Chapter 20
Chapter 20: Catacombs
Catacombs.
It’s a word that refers to underground structures consisting of passages and rooms, primarily used as burial grounds.
These catacombs exist throughout the European continent, from Rome to Eastern Europe.
Among them, the catacombs located beneath Paris, the capital of France, boast a massive scale with a total length exceeding 300km.
Its internal structure is like a labyrinth, so it is said that the full extent of its scale has not yet been grasped.
This mysterious structure, whose origins remain unknown, was used as a burial ground from the late 18th century, and countless bodies have been interred there for hundreds of years.
It is known that there are more than 5 million remains interred in the Paris Catacombs.
It is no exaggeration to say that Paris, the capital of France, is literally a city built on top of a graveyard.
******
“There are 5 million bodies in the middle of the city?”
Jin Beom-Min asked back in disbelief after hearing ‘Sandman’s’ explanation.
It was understandable, as it was hard to believe that countless bodies were buried right beneath one of the most famous cities in Europe.
Moreover, the number of bodies was beyond imagination.
5 million.
It’s a staggering number, roughly half the population of Seoul and 10% of the population of South Korea.
If this many bodies were buried in one place, the efficiency of a Necromancer would inevitably skyrocket.
It was a completely different environment compared to Jindar, where the population of a city rarely exceeded 10,000 to 20,000.
“Well……most of them are skeletons, rather than corpses.”
‘Reaper’ asked at ‘Sandman’s’ words.
“Can skeletons become zombies too?”
“Yes. As long as the head and body are connected……”
“……Then, suddenly, 5 million skeleton soldiers will appear in the middle of Europe.”
“Well……there will be many bodies with only heads remaining……Maybe about half of that in reality……?”
‘Sandman’ added those words as a consolation, but it didn’t mean much.
“Whether it’s 2 million or 5 million……That’s enough to……end Europe.”
Except for World War II, the largest war in human history, it is no exaggeration to say that an army of 2 million has never been assembled as a single force.
And considering the weakened military power of Europe due to long-standing disarmament, it was safe to assume that no European country could stop an army of over 2 million zombies and skeletons.
Perhaps Russia could somehow manage, but……by the time the Necromancer reached Russia, the zombie horde would have grown even larger. After all, most of the European population would have been recycled as soldiers.
“……Anyway, nothing will change. Whether there are millions of skeletons or not, we just need to defeat the Necromancer.”
Jin Beom-Min spoke in a calm tone, as if making a pledge.
The situation wasn’t good, but they couldn’t just despair.
Moreover, he had seen long ago what kind of miracles could happen when people resisted with determination.
The people of Jindar had once united the entire continent and endured for over nine years against a massive monster army.
Compared to that, the current crisis wasn’t even a crisis.
At least the solution was clear.
The only and perfect solution.
Eliminate the Necromancer.
It was something that only one person in the entire world could do, Jin Beom-Min.
******
“Hey, aren’t you sleeping?”
Su-Yeon peeked into Seong-Gyun’s room and spoke. Water droplets dripped from her wet hair, as if she had just finished showering.
“Uh……I, I should sleep!”
Jin Seong-Gyun, who was looking at something on his computer, hurriedly closed the window and mumbled.
“Why, were you looking at something naughty again?”
“Hey, come on! Knock before you come in!”
Su-Yeon frowned and retorted at Seong-Gyun, who responded with disgust.
“When did you ever knock? What are you doing in the middle of the night?”
“Watching YouTube, why?”
“Stop watching useless things and go to sleep.”
“Ah, I’m going to sleep. Get out!”
As always, the siblings bickered lightly, then turned their heads away after exchanging glances filled with disgust.
After confirming that the door was closed, Seong-Gyun locked it and opened the web browser again.
As he pressed the play button, the low-resolution video started playing again.
Red and yellow flames rose under the dark sky in the distance, and helicopters flew around against the backdrop of searchlights sweeping across the sky.
It was a video of the scene in Paris that had just been uploaded to YouTube.
Even though the details were unclear, it was certain that something serious was happening.
“……No way……”
Seong-Gyun checked the comments written in French and English and searched for related videos.
[paris battle]
[paris monster]
When he entered the search terms, several videos appeared in the search results, but none of them contained any substantial information.
Most of them were videos of explosions or flashes of light taken from afar, or soldiers with grim faces moving around.
“No way……Is Dad because of this……?”
The last time monsters appeared in Seoul, Dad took out armor and a sword buried in the ground and declared himself a hero.
Naturally, Seong-Gyun and Su-Yeon didn’t believe him.
They thought he was just having a temporary lapse of judgment due to the stress of raising two children alone.
But the more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
Whenever rumors circulated about monsters appearing somewhere in the world, Dad would suddenly go on a long business trip.
Last time, when a major incident occurred in Somalia, Dad also didn’t come home for more than a week.
He thought it was just a coincidence then, but……If it matched this much, it was hard to consider it a coincidence anymore.
Of course, he couldn’t confirm whether the rumors and videos circulating online were all true.
The short information posted on YouTube or internet forums mostly contained absurd stories, and even those were often deleted within a few days.
But what if Dad was telling the truth……?
What if monsters were really invading Earth, and Dad was fighting them off……?
What if he suddenly went on a business trip to resolve the incident in France this time……?
“Ah, no way……”
Seong-Gyun shook his head. He even let out a chuckle.
Surely, Dad was a respectable and admirable person.
But that was only because he fulfilled his role as a good father, not because he was a monster-slaying hero.
Dad was just an ordinary middle-aged man who worked hard at construction sites.
A common head of the household in our times, diligently fulfilling his role without any exceptional abilities.
But for such a father to wear armor, wield a sword, and fight monsters?
It was unimaginable.
Furthermore, if that was true, wouldn’t it mean that he and his sister were also the son and daughter of a hero?
As far as he knew, his sister was just a normal high school girl with a slight talent for sports.
Jin Seong-Gyun was the same. He was just a good student who was addicted to games, without any special abilities whatsoever.
“……Thinking all sorts of things……”
Of course, he, like other students his age, had imagined what it would be like to have special powers.
He had even secretly shouted ‘Status Window!’ in empty places.
But he knew that it was just a delusion, not reality.
It would be more realistic to worry about the strange things happening in France not happening in Seoul, rather than such delusions.
“Sigh, what’s happening to the world……”
Seong-Gyun sighed, turned off the computer, and lay down on the bed. Then he shouted loudly.
“Sister, Sister! Quickly, quickly!”
A little later, Jin Su-Yeon opened the door and poked her head in.
“Ah, what?”
“Turn off the light, please.”
“……Ah, this bastard?”
Su-Yeon hit the light switch as if to strike him with a murderous look in her eyes, and then slammed the door shut.
“Thank you!”
“Shut up!”
A strange pattern briefly appeared on the back of Jin Seong-Gyun’s neck, emitting a faint blue light as he turned over with a grin.
But in the dark room, no one saw that sight.
******
It was late afternoon, with the sun slowly setting, when the transport plane reached the skies above Paris.
Jin Beom-Min and the Ghost Squad rubbed their sleepy eyes and tidied up their sleeping bags and mattresses.
This time, thanks to the mattresses that the Ghost Squad brought from their quarters, they were able to sleep more comfortably than before.
While everyone was busy moving around, ‘Ogre,’ who was staring out the window, suddenly grumbled.
“……I think we’re already completely screwed.”
“Why?”
“Look.”
Jin Beom-Min and the Ghost Squad members put down the sleeping bags they were organizing and huddled around the window.
Beyond the scratched and dirty window, a panoramic view of downtown Paris unfolded.
Black smoke billowed from various parts of the beautiful streets filled with low-rise buildings.
“It seems they’ve been pushed back almost to the center of the city.”
‘Sandman’ spoke quietly after looking outside for a while.
“Did the Necromancer reach the catacombs?”
[That’s not the case.]
Lee Sang-Jun responded through the communicator to ‘Reaper’s’ question, which he muttered to himself.
“Ah, you surprised me.”
[Good morning, everyone.]
“It’s evening here.”
[Ah, is that so? Anyway, we’ll be landing within 30 minutes. Get ready.]
Jin Beom-Min asked Lee Sang-Jun.
“Are you sure he hasn’t reached the catacombs yet?”
[Based on the information we’ve gathered so far, it seems so.]
“What about the Necromancer’s location?”
[We haven’t been able to pinpoint that yet. We’re utilizing reconnaissance resources from not only France, but also the UK and Germany……but there’s no good news yet.]
“Hmm……”
The success of this operation depended on eliminating the Necromancer as quickly as possible.
But to do that, they first needed to find out where he was.
It was impossible for a team of only six people to thoroughly search the entire city of Paris.
But if they couldn’t locate the Necromancer even now, with their arrival imminent……they needed to come up with another plan.
[For now, it seems we have no choice but to cooperate with local forces to find the Necromancer after we arrive.]
“Alright. We’ll have to try everything we can once we get there.”
As the transport plane changed course, the view of Paris outside the window tilted slightly.
Jin Beom-Min once again informed the Ghost Squad members of the precautions.
“Let me remind you once again, you must aim for the head when dealing with zombies. You have to either completely destroy the back of the head where the neck and head connect, or cut off the head by severing the neck to neutralize them.”
“I’m glad I brought a shotgun.”
‘Wraith,’ who was putting on his bulletproof vest, said while slightly lifting his shotgun.
“The other members should change their weapons as well.”
‘Sandman’ said so and immediately gave instructions without any hesitation.
“‘Ogre,’ take the Mark 17, and ‘Imp,’ take the K12. Prepare as much ammunition as possible.”
“Yes, sir.”
At his command, ‘Ogre’ and Imp opened the weapon box and busily checked their weapons and ammunition.
“Should I take the 50 caliber too?”
‘Reaper’ asked while taking out his heavy sniper rifle, which looked as long as his height, but ‘Sandman’ shook his head.
“It’s too big and heavy. And it has low ammo capacity. Take more ammunition instead.”
“Yes, sir.”
While everyone was busy preparing their equipment, Jin Beom-Min also put on his armor and mask and strapped his sword to his waist.
Just as they finished putting on all their gear, the transport pilot’s urgent voice suddenly came through the communicator.
[Ghost Squad! The control tower is not responding!]