Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
Just before departure, we gathered in the briefing room once more.
It was Captain Kim Hyeongcheol who broke the heavy silence hanging over the room.
He roughly straightened the documents, then turned his gaze back to us.
“We will soon be entering the Blackout Zone. Before we depart, I’ll take any additional questions regarding the entry procedure.”
At those words, as if he had been waiting for them, the orc uncle raised one thick hand.
Rubbing his chin, he posed a rather practical question.
“You said the entry point is Gangnam Sarang Obstetrics and Gynecology. Then how are we getting there? Like at Outpost Four, riding in a deuce-and-a-half right up to the front?”
Captain Kim shook his head.
“No. From within a five-hundred-meter radius of the Blackout Zone, you’ll have to proceed entirely on foot.”
“On foot? You’re telling us to carry all that heavy equipment and walk five hundred meters?”
Beside him, Min Aji’s ears perked up in surprise.
Of course, for the beastfolk here or the orc uncle, a five-hundred-meter march would be no more than a light stroll, but why would we need to walk when we had vehicles?
The answer that came from Captain Kim’s mouth was slightly beyond what we had imagined.
“Because of the Land Leviathan.”
“…Land what?”
“It’s a codename we assigned it. A super-colony monster that roams underground along the boundary of the Blackout Zone.”
Captain Kim displayed data on the screen that looked like faint seismograph waves.
“It detects prey not by sight or hearing, but through vibrations and load. If a vehicle or armored car above a certain weight enters its radius, it bursts up through the ground and chews it all down.”
At his explanation, the briefing room stirred once again.
A monster that could chew up tanks and armored vehicles.
It seemed that thing was the reason the military had been unable to send armor recklessly near the Blackout Zone and had been forced to struggle along mainly with infantry.
“It does not react to the load or footsteps of a human. So you will disembark outside the five-hundred-meter control line, proceed through Outpost One, our destination, and enter the Blackout Zone from there.”
“Outpost One, you say… Wasn’t the place we went last time Outpost Four?”
At Elder Owlbear’s question, Captain Kim nodded.
“Yes. Outpost One was the first forward base established at the beginning of the incident, at the closest point to the Blackout Zone.”
“‘Was established,’ you say. That means it has been abandoned now.”
“That’s correct. It was judged impossible to defend because it was too close to the Blackout Zone, and it has currently been completely sealed off and evacuated. We’ll use that place as a base camp to make preparations, then immediately cross the barrier of the Blackout Zone.”
A few more questions were exchanged, but most were about minor equipment checks or supplies.
After confirming there were no more questions, Captain Kim gave a short salute.
“Everyone, move to your boarding positions. That is all.”
Over the past two days, we had inspected the combat rations, ammunition, and our respective weapons that had been issued to us, completing every preparation we could.
I, too, had grown used to the weight of the Glock pistol at my waist, and after repeatedly training to manage the divine power within me, I had reached the point where I could now suppress the waves of that power quite naturally.
And now, at last, the operation was beginning.
Sitting in the rattling cargo bed of the deuce-and-a-half, we headed toward our destination.
The atmosphere was quite different from when we had gone to Outpost Four.
Back then, the air had been filled with nothing but the tension of ignorance, but now, along with a heavy resolve, it felt as though a terrible exhaustion was already bearing down on us.
“…Arrived at the control line. Everyone disembark.”
At Captain Kim’s instruction, we jumped down from the truck one after another.
The streets of Seoul, blanketed in thick dawn fog, were indescribably bleak.
And in the distance, a gigantic black cylinder filled our field of vision.
No matter how many times I looked at it, I could not get used to that overwhelming ominousness.
“From here on, we move on foot. Watch your step, and keep noise to a minimum.”
At Captain Kim’s hand signal, the six of us mutants formed up.
At the front stood Elder Owlbear with his shield and sledgehammer, and the orc uncle, holding a K3 machine gun as if it weighed nothing.
Min Aji and Yu Inha supported them from behind, while I, Kim Jihu, and Captain Kim held the center.
Step, step.
Only the sound of footsteps on asphalt echoed through the silent street.
Was there really a monster beneath us that could chew up even tanks and armored vehicles?
It felt as if I could sense a faint tremor from beneath the ground, and goosebumps rose along my skin.
Had we walked for about ten minutes like that?
“There it is. Outpost One.”
Beyond the fog, the outline of a makeshift outpost crudely built from concrete barricades, barbed wire, and sandbags appeared.
It was barely a few dozen meters away from the immense jet-black wall of the Blackout Zone—right in front of it, in fact.
But then.
“…Huh?”
The first to notice something strange was Yu Inha, whose eyesight was sharp.
Her snake tail flinched to a stop, and with a trembling finger, she pointed at the outpost.
“The lights… are on?”
At those words, all our eyes turned toward the outpost.
Yu Inha was right.
Beyond the windows of Outpost One, which should have been completely sealed off and even cut off from electricity, a bluish fluorescent light was leaking out.
“Wasn’t that place closed down, Captain Kim?”
Seodoyun asked in a low voice, pulling the charging handle of his K3.
Captain Kim’s face had also hardened.
“When we withdrew, we destroyed all the generators as well. There’s no way the lights should be on.”
At that moment, Elder Owlbear’s feathered ears shot upright.
Adjusting his grip on his shield, he gave a grave warning.
“There is something inside. And… it’s moving around with fairly heavy footsteps.”
“…Everyone, prepare for combat.”
At Captain Kim’s cold order, everyone drew their respective weapons.
I released the safety on my Glock and held my breath.
We carefully approached the entrance of the outpost.
The rusted iron door was half open, and through the gap came the bluish light along with an unpleasant fishy stench.
Elder Owlbear took the lead and kicked the iron door in.
Bang!
“Gah! Wh-who’s there!”
At the same time, a startled cry came from inside.
What was inside the outpost was a soldier.
He stared at us in confusion as we broke down the door and came in, then soon spotted Captain Kim and spoke as if he were pleased to see him.
“Huh? Isn’t that you, Lieutenant Kim? What brings you here…”
The soldier furrowed his brow as if thinking for a moment, then slowly backed away as though wary of us.
“…Who are you? Who are you to come all the way here…”
But the soldier’s words did not continue.
Bang!
The bullet fired by Captain Kim struck the soldier’s head.
“……!”
As everyone stood there in shock, Captain Kim shouted.
“It’s a mimic beast! Prepare for combat!”
Indeed, his judgment was correct.
The head where the bullet had undoubtedly embedded itself began to writhe, and then the bullet popped out.
Rat-tat-tat!
In an instant, a hail of bullets poured out.
The mimic beast seemed to be taking damage from it, its skin peeling away little by little as it staggered.
Then the biological blade it had been hiding was revealed.
It charged in close, swinging its own arm, which had transformed into a blade, but…
Clang!
It could not pierce Elder Owlbear’s shield.
Having seized his turn, Elder Owlbear followed with his attack.
He raised the sledgehammer high, then brought it crashing down.
Thud!
The blow had enough force to cave in its head.
“Kiaaaagh!”
But despite suffering such a fatal wound, the mimic beast did not stop moving.
Of the mimic beast’s two arms, the one that had not transformed into a blade grabbed Elder Owlbear’s leg.
And then—bang!
The bullet fired from my Glock stopped that arm.
Only then did the mimic beast, which had been moving so tenaciously, finally cease its activity.
“Haa, haa…”
It was our first time engaging in a proper fight head-on.
Even though our combat strength had clearly been superior, we felt a deep fatigue.
A battle against a human-like monster that would not die and was not easily incapacitated.
Even aside from the physical exhaustion, the mental fatigue was bound to be immense.
As if trying to lighten the mood even a little, Kim Jihu asked Captain Kim,
“As expected, your judgment was quick.”
“…It was slow. I knew his face.”
Captain Kim continued, flicking his fingers.
“He was a soldier who went missing on the first day of the incident. A foolish young man. He chose to enlist voluntarily despite being in circumstances where he could have been exempted.”
“I don’t think so.”
Kim Jihu refuted his words.
“I, too, was in circumstances where I could have been exempted. I was an orphan. But I chose to enlist voluntarily, and now that I’ve been discharged, I came here of my own free will as well.”
“…That is impressive.”
“I do not regret that decision in the slightest. So I think pitying others too much may be an arrogant thing to do.”
At those words, Captain Kim pulled his beret down low.
He flicked his fingers, then spoke as though exhausting his strength.
“…Perhaps you’re right.”
His tone seemed to acknowledge it at first glance. But I could sense that deep down in his heart, he could not.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.
Was there any rule saying that someone who pitied others could not pity himself as well?
Perhaps the one he pitied most of all was…
“Let’s go. It’s not much farther to the point.”
“That mimic beast…”
Unfortunately, my control over my divine power was still immature. I could not turn it back here.
“…Let’s go in.”
Captain Kim said, adjusting his beret.
He was right.
The first destination—the entrance leading to Gangnam Sarang Obstetrics and Gynecology.
It was not far now.