Chapter 45

Chapter 45

For a moment, I doubted my ears.

Let him go? Did that not mean I should just let him die?

“What are you saying, Uncle?”

“Let me rest. I’m tired.”

Instructor Kim Sangeung answered in a hoarse voice.

It did not seem to be an aftereffect of the Tongue Parasite having latched onto him, but rather his utterly exhausted state of mind.

“What do you mean, rest, when you are still so young? You are still in your prime. My father is still active-duty too, you know.”

“Good grief…… fuuuuuu.”

Instructor Kim Sangeung exhaled a long stream of cigarette smoke that he had drawn deep into his lungs.

The harsh cigarette smoke scattered into the fog.

“Do you know something?”

“What?”

“Awakening is not always a good thing.”

“……?”

“I thought my life would get better if I became a Hunter. I would earn a lot of money and receive good treatment.”

“Heh.”

“That was a joke. Hoo. I thought that once I Awakened and became a Hunter, I would beat down and devour everything. I thought I could kill all the monsters and end this sickening war. Hooo!”

“Ah.”

Before I returned to the past, I had once thought that way too…….

“But you know. When I looked back after a few years, the only thing I had done after Awakening was kill people.”

“…….”

“I killed a lot. I never bothered counting, but it must be more than five hundred at the very least. Hoo. Starting about three years ago, I think, I began feeling disillusioned. I could not tell whether I was a Hunter fighting for humanity, or a butcher of people. It felt as if I had become a slaughterman.”

I felt like I understood what he meant.

Before Instructor Kim Sangeung came to the Special Force Training Center as an instructor, he had worked as a special agent under the Defense Strategy Department, and in the process, he had a history of assassinating countless Hunters.

“I wondered what the hell I was doing. So I quit. I did not want to kill people anymore. I also hated my ability, which only grew stronger by killing people and feeding on their blood.”

“I can understand why.”

“At first, I also tried to just kill monsters, but as you saw, my ability does not exactly have much to do with killing monsters.”

“I know what you mean.”

“So I decided to just live while teaching fledglings at the Special Force Training Center, but who could have known something like this would happen? With my own hands…… hooooooooo.”

“…….”

Now I understood.

I understood why Instructor Kim Sangeung was trying to end his life.

The sight of Marine Corps Special Reconnaissance Unit soldiers and Hunters lying scattered as corpses flashed through my mind.

It seemed that Bravo Team was not the only one who had seen that horrific sight.

“You remember, do you not?”

“How could I not……?”

A person infected by a Tongue Parasite clearly remembered what they had done.

In the first place, all a Tongue Parasite did was provoke the host’s murderous urges.

“I was swept away by the tidal wave and lost consciousness for a moment. I think it happened then.”

“That was not your fault, Uncle.”

“Either way, I did it with my own hands. How could I do that to my comrades……?”

GRIND!

Instructor Kim Sangeung gritted his teeth.

However, no matter how strong a man was, he could not completely suppress his emotions.

“Hk, ngh!”

“…….”

I had no choice but to silently watch Instructor Kim Sangeung sob.

Because right now, no words would be able to comfort him.

***

About ten minutes passed.

“Please get up.”

“…….”

“I know it is hard, but are you going to stay like this? You are UDT, aren't you not?”

The reason I deliberately mentioned the Naval Special Forces UDT/SEAL was to remind Instructor Kim Sangeung of his fighting spirit and the unit’s slogan of never giving up under any circumstances.

“You are not even enlisted yet, and you are talking about the UDT?”

Instructor Kim Sangeung glared at me.

“Shake off the guilt. Is it not too shameful to give up on life over something you did while infected by a Tongue Parasite?”

“You brat……!”

“Stop whining and get up. What are you doing on a battlefield?”

I said that, but I could understand why Instructor Kim Sangeung had been pushed to his psychological limit.

The mental stress that had accumulated from killing people for several years had probably burst because of this incident.

Anyone else would have gone mad long ago, so the fact that he felt guilt like this was actually proof that Instructor Kim Sangeung’s mental fortitude was far beyond imagination.

“Now, when I count to three, you get up. One, two…….”

“Enough. I would rather die than receive help from a snot-nosed brat like you. Ugh.”

Instructor Kim Sangeung gritted his teeth and raised his body, but it was beyond him.

STAGGER!

“Ugh!”

“I told you not to overdo it.”

“I said let go!”

But stubbornness could not make the impossible possible.

“What are you all staring at? Support Instructor Kim.”

“Yes, sir!”

Oh Taegwon, who had the largest build, quickly approached and supported Instructor Kim Sangeung.

“Ugh.”

However, Instructor Kim Sangeung could hardly keep himself upright, and soon lost consciousness and collapsed.

Even though Undina’s healing had perfectly reattached both severed arms and restored the knee joint that had been split in half…….

“His Vitality has been consumed too severely, Master. Because the red life force flowing through his body has all drained away…….”

“Ah.”

It seemed she was talking about excessive bleeding, so I looked for a Vitality Ampoule, but unfortunately, it was broken.

“Does anyone have a Vitality Ampoule?”

The members of Bravo Team shook their heads.

There was no Vitality Ampoule in Instructor Kim Sangeung’s Plate Carrier either.

At least it was a great relief that Oh Taegwon’s backpack contained a first-aid kit and a roll-up stretcher made of synthetic plastic.

First, I checked the blood type patch attached to Instructor Kim Sangeung’s Combat Uniform.

Type O.

‘His blood type is the same as mine.’

I took a blood collection device and a transfusion bag from the first-aid kit.

For now, I drew my own blood into the transfusion bag and transfused it into Instructor Kim Sangeung.

“Anyone else Type O?”

“Me.”

Park Seokho pointed to the blood type patch attached beside his shoulder.

“You are next after me.”

“Yes, Brother.”

Park Seokho nodded.

“Big Brother, you even know how to transfuse blood?”

Ra Sihyeon asked me.

“You saw it, so why ask?”

“Did you perhaps graduate from medical school?”

“No?”

“Then nursing?”

“Political Science and Diplomacy.”

“And yet you know how to transfuse blood?”

“Why? Is that not allowed?”

“It is not that, but…….”

In the eyes of the fledglings, the sight of me skillfully performing a blood transfusion seemed quite surprising.

Tactical Combat Casualty Care.

TCCC for short.

It was called [Tactical Combat Casualty Care], and it was also a subject taught at the Special Force Training Center.

Of course, the ones who could do this skillfully were mostly Supporters.

“Where did you learn it?”

“Home education.”

“What?!”

“My family is a bit strict.”

“…….”

It was a joke meant to lighten the mood and make them laugh, but seeing everyone’s faces turn pale, it seemed I had failed.

……Why was my sense of humor so disastrous?

‘Now we only need to find Hobin.’

The problem was that wandering through a fog crawling with monsters while carrying a patient on a stretcher was an unbearably burdensome task.

But we could not simply sit where we were and wait for reinforcements either.

Being attacked by a large number of monsters in such an open place would not be very pleasant.

At the same time, with such poor combat power, attempting to clear the Gate that had caused this situation was out of the question.

‘It would be better to return to the SFTC and hold out inside the building.’

It seemed like a decent choice.

The Special Force Training Center building was made of thick concrete and bulletproof glass.

On top of that, there should be plenty of supplies such as food, ammunition, and various ampoules, as well as vehicles like cars and motorcycles.

“For now, we are returning to the SFTC. Everyone, follow me.”

No sooner had I finished speaking than Ra Sihyeon opened her mouth.

“Keep a strict watch on the surroundings, maintain spacing so you do not lose each other, and keep checking your positions. If you need to fire, say so beforehand.”

“…….”

Why did she keep saying what I was supposed to say……?

I was slightly dumbfounded, but I did not bother saying anything.

As long as she did not cross the line, how she acted was none of my concern.

***

Minister Ahn, who had been monitoring the situation from the Defense Strategy Department, grew considerably uneasy when no news came in.

It had already been three hours since the special mission unit was deployed, yet no news had come from Jebudo.

If there was one silver lining in the misfortune, it was that the civilians who had boarded the Chinook Helicopter just before the Fog Labyrinth spread had returned safely.

“Minister, the Fog Labyrinth is expanding its domain.”

Captain Im hurriedly reported to Minister Ahn.

“At this rate, the Fog Labyrinth may encroach inland.”

“……How vicious.”

Minister Ahn bit his lower lip.

He did not know what entity was creating the Fog Labyrinth, but if it continued expanding its domain like this, the Republic of Korea could not help but be placed in a difficult situation.

Nor could they attempt a Gate clear, because this incident was a Transference Phenomenon that had begun not on land, but in the middle of the sea.

They did not know what kinds of monsters might be swarming in that vast ocean, so they could not recklessly dispatch a Strike Team.

No matter how powerful a Hunter was, the moment they fell into the sea, it was common for them to be torn apart by underwater monsters.

Therefore, if they were going to attempt to clear the Gate, the first priority was either for the Fog Labyrinth to disperse, or if not that, to fire a small tactical nuclear weapon and wipe out the monsters.

Only then would the Hunters be able to safely approach the Gate and at least attempt a clear.

“How about waiting until the next tidal window for now?”

“The next tidal window…… that would be in two hours.”

“Yes, Minister.”

Captain Im pointed at the map.

“When the tide opens, we can deploy ground forces through Jeburo and also escort those who are escaping, can we not?”

Jeburo.

The road connecting Jebudo to the mainland, revealed when the tide opened.

Since it was a straight concrete road, it was worth expecting that the spatial distortion of the Fog Labyrinth would have a weaker effect there than in other areas.

“For now, it seems that is our only option.”

“Realistically speaking, yes.”

“What about the movements of the Hunters in Seoul?”

“They are quiet. It seems all of them are absorbed in talking about Supernova on Hunter Link.”

“That is fortunate.”

Minister Ahn’s expression softened as if one burden had been lifted.

This was an era of great chaos.

Any nation that still maintained its system was bound to stay on guard against Hunter riots or coups 365 days a year.

Cases where regimes collapsed and systems were overturned by a small number of powerful Hunters were extremely common.

It was no longer a world where a nation could be maintained through ordinary public authority alone.

“Make all preparations so that as soon as Jeburo opens, we can deploy Hunters along with the ground forces. And…….”

Minister Ahn added,

“Even if the ground forces are deployed, the top priority is rescuing Cha Eunseong. Resolving the incident comes afterward. Understood?”

“I will keep that in mind.”

Captain Im answered firmly.

“Two hours. The next tidal window may be the first and last chance.”

Minister Ahn muttered this to himself, then tried to put a cigarette in his mouth, only to wear a hollow expression.

The cigarette pack was empty.

After the incident occurred, he had chain-smoked whenever he had the chance, and before he knew it, an entire pack had run out.