ICWDS 12

Chapter 12

Special Treatment

The relationship between the Bureau and the military was a cooperative one. Even though they belonged to different branches, they were practically family under the same roof.

That was why this ‘Special Treatment’ was also supposed to be conducted on active-duty soldiers.

I had assumed everything was discussed and sorted out beforehand, but…

“Are you telling me to use such an unproven treatment on our troops?!”

“It is not unproven. It is executed under the supervision of specialized medical staff and has already completed clinical trials.”

Kang Cheong-hwa submitted the medical staff’s expert opinions and case records, arguing for the legitimacy of the ‘Special Treatment.’

“Nonsense! Stabbing a person with a knife to heal them? I’ve never heard of such ridiculous rubbish!”

The commander of the Capital Defense Command Special Reconnaissance Battalion flatly refused.

Thanks to his firm rejection, the scheduled treatments were postponed, and whether the procedure would take place at all had become entirely uncertain.

“I mean, I can understand his point,” I said. “If someone told me they were going to heal me by stabbing me with a blade, I wouldn’t believe them either.”

“We provided objective data and actual treatment videos. For him to refuse so adamantly is a bit strange,” Kang Cheong-hwa replied.

Since the battalion commander had put his foot down, we couldn’t force the treatment onto them either.

“Let’s just grab lunch for now.”

“Ooh, are you buying?”

“I’m using the corporate card.”

The meal Kang Cheong-hwa bought turned out to be Seolleongtang (ox bone soup). To be honest, I had half-expected her to eat something elegant like pasta.

“Since treating the military seems to have gone down the drain, are there any other candidates?”

“Plenty. If we offer free treatment to Hunters, volunteers will line up around the block.”

Well, people would drink lye if it were free.

“For now, we can build up proof by validating it in the civilian sector. Though the numbers won’t be as high as in the military.”

“The military is the one that needs the treatment most urgently, right?”

Kang Cheong-hwa nodded heavy-heartedly. “The reconnaissance battalion tends to be… easily ‘consumed’ on the field.”

Draftees who were dragged into service often couldn’t receive proper treatment and frequently died right on the frontlines. Thinking that I might have been drafted into a reconnaissance unit myself in two years if luck wasn’t on my side, it didn’t feel like someone else’s problem.

If possible, I really wanted to help the soldiers first…

“Soldiers don’t only get treated at military hospitals, right?”

The next day, we headed to a general hospital in Seoul.

“Hello, Specialist Kim Hyeon-cheol. I am Agent Kang Cheong-hwa from the Management Bureau.”

“What brings someone from the Bureau here?”

Specialist Kim Hyeon-cheol.

Admitted to a civilian general hospital instead of a military hospital, his case was a broken leg sustained during a reconnaissance mission inside a Dark Zone.

“First, I would like to extend my deepest condolences for your injuries during your Dark Zone duty. We are deeply grateful for your dedication and hard work, Specialist Kim.”

“Hmph.”

Specialist Kim snorted, but he didn’t seem genuinely displeased. Korean soldiers rarely received even this kind of formal, businesslike gratitude, after all.

“Moving on, I am aware that your reported Karma index is quite high, Specialist Kim. The last reported figure was 5,386. You are cutting it extremely close.”

For Level 0 civilian Hunters, entry into a Dark Zone was barred if their index exceeded 5,000. It was a plausible number to reach after entering, but…

“Who said that? 5,300?”

“…That is the figure reported in the Bureau’s database.”

“That was my index when I entered.”

“Non-awakened individuals are forbidden from entering starting from the 5,000 range.”

“That’s for civilian Hunters. We don’t have those kinds of restrictions.”

Military units measured Karma internally. In principle, entry should have been denied, but it seemed field commanders routinely hand-waved them through.

“Isn’t that illegal? Even if the actual danger threshold starts at 6,000…”

“…”

Kang Cheong-hwa narrowed her brows, but there was clearly nothing she could do. The Ministry of National Defense and the Management Bureau were strictly separate entities, and when it came to rank among government agencies, the Ministry of Defense sat far, far higher.

“Regardless, the reason I came to see you today, Specialist Kim, is to offer a ‘Special Treatment’ discovered by the Bureau.”

“Special Treatment?”

Kang Cheong-hwa began explaining the ‘Special Treatment’ performed through me. Specialist Kim was horrified at first, but after seeing the video footage starring Kang Cheong-hwa herself and her visibly plummeted Karma index, he seemed convinced.

“Whoa… You’re saying a single stab dropped over 20,000 points of Karma?!”

“It does have the drawback of needing to be stabbed near the heart area, though. For civilians, the efficiency drops slightly, but we recommend other safe regions.”

The outer collarbone, outer thigh, or around the biceps and triceps. These were the spots recommended by professional medical staff for ordinary people.

“Ugh… I won’t be able to use that arm for a while, right?”

“Recovery is expected to take about four to six weeks.”

“Then… I’ll get to stay hospitalized for that long?”

“That would be the case, yes. Are you anxious to return to your unit quickly?”

At those words, Specialist Kim violently waved his hands in denial.

“Are you crazy? Why would I want to go back there?! They’d just shove me right back into another Gate!”

Smiling brightly at what was essentially a legally approved vacation, Specialist Kim suddenly asked with an anxious look on his face:

“Is the medical bill… covered by insurance?”

Kang Cheong-hwa shook her head. “Because this is an outsourced special treatment via the Bureau, insurance does not apply.”

“Ah…”

“However, the Bureau will cover the full cost of the treatment.”

“Even the medical expenses?! For real? My unit told me they couldn’t give me a single cent because I went to a civilian hospital.”

Hearing that, Kang Cheong-hwa stated the price of the treatment.

“We would appreciate it if you could introduce this to your fellow unit members. There must be many in your battalion, right? Those whose Karma indices have climbed into dangerous territory.”

If they couldn’t treat them inside the military base, then bringing the soldiers out of the base was all it took.

Promoting the treatment by promising free procedures to the reconnaissance troops was my idea.

Just because they were soldiers didn’t mean they were forbidden from receiving civilian treatment, so as long as the financial problem was solved, wouldn’t they gladly accept the ‘Special Treatment’ without being blocked by their superiors?

The idea was a resounding success.

“I heard about it from Specialist Kim! Does it really strip away your Karma index all at once?”

“If you’re anxious, how about receiving treatment in a relatively less burdensome area? It purifies less Karma, but it’s much safer.”

“Mine was close to 6,000, but I heard it dropped straight down to 3,000 in one go! That alone is a blessing!”

Reconnaissance battalion members who came out in groups for treatment received my ‘Special Treatment’ and were admitted to the hospital one after another. Naturally, the Bureau covered all the costs.

“Wow~ I treated 20 people and absorbed over 60,000 Karma! Heok-ro, is it tasty?”

【I am currently digesting, so do not talk to me.】

“He says he’s full.”

“Are you alright?” Kang Cheong-hwa asked.

“With what?”

“The medical expenses. You’re paying for it out of your own pocket.”

In truth, the medical expenses were being paid to the soldiers by converting the service fees the Bureau was supposed to pay me. Since creating a new budget line within the Bureau and getting Director-level approval involved a complicated procedure, I just told them to use my money instead.

“It’s to help soldiers anyway. I can eat and live well enough without that money.”

Above all, free support was mandatory if we wanted the soldiers to get treated in the first place. These were people making a monthly salary of 800,000 won, plus a measly 1,000,000 won in Dark Zone hazard pay. To get my ‘Special Treatment,’ they would have had to reach out to their families for money otherwise.

“Heok-ro gets a full stomach, my magic power increases, and the soldiers get a little medical care.”

No matter how I looked at it, it was a win-win for everyone.

“…”

Kang Cheong-hwa stared at me in silence for a moment, then let out a soft smile and patted my head.

“I’ll file a petition to have your expenses reimbursed.”

“You really don’t have to…”

“You should never do good work for free. People will start taking it for granted next time.”

It was right then. Just as we stepped out of the 23rd patient’s ward, a group of soldiers came marching down the hospital hallway.

“Huh? That ahjussi…”

It was the very battalion commander who had shut us down when we first visited the Reconnaissance Battalion.

Was his name Colonel Jo Yang-gi?

The moment Colonel Jo spotted us, his eyes flared fiercely, and he roared so loudly that the veins on his neck bulged.

“YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!!”

Colonel Jo’s roar echoed thunderously through the hallway.

Thump! Thump! The unusually heavy sound of combat boots stomped closer.

Stopping right in front of us with a beet-red face, he jabbed his finger right at me.

“Colonel Jo Yang-gi,” Kang Cheong-hwa greeted neutrally.

“HEY! IT’S YOU, ISN’T IT?!”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Seducing the kids into taking some ‘special treatment’ bullshit! You bastards pulled a fast one behind my back!”

It wasn’t just Colonel Jo. Behind him was a whole entourage—majors, captains, lieutenants, warrant officers, master sergeants… He had brought a diverse crowd to create an intimidating atmosphere.

However, Kang Cheong-hwa—possessor of a freaking Gatling-cannon arm—didn’t shrink back in the slightest. The military guys had pea-shooters at best; there was zero reason for a beam-cannon-firing agent like her to feel intimidated.

“We merely provided medical care to servicemen of the Armed Forces who formally applied for civilian treatment.”

“YOU CALL THAT DOGSHIT TRICKERY A ‘TREATMENT’?! I EXPLICITLY SAID NO!”

“Deciding whether to receive treatment outside military facilities is the right of the individual serviceman. As for the official medical referral documents, we received them through proper channels.”

She was referring to the Special Treatment Ward under the Management Bureau. Normally, it was used for trauma caused by demonic relics, cellular regeneration for damaged organs, Karma care, and so on. Because of its astronomical costs, only high-level Hunters could barely afford it.

I was registered as an outsourced specialist in the field of ‘Karma Care.’ Since it was a department dealing with specialized forces like magic power and relics, as long as it proved effective, it was legally recognized.

“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU’VE DONE?! YOU’VE PUT NATIONAL SECURITY IN JEOPARDY!!”

At those words, I tilted my head in confusion.

How on earth did treating soldiers endanger national security?

“Ahjussi,” I spoke up. “What are you talking about?”

“Ahjussi?! Are you talking to ME right now?!”

“What an unmannered brat! Where on earth did you learn such atrocious manners?!”

“This is why these Bureau bastards… Can’t you manage your employees properly?!”

The moment the Colonel barked out a line, the peanut gallery behind him chimed in like a chorus. Are they competing in a loyalty contest or something?

“I’m not a Bureau employee though? I’m a civilian.”

“What?”

As soon as I revealed I was a civilian, the soldiers flinched. The guy called a battalion commander had just started cursing at a civilian right off the bat, after all.

“A civilian…?”

Colonel Jo paused for a brief second, but his fury didn’t seem to cool down. In fact, he looked like he might drop dead of a stroke any second. They say there’s no medicine for a rage-induced illness.

“Ahjussi, but what’s all this about national security?”

“Do you know how many personnel you’ve snatched away under the guise of ‘treatment’?! TWENTY-TWO MEN! HUH?! Don’t you know that losing twenty-two men from the Reconnaissance Battalion creates a massive gap in Gate operations?!”

Is that so? But is losing a mere twenty-two people really enough to derail their operations?

“So you refused the treatment because hospitalizing them would prevent them from being deployed to Gates?” Kang Cheong-hwa deduced.

“Ei~ Noona, that can’t be it,” I interjected, calming down her wild speculation. “Human lives are on the line! Would anyone really deny medical treatment just to force them into a Gate? Who could possibly be such a scumbag?”

Refusing treatment to keep them from being hospitalized, even when their Karma indices were dangerously high?

“How could a human being even think like that? Someone like that wouldn’t be a human—they’d be a complete beast.”

“…”

Even as I desperately tried to defend Colonel Jo, for some reason, the veins on his neck began to swell furiously. Is it high blood pressure?

“THE ARMED FORCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA MUST BE WILLING TO STEP ONTO THE FRONTLINES TO PROTECT THE CITIZENS! If a soldier abandons his duty just because some arbitrary numbers are a bit high, WHO WILL DEFEND THE NATION?!”

Huh? What kind of nonsense is this?

“Setting the entry threshold below 5,000 for civilians is for safety—”

“SOLDIERS ARE NOT CIVILIANS! Are you seriously applying regulations made by desk-bound paper-pushers to real soldiers?! Is the patriotic spirit a joke to you?!”

The more I listened, the less sense it made. Add to that the chorus of sycophants barking in agreement behind him, and my head began to spin.

“The Battalion Commander is correct! Don’t you know what military spirit is?! MILITARY SPIRIT!”

“Young people these days are so soft! Back in our day, we had the grit and willpower to carry out orders no matter what!”

【Let us kill them! Blood! I want blood! Let us test if those bastards can still act tough after bleeding out!】

Quiet, Heok-ro. You just want to drink blood.

“STOP THIS NONSENSE IMMEDIATELY! We will handle the soldiers’ treatment ourselves!”

“We cannot do that. The Bureau is an independent agency that does not take orders from the Ministry of National Defense—”

“YOU DAMN COMMIES!”

“Why are we commies all of a sudden?”

“IF YOU THREATEN NATIONAL SECURITY, THAT MAKES YOU A COMMIE! WHAT ELSE?!”

I thought about it long and hard.

No matter how I looked at it, this wasn’t logical.

Intentionally shoving soldiers who were at risk of corrupting straight into Dark Zones? And actively blocking treatments that could lower their Karma index to achieve that?

Gasp!

Realizing a monumental truth, my hands and feet began to tremble violently.

“HE’S A CORRUPTED ONE!!”

“…?”

“???”

Everyone’s eyes snapped to me.

“Ga-on, what are you suddenly talking about…?”

“What benefit would a soldier get from doing something like this?!” I shouted. “Intentionally shoving soldiers with sky-high Karma indices into Dark Zones? IT’S TO INCREASE HIS OWN KIND!”

While higher Karma increased the chances of corruption, a low index didn’t mean the risk was zero! Even someone with a low index could become a Corrupted One!

In other words—the battalion commander, who was actively cultivating Corrupted Ones, WAS A CORRUPTED ONE HIMSELF!

“BATTALION COMMANDER! I WILL SAVE YOU!”

I drew Heok-ro.

Having drunk its fill of soldiers’ blood recently, the blade of Heok-ro gleamed with a terrifyingly crimson light.

“WOAH, WOAH! WHAT IS THIS CRAZY BASTARD DOING?!”

“Ga-on, wait a second!”

“COLONEL! OPEN YOUR EYES!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, I plunged Heok-ro straight into the Corrupted One.

Unfortunately, the treatment-refusing Corrupted One leaped backward, so the blade ended up merely piercing his shoulder.

【HEHEHEHE! BLOOD! IT IS BLOOD!!】

Heok-ro began greedily absorbing Colonel Jo’s blood and Karma. At that, the Corrupted One began screaming hysterically.

“AAAAAGH! Y-YOU CRAZY BASTARD!”

“SHUT UP, YOU DAMN COMMIE! YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW YOUR SICK SCHEME?!”

Trying to turn the proud servicemen of the Republic of Korea into Corrupted Ones to jeopardize national security… If this isn’t a commie, what is?!

“AAAAARGH! SOMEONE GET THIS BASTARD OFF ME!”

The officers behind the Colonel rushed forward to pry me off, but ordinary people had no hope of overpowering an Awakened like me. Driven by a sacred duty to save a soldier of Korea, I refused to let go of Heok-ro until the end—but as bodies piled onto me from all sides, my grip slipped.

Riiiip!

Heok-ro sliced straight through Colonel Jo’s shoulder as I fell backward holding it.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!”

Colonel Jo’s blood and screams sprayed in all directions.

Phew… Still, treatment complete.

“Get in!”

Inside the police station holding cell.

The criminals already inside recoiled in sheer terror the moment they laid eyes on me.

“H-Hey, officer! How could you throw a crazy guy with a knife in here?!”

“Look at all that blood! He’s a psychopath who stabbed someone in broad daylight!”

“Why didn’t you confiscate his knife?!”

Even though I had ended up in a holding cell as a red-handed offender, I had zero regrets.

“I came here after protecting a soldier who protects our country. I did nothing wrong.”

【…】

I truly did not regret it. But that didn’t mean I didn’t feel wronged.

“I AM INNOCENT!”

【Sincerity can be a truly terrifying thing.】