Chapter 51: Turns Out They Were Protecting Us

[Translator – Aren]

The square-jawed woman’s name was Kang Areum.

According to her, she was 32 years old and a Seoul wizard who possessed Hand-branch, Stage 1 and Ears-branch, Stage 2 magic.

However, far more important than these basic details were her magic specialties. Kang Arum was a practitioner of upright Alteration-type magic, and also seemed to know quite a bit about inverted Alteration-type magic. In fact, her Hand-branch magic was identical to the one I knew.

"Come on in. I can’t exactly treat you like honored guests out here, so don’t expect much.”

Without any hesitation, Kang Areum showed us around the underground parking garage she’d been living in. One thing immediately stood out. There wasn’t a single trace of human waste.

There were stacks of instant noodles, cases of bottled water, and a camping stove. She’d left a flashlight on to illuminate the darker corners. There wasn’t a generator anywhere in sight, but judging by the cables plugged into one of the parked cars, she was using the vehicle’s battery to charge things.

Of course, most of what she owned barely used any electricity anyway. Aside from the flashlight and a phone charger, there were practically no electronics.

The place was so much cleaner and more organized than we’d expected that even we Supreme Archmages couldn't help staring. The neatly stacked ramen boxes and canned food stored inside abandoned cars and the comparatively clean clothes spoke of how this woman named Kang Areum had managed to survive.

Pastor Park Yohan was the first to voice his admiration.

"For a woman living alone, you've kept the palace surprisingly clean.”

"You say that like every woman living alone lives in a pigsty. Also, I don’t believe in Jesus, so watch your mouth.”

"Oh my. Why not let the good word into your heart? A woman like you ought to come to church.”

Bam, bam!

I gently hit the pastor between the shoulder blades out of sheer habit.

"Ow! Baek Jemin, what was that for?!”

"I’m taking over this conversation.”

If he’d been any younger, I’d have given him a much harder smack. I merely held back out of respect for his seniority.

Lee Sejun’s personal desires were the sort of thing that made people uncomfortable. Shin Nain was better off quietly reading our counterpart’s intentions than joining the conversation, and Hamza’s talents were better spent helping Shin Nain detect danger.

That naturally only left me, Baek Jemin, the calmest, most rational person here, to handle the negotiations.

"So how have you been dealing with human waste?”

"Jemin-ssi, what the hell…”

Lee Sejun nearly had a heart attack, but Kang Areum was a professional survivor. She raised an eyebrow at the question, pulled her padded jacket tighter, then gave me a small grin.

"I borrowed the apartment building upstairs. Or I used a chamber pot.”

If the world hadn’t ended, I’d probably have been arrested just for asking something like that. Instead, Kang Areum actually looked pleased by the question.

As filthy as the subject was, waste disposal was an incredibly important survival issue. We Supreme Archmages had simply relieved ourselves wherever we found a secluded spot or used public restrooms whenever possible. Kang Areum, on the other hand, waited until it was safe, then used the emergency stairwell to make trips back and forth, disposing of that stuff upstairs.

Why did that matter?

Because it might tell us whether monsters hunt by smell. 

The moment that thought crossed my mind, Shin Nain gave me a genuinely surprised look. What the hell did this bastard think I was?

Oddly enough, it was Kang Areum, the complete stranger, who looked at me with quite some approval. She raised a corner of her mouth slightly as she walked over to the open truck of a car.

"For someone from outside, you’re more careful than I expected. I figured you were just a bunch of lunatics after hearing you empty that many magazines. Alright, let’s get straight to the point then. What does each side want?”

-Thunk.

Before closing the trunk, Kang Areum pulled out a notebook. She waved it lightly in her right hand, resting her other hand on her hip.

"So, how much does the outside world actually know about Seoul? And any information that’ll help us break through the blockade. If possible, we can trade supplies too.”

"And what do we get in return?

"Hmm…I’ll answer your questions. And I’ll let you stay here for a day.”

There was no doubt Kang Areum knew far more about Seoul than we did.

The problem was we had no real way of judging the value of either our information or our supplies. This wasn’t the kind of trade we could rush into.

I looked toward Shin Nain, expecting him to help, but all he managed to confirm was that Kang Areum hadn't lied during her introduction.

With an annoyed sigh, Shin Nain glared at her.

"She’s definitely Ears-branch, Stage 2. I can vaguely grasp her intentions, but I can’t hear her thoughts clearly.”

I walked over and whispered quietly into his ear.

"Why don’t you try charming her? You’re a pretty decent-looking guy. You seem pretty popular, too.”

"I am a faithful Christian. I have vowed to remain chaste until marriage. If she’s not the woman I’m going to marry, I won't do anything.”

"Then just marry her?”

That was the third time I’d ever seen Shin Nain completely lose his temper.

I wisely decided to stop talking. Turning back to Kang Areum, I calmly adjusted my rifle sling.

"Sounds good. Let’s make this a smooth, clean deal.”

"Hey, Baek Jemin. You’ve been acting like some master negotiator, and that’s how you come out?”

Even with the pastor grumbling beside me, I stood my ground.

-Haaah—.

I deliberately let out one loud breath through my gas mask, then casually tapped my rifle.

"Kang Areum-ssi. If you’re looking for a hot deal, just say the word.”

"’Hot deal,’ my ass.”

Kang Areum burst out laughing as she walked over to another car. I know next to nothing about cars, so all I could tell was that it looked like a reasonably clean sedan.

She placed the notebook on the hood, then flashed us an easygoing smile.

"Fine. A smooth, clean deal. It’s nice seeing normal decent people again.”

The trade began immediately.

We decided to hand over the information she wanted first.

After all, someone trapped inside Seoul had no practical way to verify anything we told her. Revealing our cards first wasn’t much of a risk. Having spent four months trapped inside the city, Kang Areum reacted to every piece of news from the outside.

"What? The fog spread into the Gyeonggi Province and disappeared again?”

"Yeah, I was on guard duty when an Amalgam nearly killed me. If I hadn’t awakened magic, I would’ve died.”

"An Amalgam? What’s that?”

"The ones that fuse people’s heads together.”

"Ah~. So they actually have a name. People around here just called them Mimics.”

Kang Areum was 32. Four years older than me. Calling her politely felt completely natural.

The only problem was the muttering coming from behind me. Apparently Lee Sejun had taken it very personally that she’d insisted he call her ‘Ma’am.’

"I’m only 24…”

24? Looking like that?

I fought back the overwhelming urge to argue and continued talking with Kang Areum.

A lot had happened.

There were talks of hitting Seoul with tactical nukes. 150 thousand soldiers were deployed to the first blockade line, and around 14 thousand of them have already been killed. The UN forces are on their way. Chinese troops moved into Ganghwa Island, effectively neutralizing the government after it evacuated to Incheon. People are protesting in the rear cities, demanding the government save their families……

Finally, we told her that both the South Korean and US militaries had begun sending reconnaissance teams into Seoul to uncover the truth behind the fog and gather knowledge about magic.

A smooth deal deserved a smooth exchange. If she decided she didn’t like this smooth deal, then we’d just have to make it a hot deal with bullets instead. At the very least, we’d have ramen and drinking water for a day.

Fortunately for all of us, Kang Areum was still someone who honored her word.

Which meant she'd genuinely believed that if she held out long enough, someone from outside would eventually come to rescue her, or she’d find a way to escape. Throughout our story, she listened with her mouth hanging open in disbelief before finally asking in a trembling voice,

"Sokcho? Is Sokcho still okay? I heard martial law troops have been shooting civilians!”

"We heard the protests were getting worse in the major rear cities, but we left on April 15th. We don’t know what happened after that. And we never heard anything specifically about Sokcho.”

Thinking back, it really had been a ridiculous series of events.

It hadn’t even been 72 hours since we entered Seoul, yet we’d already seen more than enough for a lifetime.

"Oh no…! My parents are still there…!”

"At least they aren’t in Seoul.”

"That’s…! That’s true, I guess.”

I couldn’t help thinking about Han Sukja, who’d disappeared after visiting her eldest daughter in Seoul and her son, the military driver, who’d met the same fate. 

Maybe the only reason Kang Areum had been able to endure this long alone was because she’d believed her family outside Seoul was safe. The moment she confirmed the blockade hadn’t completely collapsed, she visibly calmed down.

After taking several deep breaths, she rested a hand against her forehead and spoke more steadily.

"So, you’re Civilian Operators sent from outside…wizards with civilian status.”

"Yes."

"And even after every soldier who came in with you disappeared, you pushed through the subway tunnels, killing close to a hundred Mimics and Spine Constructs.”

"Mhm."

"And then you fought one of those inverted Alteration-type wizards who’d killed soldiers near Jangji Station and taken their guns and came out on top.”

Kang Areum slowly repeated everything we’d accomplished, one by one, before looking over every single one of us.

There was doubt in her eyes, but also awe.

"Honestly, if I had to evaluate your combat ability objectively, you people are strong. No, you’re actually beyond strong. The way you handle monsters is overwhelming. Your magic itself doesn’t seem especially advanced… But ordinary military units can’t survive in here. And even military units that do have wizards usually don't have enough of them. So they hit a wall eventually.”

"Heh."

Was there anything sweeter than hearing someone else praise your accomplishments?

I glanced sideways. Shin Nain, Hamza, and even the pastor had unconsciously straightened their shoulders. Only Lee Sejun still looked oddly unimpressed, fiddling with his rifle sling.

This guy, he was still committed to that mysterious loner persona.

Then again, there really was something about acting mysterious that impressed people. I had to physically stop myself from puffing my chest out too. Thankfully, the gas mask hid my grin.

That was when Hamza raised a hand.

"How can you tell our magic stage is low?”

"Hm? Magic gets resisted by people at higher ranks. If someone’s above me, I can’t properly read their intentions. You can tell immediately just by seeing how effective your own magic is.”

She answered without thinking, then suddenly realized what she’d said. A strange smile spread across her face as she looked around at us.

"The people outside really don’t know anything. I don’t think this can stay a smooth deal anymore.”

...Guess I didn’t have much of a choice.

I tightened my grip on my rifle sling. If the negotiations looked like they were about to fall apart, I wasn’t going to hesitate.

"Baek Jemin, wait…”

It was no use. Even the pastor trying to stop me didn’t matter. Without a word, I acted.

Kang Areum narrowed her eyes as I held something out to her.

"Why are you giving me this?”

"I’d been hiding this can of Spam so I could eat it myself, but I’ll trade it for the answer.”

She accepted the can almost absentmindedly, turned it over in her hands a few times, then let out a small laugh.

"You’re kinda adorable, little brother. Okay, I’ll tell you.”

Hot deal, success.

* * *

The first thing we asked about was the mysterious dark blue phone.

Kagn Areum took the phone from my hand, looked it over from every angle, then casually handed it back.

"I was wondering whose it was, but it was from the one at Jangji Station.”

"A spell phone???”

Erm, were spells and phone really words that belonged together?

Faced with something that openly mocked every bit of common scientific sense, Kang Areum simply shook her head. Then she pulled out her own spell phone. It looked like an ordinary smartphone, but taking a closer look at the screen, it still showed there was no data connection nor wifi.

"It’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like. You know all the data centers and cell towers were shut down. If you’ve got satellite communications, you can still use the internet, but if you’re somewhere without the right facilities and you need to receive important information or exchange messages, you need a spell phone.”

"How is that even possible?”

Unable to keep quiet any longer now that he couldn’t read her thoughts, Shin Nain finally asked. Kang Areum waved her pink spell phone. Despite her sharp, rugged appearance, Kang Areum-noona apparently liked soft, cute colors.

"If you open the case and look near the built-in battery. It’ll be written there in blood. Most ordinary spell phones are made using Hand-branch, Stage 2 magic. When the blood loses its power, the phone stops working again. And the higher the wizard's stage, the longer a spell phone lasts.”

Sure enough, when we removed the back cover from the dark blue phone, there was a blood-written inscription on the built-in battery reading [Communication]. The blood had already turned dark brown with age.

Kang Areum-noona held out her pink spell phone, pressed it against the dark blue one, and then continued.

"But ordinary spell phones don’t function like the real ones. It’s more like they’re using the same spell…A real spell phone actually sends and receives messages. The ordinary ones just imitate it. Hmm. This is hard to explain…Think of the real spell phone as the cloud server. The regular phones connect to it, but with very limited functionality. So every district usually has one or two people capable of operating a real spell phone. Most survivors only use ordinary spell phones when they’re willing to risk exposing their location.”

"So that’s why they share information. To get people to keep using spell phones?”

Hamza’s quick deduction earned an impressed sound.

"Aren’t you a quick-witted one? Exactly. They’ll even refresh your spell phone now and then so survivor groups can stay in contact and coordinate. Mine was renewed about a month ago.”

According to Kang Areum, since she herself had been an ordinary civilian before all this, the people capable of operating the real spell phones were closer to genuine sorcerers who had inherited specialized knowledge from someone else.

Apparently there was nothing particularly distinctive about their appearances. The only thing people really knew was that they spoke to each other using what sounded like a secret code.

[66 in pursuit of 7. 55 in pursuit of 66. Humanity in pursuit of 55.]

"Apparently that’s a question. As for the response, nobody really knows what it is unless they are connected to them.”

"You don’t have any guesses?”

"Of course, I got a few.”

Kang Areum really was the cool older-sister type. She didn’t seem interested in hiding anything.

Maybe she’d taken a liking to my, Baek Jemin’s, hot deal, because she freely shared valuable information while looking at us Supreme Archmages.

"Most people here think 55 refers to reaching Stage 5 in all five Alteration-type magic branches. Some even believe that once you’ve achieved all five branches at Stage 5, you can challenge the realm of Stage 6 across six branches. As for 7, that’s probably an even higher realm.”

"5 branches, Stage 5."

I glanced at Pastor Park Yohan. He must’ve been thinking about the monk, because he gave a reluctant nod.

"It’s close to what that monk was rambling about with the Five Aggregates and the 25 Realms of Existence. The difference starts after the number 6, though. Baek Jemin, you went through that ritual, right? Doesn’t any of it ring a bell?”

I thought it over, but nothing really came to mind.

The chant had sounded familiar, but I couldn’t remember the refrain at all. Still, one thing became much clearer. Monk Cheonghwi had to be connected to whoever operated these true spell phones.

We moved on to the next question without hesitation.

"We’re planning to cross the Han River. Anything we should know?”

"Plenty. But I wouldn’t know. I’m in Songpa. Why would I ever bother crossing into Gangbuk?”

Kang Areum answered with a crooked smile. Even so, she offered a few warnings.

"There’ll definitely be survivor groups over there. Be careful if you run into inverted Alteration-type wizards. That one near the department store, the woman you said was using one of those spines…That’d be Jeong Nari.”

It was the first time we’d learned the Dubai Sticky Witch’s real name.

Clicking her tongue in annoyance, Kang Areum willingly shared what she knew about inverted Alteration-type wizards. According to her, if we’d managed to defeat Jeong Nari, then we probably weren’t going to get devoured so easily. Sharing information with us wasn’t much of a risk.

Once we explained the breakthroughs we’d experienced and the knowledge we’d gained through leveling up, she finally seemed convinced.

"The Tongue-branch is all about the subject, the one performing the action, and the object, the target. Both have to be clearly defined for it to work properly. The reason she couldn’t use the inverted Tongue-branch, Stage 2 magic, [Emotion Overload], on you was probably because you never gave her the chance. You kept the pressure on so relentlessly that she either couldn’t properly identify her targets or simply never had the opening to cast it. There were soldiers there too? Haah… Those poor bastards.”

"Your face doesn’t exactly say you feel sorry for them.”

"When you’ve seen people torn apart by bombardments, you’ll end up looking like this too.”

Apparently, knowledge about the Dubai Sticky Witch, Jeong Nari’s inverted Alteration-type magic, had spread fairly well among the survivor groups.

"Like the Mimics, inverted Tongue-branch, Stage 1 magic lets you merge heads and steal knowledge and experiences. It’s called [Predation]. It’s basically the signature ability of inverted Alteration-type wizards, so everyone knows about it.”

It was a magic that stripped away absolutely everything. That was also why both the Seoul wizards and the survivor groups had become so secretive.

If you shared information with someone weaker, then the moment that person got hunted down, every bit of your group's knowledge would leak with them. The weak didn’t just fall behind physically, they fell behind in information as well.

"As for inverted Alteration-type magic, people generally know up to Heart-branch, Stage 3. It’s such a bizarre branch that it gets talked about a lot. Inverted Heart-branch, Stage 1 is called [Perfect Absorption]. Everything you eat gets absorbed completely, so your nutritional efficiency becomes absurdly high. Stage 2 is called [Instant Evolution]. You burn enormous amounts of nutrients to temporarily strengthen whatever physical abilities your environment demands. And Stage 3 is what you mentioned earlier. The symbiosis with Spine Constructs and other monsters. It’s called [Hierarchy Establishment]."

"Hierarchy Establishment?”

"You know how Spine Constructs infect people, right?”

"Yeah."

"Hierarchy Establishment is the stage where the wizard gains absolute control over their own body. Even if part of you becomes a monster, you can still command it completely. The monster chooses to coexist with a superior host, while the wizard effectively ends up with two consciousnesses, allowing instinctive movements that normal human bodies couldn’t perform.”

So, according to Kang Areum, after reaching inverted Heart-branch Stage 3, Jeong Nari had deliberately evolved her own spine into a Predator Spine and entered into symbiosis with it.

In other words, she had first been hunted by a Predator Spine, leaving her lower body paralyzed while its spinal fluid infected her spine. Then, by achieving inverted Heart-branch, Stage 3 she seized complete control over her own body and turned the monster into her servant instead.

Naturally, to Alteration-type wizards of our, the Supreme Archmage’s, caliber, the revelation was nothing short of horrifying.

I could hear Shin Nain and Lee Sejun clicking their tongues.

"Damn, that’s hardcore..."

"Seriously hardcore."

Even though she'd been our enemy, I, Baek Jemin, found myself deeply moved by Jeong Nari’s noble pursuit of a higher magical realm.

I could fully understand the feeling of wanting to gain greater magic even if it cost my own spine.

How pitiful must her talent have been for her to go that far? Faced with the uncomfortable truth that lucky prodigies blessed with both passion and talent, like myself, were exceedingly rare. I observed a brief moment of silence in her honor.

It was Hamza who spoke up next.

"But why can’t non-wizards move around when the fog gets thin?”

"Ah. Right.”

That reminded all of us of that message. We asked why ordinary people were forbidden from going outside whenever the fog cleared.

We’d assumed it was simply because monsters like the Human-skin Jellyfish became active in thinner fog, while wizards themselves couldn’t use magic as effectively. The answer we got was completely unexpected.

Kang Areum stared at us in disbelief before covering her mouth and letting out an exasperated sigh.

"You people from outside really don’t know?!”

"Come on. Stop dragging it out and just tell us.”

"How am I supposed to explain this…? Wait, don’t tell me you’ve been firing thermobaric bombs and stuff because you thought they were clearing away the fog."

"Ah, what else could it be?”

The way Kang Areum kept stretching out the conversation was eating away at precious seconds.

If the reason people avoided going outside when the fog thinned was simply because of monsters…

"You’re getting the order backwards. The monsters come first.”

Instantly, every one of us Supreme Archmages, whether we had been yawning indifferently or standing around without arms crossed, snapped our attention toward her.

"You all watched too many movies. You assumed the fog came first, didn’t you? Haaah~.”

"The thick fog’s the whole reason bombardments are so difficult right now. Isn’t that the obvious conclusion?”

Shin Nain shot back sharply.

Anyone who had watched people get slaughtered by monsters emerging from the dense fog would have thought the same.

But Kang Areum only tapped the car’s hood nervously with her index finger. She swallowed hard, then, after wetting her lips, she finally spoke.

"You know all those monsters used to be people from Seoul, right? Only wizards develop the resistance needed to survive. These monsters…”

Kang Areum looked at us, her eyes filled with a mix of shock, frustration, exhaustion, and fear.

"They only become weaker inside the fog.”