Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Outside the Core (3)
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I pushed open the heavy door and entered the library.
Dust and marble scents wafted through the air.
Right in front of me was a wide-open lobby. Inside the worn lobby sat several motorcycles. There were a few old cars too. Military Humvees. Command vehicles, maintenance vehicles, communication equipment carriers, and so on. Behind the two-wheelers and four-wheelers loomed several massive cannons.
I blinked and stared at the weapons before snapping back to reality.
“Where’s the food warehouse?”
I turned my head to look at the recruits.
“You said the mismatch was in the foodstuffs, right?”
“There’s a pad here.”
Tom, who had been stuck to the wall near the door, spoke up.
“It roughly shows what’s where.”
“Oh.”
I twisted my body and approached it.
Hesi, who had been glancing out the front door even after entering the library, finally turned his head reluctantly.
“Second floor.”
I muttered while fixated on the pad.
“The numerator is what we have now, and the denominator is what we should have, right?”
“Seems like it. The numbers in the numerator have been steadily decreasing one by one for the past few days.”
Tom pointed out.
Hesi kept his lips pressed tight. Did he want to follow the seniors?
I subtly turned my head to look into Hesi’s brown eyes.
“You okay?”
At my question, Hesi’s head jerked up.
“Huh?”
“Your face looks bad.”
Tom also turned to check Hesi’s complexion. The library, with its door shut, felt eerie. There was no sign of any living presence.
Hesi bit his lip, then nodded.
“I’m fine. Just pissed off.”
“It’s your first time, so it can’t be helped.”
Tom shrugged and said something reasonable.
I nodded too. Truthfully, I couldn’t quite understand why Hesi was pissed.
Did he really think Yoon had stayed behind to protect us? From what I’d seen, my master wasn’t the type. He’d probably just left us because we’d be a liability.
That might be part of it, but you can’t fill up on the first sip.
“The second floor is huge too.”
“Should we split up?”
As I turned back to the pad and muttered, Tom suggested.
“How about dividing it into east, west, and north sections to check?”
“Is it okay to split? Won’t it be dangerous?”
“For now, it should be fine.”
Hesi responded to my concern.
“Angela said it decreases by one box every night. Maybe something happens at night. Whether it’s creatures or Badgers, we don’t know…. Isn’t the real danger right now the witches that might flow over here?”
“What time is it?”
“8:36.”
Tom checked his watch and reported.
An awkward time. I narrowed my eyes and surveyed the supply depot.
I compiled the info the masters had tossed out casually. Our mission: defend the supply depot and check food levels. Notable issue 1: Food disappears one box per night.
Notable issue 2: If a witch’s energy blast hits the fuel tanks, it’ll be a disaster.
I turned my gaze toward the entrance we’d come through.
“Then how about one person monitors and defends the supply depot entrance, and the other two check the food levels.”
“Sounds good?”
Hesi answered my suggestion.
Tom nodded too.
“Not bad. Who’ll do the monitoring?”
“How about you, Hesi.”
When I suggested it readily, Hesi turned to look at me.
He stared into my eyes for a moment, then nodded.
“Fine. I’ll contact you on the comms if anything happens.”
“Yeah. We’ll head to the second floor.”
I turned to Tom and said so; the red-haired recruit nodded.
We split up in the lobby. Hesi grabbed his gun and headed outside. Tom and I turned toward the second floor.
The second floor was darker and more chilling than the lobby. As soon as we climbed the central lamp stairs, we saw a pad attached to the second-floor wall. I fiddled with the pad and turned on all the lights on the second floor.
The bluish hallway lit up with fluorescent lights.
We walked down the bright, lifeless hallway.
***
It took longer than expected.
But nothing unusual happened. The place was just vast, and there were so many boxes. We finished checking the counts in the last bookshelf area and stretched our backs.
“Spot on.”
Tom muttered while looking around the room full of bottled water.
“No weird stuff in sight either.”
“Is someone really taking them?”
I scanned the room, which still bore traces of being a library. Bookshelves clustered in one corner. The shelves were packed with books in an unfamiliar language.
A couple of books that had fallen from the shelves lay on the floor, covered in dust.
We’d counted the boxes in a room like this by hand, one by one, and the numbers matched perfectly. There were exactly as many food boxes as there should be. So that meant no theft today yet.
Hadn’t midnight passed? Or did we need to check the other floors. The library had three floors total. We might need to thoroughly check the third floor and then basement level one.
I glanced at my watch. 9:10. Quite some time had passed.
Had the masters safely taken down the creatures…?
[Someone’s coming.]
A voice came from the comms.
Tom and I jumped.
Hesi’s voice continued from the comms in our ears.
[Not the masters. Several motorcycles are heading this way.]
“Other seniors?”
Tom muttered.
“No word from Angela? Hesi, no sign of our masters?”
[They were moving farther away with the witches a few minutes ago, and now they’re completely gone. No witches flowed this way.]
“Should we go help? Or ask the seniors coming now for backup?”
“Let’s head out first.”
I turned toward the exit.
We hurried down the lamp stairs in big strides and headed for the front door. Dodging the motorcycles and cars filling the lobby, we stepped outside.
As I flung open the front door, the darkened core came into view.
The cool night breeze stung my nose.
Hesi whipped his head around. Headlights approaching through the darkness.
The witches that had filled the horizon were no longer visible, probably due to the settled darkness. The masters who’d ridden off on motorcycles were gone too.
Only the four unfamiliar motorcycles approaching this place caught my eye.
Jaw clenched with worry, I stood in place.
Screeech. Screech!
The motorcycles came to a noisy stop in front of the library.
We shut our mouths and watched the people who had halted in front of the library. Two women, two men. All wore black helmets that didn’t reflect the light.
The first man to arrive dismounted his motorcycle and removed his helmet.
“What the hell are these?”
A familiar voice rang out.
“Why are there just three rookies left all alone?”
Blond hair.
Sturdy build. Handsome features. Bright blue eyes. I sighed inwardly as I watched the man light a cigarette and smirk. He didn’t even need to introduce himself.
Jason Tvein.
According to Yoon, a real old-timer.
“And who’s this.”
He fixed his gaze on me and widened his unpleasant smile.
The cigarette in his mouth glowed red as it burned.
“The famous rookie, right?”
“Hello.”
I smiled brightly and bowed politely.
“Hildebert Talib. Pleasure to meet you, senior.”
Tvein raised one eyebrow while keeping the cigarette in his mouth.
I tried hard not to let the smile slip from my face.
Hesi and Tom, remembering what Yoon had said hours ago, wisely kept quiet.
The man eyed me up and down like he was appraising me.
The silence was broken by another man approaching and removing his helmet.
“Huh? Why are you here already?”
This voice was familiar too.
It was Lee Ho-chang. I wiped away the fake smile and replaced it with genuine delight.
“Ho-chang!”
“What the—Hesi and Tom are here too. What are you three doing here?”
“We came to restock the supply depot.”
Tom said.
He began explaining everything that had happened so far to Ho-chang. The two female Badgers, now helmetless, approached to listen.
I didn’t know their names. One with blond hair tied in a ponytail. The other with silver hair worn loose.
Tvein didn’t take his eyes off me while Tom finished the story.
“Witches?”
Ho-chang muttered in surprise as the tale ended.
“That many witches all at once?”
“Yes.”
“And you three were left here.”
Tvein said with a sneer. Mockery he didn’t bother hiding settled on his face as he looked into my eyes.
Hesi next to me seemed about to snap, so I elbowed him.
I kept elbowing my recruit while flashing a wry smile.
“We were checking the food counts and inspecting the library since the supply levels kept dropping.”
“Why inspect the library? Didn’t you hear me right? Some bastard creature is swiping them one by one, obviously.”
“No word from Angela?”
Ho-chang asked Tom from beside the sneering Tvein.
Tom slowly shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“Shouldn’t we go check?”
“What for. Yoon’s there.”
Tvein replied indifferently to Ho-chang’s question.
Ho-chang seemed convinced. He blinked, then straightened up with an “oh, right” expression.
The blond woman, who’d been listening anxiously, suddenly looked relieved and nodded. The silver-haired woman’s expression hadn’t changed at all.
Hesi bit his lip. Like he was barely holding back from speaking.
Good job. Hold it in till the end, recruit.
Tvein broke the silence again.
“So?”
“Yes?”
I widened my eyes at the incomprehensible remark. Tvein exhaled smoke and asked again.
“What’d you find.”
“What results do you mean?”
“Didn’t you check the library?”
Oh.
“The food is still at full count, and we found no anomalies.”
“Figures.”
Another rude one, but in a different way from Yoon.
I kept my polite face on.
“We checked the second floor, so we were about to do the rest.”
“Want help?”
What?
“Let’s go in. I’ll assist with the work.”
I narrowed my eyes.
The tall blond with the cigarette in his mouth. He was grinning widely again. No angle made it look like a friendly smile.
What’s his game…
Tom and Hesi shot wary glances, thinking the same. Ho-chang beside him looked like he wanted to say, “What the hell are you talking about all of a sudden.”
The blond female Badger behind widened her eyes. The silver-haired one seemed uninterested.
I watched the cigarette smoke vanish into the evening darkness and replied casually.
“We’re good. You seniors must be tired; us rookies can handle it…”
“Cut the crap.”
The man strode forward.
Then he draped an arm over my shoulder. We were about the same height, but he flexed his arm, forcing me to lean forward a bit.
I barely kept from grimacing and held onto my senses.
I was pulled along by his strength.
Hesi and Tom made flustered noises as they followed. Tvein didn’t stop them. We entered the library and headed for the lamp stairs.
But instead of going up, he started descending.
As we headed underground, a steel door came into view. One that required a code. Without removing his arm from my shoulder, Tvein punched in the code and flung the door open.
The cool, musty underground smell hit my nose. It must have been a parking garage once. Drum barrels filled the barren space.
Tvein finally released his arm from my shoulder. I glanced at him and stepped a few paces inside.
Tom and Hesi came up beside me and stopped.
“Looks like where they store the fuel.”
Tom muttered.
“Didn’t know it needed a code. And I didn’t know the code.”
“I said I’d help, right?”
Tvein said in a smug tone.
He smirked at the three of us turning our heads.
“You wouldn’t have gotten in here alone. I’ve opened it up this far, so check it good. Until your masters show.”
“Here?”
“You said you’d check the whole library?”
“Thank you.”
While Hesi asked dubiously, I quickly replied before Tvein could pick another fight.
An odd glint passed through Tvein’s eyes as he looked at me. I didn’t bother figuring out what it was.
Later, after we checked the underground garage, he’d probably quiz us like, “What was next to pillar number whatever?” and chew us out if we couldn’t answer.
I didn’t avoid his gaze.
Jason Tvein, with his inscrutable face, left the spot a few minutes later.
***
We figured out his scheme five minutes after inspecting the underground garage.
As we were examining the firmly shut iron door.
Beep-beep-beep, ding!
A strange noise rang out, and the lights went out.
Darkness fell.
“What?!”
“The lights are out.”
“Wow.”
Hesi raised his voice, Tom muttered in panic, and I marveled.
“For real? That guy’s doing, right?”
“That guy? Senior Tvein?”
“Who else?”
I muttered in the pitch-black darkness where I couldn’t even see my fellow recruits right next to me.
I stayed still, waiting for my eyes to adjust. At the same time, I strained my ears to pinpoint the recruits’ positions. All while glaring sullenly into the utter black.
I wasn’t worried or scared. The masters would come in soon and get us out anyway. Or we could use the watch or codex light to grope our way outside.
I wasn’t even concerned as the recruits fumbled with their watches.
Not until they reached into their pockets for the codex to use as a light source.
And before they could pull it out, the codex spoke in a clear voice amid the silent underground garage.
[Creature ‘Pig.’]
Pardon?
[Stage 4. Hides in darkness and approaches silently to devour prey. Despite its massive body, it moves almost soundlessly. Possesses immense strength, tough hide, and pig-like superior intelligence. Guns won’t work unless large-caliber. No special weaknesses.]