Chapter 18
At the voice beside him, Seo Young-woo barely straightened himself. Ah, he’d really wrecked his hair. He picked up the tablet again and looked at the screen. It wasn’t a very well-taken photo, but the neat face was worth looking at.
He had been looking into places to send Baek Jin for psychological counseling if he showed signs of depression because of the series of incidents. Seeing the photo, he felt he could be reassured.
Only after rubbing his face several times to erase his smile did Seo Young-woo head into the department. He greeted the department staff who spotted their team leader lightly, and had just entered his personal office when it happened.
Wee-oo, wee-oo-
At the gate alarm ringing through the building and the Bureau, Seo Young-woo ran straight out of the office.
“Team Leader!” “Team Leader Seo, our team has orders too!” “You need to prepare to deploy right away!”
The office staff who had risen from their seats all looked at Seo Young-woo, signaling that it was urgent. Soon, safety evacuation texts began ringing on the staff’s phones and computers as well.
– Emergency situation. Gates have appeared simultaneously in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul. Repeating. Emergency situation…….
Hearing the in-building announcement, Seo Young-woo ran straight to where Eun-jin was. As if the level was serious, she was quickly checking information in front of a large monitor.
“Where are the gates?” “Around Moran Park in Seongbuk-dong. The problem is that large and small gates burst together, and there are many shops nearby, so the scale of damage is likely to be large.” “Tell the kids to gather at the site right away.”
Seo Young-woo headed straight to his office. As he put on the combat uniform he always kept ready so he could deploy quickly, he called Baek Jin at once. Seongbuk-dong wasn’t far from home.
Even as he calmly took his gun and magazines from his personal safe, the ringtone didn’t stop. In the end, Seo Young-woo, who was checking Baek Jin’s location on his watch, stopped stock-still in the middle of the corridor.
At the same time, a frantic voice came into his ear.
– Mister, you can’t come here! There are too many variants! Please don’t come!
With screams coming from all around, the call cut off abruptly, and Seo Young-woo’s eyes shook rapidly. Baek Jin was there. In the park where variants were pouring out, in a state where he couldn’t use his ability.
The red circle marking Baek Jin’s location was moving at high speed.
*** It was a completely different atmosphere from before, when they had predicted the flow of wavelengths to evacuate civilians and the military had already finished preparing a sweep operation before the variants burst out.
At the chaotic site, an operations headquarters had been set up in a hurry. But not even the military, let alone awakened, had arrived to evacuate civilians.
Major Oh Mun-hyeong, who was in command, looked troubled by the disorderly atmosphere, but soon, as if he had made up his mind, he rose from his seat and walked to the table where a map of Moran Park was spread out.
“Report the situation.”
A woman standing at attention sprang forward.
“According to drone confirmation, inside the park are caiman, mammalian variants, and around the nearby shops there are numerous eggs covered in mucus. Civil servants are currently evacuating citizens, and the military is expected to arrive within 15 minutes. Deployable…….”
Seo Young-woo, standing behind, was listening to the radio constantly coming into his ear.
– Ah, sunbaes, can you hear me? The pack of crocodiles has gone completely crazy. They’re incredibly fast, too.
The Team AXIS members were already inside the park. Hwang Ji-hun, the A-rank wind-kinesis esper who had gone in first, reported the situation.
– Code name One. Rescuing civilians. Requesting support. – Jay, going now.
“The park is so large that it’s difficult to find civilians.” Radio and conversation mixed together. But Seo Young-woo missed none of it and grasped the situation.
Moran Park, the third largest in Seoul, had shelters well placed throughout, but its paths split in many directions and it had every condition that made civilian rescue difficult. On top of that, there was a large lake in the center. They were variants, but if they had the form of crocodiles, they would naturally seek water, and the civilians in the park were also likely to be gathered there.
Seeing Major Oh checking the shelters in the park with a serious expression, Seo Young-woo stepped forward.
“I’m Team AXIS leader Seo Young-woo.”
At the major nodding as if to say speak, Seo Young-woo began briefing quickly. He placed a finger on the map and drew a rectangle in the shape of the park.
“Using the edge of the park as the standard, it will be fastest if the awakened handle civilian rescue from the inside, and the soldiers handle the eggs on the outside.” “The park is so large that unless we start simultaneously, the risk burden is too great.” “We can’t delay any longer.”
The major frowned as if impatient. Just as Seo Young-woo was about to speak again, a urgent voice came with a crackle of static.
– Team Leader! Currently Shelter 3 is under attack by variants.
As Seo Young-woo narrowed his brow and located the shelter on the map, it happened.
– Choi, near Shelter 2. Same here.
“Major, Shelters 2 and 3 are currently under attack.” “What? Those rotten variant bastards…….”
Letting out a sigh, Major Oh snatched up the radio on the table and spoke.
“Tell each team’s leaders not to come to headquarters, but to defend the shelters first! Is now the time to worry about procedure? Civilian protection comes first!”
Major Oh sent the radio message irritably. It was perhaps a natural reaction, but it was different from the higher-ups who always called in team-leader-level awakened for briefings full of empty formalities.
While the major’s irritation dragged on, Seo Young-woo lowered his head slightly and checked Baek Jin’s location. Watching him move, as if fleeing, he pressed down his burning anxiety inside.
“Team Leader Seo, are your team members currently inside the park?” “Yes, that’s right.”
The major, narrowing his brow as he looked at the map, pointed to the lake in the center of the map.
“Everyone, focus. Team AXIS defends the shelters until support arrives. The rest, from the center outward. Rescue civilians and kill every variant on sight. Out.”
“Yes, understood!”
The few people left headquarters, and as the major was also about to return to his seat, he saw Seo Young-woo still holding his position and crumpled his expression.
“There is an esper in the park wearing an ability-restriction bracelet. I request deactivation.”
*** Aaaah! Boom!
Screams and booms filled the park. Only a dozen minutes ago, Baek Jin had been sitting on a bench watching people who had come out for a walk, but now he quickly hid behind a tree to avoid the variants suddenly pouring out.
“Huh, huh…….”
At the same time he felt the gate’s wavelength, the evacuation alarm rang on the phone Seo Young-woo had given him. But the people who had been leaving the park ran back inside to avoid the variants rushing in from the entrance, so he was completely trapped.
Baek Jin immediately pulled at the bracelet on his wrist. But it wouldn’t stretch at all, and the more force he used, the more it tightened on his arm. After several attempts, he gave up and peeked out slightly to check the variants.
Caiman. The variant of a crocodile species native to Central and South America was so obsessive that once it bit, it never let go, but it wasn’t highly intelligent. As long as no sound was made, there would be no problem, but this was a park. Already, at the sound of children crying from all around, the caiman moved quickly.
As he held his breath quietly, a rustling sound came. When he whipped his head around, a little boy was approaching Baek Jin, on the verge of tears.
“Mom, Mommy…….”
At the face that looked about to burst into tears at any moment, Baek Jin immediately bent down and covered the child’s mouth.
“Shh, we can’t get caught.” “Hhic……”
Unable even to cry with his mouth covered, the child shed tears drop by drop from his large eyes. Flustered as well, Baek Jin finally took his hand from the child’s mouth, hesitated, and opened his arms.
“…Should I hug you?”
The child nodded and was immediately held in Baek Jin’s arms. He awkwardly patted the back of the child who clung to him, hugging his neck tightly.
As he quickly looked around, his eyes met a young woman across from him who was holding her breath and watching this way. Seeing her mouth move as if to say something, he shook his head right away. Don’t speak. As if she had barely understood his mouth shape, the woman nodded.
They were strong, but it was fine as long as they weren’t spotted. If they hid in a public restroom or a management office in the park, it would work. After thinking for a moment, Baek Jin whispered so quietly only the child could hear.
“We’re going to run. Close your eyes and don’t open them. I’ll find your mom for you.”
Then he felt small hands hug his neck even tighter than before. Baek Jin bent down, picked up a fist-sized stone that had fallen beside the tree, and without hesitation threw it behind the crocodile. When the stone fell and made noise, he watched the variant disappear quickly backward as if through water, then ran straight in the opposite direction.
The male student who had kept watching this way also ran at the same time Baek Jin ran. They ran, hid, and hid again, repeatedly, forcibly swallowing their ragged breaths.
“Wait, just a moment!”
The student was bent deeply at the waist, drawing rough breaths. The woman who had followed with them also looked too spent to even open her mouth. It was urgent, but he couldn’t leave them behind.
The path they had taken looked as if variants had swept through it; the open ground with a large sculpture was soaked
“Ugh. Ugh……”
No ordinary person would be fine seeing that sight. Seeing the student dry-heaving, Baek Jin pulled the child’s head a little more into his arms. It was not a situation good for a child to see.
“We need to go somewhere nearby we can hide. A restroom or a management office.” “Ugh, just, a moment…”
The student, who had finally sunk down, took out the phone he was holding. He searched for something with trembling fingers, then turned the screen so Baek Jin could see.
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