Chapter 91 – The War Begins (Part Five)

“Gasp! Gasp!”

A scrawny man ran down a dark alley, panting for breath.

It was the middle of winter, yet he wore only jeans and a white t-shirt, completely unsuited for the season, and was drenched in sweat.

He was running so frantically that he knocked over a trash can, splattering red liquid on his clothes, but he paid it no mind and kept going.

“Damn it! How did they know!”

The man shouted in frustration.

He was one of the terrorists involved in the recent attack. After successfully blowing up the hospital, he and his comrades had scattered, melting back into society.

As it was a meticulously planned operation, they had taken into account the locations and angles of surveillance cameras throughout the streets, and their routes had been perfectly planned to avoid leaving a trail.

The cameras inside the hospital were gone along with the building, so there was no way those incompetent fools, who hadn’t even seen this coming, could find him.

But somehow, the government’s dogs had managed to track him down.

*Swish!*

Gritting his teeth, the running man slipped through the half-broken back door of an abandoned building in the alley.

He intended to climb through a wide-open window on the other side and quickly took another step.

But in that moment, someone tripped him. The man lost his balance, fell forward, and skidded across the floor.

“Kuh!”

Covered in the filthy dust of the old floor, the man scrambled back to his feet.

But the man who had been chasing him had already come through the back door.

Looking up, he saw the short-haired woman who had tripped him leaning casually against a wall.

He was completely cornered by two Awakened wearing black coats.

The scrawny man gave up on running, and his left arm turned red.

*Fwip!* He lunged forward, throwing a punch at the woman who was closer.

But his fist only punched through the wall; the woman had dodged the attack with a slight tilt of her head.

*Thwack!*

“Keok!”

Kneed in the stomach, the scrawny man fell backward ungracefully. This time, the approaching man’s foot stomped on his red arm.

“Haaargh!”

“Stay still. Don’t waste your energy.”

The man said, grinding his foot into the terrorist’s arm.

He stomped so hard it felt like his arm would be torn off.

The man writhed in agony, but the man in the black coat paid him no mind.

“Are these arms mass-produced in a factory or something? Why are there so many of them?”

“Damn it… How did you find me?”

“Why so curious? You’re going to die soon anyway.”

The man sneered, bent his knees slightly, and patted the fallen man’s cheek.

The scrawny man, helpless and now being mocked, seethed with rage.

“You son of a bitch… Gurgle.”

But as he tried to curse, thick blood poured from his mouth.

The blood flowed faster and faster, accompanied by a violent seizure that shook his entire body.

“Oh, already? Quick to make a choice.”

The man in the black coat seemed amused, impressed by the terrorist’s quick decision.

The woman, on the other hand, seemed to disapprove of his attitude and chided him.

“You have a sick sense of humor. Do you always have to be like that?”

“They’re crazy terrorists, so what? They’re the type who won’t repent even in death.”

“True, but it’s not a pleasant sight.”

The two Awakened, who worked for the South Korean government, ignored the convulsing man and each put a cigarette in their mouth.

He was clearly in immense pain, but naturally, neither of them felt any sympathy.

The man lifted the foot that had been crushing the arm, straightened his posture, and took out a lighter to light his cigarette.

But it seemed to be broken; it just clicked without producing a flame.

“Ah, this thing’s already busted. Got a light?”

The man said, clicking his tongue.

The short-haired woman then pulled a silver Zippo lighter from her coat, and with a *ting*, a small flame appeared.

“Thanks.”

As the man leaned in with a sly grin, the woman smirked and lit her own cigarette.

“*Phew.* Anyway, we should be out in the field at this hour, not cleaning up messes like this.”

The man said discontentedly, exhaling smoke.

He was desperate to rack up achievements against monsters in the field as quickly as possible to get promoted to the Response Team.

When people thought of the Awakened organization under the Korean government, they usually thought of the Response Team, but only a select few could join.

Of course, there were tens of times more Awakened working for the government who weren’t part of the Response Team, and these two were among them.

The value of an Awakened corporation depends on the level of its members. Therefore, to protect their Awakened, they only need to select and clear Gates that match their abilities from among those appearing worldwide.

The government, however, had countless other tasks to handle.

The level of Gates they directly managed varied, and there were also non-Gate related duties, so it was natural for the government’s Awakened to have a wide range of skill levels.

The two here were C-rank Awakened. While not skilled enough to be in the Response Team, they were recognized for their abilities in their own right.

“You’re so impatient.”

The woman chuckled at his frustrated comment.

“You’re not interested in that side of things?”

“I’m happy with my life right now. I make a ton of money, I’m treated well, and it suits my aptitude.”

“You have no ambition…”

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, a large shadow fell over them from behind.

Having felt no presence, the two naturally turned their gaze backward and saw a foreign man and woman standing there.

The man, with a white hood pulled low over his face, was so large that even they, as Awakened, felt intimidated.

“What the—!”

Startled, the two spun around, simultaneously drawing swords from their waists.

They instinctively knew this wasn’t an opponent they could handle bare-handed.

But they were already a step too late.

*CRACK!* With a heavy sound, both were sent flying. They crashed through a wall and rolled across the floor on the other side.

Thanks to their Defensive Coats, the physical damage was significantly reduced, allowing them to get back up immediately without losing consciousness.

But the impact must have been severe, as their coats flickered erratically with static before shutting down completely.

“Damn it. Who are these guys?”

The man clutched his stinging left chest and stared ahead.

In stark contrast to their own black coats, the newcomers wore unfamiliar, pure white Defensive Coats and hoods.

As far as they knew, no one used that type of coat, and no one produced them in any design other than black.

The Defensive Coat, a symbol of the Awakened, wasn’t made in a wide variety of designs.

This was due to concerns that it could cause confusion in distinguishing between Awakened and ordinary people. As a result, Defensive Coats had been produced with minimal variation in color and design.

During the brief standoff, a small steel ball rolled across the floor.

It was a small ball the man had dropped in the brief moment he was sent flying by the surprise attack.

*KABOOM!*

A blinding flash was followed by a powerful, albeit small-scale, explosion.

It was the man’s Ability, optimized for surprise attacks. He had aimed it not at the large, tough-looking brute, but at the woman with blonde hair peeking out from her hood.

But when the flash faded, the woman in the white coat was unharmed, her body translucent.

“Gh… Ghost…?”

“Oh, my. It’s insulting to be compared to someone like that.”

An Ability that seemed to be the same type as that of Aegis’s Awakened, Ghost.

But the blonde woman, seemingly offended, instantly closed the distance and slammed the man roughly against the wall.

“Kuh! Impossible!”

Pinned helplessly against the wall, he cried out in disbelief.

Amazingly, the woman had pushed him while still using her Ability.

The struggling man’s hands couldn’t grasp her at all, yet she was exerting physical force on him.

It was even more advanced than Ghost’s Ability.

Moreover, the other fight was already over.

The female government Awakened had already been thoroughly beaten by the brute; both her legs were broken, forcing her to her knees.

“Kuh… Haha, so you’re a mutant freak?”

The man said, having seen the unidentified brute’s face under his hood.

His face was covered in rough, hard skin that resembled reptilian scales—not something that could be called human.

Mutant.

A term for those who undergo external changes as a side effect of their Ability or as the Ability itself upon Awakening. They usually had alien and grotesque appearances.

Even among the Awakened, who possessed power, the perception of Mutants was poor. The very word “mutant” carried a derogatory, discriminatory connotation. And such words were perfect for provoking his savage temper.

As the brute strode toward him, the woman holding the man stepped aside.

“Don’t kill him right away. You know?”

“Hmph.”

The Mutant snorted and immediately grabbed the man’s throat.

As he began to squeeze harder, veins bulged on the man’s reddening neck, and a cracking sound began to emerge.

“Guuhh… Monsters like you should have been cleaned up long ago…! Gack!”

The male government Awakened spat out the words, gasping for breath.

In response, the Mutant’s muscles, covered in hard skin, rippled as he squeezed even harder.

“So much chatter. The list?”

“Hold on…”

The woman in the white coat, still translucent, took out her phone and scrolled rapidly through it.

Scrolling through a screen filled with photos, names, and other information, the woman found a picture on the list and spoke.

“Found him.”

*CRACK!*

The Mutant acted the instant her words were out.

The neck of the man, who had been struggling in his grip, snapped in one motion, and his legs went limp.

“Good.”

He tossed the corpse into a corner.

Then, their gazes turned to the female Awakened kneeling on the floor.

“Now, for this one…”

“W-Wait… Please spare me. Please…”

The woman begged, tears streaming down her face.

It was hard to accept that her colleague, with whom she had been working just moments ago, had been killed so easily, his neck snapped.

She had been dirt poor, and only after becoming Awakened had she finally been able to breathe. It hadn’t been long since her life had become bearable. Besides, she was the only one who could take care of her younger sibling.

But the two standing before her were not the kind to be swayed by pleas.

“Sorry, sweetie. Your name’s on the list.”

*CRACK!*

Her neck snapped cleanly, and the lifeless body slumped to the side.

Two government Awakened, whose skills were by no means insignificant, had lost their lives without being able to put up a proper fight.

But the two in white Defensive Coats seemed unfazed as they quickly scanned their surroundings.

On one side of the floor, the scrawny man who had been caught by the government agents was still gasping, not yet dead.

They looked down at the man writhing on the floor, coughing up blood, as if he were an insect.

*SQUELCH!*

“Disgusting, every last one of them.”

The Mutant, who had crushed him underfoot like trash, turned the corpse over and searched its pockets.

In his hand, pulled from the pocket, were black bombs of the same type used in the recent indiscriminate terrorist attack.

They looked almost identical, except they were much smaller.

“Good. The merchandise is safe. Don’t mess up next time, Kreger.”

“Hmph.”

Leaving only the three corpses behind, they casually exited the building.