Chapter 86
“I’ve come to find my puppy!”
I blinked at him. A dog? Well, of course, there were people who kept pets even in this kind of world. It was quite surprising and fortunate that animals were not affected by the virus, so it was common to see people spending time with animals to calm their minds and find healing. But if animals didn’t get infected, what good would it do? Humans were the ones getting infected.
Nevertheless, the heavily tattooed man in front of me seemed to have lost his dog and appeared to have come here looking for it.
“Are you the one who has my puppy?”
The man smiled sheepishly, completely contrasting his rough appearance. I had been momentarily stunned by the extreme contrast, but I quickly snapped out of it.
“No, I’m not. I haven’t seen any dogs here.”
“Really?”
The man frowned slightly and looked around.
“Well, are you sure you haven’t seen it?”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you here?”
He scanned me with a sharp gaze, unlike before, as if scrutinizing a suspicious person. If I didn’t clear this up quickly, that axe on his hip might end up buried in my skull.
“I’m an acquaintance of Park Ahjussi. Ahjussi left something for me to retrieve. So that’s why I’m here. It may seem like trespassing, but I absolutely did not come to steal or anything like that.”
“Ah! So you’re an acquaintance of my uncle?”
Uncle?
Ahjussi had a nephew like this…? I recalled the old man who was shorter and smaller than me, then looked up at the huge man in front of me and tilted my head quizzically.
But as soon as I mentioned Park Ahjussi, the man opened his eyes wide and smiled brightly, as if he had never been wary of me.
“I’m his nephew! I’m Choi Yong-tae!”
Then he held out his hand as if to shake hands. His hand, filled with rugged calluses, spoke volumes about how he had survived in this harsh world. Ah, it reminded me of Yongcheol. Maybe it’s because they share the same surname. After a moment of hesitation, I took his hand.
“I’m Min Ahyeon.”
“Huh? That famous mercenary Min Ahyeon?”
The man, Choi Yong-tae, looked surprised, then chuckled.
“Ah, why the surprised look? In this line of work, who doesn’t know Mercenary Min? If you don’t know her, you’re a spy.”
“Ah, well…I know I’m somewhat famous.”
I looked him over from head to toe and asked,
“Are you also a mercenary?”
“Yes!”
Choi Yong-tae thumped his chest proudly.
“That’s why I’ve been looking up to Mercenary Min even more!”
“Pardon? Why me…?”
“Wasn’t it Mercenary Min who saved the people at the Cheongna shelter and helped them join the Seoul shelter?”
He seemed to be referring to the time a small infected wave struck previously. There was an incident where some leader type tried to take people away as hostages, which I intervened in.
But that was a long time ago. And not something that would become hugely famous, right?
“Well…I guess so?”
“And on top of that, you single-handedly took care of the scavengers who had that whole area on lockdown.”
He seemed to be talking about the Cheongna area.
“They were that strong…?”
“Also! There are widespread rumors that Mercenary Min helped with the recent chaos in Gangwon Province. Yes, that’s why our leader wanted to meet you.”
I didn’t think much about the Gangwon incident since it was newsworthy, but the mention of “leader” piqued my interest.
“Leader?”
When I questioned him, Choi Yong-tae made an “Heup” sound and covered his mouth, as if he had said something he shouldn’t have. Then, he tried to wrap up the conversation quickly.
“Ah, anyway. It was nice to meet you. If my puppy isn’t here, I’ll have to look elsewhere. I’ll get going!”
Visibly flustered and glancing around nervously, he bowed and left Park Ahjussi’s house.
Oh… He came and went like the wind… I was quite perplexed as to what was going on.
“A ‘leader’, he said.”
So that means there’s someone commanding him.
Did mercenaries have organizations like that?
Ah, of course, I’ve heard of mercenaries living in groups. But we don’t call them mercenary groups. We call them gangs of looters.
However, based on my instincts honed from 4 years of surviving this disaster, that guy Choi Yong-tae or whatever didn’t seem like a looter. He gave off more of a military vibe instead of a looter vibe. His rough speech, bulky build, the worn edge of his axe—all gave a more military-like impression. But…
“Yet he didn’t quite seem like a soldier either.”
In this case, there was one answer.
The captain commanding his group has implemented a military-like system.
“I probably don’t need to… need to… worry about it, right?”
Despite saying so, my gut instinct tells me otherwise. I need to pay attention. Keep an eye out. Stay alert.
“Ah, is there really nothing that can be properly resolved?”
I ruffled my hair in frustration, then started sorting through the situation one by one.
“First, these fake bastards are making some ‘infected repellent’ and distributing it.”
Are the infected mosquitoes or what? If that’s the case, use Home Keeper.
“But I don’t understand why they’re making this repellent to help people. And it’s also strange that they can somehow gather the infected in one place like bugs.”
The siren started wailing in my head.
“The research institute.”
That’s right.
How could those stupid fake bastards make a repellent? There’s no doubt they had help from a research institute. Ha! This is infuriating.
“Those research institute guys have their hands in everything.”
I ruffled my hair again and grabbed the radio. I felt I needed to report what I’d learned to Shin Hae-jun first.
As I was about to turn on the radio, something caught my eye. It was Park Ahjussi’s storage room that I had tried to open earlier before Choi Yong-tae came and interrupted. Seeing it was like disconnected film reels linking back together in my mind.
“The gunsmith old man said he had to test out a modified gun he made, so he was going out…”
Park Ahjussi’s modified gun.
“I’ve come to find my puppy!”
The dog that the wandering mercenary keeps. And then,
“Yes, that’s why our leader wanted to meet you.”
A ‘leader’…he said.
I could have just ignored it, but I couldn’t. My instincts wouldn’t allow it. As if in a trance, I tossed aside the radio and opened Park Ahjussi’s storage room door.
And then,
“Haa, fuck.”
I cursed out loud. It was a situation that couldn’t help but make me swear.
🕂
Instead of returning to headquarters, Shin Hae-jun headed towards the Seoul Shelter. The soldiers at the shelter were getting frustrated with his constant presence there, but for Shin Hae-jun, that was none of their concern. Did they think they had the right to complain about someone who was comfortably resting in the safe and clean shelter while they were dealing with hardships outside?
Ignoring their grievances, Shin Hae-jun strode past them with a troubled expression, his long legs carrying him swiftly through the corridors. Finally, he reached the end of the hallway, standing in front of the last door. With a gentle tap of his foot, the door opened as if it had been expecting him. The first person he saw through the open doorway was Sergeant Oh Habin.
“General, you’re here.”
Unlike when it was just the two of them, Habin addressed him with much more formality, as there were others present in the room. Shin Hae-jun nodded as Habin lit his cigarette.
“Seo Yoo-jin. Not even a greeting for your superior officer?”
Shin Hae-jun called out to the woman sitting by the window. The woman with her gray hair tied in a high ponytail finally turned her gaze to look at Hae-jun, removing the earphones plugged into her ears.
“My apologies, I was focused on locking onto the frequency.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
If you’re going to say “yeah, whatever” so quickly, was there any need to say it at all…? Habin thought, but remained silent. He pulled out a chair for Hae-jun, who naturally sat down and raised his chin.
“Did you find it?”
Puffing out thick cigarette smoke like the hazy fog surrounding the shelter, he asked.
“The source of the radio broadcast.”
The woman, Lieutenant Seo Yoo-jin, slowly nodded her head.
🕂
Thank you for reading! ♡
