I, Baek Jemin.
In my 28 years of life, I prided myself on doing my best to slack off.
Who was the guy who just filled in a single column of answers on his college entrance exam and then slept like a baby? That would be me. While others scribbled on their answer sheets with their lives on the line, I was the one dozing off, letting the scratching of pens on paper lull me to sleep as I frolicked through my dreams.
If my friends saw me now, filling out a questionnaire amidst this palpable tension, they would finally understand what the end of the world looked like.
They probably would have guessed the world was ending from the cold sweat running down their spines. The atmosphere in the first interview site, set up inside Suwon City Hall, was just that serious and solemn.
People in all sorts of attire, even religious figures, were mixed together, the sound of their pens scratching away.
The questions were as follows.
[1. Describe any Localized Permeable Alteration Phenomena you have caused, or any phenomenon that violates existing physical laws or common sense.]
I agonized over the first answer.
Just how much did the military really know about magic? When I barely understood it myself, was it really wise to rashly reveal the value of the magic I possessed?
I was essentially making the first offer, so it was only natural to feel anxious and uncomfortable.
But I had no other choice. Considering the fog started appearing in late November 2027, the government must have been dealing with this bizarre phenomenon and these monsters for at least two months.
I decided to answer, considering it the price of admission to that information.
[I can see about ten seconds into the future to know how an opponent will move.]
Next was the second question.
It was glaringly obvious that this part was a screening question.
[2. Describe the role of the characters shared by the military in your use of magic, and how you were able to read them.]
The military no longer doubted the effectiveness of magic.
They clearly knew, at the very least, that the characters disguised as crude scribbles were directly linked to magic.
If so, they must have also deduced that true understanding could only be achieved in the fog, and that there was no single right or wrong interpretation. I figured if they were incompetent enough not to figure that much out in two months, they wouldn't have lasted this long.
I have no faith in the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, but I prayed they had at least that much intelligence as I wrote my answer.
[I was able to understand it in the fog.]
After that, the questions were mostly about religion.
What religion did you believe in, what are your views on the afterlife, what do you think of other established religions, and so on.
They even pried into trivial things like how many times I'd visited a fortune teller or if I liked tarot cards. I wondered if this was really necessary for a magician, but I just went with it and finished writing.
Just as I finished the questionnaire, the proctor who had been quietly observing blew a whistle.
Wheeeet-!
"Pencils down. Everyone, you may leave as you are. We'll take care of the questionnaires and writing utensils, so please return to the waiting area."
And just like that, the first interview was over.
Leaving the examination room—disguised as an interview site—I was led by First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi to a break room. The private first class driver, who had just returned from a smoke break, had thoughtfully prepared instant coffee mix for us.
"Sir! I've prepared Maxim Mocha Gold."
"Mmm~. Good. Let's do our best."
"Yes, sir!"
First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi cheerfully took the paper cup, took a sip, and gestured toward the sofa.
Taking the hint to sit, I accepted the coffee the driver handed me and plopped down.
*Slurp...*
Only after the warm coffee wet my throat did I finally begin to relax a little. First Lieutenant Shin looked at me, raised his eyebrows, and spoke.
"Baek Jemin-ssi, you'll pass the first interview easily. There are almost no cases of someone surviving a monster encounter during Night Watch unless they can use a Localized Permeable Alteration Phenomena."
"Then can't I just go straight to the second interview?"
"In times like these, it's even more important to act like we're following procedure."
"The military isn't exactly a place that runs on procedure."
"Haha. But it is a place that fakes it to look like it's following procedure, right? A realistic fake *is* the field manual. Haven't you heard that one?"
First Lieutenant Shin then jutted his chin at the driver.
"You can take a break and have some coffee too, Driver. Ah, and don't repeat anything you hear in here, got it?"
"Yes, sir! Enjoy your break, sir!"
"The restroom will be crowded. You said your phone's dead? Here, use mine to call your parents."
"Th... thank you, sir!"
The sharp, disciplined driver took the First Lieutenant's phone with trembling hands.
While the driver was tucked away in a corner trying to make a call, First Lieutenant Shin and I looked at each other and sipped our coffee.
I was the first to speak.
"That monster. You know the one. What does the military call it?"
First Lieutenant Shin glanced at the driver in the corner, then let out a sigh and answered.
"Amalgam."
"Amalgam?"
As in, the stuff they use for fillings at the dentist?
When I asked, bewildered, First Lieutenant Shin let out a hollow laugh.
"It's the first monster to be discovered and classified within the Restricted Zone. A monster. There's really no other word for it. Its official designation is 'Head Fusion-type Mimic Beast.'"
"Tell me more. Shit, you're still trying to hide things from the guy who almost died because of it."
The thought that they put me on Night Watch without telling me a single thing about that monster—a monster I wanted to curse with every fiber of my being—made a wildfire of rage blaze up inside me.
As if sensing my feelings, First Lieutenant Shin tapped his paper cup with his index finger, then finally resigned himself and explained.
"It's a monster that targets a victim's head or face, inducing physical contact. Once it touches them, they melt and fuse together. Do you remember when I said it takes a full squad of at least eight men laying down a field of fire to repel it?"
"Yes, of course."
"Repel. Not kill."
I saw the driver's shoulders flinch at those words, but both the First Lieutenant and I pretended not to notice.
"The monster's main body is the fused head. The body has been determined to be more like... an auxiliary organ that supports its life functions. You can shoot the bodies of its devoured victims to restrict its movement, but it uses them as shields or bait to provoke an instinctive human reaction, then rushes in to attempt fusion."
"Have you dissected one?"
"Shooting the main body—the head—has little effect. We speculate that to kill it completely, you'd have to burn it, flash-freeze it, or annihilate all its cells with intense radiation. It's so dangerous that even recovering the corpses is forbidden. Besides, there's something else that's horrifying."
First Lieutenant Shin crumpled his empty paper cup, his brow furrowed.
"There's a reason it was named a Mimic Beast. It can imitate its victims' voices. No one can tell if it's the victim's actual consciousness or just the monster mimicking them. The military made the judgment call long ago to treat it as a monster and issue a kill order. And... the fatal part is that sometimes this monster has only one head, like a normal human, making it difficult to distinguish from a civilian."
I was speechless for a while.
So, you're telling me that a monster that horrifying has been roaming the foggy parts of Seoul for the past two months.
"How have you been catching them for two months?"
"We have counter-tactics. We temporarily lower its body temperature with fire hydrants or extinguishers to slow it down, then lay down a field of fire on its entire body to restrict its movement before incinerating it. We even had to mobilize firefighters, fully expecting some fires to spread."
I was about to snap at him, but I stopped.
I understood why the government hadn't said anything.
If they had announced that monsters were appearing, running rampant, and devouring people, all of Seoul would have already descended into panic. If the fog hadn't spread, it would have been relatively easy to maintain order in the other regions outside of Seoul.
First Lieutenant Shin spoke with a grim expression as he tossed his paper cup into the trash.
"I haven't seen one in person either, only in video footage. It was fucking awful. But if you're confirmed as an Operator, you'll be seeing more of them."
"Excuse me?"
"I did say it was the *first* monster to be discovered and classified."
First Lieutenant Shin smacked his lips for no reason and stared intently at the wall as if looking at something far away.
"Currently, there are three monsters, including the Amalgam, that have been officially named by the military and for which we have established some counter-tactics. As for unconfirmed monsters—those we only have rumors or circumstantial evidence for, with no video footage or identification—we estimate there are about a dozen more types."
"Son of a bitch."
The curse slipped out before I knew it.
There was still some coffee left, so I slurped it all down and threw the paper cup at First Lieutenant Shin's feet.
Thump.
"If you bastards can't evacuate my mom and dad, I'm taking you down with me."
"Yes. We have to guarantee that. In return, let's cooperate."
First Lieutenant Shin retorted good-naturedly.
***
The results of the first interview came out about three hours later.
January 7th, 2:56 PM.
Guided by First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi, I passed through a cordon of soldiers on high alert and went deeper into Suwon City Hall.
The place we arrived at was a situation room where all the curtains were drawn and a dehumidifier was humming away.
Waiting there were a Catholic priest in his vestments, a pastor with impressive crow's feet, an old monk in his robes, a foreigner who hadn't removed his turban even in this situation, a shaman with something like prayer beads around his neck, and finally, four soldiers in combat uniforms like me.
The situation room was already teeming with company-grade and field-grade officers, from among whom a colonel, who had deliberately removed his name tag, stepped forward.
"You will all now learn about the unprecedented crisis facing the Republic of Korea since its founding."
The colonel's eyes were bloodshot, as if from many sleepless nights, and his skin was a mess. He wearily scanned the room.
"The people gathered here are those the ROK Armed Forces have identified as capable of using the Localized Permeable Alteration Phenomena in the southern Gyeonggi Province area. Taking into account the circumstances of your awakening to what is commonly called magic, as well as the utility of your abilities... the ROK Armed Forces wishes to appoint you to the Civilian Advisory Group and formally request your cooperation. To that end, we will now provide you with a detailed briefing."
As the colonel stepped aside, a projector displayed a PowerPoint presentation.
Frowning at the distinctive PowerPoint format I'd seen to death during my military service, I sat down. The others glanced at me for a moment before turning their attention back to the screen.
The colonel, holding a pointer, tapped the screen and began to explain the situation.
"Beginning on November 24th, 2027, this fog started appearing in the Gangbuk area of Seoul, near Bukhansan Mountain. The first official encounter with the Head Fusion-type Mimic Beast, called Amalgam, was at 2:43 AM on December 3rd, 2027, based on eyewitness testimony from police responding to local reports. The government first became aware of its existence through recorded footage of it attempting an attack near a police substation before being startled by the sirens and fleeing."
The timeline poured grimly from the colonel's mouth.
His delivery was utterly dispassionate, but that only made everyone listening feel a chill run down their spines.
"Beginning on December 14th, 2027, as this fog spread rapidly, it became difficult for the existing police force to handle alone. The military began deploying units under the Capital Defense Command under the guise of 'civilian service.' To prevent public panic from these movements, information was controlled while the relocation of personnel and material resources and the selection of assembly points commenced. It was from this point that characters related to magic were discovered and collected, based on sightings and testimonies from civilians, military personnel, and police... Simultaneously, the number of missing person reports, with Amalgam as the suspected cause, began to rise sharply."
As the presentation moved to the next slide, the screen showed the number, radius, and locations of missing person reports over time.
"What is concerning are Amalgam's active hours, its radius of activity, and the list of its victims. Amalgam is presumed to be most active between midnight and around 4 AM. It operates mainly in alleyways or undeveloped areas suitable for ambushes, and it is believed to have preyed first on those in vulnerable social groups with weak safety nets. The actual number of missing cases, estimated by the government through community organizations that frequently engage in volunteer work and outreach, is believed to be 642, far more than the 200 official reports. This suggests that Amalgam is not a simple beast but possesses the intelligence to understand and infiltrate human society..."
The colonel, his name tag removed, said this and looked back at us.
"Currently, the ROK Armed Forces' top priority is the containment of Seoul. We have temporarily abandoned the cities near northern Seoul, maintaining communication and administration with coastal cities like Incheon via the West Sea. At the same time, we are conducting repeated reconnaissance missions into Seoul to classify these monsters, with the primary objective of securing the characters related to magic."
"...."
"If any members of the Civilian Advisory Group have questions, I will take them now."
But no one could ask a question right away.
When I glanced over at First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi, he caught my eye and could only offer a troubled smile and a shrug.
The situation was... worse than I thought.
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