Chapter 30: The Cry of Birth Rate Recovery

[Translator – Aren]

The convoy of trucks carrying the wizard candidates headed towardSongpa-daero.

Among Seoul’s various outskirt areas, it was said to be one of the most thoroughly devastated areas. Even reinforced concrete buildings had been almost completely destroyed.

As a result, it was judged to have the lowest monster population and was selected as an entry route into Seoul.

The problem was that the fog inside Seoul was so dense that air support could barely operate there.

As the helicopter rotor noise we’d been hearing gradually faded away, the lead officer’s voice rang out.

"Don’t worry. We've already sent drones ahead for reconnaissance. They’ll report back.”

Whether that was true or not, I couldn’t say.

Still, before long, a sound reminiscent of giant hornets buzzing about could be heard from various points in the sky. At the very least, I figured he wasn’t lying. Because if those weren’t drones, then they were monsters that buzzed like hornets.

Silence settled over us.

The sound of coughing, the sound of people clearing their throats out of sheer nervousness. The quiet murmurs of prayer as each person clung to their own beliefs and faith.

Then Min Hyungjun, the deacon who led that Taeguk Jesus Brigade, looked toward us and gave a bitter smile.

"You’re Shin Nain, the one who believes in God, right?”

"Yes, Deacon.”

"Young people these days only come to church to meet girls. You don’t often see someone this devout. Most wouldn’t willingly come somewhere this horrible.”

"Not at all. Building a family is also God’s will. To be fruitful and multiply.”

"Hooh. Your faith really is something else, Shin Nain-ssi.”

At those words, the various middle-aged men and women in the Taeguk Jesus Brigade began whispering among themselves before joining the conversation.

"Nain-ssi, you’re quite handsome. Any interest in meeting my daughter?”

"Oh my~. Lucky you. If I’d had a daughter, I’d have introduced her to you myself!”

"Do you drink, Nain-ssi?”

This feeling…was familiar.

Back in college, there’d been that time a senior had desperately begged me to fill an empty seat at a group blind date because someone had canceled at the last minute. I’d ended up sitting in the corner of a drinking party, stuffing myself with appetizers the entire night. Only after getting home did I realize I’d never actually spoken to anyone. That was the type of memory that came rushing back to me.

Shin Nain seemed used to this kind of attention. He’d even taken off his gas mask and was happily chatting away, laughing and joking with the group. Meanwhile, Lee Sejun walked over and sat beside me with a sour expression.

"Jemin-ssi. Doesn’t Shin Nain kind of rub you the wrong way?”

"That’s hardly news.”

If someone annoys you for no particular reason, it just means you don’t like them.

Trying to invent some sort of reason afterward was something I considered cowardly. I, Baek Jemin, a man who could live a righteous life without laws if necessary, don’t stoop to making excuses for why I dislike someone.

Dressing up irrational emotions with clever-sounding justifications wasn’t something a real man should do.

I simply got one more reason why I disliked that obnoxious religious fanatic, Shin Nain.

"Sejun-ssi, when you already dislike someone, you’ll find any excuse to criticize them. If Shin Nain weren't talking with those church people right now, you’d probably be saying stuff like, ‘Look at that guy. Even church people don’t like him.’”

"...Jemin-ssi, your thoughts are a lot deeper than your appearance suggests.”

"That’s why you shouldn’t try to come up with cowardly little reasons. Just say it if you don’t like someone.”

"I-I actually don’t really like you, Jemin-ssi.”

See? A person’s impression really is terrifying. He had absolutely no valid reason to dislike me.

I decided to help Lee Sejun become a more rational and logical person.

-Smack!

"Agh! What the hell?! Why’d you suddenly hit me on the back like that?!”

"Now you have a reason to dislike me. From now on, let’s just say you hate me because I smack you on the back.”

"..."

In the end, it was true that the religious lunatic Shin Nain had made things easier between us and the Taeguk Jesus Brigade.

I’d assumed people who wore the Korean flag like a cape and covered it with crosses like that would be complete maniacs. Instead, when they chatted and fussed over things, they were just like the middle-aged church uncles and aunties you could find anywhere.

Though I did wonder whether it was really appropriate to be making small talk while we were pushing through this dense fog.

Then again, Lee Sejun and I, and probably the driver and the captain riding in the truck as well, understood the reason. The Taeguk Jesus Brigade was talking because they wanted to forget their fear and their tension.

The damp, cold fog carried a crushing humidity. It created the illusion that we were slowly sinking into a dark abyss beneath the ocean. It felt as though if you stopped breathing for even a moment, you’d simply blow a few bubbles and die right there.

I didn’t know what kind of experiences the people in the Taeguk Jesus Brigade had gone through.

Still, I doubted it was worse than what our Alteration-type trio had experienced beneath Suwon Station.

Of course, one thing couldn’t be denied. They had volunteered to come here. At the very least, their patriotism, or their faith, was probably genuine.

It was a funny thing, really.

Back when the world, or rather South Korea, was still normal, people like them only seemed ridiculous to me. All I could see were their flaws. But now that monsters had appeared, I found myself searching for their good qualities instead.

The truck stopped at that moment.

"Disembark! Visibility within the fog is under 100m. Let’s test it here.”

The captain climbed down, and the rest of us followed. The headlights of the armored vehicles and trucks at the front and rear illuminated drifting gray dust and ash suspended within the dense fog.

The soldiers maintained their distance while simultaneously guarding and monitoring the wizard candidates. Meanwhile, we and the Taeguk Jesus Brigade prepared to open our Magic Crash Course booklets.

"Same instructions as before. Open them. If you’re fine, report it.”

Even the captain’s speech had become extremely brief. It seemed he couldn’t force a smile anymore.

Everyone opened their booklets. Wizard candidates and actual wizards alike immediately started retching together in perfect harmony. I wasn’t any different. I tried once again to learn the 1st Stage of the Heart-branch, but the only thing I got was nausea.

"Ugh…Fuck…”

Looking back, we’d been charging ahead purely on instinct this whole time, without any proper theories.

Had we finally reached the point where learning magic was impossible without a real theory and objective? Did I seriously need to start believing that nonsense about 5x5 equaling 25 and 25 somehow becoming 7 when you added 2 and 5 together?

I endured the dizziness for several dozen seconds with my eyes closed.

When I finally opened them again and looked around, I had no choice but to acknowledge the relationship between fog density and magic success rate. At 200m visibility, every single person had been vomiting. At 100m, at least 6 people seemed perfectly fine.

The monk, the prisoner, the curly-haired middle-aged woman. An elderly man whose back was slightly bent. A sickly-looking middle-aged man. 

The captain spoke with them one by one, scribbled notes into his notebook, and nodded.

"At this point, I think we can head back. We’ll do a quick head count and…”

"Captain. One moment.”

A soldier wearing full chemical-protection gear and carrying a shotgun approached with his hand raised.

The captain and soldier stepped away from the group and talked quietly among themselves. Unfortunately for them, the kind of secrecy didn’t work on our Alteration-type trio.

Shin Nain might have been a religious fanatic, but he was an incredibly useful one. I jabbed him in the side with my elbow. Immediately, he began to quietly relay the conversation like a human radio.

"Apparently a few soldiers have gone missing.”

"Shouldn’t search and rescue be off the table right now?”

"And apparently a few Operator candidates have gone missing as well.”

That was a lot more serious.

Even from here, I could hear the convoy leader groaning like he had a migraine coming on. Losing a few soldiers was a loss the military could stomach.

Painful as it was, it was still better than getting everyone wiped out trying to save a handful of people.

The real problem was the Operators, the wizard candidates.

Maybe they hadn’t awakened any magic yet, but what if they had the position to become wizards? Besides, our Alteration-type trio already knew what happened when a wizard got eaten, or used for breeding, by those monsters.

The fates of Father Jeong Yonghwan and Bosal Geulmun were still burned into my memory.

The convoy leader looked like someone from the first blockade line. There was no way information about those unidentified species hadn’t been passed along to the frontline.

If a dead wizard could be reborn as an even stronger monster, then what were you supposed to do?

After a long moment of deliberation, the convoy leader checked his analog wristwatch and let out a sigh.

"10 minutes. No longer. We load every Operator candidate we can find, and the soldiers form a perimeter around the trucks and armored vehicles. We’ll wait 10 minutes for any stragglers to regroup. Everyone else, stay combat-ready."

At that point, our Alteration-type trio and the Taeguk Jesus Brigade joined the soldiers in guarding the convoy.

The Dogma-type magic Redemptive Conviction obviously improved the soldiers’ chances of survival, and the magic possessed by our trio was a huge asset as well.

Of course, Lee Sejun’s Heart-branch magic was kind of mediocre, but even that put him leagues above a normal soldier. 30 seconds or 30 minutes, whatever the duration was, the guy barely seemed to tire even under extreme stress. Give him decent gear and a strong enough mindset, and his endurance in combat would be absurd.

And maybe because the fog was this thick, the magical backlash was practically nonexistent.

When I activated Alteration-type Eyes-branch magic, Stage 1, my 10-second foresight, the only side effect was a faint strain behind my eyes. Like waking up after a mediocre night’s sleep but still feeling somewhat refreshed.

The range expanded too. As the fog shifted, I could vaguely make out red footprints far beyond the concrete ruins. The tracks were nearly 500m away from us, but their owner was definitely wary of our presence.

The footprints vanished not long afterward.

"If it weren’t for the monsters, I’d seriously like to live here.”

"And what would you do about the mold?”

"Mold, huh? Didn’t think about that.”

Lee Sejun looked ridiculously energetic. Aside from the tension, he appeared to be in peak physical condition. He kept bouncing lightly on his feet, practically looking for ways to burn off the excess energy flooding through his body.

The one suffering most was Shin Nain.

He had his earbuds in, frowning deeply while rubbing at his ears so hard his earlobes had turned bright red. I’d never seen him struggle like this before.

"Hnngh…Lord…”

"Hey. Shin Nain. What the hell is wrong with that idiot?”

"Nain-ssi, can you see this? Want to study some Chinese characters?”

Lee Sejun outright held up his middle finger and waved it in front of Shin Nain’s face. Only after seeing Sejun’s highly educational body language representation of the character of mountain (山) did Shin Nain finally snap back to reality.

Sweat mixed with the moisture of the fog as it rolled down his face. He started north with exhausted eyes.

"There are still people alive out there. They’re all calling for God. Some of them are angry. They’re cursing the government and the military, wondering why they were abandoned here.”

"...”

"What’s even worse is I can hear a baby crying nearby.”

"Probably one of those monster bastards.”

I said it flatly, extending my index finger along the trigger guard of my rifle.

But Shin Nain still looked pale as a ghost as he let out a faint sigh.

"I can’t tell. It really sounds like a baby. I can’t hear anything except desperate cries begging to live…”

After saying that, Shin Nain slipped right back into devout believer mode.

Tears streamed down his face as he muttered some sort of prayer under his breath. From what little I caught, it sounded like some bizarre gibberish, like hocus-pocus, abracadabra, or whatever, so I decided not to bother deciphering it. Maybe I’d run it through an AI translator later.

Lee Sejun, however, wasn’t nearly as composed as I was.

He swallowed hard before slowly opening his mouth.

"Jemin-ssi. If a baby appears right in front of us, are we supposed to treat it like a monster and shoot it?”

Some people would’ve called that an impossible question and dodged it.

I, fortunately, already had an answer.

"Sejun-ssi, it probably won’t look anything like the babies we know. Think about the monsters we’ve seen so far. Amalgams. Predator Spines. Every monster we’ve run into. They aren’t exactly cute, cuddly creatures you’d want to raise as a pet instead of a cat.”

"True, but..."

"They’re considerate like that. The second you see one, it gives you a million reasons to hate it. Saves you the trouble of coming up with excuses yourself.”

If there was one flaw in their kindness, it was that every encounter made me want to piss myself and crap my pants. 

We continued standing guard, each of us occupied with our own thoughts, questions, and answers. That was when it happened.

-Screeeeech—

A sound like microphone feedback before a public announcement blasted across the entire convoy. The wizard candidates chatting quietly atop the trucks. The soldiers nervously scanning the surroundings, The Taekguk Jesus Brigade. Even us Supreme Archmages. Every single one of us froze.

-Chrrrrk…Bzzzt…

Static leaked from the handheld radios worn by the soldiers and convoy leaders.

Just in case, I activated Alteration-type Eyes-branch, Stage 1, and swept the area, but there wasn’t a single red footprint around. It wasn’t an ambush.

Though it definitely felt quite ominous.

Before long, the ringing noise faded. In its place, voices crackled through the radios.

The first thing we heard was a baby’s cry.

[Waaah…Waaaaah…]

The moment I heard it, I pictured a tiny infant flailing its little arms and legs, tears welling in its eyes. A primal instinct surged through me to protect the baby.

The second voices belonged to the missing soldiers and wizard candidates.

[This is Sergeant Kim… Following the testimony of the candidates who awakened the Ears-branch, we’ve located what appears to be a genuine survivor inside what used to be a hospital. It’s a baby… it looks like a group of refugees trying to escape somehow managed to hide it…]

[It’s a baby. It’s crying because it wants to live. God, a baby, in a place like this…]

Some people might have called this a miracle.

A final spark of hope left behind by people who braved terror itself to protect a tiny life amidst the dense fog and endless monsters of Seoul. A pure innocent existence surviving countless sacrifices and desperate choices, finally making contact with the outside world. The thought alone was enough to move people.

The Taeguk Jesus Brigade certainly seemed moved. The instant they overheard the transmission, they began praying.

And unlike their usual demeanor, there was nothing goofy or theatrical about them now. Their expressions were solemn, reverent, and serious. They hadn’t volunteered to come to Seoul for nothing. Not even the ridiculous flag-capes could make them look foolish at a moment like this.

"O Lord, only now do we understand why You led us here today. The One who descended into the darkest and lowest places, the One who would have us save the child left behind in the most twisted, terrible corner of this world…”

But not everyone was getting goosebumps from religious awe or humanitarian sentiment. Some of us were getting goosebumps for a completely different reason.

Namely me, Baek Jemin.

A baby survived in this nightmarish hell?

Was that even possible? Statistically speaking, I guess it could happen. Even if the heartwarming story were true, even if a group of refugees had put aside their own selfishness and sacrificed themselves to save a single infant, that still didn’t solve the real problem.

Was a human life really worth that kind of miracle anymore?

At that moment, the convoy captain snatched up the radio without the slightest bit of hesitation and shouted into it.

"Hey. Sergeant Kim. You dumb idiot! That thing is a monster. Leave it and get out of there!”

[Captain… Are we really not allowed to save even one baby?]

"Hey…Heyheyhey! Did you forget the engagement rules? Get out! Move your ass out of there!”

The transmission cut off.

The other side had clearly disconnected first. Insubordination. I never thought I’d see that in a place like this. The captain couldn’t hide his shock. He paced back and forth, repeatedly checking the analog watch on his wrist.

"10 minutes…10 minutes…”

A moment later, he appeared to be contacting headquarters over the radio.

The soldiers, the candidates riding in the trucks, the wizards, and every single one of us stayed silent, waiting for his decision. Eventually, he made up his mind and walked over.

"Anomalous activity consistent with an unidentified species had been confirmed within fog visibility range of 100m. In accordance with Engagement rule 5, intelligence gathering within the fog takes top priority, we’re shifting to a rapid reconnaissance mission for approximately 30 minutes.”

Unindientifed species.

Apparently, the only people who truly understood the weight of those words were us Supreme Archmages. The Taeguk Jesus Brigade remained resolute, their eyes unwavering. If the captain had suggested retreating, they looked ready to argue him into staying.

Our side reacted differently. We had enough experience with unidentified species to imagine just how grotesque and horrifying they could be.

Forget magic, this meant meeting a completely new enemy.

And the mission parameters weren’t exactly comforting either.

"We can spare one armored vehicle to support the Operators. More than that isn’t possible. We still have to protect the transport convoy. The drone command center just got back to us. There’s a building nearby that used to be an internal medicine clinic. High chance that’s where they are.”

"Is reconnaissance within 30 minutes really possible?”

"You Operators can use Localized Invasive Structural Alteration phenomena, right? If you can learn something from outside, do that. If you have to go inside, sweep it fast. If you find Sergeant Kim, his squad, or the wizard candidates dead, pull out immediately. We’re not even asking you to burn the bodies. If you identify the species, great. If you think survival’s unlikely, just run.”

He then called over a few soldiers.

I wondered what was going on until they started collecting grenades from their gear and handing them out to us.

"Apparently civilian Operators have to spend these MPC things to buy grenades. Take them. Whether you use them on a monster or on yourselves, they’ll probably come in handy.”

"Captain, we’re Christians. We don’t commit suicide. Even if it means dying while fighting.”

As Deacon Min Hyungjun accepted the grenade, he answered firmly. The captain quietly averted his gaze and muttered under his breath.

"Honestly, you’d probably be better off killing yourself."

* * *

February 29, 2028, 2:45 PM.

After being crammed into a tiny armored vehicle like sardines in a can, we finally managed to crawl back out.

This must’ve been how Father Jeong Yonghwan and Han Myungwoon felt when they got all cozy with an Amalgam.

The moment we piled out, the operation started before I even had a chance to scratch my stiff, aching body.

The convoy had stopped near Jangja Bridge, and it had taken about 4 minutes to reach the clinic nearby. That left us with roughly 26 minutes.

Just as I was looking around wondering what the hell anyone could accomplish in 26 minutes, the buzzing of hornets echoed overhead.

At the same time, the radio the captain had given me, currently stuffed into my chest pocket, emitted crackling static.

[Drone commencing perimeter reconnaissance. No abnormalities detected. Requesting local confirmation on your end.]

That was when I finally learned what kind of magic the Taeguk Jesus Brigade possessed.

Among their 6 members, 4 men and 2 women, Deacon Min Hyungjun and one of the ladies were Alteration-type wizards. The rest were probably Dogma-type wizards. Deacon Min was of the Heart-branch, while the lady had the Eyes-branch, though both seemed to have awakened slightly different variants.

Deacon Min Hyungjun swung his mop handle around like a staff with surprising skill. The force behind it was strong enough that the surrounding fog seemed to recoil slightly.

“Hmph, all clear."

Was he seriously some kind of melee strength-build wizard?

The sharp-eyed woman frowned and clicked her tongue.

"This place feels nasty. Everything’s red. Definitely dangerous.”

Only then did I start to understand how the Taeguk Jesus Brigade was organized.

Deacon Min Hyungjun and the sharp-eyed lady handled the actual combat and threat detection as Alteration-type wizards, while the other four supported them with the Dogma-type magic Redemptive Conviction.

Honestly, they were way more professional than I’d expected.

Or maybe the military had whipped them into shape.

I quietly turned toward Lee Sejun.

"Jemin-ssi, that look in your eyes is making me uncomfortable.”

This ordinary-mortal bastard.

As the spiritual pillar of the Supreme Archmages, I couldn’t tolerate Lee Sejun lagging behind. I was just resolving to help him level up when I noticed Shin Nain had removed one earbud and was already putting his gas mask back on.

"You figured out what those Taeguk Jesus people can do?”

"The Taeguk Jesus people?...Aah. You mean the members of The Eastern Scholarly Brigade of the Taegeuk Jesus Advent.”

Both Lee Sejun and I put our gas masks on while listening to Shin Nain’s analysis.

This fanatical mind-reader might’ve been insufferable, but there was no denying how useful he was.

"Deacon Min Hyungjun’s ability is temporary physical enhancement. Sister Jeong’s is danger detection.”

"Can Sister Jeong see the future like I do?”

"Not exactly. It’s more like…she can identify dangerous areas without knowing exactly what’s causing the danger. She never mentioned anything about seeing ahead in time.”

That gave me a rough idea.

At this point, it was practically confirmed that nobody was using their magic at 100% efficiency. Father Jeong Yonghwan’s theory had been surprisingly convincing. The manifestation depended on personal aptitude.

I could see 10 seconds into the future. Father Jeong Yonghwan could detect heat. That Sister Jeong woman could identify dangerous areas. If someone unlocked the Eyes-branch at full power, maybe they’d be capable of all three abilities at once. Maybe the differences weren’t because the magic itself changed, but because people interpreted and expressed it through their own worldview and talents.

Unfortunately, the situation wasn’t about to let me keep racking my slow brain about this matter.

With some regret, I pulled on my gas mask, raised the hood of my poncho, checked my rifle, and thumbed the handle of my bayonet. Then I handed an extra grenade to Lee Sejun.

"Here. Take another one, our designated grenadier.”

"You're really treating me like a human catapult.”

Honestly, Lee Sejun should’ve thanked me for helping him discover his true calling as a human catapult.

And in a situation like this, the most useful person was still Shin Nain.

Shin Nain stood silently, listening for a moment. Then he spoke in a voice so startled it practically cracked.

"There are more babies crying.”

"What?"

"I can’t hear the soldiers anymore. Or the other wizard candidates. All I can hear are babies crying.”

At Shin Nain’s words, not only our Alteration-type trio but even the Taeguk Jesus Brigade froze in confusion.

More babies?

I checked the straps on my gas mask one more time and let out a dry laugh.

"Well, looks like we finally found the secret to fixing the low birth rate crisis. Let’s move.”

Madness against madness. Absurdity against absurdity.

We shall enter hell before it encroaches upon us. 

We took the first step before even the Taeguk Jesus Brigade could.

Finishing up in 30 minutes?

Piece of cake.

"Jemin-ssi, aren’t you just addicted to dopamine at this point?"

"A true professional finds entertainment anywhere. If you can't avoid it, learn to enjoy it. Isn't that the spirit of the Korean military?”

"Bullshit..."

Together with the unusually quiet Shin Nain, we entered the massive concrete tomb that had once been a hospital.

-Huuff, huuuff—.

Into a place where the sound of our own breathing through the gas masks echoed back from the darkness.