Chapter 131

Wizard’s Name (10)

I looked up in wonder over the destroyed city. In the distance, I could see an aircraft flying with a roar. I decided that I should unfold the barriers immediately. Rather than being attacked, being exposed was more of a problem.

“The Mirror of Brunos!”

A barrier was created, and my body was hidden. Since God received offering strictly, I normally didn’t use it, but at that moment, I needed that spell. Meanwhile, there was no room for fiddling with the magic catalyst or doing complicated calculations.

‘Let’s get out of here. Damn it, how do I get back to Seoul?’

[Wait, Min-joon. There is something to be done before going to Seoul.]

‘What?’

[Do you remember the information that Kim Kyung-hwan gave you? Carraderina, the ascetic’s brain part, came up to Seoul, but he said that most of her body was separated near this area.]

Oh right. Carraderina’s body was being kept in an aviation unit’s maintenance warehouse close to the Busan Channel. I heard about it from Kim Kyung-hwan and found the location.

[Gramiel was kicked out of her original world, but her ascetic remains in this world. We know her master’s intention; we can’t let her go]

Yes, I nodded. Gramiel conveyed her intentions through Carraderina’s consciousness even when she was in another dimension. It meant that remote control was possible beyond dimensions.

The brain in Seoul should also be disposed of, but I would start with the nearby body.

I flew in the direction of Carraderina’s body, leaving a squadron of fighters that had lost their target passing through the air.

***

-… It’s truly an unprecedented catastrophe. The number of confirmed deaths has exceeded 1,200 so far. The shockwave that struck the center of the city hit the gas pipe, making the damage even greater.

It is the largest single accident since the foundation of the Republic of Korea. The government is expected to define the disaster as a ‘Channel Disaster.’ The number of victims of this incident is one of the top five deaths in every Channel Disaster globally.

Along with the reporter’s comments, a miserable sight of the city was seen on the screen. Shockwaves from the sky hit the vast areas where people lived their daily lives, beyond the areas around the Channel that had been evacuated. A city with a deep and long crack like an earthquake scratched it. It looked as if a whip wielded by God had hit it. Flames rose in the rubble of the building.

-Fire trucks have been mobilized as much as possible in nearby areas, but the fires at the scene are still not completely extinguished. There are many areas where firefighters cannot access due to road damage. The search for missing people under the collapsed building is not going well.

The screen changed to a recording of the President’s speech to the public recorded one hour after the incident. The reporter continued to comment against the background of the screen.

-The government is evaluated for resolving the interracial invasion incident near the Seoul Channel last year relatively quickly, but it is unclear how to deal with this shocking situation. All levels of society are urging the government to prepare urgent measures. On the other hand, there are also many opinions asking for clarification as to why this happened. In particular, many voices are urging to disclose what has happened in the huge barriers created around the Busan Channel.

Currently, the camera was showing the studio. The anchors were wearing black suits that were close to what a mourning person would wear. The male anchor continued to comment with a gloomy expression.

-Dear viewers, I’m sure you’re all shocked today. It’s said that the National Security Council has been held in the Blue House underground bunker right after the incident. It’s a marathon meeting to prepare the countermeasures. However, even in the midst of this, what makes people feel more anxious is whether there are any measures to resolve this situation.

The anchor’s voice became darker and more serious.

-‘Channel.’ Today’s catastrophe also occurred near the Busan Channel, where no other experts or government agencies around the world have been able to come up with the answer with confidence, and a bizarre phenomenon in which the space seen in the sky around the Channel is distorted. There is an unidentified alien race and a creature in the form of a long tentacle. It’s still unclear how they caused this disaster. Here we have to ask the question again. Could this situation be clarified just because time passes? Is it really possible for the current government and even for humanity today to prevent this from happening again?

-Beep!

President Kang Min-ki, who couldn’t stand it, turned off the TV by lifting the remote control. He then touched his forehead to suppress the rising headache. However, it wasn’t a headache that would fade even if he covered his face with his hands. Just as closing his eyes didn’t make the disaster ahead disappear.

He opened his eyes wide. He looked at the board hanging on the wall, and he read the numbers inside.

1,289 deaths. 3,520 missing.

The number of injured people increased so rapidly that the count was meaningless, so they weren’t marked at all. The number on the electronic board rose rapidly, and he didn’t know when it would come to an end.

‘I thought I’ve been through a lot of trouble in my life.’

His political life was never short. However, what started happening last year was too much for a single politician… no, a single human who was familiar with common sense to handle.

He lit a cigarette; he had quit for more than twenty years. He did so, knowing it was counterproductive to headaches. It was a cigarette that wasn’t taken out again when he fell by a small margin in the primary vote, when his family and relatives were torn apart by the media, or when his second daughter passed away in an accident.

Suddenly, that day, after a long hiatus, he bit the cigarette in his mouth again.

1,289 people.

The President muttered deeply in vain. The numbers came as more than visible shock and fear. 1,289 viewers. It was the worst disaster since the foundation of Korea.

His staff watched in silence as he lit a cigarette in the office. It was a brief break during the National Security Council meetings that lasted for several hours. The President came up to the office and was checking media reports.

After a while, the chief secretary picked up a phone call, and his complexion changed. He approached carefully and said.

“… President, the first result of the video data analysis came out. Let’s go to the situation room.”

The short break was over. The President rubbed half of the cigarettes into an ashtray. He took off his glasses and wiped his face with a wet towel that his secretary bought.

The President got up from his seat, enduring a throbbing headache. He put on his glasses again and took his steps. Just before he went out the door, he suddenly turned his head back to the board. 1,291 Death. Meanwhile, the number increased again.

President Kang Min-ki clenched his teeth and went out of the office.

***

“… Is that true?”

The President asked as if he was frustrated.

“Based on the data we’ve got so far… yes.”

The middle-aged man, who was rushed to the Blue House, responded with a cold sweat. He was the head of the Department of Forensic and Digital Analysis. The organization he was in charge of specializes in biometrics and research on people captured in various images and hastily analyzed the data handed over from the Blue House today. He was briefing the results in front of the President, staff, and military generals in the Blue House basement.

The President frowned and stared at the still footage on the screen.

“An Asian male in his early twenties? Yes, it looks so in my eyes, but isn’t this an illusion?”

“… Yes, based on the results of the video analysis, that’s what it’s interpreted.”

It was only two shockwaves that hit Busan.

The phenomenon of distortion of space first appeared in the sky, which was assumed to be the source, and the first shockwave that struck the ground when its shape, like a rocking water surface, faded. In the aftermath of the destruction, the surrounding CCTV had already been damaged. Therefore, there was no CCTV recording the clear sky image after the distortion of the space disappeared. In the first place, for the purpose of installing CCTV, it was rarely installed in a composition that could take pictures of the sky.

Therefore, it was mostly individuals who filmed what was happening in the sky of Busan after space was restored to normal and visibility was secured. That was because the situation ended before the media even approached.

Videos of the far sky with cell phones were not easy to read. Furthermore, not many people continued to film calmly at a time when the city was destroyed.

Still, the government collected the videos as much as possible and delivered them to the Department of Forensic and Digital Analysis, and they were still receiving such reports through the media. Suddenly, the first result of reading the images collected so far was in front of their eyes.

“Can we only know the face to that extent?”

“… I’m sorry. With the videos gathered so far, yes. However, when more data is gathered, relatively clear montages can be created.”

A young man’s face from various angles was displayed on the screen of the situation room. The poor sketch was filled with CG for the parts of an incomplete image. Even if it was shown on the broadcast at that time, it was questionable whether they could find that person.

“The shockwave that destroyed the city was created when a tentacle-shaped object moves, right? However, the tentacle seems to connect with the front of that young man’s body.”

“Yes, it looks exactly like a tentacle protruding from that light source.”

“Is it my mistake? The color of that light… Doesn’t it look like Channel, no matter how hard I look at it?

“Yeah. It’s pretty much the same.”

Hmm… The President made a repressed groan.

“Looking at that young man and the tentacles as one body… The opponent whom he fought in battle with is that skinny, gray, alien race, right?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

The Director of the National Intelligence Service intervened.

“Considering the content of the telepathy, it is assumed that the gray alien race exuded that powerful telepathy. A few seconds after it said ‘I’ll go there for a moment,’ the alien race appeared from the Busan Channel.”

The President nodded. Just before the Busan incident occurred, all citizens within a 100 kilometers radius centered on Seoul heard the telepathy of a certain existence. It was rather compelling to argue that there was no connection between the incident and the tragedy in Busan.

The President himself heard the intention, but he once again confirmed it through the documents in front of him.

-Oh my… These bugs are useless. Oh, yes. It’s so cumbersome. Reclusive Soul. Can you hear me?

-Now, where are you? Shall we meet for a moment?

-Hmm… No response? However, if I use the detection magic and wipe out the wizards at random, Carraderina’s brain will be burned out… Well, I had no choice.

-If you refuse the invitation…

-I’ll go there for a minute.

Telepathy was delivered five times, and they could guess a lot with that information and context alone.

The President asked.

“The place where the alien race appeared is Busan, but the telepathy was concentrated only around Seoul, right?”

The Director of the National Intelligence Service replied.

“From the context, it’s presumed that before appearing outside the Channel, the gray alien race used Carraderina, which had already been in the world. I’m not sure if it was the aftermath, but Carraderina was found unconscious at that home, and she was surrounded by bodies of small creatures that didn’t belong to the Earth.”

The identity of the bugs mentioned in telepathy had already been confirmed.

“The gray alien seems to have failed to try to do something with the bugs. The next move was to emit telepathy that many people could hear. The wide range of telepathy was thought to be due to the inability to locate the ‘Reclusive Soul’ who was the target of communication attempts.”

The Director of the National Intelligence Service continued.

“There are three individuals who have been seen in connection with this case except for the bodies of the tiny creatures; the gray alien, Carraderina, the young man with the tentacle, and the subjects that the telepathy mentioned are Reclusive Soul and Carraderina.”

“So that young man with a tentacle is the Reclusive Soul.”

“It is very likely.”

The President’s face became gloomy.

“But… Carraderina said she was an ascetic. The gray alien who seems to have treated her as its subordinate and even ‘used’ her is probably…”

The head of forensics was aware of the next word and didn’t continue. However, everyone else in the room understood what the President had swallowed.

The gray alien, which was ‘thrown’ into the original world after fighting in the air… was likely to be either a Truth-Seeker or an ascetic who was higher than Carraderina.

“By the way, after a battle with that kind of existence, the ‘Reclusive soul’ that…”

“The ‘Reclusive Soul’ who seemed to fight with such a being and drove it out to its original dimension… What the….”

It was not known for what reason the fight broke out. Perhaps it was a reason that was incomprehensible to ordinary humans.

The reason had currently become an important factor in that country. The aftermath of the fight on the country was terrible. They needed to know why it happened, and they had no choice but to do what was possible for humans so that it didn’t happen again.

“If we gather video information, we can profile it more properly, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The President spoke in a dark but powerful voice.

“You have to find him as soon as possible. If Carraderina can’t get her consciousness like this, the only clue is him.”

Once again, the President put the wizard’s name in his mouth, “From now on, we must put all our efforts in the country to find him. Let’s bring the Reclusive Soul out of his veil at any cost.”