Black Badger

I breathed in the cool air coming through the car window, and soon the car arrived at the station.

It had gone from the city center to the outskirts, and even further into the remote edges of the outskirts, before it finally stopped.

A desolate station stood in the bluish darkness. The old station amid a desert-like backdrop created a strange atmosphere. I got out of the car and walked toward the station in a daze.

The dry scent of sand tickled my nose.

Sporadically placed streetlights glowed.

A train sat on the tracks.

"Get in the front car."

Screech, squeak! Two cars pulled up and stopped behind Yoon's vehicle. Familiar faces poured out of the suddenly halted vehicles.

Even amid the commotion, the mentor didn't turn his head as he picked up the duffel bag he'd tossed in the back seat.

"First car. And just go into any empty room. It'll be vacant anyway."

"Are there rooms?"

"The front is a regular passenger train."

When I asked while looking at what appeared to be a freight train, Yoon explained.

I followed the mentor's instructions. I walked through the empty station toward the front of the train. As I trudged over the gravel-covered platform, passenger cars that looked like regular compartments began to appear, just as Yoon had said.

I kept going forward and stopped at the only open door. The inside was dark.

It felt a bit scary to enter the pitch-black train alone.

"What are you doing?"

Yoon appeared beside me like a ghost, without a sound.

"Aren't you getting on?"

Yoon was scarier than the dark train.

I quickly stepped inside. Darkness enveloped me, but I didn't hesitate and kept walking down the corridor. After navigating the pitch-black hallway, I grabbed the handle of a nearby room door.

It was a sliding door.

When I pushed it open, the light inside the room came on.

The walls were paneled in natural wood. There was a bed and a window. A brass coat hanger stood on the wall. A small storage shelf held tissues, wet wipes, cotton swabs, and the like.

What was this? Why was it so nice?

I stepped inside in a daze and set my duffel bag on the bed. Yoon stopped at the threshold of the room I'd chosen.

He looked me straight in the eye and said,

"Go to sleep quickly."

"Pardon?"

"It's a six-hour ride."

Six hours?

Hesi and Kal Dow passed behind the standing Yoon.

"Six hours?"

"When you wake up, you'll be outside the Core."

Yoon replied curtly.

This guy had a habit of dropping bombs casually. He'd done the same when shoving me toward those mushrooms. If he'd at least hurried or shown some panic, it might have felt more human.

Tom and Angela passed by. I could hear Hesi and Kal unpacking in their respective rooms.

Yoon observed my dazed expression and said,

"What did I tell you about why Badgers go outside the Core?"

For a brief moment, an emotion I couldn't put into words welled up and faded. I'd felt this odd sensation last time too, when Yoon had talked about something related.

This time as well, I failed to pinpoint what it was.

There was no point in overthinking it.

"To reclaim the lost land."

"Right. And in that process, what do you think is the most crucial part?"

"Uh...."

It was a question I'd never considered, leaving me flustered.

"Choosing the easiest spot to reclaim that also brings the most benefit?"

"That's something Ye-hyeon would worry about."

Yoon continued smoothly.

"The important thing is supplies."

The train jolted with a clunk.

What? I jumped in surprise. From the nearby rooms, I heard Hesi and Tom let out startled voices. But Yoon didn't even blink.

I could feel the train's engine revving up for departure. The subtle vibrations weren't unpleasant.

"There was a report that supplies at the Primary Supply Depot in this zone have gone missing. When we arrive, we'll restock the depot from the cargo hold. And while we're at it, we'll figure out why the supplies were lost."

"Oh, do you usually transport supplies by train?"

"The tracks go all the way to F Zone. From D Zone onward, we use other methods, but you don't need to know about that yet."

Clunk. The train, now started, began to move. I turned my head slightly to watch the scenery outside the window starting to shift. The Center Core was visible only as a silhouette in the darkness. The barren ground began to whip by faster behind us.

Yoon glanced out the window too, then opened the duffel bag slung over his left shoulder.

"This is your uniform."

He tossed a bundle of clothes wrapped in plastic onto the bed.

"This is a communicator you won't take out of your ear once you arrive. And this is the Creature Codex."

"Creature Codex?"

"You're not Pokémon?"

Surprisingly, the memory surfaced.

Who knew that game from earlier would come in handy? Amid the crushed fragments of my memories, the game screen popped up vividly.

I widened my eyes, then nodded.

"Yes. I remember."

"It's similar to that. Think of it like a Pokémon Pokédex. I don't carry one since I don't need it, but it might be somewhat useful for you."

The device Yoon tossed onto the bed even resembled the Pokédex from my memory in shape.

The color wasn't red, though. The notebook-like gadget was a sleek black, with a classy "B" embossed in the top right corner.

When I opened it sideways, a blue screen and a small keypad appeared. There was a camera lens in the top left corner.

"By the way, that's the earliest version, so if you want a new one, come to the Research Wing later."

"There are different versions?"

"I don't know much, but those guys decided to make versions like Pokémon generations and churned out a bunch of useless ones."

"...The creators must have been thrilled."

Yoon shrugged indifferently at my bemused expression.

Then he turned as if to leave. I set down the codex I was holding and bowed to him.

The others had already closed their room doors and started preparing for bed. A cool silence lingered in the train corridor.

"Sleep. You'll have to work as soon as you open your eyes."

"Yes, sir. Oh, but Yoon."

When I urgently called his name, Yoon, who had started walking away, turned with a raised eyebrow.

I paused briefly, then mustered my courage.

"Is it okay for me to go outside the Core?"

Because I attracted Creatures.

The mentor looked at me with an inscrutable gaze, as if appraising me.

The man answered slowly only after a long moment.

"We'll see when we get there."

*

Outside the Core.

A region dominated not by humans, but by Creatures. The lost territory humans sought to reclaim. F Zone, where new recruits began their first missions. A land with no civilians.

When I opened my eyes, the train had stopped. After washing up and changing into my uniform, I stepped into the corridor and ran into Tom and his mentor. Angela nodded in greeting when she saw me.

She pointed her thumb toward the inside of the train and said,

"Let's eat breakfast first."

Following her, we reached the dining car.

Hesi and his senior were already eating breakfast there. Yoon was nowhere to be seen. I wasn't particularly surprised as I sat at the same table as the others and ate.

There were warmed croissants, bagels, cheese, sausages, salad packs, milk or coffee. After breakfast, we tidied up the dining car neatly and prepared to head out.

I'd put on the combat uniform. I'd attached the communicator to my ear. I'd grabbed the codex....

Was that everything?

As I blankly looked down at myself, someone approached.

"Kid."

It was Kal Dow.

"Weapon?"

Weapon?

Weapon? Like a gun or sword? I hadn't received one. I stared at the senior standing before me, unable to hide my confusion.

He had much deeper blue eyes than Tom's. Jet-black hair and a firm jawline. A black balaclava pulled down below his chin.

I gazed blankly at the man, who gave a quiet yet solid impression.

"Uh...."

"Your weapon is a sword."

A familiar voice came from behind.

I flinched silently. Man, this drove me crazy. Please, at least make some footsteps when you approached.

I turned my head.

The man stood right behind me before I knew it.

Yoon thrust a sheathed sword toward me.

"Take it. Wear it on your belt."

"Ah, yes, sir."

"A sword?"

Kal raised his gravelly voice slightly in surprise.

"Not a gun, but a sword?"

"He'll probably handle a sword better than a gun."

"I heard his recovery is low."

"Yeah. So we'll give him a gun too, but."

Yoon now thrust a gun toward me.

Then he stared piercingly at me as I carefully took it and said,

"If something happens, draw the sword first. Got it?"

"Yes."

I meekly accepted the weapons.

Now we just went out?

Then Yoon's words reminded me of something I'd forgotten.

"Before we head out, let me check your wound."

Right. I'd injured my arm.

I obediently held out my injured arm. I rolled up the black combat uniform to show the neatly wrapped bandage. It was the one Ami had changed for me the day the cabin was destroyed. She'd applied a pain-relieving ointment that day, and it hadn't hurt since.

Hesi's mentor, who stood beside me, stared intently at my arm.

"Huh?"

The sound came from Hesi, who had approached.

"Why's your arm like that?"

"Two days ago, a kitchen knife got stuck in it."

"But it should be healing."

As he said that, he seemed to grasp the situation and widened his eyes.

"I heard your recovery is low—is that what they meant?"

"Is it okay to send him out to the field like this?"

Kal asked Yoon. Angela and Tom approached. They too widened their eyes and looked down at the wound on my arm.

Amid their gazes, I smiled awkwardly.

Yoon grabbed my arm and walked toward the table.

"It's healed quite a bit."

The mentor pulled out a box of medical supplies from under the table and made his diagnosis.

"It's much better than a regular person's recovery. Not quite up to Badger standards, though."

"Is there no way to improve the recovery?"

Angela frowned as she examined the wound.

She seemed unhappy about sending me out in this state. Her face showed she hadn't expected it to be this bad. It made me newly gauge how angry Ricardo must have been back then.

Yoon narrowed his eyes and inspected the wound.

"We'll have to talk more with Samuel to know. This is the first case like this."

"But is this even possible?"

Tom asked in a voice laced with surprise.

Then, realizing his words could be misinterpreted, he added a small "ah" and explained his intent in detail.

"I thought the reason we can withstand Augmented Body is thanks to our superior recovery and young cells."

"That's why he's a research subject."

Yoon replied indifferently and began rebandaging my arm.

Applying the ointment, placing the gauze, and wrapping the bandage—the whole process was clean and efficient, without excess. Ami had treated me just as skillfully.

He finished quickly and released my arm.

"But right now, it's time to focus on the job."

Yoon turned his gaze to Kal.

"The high command, who know the full story, didn't say anything special."

"Using a close-range weapon with low recovery seems too risky...."

"I judged based on seeing him use a sword."

The mentor jerked his chin toward the door attached to the dining car.

It was the door leading outside the Core.

"Let's go for now."

There was no room to argue in his tone.

"If there's a problem, I'll take full responsibility."

The others didn't object to the mentor's words.

They quietly followed behind him as he headed to the door. I checked that the scabbard was securely at my waist and trailed after him.

Creak. The mentor opened the door and stepped outside the Core, vanishing from sight. Wind seeped in through the open door.

I followed Tom and stepped out.

Outside the Core.

Vast land stretched out. The view was open. The air carried a cool scent. The wind brushed past my hair.

Grass sprouted in patches of cracked asphalt. Traces of the once-thriving city remained, welcoming us. Plants overtook half-destroyed buildings. Abandoned cars dotted the landscape. Non-functional train signals stood silent. Roads lay devoid of any presence.

The ashen decay of the fallen city mingled with the green of new growth.

Tom and Hesi let out small sighs.

I too stood entranced, taking in the scene before me.

"I'll explain the basic rules."

Angela's voice pulled us back to reality.

She used polite language even toward us, her much more junior recruits. Tom's mentor, without looking, loaded his rifle aimed diagonally and warned,

"First. Do not enter the subway. Second. Do not enter tunnels."

"Are there subways and tunnels nearby?"

"If you walk a little from here, you'll see a subway entrance. But no matter how urgent, do not go in there."

Was there something inside?

I listened quietly to her words. Only the sound of wind rustling the grass could be heard. The surroundings were eerily quiet.

"It's because we don't know what might be there, and the risk of collapse is high. No matter how strong our recovery, we can't beat nature's power. If you're buried, your survival chances drop sharply."

"We're just moving supplies for now, so nothing should happen."

Hesi's mentor added in his gravelly voice.

"F Zone has almost no Creatures. But no matter the zone, never approach subways or tunnels."

"Are the subway stations sealed?"

"No. There are Badgers who can enter the subway."

The green-eyed man pulled his balaclava up over his nose and explained.

"Only those with exceptional stealth skills or the ability to survive in enclosed spaces go down. But not all who go come back alive. Even veteran Badgers who've survived long outside the Core drop dead there one by one, so don't even dream of it for at least ten years."