Ming Ming was rolling around on the floor of the command armored car.
“You really look like you don’t have a care in the world.”
She just seemed quietly happy at the prospect of going out on a hunt soon.
“Ming.”
“Exactly.”
Given the circumstances, this was my plan.
I’d take the Hunter Team and sneak into Kaesong City under the cover of night, avoiding the North Korean Army.
If we managed that, we might be able to destroy the Monster Insect Nest.
Of course, that wouldn’t solve everything.
There was no clear method for dealing with the Monster.
“Let’s go at night.”
“At night?”
“We’ll hide in the darkness. After reaching the Ant Tower in Kaesong, we’ll set it on fire and use Chemical Weapons.”
Dr. Kang hesitated for a moment.
I let out a sigh. Usually, I’d just do as I pleased, but this time, it was something Headquarters needed to approve.
We were, quite literally, sitting in front of a Hive.
Whatever decision we made, there would be a price to pay, but the most important thing was…
Even not deciding would come with a price.
That would be the cost of wasting time.
“Oh, just now, a call came in from Headquarters.”
“Which Headquarters?”
I was glancing at my cell phone.
Maybe it was because we weren’t fighting people, or maybe they were just being lax.
There were quite a few orders being sent through Katalk.
“It’s a decision from the South Korea-U.S. Combined Command. They say there’s been no response from North Korea at all. It’s fine for a small team to infiltrate, but mobilizing vehicles or shelling North Korean territory is strictly forbidden.”
I let out another sigh.
Just as I expected.
No matter how severe the situation, I didn’t think North Korea would say, ‘You may shell our city north of the 38th Parallel…’
In short, it meant we had to sneak in and fight in secret.
I wished even the North Korean authorities would help, but whether they’d gone to fight or simply fled north, all the authorities had moved toward Pyongyang.
“Is there no radio coming down from North Korea?”
“We caught one transmission that seems to be an Emergency Signal.”
“In a city without Police or Military, there are hundreds of thousands of people.”
“Are there really still hundreds of thousands?”
Who knows.
Even if there weren’t any Monsters roaming the city, the current state of Kaesong was a disaster.
“I wonder if we’ll be able to find any volunteer Hunters willing to infiltrate North Korea by midnight tonight…”
Nothing is ever easy.
The Hunter Association President refused to come, saying he had work to do at the Association.
“Well, he’s not my Employee, after all.”
I couldn’t order him around as I pleased.
Instead, the person joining the operation would be the Holy Knight.
The Holy Knight had arrived a few hours ago, flown in by Helicopter sent by the Hunter Association.
We gazed north from the Observation Post in Gimpo.
There was nothing much to see.
The Holy Knight lowered his Binoculars with a grave expression.
“So. We’re really infiltrating North Korea??”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t it dangerous?”
“Extremely dangerous.”
“Have you talked to the North Korean government?”
“I doubt there’s any government left over there.”
At least, not inside Kaesong.
The Holy Knight sighed.
“I thought fighting Monsters with abilities would feel like a game. But this is a lot more real than I expected.”
“Yeah.”
I turned at the sound of footsteps, and saw Ryoo coming up the Observation Post, arms full of research material.
“Please give me a hand with this.”
“Ah, Dr. Ryoo, you’re here?”
As soon as he arrived, Dr. Ryoo thrust a stack of papers at me.
He looked oddly excited.
Honestly, it was hardly a situation to be excited about, but Ryoo didn’t seem to care.
“Take a look at this. Even though there are various sizes and forms of Monsters gathered here, they still cooperate and move together, don’t they? They form a single Swarm.”
I leaned against the wall and decided to listen slowly.
“Looks like this will be another long one.”
The Holy Knight quietly focused on Dr. Ryoo, as if listening intently.
“So, what’s your point?”
“It’s the obvious. In ants, the individual’s size and form change according to their assigned job, right? I believe these Monster Insects forming the Swarm have the same genetic material.”
“That’s very likely.”
Ryoo nodded proudly.
“On the other hand, if the Swarm is made up of genetically identical individuals, there’s a high chance that, rather than competing, these Monsters have a separate evolutionary center—a central point for their evolution.”
“The Queen Ant?”
“Yes.”
Ryoo’s explanation was a bit convoluted, but in the end, it was the obvious conclusion.
If it’s a Monster group like ants, there’s probably a Queen.
Which means there’s a central weak point we need to target.
“If we think of the enemy as ants, it’s strange how so many creatures suddenly appear. I was thinking of the leaf-cutter ants that farm mushrooms. That strange plant life growing in the city doesn’t seem to have just appeared—it looks deliberately cultivated.”
I nodded my head.
That was a fresh perspective.
“So, those Monsters must have their own routes. There will probably be a procession moving from the farm to the Queen’s chamber.”
“Yes.”
Ryoo thought for a bit longer.
“And, I’ve tried to estimate the number of Monsters in the city. Knowing their numbers would help in combat.”
“How many do you think?”
“After analyzing the Drone Video earlier, I confirmed several types of Monsters. Chief Researcher Lee Han, you saw it too, right?”
I nodded.
I had a general idea.
There were bus-sized Flying Bugs that couldn’t be handled even with modern weapons, and there were Worker Bugs about the size of a dog or a human.
There was a fair variety among the Worker Bugs.
Some had wings, others were optimized for hiding or running.
“I always wondered how a few hundred Monsters could occupy a massive city. Isn’t it like a tank division having dozens of tanks? If one tank division can take over a whole city, it makes sense.”
“That’s true.”
Dr. Ryoo turned the page of his research notes.
There were three main objectives. Facing thousands of Monsters seemed nearly impossible, but—
First, capture the Queen Monster. Second, destroy the Monsters’ farming Facility. Third, deal with any Large Entities.
Though I didn’t want to admit it, I could almost hear Pineapple’s voice in my ear.
Something about setting realistic, short-term goals.
What did it say again?
– In order to smoothly resolve the current issues, it is necessary to have feasible short-term objectives, communication between team members, and a multi-layered problem-solving approach…
As the sun set, we’d cross into Kaesong.
And finally—
The sun had set.
The Holy Knight was dressed in dark gray armor, a magic-imbued cloak draped around his shoulders, and wielded the greatsword he’d picked up at the last Gate.
However, he was still wearing a Military Gas Mask and Steel Helmet.
More than that, I was curious about the equipment the Holy Knight was using.
“What kind of equipment is that?”
I used my Investigator’s trait on the Holy Knight’s equipment.
[Enchanted Sword of Senior Kobold]
[Grade: B]
[A sword imbued with Aether.]
[Senior Kobold’s Shield]
[Grade: C]
[A small shield imbued with Aether.]
I didn’t know where the armor came from, but it didn’t seem to be something from the Gate.
It looked like something made from Aluminum Plate and Glass Fiber.
“Who sells stuff like that?”
It still looked like there was plenty of room for improvement in the equipment.
“Let’s go over the plan one last time.”
“Okay.”
“The three of us will cross north in a Rubber Boat. The operation’s objective is as follows: without being detected by the North Korean Army, we’ll sneak into the city and eliminate the Ant Monster Queen. If possible, we’ll also wipe out enemy Facilities and Large Entities.”
The Holy Knight checked the edge of his greatsword.
“Do you have any proof the Queen is really there? That lovely scientist over there hasn’t said a word about it.”
“Lovely?”
Is that how he sees Dr. Ryoo?
Anyway, I thought about it for a moment. Do I have any concrete proof the Ant Monster Queen is in Kaesong?
“Well. The Military’s Raider is sweeping the area. We can track the Monster army’s movements, and their group in North Korea is an independent unit. There must be a leader in the field—we’re just calling that the Queen for convenience.”
“Understood?”
There’s a reason researchers are deployed for supernatural incidents. A single new discovery, a single new fact, can mean the difference between life and death.
“Just the two of us going?”
“With the robot, that’s three.”
Pineapple nodded beside me.
I heard the robot whirring.
“Pleased to meet you again. I will do my utmost to resolve today’s tasks as efficiently as possible.”
“That robot’s way of talking has changed…?”
“It kept getting on my nerves for a robot.”
I checked my gear again.
A dark gray raincoat, Night Vision Goggles attached to the Helmet, Gas Mask, Hunter Rifle.
“Alright. Let’s go Monster hunting.”
Tap.
It didn’t take long to reach North Korea’s side of the coast from north of Gimpo.
The Rubber Boat came to a halt.
I carefully set foot on North Korean soil.
Honestly, North Korean land wasn’t all that different from South Korea’s. The only thing dividing us was a man-made border—soil is soil, no matter which country.
“Oh, never mind, it is different.”
There were no trees on the North Korean side of the border.
They’d been used as firewood, so there were no big trees left. With landslides and soil erosion, the earth looked more like sand all the way into the city.
“Forget what I said earlier, the soil’s different too.”
We hid the Rubber Boat under some camouflage netting and slowly made our way toward the ruined city.
Pineapple buzzed as it rolled along. Ming Ming glanced around like a dog out for a walk.
“Ming!”
“I envy your carefree attitude.”
The power grid must have been destroyed—there wasn’t a single light on anywhere. I’d heard blackouts were frequent in North Korea even before this.
“That robot’s noisy.”
“It’s fine.”
“Aren’t we supposed to be sneaking in?”
That was the plan.
But there were no North Korean Army sentries. Maybe there weren’t any people left in Kaesong. I sighed.
“Doesn’t seem like there’s anyone left. Besides, we need Pineapple for the Chemical Weapon deployment later.”
It was going to be a very long night.
We still had to walk all the way to the Monster Nest in Kaesong. That would take at least an hour or two, I guessed.
Ugh.
When I fought in Korea, I always flew in on a Helicopter, so I never thought about this. Walking with all this equipment was no joke.
I checked my compass.
“This way. Let’s follow the dirt road.”
The Holy Knight nodded.
Still, I was glad to have some time to think.
Ming Ming sniffed the surrounding objects like a hunting dog as she walked. I was riding Pineapple.
There wasn’t a person in sight.
“Chief Researcher Lee Han.”
“What.”
Pineapple spoke quietly, almost in a whisper.
“I hear North Korean Army radio traffic.”
“What are they saying?”
“They say there are no Survivors left in Kaesong. The People’s Army is doing their utmost to ensure everyone evacuates to Pyongan Province.”