The Jelly Alien Will Save You! Chapter 26

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Coins were jingling and filling up in my pocket.

 

This is the joy of doing business.

 

If I play my cards right, I could become filthy rich!

 

“Ooh-hoo-hoo!”

 

I was rubbing my hands together with a capitalistic smile when the gate suddenly swung open.

 

“Cha Haeeon! It’s mealtime, where have you be—”

 

I was speaking without even looking up, but startled by the sound of something dragging, I quickly turned my head.

 

Cha Haeeon wasn’t alone.

 

To be precise, a person was slumping over his shoulder.

 

And the person groaning while being carried on Cha Haeeon’s shoulder was none other than Gong Juwon.

 

“What happened?! Is he hurt?!”

 

Pyok, pyok, pyok, pyok!

 

“Yeah.”

 

Cha Haeeon answered briefly and passed by me to lay Gong Juwon on the veranda.

 

Gong Juwon groaned, clutching his arm.

 

What on earth could have happened in that short time?

 

As I approached Gong Juwon, I turned into a stark white jelly in shock.

 

‘His arm…!’

 

Gong Juwon’s left arm was severed below the elbow.

 

“Captain Gong Juwon, where is your emergency potion?”

 

At Cha Haeeon’s question, he pulled out a potion from his inner pocket with an agonized face.

 

“It’s… here….”

 

Cha Haeeon took it and immediately poured it over Gong Juwon’s left arm.

 

Sizzzzzz—!

 

With the sound of the arm searing, the severed area began to heal rapidly.

 

Gong Juwon groaned until he finally couldn’t bear the pain and lost consciousness.

 

His tanned face had turned deathly pale from shock.

 

“W-what happened?”

 

At my question, Cha Haeeon shook his head.

 

“He seemed to be chased, so I saved him first, but I don’t know the specific situation.”

 

“He was being chased?!”

 

I examined Gong Juwon with a surprised look. There were traces of a gunshot wound on his chest, but fortunately, he seemed to be fine thanks to the bulletproof vest.

 

“Who was chasing him? Mutants?”

 

“Looking at the bullet marks, he might have encountered ‘Scavengers.’”

 

Scavengers….

 

Hunters.

 

It was a very intuitive naming indeed.

 

I wiped the cold sweat from Gong Juwon’s forehead.

 

I never imagined I would see someone who was perfectly fine just a while ago in this state. While I was at a loss from worry and nervousness, my brother, whom I had placed on my head, patted my shoulder as if to comfort me.

 

“Cha Haeeon, what kind of people are Scavengers?”

 

“They’re crazy b*stards.”

 

I waited for the following explanation, but Cha Haeeon didn’t speak anymore, as if he hated even mentioning them.

 

That was when.

 

“It wasn’t Scavengers…. It was the yellow hazmat suits….”

 

A cracked voice said.

 

Gong Juwon, who had opened his eyes at some point, inhaled and exhaled. He clenched his fists and furrowed his brow.

 

“Captain Gong, are you okay?!”

 

“How are you feeling?”

 

Cha Haeeon and I asked at the same time.

 

Gong Juwon staggered up using one arm.

 

“Except for it being hard to keep my balance yet… I’m fine.”

 

He sat leaning his back against a pillar on the veranda and gritted his teeth. He seemed to be suppressing the surging anger and sorrow.

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

Cha Haeeon and I waited quietly until he collected himself.

 

After a moment, Gong Juwon glanced at his severed arm and opened his mouth.

 

“It wasn’t Scavengers, it was yellow hazmat suits. All my team members….”

 

He trailed off and then spoke again, gritting his teeth.

 

“…All my team members were contaminated by the yellow hazmat suits.”

 

The last time he saw his team members, they had become mutants.

 

“Contaminated? How?”

 

“It seems there’s an item that condenses contamination. They tried to spray it on me too.”

 

Recalling that moment, Captain Gong Juwon pounded his forehead with his fist.

 

He seemed to be deeply frustrated that he hadn’t noticed the yellow hazmat suits approaching.

 

“….”

 

“…”

 

A silence ensued that couldn’t be broken.

 

I carefully asked Cha Haeeon.

 

“Cha Haeeon, what are the yellow hazmat suits?”

 

At my question, Cha Haeeon said apathetically.

 

“They’re crazy b*stards.”

 

Again?!

 

It was Gong Juwon who provided the additional explanation.

 

“They are a group, but their affiliation is unknown. They are always wearing yellow hazmat suits, so we call them ‘Yellow Hazmat Suits.’”

 

“Why did they attack?”

 

“Probably because of the vending machine. Those guys—I don’t know exactly what their goal is, but they try to manage and control anomalies and mutants. Like some group that only appears in urban legends.”

 

What?

 

“You mean those crazy bastards are trying to manage my vending machine?!”

 

At my words, Gong Juwon looked surprised.

 

“Were you the owner of the vending machine?”

 

I nodded coolly.

 

“That’s my ability. Filling the vending machine with items to sell.”

 

“Then mass-producing and supplying them……!”

 

“That’s impossible.”

 

Smack!

 

The one who answered flatly was Cha Haeeon, and the one who smacked Gong Juwon’s mouth with a tentacle as if to tell him not to even mention it was my brother.

 

I don’t know why they’re both reacting so badly. Of course, I can’t mass-supply them to begin with, though.

 

“Yeah, I can’t.”

 

Not yet…?

 

“I see….”

 

Gong Juwon nodded with regret.

 

“Then installing the vending machine somewhere else….”

 

“It’s still impossible. Because there’s no suitable place.”

 

“Ah….”

 

Seeing that he was steadily thinking about how to use the vending machine even after his arm became like that, Gong Juwon seemed to be a very loyal soldier.

 

…Or maybe he was just trying to think only of his mission on purpose.

 

As if to prove this, he tried hard not to look at his left arm.

 

“Then….”

 

Just as Gong Juwon was trying to find another way.

 

Cha Haeeon stopped the endless barrage of questions.

 

“More importantly, Captain Gong Juwon. Where was your arm severed? Yongsan?”

 

“Yes?”

 

My jaw dropped. That was the most tactless question I had ever heard in my life.

 

Gong Juwon lowered his eyes gloomily and gave a slight nod, confirming it was Yongsan.

 

Seeing that made my heart ache. Even though Cha Haeeon was blunt, he wasn’t this mean.

 

“Looking at the wound, it seems to have been cut cleanly?”

 

“…Yes, that is correct. It was severed while I was holding my gun.”

 

Hey, he’s already distressed, why are you making him say such things?

 

I glared at Cha Haeeon, giving him a look, but Cha Haeeon said as if it were no big deal.

 

“Then we just have to find it and reattach it, the arm.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“What?!”

 

Gong Juwon and I jumped up.

 

Gong Juwon asked as if possessed.

 

“…Is that, is that possible?”

 

“It will be possible once we find it.”

 

At that, Gong Juwon immediately tried to get up.

 

“I will go back right now and look for it!”

 

There was hope and impatience in his eyes.

 

“No need for that. Even if you go back, it won’t be there anyway.”

 

“…Yes? Then don’t tell me…!”

 

“What you’re thinking is probably right. Things lost in Yongsan usually gather in one place.”

 

Unlike the nonchalant Cha Haeeon, Gong Juwon had a serious expression.

 

“Why? Where is that?”

 

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[Yongsan Station]

 

A few mysterious vines covered the old station nameplate.

 

The three of us were standing in the plaza overlooking Yongsan Station.