The third Gate will open in Daejeon.
We must inform the authorities and the Research Institute of this fact as soon as possible.
“How am I supposed to explain this again?”
There are several issues to resolve.
First and foremost, we have to prioritize responding to the next Gate as best as we can.
Since the Research Institute managed to block the last Machine-type Gate, we had to start preparing for the next Gate today.
The first Gate appeared in Seoul.
The second Gate opened in Busan.
So where will be the next? I looked over at Dr. Kang. Dr. Kang was staring at the Map hung in the conference room.
Dr. Ryoo hadn’t left the molecular biology lab. Dr. Min was locked away in the physics lab, supposedly to study the magic stone…
The only one who’d come to the meeting was Dr. Kang. Even he probably wouldn’t leave his lab if I showed him the Engine of the Machine Monster.
“Where do you think the next Gate will be?”
“I’m not sure.”
Dr. Kang frowned, his expression grave.
Of course, I knew exactly when and where the next Gate would open. But I had to think about how to deliver that information.
Dr. Kang took his time responding.
Unlike the other Principal Researchers who liked to talk, Dr. Kang was always a bit blunt and careful by nature.
“Ming.”
Ming Ming was quietly sitting next to Dr. Kang, alternating his gaze between the Whiteboard and the Tablet.
“Why did you bring the Monster?”
“Ming Ming likes listening to people. Understands most things, just can’t speak back.”
“I see…”
Of all the people I knew, Dr. Kang was one of the few who showed little interest in my Summoned Beast. Dr. Ryoo liked him a lot, and Ming Ming enjoyed playing with Dr. Min.
Maybe it’s just that engineering student vibe.
Watching Ming Ming sit so still made me want to laugh.
About a minute passed. Then Dr. Kang spoke up.
“Well… If we think of the Gate as the ‘enemy’, it makes sense that the third one will open in another large city, right?”
“Yes.”
“Although we don’t have enough data yet. Since the first was in Seoul and the second in Busan, I’d guess the next would be some distance from those two cities.”
“So… Daejeon or Daegu. It’ll be one of those two, if the Gate follows any kind of logic resembling human reasoning.”
A reasonable distance from the previous Gates, and another major city.
The third Gate will open in Daejeon.
Both logically and from what I saw before the Return.
Dr. Kang nodded slowly.
“This time, we’ll request help from the Meteorological Administration, and set up a Network so we can detect the unique electromagnetic signal of a Gate early. We did something similar last time.”
“The Meteorological Administration does that kind of thing?”
I nodded.
“The Seismic Meteorological Administration handles it. I don’t think it’ll take long to set up the Gate monitoring Network. Especially since Gates have been opening every few days lately…”
“I see.”
We need to act fast.
Dr. Kang scrolled through materials on his Tablet.
“By the way. Is Containment Room No. 1 currently in use?”
“Yes.”
“What did you put in containment?”
Ah, that. I pulled up the CT Scan of the Steel Heart on my Tablet and showed it to Dr. Kang.
He squinted again, as if focusing hard.
“Did Doctor Lee design this?”
“It’s a Monster part from the Gate. I think it’s an Engine with an organic form, different from normal machines…”
“I see.”
Now Dr. Kang seemed interested. Well, who wouldn’t be, when you get your hands on alien technology?
“Anyone would be curious.”
“What do you think, Doctor Lee?”
“We had a long discussion yesterday during the dissection—well, the analysis. As you’ll see, compared to other machines, it’s an Engine with an organic structure.”
“I see.”
I leaned against the Whiteboard and waited. Dr. Kang was rapidly flipping through documents on his Tablet.
Muttering to himself all the while.
“Wow, this is truly fascinating. Tesla Turbine, Tesla Valve… Machines like these aren’t used because they’re so inefficient. But this is really alien technology, isn’t it?”
“You look pretty excited.”
I nodded.
“Literally. It’s technology from another world.”
“Oh…”
“The key point is, besides mechanical input and output similar to a living organism, the device is regulated through organic feedback loops. Since these things can self-replicate, they have fewer parts and are much simpler.”
Dr. Kang nodded vigorously.
“Anyway. I’m going to wrap this up and send out a report today, so please take a look and send me your thoughts soon.”
“I’ll do it now.”
That’s a relief. I looked at Ming Ming, who trotted over to me with the Notebook in his mouth, as if he understood.
I turned on the Notebook and wiped the drool off the cover with a wet tissue.
“Doesn’t that break the Notebook?”
“It could, but not this time.”
Luckily, it worked. I took the Notebook from Ming Ming’s mouth and stood up.
***
The Gate incident was the world’s top concern, no matter where you were. Hundreds of cities around the world were in the middle of battles, and yet governments everywhere were focusing on just one case.
Even in the midst of chaos, despite Gates opening in several major cities, there was one case where nothing had happened—
“Korea.”
Normally, they might have sent officials overseas to discuss countermeasures. But no one had the time. The situation changed day by day—no one could afford the delay.
In the end, foreign Embassy officials already in Korea were the ones discussing cooperation.
The U.S. Ambassador to Korea, William Kissinger, visited the Foreign Ministry.
Well, the Foreign Ministry’s situation wasn’t exactly easy, either. Still, they managed to arrange a meeting with an Embassy Official in a hurry.
“Washington is in chaos. The United States, with its vast land and many cities, is struggling to respond to this crisis.”
“Yes. We’ll do everything we can to cooperate internationally—”
Kissinger sighed.
“Let’s get straight to the point. We can’t waste a single minute. I’ve heard Korea’s abnormal phenomena research organization has achieved incredible results in studying and responding to the Gate in just a matter of days. I want to meet them as soon as possible, even just once.”
The Embassy Official hesitated for a moment.
He must be talking about the Supernatural Science Research Institute.
Until just a few days ago, its very existence was classified. There wasn’t even a Hotline. Who do you even call?
“I’ll arrange a meeting and contact you within the day.”
“Please, as quickly as possible.”
He wasn’t sure if the Supernatural Science Research Institute would even show up just because he called.
If the Institute really was at the heart of the Gate crisis, they must be unimaginably busy right now.
I heard there was fighting in Busan yesterday, too.
“The United States is extremely interested in this incident, and especially in Korea’s response. Personally, I’m very impressed by your scientific approach.”
They probably thought Korea was hiding something, or there was information not yet public. Maybe there was—but at this point, the Foreign Ministry didn’t know anything either.
The Supernatural Science Research Institute.
Even high-level government officials in the Foreign Ministry knew almost nothing about it. Its existence was kept secret, and even the identity of the Director was uncertain.
Chief Researcher Lee Han…
If we asked him to meet with the U.S. Ambassador, would he come?
***
William Kissinger.
He was the current U.S. Ambassador to Korea, having spent ten years going back and forth between the two countries.
“Why does this person want to meet me?”
Well, it wasn’t hard to guess. He saw Korea as a success case and wanted to discuss countermeasures.
I looked at the man sitting in my office.
Ambassador Kissinger was a middle-aged man in a suit and silver-rimmed glasses. He looked cold and serious.
“In my previous life, I struggled a lot because of this guy.”
There were many times I had to ask the United States and neighboring countries for help. But everyone had their own problems and didn’t offer much assistance.
The main issue before my Return was this.
To resolve the Gate crisis, we requested experts, technology, and equipment from the U.S. several times, but every request was refused because the situation was dire there as well.
They even blocked the U.S. Forces in Korea from intervening early on in the crisis.
“It probably wasn’t the Ambassador’s decision alone.”
I didn’t want to blame him.
If the situation was reversed, we would have done the same.
The realistic thing is to change the situation.
And the situation has already changed.
“It’s good to meet you, Doctor Lee.”
First, I need to bring this person to my side.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, after all.
Having lived in Korea for a long time, the Ambassador was fluent in Korean. There was a bit of an English accent, but it was perfectly understandable.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Ambassador. I’m sorry to trouble you by asking you to come all the way to the Institute, but things are quite chaotic lately.”
“Yes. Let’s get right to the point.”
Ambassador Kissinger adjusted his glasses and looked at me.
“The U.S. Embassy in Korea has been doing everything possible to support our ally Korea’s crisis response.”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
This hadn’t happened before my Return, so I didn’t know how it would play out. For now, let’s listen to what he has to say.
Today’s goal is to secure cooperation from the United States.
I’m not expecting manpower.
But if we could get exploration equipment, technological support, academic exchanges, or access to American databases…
It would be a huge help in responding to the Gate crisis in the future. Especially if we could interact with overseas Hunter Organizations.
“The U.S. government, and I personally, have been closely following your work, Doctor Lee. I believe there is no comparable case anywhere else in the world.”
“Thank you.”
Ambassador Kissinger looked around.
“Well… To be honest, the authorities have already figured out what research you’ve conducted in the past few days.”
“I see.”
It was maybe a bit too blunt.
But it was already an open secret, so there was no need to hide it. We both knew the secret was being eavesdropped on—there’s no reason to pretend otherwise.
Anyway, that was a different matter.
I nodded.
“The Pentagon was astonished when they received the report. Even with dozens of Specimen No. 12 of Gate No. 3 from different Gates and the world’s top researchers, the U.S. team couldn’t achieve such results in just a few days. But you did.”
I scratched my head awkwardly.
“I simply looked at what logically had to be done next and how to systematically study the Phenomenon.”
A sharp gaze, as if trying to see right through me. Fortunately, it seemed he’d decided I was on his side—at least for now.