Chapter 102

Episode 102. There Is No Line 10 in Seoul (2)

****

The Recovery Department staff were waiting outside the bunker. The Director had deemed the internal environment too dangerous for immediate deployment of the Recovery Department.

And then, the Special Forces members who had entered for exploration hours ago emerged from the entrance. The Foundation’s decontamination team, dressed in hazmat suits, rushed forward.

“Ah, you’re already out?”

“Starting decontamination procedures!”

White disinfectant smoke was sprayed.

The Special Forces and the Director cooperated with the decontamination without much response. The decontamination team sprayed disinfectant directly onto their equipment.

“Director, are you alright?”

The Recovery Department Leader frowned.

“Uh, that’s not the Director. Fall back!”

“Decontaminate! Decontaminate!”

“What’s going on?”

“Suspected mimic case!”

The Recovery Department Leader aimed his assault rifle at the three individuals who had just emerged from the depths of the underground. Something resembling Director Kim tilted its head.

Well, what evidence is there that that’s Director Kim?

The height is similar, but the body shape is obscured by the bulletproof vest and military uniform. The gas mask also hides the face.

“Don’t move! Hands up!”

The figure resembling Director Kim slowly removed the gas mask. It indeed looked similar to the Director—a woman with brown hair and light-colored eyes, appearing youthful.

However, the expression was different.

Pupils dilated like a drug addict, with an emotionless, chilling expression. Unlike Dr. Kim, who is usually smiling or unnecessarily serious.

“Not moving, hands. What? Problem. Cave. Darkness. Thoughts shocked, difficult. Help. I made a mistake. First, wish. Evacuate.”

“Open fire!”

Bang!

The Recovery Department staff began shooting, and in an instant, only three bloodied lumps remained on the ground.

“Leader, how did you suspect it was a mimic before it even spoke?”

“……”

The Recovery Team 1 Leader shuddered in disgust.

“That thing. Earlier, when I made eye contact…”

“Huh?”

“That thing. It, it didn’t have eyes behind the gas mask until it met my gaze. That monster. Only after making eye contact with me did it, did it grow eyes.”

The support team fell silent.

“Bring mimic hunting tools! We’ll need a lot of silver bullets and cinnamon grenades!”

****

Meanwhile, Basement Level 3.

It seemed to be a plant research lab or some kind of seed vault. It resembled the abandoned Foundation facility seen in the garden before.

“There are plants. It looks like it was used as an indoor farm… but I’m not sure.”

[It’s probably just as it appears. In case of a nuclear war, they must have prepared an underground farm, unsure how long they’d need to stay.]

“Let’s look around.”

I think I found the source of the dust earlier. The abandoned indoor farm was overgrown with mold in the darkness. Spores like dust from the mold were flying everywhere.

Good thing we brought gas masks.

I put on gloves and touched the mold.

I’m no mold expert, but this wasn’t any recognizable mold. It had a strange, plant-like structure.

“Hmm. What is this…”

[Did you find something?]

“Just a weird-looking mold. Can’t confirm if it’s a supernatural creature yet.”

Analyzing it should help. I took a plastic vial from my belt and collected a sample of the mold. What was beneath the mold is unknown. Probably wheat.

“What do you think, Science Officer?”

[As I’ve seen many times, Foundation bunkers of this scale usually have food production facilities. Growing wheat is a bit unusual, though.]

True. If the goal was organic utilization, mushrooms would have been the most efficient method. Are they researching? Or—

“Is this facility prepared for the end of the world?”

[Probably.]

I pondered a bit.

“Can you check for any signs of movement nearby? I thought I heard footsteps earlier.”

The Special Forces members nodded. They stopped before descending another level. Probably planning to rest.

I took out a CO2 meter. Oxygen levels at 20. Not much different from outside. This air must have been used by the mold for decades.

“The mold was so abundant earlier, but the CO2 levels aren’t as high as I expected. Science Officer, what do you think is the reason?”

[Uh… hard to say. It might have a ventilation system, or something else. Could be machinery, a supernatural phenomenon, or someone using the space.]

Old-timer talk filled my head.

If you don’t know, just don’t say anything. Listing random words without knowing is no different from a parrot.

At least say what you think, even if it’s wrong.

****

Basement Level 4.

Unlike Level 3, which was filled with mold and spores, Level 4 was quite comfortable. Almost no dust, and the air didn’t seem stagnant. The latter is just a guess, though.

“There’s movement inside the building.”

Cat-like footsteps. The sound of special equipment and training. Walking using the edges of the feet in soft shoes.

A method to minimize footstep noise.

We don’t know who’s following us yet. Probably not some homeless person living in a pit. Otherwise, opening these iron doors would have been impossible. Right. Who opened the locked bunker doors?

I checked my gun.

The Special Forces Team Leader gave hand signals. With nine of us, we’ll move in groups of three.

[Moon-1. North. Moon-4. East. Moon-7. South.]

We gave the okay and headed deeper into the facility. I, of course, was to go south with numbers 7 and 8.

I quietly called the Popos to scout the area. The south side of the facility had nothing much. Just a bunch of weird-looking printer-like machines.

“This is Moon-9. Moon-7. Requesting search direction for the south. Footprints found.”

The radio crackled with mechanical noises.

[Moon-1. Encountered humanoid.]

[Moon-1. Encountered.]

[Moon-1. Humanoid.]

[This is Moon-1. Something’s wrong. Someone’s jamming the radio comms—]

Bang!

Gunfire erupted from all directions, and I aimed my Gauss Musket into the air. Four people in Special Forces gear at the other end of the corridor…

Damn.

I started shooting, and the Special Forces members behind me joined in. We just decided to move in groups of three a minute ago. Who the hell is moving in groups of four over there? What the hell is going on?

Smoke began to rise from the lower end of the corridor. The gas mask should protect against chemical weapons, but what the hell is happening?

As the smoke spread, things around us began to disappear. The printer-like machines, the monsters mimicking us, and even our comrades in front of us.

“We came to talk, Director.”

We’re done.

The smoke wasn’t poison or sleep gas. It was just… that. A kind of screen component.

Blackout. As the light around us was cut off, even my night vision goggles showed nothing. I gritted my teeth. What now?

There are several ways to fight supernatural phenomena that block vision. First, let’s try…

“Popo! Find and kill!”

We’ll figure out the rest later.

****

Meanwhile, the ground support team.

Thud, thud. Something else walked out of the entrance. Something with the Director’s height and equipment. But the possibility that it’s not the Director…

“Dr. Kim. Show your face.”

The gas mask looked at the Leader.

“Order. Put down your weapons now. This time, I made a mistake. Sorry. Use. Darkness. It was hard being in the dark. Dr. Kim. We. Underground. Now. Want to. Come out.”

“Open fire!”

The Recovery Team 1 Leader sighed. He’s seen countless terrifying supernatural phenomena.

Supernatural phenomena eat people, tear them apart, turn them into dolls, toys, slaves, shred them, mix them, reassemble them, grind them, leave them unable to die, and twist them in all sorts of horrifying ways.

But after repeatedly confirming and killing dozens of monsters mimicking comrades, this time it feels like his mind might really break.

The support team was in a dilemma.

They can’t seal the entrance. They don’t know when the real Director’s team will come out. They can’t skip verification either. Shooting the real Director would be problematic.

But they can’t chase inside either.

If they take soldiers inside now, the mimic supernatural phenomenon will cause chaos in an instant.

A dilemma. There’s no other solution but to kill the mimics crawling out of hell one by one.

It’s fortunate that their mimicking ability isn’t that effective yet. But who knows when that might change. They have to kill as many as possible.

“Contact the Director’s office and see if we can use the bunker buster. As soon as the Director comes out, we’ll blow up the entire building.”

“……”

“Using bombers requires the Director’s approval, right?”

“That’s why. As soon as the Director comes out.”

When will that be?