Dozens of combat boots trampled across the sodden seaside gravel.
Soldiers from the 17th Division’s Gate Search Battalion advanced in formation, systematically scanning the perimeter. At the rear, the Black Parade trio moved with Sergeant Mu-gung Hwa.
Their team leader, Razor, had ultimately given up on rescuing Tat Rat and Barber. Walking willingly into a monster’s den hidden in the fog was, by any measure, a suicide mission.
“Damn it…” Razor ground his teeth and glared at Jae-hee. “If you’d just used your super-speed to rescue them before they were dragged off…!”
“Hey, my ability isn’t all-powerful. If I moved at top speed, I’d be gassed in a few seconds. The Foghowlers would’ve torn me to shreds on the spot.”
His stamina had improved thanks to his new boots, but going all out would have drained him in an instant. Besides, Tat Rat and Barber had already ventured too deep and were surrounded before he could even think about a rescue.
“Or maybe,” Razor snarled, “if we’d had a useful team member instead of this worthless pig…”
As Razor glared at him, Status Window just scoffed and pushed up his glasses. “How ‘bout you do better instead desu?”
“What’d you say?”
“You couldn’t protect them, and they were your men desu. And since you’re the team leader, doesn’t that make you more responsible?”
“Oi…!”
“You don’t seem to have any powers besides those bone powder bombs, so stop acting so tough desu. You’re pretty short, too. Bet I’d win if we fought.”
“You fat piece of shit…!”
Jae-hee barely managed to stop Razor and Status Window from throwing down when Sergeant Hwa, walking ahead, spoke curtly. “We’re here.”
He looked up. She was right.
The fishing village, once just a silhouette in the fog, now loomed directly before them.
A lighthouse on the nearby shore bathed the village in a powerful beam of light, while windbreaks and large industrial fans desperately pushed back the encroaching fog.
The old fishing village blazed with every light source imaginable, from streetlamps to gas lamps, in a desperate attempt to keep the Foghowlers at bay. It was a ridiculous, desolate sight.
Elderly people were slumped all over the village.
They sat on wooden benches, leaned against fences, or had simply collapsed on the bare ground. Jae-hee almost walked past, taking the grim scene as a given, when he noticed something stranger.
The old people were all bound by their arms or legs.
They had been tied with rope or iron chains to house pillars and stone walls to keep them from wandering off.
Jae-hee’s gaze drifted to their faces. They all had vacant expressions. Some drooled, others mumbled nonsense.
All of them were staring straight ahead—at the fog. At the pale mist surging toward the village.
A chill crawled up his spine. He rubbed his shoulder.
Just then, Sergeant Mu-gung Hwa said, “This way.”
In the center of the village, a dilapidated, two-story, tile-roofed house had been turned into a temporary command post.
A designated marksman and his spotter scanned the surroundings from the broken roof, an old wind chime swayed under the eaves with every gust of wind, and by the entrance, a wooden sign reading VILLAGE HEAD’S HOUSE lay overturned, kicked aside by a combat boot.
As soon as she entered the temporary command post, the sergeant began speaking with the soldiers inside. “Any contact from the outside?”
“Negative. Our transmissions are still jammed.”
“Keep trying. Second Squad, report on the emergency supply search.”
“We found an abandoned supermarket, but no significant supplies—”
Taking the report, she led the way into the main room, and the Black Parade trio followed. Inside, a tactical map was spread haphazardly across an old wardrobe that had been pushed to the side.
“Hoo…” Standing before the map, Sergeant Hwa took off her night-vision goggles and ballistic helmet, revealing her short, sweat-dampened hair and cat-like sanpaku eyes.
“Allow me to introduce myself again. I am Sergeant Mu-gung Hwa, Acting Platoon Leader of the First Platoon, Third Company, of the 17th Division’s Gate Search Battalion.”
“What? A sergeant is leading a platoon?” Razor asked, appalled.
Even if the military had been a mess for thirty years, a platoon leader for an elite unit like the Gate Search Battalion should at least be a first lieutenant.
It was deeply strange for a non-commissioned officer—and a sergeant at that—to be in command.
“Where are the other officers? Don’t tell me they’re lounging around safely outside the fog?”
“…The Platoon Leader and Vice Platoon Leader were killed in a previous engagement.”
Razor had no choice but to shut his mouth at the dry response.
Jae-hee and Status Window shot him looks.
“Try not to be so insensitive…”
“You really have zero tact desu…”
“Shut up, assholes. I just wondered if it was a similar case to our commander.”
“…And so, command of the platoon has fallen to me,” Sergeant Hwa continued.
Originally the First Squad Leader, she had taken command of the platoon after its officers were killed in action shortly after they entered the fog.
“I may not measure up to the Platoon Leader and Vice Platoon Leader, but I’ve seen, heard, and learned enough. You don’t need to worry about my command.”
Having finished her introduction, Sergeant Hwa studied the three prisoners with a sharp gaze. “By the way, are you still not going to reveal which Guild you Hunters belong to?”
Razor clicked his tongue. “I told you, we can’t say.”
“Fine. Given your mismatched equipment and that you’ve even mobilized children, you must be a disreputable PMC or some shoddy Guild.”
Listening to the conversation, Jae-hee whispered to Status Window, “Hey, what are PMCs and Guilds?”
“PMC is short for ‘Private Military Company,’ which basically means mercenaries desu. A PMC made up mostly of Hunters is called a Guild desu.”
Jae-hee let out a silent “ah” of understanding.
Sergeant Hwa wasn’t wrong. A shoddy, vicious mercenary company and the Black Parade, which carelessly threw convicts onto the battlefield. What was the difference?
Sergeant Hwa went on. “In any case, since all three of you are Awakened, you’ll be a great help in the fight against those monsters.”
Modern firearms were largely ineffective against Gate monsters, but the creatures were vulnerable to the abilities of the Awakened. It was why Hunters—private mercenaries and vigilantes, in essence—had become the heroes of modern society.
“I ask for your full cooperation. After all, if you three want to get out of here alive, it would be best for you to work with us.”
Looking around the crude command post, Razor asked, “Is there a way out of this fog hell?”
“Of course.”
“What? There’s really a way?”
“Fog or not, this is ultimately a phenomenon of Realm Erosion from a Gate. The Gate Search Battalion has bombs that can temporarily neutralize it.”
Sergeant Hwa ran a hand over the grenade launcher at her hip. “Our platoon was issued one, and we have it on standby.”
“Then why aren’t you escaping right now?”
“There are two problems. First, whenever we try to leave, the Foghowlers systematically obstruct us. Breaking through their resistance won’t be easy.”
Sergeant Mu-gung Hwa glanced out the window toward the village.
“…Second, the civilians refuse to leave.”
There were a dozen survivors in the fishing village. She confided that the elderly residents refused to go, no matter how much they tried to persuade them.
“We considered forcibly evacuating them, but the Foghowlers are not to be underestimated. We don’t have the manpower to drag that many people out by force while fending off monster attacks.”
Razor tilted his head, as if he couldn’t understand. “Why not just abandon them and go?”
“We can’t.”
“Why not?”
“We are soldiers of the Republic of Korea.”
Though her voice was weary, it was filled with unshakable resolve.
“The military exists to protect the nation and its people. And the 17th Division is the unit that guards Incheon and the greater metropolitan area. We cannot abandon them when there is still a chance to save them.”
The patch on her shoulder showed the 17th Division’s insignia—a shield and a sword.
Razor crossed his arms and clicked his tongue. “That conviction will get you all killed.”
“We’re not that foolish. If the situation becomes unavoidable… we will leave them behind.” Sergeant Hwa glanced at her watch. “Still, I intend to keep trying to persuade them for as long as time allows.”
Razor’s brow furrowed. “‘For as long as time allows’? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“This mission has a time limit.” Sergeant Hwa blinked, as if surprised. “Don’t tell me… you were deployed without being told?”
“Uh…”
Razor, Jae-hee, and Status Window blinked stupidly, looking at one another.
Jae-hee muttered uneasily, “They said if we held out for twelve hours, they’d send help to pull us out…”
“This entire area is going to be scorched.”
Sergeant Hwa delivered the horrifying news with unnerving calm.
“A Gate has opened too close to Incheon Port. The risk of a slow, standard approach is too great. We can’t allow even the smallest chance of damage to the port. According to Gate Engagement Protocols, in cases like this, an initial response unit is sent in. If they show no results, the entire area, Gate and all, is simply incinerated.”
This time, the 17th Division’s Search Battalion was the designated initial response unit; the Black Parade’s recon team had simply been thrown in as additional Awakened support.
“Our platoon was deployed here with a twenty-four-hour grace period. And now…” Glancing at her watch, Mu-gung Hwa nodded. “We have ten hours left. In ten hours, this entire area will be scorched.”
Razor frantically checked his own watch. The mission time given to the Black Parade was twelve hours.
Exactly two hours had passed.
“…No, that can’t be right.” Razor’s voice trembled. “They told us that if we couldn’t escape, we just had to hold out for twelve hours, and an elite team would be sent to rescue us!”
“Do you really think that’s true?” The sergeant shook her head slightly. “That ‘elite team’ is most likely the one coming to incinerate this place.”
His fists trembling, Razor roared and slammed his fist into the wall. “That bitch Hae-eun Seo…! She tricked me…!”
Listening quietly in the back, Jae-hee stepped forward with a cold sweat on his brow. “Um… Sergeant? Acting Platoon Leader? Ah, what should I call you?”
“Either is fine.”
“Then, Sergeant… what happens if we can’t escape in time?”
“It’s just as I said. This entire area will be completely incinerated. If we haven’t escaped by then, naturally…”
Mu-gung Hwa paused with a faint, bleak smile.
“All of us… will burn to death along with the monsters.”