“......You?”
“Hello, Chair.”
“I didn’t think I’d see you here.”
The first ones to come out and meet us were the Gyeonggi-side people.
To begin with, this place was Gyeonggi’s territory.
Even if they still couldn’t exert influence over all of Gyeonggi, I’d expected they’d be somewhere nearby.
“I thought you’d enter from near the north since it’d be faster for you, so even if we met, I figured it’d be inside Seoul.”
And.
Watching Jo Beomseok look at us in confusion, I thought—
‘They...... don’t remember what happened in there?’
Not just me, but the rest of the unit as well—
We’d recovered all the memories of everything that happened inside Seoul.
But they didn’t seem to remember what they’d gone through inside Seoul.
The reason was probably—
‘They entered Seoul a little later than us.’
I clearly remembered—
They came only the day after we entered Seoul.
And there were several repetitions, but—
The fight with Matron at the end was on the first day we arrived in Seoul.
By the time Matron’s [Otherworld] was dismantled, they wouldn’t have entered Seoul yet.
This was my guess, but—
‘For them, it was processed as if they never entered Seoul in the first place.’
Since they’d “never entered” in the first place—
They had no memories of what happened inside.
Even the guild messages I’d exchanged with the Gangwon soldiers inside would probably have been processed as if they never existed.
It was an [Otherworld] created by the power of an “external existence.”
Even if they had withdrawn, they were a being with overwhelming order.
Since this was something that happened due to interference by such a being, there were bound to be many parts ordinary common sense couldn’t explain.
And.
Those who had been processed as if they’d never entered Seoul at all......
“We were watching the situation from here. With the inside looking like that, we couldn’t just enter.”
“Those people are.”
“They’re in the same situation as us. They came after receiving Seoul’s invitation, but entering in there is insane, so...... they joined up here for now.”
Seoul, with a hellscape spread out inside.
As a result of waiting outside without being able to enter—
Every survivor force coming up from southern Seoul had joined here.
“Then this works out better for us.”
“Better?”
“It’s a trap.”
Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok said, looking at them.
“A trap......?”
“We moved to Seoul as soon as we received that invitation message. Thanks to that, we already grasped the situation inside Seoul to some extent.”
“That fast?”
“Because it was a call from the government. Soldiers responding immediately is only natural.”
It wasn’t natural.
We’d been extremely suspicious about whether it was even a proper call, and we’d prepared like crazy in case of anything.
And it wasn’t like we arrived that much earlier than them.
But.
“Anyway, we went to the location in that invitation message...... and there was nothing there.”
“Then that means.”
“It seems that message was a trap sent by the monsters in Seoul to lure humans to where they are.”
“I did consider that possibility...... but I didn’t think it would actually be true.”
Jo Beomseok only made a bitter expression, but—
Others couldn’t react so calmly.
“A, a trap......!”
An elderly woman who looked quite old.
A grandmother named Yoo Jeongsuk, who they said was the representative of the survivors from North Gyeongsang.
“Th-then the Republic of Korea government.......”
“You should consider it effectively gone.”
“That can’t be......!”
The old woman’s face filled with despair.
Her faction had pursued only minimal survival in North Gyeongsang.
People who’d even given up on building their strength because they believed they’d eventually be able to join the government.
“Then I...... what am I supposed to tell the other guild people.......”
“Guild Master!”
With the government gone—
And even the message they’d seen as hope being a trap, she couldn’t even keep herself steady.
“......Wait. I have one question.”
But then.
A man who’d been listening impassively asked us a question.
“Your clothes. The design’s pretty different from what I knew, but...... that’s a military uniform, right?”
“Yes, it is.”
“So, you know. In this dogshit world, there’s only one organization I can think of that would go out of their way to outfit themselves like that...... you people, are you the ones I’m thinking of?”
A man who said he’d come from Daejeon.
At Kang Sincheol’s question—
Kim gave a small nod.
“I’m Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok, acting as the external head of the Legion.”
Then.
Kang Sincheol and Yoo Jeongsuk both widened their eyes in shock.
“I-if it’s the Legion. Then.......”
“Hahaha! So I was right.”
Kang Sincheol roughly flicked away the cigarette he’d been smoking onto the ground.
Then he walked toward us and spoke.
“Honestly. I didn’t really care whether the government over in Seoul was alive or not. Even hearing that the message was a trap doesn’t do much for me.”
“Is that so.”
“The reason I came all this way, going out of my way—there’s only one. You know what it is?”
“I think I do.”
“To thank you—huh? You think you know?”
When Kang Sincheol flinched and stopped mid-sentence—
Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok shook his head.
“But you don’t need to thank us.”
“......?”
“We only carried out our duty. If anything, even if we were blamed for not saving residents from other regions sooner, we’d have nothing to say. Even that radio...... it’s only unfortunate that it was the only method we had.”
At Lieutenant General Kim’s words—
Kang Sincheol stared blankly at his face for a moment.
Then he opened his mouth.
“You said I don’t need to thank you. You didn’t say I’m not allowed to, right?”
And then.
“In a world like this, I know damn well how insane it is to keep that dogshit duty. Me and my people benefited from it. So...... thank you.”
“......Yes. Thank you.”
“If you need anything next time, call for me. I’ll help as much as the debt I owe.”
The man bowed his head toward us.
After receiving that greeting, Kim looked at the gathered survivors and said,
“Like I said! Seoul has fallen. The Republic of Korea government is effectively gone.”
“.......”
“But!”
Even though he ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ wasn’t using a skill—
Right now, he looked like the charismatic head of the Legion to anyone.
“That message wasn’t meaningless. In the end, surviving citizens gathered here like this.”
“......You mean?”
There was a clear reason—
I came all the way to southern Seoul.
“Even if the government is gone, cooperation between the survivors is still possible.”
“......!”
At Kim’s words—
I could see Yoo Jeongsuk’s expression brighten noticeably.
“Hm. Even if the government’s gone, we cooperate among the survivor forces gathered here—that’s it, huh...... The Gyeonggi Province Survivors’ Association agrees. Of course, we’ll have to talk about what kind of cooperation it’ll be.”
“N-North Gyeongsang agrees too! Please, more details about that cooperation.......”
Yoo Jeongsuk agreed urgently.
Even if the government she’d searched for first was gone—
It wasn’t like there was no replacement.
“What kind of cooperation is the Legion thinking of......?”
The Legion, having absorbed the Gangwon military base—
Could take over the role she wanted.
*****
Kang Sincheol and Yoo Jeongsuk.
The two faction representatives were surprised by who we were—
But they looked like they could accept it.
On the other hand.
“Lieutenant General...... Kim Hyeon-seok?”
There were also those who doubted our words.
The awakened of Gyeonggi seemed to doubt one word in particular.
“You. Talk with me for a moment—”
Chair Jo Beomseok stepped forward,
About to say something to us, but—
“Chair. Just a moment.”
At that time.
A hand grabbed Jo Beomseok’s hand.
“......It’s true.”
“Iseo? What do you mean?”
Han Iseo.
She looked at us with her eyes.
The eyes that could distinguish truth from lies.
“Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok is a lieutenant general.”
“......!”
When Jo Beomseok’s eyes widened—
She advised him in a small voice.
“If what you say is true, then fine, but how is that possible?”
“I don’t know that far either.”
“Hm. They’re not the type to ignore rules and pull something like this.”
“Maybe.......”
With a little suspicion.
And.
“Something happened between them that we don’t know about.”
With a curious expression—
She looked at us.
“......I see. Then.”
“You haven’t forgotten the policy we set in advance, right?”
At those words—
Jo Beomseok also gave a small nod and stepped back.
“When the situation is unclear, we take the same position as the Legion first.”
“Yes. We can probably hear the details later.”
After finishing that exchange, Jo Beomseok cleared his throat.
Ahem— and walked toward the people.
*****
“Ahem.”
“Oh, Chair? You said you had something to tell me.”
“Uh, well. Cooperation is good and all, but this doesn’t seem like a good place to have an important talk. There’s an Association base nearby. We should talk there—”
After that—
It naturally became the flow of holding a meeting about cooperation once, within Gyeonggi’s territory.
‘The trip to Seoul got canceled, but...... it’s not like our objective disappeared.’
Our objective was to check the situation across the regions through the survivors who would gather in Seoul—
And if possible, establish a cooperation framework.
Even if Seoul had fallen—
Cooperation between the regions remaining in the Republic of Korea was still possible.
And.
‘A meeting will favor us.’
We’d gone through several meetings inside Seoul, and we had those memories.
Lieutenant General Kim would have those memories intact—
So he could lead the meeting fairly flexibly.
‘......If there’s one thing that bothers me.’
I turned my head.
I looked at one faction quietly watching this conversation.
“Just a moment.......”
“......Who are you?”
While Kim was talking with the Gyeonggi and North Gyeongsang people—
I approached that faction and spoke.
Then.
“......Fo......!? Fo—!?”
“Sister? What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
A woman—
Began to visibly panic when she saw my face.
‘The religious order...... they said they came from South Chungcheong.’
Cooperation with the other factions wouldn’t be a big problem.
At most, it was a little irritating that the Daejeon survivors led by Kang Sincheol didn’t seem interested in cooperation.
But.
‘These ones need a bit of caution.’
In our unit, the one with the highest level after me is Sergeant Lee Minjae.
But.
The leader of that so-called religious order had a level—
Higher than Sergeant Lee Minjae, and higher than every awakened I’d seen so far besides myself.
‘The ones who came with them are pretty high-level too.......’
Maybe—
The only organization among those who answered Seoul’s recruitment that might have built a force on par with our Legion.
“You saw me. So your purpose is achieved.”
“Ah, aah.......”
They were too big a variable.
The one saving grace was—
“For now, go back to your land. After you return.......”
Inside Seoul—
I’d met them several times, and every time, what they said had stayed in my head.
“Grow your strength and wait.”
“Ah, aah...... those words......!”
When I said that—
She nodded quickly, eyes overflowing with emotion.
“I will follow your will....... Mighty one.......”
A woman who bowed deeply, acting so polite it was burdensome.
When she whispered something into the religious order’s people’s ears—
“We’re physically too far away to cooperate immediately. After some time passes and our territories touch. Then it would be right to discuss it again.”
“......Understood. If that is your will.”
The religious order’s people returned to their headquarters.
Because of that—
The variable in the cooperation among those gathered here disappeared.
“Then for now, let’s move to our base. We can talk details there—”
A little later.
The forces that remained here began moving to the Gyeonggi base for the meeting.
“Huh? Sergeant Shin?”
“Sergeant, aren’t you coming with us?”
And.
I decided not to go along to that meeting.
“Over there, First Lieutenant Kim...... no, Lieutenant General Kim will handle it. Even if I go, I won’t have anything to do.”
“That’s true, but.”
“I have other business.”
“Other business?”
At the soldiers’ questions—
I shrugged and answered.
“There’s someone I need to find.”
And so.
Separating from the soldiers, I began moving on my own.
[Environmental Assimilation]
With my body turned transparent—
I entered the interior of Seoul, which had become a hellscape itself.
There was one target.
‘Yeouido.’
In the timeline that was now gone—
The land where Seoul’s leaders had taken their positions. That very place.
