At some point.
The soldiers who had been attacking us were gone.
And not only that.
CRRRAAACK.......
The black cracks kept spreading, and then—
from a certain moment on.
“That’s......?”
“I can see something on the other side.”
Something started to become visible beyond those cracks that had been nothing but black.
The world beyond the cracks.
‘Reality.’
With Matron leaving this land,
the [Otherworld] they had painted over reality began to be dismantled.
Maybe because of that.
“......Ugh......?”
“......! What’s happening!?”
Soldiers who had been staring at the cracks suddenly clutched their heads and collapsed.
“I-I’m fine.”
“Fine? You don’t look fine. What is it?”
“Memories.......”
Startled, I hurried over to them.
Sweating cold, they answered.
“Memories...... are coming back.”
“......!”
“This is...... my god.”
Only then did I realize it.
As the [Otherworld] Matron had covered us with vanished,
the forgetfulness Matron had forced onto us also disappeared.
“So we...... weren’t coming to Seoul for the first time.”
Everything that had happened here
started surfacing inside their heads.
‘......Good thing I saved the vampire power as much as possible.’
It’s not like they’d discover some secret they absolutely couldn’t, but—
the fallout from this wouldn’t be small.
And of course it wouldn’t.
“My god, if these memories are real.”
“Our enemy was.......”
“So they were rewinding time.”
A strange fear took root in the soldiers’ eyes.
“It’s a relief Sergeant Shin resolved it in the middle, but.......”
“A ridiculous existence like that was our enemy......?”
They saw [Matron].
Since they were people who couldn’t stare directly at [Matron],
they must’ve kept their heads lowered with their eyes closed in silence, but—
they would’ve noticed the conversation Matron and I shared,
and what Matron did to them.
There would be plenty who felt fear at that transcendent power.
As for this.
I’d need to sort it out soon.
‘Whew. Looks like I’ve got a lot to do now.’
Anyway, that’s for later.
It didn’t seem like an immediately dangerous situation, so—
I let out a breath of relief inside.
‘We almost got completely screwed.’
If things had gone wrong,
we would’ve fallen for Jang Youngwoong and Matron’s plan and ended up serving under them.
Even if we somehow succeeded in surviving in this world by cooperating with Jang Youngwoong—
the ending would probably have been—
‘A world of Matron’s...... where time doesn’t pass.’
If there was any silver lining—
‘Thank god they backed off more easily than I expected.’
Whether it was because, like that bat monster said, they were afraid to use their power directly—
or because they realized I wasn’t material to become their child—
in the end, they withdrew without resistance.
If they had endured until we tore down the illusion by force—
then maybe the ones who would’ve lost... were us.
No—more likely, that would’ve been the case.
CRRRAAACK.......
Reality beyond the cracks invaded the [Otherworld],
and the surrounding scenery began to change ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) little by little.
I stared blankly at it.
And then, at that moment—
“......Ah.”
From far away.
Someone was stumbling toward us.
“Yeah. So that’s how it is.......”
A man clutching his head, as if he had a headache—just like the other soldiers.
What was a little unusual was—
that beyond his translucent body, the city scenery looked faint,
and black cracks were embedded all over him.
“The person called ‘me’...... was nothing but an illusion.”
But.
Aside from that, he was a figure who was, in his own way, familiar to us.
“Lieutenant General Kim.......”
The commander of the Capital Defense Command.
Lieutenant General Kim Myeonghwan had come to find us.
*****
As the [Otherworld] Matron created disappeared,
the residents—beings manifested inside that [Otherworld]—were also vanishing.
“H-ha. Hah. My god. Now I get it.”
It seemed there was an order to what disappeared.
The first to vanish were the soldiers from across the country—forces that looked like Matron had manifested in a hurry.
But......
“I...... was nothing but an illusion.”
Those who were manifested as Seoul’s original residents.
They still remained, their forms lingering faintly.
‘It’s not just Lieutenant General Kim.’
So that he could counter us if needed,
Jang Youngwoong had stationed all of Seoul’s forces around this area.
“.......”
“.......”
The leaders of all Seoul
were staring at us with hollow eyes.
“Now I remember.”
And.
“I died pointlessly before even half a day passed after the collapse began.”
I had thought those residents were nothing more than dolls Matron made directly,
but it seemed Matron didn’t manifest the [Otherworld] residents in such a simple way.
“Lieutenant General Kim.......”
“Hah. What a joke. I’d been feeling proud of myself for enduring this collapse so well.......”
Lieutenant General Kim Myeonghwan let out a vacant laugh,
then rubbed his face and said.
“Do you know this? My end was so filthy it’s hard to describe.”
“Sir?”
“I got attacked by monsters while taking a walk around the neighborhood, and my brain locked up—I couldn’t respond properly. I ran away screaming for someone to save me...... and in the end, I pissed and shit myself, and got torn apart and eaten by monsters.”
Matron manifested people exactly as they had existed in the past.
It seemed they carried all their past personality and soul—
even their memories.
“Truly. It was the kind of ugliness that makes you think it shouldn’t be possible.”
“.......”
They even knew—
in the original history, not one rewritten by Jang Youngwoong—
what kind of end they’d met.
‘.......’
The frustrating part was—
watching them, there was nothing I could say for them.
Even if I told them there was no need to blame themselves—
‘They’re people doomed to vanish the moment they recover their memories.’
No matter what I said,
I couldn’t comfort people in that situation.
All I could do was—
silently listen to their lamentation as they sank into despair.
With that thought,
as I just stared at them in silence—
“Still, I’m glad.”
“Yes?”
Lieutenant General Kim Myeonghwan said with a small smile.
And.
Watching him, I thought—
......maybe it was just my misunderstanding to assume
they would be drowning in despair.
“Even if it’s like this. At least I got to see you.”
Maybe they—
were stronger than I thought.
*****
‘Glad.’
It wasn’t my place to say it, but—
their death was already guaranteed.
No matter what power I used, I couldn’t overturn that fact.
“What do you mean by that?”
“It’s because I met a pretty pathetic end.”
To hear “glad” in this situation—
I couldn’t understand it.
But.
“In my final moment...... I regretted it so much that I couldn’t do what I needed to do.”
“What you needed to do......?”
When I and the soldiers looked at him with puzzled eyes,
Lieutenant General Kim Myeonghwan chuckled and said.
“I couldn’t hand things over.”
......Hand things over?
While we were still stunned by that—
he turned back and called out.
“Jinhwan!”
“......Why are you calling me now?”
The one he called was—
the man who had been some kind of vice minister.
The person claiming to be the lawful Acting President of this country.
“Still, you should do it, Jinhwan. There’s still a difference in rank.”
“I’ve told you again and again, I hate this seat. So, Acting President—”
As if the positions of president and general meant nothing,
they spoke as comrades who had spent long years together.
“I’ll have you appoint full authority to Myeonghwan.”
“What, you can just do that?”
“It’s a national emergency. So what. It’s not like there’s anyone left to criticize us for doing it weird. Let Myeonghwan do whatever he wants.”
“Hm...... if you say so, then I understand.”
An incomprehensible conversation went back and forth,
and Lieutenant General Kim Myeonghwan nodded, then looked toward us and said.
“I don’t know if you’re aware, but every Republic of Korea Army commander in Seoul is already dead.”
“......Yes. We assumed as much.”
“Therefore, I am, in effect, the person holding the highest position within the Republic of Korea Army right now. Strictly speaking, there is one person above me...... but that person just delegated full authority to me.”
After saying that much,
he looked to one side and said.
“Then step forward.”
And.
The one who answered that wasn’t anyone else.
“Yes.”
The highest-ranking person in our unit.
First Lieutenant Kim Hyeon-seok.
“You are the Legion’s top commander?”
“Strictly speaking, that’s slightly incorrect.”
“Hm?”
I still didn’t understand what was happening, but—
unlike me,
First Lieutenant Kim seemed to understand what they were doing, as if he grasped its meaning.
“Do you see that soldier over there?”
“Ah. The one I saw in the meeting room back then.”
“That person is the true head of the [Steel Legion]...... and my superior.”
“......!”
At those words.
The eyes of the Seoul people snapped toward me.
“That person.......”
“Indeed. Our hero also honored that person as their leader.”
“I thought even First Lieutenant Kim was quite a figure...... but if someone like First Lieutenant Kim follows them......”
But.
I still had no idea what this situation was, and I was only flustered.
“Then it gets a bit complicated. Should this be done to that side?”
“No. For certain reasons, I’ve been acting as the Legion’s external leader.”
“Ah, then that’s a relief. We can proceed the way I originally planned.”
Maybe the effect of [Meeting Expectations] still remained.
First Lieutenant Kim was naturally exchanging opinions with Lieutenant General Kim Myeonghwan, as if he understood their intent.
“Then...... as the current highest commander of the Republic of Korea Army, I hereby order you, First Lieutenant Kim Hyeon-seok.”
“Yes. First Lieutenant Kim Hyeon-seok.”
And.
While I stared blankly at that scene—
“Considering your merits in combat, and factors such as the deaths of high-ranking officers, I hereby promote First Lieutenant Kim Hyeon-seok by special advancement of seven ranks.”
The words that came out of Lieutenant General Kim’s mouth—
were so shocking.
“Your rank after special advancement is...... Lieutenant General.”
Not only me.
Even the soldiers who had been listening blankly to that conversation widened their eyes in shock.
‘This... no way.’
Only now.
I finally felt like I understood what Lieutenant General Kim Myeonghwan was trying to do.
“Furthermore, the Republic of Korea is presently facing an unprecedented crisis.”
After the day the world ended,
we had operated as a group that, in its own way, originated from the military.
We’d benefited from that name at times,
and suffered for it at times, too, but......
“I hereby declare martial law across the entire Republic of Korea, and grant First Lieutenant Kim Hyeon-seok the position of Martial Law Commander.”
In truth.
There had been a problem with that identity.
“Until the Republic of Korea is normalized, First Lieutenant Kim Hyeon-seok holds command authority over the entire Republic of Korea Army.”
Our unit.
The mission assigned to 423rd Battalion was management of a radar installed on a mountain peak.
“I hereby change the status of the unit consisting of the 423rd Battalion that First Lieutenant Kim Hyeon-seok commanded, as well as the survivors of that battalion and civilian collaborators.”
From the moment we abandoned that mission and began independent operations,
we had, in effect, lost the justification to call ourselves a lawful military force.
We had become a force not fundamentally different from deserters—
the kind everyone feared so much.
But......
That was no longer the case.
“The new organization will be at the corps level.”
The last surviving highest commander of the Republic of Korea Army.
The final holders of power in this country—
“Your mission is.......”
were giving us—
a new order.
“To defend the Republic of Korea’s entire national territory, territorial waters, and airspace...... the defense of the entire nation that the existing 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th Corps had been responsible for.”
They were restoring—
the identity we had lost.
“Your symbolic name is.......”
Lieutenant General Kim Myeonghwan said that much, then—
with a faint chuckle, he looked at First Lieutenant Kim Hyeon-seok’s shoulder.
“We shall call you the [Steel Legion].”
There.
Was the pattern of a lizard with skin like steel.
Our unit’s insignia was engraved there.
