Chapter 103
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The Walker Ⅰ
Shin No-a
1
In this world, there is no such skill as [Instant Teleportation].
The fairies from the tutorial do pop out from mid-air, but as I mentioned in the previous episode, this is nothing more than an invisibility spell.
Abnormalities like the 'Reincarnation Truck' suddenly appear from beyond the horizon. But even those trucks didn't use [Instant Teleportation]—they were simply 'generated' from blind spots outside human vision.
In other words, there is no such thing as a skill like [Instant Teleportation] in this world.
However, phenomena that come quite close to [Instant Teleportation] do exist.
[Mr. Undertaker. I think you need to go down to Busan urgently.]
"Excuse me? What happened?"
[Well, I'm not sure how to put this…….]
The Saintess hesitated.
In truth, I should have been extremely tense from just that hint alone. The Saintess had perfectionism bordering on fastidiousness, and she would even 'rehearse her lines' beforehand by pausing time before speaking to me.
But I only learned this secret in the 713th iteration, and right now was merely the 141st. So I asked without much thought.
"Why is that?"
[…A tunnel has appeared in the sea off Busan.]
"Excuse me?"
[Literally, an undersea tunnel has appeared. Mr. Undertaker, I think you need to come see it for yourself.]
2
Have you ever heard of the 'Korea-Japan Undersea Tunnel'?
It doesn't matter if you haven't. It's a structure that doesn't exist in reality anyway.
The blueprint of 'Let's connect Korea and Japan by digging an undersea tunnel!' had been consistently proposed for a long time, but there wasn't much practical benefit proven that would outweigh the astronomical costs.
From the beginning, the person who first advocated for the project was no ordinary figure.
He was someone who would later become Japan's Prime Minister, and his major achievements during his term included the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Philippines Recapture Campaign, the Great Tokyo Air Raid, the Battle of Iwo Jima, and the Battle of Okinawa.
The fact that 'undersea tunnel collapse disaster' wasn't added to that splendid lineup could be considered fortunate for the proposer.
A delusional paper plan.
That's why, after receiving the Saintess's urgent report and arriving in Busan, I could only stand there with a dumbfounded expression.
"Wait, it's really an undersea tunnel……?"
There were no seagulls in the sea off Busan.
Instead, there was a tunnel.
More precisely, a tunnel had popped out at the coastline where the old Sinseondae Pier used to be located.
However, there were several differences from the original plan. This was something that commonly happened when grandiosely started projects compromised with reality, but the tunnel, originally conceived as a 'railway tunnel,' had become considerably narrower.
Honestly, it was very narrow.
A width where not even a freight truck could properly pass, let alone a train.
"Oh. Did you come to work……?"
Yellow warning tape was already crisscrossed at the tunnel entrance.
Amidst the busy movement of National Highway Management Corps members, Noh Do-ha greeted me while sipping her morning coffee.
"Thank you for your hard work. I came straight here after receiving contact from the Saintess. What's going on?"
"Well, as you can see. A pedestrian tunnel just crawled out of the sea like ta-da! The initial report came at 5 AM this morning. One crazy corps member whose hobby is jogging at dawn made the first discovery……."
"Does it really connect under the sea?"
"I had the divers do some snorkeling. They said when humans went in, coral started growing in the Busan sea too. The tunnel went in diagonally like a dick and just plunged into the seabed……."
"Is that sexual harassment? I'm going to sue."
"Heh. What would a 1,000-year-old granny know. So, Undertaker Awakened, in your view this is……?"
"It's definitely an Abnormality."
I looked up at the plaque engraved at the tunnel entrance.
"And it's also a Void simultaneously."
It was dirtied with all sorts of graffiti and scribbles, but the tunnel's name wasn't hard to make out.
犬鳴隧道.
Inunaki Tunnel.
This wasn't a Korean Abnormality.
It was from Japan, the only foreign country across the sea from Busan.
I couldn't help but be tense about the situation where a territory-type Abnormality without legs or wings had 'encroached all the way to a foreign country across the sea.'
Its danger level was Continental. That meant it was an Abnormality comparable to the World Tree 'Udumbara.'
"…Surely you didn't order the corps members to explore the inside?"
"Heh. Of course not."
Noh Do-ha smiled brightly.
"I sent death row inmates……."
Behind her, Yoo Ji-won was waiting. On a folding table, a sea chart titled 'Korea Strait and Vicinity' was spread out.
"How is it, Manager Yoo. How far have the death row inmates gone now……?"
"Surprisingly, they've already passed Tsushima. Ah, Undertaker Your Excellency. You've arrived."
Click. The owner of the [Mini-map] ability, Operations Control Room Manager of the National Highway Management Corps, and psychopath Yoo Ji-won saluted me upon seeing me.
She did this with her direct superior Noh Do-ha right in front of her. What a piece of work. I really couldn't help but marvel at this guy every time I saw her.
But right now, I needed to focus a bit more on the report than on Yoo Ji-won's character.
"Passed Tsushima?"
"Yes, Your Excellency. Look."
On the sea chart, chess pieces labeled 'Kim Jeong-rip' and 'Lee Eun-ju' respectively were moving little by little. Those must be the names of the death row inmates.
Around the sea chart, dozens of pawns (♟) were scattered about messily.
"Did you put two people in the tunnel?"
"No, Your Excellency. The death row inmates were grouped in sixes, making 12 teams, totaling 72 death row inmates sent as exploration teams. Half of them, 36 people, were rented bicycles."
"…So you basically just completely cleaned out the National Highway Management Corps prison at this opportunity."
"It was the Corps Commander's order. Your Excellency."
"That wasn't a criticism. At least it would be a Continental-level danger Abnormality, so it was the right call."
"I also judged that order to be extremely correct. Your Excellency."
This bastard…….
Anyway, right now Yoo Ji-won's personality really wasn't what was important. Except for the part dealing with morals and ethics, Yoo Ji-won's brain was quite excellent.
"When did you insert them?"
"The search operation began at 0710 hours today. Currently, 3 hours and 16 minutes have elapsed since the operation started. The two survivors are among those who rented bicycles, and considering the Void's environment, their movement speed is quite good."
"…If they're people the National Highway Management Corps left as death row inmates, wouldn't they be talents somewhat familiar with the Void?"
"Correct. Among the 72 death row inmates, 69 have experience exploring the Void at least once."
"But they were wiped out in 3 hours."
That moment.
Slither-! The chess piece that had been passing north of Tsushima suddenly crossed the sea.
"Huh?"
"……?"
At that strange movement, not just me but Yoo Ji-won and Noh Do-ha also looked at the sea chart.
'Kim Jeong-rip's chess piece moved to the vicinity of Fukuoka in an instant. Precisely, to the exact center of the map labeled Hisayama-machi and Miyawaka-shi.
Whatever the distance from Tsushima to there, it was definitely not a speed a human could produce.
Thud-
While everyone's mouths were open, 'Kim Jeong-rip's chess piece fell over powerlessly.
"……."
"……."
The surroundings went quiet.
There were only two cases where a chess piece on Yoo Ji-won's mini-map would flip over.
Either the human corresponding to the chess piece went outside the map's range, or they died.
Noh Do-ha muttered.
"Fuck, what is this now……?"
Rattle-!
Next was the turn of 'Lee Eun-ju,' the last remaining chess piece. That chess piece also suddenly moved from Tsushima to near Fukuoka.
As if being pulled by something.
Rattle! Slide! The chess piece frantically went back and forth between the northwest and northeast of Kyushu. This way, that way, now south. The chess piece bounced around like a ping-pong ball, then—
Thud-
It just fell over.
Silence flowed for a while.
"…If I may speak out of turn."
Yoo Ji-won opened her mouth.
"There is nothing wrong with my ability. Your Excellency."
It was truly speaking out of turn.
"…Ji-won. You said you've toured Japan on a bicycle before, right?"
"Huh? Yes, that's correct."
"If you have a map of Japan in your trunk, get it out. Preferably a large one."
"Understood. Your Excellency."
Yoo Ji-won opened the trunk bag she always carried around.
The opened trunk was the product of her psychotic compulsion or extremely efficient organizational skills.
Full maps of the Korean Peninsula, city maps, sea charts, and maps of the entire world were stored systematically by category.
Yoo Ji-won pulled out a map of Japan in less than 10 seconds.
"Spread it out. Connect it with the Korea Strait sea chart."
"Yes."
Though the scales were different, the two maps overlapped.
Then something bizarre happened.
Slide-
'Lee Eun-ju's chess piece was dragged along. No, that wasn't all.
The chess pieces scattered on the table, dozens of corpses, started being dragged somewhere as if pulled by a magnet.
Slide- Slide- Slide- Slide- Slide-
"……."
"……."
Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Hiroshima, Okayama, Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, Shizuoka, Tokyo, Sendai…….
The places the corpses moved to were all different. The 72 corpses were transported to various places throughout Japan.
Among them, 'Kim Jeong-rip's chess piece was particularly strange.
Rattle rattle rattle!
'Kim Jeong-rip's chess piece, dropped near Fukuoka, trembled. It was an inexplicable phenomenon. Then at one moment.
Snap-
The chess piece split in two.
The pawn's 'head' was left near Fukuoka, and only the 'body' rolled away. It stopped only after reaching the vicinity of Osaka.
The silence was longer than before.
This time Noh Do-ha opened her lips.
"Hmm. Should we get more death row inmates……?"
I shook my head.
"I will escalate the danger level of the Abnormality 'Inunaki Tunnel' to Continental. Contact the Magical Girl Association on the Japanese side. They would be the experts. A joint investigation team will likely be formed. Prepare for it, Corps Commander Noh Do-ha."
3
"Inunaki Tunnel? That's a really shitty place-nyan."
As expected, Japan's Awakened was already well-acquainted with said Abnormality.
A former shrine maiden who received divine power from the cat god with a vow to attach 'nyan' or 'nya' to the end of every sentence until death. Current magical girl.
The Awakened with golden hair named Man'emyo (万葉猫) answered my inquiry sincerely.
"Both that neighborhood and this neighborhood have lots of mountains-nyan. Unless you're a pervert designed to feel strange pleasure from climbing mountains, digging tunnels is convenient-nyan."
But who could have predicted.
That tunnel locations, when the lights go out, often transform into spaces of 'darkness where sunlight doesn't enter 365 days a year, damp, and people fear'—and precisely these location conditions were hot spots for Abnormalities.
Unfortunately, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport bureaucrats had no ability to foresee the future. In fact, their ability to recognize reality probably wasn't that great either. As a result, tunnels were dug worm-like all over Japan's entire territory.
Then the Void arrived.
"Kiyotaki Tunnel. Ikoma Tunnel. Inunaki Tunnel. All places that used to be famous as ghost spots-nyan."
Places commonly known in Japan as the three major ghost spot tunnels.
"But after the Void's arrival, these tunnels started 'fighting' each other-nyan."
"Fighting? Tunnels?"
"That's right-nyan. I'm telling you specially since you're an Undertaker……."
The Japanese magical girls called me Undertaker. It meant the same thing as Funeral Director.
"There was a perfectly fine tunnel in our neighborhood-nyan. But one day we woke up and suddenly the tunnel's plaque had changed to 'Kiyotaki,' you see?"
"……."
"Kiyotaki Tunnel is really far from our neighborhood-nyan. A year passed like that, and then the plaque changed to 'Inunaki' this time-nyan!"
Territory competition between Abnormalities.
A fight to determine which of the three major ghost spots was truly worthy of being the 'tunnel Abnormality.'
"It wasn't just our neighborhood-nyan. All tunnels throughout Japan, including even culverts, without exception, transformed into 'Inunaki Tunnel'-nyan."
"…It was infected. The concept of 'tunnel' was completely eaten and consumed by 'Inunaki Tunnel.'"
"That's right-nyan. It's shitty-nyan."
'And so now no Japanese person uses tunnels anymore-nyan,' the magical girl added.
Inunaki Tunnel, not satisfied with occupying Japan, even began attempting invasion abroad.
By eating and consuming even the 'Korea-Japan Undersea Tunnel,' a virtual tunnel that never existed in reality, as 'its own.'
Man'emyo sighed.
"Originally, the real original Inunaki Tunnel was only about 150 meters long at most-nyan. But now it's eaten all of Japan's tunnels, and according to the Undertaker, it's even eaten a virtual undersea tunnel, so the total length is……."
The longest Abnormality in history.
That was the Continental-level Abnormality I would be facing in this 141st iteration.