57 — Chapter 57

Same time.

The atmosphere in the conference room was as solemn as it could be.

The Commander-in-Chief had returned.

That meant more than symbolism. It meant the Special Unit could finally expand its area of operations.

With the Sea of Decay gone, the periodic hordes of the dead had vanished everywhere except along the Han River.

They hadn’t relaxed their guard against Flauros or Patel, but they couldn’t stay curled up forever.

With Seoul secured, the first target Ha Yeri set her sights on was the Gyeongbu Line’s restoration.

It would be the cornerstone for strengthening the link to Busan, the only other functioning city besides Seoul.

“Once we establish strongpoints along the railway, we can stabilize the lands devastated by Gates much faster.”

Using Commander Seong Gwan-il of Special Unit Division 6 (Supply Support Unit)’s ability, they would lay tracks and move supplies and troops with magitech trains.

The Special Unit alone couldn’t fight through the monsters covering the country all the way down to Busan, but with help from the Magic Tower and the guilds, it was a doable operation.

“If we succeed at pest-control and defense around the rebuilt stretches, we’ll proceed by permanently leasing those regions to the cooperating parties.”

“Will that be enough incentive?”

“We quietly sounded out the major guilds, including The Old Gods’ Wound. Most responded positively. Competition in Seoul’s gotten so overheated that people have to push into Ground Zero just to mine mana stones.”

“Any risk the capital’s defenses will weaken?”

“We expect many Awakened to leave the metro area at first, but Gangbuk still has the Savior’s Saint and Tartaruga, and the Commander-in-Chief will remain at her post. We judge it safe.”

The Bureau’s senior officers nodded as they listened to Ha Yeri’s briefing.

Since the surge in Gate appearances, most nations had either fallen to overflowing monsters or to rampaging Awakened—

—or else, like Korea, survived by securing minimal safe zones and clinging to life under the Towers’ protection.

“We should notify the Union down south of our plan first.”

“If we’re pushing south by using Gyeongbu Line strongpoints, it would help a lot if they could retake up to Daegu on their own.”

“Communications still aren’t stable, are they?”

“No. Busan has no Magic Tower, and because a Seed of Calamity appears once a year there, Division 1 has had to dispatch people directly to exchange messages.”

Relations with the Union that ruled Busan weren’t exactly friendly, so problems remained. Even so, the mere fact they were ready to step beyond Seoul was encouraging.

“How will you form the vanguard? The risk is high—guilds won’t volunteer for that.”

“Fundamentally, the Special Unit should handle it.”

“But Division 3’s headcount has limits.”

“About that~ I happen to have a fun idea.”

“Oh? Commander Cheon So-baek. Let’s hear it.”

“The person in charge is out right now, so I can’t go into details, but there’s an invention that boosts the Magical Siege Turret’s mobility. What if we leveraged that…?”

As the lively debate continued, someone tapped Ha Yeri on the shoulder.

A black-haired man with his face wrapped in bandages.

It was Kim Seong-gon, Commander of Special Unit Division 5 (Recon and Disruption Unit).

He was the quiet type who rarely spoke up in meetings; if he approached privately, it meant something important.

“Commander Ha Yeri.”

“What is it?”

“The Self-Made Immortal isn’t in the conference room.”

“Now that you mention it, she stepped out during the break and hasn’t returned.”

Probably just getting some air.

There wasn’t much to worry about.

The Special Unit building’s security was top-tier, and no criminal group in Seoul had the skill to assassinate the Commander-in-Chief.

“She’ll be back soon. If she doesn’t show, I’ll send agents to search.”

“No need. I found her.”

“Already? Where is she?”

“Here.”

He pointed to his smartwatch.

Ha Yeri usually stuck to the Special Unit Bamboo Forest, but what he had open was a personal streaming platform called “Jjijijik!”¹

On screen, a first-person stream was walking through the Special Unit grounds.

In the bottom-right corner, a weird purple tentacle avatar wriggled.

---

[Streamer: SNCH / Follow, Subscribe, Gift Sub]
[⁋Vlog⁋ Rookie Year 0 Special Unit Vlog (Live): A Bureau HQ Tour with the Commander-in-Chief!]
#Talk #SpecialUnit #VTuber #NoDonations

—Little-known fact: Special Unit commanders have private quarters inside their own divisions. Today, we’ll focus on those.

—Ah—no donations, Jjijijik folks! We can’t earn from this. Save your Sparks for other streams!

—After the HQ tour, the Commander-in-Chief herself will press the pulls for a New Monster Wars gacha stream. Last time I had another VIP try, and they still couldn’t pull a Basilisk.

—Oh, we’re almost there. That’s Commander Ha-XX’s quarters. When I first came here for the aptitude test, they asked what I wanted, so I said to please take yeonpotang² off the cafeteria menu—and got scolded for it.

…
…

[12,423 viewers watching]

---

The moment she heard a familiar voice pushing the Self-Made Immortal’s wheelchair, Ha Yeri shot to her feet and bolted out of the conference room.

---

The response was better than I expected.

I watched the chat scroll flood upward and felt satisfied.

For the record, I had only shown the outside of a hanok building.

I did find the pillar Seona mentioned.

But even I—a cold Apostle of an Outer God with no “human heart”—couldn’t bring myself to reveal Ha Yeri’s height mark in front of over ten thousand viewers.

The same straight tick in the same spot for years. Obviously drawn with a pencil, but sunk into the pillar as if carved with a blade.

I marked my own height far above it, quietly removed the pillar’s base stone, and wiped my eyes before stepping out.

“Next stop is the cafeteria.”

“Didn’t they say it was closed? I heard the nutritionists are on strike…”

“The Commander-in-Chief is going. They won’t dare refuse her food. And once this airs, conditions will improve.”

“Hayan, you’re kind—thinking of the other staff like this.”

I definitely didn’t say I was starving because I ran away from the snacks.

For reference, the reason the nutritionists went on strike wasn’t because the selected ingredient—‘supergiant squid marinated in tanker oil’—was unhealthy, but because it was too hard to clean.

After that, we introduced the Special Unit menu while I stole bites from her tray, then headed outside to do some pruning on Tartaruga.

While we were at it, we swung by a Red Tower lab and found a small mana-stone thruster lying on the floor; I mounted it to the wheelchair and did a little hot-rod mod.

From midway on, it was all part of the plan to dodge Ha Yeri, who had abandoned the meeting and was now chasing us with everything she had.

“Ahh—what a day~ I had so much fun.”

“I’m glad you’re satisfied.”

Playing around with all that, we didn’t notice the sun dipping low.

For the finale, I decided to end the stream with a mobile gacha session and took Seona to the luckiest spot I knew.

A café above a tiny flower shop—the place where the Super-Class Monster Cat Gargantua had last been sighted before it crossed the 38th Parallel and vanished.

One glass of milk. One glass of lukewarm water.

I ordered the kind of menu that made the owner apologize to an employee and let them clock out early, then took a seat by the window.

“Next time, I’ll prepare the full Ground Zero course for you.”

“Really?”

“Please look forward to it. It’ll be so fun you won’t notice if the two of us go in and come out combined into one and a half.”

“Then I’ll look forward to it.”

She stretched lightly, maybe a little drowsy.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect you to dote on me like this. Everyone keeps their distance, so it’s hard to get close.”

“Why?”

“Who knows? Generation gap, maybe? Heh.”

Despite appearances, her epithet was the First Awakened.

Whether she had truly awakened first among humans didn’t matter; it was certain she’d been active from the earliest days.

It had been roughly fifty years since Gates appeared.

The Sword Immortal awakened relatively late and was closer to second generation, so if the one called “first” was her, then she was roughly…

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I decided not to think about it—don’t want to jinx it.”

I raised the glass of milk the owner had served me and showed Seona the gacha screen.

Her hand hovered over the golden “10-Pull” button. After a moment of hesitation, she asked me:

“As thanks… is there anything you want? Should I try pulling a Basilisk for you?”

“Hm. That’s tempting.”

She clasped her hands together as if she were about to make an Oath.

But I shook my head.

New characters only had value before a patch, but power? Power lasted forever.

More important than pulling a “Parentless Basilisk (SR)” was making sure this cushy, sycophantic life of mine kept running long and thin.

Before she could press the button, I ended the stream and said:

“If you really want to give me something back, then don’t erase the memory of today with me.”

“…!”

At that, Seona jolted, knocking over the cup beside her.

Water spilled across the floor, and the café owner rushed over. Her hand trembled as much as her voice as she told them it was fine and tried to mop the table.

She wasn’t very good at hiding the truth.

“H-how did you know?”

“It’s a common cliché. When you offer something to gain power, memories are often the price.”

I’d never seen her ability directly, so I didn’t know if she could make Oaths with the Outer Gods by offering memory. But when I asked Mala-nim, the answer was: “There’s nothing left to eat there.” That was reason enough for a guess.

And when I first lifted her wheelchair, it had felt strangely light—too light for a person to be sitting in it.

“You didn’t eat at the cafeteria, and now you’re only drinking water.”

“…….”

“If you’ve lost so much ‘inside’ that even digestion is impossible, then asking me to keep you company wasn’t just about making memories, was it?”

“Lost? That’s not it. I did receive a price in return.”

Her expression darkened. She shook her head.

“You’re right, Hayan. Sorry… I ended up using you a bit.”

“It’s fine. I had fun too.”

“Still, I can’t promise. If you’re in danger, I’ll step in. Always.”

No matter the price—

She bowed her head like a sinner, apologizing. I spoke to her.

“Then make an Oath with me.”

“Hm?”

“Other commanders can only do it in recruitment periods, but you, Seona-nim… you’re different.”

“I can, but… what sort of promise do you want?”

I wasn’t afraid of going against the Outer Gods like the Sword Immortal did.

If I was willing to burn through my Star Scar and use a few tentacles, I might even restore part of her stolen body or memories.

But that would destroy her identity. It would be no different from severing her power out of pity.

“I know a little Black Magic. So…”

I wanted “Seon”—the Self-Made Immortal, the Commander-in-Chief—to remain with us for a long, long time.

“Do you, by chance, like tentacle stuff?”

In that sunset café, the only gift I gave her was a small, absurd one.

---

“Is the cafeteria food to your liking, Commander?”

“Mm! Compared to hospital meals, it’s delicious. Sorry, Yeri—I left in the middle of the meeting yesterday.”

“No, it’s fine. Thanks to you, the strike ended quickly, which is a good thing. You personally solved something I’d been too busy to deal with.”

“Actually, it wasn’t me who suggested talking to the nutritionists. So, about that….”

“…….”

“Can you stop bringing chairs for me?”

“No.”

It was Ha Yeri’s firm reply as she sat on top of me—her “human chair.”

To think she’d hand down punishment so openly in the cafeteria, in front of everyone.

Even she knew how embarrassing this was. Still, while pretending she wasn’t, she sat there with a steel face, scolding me.

“Lower yourself more, Agent Sae Hayan. My feet don’t touch the ground.”

“That’s impossible, Commander. For your feet to reach, I’d have to do a plank instead of bowing… Ack!”

Resting your sword on me too? That’s cheating!

I hurriedly extended invisible tentacles to keep my arms from collapsing.

Then, from inside my collar, a tentacle I hadn’t called popped out.

“Digestion, why are you out?”

“Kieeeek!”

“Oh, shut it.”

The damn thing mocked me, saying bowing my head against the cold floor suited me.

Judging by the grudge in its voice, it was still upset that part of its body had been torn off yesterday.

Whether using a tentacle to replace an organ would actually work was uncertain.

Once, when poison in the Demon Realm had melted my esophagus and stomach, I’d survived thanks to it. But that was only because I carried Mala-nim’s blessing.

So I’d come up with the Thirty-Second Tentacle, the Tentacle of Parasitism.

Normally, it parasitized prey from within. This time, I used it to try repairing Seona’s digestive tract.

Her stomach and esophagus—offered up to the Outer Gods—were blackened and charred, like cancer-ridden tissue. Parasitism alone couldn’t replace them.

So I cut off part of the Tentacle of Digestion and fused it with the parasitic one.

Together, they recreated the functions of her digestive system.

Peristalsis, enzyme secretion, sphincter control to prevent reflux.

It was a complicated job, but it worked. Thanks to it, she could now eat comfortably.

“If you keep mocking me, I’ll retire and open an anal surgery clinic. Think you can handle that?”

“Kieek!? Kieeeeeek!”

“You should’ve let me die back then, if it’s so unfair. Now, back inside.”

I shoved it back and glanced at Seona.

Even if she had only a few uses of her ability left, as long as she lived, Seoul was safe from being wiped out by demons.

And someday, when the mural was finished and Mala-nim’s truth was revealed to the world—

Through her, who touched the other Outer Gods directly, I might learn even more.

“…….”

“Heehee.”

We locked eyes as she finished her meal.

Seona winked at me, gratitude shining in her eyes.