Actually, Dad Was a Hero

Chapter 19: The Truth About Dad Being a Hero (19)

The Enemy’s Identity

As ‘Ogre’ pulled the string, the heating pack swelled up instantly, and steam leaked out towards the opening.

“Oh!”

Jin Beom-Min let out an exclamation and poked the heating pack with a plastic spoon.

Seeing this, Ogre asked with a chuckle.

“Hey, this thing… It’s been supplied for a while, but haven’t you seen it before?”

“I saw it for the first time today. When I was in the army, we used to heat it up in hot water. It tasted awful.”

“Ah, you’re quite the old-timer. What year did you enlist?”

“I enlisted in ’96.”

“Aha, then it makes sense you haven’t seen it.”

Then, ‘Reaper,’ who was opening his combat ration with a sullen expression, asked.

“You said you came from another world? Then aren’t you exempt?”

“I registered as a resident in ’95. Well, there weren’t no ways to avoid it, but my wife told me to go…”

“That’s unusual. Usually, they tell you to get out of it, don’t they?”

“That’s true, but… She said it would be better to go to get used to Korean culture. She said we’d get married after I was discharged. Haha.”

‘Imp’ nodded in agreement.

“Well, it’s better to go to the army if you want to have a social life. Especially in the 90s.”

“I definitely learned a lot. Good things, bad things…”

“Then what was your military occupational specialty?”

‘Reaper’ asked again with a curious look.

“Artillery. I got some love for being good at digging.”

The Ghost Squad members, gathered together and preparing their meals, nodded in unison.

With Jin Beom-Min’s level of strength, whether it was setting up the artillery or loading it, he would have the best talent as an artilleryman.

Because the most important thing for an artilleryman wasn’t the ability to shoot the cannon well, but the ability to set it up, load it, and put up camouflage netting – all manual labor.

“…So, did you get married after you were discharged?”

‘Sandman,’ who had been silent for a while, asked in a soft tone.

“Fortunately, she didn’t turn her rubber shoes around.”

“…I envy you.”

‘Sandman’s’ tone was sincere.

Jin Beom-Min looked questioningly at ‘Sandman’ and ‘Ogre,’ who seemed to be around his age, and asked.

“Aren’t you two married yet?”

‘Sandman’ shook his head with a wry smile.

“…It’s not easy for people like us to start families. We travel a lot… and we can’t even tell anyone what our job is.”

“That’s right. If a husband who went on a business trip suddenly dies, wouldn’t his wife and children be pitiful? It’s better not to do it in the first place.”

Jin Beom-Min looked around at the other Ghost Squad members, but they were all looking down at their combat rations with their eyes downcast. They were all in similar situations.

The Ghost Squad was a unit whose existence itself was a secret, and the tasks they handled were, without exception, top-secret matters.

They couldn’t even tell their families what their jobs were, let alone the details of their operations.

Furthermore, if things didn’t go well, they could lose their lives in a distant foreign land.

And even in those cases, they couldn’t tell anyone why they died.

So, it was only natural that the Ghost Squad members didn’t start families.

Jin Beom-Min suddenly wondered how the Ghost Squad members came to choose this profession.

Because, based on their skills alone, they were skilled enough to receive high evaluations even if they stayed in the regular army.

He didn’t know for sure, but they must each have their own reasons.

Feeling the awkward atmosphere, Jin Beom-Min scratched his head.

Then, as if trying to change the mood, ‘Ogre’ spoke in a deliberately cheerful tone.

“But you guys are dating, right? You all have girlfriends. Except for the guy who has his girlfriend in his phone.”

“Ah, really! I have someone I’m seeing too, you know?”

‘Wraith,’ who had been silent, suddenly flared up as if he had been punched in the gut.

“I didn’t say who it was.”

“No, even if you don’t say it…!”

‘Wraith’s’ words were cut off as a communication came in from headquarters.

[Jin, Ghost Squad. The Paris defense line has been breached.]

At the sudden news coming from the headset, Jin Beom-Min and the Ghost Squad exchanged bewildered glances.

It had only been two hours since they boarded the transport plane without even properly identifying the enemy.

“Already? It’s only been… six hours since the incident occurred…?”

‘Sandman’ asked, glancing at his watch.

“They said they even mobilized an armored division to set up a defense line…? What in the world is the monster?”

Jin Beom-Min also asked, putting down his spoon.

The last information he received after the transport plane departed was that the French army had gathered and established a final defense line on the outskirts of Paris.

But that ‘final’ defense line had been breached in less than two hours.

[That’s… zombies…!]

At Lee Sang-Jun’s answer, Jin Beom-Min and the Ghost Squad members could only look at each other once again.

“Zombies?”

“Zombies? The zombies from the movies? The ones that go ‘Urrrgh’ and bite people?”

‘Reaper’ asked in astonishment, and Lee Sang-Jun replied.

[According to the French explanation, that’s right. Civilians, soldiers, animals… even soldiers who died in World War II… hundreds, no, thousands of zombies attacked at once.]

Jin Beom-Min finally understood the situation.

If the dead bodies were revived as zombies, it was natural that various pieces of information wouldn’t make sense.

Because recently deceased civilians, decades-old corpses, and even dead animals would have been revived and attacked simultaneously.

In a way, the scattered information from the French side was all correct.

[Moreover, the soldiers who were revived as zombies are using the weapons they had. The situation seems very serious.]

“…Necromancer.”

Jin Beom-Min, who had come to a conclusion in an instant, muttered as if chewing on the words. Then, Lee Sang-Jun and the Ghost Squad members all asked at once.

[What’s that?]

“Necromancer?”

Jin Beom-Min slowly explained, recalling old memories.

“It’s an evil wizard who revives the dead and makes them his subordinates. If there are only corpses, he can create an army of hundreds of people by himself.”

[Then what came from Jindar isn’t zombies, but…]

“That’s right. A Necromancer came. And he revived the corpses to create an army. And then he revives the corpses of the people he killed… again and again.”

[…The numbers would quickly swell if he just repeated it a few times…]

“That’s right. He could probably create hundreds, even thousands, in a few hours.”

The more people he killed, the more his army grew. There couldn’t be a more efficient attack method than this.

It would be even easier near a big city like Paris. Because it’s a densely populated area.

Moreover, the population density of a modernized city was incomparably higher than that of Jindar. This meant that the Necromancer’s efficiency would also increase dramatically.

“It was strange from the beginning. I should have noticed when they said that suddenly more than hundreds of monsters appeared…!”

Jin Beom-Min said self-deprecatingly. But it wasn’t unreasonable that he hadn’t anticipated it.

This was because it was a completely different pattern of attack from the previous ones, where a small number of monsters infiltrated and kidnapped civilians.

He continued, trying to recall as much as he could about Necromancers.

“Only Necromancers can create undead that utilize their experiences and memories from when they were alive. It’s definitely a Necromancer.”

[Then is it… different from the skeletons that appeared in Seoul last time?]

Lee Sang-Jun asked cautiously. Jin Beom-Min replied, staring blankly at the steam rising from the heating pack.

“It’s different. Back then, Wraiths possessed the corpses and moved them. The corpses weren’t revived; they were just possessed by Wraiths. Wraiths always desire physical bodies.”

[Then this time it’s different…?]

“Completely different. Wraiths can only move corpses, but Necromancers can turn corpses into loyal soldiers who follow orders. While retaining the combat skills they had in life.”

Then ‘Reaper’ asked.

“Wait, then if we get bitten by a zombie, do we become zombies too?”

Jin Beom-Min shook his head.

“No, that’s not how it works. It’s not like we’re infected with some virus like in the movies. You won’t become a zombie just by being bitten. You’ll just… die if you get bitten a lot.”

“And after you die…?”

“…The Necromancer will turn you into a zombie.”

“Then isn’t it the same thing in the end?”

Jin Beom-Min tried to retort but closed his mouth. Because, when he thought about it, it wasn’t wrong.

Then, as if he suddenly remembered something, he opened his mouth again.

“But it’s strange. Necromancers can’t use defensive magic… How did they break through the Paris defense line? Zombies can’t destroy tanks, can they?”

[I haven’t received the specifics yet. Perhaps they overwhelmed the defense line with sheer numbers.]

“Can’t they do an airstrike? If they don’t have defensive magic, I think bombing would work.”

‘Wraith’ asked, but Lee Sang-Jun’s answer through the communicator was negative.

[Bombing won’t work. There are too many civilians in the city. Moreover, Paris has many important cultural assets… The EU probably won’t approve it.]

Then, Jin Beom-Min said in a firm voice, as if declaring his resolve.

“Then there’s only one way. Kill the Necromancer. If we kill the Necromancer, the zombies will turn back into corpses.”

“…Then we need to find the Necromancer first.”

‘Wraith’ said, stroking his chin, and ‘Reaper’ asked back.

“Can we find him? How do you find one monster in a complex city? It’s like finding a needle in a haystack.”

“Well… We have time until we arrive, so we should think of a way.”

“That’s right. If we think hard, there’s gotta be a way.”

‘Sandman,’ who had been silent while the squad members were discussing, slowly opened his mouth.

“…There’s a bigger problem.”

“What is it?”

“The… corpses.”

“Yes.”

“Can he… revive them even if they’re very old? Even if only bones remain?”

“As long as the head and body are connected, it doesn’t matter how old the corpse is. Even if only bones remain, it’s possible.”

“…Then if there are a lot of such corpses? Can he turn them all into zombies if there are enough corpses?”

“Well… I don’t think it takes that much magic to revive a corpse.”

Because of this advantage, there were quite a few attempts to utilize Necromancers in war in Jindar.

Because being able to utilize the dead, whether friend or foe, as soldiers again was a huge merit.

However, in reality, not as many corpses appeared on the battlefields of Jindar as expected.

It was more difficult than expected to take the life of a soldier clad in armor with just swords and magic.

In fact, more soldiers died after the battle due to aggravated injuries or diseases from unsanitary environments than those who died during the battle.

It wasn’t like they could prepare corpses in advance either. The families of the deceased wouldn’t allow it, and they smelled bad and spread diseases.

Therefore, Necromancers could be one of the variables on the battlefield, but they could never be the main players.

No one would have imagined that Necromancers, who were close to being a burden in Jindar, would wield such tremendous power in a modern city with a dense population.

“…But it’s not like there are tens of thousands of corpses lying around. Since they don’t have defensive magic anyway, it won’t be difficult to deal with a few thousand.”

Despite Jin Beom-Min’s optimistic answer, ‘Sandman’ opened his mouth again in a gloomy voice.

“…There are. Tens of thousands… no, millions.”

“Huh? Corpses? Where?”

“In the heart of Paris, underground.”

“Underground? A morgue?”

To Jin Beom-Min, who still couldn’t grasp the situation, ‘Sandman’ answered in a low voice.

“…Catacombs.”