The world is burning.
Hundreds of Gates have opened all over the globe, and only a small fraction have been successfully isolated.
Even the United States has not been immune to the Gate incident.
They, too, need the Alliance and our assistance. That’s why the Ambassador came to see me, clutching at straws.
I looked at Kishin Cho Ambassador.
“First of all, I’d like to say that we are extremely interested in Doctor Lee’s research, as well as Doctor Lee himself.”
Well, that’s convenient. They took the initiative to investigate our research, gave it high praise, and offered their compliments.
Kishin Cho Ambassador spoke up with an apologetic look.
I wondered what he would say this time.
“I hesitate to mention this, but… Doctor Lee, have you ever considered working in the United States?”
“That is…”
I shook my head. That’s out of the question.
If this had been before I joined the Supernatural Science Research Institute, or before the Gate incident broke out, I might have happily taken the opportunity to work as a researcher in the United States.
“…Not now.”
How desperately I fought before regression.
I remembered down to the bone what would emerge from the Gates opening in Korea, when they would open, each and every one etched into my memory.
In fact, it wasn’t even easy to forget.
So many people have died in that time.
Some of them were people I knew personally. In fact, there were many. Each one felt like my own responsibility.
If I were to leave for another country, it would truly become my responsibility. I had already replayed this scenario a hundred times in my mind; if an opportunity came, the best I could do was to try again.
This is a game I can win. If I go abroad, I can’t guarantee it would be the same.
It was an offer that made me think, but I had no intention of leaving Korea.
Now, more than proving my usefulness, as the only functioning Alliance, we needed to show our strength.
Thinking this far, I raised my head confidently.
“I have no such intention.”
“I figured as much. If Doctor Lee was the type to walk away from his work halfway through, you wouldn’t have achieved such results over the past few weeks.”
Kishin Cho Ambassador narrowed his eyes.
He still looked like he had more to say.
“Thank you.”
“I believe in investing in people. That’s what it means to serve as the Ambassador of the United States… Regimes in other countries only last a few years, and the U.S. government changes often, and in some developmental countries, nations can disappear overnight.”
I gestured for him to continue and nodded.
“Still, since you say you have no intention of coming to the United States—”
“I do not.”
“These days, we call it human resources, or human infrastructure. I hope we can establish a mutually beneficial relationship, financially and otherwise, with Doctor Lee.”
We had already exchanged enough pleasantries and confirmed each other’s positions. Now it was time to discuss what we each wanted.
And also the price we could offer.
I thought for a moment before speaking.
“If combat breaks out in Korea, I would like to be able to call upon high-level combat assets from the USFK in an emergency.”
“Isn’t that exactly what the Mutual Defense Treaty is for?”
The negotiation was proceeding much more smoothly than I expected.
After all, strength and capability are important.
Even if that’s all that’s visible on the surface…
We signed the same Mutual Defense Treaty and worked with the same government and military as before regression, yet the response could be so different.
In the end, it’s a matter of the image we’ve shown.
This time, we’ve demonstrated our ability to solve problems, so a commensurate response is only natural.
The difference in their practical reaction was almost frightening.
“We would like Doctor Lee to cooperate with our researchers. It would be helpful if United States Military research teams could have opportunities to study Gates that have opened in Korea.”
I nodded.
There is no way to hide research results anyway. Besides, for the sake of humanity’s survival, sharing research outcomes with allied nations is only sensible.
Kishin Cho Ambassador let out a sigh.
“The situation in the United States is worse than we thought. Already, seventy Gates have opened there. And that’s just the ones we’ve found.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, a lot have opened.”
There must be Gates that failed to be contained. The influence of the Gates must be spreading like wildfire even now.
The difficulty of solving the problem will rise exponentially. These people did not come all this way, essentially offering a blank check, for nothing. Even sending high-ranking officials from an allied country is proof of their desperation.
“They must be that desperate.”
Still, if I can cooperate with US Military researchers, we won’t be short on research funds after today.
Of course, as much as we receive, we’ll have to provide results to the United States side as well. No results, no continuous funding.
We paused our conversation for a moment.
“You must be going through a lot.”
“You have no idea. Ah, of course, I don’t mean to downplay your efforts, Doctor Lee. The fact that there haven’t been any casualties here is truly an unbelievable feat.”
Kishin Cho Ambassador let out another sigh.
“Originally, Pentagon officials were supposed to come meet you, Doctor Lee. But there’s such a shortage of people and time that they just told the US Ambassador in Korea to meet you as quickly as possible.”
“I see.”
As I had guessed. Kishin Cho Ambassador showed me a bundle of papers densely packed with writing, smaller than grains of sesame.
“This is the briefing material on the Gate incident that I received. I was suddenly thrown into a meeting with you, Doctor Lee…”
Can you really call something that thick a briefing?
Whoever wrote this must have authored an entire textbook.
“If I may mention something of interest: this time, the United States has truly drawn its sword. Exceptionally, all eleven Carrier Task Forces will be mobilized. The National Defense Production Act will also be activated.”
Similar to what happened before regression.
By treating the Gate incident as a state of war, the United States was planning to deploy every card it had.
This was one of the main reasons why, before regression, humanity was able to survive for fifteen hundred days after the Gate incident.
The important thing is that our achievements have earned the trust of the United States authorities. You could tell just by looking at Kishin Cho Ambassador’s attitude today.
Gates have appeared in all the major cities of Earth. No one is in a position to help or worry about others, not even the United States.
In this situation where everyone is burning together, there’s no room for sympathy.
Instead, if you have a useful card, you can become an ally who must receive cooperation. That was today’s goal.
***
Meanwhile, the situation at the Disaster Headquarters was not good today either.
While they had prevented the worst-case scenario of mass casualties from the Gates, nothing was going smoothly.
Problems that needed solving kept piling up day after day.
“Prime Minister.”
This time, the Minister of Foreign Affairs spoke up with a troubled look, standing amid the grim murmuring of the crowd.
“Were you aware of this? I heard the US Ambassador just met with the Director of our Research Institute under Pentagon orders.”
“The Director of the Research Institute. You mean Doctor Lee?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs let out another sigh.
“I just found out as well. The US Ambassador to Korea just met with the Director of the Supernatural Science Research Institute. The Pentagon sent them, but since they couldn’t spare anyone from there, the Ambassador was sent instead.”
“Oh dear.”
The Prime Minister pressed his forehead.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs looked a bit irritated.
“Does this make any sense? Even if it’s the United States, there are systems and rules in a country. If it were any other country’s Ministry of Defense or Ambassador, wouldn’t this be considered espionage?”
Procedure. The Prime Minister’s grandfather stayed silent for a moment before speaking.
“Why do you think the Ambassador went to see the Director of the Research Institute?”
“Well… I don’t know.”
“Isn’t it obvious? There’s no time to fuss over details now. The United States is simply seeking out the people who have the ability to solve their problems directly.”
Nothing more or less.
The United States just knows who is the most useful and important person in this country right now.
***
Sometimes, I had thoughts like this.
For hundreds of years, humanity has been encroaching on the domain of the gods. The pinnacle of that is genetic manipulation and biotechnology.
Literally, the realm of the gods. Manipulating the language of life itself, creating organisms as needed.
Ryoo and I were sitting in the research laboratory.
Dr. Ryoo had holed up in the biotechnology lab for several days straight and finally came out.
He came out and requested a meeting with me.
“Doctor Lee. I’ve made a new discovery, and I need your opinion and a discussion of the research results.”
It wasn’t something that happened often. Dr. Ryoo has a rather quiet, artistic temperament.
Was he curious about something, or had his research yielded results? Dr. Ryoo showed me his Tablet.
“Do you see this?”
A strange website, with a gray background and lines of tiny writing packed densely. There were no pictures or large text.
I squinted, trying to read the familiar-looking font from some website I felt I’d seen before.
“Ah, the Genetic Sequence Database, right?”
The US government provides an open genetic sequence database for research use.
Dr. Ryoo nodded.
“Isn’t it amazing? Already, the NCBI in the United States is uploading the genetic sequences of extraterrestrial organisms. I also uploaded the genetic sequences of organisms from our Gate there.”
“I see.”
“The research results aren’t as plentiful as I’d hoped… We’ve been so busy fighting monsters that there’s still not enough time for research.”
So that’s why he’d been holed up in the research laboratory.
There’s a tool called Basic Local Alignment Search Tool, or BLAST for short, also provided by the United States.
It’s a computer program that lets you compare and analyze different genetic sequences. Simply put, it’s a search engine for genes and proteins.
I looked at Dr. Ryoo.
“Right now, it’s a really hot topic among biotechnologists. They’re looking to see if there are any common genetic characteristics among organisms related to the Gate Phenomenon.”
“So. Any results?”
Gate Phenomenon, characteristics shared by organisms related to Aether.
It could be genes, expressed proteins, or even certain organs. I pondered for a moment.
“Not yet. Still, we’re storing as much Gate-origin genetic material as possible. You never know when it might be needed.”
As expected, I remembered. There was research being conducted on this before regression.
I looked at Dr. Ryoo with a confident expression.
“Even if it’s called Magic, there must be a principle behind it. There must be a point of contact where the world of Gate Phenomenon-001 interacts with the material, physical and chemical world.”
Dr. Ryoo’s face instantly lit up with interest.