Episode 14 [Who is he?]
As expected, the researcher in the passenger seat had stopped breathing. Herrin was shocked again, but endured it well.
After checking on the researcher, Kyung-hoon destroyed the black box and memory in the luxury car along with the window. These cars were messed up by mutants anyway. There was no distinction.
And finally, I checked the mutant body. I wondered if I could collect the bullets, but it was impossible to remove them in a short period of time. Kyung-hoon pointed the shotgun at the dead mutant.
bang! bang!
When Kyung-hoon fired his gun, Hye-rin flinched. She looked at Kyung-hoon with a surprised expression but did not ask any questions. Kyung-hoon also didn’t ask Herin anything.
Shortly after shooting, people came down to the camp. People came down later than Kyung-hoon expected. The hunters were scared and did not want to move, and the commandos could not move quickly because of their heavy equipment.
The people who came down to the camp opened their mouths at the unbelievable sight. A ruined camp and smashed cars. With dead people. Mutant corpse.
People shook their heads when they heard that the gourd hunter and the mutant fought each other and both died. It was a very absurd story, but it wasn’t something I couldn’t believe because I had seen the gourd hunter go crazy.
“Could it have happened to people too?”
“Is it really an epidemic?”
The hunters whispered softly. The commandos also frowned. So far, people had thought that they were safe. If people were also infected, the problem would be serious. “Didn’t you say something like that earlier, that the bakga is
eating?”
“Could it be that a crazy person ate mutant meat?”
“Mr. Park often cooked and ate meat he hunted. “Isn’t it like that again this time?”
“Are you saying that eating mutant meat can make you contagious?”
The hunters gradually approached the truth through conversation. However, they only muttered on one side and did not get any closer to the gourd hunter or the mutant corpse.
Hye-rin explained the situation while being escorted by special forces, and Gyeong-hoon was asked questions by the hunters.
Kyung-hoon explained the situation again exactly as he had told Hye-rin earlier.
“I just ran hard. Since it was my first time, I ran with the thought that I would only chase after Hunter Park. But it was so fast that I lost it midway. When we arrived, Hunter Park and the monster had both been defeated. “Just in case, I fired a shotgun at the monster and pulled out the person from the car.”
“Oh, you had a hard time at the beginning. “It’s all experience.”
“Maybe it’s because I’m young, but I also have good stamina. If I overcome well this time, I’ll be able to do the job for one person.”
Perhaps thanks to the hard work, the hunters treated Gyeong-hoon well, unlike in the morning.
It seemed like Hye-rin explained things well as well. After listening to the story, the commandos let Hye-rin rest. Their eyes met as if in passing, but both of them looked away. After a while ,
the straggler hunters arrived, and government officials came up from the bottom of the mountain. The officials’ faces had turned red from drinking. They had gone down the mountain
during the hunt and had a drink each.
The officials’ expressions showed that they were doing something dangerous. There was a mixture of gratitude that was avoided and concern about being reprimanded for not keeping up.
Regardless of their expressions, the officials quickly took care of the matter. They gathered the hunters together, threatened them to keep secrets, and called for support to transport the bodies of the mutant and the Park hunter.
Kyung-hoon had to go down to Sejong City and give a statement not only that day, but also the next day. Fortunately, the statement ended that day, and he never had to give a statement again. As expected, there were no articles in newspapers or broadcasts. Not even on the Internet
. It was quiet. Kyung-hoon couldn’t help but be surprised once again by Korea’s press control. A
man covered in blood came closer, blood pouring from his mouth. Two teeth gradually grew out of the man’s mouth. The man grabbed her by the neck and knocked out his teeth. .
Caw!
Hyerin screamed and opened her eyes.
The morning sunlight was streaming through the blackout curtains. It was an ordinary morning.
Hyerin drank the water she had placed at her bedside.
Her
startled heart calmed down a little.
That day. The shock continued into the dream. Only two days had passed. There was no way I was okay after killing someone.
‘No, no.’
Herin shook her head. It was self-defense. And now it was erased.
Exhaling deeply, Hyerin got off the bed and opened the curtains. The morning sunlight was dazzling. She headed to the bathroom. It was time to wake up. After she left, Hyerin shook her head
. The room was cozy and dreary.
Many dolls were huddled together on the bed and on one wall, creating a bright atmosphere, but almost nothing else was visible. Only basic cosmetics were visible on the dressing table, and there were no photos or picture frames. The closet was also simple. There were only a few clothes left.
After taking a shower, Hyerin wrapped a towel around her body and stood in front of the sink as usual and brushed her teeth. The memories of the dream gradually disappeared. Now it was no different from usual. She
turned her empty left hand to the side.
Slurp . .
The cup placed on the sink began to move on its own.
Water flowed from the faucet and filled the empty cup. A cup full of water floated in front of her.
Hyerin’s face distorted as she placed her hand on the cup floating in the air
. .
The cup fell and water spilled on the floor.
She held the sink with both hands and glared at the mirror. A pale woman was looking at her. “
No. You must never use it. Yoon Hye-rin. Come to your senses. Are you planning on getting caught?”
She shot a strong shot at herself in the mirror. She stared at the mirror for a while and then sighed. If she had
n’t been involved, she wouldn’t have had to worry. She might have just been happy and boasted. Of course, if she had, she wouldn’t have had to worry. I might end up with the mutant corpses lying in the lab right now…
“How did that man know?”
Hye-rin thought of the man she met that day. A mutant human like her. He was the man who hid everything for her, who had lost her mind. Thanks to him, she was still able to lead a normal life. Until they parted ways that day, he did not even have his name or phone number
. He didn’t ask or tell anything. Was it just a favor? Hye-rin didn’t know.
But, it was a very wise action. Even though Hye-rin didn’t have a very good opinion of other people, the man thought highly of him. Hye-rin didn’t know
. I stopped thinking. I had to hurry. As another test subject appeared, the pressure from the professor became more intense. The excuse that I was at the scene of the incident no longer worked. The entire annex building attached to the Animal Quarantine Headquarters building was being used as a research laboratory
. It was a laboratory that conducted
research on livestock quarantine and experiments on wild animals .
In the basement of the laboratory, there was a separate laboratory to study mutations. The
underground laboratory had been busy and noisy for a few days since a human mutant corpse had been brought in.
A soldier with several stars came to visit, and a high-ranking person who made the government officials embarrassed came. In addition, a white man with blond hair came and went. It seemed as if the laboratory had become a market place. Ahn, Hye-rin’s doctoral advisor and general manager of the project
, The professor was busy entertaining visitors.
Although he was originally a professor who showed more ability in coming up with projects than doing research, his skills seemed to have blossomed here. As a result, most of the work was given to his students, especially Hye-rin. Hyerin sighed as she sat in the break room outside the lab.
She
was obviously a veterinary major. But a few days ago, she was dissecting people instead of animals. Of course, a surgeon who was invited was also participating, but thanks to the animal research done so far, I couldn’t fall back on it.
Of course, it was something she welcomed, but the problem was that she couldn’t find out anything. She could figure out things like physical mutations and brain changes, but she couldn’t figure out the cause or how to use the mysterious abilities.
There were rumors that the military was also conducting separate experiments, but Hye-rin, an ordinary researcher, could not know more than the rumors.
However, we could be confident that if a living human mutant appeared, it would become a test subject loved by everyone.
A male researcher entered the break room where Hyerin was resting alone.
“No, why do you destroy the test subject by shooting at a dead body? I don’t understand what hunters do.”
He grumbled and came in, holding a plate full of bullets in his hand. Hyerin looked at the plate blankly.
“What is that?”
“Ah, it’s a bullet from a test subject that came in with a humanoid mutant. I thought it might have been shot while it was alive, but it was shot after it was dead. All of it must be discarded.”
Even though she heard the explanation, Hyerin couldn’t take her eyes off the plate.
“Can I take a look?”
“Of course. Look, there is a pattern engraved on the bullet here.”
Hye-rin had a cold aura and was someone who put people off, but men have a weakness for beautiful women. The researcher obediently handed Hye-rin a plate.
Inside the plate were two types of bullets mixed together. A bullet with a pattern engraved on it and dozens of small iron beads from a shotgun. When Hye-rin saw the bullet with the pattern on it, she recalled a memory from a few days ago:
a man shooting a dead body with a shotgun. Then, a gunshot was heard amidst the mutant’s shouts.
“I’ll throw it away. Can I have one of the bullets as a souvenir?”
“sure. “I’m going to throw it away anyway, so I’d appreciate it if you could.”
The researcher just nodded at Hyerin’s kind voice.
She went out with a plate and took all the bullets separately.
This bullet could have contained a secret that the man I met that day wanted to hide. I didn’t know if I could repay his help just as much
as he had helped her by returning this bullet .
Hyerin headed to the building next door with a happy heart. It wasn’t difficult to get contact information. Although security was maintained very diligently, there were many holes inside the department.
She called right away, but unfortunately Kyung-hoon didn’t answer the phone all day.
Hye-rin wondered if her phone was turned off, but Kyung-hoon’s phone was not turned off.
He was now in another world where he couldn’t answer the phone.
Standing on the roof of an abandoned building.
“Is that the Awakened Center?”
Kyung-hoon’s eyes lit up as he looked at the half-destroyed building.
