As ordered
As ordered
I've never seen that look on Captain Kim's face before.
His expression rarely changed in most situations.
Whether good or bad, he was a man loyal to his profession as a soldier.
"...Do you happen to know that face?"
"......It was my wife."
Captain Kim revealed it readily.
His voice was hollow. It was a dry, emotionless answer, like someone whose soul had been sucked out.
However, his clenched fists were trembling violently with unbearable rage and despair.
"......."
We were speechless.
Because it was such a sudden and shocking answer.
The first to react was Owl Bear Elder.
Elder silently gripped his shield tightly. As if overlapping his own family, who might be somewhere in the Blackout Zone, deep sorrow and misery flashed across his feather-covered face.
Even Kim Ji-hoo, who always fussily called out to the Lord, kept his mouth firmly shut this time, quietly making the sign of the cross with a pale face.
Yoo In-ha and Min Ah-ji couldn't bring themselves to speak from the shock and held each other's hands tightly.
But even in the midst of that, I finally felt all the puzzle pieces falling into place.
Why he had tried so desperately to stop us at the beginning of the situation.
Why he had thoroughly denied the possibility of survivors inside the Blackout Zone and offered only desperate conclusions.
And why he knew the layout of this Obstetrics and Gynecology Building as if he had memorized the blueprints.
'...Because his wife was trapped inside.'
And it must have been because he already knew in his head that there was a high probability his wife had turned into such a horrific monster.
They even said this Obstetrics and Gynecology Building was the first place the existence of Mimic Beasts was confirmed.
Since we were all people gathered with similar goals, we could fully understand his feelings.
"...Turn back......."
"No, that's not it. The reason I revealed this fact in this situation was not to ask for your consideration."
Captain Kim said, flicking his hand.
"I came here having already anticipated everything. I came prepared."
"......."
"I am a soldier. I must prioritize orders over family who are already dead. And besides, there's no guarantee that the one wearing that skin is my wife, is there?"
His voice was terribly firm.
But that firmness felt pathetic instead. It was clearly reason forced out to brainwash himself, for anyone to see.
Hiding behind a thin glass wall that looked like it would shatter at any moment, he was desperately holding on, using the shell of being a soldier as a shield.
"Let's take care of it."
"......."
"This time... we need to save grenades. The supplies we brought aren't infinite."
"...Understood."
Even though we can carry more supplies than other soldiers, there is still an end to them.
We have already consumed a significant portion of the grenades we brought.
So, it's not wrong. In fact, it's correct. It's true that we've been using grenades like crazy until now.
But why is it?
Why does that statement sound like it's mixed with a shred of emotion?
"...I'm going in."
As expected, the first to step forward this time was Owl Bear Elder.
Elder smashed the door right open and went in, swinging his Sledgehammer widely.
Kwaang-!
The Consultation Room door, which had been half-torn off, flew away with a deafening roar.
The edge of Elder's charging shield swept across a corner of the desk, making a dull, rupturing sound.
At the sudden entry, the Doctor Mimic, who had been mumbling while holding a blank sheet of paper, turned to look at us, twisting its neck grotesquely.
"Kiaaaaak!"
The creature tore its doctor's gown and pulled out sharp biological blades from its arms.
We quickly scattered into the Consultation Room and surrounded the creature.
The smell of gunpowder and deafening thunder-like sounds filled the Consultation Room.
Even in that chaos, Captain Kim was breathing heavily, gripping his gun tightly.
His gaze was not on the Doctor Mimic we were engaging, but on the Wife Mimic, who was sitting across the desk without moving, even amidst the commotion, in a grotesque manner.
"...Hon, ey? What on earth is this......."
"......."
Captain Kim flicked his hand out of habit.
But what was in his hand was not a cigarette, but a trigger.
Bang-! Bang! Bang!
Ear-piercing rupturing sounds rang out in succession in the narrow Consultation Room.
The bullets lodged accurately into the Wife Mimic's glabella and chest without a single inch of error.
However, the monster did not fall.
Even with an impact strong enough to snap its head back, the Mimic only staggered and stood tall in its place.
Along with a grotesque sound of bone friction, the head that had snapped back slowly returned to its original position.
From the holes where the bullets were lodged, instead of red blood, leech-like flesh popped out as if regenerating.
A momentary opening caused by having his gaze stolen by the Wife Mimic.
The Doctor Mimic, which was becoming a honeycomb, did not miss the opportunity and, with bloodshot eyes flashing, raised its biological blade toward Captain Kim's throat.
"Captain, look out!"
The moment Min Ah-ji screamed sharply.
Ta-da-da-dang-!
Seo Do-yoon's K3 Machine Gun spat fire, mercilessly tearing apart the Doctor Mimic's upper body.
With perfect suppression fire that suppressed the recoil with the massive Orc's strength, the creature was slammed into the wall.
"Hngh!"
At the same time, Owl Bear Elder's shout burst out.
Elder's heavy Sledgehammer cut through the air and mercilessly smashed the head of the Wife Mimic, which was trying to approach while twisting its head grotesquely.
So, situation over.
We fired a few more bullets into the remains of the creatures writhing on the floor. We had already experienced their persistence enough to be sick of it.
'...We fight better than I thought.'
Well, we certainly possessed combat power that exceeded that of ordinary humans.
Moreover, since the darkness spread everywhere could also be neutralized by my light, it was possible to easily handle a small number of enemies.
The problem was that we didn't have the luxury to indulge in such sentiments.
"......."
Click. Click. Click.
In the silence, a dry metallic sound cutting through the air was heard.
I turned my head and couldn't help but bite my lip.
Captain Kim, holding the empty pistol with both hands, was continuously pulling the trigger toward the remains of the Wife Mimic, which were already crushed and left with no form.
The gun, with its slide locked back, had long since run out of live ammunition, but his finger did not stop.
"Captain. It's over."
When I approached and called him quietly, Captain Kim finally flinched and lowered his gun.
He reached for the magazine pouch at his waist.
But his two hands, which were always as precise as a machine, were now trembling miserably like a patient with a tremor.
Clatter, clatter.
He tried to take out a new magazine and push it into the pistol grip, but because of his vibrating fingertips, the magazine couldn't enter the magazine well, just spinning around and making an indifferent friction sound.
Eventually, the magazine slipped from his hand and fell onto the bloody floor with a thud.
"......."
Captain Kim looked down at the magazine on the floor and his own trembling hands alternately.
"...Do you need it?"
I asked him that.
He pulled his beret down low and muttered in a voice that sounded forced out.
"There's no guarantee that this Mimic was my wife. Perhaps it's just another Mimic that coveted my wife's skin."
It meant he didn't need my miracle.
Even though he knew in his head that it was a monster, the miserable sense of guilt for having shot something that looked like his wife with his own hands. It was the last defense mechanism he had set up to keep from collapsing.
Because it was a seemingly rational statement, I had no choice but to quietly accept that forced excuse.
But that doesn't mean I'm going to ignore it just like that.
I bent down and picked up the magazine that had fallen to the floor.
And while placing the magazine into his cold hand, which was still slightly convulsing, I looked him straight in the eye.
"...Next time. Next time, for sure."
"......."
"I will find her for you."
Captain Kim's wavering pupils paused.
He blankly looked up at the halo shining faintly above my head, and soon squeezed his hand holding the magazine tightly.
"...Yes. Please, I ask of you."
The short and heavy exploration of the 2nd floor ended.
*
We exited the destroyed Consultation Room and stepped back into the hallway.
Even though we had wiped out the Mimic Beasts lurking on the 2nd floor, the air inside the building never cleared up.
Rather, it felt like something even more unpleasant and sticky was pressing in from all sides.
"The direction of the smell has changed."
Min Ah-ji, who was sniffing at the front, said with her tail standing straight up.
"A while ago, it was vibrating from all sides... but now, the smell of blood is pouring down from above like a waterfall."
"By above, you mean the 3rd floor."
Orc Mister slightly raised his gun barrel.
Our final destination, the emergency exit and where the Incubator is lurking, is the 4th floor.
Naturally, to head there, we had to pass through the 3rd floor.
"In that case, the way up is......"
Ding-.
As if it had been waiting for us to finish cleaning the 2nd floor, the door of the elevator that had brought us up from the 1st floor slid open.
"I thought it was a trap, but it was a very faithful guide."
Owl Bear Elder let out a hollow laugh while adjusting his shield.
But there was no choice. Because the only upward route this hellish building allowed us was that unpleasant iron box.
We boarded the elevator without letting our guard down.
On the elevator's floor button panel, grotesquely, only two buttons were lit up in blood-red color.
[3], and [4].