KEG 62

Bang! Bang-!

“Kweee-!”

A wild boar monster burst out.

A monster running rampant in a residential area? Has even the most basic safety net collapsed?

Bang! Bang-bang!

A soldier fired his rifle at the boar monster.

On closer inspection, it was a rifle modified for Espers. This wasn’t just a soldier assigned to administrative duties, he was a combat operative.

“Evacuate!”

As I stared from inside the car, the civil servant who had gone in with him shouted at Lee Yuksam and me.

“I am Son Miryeo, Special Collection Officer of the Special Mobile Team, Disaster Special Collection Headquarters, National Tax Service! Please evacuate as instructed!”

As soon as he heard that, Lee Yuksam rolled down the window and shouted.

“The wheel came off! We can’t move….”

Thud!

“Kwaaaah!”

In that brief moment of delay, the wild boar monster reached the front of the truck.

“Oh no…!”

The official who had introduced herself as Son Miryeo summoned a thick iron chain from thin air and hurled it at the monster. The chain, radiating a purple aura, coiled around the boar monster’s body like a giant viper. It tightened around its neck and choked the life out of it.

“Grrk, kkieh…”

The monster convulsed as it made choking noises.

Watching the scene from inside the car made it feel like a drive-in theater.

Thud!

And once more, the chain pierced the boar monster’s head.

A precise attack, not even a drop of blood splattered on the window.

The monster froze in place. Then it went limp.

“Phew….”

Son Miryeo confirmed the monster’s death and let out a sigh of relief. She then stepped closer, drove the chain through its torso to ensure it was dead, and turned to ask.

“Why were you raising a wild boar monster inside your house?”

The homeowner, led out by a soldier, trembled. Upon hearing the word “raising” and checking the boar monster, I indeed saw restraints hanging from its neck and legs.

Judging by its small size, it looked like a juvenile. If that was the case, what had happened to the adult? Why were they only raising the juvenile?

“I-I raised it because I was anxious… I was afraid of burglars…”

So they’d been raising a monster for security.

In fact, cases of people picking up and raising baby monsters were more common than one might think. Since babies don’t emit contaminated energy and look no different from ordinary animals on the surface, they were sometimes traded on the black market.

“They said if you just feed them a little human food and injected them with medicine regularly, they won’t grow…”

“That’s impossible. It’s a monster.”

Baby monsters eventually grow into adult monsters.

Whether you fed them less or injected them with medicine, that fact remained the same. It was only natural for them to grow according to the laws of nature.

“Haa… Please call the dismantling team. And take this person into custody.”

“Yes! Understood!”

Following Son Miryeo’s orders, the soldier hurriedly dragged the homeowner away. I estimated the size of the mana stone that would be extracted from the wild boar monster.

It would probably be smaller than a young child’s pinky finger. Even as an adult, it would barely exceed 7 cm in diameter.

“Do monsters like this appear frequently in the village?”

I got out of the car, approached Son Miryeo, and asked. She smiled cheerfully and replied.

“Yes, but don’t worry! We’ll protect you!”

Special investigators from the National Tax Service.

They were at least A-class or higher. In other words, they were the kind of people you wouldn’t want to cross.

“Ho-hyung, that lady looks really strong.”

“Yeah, so don’t get cocky.”

“Don’t worry. I think I’d win if we fought.”

“Shut up.”

Lee Yuksam quietly closed his mouth.

She wasn’t so much that they were strong as it was that her affiliation with the National Tax Service made her dangerous. If they found out that a large sum of money had changed hands regarding this case and launched a tax audit, it would be a disaster.

The gift tax issue had already been resolved, but one wrong move and my hidden skill would be exposed. I could guarantee that this was an ability that would do the country no good if it became public knowledge.

Growl~!

A sound like a trumpet blare came from Lee Yuksam’s stomach.

Could a signal of hunger really be this loud?

“Ho-hyung, can I eat that wild boar?”

The kid drooled as he stared at the bleeding wild boar monster.

If I left him alone, he would probably take a bite right out of it.

Does he really have a beggar inside his stomach? A beggar playing the trumpet.

“Excuse me, have you two eaten yet?”

Son Miryeo offered us a meal.

“I’d like to treat you to a meal at our base camp.”

A free meal?

The beggar in my head sounded a fanfare.‎

‎

‎

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“Ah~ So you’re not with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, but a truck contractor.”

I quickly finished the meal I’d been served and nodded. Lee Yuksam finished his even faster than I did and went to get another serving.

“Why did the National Tax Service come to this village?”

At my question, Son Miryeo was slightly flustered, but she quickly composed herself.

“We were here for a tax audit at a casino near Gangwon Province when we heard that a tax evader had fled to this village.”

Even with the world in such a state, casino businesses were booming.

No, actually, because people were anxious about the state of the country, they clung to gambling even more. Sports betting and online gambling sites were also in their heyday.

“It must have been difficult for you to hide in a village where an epidemic is raging.”

“The tax evaders are just so cunning.”

“It seems there’s more than one tax evader.”

Son Miryeo looked at me with a startled expression.

The foreign cars scattered along the streets, the stacks of cash piled up in the grocery store, the old man smoking a premium cigar.

And most crucially, the “tax evaders” Son Miryeo had mentioned.

It was something I could deduce from the clues I’d seen so far.

“You’re perceptive… What’s your name?”

I’d only voiced my thoughts, yet I’d managed to pique her interest.

This was someone I’d be better off not getting involved with, should I give her a fake name?

“Ho-hyung! The food here is delicious!”

But with the arrival of Lee Yuksam, who was completely oblivious to the situation, one character of my name was revealed.

He was the type who’d divulge my real name I gave her a fake one. I’d better be honest and not try to pull any tricks.

“My name is Ha Seongho.”

“Oh, okay. Let me reintroduce myself. I’m Son Miryeo.”

“I’m Lee Yuksam!”

Son Miryeo quickly went through the introductions with Lee Yuksam and me. From his time in the hospice ward to the fact that we live in the same neighborhood, the informations just flowed out of Lee Yuksam’s mouth.

How can someone be this bad at coordinating? It’s driving me crazy.

“Yuksam.”

“Yes.”

“Eat your food.”

“Yes!”

Lee Yuksam shouted cheerfully, then he stuffed his mouth so full of rice it looked like it might burst.

He had been eating plain rice like a madman since a while ago.

As if he had some kind of grudge against rice.

“What kind of epidemic is spreading through this village?”

After dealing with Lee Yuksam, I turned to Son Miryeo and asked.

Son Miryeo once again looked troubled.

“Actually, it’s not so much a ‘disease’ as it is a state of addiction.”

“What kind of addiction are you referring to?”

“Um… You mustn’t let this get out. I’m telling you because you’re in the village right now, and it’s dangerous.”

Son Miryeo placed her hand over her mouth and lowered her voice.

“It’s ‘mana stone addiction.’”

‘Mana stone addiction’.

A chronic brain disorder caused by prolonged exposure to the powerful magic emitted by mana stones.

Mana exists in the air and within the human body.

The problem was concentration.

High-concentration magic poisoned humans and caused mental illness.

“A significant quantity of mana stones has been released in this village.”

“Aren’t mana stones usually managed by the government and the Hunter Association?”

Mana stones were hazardous substances. As a result, ordinary people rarely had any reason to handle them.

Even for Espers and Guides, ownership was strictly limited, and the biggest they might possess was about the size of a one-carat diamond.

“We suspect they were illegally distributed.”

“Do you have concrete evidence?”

“Whistleblower reports and statistical unauthorized copyindicators serve as evidence. The suicide rate has risen.”

Suicide was a primary symptom of ‘mana stone addiction.’

Impulse control becomes difficult, and the urge for self-destruction intensifies.

“The fact that people keep dying in a small, aging village means…”

“Extinction?”

Lee Yuksam, who had been eating, looked up and said.

“Extinction. Humans are going extinct.”

A world overly dependent on mana stones. If mana stones were to disappear right now, the world would collapse.

But getting close to them yielded the same results.

Either way, if things keep going like this, we’ll eventually face ruin.

“That’s right. A small-scale extinction is underway in this village.”

An abandoned mining village blanketed in fluffy snow.

We were witnessing humanity’s ice age.

***

The police station was completely empty.

“Wow, who’s going to catch the criminals in this town now?”

Lee Yuksam said as he peered into the empty police station, where even his voice echoed.

“Ho-hyung, do you know what happens when there’s no law in a sparsely populated mountain village?”

“I don’t know.”

“Everyone in the village turns into a bandit. It becomes a den of thieves.”

We were exploring the village by starting with the government offices.

Public institutions providing daily services – the post office, police station, hospital, and pharmacy – were all closed.

“Aren’t you a former bandit too?”

“Huh?”

“You stole food from a restaurant.”

“Oh, that was just–“

Lee Yuksam laughed it off with a hearty chuckle, as if he’d completely forgotten his past.

He didn’t rationalize his actions. Nor did he dwell on guilt for long.

“This is the first town I’ve seen where there are more drones in the sky than birds.”

Through the police station’s shattered window, I could see drones flying in the sky.

“What are those for?”

“They’re drones that track people who die alone.”

In the sky above Taebaek, Gangwon Province, where heavy snow was falling, only black drones were emitting a menacing motor noise as they searched for bodies. Their role was to verify whether people whose residences had been identified by thermal imaging cameras were actually there.