Chapter : 52
Karkrita Valley (2)
Government support guaranteed a lot of things. One of the most important advantages was the power armor. Military-grade power armor was generally superior to civilian models.
However, Suhyun had no intention of requesting something like a black bear suit. In fact, power armor wasn’t really necessary for this mission.
Anyway, working with the government was generally more convenient than handling things alone as a private company. Most of the support was taken care of by the government.
Jo Seunghyun was confident that if Suhyun wanted, he could procure illegal weapons. Even though they were working with the government, the authorities tended to turn a blind eye in such matters. After all, this was a life-risking mission—there was no benefit in creating unnecessary problems.
Yet Suhyun had only one request.
“Salt… and… rock salt bullets. You said to bring them, so I did, but I don’t know what these are for. Couldn’t we just ask the government?”
“You could, but there’s no reason to give away information for free. The government isn’t the kind to easily betray people, but you still have to be cautious…”
Once they entered Karkrita Valley and discovered what was inside, the government would surely try to figure out how it was possible. Of course, since they were working together, the information would eventually be revealed—but there was no need to expose advantages prematurely.
“Don’t you need anything else? Power armor, explosives at least?”
“This time, we’ll leave the power armor behind.”
“?!”
“It’s basically useless for this mission.”
“Are you sure about Karkrita Valley?”
“That’s why I’m doing this, isn’t it?”
Jo Seunghyun was convinced that Suhyun knew something. Otherwise, this behavior was inexplicable. He was truly an extraordinary guy. What kind of childhood had he had to know so much about the unexplored areas of the Cameron planet?
“I’ve said it many times already. Since we’re on the same boat, trust me until the end.”
“I already do. If I didn’t, how could I support such a mission?”
Hearing that, Suhyun chuckled. He had been surprised when the entire Team 1 said they trusted him and would follow him. It wasn’t that they hadn’t heard about the dangers—they had, but they concluded that Suhyun must have a reason.
They were a solid team. Individually, they might have lacked skills, but having that kind of trust was a rare talent.
‘Then I need to repay that trust.’
If this mission succeeded, Uncle Jo Company would inevitably become widely known. Working directly under the government to resolve unsolved tasks carried significant weight.
“Once we enter, you’ll see this is a dangerous mission.”
Suhyun’s words earned the team a look that said, “We already know that.”
“But you’ve probably already heard that. Let me be more honest. Everyone here is chasing a fortune, right?”
Instead of words, they nodded silently. Suhyun nodded in return.
“If this mission succeeds, you’ll get that fortune.”
“How much are we talking about?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
Suhyun had a rough estimate, but he couldn’t reveal it just yet.
“Even at the very least… you’ll get over a billion each. That’s the minimum. If we succeed, that much is guaranteed.”
In these operations, the distribution typically favored the team leader and the psychics. But except for Suhyun, Uncle Jo Company had no psychics, so profits were divided almost equally. The amount coming to each member was staggering.
“That may not be exactly a fortune, but it could be enough to leave satisfied.”
“What are you saying?”
“It means if someone wants to retire after this mission, they can. Taking the money and living comfortably isn’t a bad option, right?”
Normally, such missions were handled by psychics. Looking at Team 1, they hardly ever included non-psychics. So it wasn’t unusual for a psychic to do the work and receive that kind of reward.
But these weren’t psychics.
As with the previous mission, the success of this mission depended on Suhyun, not them. And they all knew it.
“If someone leaves our group, wouldn’t it be inconvenient for you too, Team Leader?”
“If that were the case, would I even have brought this up? I’m not that selfless. Even if someone leaves, I’ll be fine. We can recruit replacements.”
“I’ll go all the way to the end. You won’t be able to separate me from this mission.”
“?!”
“If a man makes a decision, he must see it through. Just because we succeed once doesn’t mean we abandon it. Let’s see this opportunity through to the very end.”
Kim Chang-sik looked at Suhyun with certainty. This guy was the real deal. To have met someone like him and gain an opportunity meant that retiring after a little profit was not in his nature. If he was going, he was going all the way.
Besides, they had relied entirely on Suhyun to reach this point. Running off after taking everything would be too shameless. If that were the case, Jo Seunghyun wouldn’t have selected them in the first place.
“I’ll go all the way too.”
“Me too!”
Suhyun smiled. This was truly a good team. His questions weren’t just to test them—though that was part of it—but now he could be sure.
‘Definitely. Among them, at least one or two must be psychics.’
He had suspected this for a while. In the future, Uncle Jo Company would have a reputation that reached Suhyun’s ears. Jo Seunghyun wasn’t the type to abandon people. If even now, no one was leaving, there had to be a member responsible for that reputation. At least one or two future psychics.
‘Lee So-hee seems the most suspicious.’
The correlation between psychic ability and genetics hadn’t been fully established—but it couldn’t be dismissed entirely. Besides, Lee So-hee would have originally been qualified to be the team leader if Suhyun weren’t there.
If Lee So-hee awakened, and maybe one or two more, they could gain enough momentum to rise further. That’s likely how Uncle Jo Company grew.
Thanks to Suhyun, they were on a completely different trajectory, but the people remained the same. Given the right circumstances, they would awaken.
Karkrita Valley was located further south from the Outerf region. It blocked anyone attempting to go further down from the relatively developed Outerf area.
The government agreed to guide Uncle Jo Company until they passed the Outerf region. Several large mercenary companies, including Jindotgae, operated in Outerf. Since information was abundant, the journey itself wasn’t difficult.
“Are you sure you don’t need any other support?”
“I said we’re fine.”
Inside the rattling vehicle, Chief Policy Officer Choi Hyun-min double-checked. It wasn’t the first team to receive government support, but it was the first to request the bare minimum.
No power armor, no other military weapons. They only requested ample food and a robot to carry it—an unprecedentedly minimal preparation.
‘Are they really okay with this?’
Choi Hyun-min scanned Suhyun up and down. He looked far too young to be the team leader of this mission. He had heard Suhyun was a healer, but healing was more of a support ability, not inherently strong, right?
‘I hope no team goes missing this time.’
He was human. He didn’t want to see a confident team lose contact. Choi Hyun-min sighed. Luck or not, he hoped this team could break the cycle of tragedy in the valley.
The base was modest, located at the southernmost point of the Outerf region. As the vehicle stopped, armed personnel came out to meet them.
“You’ll need to proceed on foot from here. Have you reviewed all the information?”
“It wasn’t much, but we checked.”
Hearing that, Choi Hyun-min averted his eyes awkwardly. As someone who was supposed to provide support, it was embarrassing to have no information to offer. But with no returning teams, how could there be information?
“I wish you luck. Return here after success. If you think it’s impossible midway, retreating isn’t a bad choice. Surviving and returning is meaningful too.”
He was sincere. Not just humanitarian concern—there simply wasn’t enough information about Karkrita Valley.
Sometimes, failure still provided information—if the failed team returned. But Karkrita Valley remained largely unexplored.
“Then… let’s go.”
Watching Suhyun and the team stride confidently, Choi Hyun-min prayed for their success.
Suhyun had several reasons for choosing Karkrita Valley. The main one was that it was relatively easy to handle.
Those who had failed might scoff at such reasoning, but it was true.
Dangerous locations on Cameron planet fell into two categories. One: places dangerous even with knowledge. Strong monsters could kill you with a single mistake.
Two: places that weren’t so dangerous if you had knowledge. Karkrita Valley was the latter.
“Alright. Everyone got their shotguns?”
“Is this really it? What if monsters appear…”
Their trust in Suhyun was firm, but fear was natural. The team looked anxiously at Suhyun, armed only with shotguns and no power armor.
“It’s fine. This is enough.”
“Can’t we at least switch the bullets? Why rock salt bullets?!”
Their current ammunition was rock salt filled with actual salt. Naturally, the lethality was far below that of real bullets.
“Next, apply salt. All over your body.”
“???”
‘Are these guys…? Don’t they understand me?’
When Suhyun’s voice dropped, the team quickly snapped to attention. They knew that while Suhyun could be easygoing, once he set the tone, he was scarier than anyone.
They awkwardly sprinkled salt all over themselves.
‘What on earth is this for?’
“Can I ask why…?”
“No. I’m doing this for your own good. Quickly, spread it.”
Many went missing in Karkrita Valley because of the valley’s characteristics. This place was home to ghost-type monsters.
Ghost monsters were rare and difficult to deal with. The main problem was that most physical attacks were ineffective. Fortunately, ghost monsters had weak physical strength—but considering their special abilities, that wasn’t very reassuring.
In such cases, psychic abilities were effective. However, the number of ghost monsters in the valley was extraordinary. Attempting to fight them with psychic power alone was a trap even for confident psychics.
Initially, it was easy to repel them, but prolonged combat drained energy, eventually leading to retreat or annihilation—the most common outcome.
‘We need to exploit their weakness.’
The key was to efficiently use the enemy’s vulnerability. In this area, ghost monsters were weak to salt.
