WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

The Wizard in the Poncho

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 13 - The Wizard in the Poncho (1)

Honestly, even after the mobilization order had been declared, it still didn’t feel real to me.

To begin with, the government had brushed everything aside as ‘Unrest in Seoul’ and never explained the situation in detail, and all I really knew was that monsters called Amalgams were running rampant.

The fate that befell the pleasant and easy-going Han Myungwoon still made chills crawl down my spine, but how should I put it… My encounter with the Amalgam had been so intense and so brief that it felt more like a single horrifying scene from a movie lodged in my head.

After 4 days had passed, my memories had already begun turning hazy enough that part of me wondered if it had all just been a nightmare.

Ironically enough, the thing that truly showed the severity of the situation to me wasn’t the monster.

The moment we wizards climbed down from the 2.5-ton truck upon arriving at Suwon Station, what greeted us were soldiers frantically running around the ground-level platform. Among them were radio operators sweating bullets while setting down their radios to check battery levels.

As we followed Lieutenant Shin Hangi, we overheard their transmissions.

"Hwasung One, this is Paldal Two. Conducting communications check. One, two, three, four, five. Confirm signal strength and respond.”

[...This is Hwasung One. Signal strength five. Paldal Two, submit field report.]

"Fog visibility near Paldal Two within three hundred meters. Shall we conduct checks with the other stations as well?”

[Confirm reception quality and fog visibility, then report again. Maintain radio network on standby at all times. Over.]

Somewhere along the way, the damp fog had settled in. And seeing soldiers rushing about within it finally made the reality sink in.

Only after witnessing them groaning as they unloaded crates of ammunition from military trucks, seeing fuel canisters being loaded onto armored vehicles, and watching soldiers with crooked helmets checking loaded magazines with trembling hands did I finally realize it.

Ah. We’re in the middle of a disaster.

The overlapping sounds of faint breathing and hurried footsteps echoed noisily around us as Lieutenant Shin Hangi led us toward a high stack of ammunition crates.

K2 rifles and M16s were stacked alongside grenades, gas masks, and ponchos. The sergeant managing the supplies glared irritably at Lieutenant Shin Hangi before letting out a sigh and adjusting his helmet.

"The firearms we’ve got left aren’t in great condition, but you’ll have to make do.”

"What about chemical protection suits?”

"There aren’t any left. Everything’s being sent to the blockade lines and the stations further ahead. Gas masks too. You’ll have to settle for ponchos for now.”

"You heard him. Operators, put on your ponchos.”

And just like that, I found myself wearing the very poncho I’d refused to touch during my military service, even if it meant getting drenched in the rain.

Back on active duty, I either wore the coat-type rain gear or just used an umbrella. But this poncho was the classic kind everyone imagined. It smelled like it had been soaked through, never properly dried, and left to rot in some warehouse for years.

The musty stench felt strong enough to seep past my uniform and pickle my very skin. And the moment I smelled it, my shoulders grew unbearably heavy.

Those exhausting days where fatigue piled up even when I was doing nothing but breathing had come flooding back.

Staff Sergeant Lee Sejun and Corporal Park Sehyeok seemed to feel the same way, judging by their equally miserable expressions.

"I never wore a poncho even in the reserves.”

"...Can’t we just use umbrellas?”

Only Shin Nain remained relatively serious as he checked the condition of his rifle and inspected his magazines while wearing the poncho properly.

"Chamber inspection complete. Jesus, guide us.”

Caught up in the moment, I checked my own weapon as well.

I fumbled a bit because of the structural difference between the M16 and the K2, but Shin Nain kindly stepped over and demonstrated it for me, allowing me to handle it safely.

"Careful not to get punched by the hinge."

"Shin Nain-ssi, you’re a true ace.”

"I just try my best at everything."

To someone like me, who’d been called dead weight everywhere except during manual labor back in the army, Shin Nain handling a K2 rifle so naturally made him look like a super ace to me.

Thinking about it that way, maybe spending nearly 20 minutes in the bathroom while listening to hymns and church nursery songs was merely a tiny flaw in the otherwise perfect ace known as Shin Nain.

Once we’d received gas masks, rifles, magazines, ponchos, and even grenades, I felt strangely reassured.

What surprised me was that even the Dogma-type wizards naturally began checking the condition of their gas masks.

Pastor Park Yohan tilted his head while breathing into his mask to test the seal, while Father Jeong Yonghwan helped tighten the straps on the other Dogma-type wizards’ masks. As for Monk Cheonghwi, he’d already put his on perfectly and was standing there with his palms pressed together.

"Hoo, hoo. The chin area feels a little loose.”

"If you open your mouth slightly and adjust the airflow, it should fit better. That usually does the trick.”

"Oh~. Father, looks like you’ve done CBRN drills before.”

After exchanging a few trivial remarks, silence swallowed us once again.

Once everyone had ponchos and gas masks on, it no longer mattered whether someone was a religious figure or a reservist. We all just looked like people dragged onto the battlefield. Only our eyes distinguished one person from another.

The sole exception was Bosal Geulmun. Without even wearing a gas mask, Bosal Geulmun stood there glaring sharply at us four Altertation-types.

"What are you staring at?”

"Alright, alright. I’ll explain while we head down. Just follow me for now.”

And so, we headed toward the subway station.

With rifles, magazines, grenades, ponchos, and gas masks equipped, it was impossible to tell we were supposedly wizards anymore. Around then, Lieutenant Shin Hangi, now wearing a gas mask himself, led us toward the underground platform while beginning a more detailed explanation.

"There’s been a slight change to the original operation plan. Bosal Geulmun will serve as a linchpin in this operation…and the reason he won’t be wearing a gas mask."

"Hoho…Might this humble monk ask what exactly brought about this change?”

"Yes, of course.”

-Tap, tap.

As we descended the stone stairway toward the platform, several soldiers could be seen checking the condition of the blast doors.

"Headquarters believes the surface rail lines will likely be blocked through artillery or other methods sooner or later. But subway tunnels require extensive preparation for demolition or collapse operations, making them difficult to shut down immediately. And well…it allows us to gather information from inside Seoul while simultaneously avoiding criticism that we’re abandoning humanitarian concerns.”

A few soldiers saluted Lieutenant Shin Hangi as he passed. He simply gestured for them to continue their work before speaking again.

"What we believe to be Bosal Geulmun’s Dogma-type magic is Spirit Sight.”

"Spirit Sight?"

"He can visually distinguish… the spiritual difference between ordinary humans and the Cranial Fusion-type Mimetic Organisms, the Amalgams.”

At someone’s casual question, Bosal Geulmun crossed his arms and let out a proud, arrogant snort.

"Those clingy monster bastards have souls shaped differently from humans. There’s a reason people say they can neither reach Heaven, nor reincarnate, nor fall into Hell. Even the Grandmother Spirit I serve can’t stand the sight of them.”

"If shamans really have that type of power, shouldn’t the military be conscripting every shaman in the country?”

That was probably what all four of us Alteration-types were thinking.

Even Corporal Park Sehyeok, who normally did nothing but mutter complaints under his breath, gave the faintest nod of agreement this time.

Of course, unlike its usual sloppy self, our poured Republic of Korea military was moving thoroughly and systematically this time.

"That’s exactly why the military considers Bosal Geulmun’s case extremely important. We’ve been politely requesting cooperation from shamans across the country, but every shaman rumored to possess genuine spiritual power has either fled or gone into hiding. The military police are currently tracking them down.”

To think those shamans were able to fly circles around the military itself.

Apparently the truly gifted shamans had already foreseen the army coming for them and either fled or vanished beforehand. Honestly, they deserved to be called gifted.

"However, detection through Spirit Sight provokes aggression from Amalgams. In order for Bosal Geulmun to use Spirit Sight, he had to look directly rather than through glasses, lenses, or filters. And during that process, the Amalgams display extreme hostility toward him.”

"How’d you figure that out?”

"Six soldiers of our Republic of Korea’s Armed Forces were killed while attempting to secure Bosal Geulmun’s cooperation under the condition that he be extracted from a restricted zone.”

Now I understood why Bosal Geulmun was always grumbling so bitterly.

As a genuinely powerful shaman, he probably wanted to run the hell away after obtaining abilities like that. But it seemed he’d made some sort of promise and couldn’t just stand by watching ordinary soldiers die. He was a far more upright person than I‘d expected.

"We’ll also explain the Alteration-type wizards’ abilities now. Since we're already in the field, there’s no longer any need to worry about information contamination.”

And so, the abilities of our four-man Alteration-type squad were finally revealed.

Shin Nain was an Alteration-type of the Ears-branch. Quite fitting for someone who was constantly listening to hymns, he was able to randomly hear the inner voices of people around him. And when he focused intensely enough, he could supposedly hear a strange distortion noise that distinguished truth from lies.

"At times like this, honesty becomes essential.”

Smiling faintly, Shin Nain tapped one of his earbuds.

Corporal Park Sehyeok was also an Ears-branch Alteration-type.

But unlike Shin Nain, Park Sehyeok could hear people’s heartbeats rather than their inner voices. Among the Amalgams that mimicked human reactions, he could supposedly distinguish the heartbeat patterns of less experienced individuals. Though recently, as the Amalgams had grown increasingly skilled at imitation, the ability had become far less useful.

"Corporal Park Sehyeok will assist Bosal Geulmun with the screening process.”

"Wouldn’t it be easier to just shoot them all dead…? They’re all just filthy monster bastards anyway…”

Even while Lieutenant Shin calmly explained things, Park Sehyeok continued muttering bitterly under his breath. Beside me, Staff Sergeant Lee Sejun poked my shoulder and whispered quietly.

"I looked into him. He used to belong to a military unit under the Capital Defense Command. They say he was stationed near Geomdan. That unit’s already collapsed by now. Headquarters has basically marked them internally as wiped out. He's probably one of the survivors.”

"How’d you find that out?”

"I told you I’ve got connections along the blockade lines. These days they apparently just shoot everything on sight, but that guy probably got brought in because he can use magic.”

Staff Sergeant Lee Sejun possessed Alteration-type magic of the Heart-branch.

Even while sprinting at full speed for nearly thirty seconds or enduring situations where adrenaline flooded his body uncontrollably, he could supposedly continue operating at peak condition for around 10 minutes without exhausting himself. Out of all of us, he’d been judged the wizard with the highest direct combat capability.

"Funny how the army talks to me now after rejecting my long-term service application.”

The resentment Lee Sejun held toward the military for rejecting his extension ran quite deep.

And finally, there was me. Baek Jemin.

"Baek Jemin-ssi can see roughly 10 seconds into the future through footprints.”

I could immediately feel the atmosphere shift among the Dogma-type wizards who hadn’t known that before.

Father Jeong Yonghwan in particular, having awakened thermal vision, looked quite intrigued. So now everyone knew everyone else’s magic abilities…but then Lieutenant Shin Hangi suddenly glanced around before frowning.

"Wait, where’s Hamza?”

"Huh?”

"Huh? Right, where’d he go?”

Only then did we realize that Hamza, the honorary Korean with the turban, was gone.

Even through the gas mask, it was obvious how irritated Lieutenant Shin Hangi was. After making a visibly annoyed expression, he finally let out a sigh and headed toward the subway platform.

"The situation is quite urgent right now, so we’ll have to look for Hamza later.”

Hearing that gave me strangely complicated feelings.

Resentment toward Hamza? Hatred? Anger? Not really.

The thought that crossed my mind was much simpler.

‘I should’ve run too.’

* * *

The underground platform of Suwon Station Line 1 was wrapped in strange, unsettling tension.

72 soldiers had been deployed along the platform where the subway train would arrive. Every one of them wore either ponchos or gas masks while carrying benches, barricades, and other obstacles toward the screen doors with rifles at the ready.

Metal debris and other heavy objects had already been piled onto the tracks in layers, and everyone looked visibly anxious, wondering when the subway train might come barreling through.

The officer commanding the site was a captain named Bae Seulgi. He was the only person not wearing a gas mask, his face drenched in sweat as he checked radio conditions.

"Attention. I’m Lieutenant Shin Hangi, here to transfer operational authority over the Localized Invasive Structural Alteration Civilian Operators."

"The Civilian Advisory Group? The ones who use magic?”

"Yes, sir.”

"You’re absolutely sure they can distinguish those Amalgam monsters?”

Captain Bae Seulgi never even turned around. Still crouching down, he busied himself checking radio cables alongside a communications soldier while repeatedly blowing into the radio receiver.

But the determination in his voice was impossible to deny.

"If you fail to identify them properly, everyone here dies. These 72 men here…most of them got dragged here against their will. But they still stayed instead of running away. If you get those bastard killed, I'll make sure that you won't be able to rest easy even after death. Understood?

"Yes, sir. Understood.”

"Haah…Are you staying here too?”

"I have to move again to recruit additional Civilan Operators. If the situation aboveground stabilizes, we plan to gather people capable of reading the magic symbols.”

"Right. Get moving.”

"Sir!”

The moment Lieutenant Shin Hangi stepped away, command authority over us wizards transferred to Captain Bae Seulgi.

After patting the communications soldier on the shoulder, Captain Bae stood up, put on his gas mask, and checked his wristwatch.

"Current time is 3:21 PM. We just received word that the first train that departed from Yongsan Station is breaking through the southern districts of Seoul. Operators, stay with me near the radio equipment and listen to frontline updates. Once the train stops, sort the refugees.”

"There’s no need to worry. You reached an understanding with the train operators, yes?”

At Bosal Geulmun’s question, Captain Bae Seulgi nodded tiredly.

"The military changed policy and agreed to begin screening civilians individually. The train operators stated they would cooperate. They’ll stop according to military instructions.”

"If people can still be saved, then saving them is the righteous thing to do. I’m certain everyone will welcome the military’s wise decision.”

"I certainly hope so.”

What followed was a period of waiting.

A spectacularly tense period of waiting.

Through the radios, we could roughly piece together what was happening on the front lines.

That was because the communications soldier checked reception status every two or three minutes without fail.

Whenever he finished listening through the crackling static, he would relay the information to Captain Bae Seulgi in a slightly hoarse voice.

"They say the demolition of the Gyeongchun Line tracks succeeded. The train was stopped inside the eastern blockade line, and they’re fortifying their position at Gapyeong.”

"What about the trains heading toward Suwon?”

"No updates yet.”

-Tick, tick…

At some point, the ticking second hand of Captain Bae Seulgi’s wristwatch had become the only sound filling the underground platform.

Then the communications soldier listened to another transmission and suddenly shouted in a voice loaded with a tangled mess of joy, shock, and disgust.

"They’ve begun shelling the rail junction near Hwaseo Station! The first outbound train has broken through!”

"Everyone into combat positions! If anyone disembarks without permission, shoot immediately!"

-Gulp.

Someone swallowed hard. The tension on the faces of Bosal Geulmun and Corporal Park Sehyeok, who would play the biggest roles in the screening process, was obvious.

Watching the soldiers tape over sections of the screen doors to prevent people from climbing out while taking aim from behind benches used as improvised cover made my knees weak.

[The train is now arriving. Passengers are requested to remain behind the safety line…]

The screech of metal rang out.

Captain Bae Seulgi gestured rapidly toward the soldiers as he barked orders.

"Communications, the moment they refuse inspection or attempt to break through, notify command immediately.”

"Y-yes!”

"Operators, support the personnel conducting the screening.”

At last, we wizards also gripped our firearms and prepared to sort through the refugees.

Father Jeong Yonghwan and Pastor Park Yohan covered the left flank. Monk Cheonghwi quietly stood behind us with palms pressed together in prayer. Meanwhile, our four-man Alteration-type group stayed behind Park Sehyeok, rifles ready to shoulder as we breathed heavily.

-Huff–, huff—.

The sound of breathing filtered through gas mask filters gradually filled everyone’s ears.

And then the moment of fate arrived.

Would the train break through? Or would it stop?

Standing at that crossroads of destiny, what choice would the first evacuation train make?

Sweat slicked my hands as I raised my rifle. I kept struggling to stop my index finger from inching toward the trigger.

Fortunately, the first train finally began slowing down.

-Screeeeeech—.

Whether it was because of the barricades laid across the tracks or because of the military’s brutal warnings, the train operator chose to stop.

As the train gradually came to a halt, the miserable appearance of the refugees became visible through the screen door. Among the soldiers, tension mixed with pity. Meanwhile, Bosal Geulmun was already glaring through the windows, busily scanning the passengers.

"I’m ready. Have them disembark one car at a time.”

"Fuck…If even one monster’s mixed in with them, we’re screwed…”

After confirming Bosal Geulmun and Corporal Park Sehyeok were prepared, Captain Bae Seulgi contacted the operator by phone and issued instructions.

"When the doors open, only passengers from Car 4-3 are to disembark. Any refusal to comply with military orders will result in immediate execution. You have been warned. You’re aware martial law has already been declared in Seoul. And it may soon expand into southern Gyeonggi as well. We ask all citizens for their cooperation in maintaining order.”

Because of the bizarre situation where a nationwide mobilization order had been declared despite the country not officially being at war, neither the citizens, the government, nor even the military itself truly seemed to be in a state of utter bewilderment.

Still, the refugees apparently understood the severity of the warning. Chaos briefly erupted inside the train before eventually settling down again.

Instead, through the windows, we could see crowds of refugees desperately shoving and tangling together as they tried to move toward Car 4-3.

Watching that, Captain Baek Seulgi immediately contacted the train operator again.

"Tell them not to bunch together. It makes them vulnerable to Cranial Fusion–type Mimetic Organisms. If they fail to evacuate in an orderly manner, command has authorized us to shoot every single person here if necessary.”

[Y-yes, understood. I’ll relay it…]

The sounds of the announcement echoed through the train while refugees shouted and panicked, their voices rumbling faintly through the windows. But little by little, order seemed to return.

In the end, disembarkation began by emergency opening the screen doors around Car 4-3 while dozens of rifle barrels aimed directly at it.

A few people initially tried to rush out, but the moment soldiers glared at them with guns leveled, they quietly backed away again.

"Load live rounds.”

With Captain Bae Seulgi’s cold declaration, the troops prepared themselves for slaughter.

Only after the sounds of magazines being inserted and bolts being pulled back echoed throughout the station did one section of the screen doors finally slide open.

Car 4-3.

The refugees who stepped out in groups looked like ordinary people. Their pupils were dilated in terror from everything they’d endured, yet they still trembled with the desperate will to survive while guiding their families across the marble floor.

Bosal Geulmun and Corporal Park Sehyeok stared at them as though ready to kill them on the spot before finally letting out relieved breaths.

"These five are clear. Pass.”

"...Tsk."

The refugees couldn’t even manage words of thanks. Under the soldiers’ merciless watch, they hurried toward the station's stairs. Then one of them suddenly collapsed onto the steps, legs giving out as they silently began sobbing.

"Next five.”

And the exact moment Captain Baek Seulgie gave the next dry command...

A frantic voice burst from the communications officer's radio.

[Trailing train has broken through Hwaseo Station! Ignoring slowdown orders!]

[Failed to derail the train…It’s heading toward Suwon Station!]

[Paldal Zero, Paldal Zero!]

"Th-this is Paldal Ze…”

[Fall back!]

-Ding, ding, ding, ding—.

Another mechanical station announcement began echoing across the platform.

Instinctively I looked up toward the electronic display board and saw the train race toward the station at a horrifying speed.

[The train is now arriving. Passengers are requested to…]

At that moment, Captain Bae Seulgi issued the most desperate order of his life.

"Get down!”

The floor was shaking.

As the stone platform trembled, it felt like my heart shook with it. My entire body vibrated with a deep hum, and before I realized it, I was staring toward the tunnel.

That was when I saw fog creeping upward from below.

And then came the roar of a steel beast tearing through the tunnel itself, charging straight toward the refugees beyond the screen doors, who still hadn’t even realized what was happening.

-Craaash!

At its core, it was merely the sound of a collision.

Except for the fact that it was powerful enough to shatter my eardrums and my entire mind.

It didn’t take long for the sound of the collision to transform into something truly horrific.

A shrill metallic scream, far sharper and more piercing than fingernails scraping across a chalkboard, mixed together with the sounds of human bodies bursting apart as the smell of blood flooded across the tracks. Between the train cars crumpling inward, glimpses of people vanishing instantly flashed past my eyes like scenes on a flickering film reel.

Naturally, the screen doors weren’t strong enough to withstand an impact like that.

As the crushed and mangled train cars began forcing themselves onto the platform, blue sparks started exploding everywhere.

Without even realizing it, I had already thrown myself backward, the hood of my poncho pulled over my head. I landed hard on my ass, just in time to watch the people standing where I’d been either flattened beneath the collapsing train cars or hurled away violently.

Even that lasted only a moment.

The stone floor tiles of the platform shredded apart as massive clouds of concrete dust billowed upwards into the air. The gas mask filter clogged almost instantly with debris, forcing ragged breaths out of me, and beyond the mask, the world dissolved into nothing but gray dust clouds mixed with fog.

Before long, my ears stopped functioning properly.

-Peeeeeeep—

A strange ringing filled my head. Instead of human voices, all I could hear was metal screeching endlessly.

Somewhere amid all that, scattered gunshots echoed faintly. It sounded like beans roasting in a pan.

-Bang! Ratatata!

A violent wave of dizziness overcame me. Something sticky trickled from my ear, and when I touched it, thick liquid coated my fingers. Only after bringing my hand close to the front of my gas mask did I realize that it was blood.

Fortunately, sound gradually began to return. But instead I started hearing shapes writhing and colliding beyond the dust clouds.

[...Fall back! Fall back!]

As the static-filled radio transmission crackled through the air, I barely managed to force myself upright. And in that instant, only one thought existed in my mind.

I had to run.

The moment I instinctively turned toward where the stairs should have been, the sprinklers suddenly activated overhead and began drenching everything. My eyes burned fiercely as I stared through the fog, and then the fog scattered, revealing strange footprints.

The future 10 seconds ahead.

Waiting there was Father Jeong Yonghwa.

I sprinted without hesitation. Fighting inside this dust-filled hell was close to suicide. As I rushed toward the stairs, I saw Father Jeong Yonghwa struggling to stand while emitting a bizarre glow.

"Baek Jemin-ssi, behind me!”

The moment I saw the light radiating from Father Jeong’s arms, realization struck me. Reception of the Eucharist. Trusting in that magic, I bounded up the stairs and retreated behind him before immediately raising my rifle over his shoulder.

His priestly robes had been torn apart, exposing his bare forearms.

Human faces poured and flowed across them. The sight was horrifying enough to make my skin crawl, yet Father Jeong crossed both arms and physically shoved the faces back.

But in the future 10 seconds ahead, those faces would split open from both sides to devour him whole.

Still, as they split apart, their mass would thin.

I fired toward the points where the fog dispersed. Toward the places where the faces would tear open. Toward the exact spots still visible through both fog and dust clouds.

-Bang! Babang!

The recoil slammed heavily into my shoulder, but against those fucked-up monsters, the damage was minimal.

Trying to calculate a 10-second time lag while simultaneously seeing 10 seconds into the future was absurdly difficult. But perhaps the Amalgam itself felt instinctive terror toward it. The moment one side of its face was struck, the creature let out a unified shriek from its merged vocal cords before retreating back into the fog.

-Uwaaaaaaaagh—!!!

When all those vocal cords cried out as one, it sounded almost like a brass instrument.

Like some massive horn laying down a deep, resonant bass note, the monster’s voice echoed miserably through the fog as it disappeared.

But Father Jeong Yonghwan and I survived.

As even the acrid smell of gunpowder vanished into the fog and gray dust, Father Jeong turned toward me and began scrambling up the stairs.

"We need to get somewhere without dust clouds first!”

"What about the others?”

"Something’s pouring in down there!”

He didn’t need to explain what was pouring in.

The aftermath of the crash was already swallowing the entire station.

The flickering light finally died. Then red emergency lights clicked on one after another. Yet even those looked fated to disappear beneath the fog steadily rising from below.

Feeling the heat radiating from my overheated rifle barrel, I followed Father Jeong upwards. At that moment, the station-wide emergency broadcast erupted with sirens.

[Underground platform breach confirmed. Underground platform breach confirmed. All personnel prepare containment measures. Survivors are advised to evacuate to the surface as quickly as possible…]

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