Chapter 14
The Beautiful Forest
Seong Geon-woo, Baek Saebyeok, and Yong Yeo-hong followed Jang Mok-hwa toward the elevator, each carrying the same camouflage backpack.
Inside the elevator, Mok-hwa swiped her electronic card and pressed the button for the 650th floor.
A few seconds later, the doors slid open after the upward ride.
The 650th floor was the level of the Bango Bio underground complex closest to the surface. Almost no one moved about freely here—only silver-white metal walls, heavy doors, and Security Department guards standing watch with weapons in hand.
Mok-hwa swiped her card repeatedly, opening one heavy metal door after another.
With the team in tow, she led them down the long corridor until they reached a secluded area of the floor.
Along the way, several doors had scanned their iris patterns and bodies to check for forged identities. To pass the final door, a password was also required.
At the end of the corridor beyond that last door, a row of elevators waited. Choosing one at random, Mok-hwa swiped her card and pressed the metal button marked Surface Zone.
When the elevator finally opened after its slow ascent, the team stepped out into an enormous plaza capped by a dome-shaped metal roof and steel framework.
“It’s a parking facility,” Mok-hwa explained with a grin.
Here, not only cars but tanks and missile carriers stood neatly arranged. The sheer scale—stretching out of sight—left Geon-woo, Yeo-hong, and Saebyeok stunned.
Mok-hwa quickly located the vehicle assigned to her: a gray-green four-wheel jeep with a high chassis and oversized tires that looked reassuringly rugged.
Opening the trunk, she pointed to the left.
“These are the weapons for our outdoor camping exercise. Company-issue nine-millimeter pistols, model Ice Moss. They’re patterned after First City’s Red River line, and the ammunition is common and easy to resupply.”
The Ice Moss pistols gleamed silver-white, their grips etched with an anti-slip pattern.
“One per person,” she continued. “You’ll also each get a Union-202.
These two here are assault rifles—company-issue Berserk, chambered for 5.56 millimeter rounds.
This one is the Orange rifle, with a scope for sniping.
And these are grenades called Tyrant.
Everything here is weapons and ammo. Grab a pistol and magazines.”
Well accustomed to firearms by now, Geon-woo and Yeo-hong calmly took an Ice Moss and a Union-202, clipping them to their belts.
Mok-hwa then pointed to a box on the right.
“Military rations—canned food, energy bars, compressed biscuits. That’s our supply.
It’s not enough to last all the way to Harvest Village, so you’ll need to forage outside. That’s part of the training.”
“Yes, team leader!” the others answered without surprise.
“Good. Get in the car,” she said with an easy wave.
Since Geon-woo and Yeo-hong couldn’t drive yet, the two women took turns at the front to handle the jeep. Out in the open they planned to teach the men later.
The four-seater jeep passed through checkpoint after checkpoint within the parking area.
Soon Mok-hwa jerked her chin toward the front.
“The last gate.”
Ahead, about twenty Security guards stood watch along the road leading to a huge silver-white double door.
After the final inspection, the jeep rolled closer.
Unconsciously tense, Geon-woo and Yeo-hong even held their breath. It was their first time leaving the underground world.
As the jeep approached, the silver doors slowly slid backward.
Through the widening gap, a fierce golden light poured in—neither as stark as a streetlamp nor as yellow as candlelight.
Both young men hunched down and shielded their eyes with their hands.
Their first encounter with sunlight was blinding.
Once the jeep cleared the massive gate, their eyes gradually adjusted. Lowering their hands, Geon-woo and Yeo-hong stared wide-eyed out the windows.
Where their initial fear had been, now they saw a brilliant blue sky, drifting white clouds of every shape, flocks of birds shifting formation, and sunlit walls glinting pale gold.
“The sun—the sun!” Yeo-hong cried, pointing at the enormous orange fireball blazing overhead.
Tears streamed from his stinging eyes, but he couldn’t look away.
“You can’t stare at the sun like that! You’ll hurt your eyes. If you must look, here.”
Still driving, Mok-hwa pulled something from the console and handed it back.
Yeo-hong turned to find a pair of dark-lensed glasses in her hand.
“…Sunglasses!”
The name he’d learned in school surfaced in his mind.
“If you don’t wear them, I will,” Geon-woo said, eyeing the prize.
Looking over, Yeo-hong saw Geon-woo’s reddened eyes, ready to tear up.
“Ha! You stared at the sun too?” Yeo-hong laughed uncontrollably.
Geon-woo answered by snatching the sunglasses and putting them on.
“Hey—…” Yeo-hong was debating whether to scold or wrestle him when—
“Here’s another pair.”
From the passenger seat, Saebyeok offered her own.
These glasses looked even finer than Mok-hwa’s, with heart-shaped lenses tinted a faint reddish black.
“Don’t break them. They cost me dearly to trade for,” she warned.
“Thanks,” Yeo-hong said sincerely, slipping them on.
Now equipped, he could study the sun more carefully, comparing the real thing to the images he’d only seen projected in class.
“So that’s the sun…”
After a while, Yeo-hong removed the sunglasses and returned them to Saebyeok, still awestruck.
Geon-woo also turned from the window, lost in thought as he placed Mok-hwa’s glasses back in the console.
“What are you thinking?” Yeo-hong asked.
“I was wondering where I could get a pair of sunglasses,” Geon-woo replied seriously.
For people living in the underground city, sunglasses were unnecessary and nearly impossible to find—absent from the supply market or even the small stalls on the 495th floor.
Driving, Mok-hwa sighed. “I knew you’d fixate on something odd.”
Saebyeok smiled. “When we pass a nomad outpost later, we can stop. Maybe a compressed biscuit will trade for a decent pair.”
“That’s how I got mine,” Mok-hwa agreed.
“But Saebyeok, why did yours cost so much?” Geon-woo asked.
“I got them from a female relic hunter. She wanted to keep them herself and wasn’t exactly short on supplies,” Saebyeok explained, recalling the trade.
While the women chatted, Geon-woo and Yeo-hong pressed against the windows again, marveling at the scenery.
Aside from towering trees and the occasional darting brown squirrel, there wasn’t much along the roadside, yet they couldn’t stop exclaiming.
“This is nothing like the Ashland I imagined,” Yeo-hong murmured after a while.
“What did you picture?” Mok-hwa asked, steering over the rough trail.
Yeo-hong searched for the words. “I thought it would be…”
“To you it probably meant dark, cold, and damp,” Geon-woo offered. “A sky full of dust, the sun hidden by clouds, everything dim and heavy.”
“Yes, exactly!” Yeo-hong agreed.
Their textbooks had never described Ashland’s environment in detail, only its contamination, disease, and famine. Naturally they’d formed bleak expectations.
And the few employees who’d been topside couldn’t share much, bound by security rules. Occasionally someone mentioned a beautiful sunlit region, but listeners dismissed such claims.
Mok-hwa laughed aloud, eyes on the road.
“Maybe it was that way right after the old world collapsed, but things could’ve improved fast. Only some areas might still be that bad.”
“That could also mean lingering danger, pollution, disease, or mutations,” Saebyeok added.
“I see…” Yeo-hong pressed closer to the glass, drinking in the radiant forest.
Geon-woo gazed out just as intently.
Mok-hwa watched them in the rearview mirror, smiling secretly as she pressed a button.
With a beep, all four windows lowered at once.
Startled, Yeo-hong sat up. “Th-they can roll down like this?”
“You need to feel the outside air,” Mok-hwa replied, feigning nonchalance.
Geon-woo stayed perfectly still, clearly enjoying the sensation of the glass sliding down from his face. He narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“How is it?” Mok-hwa asked with a smile.
“Smells like… fresh dung,” he answered solemnly.
“…Right.” Mok-hwa acknowledged his keen nose but chose not to comment.
Saebyeok, thoughtful, suddenly asked, “Team leader, what year were you born?”
“New Era Year 23. Why?”
“You’re three years younger than me…” Saebyeok murmured in mild surprise.
Yeo-hong joined in, astonished.
“You’re only two years older than us? And already a D6 rank?”
“That’s the perk of Security Department work,” Mok-hwa said lightly. “It’s dangerous, but promotions are fast. For a supervisor like me, tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.”
After a pause, she added, “I also made some notable contributions earlier.
Oh—and I forgot to mention: watching the color of the air is crucial. The hue tells you when it’s time to put on a respirator.”
For another thirty minutes the jeep rattled through the forest, while Geon-woo and Yeo-hong, like children, soaked in every sight with endless curiosity.
