Chapter 1: World Species Repository
– Wh-What is that?
– Tadadadad! Drinrrr!
– Chul-soo! Everyone, retreat!
– Kwaaang!
– Captain!
‘……’
– My heart is racing! I’m still alive! Move quickly!
– Major, are you with us?
– The counter-terrorism operation has failed.
– Major Han Gang-ho. It’s a miracle. The surgery was successful.
‘……’
– Major Han, I know you’ll refuse again, but I beg you one last time. I really hope you can go.
– Commander, I will go. To the World Species Repository.
‘……’
Han Gang-ho tightly closed his eyes.
The annoying auditory hallucinations.
Two years have passed, yet he repeated that moment in his dreams and intrusive sounds every single day.
“Are you okay?”
The voice of a young woman sitting across from him helped clear Gang-ho’s hallucinations.
“Ah, yes. I’m fine.”
The doctor briefly observed Han Gang-ho’s expression, then nodded.
Shifting her gaze back to the monitor, she spoke.
“I requested consent to review your information, hoping it would aid in diagnosis, prescription, and treatment. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Han Gang-ho simply nodded slightly without a word.
“You’ve been promised special treatment by numerous prestigious universities since you were seventeen. Was there a reason you rejected it all and applied to the Military Academy?”
“……”
Han Gang-ho, who had been looking down, let out a small sigh.
“Dr. Lisa, haven’t I already discussed my symptoms several times? Didn’t we cover everything important?”
“That’s true.”
“But do we really need to go back in time for something unrelated to the incident?”
The attractive blonde physician maintained a gentle expression and quietly looked into Han Gang-ho’s eyes.
“Yes, it’s necessary.”
The doctor’s firm words didn’t provoke any stubbornness from Gang-ho.
“My father was a soldier. He died in the line of duty.”
Gang-ho took out the dog tag hanging around his neck from under his shirt and continued speaking.
“I grew up seeing my father’s uniform and naturally thought I should follow in his footsteps.”
“I see. That’s admirable.”
Dr. Lisa, seemingly sincere, matched her gaze with his and then scrutinized the documents again.
However, there were aspects that were hard to understand, despite his reasoning.
‘Normally, someone with this level of genius would be classified and managed as a national asset, right?’
According to records on Han Gang-ho, he was a renowned scientific genius with an IQ of 180 on national and international levels.
He had even published a formal paper in an international journal while still in high school.
‘Two pieces on mathematical proofs and assembly language search algorithms.’
How could such a genius simply apply for the Military Academy to follow in his father’s footsteps?
Perhaps due to her lack of understanding of Korean culture, Lisa could only tilt her head in confusion.
“You graduated top of your class at the Military Academy, continued accumulating public service, and even became a Major in record time within seven years. The military must have suited you, huh?”
She looked curiously at the very handsome, well-built South Korean man in his early thirties, standing 186 cm tall and weighing 85 kg.
‘By the way, he’s really good-looking.’
Dr. Lisa pushed aside her very personal thoughts and refocused on Han Gang-ho’s subsequent history.
Yet she didn’t mention it.
It seemed the patient might be uncomfortable, so she switched topics.
“I hear you are still just reading disaster manuals these days?”
“… Yes. I have to read something to avoid feeling nauseated.”
Dr. Lisa didn’t question his obsession with reading further.
One could only wonder what his mental state was like, having been poring over a quantity of disaster manuals more extensive than the Bible for over a year.
‘It’s not for fun; if I don’t read something, I end up short of breath and sweating cold.’
Thus, among all those who entered the World Species Repository, he was likely the only one to have read the disaster manuals provided in traditional book format.
Dr. Lisa examined Han Gang-ho’s past symptoms, prescription history, and recovery metrics, concluding the consultation.
“For now, since there won’t be any accidents or crimes here, think of it as a healing period and try to relax.”
“I’m doing that because you mentioned it before.”
The physician smiled brightly.
Then she entered notes from the consultation and scheduled the next appointment.
“Is there anything else I should know? Any new symptoms or difficulties?”
As always, it was the last addition to her questioning, and Gang-ho hesitated before saying anything.
“… No, nothing.”
The doctor didn’t forget her last reminder.
“Consciously think positive thoughts and meditate regularly. Make sure to get enough sleep.”
“Sure. I’ll see you next time.”
Han Gang-ho left the consultation room, expressing gratitude for her sincere advice.
Dr. Lisa pondered as she watched the back of the man walking away.
‘He’s not jolly or cheerful, but he’s not introverted either.’
There was no sign of the common depression seen in PTSD patients.
He exhibited calmness and cynicism, but that was a trait arising from his inherent intellectual superiority.
People like Han Gang-ho, who possess a solid self-esteem and logical reasoning in their self-awareness, usually don’t suffer from panic disorders.
Of course, he was a special case.
“Well, it’s not surprising that he miraculously recovered after almost dying alone in a massacre.”
She shook her head slightly and returned her gaze to the last document displayed on her monitor.
[Name]: Han Gang-ho.
[Affiliation]: Security Agency / Security Team B
[Position]: Security Officer.
[Personal Information]: …
[History]: …
[Admission Approval]: Recommendation from the Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Korea.
[…]: …
Among various items, a particular sense of sorrow emerged from the item marked as ‘Security Officer.’
In 2050, the World Species Repository represented the pinnacle of human scientific and technological advancement.
Most of those admitted were researchers in science and medicine.
Yet here was a man, once a scientific genius, entering not as a researcher but as a security officer.
Not just any man either—an outstanding soldier who had recently served as a commissioned officer in the Republic of Korea’s Counter-Terrorism Special Forces.
“I really hope he recovers.”
Lisa sincerely wished for him to regain his smile.
Yet a lingering thought suggested it might not be easy.
[Confidential Details]: Injection of special serum / First test subject – Only successful case.
Her gaze remained fixed on the last item.
*
Han Gang-ho sat quietly on a park bench outside the hospital, surveying the surroundings.
It had already been a year since he entered the World Species Repository.
The grand scenery, which was hard to believe belonged to a research facility ten floors underground, was still something he was not used to.
It was of an immense scale, almost akin to an underground world.
Huuuu
He held the cigarette in between his fingers and exhaled a long plume of smoke.
“What am I doing here…”
It wasn’t that he lacked motivation for life.
In a situation where he should be dead, he survived miraculously thanks to modern medicine and the benefits of science, and his body was even in better shape after recovery.
Of course, it was a privilege unavailable to ordinary individuals.
The government highly valued his contributions to national and world peace, saving and treating him with their utmost efforts.
– Thanks to the injection of a special serum, his basic bodily functions have actually improved.
– Nano chips have been implanted in his brain and heart.
– We’ve observed an unprecedented perfect tissue integration rate, which is very encouraging.
– Rehabilitation programs will be conducted by research personnel, not the military.
At that time, the attending physician explained the surgery and recovery process, emphasizing that cooperation was not optional but essential.
He had no reason to refuse.
He was simply grateful.
Still, despite that, Han Gang-ho was undergoing a tedious lawsuit against the state.
– Information Disclosure Lawsuit.
The reason was simple.
He needed to know how all the teammates who had retreated before him ended up dead.
He felt that doing this might ease his guilt, even just a little, allowing him to continue living.
To achieve this, there was one thing he absolutely needed to uncover.
‘The identity of that monster, that undead-like being.’
After his recovery, the first thing Han Gang-ho looked into was the records of the incident.
Everyone inside the building had perished—hostages and terrorists alike.
Yet there wasn’t a single line about the abnormal organism.
‘I didn’t misinterpret it.’
Nor had he dreamt it.
But he could tell no one.
This would only lead to further psychiatric treatment for hallucinations piled atop auditory delusions.
So he remained silent.
‘Even now, two years later, I haven’t heard a single story about zombies appearing anywhere.’
He felt a strong suspicion that something was being intentionally concealed and quietly began to investigate.
‘Terrorists invaded the research facility of the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, Invasion. What could they be after?’
That was where his inquiry initiated.
And then,
‘The genetic research institute established by Invasion and the World Species Repository, its primary investment partner.’
He had uncovered several connections.
To dig deeper, he decided to accept the many repeated offers to enter the World Species Repository, which he had previously declined.
However, not long after, he received news of the death of Commander Park Chung-sik, who had admitted him.
‘He was like a father to me…’
It was a significant shock.
Then he realized.
‘People are bound to get hurt. This should have stopped.’
If those who lived to uncover the truth about everyone’s death had to die, would that truly be justice?
He couldn’t find the confidence to answer that.
So he stopped and lost his purpose.
Perhaps that was why, ever since that day, Han Gang-ho had been incessantly questioning, ‘Why do I live?’
Huuuuuu
As if to shake off his troubled thoughts, he took a deep drag from the cigarette and exhaled again.
Krurururur.
“……?!”
Suddenly startled by a trauma-like sound behind him, he jumped up and whipped around.
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