May 1998.
It was a day when the sky poured heavily. It was about a week after she had finished her three months of training and became a 'hunter'.
Upon a report stating that a gate had appeared in downtown Uijeongbu-si, 35 hunters including Eunha were dispatched to the area.
Of course, there was neither the Hunter Association, which detected the appearance of gates and transmitted a disaster message, nor a terminal to notify hunters of the appearance of a gate at that time.
"Shit. You're late."
A cigarette soaked in rain was crushed to the ground, and the squad leader spat out a curse.
The gate, which had already entered a 'saturated' state, was spitting out a wave of monsters.
"Th-this… is hell."
Someone's distant despair was heard, mixed with the sound of rain.
It was a gate that had already devastated a squad two days ago. In front of them, some hunters had already stiffened up like stones. Maybe it was the sense of death. It was a feeling that hit them every time they stood in front of a gate.
"Everyone, calm down."
The squad leader commanded the lost hunters and started giving instructions.
Of the 35 dispatched hunters, 20 were put inside the gate, and the remaining 15, including Eunha, were organised in several colours outside the gate.
「Zone A, collapsed shopping mall has been checked. Artillery tractor is now moving. Rear support is needed.」
「Zone A-4, zero survivors. Two small monsters captured. Coordinates: 273, 129. Secure a base.」
「Zone B-2, 10328 Hunter Shim Joohyun's left leg has been amputated. Currently unconscious and unable to proceed with the mission. Mission will continue with rest of personnel.」
Small portable radio transceivers. Those little machines were the only way to connect those scattered in hell.
Even that was not very useful, as communication was cut off the moment they entered the gate.
On the surfaces of crumbled buildings and torn, fallen signs, bloodstains of unknown origin were splattered randomly.
Eunha, who had been staring at them, stopped walking.
"P-please help me…"
It was terrible. A steel bar the size of a forearm had pierced the man's stomach. Eunha walked through the heavy rain and approached him.
The moment she grabbed the reinforcement bar embedded in his stomach with both hands, his blood-stained hands quickly overlapped hers.
"N-not here… Not here… But my… Daughter, my daughter got involved."
Cough! The blood the man threw up splattered onto Eunha's cheek. The dark blood mixed with rainwater and dripped down her chin.
His hand clung to her with all its might, even near death. Eunha slowly moved her mouth to the radio transceiver.
"Zone A-4, one survivor. Severe abdominal injury and bleeding. Emergency AMB call. Coordinates: 203, 199…"
「Z-zone B-3, a large monster has been discovered. It is currently heading north at a high speed… A-ack!」
Crackle.
There seemed to be some static. Someone screamed in the distance. As for whose scream it was, she didn't know.
"Request… Please request…"
Moving her mouth away from the radio transceiver, Eunha looked down at the man who held onto her tightly until the end.
Eunha covered the back of the man's hand. With her other hand, she once again lifted the transceiver.
"Third Platoon, First Squad, 98-S10102794 Cha Eunha. Zone A-4 reconnaissance completed. Will now support the internal gate team."
「…」
Crackle.
No answer was returned. The man's hand that was still clenched tightly fell into the muddy water.
Eunha got up from her spot without hesitation. She pressed her military hat deeper and hurried her steps as raindrops mercilessly pounded her cheeks.
The gate entrance greeted Eunha openly, as if welcoming her to enter at any time.
At the time, there were no control devices to manage entrances like in modern times. At a time when all they could do was pour water into a bottomless well, hunters flocked in like moths to a flame, all because they were a little stronger than civilians.
Squelch, squelch.
Heavy boots plodded through the mud.
Upon entering the gate, there was a foul odour. The corpses of both monsters and colleagues were scattered throughout.
Beyond that horrendous scene, she noticed something dark.
—Kureuk, Kureureuk…
A monster which was making bizarre sounds noticed Eunha's presence and turned its head creakingly.
It was a monster with a bird's head and a horse's body. After its meal, the area around its mouth was dyed red.
There was no hesitation.
Paah!
It was a movement that she had repeated hundreds of thousands of times at the training camp. A winding flame hit the monster. There was an explosion, and the monster began to howl with a bizarre sound.
Kwieeeek—
The only difference from training was that the monsters encountered in battle did not fall in a single blow.
The monster engulfed in flames twisted its body. It struggled in pain and eventually started vomiting things out.
Iron desk legs.
A bicycle wheel.
Almost dissolved leaves,
"…"
— And a pink hem with rabbits on it.
The thin hem of a dress was pushed to Eunha along with the vomit that flowed like a river.
Eunha leaned down and picked it up.
Kwieeeeek!
The cry that became louder was directed towards Eunha. Eunha raised her gaze without taking a step backwards. As she gripped the hem in her hand, drops that were unknown whether they were blood or tears flowed down her face.
"…Monster bastard."
She felt her blood rush.
If she had seen that vomit some time, no, an hour ago, it would have still had a form.
She thought that her mother must've been eroded in the stomachs of these bastards in the same way, although all that was left of her was an arm.
To think of taking the torn hem to the man who begged for his daughter to be rescued, even while his stomach was pierced, she really couldn't be sane.
Swish!
Clang!
Bang!
From then on, she couldn't remember what had happened well.
There were countless charred corpses. She only came to her senses because of the disgusting stench, and the other hunters stared at her with pale blue complexions.
From that day on, Eunha became the squad leader. It was funny. The fact that a person who had only experienced one actual battle immediately ascended to the position of squad leader.
The reason was simple. The former squad leader had died, and Eunha had annihilated the most monsters.
Many people died, and many monsters were killed. That was the reason Eunha became the squad leader.
Not only the position of the squad leader but also the allowance, which was worth more than Eunha's university tuition, was given to Eunha.
After having her life and dreams taken away, she was able to get her hands on money after stepping on the corpses of her colleagues and slashing monsters. Eunha took the money and moved her mother's grave to a better place.
At last, in front of her mother's grave, Eunha tried to reach out to the cold tombstone.
"…"
Crusted blood.
A scar that hadn't gone away yet.
Black dirt stuck between her fingernails.
Eunha stared intently at her hand, which had almost touched her mother's tombstone.
— She couldn't.
It was then that her radio sounded.
「In Paju, Gyeonggi-do, a red lightning strike occurred at Hunter Training Centre 601. The expected difficulty is unknown. Both the first and second companies of the 17th Battalion should be dispatched as soon as possible. I repeat. In Paju, Gyeonggi-do, a red lightning strike…」
Eunha turned around.
A dry wind suddenly blew and passed her mother and herself.
Somehow, it seemed that the gravestone that cooled down with the sunset still shining against its back was scolding her.
* * *
More than 30 years had passed since then.
"…"
Black eyelashes casted a light shadow over her cheeks. Eunha stood straight like a scarecrow and looked down at her mother's tombstone.
After hesitating for a long time, Eunha slowly lowered her upper body.
She carefully set down the bouquet in her hand. Purchased on the way here, it only consisted of the flowers her mother loved while she was alive, and the wrapping paper was crumpled from how long she had been holding it.
"Mom, I'm here."
There was no answer returned. Instead, a faintly humid wind blew across Eunha's cheeks. There seemed to be a faint smell of soil and wood, along with the smell of soybean paste stew from somewhere.
For a moment, Eunha put her nose in her sleeve and sniffed. It was just in case she smelled like blood.
She thought that she couldn't smell anything, but Eunha took a step back.
As she gazed at the gravestone from a step away, she realised that there was something strange.
"…?"
It felt strangely clean around the tombstone. Even the lush weeds felt like they had been pruned…
'This.'
There were traces of someone burning incense just like the other time. Eunha ran her finger across the grey ashes. It seemed that not much time had passed since the incense was lit.
'Who?'
Eunha carefully traced her memories. However, she couldn't think of anyone who would visit her mother's tombstone.
As she stood in front of the tombstone like that, the sunset was about to fall.
Eunha organised what was around her and slowly got up. In the end, she couldn't deduce the visitor of her mother's tombstone.
"Then, I will come again."
Even by the end of today, there were a lot of words that she couldn't say or hear. The moment she left everything behind and slowly stepped away.
Bzzt—
Her phone vibrated.
[Blue Eyes] [7:22 PM] Sunbae, where are you?
It was a message from Siwoo. Eunha looked at the screen indifferently, then put the cellphone back. Soon after, it began to ring.
Brring…
After contemplating for a moment, Eunha slowly swiped the screen.
"Hello."
「Sunbae, you must not be home.」
"Mn. I had some business to attend to."
「Are you okay?」
"What?"
「I hope you didn't get arrested again.」
Who did he think she was? Eunha faintly furrowed her nose.
"No. I'm just going out for a while."
Her mother's tombstone suddenly appeared in Eunha's field of vision.
"…By any chance, did you stop by my mother's tombstone?"
「No. Why?」
It wasn't Shin Siwoo?
Well, even when they had first stopped by the tombstone, there were signs that someone had visited it. So, was it her mother's friend? But how did they know where the tombstone was?
In the midst of her deep thoughts, Siwoo's voice was heard over the receiver once again.
「Anyway, Sunbae. You haven't had dinner yet, have you?」
"Not yet, but I'm not very hungry."
The moment she said that in an indifferent tone,
「Last time, Sunbae wanted to eat 'Grandma Kim Yoonrye's Rice Soup'.」
Pause.
「I just entered the store.」
Eunha stopped in place and pursed her lips with a very serious face.
"…How?"
Grandma Kim Yoonrye's Rice Soup was a small soup restaurant located behind Eunha's high school at the time. It was also a place she often went to with her mom.
It was said that now, the grandmother had passed away, and her son had inherited it as the second generation. Unlike before, the interior of the store had been remodelled cleanly and the store had appeared on TV several times, so it seems to have become a very famous restaurant.
She heard that the usual waiting time for one meal was two hours… Hold on.
"Are you waiting?"
「Yes.」
Oh my god.
He didn't seem like a man with that much free time.
No, more importantly, if he was really waiting at the soup restaurant, now was not the time to be like this.
"I'm coming."
Eunha immediately hung up the phone. She had also heard a low laugh over the phone.
She hurriedly walked towards the restaurant from her memories, but it was strange even when she thought about it again. It would've been okay to have Manager Park do it, so why did Siwoo go to the soup restaurant himself?
It was at the moment she turned the corner with the unanswered question.
— There was a pungent smell from somewhere.
'…A fire?"
As she turned her head, she saw thick smoke rising from not too far away. Loud sirens and people's urgent cries were heard one after another.
"What, is there a fire?"
"Woah. That's cool. Seems dramatic."
"It looks pretty big. Let's go!"
The pedestrians who were walking down the street began to buzz. She had to go through that road to get to her destination, so Eunha moved in that direction as well.
As she neared the scene, the air seemed to thicken. She turned the corner and saw a high-rise hotel building.
"Woah. It's the hotel over there."
"This is crazy. It's going to be on the news, right?"
Click, click.
Passersby stopped on their way and flashed their cameras.
The hotel was engulfed in a raging fire, and black clouds were spitting out from every window on each floor.
Eunha frowned and covered her mouth and nose. The smoke was so strong that her eyes and nose were stinging.
A gas explosion? Or an arson case?
'No.'
Eunha stood tall and stopped moving. Then, she slightly raised her index finger and started counting the number of floors in the hotel.
One, two, three...
A spark bounced from exactly the third floor.
'It's a crack.'
In other words, this was not a fire site, but a gate appearance.