Chapter 200 - Under The Wing of the American Eagle
Chapter 200 – Under The Wing of the American Eagle
– Yoo Jin, when do you think this situation will end?
– Huh…?
– You bring a kid who has never even drunk before, and that’s all you have to say?
– Damn it, this has to end before I can send this kid home or whatever. I’m just bringing it up a bit earlier.
Fragmented memories of the past pass by.
I drank alcohol for the first time. To the point where I literally became unconscious. About fifteen of us, including myself, drank wine until our stomachs were about to burst. The wine, of course, was locally requisitioned from wineries scattered throughout New York.
The cost of the wine we drank that dawn would exceed hundreds of millions of won. There was no other choice. There was no one left to guard the wineries, nor anyone to stop us from taking them. Everyone had succumbed to the virus and the harsh New York winter storm.
So, taking a few bottles of alcohol from a store where no one would ever come again was like paying for the cleanup cost of the garbage scattered all over New York, as my comrades joked. Their words still linger in my ears.
That day was Christmas of my second year in New York, and also the day our squad’s kill count reached exactly 5,000.
– Ugh…
– Haha, damn it. Morrison finally made Yoo Jin cry.
– Hey, take that Petrus bottle from that bastard. Logan, don’t you agree? I respect you, and I will respect whatever choice you make in the future.
– Yes, sir! I’ll take it right away!
– You bastards, give it back! Even what’s left in the wine glass is worth $2,000!
Chaos.
In the hazy memory, Mr. Logan confiscated the entire bottle of wine labeled Chateau Petrus. Morrison resisted desperately, but he couldn’t match the strength of the polar bear. It was a bizarre sight, seeing those thick arms, which seemed capable of tearing a log apart with bare hands, being immobilized by the delicate hands of a woman.
Around that time, I said something. I don’t even remember what I said now, but everyone widened their eyes, and Mr. Logan returned the bottle. Maybe he said it was okay.
Next was the feeling of someone patting my head and back simultaneously. Mr. Logan had come close and comforted me.
The memories jumped repeatedly.
I remember crying, saying I wanted to go home, then pulling myself together, holding my wine-filled belly, and being led to the barracks holding Mr. Logan’s hand. I wasn’t sure, but I vaguely remembered the hallway to the barracks. Something like that.
Honestly, it wasn’t a memory I wanted to recall. At that time, I had poured out all the hardships that had accumulated until then. Mr. Logan, who had been traveling with me, had also, for some mysterious reason, transformed into a woman’s body.
Everyone was struggling to the point of death.
Still, even though it wasn’t a memory I wanted to recall, if it hadn’t been for that moment, I probably wouldn’t have been able to endure. It was evident. We were barely surviving by supporting each other.
Of course,
– Hey, hey! What are you doing!?
– Pillow…
There were several reasons why I didn’t want to remember that time.
That day, I had the most comfortable sleep, but when I found out it was because I had wrapped Mr. Logan like a tail… Well, that’s also why I rarely drink. I never knew what I might do.
As the memory ended, everything turned pitch black. Not just my senses, but even whether I would be able to remember this when I woke up was uncertain. Maybe only a vague longing would remain.
But whatever the case, time flowed.
Everything submerged back into the sea of oblivion.
And then….
“…Mm, sob.”
I barely held back the urge to make a sound.
Golden hair filled my vision, and from the tail wrapped around me came a soft sensation that I should not have been feeling. As I hurriedly unwrapped my tail from Dice’s body, her breathing became noticeably more relaxed.
I glanced at the time on the wall. Around 10 AM. The deadline for all Asian Preliminary Soloing personnel to leave this place was 3 PM, so time wasn’t a major issue, but my head was pounding.
I carefully examined her body as I sat up. I didn’t have much memory of last night. Did I squeeze her too tightly? No, more importantly, how did my habit of hugging my tail like a pillow turn into this mess…
I sighed deeply inside. Fortunately, it seemed there were no serious issues apart from a slight redness where my tail had wrapped around. If I hadn’t controlled my strength, I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself.
Meanwhile, Dice woke up as I rustled around.
“…Ugh, my body…”
“I’m sorry.”
“Oh, you were up….”
She rubbed her eyes groggily. It was impressive how she still covered her mouth while yawning.
Dice was still using my tail like a pillow. Hovering on the boundary between sleep and waking, she murmured while slowly stroking my tail.
“Sleeping in one position… Ugh. What time is it…?”
“It’s 10 AM. Would you like a massage? It might be a bit forward of me to say, but it’s quite effective for relieving fatigue and sore muscles.”
“…I’m okay. Just a glass of water… would be nice.”
Swoosh.
I fetched a bottle of ice-cold water from the fridge and poured a glass for each of us. As the water went down my throat, my dizzy head cleared up a bit. Dice seemed extremely thirsty, drinking another glass immediately after finishing the first.
Afterwards, Dice and I went to the bathroom briefly and then drank chocolate milk from the fridge to settle our stomachs. The sugar seemed to revive Dice as she looked around the now-clean room and commented,
“Someone must have cleaned up while we were in the bathroom.”
“Looks like it.”
“Ah, Yoo Jin is back to normal… It’s kind of disappointing.”
“…Hearing you say that makes me really not want to know what I did yesterday.”
She smirked.
However, someone in front of me seemed to have misunderstood my desire – the words that spilled from her mouth… How should I put it? A repeat of the past? Or a new dark history?
Dice said it was fun to see my human side, but hearing it in detail was incredibly embarrassing. I hope the next time I drink, it goes better than this.
“Ah, Yoo Jin, your face is red. Is it from drinking?”
“…It’s because I’m embarrassed.”
“Heehee.”
It was driving me crazy.
Anyway, that aside, Dice seemed to still be feeling the effects of yesterday, as seven hours of sleep weren’t enough to recover. She kept yawning and then checked the time again before stumbling back to bed.
According to what I’d heard, we had to leave the e-sports arena by 3 PM on Monday. There were still about five hours left. Dice knew this, so she went to recover some more from her fatigue.
She flopped down on the bed and added,
“Yoo Jin, you’re not going to sleep, right?”
“If there’s nothing else to do, I think I’ll rest a bit more too.”
“Then let’s set the alarm for 12… See you later….”
Thud.
With Dice collapsed on the bed, I also sat back down on mine. It creaked, but it wasn’t a big deal. Or maybe it was just me thinking that way – anyway, I once again faced the darkened room.
I closed my eyes. My consciousness sank into the abyss.
Two hours passed in an instant.
This time, the fatigue definitely decreased. I still had a hangover, but drinking some chocolate milk earlier had reduced it significantly. If I had a decent lunch, I would likely recover close to normal condition.
As the alarm blared, I slapped Dice, who was lazing in the blankets. Leaving a remark that I would shower first, I grabbed my shower basket and headed straight for the bathroom. Under the hot water, I washed away all the remnants of yesterday.
After what felt like ten minutes but was actually thirty, I came out much cleaner to find Dice waiting outside the bathroom.
We had a simple conversation.
“I packed everything, including your stuff, Yoo Jin. What do you want for lunch? I heard there’s a good bean sprout soup place nearby.”
“Talking about bean sprout soup while dipping bread in clam chowder to cure a hangover is quite an odd sight.”
“Ah, that’s a discriminatory remark.”
“Then I’ll say you look like you could enjoy raw beef.”
“Heehee.”
When we returned to the room, it was really clean. Except for a few places that caught my eye, it looked as if no one had used it. Apart from the two bags on the bed, that is.
Drying my hair with the air conditioning blowing from the ceiling, I opened the fridge again to quench my thirst. Since Yongsan wasn’t far from home, it didn’t really matter when I left.
Around 1 PM, Dice came back looking much more refreshed.
“Ah, your hair is messy again. Come here!”
“Why? It looks fine as long as it looks okay from the outside.”
“Let me brush it, stop being like that.”
It felt odd.
Anyway, we groomed each other’s hair – although Dice scolded me several times for not doing it properly – and prepared to leave the place we had grown fond of.
At around 1:20, I manipulated the wall pad to erase the names of the two occupants from the roster. With this, the official checkout was complete. Stepping outside, the breeze and sunlight caressed the park.
Unlike the day before yesterday and yesterday, it was a literal park. A place where there was no reason or need for hundreds of thousands of people.
Only the two of us walked through such a place.
“But Yoo Jin, I didn’t mention something.”
“What is it? I’ll overlook something strange once.”
“The bean sprout soup place is 1 km away.”
“Oh dear.”
That was a typical Dice mistake.
Still, since it was the last day, I decided to let it slide and quickened my steps.
Thus ended the Asian Preliminary Soloing, which had begun with millions of people.
Quietly, peacefully, and with just the two of us.
“…Therefore, there are many dubious points in this data, but there is no doubt that it was encrypted through the actual ICARUS Gear algorithm.”
“Dubious?”
“It means there is a lack of certainty or confidence in whether the data is genuine or reliable. It’s questionable whether it can even be called data, as it has repeatedly modified and updated itself into an unknown form after being encrypted.”
Several black vehicles sped down a Korean highway under strict security.
Inside a particularly heavily guarded large vehicle, the U.S. Secretary of Defense was engaged in real-time communication with the U.S., using a soundproof barrier. On the screen, a disheveled individual was responding to her.
Jordan Royden. A senior researcher at DARPA and one of the hundreds who developed the ICARUS Gear and encryption network.
Of course, he wasn’t the only one present. This was a sort of meeting involving DARPA researchers, the Secretary of Defense, and all key personnel.
“For now, there’s no solution at our current level.”
“Unfortunately, that’s the conclusion.”
That was the conclusion. Moreover, Janet had already received numerous classified briefings through a secure line for hours.
Among them was information obtained through Korean HUMINT, indicating that data related to Yoo Jin’s recent activities had been abruptly encrypted over the past two months, and even Korean intelligence agencies had no way to decrypt or resolve it.
The fact that the encryption was done through the ICARUS algorithm was both fortunate and unfortunate. It meant that without the proper method, it would remain undeciphered for at least decades.
Moreover, the establishment of all networks, algorithms, and infrastructure related to ICARUS at the time had cost billions of dollars. It was practically impossible to expect anything from the simple algorithm copies that some former researchers had made in their spare time.
Besides, there was no need to go out of their way to decrypt it.
The fact that the file was encrypted meant that even if Yoo Jin faced military service controversies in the future, it could be handled without major issues. Encrypted secrets tend to lend a certain trust to the general public, regardless of their content.
But…
‘Nevertheless, the ICARUS Gear itself is close to revolutionary technology.’
The right to use the ICARUS Gear that could be obtained through cooperation with Yoo Jin. At this point, the ownership was entirely hers, making it virtually impossible to transfer it to the U.S. How much the data in the gear could contribute to the U.S. wasn’t the main issue.
Even if it didn’t have to be opened, it was a Pandora’s box that had to be opened.
Ending the meeting, she opened another communication channel.
“Proceed as planned. Do not consider halting the plan.”
“Understood.”
Janet G. Harper.
She was someone who pursued what she could do within her position with unparalleled drive.
With the communication cut, a memory of Yoo Jin flashed through her mind.
Soon, Yoo Jin would realize that America was watching over her.