Chapter 39: The Police Officer

****

A giant spider, puppies, a cat — quite the zoo. Anyway, I pointed at the monster outside the window. The Popos followed my finger with their eyes.

No long speeches needed.

“Go tear it apart.”

The Popos charged toward the monster, and I raised my rifle. I am a doctor of the Foundation. A disgusting spider god is nothing but a research subject.

The Popos are fragments of a divinity raised in the Foundation’s hands. Despite their small size, they bit into the beast like hunting dogs taking down a wild boar.

“SKREEEEEEEK!”

A shriek.

I emptied a magazine into the monster’s body.

Black blood soaked the street, and the insect monster stopped moving before long.

Situation over.

****

I lowered the muzzle and walked toward the police station across the street. A little more walking and I’d reach my objective.

“It’s not a police station, it’s a police box.”

“What’s the difference?”

The cat tilted its head.

“A police station is bigger.”

As I approached the police box, the familiar sound of police sirens reached my ears. Quite a few survivors, it seemed. I let out a sigh of relief.

“The police are still here. Some of them died, but they managed to secure the area around the police box somehow.”

I looked at the police box more carefully.

Around a dozen police officers’ bodies lay around the police box, and at least ten more were looking down at the street from nearby.

At least ten more were lying on the rooftops of surrounding buildings. Several parked police cars formed a barricade around the police box. The police… there were an awful lot of them alive.

That shouldn’t be possible.

“That’s strange.”

The sirens grew louder. The police officers had spotted us and sent a patrol car.

I squinted.

“A patrol car is coming this way. Good — now I can talk to the survivors and—”

Click.

I attached a grenade launcher to the underside of my rifle.

“Director Geum?”

The trigger was heavy.

I pulled it immediately, and the rifle’s solid stock slammed into my shoulder.

SCREECH!

The patrol car, struck directly by the grenade, lost its course and crashed into a utility pole. The car’s alarm blared, sparks flew… and then it exploded.

****

The cat was horrified.

“What are you doing!”

I calmly ducked behind cover.

“I get that you’re on edge, but executing innocent civilians is still—”

Grenade launcher.

Good firepower, but I hadn’t brought many grenades. Ignoring the cat’s words, I loaded one more grenade into the launcher.

“Dr. Geum! Can you hear me?”

I can hear you.

“Overseer. How many police officers do you think would be stationed at an ordinary rural township police box?”

“How would I know that?”

“In this township, it was fifteen.”

Before coming here, I’d checked how many officers were stationed there, thinking the Yulje-myeon police might be able to assist with this operation.

The number of police officers working at the Yulje-myeon police box was fifteen. But the bodies of officers lying on the street just now numbered more than fifteen alone.

“I counted forty officers with my own eyes near the police box. There were also damaged patrol cars scattered throughout the town. Those things aren’t human.”

“What do you mean…”

From behind the cover came the sound of people — no, human-shaped beings — moving. The cat poked its head out from behind cover.

“Overseer. What are those things doing?”

“The police… are closing in. At least several dozen of them, and most are carrying pistols.”

“And the distance?”

“About fifty meters.”

If I started shooting now, I might gain the upper hand. At that range, they’d be outside pistol range while I’d be inside rifle range.

But I didn’t have more than a few dozen rounds left. If I was going to fight, I needed to start shooting right now.

“Hehehe…”

I set my bag down beside me.

“Those pistols can’t penetrate Foundation-made body armor anyway. I’ll just hold my ground and fight.”

The cat let out a sigh.

“Fine. Do what you want.”

I pulled another sarin grenade from my bag. This was the last one.

*PSSSHH.*

The grenade began venting gas.

I picked up my rifle and rose to my feet. I fired the grenade at the cluster of police first, then immediately opened up with rifle fire.

The Popos also dove into the fray.

It wasn’t a fair fight. The pistols the police officers were using couldn’t penetrate my body armor, and they couldn’t fire in sustained bursts either. They were also outside pistol range.

*Haah.*

Gunfire, screams, and the sound of Popos’ footsteps followed in succession. By the time I emptied my second magazine, the situation was over.

Several dozen corpses that looked like police officers lay strewn across the street. I spent some time ensuring the bodies were neutralized with my bayonet.

The sound of skulls being crushed was deeply unpleasant.

Seeing the police-lookalike beings up close, I could confirm with certainty that they weren’t human. An uncanny valley, you might say—they resembled humans, but they weren’t human.

Disgusting.

Anyway, that brought the situation to a close.

I clapped my hands, and the Popos vanished to somewhere. Following their training, they would have teleported back to their own containment cells.

“What the—”

“Credit to the equipment. I had hunting dogs, nerve gas grenades, Foundation-made body armor, and a Foundation-made rifle. This much is only to be expected.”

The Overseer was still staring at me.

“You. What were you before this?”

“You already know everything, so why ask.”

I ignored the Overseer’s words. Anyone who’s done this before would know—hitting a man-sized target within a hundred meters isn’t difficult.

“Let’s head to the police station now.”

“Mm.”

I’d killed all the police-lookalike monsters, but there might still be hostile instances nearby. I grabbed hold of the wall and moved toward the police station.

“Uh, Dr. Geum.”

My radio began to crackle.

It was the first time the radio had responded since the armored vehicle was blown in half. I hid behind the ruins of a building and grabbed the radio urgently.

“What is it?”

[Director Geum. This is a sniper from the Overseer’s Praetorian Guard. You’re still alive? We found the command vehicle exploded and assumed you were dead.]

“I’m alive.”

[Please move to a safe location and wait. We’re moving to your position now.]

“You know where I am?”

[Yes. We’re heading there now.]

****

The Overseer’s Praetorian Guard reached my side in the blink of an eye. I adjusted my radio and headset so I could communicate with them.

We hid in the underground parking garage of some building, and the Guard secured a safe zone.

A doll-like object was placed at the entrance to the parking garage, and lines were drawn in chalk. I didn’t know the details, but I assumed it was some kind of ritualistic barrier.

[We’re secure.]

I sat down against the wall.

“Is there a science officer in the Guard right now? If so, please report on what you’ve observed.”

[Ah, yes. I’m the science officer.]

I turned my head toward the direction the voice came from—then realized. This is a headset.

The Guard’s science officer came into my view. He was equipped with various scientific instruments and wore a cyberpunk-style helmet on his face.

He looked fascinating.

This must be overtech too, right?

“Nice to meet you. Report.”

[Ah, yes. Per the Director’s orders, all units proceeded with operations as scheduled regardless of the Director’s absence. The Praetorian Guard did also carry out the mission of rescuing the Director in parallel.]

“I see.”

[The operation is proceeding smoothly.]

[However, we need to move carefully now. Three demigod entities and over a hundred humanoid anomalies have been found dead in this area.]

[The dead demigod entities are one regenerating reptile monster, one monster that appears to be a kind of nature spirit, and one spider god.]

[Additionally, dozens of police officers were found dead around the city’s police station. An apex predator among the demigod entities is roaming nearby. I am considering countermeasures.]

“…”

Reptile, nature spirit, spider. Fake police officers.

All of them were killed by me.

“Understood for now. Any findings from the investigation?”

[We found several black altars. The bodies of people murdered for rites are scattered throughout the city.]

[The demigod entities roaming the city basically hunt humans, but it seems that when they run into each other, they also kill one another.]

“Is there a solution?”

[Ah, we haven’t found a separate solution. But even demigod entities can be killed if you use various methods. We’re killing as many as we can.]

“That’s a silver lining, then.”

I grabbed my rifle like a cane and stood up.

“Good work, everyone. For now, let’s move to a location with high-output communications equipment. I’ll confirm how many demigod entities are in the operation area and how many have been killed.”

[Understood.]

“Um, the command armored vehicle was destroyed, though—where can we find communications equipment?”

[One moment.]

The Praetorian Guard’s science officer pulled a long antenna out of a bag. I have no idea how it works, but.

[Just go to the rooftop of any building. The signal is a bit unstable right now, but with this, the entire Yulje-myeon area will be able to hear the transmission.]

****

Getting here was difficult, but.

We made it up to the rooftop of some church without issue. The Praetorian Guard’s science officer was holding the portable antenna high in the air.

The other task force members secured the perimeter.

“I just talk normally?”

[Just speak normally.]

I cleared my throat briefly.

“Ah, ah. This is Dr. Geum, Director of Facility 82. I am addressing all Foundation personnel listening to this transmission.”