The woman who had been hurt by my words shot me a glance.
"Um, excuse me. I still haven't really…."
I can't say I don't understand what she means when she says she needs time to pull herself together.
Her boyfriend was dead, and she herself had spent days surrounded by rotting corpses, trapped in terror, never knowing when she might die.
But we don't have much time either. We can't afford to stay here indefinitely.
The goal is to take care of at least three Grade-2 Corruption Sources before the transfer market opens.
"Please, have some."
Han Sang-ah, after watching the woman for a moment, prepared a cup of hot tea and handed it to her. After taking a sip, the woman drew in a deep breath.
"Anything you remember is fine. It doesn't matter what it is."
At my words, the woman pressed both hands hard against her head, then let out a small "Ah."
"The monster that was holding me captive… it was a corpse. You probably already know that."
"Yes. But you wouldn't bring it up without a reason."
She nodded and spoke carefully.
"If I wasn't hallucinating, I think a truck came to the shrine where I was being held."
What kind of nonsense was that? Since when do monsters ride around in trucks?
I wasn't the only one taken aback. Even the woman giving the testimony looked like she couldn't quite believe her own words.
"Please, go on."
"Someone got out of the truck… they looked human. But the monsters weren't hostile at all."
She said that several of the captives were selected and loaded onto the truck.
When I spoke again, the woman shuddered once and replied almost as if spitting the words out.
"There was someone who managed to escape."
"I think I know who it was. They were let go on purpose."
According to her, the being who stepped out of the truck knocked an elderly man unconscious and then implanted something into him.
Han Sang-ah looked at me with a horrified expression.
"What are you so shocked about? That's the obvious conclusion."
To get off this island, you'd have to cross the sea. Even if someone somehow managed to secure a boat, the Ghost Fleet would have been roaming freely at the time.
Escaping under those conditions would have been impossible.
"Maybe the fact that we came here at all was part of the trap. You should have told me earlier."
I strongly agreed with Han Sang-ah's words.
"And what would that have changed? Would you have decided not to come here?"
As I said that, I jerked my chin toward the woman leaning back against the bed.
"It was suspicious, sure, but because I didn't say anything and came anyway, at least we managed to save these people."
"…"
Han Sang-ah fell silent.
"And even if we had known, there wasn't anything we could've done at the time."
It had only been a vague suspicion. There was no concrete evidence. It would've been difficult to suddenly interrogate someone who'd supposedly escaped.
Now that we'd heard a clear account here, we could finally take some action.
"If the goal was to deliberately let someone live and lure us in, doesn't that mean we're already caught in the trap?"
I looked at Han Sang-ah with a pitiful expression.
"When you do this kind of work, did you really think you'd never fall into a trap even once?"
It's a dangerous line of work—living with threats that could strike at any moment. I gave Han Sang-ah's shoulder a couple of light pats and stood up.
"Getting caught in a trap doesn't matter. What matters is whether you have the ability to get out of it."
A tiger doesn't panic just because it's caught in a snare. I turned my gaze back to the woman leaning against the bed.
"Is there anything else you can tell us?"
After a long moment of thought, the woman muttered quietly.
"A cat."
"…Pardon?"
Out of nowhere, a cat?
"The person who got out of the truck had something like a cat mascot hanging from their waist. I mean…."
When we handed her paper and a pen, she drew a clumsy sketch. Watching her, Han Sang-ah spoke up.
"That's not a cat. It's a wildcat—what they call a yamaneko in Japan."
"You could tell that just from this rough drawing?"
At my comment, Han Sang-ah scrolled through her smartphone and held something out.
"It was the mascot of Tsushima Airport."
I glanced again at the woman leaning against the bed. I'd thought it was a sloppy drawing, but it was surprisingly accurate. When the woman saw the image Han Sang-ah showed her, she clapped her hands.
"Oh, yes. That's it."
"Then there's a high chance the Corruption Source is at the airport."
If not, we'd have to search elsewhere. I turned to the exhausted woman.
"I understand how deep your grief must be. Even so, it was incredibly brave of you to dig up such painful memories and tell us. Thank you very much."
"No, really. I'm just glad it was helpful."
"If anything else comes to mind, please send a message to this number anytime."
After wrapping things up and giving her my contact information, I met with the medical staff.
"Are all the victims recovered enough to board a ship now?"
"Yes. If we accompany them, it should be fine."
That's good.
"Please have the Coast Guard, all the victims, and the medical staff leave this island."
We're heading straight for Tsushima Airport. Once we do, there won't be anyone left to guard this place. We should send them off first, then move out.
"Understood. Then… best of luck."
As we watched the ship carrying the survivors, medical staff, and the Coast Guard fade into the distance, Han Sang-ah voiced a question.
"Isn't there still a chance they could be attacked?"
"There's no reason to attack them, and no meaning to it either."
If the goal had been to deliberately let someone go and lure in the hunters, then the other side had already achieved its objective.
"There are only two of us. Maybe they wanted more people."
"So what? We're heading straight for the airport anyway."
Even if they hadn't reached their numerical target, their base was about to be shaken. Worrying about quotas at a time like this would be like fretting over departmental performance when the entire company was on the brink of bankruptcy.
"What if it's not the airport?"
"You worry too much. Sometimes there are situations you just can't help."
"But it feels like we're weighing human lives on a scale."
I agreed without hesitation.
"That's right. We are weighing human lives right now."
At my words, Han Sang-ah's body stiffened slightly.
"That's…"
"It's not a pretty thing to do. If you only want to do good, pretty things, then put on a diaper and ride in a stroller."
Han Sang-ah held her head with one hand, thinking for a long while, then muttered with an expression like she was swallowing something hard.
"Well… I guess we're the ones who have to choose."
"Yeah. And the worst-case scenario you're imagining isn't very likely."
That was why I'd cut her off so bluntly.
"So what do you think the odds are?"
"Definitely under thirty-three percent. And it's not like we're just leaving it up to chance."
I flicked out the chip injector we'd gotten from the scrapyard.
"What's that?"
"It has a tracking function. We got consent from the people on the ship and implanted chips into their clothing."
Once they arrived safely in Korea, they'd take care of the chip-embedded clothes themselves.
"If they get kidnapped, we'll know."
Not just whether they were kidnapped, but even where they were taken.
At my words, Han Sang-ah nodded, her expression finally relaxing.
"Then you should've said that first."
"Yeah, I guess."
I just wanted to see how she'd react. I may not expect much, but I'm a curious person.
For a child of a wealthy conglomerate family, she seemed surprisingly soft-hearted. Most people would've expected something like a slap to the face with kimchi.
Once preparations were complete, we began moving quickly. Before long, without either of us saying a word, alarms rang out on both our smartphones.
What now? It said it was mandatory?
Since Han Sang-ah was driving, I checked my phone and skimmed the details.
"What is this supposed to be?"
"What is it? What happened?"
I answered immediately.
"They're saying a large number of monsters have appeared near Hakata Port in Fukuoka City. Roughly three thousand, apparently."
"But we already have an assigned mission."
Han Sang-ah said that, then ran a hand through her hair, thinking.
"I'm worried about penalties."
To that, I replied—
"There won't be penalties, but… shouldn't we go?"
"What do you mean, no penalties? It says it's mandatory."
Han Sang-ah let out a small "Ah" and glanced at me.
"There hasn't been a single case where Korean hunters were punished under the Jeonju International Treaty."
"Because of the 'reasonable grounds' clause?"
She nodded.
"Recently, they even let it slide when someone said they couldn't come because they were eating."
"That's just being a thug."
"They made excuses like 'I was in an important meeting.' Right now, our country is both an international police force—and a gang."
An international cop and a gang. That description reminded me of a certain country across the Pacific.
In any case, that meant Japan hadn't really expected active cooperation from Korean hunters when they sent the emergency request—it was more of a desperate plea.
Fukuoka is the largest city in Kyushu. Unlike Tsushima, it's not something they can just abandon. They were clutching at straws.
"It's about saving people. I don't want to start weighing nations in the middle of this."
That was Han Sang-ah's opinion as she drove. Hearing that, I answered simply.
"Fine. Then step on it. The faster we go, the better."
"Not heading back to the port?"
I replied,
"The monsters that appeared in Fukuoka are the same ones we were dealing with."
Not just similar—exactly the same type.
Han Sang-ah turned her gaze toward me, and at the same time, the car swerved violently.
"Damn it, watch the road!"
At my shout, she snapped her eyes back forward and said,
"Then that means the monsters escaped the Tsushima Corruption Zone."
"That's about right."
I have no idea how that was even possible. But there was one thing I could infer.
"If we eliminate the Corruption Source on this island…"
"Then no matter how they got to Fukuoka, we might be able to wipe out every monster that landed there."
"Exactly. Feel like pressing the gas a bit more now?"
After all, once the Corruption Source is destroyed, every monster rooted in it disappears. As that realization hit Han Sang-ah, the car roared with a savage engine note and accelerated even harder.
In the meantime, after some thought, I contacted the Association.
"Hello. This is hunter Yoo Chan-seok, the one who just received the message regarding Fukuoka City."
— Ah, yes! Hunter Yoo Chan-seok, is it? We've heard about you. What can we do for you?
The voice on the other end was remarkably calm. In truth, Japan was the one with its hair on fire right now, not Korea. The Korean Association had no reason to panic.
If anything, they seemed more surprised that a rising rookie hunter like me was calling.
"Would it be possible to connect me to the Japanese Association?"
— Certainly. Shall I connect you right away?
That would be great, except for one problem.
"I don't speak Japanese."
— Oh, that's fine. There's no one working at any national hunter association who doesn't speak Korean.
It seemed Korean functioned as a kind of common language. That was a relief.
※ Emergency request from the Japanese government.
A large number of monsters have appeared at Hakata Port, Fukuoka City. Korean hunters receiving this message are those closest to the emergency site.
Immediate response is requested.
Compensation and additional data on the monsters are attached. This emergency request is issued under the Jeonju International Treaty and is therefore mandatory.
Failure to comply without reasonable grounds may result in penalties under the treaty.
Hunters who respond to this emergency request are guaranteed compensation under the treaty, which will be paid by the Japanese government within one week after the situation is resolved.
Related materials are attached.
…