Chapter 87 – The War Begins (Part One)

*Rumble!* A faint vibration, traveling through the ground and air, registered on Il-hyeon’s senses.

It was a tremor so slight that no one else around him seemed to notice, but Il-hyeon instinctively perked up his ears and scanned his surroundings.

Just as he was about to frown at the ominous sensation coming from far away, the unidentified vibration struck again.

No, it wasn’t just once.

Two, three, five, ten, twenty. The number grew uncontrollably.

The epicenters, perceived through Il-hyeon’s senses, were all in different locations, and even now, they were multiplying and drawing closer.

*RUMBLE!*

This time, the vibration was strong enough for everyone to feel the ground tremble.

The gazes of the oblivious citizens walking down the street turned in the same direction as Il-hyeon’s.

And people couldn’t believe their eyes.

“Wh-what is that?”

“Huh…?”

A 214-story skyscraper, visible even from a distance.

Built eight years ago and designed by a famous architect, the building was one of Seoul’s landmarks, impressing people with its beautiful facade and considerable height.

But the building, which once boasted its magnificent size, was now leaning precariously to one side, unlike its usual self.

While everyone stared blankly at the surreal sight, the building tilted completely and plummeted toward the ground.

*CRASH!*

A tremendous roar echoed through the area, accompanied by the screams of people from all directions.

Although the event was happening quite far away, the citizens were overcome with uncontrollable fear, merely shaking their heads and stumbling backward.

They struggled to accept the reality of something so absurd it seemed like it could only happen in a dream.

Even Il-hyeon, who was holding Seo Jeong-hwa, doubted his own eyes, unable to fully process what had just happened.

But the terrible nightmare gave them no respite, striking again in succession.

*BOOM!*

A massive explosion erupted behind Il-hyeon. When he turned, his eyes fell upon a collapsing bridge.

The bridge, shattered to pieces by an explosion so immense there was no time to react, helplessly crumbled into the river.

“What in the world…”

Il-hyeon blankly turned his head to look at Seo Jeong-hwa, but all he saw was her face, wearing an expression of someone who had given up on everything.

***

“Wh-what happened? What is all this…?”

A middle-aged man who had burst through the door into the situation room asked, panting for breath.

The situation room was filled with people bustling about, yet a heavy atmosphere hung in the air.

The Disaster Observation Department of the South Korean government.

Originally a department for monitoring Gates and Monsters appearing in the country, its nature of meticulously observing the entire nation meant it naturally had to step in during unforeseen, sudden situations like this.

Moreover, since it was presumed to be a large-scale terrorist attack involving unidentified Awakened, the role of the Observation Department, which regularly communicated closely with the Response Team, could not be ignored.

“First, please look at the screen.”

As the man pointed to the screen, the gaze of the middle-aged department head who had just entered followed.

The large main screen at the front of the room displayed a satellite view of South Korea, which was covered in red dots of various sizes.

Knowing what the red marks signified, the department head gripped his forehead with one hand and groaned.

“My god…”

“They targeted only densely populated civilian areas—subway stations, stadiums, bridges, and skyscrapers. In Seoul alone, terrorist attacks using explosives occurred in 37 locations, all happening simultaneously with almost no time difference. Nationwide, it’s over 60 locations, and it’s not just happening in Korea. Thousands of incidents have been reported worldwide.”

“Other places were hit just the same? How could this… were there no signs?”

The department head asked in disbelief.

With the discovery of Ether, it became possible to create explosives far more powerful than in the past. Because of the risk of Gate subjugation sites being disrupted, all capable nations implemented thorough anti-terrorism measures, as well as explosive detection and management.

But he had received no prior reports on this matter, nor had he heard anything through the grapevine.

It was inconceivable that a terrorist plot of this scale was being prepared worldwide and no one had noticed.

“None at all. They say they didn’t sense anything before it happened. We were caught completely off guard. The only incident that was stopped was by an Aegis Awakened who happened to be near a subway station.”

“Aegis… a detection-type ability user, I presume. It’s a relief at least one was stopped… No, this is no time for that. Have the terrorists been apprehended? Any signs of their next move?”

His mind was filled with unanswered questions, but there were urgent matters to attend to first.

Preventing further damage was the priority.

“The Response Team is currently tracking the culprits with Awakened who were on standby in the country. They managed to capture five terrorists alive, but… they are all reported to be dead. The circumstances suggest suicide.”

“The Response Team? What are the police doing?”

“Most of those involved in the attacks are Awakened of a considerable level, making it difficult for the police to intervene.”

“Haaah…”

The department head clutched his head, lost in thought.

The situation was already dire with immense damage, and the aftermath was proving just as difficult to handle.

“Should we call back the detection ability users dispatched overseas?”

“They won’t be of any help. Leave them be.”

He waved his hand dismissively.

There were very few detection ability users to begin with, and the level of their abilities was generally too low.

Their detection range was narrow, and their accuracy was poor.

An Awakened on the level of Joo Hye-jin from Aegis’s B-Team might be different, but for an incident that exploded over a wide area rather than a specific, narrow zone, it was hard to expect any significant results.

‘…Should I use *that*?’

They’d been caught completely off guard, having failed to notice anything beforehand, and had secured no information on any potential suspects.

Trying to investigate and track them now would be futile; the culprits had already fled the scenes, and there was no telling when or how the next attack would occur.

The situation was utterly bleak.

But if they used ‘that technology’ being secretly researched by the government…

It would be possible to track the terrorists, even scattered as they were, without much difficulty.

‘It would certainly be effective, but the fallout if it gets exposed…’

The development of technology to counter the Awakened had been an unspoken taboo since the incident ten years ago.

Therefore, if they used it now and someone caught wind of it, the country’s Awakened would undoubtedly react with extreme sensitivity.

But the department head’s hesitation didn’t last long.

They were helplessly exposed to a terrorist attack on a scale unprecedented in human history. At this rate, there was no solution.

This was not the time to be picky.

“Uh… where are you going?”

“I need to get approval from the higher-ups.”

***

*Cough, cough!*

Il-hyeon, having swum out of the river, laid a limp man down on the ground.

He had pulled three people from a vehicle that had fallen from the exploded bridge, but the woman and child were already dead.

The one he managed to pull out, barely breathing, was also in bad shape.

A piece of the bridge had smashed through the car’s windshield and torn away one side of his waist; he looked to be in critical condition.

Il-hyeon quickly reached out and used his transformation ability to mend the internal organs and close the wound.

However, unlike with objects like walls or flowing water, he couldn’t permanently transform a human body, so it was only a temporary fix.

Still, it would at least keep the man alive until he could get to an operating table.

“Hah, hah…”

Il-hyeon gasped for breath, looking back at the river where the bridge once stood.

The power of the unknown explosive was as immense as Il-hyeon had first anticipated, completely obliterating the bridge.

Because of that, there were far fewer survivors than if the bridge had simply collapsed.

“Hoo…”

Il-hyeon, after briefly grimacing, glanced to his side.

Seo Jeong-hwa, whom he had expected to flee at the first opportunity, had remained standing right where she was while he dived into the river and came back out.

Only her arms were bound; her legs were free. The bindings themselves were something she could have untied with a little time, which surprised Il-hyeon.

“You knew all of this was going to happen, didn’t you?”

Although he hadn’t seen the situation elsewhere firsthand, based on what his senses had picked up, the damage had occurred in at least dozens of locations. The situation was clearly far more severe.

Here alone, the terrified citizens were in a state of complete chaos.

An incident of this magnitude was not something the government could quietly cover up, no matter how tight their grip on the media.

In response to his question, Seo Jeong-hwa silently nodded.

“I need an answer now. What do you people gain from doing this?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Do I look like I’m playing games?”

“Ugh!”

Il-hyeon roughly shoved her.

He had been relatively composed before the disaster struck, but now the situation had completely changed.

Countless innocent people had died, and one of the terrorists who had taken part in it was standing right in front of him.

Unspoken rage was boiling inside him.

“No… not at all.”

Seo Jeong-hwa, however, offered a self-deprecating smile and looked into Il-hyeon’s eyes.

“It’s just like I said. I can’t tell you. It has nothing to do with my will.”

“What?”

She repeated her words clearly, her gaze defiant.

“If you still don’t get it after I’ve said this much, then do whatever you want.”

Frowning slightly, Seo Jeong-hwa waved her hand as if her head ached.

At that, Il-hyeon released her and turned his head to look at the hijacked vehicle.

Inside, the terrorists who had taken their own lives were slumped over.

‘Could it be…’

A doubt formed in Il-hyeon’s mind, and a thought flashed through it.

“They didn’t take their own lives, did they…”

Il-hyeon stared intently at the bodies.

Honestly, he had no professional medical knowledge, so he couldn’t be sure just by looking, but there was something strange.

For them to die simultaneously while unconscious, as if on cue, was highly improbable.

Unless someone had ended their lives remotely.

Il-hyeon glanced at Seo Jeong-hwa, and her reaction seemed to confirm he was right.

However, if that assumption was correct, it raised a question.

“If that’s true, how are you still fine?”

“I don’t know. I thought my time would be up soon, too.”

Seo Jeong-hwa looked down at her own body and shook her head.

All her other comrades were dead, yet Seo Jeong-hwa, who was captured before them, had survived. It was certainly strange.

It seemed something had gone wrong, and they were unable to take her life.

“But earlier, you tried to make a deal to reduce your sentence. If you were going to die anyway…”

“That’s because I was planning to slip away while you were fighting them. If I just stayed captured, I would’ve died just like them.”

After a deep sigh, she slowly continued.

“I can’t defy the organization.”

“Why not? It looks like they can’t touch you anyway. Wouldn’t it be safer to just cooperate?”

“It’s not just about not wanting to die! Do you think the organization is that sloppy? It stops me in my head!”

“Don’t tell me your organization brainwashed you?”

“Y-yes. Actually… I’m not supposed to say or even think these things, but I was a little different. I don’t know what happened either. I don’t know if I can really survive this…”

She said in a trembling, slightly confused voice.

It only made him more curious about who these people were to orchestrate such an attack, and how it was even possible.

More importantly, after what they had done, he had no intention of letting them get away with it.

“Hoo…”

Il-hyeon closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and snapped his fingers.

The shadow at Seo Jeong-hwa’s feet stirred and transformed into a crow.

Flapping its wings, it landed on Il-hyeon’s forearm. The crow’s three red eyes stared at her as if to pierce right through her.