Sunhee fell asleep, and Grace, pushing through her exhaustion, contacted the Control Room.
Yonghoon once again used spatial movement to retrieve a contaminated Dimensional Core from another Dimensional Beast’s body.
After Yonghoon extracted the Dimensional Core and reappeared on the apartment rooftop, loud cheers erupted from Grace’s phone.
Yonghoon wore a puzzled expression at the cheers coming from the phone.
Although they had defeated the Dimensional Beasts, the damage was far from minor.
Even here in Dobong-gu, they could clearly see the smoke rising from the city center of Uijeongbu City.
The smoke was caused by the beasts destroying buildings as they moved toward Seoul. The central buildings of Uijeongbu City had completely collapsed.
And many high-level Awakened had been massacred by the beasts. Even accounting for those evacuated due to injuries, half of the Awakened who participated in the operation had died.
At this level, it was a tremendous loss paid to protect the citizens of Seoul.
This didn’t even include the hundreds to possibly over a thousand civilians contaminated by the Dimensional Beasts.
Seeing Yonghoon’s expression, Grace explained the situation.
“Still, from the government’s perspective, it’s a situation where we stopped the Dimensional Beasts without major losses. More importantly, all the evacuated citizens survived. From the government’s standpoint, it’s a huge success.”
At Grace’s words, Yonghoon nodded bitterly. She was right.
Not long ago, due to Dimensional Beasts, hundreds of thousands of citizens in Korea and the United States had fallen into a vegetative state.
They had captured two such Dimensional Beasts with almost no civilian casualties. The government had every reason to celebrate.
After Grace ended the call, Yonghoon carried Grace and the sleeping Sunhee and used spatial movement.
The other Awakened who had retreated, leaving Yonghoon behind, hadn’t gotten far. They hadn’t even fully exited Dobong-gu yet. They had injured among them, making swift movement impossible.
Fortunately, by the time Yonghoon arrived, no additional injuries or deaths had occurred.
Except for Yonghoon and Sunhee, the members of Team Crazy and the other Awakened were sitting on the road resting. Though they hadn’t yet received word from the Control Room that the Dimensional Beast had been defeated, they realized it when the contaminated humans charging at them all collapsed on the spot.
When Yonghoon appeared before them and confirmed the Dimensional Beast had been defeated, everyone let out a sigh of relief.
Cries erupted from all around. Awakened who had lost comrades during the operation, and those who had killed people with their own hands, either wept loudly or clutched their chests with trembling hands, overwhelmed by fear.
It was the aftermath of war.
Yonghoon checked on Team Crazy. Fortunately, they seemed to be holding up relatively well.
They had different experiences.
They had endured countless hunts and battles and faced many dangers. Even the youngest, Hyangseol, had experienced numerous deaths back in her homeland.
For them, it was simply one more battle added to the list.
As they rested together for a moment, military trucks and ambulances carrying soldiers arrived from the Safe Zone.
They were soldiers who had been waiting along the Han River just in case.
Since all civilians north of the Han River had evacuated south, the roads were completely clear. That’s why the soldiers could arrive so quickly after receiving the call.
Some of the military trucks stopped where the group was, while others continued further north.
Among the soldiers in the trucks, there were people who appeared to be low-level Awakened. It seemed they had boarded together in case of a monster attack.
The military trucks that stopped near the group were all empty cargo vehicles. Team Crazy and the other Awakened all boarded the trucks. Ambulances carrying the injured passed by them.
Holding Sunhee in his arms, Yonghoon boarded a truck and smiled faintly upon seeing that all the members of Team Crazy had boarded safely.
The team members looked surprised seeing Yonghoon seated with the sleeping Sunhee in his arms, but he ignored their gazes, leaned back in his seat, and closed his eyes.
It had been a grueling time. Although leveling up had restored his Dimensional Power and abilities, mental exhaustion was unavoidable. Before long, Yonghoon also fell asleep.
The aftermath of the incident was handled swiftly.
Those who had fled south returned to their original homes, and those who had lived in the destroyed Uijeongbu City decided to relocate elsewhere.
The government heavily publicized the capture of the Dimensional Beasts. They announced it as a national victory and continued to broadcast Grace and the surviving Awakened as heroes.
Fortunately, Team Crazy was left out of the announced list of heroes. It was thanks to Team Leader Han’s negotiation, who, aligned with Kangwoo, had managed to uncover the government’s plans.
“In the end, it’s just a smokescreen.”
At Yonghoon’s words, Director Jang nodded with a tired face.
“It can’t be helped. The property damage and civilian casualties were significant, but the losses among the Awakened were even greater. After the pessimistic mood from the Jeju Island incident, if the full extent of this disaster were revealed, it would make governance extremely difficult.”
Yonghoon agreed with Director Jang’s words.
However, it was now reaching the limit for Korea to maintain a market economy. Though they had endured for the sake of civilian stability, it seemed inevitable that they would soon have to shift to a full wartime system like the B dimension.
As Director Jang finished speaking, Yonghoon looked around. They were in a meeting room of the government complex located in Yongsan.
Present were Director Jang, Officer Jo, General Yoon of the Special Defense Division, Representative Seo and Grace from Link Corp, and finally Yonghoon and Sunhee.
Remembering the rampage from two days ago, Yonghoon asked after Representative Seo’s health.
“Are you feeling better?”
At Yonghoon’s inquiry, Representative Seo replied.
“I’m fine. My heart feels a bit empty, and I no longer have Dimensional Power, but I’m healthy by normal standards.”
Yonghoon paused at Representative Seo’s response.
This was Seo Donghyuk from this dimension. Until now, Yonghoon had been speaking with Seo Donghyuk of the B dimension.
Yonghoon was shocked by the sudden appearance of a different personality.
Seeing Yonghoon’s reaction, Representative Seo gave a bitter smile.
“From now on, you’ll have to deal with me.”
At Representative Seo’s words, Yonghoon looked puzzled. Representative Seo continued.
“You know that when an Awakened undergoes Dimensional Power rampage, they lose their abilities.”
Yonghoon nodded at his words.
“But Linkers experience one additional change. The two personalities that form inside an Awakened’s mind are maintained by Dimensional Power. Thus, when Dimensional Power is lost and they revert to being an ordinary person, only one of the two personalities remains. They become a true ordinary person.”
Yonghoon was greatly surprised by Representative Seo’s words.
“Then the other one, Representative Seo from the other world?”
“The moment I was left in control, his personality disappeared from this world. His mind died at that moment.”
Yonghoon was deeply shocked.
He was talking about the death of Representative Seo.
Yonghoon looked at Grace. Her expression had been dark for a while.
After staring blankly for a moment, Yonghoon composed himself and asked him.
“You seem surprisingly composed.”
At Yonghoon’s words, Representative Seo nodded.
“It’s very regrettable that he’s gone, but……”
Representative Seo continued with a calm face.
“For a long time, I had been pushed aside, losing control of my body to him. War and hunting…… I knew nothing about those fields, so I had no choice but to keep handing over control. Now that I’ve regained ownership of my body, it’s hard to simply grieve his loss.”
“Ah.”
Yonghoon had no words to respond.
It was a situation different from his own.
Yonghoon looked at Sunhee sitting next to him. Her expression remained unchanged as she listened.
“Fortunately, I was managing the organization, so I can continue managing the existing Link Corp. That’s why I’m here.”
Yonghoon shook his head inwardly at his words.
Link Corp was an organization of Awakened. It was uncertain how much people would follow an ordinary person who had lost their abilities.
Fortunately, Grace was there, so it seemed the organization could somehow be maintained.
With Representative Seo’s words, the meeting room fell into silence.
It was time to move on to the main topic.
Yonghoon spoke to the people gathered.
“After capturing the Dimensional Beast two days ago, I informed you by phone that Sunhee had become a Linker. Since you all wanted to hear the details, this meeting was convened.”
At Yonghoon’s words, everyone’s eyes turned to Sunhee.
Curious gazes, fascinated gazes, envious gazes, sympathetic gazes.
As all eyes gathered on her, Sunhee opened her mouth.
“I am Major Eun Sunhee, Team Leader of the 4th Team of the Jeju Island Defense Division Strike Team of the Republic of Korea.”
After introducing herself, Sunhee continued her story.
The enemy’s attack on the Nakdong River front, the story of parting ways with Yonghoon and spatially moving to Jeju Island, and the annihilation of the mainland defense division followed.
Yonghoon had heard the story once before.
After sleeping for more than 24 hours yesterday, Sunhee had woken up, seen Yonghoon sitting beside her, and burst into tears again. After some time passed and her sobs subsided, she handed over to the other Sunhee.
After that, Sunhee had told Yonghoon the current story in advance.
“After that, we all holed up in Jeju Island, occasionally dealing with flying-type monsters that came flying toward us. Everyone said Major was dead, but I didn’t believe it. You survived nine years as a C-Rank. I was sure you would survive no matter what.”
At Sunhee’s words, Yonghoon gave a bitter smile.
At that time, he had made a grave mistake, excited by his promotion to B-Level. As a result, contrary to Sunhee’s hopes, he had died.
“After that, I leveled up to B-Rank and became the leader of the 4th Team composed of people from the mainland. Since I was an assassin-type, I was treated fairly well. Time passed like that. Although Jeju Island’s food supply dwindled and life became tougher, we managed to endure. But it started a few months ago.”
Suddenly, communication with the governments of other island nations was cut off. It was an enemy attack. Until then, only flying monsters had attacked, but now Awakened with gray eyes had begun attacking directly.
Rumors spread throughout Jeju Island, and the goods that had been supplied through rations disappeared. Food and fuel ran out.
Of course, there must have been goods hidden somewhere, but everyone had tightly concealed them for their own survival.
In the end, the Jeju Island government decided to dispatch Awakened to the mainland.
It was to procure food and fuel. These goods had been massively stockpiled in Mokpo and Busan. They were items that couldn’t be brought along when escaping to Jeju Island two years ago.
The monsters moved using Dimensional Cores. There was no way food or oil would have been damaged.
The only problem was that they had to enter areas swarming with monsters.
There was no one willing to go.
The government forcibly designated Awakened for the mission. Sunhee, being a B-Rank Assassin-type Awakened, was exempt from selection, but she volunteered herself.
It was to find Yonghoon.
Fortunately, the operation was a success. Although there were deaths and injuries, they managed to secure enough food and fuel to escape.
The Awakened were able to return to Jeju Island carrying food and fuel, but Sunhee was not among them.
She had deserted during the operation.
She headed toward Uiseong-eup at the Nakdong River, where she had parted ways with Yonghoon.
Luckily, her powerful B-Rank invisibility ability allowed her to safely reach Uiseong-eup, and there she found Yonghoon’s backpack and a destroyed Dimensional Connector.
After that, she wanted to search for Yonghoon further, but she had no choice but to retreat due to the high-level monsters gradually pushing down.
Thus, she returned to Jeju Island carrying Yonghoon’s backpack and the destroyed Dimensional Connector, and the military command, judging it as a loss during the operation rather than desertion, did not discipline her.
Sunhee searched Jeju Island and had a technician repair the destroyed Dimensional Connector, then attempted to connect it herself.
And in the connected view, Sunhee spotted Yonghoon, whom she had been desperately searching for.
Sunhee removed the safety device from the Dimensional Connector, as she had heard from Yonghoon that without the safety device, people would fall into a vegetative state.
Confirming Yonghoon’s appearance, Sunhee understood that they were not in a vegetative state but that their minds had moved dimensions.
When Sunhee removed the safety device, the unstable repair area must have caused a malfunction, and her mind underwent Dimensional Movement.
Sunhee’s long story came to an end. Everyone looked visibly exhausted from her reckless behavior. It seemed even worse than Yonghoon’s actions during battle.
Director Jang’s expression after hearing Sunhee’s story was not bright.
It was because of the news that the enemies were almost destroying the second dimension. If they conquered the second dimension, it was certain they would focus on this world next.
Director Jang looked at Yonghoon. In this world, the only person who could strike the enemy’s main camp was Yonghoon.
And without Yonghoon, defending the capital area was impossible. This had been conclusively proven in the recent battle.
At this rate, if the enemies attacked while Yonghoon was absent, there would be no way to stop them. But even if they just defended, there would be no future.
The current situation was like throwing bombs at each other’s heads with bare hands, betting on who would die first.
Noticing Director Jang’s deep contemplation, Yonghoon opened his mouth.
“I will cross over to that dimension tomorrow. I have become S-Rank. This time, I will definitely destroy all the warp arrays leading to this dimension.”
Yonghoon’s voice was full of determination. He had no more conflicts. Now, protecting this world was his goal.