Ch6
Seok-min didn’t answer. Just thinking about it, he still couldn’t hide his anger. Ah-young, who thought he didn’t want to chat with her, changed the topic.
“From now on, I will buy and give you Russian military uniforms. That way, it will be difficult to find any connection with our government.”
‘Wouldn’t it be better to wear plain clothes than that?’ It occurred to Seok-min, but he still nodded.
“Thank you for that.”
Seok-min’s gaze turned to Ah-young’s sniper rifle. The SR-25, a semi-automatic sniper rifle used by the US military, was a gun that used 7.62 mm NATO rounds.
Having some knowledge of the guns, he knew the sniper rifle was unusual. Expensive-looking German sights, a thicker and slightly longer barrel, ergonomic handle, and a silencer, it just felt like a lot of money was spent on the gun.
‘I envy you.’
His Vintorez was not a bad thing either, but it was old, and the spring of the magazine was weakened, so he was sometimes using only 15 bullets, even though he could put in 20 bullets.
He had to repair it or buy a new one, but it was hard to find and there was no place to repair it, so he ended up just using it like that.
Ah-young, unaware of Seok-min’s gaze, was checking the time on her wristwatch.
“We only have to wait three hours. Well, since you’ve read the briefing, it’s all right, right?”
“Yes.”
Seok-min lied down as he was. Where they were was the reed forest in Tancheon, just a kilometer away from the target.
Of course, in the Seoul and Gyeonggi regions after the incident, the plants dried up and died because of the clouds that covered the sky, and the reeds were also black and dead, but neither Seok-min nor Ah-young cared.
Ah-young sat next to Seok-min.
There was silence. It was not until darkness came that Ah-young opened her mouth.
“The warehouse was originally an intermediate base for moving military supplies during the second Seoul recovery operation. After that cloud, the water level in Tancheon was quite high thanks to frequent rain, allowing the use of boats and barges. It was planned to supply munitions to Gangnam-gu and Songpa-gu. As you know, Seoul’s main roads were completely paralyzed by abandoned cars.”
As she sat still, she started explaining about the warehouse, which was probably because of boredom, and Seok-min listened up for fun.
“At first, it was good. Tancheon was a place divided Songpa and Gangnam, and it was easy to supply from both sides. But one day, it stopped raining. Even until now, only the clouds are over it. Eventually, the water level of the tancheon decreased, and even the rubber boats became difficult to operate, making it difficult to supply.”
“Then when the monsters appeared on a large scale, they were destroyed, right?”
“Yes.”
Remembering those times made her sad. Of the 300,000 soldiers who participated in the 2nd Seoul Restoration Operation, 200,000 South Korean soldiers and 100,000 multinational forces, only 60,000 returned with intact limbs, and 100,000 were injured.
It happened so suddenly that it has already been more than four years since the government hurriedly formed a defense line in the suburbs of Seoul, without even finding the bodies.
Ah-young’s eyes sank.
“Only two of my crew survived.”
“Out of how many?”
“30 people.”
“Oh no.”
Ah-young’s eyes got fierce. However, Seok-min faced the gaze with a calm look.
“What should I say then? Should I say, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry for the loss?’ Thousands and tens of thousands of people died beside them. It’s just luck that you and I survive.”
She briefly opened her mouth to rebuke, but there was no immediate rebuttal. After a pause, she calmed down and spoke in a calm voice.
“Yes, we were just lucky. However, we were luckier than others and gained special powers at the same time.”
Choi Seok-min frowned at those words. His heart sank.
‘No way.’
“Special? What do you mean?”
Ah-young’s eyes turned pale.
“Are you still trying to hide it? I thought I told you. There’s no one but you. We’re, like, the same kind.”
Seok-min looked at her in disbelief. He thought this was a dream. No, he never thought someone like him existed.
“Mr. Chosen One, I am the messenger. I’ve been looking for you for years.”
A system window popped up in front of me.
[The messenger has come to you]
[The ability of the Chosen One has been unlocked.]
There was a thud in the ears of the two. Surprised by that, Seok-min got up from his seat without realizing it.
“What?”
-Find the false messenger and complete the mission.
Seok-min and Ah-young’s faces were distorted.
Their heads were filled with echoes. They couldn’t tell who or what the voice was.
“What’s this?”
“I have received a quest.”
Her eyes looked up into the air. It was clear to look at the system window like that.
[Guide the chosen one to fulfill the mission.]
“Fulfill the mission by guiding the chosen.”
She read it along. Seok-min didn’t know what to say, he couldn’t come up with anything.
As he didn’t say a word, she grabbed Seok-min’s pants.
“Sit down for now. There will be a lot to talk about. We have plenty of time.”
Her words sounded quite sad.
“… Did you happen to be in an emergency?”
About 20 minutes later, Ah-young nodded at his question.
“Yes, it was precisely around the beginning of the 2nd Seoul Restoration Operation. What about you, Seok-Min Choi?”
“Me too. And you’re saying that your vision looks like that in an FPS (First Person Shooting) game?”
“Yes.”
“When you hold a weapon, the magazine count is shown in the lower right corner, and something like a computer window pops up and explains the weapon?”
“Yes.”
She had the same ability as him. But why? Why is she the only one taking the quest?
Seok-min tried calling the quest window in his mind like her, but nothing came out.
‘Am I the Chosen One?’
He called the status window in his mind.
[Choi Seokmin, the chosen one]
Level: 11
Endurance: 7
Strength: 5
Vitality: 7
Sight: 6
“What is it?”
Previously, in the status window, there was no word “chosen one” next to his name, and there was no level or anything like that. Does Haegeum mean this?
All he could see was this window and the other thing that came to mind when he touched a weapon.
‘What’s the difference?’
“Can I see your status window?”
Unfortunately, he couldn’t see it and had to listen to what she said.
[Ah-young, the messenger]]
Level: 11
Endurance: 7
Physical Strength: 5
Vitality: 6
Sight: 7
“The messenger?”
Seok-min then understood a little. It was clear that Ah-young was the person who delivered the quest to him.
Why the hell? Before he could answer the question, Ah-young opened her mouth first.
“And doesn’t Choi Seok-min’s ability level go up anymore?”
He nodded.
His physical grade was no longer elevated. He didn’t know why. It just stopped rising one day.
Ah-young stared at him for a while and opened her mouth again.
“Have you received any quests?”
Seok-min shook his head.
“There has never been a quest window that pops up. I could definitely hear the ringing voice earlier, but there is still no quest window. I heard that the ability of the Chosen has been unlocked, but there is nothing other than a couple of words added.”
“Really? I have. ‘Find the one who’s the same as you.’ I met you and succeeded. And now I have a quest to find the false messenger and complete the mission.”
“I guess you’re the messenger then. So, what’s the reward?
Ah-young’s eyes remained in the air for a while. She was obviously looking at her window.
“No, I didn’t get anything.”
I had doubts. Is there a quest without any reward? No, it may be because he naturally took rewards for granted while playing games. Suddenly he had a question again.
“Who gave us this power, and why?”
She shrugged.
“I don’t know that either. However, we were chosen. And maybe it’s something like a quest window in the game system to give us our mission.
“No, no. Wait a minute.”
He waved his hands.
“Why? Why me? Why should I do that in the first place? Why me? If you’re like me, one day I’ll suddenly come and ask you to do a quest together because I have a mission, would you?”
He was unusually excited and raised his voice. She nodded as if she understood what he said.
“Yes, I think so, too. To be honest, I’ve been thinking about it for years. Who gives us this power, why give us this quest? I didn’t do quests at first. I was a soldier and I had a separate duty. I didn’t care about the quest, I was just satisfied with my growing ability.”
She sighed for a moment.
“But after the second restoration operation failed and I was the only one who survived, I thought about it. The eye of the huge typhoon that opened near Wangsimni, Seoul, the dragon-like monsters from the gates of heaven claimed by the Heaven’s Gate Church, and the power I have gained. It doesn’t make sense, actually. But it’s already happened, and shouldn’t I, or someone like me, be stepping up to the plate to prevent this nonsense? That’s the question.”
Seok-min couldn’t argue with it and shut up.
“I don’t know exactly the end of this mission. What the hell is he thinking? The quest I got is very vague, right? Find the chosen one. How ridiculous is this quest? Whether the chosen person is in Korea or another country, whether it’s a man or a woman, whether he’s old or young, there’s no first letter of his name, right?”
She sighed in a low voice.
“Even after I decided to find you, I tried my best, but I couldn’t find you because I didn’t have a clue. I was so lucky to find you after 3 years. If I hadn’t seen you on the drone by chance, I’d still be looking in the wrong place.”
“How did you know I was like you?”
“It’s the way we fight. If you look at our status window, we already know each other’s ratings, so we don’t need to tell each other, right? Normal people get grade 9, and people who exercise a bit get grade 8, but we get grades 7, 6, and 5. The agility you showed there, no matter how trained you are, an ordinary person cannot move like that. Thanks to your agility, we were able to submit the plan we have now to the government.”
She took a breath for a moment and then opened her mouth again.
“… After all, this quest is actually ridiculous. Find the false messenger and complete the mission, and lead you to complete your mission. I’m sure it will lead you to find the false messenger and complete the unknown mission. A false messenger must be a sign to call something or someone, but it’s too vague. It will take a long time to find it, and if I’m not lucky, I may never find it. But I will. And I want you to be with me too. To ease the guilt in my heart.”
A cold wind blew.