Chapter 85
Level-1 Classified Personnel
The bunker door opened, and stars poured out.
It was such an overwhelming meteor shower that, if I had still been a soldier, it might have stopped my heart.
Every single one of them had at least one star.
Captain Kim Ho-un, with his mere captain's diamonds among all those glittering stars, looked almost pitiful.
One thing worth noting was that every one of them had their faces covered—masks pulled up and sunglasses on.
Among them, the man wearing four stars vertically was the first to remove his mask and push up his sunglasses.
The four-star officer was a Western white man with graying blond hair and a rugged appearance.
The white old-timer glanced over our Supreme Mages, who couldn't properly sit down but also weren't sure whether they should stand, awkwardly hovering between the two. He snorted with amusement before looking at Captain Kim Ho-un.
"I told 'em - feed these folks and hose 'em down first, then bring 'em in."
So that was why Captain Kim Ho-un was here. He was the interpreter.
Captain Kim wore a troubled expression that reached all the way to his cheekbones before turning to us.
"Uh... the General says he should've fed you and let you wash up before meeting you."
At those words, all of us Supreme Mages exchanged glances.
For someone they called a General, his expression was surprisingly playful, and he seemed much more easygoing than expected.
This was where Shin Na-in's Ear Magic truly shined.
Unlike Captain Kim, who was struggling to interpret, Shin Na-in seemed to have grasped the meaning directly and added an explanation.
"He says one blast from a fire hose would've been enough."
"Captain Kim. Sounds like that man just preserved the dignity of an American General."
Pastor Park Yo-han nodded with a warm smile.
At that moment, Captain Kim slightly furrowed his brow and began nervously gauging the reactions of the generals. In particular, he looked hesitant about whether he should say something to General McKenzie.
But when caught between Should I say it? and Can I say it?, Captain Kim's concern leaned toward the former.
If you're wondering whether you should do something, the military teaches men to do it.
A moment later, Captain Kim rattled something off, causing General McKenzie's eyebrows to twist.
That was when the two-star officer standing beside him pulled down his mask and removed his sunglasses.
The two-star officer was Korean.
Apparently feeling hot, he took off his cap and fanned himself with it. Underneath was a neat sports cut.
His forehead had receded slightly, though not enough to qualify as balding.
A moment later, after putting his cap back on, the Korean Major General pulled a handkerchief from his inner pocket and wiped his face and eyes.
Then he pulled out a pentagram necklace hidden inside his shirt and spoke to Captain Kim in a businesslike tone.
"Captain Kim. You've confirmed that protection doesn't work without this symbol, correct? Give General McKenzie a necklace."
"Yes, sir!"
Captain Kim handed General McKenzie a pentagram necklace that had been prepared beforehand.
Curious about how effective the necklace really was, I asked Shin Na-in again.
"Crazy guy, how is it? Can you still hear them?"
"It's significantly muffled. Now it sounds like distant whispering with slurred pronunciation. It's difficult to hear clearly."
General McKenzie reluctantly put on the pentagram necklace.
As he looked around at the other generals with a dissatisfied pout, the others also began removing their masks and sunglasses one by one, revealing their faces.
This time, instead of Captain Kim, the neat and businesslike Korean Major General with two stars looked us over before speaking.
"Nice to meet you, civilian operators of Aphorism. I'm Jeon Min-ho, commander of the Joint Alteration Operations Group under the Reality Survival Command. You can think of me as the person who will be working most closely with you."
With a gesture, Major General Jeon pointed toward the generals revealing their faces and introduced them personally.
"The gentleman with the scar near his mouth is Lieutenant General Royce Candler, the second commander of the Reality Survival Command."
Lieutenant General Royce Candler was a side-born man with a bald head and kind, sparkling eyes.
Perhaps noticing that his scar had been mentioned, Royce touched it with his left hand before giving us an awkward smile and waving dismissively.
Apparently, he had spent a long time fighting prejudice.
"This is Brigadier General Thatcher Engel, Chief of Staff of the Joint Alteration Operations Group."
Brigadier General Thatcher Engel was a textbook example of a disciplined white military officer.
He was the stereotype of a soldier.
Except for the fact that his drooping eyelids made him look perpetually sleepy.
Apparently aware of that impression himself, Thatcher noticed our gazes and responded with a crisp, energetic salute.
Snap!
After finishing the introductions, Major General Jeon glanced deeper into the bunker, sighed, and gestured toward Captain Kim.
"Captain Kim. I know everyone came here in a hurry, but bring chairs for the generals and everyone else. And keep the others from coming in. You know we need to maintain secrecy."
"Y-Yes, sir!"
As Captain Kim hurried out of the bunker, General McKenzie strode toward us and extended his hand.
Seeing that, none of us felt like staying seated.
Among the Supreme Mages who scrambled to their feet, Pastor Park Yo-han was the first to shake the General's hand.
"My goodness, I'm actually shaking a General's hand."
As the pastor spoke in a voice full of emotion, General McKenzie vigorously shook his hand.
Only after pounding the pastor's shoulder with enough force to make audible thuds did he finally let go.
The force was so brutal that tears welled up in the pastor's eyes despite his excitement.
"Oh dear..."
The pastor's expression clearly showed someone who wanted to swear but couldn't because of who he was dealing with.
Next up was Lee Se-jun.
Displaying some quick wit, Lee Se-jun snapped into a perfect military posture and saluted.
Snap!
General McKenzie blinked, then laughed and returned the salute.
Snap!
Of course, there were no exceptions.
The moment Lee Se-jun lowered his salute, McKenzie grabbed his hand for a handshake.
To accommodate us, who couldn't really speak English, he used only the simplest vocabulary while shaking vigorously.
"Good job. Well done!"
"Thank you!"
Lee Se-jun was a Heart Mage, so the pain probably didn't bother him.
I was different.
The moment General McKenzie stopped in front of me, I saluted.
A salute I had absolutely no intention of lowering.
"Loyalty!"
McKenzie laughed and muttered something.
Did it work?
"Good posture. But you're no soldier - you're a civilian, right?"
The handshake was successfully avoided.
Instead, he pounded my shoulders and back even harder than he'd hit the pastor's.
It was the sort of overwhelming display of friendliness that felt like getting smacked on the back by your mother.
I'd expected cute little pat-pat sounds.
Instead, the touch of a general officer was anything but gentle.
BAAM!
"Argh!"
McKenzie burst into laughter before moving on to Shin Na-in and Hamza.
Shin Na-in chose to endure it silently.
Hamza, meanwhile, responded by hopping around dramatically.
Every handshake was accompanied by exaggerated yelps.
"It hurts! It hurts! Argh!"
"Oh, sorry."
Even General McKenzie eventually retreated from Hamza's theatrics.
That guy really was clever.
Meanwhile, Shin Na-in stood there with his eyes squeezed shut and his lips trembling.
Then a thought occurred to me.
I approached the complaining Hamza and quietly asked,
"Come to think of it, you seem like you'd be amazing at English. Why don't you speak it?"
"Mr. Je-min, people like cats and dogs because they can't speak human language. Safety isn't about surviving danger—it's about not going near danger in the first place."
"Ah."
Fortunately, the other generals didn't joke around like McKenzie and instead offered polite handshakes.
Lieutenant General Royce even spoke to me in Korean.
Apparently, despite being side-born, he'd learned some Korean.
"I've received the reports, Mr. Baek. Do you like Spam?"
"Huh? Yes, I do."
"I like kimchi too. Kimchi Spam. Look forward to it."
The sleepy-looking Thatcher merely smiled and shook hands.
His Korean wasn't very good, and he was naturally quiet.
Instead of speaking, he gave a firm, brief handshake, nodded slowly, and moved on.
The last person to shake hands with me was Major General Jeon Min-ho.
The moment he took my hand, he finally spoke in a thin voice trembling with exhaustion.
"I'm sorry that I can't bring only good news to the people who've led the way more than anyone else. And thank you."
He clasped my hand with both of his and shook it.
"The Combined U.S.-Korean Command and the Reality Survival Command have very high expectations regarding Aphorism's experiences and acquired information. I think the people gathered here prove that. Please, we ask for your cooperation."
Captain Kim returned shortly afterward.
Since there was nobody else to order around, he ran back and forth by himself, carrying folding tables, chairs, drinks, and paper cups.
It was pitiful to watch, but there wasn't much we could do.
Once everyone was seated, the briefing on the information gathered by the Supreme Mages began.
The American officers, in particular, interrogated us in extreme detail through Captain Kim and Major General Jeon, dragging the explanations out considerably.
In summary, however, it boiled down to this:
- Knowledge regarding the Alteration-Type Magic System, including the existence of Standard and Inversion forms, and the fragmentary belief that the limit of magical attainment was the Fifth Stage of the Five Branches.
- The existence of the 66 Martyrs, the cursed artifacts they wielded, and their influence over survivor groups.
- Countless previously unknown monsters we had encountered.
But among all of these, the topic that provoked the strongest reaction was the fourth item:
The truth about the fog.
The moment Major General Jeon heard our testimony, his normally composed expression distorted with shock as he immediately asked in return.
"The fog is friendly toward humanity? In other words, you're saying the fog suppresses the monsters?"
Faced with that question, Pastor Park Yo-han spoke with unusual calmness.
"I understand how that sounds. I can't swear it in the name of my Lord, but I can stake the name Park Yo-han and my entire life on it. You probably saw us crossing onto Olympic Bridge. That's when we realized it too. I can say this with certainty. Without the fog, the monsters become stronger."
Even Lee Se-jun, who usually rolled his eyes at the pastor, joined in this time.
"The officers with stars on their shoulders saw the monsters floating over Seoul too, didn't they? A few fighter jets went down. The monster that shot down those fighters was something we never saw while the fog was present. We've been calling it a Sky Centipede for convenience. We spent eleven days in Seoul and never saw one inside the fog."
"Se-jun is right. The monsters that appear when the fog is absent are clearly more dangerous. And the fact that Holy War Rituals are easier to perform within the fog has probably already been proven through the other Crusaders."
"There are things called Holy War Rituals too?"
Major General Jeon Min-ho looked confused by Shin Na-in's nonsense, so I cut in.
"That guy's an extremely devout Christian nutjob. He refuses to acknowledge magic as magic, so he keeps calling it Holy War Rituals."
"Hmm. I'll keep that in mind."
As more testimony was gathered, countless conversations broke out among the generals.
Captain Kim Ho-un, serving as interpreter, would listen to what they were saying and then glance at us with an increasingly pale complexion.
Separated by a folding table, the generals argued noisily while we Supreme Mages merely exchanged looks and waited for a conclusion.
Even the usually playful General McKenzie continuously rubbed his clean-shaven chin while deep in thought.
After roughly ten minutes, Major General Jeon turned toward us with a complicated expression and slowly began speaking.
"Let me summarize the report. Civilian Operators Aphorism, despite knowing that the Republic of Korea soldiers deployed alongside you had gone missing, you chose not to retreat and instead continued the operation. You also made contact with Seoul locals and used communication mediums called Cursed Phones to communicate with individuals known as the Sixty-Six Society."
"Yes. Um, Go Ryeoha, who came with us, also has a Cursed Phone. Mr. Je-min probably has one too."
"So the rescued local and Baek Je-min likely possess Cursed Phones as well... Understood."
Watching Hamza calmly answer questions felt strangely unfamiliar.
But something important seemed to be missing.
That was when it hit me.
Why had they left Go Ryeoha's Cursed Phone alone?
Monk Cheonghwi had told me to throw away the Cursed Phone I found near Jangji Station, yet he'd left Go Ryeoha's untouched.
That was a clear contradiction.
The problem was that I couldn't avoid testifying about it now.
Any chance of vaguely skirting around the truth of the Han River had vanished.
Either I spoke honestly about what I had witnessed, or I kept my mouth shut and only mentioned that I'd thrown the phone away because I'd been told to.
But if I chose the latter, I wouldn't be able to avoid the obvious question:
Why did you obey?
The safest option was simply to tell them what I'd seen.
That would eliminate unnecessary suspicion, provide the military with useful information, and make it easier to protect my freedom and rights.
Yet there was something subtly manipulative about that reasoning.
It felt as though something wanted me to speak.
The thought that the Sixty-Six Society might be steering my actions left a bad taste in my mouth, but I could no longer hide it under the weight of everyone's gazes.
"I threw the Cursed Phone I obtained into the Han River."
"What? Baek Je-min, why the hell would you do that?!"
While the pastor stared wide-eyed in shock, I had no choice but to explain.
About Odok—the Human Starfish—and its pursuit.
About the protective symbols gradually breaking.
About Monk Cheonghwi's message through the Cursed Phone.
About the monsters that had swarmed toward the light after I threw it away.
And about the deep sea beneath the river that contained those countless monsters.
The light from the Cursed Phone sinking into a dull, lightless abyss.
Countless monsters swimming through transparent depths, rolling their eyes as they pursued that light.
The enormous eel-like thing pulsing near the wreckage of a crashed fighter jet after detecting the glow.
"When I threw the Cursed Phone, light came out of the screen. Then the Han River's true form appeared. There was this transparent, freezing-cold deep sea without any light of its own. The light from the phone illuminated it, and I could see monsters..."
I'd intended to explain it neatly.
Instead, my words collapsed into incoherent fragments.
The memory remained crystal clear inside my head, yet I couldn't properly convert it into language.
Frustrated, I asked Captain Kim for paper and a pen.
Even then, it was the same.
[When I threw the Cursed Phone, monsters were swimming through a sparkling deep sea, and a transparent eel was writhing...]
Only after writing that unfinished sentence did I realize the truth.
The sight hidden beneath the water's surface had been too overwhelming.
So overwhelming that merely recalling it felt as though my body were being crushed beneath a hydraulic press.
My mind was perfectly clear.
My will and reason remained intact.
Yet my tongue loosened on its own, and my hand drifted uncontrollably.
Several kilometers below, at the edge of that transparent abyss where a single point of light could illuminate everything, the enormous eel-like thing waited.
And pulsed.
Was I imagining it?
Or had it truly happened?
Instinctively, I knew the answer was no.
It wasn't imagination.
It wasn't memory.
It was something else.
That giant eel responding to a single point of light...
A horrifying realization struck me.
Was it really reacting to the light?
"Mr. Je-min? Baek Je-min?"
Without hesitation, I threw away the pen.
I crumpled and tore apart the sticky note.
Then I desperately forced myself to think happy thoughts.
Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts.
I become a Great Archmage and receive the admiration of everyone.
Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts...
I awaken the omnipotence of magic and become a one-man army capable of stopping nuclear weapons.
Happy thoughts...
After becoming the world's greatest archmage, maybe I should rule the world.
Maybe I should even amend the constitution to require people to praise me.
Whenever they see me, they'd be legally obligated to smile, clap, and cheer.
"Long live Great Archmage Baek Je-min!"
Everyone has to smile eventually.
Wouldn't it be better if they smiled while praising the Great Archmage?
The bright and prosperous future of humanity under Great Archmage Baek Je-min had suddenly become crystal clear.
At that moment, a powerful grip clamped down on the back of my neck.
Crunch!
"Mr. Je-min, you seem to enjoy fidgeting with things. Mind if I do it too?"
Lee Se-jun had grabbed my neck.
"Allow me to be frank."
Major General Jeon looked around at the Supreme Mages and gestured toward Captain Kim.
Captain Kim hurried over carrying a stack of documents and handed one to each of us.
The pages were even messier than typical military paperwork.
The entire page was packed so densely with text and symbols that there was almost no blank space left.
"If none of you—specifically Mr. Baek Je-min—had mentioned the anomaly regarding the Han River, we would have assumed you had defected to the other side... to the Sixty-Six Society, which we believe is based inside Seoul."
"What nonsense. We risked our lives getting out of there, and you're calling us spies?"
Honest words naturally provoked honest reactions.
Pastor Park folded his arms and grumbled after hearing they had been openly suspected.
Major General Jeon bowed his head.
"We ask for your understanding. There have been several confirmed cases of defection."
Jeon Min-ho.
That wasn't the apology technique of a man doing it for the first time.
I felt another chill run down my spine.
"Lee Se-jun, you bastard. Let go of my neck."
"How about we hear why you're acting like that first? Can't you see everyone got freaked out?"
Only then did I notice the wary gazes of the generals and the Supreme Mages looking at me with exasperation.
"Has Mr. Baek Je-min's mental condition deteriorated significantly in Seoul?"
"Baek Je-min has always been like that. He's the kind of guy who jumped into all this because he wanted to learn magic."
"Mr. Je-min, that was dangerous. Good job."
"No. Mr. Je-min is the man who shot his own left hand at Suwon Station in order to use Holy War Rituals. His qualifications as a Crusader are exceptional, but his aptitude for normal daily life is somewhat... lacking."
As Shin Na-in answered Jeon's question, murmurs spread among the generals.
Since the meeting was informal, phrases like holy shit and fucking could be heard mixed into the discussion.
After the commotion finally died down and Lee Se-jun released my neck, Major General Jeon calmly continued.
The military might treat fellow soldiers like garbage, but they apparently remained courteous toward civilians even in situations like this.
Pastor Park still looked dissatisfied but stopped complaining.
"Then let's hear it. We brought back all this information, and you're still talking about secrets and classified information?"
"No. If anything, everything you've told us today would be considered Top Secret. And this meeting was also part of the process of determining whether Civilian Operators Aphorism could be granted access to the classified information held by the Combined Command and the Reality Survival Command regarding this incident."
I looked indifferently at the deliberately dramatic Jeon Min-ho, then whispered to the one person who might actually know something—Lee Se-jun.
Unfortunately, the bastard happened to be sitting on my left.
Still, he could substitute for ChatGPT well enough.
"Se-jun. Just how serious is Top Secret?"
"Hmm. To put it in terms you'd understand... the kind of secret that could bring down a nation."
"What kind of leaked secret doesn't cause problems?"
"To make it simpler, my desire to become a gender-swapped anime girl would be classified as Confidential. Leaking it would be devastating, but it wouldn't destroy the country."
This son of a bitch really had a gift for making the worst possible analogies.
Meanwhile, the generals finished their quiet discussion.
General McKenzie turned toward us with a satisfied smile as Major General Jeon spoke again.
"The reasons we've concluded that you have not defected are as follows."
First. Despite encountering key personnel of the Combined U.S.-Korean Command responsible for maintaining the blockade line, you displayed no hostility.
Second. Aside from the Ear Magic believed to belong to Shin Na-in, you attempted no magic against the unprotected Field Marshal McKenzie.
Third. The honesty and detail of your reports.
Fourth. The accurate information regarding the Han River.
Fifth. Your documented history of cooperating with military forces throughout various incidents.
After listing every reason, Major General Jeon looked at each Supreme Mage in turn.
Me.
Shin Na-in.
Lee Se-jun.
Pastor Park.
Hamza.
"I'm sure you have many questions, but I will address the most important matter first. From this point onward, we are discussing genuinely critical secrets. As Mr. Lee Se-jun said earlier, these are matters of the highest importance. Effective immediately, you are being treated as personnel with Level-One Security Clearance. Any confirmed disclosure of the following information may result in unavoidable detention and hostile countermeasures."
"Stop building suspense and get to the point."
Pastor Park impatiently tapped his foot against the floor.
Major General Jeon finally gave up on delaying.
Commander of the Joint Alteration Operations Group under the Reality Survival Command.
The man with that absurdly grand title spoke.
"The organization that preceded the Reality Survival Command—the Initial Anomaly Response Team—was established with the involvement of an individual believed to have originated from the Sixty-Six Society."
"A prophet, or perhaps a seer. He provided some of the magical script and related knowledge. Military research eventually concluded that this knowledge was not the personal property of a single individual but part of a systematic doctrine. When we attempted to place him under protection and supervision, he disappeared."
"However, we believe the Sixty-Six Society subsequently contacted several Doctrine-Type Mages. All six Doctrine-Type Mages involved in the deciphering effort defected. They either stole or destroyed the Sixty-Six Scriptures that were in the possession of the Reality Survival Command."
"Then..."
Pastor Park asked in a trembling voice.
Major General Jeon sighed and nodded.
"Monk Cheonghwi was one of those six."
"The Reality Survival Command noticed the Society's obsession with the number sixty-six and concluded that the magical scripts and knowledge obtained by the military were originally fragments of the Society's teachings known as the Sixty-Six Scriptures. To study them, we carefully cooperated with Doctrine-Type Mages who were knowledgeable about mysticism and willing to assist the military."
Had cooperated.
Everyone tensed at that ominous use of the past tense.