"Wh-Who are you?"
Instead of answering, I asked Defender through the radio.
"Did we have any other guests besides ?"
"No, none. Why? Soone’s there?"
"We’ve got an uninvited guest."
"Hold on a second. Get them out of the car first."
I aid my gun at the doctor’s family and spoke in a low voice.
"Get out."
"You’re not even hospital staff. What right do you have to—"
"Get. Out."
The doctor and his family stepped out of the car.
In the cold, desolate atmosphere, the doctor suddenly lowered his head to .
"P-Please. I’m begging you. Can’t you just turn a blind eye? We need this car to get out of here. If we don’t, we’ll all die."
Footsteps echoed.
Defender.
"Sothing’s off."
He erged from the direction of the hospital.
"There’s no one there."
Defender spotted the doctor and asked,
"Where did all the doctors and nurses here go?"
"They all left for Chuncheon."
"Chuncheon?"
"Yes. There were rumors that monsters would be swarming this place soon."
The doctor’s words didn’t seem like a lie.
After all, monsters were coming. That much was true.
The problem was, if there were no other doctors here, it ant Da-jeong wouldn’t be able to get her treatnt.
"…She still needs at least one more session."
I could understand why Defender was troubled.
Cancer treatnt needs to be completed properly.
If you leave it half-done, there will be consequences.
I spoke to Defender.
"Why not just go to Chuncheon? She can continue her treatnt there."
"…That’s an option, but…"
Defender let out a bitter chuckle.
"It’s kind of embarrassing to admit, but ever since I joined the Legion faction, I haven’t accomplished much. I ca all the way here instead of staying at Chuncheon’s top-tier hospitals because I’m just that incompetent…"
Defender crouched down in front of the car.
With the sa bitter smile, he continued.
"Even if we go back to Chuncheon, I doubt we’d get a hospital bed."
I stared at him for a mont before asking,
"Anticancer treatnt—this isn’t the last session, is it?"
Sohow, I had a feeling it wasn’t.
Defender sighed and nodded.
"We’ve almost beaten it, but the doctor said she should be monitored for at least three more months."
"I see."
I approached the doctor’s family.
I handed them the car keys.
"Skelton?!"
Defender flinched in shock, but I didn’t waver.
"What the hell are you doing?"
He shot up to his feet and blocked my way.
I grinned at him and said one thing.
"So you need achievents, right?"
"Achievents?"
"Yeah. If Da-jeong’s going to get the best treatnt."
I had no interest in playing political gas with soone like Kim Byung-cheol.
But if it could help my friends, then I wouldn’t hesitate.
*
"Senior. You’re still in Seoul? I thought you’d gone back to your bunker—the one with the toilet in the middle."
As expected, Kim Daram was irritated the mont she saw .
But only for a mont.
She glanced at my face and asked,
"What’s gotten into you?"
She was probably conflicted.
She had experienced large-scale monster attacks before, but she hadn’t fought many battles as a commander.
Of course, having soone like around was reassuring.
"Letting this many people die doesn’t sit right with . And besides, there’s soone I need treated."
"Treated? Who?"
"I’ll tell you later. Either way, nothing matters until we deal with this situation first, right?"
"That’s true."
Kim Daram and I studied the map together.
A large-scale monster invasion was a nightmare scenario, but the terrain wasn’t entirely hopeless.
If we had to protect all of Seoul, it would be a lost cause.
But the area we held now was only part of Seoul, and a good portion of it was shielded by the natural barrier of the Han River.
Monsters tended to avoid water.
They would likely swarm the bridges.
The nearest ones were Yanghwa Bridge and Seogang Bridge.
If the monsters funneled in through those, we could turn the narrow chokepoints into improvised kill zones.
"If we can keep them from crossing the river, this could be easier than expected."
Kim Daram nodded.
"If we hold them at the river, like you said, we might be able to pull this off."
"When’s the event happening?"
"Soon."
Kim Daram took a sip of coffee and studied my expression.
"You planning on attending?"
"…Just as an observer."
The monster horde was amassing across the river, yet the inside of the National Assembly building was buzzing with excitent, as if completely oblivious.
The star of the show, as expected, was Kim Byung-cheol—one of the most powerful figures in Korea.
Wearing a peaked military cap that emphasized his rank, he whispered in hushed tones with the other generals around him.
Then, the ti ca.
The generals returned to their seats, and Kim Byung-cheol took his own.
Hundreds of people in the assembly hall and the audience stands watched as the Chinese delegation entered.
So of them were in Chinese military uniforms.
Others wore casual civilian clothes.
Among them was a female hunter I had spoken with before.
"We will now comnce the Chinese governnt’s formal surrender ceremony."
As the announcer declared, the Chinese representative sat on one side of the table, while the Korean representatives sat on the other.
Naturally, Kim Byung-cheol was among them.
"General Kim Byung-cheol is currently reviewing the conditions proposed by the Chinese governnt."
The announcer narrated Kim Byung-cheol’s every move.
"He seems to have found a clause he doesn’t like."
Kim Byung-cheol raised a docunt and barked sothing at the Chinese representatives.
"General Kim Byung-cheol is demanding revisions to the unreasonable terms!"
Applause erupted throughout the National Assembly.
It was a show of gratitude and support for Kim Byung-cheol, who was carefully scrutinizing the agreent rather than treating national affairs carelessly.
"…."
I had nothing to say.
What mattered was what happened next.
WEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOO—
As expected, the signal for the show’s end blared loudly.
Soldiers poured into the assembly hall, pushing through the crowd to report to Kim Byung-cheol.
His expression twisted with discomfort.
"It hasn’t even started yet."
He clearly cared more about completing his performance than ensuring the safety of everyone here.
If the situation were even slightly less dire, he might have forced the ceremony to continue.
But things weren’t looking good.
BOOM! BOOM!
The thunderous roar of artillery rang out.
In an instant, the entire hall fell silent.
The battle had begun.
*
"A large number of monsters are gathering in the river. Connecting visual feed now."
"Multiple mid-sized species confird."
"Armored units are being deployed in Seoul. Awaiting orders."
The National Assembly had turned into a full-fledged war room.
Generals and officers who had attended the surrender ceremony now stood below the platform, exchanging urgent opinions. Couriers rushed back and forth, relaying real-ti updates.
For now, the battlefield remained in a lull.
The monster horde lay in wait across the river, showing no significant movent. So had gathered on the bridges, occasionally launching self-destructive bombardnts.
If this stalemate could last, that would be ideal.
But I knew better.
Monsters weren’t that easy to deal with.
They had no intelligence, no signs of higher thought.
And yet, every so often, they found ways to exploit human weaknesses with startling ingenuity.
"Senior."
Kim Daram approached, handing a can of coffee.
A quick glance at the production date—made before the war.
I took it without hesitation.
"Blocking the bridges has definitely slowed them down."
"Have you ever seen an attack of this scale before?"
"No. There have been sporadic offensives, but nothing this serious."
She sipped her coffee and gazed out the window at the Han River, exhaustion evident in her eyes.
"If we can stall them like this, we might be able to stop their invasion without heavy losses."
"That would be nice."
With the battle in a temporary deadlock, Kim Byung-cheol’s impatience reignited.
"If the monsters can’t cross the river, then we can continue the ceremony, can’t we? Hey, Kim Team Leader, what do you think?"
He kept calling Kim Daram over, repeatedly demanding confirmation that the situation was safe.
Each ti, she opposed resuming the event, citing the potential risk.
But her resistance was starting to crack.
Montum was shifting in Kim Byung-cheol’s favor.
Especially since his operations officers strongly pushed for the event to continue.
"If monsters are afraid of water, there’s no way they’ll get here."
"We’re monitoring all the bridges across the Han River. So are already destroyed, and if we detect any large-scale movent on a specific bridge, we can neutralize it imdiately with artillery."
"Special forces are deployed along the river. If any bridge needs to be destroyed, we have the necessary equipnt ready."
Just as I had focused on the river, everyone else was now doing the sa.
If we just blocked the bridges, we could hold this position.
It was a reasonable conclusion.
But monsters were anything but reasonable.
As Kim Byung-cheol and the officers, along with the Chinese delegation, prepared to resu the ceremony, a courier burst into the chamber.
"A massive monster horde has been detected in southeastern Seoul! Nurous monsters are advancing via land!"
The very thing I had feared had happened.
So of the monsters moving southward toward Seoul had completely bypassed the city, circling around to advance on Legion-controlled territory via land routes.
Even as stubborn as Kim Byung-cheol was, even he couldn’t insist on continuing the ceremony in this situation.
"What do we do?"
He had experience dealing with monsters.
Most likely, he had wiped out hordes using kill zones and overwhelming firepower.
But actual field experience in a monster battle? Probably little to none.
"Senior."
Kim Daram turned to .
"What do we do now?"
"We’re not going to retreat, are we?"
"N-No, of course not."
"Then there’s only one option."
Artillery.
Before they could get close, we had to eliminate as many as possible with bombardnts.
Drones ascended into the sky.
Beyond the National Assembly, dozens of artillery batteries swiveled eastward, readying their barrage.
There were no civilians left in southeastern Seoul.
No stationed troops either.
In a situation like this, our drones were our only eyes.
The Legion's military-grade drones looked sturdy and reliable, built specifically for warfare.
"We don’t need to kill every single monster with artillery. Focus on the mid-sized ones that cause large-scale devastation—like Annihilators."
Kim Daram and I watched the monitors, waiting for the monsters to appear.
Soon enough, a considerable number of them erged, marching west along the roads.
"…They are targeting us."
Kim Daram muttered in disgust.
"Are we sure those things don’t think?"
It was widely accepted that monsters lacked brains—or any organ that functioned like one.
Their movents were so chanically simple that they resembled plants more than animals.
Yet, so hunters believed monsters could think.
Especially in monts like these, when they caught us off guard.
But I didn’t buy that theory.
Monsters had no intelligence.
Most of them, anyway.
But a select few—just a handful—might.
The one I had lost track of.
The one I had nad General-type.
That thing could think.
And it could command other monsters based on its thoughts.
A hypothesis, for now.
"Drone unit has identified the enemy horde."
"Fire!"
The artillery batteries outside the National Assembly roared to life.
The shells soared through the sky, their trajectory captured live by the drones.
BOOM! BOOM!
A storm of explosions tore through the monster ranks.
The creatures instinctively activated their reflective barriers—only to find nothing to reflect.
Helpless in the face of unrelenting destruction, they were obliterated one by one.
"Whoooaaa!"
"That’s why artillery is the queen of the battlefield!"
Cheers erupted inside the National Assembly.
But the celebration didn’t last long.
POP! POP!
One by one, the drones providing our live feed began exploding.
So of the monsters had activated their anti-electronic abilities.
It was a known fact that monsters could do this.
But I hadn’t expected them to counter this quickly.
"This is bad. We’ve lost all drone surveillance. Now we…"
Kim Daram’s face went pale.
My junior was a strong hunter.
But she was not a strong commander.
She excelled in her own tasks, but she struggled with leading a group, making tough calls for others.
Ti hadn’t changed that.
Kim Daram was still Kim Daram.
"Kim Daram."
I called her na.
"Senior…"
She looked at , her eyes pleading for guidance.
"If we can’t use drones, we’ll have to send people in."
"People?"
Kim Daram recoiled in shock.
"There’s no one left alive beyond Dongjak-gu. Just monsters, mutations, and zombies. If we send people in there, they’ll be killed imdiately before they can even observe anything."
"No, there’s one place where people are still alive."
"Wh-Where?"
I smirked and traced a diagonal line across the map.
"…?"
Southeastern Seoul had long since fallen from human control.
And yet, there was still one stubborn group of people holding out.
"You know the Tilting Apartnt, don’t you?"
"The Hope?!"
I nodded.
"I’ll handle the reconnaissance from there."
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