Chapter 59

Once, the Sea of Decay had been one of the three Seeds of Calamity that existed in Korea.

In the past, it had been a strange but balanced sea—where the dead gave their bones and flesh to feed the fish, sustaining a rich marine ecosystem.

Now, it was better known as a sea of death. Because of horrific oil slicks and toxic chemicals spilled from tankers, cephalopods with extra legs—or limbs twisted into grotesque shapes—were often caught there.

From Earth’s point of view, maybe the old days had been better. But if the land was returning to normal in exchange… maybe that was fine?

The one who had caused it all—the shortest and worst environmental criminal in South Korea’s constitutional history—looked perfectly calm even while the black waves rolled and heaved.

“This time, the object approaching the West Sea is a small boat, just one. It’s partly obscured by the oil slick, but considering the word ‘Justice’ engraved on its hull and the direction of its first appearance, we suspect it belongs to the Union.”

The Union, which ruled Busan, sometimes traded help with us—like when they bought tankers during the last overflow—but they had also once gone to war with Seoul.

In an era when a single Awakened could unleash more firepower than a tactical nuke, dismissing a lone boat could lead to disaster.

Ha Yeri addressed Park Mu-cheol after he finished his report.

“What’s the boat’s current position?”

“It’s entering the harbor to dock. For now, we’ve ordered them to remain on board until we issue further instructions.”

“How many confirmed aboard?”

“Two. Both are in our database—‘Mad Dog’ Seo Chae-rin and ‘Negotiator’ Lee Do-hwan.”

“Haah… understood. I’ll go meet them myself.”

Most people present didn’t grasp the weight of that sigh.

Everyone in the command room was low-seniority.

Over ninety percent of the Middle Level operatives had scattered to work on the Gyeongbu Line restoration.

As Ha Yeri headed out to make contact, I spotted Kang Nabi nearby and walked over.

Before I could tap her shoulder, static snapped. She turned with razor-sharp eyes.

“What is it?”

“Why did Commander Ha Yeri look that upset?”

“Roughly eighty percent of our Commander’s worries are because of you.”

“……”

“Besides that… their showing up here probably isn’t for anything good. Considering Seoul’s relationship with Busan, this could be a serious crisis.”

A serious crisis?

I straightened up and listened closely.

Moments like this were all about setting the mood.

I gathered the rookies who had been quietly eavesdropping and sat them down in front of her.

For the record, Kang Nabi was a zero-year like us.

“What now?”

“Formal sitting posture. Please continue.”

“…Haah. I’m only explaining this once, so listen carefully.”

Thanks to my noble sacrifice—soaking up her sigh—my fellow recruits got to hear valuable background.

This was before I was even born.

Busan had been a city where civilians and lower-ranked guilds forcibly relocated from Seoul were gathered.

The cause lay in the three “Nights” that struck Korea—the manifestations of the Archdukes.

It wasn’t just the Sea of Decay. Because Ground Zero formed right in the heart of the capital, Seoul back then had been as precarious as a lamp before the wind.

Then the Thirteenth Palace of Emptiness—the massive Seed of Calamity that still swept across the globe every year—even started heading for the Korean Peninsula. Faced with that, the government made a drastic decision:

Abandon all infrastructure—and evacuate to Busan.

Civilians and Lower Level Awakened would escape first, while the government and major guilds stayed behind to fight to the end.

But over half of those who trusted that plan and left Seoul never even reached Busan. And those who barely settled there mostly died the following year, when the Sea of Decay overflowed and the dead surged in.

The biggest reason a sea that shouldn’t have overflowed did so was that—after successfully erecting the barrier around Ground Zero—the government tried to eliminate the Sea of Decay as well, deploying massive military forces and guild manpower.

“That marked the start of what people now glamorize as the so-called ‘Romance Era’ of the postwar years. Later, it got painted up as adventurous treasure-hunting, but in the end it failed. What actually revived Seoul were the feats of Transcendent-Level Awakened and advances in magitech engineering.”

“The Union must grind their teeth just hearing that.”

“Of course. From their perspective, the Awakened who survived in Seoul basically came back and killed their own families.”

Those who had been driven out of Seoul and later gathered to form the organization called the “Union” fundamentally didn’t trust us.

Even for the Gyeongbu Line restoration, we sent Busan multiple requests for cooperation—if only we opened a corridor on our side, the damage could be severe—but none were accepted.

“Now do you understand why I said they wouldn’t come here for anything good?”

“More or less.”

When Kang Nabi finished explaining, Park Mu-cheol and Ha Yeri—who had gone out to receive the visitors—returned just in time.

“Good work. Lower Level agents may return to their posts,” Ha Yeri said.

Her gaze swept over us huddled together before issuing the dispersal order.

Then she made a small wave toward me, the only Middle Level still there.

“You too, Agent Sae Hayan.”

“Why?”

“You’re supposed to assist Commander Cheon So-baek, aren’t you?”

“I already finished that.”

…Was she seriously not even going to treat me like a Middle Level?

If that was the case, I couldn’t let it slide.

With Busan’s delegation here, what would happen if I threw a proper fit right now? Could she handle it?

Maybe she read my thoughts, because Ha Yeri hurriedly added, in a tone one would use to calm a child,

“That’s not it. It’s because they’re requesting personnel dispatch to Busan. Agent Sae Hayan, you can’t leave Seoul due to your current mission, remember?”

“Mission?”

“Yes. An extremely dangerous, top-secret infiltration mission to Busan…”

“Dangerous… top-secret mission…”

“Ah.”

There were three words I’d admired ever since childhood, as an Apostle of the Outer God.

Tentacles, Feet, and Top-Secret Mission.

Whenever I heard even one of them, I just couldn’t walk away.

And it didn’t take long for Ha Yeri to realize she’d made the fatal mistake of saying that phrase aloud.

After a bit of back-and-forth, I managed to join the meeting with Busan’s two Awakened—despite Ha Yeri’s protests.

“You’re only here to listen. Remember that.”

“Yup.”

“Do not raise your hand or speak.”

“I know.”

“Keep your answers short and simple. If your behavior messes up this negotiation with the Union, I’ll never buy you a hamburger set again.”

“Yes, Mom.”

“Who’s your mother!?”

After that short scolding, the Union delegation entered the temporary conference room.

One was a blonde woman who looked unmistakably like a thug; the other, a man in a neat suit who could’ve passed for a salesman.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Do-hwan, working under the Union’s Judiciary Department.”

“I’m Sae Hayan. Pleased to meet you.”

“I’m Seo Chae-rin from the Security Department… wait, Sae Hayan? You’re—!?”

“Yes?”

“Ah, nothing!”

Lee Do-hwan naturally handed out his business card. When he gave one to me and I stood up to introduce myself, Seo Chae-rin flinched, as if shocked, then closed her mouth again.

A sharp stare followed soon after.

…Did she have some grudge against me?

No matter how hard I tried to recall, I’d lived a perfectly clean life—so there was nothing that came to mind.

Leaving my doubts aside, the meeting began. They soon explained why they had come.

“Busan has been struggling with a certain incident recently. We’re at a loss on how to handle it and have come to request assistance from the Bureau.”

“If it’s an emergency, we should of course help. But as I recall, your side refused our last request.”

“We told you we didn’t care about your stupid Gyeongbu Line repairs! We even built you a tanker and sent it, and you don’t even appreciate—!”

“Calm down, Ms. Chae-rin.”

Lee Do-hwan gently restrained her outburst.

Ha Yeri, perfectly composed, poured tea as she spoke.

“We’re grateful for that, but we already paid for the tanker. Our Word-Spirit user revised your Pact at the time.”

“It’s related to that Pact. Someone has appeared who can ignore the Pact of Bujeon entirely—and they’ve been attacking elderly citizens and other Awakened every night. We can’t stop them on our own.”

“We need Yeon-hwa unnie—no, your Word-Spirit caster.”

“…Unfortunately, No Yeon-hwa is currently not in Seoul.”

“What—!”

Seo Chae-rin’s face fell in shock.

“Pact? What are they talking about?”

The conversation had turned heavy without me. I wanted to ask Kang Nabi, but Ha Yeri’s order was absolute ‘don’t open your mouth, don’t even breathe too loudly.’

“If we help you capture that person, how much cooperation can we expect for the reconstruction plan?”

“You—you’re not trying to bargain, are you!?”

“This isn’t trickery. We’re simply devoting all our manpower to national restoration. You should recognize how generous it is that we’re even serving you tea despite this sudden visit.”

“Ugh…”

Smooth and composed—textbook diplomacy.

While the others wavered, Ha Yeri stayed calm, her tone as steady as a leaf floating on water.

“If the Bureau assists with this case, we’d like the Union to open the route all the way to Daegu once it’s resolved.”

“That’s quite a steep demand. There are still no Upper Level Awakened in Busan, now or before.”

“But we have the Pact, don’t we? Busan doesn’t need to invest manpower or resources into defense like Seoul does.”

There it was again.

What was that Pact supposed to be—something that let a city go undefended?

Deep in thought, Lee Do-hwan finally accepted her proposal—but with one condition.

“You said your Word-Spirit caster is unavailable?”

“Yes. She’s currently assaulting a Gate near the Gyeongbu Line on the front lines.”

“Then we’ll need assistance from another Awakened—someone comparable to her in power.”

“Whom, exactly, are you referring to?”

“Heh. Don’t play dumb. We’ve got our own information network.”

“You’ll know who we mean once we say this—‘the mage who commands monsters.’”

At that, both of them turned their eyes toward me.

Wait. Me?

For a second, I just stared back, dumbfounded.

Even Ha Yeri, usually unflappable, showed a rare flicker of surprise.

“At first, we couldn’t believe it either. Who’d think someone could grow that strong in such a short time?”

“Don’t bother denying it. We know he’s the one who wiped out the Sea of Decay.”

“If you send him to Busan, we’ll grant everything the Bureau wants.”

“That’s unacceptable. Your request cannot—”

“I’ll go, Commander.”

My voice came out low and calm.

So that was it—they already knew who I was from the start. No wonder they’d looked at me like that.

There was no way I could just stand quietly in the background now. Even if it meant walking into danger, I was prepared to do it—for the safety of the Special Unit and everyone here.

“Don’t worry, Commander. I’ll complete the mission and return safely.”

“Agent Sae Hayan!”

“A villain attacking innocent citizens and fellow Awakened? I can’t stand by and do nothing. The situation sounds urgent—let’s discuss the details on the way.”

“You…”

I stepped forward, lightly patting Ha Yeri’s head.

She blinked up at me, clearly startled.

Lee Do-hwan and Seo Chae-rin exchanged glances, then asked, half in disbelief,

“Wait a second…”

“You’re the Saint of Salvation?”

“…Huh?”