Chapter 95

Dream Team: Nightmare Arc

The hospital located in Anyang City was larger than expected.

At the very least, it was large enough for the military to bring 14 armored personnel carriers and 8 tanks. The soldiers surrounding it on all four sides numbered in the dozens for each sector. To deal with a massive building shrouded in fog, that much force was probably necessary.

Since we had gotten off at the park, we could observe the military cordon around the hospital. Tanks were positioned two or three at a time along each road, keeping their distance while aiming their main guns at the building.

Beside them, four or five APCs were stationed, their autocannons pointed menacingly toward the hospital. Soldiers busily ran around the perimeter or caught their breath behind sandbag emplacements with rifles resting on top.

After looking over the ROK military, I turned my attention to the Chinese volunteer forces parading around with the Five-Star Red Flag waving overhead.

They marched in perfect step while singing something in Chinese, escorting tanks on both flanks.

Judging from their rigid posture, they looked exactly like former PLA soldiers raised in an authoritarian military culture. It was easy to imagine the endless drill and ceremony training they had endured. I wasn't particularly fond of them on an ethnic level, but as someone who had suffered through military service myself, I clicked my tongue and offered a small prayer for their souls.

The place Colonel Frog led us to was one of the hospital's annex buildings.

This military hospital, located in the center of Anyang City, consisted of one large main building, a nearby parking lot, a funeral hall, and two annex buildings standing side by side across a crosswalk.

We entered the first annex and stepped into the first floor.

Groans echoed through the lobby, mixed with the sounds of hurried footsteps.

The command center had been established on the second floor.

Only after passing soldiers carrying people and hauling boxes, then entering a corner room packed with communication equipment and tangled cables, did Colonel Frog turn to face us.

"Aphorism, I'll brief you on the situation."

Listening to Colonel Frog's explanation and the occasional additions from his staff officers, we pieced together the details.

May 6th.

Approximately two days ago, fog had appeared near Anyang City.

At first, people relaxed because most of it dispersed naturally. However, some areas remained permanently shrouded, and the hospital sitting squarely in the city center was one of them.

The hospital was completely covered in thick fog. Communication with the outside was poor, and even the survivors inside who could still communicate had no idea what was happening.

Scratching his cheek, Colonel Frog slowly flipped through the documents handed to him by a lieutenant.

"The survivors we were able to contact had barricaded themselves inside a conference room on the eleventh floor. They couldn't clearly hear screams or groans from outside, but it seems someone started a fire. The fire alarm went off, and while trying to evacuate, they ended up trapped there."

"My god. If someone started a fire, wouldn't everyone die together?"

When Goryeoha covered her mouth with both hands and chimed in, Colonel Frog shrugged.

"This hospital is a major regional medical center. It was built with fire safety measures in mind. However, it seems fire barriers descended and sprinklers activated, creating conditions that restricted movement throughout the building. Based on previous incidents, the military believes most survivors are likely isolated somewhere, barricading doors and keeping their phones off to avoid making noise."

The conditions were unbelievably complicated and unsettling.

It was tragic for the survivors, but I was honestly starting to think it would be better to flood the place with gas and be done with it.

As we approached the dense fog, even Hamza's doctrine-type spell, [Angel's Intuition], seemed to become more accurate. His expression had stiffened noticeably.

"It's dangerous. Jemin, it's really dangerous."

"How dangerous?"

"Very. Maybe even more dangerous than when we met the Seoul Mages."

"More dangerous than the Seoul Mages?"

For a moment, I wondered if the Seoul Mages had been underestimated.

Jeong Nari, the Sticky Witch of Dubai. She was a twisted mage who sucked people's memories and experiences dry before leaping across walls while swinging concrete shields.

Han Minjun of the ski goggles. Through ritual magic, he commanded monsters, shrugged off bullets with Stage 3 Eyes, and combined stealth with close-quarters combat using his minions.

If this place was even more dangerous than those monsters, what was waiting inside? Some kind of gaze-based creature?

Keeping calm, I asked Colonel Frog.

"Did you conduct reconnaissance inside?"

"We did. We did, but..."

According to Colonel Frog:

The military had learned that blindly throwing people into danger only created more monsters, so they sent drones first.

Despite the thick fog surrounding the fifteen-story building, drones patrolled the exterior. Several even entered the hospital and thoroughly surveyed entire floors of corridors.

But the results of this careful reconnaissance had been disappointing.

"We found no monsters, corpses, broken windows, or damaged interiors. We also observed no drone-disruption effects associated with the neural-parasite amalgam known as Blood Tendril Delta Pigmul. Aside from the fog filling the interior, there was nothing unusual. Up to the sixth floor, everything was surprisingly clean. Other than some scattered equipment and machinery, there wasn't even evidence of chaos."

"If nothing's unusual, why is there fog?"

"We're convinced there's a monster inside simply because the fog exists."

The current U.S.-Korea Joint Command operated its forces in three stages.

Stage One: The main force maintaining the containment perimeter.

Stage Two: Mobile strike teams formed from non-mage soldiers experienced in monster combat and mage-trained specialists. When specialist numbers are insufficient, civilian operators are conscripted or persuaded with military scrip to join operations.

Stage Three: Deployment of Supreme Mages.

The reason Anyang Military Hospital had reached Stage Three was because the initial reconnaissance team had failed.

One Stage-Two Eye Specialist and two Stage-One Ear Specialists had entered with around thirty soldiers.

They vanished.

The military had already scouted the exterior, cleared up to the sixth floor with drones, placed motion sensors near stairwells to prevent underground ambushes, and deployed unmanned military robots to block external escape routes.

Yet it still happened.

Sighing heavily, Colonel Frog slammed the documents onto the table.

Bang!

The frog-faced lieutenant colonel spoke as though venting his frustration.

"Communications were normal until they reached the third floor. The moment they advanced to the fourth, all contact was lost. They reported killing some amalgams and Devourer Spines, but nobody expected experienced combat troops to disappear entirely on the fourth floor. They were effectively wiped out."

"Can't you just gas the place?"

Why send only three Supreme Mages into such a death trap?

It seemed far more sensible to gas the building, euthanize the survivors cleanly, and eliminate the monsters quickly.

But apparently, not everything in life revolved around killing monsters.

Colonel Frog's thick lips quivered as he raised an eyebrow.

"Most of the people inside are medical personnel and soldiers. There are also sensitive medical devices and facilities. We can't guarantee they would survive decontamination procedures. This is a major hospital. If we abandon it, healthcare infrastructure in southwestern Seoul practically collapses. There's also the political angle."

"What? Politics?"

I thought I'd misheard.

The apocalypse was knocking on humanity's front door and monsters were opening their jaws wide. What politics could possibly matter?

"Do you know what happened immediately after the China-Korea Joint Command was established? China and the United States entered an international struggle over who would command the incoming UN forces. America has the upper hand, but China is demanding full disclosure regarding localized infiltration-type alteration phenomena and is rallying support from other nations. The U.S.-Korea Joint Command argues that releasing such information would cause worldwide social chaos."

As he spoke, Colonel Frog glanced out the window.

Not toward the fog-covered hospital.

Toward the Chinese volunteers proudly marching in the distance.

"Anyang is essentially a joint security zone right now. If China expands its influence and takes complete responsibility for security here, Pyeongtaek will be fully exposed."

"Mr. Soldier, we're all fighting monsters together, aren't we? Wouldn't it be nice if they helped?"

When Goryeoha answered with half-lidded eyes, Colonel Frog chuckled.

"Maybe. Plenty of people would shake hands with the devil if it meant stopping those monsters."

True enough.

The relationship was unpleasant, but anyone helping kill monsters was still human.

If they wanted to become mobs and hand over experience points, old grudges suddenly seemed much less important.

Politics and diplomacy felt like little more than gossip now that civilization was collapsing.

It was time to discuss practical matters.

"So what, do we rappel from a helicopter onto the roof?"

"No."

"Why not?"

This time it was Hamza asking.

Anyone would naturally think it was better to start from the top and sweep downward.

Colonel Frog quickly corrected our assumption.

"The fog is too thick for helicopter access. Besides, the hospital doesn't have a helipad."

"Don't all major regional hospitals have one?"

"This is near Seoul."

Colonel Frog smirked.

"You can't destroy apartment prices by letting helicopters make noise overhead. You'll enter through the first floor and work your way to the roof. We plan to flood the basement with gas since we don't believe any critical medical facilities are down there."

Okay.

I'd heard enough.

Scrrrape!

As my chair slid backward and I stood, Goryeoha and Hamza rose as well.

Colonel Frog noticed immediately.

"Leaving already?"

I gave him a rough salute.

"We've already spent plenty of time talking. Let's go, Master. Hamza, keep up."

"Mr. Soldier, don't worry! We'll save everyone!"

"Jemin... can I just stay here and handle communications?"

"Hamza."

Wisely, Hamza chose not to continue.

I already hated the idea of carrying this mission alone. If my spam-message friend Hamza abandoned me too, I might make some extreme decisions. Whatever form Saint Relic Hamza would take afterward, I doubted he'd be happier than he was now with two functioning legs.

Leaving the annex, the three of us received confused stares and hesitant salutes from soldiers we passed.

We wore the ponchos marked with Ancient Hebrew that had become the symbol of Supreme Mages. We naturally put on gas masks and exhaled damp breaths.

Well, everyone except one person.

"Uwaa~. Junior, Mr. Muslim. How do you put this thing on?"

Goryeoha.

As expected from a Supreme Mage who had barely scraped through.

She had somehow managed to wear the poncho incorrectly, tying it like a cape instead of putting her arms through the sleeves, while fumbling with the straps of her gas mask.

"Master, didn't you serve in the military?"

Hamza immediately reacted.

He looked at me the way one would look at a pathetic creature.

"Jemin."

"I know."

He was mocking me.

After much struggle, Hamza finally taught Goryeoha how to wear a gas mask.

Hooo.

The moment she tested her breathing, she burst into laughter.

"The smell is so strong!"

God damn it...

I silently contemplated the countless meanings contained within that curse and turned away.

"Let's go. For real."

Standing before the path leading to the hospital's main building, we heard soldiers swallowing nervously.

Before the dense fog that blanketed everything within ten meters of the hospital, we heard countless drones buzzing around the structure like a swarm of bees.

As we entered the fog, I automatically switched on the low-powered flashlight attached to my rifle.

And the moment I saw broken windows and flickering fluorescent lights beyond the swirling mist at the main entrance—

I switched off the safety.

Click.

"I'll handle basic detection with Stage One Eyes. Master, use Spirit Sight to draw out anything hiding. Since we can't repeat that constantly, Hamza, check before opening doors or rounding corners. I'll take point, Hamza stays center, Master takes rear."

As soon as I assigned positions, Goryeoha widened her eyes.

"Junior, that sounded incredibly professional!"

"Jemin, I'm nervous."

"I know."

So was I.

Holding my rifle under my arm, I pulled out my phone and checked the screen.

May 8, 2028 — 6:02 PM

Couldn't we just come tomorrow?

Things would only get worse after dark.

I decided to postpone such reasonable thoughts for now.

"Let's go save people! Rescue team, move out!"

"Jemin... I still think I should stay in the rear handling communications..."

Click.

I turned off my phone and tucked it away.

This team was more terrifying than nightfall.

Clack.

Adjusting my grip on the rifle, I stepped into the hospital without hesitation.

Into that bizarre space where fog mixed with dust and drifted lazily through the air.

"Hello! Is anybody there~?"

"Shh! Shhhhh! Ms. Ryeoha, please be quiet..."

"Mr. Muslim, if you're rescuing people, you need to shout loudly! Helloooo~!"

The first thought that came to mind upon entering the first-floor lobby was simple.

But I deliberately kept quiet.

Hamza glanced around and naturally voiced it instead.

"The inside is cleaner than I expected."

Please...

But Hamza wasn't the only one.

After drawing a military combat knife and slicing open her right hand, Goryeoha looked around and shouted loudly.

Instead of responding, I activated Stage One Eyes and looked ten seconds into the future.

If a monster reacted to this commotion, red footprints would appear or the fog would shift. Even low-level creatures like amalgams would likely respond from an ambush.

But Hamza was right.

Ten seconds later, there were still no red footprints.

Just as Colonel Frog had said.

Apparently there had been fighting before the third floor, but maybe that was why no monsters remained in the first-floor lobby.

If Shin Nain were here, she'd be humming hymns while pinpointing monster types, numbers, and locations with frightening accuracy.

With this team?

Not a chance.

Looks like I'd have to do Shin Nain's job too.

Just as that thought crossed my mind—

Crash!

Something fell in a room to the left of the entrance.

I immediately aimed my rifle.

Yet no new traces appeared.

The fog continued drifting peacefully. Dust beneath the flickering fluorescent lights neither swirled nor showed signs of movement.

However, the door to a large room on the left—probably a consultation room—was slightly dented inward.

Inside?

Had something really reacted to the noise?

As I aimed my rifle and considered the possibility—

"Junior, I'll try drawing another reaction."

Goryeoha exhaled sharply behind her unfamiliar gas mask.

For a moment, I wondered if she was about to smash something with telekinesis.

Then I remembered her doctrine-type spell.

[Spirit Sight], the doctrine spell possessed by shamans.

A spell capable of instantly distinguishing human souls from monster souls.

And...

A spell that could instantly provoke a monster's hostility.

BOOM!

Dust fluttered from the dented section of the door.

Activating Stage One Eyes again, I saw red footprints that hadn't existed before.

They led directly to the door.

And turned toward us.

But since I had already seen ten seconds into the future, this was easy.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

I waited for the door to shatter and the monster to burst through.

No matter how powerful a monster was, it stood no chance against bullets.

I steadied my breathing.

Pressed my elbow firmly against my side.

Raised the rifle to eye level.

Whether it was an amalgam or a Devourer Spine, the moment it appeared, it was dead.

Time to demonstrate the marksmanship Baek Jemin had polished through years of effort.

Just as I touched the trigger and made that vow—

"Strike first, win first!"

CRRRRACK!

The door was ripped clean off its hinges by monstrous force.

The barricades blocking it from the inside crumpled along with it.

But what left me feeling hollow was the sight of the amalgam being stretched apart like mozzarella cheese along with the torn-off door.

The amalgam that had been pounding on the door had the mass of five human faces fused together ripped clean off by an invisible hand, spilling pus-like fluids everywhere in sloppy streams.

Then it was thrown to the floor with a wet splat.

Only after the head mass was removed did the bodies beneath separate and collapse individually onto the ground.

Even the amalgam itself seemed outraged and bewildered by what had happened, its twisted faces writhing grotesquely as it flopped around and screamed.

"No, no!"

"Ugggrrrrgh..."

"Son, stop clinging to me. I'm tired."

That didn't last long.

Splat!

The torn-off head was crushed as if caught in a hydraulic press.

At the same time, knocking sounds erupted from closed doors all across the first floor.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

I stared blankly at the pulverized amalgam before turning toward Goryeoha.

"Ta-da, ta-da, ta-da! Junior! There were this many left!"

"Let's clear the entrance area first."

"Hurry, hurry! Get out here!"

Following the excited Hamza, I trudged forward.

We waited near the main entrance while Goryeoha used [Spirit Sight] to provoke the monsters.

One by one, creatures burst through doors across the first floor, only to be hunted down.

Watching monsters get crushed into paste by invisible hands made my chest ache.

Goryeoha, you irredeemable lunatic.

To treat beings that had once been human—monsters that still possessed fragments of human minds and identities—with such ruthless brutality...

Still, depressing or not, the job had to be done.

I rolled my tongue around inside my mouth.

Target. Kill. Monster. Five minutes. Route.

My eyes burned as though being scraped raw.

My tongue split with a painful crack.

Yet I continued supporting Goryeoha.

Monsters like amalgams and Devourer Spines had become so pathetically weak that they couldn't even approach us anymore.

The reason was simple.

The combination of Goryeoha and me was unpleasant, horrifying, and far more effective than I ever imagined.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

"I think your face got longer."

"Teacher, something's wrong with this patient!"

The amalgams rushed forward while screaming their final incoherent words.

And Goryeoha, true to her background as a Seoul Mage, responded instantly.

WHAM!

Stage Three Hand—[Telekinesis].

As monster numbers increased, she stopped using it primarily for killing and instead focused on creating distance.

She swatted monsters away with the back of invisible hands.

She flicked Devourer Spines to the floor like annoying mosquitoes.

Meanwhile, Stage One Hand—[Blood of the Right Hand]—was being used in an unexpected way.

Goryeoha's clenched right fist contained a handful of bottle caps soaked in her blood.

One by one, she pinched them between her fingers and hurled them at approaching monsters.

Ordinarily, they'd have embedded shallowly into flesh or bounced off thick skulls.

Not when backed by Stage Two Heart—

[Physical Enhancement].

BOOOOOM!

The fog split apart.

The monsters exploded with it.

I immediately raised my rifle.

RATATATAT!

Shell casings flew.

Monster fluids sprayed through the air.

The creatures grinning after dodging Goryeoha's bottle caps suddenly found neat holes punched through their foreheads.

The synergy between us was surprisingly good.

Goryeoha prevented monsters from approaching while wiping out large groups.

I cleaned up anything she missed.

I organized the leftovers she scattered.

Hamza was trembling behind us, so the actual combat force consisted of only two people.

And somehow we were clearing enemies more easily than when I fought alongside Shin Nain and Lee Sejun.

A little slower, perhaps.

But easier.

Which made it even more infuriating.

To describe it more vividly:

The teamwork fit together so perfectly it pissed me off.

The combination of Goryeoha's Stage One Hand and Stage Two Heart was basically a monster-hunting hand cannon.

Watching amalgams stumble and collapse while trying to dodge blood-soaked bottle caps was one of the most absurd sights I'd witnessed in my entire life as a mage.

My role was obvious.

The moment I noticed her miniature artillery strikes disrupting enemy formations, I immediately aimed where the monsters would reposition themselves and pulled the trigger.

Eventually, more than forty monsters lay dead before us.

And when I watched Goryeoha stomp the remaining twitching creatures into mush—

Only then did I finally realize something.

She turned toward us, waving cheerfully through her gas mask.

Goryeoha was dependable.

She was tough.

She could detect enemies.

Aside from a few specific issues, she was an excellent ally.

So why did I dislike her so much?

"...What about my Four-Tiger Sword?"

I never got my item.

"Hoo~. Junior, are you okay?"

"Master."

"Yes, Junior!"

When we re-entered the hospital, the mood among our trio was terrible.

Because I'd learned that Goryeoha was an even bigger scam artist than a real-estate fraudster.

"Juuunior~. It's not like I said I wouldn't make it for you~."

"Ms. Ryeoha, please be quiet."

While Goryeoha whined and used [Spirit Sight], and I grumbled while tracking red footprints with Stage One Eyes, Hamza awkwardly pointed toward rooms now and then.

"Jemin... over there..."

Whenever Hamza pointed, there was no need to measure or hesitate.

I aimed my rifle at the indicated hospital room.

Goryeoha immediately ripped the door off with [Telekinesis].

Then amalgams and Devourer Spines came tumbling out of the fog like sweet crab meat extracted from a crab shell.

You little bastards.

I carefully shot them one by one, afraid that letting even a single monster escape would slow down my advancement.

Thankfully, all the abuse from Instructor Song Smith had paid off.

I no longer needed to use Stage One Eyes at full capacity to secure kills.

The rifle naturally drifted toward weak points.

And now—

The monster I had just shot was the last one.

Watching gunpowder smoke mix with the fog, I pretended to cool the heated barrel with my breath.

The gas mask filter made my breathing sound unusually loud.

The entire first floor had been thoroughly cleaned out.

We even killed the Devourer Spines hiding inside bathroom stalls.

Yet I barely felt any strain.

I had used so little magic that I could clearly feel the familiar heat that usually traveled through my left-hand staff.

If only I had my Four-Tiger Sword.

Then I would have been complete.

A true ranged-and-melee hybrid.

If only I had that sword.

"Juuunior~."

"Ms. Ryeoha. I told you to be quiet."

As I snapped at her drawn-out whining, Hamza cautiously approached.

"Jemin. She said she'll make one for you by 2034."

"..."

Ah.

So that's how it is.

Humans cannot overcome pain.

They can only forget it through greater pain.

Which meant my decision to learn marksmanship as a strategic way to process suffering had been correct.

Unable to hold back, I exploded.

Goryeoha clasped her hands together as though praying despite wearing a gas mask.

"But Jemin, a Four-Tiger Sword has to be forged during a Tiger Year, Tiger Month, Tiger Day, and Tiger Hour! 2028 isn't even a Tiger Year. How am I supposed to make it?"

"...Ugh."

I grabbed the back of my neck.

You motherf—

The Four-Tiger Sword wasn't named that because it sounded cool.

It literally required four Tigers:

Tiger Year.

Tiger Month.

Tiger Day.

Tiger Hour.

The previous occurrence had been in 2022.

The next one would be 2034.

Was this how victims of housing scams felt?

Grinding my teeth silently for the sake of dental health, I pointed at her.

"Don't talk. Don't say another word. Just do the mission. If you mention the Four-Tiger Sword one more time, I'll shoot everyone here."

"Yes, Jemin."

Hamza wisely shut up.

"I'll make you something else~. Okay?"

"Ms. Ryeoha. Stop."

Only after both of them finally fell silent did peace return to my heart.

"We've cleared the first floor. Let's move up. The basement looks dangerous, and I don't want to go down there."

"Let's go~."

Leading Hamza and Goryeoha made me feel like a real squad leader.

Since the military planned to gas the basement anyway, we decided to move upward methodically.

Any survivors from the first floor had probably already escaped.

The remaining occupants had been the monsters hiding in ambush.

The strike team had supposedly cleaned the place out before.

I briefly wondered if they'd lied, but there was no reason for the military to do so.

Only one explanation seemed likely.

The survivors had been eaten and dragged downstairs.

Just as I resolved myself to clear the upper floors as well and headed toward the emergency staircase—

Hamza spoke.

Both Goryeoha and I stopped immediately.

But Hamza wasn't afraid.

He sounded confused.

He had found evidence of humans.

Approaching closer, we saw countless objects piled beneath the pale fog.

Even Goryeoha frowned in surprise, raising her bloodied fist.

"Phones? A grave?"

Apparently, a phone grave was some sort of burial ritual among Seoul Mages.

But after crouching down and examining the pile, I reached a completely different conclusion.

The phones beneath the fog blinked weakly.

Some displayed faint screens powered by dying batteries.

And one thing stood out.

The arrangement wasn't orderly.

They looked randomly discarded.

"This isn't a grave."

I picked up one of the phones and attempted several unlock methods before putting it back down.

None of the monsters we'd encountered showed any interest in phones.

Certainly not enough to gather them into piles.

Mages didn't loot phones either.

Which left only one possibility.

An unidentified species.

"Ms. Ryeoha. Know anything?"

I asked the person most likely to know.

Even Goryeoha sounded serious.

"No... Even in Seoul, monsters like this don't appear often."

Then there was only one thing left to do.

Magic was a mystery.

Guns, artillery, and nuclear weapons were better at killing enemies.

Magic's true value lay in exploring areas modern science couldn't easily touch.

I picked the phone back up and rolled my tongue.

Phone. Past. One day. Entirely. Me.

Click-click-clack...

The scenery shifted as though camera lenses were rotating.

As though eye-examination lenses were being changed.

I focused on the pile of phones, searching for what was changing.

The battery indicator on the phone in my hand increased.

Darkened screens became bright.

The ringtones remained silent.

But I saw hundreds of phones vibrating as they asked questions.

Names appeared across their screens.

[Mom] [Our Little Pig] [Dad] [Tutor] [Son]...

The calls never ended.

As my eyes looked further into the past—

As time flowed backward—

The once-dark phone screens illuminated the staircase like torches.

Brighter than the flickering fluorescent lights.

Like stars gathered beneath a clear night sky.

The phones vibrated against one another.

Asking questions.

Then their numbers began to shrink.

Whoosh.

A phone was pulled upward into empty air.

I thought I was seeing things.

But when I looked up—

It was literally being sucked into nothingness.

One after another.

The pile of phones seemed to be disappearing.

Had I forgotten I was watching time in reverse, I would've panicked.

Finally.

Twenty-four hours earlier.

Even the phone in my hand was gone.

The fluorescent lights still worked.

The only difference was that nothing stood before the staircase.

Rolling my blood-scented tongue once more, I accelerated the playback.

Ten times speed.

That was the beauty of magic.

Without cameras or recording devices, I could investigate the past.

Even at tenfold speed, nothing happened for a long time.

Then suddenly—

Tap.

A phone fell from nowhere.

At first I couldn't understand.

Naturally.

It simply looked like a phone appearing from empty air.

Then more started falling.

Tap tap tap.

Screens lit with names.

Phones rubbed against each other.

Their owners were nowhere to be seen.

Only the devices remained.

TATATATATAT!

Watching the phones rain down—

I finally understood.

I understood why they appeared to materialize out of thin air.

Click-clack-click...

The playback ended.

Overwhelming fatigue crashed into me.

My eyes throbbed with pressure.

I had to close them.

"Jemin? Did you find something?"

When I opened them again, Hamza had already dug out a first-aid kit from his backpack.

Goryeoha stood guard nearby with a clenched fist.

They had realized I was using magic and naturally assumed defensive and medical-support roles.

My primary task on this mission was detection and reconnaissance.

Which meant I needed to do my job.

The reason the phones seemed to appear from nowhere.

"They're invisible."

"Huh?"

"An invisible monster."

This wasn't something ordinary soldiers could fight.