RTN 52

Chapter 52

I wanted to go.

I wanted to go like crazy. Right now, I was scraping together trashy remnants with my own money just to keep my research going, but if I joined Baek Ihyun’s battalion, I could see and touch all kinds of fresh samples and rare materials that couldn’t be obtained anywhere else, right before my eyes.

Yet, the reason I restrained the urge to nod immediately was because the matter involved the lives of many people.

I couldn’t decide alone. Baek Ihyun didn’t just want Jang Seok-joo—he wanted the whole team.

Should I go alone? But it’s the front line. Am I really such a coward that I’m desperate not to die like this?

Startled by my own greed, which even I hadn’t realized, Jang Seok-joo lost his bearings. Then someone spoke—a rookie who had delivered a car to Baek Ihyun.

“What’s guaranteed?”

It was a question no one dared to ask. Even covering for someone leaving the mission zone was already a generous act.

In a situation where it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I had used up all the luck I’d ever have in my life, the rookie’s question felt irreverent.

But Baek Ihyun was different from other heads of clans. With a face almost bored but marked by tolerance, he replied:

“What do you want?”

“I heard the 207th can even bring the dead back to life.”

“That’s not true.”

Baek Ihyun leaned back against the chair. He spoke calmly:

“Why do such ridiculous rumors circulate?”

Because your actions are ridiculous, I barely swallowed the words.

Even Jang Seok-joo half-believed the absurd rumor that the 207th Special Mission Battalion, led by Baek Ihyun, had evolved so far it could even revive dead soldiers through some secret art.

“There’s no such dreamlike technique. I’ve lost many troops in the battalion myself. So I cannot promise to bring anyone back to life, even falsely.”

Jang Seok-joo was secretly disappointed. Even if everyone had gone crazy in this long war and blown hope out of proportion, he had hoped this rumor would at least be a false truth.

If Baek Ihyun’s battalion fell, the allies were finished. Even the arrogant emperor in the capital must surely have poured water each night to pray for Baek Ihyun’s safety, Jang Seok-joo believed without doubt.

“I’ve emphasized this several times: our battalion carries out the most dangerous missions on the front line. The rumor about bringing back the dead is pure fiction.”

Crushing the hopes that the researchers had been chattering about all night, Baek Ihyun continued.

“Do you desire anything besides life? I’ll meet the conditions. Budget or manpower is no problem. The best supplies are prioritized for our battalion—things like optical camouflage suits, high-mobility power suits, low-noise nano drones.”

Baek Ihyun then listed several more pieces of cutting-edge equipment that Jang Seok-joo had only heard of by name. It wasn’t just a list; it felt as though he wanted to give everything he could.

It was strange. Compared to June, who once blew up a satellite just because someone didn’t properly pay tribute, or Hoyeon, who acted recklessly relying on the clan’s power and drew criticism even from minor branches, Baek Ihyun’s temperament was truly a mutation.

Looking back now, he was exceptional even without the clan name.

He had the kind of long-cultivated generosity that even a young war hero rarely possesses.

Thinking that it would be great to serve under someone like this, Jang Seok-joo quickly pulled himself together.

Even Baek Ihyun could not prevent death from scattering like cherry blossoms in spring.

“These material things are all I can promise.”

When Baek Ihyun concluded, Jang Seok-joo set aside his greed and judged as the leader of the team.

He could not abandon the team that trusted him to follow him to the battlefield, nor could he lead them all into danger. Research could only continue if they survived.

As he was about to politely refuse, Baek Ihyun spoke again.

“One more thing. As a commander, I cannot control death, but I can choose sacrifices. I cannot guarantee your safety on the battlefield, but if strategic sacrifice is inevitable, I will take responsibility.”

Jang Seok-joo looked at Baek Ihyun.

His calm face seemed to shine back at him. The elegant composure, like a dried flower settled without collapse, was as neatly preserved as an heirloom.

A strange person, he thought. Was it necessary to exceed the average in both skill and character to overwhelmingly lead victories in this hellish war?

Beyond Baek Ihyun, Jang Seok-joo could see the researchers looking at one another. Hesitation and fervor mingled in their eyes, ultimately pooling on Jang Seok-joo.

He observed the heated expressions of the researchers awaiting his decision. He heard Baek Ihyun’s voice and his dry, resolute answer.

“That is the best I can promise.”

Three days later, Jang Seok-joo’s research team was transferred to Baek Ihyun’s battalion.

Baek Ihyun’s claim that he couldn’t guarantee life was an understatement. Though deployed on the front lines, his battalion was far safer than the haphazard rear.

Thus, Jang Seok-joo quickly forgot what Baek Ihyun had first said when offering the transfer.

The natural warning that life could not be promised, and the extraordinary promise that he would personally take any necessary sacrifice, faded from mind while living and eating within the fortress-like battalion.

But when Baek Ihyun said in a meeting that he would personally mark the Phantom, Jang Seok-joo recalled the old promise.

Baek Ihyun’s words: if a moment came when death was necessary, he would take the lead. That promise was still valid.

He would return alive.

Jang Seok-joo suppressed vague anxiety.

Everything would be fine. It always had been. Baek Ihyun would always perfectly control the situation.

Unable to consider anything else, the situation unfolding before his eyes seemed unreal.

Inside the track, no one among those gathered to lure the Phantom dared speak. There was no chance to.

All they could do was helplessly watch through the window as the Phantom’s eyes opened wide, and even faster, two black wings rose smoothly from Baek Ihyun’s shoulders.

The metallic wings instantly curved around the Phantom and Seol Ah-yeon, then Baek Ihyun, forming a huge sphere that stopped in an instant.

“What happened?”

Suddenly grabbed by the collar, Jang Seok-joo swallowed hard. It was the operations officer, gripping his collar with a pale, frantic face.

“What happened?!”

Jang Seok-joo looked past the stiff shoulders at the huge black sphere covered in feathers and spoke:

“The battalion commander stopped the Phantom. He pierced Seol Ah-yeon with his sword—”

“Who doesn’t know that?”

“He used Seol Ah-yeon as a focal point.”

The grip on Jang Seok-joo loosened slightly.

“He pierced Seol Ah-yeon and the Phantom with the sword to merge them, then twisted space. That’s why it’s okay for us to see the Phantom.”

Jang Seok-joo tore the officer’s hand off his collar and said sharply:

“If we wait a little, the Phantom will close its eyes completely. Then we can trap it in the track. We’re safe. It’s safe. We’ll catch the Phantom. There’s no better outcome than this.”

“The battalion commander?”

“The battalion commander…”

All eyes turned to him, making him tense. Jang Seok-joo continued carefully:

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t know?”

“He should have immediately put the Phantom in the track after subduing it with the sword, but I don’t know why he stopped.”

It was truly unknowable. Baek Ihyun seemed determined to die, almost seeking the nightmare deliberately.

If Seol Ah-yeon hadn’t regained composure just before the Phantom’s awakening and shielded him with her body, it could have ended disastrously.

Even as an astral body, the hallucinations unleashed when fully awakened are on another level. A single misstep could have killed Baek Ihyun.

Damn it.

Jang Seok-joo stared out the window past the operations officer’s shoulder. A black sphere made of wings.

How did it come to this?

The plan had completely collapsed. None of the expectations from the meeting matched reality. The moment the Phantom clung to the reconnaissance plane, everything went wrong.

Fine, I could have conceded that part.

Baek Ihyun jumped from the plane, seemed to say something to Seol Ah-yeon, and then restrained her and the Phantom with the sword.

Not just restrained. Light leaked from Seol Ah-yeon’s body, and everyone outside the bright barrier escaped the influence of the nightmare.

She had opened another dimension as a medium.

It was the same principle as twisting spacetime by cracking the focal point. So Seol Ah-yeon would be safe, just as the surface naturally smooths after a scratch.

The problem was what came next.

Why Baek Ihyun stopped and waited there was unknown.

They could have trapped the Phantom immediately with the direct squad’s help, but his delay let the Phantom awaken. It was almost as if he had invited his own death.

“Why did he spread his wings?”

The operations officer demanded. Jang Seok-joo rubbed his face roughly.

“Because the Phantom awakened. Now we don’t care if it awakens, but the battalion commander is experiencing the nightmare along with Seol Ah-yeon. No matter how strong his mind, it won’t hold forever.”

Unlike adult astral forms, the Phantom has a finite nightmare; it will eventually close its eyes again, but they couldn’t just wait. If the Phantom appeared, the enemy would likely strike.

Then there was only one method.

Extract the nightmare quickly, end the awakening, and trap the Phantom in the track.

“That’s why the wings wrapped around it. The nightmare…”

Jang Seok-joo choked, paused, then continued, flushed with heat:

“The nightmare is guided along the curve of the wings to exit faster into another dimension.”

It was his idea. On the first day he met Baek Ihyun, he had excitedly suggested it: instead of just extracting the nightmare outward, open another dimension inside the Phantom to pull it in.

Now he regretted it. For the first time in his life, he regretted giving an opinion. He didn’t expect it to come back like this.

“What’s with that expression?”

The operations officer demanded roughly. Jang Seok-joo clenched his teeth and answered:

“When the awakening ends, once all remaining nightmare is pulled, it may take the battalion commander with it.”

“You mean into another dimension?”

“Since the nightmare is being pulled by the wings, the wings will follow at the end. The sword can be released, but the wings are connected to the battalion commander.”

“And Seol Ah-yeon?”

“She’ll remain. She’s the medium.”

“So after the awakening, only the Phantom and Seol Ah-yeon remain, and the battalion commander might disappear?”

“I can’t say for sure.”

“Give me a percentage.”

“More than half.”

The operations officer glared at Jang Seok-joo briefly, then turned to the gathered soldiers:

“Connect to the direct squad and separate the wings immediately!”

It was madness. Jang Seok-joo blocked him.

“If the wings touch the light, they’ll be pulled into another dimension. You’re telling us to commit suicide?”

“Separate them immediately after the awakening. Let the wings be pulled and save only the battalion commander.”

The operations officer argued with bloodshot eyes. Jang Seok-joo ground his teeth:

“How do you time that? Might as well tell me to dodge bullets!”

“Shut up. What are you waiting for? Follow me!”

“You can’t detach the wings anyway! You don’t have the authority!”

“I, as the staff, will go.”

“It’s too late!”

Jang Seok-joo roughly grabbed the back of the operations officer as he tried to leave the track. He shouted at the pale, turning face:

“Just stay! Don’t you understand why the battalion commander only took the direct squad? He wanted to minimize unnecessary sacrifices! This is the best option! If we sacrifice only the battalion commander, we catch the Phantom and end the war! Please—”

Everything went white. He realized he was rolling on the floor, spitting blood from a torn mouth.

The researchers rushed to help, but he swung his arms to push them away.

“Will ending the war be enough?”

The operations officer’s voice cut coldly. Jang Seok-joo gasped and lifted his head. The officer added sharply:

“What about the civil war?”

Jang Seok-joo was speechless. The officer was right. If Baek Ihyun died like this, the war might end, but a civil war would erupt.

But too late was too late. Deploying personnel now would be unnecessary sacrifice. As he rose and tried to grab the officer’s pants as he turned,

“Sir!”

One researcher rushed to the officer urgently. She said:

“I think everyone’s forgetting, but there’s also staff outside.”

“What, outside? Only a direct squad…”

The operations officer’s face hardened. At the same time, Jang Seok-joo realized. The researcher continued:

“It’s Second Lieutenant Kim Do-woon. He was just appointed logistics officer and has A-class weapon access. And…”

She pointed outside.

“He seems to know what to do.”