SWNOVELXO Chapter 198
Chapter 198. The Battle for the Supernatural Space – Garden (2)
Research Department Head, Lee Se-ah, was sitting in front of my office, trimming her nails. I thought she might be a bit crazy, but I guess she’s been busy lately.
I decided to let it slide.
“You’ve come to work, Department Head.”
“Yes.”
“Didn’t I tell you to go to the Seoul Branch? We decided to send all humanoid supernatural phenomena and high-grade combat assets to Seoul.”
Lee Se-ah tilted her head.
“Ah. The Seoul Branch people said it’s better to stay in the Garden. They said it’s good to help Dr. Kim here.”
I see……. The Seoul Branch was probably happy that the Research Department Head disappeared from their sight, and I almost forced her to go back.
Let’s move on from this topic.
“You’re in the Garden, right?”
“Yes. Ah, there’s something I need to report.”
“Go ahead.”
“They’ve found the cause of the chain sick leave incident. It seems something has been actively attacking the dreams of Foundation staff.”
That made sense. As I said, it’s not an infectious agent but an active attack by something.
We’ve used a few measures to deal with the resulting phenomena like suicide, self-harm, or lethargy, but ultimately, the important thing is this.
“Through magical means. Currently, the Seoul Branch’s sorcery team is distributing dreamcatchers to Foundation staff. The target is being tracked.”
“That’s strange. Does that even work?”
Well, thinking about it, it does. Dreamcatchers are talismans that catch nightmares, so if something is targeting Foundation staff through dreams……
“It works, but it’s a bit complicated. Have you heard of meme-based vaccination?”
“No.”
“Simply put, since most of the effects and actions of meme-based supernatural phenomena occur inside the head, if there’s a way to make them believe they won’t have nightmares or that nightmares have lost their power……”
“Ah. I understand.”
“It’s a situation where belief in the efficacy and the efficacy itself don’t need to be distinguished, the effect of the dreamcatcher.”
Lee Se-ah continued.
“So, the Seoul Branch people are tracking the Special Forces team behind this incident. They’ve even mobilized police forces to assist.”
“You’re saying the enemy Special Forces did this?”
“Yes.”
Lee Se-ah pulled something out of her lab coat pocket and showed me her tablet screen. A Foundation internal document was displayed.
“Special Forces ‘Dreamwalker.’ A crowd-control Special Forces team designed to attack dreams and manipulate group behavior. In this case, it seems they aimed to cause negligence, depression, and suicide. It’s likely the work of this Special Forces team.”
That’s terrifying. I let out a sigh.
“Let’s make sure the Garden’s defenses are solid.”
“Yes. Four reality anchoring devices are operational, and we’ve equipped ventilation and explosion-proof systems. The facility is sturdier than I thought.”
Currently, only one entrance to the Garden is controlled by the Seoul Branch, and the rest are blocked. This facility was built just before the Vietnam War.
It seemed to be built with war in mind more than any other Foundation facility. I can’t know the exact history, but……
“Let’s double-check the defense measures. Make sure they can be activated within 30 seconds in case of an emergency.”
The Research Department Head nodded.
Inside the Garden, on a tree.
Walpurgis Special Forces team leader, Luna, looked to the east. The Foundation’s facility was there. The concrete prison where Cernunnos was contained.
Luna hid her body behind the leaves again and lowered the binoculars she was using to observe the fortress. Special Forces member, Arinwen, frowned slightly.
The Walpurgis Special Forces team is entirely composed of witches. A Special Forces team created to kill monsters and magic that threaten the Foundation.
They were the most suitable Special Forces team to infiltrate the Garden and kill Cernunnos. It’s a shame that Administrator Acacia and Pixel are dead, but.
They can still carry out their mission.
“Cernunnos was there.”
“Yes.”
“It doesn’t look easy to attack.”
“What can we do? What’s the plan?”
Arinwen pondered for a moment.
“We’ll summon beasts from the Garden, enhance them with magic, and attack the fortress. We can kill or release Cernunnos while the Foundation facility is in chaos.”
“Yes. What’s the armament situation in the Garden facility?”
“It seems the personnel and resources deployed to the Garden are increasing, but Dr. Kim’s core combat assets have returned to Seoul. Dr. Kim might still be here.”
That’s good. Luna spent the last few days studying Dr. Kim’s combat records.
Those people.
They’re not easy to deal with. A lot of combat data has been accumulated due to the incident in the U.S., and Luna has analyzed it too.
Let’s not even talk about Dr. Kim himself.
The otherworldly mage has already been critically injured and subdued, the hero fled to the Royal Guard, and the problem is Dr. Chae.
She’s a trained Foundation agent. She understands the rules of the game well, making her a much tougher opponent. She even ran wild on Jeju Island without any restraint.
The biggest problem is Nanami.
She killed the Special Forces team Misteltein, created to fight gods, killed the divine-class entity Crocodile with a spear, and even beat another Special Forces team of Pixel to death with her bare hands.
Her power is difficult to counter with either magic or modern weapons. It’s a power with no clear countermeasure, something only a peer could handle.
Anyway, that means such forces aren’t guarding the Garden. It also means killing Cernunnos should be easier.
“Do you have a plan to infiltrate the facility?”
Luna nodded.
Although Dr. Kim has occupied it, this is an old Foundation facility. Information about the facility’s internal structure can be found in Foundation records.
“It’s a structure with a central space. If we infiltrate the facility, Cernunnos will be in the center. We just need to kill it.”
“Yes.”
“We’ll use a tactical nuke.”
Arinwen’s eyes widened. So that’s what they were relying on. It wasn’t just recklessness to enter this facility with only two Special Forces teams.
“Since this is a subspace, we don’t need to worry about fallout or civilian casualties. We’ll detonate the tactical nuke above the facility and then start the operation.”
It’ll be the largest flare in history. Hearing the explanation of the operation, the Walpurgis Special Forces team was confident of victory.
The Special Forces are the spearhead of the Foundation, the expression and executors of its will. A battle where a top-tier Special Forces team like Walpurgis would lose doesn’t exist.
[The Spear of Longinus]
[Author: Research Department Head Lee Se-ah]
[This is interesting.]
[A weapon used by the Special Forces Ninetail, thought to be a type of god-slaying weapon.]
[It’s a metal cylinder with a sharp blade on one end, inscribed with the words ‘Spear of Longinus’ in Latin, with no other decorations.]
[Well, of course, it’s not the real Spear of Longinus. Longinus was a Roman soldier, so the real one should be a Roman-style spear.]
[Yes. Analysis suggests the material is titanium-tungsten. Or maybe some other high-strength alloy.]
[Nanami said she’d use it, so we couldn’t cut it open. Instead, we did a CT scan, and there’s nothing inside.]
[I asked the Foundation’s mages for their opinion. They think it’s an object conceptually connected to a specific artifact through sympathetic magic.]
[Of course, it’s probably related to the Spear of Longinus. Since you can’t carry the original around, they use it this way.]
[Somewhere deep in the Foundation headquarters, there might be a replica and the original artifact maintaining its power.]
[※ This document is classified. Do not open it without proper authorization. ※]
[About the Popo Serum Injection]
[Author: Humanoid Research Department Dr. Kang]
[After the recent battle, quite a few people have been revived with the Popo Serum. Note that injecting Popo Serum into Foundation staff is still prohibited.]
[As you know, all magic comes with a price. The price for the Popo Serum, which seems capable of reviving the dead, is likely not small. That’s obvious though…….]
[Anyway, back to the research results.]
[When Popo Serum is administered to non-human animals, it shows no supernatural characteristics. It only reacts to humans.]
[When administered to humans, it seems to cure all diseases. It even seems to cure death if the person hasn’t been dead long and the body isn’t severely damaged.]
[It only cures diseases present before administration. If injured or killed while the serum is circulating, it seems to heal that too.]
[So, what’s the price?]
[Over the past few days, we’ve taken brain MRIs of five people revived this way. In these people, extensive deformations were observed, centered around the pineal gland and frontal lobe.]
[Refer to the MRI results <u>here</u>.]
[Bishop Oh compared it to a contract with the devil. Popo imitates Jesus, forcibly birthing a child from a virgin’s body, an existence blasphemous from birth.]
[So.]
[Sharing Popo’s blood is like making a contract with that existence. Bishop Oh’s opinion was that it’s like handing over your soul to the devil and its master. I believe you understand.]
[Dr. Kim probably knows without a doubt, but it’s a bit scary to ask. It seems the principle of prohibiting administration to Foundation staff will remain for the time being.]