Chapter 5
I had a dream.
It was from a long time ago.
Back when I was still green, just starting out, I was sent on my first missions to rescue civilians.
“Please save us!”
In the ruins where everything had been burned to ash, emergency rescue teams shouted toward the survivors.
“Everyone, this way!”
“Ah… my child…”
That was when I noticed her.
A middle-aged woman was standing stubbornly on her own, even as others were evacuating.
“H-Hunter… my child is still over there…”
Her wrinkled hand pointed between collapsed slabs of concrete.
The Hunters were busy evacuating survivors and passed her by without a glance.
Something about it bothered me, so I approached her.
“That area…”
Thick, choking smoke filled the air. Massive chunks of shattered construction debris lay scattered everywhere. Pools of dark red blood stained the ground, proof that people had been there.
The chances of anyone surviving in a place like that were slim.
“H-Hunters can do it, right? You know… lifting things with your hands, bringing the dead back to life… right?!”
Her trembling hand gripped mine.
The look in her eyes, as she stared at me like she had no other choice, was close to fanatic.
That was why I couldn’t say it.
The death sentence of telling her there was nothing I could do.
I didn’t have the power to rebuild collapsed buildings.
I couldn’t heal people.
Not me, and not anyone there.
The support team consisted of C-rank and below Hunters with simple physical enhancement abilities.
Even if I was S-rank, I was still a rookie. I couldn’t recklessly dig through unstable debris without my superior’s approval.
‘There could be secondary damage.’
And without precise matter-manipulation abilities, all I could do was cut, crush, and destroy.
There was nothing I could do once the building had already collapsed.
Stopping it beforehand would have been another story.
“Hunter…?”
My mouth wouldn’t open.
Was it pity for someone old enough to be my mother?
Simple sympathy?
No. None of that.
I just didn’t want to be the one to crush her last bit of hope with my own words.
I wanted to be kind.
I wanted to look kind.
“It’s safe now. Your child will be fine, so…”
I was about to tell her to evacuate with us first.
But—
“R-Right? It’s safe because the Hunters are here, right? I knew it…!”
Her expression changed instantly. She shook my hand off and ran toward the collapsed debris.
It happened in a blink.
A long steel beam fell straight down onto her head as she ran.
Thud.
The black pupils that had been shining with hope turned cloudy as she collapsed onto the cold ground.
I didn’t even have time to stop her.
Bright red blood flowed along the path she had taken.
A clean, fatal wound.
“Ah…”
Someone died.
No… I killed someone.
An innocent civilian who could have lived died because of my twisted selfishness.
If only I hadn’t said it was safe.
If only—
“…Huh!”
I woke up inside the specially assigned aircraft, gasping, staring at the tablet in my hands.
My heart was still racing, and it felt awful.
It was always like this. Whenever I was given an important mission or position, fragments of old memories surfaced like trauma.
Ignoring the flight attendant who glanced at me strangely, I focused on reading the official document.
Tch. Like they’ve never seen someone have a nightmare before.
Deploying a large number of personnel to the border area may increase civilian anxiety. We request that only a small number of cooperative personnel be dispatched.
Unfortunately, what was written on the tablet felt even worse than the dream.
“They’re asking for help, but they never know how to bend.”
Nearly a thousand people had died in a single day, and they still had the nerve to worry about pride.
Border disputes mean nothing in front of the Oedo anyway.
This is why cooperating with China is always a headache.
Stubborn, prideful, and obsessed with national image.
They treat incoming support like subordinates, which is why they’re avoided internationally.
Still, what choice do we have?
This isn’t something we can avoid just because it’s uncomfortable.
[Per China’s request, dispatch no more than three cooperative personnel. Form a joint team led by a commander with extensive knowledge and experience dealing with the Oedo.
Reading that, it was obvious I was the one going.
Of course it was planned.
He must have already decided, knowing I’d go.
“Thanks to you, Director, I get to ride a private plane.”
The unnecessarily cheerful voice beside me made my headache double.
Kang Giback, Team Leader of Special Operations Team Three.
Grandson of Choi Eui-young, the battle-crazed old man who traveled the world looking for fights.
Publicly known as “Little Battle Maniac.”
Within Special Operations, his nickname was “Mad Dog.”
With that aggressive personality and natural talent for combat, it made sense he’d broken records to reach A-rank at a young age.
But he was the last person I wanted as a mission partner.
Going alone was bad enough. Bringing extra baggage was worse.
“You… no, never mind. Why am I even talking to you?”
Despite his fearsome nickname, Kang Giback was blushing, visibly tense.
I tilted my head.
“Why is your face so red?”
“…I didn’t know I’d be going with you, Director. N-No, I mean… this is my first mission like this, so I’m a bit nervous…”
Watching him stumble over his words for once, I shrugged lightly.
And this guy is Special Operations material…
Policy forbade solo missions, so I had to bring someone along.
Given the risk level, I couldn’t take an ordinary agent. It had to be a team leader.
And unfortunately, the only available one was Team Three’s leader, currently under discipline after causing trouble in his last mission.
My life is cursed.
A troublesome mission and an annoying partner…
The odds of this ending smoothly felt low.
“Mad Dog—no, Team Leader Three. Did you even read the document?”
“Call me whatever you like. It’s not like people don’t know my nickname.”
He shrugged casually.
“Mad Dog is better than Team Leader. Sounds less stiff. And… honestly.”
He glanced at me, then spoke a bit shyly.
“I think someone like you has the right to call me that.”
“…”
If anyone else had said that, it would’ve been embarrassing.
But I was the one who recruited him, and we’d known each other for years.
Still, the momentary warmth vanished quickly.
“Oh, and the document was kind of hard to understand… could you explain it to me?”
“Do I look like your personal guide?”
“Well, I trust you.”
…Ha.
‘So much for being touched.’
I was already tired, and we hadn’t even arrived yet.
***
After the turbulent meeting in the sky, we landed and headed toward Mount Baekdu.
Walking silently behind me, Kang Giback asked with a pure expression,
“Why are we stopping by Baekdu first? Why not go straight to the site?”
“Did you seriously not read the document?”
A tourist city spread along Mount Baekdu’s foothills.
We pushed past street vendors calling out to customers as we headed for the meeting point.
His nonstop chatter was giving me a ringing headache.
“Official documents are stiff. They don’t really stick in my head…”
“That’s why you caused that incident. Going on missions without reading.”
“But it worked out fine in the end, didn’t it?”
The more he talked back cheerfully, the more drained I felt.
Who picked someone like this for Special Ops?
…Right. I did. Damn it.
“It literally says we need cooperation from local powers in case of emergencies.”
“So… are we meeting the Mountain Lord?”
Exactly.
The Baekdu Mountain Lord. Owner of the largest mountain on the peninsula and the infamous problem child of the mountain spirits.
If there were a list of beings guaranteed to cause trouble, his name would rank near the top.
But we didn’t have alternatives.
“Ooh, my heart’s racing.”
“Because you’re meeting another lunatic like yourself?”
“I’ve always wanted to fight him.”
True to his nickname, his battle obsession was acting up.
“Drop it. You’ll die if you fight him.”
“What? You think I’d lose without even trying? I’m disappointed you don’t trust your subordinate.”
“…No. You’ll die by my hand.”
I stared at him sharply as I warned him.
“Giback. Don’t cause trouble.”
“…Yes.”
Sometimes, being known for doing crazy things paid off.
To control the lunatics in Special Ops, special measures were necessary.
‘Sometimes you have to show them you’re the bigger lunatic.’
The threat worked. His nonstop chatter stopped.
For a brief moment, the silence eased my headache.
But only briefly.
“Director… are you sure this is the right place?”
Honestly, I was confused too.
“…I don’t believe it either, but it looks right.”
[Meeting location with local power: 75-12 Baekdusan-ro, ‘Afternoon of Heaven and Earth’]
At the address stood a small shop with warm, antique red-brick walls.
A crooked, hand-drawn cake menu hung next to a cute doorbell.
[Our Special Cake: So Good You Won’t Notice If One of You Dies]
What kind of name is that?
“It’s… a dessert café?”
“It’s a dessert café.”
Looks like the Baekdu Mountain Lord had picked up a new eccentric hobby.
