Chapter 50 - Local Survivors

After spotting the swarm of skin-jellyfish, we decided to leave the main road and take a side street. Even with the risk of an ambush, avoiding detection by creatures that could swoop down on us from above took priority. Ammunition was another concern.

Accounting for all the rounds we had fired and those recovered from the fallen Korean soldiers, we had roughly 2,400 rounds left. Of course, that was plenty for five people. The problem was that it seemed woefully inadequate for the Supreme Mages fighting their way through fog-covered Seoul in 2028. We had to avoid unnecessary fights. I had come to learn magic, not thin out the monsters.

Shin Na-in was the only one who looked disappointed. The bastard had trembled before that unidentified monster with its bright yellow gaze, yet he was positively spoiling for a fight with the skin-jellyfish. I could tell from the harsher breathing through his gas mask.

"May they all be cast into hellfire and reduced to a handful of pure ashes."

Normally, I would have asked why his prayers were so bloodthirsty, but I let it slide since we shared the same concern. Only the two of us understood what Father Jeong Yong-hwan had meant by the eternity he kept reciting after becoming a monster. We didn't know whether that really was what he meant, but once that chain of thoughts reached the worst possible conclusion, it was hard to shake.

What if those faces rolling their eyeballs above the road, now part of the skin-jellyfish, were still alive and thinking for themselves? That would amount to immortality: never dying until someone killed you. People who said life was better even if you spent it rolling in shit might consider a career change to monster. Personally, I wanted to live life on my own terms, so that wasn't the kind of immortality I wanted.

Apparently, it wasn't just me. All the Supreme Mages seemed to feel much the same. Lee Se-jun shuddered, and Hamza shook his head vigorously to drive the thoughts away.

"Ugh, it's horrifying that they still have human eyeballs."

"I'll be able to afford living in Seoul now. Land prices here are going to plummet."

Pastor Park Yo-han also looked uneasy as he hid behind a heap of concrete, poking only his head out to inspect the swarm.

"Forget land prices... I've never heard of monsters like those being sighted at the front. Do they not leave Seoul? Or did they appear recently?"

"Either way, let's go."

I tapped his shoulder and pointed toward the side street connected to the intersection.

Though calling it a side street was a stretch—it was at least a two-lane road. To Baek Je-min, a country bumpkin from Gyeonggi Province, a real alley was somewhere that felt crowded with just two or three people in it. Even the alleys were big in Seoul. Typical.

Fortunately, the skin-jellyfish swarm didn't approach us. Watching the one that had attacked the drone flap its skin vigorously like an actual jellyfish to regain its original altitude, I figured they weren't particularly fast except when pouncing. Or perhaps they had realized we were mages and were keeping away, just as the Amalgams had feared my eye magic. We began our detour, never taking our attention off the swarm.

Visibility in the fog: 200 meters. A distance that could be far too short or fairly long, depending on the person and the surroundings. As we Supreme Mages moved along the intersection, we maintained a strange standoff with the skin-jellyfish fluttering low overhead. Lee Se-jun kept his muzzle trained on them the entire time, and the pastor couldn't stop glancing their way.

I felt that unpleasant gaze too. The skin-jellyfish were staring right at us. At times, I even felt our eyes meet, as though they had noticed me scanning the swarm warily. The human skins making up their bodies fluttered in the wind, their hollow hands and feet dangling limply. Their faces, twisted into expressions of agony, stared our way so fiercely their eyes looked ready to turn bloodshot.

"Those mugs are pretty vicious."

"Mugs?"

Hamza sounded puzzled, so I pointed with my chin.

"All those faces plastered together over there."

"Ohhh."

"What do you mean, ohhh? Let's go."

The Supreme Mages were moving quickly even without the pastor hurrying us along. The swarm didn't follow, and we didn't go out of our way to disturb it. A delicate truce between monsters and humans. Naturally, there was only one reason this was possible. No one said it aloud, but everyone had probably guessed.

It was the message sent to the dark navy phone: [Non-mage personnel strictly prohibited from outdoor activity.] With thick fog, at least mages could drive monsters off with badass magic. With thin fog, they couldn't use magic properly, and other monsters came attacking. This was an environment where you had to learn magic to survive. And all five Supreme Mages were mages—people who could detect dangerous monsters ahead of time and avoid them. To replace magic here, you'd need special forces with brutally rigorous training, discipline, and a generous supply of equipment.

The only concern was whether our route had diverged from that of the advance reconnaissance unit. As soon as we were far enough from the swarm, Shin Na-in tapped his headset and offered his opinion.

"Maybe most of them headed toward Line Three? Toward Suseo. Since Line Three runs right through Seoul, I suspect they intended to establish bases using it as the main axis, then branch outward."

"Then that's a shame."

The badass special forces would break through the hardest areas, while we headed along the route closest to Konkuk University. I trusted them to do well even without mages. Who knew? Maybe some of them had become mages themselves. Besides, having checked the subway map, I knew turning toward Line Three now would mean one hell of a roundabout trip to Konkuk University. I absolutely did not want that. Getting sent in circles when filing a complaint was more than enough for me.

Eventually, after climbing in and out of shell craters and crossing the intersection into the side street, we saw buildings that were relatively intact. The pastor surveyed our surroundings with an indifferent look and shrugged.

"Looks like this used to be a neighborhood of low-rise apartment buildings."

"They're pretty clean, aren't they?"

"It's Seoul. They ought to be."

Some were even almost completely intact. The pastor and Shin Na-in tried to package that as a divine miracle, but Hamza coolly pointed out the reason.

"The shelling was concentrated on the roads. They did it to stop people from getting out easily."

"What are you talking about? The shells missed because everyone who lived here believed in God! You can tell a Christian just by looking!"

"I suppose those skin-jellyfish believe in God too, then, flying around without getting shelled. Let's stop talking bullshit and go."

"Je-min, what in the world is this blasphemous nonsense you're spouting!"

Apparently, I was developing a talent for shutting down those Christ-freaks' bullshit. With the pastor's furious tirade and Shin Na-in's talk of Satan and devils playing like a jukebox as we walked, all the tension vanished. That didn't mean any of the Supreme Mages had abandoned their duties or their mission, though.

Hamza, who had been looking at the pastor and Shin Na-in as though they were pathetic, suddenly sharpened his gaze. Apparently, the coward had become so frightened that he'd come out the other side with some bite. His breathing grew harsh inside his gas mask, and his finger began pointing here and there—at specific dark windows on either side of the road through the apartment neighborhood.

"I think it's dangerous."

Shin Na-in, who had been adding an occasional amen to the lyrics about Satan and devils, changed his demeanor too. He had countless faults and was a complete wreck of a person, but his detection ability was reliable. He stared at the buildings Hamza had indicated through half-lidded eyes, then closed them gently and spoke in a calm voice.

"Two heads. Three spines."

Just trash mobs.

As I turned my head and adjusted my grip on my rifle, he quickly added,

"Five jellyfish incoming."

At that instant, the Supreme Mages naturally began forming up. Lee Se-jun, who had been in the middle, lowered his stance and aimed toward the roadside Hamza had indicated. The pastor adjusted his grip on his K2 and took up position beside him. Hamza crouched in the very center, clutching his head. I was good at improvising, so I took the sky. Shin Na-in, who could read my thoughts and react immediately, backed me up. A formation assembled without a single word.

Kill, monster, five minutes, route.

The papillae on my tongue split, filling my mouth with the metallic taste of blood. Red footprints appeared in the sky. The skin-jellyfish were smarter than I'd thought. The footprints began behind the rooftops; they knew how to exploit human blind spots. Even when looking at the sky, people tended to look ahead or straight up. Apparently, the creatures carefully positioned themselves behind buildings before swooping down all at once. Some of the swarm we'd just encountered might have followed us.

Naturally, an ambush was useless once it had been discovered. Everything happened in an instant. Before the red footprints reached us, my muzzle was already aimed at a monster overhead. The skin-jellyfish was spreading its body to swallow us. Had I not been accustomed to monsters, the horror of it would have overwhelmed me.

Its skin bore suckers like those of a squid, octopus, or starfish—suckers made of human lips. Inside, dozens of pairs of hollow hands and feet swayed, waiting to seize a new victim and tear them to pieces. I couldn't tell whether it was a monster's instinct or the spiteful desire to drag someone else down into its suffering. Maybe people who loved bonding with wildlife or other species would feel differently, but I put my human rights ahead of animal rights. I pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Loud gunfire rang through the alley between the apartment buildings, breaking the silence of a Seoul street where monstrous groans played like soft background music. The crisp sounds of shell casings bouncing and rolling across broken asphalt struck my ears. All of us Supreme Mages fired willingly, with gratitude. We now knew what a blessing it was to have monsters you could shoot dead.

Monsters died when you shot them?

Good heavens. What more could you ask for?

Gratefully, I swung my muzzle around and gave four jellyfish a fair share of three or four rounds each. Skin-jellyfish weren't particularly durable. Aside from their disgusting appearance and reliance on ambushes, you could eliminate them with a gun if you were prepared. Just foresee their approach about ten seconds ahead, line up your sights, and shoot them all dead. No problem. Apart from the screams that came from between the human skins tearing with each bullet, they were practically bargain mobs. Keeping up the momentum, I crushed each fallen skin-jellyfish under my combat boots to make sure it was dead. Four for me, one for Shin Na-in.

Planning to tease him about our kill counts later, I immediately turned my muzzle toward the roadside. Two Amalgams, each looking like dozens of people mashed together, were preparing to split. Lee Se-jun was calmly shooting their legs to reduce their mobility, while the pastor fired any old way, hoping at least one round would hit. Just then, I also spotted the predatory spines approaching along walls and power lines. Instead of shooting, I gave my tongue a small bite.

Alteration-Type Eye, Stage Two.

For my suffering is longer than any age.

Gunshots rang out one after another. Shin Na-in handled the predatory spines. Bodily fluid, mixed with spinal fluid into a pale pink, trickled between their shattered skulls. Before the Amalgams could split, lead bullets struck their heads relentlessly, making their bodily fluids spurt.

Excellent.

Satisfied, I closed my eyes.

Blink.

"All clear."

Following Lee Se-jun's short, decisive report, we checked our ammunition expenditure first. He had used two magazines, Shin Na-in fifteen rounds, me twelve, and the pastor one magazine. Everyone had adapted quickly to the hellscape of Seoul, and perhaps the fight with the Seoul mage had helped: their combat skills had improved by leaps and bounds. The part I liked most was, naturally, the ammunition expenditure.

"We're using a lot less ammo."

"Weren't there about a hundred of them when we cleared the subway tracks?"

"What are you talking about? With the five of us dividing our firepower a little, this was pretty good."

"Can we really call this fighting well? Our objective lies far higher, Je-min."

I couldn't help growing sulky at Shin Na-in's wet-blanket routine. What was with this unfair slander of the Supreme Mages? Still, patient man that I was, I decided to let it go.

Actually, my pride was a little wounded by the fact that we'd beaten the Seoul mage five against one. I should have been the one. It was outrageously unfair. Who could have known those Seoul mage bastards lived with predatory spines stuck into their bodies?

In any case, that single engagement seemed to have made the nearby monsters wary. We Supreme Mages could proceed safely without further attacks. Occasional groans and drawn-out screams suggested that monsters had noticed us from beyond the fog's visible range, but none came within a certain distance.

After we'd walked for some time, a park with a small playground came into view. Only eerie bloodstains remained where children had once played, along with a few pavilions. The empty playground seemed to make everyone sentimental. Instead of moving straight on, we spent a brief moment looking over the deserted playground and park. The pastor was the only one who put it into words.

"I wonder what happened to the children..."

"I'm sure they're eating well and living well. Don't worry."

"Lee Se-jun. That was meant to be comforting, right?"

"Huh? Yes. Of course."

Listening to them left me with mixed feelings. It was comforting, technically, but how should I put it... Honestly...

We had finished our brief contemplation and were just setting off again.

BZZZZ.

By now, everyone knew without being told. As soon as I pulled the dark navy phone from my breast pocket, I saw the new message.

[Group of mage survivors discovered in Songpa. Contact desired. Meeting requested in basement of building on right at intersection north of park.]

"The intersection north of the park?"

For a message that said merely Songpa, the location was remarkably detailed.

I looked at Shin Na-in and Hamza, but Shin Na-in shrugged, apparently having detected nothing yet, and Hamza merely furrowed his brow. Lee Se-jun changed magazines, readjusted his grip, and watched our surroundings. The pastor folded his arms and thought. Then he reached a conclusion.

"Pretty obviously talking about us, right?"

"Pastor, they must have heard the gunshots. We fired close to a hundred rounds, after all. Anyone nearby couldn't have missed it."

After that contribution from his faithful yes-man Shin Na-in, the pastor adjusted his gas mask and said,

"Let's go."

Everyone silently looked at him. Our first encounter with a Seoul mage had left far too strong an impression. But the pastor hadn't changed his mind.

"There's still too much we don't know about how Seoul has changed. Even if it isn't Go Ryeo-ha, we shouldn't hesitate if we have a chance to meet another friendly mage."

That was the Supreme Mages' decision.

* * *

April 17, 2028, 12:13 p.m.

Leaving the faint, distant sounds of shelling and the monsters' groans and screams behind, we arrived at the underground parking entrance in front of a broad low-rise apartment building. Nothing seemed particularly conspicuous, but there were plenty of traces no mage could possibly miss. Several bloody handprints marked the area around the entrance. As a user of Hand Branch, Stage Two, I immediately recognized them.

"Hand Branch, Stage One. Blood from the right hand that repels monsters."

The pastor looked around and nodded.

"So this is how they guard the entrance. We'd better regard places with deliberately placed bloodstains as survivor hideouts."

"Hand Branch, Stage One must either be more common than we thought or pretty valuable."

For some reason, Lee Se-jun's remark made my shoulders lift with pride.

As we descended toward the parking entrance, a question slipped out unbidden.

"Aren't these the first actual, proper local survivors we've met?"

"The Dubai Chewy Witch was a local survivor too."

"Not a proper one."

Shin Na-in's ridiculous reply annoyed me instantly. But the pastor's next words shut me right up.

"Easy now. What if keeping a predatory spine in your spine is the latest trend for everyone in Seoul?"

Realizing once again how difficult cultural relativism was, we stood before the lowered shutter. While Lee Se-jun brought up the rear, yawning widely, I looked at Hamza and Shin Na-in. Both gave lukewarm responses.

"It's not dangerous."

"They're human. They don't seem to have hostile intentions."

Safety first. Only after confirming it was safe did I bang on the shutter with the back of my hand.

"Anyone there?"

Footsteps sounded on the other side, followed by a hoarse voice through the shutter.

"Is it you lot?"

Despite the unexpected question, I answered calmly.

"Yes."

"Do you even know what you're saying yes to?"

"If I said no, you wouldn't let us in."

"Hmm. Judging by that excuse, you don't seem to be monsters."

Only then did the shutter rattle upward. The sour smell that wafted out was probably inevitable. The man beyond the shutter was a grimy-looking woman in a grease-stained padded jacket, with a dark complexion. No, seriously—I had thought she was a man, but she was a woman. She was in her early thirties, with a slightly square jaw and a hefty build for a woman, as though she worked out. The instant she saw us, she scowled.

"I heard you shooting. Are you deserters?"

"No, we're civilians."

"Dressed like that?"

We awkwardly looked ourselves over: military rain ponchos, full kit, guns, and a generous supply of magazines and grenades. With our gas masks on as well, anyone could see we were thoroughly prepared civilians.

"Ma'am, everyone outside Seoul dresses like this these days."

Her eyes changed as soon as she heard the words outside Seoul. Resentment? Hatred? It was closer to desperate hope than either of those. She worked her lower lip for a moment, then beckoned to all of us.

"Come in first. Tell us what's happening outside, and we'll tell you about things here. If there's anything we need, we can trade that too."

But we couldn't go straight in. Our first thought was, 'Fuck, what if this person keeps a predatory spine in her spine too?' While we hesitated, Lee Se-jun finally found the courage to ask first.

"Sis."

"What is a creepy-looking old guy like you calling me... Don't call me sis. Just call me miss."

"Miss, you don't keep a monster in your spine or anything, do you?"

CLICK.

Please don't think us mean for instinctively fiddling with our guns. Our first contact with a Seoul mage had left an unprecedented impression. Fortunately, the square-jawed lady in front of us widened her eyes and clicked her tongue.

"The ones who do that are vicious bastards. You were lucky to meet one and live. I'm nowhere near that level. Just Hand, Stage One."

"Do that?"

"You're talking about planting one of those spine-heads in your spine, right? Not just anyone can do that."

The square-jawed lady studied our reactions, then folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"You really must be from outside. Coming in? I don't particularly hate people from outside. If we can trade, let's trade."

* * *

April 17, 2028, 12:29 p.m.

Expedition day three.

Though it wasn't Go Ryeo-ha, we Supreme Mages had made our first contact with a local survivor open to friendly relations.