected and desolate, the pier was being battered by the encroaching tide.
The door opened, and as Chun-hyang stepped out, she let out a little, “Oh, my.”
“Did you come out to meet us, Hwang Jin-yi?”
“Of course, Party Leader.”
The limousine door had been opened by a middle-aged woman with gray hair, dressed in a black hanbok—Hwang Jin-yi, the owner of the Halmi Mask.
“It is the day we march to war, so everyone has come to escort you personally.”
When Hwang Jin-yi stepped aside, she revealed the other members of the Crimson Poverty Front, gathered to greet them.
Among them was Silken Bodhisattva, a woman wearing a Bune Mask modeled after a kisaeng.
“The Deputy Leader is in Seoul right now… which means the rest of us are finally all here.”
Except for Deputy Leader Hong Gil-dong, every member of the Crimson Poverty Front was gathered in one place.
“Alright, Crimson Poverty Front,” Party Leader Chun-hyang began, addressing her comrades. “Why should we bother waiting ten years for the end?”
Everyone gathered here wanted to burn the world down, shatter it, and bring it to an end. They were people who had something so precious they would do just that to save it.
“Let’s start right now. Let’s burn the whole world down, shatter it to pieces, and then dance and sing upon the ashes.”
Swoooosh…
Beyond the abandoned port, the sea began to part left and right.
The Fox Way opened, and beyond it, the Crimson Poverty Front’s base of operations—Yuldo—revealed itself.
Stepping onto the path to that taxidermied paradise, Chun-hyang declared, “Let’s throw open the gate—the gate that leads to a new world for us, the New Humanity.”
***
Ghost stared down at the glass in her hand.
The Old Five Heroes had reached the Gate thirty years ago, so they knew what would happen when it opened. That was why they had forced it shut back then, even at great cost.
They had believed they’d brought peace, but despite their efforts, the Gate had begun to slowly open again.
Now, the time when it would open completely was just around the corner.
“I just feel sorry for Seong-ah.”
Ghost let out a long sigh.
“She worked so hard to seal that Gate… and we couldn’t even keep it sealed, letting it open again.”
Hae-eun, sitting across from her, gestured with her chin. “You look tired, Ghost.”
Instead of answering, Ghost drained her glass and exhaled slowly. “Even if the world is doomed anyway… we still have to protect it.”
Hae-eun nodded. “Because that’s our job.”
“While the New Five Heroes protect the world in the light, the Black Parade will have to fill in the gaps from the shadows.”
Even though the New Five Heroes were now in charge of Gate defense, they were only human, and there were bound to be gaps. The Black Parade would continue to discreetly patch up those cracks.
Ghost sighed and gestured with her chin toward Hae-eun.
“You’ve got your hands full, too. Your main job as ‘Serpent Keeper’ must be a headache on its own, and now you have to manage this convict unit.”
“Me? I’m managing. Maybe this gig is my true calling.”
As she spoke, Hae-eun put a cigarette to her lips and offered the pack.
Ghost waved it away.
Hae-eun’s eyes widened. “Huh? You’re not smoking?”
“I quit.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? You’re the one who taught me how to smoke. And now you’re quitting?”
“It just happened. It was a promise I made to the kid.”
Sipping her drink, Ghost frowned.
“…I’m worried about how he’s doing.”
“You mean Boy? I’m sure he’s doing just fine.”
Hae-eun let out a short laugh. “That Rain Man guy asked me a favor and picked him up personally. Looks like he plans on training him well. The kid’s future is set.”
“…”
“Worst-case scenario, he just ends up back here, right?”
Ghost scowled. “Don’t say such horrible things… He never belonged in prison in the first place. He’s too damn soft… He belongs in the light.”
“…”
“He’s so friendly, he’ll get along great with the New Five Heroes.”
“Well, that would be nice, but…”
Hae-eun lit her own cigarette, exhaled a cloud of smoke, and smiled.
“Who knows. You never know how things will turn out.”
***
A few days later.
The outskirts of Seoul. A building construction site.
Jae-hee Han, hero-intern, was on his first training mission.
“Whoa…”
His jaw dropped as he surveyed the area.
The construction site was chaos, wrecked by the sudden appearance of a Gate. Construction materials were scattered everywhere, and heavy machinery teetered precariously. The workers on-site were screaming and running for their lives.
«Six hours since Gate appearance. The Gate is now beginning to open in earnest.»
The transmission came from Captain Nerd’s recon robot, hovering overhead.
«Monster species is Hydra. A significantly high-risk species. Grotesque things—a cross between a snake and a scorpion. They can shoot poisonous barbs from their tails and are highly intelligent.»
Rain Man asked, “Six hours since it appeared…? Why was the report so late?”
«Apparently, they hesitated because they were afraid it would ruin the construction project.»
“Even at a time like this…” Rain Man clicked his tongue.
The building’s frame was complete. Between the skeletal steel beams, the monsters’ crimson compound eyes glinted.
Captain Nerd scanned the building from above.
«Ten civilians trapped inside.»
“Are they alive?”
«For now.» Captain Nerd continued. «But a rescue operation is extremely dangerous. A Gate Lord has appeared. Right now, it would be better to abandon the hostages and focus solely on exterminating the monsters…»
“Excuse me!” Jae-hee quickly raised his hand. “I think I can rescue the hostages.”
Rain Man stared at Jae-hee.
Though he couldn’t make out the man’s expression beneath his shadowed hood, Jae-hee felt his gaze was gentle.
As Rain Man considered, Captain Nerd’s voice cut in urgently.
«Rain Man, there’s no need to take an unnecessary risk. Right now—»
“No. We’ll use this opportunity to test the intern’s speed.”
Having made up his mind, Rain Man got ready to give his orders.
“Boy, estimated time to rescue all hostages?”
Rain Man held out a tablet. Onscreen, a real-time building scan from Captain Nerd pinpointed the hostages’ locations.
After confirming the locations of all the hostages scattered throughout the ten-story building, Jae-hee answered.
“Ten seconds.”
The shocked voices of Rain Man and Captain Nerd overlapped.
“Ten seconds?”
«Ten seconds?»
Jae-hee scratched the back of his head. “Uh… is that too slow? I could probably do it faster.”
“…”
“If you can catch them down below, I can get it under five seconds. I’d just have to get the hostages and toss them out.”
Captain Nerd let out a disbelieving scoff.
«Cocky little punk… Fine. Just get the hostages and throw them out of the building. I’ll handle the catching.»
“Yep!”
The word was barely out of his mouth before Jae-hee crouched into a sprinter’s starting position.
“Here I go!”
«What?» Captain Nerd was flustered. «Right now?»
But Jae-hee was already running.
Fwhoosh!
A gale shot forward.
And in the next instant,
Crash! Shatter!
Several of the building’s windows burst outward, and the hostages were unceremoniously hurled outside.
Watching the hostages float through the air, too stunned to even scream, Captain Nerd muttered a beat too late, «Holy shit.»
The next moment, a safety mat shot out from the robot’s arm and deployed on the ground, perfectly aligned with their trajectory. The hostages landed on it, finally letting out belated screams.
“Hah, hah, hah!”
Jae-hee reappeared beside them in a matter of seconds, gasping for breath.
“H-how was that? Hah… Everyone’s rescued, right…?”
“…”
He had burned through all his energy in seconds.
Rain Man and Captain Nerd were speechless at the rookie’s insane speed.
The third member of their team, Death-Medic, who had just arrived on the scene, covered her mouth and uttered a single word in their place.
“Dang!”