Chapter 11: Rainfall at the End.

[Here are today’s main news stories. The 1st anniversary of the end of the war is now four days away. As such, scenes of festival preparations are in full swing all over the world. Also, in City A of the 47th Defense Line, where the final battle took place, commemorative events will be held, including a meritorious service ceremony attended by Her Imperial Highness the 1st Princess.]

[Meanwhile, there are also concerns that this atmosphere may be a premature celebration due to the still rare appearance of Encroachment species crossing the dimensional rift.]

[Next news. Lieutenant General Stillman, Deputy Commander of the Western Army, clearly denied the existence of the ‘Trigger File’ at a recent press conference. The Trigger File is considered a key piece of evidence in allegations that the Allied Forces were involved in inhumane crimes on some defense lines, but its existence is still a matter of much controversy.]

[Following up, the Allied Forces Audit Authority issued a final ruling of no charges in relation to the allegations of military-commercial collusion by Apelberry Company yesterday around 4 PM. In response, the Joint Assembly Investigation Headquarters is continuing its strong criticism every day. This situation is between the military and the Allied government-]

Beep-

Seo Jin turned off the radio.

Then, the silence that filled the surroundings as if it had been waiting.
The scenery of the one-room apartment where he was alone was quiet like this.

A small apartment on the outskirts of the city obtained as a veteran benefit from the Allied Forces. It was the house where Seo Jin was staying now. It wasn’t very spacious. It was just the right size for about two people to live in.

To him, who was alone, it sometimes felt somewhat desolate.

Seo Jin got up from the bed.
He opened the refrigerator, took out a small bottle of water, and sat down at the small table.

When he rummaged through the paper bag in one corner, half-eaten pieces of bread came out.
He put on the coffee pot and first tore off and ate the slightly soggy bread.
That was today’s breakfast.

Waking up late in the morning. It was a not very familiar lifestyle.
In fact, he would usually be at the shop by this time.
Even if there weren’t many customers, there were many things to do by organizing and preparing this and that. It was a shop that he had obtained because he needed a job rather than income.

But now Seo Jin had lost even that.

He didn’t particularly regret it.

It was just that he had a lot of time left over,
So he was just looking out the window of his room like this.

Before he knew it, raindrops began to fall here and there outside the window.

Then it quickly poured down in full force.

Seo Jin was blankly watching that sight.

The sound of rain hitting the window.

A time where he only occasionally lifted the half-cooled mug.

At the edge of his slowly moving gaze, a small frame placed on one corner of the table caught his eye. He suddenly stopped breathing.

Inside the palm-sized photo, two people were smiling.

One was himself.
It was awkward and faint, but the expression on his face contained there was definitely a smile.

The other one was Arcel.
She was sticking right next to Seo Jin and was smiling much brighter.

Seo Jin inadvertently reached out his hand.

He looked at Arcel in the frame like that for a while.

This was the only one left of the photos he had taken with her.

The places where the two of them had been together were mostly battlefields. He had taken a few pictures, but they had disappeared or become unusable in the midst of this and that chaos, and he had barely kept just one.

That was fortunate, but it was also something he regretted.

Seo Jin turned his head and looked out the window.

The sound of rain still hadn’t stopped.

Naturally, things from the past came to his mind.

Back when he was on the battlefield, he hated rainy days so much.
The garrison would immediately turn into mud, and his combat boots would turn into water tanks full of water.

Furthermore, the attacks of mutant species didn’t care about the weather, so he had no choice but to be on guard as usual even in that state.

Because of that, all of Seo Jin’s comrades hated rainy days just the same.
They were just busy cringing at the moldy smell coming from the raincoats they were wearing.

But there was someone who didn’t show it no matter how difficult it was.

One person who always shone brightly with positivity even in the mud.
No matter how bad the weather was, she was someone who used to show a smile that would make him forget even the fatigue with a cup of warm coffee.

Seo Jin was just blankly watching the photo that contained that beauty as it was. For a long time like that.

How much time had passed, before a heavy sigh flowed out.

“Hooo….”

And the moment he tried to put the frame back in its place, a terrible pain climbed up Seo Jin’s shoulder.

“!!!”

Pain that felt like it was piercing his bones.
It was the familiar pain of infection that came periodically.

Because of that, he dropped the frame. But he didn’t even think about picking up the one that had fallen and shattered. He just pressed his head against the table and groaned heavily for a long time.
The pain gradually subsided at last.

Seo Jin then raised his head with his face dripping with cold sweat.

When he rolled up his sleeves with a trembling hand, he saw the stain that had now completely covered his shoulder. It was already spreading to around his chest. It hurt more and more as the days went by that much. Even the effects of the suppressor were no longer working properly.

Now, he only thought that it wasn’t far away.

Seo Jin rested on the table for a while, panting heavily.

After the pain had subsided a little more, he belatedly raised his body.

He slowly stretched out his hand and picked up the frame that had fallen on the floor again.

One corner of the glass was broken.

But…. Fortunately, the photo itself was intact.

Seo Jin carefully took the photo out of the frame.

He put it on the table and got up from his seat.

He opened the cabinet in the kitchen and began to grope for something with only his left hand.

Soon, he took out something that caught on his finger.

A stainless steel case with a black label. The size was small. When he carefully opened the case, which was about the size of an ordinary lighter, there was only one pill about the size of a pinky nail.

Seo Jin looked down at it with a calm gaze.

In the case where a human is infected with the Hexa Virus,
It was common for ordinary people to just get sick and die.

But the case of ability users is a little different.

The strong body of a psychic could withstand the mutation caused by the infection, and the Hexa Virus could also change not only the body but also the mind and magic of the host.

As a result, the infected psychic is reborn as a higher-ranking mutant species.
They lose their previous personality and become hostile to humanity.

Therefore, this pill was originally supplied only to the Allied Forces’ combat ability users, the Aegis.

After all, there was no way to cure the Hexa Virus infection.

There was only a suppressant that only slowed down the progression.

But in the battlefield, even that emergency measure was impossible. They were given a suicide capsule that told them to choose a comfortable end rather than slowly feeling their mind collapsing and transforming into an infected body in pain.

It guarantees that much of a quick and comfortable death.

It originally belonged to Arcel. This was a drug that was only given to combat ability users. Seo Jin had accidentally found it while cleaning up her belongings.

But…. he thought that there might be a time when he would use it.

Seo Jin silently looked at the pill placed on the palm of his hand.

Now, the time allowed to him was only a handful.

The game was already over.

Now that he had fixed the twisted future, there were no more duties or responsibilities for him.

All that was left was a painful postponement no matter how much he endured.

So rather…