Chapter 19

Chapter 19. There Is No Restaurant for Weapons (1)

[No. 6, the target is heading your way.]

No. 8’s voice came through the radio.

A large bus sped past in front of No. 6.

Apparently, that was the target No. 8 had mentioned.

“Don’t worry. I won’t lose them.”

No. 6 immediately chased after the bus.

The vehicle raced down the road at tremendous speed.

Of course, compared to No. 6, it was still slow.

“Hm?”

No. 6 caught up almost instantly.

Then he hesitated.

No. 8 immediately noticed something was wrong.

[What is it?]

No. 6 glanced inside the bus.

“The target has a woman, a child, and an elderly person with him.”

[It seems he’s trying to escape with his entire family.]

The target drove with his teeth clenched.

Inside the bus, several frightened people who appeared to be family members were trembling.

The vehicle was also packed with supplies.

Apparently, they intended to cross the border and escape.

“Should I eliminate them too?”

[Let’s wait for No. 2’s instructions.]

No. 8 remained as consistent as always.

Fortunately, No. 2, Beta, soon spoke through the radio.

[No. 6, why haven’t you eliminated the target?]

“There are unrelated people with him.”

No. 6 answered indifferently.

A short order came through the radio.

[Ignore them. Eliminate everyone together.]

“Understood.”

The order had been given.

There was no reason to hesitate.

No. 6 instantly caught up with the bus.

Then he launched himself toward the driver’s seat.

“Hup!”

With a short shout, he shattered the window.

Stab!

Without hesitation, he drove his dagger directly into the target’s chest.

“Ghk...!”

The target, who had been focused on driving, collapsed while coughing blood.

“Aaaaaah!”

A piercing scream came from somewhere inside the bus.

After confirming the target’s death, No. 6 immediately jumped away.

Without a driver, the bus continued forward at high speed and crashed into a large tree.

Screeeeeech!

BOOM!

A deafening crash echoed.

Flames erupted from the bus and exploded outward.

No. 6 calmly stood behind it and waited for his next instruction.

[No surviving life signs. The target is dead.]

No. 8’s voice came through.

He was circling in the nearby sky, monitoring the area with ultrasound.

If even his ultrasound detected nothing, then everyone inside was certainly dead.

“It’s over.”

No. 6 did not smile.

He did not cry.

He did not become angry.

He did not feel happy.

He only gave a short answer into the radio.

“I’ll return.”

“Yukgap, what’s wrong with your face?”

Victoria looked worried when she saw Yukgap.

Dark circles hung beneath his eyes.

Yukgap answered casually.

“I just didn’t sleep well.”

“Why? Did you have a strange dream?”

“A strange dream...”

Yukgap gave a bitter smile.

It would have been easier if it had simply been a strange dream.

[Doctor, I collected all the cardboard.]

Robert arrived carrying neatly gathered cardboard and boxes.

Victoria pointed toward the restaurant entrance.

“Good. Leave them by the door.”

Yukgap tilted his head.

“Why are you collecting cardboard? Do we need it?”

“Not really... Oh! There she is.”

An elderly woman soon appeared at the far end of the alley, pulling a cart.

Her hair was completely white.

Her back was badly bent.

Every step she took looked unstable.

Her cart was filled with collected cardboard.

[Take it. I prepared it for you.]

“Thank you as always.”

The old woman smiled gently as she accepted the cardboard from Robert.

Victoria watched from a distance.

“Sometimes elderly people who collect cardboard come this far. So we gather and organize what we can for them.”

Yukgap looked confused.

“Why do you do that?”

“Because people are supposed to help each other.”

Victoria continued in a troubled tone.

“Even if Korea has good welfare policies, plenty of people still fall through the cracks. It’s especially dangerous for elderly people. So I help however I can.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to just give them money or food?”

“Some people would feel insulted because they’d think they were being pitied.”

Yukgap gave a short response.

“Complicated.”

“There are people who value their pride more than a meal. And for some people, that pride is all they have left. Even if you mean well, helping carelessly can still become rude.”

Victoria watched the elderly woman slowly disappear down the alley.

“I want to help people like her without crossing that line.”

Helping as much as possible without hurting someone’s pride.

In a way, it was extremely difficult.

Yukgap quietly asked Victoria,

“Who taught you that?”

Victoria smiled.

“Taught me? Isn’t that something people naturally feel? Humans are among the few creatures on Earth capable of empathy.”

“Empathy...”

Yukgap quietly repeated the word.

It was one of the concepts furthest from his old self.

[No. 6, the train will enter the tunnel soon.]

No. 2’s voice came through the radio.

No. 6 gripped his daggers tightly.

“The targets?”

[Every passenger in that carriage.]

Then there was no need to think about who had to die.

Compared to other missions, this one was simple.

“Understood.”

[The train will remain inside the tunnel for only five seconds. Eliminate every target within that time.]

“That’s enough.”

No. 6 answered briefly.

It was not arrogance.

For someone with the fastest speed on Earth, five seconds was an incredibly long time.

“Don’t.”

Yukgap stood on the other side of the train and watched.

He did not understand what was happening.

He could only watch the slaughter from his past.

One thing was certain.

The train was about to enter the tunnel.

And every passenger inside that carriage would die.

“Stop! Don’t do it! Please!”

Yukgap screamed desperately at his past self.

But the train entered the dark tunnel.

Darkness swallowed everything.

Then No. 6 moved.

His predator’s eyesight allowed him to clearly see every target even in the darkness.

Using the daggers in both hands, No. 6 eliminated them one by one with fast, simple movements.

Final screams and cries echoed everywhere.

“Ah...”

Yukgap collapsed in tears beneath an overwhelming sense of helplessness.

Soon, the train left the tunnel.

Light returned.

The blood-covered figure of No. 6 became clearly visible.

His past self spoke into the radio with a completely emotionless expression.

“All eliminated.”

[Return, No. 6.]

No. 2 gave only a short instruction.

But it did not end there.

[Return. Return. Return. Return. Return. Return. Return...]

No. 2’s voice repeated again and again, echoing throughout the area.

“Aaaaaah! Stop! Please, stop!”

Yukgap collapsed and covered his ears.

He did not want to hear No. 2’s order.

He did not want to hear the screams that had filled the train carriage either.

Everything was painful now.

[Do not forget. You are a weapon.]

No. 2’s firm voice came from somewhere deep in his mind.

[A weapon does not feel empathy or sympathy. If a weapon does such things...]

Then a horribly distorted yet terrifyingly clear voice pierced straight through Yukgap’s mind.

[...it means you are broken, No. 6.]

“Aaaaaah!”

Yukgap shot upright with a scream.

His body was drenched in cold sweat.

He looked around.

Fortunately, he was lying in his own room.

No. 2’s voice was gone.

“Another dream.”

Yukgap lowered his head.

Several days had passed since memories of his past killings had begun appearing as nightmares.

This time, he had dreamed about the mission where he killed every target in a train carriage.

“Hahaha...”

He laughed bitterly.

He had once followed every order from Abraxas more faithfully than anyone.

And now he was having nightmares about what he had done.

Yukgap stared blankly into the darkness.

“Was I broken from the very beginning?”

“Yukgap, what’s wrong with your expression?”

As expected, Victoria was the first to notice.

Unable to tell her the truth, Yukgap casually answered,

“I just didn’t sleep very well.”

“Did you have another nightmare?”

Yukgap hesitated before nodding.

“Yeah. A little.”

Victoria became serious.

“I’ve heard that dreams can be expressions of the unconscious mind.”

“So that’s why I’m having these dreams.”

Yukgap muttered.

He had always told himself that the killings had been unavoidable because he had simply followed orders.

But perhaps guilt had slowly accumulated somewhere deep inside his unconscious mind.

Now it was returning in the form of nightmares.

In a strange way, it felt like an appropriate punishment.

“There’s a good solution for this.”

Victoria suddenly spoke very seriously.

“What?”

“Let’s perform a gut ritual. We’ll defeat the nightmares with the power of Korean shamanism.”

“...You’re an alchemist. Why do you believe in that?”

Victoria was surprisingly serious.

“No! I saw it on television, and Korean shamanism is much stronger than you think! And since you’re Korean, maybe it’ll work even better on you!”

“Where the hell do you keep hearing this nonsense? For your own mental health, please watch less television!”

A shamanic ritual as treatment for nightmares.

Yukgap could only stare at her in disbelief.