Chapter 217
Chapter 217
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 217
Chapter Title: Exciting Amusement Park! (3)
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Was this place like an amusement park?
The structure standing in the middle of the plaza had a flashy design. I dashed past what looked like a rusted red lighthouse.
San whipped his head around to look in my direction.
"Dinosaur! Dinosaur!"
It did look like a raptor.
They moved in groups. I'd forgotten the name. Reptiles with five eyes bared their claws as they closed in the encirclement.
The chattering of their teeth grew louder.
Clack-clack.
Behind the one in front of me stretched a road littered with trash and weathered corpses.
"Ugh!"
No time to roll my eyes—the dinosaur lunged right at me.
I kicked off the ground and leaped.
Screeech!
"Uwak!"
San tightened his grip around my neck and widened his eyes.
"I stepped on its head!"
The eyeball didn't feel great underfoot.
It was slippery, nearly making me skid. But I managed to put more force into my foot and leap over the bellowing creature.
After landing outside the encirclement, I sprinted down the road between a massive building that seemed like an aquarium and one that was obviously a souvenir shop.
Something made of tentacles burst out from inside the souvenir shop.
A tangled ball extended long gray tentacles.
Zzzzt!
It sounded like crushing insects.
Good thing I'd brought the dagger. Supporting San with my left hand, I swung the dagger from my waist.
I sliced through the hand-like tentacles and kept running.
San, who had been trembling, looked behind us and shouted.
"The tentacles and dinosaurs are still following!"
"Is the drone okay?"
"Yeah. It's still fine for now, but..."
The wind brushed my cheek.
A rotten water stench stabbed my nose. I headed for a massive ride that must have been a waterslide, made of metal framework.
"There's something floating in the air!"
Witches galore.
They were firing energy bolts. Swarms of them blotted out the sky.
If an energy bolt took down the drone, we'd be in trouble.
I plunged into the stagnant water, gauging the witches' positions.
By the time we climb this ride, the drone should be in range.
Splash-splash.
"Sorry. Smells fishy."
"It's okay!"
San clung to me with all four limbs.
The water was pretty deep, up to my waist, and had been sitting so long it reeked of poison rot. Corpses, leaves, and dust floated on the surface.
I churned through the water quickly and began climbing the waterslide framework.
Climbing with one hand isn't easy.
"I'll hang on. Use both hands!"
The kid tensed all his limbs, buried his face, and yelled.
"I'm into climbing, so I can hold on."
I burst out laughing.
Alright, then. I'll trust you.
There were creatures in the water too. But they didn't seem about to come right now.
I started climbing the metal framework with both hands.
All sorts of creatures poured out of the buildings like a swarm of rats. I could feel countless numbers heading our way. They were so dense it felt like one massive creature blob rather than individuals.
Gotta deal with them one by one.
First, secure the high ground.
I ascended swiftly and reached the highest rail on the ride.
"You're holding up well."
Tough kid.
"Good job. Rest a bit now."
No sooner had I finished than San relaxed his limbs.
I quickly caught his slipping body with my left arm and set him on the rail. He'd kept his eyes squeezed shut the whole time, but now he took in the situation and gasped.
"Grip my arm tight. You won't fall."
San clutched my arm.
His hands were trembling. But his eyes were sharp. Impressive that he hadn't lost it even in this mess.
I want to get him home soon.
Holding San tight, I eyed the flying creatures closing in on the drone.
"Don't move the drone."
Not sure if it could hear, but I said it anyway.
Then I drew my dagger again.
Kya aaaak!
Whoom! Whoom! Whooo m!
Short bursts of slashes struck the witches.
The drone stayed hovering as I'd ordered. Thanks to that, I hit the flying creatures while avoiding it.
Witches plummeted with human-like screams.
The sky should be clear for a while.
"Hilde! Something's climbing up!"
But the ground wasn't handled.
San pressed close and stomped his feet.
"They're packed super tight! Crazy fast!"
"Gonna have to hold you again."
I'll shake them off once.
I lifted the trembling kid with my left hand. Maybe because I warned him, he didn't freak out as much this time.
But he'll jump when I swing.
As the kid started slipping, I scooped him up again and shook the rail with one foot.
"W-Why are you shaking it? It feels like it'll collapse..."
"San. Gonna shake off the creatures. It'll be loud and bumpy."
"Huh? Yes!"
"Gonna smash the rail and jump. Stick tight to me and don't move if you can."
"Huh? Oh."
He didn't seem to get it, but he obeyed right away.
"Yes!"
I carefully drew my sword.
Since getting my old blade back from Ye-hyeon during the reclamation battle, I'd kept it close. Good thing I'd brought my beloved sword today.
Can't draw it fully with the kid in one arm.
But swinging's fine.
"Hilde! Ankle! Ankle!"
San let out a sharp yelp.
"A tentacle's grabbing your ankle!"
Swoosh.
I swung.
Stepping back one pace, I cleanly sliced the spot I'd been standing. Like a metronome weight, I held the sword vertical and swept it sideways.
It'd been a while since I used the technique, but it worked better than expected.
The rail cracked open.
The severed section—from the waterslide start to the peak—collapsed sideways, creatures dangling from it like ornaments.
Ruuuuumble...
I didn't watch. I turned and bolted down the steep rail, sword in hand.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
Natural acceleration.
San screamed in terror, wrapping around my neck like a noose.
"Downhill! Downhill! It's too high and narrow!!"
"Don't move."
Impressively, the kid stuck tight without budging.
"Keep your eyes open if you can. Won't get motion sick that way."
Something tells me this kid can.
Sure enough, San went quiet. Then his arms around my neck tightened more. He'd opened his eyes for real.
Gonna be someone big.
I chuckled low.
"No matter what, I'll get you home."
I leaped onto the artificial rock wall covering the rail.
"So don't lose hope."
"...Come back together."
His tiny mutter mixed with the fierce wind.
I chuckled again, then leaped to the adjacent artificial rock wall.
***
"Uwaak!"
"Uwak!"
"Mommy!"
People screamed as Hilde leaped a huge distance and landed on the neighboring artificial rock wall.
Black Badger HQ.
The HQ crew was either working frantically amid this emergency or frozen, staring blankly at the screens.
Even Badgers fresh off missions or on break were the same. They paused in the lobby with the personal lockers, white hair fluttering each time the massive screen on one wall flicked to a new view.
People sighed in relief seeing the rookie land safely and dash off elsewhere.
Lee Ho rubbed his dry face and bowed his head.
"Bad for the heart."
"Hey. Why's that guy so good?"
Carsten gaped and shook Lee Ho's shoulder.
"Isn't he just a year in? Why's he this good?"
"Dunno. He was weirdly good even before a year. Seems even better now."
"Balance sense is insane."
Giacomo Ro forgot to pop the almond in his mouth.
He stayed still for a while, muttering.
"Kid's got skills, huh?"
"Senior."
Meanwhile, beside Barbie—who'd forgotten her brunch reservation and gawked—Lucia called to someone in the hall.
"Kudo Senior. You seen this?"
Jonathan Kudo halted mid-stride.
Lucia, who'd yelled for him, had already turned back to the screen. Kudo just stood there dumbly, watching whoever was on it. No clue what was happening.
Cheonrin shot Lucia a look.
"Why call Kudo Senior? He can't even remember my juniors' names."
"Huh? Well... but it's an emergency, so I thought he should know..."
"What changes if he knows?"
Jonathan Kudo ambled toward the screen.
He had to pass it for the elevator anyway. Cheonrin and Lucia's talk didn't register.
But he was curious what everyone was watching.
So as he walked the hall he'd meant to pass through, he glanced at the screen.
Badgers—not even changed out of combat gear—gawked at the feed.
Live broadcast mark and chat scrolling in one corner.
Kudo froze the instant he spotted the figure onscreen.
"Hilde?"
Badgers turned as one.
"Hildebert? What's he doing there?"
"Yeah. Senior remembers Hildebert's name."
Badgers gawked at the shocked Kudo.
Lucia Kwon, ever slow on uptake, just grinned.
"Kudo Senior, you close with Hildebert?"
Everyone ignored her.
Silence fell over the lobby. Jonathan Kudo stood rooted, eyes wide in shock, staring at the screen like a statue.
Badgers, stunned that Kudo knew Hilde's name and cared, stared at him.
Then a sharp noise drew eyes back to the screen.
The rookie sliced a massive leaping catfish in half mid-water and soared.
He'd escaped the waterslide zone, landing on the roof of a nearby building.
But below the roof swarmed creatures.
"What, so many?"
Barbie freaked.
"Way too many! Why there?!"
"Fuck! Can't even see the ground."
"Target seems the roller coaster rail."
Lee Ho eyed the rail crossing the park, tense.
"Yeah, if he reaches there, he buys some breathing room. Why's backup so late?"
"No grenades?"
"Who carries grenades on protection duty? He dropped into that on a protection gig!"
"Drone yet?"
Murmurs turned anxious.
Badgers paled watching creatures close on Hilde and the kid. They knew encirclement was imminent. The building wasn't that tall.
Raptors couldn't climb, but eyeless rat creatures with freakish teeth and tangled tentacle balls would scale it and devour them.
As they hesitated...
"Huh?"
A puzzled voice echoed in the lobby.
"Why leave the kid alone?"
Hilde set the student down on the roof.
Placed him in the center, then walked alone to the edge. The white-haired man peered down.
First time the kid and Hilde separated since tumbling out of the Core.
The chat in the screen corner scrolled furiously.
Lee Ho snapped.
"That chat! Fucking chat!"
"Ignorant fucks yapping!"
Carsten raged too.
But Barbie's scream drowned them.
She clapped her hands over her mouth, shrieking.
"He jumped down!"
Lee Ho and Carsten whipped around.
"Under the building!"
The screen shifted fast.
The drone, darting to catch Hilde, showed him landing at the entrance. He stood atop a squashed rat, fully surrounded, torso slightly bent.
Sword in right hand.
Face hidden as drone filmed from above.
"Gonna take them on."
"Won't work."
Cheonrin muttered, deflated.
"Can't with that many..."
Kudo straightened, glued to the screen.
Forgot everything, eyes on his junior. One hand shredded the lobby sofa backrest. He didn't notice his manicured nails piercing leather, then stuffing.
Nails always neat for sword grip.
Black Badger's sole human swordsman read Hilde's stance.
"He's swinging."
A heavy slash.
"Big."
Kwaaaaang!
A white air wave crashed.
Shockwave hurled the hovering drone back. Blinding white concentric circles spread from Hilde.
Sharp slashes erupted everywhere but the backed door.
The strike swallowed even sound for an instant.
Where the slash wave passed, only burst corpses remained.
Like a tsunami devouring all then vanishing, the white slash wave swept everything ahead and faded.
The shockwave ebbed.
Silence descended.
A blooming stillness.
Chats, Badgers—all froze.
Lost in the scene for that fleeting moment...
[Hilde!]
The kid's voice snapped them from shock.
[Hilde! You okay?]
"Uwaaaaaah!!"
Cheers exploded from the building.
"Wooooaaah!!"
The structure shook with joyous roars.