Rainbow City Chapter 18

When the knife was about to come in, Kwak Soohwan turned his body and stabbed the opponent’s heart with his own knife as the guy’s arm came down. A dull sound, a thud, echoed. Twisting the knife once more, he felt the opponent’s strength drain away. Kwak Soohwan looked down at the guy collapsing on the ground. White blood flowed under the mask. Bending down, he pulled out the knife, wiped off the blood, and threw the knife straight towards the remaining guy’s forehead.

When the knife was embedded in his forehead, the mask split in half. Tuk, as the mask fell to the ground, Kwak Soohwan shouted, “You bastards, what are you doing!” Simultaneously, Lee Chaeyoon, who had been riding on the guy’s back, snapped his neck.

There was a blazing fire emitting flames, the burning Jeep, and two presumed dead rebels. Seokhwa disappeared into the darkness in a car. Kwak Soohwan looked in the direction the car disappeared, then heard the emergency radio.

“Connect to the nearest shelter, this is Major Kwak Soohwan from Yeouido Shelter 3121. Level 1 crisis order, chief researcher has been abducted. Yeouido Shelter personnel, name Seokhwa, open the GPS and track him. Send a car this way.”

Breathing heavily as if gasping for air, Yang Sanghoon wiped his head roughly.

“What the hell are these guys?”

Lee Chaeyoon removed the fallen guy’s mask near Kwak Soohwan. He was a stranger they hadn’t seen before.

“Not even a soldier, how could they…”

Despite having a gunshot wound in his thigh, the guy faced us on equal terms. Yang Sanghoon’s hand trembled briefly, an experience he had never had before. Perhaps if he had been alone, he might have lost to this guy, even entertaining an uneasy thought like that.

“What do we do? Wait until the car arrives? Can we track Dr. Seokhwa’s GPS? Can we go to rescue him? How did you drive? Are you an idiot? Huh? Why didn’t you notice the one coming from the side!”

Lee Chaeyoon stomped his foot.

“You didn’t even turn on the headlights and they attacked! You said you turned them on right before the collision. Ha, ridiculous, really! Kwak Soohwan, Dr. Seokhwa won’t get hurt, right?”

It didn’t seem like they intended to just kidnap Seokhwa when taking him. Even the guy with a bullet through his thigh handed Seokhwa to another guy before I could wobble. Safety seemed guaranteed, but that wasn’t certain either.

[Successful GPS tracking of Researcher Seokhwa. Proceed with tracking the movement path?]

“Proceed. I’ll have to go and rescue Seokhwa myself.”

Kwak Soohwan muttered expressionlessly.

***

[Preservation of humanity, a new prosperity for humanity, that is our mission. At the forefront, Rainbow City, we are citizens of Rainbow City, are, are.]

[Prosperity has ended, humanity has declined, and those who now lead Rainbow City are the heads of state! They do not want change and are using Adam to satisfy their own desires, all, all.]

Messy voices mixed randomly. Seokhwa curled up and groaned in an excruciating headache. He still felt trapped in the spinning car. He vomited from nausea, and the sour taste of regurgitated gastric juice filled his mouth. Breathing heavily, even after opening his eyes with great difficulty, he couldn’t see anything ahead. He wanted to uncover his eyes with his hands, but his hands were tied.

“Are you awake, Dr. Seokhwa?”

Seokhwa shivered as his body trembled in the direction of the voice. When he shook his head to clear his mind, something approached his lips, and the person poured lukewarm water, assuring him to drink.

“I understand you must be shocked. However, we had no choice but to use this method because we’ve been waiting for you to leave the shelter.”

“….”

Seokhwa wanted to press his forehead firmly, but his tied hands couldn’t move. The headache was tremendous.

“Don’t worry. We didn’t bring you here to threaten you, Dr. Seokhwa.”

The man with a soothing voice once again offered lukewarm water to Seokhwa.

“Here is…”

“This is a temporary shelter we created. Once we deliver the message, we will release you safely.”

Seokhwa pressed his forehead again and then looked up.

“We would like to remove the blindfold, but it seems untimely now. Please understand.”

“Who are you? The soldiers with me…”

“We also suffered significant losses while bringing you here, as we had to exert all our efforts against those soldiers to bring you, Doctor.”

“Are they okay?”

“Yes.”

The man smiled honestly.

“We don’t have much time, so let me be direct.”

Sure enough, despite the man’s soft voice, there was a sense of urgency.

“From now on, we will convey Dr. Oh’s last wishes.”

“… What?”

“We consider it the last wishes left by Dr.Oh.”

While listening to the man’s words, Seokhwa calmly organized his thoughts. If they intended to kill him or harm him, they wouldn’t have reassured him like this. Everything about the man’s identity, why they kidnapped him even by crashing into the jeep, seemed to be directly related to Dr. Oh

Click, the sound of pressing a button was heard.

[Preservation of humanity, a new prosperity for humanity, that is our mission. At the forefront, Rainbow City, we are citizens of Rainbow City.]

It was the regular broadcast Seokhwa had heard countless times in the shelter, Mother’s voice. After that, a familiar laughter flowed.

“Do you hear that sound? It’s truly peculiar.”

Seokhwa focused more on the voice. There was no room for misunderstanding. This was undoubtedly the voice of Dr. Oh

[Dr. Seokhwa, since you went to Jeju Island, we haven’t been able to contact you at all, so I’m leaving a separate recording. Probably those above pulled off some tricks. Do you remember when we discussed together? Are you not curious? It’s probably the mutation of the virus. When we develop a vaccine, the virus mutates again. But is this a natural occurrence? It has already reached the seventh mutation. I tried to develop a treatment, not a vaccine, with my Dr. Seokhwa before going to Jeju Island. Do you remember what Dr. Sek told me about that treatment before going down to Jeju Island? In that treatment… Zzizzzz…]

Bang!

Suddenly, the sound of a gunshot made Seokhwa recoil. However, after that, no other sounds were audible.

“Don’t worry. The gunshot you just heard is from this speaker.”

Dr. Oh’s statement ended here. If that gunshot sound… Dr. Oh seemed to have been killed while trying to convey something to Seokhwa. Seokhwa lowered his head deeply and pondered Dr. Oh’s words.

They often discussed developing a treatment, not a vaccine. However, the superiors always coerced them to develop a vaccine. At that time, Seokhwa understood that it was challenging to provide support for other research since it required a significant amount of money.

“Doctor. Dr. Oh has been trying to contact you continuously. However, he couldn’t reach you in any way.”

As if someone forcibly severed the contact between Dr. Seokhwa and Dr. Oh. The man said so. Seokhwa remained silent, breathing quietly.

“Yes, it must be confusing. It might be hard to trust me. However, you shouldn’t trust anyone in the shelter. Rainbow City is not normal right now.”

“Rebels… Are they?”

Seokhwa managed to ask with difficulty.

“That’s what they call us in Rainbow City.”

The man smiled bitterly.

***

“Damn it! So frustrating! Aaargh!”

Lee Chaeyoon shouted and kicked the backrest of the Jeep’s passenger seat.

“Lieutenant, I get that you’re frustrated, but I’ll move forward. Major Kwak, just keep going straight for another 2 km from here.”

Major Kwak held the steering wheel, and Yang Sanghoon explained the direction based on the GPS tracking Seokhwa’s location.

The GPS pointed to an area below the zoo. Since it wasn’t marked with colors, it wasn’t a section affiliated with Rainbow City. Thus, it became certain that those who kidnapped Seokhwa were rebels. However, even if they searched the bodies of the dead, they couldn’t accurately determine their affiliation.

“At the big intersection, turn right.”

Yang Sanghoon checked the radar on the screen and raised his thumb, pointing to the right. Citizens affiliated with Rainbow City have chips implanted in their bodies from birth, called ‘necklaces’ by Kwak Soohwan. Today, it was fortunate that it was useful. Several more Jeeps were moving behind them. They were soldiers who came to support from the nearest shelter.

“Oh, seriously annoying.”

Yang Sanghoon, looking at the Jeep following them through the side mirror, clicked his tongue.

“Do you know why they’re so annoyed?”

For Kwak Soohwan and the other two, being retaliated against in this way was a first. Protecting someone was much more challenging than sacrificing oneself. This was not a familiar situation for Kwak Soohwan either.

“But, did those guys outnumber us more than we thought?”

Yang Sanghoon asked, his pride hurt, but he asked honestly. Kwak Soohwan pressed the accelerator deeper, increasing the speed.

“About Class A.”

Even in Yeouido Shelter, there weren’t many Class A soldiers. Yang Sanghoon sighed deeply at Kwak Soohwan’s words.

“If they’re willing to abandon their own side and go this far, it means the rebels have some substantial power, right?”

Yang Sanghoon and Lee Chaeyoon had rarely faced rebels directly. Typically, matters that needed to be handled quietly were dealt with by Kwak Soohwan following the orders from above.

“Hey, Major Kwak.”

“It’s noisy. Are we still going straight?”

“Yeah. But, Major Kwak.”

Yang Sanghoon’s attitude seemed strange. Glancing down, Kwak Soohwan saw that Yang Sanghoon, who was holding the GPS tracker, was trembling.

“Now, it’s become quite a situation.”

Beyond absurdity, there wasn’t even a trace of mockery.

“It’s my first time. This kind of feeling.”

“Don’t use disgusting expressions, okay?”

“Hey! Yang Sanghoon, let go of the kid!”

Lee Chaeyoon wrapped her arms around Yang Sanghoon’s neck from behind and squeezed tightly.

“Don’t be scared, kid. Lieutenant Jang said the world is vast, and there are many strong people.”

Yang Sanghoon understood her attempt at comfort. Instead of Yang Sanghoon, Kwak Soohwan took charge of the GPS screen, adjusting the direction. Uncomfortably, sweat started to bead up on the hand holding the steering wheel. Seokhwa had spoken of an era of peace, and now, thinking back, that wasn’t entirely wrong. In such a time, they wouldn’t have missed capturing Seokhwa right in front of their eyes. Although he always considered himself stable, it seemed not so.

At first, he thought it was because of Lieutenant Jang’s nagging, but now he noticed Seokhwa’s increasingly fragile appearance. Surely, he didn’t die in the car while unconscious? Surely, even if he was weak, he wasn’t the Seokhwa who had a strong will.

The GPS was now pointing to a place right in front of them. A sign hanging crookedly revealed itself in the headlights. Absorbing light, it exposed its own identity, just like when it used to operate smoothly. “Honey Motel.” The font was rudimentary.

“A motel?”

When they parked in front of it, Lee Chaeyoon smirked.

“Wait here.”

When Lee Chaeyoon and Yang Sanghoon tried to get out, Kwak Soohwan restrained them and listened to the built-in radio in the Jeep. The soldiers in the Jeep behind them were still waiting inside.

“As this is not an area affiliated with Rainbow City, we don’t know where Adam might appear. Arm yourselves. We will enter through the front gate, and the rest will go through the back gate.”

[Copy that.]

Kwak Soohwan also confirmed that all Jeeps received the message. Both the front and back gates were tied with chains, and it seemed they had to break in.

He tore off half of his torn cape and checked the pistol and military knife again. Seokhwa’s GPS signal was still inside, indicating that he was still captured in there. The roof-mounted spotlight on the Jeep illuminated the motel, but once inside, they would have to rely on flashlights. After seeing the soldiers in the Jeep behind them moving towards the back door, Kwak Soohwan pointed to the front gate with a nod. It was time for Yang Sanghoon, armed with a suppressed gun, to cut the chain on the door.