Chapter 83
Praise Me, Damn It!!!
The next time I opened my eyes, we were in front of Gwangju City Hall in Gyeonggi Province.
I knew because, when I cracked my eyes open, I could see a sign beyond the body of a woman blocking my view.
Still, my body felt heavy.
I hadn't woken naturally from a good sleep.
Someone had shaken my shoulder awake, and my eyelids felt impossibly heavy.
“Junior~. Wake up.”
Goryeoha.
She was probably bored.
I intended to ignore her completely.
No matter how important reproduction and sexual desire might be, sleep came first when you were tired.
But when someone grabbed my neck instead of my shoulder and started kneading it, there was no choice but to snap my eyes open.
Flash!
My mind became clearer than the time I'd been caught sleeping in middle-school class and beaten with a mop handle.
I looked around with wide-open eyes.
Goryeoha raised her right hand and wiggled it playfully like a cat.
“Squish squish.”
“Why'd you wake me up?”
“They said we need to switch vehicles.”
Blinking a few times, I finally looked around.
Sure enough, the other Supreme Mages who had been riding in the truck bed were standing below and looking up at me.
All of them were yawning.
Pastor Park Yohan let out a huge yawn and wiped tears from the corners of his eyes.
“Jemin. If you're awake, hurry up and get down. We need to rest too.”
Only then did Goryeoha and I climb down.
The only people remaining in the truck bed were the five Special Forces soldiers.
Their mission had been to infiltrate Seoul through the Han River and escort us.
Judging from their expressions, they were processing a variety of emotions after completing the mission with far fewer losses than expected.
Among them, the radio operator turned toward us and calmly saluted.
“Unity. Congratulations on your safe return.”
Apparently he was the team leader.
When he saluted, the others followed suit.
Though we weren't soldiers, we couldn't rudely reject a salute from such proud men.
The Supreme Mages responded with waves.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Clack.
Once the salutes ended, the Special Forces soldiers climbed back aboard.
The truck accelerated and departed.
I wasn't sure why they hadn't simply driven us straight to Suwon and instead dropped us off in Gwangju for a transfer.
Then again, this was South Korea.
Unless you were headed to Seoul, changing buses two or three times to reach a neighboring town was perfectly normal.
That was when Lee Sejun approached and immediately started complaining.
We'd just had a heartwarming farewell, yet somehow he'd already found something to grumble about.
“Mr. Jemin, why did you wave instead of saluting? Wasn't that the perfect moment for everyone to exchange salutes and shout ‘Unity!’ and ‘Loyalty!’?”
“Sejun. Reservists are civilians. They just answer mobilization orders. And we're actual civilians.”
“Legally, we're still military resources that can be mobilized at any time.”
“Sejun, by that logic, the first digit of your national ID number was determined the moment you were born and will never change.”
Lee Sejun immediately started yelling after getting baited.
I ignored him.
Thank goodness my Stage 1 Ear Magic penalty wasn't active right now.
The one who suffered was Shin Nain.
He frowned at Lee Sejun, put on his headset, turned up the volume, and began humming a hymn.
“There is nothing more precious than Lord Jesus...”
While this was happening, the pastor, Hamza, and Goryeoha approached us.
They'd intentionally kept their distance during the commotion and only came over after things calmed down.
“Pastor, are you embarrassed by us?”
“Mr. Jemin, you're not exactly the kind of person I'd want to associate with on a daily basis.”
“Whew... That's exactly why Jemin needs to come to church and be tempered. The Muslim isn't entirely wrong. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.”
“Pastor, really. And Mr. Muslim, don't be so hard on Junior either. You all seem so close. It's nice to see.”
Hamza replied.
The pastor coughed awkwardly.
Then Goryeoha cut in.
The moment I heard her words, overwhelming regret washed over me.
Close?
Who?
Surely she didn't mean me, Baek Jemin, and Lee Sejun—the lunatic.
Or Shin Nain—the fanatic who considered occupying a toilet for thirty minutes perfectly normal.
Surely she hadn't grouped me together with those two?
“Mr. Jemin...?”
“What's with that expression, Jemin?”
A man's pride is everything.
And right now, Goryeoha had inflicted a grievous wound upon mine.
Even I could feel it.
The way my gaze toward her turned ice cold.
This wasn't resentment.
Nor hatred.
It was something beyond either.
In my heart, I drew a line.
Seeing that, Goryeoha covered her mouth with one hand instead of pulling up her mask and giggled.
“Hehe... Junior. I promised I'd make you a wonderful charm with the ritual magic I learned, remember?”
“Hahaha! Even Master agrees, right? Me, Sejun, and Nain are pretty close.”
Even the legendary brotherhood of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei would pale before ours.
After all, if I ever found myself about to die, I'd make sure to shoot Shin Nain and Lee Sejun first so I wouldn't have any regrets.
That was when a military officer approached.
He came from the city hall building, accompanied by several soldiers.
His rank was captain.
Like the other officers we'd met, his name tag had been removed.
He appeared to be in his early to mid-thirties, with long eyelashes beneath thick-rimmed glasses.
“Civilian Operator Aphorism. Correct?”
“Yes.”
“We'll arrange transportation immediately, so please follow me. Thank you for your efforts escaping Seoul. You'll have about ten minutes. Take care of whatever personal business you need and be ready to board. Headquarters wants you sent to Suwon as quickly as possible, so unfortunately we can't provide an extended rest period.”
“One member of our group needs at least twenty minutes for bowel movements. What do we do?”
When I raised this serious concern, the bespectacled captain blinked and looked over our group.
His gaze settled on Goryeoha for an unusually long time.
I had no idea what kinds of assumptions had just flashed through his head.
But apparently he was worrying about something entirely different.
“The local survivor Aphorism rescued is that person, correct? And... if someone really needs over twenty minutes, our transportation schedule becomes problematic. If you miss the vehicle, you might have to wait another hour...”
“No. The person who takes twenty minutes isn't her. It's one of our teammates.”
“Then tell him to hold it. Or skip it for a day.”
The merciless firmness in his response reminded me that he was indeed a soldier responsible for maintaining the blockade.
Fortunately, Shin Nain seemed too absorbed in his hymns to hear the captain's remark.
At least, that's what I chose to believe.
Soon afterward, we were seated at tables and chairs inside Gwangju City Hall.
We also had time to visit the restroom.
I planned to take my time once we reached Suwon, so I only urinated and came back out.
Watching other people work while I sat comfortably in a chair was one of life's greatest pleasures.
The others hadn't returned yet.
That gave me an opportunity to observe how the military operated.
The city hall parking lot was packed with vehicles loaded with supplies.
Some were being repaired.
Others inspected.
Among the workers were people moving too slowly or fumbling with their tasks.
Most weren't soldiers.
They were civilian laborers.
They looked exhausted and irritable, like workers handling predawn freight shipments.
Naturally, being civilians didn't magically grant them the strength to carry heavy ammunition boxes.
Most were elderly men and women.
Others were middle-aged people visibly worn down by life.
Young workers were relatively rare.
The bespectacled captain supervised alongside soldiers, scribbling notes and quantities into a binder.
Then he seemed to notice me watching.
Turning around, he walked over.
“Aphorism. Sorry about earlier. Your transportation is secured. No need to worry.”
“I wasn't worried about that. I was just observing the military situation.”
At that moment, something unusual caught my eye.
Several armored vehicles were moving down a nearby road.
Above them buzzed swarms of quadcopter drones.
Noticing where I was looking, the captain sighed.
“We're just holding on.”
“We're civilian operators, right? Legally civilians, so we never got access to military information. We've basically been sitting in Suwon, then took one grand tour through Seoul and came back. We don't really know anything. How are you holding the line?”
I carefully concealed everything I'd learned about the Han River and asked the question.
After seeing the truth of the river, the question had only grown larger in my mind.
The First Blockade Line had been established with 150,000 troops.
That sounded like a lot.
But surrounding a city that once housed ten million people?
It wasn't nearly enough.
How had they succeeded?
From broadcasts intercepted by the Sixty-Six Martyrs, the military was estimated to have already suffered more than thirty thousand casualties.
Could the remaining 120,000 troops really hold back the horrors inside Seoul?
The captain seemed to understand exactly what I was asking.
He spun his pen several times, stared at me, and let out a long sigh.
“It's not exactly top-secret. And you've already gone into Seoul and come back.”
After convincing himself, he turned his head.
His gaze swept across the rows of military trucks, civilian trucks, ammunition crates, and artillery shells.
“We've locked down eastern Seoul around Namyangju and Geomdansan. You know how good drones are these days, right? Ever since those wars in Europe, everyone's been talking about them. Armed robots. Quadcopters. Things like that. We built drone factories here in Gyeonggi Province. Anything moving near mountains or rivers gets shot immediately.”
“Oh.”
“On top of that, the rules of engagement prohibit rescue operations. Anyone found in restricted zones gets killed on sight. Makes things easier. No hesitation required. The monsters learned that too. On the eastern side, they don't even bother mixing with refugee groups anymore because they know we'll kill everyone. They've adapted. Seongnam's different. They're still hesitating over there, so refugee groups sometimes reach the blockade itself. Completely insane if you ask me. At this point we should be killing everything that approaches.”
“Oh.”
Remembering the drones I'd seen around Olympic Park, I found myself strangely moved.
Ammunition shortages were a problem, but for detection and elimination, drones really seemed unbeatable.
No matter how absurd the monsters became, they still couldn't do much against bullets or suicide drones.
And when the policy was kill anything found inside the restricted zone, identification wasn't even a concern.
The bespectacled captain watched the exhausted men and women hauling boxes and ammunition.
Then, sounding almost as if he were venting, he continued.
“Those elderly folks aren't here because they failed to get through Gyeonggi's Second Blockade Line. This is their hometown, or they simply refused to abandon their homes. They're collecting military ration vouchers one by one so they can send supplies to family members stuck farther in the rear. But if we let refugees in because we feel sorry for them, and even a single monster hidden among them gets through, all those people die. The ones who keep talking about evacuating refugees without question are people who don't have to bear responsibility.”
As the other Supreme Mages gradually returned from the restroom and took their seats, the captain with the thick-rimmed glasses continued speaking in a heavy voice.
Around then, Hamza leaned close and whispered to me.
“Why's that soldier acting like this?”
“Probably has a lot bottled up. Let him talk. We might learn something too.”
“Look at them. People old enough to need canes are hauling boxes just to earn military vouchers. They're fighting over leftover ramen packets. Anyone who sees that and still insists we should've accepted refugees because it'd make them feel better are complete bastards. You've been inside Seoul. You know what's in there. Better than we do.”
At that moment, Goryeoha returned to her seat.
The captain turned around at the exact same time.
That wasn't a coincidence.
The timing was deliberate.
More than her appearance, he was staring at the fact that she was a local survivor from Seoul, regarding her with deep distrust and almost paranoid caution.
Goryeoha let out her usual laugh.
But this time her eyes weren't smiling.
Seeing that, the pastor and Hamza both flinched.
Lee Sejun merely crossed his arms and watched.
“I'm sorry things turned out this way.”
“Ahaha... You lock people inside, let them die, and that's what you say?”
“Whoa, whoa!”
This lunatic bomb called Goryeoha was about to detonate in the worst possible place.
I hurriedly stepped between them.
Raising both hands, I tried to mediate.
More importantly, there were things these two needed to do before glaring daggers at each other.
“Everyone stop right there. What exactly do you think you're doing?”
“Junior...?”
“Civilian Operator.”
“I don't think this is the time for us to argue about who's right and who's wrong.”
Right then, the final Supreme Mage returned from the restroom.
Shin Nain.
The man who had genuinely used the full twenty minutes.
Taking his seat, he looked between me, Goryeoha, and the captain.
Then he gave me a strange look.
Disdain.
Exasperation.
Resignation.
And finally—
Amusement.
“Mr. Jemin isn't entirely wrong.”
“I haven't even said anything yet.”
After responding to Shin Nain, I turned toward the frowning captain and the confused Goryeoha and delivered the most important point.
“Shouldn't the soldiers be praising our accomplishments, and shouldn't Master Goryeoha thank us for helping her escape first?”
You bastards.
The praise and flattery should come first.
***
The next transport vehicle was another two-and-a-half-ton military truck.
Apparently they simply didn't have enough vehicles available for large groups.
Still, one thing had changed.
The captain with the glasses had accepted that my argument was completely reasonable.
And, as an apology for the earlier unpleasantness, he took action.
Once all the Supreme Mages and Goryeoha climbed aboard, he snapped to attention and shouted,
“Company! Attention!”
Snap! Snap!
At his command, the soldiers lining both sides of the street outside city hall simultaneously straightened.
Watching them move in perfect unison stirred something in my chest.
Then the truck's engine started.
The vehicle rolled forward.
And somehow the emotion doubled.
Because the captain loudly explained exactly who we were to all the soldiers wondering why this spectacle was happening.
“Those currently aboard this vehicle are Civilian Operators Aphorism! On April 15th, they voluntarily joined the First Seoul Expedition! They successfully contacted local survivors and returned alive! They were neither forced nor coerced! Guided by their love for their country and people, and by their personal convictions, they fought alongside the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, overcame unimaginable conditions, and achieved complete survival and a safe return!”
Only then did the soldiers' gazes change.
The annoyed curiosity vanished.
In its place appeared something closer to awe.
All of us felt it.
The Supreme Mages.
And Goryeoha.
The pastor's lips twitched upward.
Hamza fidgeted with his turban.
Lee Sejun struggled not to grin.
Shin Nain openly smiled.
Only Goryeoha remained sitting with her arms crossed and eyes narrowed.
From the slowly moving truck, we could still hear the captain shouting behind us.
“Anyone who knows what Seoul has become understands exactly what these people accomplished!”
He was right.
The soldiers' attitudes transformed completely after hearing the explanation.
There couldn't have been more than forty soldiers lining the road.
But there were also civilians watching from the parking lot and nearby streets.
That was enough.
The soldiers stood rigidly at attention, waiting for their next command.
The silence became almost sacred.
Only the wind and distant birds could be heard.
Then the captain shouted one final order.
“Company! Salute!”
At that moment, I remembered the day the Army Chief of Staff inspected my old unit.
Back then we'd practically been ready to move mountains with shovels just to avoid getting in trouble.
The memory overlapped perfectly with the soldiers standing beside the road.
The difference was our mindset.
Back then, we'd performed perfectly because we didn't want to be criticized.
These soldiers were different.
Despite their different backgrounds, appearances, personalities, and lives, they moved as one.
Perhaps because the driver understood the moment, the truck intentionally crawled forward.
Giving us plenty of time to appreciate the salute.
We passed between rows of unmoving soldiers.
Then through crowds of civilians who had gathered like clouds.
Every one of us found ourselves smiling.
By the time we finally cleared the crowd and the truck began picking up speed, the Supreme Mages could no longer contain themselves.
“Haah! Did you see that?! Their formation was perfect! Even the president wouldn't get a reception like that!”
Lee Sejun was the first to become intoxicated by Supreme Mage prestige.
As expected of the man with the strongest desire for recognition, he laughed as if he'd downed a bowl of makgeolli.
“Whew... Sejun, arrogance is dangerous. People should always remain humble.”
Pastor Park tried to admonish him.
Meanwhile, his own grin had climbed all the way to his cheekbones.
The pastor was just as drunk on Supreme Mage prestige.
“This too must be the Lord's grace. Amen.”
Shin Nain clasped his hands together while smiling.
His headset now hung around his neck.
Apparently he'd removed it to listen to the captain's speech.
Yet amid all this self-congratulation, there was one person who remained objective.
“Mr. Jemin, I know the truth.”
Hamza.
As expected of an elite Pakistani medical student.
His insight was extraordinary.
“You were the most Supreme among all the Supreme Mages. The real best.”
Ahhh...
True emotion comes from simple words like that.
I unconsciously raised a finger and wagged it.
I tried to respond.
I truly did.
But after several moments of thought, I surrendered.
Faced with Hamza's intelligent and logical assessment, I couldn't think of a single counterargument.
“Hamza, you're right. Let's have a Spam party when we get back. Want some soju too?”
“Mr. Jemin. That's unnecessary.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Because we can simply be intoxicated by the fact that we're the Best of the Best.”
Kuuuuuuh...
Medical students really were different.
Their brains simply worked on another level.
As the scenery rolled past outside, I too became intoxicated with Supreme Mage prestige.
Naturally, my gaze drifted toward Goryeoha.
True to a Seoul mage who hated the military, she sat with her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed while watching the rest of us enjoy the soldiers' admiration.
Still.
Someone had to say it.
That someone was me.
“Master. Don't you have anything you'd like to say?”
“...Junior. I'm disappointed in you. You know how the military treated the people of Seoul.”
“I'm disappointed too. You wouldn't have escaped without us. I think there are certain things that should be said.”
“Didn't I already promise to make you a charm?”
“That was the condition for me not plotting opportunities to kill you.”
Praise us.
Acknowledge us.
Celebrate us.
We dragged you out of the hell called Seoul through unquestionably incredible achievements.
Show some gratitude!
I stared at her with all the burning intensity of that conviction.
Goryeoha raised an eyebrow.
Muttered to herself.
Then finally sighed.
“Well... I suppose that's true. If it hadn't been for you and the others, I probably wouldn't have found the courage to leave. Even if people were cheering for me.”
Ah.
Right.
She was still the lunatic who genuinely believed survivors remained at Konkuk University.
My enthusiasm immediately cooled.
Goryeoha ignored that and let out a small laugh.
“Thank you, everyone. For trusting a single transmission and coming all the way to Konkuk University.”
From farther away, Lee Sejun—pretending not to listen while clearly listening—coughed loudly.
“Ahem!”
The pastor was already grinning ear to ear.
Shin Nain frowned slightly.
“See? Even the way Ms. Ryeoha talks is lovely. I told you I have a good eye for people. She's definitely the type who lived kindly and received lots of love.”
“Pastor... honestly. Ms. Ryeoha, direct your gratitude to the pastor and to the Lord. We are merely His blades.”
As for me, I watched the retreating cityscape.
The men and women carrying boxes.
The children still playing despite everything.
The soldiers marching in formation.
Only then did I nod.
“Master. Next time, I'd appreciate it if you'd thank me before I have to ask.”
“Hehe. Junior, now that I think about it, you're kind of like a puppy.”
A chill ran up my spine.
I wisely chose silence.
Ignoring Goryeoha's teasing hum, I heard the pastor lower his voice.
“Baek Jemin. By the way, couldn't you be a little subtler when showing off? What you did wasn't bad exactly, but it was kind of embarrassing. Ever heard of nangjungjichu?”
“Of course. That's exactly why I showed off.”
Nangjungjichu.
The awl in the sack.
A beautiful proverb.
How could I not know it?
Shin Nain's expression changed into one reserved for hopeless idiots.
I didn't care.
That was far preferable to earning approval from someone like him.
And so we rode peacefully toward our next transfer point.
Already thinking about how we'd impress people there too.
Of course, I had a bad feeling about the state of Gyeonggi's Second Blockade Line.
Things might be far worse than we expected.
Which was precisely why I was the ideal man for the job.
Praise me.
Applaud me.
Stand there with your mouths hanging open.
The great mage Baek Jemin has no desire for ordinary non-mages to learn magic.
The role of ordinary people is simple:
Watch this incredible great mage perform miracles—
and cheer. Clap. Admire. That's all!