Chapter 94 - Change Is Not Far Away

May 8, 2028, 5:26 p.m.

Before entering the command room, I switched off my phone. Judging by the time on the screen, Captain Kim Ho-un must have really ridden Corporal Son Ga-in, who was behind the wheel, hard. Hamza and Lee Se-jun switched theirs off too and started following me. I rubbed at the corners of my mouth, which kept curling upward, and cleared my throat.

"Why didn't you just go ahead and find seats?"

"Je-min, you said you'd shoot us if we went ahead of you."

"I like being safe. I don't want to do anything dangerous."

"What the hell do you take me for?"

I let out an incredulous laugh. Anyone listening would think I actually shot people the moment they stood in front of me. Sure, I was a little self-centered, but would I really shoot someone dead just for going ahead? Sometimes I felt my reputation and standing among the Supreme Mages were far too low.

Still rubbing the corners of my mouth, I spoke up to correct their misunderstanding.

"Even if you're behind me, I'll shoot you if you stand out more than me. Let's go."

At that, Captain Kim Ho-un, who had been standing in front of us as our guide, quietly moved behind us. From a short distance away, he showed his authorization to the military police guarding the command room.

"Baek Je-min, Hamza, and Lee Se-jun. Three members of Aphorism coming in."

Inside the guarded command room, the officers looked twice as busy as usual. They were moving back and forth, checking every last piece of communications equipment and babbling some shit in English, so I decided to leave it at that: they must be very busy. Instead, I turned toward an incongruous human presence in one corner. In a place where everyone wore combat uniforms and kept themselves neat, someone with a ponytail stood out all too much. Se-jun, Hamza, and I finally joined the others there and sat in the empty chairs.

Only then did Captain Kim, who had been trailing right behind us, dash over to Major General Jeon Min-ho and salute.

"Loyalty! All members of Aphorism are present."

"Mm. Stand by."

"Loyalty!"

Captain Kim stood beside us, making an idle show of smacking his lips. Unlike him, with his expression of someone who had bitten into clam shit while eating clams, Go Ryeo-ha, who had arrived first, waved at us with a radiant smile.

"My junior, and you gentlemen are here too?"

"Teacher. This is important, so let's save the chitchat for later."

Going out to earn experience was more urgent than dealing with Ryeo-ha's shit. With looks like hers, this U.S. camp would be crawling with soldiers willing to hit on her and serve as her emotional dumping ground anyway. I had more pressing things to do: satisfy my libido quickly and efficiently with a little rubbing, then run around farming magic.

Se-jun and Hamza turned toward me, apparently surprised by my response. Ryeo-ha blinked and stared blankly, while Major General Jeon and Captain Kim glanced between the two of us and nodded.

TAP TAP.

Major General Jeon tapped the whiteboard with his marker.

"I'm impressed by Mr. Baek's enthusiasm, so let's get straight to the point."

Here is my summary of Major General Jeon's explanation, as I understood it.

1. There were several areas where the fog would not clear.

2. The specialist soldiers and civilian Operators currently available to the military had clear limits in aptitude and ability, while troops with enough experience to handle the situation were severely fatigued.

3. Since our Supreme Mages had demonstrated sufficient operational capability even as a three-person team, Command had made the precarious decision to split us into two teams and deploy us simultaneously to different locations.

"There are two areas where the ROK–U.S. Joint Command requires operations."

As he spoke, Major General Jeon drew lines on the board with his marker.

"First, the fog isn't clearing from a hospital in Anyang that was being used as a military hospital. It's approximately fourteen or fifteen stories tall, and unusually, the fog reportedly surrounds the building as though wrapping around it. The survivors inside are currently isolated on separate floors. Given the facility's importance and the need to put it back into use, we've decided to deploy Aphorism."

Se-jun clicked his tongue and recited what was perfectly obvious common sense in 2028.

"Can't you just set off gas? It seems better to thin them out quickly and decontaminate quickly."

"Chemical munitions were considered. However, decontamination could damage equipment and facilities, and certain specimens, such as neural-network-parasitic Amalgams, are difficult to eradicate that way. We therefore sought a method that would minimize collateral damage. I hope that answers your question."

A precision strike to reclaim infrastructure, not to rescue survivors trapped in a military hospital. That realistic objective won over our Supreme Mages. The people trapped there would want us to wipe out the monsters first rather than painstakingly search for each of them. If they cluelessly ran up to us yelling "Somebody help me!" like in those old arcade shooting games, there would be no mercy.

Hamza went a step further and sought a definite answer.

"Do we have to save the people trapped there too?"

"It's recommended. However, given the difficulty of the operation and the fact that you're civilians without formal training, Command judged that an unreasonable demand and excluded it from the requirements. You needn't concern yourselves with it."

What a heartwarming scene. The military respected us enough to give us generous mission terms, and we took their supplies and completed their operations quickly. It felt almost unfair that I was only witnessing such a beautiful, equitable relationship in the Republic of Korea now, as the world was falling apart.

So, our next destination...

"No."

All our eyes turned in one direction. Me, Se-jun, Hamza, Major General Jeon, and Captain Kim—all of us were looking at one person.

Go. Ryeo. Ha.

With her mask pulled down and her left hand resting on her chest, she gently closed her eyes and spoke calmly but firmly.

"We mustn't abandon even one person lightly. Especially in times as difficult as these. We may not be able to save everyone, but..."

When Ryeo-ha opened her eyes again, they sparkled like a golden retriever's.

"If the survivors are still fighting to stay alive, I'll fight alongside them. If you promise support for the people at Konkuk University, I'll volunteer for the mission to the Anyang military hospital!"

I hurriedly turned to Major General Jeon.

"Whatever the next mission is, I'm taking it."

His eyebrows twisted, but then he continued his explanation, drawing more lines on the board.

"Thank you for your enthusiasm, Mr. Baek. However, the other mission is to hold the cordon. Current satellite reconnaissance shows the fog expanding on Seoul's southeastern outskirts, and a request has come in for additional troops to defend against it in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. The objective there is to kill and stop the monsters, and..."

"Me! Me!"

I even raised my hand as I shouted insistently, but Major General Jeon continued without so much as pretending to listen.

"It requires the ability to deliver firepower within a short period, or detection capabilities that can direct friendly firepower, as well as the ability to provide psychological reassurance and keep the soldiers from becoming unsettled."

Firepower in a short period? I could stop time and shoot. Directing friendly firepower? I could enhance Eye, Stage One with tongue magic and mark whatever I saw. Psychological reassurance? How could they not feel reassured with Baek Je-min on the way—the first five-branch archmage, the man with a star drawn on his heart, and currently the most enthusiastic supporter of holding the cordon!

Every requirement pointed to me.

"The abilities the military has identified in you have exceeded our expectations, Mr. Baek. In a good way. Your judgment in combat is exceptional, you have Instructor Song Smith's recommendation, and you can wield a wide variety of magic. You are Aphorism's strongest combat asset."

Listening to Major General Jeon's objective, neutral assessment, I reflected for the first time in a while on the ideal of broadly benefiting humanity.

Holding the cordon.

An indomitable sense of duty to postpone humanity's end was now setting Archmage Baek Je-min's heart ablaze!

"I respectfully ask that you volunteer to clear the Anyang military hospital, the harshest, most complex combat environment and the most difficult to assess."

Well, damn. I hadn't realized Command thought so highly of me. I looked Major General Jeon squarely in the eye and made my passionate intentions clear.

"General, I appreciate your high opinion of my abilities, but I believe that mission requires excellent search and detection capabilities. We have people in Aphorism who are far better in those areas, whereas I'm merely support personnel who fill in my teammates' shortcomings. As such, I'm deeply concerned by Command's decision to build the operation around me. Furthermore, in a multistory indoor environment where close-quarters combat is inevitable, my lack of formal training imposes clear limits. Perhaps this is a situation that calls for skilled military tactics rather than reliance on magical versatility..."

* * *

By the time we reached the helipad, it was already over. Pastor Park Yo-han and Shin Na-in were already aboard a helicopter, waving at us.

"Se-jun! What are you doing? Get in!"

"Me? You're not taking Je-min?"

"Je-min is a flexible extra who can fit in anywhere. He can help more people by going where he's needed most."

Se-jun blinked, then joined Na-in and the pastor with his usual K15 machine gun.

Holding the cordon in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. That was their team.

Unwilling to be the only one stuck holding the bag, I cried out to Na-in. Why should I be the only one excluded from experience farming!

"Shin Na-in, they don't need your detection abilities there. Switch with me!"

CLUNK.

For a moment, I had the illusion that the helicopter rocked as Se-jun climbed aboard. With a backpack crammed full of ammunition boxes and a machine gun in hand, he had every reason to weigh more than an ordinary infantryman. But what weighed more heavily on my heart was Na-in's easy smile.

"You're right, Je-min. They may not need my abilities where I'm going."

"Then right now..."

"But they do need your abilities where you're going. Amen."

Meanwhile, Se-jun poked his head out and offered an infuriating reply.

"Je-min. We need to kill monsters to unlock new branches or learn new magic too. Stop hogging it all. People can't only do what they want. Getting to just dream is a privilege reserved for children. Doing things you don't want to do is what makes you an adult."

"Lee Se-jun! What about that disgusting wish of yours!"

"Waaah."

RATTLE!

The helicopter door closed. Faced with the roaring gale and the deafening rotor noise, I had no choice but to turn my head away. But turning away didn't make the sorrow disappear. Another helicopter was waiting in that direction, its open door like the maw of a wild beast.

"My junior~ Let's go save people~"

Ryeo-ha beckoned, waving a gas mask, her poncho inscribed with ancient Hebrew spells for warding off evil draped around her like tassels. Across from her, Hamza sat with his head bowed, his face deathly pale.

I really hated this.

Still, I stepped forward, inwardly grinding my teeth. Not literally, of course—I had to think of my dental health. But remembering what Se-jun had said earlier made my blood boil.

"Waaah, my fucking ass."

I climbed into the helicopter too and closed the door.

RATTLE!

Fine. I had to do what I had to do. Once positive thinking restored my peace of mind, a change in perspective soon followed. The hospital had mobs too, so wouldn't killing them give me XP? Then an ingenious idea came to me. Come to think of it, wouldn't visiting the bathroom three times before entering the hospital double my experience?

At that moment, Hamza looked at me, his pale face contorted in a grimace.

"Je-min. Don't think dangerous thoughts."

"You don't have Mind Reading, do you? You're not even an ear mage. How do you know?"

"Because I'm constantly testing guesses about whether your thoughts are dangerous."

"Aha."

Our Hamza worried about so many pointless things. Sacred-relic Hamza would be overwhelmingly superior in that I wouldn't have to worry about him running away, but he wouldn't be able to cook ramyeon for me. I liked Hamza's ramyeon-making skills.

Ryeo-ha barged into our conversation, her eyes sparkling.

"Heehee, these ponchos smell stronger than I expected. So this is the smell of friendship between comrades—of camaraderie?"

"Teacher, what you're saying is pretty fucking awful."

If camaraderie meant this overpowering stink, I'd live without friendship. I put on my gas mask and breathed.

As the helicopter took off, dizziness overwhelmed me and I immediately curled up. Someone pulled me over, and I felt something relatively soft supporting the weight of my head.

Was this... a lap pillow? Was my head resting in someone's lap right now?

Barely suppressing the nausea rising inside me, I spoke.

"Hamza. Put me back where I was."

"Je-min, it's not me."

"?"

I snapped alert. Apparently I'd escaped the worst-case scenario of Hamza giving me a lap pillow, but then what was this? Just as I hurried to sit up, hands more delicate than I expected, and stronger than I'd prepared myself for, pushed me back down.

"My junior, you seem to be airsick, so just lie still. I suppose, since I haven't been in the Supreme... pfft. The Supreme Mages for very long, I'm lacking something, aren't I?"

Come to think of it, Ryeo-ha was also a Stage Two heart mage. That meant she was someone I couldn't force my way free of while suffering from dizziness and holding back vomit.

"Camaraderie!"

* * *

May 8, 2028, 5:41 p.m.

I practically rolled out of the helicopter. I threw my backpack out first, then myself.

"Oh! My junior, you'll hurt yourself!"

"Hah, haah..."

That had been dangerous. My pure archmage's reason had been one step away from collapsing under carnal lust. Hamza got out after me, looked down at me as though I were pathetic, and handed me a bottle of water.

"Je-min. Just be a man and do it once."

"Stepping on a land mine doesn't make you a man. It makes you an idiot."

I unscrewed the cap and immediately poured the water over my face. So refreshing. Unlike my burning body, the water was still wonderfully cold. The helicopter pilot shot me a contemptuous look from behind his sunglasses, but I played oblivious.

And so Team A—the Suicide Squad of slop-bucket hell, consisting of me, Hamza, and Ryeo-ha—arrived at a park in Anyang's busy downtown district. Trees had been cut down to create space for the helicopter to land, and soldiers and tanks already packed the surrounding roads. The hospital in question happened to sit smack in the middle of town.

Just as the briefing had described, thick fog shrouded the building and extended ten meters out around it, like fog clouds clinging to a mountain peak. It looked quite dangerous. So, as soon as my dizziness subsided, I turned to Hamza.

"Hamza. You're not the kind of person who comes to places like this. How'd you end up here?"

Hamza answered with a gloomy expression.

"Command said my magic was too weak in places without fog, so we should test it here."

"Oh."

Was gathering Muslims supposed to make his guesses reliable even outside the fog? Hamza's guessing magic, [Angel's Intuition], certainly was far too vague where there was no fog. Command would hate assumptions like "probably," so I could see why they wanted to check whether it was truly powerful.

Then I spotted officers approaching, having noticed our arrival. As always, their name tags had been removed. The apparent commander among them was a thick-lipped, frog-faced lieutenant colonel.

"Loyalty. Are you the three members of Aphorism sent from Pyeongtaek?"

"Yep."

I answered with a simple salute. The frog lieutenant colonel frowned slightly at my sloppy salute, but, remembering that I was a civilian, he let it pass without making much of it and began leading us.

"Good. We intend to support you in most respects. There is, however, one precaution."

"Maintaining secrecy?"

"Over there."

The frog lieutenant colonel indicated a corner with his chin. I naturally turned to look and saw troops assembled a block away moving in crisp formation, bringing tanks and armored vehicles with them. So far, you might have thought them an ordinary military force. But seeing them advance beneath a fluttering red flag—the five-star red flag—would make anyone's eyes widen.

"What's that?"

"The Chinese People's Liberation Army. Ah, more precisely, volunteers formerly of the Chinese People's Liberation Army."

Speaking matter-of-factly, the frog lieutenant colonel looked back at me, Hamza, and Ryeo-ha, then mimed zipping his lips shut.

"They may approach you to try to win you over. To maintain the friendly cooperative relationship between Aphorism and Pyeongtaek's ROK–U.S. Joint Command, we're asking you to ignore them as much as possible. Let's go. I'll explain the situation on-site at the command-and-control post."

As the frog lieutenant colonel turned, the officers accompanying him turned too. Watching the foreign troops march briskly a block away, Ryeo-ha and Hamza let out brief exclamations.

"Ohhh. The Chinese army is here too?"

"Je-min, let's hurry after them."

"Right. They say a gentleman doesn't even adjust his hat strings in a field, lest it look suspicious."

And so we followed the frog lieutenant colonel. Even as we looked at the fog-shrouded hospital, we couldn't ignore the Chinese People's Liberation Army's spirited marching song coming from nearby.

The world was changing far too quickly. I could only hope I was forward-thinking enough to accept those changes.