NTN 44

Chapter 44

The Proposal

About fifteen minutes later, Sung Gunwoo emerged from the sparse forest and reached a grayish-black wasteland.

The ground there, covered with stones and weeds, was fairly solid, and the many wheel tracks made it impossible to tell which belonged to the jeep they were tracking.

Using his integrated detection system, Sung Gunwoo spotted the jeep far off in the distance.

One of its wheels had sunk into a pond-sized mud pit, tilting the vehicle dangerously to one side, as if it could sink completely at any moment.

But the jeep was tied to a gray SUV with two ropes. The SUV’s engine roared as it struggled to pull the jeep free from the mire.

Yong Yuhong, standing beside the SUV with an assault rifle slung over his shoulder, was chatting cheerfully with a man and woman.

“How’s it look? Can you see the jeep? I sense several people over there,” asked Jang Mokhwa, peering ahead over the shoulder of Sung Gunwoo’s powered exosuit.

“Yes, I see it,” Gunwoo replied.

“Is Yong Yuhong okay?” Baek Saebyeok asked when she noticed Gunwoo had slowed his pace.

Gunwoo smiled. “He’s more than okay. Looks like he’s even made some new friends.”

Jang Mokhwa chuckled. “Let’s go see.”

Gunwoo quickened his pace, dashing toward the jeep.

Thud, thud, thud.

He intentionally made noise so that Yong Yuhong and the two strangers would notice their approach.

Almost simultaneously, all three turned their heads toward him.

The moment the man and woman saw Gunwoo’s black military exosuit, their expressions hardened. They immediately rolled back toward the gray SUV for cover.

By then, the SUV had successfully pulled the jeep out of the mud.

Yong Yuhong spotted Gunwoo and lit up, hurrying forward.

“How’d it go?” he asked—then, as if remembering something, turned to shout toward the SUV, “Don’t worry! They’re my teammates!”

“Who are they?” Gunwoo asked, approaching.

Both the people in and outside the SUV were tense and on alert.

Yuhong quickly explained, “They were passing by when my jeep got stuck in the swamp. They saw and helped me out. Really kind people!”

Jang Mokhwa exchanged glances with Baek Saebyeok and let out a low laugh.

“Not something your average wasteland drifter would do…”

She patted Gunwoo on the shoulder. “Let’s show them our kindness too.”

At that, Gunwoo stopped walking.

Jang Mokhwa and Baek Saebyeok jumped off the power pack, weapons raised in cautious formation, while Gunwoo approached Yuhong and shouted,

“Help me get this exosuit off.”

Only after watching him remove it did the strangers finally relax a little.

A moment later, after some whispered discussion, the same man and woman who had spoken with Yuhong earlier approached again.

The man, who looked to be in his thirties, had a sharp face and rough skin. His black hair and deep brown eyes were framed by what was once called a “suit” in the old world—now modified for mobility. It was worn and mended in places, but far from tattered.

The young woman beside him looked a bit over twenty. She too had black hair and brown eyes. Wearing an olive camo-pattern outfit, she was striking but expressionless, giving her an icy air.

A faint dark-blue tattoo could be seen peeking out from her collar.

Both carried assault rifles and black pistols, stopping about four or five meters away from the rescue team.

“Thanks for the help!” Jang Mokhwa called out cheerfully.

“It’s what anyone with a sense of decency should do,” the man replied flatly.

Jang Mokhwa grinned wide. “Decency? In Ashland? That’s more like a rare collectible.”

“The fall of the old world isn’t an excuse to abandon morality,” he said, sounding almost proud of his own righteousness.

He raised his voice. “You’re heading north of Weiru Station too, aren’t you?”

“Looking for someone, are you?” Mokhwa asked, eyebrow twitching. “What’s your name?”

“Osu-hyeok. Intermediate-ranked scavenger,” he replied without hesitation.

After a short pause, he added, “You probably haven’t heard, but north of Weiru Station, a completely new ruin from the old world’s cities was discovered. One that’s never been found before.”

A ruin never discovered before?

Gunwoo, Yuhong, and Saebyeok exchanged quick glances.

Mokhwa frowned slightly. “And how do you know that?”

“Two nights ago, something strange happened deep in the swamp,” Osu-hyeok said, glancing at his partner. “Someone entered that ruin and found an enormous cache of items—then reported it via radio to a company in With City.

You can imagine what a newly discovered ruin means.”

Before the rescue team could answer, he continued on his own.

“Danger and fortune!

The relics, data, and secrets hidden there would satisfy countless scavengers—there’s enough for everyone, no need to fight.

But the dangers inside those cities are even greater—real and immediate. The more comrades you have, the better your odds.”

Ruins of the old world were unpredictable—mutated entities, unknown hazards. That was why scavengers often formed alliances to explore together. There was little reason for betrayal; the resources within were vast enough to share.

They called such joint expeditions “pioneering.”

Mokhwa wasn’t surprised by his offer. She glanced at her team, smiled faintly, and said,

“We’ve got other priorities right now.”

Before Osu-hyeok could respond, she added, “I heard there have been strange incidents up north—midnight roars, unexplained deaths. People found dead without a single wound, their faces twisted or grinning unnaturally.”

She was passing along what she had heard from Harris Brown, as thanks for saving Yuhong.

Osu-hyeok listened silently, then turned to his cold-faced partner. “Yuhyang, what do you think?”

The woman in camouflage shook her head. “No idea.”

Osu-hyeok nodded faintly, then turned back to Mokhwa.

“Thanks for the warning. We’ll be cautious.

But this kind of opportunity comes once in years—maybe never again. And there’ll be fewer as time goes on. We can’t afford to miss it.

In Ashland, you seize what you can—or you die, sooner or later.”

His tone was firm, resolute. Then he smiled politely.

“Then we’ll be going. Hope we meet again.”

“Yeah,” Mokhwa waved. “Let’s hope we do.”

That phrase—hope we meet again—was one of the most sincere blessings in Ashland, a land where anyone could die at any time from hunger, disease, ambush, or catastrophe. Reuniting was a rare miracle.

Watching the gray SUV disappear into the distance, Mokhwa finally sighed.

“Shame. A new ruin like that would’ve been full of priceless first-hand relics.”

Baek Saebyeok, still staring north, asked softly, “You’re really not going, ma’am?”

“Do I look like someone who says one thing and does another?” Mokhwa shot back with a grin.

At that moment, she caught the strange looks from Gunwoo, Saebyeok, and Yuhong.

“Haha.” She laughed awkwardly. “You know that was just a tactic, right? A tactic.”

She quickly teased Saebyeok to cut off any rebuttal. “Why? Got that drifter’s blood boiling, huh? Thinking of charging into that ruin?”

Saebyeok hesitated, then lowered her head.

“Not exactly. It’s more… instinct. Any wasteland drifter who heard about that place wouldn’t want to miss it. Better to gamble on that hope than freeze to death through another winter without clothes or food.”

Mokhwa nodded slowly, then looked to Gunwoo and Yuhong.

“If our rescue team had been around for six months or more—completed a few missions—I’d have changed plans and gone north myself.

But two of you are fresh topsiders, and the dangers there are real. I can’t risk your lives for my curiosity.”

Gunwoo suddenly spoke up. “Didn’t you just say I’ve been doing so well you forgot I was new up here?”

“What was that? Didn’t quite catch it,” Mokhwa said, pretending to fiddle with her ear, her smile stiffening.

“Anyway,” she continued quickly, “every one of you is a precious asset to this team. I won’t throw away valuable people.”

Then she turned serious. “Saebyeok, check the map and confirm our location.

We’re not heading to that ruin, but we’ll relay the information to the company. Find the nearest drifter base that has a radio link and ties to the company.

We’ll also send everything we learned about Harris Brown and the robot monk Jeongbeop.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Saebyeok replied, pulling out a crudely drawn map.

At that moment, Yong Yuhong asked an important question.

“Team leader, what about Jeongbeop? Did you finish him off? Will he come after us again?”

Mokhwa smirked. “If he could, do you think I’d be standing here chatting with Osu-hyeok so peacefully?”

She looked at Yuhong, who sighed in relief, and added, “But no, we haven’t completely finished him.”

At once, Yuhong tensed up. Mokhwa chuckled.

“We injured him badly enough that he won’t be chasing us anytime soon.

By the time he finishes his repairs, we’ll be long out of his range. The Black Swamp Wastes are vast—no need to worry about him catching up.”