Chapter 229

Chapter 229

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The Winter Soldier III

If you were to ask me to name the most frequent cause of mass human death, excluding those killed by Anomalies, I could answer without hesitation:

Hypothermia.

Literal death by freezing.

Even if we disregard the Ice Age Anomaly that descended upon the new New York of the Korean Peninsula, winter alone—even in its vanilla form—has always been deadly enough.

And what about a winter with an added Anomaly?

Even in this round, where the National Road Management Corps had achieved a uniformly high level of Aura proficiency, withstanding the biting cold was no easy feat.

“It’s fucking cold...”

Do-hwa, who hadn’t invested any levels into Aura skills on her Awakener path, shivered even more than the others.

It had been 60 minutes since the Ice Age descended. With a blanket draped over her, Do-hwa exhaled a puff of breath, white as chimney smoke was black. She was shivering so much that it made me feel a little sorry for her.

“Commander, come a bit closer.”

“...Seriously, if this was how things were going to be, you should’ve brought the Great Witch of the Samcheon World. I don’t understand why you dragged someone who was working peacefully in Busan all the way up here. At least if she were here, she could sing us a song and improve the atmosphere.”

“This operation specifically required you, Commander Noh Do-hwa. Bringing Dang Seo-rin would have been disastrous.”

“I don’t know what the hell this mission is about, but it’s cold as hell...”

I took hold of Do-hwa’s left hand under the blanket. Her fingers were ice-cold. She twitched, her eyebrows furrowing slightly, but didn’t pull her hand away. Gradually, my Aura flowed through our joined hands, sending warmth into Do-hwa’s body.

She shivered as if it tickled, unfamiliar with the sensation of Aura. Her lips parted, shaping around words she meant to let escape, but then she pressed them shut, likely aware that I wouldn’t stop regardless.

Under the blanket, warmth quickly enveloped her. I made sure to keep the Aura swirling only beneath the cover, ensuring no one noticed.

“......”

“...You could just say thank you.”

“Fuck off.”

“......”

She sighed. “ This feels oddly familiar... Ah. It’s like when you turn on the floor heater while under the blanket but keep the air conditioner on. That’s exactly how it feels.”

“Are you serious? You lived with such extravagance? How could you waste resources like that?”

“Heh. Of course, you wouldn’t understand, with your boomer mindset. You can’t even remember when civilization was still intact. But in Korea, everyone tried it at least once... By the way, Undertaker, I have a question.” Do-hwa pointed with her right hand toward a specific direction. “What’s with all those cameras...?”

She was gesturing toward a line of recording devices set up inside the Statue of Liberty. Most of the equipment was haunted artifacts contaminated by Anomalies, but they were whirring away smoothly, recording everything.

“As you can see, they’re cameras,” I stated matter of factly.

“I know they’re cameras. I’m asking why you’re using such valuable equipment to film us shivering in the cold...”

“Oh, but of course. It’s all part of the ultimate strategy to defeat the Ice Age Anomaly. You don’t need to worry about a thing, Commander. Just sit tight.”

“Ugh. This feels... unsettling...”

And then it happened.

“We’re all doomed!”

A scream pierced the air from among the gathered National Road Management Corps members. The source of the cry had lost focus in his eyes.

“There’s no contact with the outside, and we’re running out of food! If we stay here, we’re all going to die! Every single one of us!”

“H-hey. Jae-hee, what’s gotten into you?”

The person causing the commotion had just been doing fine, releasing Aura like a living furnace. But now, they’d gone into a frenzy, ripping off their blanket and winter gear.

“If we’re all going to die anyway, I’ll make the sacrifice. Yes. If I can reduce the number of mouths to feed by even one, then maybe the others can survive a little longer. Ah, I’ll go outside...”

“Shit! He’s been Void-poisoned! Stop Cha Jae-hee!”

As expected of well-trained elites, the other Corps members quickly subdued the rogue agent.

I didn’t even need to step in. The situation resolved itself, although Do-hwa, whose hand was still in mine, looked at me suspiciously.

“Undertaker.”

“Yes.”

“Why aren’t you helping your subordinates but instead recording the chaos on your phone...?”

That’s right. I was calmly sitting there, filming the scene unfolding before me with my phone.

That wasn’t the only time I’d do so either. When the Void-poison spread further and more Corps members began showing signs of madness, I didn’t intervene then just the same.

“We’re all going to die if we stay here! We have to form a strike team and request aid from outside!”

“No, we have plenty of supplies—”

“They’re right! Even if we fail to call for help, at least some of us should survive!”

“Let us out!”

They had lost their minds.

Outside, a -120°C blizzard was raging. With visibility near zero, any attempt to leave the bunker would mean certain death, even for the elite members of the National Road Management Corps.

Clearly, they had been robbed of their judgment by the Anomaly. Normally, this would have been the perfect time for the Drill Sergeant, Yu Ji-won, to step in and restore order, but...

A sidelong glance at Yu Ji-won showed that she was waiting for my cue, maintaining a disciplined stance.

Naturally, her primary motive was always to “ingratiate herself with me to maintain her power.” Her duties as the operations team leader were far down her list of priorities. If I decided that intervention wasn’t necessary, then Ji-won wouldn’t step in either. She simply glanced down at her phone, browsing SG Net.

“Ugh... Damn it...” Do-hwa clocked our nonchalant attitude and sighed, apparently coming to some realization. She must have understood that this, too, was part of my plan.

“Let’s break through the snow and head south for help! If we reach the base, we can return with reinforcements!”

“Fear not death! If we don’t make the sacrifice, who will?”

The Void-poison spread uncontrollably.

Of the 20 National Road Management Corps members, 10 suddenly turned into “escape advocates.”

Even considering that Ji-won, Do-hwa, and I had all chosen to ignore the situation, the speed of the spread was unnaturally fast, and the depth of the brainwashing was sinking deeper.

“Team Leader! Undertaker! They’re seriously trying to leave!”

“Let them go.”

This was precisely why I had brought Ji-won and Do-hwa into this operation: resistance to brainwashing. These two had mental fortitude that surpassed anyone else I knew.

Ji-won was famous for ignoring the nameless pink-haired Voldemort, a feat unmatched in human history. To any Anomaly that specialized in brainwashing, she was an unyielding wall.

Do-hwa was no less remarkable. She had resisted countless Anomalies associated with politicians, such as “All Power Corrupts” or “Dictators Inevitably Fall,” without ever succumbing to their influence.

I hadn’t appointed these two to lead the National Road Management Corps in spite of their questionable personalities for no reason. When it came to dealing with Anomalies, they were the answer.

And over there, lounging in an armchair, the Saintess was equally beyond rival in mental fortitude.

In short, within the Statue of Liberty bunker, I had assembled the strongest-willed Awakeners in all of Korea.

“Let’s go! For our comrades!”

“Let’s save humanity!”

“Yeaaah!”

In contrast, the ten brainwashed members threw open the bunker doors themselves.

As soon as the door creaked open, a massive blizzard swept inside. The brainwashed ones, facing the storm without any face coverings, laughed madly in the biting cold and before long, they had vanished into the frozen wilderness, their laughter swallowed by the howling wind.

The remaining survivors turned to me, their expressions stricken with fear.

“Y-Your Excellency...”

“Hmm.” It looked like I had enough footage. I stopped recording on my smartphone. “Ji-won, I’ll head out for a bit, so take care of keeping the Commander warm.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll handle it.”

Passing on the role of “living furnace” to Yu Ji-won, I dashed out of the bunker to pursue the brainwashed ones.

Outside was a pure white snowfield. But unlike the picturesque scenes from Yasunari Kawabata’s Snow Country, the snow in this mysterious New York was unsettling.

All around, white noise flickered like static. It wasn’t the kind of flickering like a lighthouse guiding people. It was more like a barrage of camera flashes at a red-carpet event, pushing away any sense of humanity.

This snowfield had been ruined by a tyrant.

Ssssshhhhh.

Beyond the distant white noise, flashes of red shirts occasionally appeared, stark against the snow.

They were half-buried in the snow, like floating debris in a white river.

I followed their trail, stepping on the scattered clothing like stepping stones.

“Hahahahahaha!”

“It’s getting warmer. Look over there, the sun! We’re heading south!”

“It’s not cold. See? It’s really not cold!”

“The sun is protecting us!”

The voices of the Void-poisoned wove in strange harmony with the hum of the white noise.

The ten brainwashed Corps members continued their march through the snow, stripping down to their underwear as they went. Their clothes disappeared into the snow like they had sunk into a swamp, while the near-naked humans gradually submerged deeper and deeper into the snowdrifts.

“Good job.”

Thud.

I knocked the ten of them out with a quick blow to the head using Aura. They fell without so much as a scream.

I then stacked the unconscious Corps members like a pile of hamburgers, lifted them with one hand, and sprinted south.

“Ah! It’s the boss!”

“G-Guild Leader! Over here...!”

After running for a few minutes, I crossed the boundary of New New York and the blizzard abruptly ceased. Turning back, I saw the snowstorm looming like a dome over New New York, encapsulating the entire city.

Waiting near the border were Ah-ryeon, Dok-seo, and the rest of the backup team.

“Ugh, seriously! What’s with this, Mister? Why are they all naked? Are they out of their minds?”

“The Ice Age Anomaly has a brainwashing ability. They got caught up in it. If their Aura levels were even slightly lower, they’d have frozen to death by now.”

“That's messed up...”

“Ah-ryeon. Start healing them, please.”

“O-okay!”

“Even if they regain consciousness, they might try to run back into the snowstorm. Keep a close watch on them until the Anomaly is completely neutralized. And make sure they can’t access SG Net. Understood, Dok-seo?”

“Ugh, damn it! I know, I know! Stop nagging!”

“I’m counting on you.”

“Make sure you film everything!”

Leaving the recovering members in the hands of the backup team, I returned to the snowy storm. As I made my way back, I carefully gathered the clothes the brainwashed members had discarded.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Thud.

I pushed open the door to the Statue of Liberty bunker, and all eyes turned toward me.

Do-hwa, Ji-won, the Saintess, and the remaining ten Corps members—13 people in total—watched me.

One of the Corps members spoke up.

“Y-Your Excellency? What... What you’re holding...”

I glanced around the room. The recording devices were still running.

Good. No problems here.

“These are the missing members’ clothes. I found them outside.”

“Wh-what? So... So our comrades...”

“I’m sorry. I followed their trail as far as I could, but there was nothing but an endless expanse of snow.”

“......”

“Everyone, it appears that the Ice Age Anomaly is more dangerous than I initially anticipated. Remain vigilant.”

Fear began to settle on the faces of the Corps members. They didn’t seem to doubt me at all, accepting my explanation with convincing sincerity. Even professional actors couldn’t have delivered such genuine expressions.

Yeah.

By now, you’ve probably realized it too.

If you want to deceive your enemy, you have to fool your allies first.

I intended to trick the Ice Age Anomaly that had taken hold of this city.

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