A heavy piece of lead dropped inside her heart.
R3. This signified a semi-war – it meant the Association had suffered damage and that they might retaliate by doing something.
There was a video sent alongside the urgent message. Kang Ahjin gulped with sweat falling down her cheeks. She carefully lifted her fingers. Even though she really did not want to click it, she was a soldier and there was no way around it.
Click–
The video started. Oscar Brzenk, enveloped in gold, was indiscriminately attacking the Association. Her acquaintances were injured lying down on the floor; some of them were crying with amputated arms.
This did not feel realistic in the slightest.
Kang Ahjin could not believe what was going on…
“What are you doing.”
Someone woke her up from her blankness. A man who had appeared out of nowhere was gazing at her.
“Season?”
“Your mission is over. Go to the warp station immediately and return to the Association.”
“…”
Kang Ahjin unknowingly shook her head. She then used a word which she had never used ever since she became a soldier, affiliated with the 5th command room.
“…Why?”
Season furrowed his brows.
“What kind of question is that.”
“Ah…”
“Wake up. Hurry up and go. Using that warp station will be restricted in a few minutes.”
“…”
Slowly, she observed his outfit. Because of her rushed mind, she belatedly realised it and looking at his clothes put a stop to her breath.
He, who had always been wearing a suit, was for some reason wearing a military uniform and boots today.
Kang Ahjin froze. She stood there blankly but her wrist suddenly felt itchy.
The bracelet… the bracelet did not leave her sight.
“S, Season.”
By the time she came to herself, he was already gone.
“Season!”
In great shock, Kang Ahjin began to run while pulling out all her mana. She wasn’t too far away from the military base – climbing over one mountain of sand, she looked at the 17th branch.
Over the hill, she looked at the branch. For now, everything including the watchtower were looking fine.
Walking in the midst of the darkening desert was a man with his back turned towards her. He appeared to be walking normally but was so mysteriously fast that she could not dare catch up to him. Why are the sentinels not preventing him? Although it was terrible, that was still the doubt in her mind.
With no other choice, Kang Ahjin quickly gave Season a call.
He stopped on the spot.
– What.
“Please wait one moment, Season. Can I…”
She organised her words.
“…May I ask about the current operation?”
He didn’t reply immediately.
Kang Ahjin felt the insane rate of her heartbeat.
– Did I not tell you to leave.
His voice that soon entered her ears was a lot colder than usual. Feeling the chill numbing her fingertips, Kang Ahjin endured the urge to let out a scream.
She had to think of words that were the most suitable to the situation.
“…I had been under the impression that the [Safe] was the armoury located at the 17th branch.”
– And.
“And the mission of opening that, I could not, really… understand what it…”
It was a mistake – her emotions had gotten the best of her during her speech.
– Oi.
Her heart once again thumped as if about to burst.
– Did you not get the urgent message?
“I, I have received it sir.”
– Then go. Stop being a bother.
The time they had spent together was only a month.
It hadn’t even been that long since they had opened their hearts.
Although Kang Ahjin was an affectionate person, she still knew that public matters had to be separated from the private ones.
However, she just could not step back without even knowing the reason herself. Maybe it was because of the bracelet tickling her wrist…
“What if they try to stop you?”
– …
“If they stay faithful to their mission, what will you do sir?”
– …
“Is, isn’t that a possible outcome? Them being faithful to their mission? T, they appeared to have no idea about the urgent message yet either. And they won’t even retaliate against you, Season, because of your position at the Association!”
– Kang Ahjin.
He called her name from the other side of the line.
Her breath came to a stop.
– What are you trying to say.
“…Could you please spare one moment if you have time?”
– I don’t.
“O, one moment will do. Just a bit of time. Haven’t we been talking for almost 3 minutes already?”
A faint sigh was heard from the other side.
“A little bit, sir. Please. Just a tiny bit of time. Those people; they are all poor people living a hard life. They have to raise their whole families with this rare opportunity that finally came to them. T, they don’t even have many people so they have to work without any rest even when they’re sick.”
– …
“They have to stay alive. Every one of them are desperate. V, Vanessa gave birth to a daughter two days ago. She became a mother. Her first and second babies were stillborn and she finally got her third. A healthy girl at 3.2 kilograms. And Kathu…”
Kang Ahjin was crying by the time she realised it. Remembering the times they spent together, how they shyly spoke about themselves and the conversations she barely continued with them, she tried to persuade him.
When the dam broke once, she could no longer control her tears. While she was explaining with a sob, he opened his mouth.
– What’s your suggestion then.
“If you give me a little bit of time, I, I will go persuade them. I will persuade them to open the doors of the [Safe]. T, the executives should know about your name, sir. Please give me some time. Even a little bit… please…”
– You have 10 minutes.
Kang Ahjin knew these 10 minutes was the only remaining time she had.
He disappeared from the barren desert.
Immediately, Kang Ahjin wiped the tears off with her hands and started to sprint. Each of her strides scattered the dust beneath as she dashed across the desert.
Before long she was right in front of the base. She was now one of the suspicious people. The lookouts – the ones that had been eating the chicken just then – stopped her. Following the procedures, they carried out a formal conversation.
Reveal your identity. Reveal your business.
Kang Ahjin stopped her tears and shouted.
I am the Grade 4 agent, Kang Ahjin, wishing for a return to service.
At last after they confirmed her identity with the watch, one of the soldiers opened her mouth. ‘Why are you crying, Kang,’ she asked with a voice dripping with concern.
Kang Ahjin did not even have the time to reply, and started sprinting once again. Entering the camp, she looked for the commanders.
Although the captain and the vice captain weren’t there, a few of the other commanders were on task. They were also people who Kang Ahjin met and talked to everyday.
“What is wrong, dispatcher.”
She had a rugged breath due to rushing all the way here. The soldiers who had been occupied with their task curiously asked her a question, with gazes that showed their affections for her hidden behind the curtains of formality.
Kang Ahjin bit her lips.
She didn’t know what to say,
But she had to say it.
“A high executive is coming from the Association.”
“What?”
“He is a Grade 5 agent. The chief advisor, and my direct superior.”
“…?”
The commanders looked at Kang Ahjin with questioning gazes, and the 2nd vice captain even lowered his glasses with doubt in his eyes.
Kang Ahjin felt a lump in her throat. She wasn’t confident in being able to persuade them at all.
“Please listen carefully to what I’m saying.”
But even then, she had to.
There were things in the world that just had to be done…
“He will try to open the [Safe].”
“What?”
“…Huh?”
She could hear their clamorous voices.
“You have to open it. Before he attacks the 17th branch.”
There was moisture in Kang Ahjin’s voice and they immediately knew she was telling the truth. Tilting their heads in confusion, looking at Kang Ahjin with disgusted gazes and facing her with dumbfounded expressions: they each showed a different reaction.
“Please listen to me! You guys can survive. Please just let him open the Safe.”
“Listen.”
“This woman…”
“We don’t have time! 10 minutes, no, we only have 7 minutes now! Guys. He is a very strong superhuman. Even if you try to stop him, he will still open the safe!”
“What kind of nonsense is this, Kang!!”
The 2nd vice captain shouted.
In return, Kang Ahjin began to weep from her uncontrollable emotions.
“Open the doors of the fortress! Otherwise, you might all die!”
“Men! Drag Kang out!”
“Yes sir…!”
It was then.
The watches of every soldier inside the command centre rang. Kang Ahjin, who had been yelling while being pulled out by someone, knew this was an opportunity. She had managed to take a glimpse at the message that was on the arm of the one who was dragging her outside.
It was about the ‘strife’ between Oscar Brzenk and the Association, and a message telling them to be on the lookout for a possible attack of the Association.
“Let me go!”
Kang Ahjin shoved the soldiers that were dragging her arm. Her words would finally be persuasive and everything would be over if she missed this opportunity.
“It’s this. This is the problem. We have to do something. You have to open the door and make a path for our Chief to access the [Safe]. W, we can all survive then! We have to live, don’t we? We can’t die like this! Right?”
The silence continued.
“You might think I’m weird for doing this all of a sudden. But I know how everyone treated me nicely this past month! We all have families right! There are people waiting for us at home! We cannot die here right!?
“We have to survive! We all have to live on!”
She let out a blood-boiling scream.
Kang Ahjin believed it.
They should have fully understood their situations now. Despite the urgency of the matter at hand, the message had managed to arrive in time.
Her words should be persuasive enough.
And there was still time left.
So…
However, the moment her eyes met with the commander’s.
Kang Ahjin suddenly remembered something.
What was the reason she, who could easily befriend anyone, had so much trouble getting close to them?
The soldiers of this place put their due diligence in every task and never cut corners no matter how simple their given orders were.
Some would call that a proper soldier mentality and that was what Kang Ahjin thought as well.
Maybe it’s because they had been granted a new life from their desperate situations…
“We are not leaving.”
The commander’s words froze Kang Ahjin on the spot.
“Who’s coming? An executive of the Association? And what.”
“Y, you might die…”
Kang Ahjin’s words were in vain.
“We are soldiers.”
All their eyes had the same glitter.
As if they had been printed by the same printer.
“Our job is to carry out our given commands.”
“…”
“Are you done with your nonsense? I had a good impression but today’s fuss was extremely unpleas—-”
—-
The 2nd vice captain’s voice stretched out.
Kang Ahjin felt the world shaking.
Something,
Something was crumbling inside her heart.
“—-So we.”
The talking mouth came to a close.
Kang Ahjin felt a presence immediately filling the entirety of the command centre, as well as the weight in the air provided by that presence. When she turned her quivering head, standing there was a very familiar man.
He whispered.
‘Leave.’
As if time had stopped, with everyone else frozen stiff, Kang Ahjin belatedly realised her role and turned her body. When she walked out of the command centre, the doors closed by itself.
Kang Ahjin raised her eyes. Her dizzy gaze made the world foggy as if she was wearing a cloudy pair of glasses.
She mindlessly carried her feet. The unbelievable reality was driving her mind into a mess, and she walked on and on without an end.
When she came to herself, she was at the main entrance. Kang Ahjin, who had been walking with her eyes stuck on the ground, closed her eyes and lifted her gaze to look at the sky. She simply did not have the courage to face the reality.
But when something loose slid down her wrist, Kang Ahjin instinctively lowered her head,
And faced an unbelievable sight that made her feel like she was shot in the head.
There was a chicken box.
Drenched in blood.