Ability users were by no means a common resource at this point in time.
Not when only two years had passed since the Dimensional Gate opened.
You could tell just by looking at how the majority of the Awakened were people who had been eating and sleeping near the Gate.
"...So doesn't that mean there's a high probability they're soldiers?"
"Correct, Summary Sorcerer! As your reward, you too shall bear the duty of national defense."
"Kuaaack...!! My family has lived in Paju for generations, and not only did we have to deal with malaria, but why the hell am I getting dragged into this too just for having an ability...!!"
Besides, there had been zero manifestation cases for people dragged into the army past a certain age, or for anyone Mugunghwa rank and above.
In this baptism of abilities that discriminated against everything from region to age to the raw power of the ability itself.
The only thing that was fair was gender, and that was all...
"...Deputy Squad Leader, so what exactly are we supposed to do to catch him when we get there?"
"W-well... you're the one who knows that guy best, Il-hwan. We set up a perimeter... go up and capture him, isn't that it?"
...No, come to think of it, female soldiers get an unconditional V-start, so that's not exactly fair either.
And I was already almost done with my time as a corporal; having my military service suddenly extended was annoying as hell.
From the perspective of Corporal Jeong Il-hwan, who was being forcibly dragged along because of the mess his friend had suddenly caused.
"...No, how the hell are we supposed to catch that bastard? Are you seriously expecting a guy who got dragged here to risk his life?"
For all her experience and competence, she wasn't a veteran NCO with the know-how to handle anything above the intermediate level.
"Hey! Do you think the deputy squad leader is a joke? When orders are given, you shouldn't just say you can't do it—you should at least try to figure out how!"
For all her utter lack of tact, there was no way he could bring himself to like a junior sergeant who had volunteered for the army.
'Fuck, as soon as this person's probation period ended, shit just had to hit the fan...'
"Ah, and since I can't sleep with you guys... don't forget to set up the tents before we go up."
His fingers flushing red, Jeong Il-hwan was filled with the desire to just once jab that damned bastard right on the bridge of his nose.
"Haah..."
"Why are you looking at me like that? If you understood, you should answer!"
The deputy squad leader looked up at him with a somewhat fierce expression despite her cute looks and petite frame.
"...Agh... yes, if you say so, I'll do it..."
"Good, then let's depart... Ugh, I really don't know why military vehicles have to have such high steps."
His face turning red, he felt his desire to kill fading little by little.
In the military, an organization whose gender ratio was already wrecked, and this was an ability user unit that had undergone yet another 'recruitment' process.
Staff Sergeant Jeong Chorong, who would have pursued a visual career in society if not for her father being a star, had barely clawed her way up.
'He's probably a bit stronger than that whiner Il-hwan over there, right? Why the hell did he have to cause trouble right in the middle of the handover?'
Resting his arm on the window, he recalled the data of the perpetrator who had provided them with a pointless reason to leave the base.
Since the guy could carry out reconnaissance missions alone, he was probably stronger than his own squad members who went out in pairs of two.
But even so, including himself as the NCO, they were only eleven in total. Wasn't this practically an entire squad being dispatched?
"We narrow the perimeter, and once those guys surround him and beat the crap out of him, we can subdue him quickly, right?"
Even if area-of-effect attacks were impossible, with ability users capable of close combat, they should be enough to capture him.
Fwoooosh...!!
"...Wh-what is that...!!"
...But the moment he thought that, this world had a way of never spinning the way you wanted it to!
Perhaps thanks to having devoured at least one peak near the summit, if not the entire mountain.
The sinister pillar of black flames blazing from the summit was beckoning them, as if to say 'come on up anytime.'
"...Retreat, we have to retreat...!! This is suicide!"
From the mouth of Jeong Chorong, who could now finally see the distance between themselves and 'that monster' invisible to the eyes of the higher-ups standing beside her.
"...Deputy Squad Leader. What? Retreat? We haven't even reported that we've arrived yet..."
"C-can't you see that?! You crazy bastard! What do you mean we're going to charge right into that?!"
From the only officer who could legally order a retreat—the declaration that only she could save them burst out.
They say that in the face of death, anyone can make calm and rational judgments.
"...Wow, so it's true that people only grasp reality when a threat comes knocking. Thanks, Chomok."
Having witnessed the miracle of an inexperienced and optimistic person transforming into a normal, rational human in an instant.
Rubbing his fingers repeatedly against the magnesium ornament on his necklace.
Jeong Il-hwan, who had been dragged here with absolutely no intention of fighting anyway, looked up at his friend atop the mountain.
***
Of course, regardless of how the ability users felt about this situation, it was only natural that the higher-ups couldn't quite understand it.
'No, we called them here to catch that guy, so why are they suddenly screaming and trying to die?'
'W-well... of course I can see the trees and grass are all withered and twisted. But so what?'
It was a unit they had brought in to handle close combat because it was a situation they couldn't suppress themselves.
"We're all going to die! No, you never told us he was at that level!!"
They had sat down screaming things like 'I'm scared, Operations Staff... let us run away right now...!!'
"Nonsense! You are soldiers! Is it even worth discussing if you don't obey orders!"
"Have you even tried?! You should try first before talking about dying!"
It was only natural for the higher-ups to lecture the young officer already consumed by defeatism.
The retreat proposal—something 'only those who could see could suggest'—was dismissed as the antics of a subordinate,
while the deputy squad leader had been grumbling, 'So I'm going to die at this age without ever having dated because of these crazy bastards...'
Before long, while hiking a mountain she had no business being on alongside squad members who also looked doomed...
"Request additional helicopter reinforcements, and be prepared to provide covering fire along the escape route if necessary."
"Well, if he doesn't surrender and keeps resisting... in the worst case, we'll have no choice but to go as far as... lethal force."
They had completed the encirclement below the mountain so he couldn't descend. Now they would deploy personnel for decapitation... no, capture.
If he moved quickly, they would suppress him with fire from below to capture him, or at worst, limit his movement paths.
The command, confident that this operation would succeed as they watched the noose tighten,
"Kya, that's right. No matter how strong one person is, once you surround and start beating the hell out of them, they can't do shit!"
"It's a shame we couldn't properly show him our firepower... but let's keep this up!"
Unfortunately, their answer sheet had been correct all the way to Gyeongbokgung Palace, but had now become a perfect incorrect answer.
Rumble rumble....
"Huh? What is it? An earthquake?"
"Hmm, it's not like we're a neighboring country; ours isn't one prone to earthquakes. How curious."
The moment to receive a hearty beating of loving punishment proportional to their miserable performance was approaching.
First mistake: they had failed to calculate the changes in the mountain peaks around the summit that Kim Chomok had devoured.
No matter how rocky a mountain Bukhansan was, given enough time, plants would grow by digging into the rocks.
Creeeak...
The fact that the rocks were still attached meant that living trees were supporting and distributing their weight.
In contrast, dead trees are weak in strength, lack elasticity, and break easily from even light impacts.
The giant rock layer, which had begun to crack at some point, divided itself into several boulders,
and those several boulders began converting their potential energy into kinetic energy.
Kwa-rumble!! Ruuumble...
Unlike the time when he had played 'cute little pranks' on the battalion commander who hadn't let him discharge.
This time, a real, full-scale landslide and rockfall began bestowing disaster upon all living things around the mountain.
"Wh-what the hell is this--!! Stop it, stop it!"
"You don't know my ability?! I can't even stop it, and if I try, it'll start a forest fire!! Run! Hurry!!"
The 'Kim Chomok Capture Unit,' which had been climbing only to face a sudden rockfall party, had to desperately dodge as well.
But the lower you are, the more you bear the full impact of rocks falling from high places.
"...H-huh?! Rocks!! Look over there! The rocks... the rocks are falling!!"
"E-evacuate--!! Everyone run--!!"
The command unit at the very foot of the mountain had their command headquarters turned into something that 'used to be' in an instant.
"...All our equipment, comms gear, and personal belongings were over there..."
"...Goddammit, where are we supposed to monitor the operation's progress now..."
The command post personnel, having barely escaped with only the clothes on their backs and their lives,
could only watch the grand sight of the futile piles of rock tombs with blank stares.
Of course, it didn't take long for them to realize that standing there in a daze was the second mistake.
"If you've lived a good life, God or whoever will help you! God bless you, you bastards--!!"
As the price for spacing out and wasting time, artificial rockfalls were additionally issued to all of them.
Kwaa-boom--!!
That psycho up there, Kim Chomok, had started rolling and throwing the broken rocks scattered around him.
In some retro game, when a certain primate rolls a wooden barrel, getting crushed just ends with a hospital stay.
But what was pouring down on them now were boulders so massive that being crushed would immediately justify tombstone processing.
The only ones who could even imagine smashing them with a hammer were ability users whose abilities were mostly focused on physical reinforcement.
"Uwaack, uwaack---!! What the hell is that crazy bastard doing--!!"
Among the regular people who didn't even know how dangerous a rock-throwing bastard could be, there was no one capable of such a thing.
What could they do? If they didn't want to transfer to the afterworld in compressed-human form, they had no choice but to pray their feet would save them.
Naturally falling rocks were scary, but what was scarier was a rock bombardment with only a rough direction set toward them.
"Because he wasn't aiming, his intent couldn't even be read"—wasn't this literally primitive artillery fire, shoot and forget?
"We were thinking of providing bombardment if necessary, but instead we're the ones being bombarded---!!"
The pranks he'd pulled on the small mountain behind the officers' quarters had already been violent enough to cost lives.
But now, with the shattered rocks incomparably larger and the thrower's strength immense, it wouldn't have shamed real artillery.
"Krrgh... are the helicopters not deployed yet! I told you to draw his attention! It's too late if you sortie after we're all dead!!"
Once the command suffered enough, it was time for those hanging in the air rather than on the ground to suffer.
No matter how much a helicopter was a weapon that satisfied both mobility and firepower.
"...Helfire missiles, should we fire?"
"The command is buried under a landslide right now, and you're going to fire those when that crazy bastard might dodge?!"
What meaning was there in weapons they couldn't even fire? They were just useless junk taking up weight and space.
"Damn it, just fire the autocannon at least! Its caliber is on a completely different level from an anti-materiel rifle... if he's human, it'll work!"
Of the weapons they carried, the autocannon was the only one that wouldn't trigger additional landslides.
Thwack!
"Oof... that's one heavy impact hitting my body. Hurts a bit?"
The opponent was a disqualified human youth who had devoured an entire mountain peak without even thinking about the recoil.
"...He's not human!!"
Even with a direct hit, it only tore his clothes and briefly tied up his feet, unable to deal a proper blow...
"You shoot, I throw too, you bastard!! Have a taste of my DOL-130cm shell!"
Hwi-ing--!!
"Uwaack, emergency!! That crazy bastard is throwing rocks at our aircraft!!"
The absurdity that they could shoot like crazy and he would tank it, but if they took one rock, they were guaranteed to crash!
Not to mention the difference in magazines—they had limited rounds, but he only had to pick up the weapons scattered everywhere to throw!
"- Static... rocks keep flying this way! The mission was to draw his attention!! What the hell are you doing!"
"I'm sorry, but before we draw his attention, we're going to crash!!"
Meanwhile, below they were already tasting death from the irregularly falling rock bombardment once again.
"Ugh, so the guys we sent up are really our only hope now? They'd better do a good job..."
The remaining burden now fell to the 'Kim Chomok Capture Unit,' the only ones who hadn't failed yet.
"Sss... ah, fuck. I really, desperately need a cigarette."
"...Please hold it in, Corporal Jeong Il-hwan. We're currently climbing a mountain covered in dry wood..."
That unit was in a situation where they were overwhelmed by this black energy covering an entire mountain before even fighting it.
How could the higher-ups know that they were walking into a death trap they couldn't possibly win?
"...What are we going to do? Anyone can see charging in there is suicide... does anyone have any good ideas?"
Having climbed up simply because they were told to, Staff Sergeant Jeong Chorong gathered everyone's wits for a marathon meeting with no plan.
As they say, where there's a policy above, there's a countermeasure below.
"Hey! You! Time!! Chomok!! Your bro's here, so stop throwing rocks for a sec!! Negotiations! Negotiatiooons!!"
Their prayers or whatever—though the man knew full well they had been spotted long ago.
Jeong Il-hwan ran out in front of his friend shouting not to throw rocks, both hands raised high.
"Oh? Puhaha, look at this bastard, totally reduced to a beggar!! I had a feeling you'd get dragged here ever since I called earlier!!"
Kim Chomok laughing while clutching his belly at the sight of his friend covered in dust was just the cherry on top.