It’s already been more than fifteen days since the Gate opened, so now it’s time to see the report card.
Since the Gate incident began, the number of Gates that have opened worldwide is a little over 300.
Cases where containment succeeded easily were not that many.
Sacrifices have been made all over the world.
“So then…… today, I will explain about some representative cases of failure, as analyzed by my Research Institute.”
“Please, go ahead, Doctor Lee.”
That’s why I requested a meeting with the Central Disaster Response Headquarters and the Prime Minister.
This time, it wasn’t even a video conference—I came in person.
Although the information wasn’t from our own research this time, but from exchanging with overseas scientists and confirming it via the Government Information Network, it couldn’t be helped since it’s difficult to travel to those overseas war zones.
Today’s goal was that.
Once again, I intended to shock the government officials and get a proper response out of them.
To be precise, my plan was to propose the creation of an international research network for Gate response.
“If we do this well, Korea—and my Research Institute—could become the center of it all.”
But for that, government approval was necessary.
So the plan was to scare the officials with these overseas failure cases, and persuade them that more budget and authority were needed…….
“There are still many things that are military secrets or not yet public, but I’ll do my best to summarize and explain.”
“Ming.”
Ming Ming clicked to the next slide at my side.
A slide with black letters on a white background. At the Research Institute, we only use these.
“First… North Korea. On the first day of the Gate incident, Gates opened in the capitals of most countries, so Pyongyang was no exception. What you see now is a satellite photo.”
The conference room grew dead silent.
“Though it’s hard to know the details, satellite images of Pyongyang at night show that city lighting has decreased by more than 80%.”
“Does that mean they’re all dead?”
“That’s probably not the case.”
I shook my head and continued.
“The opinion of the National Intelligence Service is as follows. It seems that electricity and fuel usage have been restricted for military operations. It’s unclear whether North Korea failed to contain the situation in the early stages, but it appears there’s been urban warfare within the city for a month now.”
Officially, they are completely silent.
“Why is the damage so severe? No, more importantly, Doctor Lee, why are you getting reports from the National Intelligence Service?”
“From the National Intelligence Service?”
“Isn’t this information directly tied to national security? Even when exchanging information with overseas organizations, you should go through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—”
The Minister of the Interior’s face was full of displeasure…….
“It doesn’t matter.”
I just shrugged.
There’s no other way.
If we had done it the formal way, it would have taken days or even weeks just to get through all the official Ministry channels.
“In that time, four more Gates could open domestically.”
“In order to respond effectively, we had no choice. For reference, it wasn’t me—the National Intelligence Service approached the Research Institute first.”
“Wait, if you’re going to disregard procedures and do as you please when the fate of the nation is at stake—”
The Prime Minister raised a hand, and the conference room fell silent again.
“This isn’t a hearing. Please continue, Doctor Lee.”
“Yes. Afterwards, a Gate also opened in Nampo, North Korea, but over there, they’ve abandoned response entirely and are only evacuating. It seems they’re focusing their military resources on Pyongyang.”
“Is it that serious?”
“Again, if you watch the drone footage—”
Ming Ming changed the slide again.
“As you can see. Alien flora centered on the Gate site has overtaken part of the city. It’s unclear if the North Korean military managed to secure the Gate itself, but it’s already too late.”
“I see…”
“It seems this is also why the urban warfare in Pyongyang is still ongoing. Monsters that crossed over through the Gate have nested, causing a battle for the city.”
“Is this a common occurrence?”
“Monsters from Gates that opened in Korea showed similar behavior, but fortunately we succeeded in suppressing them early on.”
The faces at the cabinet meeting darkened.
“Right now, the priority should be to contact North Korean authorities to learn what’s happening. If the North Korean government collapses, we must prepare for the possibility of monsters crossing the demilitarized zone.”
Next up.
“Well… at least other countries besides North Korea are being cooperative. There’s more publicly available information about the Gates.”
“Mm.”
The slide changed again.
Ming Ming tapped the screen with his short forepaw as he looked at the officials at the cabinet meeting.
“Japan. There were large-scale casualties from the Tokyo Gate, but the authorities somehow managed to get it under control.”
“Mm.”
“Unlike in North Korea, Japan was able to provide fairly accurate estimates of the damage from the Tokyo Gate.”
“Mm.”
“On the first day of the Gate incident, about 1,000 people died directly due to the Gate. With the ensuing fires, residual monsters, and evacuation accidents, the total death toll is around 2,000.”
And that’s just the beginning.
In Japan, five Gates opened, and the one in Matsuyama failed to be contained.
In fact, even now, the fighting continues there.
“They said they never imagined a Gate would open in Matsuyama. Since it’s not a major city.”
Sighs, sighs, and more sighs.
The mood at the cabinet meeting was somber.
More than relief at having dodged a bullet, they were gripped by anxiety for the future.
“Yes. Since the internet is still available in Matsuyama, it’s become an important case study for what happens when containment fails.”
Multicolored alien plants climbing buildings.
Bizarre monsters felled by the combined attack of Hunters and the modern military, swarms of alien insects and birds covering the city center.
“There’s a hypothesis presented in Carl Sagan’s ‘Kosmos.’ The pigment most advantageous for photosynthesis on Earth isn’t actually the green of chlorophyll, but other colors. Some plants on Earth photosynthesize using red pigments, and the alien plants here come in all sorts of colors.”
It was a surreal sight.
“We call this process Terraforming. It’s a process of transforming the area around the Gate to resemble the other world.”
The conference room was silent as death.
It was as if everyone was seeing that bizarre sight through the screen in person.
“Next is China. Not as much as Japan, but they’re also sharing information with us. Of course, it seems the authorities are pretty controlling with it…”
Both sides know the other is lying.
In the end, it’s just a rigged game of Go-Stop.
“Official casualties and damage area sizes are either not disclosed or minimized, but it’s believed that at least dozens of Gates have opened.”
“What about the Chinese authorities’ response? And where exactly did the information you mentioned come from?”
The Minister of Defense asked. I resisted the urge to scratch my head.
“Should you even be asking that?”
You can never really know how information moves.
Maybe they were too busy, or maybe the domestic situation left them with no time.
If you have to go through a few layers of channels or bureaucratic steps, it becomes hard to get any meaningful information.
“This is information obtained through researchers at Tsinghua University. The entire campus has now been converted into a Gate research facility.”
“Aha.”
I nodded and continued.
“Yes. Overall, compared to its land area and population, China actually has relatively fewer soldiers. I’ve heard their response has been horrifyingly poor.”
“In what way?”
There were countless problems.
Ming Ming tapped the tablet screen again.
In several cities, Gates had breached containment, and alien monsters were roaming the urban areas of China.
“First… the most publicized is the Qingdao Gate. It appears a Tentacle Dragon has appeared there. It’s similar to the one that appeared in Daejeon.”
For me, it was a familiar scene.
Black plants climbing the sides of buildings on the screen, and mist like the kind I’d seen in the black forests made by those plants.
The video continued for a few seconds, and a Tentacle Dragon drifted through the mist.
“Do you see? Fighting is still ongoing around the Qingdao Gate, and it’s believed that casualties have already exceeded tens of thousands. Given Qingdao’s geography, there’s a possibility that nearby major cities on the peninsula could be isolated.”
So, if things hadn’t been stopped properly, the same could have happened in Daejeon.
***
“So, here’s the point. Until now, the Research Institute has been able to respond well thanks to your support, the Institute’s resources, and the military’s help. But from now on, we’ll need a much more thorough response.”
We need to do whatever it takes to survive one more day.
“Now, what we need is a dramatic increase in budget and the establishment of an international organization to research supernatural phenomena. The situation is only worsening worldwide.”
Seeing so many people with their heads bowed, it seemed I’d accomplished my original goal of scaring them.
Now, what mattered was whether I could get their promise.
“Thank you for your work…”
The atmosphere in the cabinet meeting was utterly gloomy.
Just the way I wanted.
It felt a bit forceful… but the goal was achieved.
“Then, starting with the total personnel and facilities for the Research Institute, we’ll arrange an emergency budget through the Department of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Defense.”
“Thank you.”
I nodded.
Now that I’d achieved my goal, it was time to hurry back.
Ming Ming put the laser pointer in his mouth and climbed onto my shoulder.
There’s still a lot to do today.
“With a new budget, there’s something I’ve been wanting to do.”
I’m going to create a new research department.
***
The Supernatural Science Research Institute needed new researchers.
More precisely, we needed people who could study mysticism as an academic discipline.
The current Apostles of the Apocalypse are well-versed in most fields of modern science, so just considering that, there’s no need to add more full-time researchers…….
But now that the Gate has opened, there’s a clear limit to only studying modern science.
“We need people to research Magic.”
We can’t just get by with ‘somehow knowing’ as we’ve done so far.
From now on, it must be studied academically.
In my previous life, humanity hadn’t thought to systematically research Magic, so it took a lot of time for Hunters of the Magician class to establish Magic as an academic field.
That’s why I’m conducting this interview today.
“The sooner, the better for things like this.”
The candidate was already decided.
Someone who could study mysticism and Magic as an academic discipline.
They were probably working in a university hospital’s research lab until just yesterday, but in my previous life, they were a top-tier Hunter.
I looked at the person sitting across from me in the office.
“Doctor Wi, do you have a scientist you particularly admire?”
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