Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: D Zone (5)
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There was a CCTV control room underground.
As I went down with Aki, I saw the seniors gathered there. Thick cables crisscrossed the stark tile floor. Dozens of monitors covering the walls leaked bright light.
The monitors were packed with all sorts of creatures.
"Have you reported it?"
"Yes."
Richard Green asked without taking his eyes off the screen, and Lee Ho replied.
Everyone in the room had hardened expressions, their gazes fixed on the screens. Most didn't even glance back at me. I stopped at the control room doorway, taking in the silent scene.
I hadn't expected things to escalate this quickly.
Aki hopped inside and stood next to the seniors. People kept their eyes glued to the CCTV screens.
Only Ami turned her head to look at me.
The only one who truly understood the situation.
"Estimated level 7?"
Tvein's voice echoed through the spacious room.
"Doesn't that mean it could be level 8 or 9?"
It was obvious what he was referring to.
A single massive creature occupying multiple screens. It stood tall amid the hordes of creatures we'd seen the day before. It dwarfed the Mad Buffalo, the witch, and the apostate god. If I went up to the second floor and looked out the window, I'd probably lock eyes with it looming darkly.
Its ashen fur draped like hair, standing utterly still. Its torn eyes were charred black, more like black sclera. This thing, never seen before, eerily resembled a human.
That was why the seniors weren't paying attention to the swarms of creatures surrounding the small Breath barriers.
I just stared at it quietly.
Was the constant urge to cry from guilt? From fear?
Or from some inexplicable other emotion?
After standing there for a while, I lowered my head. Ami was standing among the seniors, looking up at me.
I held her gaze for a long time before speaking.
"Ami."
"Yeah."
She walked right over to me.
"Want to step out for a bit?"
I was grateful she understood immediately.
The seniors didn't care whether we left or not. They didn't even notice when we finished talking on the stairs and came back in.
Everyone was busy seriously discussing the cause and countermeasures. Why this unprecedented situation had occurred. How to break through the current one.
They probably had no spare energy to worry about one anxious rookie.
But everything changed the moment Ami revealed the true cause of the situation.
***
The control room flipped upside down.
Everyone was furious, but two men were especially enraged. Richard Green and Jason Tvein. They ranted and raved, demanding to speak to Ye-hyeon right away.
Did communications work here too?
Apparently they did. The moment Ami exposed that creatures were swarming me, Tvein had grabbed my collar and slammed me against the wall. Now he paced in front of the phone as the call tone rang, snarling.
"You crazy bastard."
He was furious he couldn't punch Ye-hyeon's face right then.
"You knew this and sent us out without a word? Selfish prick. Slimy snake bastard! Our lives mean nothing to you?!"
"If he planned to keep it hidden, he would've done so to the end."
Ami countered coldly.
"The Commander said to reveal it without hesitation when necessary and deal with the enemy accordingly."
"If he wanted us to deal with the enemy, he should've told us before we left! Fuck, was it that hard to say one word? That hard?!"
"There must've been a reason Ami was the only one told."
Richard Green was calmer than Jason Tvein.
That didn't mean he wasn't angry. Fury churned in his piercing eyes.
Of course. I'd be furious too. At me, at Ami and Ye-hyeon for hiding it.
"Regardless, I can't accept the current situation."
Wouldn't it have been better to stay in the core, even if dragged away by Jae-yeon?
A heavy atmosphere hung over the control room. The mood, even worse than before, showed no sign of improving. The teeming creatures weren't going anywhere, and the others were angry too.
Walker clamped his mouth shut, Aki rolled her eyes fiercely. Sylvia stared coldly at the screens, Barbie covered her mouth. Even good-natured Lee Ho looked baffled.
And then they all looked at me like they were looking at the creatures.
Suddenly, I missed Ricardo. He'd said the idea of me being a level 10 creature was ridiculous.
"Why won't this bastard pick up?!"
"It's 3 a.m."
[Hello?]
The call connected eerily.
[Report the situation.]
A husky voice rang out.
It was prime sleeping hours, yet the Supreme Commander's voice showed no trace of drowsiness, as if he'd been working.
It hadn't been long since joining Black Badger, but hearing his voice still made my heart pound with tension.
The seniors reflexively straightened their backs.
Tvein spat curses.
"You fucking bastard!"
"Explain yourself."
Green, maintaining some rationality, spoke up.
His restrained voice carried undeniable anger.
"What the hell is this rookie, and what were you thinking sending us out of the core with him without a word?"
[How badly have the creatures swarmed?]
Ye-hyeon countered in a voice showing no surprise or distress.
Ami gave the explanation. She reported the current situation neutrally. Hordes of creatures surrounding every small Breath safe point without fail. An unclassified high-level creature standing in the midst of the horde.
Tvein ranted curses in excitement but was ignored.
Once Ami's explanation ended, Ye-hyeon spoke calmly.
[It's worse than when Hilde first left the core. Yoon reported that back then he eliminated the witch, returned to the supply depot, and watched Hilde fighting in the basement via thermal camera.]
So that's how he knew I did well then!
He wasn't there when I was battling the pig in the basement, so I wondered how he knew. I was shocked by the truth I learned belatedly.
That guy. He'd just watched in amusement.
Tvein stopped cursing and blinked.
"No way the pig was half his doing too?"
[No.]
Ye-hyeon answered emotionlessly.
[That was a creature that invaded when we were restocking supplies, unrelated to Hilde. The thermal camera showed it appeared in the basement right when food started running low.]
I could almost hear my master's voice: 'Didn't you even check something that basic?'
As memories of that day resurfaced, I listened to Ye-hyeon's crisp explanation. There was no new information. It all overlapped with what I'd overheard that day in the guest room between Ye-hyeon and Ami.
Not all creatures were targeting me. The fact that creatures approaching me weren't doing so with goodwill.
Silence fell once the superior's concise explanation ended.
The hum of machinery. The steady breathing of the people gathered in the control room.
Richard Green, eyes brimming with fury, broke the dawn-like stillness.
He glared at the phone like he wanted to shatter it.
"I'm still in the dark about this rookie's identity and why you let a guy like this in."
[I have no obligation to explain.]
The cold reply came.
[You don't need to understand all my decisions. What I can tell you is that Hilde is the joker card I hold.]
Huh?
My eyes widened. My jaw dropped unwittingly.
Everyone looked up at me simultaneously.
Multiple gazes stabbed toward me.
Only Ami's eyes held pity and affection.
[Whether that becomes the winning card or the losing one, time will tell.]
No hint of his true feelings in the voice.
[Anyway, things are rolling now. Richard. Devise a plan centered on Hilde. Creatures swarming Hilde and besieging the safe point means the reverse: without Hilde, they'll scatter from the safe point.]
"I'll ask in detail when we return to the core."
"Yeah. Fuck, do whatever the hell you want. Power sure tastes sweet, huh?"
[Hilde.]
My name was called abruptly.
I flinched, then came to my senses. The seniors' gazes flew back to me.
A faint hint of amusement mixed into Ye-hyeon's following voice.
[Q&A time again.]
"Ah."
The 'Q&A Time with the Supreme Commander' had returned in a relatively short span.
The first time we met face-to-face. After the cabin was destroyed, when he called my personal number out of nowhere. When we ate raw fish at my master's place. Up to the last time, when I went up to his office in patient clothes.
Each time we met, Ye-hyeon allowed me to ask questions. As if hoping I'd piece together reality with my own power and recall my memories.
Was he giving me that chance again this time?
Either way, I had no intention of refusing. I had questions. I picked the one nagging at me most, the one whose answer eluded me.
"Do you know how the creatures detect my location?"
[I don't know either.]
The answer I'd expected.
I thanked him, then tossed one more short question.
"If I become the losing card, will you discard me without hesitation?"
[Probably.]
"Yes. Please do."
My mind eased.
Because I knew he wasn't holding me for personal reasons. Because I'd heard with my own ears that he'd accepted me into Black Badger based on the big picture. And because I'd heard that if problems arose, Ye-hyeon would make the decision required of his position without hesitation.
Now I could comfortably blend in among the black badgers.
While striving to become the Supreme Commander's winning ace.
"Thank you for taking my questions."
Ye-hyeon answered with silence.
***
The call switched.
After wishing Ye-hyeon well, he promised full support before calling someone else. Because Richard Green had requested him. Said he was needed to devise the plan.
It was Yoon.
Hildebert Talib's master.
Yoon was irritated over the phone.
[Just let him use the sword.]
He didn't bother hiding the annoyance in his voice.
[I told you, that's best for the rookie. With a sword, he pulls his weight. Without it, he's trash.]
"You should've taught the rookie basics from the start."
[If you're going to backseat drive like that, teach him yourself.]
No thanks.