Episode 9
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9. The Trigger
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The radio erupted in a sudden frenzy. Gunshots rang out in rapid succession. The snipers’ muzzles spat sharp flashes of fire in unison. From the rooftop of the shopping center, Ji-seul gripped her radio and shouted.
"Alpha, Bravo, engage! The rest of you, hold your positions and call for reinforcements!"
-W-we’re out of anti-monster rounds!
"Judging by the fact that they were trapped in a truck, they aren't high-tier! Standard rounds are enough! Fire!"
Ji-seul shouted that much before snatching the binoculars from the observer beside her. Skin so pale it looked white. Eyes that had degenerated and vanished. A humanoid body two to three meters tall, with long, mantis-like limbs.
'Pale Skin….'
As expected. They are monsters frequently used for terrorism because they can suppress their own metabolism to survive for months without food or water.
How many were in that container? Five? Seven? That’s a number not easily handled by a single regular army platoon.
But they had to be taken down. This was the middle of downtown Incheon.
If even one of them escaped, it would be a catastrophe….
*Skreeee!*
In the midst of the chaos, a window on the second floor of a house flew open. *Thud.* A person tumbled out through it. It was Choi Yong-deok.
-Sandpiper, the target is fleeing.
Sang-jun’s voice.
"Can you pursue?"
-It’ll be tough. He’s getting into a car.
*Vroom!* Choi Yong-deok started the engine and slammed his foot down on the accelerator. The vehicle surged forward as if launched. Leaving the carnage he had caused behind him, Choi Yong-deok began to speed down the national highway.
Is it the target of the operation, or the extermination of the monsters?
Ji-seul weighed the options. The distribution of forces. The most effective countermeasure based on priority. And she made her decision.
"Lazarus."
-…Yes.
The one she called was the only person currently in a car, and therefore the only one capable of pursuit.
It was Jae-hak.
"Pursue him."
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"Son of a b*tch…."
Choi Yong-deok looked into the rearview mirror, his mind half-gone. Did I lose them? It didn't look like anyone was following. The time was 4:48 AM. That’s enough time….
I survived. I survived!
"Ha, haha…."
Choi Yong-deok let out a laugh of relief like a madman. Come to think of it, there was no reason to be chased like this in the first place. He had only seen the name Jeong Doyeong in the patrol logs and made one phone call.
"Hahahaha…."
What happened after that wasn't his fault. Was it? It was those guys who killed the subordinate officer’s family. How was I supposed to know they would do something like that?
No, who really knows? Did that bastard really kill his own mother?
*CRASH!*
At that moment, something slammed into the back of Choi Yong-deok’s car. His body jolted back and forth. He hurriedly checked the rearview mirror to see a car tailing him.
Bastards…. Choi Yong-deok pressed his foot harder onto the accelerator. The RPMs soared. The engine shrieked through the pouring rain.
Two black cars tore through the heart of Incheon, where the downpour was relentless.
"…."
The sergeant behind the wheel glanced at the dashboard with anxious eyes.
100 km/h. 120 km/h. 140 km/h….
The steering wheel shook violently. They were entering a zone where the speed was becoming impossible to handle. The light from the scattered streetlamps blurred like paint. Traffic lights and lane markers had long since lost their meaning.
All that remained was a field of vision distorted by the sensation of speed.
"Is this okay?!"
"I don't know!"
As the sergeant screamed over the roar of the engine, Jae-hak shouted back from the passenger seat.
*CRASH!*
They rammed Choi Yong-deok’s car once more. *Thwack.* Choi Yong-deok gritted his teeth and lifted his head, blood streaming down his forehead. Something metallic was held in the hand he pulled from inside his coat….
"It's a gun!"
*Bang! Bang-bang!*
Choi Yong-deok twisted his body neurotically, aiming backward and pulling the trigger. It was a standard-issue police revolver with a short barrel and low accuracy, and he was in a position where proper shooting was impossible. But the distance was so close.
*Thwip-thwip-thwip!* Bullet holes peppered the windshield in succession.
"…!"
Jae-hak ducked in terror. Glass shards scattered inside the car. Fortunately, the blind firing didn't last long. Even for a traffic division chief, it seemed he hadn't been able to secure many bullets….
But the next moment, the speeding car suddenly tilted to one side.
"What…."
Jae-hak whipped his head around. The sergeant’s face behind the wheel was deathly pale. A bloodstain was spreading over his uniform, on his left shoulder. The steering wheel was turning to one side….
"Ugh… urgh…."
Jae-hak threw his body forward, almost lunging. He grabbed the turning steering wheel by a hair’s breadth. *Skreeee…* One of the car’s wheels, having lost its balance, lifted into the air.
*BANG!*
It barely dropped back onto the wet road, spraying a plume of water.
"Ugh… that bastard…."
The sergeant groaned. He was conscious. The gunshot wound was near his shoulder. Fortunately, it didn't seem to be a life-threatening injury….
"Are you okay?!"
Jae-hak shouted while gripping the wheel. The sensation of having narrowly escaped death. The sound of his heart, fueled by an adrenaline rush, pounded in his ears like a drum.
"…My feet are fine. Take the wheel!"
*VROOOOM—*
Clutching his wounded shoulder, the sergeant slammed his foot back onto the accelerator. The engine, which had slowed for a moment, spun up again and let out a roar.
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*Bang-bang!*
*Thwip-thwip-thwip,* black blood burst from the Pale Skin’s back. But it only staggered for a moment and didn't fall. It extended its hideous limbs to wrap around a utility pole and climbed up the outer wall of a middle school.
"That way! Follow it up those stairs!"
"Damn it…!"
The Alpha team members gasped for air as they sprinted up the stairs of a nearby motel. Between the heavy rain and the intense exertion, it felt like their lungs were tearing apart.
The fight against the monsters that crawled out of the truck had naturally turned into a chase. Once they had poured bullets into the first three that emerged, the remaining Pale Skins had cunningly chosen to flee into the residential area.
The evacuation of civilians wasn't finished yet. They couldn't consider options like wiping them out with a helicopter. Since they were jumping from building to building, it was difficult to pursue them by vehicle.
In short, it meant people had to run on foot to catch them….
*BANG!* As they kicked open the iron door to the motel rooftop, a pale figure came into view. It was running on all fours, sliding like a lizard, as if trying to leap to the middle school gymnasium.
"Fire!"
The muzzles spat fire in unison. *Thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip!* The entire body of the Pale Skin, which had been about to leap to the next building’s roof, was riddled with holes.
*Kreeee…* Its long arms flailed in the air before it plummeted four stories down. *Thud…* A dull, wet sound of impact echoed.
Is it dead? Please. Please….
Then, the radio crackled.
-Alpha Two, kill confirmed.
*Haa…* The Alpha team members cursed under their breath and slumped to the ground. Some team members even vomited what they had eaten. They didn't care at all that the floor was a puddle. They were already completely soaked from head to toe.
The situation was not much different for the other teams.
-Sandpiper, this is Mungando. Target 4 kill confirmed. Be advised, three targets remain.
"Mungando. Re-confirm… the wind."
*BANG!* A heavy gunshot rang out, piercing the rain. With the sound of a watermelon shattering, the head of another Pale Skin, which had been breaking into a convenience store, exploded.
The headless, pale body twitched for a few seconds before collapsing and going still. Ah, ah, Sang-jun could be seen leading out a convenience store night-shift worker who was covered in black blood and in a state of shock right in front of him.
-…Sandpiper. Kill confirmed. Two targets remain.
*Vrooooom…* A pitch-black drone cut through the rain and flew across the sky.
-But be advised, there’s no need to show off like that.
*Hah,* Ji-seul took her eye away from the scope. It was a good thing she had brought the .50-caliber sniper rifle just in case. It was originally intended for piercing cars or thin armor plates, but thanks to its destructive power, it was a weapon that could be used to some extent in anti-monster warfare as well.
"What about Iago?"
-Be advised, Lazarus is in pursuit.
Mungando—that is, Lin—replied over the radio. Currently, Lin was operating five military drones, serving as the eyes in the sky.
An operation impossible for an ordinary person. But Lin’s ability made it possible.
"Do you think he’ll catch him?"
Ji-seul asked as she pulled her wet hair back and tied it up.
-It seems sufficient… oh, there seems to be a problem with the vehicle.
"A problem?"
-It’s smoking.
Ji-seul took her right hand off the throttle. Further acceleration was meaningless. Instead, she leaned her upper body back until she was almost lying down. Then, she lifted her left leg to press down on the right handlebar, steering the bike.
A dangerous stunt. At speeds exceeding 300 km/h, it was nothing short of a suicide mission. But there was no other way. She had to free her right hand, if only for a moment.
*Vroom—*
The world blurred. The wind made it hard to even keep her eyes open. She was riding her bike along a thin tightrope between life and death. Maintaining her reclined position, Ji-seul gripped the sniper rifle. She braced the stock against her shoulder and rested the barrel across her left thigh.
*Bang!*
A thunderous gunshot rang out, but the bullet missed, striking far below the target. Ji-seul clicked her tongue. She did not take her eye off the scope.
*Bang!*
This time, a hole was punched into the trailer to the right of the target. Choi Yong-deok was already right in front of the Chungcheong-ho. Ji-seul bit her lip. She sank herself into a deeper abyss of concentration. The world around her gradually turned black. The nauseating speed, the wind and rain clawing at her face—everything dissolved into the darkness. All that remained was the target.
And the trigger...
*Bang!*
With a deafening roar, the rear tire of Choi Yong-deok’s car blew out. The vehicle lost its balance for a split second. Unable to overcome its own momentum, it began to spin wildly.
"Uh... uh..."
A single chance. Jae-hak pushed his engine to the limit, racing toward that opening. He slammed directly into the side of Choi Yong-deok’s spinning, powerless car.
*Thud.*
Because their speeds were similar, the impact was minimal. But Jae-hak did not stop. He pushed Choi Yong-deok’s out-of-control car with all his might. To the right, further to the right.
Toward a place where he could no longer escape.
"You son of a..."
Choi Yong-deok wailed, gripping the steering wheel. The ramp of the Chungcheong-ho appeared before his eyes. It passed by in a flash. He reached out instinctively, but it was out of reach. Then, with a jolt, the car chassis lifted into the air. The black sky. The inverted horizon. The sea. The sea...
*Splash...*
The two cars, having driven straight off the pier, narrowly missed the Chungcheong-ho and plummeted into the sea. White foam erupted where the waves swallowed the two vehicles and the three people inside, then slowly dissolved and vanished.
- ...District, this is Mugando.
Then, there was silence.
- Reporting that Iago has been successfully captured.
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