Former Agent’s Attitude to Dealing with the End - Chapter 122



Only Noblemtl

Episode 122

If you work on this floor for a long time, you will be able to smell smells that the average person doesn’t know about.

The smell of blood.

No matter how hard you try to erase it, there is a unique smell of blood that never goes away, as if it were imprinted on your soul.

Of course, that number was one in ten, and even if you encountered one, you could just avoid it quickly.

Because anyone who smells blood enough to be noticed is usually crazy or going crazy.

But there was one time when I broke that unwritten rule, and that was with MMS.

Is it simply because the opponent’s skill is better?

Keep your identity well hidden?

No, not all of them.

Because they are all fucking assholes who reek of blood the moment you meet them.

A swarm of maggots, dirty, ugly, and disgusting enough to make you feel sick.

It was to the point where even now that I’ve retired, whenever I think about them, I feel unpleasant.

But I never thought I would hear that name again at this time when the world was on the brink of destruction.

That too, with the shockingly surprising news that I had already encountered.

‘purpose.’

At the time, those who were disguised as the National Intelligence Service were after Kim Jang-mi’s life and vaccine samples.

If the purpose was to steal technology or assassinate a key figure, the motive or reason can easily be guessed.

However, the problem was that the skills of those deployed to the scene were far from being enough for MMS.

In particular, I didn’t feel any sense of presence or experience, to the point where I could only notice a slight sense of disconnect.

At this point, a question arises.

Why did MMS, which used to hang on until it worked once, move so sloppily?

Why on earth did we come all the way to this distant foreign country and waste our manpower for nothing?

No matter how many questions I asked and answered, none of them were easy to understand.

Squeak, squeak!

While I was lost in thought for a while, the back of my hand suddenly became wet from a warm object.

When I came to my senses, Coco, who had been eating food for a long time, was repeatedly patting the back of my hand.

While the boy was filling his hungry stomach, he blinked his large eyes, perhaps worried about his master.

“Aren’t you frustrated?”

Hehe!

No matter how well-trained hunting dogs Coco and Volvo are, they are just animals to others.

Due to quarantine and safety issues, we couldn’t go all the way to the cabin, so we ended up building a house out of a large cardboard box and taking up one side of the cruise ship parking lot.

Still, perhaps because they were together, Coco and Volvo were adapting better than expected.

Growl!

“Right, good.”

I filled the water bowl with clean drinking water and played with the two guys for a while.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the innocent sight of him playing and wagging his tail.

Cheek!

At that moment, the radio suddenly rang and Private Lee Hyeon-su communicated in a sleepy voice.

[Brother~ Where are you?]

“I came to see the dogs for a bit.”

[They said on the broadcast that it was meal time.]

“I’ll be there shortly.”

After waking up early in the morning, exercising, and feeding the dog, it’s already time for breakfast.

After a sad farewell to the two guys, I left the dark parking lot and climbed the stairs.

Squeak, clank!

Please move to B-2!

Since it is a cruise ship with a large number of passengers, one meal must be prepared for several hundred people.

The hallways were crowded with employees milling about, and the smell of delicious food wafted from one side.

As we followed the smell, we soon came across a restaurant distributing food along with a long waiting line.

“Daesu, come here!”

Families and friends who had had a good night’s rest were waving happily from one side of the line.

I walked towards them with steady steps, naturally joining them and giving them a light morning greeting.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Hehe, it’s completely different from a bus.”

“The blanket was soft.”

Compared to the bus floor I had been sitting on, the economy class seats on a cruise were like a suite.

Everyone had bright complexions and expressions, as if they were all in top condition when they woke up.

“By the way, there are quite a lot of people.”

“I know.”

I didn’t realize it when I was at the hotel, but when I looked at the people in line, there were more people than I thought.

They all seemed to be economy class passengers, but they seemed to have been hungry since yesterday and were just waiting for their food to be served.

While waiting like that for a long time, suddenly a loud noise was heard from in front.

“No, how can I live on just this!”

“Give me a little more!”

I looked out and saw a middle-aged couple holding trays arguing with an employee.

The gist of the argument is that the food is poor quality and not filling enough.

As expected, the plates the middle-aged couple were holding contained very little food.

One small morning bun.

One strawberry jam.

And one boiled egg.

It was an amount that did not even reach the daily calorie intake that an adult should have, let alone satiety.

If I were there, I would probably ask if that’s all there is to eat.

But the restaurant staff, who had been serving food for a while, answered curtly, waving their tongs.

“There’s a set amount per person, so what do you want me to do? If you don’t want to eat it, just leave it.”

“No, it’s not that I don’t want to eat it… … .”

“next!”

The passengers, including the middle-aged couple, were left dumbfounded by the extremely insincere attitude.

No matter how special the situation was, the employees’ response was so unexpected.

The only ones who were relatively unperturbed here were the people I had told them about in advance.

“I expected it, but it’s a bit much.”

“Isn’t today the first day?”

“There were signs, you know.”

Because of the circular supply, electricity and water are only available at certain times.

In addition, each person had to go and get a set amount of drinking water.

Does that mean the water tastes good?

No, it was water that had a strong artificial chemical smell, as if it had been stored for a long time.

In addition, with the distribution in this state, it was impossible not to suspect a shortage of supplies.

“Are these guys joking around?”

“I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday!”

But we were the only ones who noticed it, not the other passengers.

For those who had been waiting for the cruise, this was a betrayal and an insult.

Naturally, the passengers who came in later started to raise their voices.

“Let’s go back.”

Since it has touched one of the three basic human desires, appetite, it is impossible to get away with it.

I left the place with my group as the atmosphere on the scene became increasingly tense.

The commotion in the restaurant then got worse as an argument broke out with swearing.

Nothing has changed.

Survival was still a work in progress.

* * *

Consumers who purchase goods have the right to demand service and quality commensurate with the price.

This also applies to economy class passengers who had a hard time getting tickets to Jeju Island.

No matter how difficult the situation is, shouldn’t we at least guarantee a minimum level of food, clothing, and shelter?

No, if that was difficult, it would have been a natural reaction to at least give a valid reason.

‘It’s difficult due to stability issues.’

‘For security reasons, we cannot tell you.’

But the staff ignored the passengers’ complaints and just repeated the same thing like parrots.

The consistent reason was that we did as we were told from above and there was no point in doing more.

Naturally, the emotional rift was bound to deepen, and fights occurred three to four times a day.

The perpetrator is actually someone else, but the victims are fighting each other, saying it’s their fault.

The atmosphere in the economy class, both inside and outside, was getting worse and worse.

‘Just a little longer, just a little longer.’

But even in the midst of hardship, people desperately held on to the last line.

I’ve suffered so much to get here, so I can’t stand it for just a few more days.

Now, the hope of Jeju Island was the last line of defense that could sustain the harsh environment.

After three days of such tension, the next morning finally arrived after much patience.

Ding dong!

[Hello, passengers. For your comfort and safety, we would like to make a brief announcement. Our ship, which you are currently on, is scheduled to arrive in one hour. The ship may rock, so please remain in your seats.]

An announcement to announce the arrival of the ship was made over the speakers, accompanied by a loud alarm sound.

My companions and I, who were tidying up the bedding, stared blankly up at the speaker.

“Brother, this… … .”

“Yes, it seems like the first stop.”

Through Park Ki-deok, I found out that this cruise was not a direct flight to Jeju Island, but rather a transit.

This port, which is scheduled to be docked, is likely a transit point to pick up VIPs, not Jeju Island.

The group also heard the news, so they didn’t seem too shaken up.

“Arrived?”

“Honey! Come quickly and stand in line first!”

But the other passengers, who were completely unaware of this fact, were out of their minds from early morning.

It was a mess because everyone was busy packing up their luggage as soon as they heard the announcement.

The economy class aisle was quickly filled with people, and murmurs could be heard here and there.

Everyone had an anxious look on their face, as if they wanted to get off this cruise as soon as possible.

“Mom, when are we getting off?”

“Shh! Just bear with it for a bit.”

But no matter how much time passed, not only would the door not open, not even an announcement could be heard.

As people began to feel uneasy, the murmur gradually turned into screams.

By then, about 10 minutes had passed the promised hour.

“Is this really Jeju Island?”

A man who happened to be looking out the window among the crowd cautiously asked a question.

Because the surroundings were so quiet, the mumbling quickly spread along with the feeling of anxiety.

“What does that mean?”

“No, it doesn’t look like a passenger terminal to anyone. Is this your first time in Jeju Island?”

Certainly, as the man said, this place was a bit lacking in being called a passenger terminal.

All that was visible was a small breakwater and a few fishing boats, not even the usual dock.

Only then did people start running to the narrow windows to look at the scenery outside.

And soon, I witnessed with my own eyes evidence that this was not Jeju Island.

Krug, kruk!

“… … Infected?”

“That’s nonsense.”

In addition, dozens of infected people wearing military uniforms were walking around, dragging their feet.

This was evidence of what had happened to the military unit stationed at this port.

This is not Jeju Island.

No, it shouldn’t be Jeju Island.

People walked away from the windows in shock, covering their mouths and covering their heads.

It felt like the fear of the infected, which I had forgotten for a moment, was coming closer again.

While we were absentmindedly sitting there for a while, the alarm rang again and an announcement was made.

Ding dong!

[We would like to inform passengers on board. We would like to inform you that the originally scheduled transit port arrival schedule has been canceled due to the operating company and local circumstances. We sincerely apologize for this and ask for your generous understanding. Our ship will depart again in 5 minutes.]

They said they had arrived an hour ago, but now they are suddenly notifying us that their schedule has been cancelled.

But what was even more frustrating was that there was a separate schedule that only economy class passengers didn’t know about.

In a situation where things were really too much, those who were holding the line eventually exploded.

“What? Transit? Did you just say transit?”

“What do you want to do now!”

“Hey! You said you were definitely going to Jeju Island!”

“Staff, come out!”

Up until now, I’ve only protested and kept my distance, but today, I’m feeling real anger boiling inside.

People were shouting and pushing open the door at the end of the hallway.

“You can’t do that!”

“Don’t push!”

The surprised employees rushed to the door and started to stop the crowd.

Then, a fight broke out and the sounds of crying children and shouting could be heard from all over.

“Shh, this way.”

But my companions and I took a step back and watched the situation calmly.

“Can you see anything?”

“No, I only see infected people.”

“Just looking at this, it looks like it failed.”

Judging by the number of infected people roaming around, the stationed unit has already been annihilated.

Of course, VIP pickups went across the water, and even good ports disappeared from the map.

But all of this was nothing compared to the aftermath that followed.

The real problem was the lack of fuel and supplies that were received every time they entered port.

“But if we can’t distribute it here either… … .”

“It’s chaos.”

Even if you eat and drink, if you run out of fuel, the ship will stop.

If future stopovers are like this, cruise operations will become virtually uncertain.

Will it be faster to arrive at Jeju Island, or will it be faster for the ship to run out of fuel and stop?

Even though they pretended not to notice, it seemed like the sighs of the workers could be heard all the way here.

“I want a cigarette.”

I found myself nodding without realizing it as Private Lee Hyeon-su muttered without thinking.

I thought it was a very well-written phrase that encapsulated all of the issues of total chaos and mountains beyond mountains.

Beep!

But at that moment, a whistle was suddenly heard from outside, where there had been a lot of noise.

“What, what is it?”

“What the… … all of a sudden.”

The people and staff who had been arguing at the sound of the tearing sound all stopped and started murmurs.

Usually, these whistles are held by police or security personnel who control the crowd.

But at the source of the sound, a middle-aged man dressed neatly in a suit was standing there.

When attention was drawn to him, he put down the whistle he was holding and reassured the people.

“I apologize for interrupting your conversation. I had to step in before things got any worse. How about calming down first?”

“W-Who are you to tell me what to do? Are you an employee here?”

“No, I’m just an economy class passenger. I’m in the third bunk of room 108.”

People were dumbfounded when they heard that there were no police officers, security guards, or even employees.

Usually, those who come forward in these situations are met with disapproving looks as if they are suddenly being rude.

This was also the case in the present situation, so the gaze towards middle-aged men was not kind.

match!

But he rather gathered attention by clapping his hands as if he was used to this situation.

“I understand. If someone suddenly showed up and told me to calm down, I would have been taken aback. But I am telling you this because I am going through the same difficulties and being in the same situation as you.”

“So what are you trying to say?”

“At least let’s not fight among ourselves. The kids are watching this situation, so let’s not lose at least a little bit of humanity.”

Words appealing for sympathy flowed out smoothly, as if butter had been spread on the tongue.

As the saying goes, there is skill in conversation, and the middle-aged man took the initiative with his eloquence.

The rumbling subsides.

The gaze is focused.

The middle-aged man, who had kept his mouth shut for a moment, soon raised his voice and shouted at the people.

“As you all know, the current airline is completely ignoring our complaints. We clearly paid a fair price for the ticket, but they are not providing us with the service we deserve. How absurd and infuriating this is.”

Behind the empathy, the angry public drew on a common anger that could easily be sympathized with.

At first, people who were wary began to pay more and more attention to what the middle-aged man said.

“But what’s more problematic is that we don’t know how much longer this situation will last. How long should we wait? No, will waiting solve the problem? I absolutely don’t think so.”

He gathered the public’s attention in one place through these three idioms: empathy, appeal, and conclusion.

Even the doubts that should have existed originally naturally disappeared due to the extreme situation.

Because what people ultimately wanted was a solution and someone to take up the mantle.

“There is only one solution now. Let’s form a temporary organizing committee and elect a representative. Let’s make it clear to them that we are also passengers who paid a fair price.”

At that moment, a small applause was heard from among the people who had been quietly listening to the story.

The act spread like wildfire and soon everyone followed suit.

It was the moment when one voice finally emerged from the crowded crowd.

‘smell.’

However, my companions and I stayed far away and quietly observed the situation.

Because, in that kindly smiling face, I smelled a very familiar scent.

The smell of blood.

Coincidentally, there was an indelible smell of blood.