Chapter 216
Chapter 216
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 216
Chapter Title: Exciting Amusement Park! (2)
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The broadcasting company quickly realized they had hit the jackpot.
Recently purchasing high-performance, state-of-the-art drones had been their winning card. Everyone had said they didn’t need specs like that just for aerial filming, but one of the executives was obsessed with drones and bought ones that could even be used for military purposes. Drones that communicated via satellite.
And so, footage of the Black Badger agent and the student was being captured right now.
Even though they were outside the Core.
After the Center Core was founded, the drone industry had grown rapidly.
Black Badger agents used drones for reconnaissance outside the Core. Black Badger was one of the richest government agencies, and they spared no expense on scouting equipment. It was only natural that the market would expand.
But right now, they had secured the broadcasting rights.
The faces of those who had turned pale at the thought of losing expensive aerial filming equipment now lit up with joy.
“Air it live!”
The team leader, who had rushed over after hearing the report, gave the order.
“Right now! Before the Black Badgers make a cooperation request that’s really just a threat!”
They had no intention of letting this golden egg be snatched away by Black Badger.
A couple of their drones had been sucked into the portal along with them, but theirs were the only survivors. This meant they had exclusive broadcasting rights.
The staff moved quickly.
The moment they went live, Black Badger moved too.
“Black Badger is asking for the drone’s location!”
“Tell them to figure it out themselves!”
This drone belonged to them, Roker Media.
Roker had a talent for creating attention-grabbing enemies to boost viewership. They wanted to hold onto exclusive rights to the footage for even one more second—not just from other media outlets, but from Black Badger as well.
“Just put in a cooperation request to UTM!”
If Black Badger requested cooperation from UTM—the drone traffic system—to track the location, they’d have to go through a bunch of annoying procedures.
The footage ownership was theirs. Plus, Roker planned to refuse any information-sharing request from UTM with some excuse or another.
Where else could you find footage this stimulating?
If Black Badger figured out the drone’s location, they’d send out their own drones, and the viewers would split. This juicy drama might end prematurely.
They couldn’t let that happen.
They grinned broadly as they watched the live broadcast viewer count skyrocket.
The call came less than five minutes later.
“Team leader!”
The rookie, who had come running in breathless, called out to the team leader monitoring the live feed.
“It’s the Supreme Commander!”
Shock rippled across the faces around the monitor.
But that surprise quickly turned to smug superiority. The Supreme Commander was surely calling to beg them.
It was an emergency, so please share the drone’s location. Lives were at stake...
Seeing someone of that rank bow down was pretty thrilling.
“He must be shitting bricks.”
“How worried must he be? If that girl dies, his head rolls too.”
“And that portal appeared right under her feet, right?”
“Let’s see how much he grovels.”
The team leader picked up the phone with a smile laced with glee.
“Hey. Keep pumping out breaking news while I’m on the call. …Ah, yes, yes! Commander, sir. What brings such a busy man to—”
[You’re airing the footage, so you know. There’s a student outside the Core.]
But the voice coming from the phone was far from pleading.
[Please provide the drone’s exact location. Unless you want to be known as the media outlet that threw a high school girl’s life away for sensational coverage.]
“Pardon?”
Something completely unexpected came through.
The faces of the media staff turned to shock once more.
“Are you threatening us right now?”
The shock swiftly turned to anger.
They were used to attacking others, but being attacked was unfamiliar.
People usually didn’t pick fights with those who bought ink by the barrel.
“All the data from that drone is ours!”
[The satellite guaranteeing the drone’s comms isn’t Roker’s. You can refuse to share until the end, but if you do, we’ll request cooperation from UTM and sue your media outlet.]
The Supreme Commander spoke coldly.
[Decide in two minutes. I won’t ask again.]
The team leader spat curses.
He kicked a nearby folding chair. Bang! It hit an innocent reporter, then he jabbed a finger at the rookie.
“Give them whatever they want!”
The rookie bolted out, face ashen.
The call ended.
Beep. Beep. The tone sounded merciless.
Roker’s team leader huffed, then smashed the phone down.
“Fucking assholes always pulling rank like it’s breathing!”
“Hey! Team leader!”
A staffer stuck to the monitor shouted.
“This Badger’s the rookie from that article a year ago! The newbie trapped in the building with the Cureus Company chairman!”
“Yeah?”
The grumbling team leader rushed to the monitor.
“That pretty boy? Jackpot! Breaking news—pull in more viewers!”
“HATN already dropped breaking news. They saw our footage.”
“Those rats!”
Even as he cursed, the team leader grinned ear to ear.
Staring at the snow-white hair and vivid golden eyes on screen.
The Black Badger agent had just finished treating the wound on the student’s ankle.
He lowered the hem of the high schooler’s rolled-up jeans, then stood.
The agent, who had maintained a remarkably calm demeanor since falling outside the Core, looked up.
“He’s looking this way.”
And for the first time, he spotted the drone.
With those clear yellow eyes.
***
“Yoon!”
Hiroshi, the physicist from the science wing, shoved through the crowd as he ran.
“Yoon! Emergency! Where are you!”
Hiroshi usually feared Yoon.
Like the other ordinary scientists and technicians. But right now, he forgot that fear and shouted Choi Yoon’s name.
The man called an NPC of the science division alongside John Mullen.
But unlike John Mullen, this NPC sometimes attacked passing characters.
The man rumored to snack on clueless newbie scientists had emerged from the control zone.
“What?”
Yoon looked at Hiroshi with a face heavy with fatigue.
“Supreme Commander calling?”
No.
Not quite, but the news Hiroshi brought was just as urgent. That’s why Hiroshi didn’t get killed by the science division’s NPC.
Most of the scientists were already gathered in front of the massive screen.
Those groaning as they watched the broadcast parted like the sea when Yoon approached.
Yoon let out a hollow chuckle as he watched Roker Media’s live feed on the screen.
“That guy must have humiliation written in his fate.”
The man spoke in a weary voice, then asked no one in particular.
“Location pinned?”
“We got it from Roker.”
The science division chief, arms crossed, replied promptly.
“Our drones are prepping for launch too. And we’ve got orders to figure out what caused the portal.”
“Where?”
“They say it’s Thorny Vine Amusement Park, A Zone inside D Zone.”
Yoon clicked his tongue at the familiar name.
He knew the place. It had been famous before the war broke out. A vast theme park. Back when Ami was in elementary school, she’d begged to go there, singing about it nonstop.
But the dream never came true. War erupted, and the theme park wasn’t included in the Breath.
Creatures had infested the abandoned park.
A space of nightmares and hallucinations.
At some point, Black Badger agents started calling it ‘Thorny Vine Amusement Park.’ It was a nickname born from the carnivorous plants that encircled the park.
Because of those ferocious man-eaters, it had been designated A Zone. Not too far from the Core, but isolated like an island. Black Badger agents had ignored it for a long time.
No water source nearby, no mineral resources, no wheat or rice fields—so no reclamation work had been done.
Meaning no Black Badger agents nearby who could rush to help right away.
The creatures eyeing those two as meals would be swarming.
“Can they escape from in there?”
Someone asked in a fearful voice.
“The drop zone’s the worst. Not C Zone with portals, not E or F with rail lines, but D Zone—and A Zone inside it.”
“Let’s figure out what caused this mess first.”
Yoon finally looked up at his junior spotting the drone on screen, staring at those vividly captured golden eyes, and spoke.
“Looks like the portal opened during the event. Get the footage if it was caught on camera.”
The scientists sprang into action the moment he finished.
Yoon stared piercingly at those golden eyes, listening to them bustle.
***
There’s a drone.
Seems to be working fine.
“Sorry.”
As I watched it closely, San’s voice came, choked with sobs.
“I’m really sorry. I don’t think I can run fast…”
She was seventeen, she said.
A high schooler living in an apartment near the event venue. It was a holiday, so she’d come out to walk her dog and check out the event. She’d luckily grabbed the fence and seen Ye-hyeon, so she was thinking it was time to head home.
Then suddenly, people started screaming and running.
She hadn’t even known the portal had opened under Ye-hyeon’s feet.
But she knew her dog was being dragged somewhere.
That’s why she’d dashed after Cookie.
Without properly looking around.
“What do we do? I fell, and my leg’s not even okay…”
The girl with shoulder-length bobbed hair kept crying.
“I should’ve held Cookie’s leash tighter…”
“It’s okay.”
I gave San a faint smile.
I’d barely calmed her down after she started panicking post-drop outside the Core.
Seeing her red, swollen eyes hurt my heart, but her reason returning eased my mind a bit. Her breathing was steady, and she’d grasped the situation properly.
She was a strong kid.
“Not your fault. I’ll carry you, so don’t worry.”
“I’m heavy…”
“Not at all.”
I replied softly, then bent down to meet her eyes.
The girl in the gray hoodie and oversized jeans looked up.
I smiled at her bloodshot but resolute eyes.
“See the drone?”
San tilted her head back, following my finger.
“Huh? Yeah! Is that one actually working?”
“Seems like it. They’ve probably got our position.”
I hoped it wasn’t some sleazy broadcaster.
But sleazy or not, I couldn’t help but be grateful for the drone working fine.
Because my heightened senses had caught fellow humans and creatures alike.
Especially the fellow humans.
The ones who’d tried to drag Ye-hyeon outside the Core.
The ones ready to kidnap or kill him the moment he crossed—they weren’t moving now. They weren’t approaching me and San in the abandoned plaza.
They weren’t even showing themselves.
Because of the drone hovering.
A drone that might not even be Black Badger’s. A drone with unknown watchers. They had to hide.
It wasn’t time to reveal themselves to humans yet.
They couldn’t risk exposure.
But the moment the drone crashed, the fellow humans would charge me.
Before it fell, they’d use creatures to capture me.
So that thing was my lifeline.
I looked up at it in the sky.
I smirked at the lens attached to it.
“Hang in there and come find us.”
Not sure if the sound carried, but.
I spoke to whoever was beyond the lens, then reached out and scooped San up.
The girl yelped.
“Eek!”
“Sorry. Let’s go now.”
“Huh?!”
San squirmed in my arms.
“Where? Is there a safe spot? I can still run! I’ll run as much as I can!”
“Later. For now, protect your head with your hands.”
The creatures, having assessed the situation, were closing in.
I hugged San like a backpack slung to the front and got ready to bolt.
Prepped to break through the weakest point in the tightening encirclement.
“If it’s too dizzying, say so. Anything uncomfortable, tell me.”
“Okay! But I can really run… Huh? Hilde. What’s that over there…”
“Let’s go.”
I kicked off the ground.
And ran. Feeling the swarming creatures with my whole body.
To get this kind, strong girl out alive.
To keep an innocent kid from getting dragged into the filthy war between me and my fellow humans. I started running.