The Returner

Chapter 453: Well then, should we get started (3)

Chapter 453: Well then, should we get started (3)

“Sitrep.” (Song Jeong-Su)

Song Jeong-Su with a haggard face asked a question.

“...North of Seoul is almost fully evacuated, sir.” (aide)

“...God d*mmit!” (Song Jeong-Su)

The previously-docile spot in Pyongyang suddenly became active again. Although it wasn’t as if the ones called the demon kings had appeared to lead the demon king army, the endless stream of demonic beasts pouring out from the portal still proved to be too difficult to deal with.

‘The void left behind by the NDF is too big.’ (Song Jeong-Su)

It wasn’t like this in the beginning.

But along with Yi Ji-Hyuk’s entrance, all ability users that could be seen as Korea’s elite got absorbed into the NDF.

And that’s when the gap in strength began widening.

In the beginning, just a thin little line separated the lowest-class NDF agent from the highest-class KSF agent, but that difference had widened to resemble heaven and earth now. So much so that even if ten of the top KSF agents attacked, they still wouldn’t be able to deal with one lowest-class NDF agent.

It sure was an encouraging thing, that. A select few ability users getting stronger meant that the overall combat strength would be raised higher, after all.

But Song Jeong-Su now knew the truth. He realised just how badly South Korea had been relying on the NDF and especially on Yi Ji-Hyuk.

With both of those factors unavailable right now, South Korea was basically a castle without a king. The demonic beasts rushing past the Demilitarised Zone couldn’t be stopped by the army or the KSF. They did resist and fought back, but the end result didn’t change.

When confronting demonic beasts boasting the level of strength that was in another realm compared to the monsters of the past, humans were proving to be too powerless to resist.

“What about foreign support? What happened to the promised Japanese support?” (Song Jeong-Su)

“...They say it’ll be difficult, sir.” (aide)

“Dam*it!” (Song Jeong-Su)

Bang!

Song Jeong-Su angrily slammed his fist down on the desk.

“They come begging whenever they need something, but now they want to pretend nothing has happened?!” (Song Jeong-Su)

“S-sir. They say the destruction of Tokyo has resulted in too much confusion at the state level. If Gates have not been opening, then they would have provided us with their support but they are also fighting the Gate opening up in their own territory...” (aide)

“We also lost half of Seoul, too!” (Song Jeong-Su)

Song Jeong-Su yelled out at the top of his lungs.

The advent of the demon king resulted in Gangnam being obliterated to bits. And now, they were about to give up on Gangbuk as well as the waves of the demonic beasts came crashing in.

“Please calm down.” (Yun Yeong-Min)

Song Jeong-Su heard Yun Yeong-Min’s powerless voice and spat out a lengthy groan.

“Nothing will change even if we get agitated. Isn’t that what you’ve been telling me, prime minister?” (Yun Yeong-Min)

“...Yes, indeed.” (Song Jeong-Su)

“We must not blindly try to stop them. Whatever it is we can do, we still won’t be able to stop their march.” (Yun Yeong-Min)

“Mister President...” (Song Jeong-Su)

“It’s time to accept the reality of our situation. We won’t succeed in something that both America and China have failed to accomplish when our forces lag well behind theirs. So what we must avoid doing is wasting our precious combat forces by battling the monsters. No, we must give up what we can and buy as much time as possible. Until they come back, that is.” (Yun Yeong-Min)

While listening to Yun Yeong-Min’s calm analysis, Song Jeong-Su began chuckling bitterly to himself.

‘Huh, to think that a day when I’m listening to this man’s advice would finally arrive...’ (Song Jeong-Su)

It seemed that he wasn’t the only one who matured in the midst of war and confusion. The atmosphere befitting a nation’s president was now clearly oozing out from Yun Yeong-Min.

“What’s important right now is the safe evacuation of the civilians.” (Yun Yeong-Min)

Yun Yeong-Min finished stating his opinion and Song Jeong-Su nodded in agreement.

“Where are we with the evacuation effort?” (Song Jeong-Su)

“It’s still ongoing, with as many vehicles and trains secured to ferry out the civilians, sir. At our current rate, we should not see any losses to civilian lives and be able to set up the defensive line south of the Han river.” (aide)

“South of Han, is it...” (Song Jeong-Su)

Song Jeong-Su could only smile bitterly.

There was literally nothing left there, other than devastated, empty fields. It basically had reverted back to being the wild reed fields before the land development craze swept through the area.

‘What meaning is there in setting up a defensive line there?’ (Song Jeong-Su)

Indeed, it’d be nothing more than just buying some time.

The battle line about to be drawn there would be different from the one against other humans. Unlike waging war against humans, where the parties involved could adjust their battle and defensive strategies based on the terrain and the weather, the demonic beasts didn’t care about the lay of the land.

If there was a wide river, the monsters would simply crawl on the riverbed to get across. If there was a cliff, they would simply jump off. They didn’t waste energy trying to scale mountains unlike humans, either.

‘Dam*it.’ (Song Jeong-Su)

Song Jeong-Su couldn’t help but be reminded of this stark fact.

The moment guns stop being effective, humans would instantly fall to the bottom of the food chain as the weakest mammal on Earth. Without a gun, a person wouldn’t even be able to catch a rabbit with their bare hands. Between a human carrying a gun and some stray mutt roaming the streets, the demonic beast would find the human even easier to hunt down.

Currently, humans were somehow fighting back while relying on the offensive power of the tanks, but even that had its limit.

“...Tell the military to plant as many anti-tank mines in Gangnam, at least.” (Song Jeong-Su)

“Yes, sir.” (aide)

“Whew-woo...” (Song Jeong-Su)

Song Jeong-Su held his face.

‘Just how long do we have to endure?’ (Song Jeong-Su)

They only just gave up on Seoul. But Song Jeong-Su knew; these demonic beasts were different from human armies. Unlike the regular warfare where a new frontline could be drawn up even after you made your hasty retreat, you showing your back to the demonic beasts signalled an endless retreat, instead.

It wouldn’t be out of question to construct a defensive line south of the Han river. But if the humans were forced to retreat even from there, then just where would they draw the next line?

“Has there been a contact from the NDF?” (Song Jeong-Su)

“No, sir. Nothing so far.” (aide)

“And there’s no information coming from the American side?” (Song Jeong-Su)

“Well, the Americans did contact us earlier, but...” (aide)

“But?” (song Jeong-Su)

The aide replied with a gloomy expression.

“According to the information provided, several agents have escaped from the training centre recently, sir. Almost one thousand ability users gave up on the training and apparently have returned to their countries.” (aide)

“Huh...” (Song Jeong-Su)

Song Jeong-Su’s facial muscles began twitching uncontrollably.

Giving up on the training?

How could they even do that? Especially when the whole of humanity had placed their faith in them, so how could they!

If it was Song Jeong-Su, he’d never, ever walk out of that place on his own volition even if it killed him. He wanted to be more understanding towards their choices, thinking that there must’ve been some kind of unavoidable circumstances, but he simply couldn’t stop his rage from boiling over.

Wasn’t it possible that humanity’s annihilation could no longer be stopped because they gave up on the training regime, when it might have been possible if they stuck to it till the end? No one could say that the odds of that were zero, now could they?

“What’s going on in China?” (Song Jeong-Su)

“Maybe because of how their forces are dispersed per province, they are beginning to establish a system of governance within the different districts now, sir.” (aide)

“Well, that’s a relief to hear.” (Song Jeong-Su)

“...However, the negative impact left behind by the destruction of the command structure is still too great, sir. On top of that, most of the missile defence systems, including ICBMs, no longer have a clear launch protocol and they are only relying on ground troops and the air force to resist the enemy.” (aide)

“What does that mean?” (Song Jeong-Su)

“...They are being mercilessly pushed back, sir. Those with some semblance of stability are the areas where the demonic beasts haven’t arrived yet.” (aide)

“Well, having a large territory is a blessing in this case.” (Song Jeong-Su)

One side finding their feet again while the other side is being crushed – now that would be unimaginable in a small landmass like the Korean peninsula. China being able to pull something like that off should be considered as one of their hidden strengths.

‘However, it’s still only a matter of time.’ (Song Jeong-Su)

The demonic beasts were not ‘occupiers’ in the traditional sense.

That was the biggest problem here. The demonic beasts didn’t need supplies to maintain their combat force, and they didn’t shiver from cold during winter, either. More importantly, they didn’t consume provisions, too.

No, they simply repeated the cycle of destroying an area and moving on before destroying some more.

It was just too unfair.

The defenders most definitely needed provisions and rest, yet the attackers, despite enjoying an even greater power, didn’t face any restrictions when unleashing said power.

“What’s the route the demonic beasts in China have taken?” (Song Jeong-Su)

“The demonic beasts that appeared from Sichuan province have crossed Beijing and are now heading north to Russia, sir. But it’s unknown when they will change their heading to our side.” (aide)

“That’s not going to happen. There’s another spot here, after all.” (Song Jeong-Su)

If only they were dealing with some mindless wild beasts, they could’ve come up with some ways to oppose these invaders. But then, there were demons mixed in among the demonic beasts as well, and that led to a rather horrifying event of the creatures that were clearly not a part of an army, behaving as if they had one consciousness.

“We need to endure. Something will happen if we keep enduring.” (Song Jeong-Su)

The situation in America or Europe wasn’t any different. As for Oceania and Africa, they had already turned into lands where no human could live.

Oceania had been overrun by the monsters by now and ended up becoming a land of death where none could set a foot inside, while in Africa, thanks to the wide landmass, humans living there hadn’t gone completely extinct but it became utterly impossible to approach the continent from the outside.

If you tried to enter it through land, you would end up as a snack for the demonic beasts, but if you tried to fly in, the demonic beings simply shot you down.

There was no guarantee that the areas with other open spots won’t end up the same. Especially more so for Asia where two spots had opened up. Even America had basically abandoned their eastern seaboard and evacuated all the civilians away from there.

“Just how much more time do we need?” (Song Jeong-Su)

Song Jeong-Su barely managed to grab a cigarette with his trembling hand and lit it up.

The current situation was too tough to simply endure while holding onto the single ray of hope named Yi Ji-Hyuk.

***

“Get out of the way! I said, get the hell out!”

“Ah?! Can’t you see the queue here?! Stop trying to cut in the line!”

“Get out of there, now!”

It was a pure pandemonium.

Once the situation reached the absolute worst point, human’s respect for other humans that somehow managed to last this long quickly vanished into thin air. They all realised that for their own survival, no laws or morals were necessary and they began thinking and acting only for themselves, not for anyone else.

“M-mom?” (Choi Ji-Hye)

A girl named Choi Ji-Hye, who only entered the middle school recently, was currently searching for her mother as tears filled up her eyes.

There didn’t seem to be an end to this ocean of people.

Buses and trucks dispatched by the government were continuously streaming in and out of a bus terminal doubling as an evacuation centre. They were here to evacuate those people who had failed to leave yet.

It certainly was a good thing that the evacuation efforts were almost completed now, but on the other hand, that meant the people still remaining here had their evacuation delayed as much, as well.

“Argh, get the hell out of the way, you dumb son of a b*tch!”

“What was that, you punk?!”

The oppressive pressure of not knowing when the demonic beast horde would show up behind them made these people incredibly tense and hostile. Sounds of swearing and fighting could be heard from here and there.

Indeed, there already had been some casualties after fighting broke out during the evacuation.

“M-mom?” (Choi Ji-Hye)

Choi Ji-Hye continued searching around her vicinity in a panicked state. But no matter how hard she looked, she just couldn’t spot her mother who came to the evacuation centre with her. Falling even deeper into the panicked state, she ended up freezing up on the spot.

‘She told me not to move if I get lost...’ (Choi Ji-Hye)

Her mother told her that wandering around without a plan would only make her even more lost. So, she should stand still and...

“Ji-Hye-yah!”

“Mom!” (Choi Ji-Hye)

Choi Ji-Hye heard her mother’s voice calling out to her, so she hurriedly picked up her luggage and dashed towards the direction of that voice.

Her mother was standing in front of a queue snaking towards the bus terminal building, and she was desperately calling out to Choi Ji-Hye.

“Over here! Hurry! Here!”

“Mom!” (Choi Ji-Hye)

Tears streamed down her face as she hurriedly ran towards her mother.

But right at that moment, someone blocked her path.

“Hey, you! Where do you think you’re going?”

“M-my mom’s over there?” (Choi Ji-Hye)

“So what?”

“I, I need to go to my mom...” (Choi Ji-Hye)

A man with a thuggish face blocked her path and yelled angrily at her.

“What the f*ck?! Can’t you see all these queues here?! One of us queuing up has to die because you want to go over there? Is that what you’re saying?!”

“E-excuse me?” (Choi Ji-Hye)

“Go to the back of the queue.”

“B-but, my mom...” (Choi Ji-Hye)

“You deaf? Didn’t you hear me telling you to go back?! I might as well...!”

Choi Ji-Hye’s mom freaked out and left the queue to urgently run over to her daughter. She tightly held the girl and bowed her head several times at the man.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!”

“I don’t give a sh*t about your apology, so go behind the line already! Before I f*cking kill you both!”

“...P-please, just let us through. I’m her mother.”

“So what? You also want to go to the back of the queue, auntie?”

Choi Ji-Hye could no longer handle all the tears flooding out from her eyes and plopped on the ground.

“What the hell?”

The man chuckled in dismay, then growled in a threatening manner.

“Forget it. Just go behind the line already before I kick the living sh*t out of you. You trying to test my patience or what?!”

When the mother and daughter held each other and broke down in tears, the man got clearly angry and raised his foot to kick them both.

But then...

“Hey, as*hole!”

< 453. Well then, should we get started -3 > Fin.