Patissier, who’d been in charge of the city’s communication equipment, claimed he could broadcast the cassette player’s signal across all of Daejeon.
Model Student knew his way around electronics too, so they agreed to cook up a zombie distraction using the cheesy pop music on the tape.
While they handled the preparations, Ghost sat Jae-hee Han down for a crash course.
“Listen up, kid. I’m going to teach you the basic principles of Gate closure.”
“Ooh.”
“We’re short on time, so this will be the quick and dirty version.”
On a whiteboard spattered with zombie blood, Ghost scrawled a few words with a marker. Her handwriting, quite unnecessarily, was fluid and beautiful.
“A Gate is a door to another world. You get that much?”
“Yep.”
“The other world beyond that door is called a ‘Dungeon.’ Usually, it’s a monster’s den or some kind of military base. Think of it as the Dungeon trying to make a full-scale landing in our reality, using the Gate as its beachhead.”
Jae-hee filed the information away. A military base where monsters lived was a Dungeon. The beachhead for their invasion of Earth was a Gate.
“And the object that connects their Dungeon to our world… the nucleus of the Dungeon and the tool that designates the Gate’s coordinates—”
Ghost drew a large circle over the word “Dungeon,” then a small diamond in its center. She tapped the diamond with the tip of her marker.
“This stone is called a ‘Gate Core,’ or just ‘Core’ for short.”
Huh?
The name sounded strangely familiar.
Jae-hee frowned, but Ghost paid him no mind and continued.
“A Gate closure mission is, fundamentally, about removing this Core. Without the Core, the Gate loses its coordinates and collapses. The Dungeon, in turn, loses its power source and can no longer spew out monsters. After that, it’s just a matter of time before it flickers out of our world.”
“Huh. Sounds like a textbook weakness.”
“It would seem that way. The problem is, removing the Core is no easy task.”
Ghost began to draw a chart on the whiteboard, dividing it into three columns.
“There are three main ways to deal with a Core. The first…”
Scritch, scritch.
In the first column, she wrote the words Core Breach.
“You enter the Dungeon, find the Core, and destroy it on-site. Of course, ‘destroying it’ is pretty difficult and takes time, during which a ton of monsters swarm in to protect it.”
“Oh…”
“The destruction team has to break the Core while the defense team fends off the monsters. It requires a lot of personnel risking their necks in enemy territory, but it’s the most standard method of attack.”
Next, Ghost wrote in the second column. Jae-hee read the words.
Core Extraction.
“If you remove the Core from the Dungeon, the Dungeon collapses. The second method exploits that. You just grab the Core and run like hell out of the Dungeon.”
Ghost clicked her tongue.
“This is usually more difficult. The number of monsters swarming you is about the same as in a Core Breach, but you have to fight on the move. It’s hard to maintain a proper formation, and if it’s your first time in a Dungeon, navigating the terrain is tough. So it’s not typically used, but there are exceptions.”
Ghost pointed the marker at Jae-hee.
“When you have a fast ‘Runner’ on the team. They can just snatch the Core and book it.”
So that was the plan.
It clicked. Jae-hee nodded. “So that’s why Model Student said it was possible with me on the team.”
Enter the Dungeon, find the Core, and have the Runner grab it and escape through the Gate. As he heard the mission outline, Jae-hee tilted his head. It felt far too similar to the bank job he’d just been a part of.
“Right. But we can’t use that method now, either. The reason, as you know… is that Miss Hellth became a ‘Boss Monster.’”
As she spoke, Ghost wrote in the final column of the chart.
Final Strike.
“At first, the Core is just embedded inside the Dungeon. But over time, it merges with one of the monsters in the Gate’s vicinity… transforming it into a powerful ‘Boss Monster.’ It becomes the Gate’s guardian.”
“Oooh, a Boss. That sounds cool.”
“It usually merges with the strongest monster in the area. Tsk. That damn meathead turned into a zombie—guess she hit the jackpot right out of the gate.”
Normally, a Boss Monster would appear about seventy-two hours after a Gate opened, so the standard procedure was to clear the Gate before then.
But this was Daejeon, one of the Three Hellholes, so of course the Gate had selected its Boss Monster in under thirty-six hours.
“In principle, this third method, the Final Strike, is the simplest. The Boss Monster crawls out of the Gate, you kill it, and you rip the Core from its body. End of story. However…”
Ghost clicked her tongue again, sticking a cigarette between her lips and lighting it.
“Of the three Gate closure methods—Core Breach, Core Extraction, and Final Strike—the one that produces the most casualties is, by far, the Final Strike. Getting the picture?”
“So it’s the hardest method?”
“Yep. We’re all well and truly fucked.”
Exhaling a plume of smoke, Ghost stared intently at Jae-hee from behind her disheveled white hair.
“The plan is simple. One, we somehow get to the meathead. Two, you and Model Student draw her attention. Three, I take her head off with a surprise attack.”
“Uh… that does sound simple.”
“In reality, step one is hard, step two is harder, and step three is damn near impossible… but oh well.”
Break through the teeming hordes of zombies to reach Daejeon Station, draw the attention of a Boss Monster whose strength was on a completely different level, and then take it down with a single surprise strike.
The plan was basically a string of insane ramblings, yet Ghost seemed strangely relaxed, as if she’d done this a hundred times before.
“The meathead as a Boss Monster will be far more dangerous than you can imagine. You need to move like a pesky fly and keep her eyes on you.”
Jae-hee scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish.
“I’m confident in my speed, but the time limit is the problem. As you know, I burn out pretty fast when I sprint…”
“You premature ejaculator.”
“Hey! I told you, that word’s a little… I asked you to call it ‘quick-draw’…”
Ghost snorted, spat the cigarette butt onto the floor, and crushed it under her boot. She looked at Jae-hee thoughtfully, then hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“You don’t always have to sprint.”
“Huh?”
“You don’t have to maintain top speed all the time. You just need to run as fast as the situation requires. In this case, just fast enough to not get caught by the monster behind you.”
The thought had never occurred to him. Jae-hee blinked.
Ghost nodded. “If you keep sprinting at full power like usual, you’ll burn out in no time.”
“…”
“Life is long, kid. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. You need to learn to control your pace.”
Humming to herself, Ghost rummaged in her pocket and pulled out a very old notebook. She flipped through the pages with a soft rustle, found a passage, and read it aloud.
“‘Don’t let yourself get too exhausted. Otherwise, you’ll be crushed beneath the wheel.’”
“…”
“If you’re lucky enough to survive this mission, think about what that means.”
Snapping shut the notebook, Ghost gave a slight smirk and turned, walking toward Model Student and Patissier, who were still preparing the broadcast.
Jae-hee watched her retreating back, her wild white hair disappearing into the gloom, and muttered quietly to himself.
“Only as fast as I need to be…?”
***
A few hours later. Daejeon Station.
The sun had dipped below the horizon, twilight had faded, and now darkness cloaked the city.
Gruhh…
Gruuuuh…
The zombies crowding the road stood frozen in place, staring up at the hazy moon.
And then it happened.
Flicker!
Suddenly, the streetlights came on. The lamps lining the road, long dead since the power plant was cut off, flickered to life in unison.
Model Student had jury-rigged the survivors’ makeshift generators, splicing them into the road’s power grid.
Whether due to the unstable connection or the long period of disuse, the lights flickered erratically, struggling to stay on.
As the zombies stared blankly at the frantic, strobing lights, a crackle of static began to hiss from the speakers mounted sporadically on the utility poles.
Screeeee—
A moment after the ear-splitting whine echoed through the city, the speakers, which had once broadcast evacuation orders during the early days of the Gate War, roared back to life after decades of silence, unexpectedly spewing forth a thumping beat.
Using the broadcast network the survivors had maintained, Keymaker’s memento—the cassette player—loudly announced its presence to the world.
Patissier, today’s DJ, shouted into the microphone with glee. «Alrighty! The Daejeon City Trot Night is officially goin’ live—!»
In an instant, the area around Daejeon Station was flooded with flashing lights and gaudy trot music.
The zombies standing there were startled by the sudden party but soon began to respond with rabid enthusiasm.
Gruuuuuh!
Graaaaah—!
They thrashed their bodies wildly, reaching their hands toward the streetlights and charging at the speakers.
And through the middle of the zombies dancing riotously under the brilliant lights and cheesy rhythms—three convicts ran.
Ghost, Jae-hee Han, and Model Student.
The three members of the Black Parade seized their chance while the zombies were lost in the music. They vaulted across the roofs of abandoned cars, dashing straight toward Daejeon Station.
“We’re going in one shot! Keep up!” Ghost barked.
“Yes maaa’am!”
“Hah… hah… hah!”
All three were Awakened, possessing superhuman physical abilities. They closed the distance to the station in no time.
Model Student, breathing heavily at the rear of the group, shouted, “There are civilians hiding in the subway! We have to rescue them first!”
Even with the special Trot Night in full swing, zombies were still pouring into the subway tunnels below Daejeon Station. They were undoubtedly hunting the remaining survivors.
“No! Taking down the meathead comes first!” Ghost retorted, rejecting his proposal. “If we defeat the Boss Monster, the Gate will close, and all the monsters in the area will be weakened. Survivor rescue comes after that!”
“But they’ll all die if we don’t help them right now!”
“Now’s our chance, while the survivors are drawing the zombies’ attention. Focus on eliminating the Boss Monster!”
Model Student ground his teeth, then—
“Ghost.” He abruptly veered off to the side. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.”
“What?”
“I need that cure right now…!”
Just as a stunned Ghost turned, Model Student threw something at her face.
A flashbang grenade.
Moving with near-invisible speed, Ghost swatted the grenade away with her scabbard, but she couldn’t stop it from detonating.
BOOM—!
For a split second, the area was engulfed in a blinding white light.
“Gyaack!” Jae-hee squeaked, quickly covering his eyes.
“Are you mad?!”
Ghost had also turned her head and squeezed her eyes shut, minimizing the damage.
But that wasn’t the problem.
Gruh?
Gruuuaahk—?
Reacting to the light from the flashbang, every zombie in the area turned to face them.
Now stranded on the roof of a half-collapsed bus, looking for all the world like unwelcome guests who had just crashed the stage of a concert, a trembling Ghost couldn’t stop herself from screaming.
“Model Student, you son of a bitch—!”
Model Student had already disappeared into the subway tunnels without a backward glance.
Ghost, clenching her jaw, glared at the zombies now swarming toward them.
“No choice. We’re close enough. From here, we break through by force.”
“Aaugh, so it comes to this…! Hoo! Alright, bring it on!” Jae-hee said, taking a few clumsy jabs at the air.
Meanwhile, Ghost took a cord she’d scavenged from the department store and quickly tied back her long, wild white hair. She was preparing for a serious fight.
As the disheveled strands were pulled away from her face, her features were revealed in the moonlight.
“Eh?” Jae-hee’s jaw dropped.
Ghost frowned. “What.”
“Uh, um… didn’t you say you were an old lady?”
A small, youthful face and two piercing blue eyes. With her wild hair tied back, Ghost looked to be in her early to mid-twenties at most. Aside from her snow-white hair, there was nothing about her that looked old.
An indignant Jae-hee shrieked, “What the hell, you don’t look much older than me! Have you been tricking me into using honorifics this whole time?! What is this! How old are you?!”
“S-Rank Awakened stop aging from the moment they awaken.”
Ghost bared her fangs, a murderous hiss leaking from between her crimson lips. “I’ve lived three times longer than you have, so don’t get cocky just because of how I look, you impudent little brat.”
“S-so sorry…” Cowed by her intensity, Jae-hee shuffled back awkwardly.
Having finished tying her hair, Ghost drew her sword and swept her cold gaze across the area.
Thump-thump, flash-flash…
The tinny trot music still blared from the speakers, and the streetlights, their power supply unstable, flickered even more erratically. The zombies packed tightly around the bus raised their arms and groaned to the rhythm.
A smirk pulled at the corner of Ghost’s mouth.
“Back in the day, I always thought those singers who stage-dived at rock festivals were such a damn eyesore…”
Swinging the jet-black blade in a wide circle, Ghost kicked off the bus roof and launched herself into the air.
“Live long enough, and you get to try anything, I guess! Let’s go—!”
“Waaah! Wait for me!”
A tearful Jae-hee followed close behind her.
Leaping from roof to roof across the line of wrecked cars, cutting down the partygoers that filled the road, the two convicts sprinted toward the main stage.
Beneath the flashing lights and blaring music, the night’s festivities were only just beginning.