Chapter 79

Escape

Just before departure, we used the map Hamza had brought to roughly establish an escape route.

Using his doctrinal magic, [Angel's Intuition], Hamza distinguished between dangerous and safe paths, while Goryeoha marked danger zones on the map with a pen.

As a result, our first destination would be Gwangnaru Station on Seoul Subway Line 5.

"If we head straight for the riverside, we'd get too close to the monster at Lotte Tower because of Jamsil Bridge. I think it's safer to detour this way and reach the river from there."

Hamza frowned and let out a heavy sigh.

Watching him with curious eyes, Goryeoha spoke up.

"Islamic doctrinal magic is convenient, isn't it? It seems incredibly useful."

"There aren't any Islamic doctrinal mages inside Seoul?"

"Doctrinal mages usually get hunted. I simply assumed there would be some Islamic ones."

"I see. That's an easy explanation to understand."

Her answer made perfect sense.

No forced logic, no complicated reasoning.

The moment she casually mentioned that mages hunted other mages, everything suddenly became crystal clear.

Sure.

That could happen.

It was then that Hamza stared at Goryeoha in utter disbelief.

"Hunted? Doctrinal mages get hunted?"

"Yes. Hmm. Various objects created through shamanic magic are classified as artifacts, and even the remains of alteration-type mages that contain magical power are categorized as artifacts. When a doctrinal mage dies, however, a holy relic is created instead. After death, their power settles into the object most closely associated with that doctrine."

"Oh ho."

As Goryeoha proudly explained with her eyes closed and chest puffed out, I couldn't help listening with sparkling eyes.

So after all the trouble of killing someone, you even got loot as compensation?

As someone from the provinces, I felt a lot of the resentment I'd always carried toward Seoul melting away.

Seoul.

What a warm and generous city.

Now I finally understood why people said that anyone seeking achievement should come to Seoul.

Hamza, however, seemed to feel differently.

Hic!

The other members of Supreme Mages also frowned as if this revelation had completely caught them off guard.

Among them, the reactions of Pastor Park and Shin Nain—the Evangelical Duo—were by far the strongest.

"If killing doctrinal mages creates holy relics, then people hunt doctrinal mages for them? Good grief."

"These servants of the devil...!"

The pastor removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

Meanwhile, Shin Nain merely chewed on her lower lip, her eyes bloodshot.

"Shin Nain, don't people usually grit their teeth when they're this angry?"

"Dental health doesn't come back once it's gone, Mr. Jemin."

Even in a state of maximum rage, she still worried about dental hygiene.

Crossing her arms, Shin Nain glared at Goryeoha as though she wanted to kill her before clicking her tongue and turning back to the map.

"We'll discuss doctrinal mages and holy relics later. It's an unpleasant and important topic, which means we need to focus properly when we discuss it. Escaping comes first."

"Hmm..."

Personally, I wanted to hear more about doctrinal mages and holy relics.

Unfortunately, judging by everyone else's reactions, that wasn't happening.

Even Lee Sejun had abandoned his usual TS nonsense and looked unusually serious.

Placing a finger on the map, he traced a route from Konkuk University's New Engineering Building to Gwangnaru Station, then to the riverside, and finally toward the outskirts of Guri.

Then he spoke.

"Before we leave, we should try contacting the military again. We need to know whether there's transportation waiting for us or if the goal is simply to reach the blockade line on foot. Even with Goryeoha joining us and our ammunition replenished, this is still dangerous. I'm also worried that moving entirely on foot will expose us to other survivor groups."

After lowering his hand, Lee Sejun looked around at the rest of us.

Regardless of his inferiority complex and ugly personality, he really did sound like someone who had once considered making a career out of the military in order to repay what he felt he owed the country as a welfare recipient.

His point was surprisingly reasonable.

"When the supplies arrived, all those loud aircraft and gunfire echoed through the city. Considering how limited firepower is inside Seoul right now, firearms and ammunition are practically strategic resources. If someone could steal them, their combat power would increase dramatically. Especially in Korea, where a lot of men at least know the basics of handling firearms. Even civilians could become meaningful fighting forces. And if Seoul's mages got their hands on weapons, their strength would increase tremendously."

His explanation was somewhat disorganized, but the core message was simple.

The survivors inside Seoul were already desperate.

They had nothing left to lose.

If they noticed supplies being air-dropped, they might be willing to gamble everything.

Who could honestly guarantee that nobody would choose "risk dying in a gunfight" over "sit back and do nothing"?

It was a convincing argument.

If surviving Seoul mages risked their lives to seize our guns and ammunition, even we would suffer losses.

Lee Sejun wanted to avoid traveling entirely on foot for that reason.

For once, the pastor seemed to agree.

"Sejun's got a point. Let's make one more radio call this morning before we head out."

After the decision was made, we hurriedly finished our preparations.

Everyone packed their bags.

The ammunition cans were redistributed.

Each person took four fully loaded magazines.

Meanwhile, Goryeoha hummed cheerfully as she packed necessities, spare clothes, and several bizarre ritual tools into her backpack.

Then she stood up and looked at us.

"I'm going to say goodbye to everyone. You won't leave without me, right?"

"Sure. Try not to upset them too much. Ah, seeing you like this really feels like looking at my daughter."

While the pastor continued embarrassing himself, Lee Sejun and I headed up to the tenth-floor rooftop to make one final radio call.

Since several hours had passed since the artillery strike, interference was minimal.

The enchantment I had placed on the radio with Stage Two Hand Magic, [Blood of the Left Hand], still remained active.

The 999K.

A tin-can radio barely one step removed from scrap metal.

Yet after I enchanted it, the thing worked as smoothly as an old landline telephone.

As a result, communication with the blockade line went perfectly.

"Seongnam, this is Geonguk. Confirm transmission quality. Over."

[Geonguk, this is Seongnam. Copy. Transmission quality three-three. Good. What's the situation?]

"This is Geonguk. Will the evacuation proceed on foot?"

Beep—

For some reason, the response tone sounded unusually pleasant.

[This is Seongnam. Plans and resources for evacuating civilian operators have already been prepared since our last communication. Do not leave the Han River shoreline. Focus on the sound. We pray for your safe return. Over.]

Click.

Lee Sejun and I picked up the 999K and exchanged glances.

"The army bastards sound pretty confident."

"At least they're not telling us to walk in blind. Guess we'll find out."

After returning to the group, our final route planning was completed.

The members of Supreme Mages slung their backpacks over their shoulders and checked the seals on their gas masks one last time.

Hooo...

Hearing the distinctive breathing sounds through the masks, we watched Goryeoha pull up her black face covering.

Then we blinked.

"Miss Ryeoha. Is that mask really enough?"

"A gas mask would be safer."

Goryeoha widened her eyes before grinning.

She tightened a pair of gauntlets called Hwahusu, ritual tools created through shamanic magic that launched heated iron beads.

Then she smiled.

"The soldiers are walking around dressed like that while claiming to be civilians. Compared to them, I'm probably safer."

Something seemed to ignite.

This was the angriest I had ever seen Hamza since the pastor had once claimed India and Pakistan were basically the same thing.

"Mr. Jemin. Were you seriously planning to stop by the Guui-dong Cathedral and see if any doctrinal mage relics were left behind?"

"Well... maybe God from the cathedral might bless us or something..."

"We don't have time for that. And if you keep talking like that, the pastor and Shin Nain are genuinely going to hit you."

Tsk, tsk, tsk...

And so, the heavily armed civilians and one insane college girl finally emerged from the basement and stepped back into the damp fog.

Yet I couldn't shake an odd sense of regret.

Quietly adjusting my pace, I moved closer to Hamza and whispered so only he could hear.

"Hamza. There's apparently a cathedral in Guui-dong near our route. Want to stop by?"

Behind the lenses of his gas mask, Hamza's eyes burned with contempt, fury, disgust, and irritation.

I reluctantly accepted defeat.

I could already imagine exactly how our Evangelical Duo would react.

The problem wasn't that I wanted to farm relics from a dead doctrinal mage.

The problem was that even if I found some Catholic relic, they'd immediately ask what the hell I planned to do with it.

Sure enough, when I glanced sideways, Shin Nain was already glaring at me.

"Mr. Jemin. If you truly require the power of antichrists who call themselves successors of Peter while displaying inverted crosses, please let me know. I'll gladly provide a revised translation of the New Testament published by the Presbyterian Church of Korea."

"No thanks. Absolutely not. Keep it."

And so we left Konkuk University behind.

We slowly exited the campus and returned to the road.

As the fog thickened and visibility shrank to roughly fifty meters, we could determine our location only by reading nearby signs.

One sign, covered in muddy footprints, informed us where we were.

Near the boulevard in front of Children's Grand Park.

We had technically escaped Konkuk University.

Still, only a few dozen steps would take us back onto campus.

Now we had to move forward.

But before we could completely leave the university behind, everyone stopped.

There should have been six sets of footsteps.

Instead, there were only five.

Turning around, we saw Goryeoha standing motionless, staring back toward the campus hidden within the fog.

Contrary to expectations, she wasn't happy.

She seemed strangely subdued.

She repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fists.

Breathed deeply in and out.

And simply stood there as though she wished to sink into the mist itself.

Like a lone reef waiting to disappear beneath an incoming tide.

Pastor Park was the first to approach her.

Thanks to [Soteriological Certainty], he still couldn't fully comprehend even half of what had happened at Konkuk University.

Yet he understood that tragedy had occurred there.

And so he gently tried to comfort her.

"Miss Ryeoha. I understand how you feel. Those people lived and suffered alongside you. You've protected them all this time. Of course you're worried. But they're letting you go because they trust you. Come on. Let's go. Staying here will only make it harder."

"Pastor..."

Shin Nain seemed convinced that the professor from Nowon-gu had been almost entirely correct.

Unable to interrupt the pastor, she merely looked back and forth between him and Goryeoha.

Gone were the hymns she constantly hummed.

Gone was her usual smile.

Lee Sejun, meanwhile, maintained security as though none of this concerned him, his finger resting near the trigger.

Hamza simply watched in silence, unsure what to do.

Looking at everyone, I realized something.

If I stayed quiet, this could drag on forever.

Which meant it was time.

Time for Baek Jemin to step in.

"Master. Those people had their chance to challenge magic."

Click.

Resting the barrel of my customized AR-15 against my left palm, I continued.

"Even gods divide heaven and hell and do nothing more than offer opportunities. Don't act like a twenty-something college student should somehow have done more. Let's just go."

At the same time, I silently praised my own patience.

If I'd been on the red-pill version of myself, I would've yelled:

"Hey, you crazy bitch, you got them all killed and now you're getting sentimental?"

Instead, because I valued my life, I delivered the refined blue-pill version.

Whatever annoyance I felt toward ordinary non-mages, I absolutely wasn't willing to waste time indulging my master's emotions when we couldn't even stop by Guui-dong Cathedral for loot.

Perhaps my words had an effect.

A moment later, Goryeoha slowly turned around and looked at us.

A strange smile filled her eyes.

"Yeah. You're right. Ahaha... hahaha! Okay. I'll do as you say, Junior!"

Finally rejoining the group, she began walking energetically once again.

Watching her chatter cheerfully and pump her fists, even the pastor returned to his usual doting behavior.

Sure, Goryeoha was a ticking bomb.

But she was a ticking bomb that killed monsters exceptionally well.

A little enthusiasm was probably acceptable.

Step.

Step.

We walked along the damp, cracked asphalt road.

Leaving behind Seoul—the homeland and holy land of mages.

It was then that Shin Nain approached me and quietly muttered something.

"Mr. Jemin. Someday you'll regret not listening to me and not guiding Miss Goryeoha onto the path of repentance. Deep down, you already know it, don't you? That we've become the bomb disposal squad."

"I'm already regretting it, so shut up."

Strictly speaking, Goryeoha wasn't actually a member of Supreme Mages yet.

Supreme Mages consisted of me, Shin Nain, Lee Sejun, the pastor, and Hamza—five people.

Goryeoha was closer to a VIP.

Still, she felt less like someone we needed to protect and more like a combat asset that could be immediately deployed.

Like a hunting dog.

The moment Hamza sensed danger and raised his left hand in a signal, Shin Nain responded with an even simpler and more precise gesture.

Rather than speaking, she tapped her own neck with her index finger before extending her fingers to indicate both monster type and numbers.

Tap the forehead—Amalgam.

Tap the neck—the Spine Devourer.

There was no reason to make noise identifying common fodder monsters.

This time it was two Spine Devourers.

Normally, I would've widened my eyes and aimed my rifle immediately.

Instead, Goryeoha noticed the signal and abruptly stopped.

Then she began making strange hand gestures.

"Shh. If we fire guns, more will come. Just a moment."

She rolled metal beads between her fingers in a wave-like motion.

Now that I thought about it, she always seemed to carry several metal beads during expeditions.

The beads rolled through fingers wrapped in five-colored ritual threads, strange talismans, and blood-stained gloves.

Gradually, they began glowing red-hot.

The beads turned bright crimson.

Then, just as the sound of something tapping tile flooring with a thin cane echoed from beyond the fifty-meter visibility limit—

Goryeoha moved.

"Hwadeok Jingun. Fire, overcome metal. Go."

Bang!

The metal bead wasn't as fast as a bullet.

Still, it was hot and fast enough to disrupt the fog.

Through the parting mist, I saw fragments of shattered bone flying through the air.

But it was only a single shot.

A Spine Devourer—a creature that used human rib cages as legs—suddenly leapt from the fog and charged toward us.

A powerful gust of wind smashed into its face.

Whack!

Lee Sejun had struck it with the buttstock of his rifle.

Normally, the creature would've immediately retreated and searched for another opening.

Instead, it suddenly floated into the air.

Its ribs clattered together while its tail thrashed wildly.

It didn't help.

An invisible hand crushed its cervical spine.

Crunch!

Without an intact neck, the spine could no longer connect to the body.

The Spine Devourer split apart and crashed onto the asphalt.

What surprised me wasn't Goryeoha's polished combat techniques.

It was something else.

"Lee Sejun. Why are you stepping up?"

The other members of Supreme Mages seemed equally surprised.

Even Shin Nain, who normally stood beside Lee Sejun with her eyes closed while listening to hymns through her headset, was staring at him now.

Honestly, it was unexpected.

Given the ugly behavior he'd shown toward Goryeoha until now, I never would've anticipated this.

Lee Sejun tightened his grip on his rifle.

His expression suggested he didn't particularly want to be doing this.

Yet he spoke as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Sigh... Whether I like it or not, I'm still a man. If a man says he'll repay a debt, he repays it. Miss Ryeoha clearly knows things that could be important to the military. Even if the country's half-collapsed."

He shouldered his rifle again and aimed into the fog.

"You don't stop paying your debts just because the other side's struggling."

"A debt of loyalty?"

"The country gave to me. I give back to the country. That's all."

"Wow! Mr. Sejun, right? You're actually a really cool man!"

Even Goryeoha, who had been collecting her metal beads, stared at him with sparkling eyes.

Honestly, if you ignored his personal desires, Lee Sejun was exactly the type of soldier South Korea wanted.

Which made me wonder why human beings could never be purely admirable.

Hamza, Shin Nain, and I exchanged weary glances.

We all knew what kind of thoughts lurked beneath the surface.

The pastor clicked his tongue but still looked moved.

"Sejun just needs a little love. He's not rotten at the core. A kid like him ought to come to church."

"Pastor, don't go around guaranteeing people like that."

Not rotten at the core?

Was he serious?

Maybe the seed had been fine, but if the sprout grew in yellow and diseased, then something had clearly gone wrong.

The pastor seemed thoroughly pleased with Goryeoha's quiet monster extermination.

"Then let's leave suppression duties to Miss Ryeoha for now. The rest of us stay ready to use firearms and keep moving. If we can avoid gunshots, that's best, right?"

"Yes."

Goryeoha's addition to the team made our travel considerably safer.

Normally, a single gunshot would have drawn swarms of monsters.

Instead, her heated metal beads and thrown stones handled most encounters.

Even when situations looked like they might turn into close combat, I deliberately refrained from stepping in.

Partly because I wanted to observe how Goryeoha fought and learn everything I could.

Partly because I wanted to know exactly how to kill her if she ever went berserk under the influence of the Red Pill.

Thanks to that mindset, I learned a great deal about her combat style.

"Come."

First.

At regular intervals, Goryeoha activated Spirit Sight, deliberately provoking hidden monsters and drawing their hostility toward herself.

Since she wasn't an Eye Mage, she lacked natural detection abilities.

This was her brutal solution.

It also convinced me she possessed no artifact capable of aiding detection.

Meaning she had a weakness.

Ambushes.

No matter how physically powerful she became, she still possessed a heart.

A surprise attack that severed her leg or inflicted a fatal wound would significantly restrict her mobility.

"Hwadeok Jingun. Fire, overcome metal. Go."

Second.

Those red gloves she wore—Hwahusu—required preparation.

I called it preparation, but in reality it was a process of controlling internal fire energy and borrowing the power of spirits.

She heated the metal beads through fire energy and guided them using spiritual power.

That was likely why her accuracy seemed absurdly high.

During our journey toward the riverside near Gwangnaru Station, she launched fourteen metal beads or stones.

Every single shot hit.

Still, there were obvious limitations.

The Invisible Hand.

It was essentially a form of telekinesis.

At the same time, it seemed tied to her physical abilities rather than functioning like ordinary grip strength.

When she kicked a charging monster, it shattered.

When she noticed another attacking from the side, the Invisible Hand grabbed and crushed it.

Naturally, this ability also had weaknesses.

Like a real hand, its effectiveness dropped significantly outside her field of vision.

That's why, when monsters attacked from behind or from blind spots, she usually knocked them away instead of attempting a precise grab.

The creatures would suddenly tumble across the ground as though slapped by an invisible giant.

Overall, my conclusion was simple.

Goryeoha functioned as a vanguard.

Rather than relying on firearms, she used quieter methods.

Instead of bullets, she used stones and metal beads—resources that were easy to replenish.

Using Spirit Sight, she actively drew hidden enemies into battle rather than avoiding them.

A combat style perfectly adapted to surviving in Seoul.

A style born from Seoul itself.

If Lee Sejun was a conventional melee damage dealer, Goryeoha was more like an independent assault trooper.

By the time we reached the riverside near Gwangnaru and finally had a chance to rest, I shared my observations exclusively with Shin Nain, Lee Sejun, and Hamza.

Meanwhile, Goryeoha was busy enduring the pastor's endless praise.

The long preparation time behind her attacks meant that after every shot, close combat became inevitable.

Which raised an important question.

How exactly did she fight at close range?

"Ahaha, don't worry!"

Third.

Goryeoha was an alteration-type mage.

A dual-path mage.

Her enhanced physique from Stage Two Heart Magic combined with her status as a Stage Four Hand Mage made her naturally suited for close combat.

Even [Blood of the Right Hand] alone could inflict devastating damage upon monsters.

She was strong.

Fast.

And fully capable of simply beating monsters to death.

Yet the truly important factor seemed to lie beyond that.

Something associated with Hand Stage Two and beyond.

Possibly Stage Three.

Possibly Stage Four.

"So? What do you think of my judgment?"

"Mr. Jemin. For fuck's sake. You kept carrying your rifle slung over your shoulder because of that?"

"Hey now. If you're gathering intelligence, someone has to refrain from shooting."

Ignoring Lee Sejun's complaints, Hamza's grumbling, and Shin Nain's suspicious look, everyone seemed genuinely impressed.

"I'll give you points for not spending the entire trip freeloading."

"Says the person freeloading during guard duty."

"Mr. Jemin, that was truly worthy of Supreme Mages."

"See? Hamza understands."

I decided Hamza deserved one of the Spam cans I'd been secretly saving.

At that moment, Goryeoha and the pastor walked over from the riverbank.

They had apparently been chatting beside the gently flowing water.

"So we're just supposed to keep following the river?"

"That's basically all they told us."

"They're worried about other survivors listening in. Looks like the military knows their communications are being monitored too. Then let's enjoy a nice riverside stroll."

And so began the riverside walk of several heavily armed civilians and one insane college student.

Through the thick fog, the outlines of concrete bridges appeared as pale silhouettes.

Occasionally strange ripples disturbed the river's surface.

The weather was cool and damp.

As we walked quietly forward, everyone seemed lost in their own thoughts.

Escape.

When we entered Seoul, I'd been convinced at least one of us would die.

Yet somehow all of us had survived.

Considering everything we'd faced, it was practically a miracle.

Outside the city, people would probably look at us differently.

It was around then that Lee Sejun quietly spoke.

"There isn't a single Skin-Stripping Fly in sight."

"Looks like the Nowon-gu professor kept at least one promise."

"Mr. Jemin, two promises. Unless you've suddenly changed your mind about the second price he mentioned. You're not thinking Miss Ryeoha has some hidden circumstances or that there's more to the Konkuk survivor group than we know?"

"Shin Nain. Why are you thinking so small? If I claim I don't believe him, I can squeeze another answer out of him later. Besides, he might actually be lying."

Being an Evangelical fanatic, Shin Nain simply couldn't compete with me when it came to practical, worldly benefits.

Thus we continued chatting casually.

Occasionally we shot approaching monsters.

The whole thing almost felt like a healing nature walk.

Then—

Putter-putter-putter-putter...

It sounded like a cultivator.

In the middle of Seoul.

A city that looked more like a concrete graveyard than a place with farmland.

At first I thought I was finally losing my mind.

But no.

Beyond the dense fog, a massive light was approaching.

The fog distorted it.

Yet it never disappeared.

And it was moving across the water.

Then the military radio crackled.

Beep!

The blinking light suddenly switched off.

For the first time, shapes became visible beyond the fog.

"11:14. Found on the riverside trail along Gangbyeonbuk-ro. 11:14. Survivors located near Gangbyeonbuk-ro."

Three rubber boats.

Five soldiers.

Every one of them was fully equipped and visibly tense.

Pentagram necklaces, rosaries, prayer beads, and various charms hung from their gear in such quantities that they almost resembled chains.

The soldier holding the radio let out a short sigh and turned toward us.

"You're the civilian operators, correct?"

"How did you know?"

They had identified us instantly without any verification.

The soldier, his face smeared with camouflage paint, looked at us as though we were idiots.

"There are no confirmed survivor groups inside Seoul wearing military ponchos, combat uniforms, gas masks, and carrying firearms. Board one at a time!"