Side Story 4. One heart field day (1)

Deputy Director Kwon Jung-oh of the Rift Phenomenon Management Agency leapt over the construction site safety fence with a movement that belied his 60-plus years. Dust puffed up from the ground where he landed. While waiting for those following a step behind through the entrance, he looked around at the collapsed city.

It was a scene that drew an involuntary sigh no matter how many times one saw it.

This area used to be the Jamsil Station district, with buildings densely packed on both sides of a 10-lane road, but it had been trampled by giant mutated animals during the 4th Great Rift. Even after hunters risked their lives to stop the 4th Great Rift, the city had not yet regained its former appearance.

Under a sky as blue as that day, the area was filled with broken and collapsed building debris. Where sidewalks once were, cracked cement and rotting street trees intertwined to create a desolate landscape.

On one side of the gray ruins stood a temporary memorial for the hunters who lost their lives during the battle. A formal site was planned to be established after the surrounding area was cleaned up.

Kwon Jung-oh looked at the memorial with a bitter expression while smoking a cigarette, then put one hand in his pocket and started walking. His gait, striding across the uneven road, no longer showed any trace of his former judge persona.

"It's a mess even far out. Tsk, those construction companies. How do they build buildings?"

Kwon Jung-oh clicked his tongue and kicked a crumpled car to clear the blocked path. The civil servants following behind, panting over the bumpy road, barely managed to catch up to him in that gap.

"Well, huff, I suppose the design wasn't meant to withstand house-sized mutants stomping on the ground and the shock of hundred-story buildings collapsing... This whole area will need to be completely razed and the roads relaid from scratch."

"...Tch."

The group walked a bit further along the broken road. As they left the downtown area that used to be lined with large shopping centers, an apartment complex came into view. This area too had collapsed like dominoes. The further they got from the battlefield, the more intact buildings they occasionally saw, but the large cracks in the ground directly split by the Great Rift continued on.

The final destination they reached after passing through the collapsed city was the Sports Complex, which had never lost its crowds on weekdays or weekends. Of course, now it was cordoned off by access control lines without even a shadow of a person. This place too had to undergo painful reconstruction as the ground had shaken.

However, from the perspective of the department squeezing out the restoration budget with tears of blood, the Sports Complex was in slightly better condition than other places.

"We were already planning to renovate these old buildings. Haha, we didn't expect to do it all at once like this, of course. It would be meaningful if the hunters could use it one last time before we tear it down."

"Reminds me of the Olympics. We tore up this whole area back then too. Well, considering we built stadiums on rice paddies back then, rebuilding after some mutants wrecked the place is no big deal."

The Seoul city officials accompanying Kwon Jung-oh laughed awkwardly. Though they were approaching middle age themselves, they couldn't remember the '88 Olympics as vividly as Kwon Jung-oh.

They went further inside, following the signs. They toured several venues including the baseball stadium, swimming pool, and some arenas that were once used as concert halls. The neglected grass crumbled under their leather shoes.

After finishing the tour, Kwon Jung-oh folded his arms and raised his head. This would do nicely. It was perfect from the start, a place where they could run around excitedly and break things a little, no, a lot.

It could also be seen as a way to give a boisterous send-off to departed colleagues. But that was a sentiment he would have to keep to himself.

"Good. Let's proceed."

***

"Whoa, I thought we'd skip it this year, but we're actually doing it!"

"Woof! Woof woof!"

"Aila, that's not a good thing."

Ayoung, sitting in the back seat, patted the dog scurrying around on the car seat. Soram in the passenger seat turned around.

"It's a hassle, but it's about time we showed people our training. It's been too quiet since the Great Rift."

"Is that so... It feels like it's never been quiet with how hectic everything's been. Honestly, you two oppas have been all over the internet almost every day until now."

Ayoung pointed her index and middle fingers at the driver's seat and passenger seat respectively. Aila, mistaking it for a charge signal, leapt up with a "Woof!" trying to squeeze between the two seats.

Oops. Soram quickly caught Aila's belly and tossed her back to the rear seat. Tae-un's large hand, which had instantly protected the gear shift, returned to the steering wheel as he continued driving. Ayoung tapped Aila's forehead.

"Lee Aila, you can't jump to the front when oppa is driving. Save your strength, you don't know how much you'll need to use. But Soram oppa, what's with the notice to leave weapons behind? Aren't we doing public training?"

"I don't know. Uncle Shin said he'd finish both the regular briefing and public training in one day, but he didn't give any details."

"Hmm...?"

When leadership changes, the atmosphere of an organization tends to change with it. Director Shin's system was quickly taking root with the enthusiastic support of the headquarters team leaders, but because the person himself was so different from the previous director, sometimes an adjustment period was needed. This was one of those times.

"Ah well, we'll find out when we get there. How much further do we have to go? If it's far, I want to release Aila's summon before she gets carsick."

"It shouldn't be much further, right? About 10 more minutes? Han Tae-un, is that right?"

"Yeah. About that."

"Really? Where are we going?"

"You didn't know? We're going to a place that's very meaningful for you, Ayoung. It's starting to come into view over there."

This time, Ayoung leaned forward between the front seats.

"Ah."

At some point, people had started to disappear from the surroundings, and then the landscape became completely desolate. The car, which had been running smoothly, jolted heavily every now and then. Due to the nature of the Flight Team, they had become so desensitized to the ride quality that they noticed late.

Ayoung laughed awkwardly as she spotted a skyscraper with its waist snapped clean in half among the collapsed buildings.

"This is where the 4th Great Rift happened. Is this our gathering place?"

"No. They told us to go a bit further to the Olympic Park over there."

"I can see why they chose this as the training location. When we do power measurements and such, we end up destroying the surrounding facilities, so I guess it's killing two birds with one stone with the remodeling."

"I think so too..."

"Soram-ah, can you lift the car once?"

"Sure, sure."

The car, enveloped in blue mist, floated up, jumped over a crack, and landed.

After that, the car continued down a road completely devoid of any other vehicles and soon arrived in front of a round stadium. Even in the completely empty surroundings, Tae-un neatly parked the car in a white parking space.

"Oh, there are cameras over there. Looks like we came to the right place."

People holding camcorders captured footage of the three hunters and one dog getting out of the car.

"Hello!"

"Thank you for your hard work."

The remaining person just bowed silently and was about to move inside the stadium when the three members of Team 7 encountered a group of hunters approaching from the opposite direction in a similar fashion. The man with a sensitive expression at the front of the group also gave Team 7 a questioning look.

"Chief Jin."

"Huh? Is Team 2 training today too?"

It was Field Operations Bureau Team 2 Chief Yoo Tae-kyung and his team members.

"It really is Chief Jin! Huh, Team Leader, we're not going up against the Flight Team, are we?"

"...I don't know."

"Did Uncle Shin keep it a secret from Chief Yoo Tae-kyung too?"

"Hmm."

He, who was the closest colleague to Director Shin who had planned today's event, also nodded with a displeased expression.

"Team Leader, for now... it looks like there's a filming crew inside too, shall we go in?"

Teams 2 and 7 moved together into the stadium. And they encountered yet more hunters in succession.

"Team 6?"

"Eeing?"

"Isn't that Ga-eul unnie's team coming out of that entrance?"

What's going on? Why are you coming out from there? Team 3 is here too? The questions and exclamations that erupted each time a team appeared in the baseball stadium continued until all 60 members from Teams 1 to 7 had shown up.

Usually, regular training would be conducted over about two weeks with the seven teams taking turns. Even utilizing this spacious field, they couldn't possibly measure the abilities of 60 high-grade hunters simultaneously.

"What on earth is he thinking..."

–Ah, ah. Is everyone here? Any chiefs with missing team members, raise your hands?

Director Shin's voice flowed through the stadium broadcast. Yoo Tae-kyung folded his arms and bit the corner of his lip, while the members of Team 3, which he used to lead, shouted, "What on earth are you doing up there, you old man?"

–If everyone– is here, then we'll begin now!

Bang! Boom!!!

With the sound of explosions, fireworks burst in the midday sky. Above the murmuring hunters, a banner that had been hanging on the large electronic display board of the baseball stadium unfurled like a scroll.

<1st Rift Phenomenon Management Agency Seoul Headquarters One Heart Field Day>

The true nature of today's schedule, now revealed, fluttered vigorously in the wind.