Chapter 100
Chapter 100
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: PTSD (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Even so, moonlight seeped into this floor.
Far down the hall, it was bathed in blue light. It was certainly collapsed here and there, but unlike other places, it didn't seem completely blocked.
We might be able to escape through a window.
I need to get out quickly and check if Barbie and Asil are alive.
I turned to the senior, clutching the Death Mask tightly.
"Stay in the elevator."
Ricardo ignored my words.
He slowly stepped out of the elevator. I rolled my eyes and followed behind him.
If I had my way, I'd grab him and shove him back into the elevator.
But he was a distant senior. And one who'd had the worst day imaginable. If I acted on that impulse and we made it back to headquarters, who knows what would happen....
Tears in my eyes, I followed behind him.
Once out in the hall, Ricardo began examining the wall with the elevator buttons.
"What are you looking for?"
I watched the senior groping along the unbroken wall, as if searching for something.
Naturally, I wasn't expecting much of a reply.
Sure enough, none came, so I kept watch ahead while observing the senior's actions with my peripheral vision.
I carefully recalled the warning that had echoed. Five cages were open, it had said.
Three of them, I'd probably killed in the arena.
That left two.
They weren't immediately visible. I took in the sights of A Floor, bathed in moonlight. It was far wider than B Floor, and the cages were much larger too.
The presence emanating from the things inside carried far more weight.
Things buried in the darkness, unmoving, fixed their gazes on us.
Clunk!
I whipped my head toward the sound.
"Senior?"
"You know how to shoot a gun~?"
Where the hell did that come from?
Startled, my eyes widened as I noticed one of the wall tiles had popped open. The senior had pulled out a gun about the length of his forearm from inside it.
How did he know that was there?
Gotta be the perks of a senior who's done this mission a ton of times. The mafia must stash spare weapons in case things go south.
Relieved that Ricardo at least had a weapon now, I shook my head.
"No."
He blinked once at my straightforward answer.
"Hmm~?"
"I'm in training, but still pretty clumsy."
Anyone could figure out how to shoot one.
It was just my accuracy that sucked. Plus, training daily with Yoon was jogging my memory bit by bit, but even before the war, I hadn't been much for guns.
I relayed the facts as the senior deftly loaded the gun.
Ricardo approached me slowly, raising an eyebrow.
"How bad are we talking~?"
"To quote Yoon, about the level of a normal trainee two months in."
"Oh dear...."
No creatures yet.
I glanced at the senior's ankle as he drew near. Knowing his personality, he was definitely toughing out the pain. It was swollen bright red, just looking at it hurt.
But if I offered to help him walk, he'd refuse.
If worst came to worst, I'd need to stay close enough to serve as his meat shield.
When I insisted on walking three or four steps ahead, Ricardo slowly nodded.
"There's probably an elevator to the first floor at the end of this hall.... They always remodel the buildings that way...."
"Understood."
I gazed toward the end of the hall, dyed in bluish night light.
Rubble piled up where the arena should be, but the passage wasn't completely sealed off. Climb over that, and the elevator should be there.
Stairs too, probably? Likely locked, but maybe I could force them open.
Of course, behind the rubble would be those two escaped creatures.
Either way, we'd have to face those two sooner or later, whether they were here or there.
Focusing my senses to gauge the distance to the creatures, the senior's voice came.
"You think you can improve by exam time~?"
"Huh?"
What?
I shot him a puzzled look, and Ricardo mirrored my expression.
"You've got your promotion exam around mid-next year, right.... You didn't know~?"
"Huh?"
What did you say?
"Excuse me?"
An exam?
Promotion? What exam?
The shocking statement short-circuited my brain for a moment. I briefly forgot I was in a place crawling with two unknown creatures.
Choi Yoon hadn't breathed a word.
Ricardo laughed long and hard, reading it all from my face.
"Yoon must not have told you...."
"No."
That bastard.
Ricardo snickered at my expression.
"Calm down.... Plenty of time left. You can ask your master when we get out~."
"Black Badgers do promotions?"
"Gotta shed that rookie label."
The senior started walking slowly, keeping watch ahead.
"Pass the exam, and you get your work schedule, your assignment, your own gear...."
"What if you fail?"
"Total embarrassment~."
His tone was way too cheerful.
"90 percent of rookies pass, so flunking that would make you the talk of the town forever~."
Choi Yoon!
You should've at least told me that basic shit! Clutching the Death Mask, I moved my feet, quietly fuming.
Soon as we get out, I'm confronting him. Sure, we've had a ton going on, but that's no excuse not to mention it.
Why the hell didn't he tell me ahead of time?
Why!
Fuming, I turned to see a creature charging at us.
Thud!
An ape-like thing, one arm swollen like a balloon, slammed into the floor.
I vaguely remembered this creature. It lived in forests so dense with trees you couldn't see ahead. More precisely, the cursed specimens from there.
An arm swollen larger than its body.
The fist at its end flew toward my face.
"Need help?"
"No."
I raised the Death Mask.
"Got it."
Splat!
The fist sank right into the mask's inner side.
A massive shock traveled through the hand holding the mask. Bad footing, and my arm would've snapped.
But I'd caught it clean.
"That works?"
"Of course."
I watched the creature wither from the fist in contact with the mask onward.
"These things always...."
Death Masks are always starving.
They devour everything. Anything alive.
It withered faster. I watched the moisture drain from the cursed ape's body—from whatever the Black Badgers called it.
Struggling to keep my grip as the Death Mask grew stronger with every bite.
The Death Mask greedily devoured the unfortunate lifeform.
Ricardo let out a hollow chuckle.
"You must study the creature manual a lot, huh?"
He was eyeing the Death Mask in my hand.
"It's practically extinct, no way you'd run into one outside...."
"Is that so?"
Yeah, it wasn't hard to catch.
Give it a flamethrower, and it's no threat. Of course, the moment it touches the back of the mask like this ape, disaster strikes, and survivors have to amputate the contact point.
Which is probably why they wiped them out.
Brushing it off, Ricardo muttered low.
"Veterans hated it, said it was like the 10th stage."
My body froze.
Eyes wide, I stared at Ricardo.
Even as the creature—now like a desiccated apple core—thumped to the floor, he didn't care.
I....
Why bring up Ray here?
"Where...."
I tried to ask properly, but my words caught, shortening unintentionally.
The senior didn't mind. His green eyes stayed fixed on the unrecognizably withered corpse.
"They said it devours the same way...."
"...What does?"
"You've only seen that last video from the unlucky reporter, right?"
That video.
Recalling it choked me. I struggled to keep my face neutral.
The Ray in that short clip was far from the one I remembered. I'd tried not to dwell on it. Especially after Ye-hyeon jogged my memories, I'd futilely avoided thinking about that video again.
It captured my cowardice and mistakes so clearly.
"Yes."
My squeezed-out voice held steady, thankfully.
Ricardo didn't catch my odd reaction.
"You heard why the 10th stage was so deadly~?"
"That too, yes."
Ray, who stopped at the sight of the sword.
I'd heard plenty about how he'd massacred countless humans. Among the Black Badgers from the first war, none escaped his power.
Ricardo slowly tore his gaze from the corpse.
"It came back to life by eating nearby creatures."
Ah.
I didn't want to hear more.
"According to Richard and Ye-hyeon, at least~. They'd kill it over and over, but it'd suck up nearby creatures' life and revive.... Like thick black tree roots draining nutrients~. Never faced a 10th stage myself, so who knows what's true...."
The image of true silver's grayed-out arm flashed.
Nausea surged. I clamped my mouth with my free hand and bowed my head.
Ricardo, scanning ahead, whipped around.
"What's wrong?"
Couldn't answer.
I staggered to a corner, unable to hold it.
Urk....
I bashed my forehead against the bars and puked; the creature inside shot me a what-the-hell look. It resembled a four-legged goat.
Sorry about that....
Gasping against the bars, the senior yanked me back by the scruff.
"What the hell's wrong with you?"
His voice was stiff with tension.
I slowly turned to Ricardo. Bluish moonlight leaking through a wide window bathed his hardened face.
"Probably a drug side effect."
I brushed it off and gave a faint smile.
"Feel better after puking it up."
"Suddenly?"
"Yeah, tell me about it."
Knowing I stank, I stepped away from the senior.
Ricardo frowned, studying me closely. Looked like he wanted to say more but held back.
I was grateful he shut up. Pretending to be fine was hard enough as is.
Don't think about it till we're out.
One more step, and a fragment of the past would surface, but I'd resolved not to take it. Not the time.
I've got a mountain of shit to say to Yoon once we're out!
Sighing as the Death Mask got too heavy to hold after more feeding.
"Sorry. I'm good now. Let's go."
"...If your condition worsens, speak up quick...."
Ricardo grumbled unhappily.
"Hiding it means the people around you get bloodied in a fight...."
"Yes, I understa...."
Ding!
....nd?
Ricardo and I whipped toward the elevator stopping sound.
The place we were headed.
It came from the elevator connected to the first floor.
[Warning. Cage 1 is open.]
[Warning. Cage 2 is open.]
[Warning. Cage 4 is open.]
[Warning. Cage 10 is open.]
[Warning. Cage 12 is open.]
The same AI warnings as when we'd arrived via the elevator behind us.
Ricardo yanked me along.
Without a word, I crouched and followed, muffling my footsteps as we hid behind the rubble.
While hearing people pour out of the elevator.
"Shit!"
Jae-yeon?
"It's dark! Lights!"
No.
The voice belonged to Mick.