-South Gate
Zombies were roaming in packs near the herb shop as well. Apparently, swarms of rats had appeared here too.
When Gil and I knocked on the door, Cheon Danbi, who had been sitting blankly on a chair in the dim interior of the shop, sprang to her feet and greeted us.
“You’re here!”
“We’re a bit late, right? As you know, we had to walk because of the blackout.”
“Hello, noona.”
After we exchanged brief greetings, I looked around the shop and asked,
“Nothing happened?”
A small candle had been lit inside the shop, but even that light was covered by a shade. It seemed she hadn’t wanted any light leaking out.
It was too dark to see every corner, but the inside of the shop didn’t look any different from before.
“Plenty happened. As if the Neo Forest explosion wasn’t enough, there was a blackout and then a swarm of rats... Rats came flooding down the road like a tidal wave. I was seriously startled.”
Cheon Danbi shuddered as she spoke.
“They didn’t get inside the shop, did they?”
“No. I locked the doors tight. It’s not like there were any customers anyway, with the explosion and the blackout. But strangely enough, zombies showed up and wiped out the rat swarm.”
At Cheon Danbi’s words, Gil smiled proudly.
Seeing that, Cheon Danbi quickly grasped the situation and asked with her eyes wide.
“Don’t tell me... Gil! Did you do that? Those zombies? No, how?”
Gil answered, looking a little embarrassed.
“Yes. I asked the zombies to help. We had to come here, but the rats just kept pouring in without end, so we got some help. I also wanted people to know that zombies can be useful.”
“Oh, you did so well! I knew you were amazing!”
When Cheon Danbi rejoiced as if it were her own achievement, Gil’s smile grew even wider.
When Gil explained how he had sent communication to the zombies through mana waves, Cheon Danbi was even more impressed and praised Gil to the skies.
These two really did get along well.
Watching them, a smile naturally rose to my face too. But this wasn’t the time to be taking it easy like this. I had to hurry to Neo Forest.
“Has anything else happened at Neo Forest since the explosion?”
I interrupted their touching moment and asked Cheon Danbi.
“I don’t think so. In any case, there wasn’t another explosion or anything. I was watching carefully to see if any suspicious mana waves occurred, but there weren’t any.”
“That’s a relief. What are you going to do now? I have to go meet the Hall mages. They contacted me asking me to help investigate Neo Forest.”
“Oh, really? Then hurry and go.”
Cheon Danbi even waved her hands at me, gesturing for me to leave quickly, then suddenly seemed to remember something and shouted,
“Wait!”
“What?”
“This works out. If you go into Neo Forest, can you contact me? To be honest, I was thinking of going into the forest to take a look too. But I can’t have my route overlap with the Hall mages’, right?”
Cheon Danbi said it so shamelessly. She spoke of sneaking into Neo Forest as casually as if she were saying, “I’m going to the mart.”
In the end, she was practically confessing with her own mouth that she had been sneaking in and out of Neo Forest even before now.
I let out a small laugh and answered.
“Got it. I’ll contact you. But are you going to move together with Gil? Please avoid doing anything that puts him in danger.”
“I can’t leave him here alone. I’ll have to take him with me. But don’t worry. I’ll treat him like a precious treasure, wrap him up in swaddling clothes, and take care of him.”
“What? Noona?”
When Gil widened his eyes, Cheon Danbi looked back at him and giggled.
At the way Cheon Danbi spoke like an old grandmother, I ended up laughing too. In any case, I had no doubt that Cheon Danbi would take good care of Gil.
“Then I’m going.”
“Okay. Let’s meet back here later.”
“Have a safe trip, mage-nim.”
I left the herb shop and immediately contacted Han Dosu.
“I’m near Neo Forest now. Where should I go?”
[Ah! You’re finally here. I thought you wouldn’t be able to come because of the blackout and the rat swarm. Come to the South Gate.]
“Understood.”
The South Gate was the entrance on the side close to the herb shop. I hurried in that direction.
The whole city was dark because of the blackout, but the area around Neo Forest was especially dark. Since no one lived nearby, not even a small light leaked out.
But as I approached the South Gate, I saw occasional lights. They were flames conjured by mages.
Quite a few mages were gathering. The foreign mages were walking leisurely, as if they were spectators.
‘They’re like a swarm of flies waiting for a terrorist attack to happen.’
In contrast, the police standing along the Neo Forest boundary were frozen stiff. Ordinary people who couldn’t use magic were terrified like that.
When I reached the South Gate, I saw even more lights. It was bright enough to clearly see the faces of the people gathered there.
There were so many lights that I wondered if all the Hall mages had come here.
I greeted familiar faces with a nod and approached Han Dosu.
“Welcome.”
Han Dosu’s face was somewhat tense. It was only natural, since not only had Neo Forest exploded, but a blackout and a swarm of monster rats had appeared as well.
“Is all of Seoul currently blacked out? And the rat swarm spread throughout Seoul too?”
“The blackout, yes. But it should be restored before long. It seems someone placed a magical manipulation on a substation, and government-affiliated mages are dealing with it now.”
“So the power outage was caused by terrorism after all.”
“That’s right.”
“What about the rats? Has that also been confirmed as terrorism by a black mage?”
“We don’t know that yet. Rats are living creatures, so they aren’t easy to investigate. The rat swarm didn’t spread throughout Seoul. It only occurred in the area surrounding Neo Forest. They may have come outside because of the blackout.”
Information would be gathering one after another for Han Dosu, an executive of the Hall of Magic. And yet even he was not defining the appearance of the rat swarm as terrorism.
Did he really not know that the monster rats were experimental subjects?
“Mana waves containing gray energy were flowing from the rats. They’re not natural mutants. They’re experimental subjects.”
“Is that so? I’ve been here since early on, so I didn’t encounter the rats directly. But mages are divided in their opinions on that point.
Some say they were naturally occurring mutated rats. There were also opinions suspecting it was the work of another race.”
Han Dosu said that and fell into thought.
I looked around. I saw Loki some distance away. Had he arrived first while I stopped by the herb shop and spread talk like that?
Just then, a voice suddenly cut in from the side.
“Naturally, we should consider all possibilities. If one is a mage, shouldn’t one avoid jumping to conclusions without conducting investigation and analysis?”
It was Kang Yonghun. It seemed he had been listening in on Han Dosu’s and my conversation from over our shoulders.
‘When did he get here?’
For some reason, it displeased me.
Kang Yonghun’s words were theoretically correct, but his attitude in emphasizing them was suspicious.
Did he have some reason to want the monster rat swarm to be naturally occurring mutants?
“Of course. We’ll know once we investigate. If we go down just a little from here, there are rat corpses lying everywhere.”
I replied curtly.
I also couldn’t help wondering what the mages had been doing gathered here while the zombies were eradicating the monster rat swarm.
“I suppose so. But the rat swarm isn’t what’s important right now. What matters is uncovering what happened in Neo Forest. That’s also why you came here now.”
Kang Yonghun’s tone was prickly as well.
Considering I wasn’t even a mage belonging to the Hall, it didn’t seem like an attitude one should take when asking a favor.
I was about to say something, but Han Dosu stepped in to mediate.
“There’s no reason not to think multiple acts of terrorism may have occurred. We also shouldn’t rule out the possibility that the rat swarm was the work of a black mage.”
Han Dosu said that to Kang Yonghun, then turned back to me and continued.
“In any case, it’s right that we do what we have to do now. Come into Neo Forest with me to investigate the explosion. Other mages will take charge of investigating the rat swarm.”
“Understood. Let’s do that.”
For my part, I was more curious about the truth of what had happened inside Neo Forest.
It was because I suspected Yasin had caused the explosion, and also because I was extremely curious about the person—or power—that had made the explosion occur and then vanish immediately afterward.
Just then, the lights came back. The world suddenly grew bright.
“Ah! It seems the electricity has finally returned.”
Kang Yonghun’s face lit up, and he walked toward the mages gathered in front of the South Gate.
“It looks like they restored the substation. The mages solved the blackout!”
He raised both hands high and waved them as he spoke loudly. He looked triumphant, as if he had just solved the blackout himself.
Cheers erupted from the mages and police nearby.
They weren’t particularly cheers directed at Kang Yonghun, but he seemed to take them that way of his own accord.
Standing before the mages with a broad smile on his face, Kang Yonghun looked like a politician who had just won an election.
‘He’s more of a showman than a mage. And someone like that is in the position of overall head of the Hall of Magic?’
I shook my head.
“Now, we should go into the forest. Come this way.”
Han Dosu led me to the gate.
The place he brought me to had a huge foreign man standing there alone, awkwardly, holding a thick hammer in his hand.
“Let’s introduce ourselves first. This is Thor Hammer. He’s a mage from Sweden. He trained at the Hall of Magic a few years ago. And this is Mage Oudin.”
Han Dosu introduced the huge man and me to each other.
As I nodded slightly, a little puzzled, Thor smiled brightly and held out his hand.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Thor.”
“I’m Oudin.”
I shook Thor’s hand, which was thick like a pot lid, while glancing sidelong at the hammer he held in his other hand.
‘So Hammer isn’t his surname, but something like a nickname?’
Thor looked to be about two meters tall. Even so, he didn’t look brutish; instead, he gave off the impression of a mischievous boy, which was really strange.
It seemed that way because his expression was so innocent and bright.
When I turned to Han Dosu with an expression asking what was going on, he finally explained.
“From now on, the three of us will enter Neo Forest and conduct the investigation.”
“Just the three of us?”
“Yes. We need to examine the traces left in the forest closely, and if too many people go in for no reason, it’s likely to cause only confusion. Thor is also a mage with excellent detection abilities, like you.”
I looked back at Thor.
Judging only by his appearance, he looked like a mage specialized in combat, but unexpectedly, he seemed skilled at delicate work as well.
Thor looked at me and smiled brightly once again.