Chapter 82

Chapter 82. The Village of Women (2)

“By the way, are you really planning to find your family?”

While Yukgap was still filled with anticipation, Seryun quietly asked.

“Why are you asking something so obvious?”

Yukgap looked confused.

Seryun answered flatly,

“This is only my personal opinion, but if you make contact with your family, they could become entangled with Abraxas.”

“Why?”

“Abraxas is persistent.”

Seryun’s expression turned serious.

“To be honest, it’s dangerous for you to meet your family. Abraxas may target them directly.”

“And if things go badly, they could even take your family hostage and order you to return.”

Yukgap fell silent.

Seryun was not wrong.

The Abraxas Yukgap knew was more than capable of something like that.

“...”

Perhaps sensing what was going through his mind, Seryun added bitterly,

“This is as far as I can help.”

“I hope you make the right decision.”

“Ugh, I’m exhausted.”

Yukgap muttered as he set the day’s garbage behind the restaurant.

There had been an unexpected commotion, but somehow the day had still come to an end.

He looked up at the dark night sky and fell into thought.

“Seryun wasn’t wrong, though.”

No matter what happened, Yukgap was still one of the Twelve Archons created by Abraxas.

There was no way Abraxas would simply give up on him.

If he tried contacting his family, they might use that against him.

His family could end up in danger because of him.

“Maybe it would be better if I just disappeared forever.”

Yukgap muttered bitterly.

If he simply remained in the back alleys forever as a chef named Yukgap, perhaps one day he might truly escape Abraxas’s reach.

He could live quietly and peacefully with Victoria and Robert until the end.

Then his family might remain safe.

Even so...

Even so.

“I want to see them at least once.”

Yukgap murmured the words without knowing who they were meant for.

“Hm?”

At that moment, he sensed something strange in the darkness beyond the alley.

Something was there.

His instincts caught it immediately.

Yukgap shouted into the darkness.

“Who’s there?!”

A familiar voice answered from deeper within the alley.

“Your instincts haven’t dulled.”

A massive lizard-like creature suddenly crawled along the wall toward him.

Its claws curved inward like hooks, and black scales covered its body.

Yukgap recognized her immediately.

“How did you find this place, No. 5?!”

She was one of the Twelve Archons, just like him.

No. 5 raised her head and flicked her tongue.

“Did Doctor Frankenstein not tell you?”

“I’m currently cooperating with you.”

“You seriously expect me to believe that?”

Yukgap asked incredulously.

No. 5 immediately shot back,

“Then how do you think Doctor Frankenstein knew No. 9’s weakness?”

“Th-That’s...!”

Yukgap fell silent.

Victoria had said that a “nice lizard” had told her about No. 9’s weakness.

She had never explained the details afterward, but other than Yukgap himself, the only person who could have known something like that was another Archon.

No. 5.

“Believe me or don’t. I don’t care.”

Her voice was indifferent.

“But I’m serious.”

“For a very long time, there has been a faint memory that has haunted me.”

“A memory of my son.”

Yukgap stared at her in disbelief.

“A son?”

“You had a child?”

“Yes.”

No. 5 folded her arms inward as though cradling something small.

“Like you, I had a family once.”

“I cannot remember what he looked like.”

“But I still remember the warmth of that tiny child in my arms.”

The gesture made her look like a mother carefully holding an infant.

“I am cooperating with Doctor Frankenstein and Nova Hanson because I want to find my son, just as you want to find your family.”

Her voice trembled faintly.

“I intend to betray Abraxas, just like you did.”

Yukgap stared at her for a long moment.

Then he asked firmly,

“And if I don’t believe you?”

No. 5 belonged to the Extermination Team, infamous even among the Twelve Archons for its brutality.

She carried nanomachines capable of dissolving almost anything.

A biological weapon like that suddenly talking about a son was difficult to trust.

“A mother cannot lie using her own child.”

No. 5 answered without hesitation.

She flicked her tongue several times, then continued.

“Anyway, the reason I came to find you is simple.”

“Two members of the Twelve Archons have been urgently deployed to Korea.”

“Two?”

The Twelve Archons normally operated alone unless there was an exceptional reason.

If two had been dispatched together, Abraxas had clearly designated a major target.

No. 5 nodded.

“You know as well as I do that sending two Archons at once is anything but normal.”

“Who came to Korea?”

“No. 10 and No. 11.”

Yukgap clicked his tongue.

“Tch. Whatever they’re planning, it’s definitely something filthy.”

It was an ominous combination just from hearing the numbers.

No. 5 carefully added,

“It may even be connected to our past.”

Yukgap stiffened.

Then his entire demeanor changed.

He sharply questioned her,

“Where are they going?”

“To a village in Gangwon Province.”

“I only managed to bring a rough map in a hurry. I couldn’t find out the full details.”

No. 5 held out a small slip of paper.

“But there are records showing that Abraxas conducted biological experiments in that village in the past.”

Yukgap carefully unfolded it.

A simple map with coordinates was drawn on the paper.

No. 5 looked at him.

“This is all I can tell you.”

“Abraxas is tracking me, so I cannot go there myself.”

“But you are still free. You can go wherever you want.”

For a moment, No. 5 looked almost envious.

Then she quietly added,

“I hope you make a wise decision.”

With those words, she slid up the wall and disappeared into the darkness of the city.

Left alone, Yukgap simply stared at the map she had given him.

“Oh. I forgot to mention that.”

After hearing everything that had happened, Victoria spoke as though it were no big deal.

Yukgap stared at her in disbelief.

“How do you forget something like that?!”

“But so many ridiculous things have happened lately. Give me a break.”

Victoria simply giggled.

In a way, it was an incredibly Victoria-like response.

Yukgap asked skeptically,

“So you really are cooperating with No. 5?”

“For now, yes.”

Victoria nodded.

“No. 5 is searching for her family just like you are.”

“And she knows Abraxas well.”

“So I don’t think maintaining a relationship with her as a sort of double agent is a bad idea.”

Victoria seemed to trust No. 5.

Yukgap, however, remained doubtful.

“I still don’t buy it.”

“Her suddenly talking about having a child makes no sense to me.”

This was the same No. 5 who had scattered nanomachines and slaughtered numerous nuns.

The same woman who had tried to dissolve Nova and Victoria alive.

Yukgap himself had nearly lost a leg to her.

For such a vicious biological weapon to suddenly claim she wanted to find her family just like him...

He knew he was hardly in a position to say it, but the whole thing felt too carefully constructed.

“Don’t worry. No. 5 isn’t lying.”

Victoria spoke as though she understood his concern.

Yukgap immediately asked,

“You’re sure?”

“Of course.”

“What’s your proof?”

Victoria answered confidently,

“A woman’s intuition.”

Yukgap stared at her.

He had half expected it, but she had said it again.

“What the hell even is that intuition? Why does it show up everywhere?”

“Anyway, No. 5 didn’t seem like she was lying.”

Victoria continued.

“And thanks to her, we got help during the last attack too.”

Yukgap flinched.

That much was true.

No. 5 had told Victoria about No. 9’s weakness, and that information had helped them survive.

Realizing he was wavering, Victoria asked,

“So what are you going to do?”

“Are you going to ignore the information No. 5 brought?”

“I can’t.”

Yukgap glanced at the map.

Then he gripped it tightly.

“More importantly, the two Archons were deployed to Gangwon Province.”

“Maybe I can learn something about my past there.”

If it had been anywhere else, perhaps he could have ignored it.

But their destination was Gangwon Province, which might be his hometown.

And if Abraxas had sent two Archons there, they were clearly plotting something.

It could be connected to his past.

“Then it’s decided.”

Victoria smiled expectantly.

Yukgap sighed.

“You’re coming too, aren’t you?”

“Of course.”

“How am I supposed to stop you?”

Even if Yukgap told her not to come, Victoria would find some way to follow him anyway.

At some point, he had simply given up on leaving her behind.

The moment she received permission, Victoria raised her voice excitedly.

“All right! Then Mobile Food Stall Restaurant Shelley Branch No. 2 is deploying again!”

The truck carrying Yukgap and Victoria sped through a remote mountain area.

Before long, they stopped where the paved road came to an end.

“Is this it?”

Yukgap stepped out and looked around.

According to the coordinates on the map, they would have to continue farther up the mountain on foot.

The road ended completely here.

Thick branches and vegetation covered much of the surrounding area.

Only a narrow trail curving into the mountains hinted that people had once lived somewhere beyond.

“The navigation says this is the right place.”

Victoria, who had driven them there, looked back and forth between the navigation system and the surrounding landscape.

“This is seriously remote.”

“I didn’t even know places like this still existed in Korea.”

Yukgap slowly breathed in.

The rich scent of soil and trees filled his lungs, something impossible to smell in the city.

Silence covered everything around them.

This place was surrounded entirely by mountains and untouched nature.