Chapter 101
Chapter 101
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: Back to That Place (1)
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Lights came on.
The areas where the ceiling had collapsed remained dark, but everywhere else that was still intact lit up.
We were luckily hidden in the shadows of the debris.
The footsteps of several people drew closer.
“Much better!”
Mick said.
“But this place is a mess too!”
It was easy to imagine him spitting out those irritated words with a nonchalant face.
Ricardo and I didn’t move from behind the debris. We pressed ourselves right up against the massive rubble casting the shadow and held our breaths.
“Where did those two go?”
It was the voice of the woman who had figured out hours ago that the Grindream had no effect on me.
“Those two should be outside….”
“Probably got crushed to death!”
“Hey!”
This was a cop?
It was the male cop who had picked a fight with Asil who shouted.
“Why did things turn out like this!”
His voice shook unsteadily.
“If you were going to play dumb, you should’ve run the match properly!”
“Shut up. We’ve taken plenty of damage too.”
Infighting broke out.
The argument started with the cop’s shout. I listened closely as the corrupt cops and Mick’s gang bickered.
Why did the arena suddenly explode?
No idea. Some lunatic pulled off a bomb terror attack.
With this many dead, what are you planning to do?
Clean up and bolt.
Easier said than done. Things got too big. We’re pulling out. We never had anything to do with this—we just turned a blind eye to your little deviations from the start….
“The cops should’ve done a proper safety check in the first place!”
The mafia spouted nonsense.
Neither side knew they’d been dancing in the palms of the elders.
They each saw the other as the root of the problem, so their voices didn’t die down.
Ricardo muttered just loud enough for me to hear.
“Kill each other.”
Huh?
I turned to my senior with a dumbfounded look, but he pretended not to notice.
And sure enough, things unfolded exactly as he wanted.
“You’re all too busy wiping the Black Badgers’ asses as usual.”
Jaeyeon?
It was Jaeyeon. I narrowed my eyes and leaned forward.
He was posing as a cop, mixed in among the corrupt ones.
His young, obnoxious voice scraped at the organized criminals’ pride.
“And now you’re shitting on a perfectly served meal!”
The sound of guns being cocked.
Mick and his men were loading theirs.
The cops’ reactions accelerated the slide toward catastrophe.
“Who aims a gun at cops!”
“Shitstains. Killing us will make your problems even bigger!”
The pair of male and female cops who had hassled Asil shouted.
Then Jaeyeon’s voice followed.
“You won’t even shoot?”
A sneering voice.
Even though it wasn’t aimed at me, I wanted to throttle him. It was a miracle the mafia hadn’t pulled the trigger yet.
What he said next grated even more.
“Go ahead, shoot.”
His talent for provoking others was as sharp as ever.
“What’s wrong? I said shoot.”
“Punk….”
“Shoot! I said shoot! Shoot! Shoot! What are you waiting for? Shoot already!”
Ah.
“Fucking pest!”
If it were me, I’d have put a bullet in his guts in a fit of rage….
Bang!
Huh?
I was pretty surprised, even though they’d been holding back their irritation.
They didn’t even know Jaeyeon had an Enhanced Body.
A cop shooting at another cop?
I blinked several times before muttering softly to myself.
“Cool.”
My senior, head bowed, responded.
“Almost made me bolt~….”
The bullet must have lodged in his guts.
There was no sound of bones crunching. Just Jaeyeon’s short grunt. And the sound of him clutching the wound and collapsing.
Tensions escalated.
“Fuck, they actually shot!”
“No, shut up and stay put, Regina!”
“You told us to shoot?”
Mick was right.
“We shot because you told us to. Why the meltdown?”
His voice had no ups and downs but dripped with irritation and rage perfectly.
Now the cops cocked their guns too. Then came the sounds of Mick’s men cocking and aiming theirs.
I felt a little sad that I couldn’t watch this entertaining spectacle with my own eyes. It was this fun just listening—how much more would it be if I could peek?
Bang!
This time, it was the cops who fired.
But unlike the first shot, it didn’t end with a single round. Gunfire poured down like rain. The deafening blasts made the creature inside us thrash in response.
The thick stench of blood wafted over.
Sounds of human muscle and bone crunching, skin ripping followed. Muffled screams from people and the thuds of bodies hitting the floor. Even without seeing, I could tell a massacre was unfolding behind the debris.
Hm. I’d definitely heard sounds like this before.
There were no guns in the world I was born in, so it must have been after coming here that I encountered this kind of chaos.
But I had no desire to dwell on those faintly resurfacing memories now. It was too refreshing a situation to get depressed over the past.
The gunfire that had been raging finally died down as we waited quietly.
Silence descended.
The air settled. Confirming the quiet, I slowly stood. Ricardo rose too, using the debris for support.
After checking my senior was okay, I walked toward the smell of gunpowder, blood, and torn flesh. Where the shots had rung out moments ago, now only ragged breaths and groans remained.
The view opened up as the debris cleared.
The gruesome aftermath of the firefight lay before me.
It’s over.
Most were dead. The two cops were clearly gone. Jaeyeon lay face-down, unmoving—obviously playing dead.
The mafia side was much the same. Joints twisted impossibly, shattered skulls leaking brains. Mick’s unseeing eyes stared blankly into space.
“All done, Senior.”
“Looks like it~.”
Ricardo walked over slowly and commented.
“Nice and quiet now….”
I agreed with silence.
I looked at the bodies strewn across the corridor.
What caught my eye was Mick. His odd posture puzzled me. He must have pulled something from his inner pocket before dying. His left hand clutched something round and black.
What’s that?
I stepped over bodies, bent down.
At the same time, someone popped up from the pile of corpses.
“Ah.”
He muttered casually.
“Good thing I wore a bulletproof vest.”
Acting all cool.
Jaeyeon ruffled his blood-matted hair and looked up. I straightened slowly, remote in hand, staring at him blankly.
Torn blue police uniform, police cap upside-down in a pool of blood.
Jaeyeon grinned at me.
“We meet again.”
He strode over.
“Long way here. Got a gift for you.”
I didn’t reply.
I just stared blankly as he approached. Jaeyeon stepped on a split-open skull, bursting brains, crushed twisted joints to widen the angles, closing the distance.
He stopped in front of me and smiled brightly.
“Ta-da.”
I took the ziplock bag he pulled from his inner pocket without fuss.
A transparent ziplock the size of a napkin. Inside was a syringe filled with pink liquid.
“Antidote. Enough for five, so give some to Asil too.”
“This really the antidote?”
I turned to show the ziplock to Ricardo.
My green-eyed senior had stood and was silently watching.
He nodded at the ziplock held in the air. His expression unreadable as ever.
No idea what he was thinking, but confirmation it was legit was enough.
“Thanks.”
I pocketed the ziplock.
Then I let go of the death mask I’d been clutching.
I didn’t forget to pull the remote from my pocket and press the button.
[Warning. All cages will open in 10 seconds.]
Run!
I spun and dashed to my senior.
[Warning. All cages will open in 10 seconds.]
“Shit….”
Jaeyeon cursing.
I didn’t stop. I scooped up Ricardo. Ignored his dumbfounded mutter as I sprinted for the elevator. The AI counted down in a clear voice. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6….
[5]
“You….”
My shoulder-mounted senior clicked his tongue.
“How’d you do it?”
“Remote!”
[4]
I shouted while running one way.
“Opened it with Mick’s remote!”
Three, two. We reached the elevator. As the AI said one, I slammed the down button. The closed doors slowly parted.
I shoved through the narrow gap.
My foot hit the elevator floor as the countdown ended.
[0. All cages opening.]
Clunk!
The cage ascended.
I gently set down my brutishly hoisted senior. Then I took in the horde of creatures pouring from the cages.
Some crawling out slowly, others shooting out like bullets.
Even Jaeyeon, smirking at me.
He didn’t turn to the creatures charging at him.
“Crazy bastard….”
Jaeyeon’s low mutter.
The elevator doors began closing. A-floor corridor rapidly filled with creatures. Yet in the narrowing view, the fox-like figure didn’t move.
Not even as the swarm engulfed him, hands jammed in the pockets of his blue police uniform.
Thud.
The doors shut heavily.
We safely reached the first floor.
***
We escaped the collapsed tower fine, and Ricardo’s physical abilities were back.
Everything seemed smoothly resolved now.
If we hadn’t started fighting in the elevator.
“I’ll be right back. Haven’t I handled things well so far?”
“A half-dead guy puking blood, what confidence~.”
The bickering continued even as we hit the first floor and ran for the stairs leading to the arena.
I didn’t want to send my senior up there, and he had no intention of sending me.
Even when I partially conceded his point and suggested, How about just going up to the undamaged floors?, he wouldn’t budge.
In the end, I was the one who gave in.
Because Ricardo snapped coldly.
“Who’s senior here?”
A rookie who didn’t even know about the promotion exam and a war hero.
I bowed my head and yielded to authority.
“Sorry. I’ll follow.”
“Good….”
“Just let me tag along.”
Knowing how bad PTSD could get, I was desperate.
“If I’m a hindrance up there, I’ll go back down without a word.”
Ricardo nodded after a brief silence.