Chapter 11 – Relic (2)
2.
n.o.body clung onto Kim Tae Hoon’s party when they left.
It wasn’t that n.o.body had tried,
“If you guys are the only ones to leave, then what next? What about us?!”
“Please, save us……. ”
“Please take me as well! If you don’t take me, I won’t just sit still!”
“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, don’t just leave by yourself! If you’re a human, act like a human!”
There were some who were just plain pathetic, some who were just desperate, and some who just wanted to be a parasite living on Kim Tae Hoon’s back.
To them, it was a natural reaction if it meant surviving.
But Kim Tae Hoon didin’t acknowledge any of them.
“Be warned. You better not follow me. There won’t be much of a difference in corpses regardless of whether or not you follow me.”
In the face of Kim Tae Hoon’s threats, all of the surrounding survivors were intimidated.
Kim Tae Hoon’s threats did not stop just there.
“If anyone tails behind us, deal with them.”
“Deal with them?”
“If you don’t kill them, it’s enough to make them feel as though their lives are in danger.”
Kim Tae Hoon conveyed his intentions to Bang Hyun Wook and Ahn Sun Mi.
“What’s the reason for us to do so?”
“You don’t want to get caught up in a tussle because of a crazy survivor.”
It was a fairly obvious reason.
Earlier, Kim Tae Hoon had made a huge ruckus while trying to kill the black orc. If an insurance agent saw the mess, he might as well have fainted after seeing all the destruction.
It was a huge disturbance that reached all the way to the gra.s.s. If there was a snake dwelling in the gra.s.s, it would not have been able to sleep.
Except the snakes in the city probably wouldn’t be snakes anymore, but monsters.
‘If another black orc appears, no one will be able to escape.’
In Kim Tae Hoon’s case, since he had already expended most of his power and energy, another battle against a black orc would be incredibly burdensome.
That’s why he wanted to go visit the police station.
Kim Tae Hoon himself was now more useful than a kitchen knife or a hatchet, and that’s why he needed a stronger weapon.
Of course, it would take some time to get to the police station.
Quietly.
They moved slowly like a turtle so as not to disrupt the quiet surroundings.
When Kim Tae Hoon and his party arrived at the police station, they were greeted by cold, frozen bodies.
“How gruesome.”
Bang Hyun Wook gave voice to everyone else’s feelings.
Hearing Bang Hyun Wook’s voice, Kim Tae Hoon clicked his tongue.
‘It’s as bad as I expected in the worst case scenario.’
What Kim Tae Hoon saw in the police station was almost identical to the scene that
Kim Tae Hoon had envisioned.
” ….. There doesn’t seem to be any police officers.”
Ahn Sun Mi’s observation was also something that Kim Tae Hoon had expected.
“It would be strange if there were people screaming and running outside but the cops still stayed inside.”
“If the police didn’t go out, then the panic and turmoil would be even more uncontrollable.”
“Agreed.”
Quite frankly, it wasn’t a very good outcome.
Especially since Kim Tae Hoon could really only imagine the worst outcome.
‘If there’s even just one survivor…. there definitely should be some sort of existing network that I can use.’
He didn’t exactly expect the police station to have a working network.
He would rather there be a surviving police officer who wished to contact survivors.
‘There would be contacts made with the military, but there wouldn’t be much on the police side….’
In the event of a network collapse, people would still have to talk together, but since they can’t they try to contact the police, which makes the police desperate to get their system up and running.
But on the contrary, the reality of the situation was obvious.
There’s nothing great about an armed police man in South Korea.
How great is a police officer who rarely goes out on the field and instead only works in the station?
The firepower of the entirety of the Bucheon City police department probably wouldn’t be greater than a group of five or six gun hobbyist in the United States.
There is no way they will use their guns properly.
How many cops would have done shooting practice that would prepare them for this situation?
‘If they knew this day would come, then all countries would have long since legalized firearms like the United State.’
Kim Tae Hoon’s thoughts weren’t ridiculous, but rather very sensible.
” …… the military base would be different, right?”
Ahn Sun Mi carefully asked.
Their next destination would be the military base.
“Who knows.”
However, the chances of the military base being all that much better wouldn’t actually be that high.
The armed status of the military would definitely be different from that of the police department.
The number of automatic rifles and ammunition would not only be much higher, but the variety of weapons beyond just your basic pistol would be higher as well.
However, the Republic of Korea’s military would not have been trained to deal with these monsters.
In fact, many Korean troops would only have minimal training. Most of them are conscripts who think of military service as slavery.
For soldiers who spend most of their time in a base instead of on the field, it might honestly be more effective for them to fight the monsters with shovels than with guns.
“It depends who’s in charge.”
Ultimately, it would depend on the commander’s capabilities.
An army’s greatest strength comes from a clear line of command.
So if the commander is excellent, he can produce phenomenal results much more efficient than another group of similar size.
“Commander’s ability? Good grief.”
“Then it’s probably all over.”
Hearing Kim Tae Hoon’s explanation, Bang Hyun Wook and Ahn Sun Mi sighed, their expressions expressing their lack of hope.
Kim Tae Hoon frowned after looking at the two of their despondent expressions.
“Neither of you should have done military service, right?”
Bang Hyun Wook isn’t at the age where he would have to do military service, and Ahn
Sun Mi is not qualified to do so.
It’s strange that the two of them respond to the military with such a lack of confidence.
“Hyungnim, do we have to go there?”
“It’s obvious that the place with a higher chance of control is the place most subject to a high degree of corruption.”
Facing their arguments, Kim Tae Hoon couldn’t really argue back.
In a way, Kim Tae Hoon was one of the greatest symbol of the Korean military’s corruption, unfairness, and irrationality.
The two of them were right.
If the Republic of Korea’s military was rational and functioning well, Kim Tae Hoon wouldn’t be here.
“But more than that, where have you learnt all of this hyungnim? Did you learn this from the military?”
“I am a solider, but what I’ve learned is not from the army.”
Having knowledge of the military’s movements, Kim Tae Hoon gave a signal to Bang Hyun Wook and Ahn Sun Mi as he replied to them.
It was a signal telling them to shut up and execute the command he had given them earlier.
Bang Hyun Wook nodded, and stood near the broken gla.s.s door of the police station, baseball bat and batting gloves in hand. Then he focused his senses towards the exterior of the police station.
Ahn Sun Mi began to look through the corpses in the police station. She looked through their pockets, eventually fis.h.i.+ng out a smartphone, checking if there was a lock screen, and then finally checking its battery level. She was able to find some useful stuff, but unfortunately the battery was no good.
Kim Tae Hoon started to go through the armory in the police station.
‘What is this?’
Ahn Sun Mi suddenly stopped.
‘There was definitely something…….’
Staring at the dead body, she felt as though something brushed by her fingertips.
It felt like a thin spiderweb were touching her hand.
It didn’t quite feel like there was something important.
Most people would have the urge to just ignore it and move on after searching for awhile.
But Ahn Sun Mi was different.
‘There’s definitely something here.’
Her career required her to be deft with her hands and small tools in addition to her being in contact with those between life and death.
So as a doctor, she wouldn’t leave when something went bad or when something felt off.
Sometimes the key could be found between the moment of life and death in a patient.
Ahn Sun Mi was frozen on the spot.
She stopped doing what she was doing, and placed a hand on her chin, looking at the body.
One of her eyes widened as she spotted a worn out bag.
She opened it without any hesitation.
‘This…….’
There was a black plastic envelope in the bag. She swiftly ripped open the envelope, from which objects wrapped in newspapers fell out. When she took out one of the objects and took off the newspapers, she found out what the object was.
It was nothing but a bowl.
‘Antiques?’
It was an old, ancient looking bowl.
The bowl looked as though it were almost split in half.
Ahn Sun Mi looked at the bowl with a dazed expression on her face.
‘I’m definitely going crazy.’
She had a strange feeling, a hunch, but in the end, it wasn’t gold or money that caught her attention, but a bowl?
She sighed briefly before that strange sensation on her fingertips brushed by again.
‘Ah!’
This time, it was more intense.
It felt like transparent yarn was connected to her fingertips.
Ahn Sun Mi’s expression changed again.
“Before we go, I’ll teach you how to properly use a gun.”
Kim Tae Hoon emerged from the armory. He was going to teach Bang Hyun Wook and Ahn Sun Mi, the both of which had never used a gun before.
”Excuse me.”
At Kim Tae Hoon’s behavior, Ahn Sun Mi’s stomach dropped.
“This right here is strange.”
Ahn Sun Mi handed over the bundle of newspapers while talking.
Kim Tae Hoon looked at Ahn Sun Mi. He had a not so good expression on his face.
Bang Hyun Wook who had lifted his neck and looked towards Ahn Sun Mi’s hand also had an expression similar to Kim Tae Hoon.
“Ah, because of that…….”
Ahn Sun Mi pulled out more newspapers, and hurriedly pulled out a white bowl and a wine cup hidden in it.
Of course, to the two of them, those items didn’t look very special either.
They were literally nothing more than simple antiques.
More than that, it didn’t look like great antiques. More specifically, you wouldn’t be able to sell it to a place like Insadong antique store.
Ahn Sun Mi was aware.
”These objects are strange. No, I’m saying that these things give me a very strange vibe…….”
Instead of answering Ahn Sun Mi, Kim Tae Hoon took out his smartphone and pointed it at Ahn Sun Mi.
Click!
Then before she could even reply, he had already took the picture.
“W, wait, hold on.”
After examining the photo, Kim Tae Hoon made a firm expression on his face before handing the smartphone to Ahn Sun Mi.
“Maybe humans aren’t the only ones to have changed.”
There were translucent letters over the cup in the smartphone.
[Goblet of Healing]
– Relic Grade : Grade 7
– Relic Rarity : Common
– Relic Effect : By consuming mana, the Goblet of Healing can produce a magical water that heals wounds.
The world has changed.
And not just the humans either, but everything.