Sleepyhead
“What the hell is that thing doing right now...?”
The rookie enforcer's voice trembled as she voiced her confusion.
It's not that scary, though. Right now, I'm just licking Lira's body to clean it off. It's definitely not because it tastes sweeter than expected, or because I enjoy watching everyone flinch every time I do it.
Anyway, this standoff is starting to get old. I've already hit my quota for moving around today. Fighting anyone else? No way—that's blatant overtime for me.
I scooped up Lira, who was still passed out and dangling limply.
The enforcers' bodies shook violently, and Carlos's gaze sharpened.
No matter how intensely he stared, it wouldn't change what I was about to do.
I tossed Lira away casually—right toward where Carlos was standing.
Hoping that vicious pitbull terrier doesn't stray from her master's side next time.
-Thud!
Did he think that was an opening? Carlos pulled the trigger on his Finisher.
Pure white frost hardened the ground as it raced toward me.
Predictable. I'd figured that once I ditched the hostage I'd been using to control the situation, an impatient guy like Carlos would fire his Baek-gyeol-dan without hesitation.
I raised my hand and compressed blood in front of it.
Call it a counterattack.
I'd dodged Carlos's eyes the same way last time.
When two objects with strong physical force collide, a massive shockwave is inevitable. And if those objects have wildly opposing temperatures? Things get even messier.
The scorching-hot Blood Cannon slammed into the Baek-gyeol-dan mid-air. The shockwave hit first, followed by the superheated blood spewing ominous red steam.
The shockwave spread the eerie steam in an instant, carrying a faint feverish heat.
Perfect. It blocked their vision completely.
More than enough cover to escape.
Sadly, today's secret op ends here.
*****
It didn't take long for Lira to wake up.
Her physical recovery was top-tier among enforcers, and her temper was no slouch either—so sitting up the moment her eyes opened was par for the course.
The first thing Lira did upon rising was check her body. At the same time, she replayed the final moments in her mind.
The violent motion brought excruciating pain that swallowed every sensation in her body. In her hazy consciousness, she vaguely recalled landing that desperate final blow.
She'd felt her target reel, and caught the blinking blue light in her vision.
But amid that blue glow, she'd seen Abyss smirking.
Abyss had been utterly relaxed. It was an attack she'd mustered every ounce of willpower for, but it looked like he'd taken it on purpose, fully aware.
It's over...
That's what she'd thought. Lira had lost completely, and no matter how she spun it, there was no reason for Abyss to let her live. Yet here she was, back in one piece.
Of course questions arose.
“You okay?”
“Captain... yeah, I'm fine. But why am I here? That thing was right next to me...”
“Yeah, it was.”
“Then why am I in one piece?”
“Beats me. It just tossed you aside and bailed.”
The short exchange solved nothing. If anything, the questions piled up, twisting deeper.
“More importantly, Lira—where's Nera?”
Lira felt her breath catch. It was a simple check on a squadmate's status, but answering meant unleashing an avalanche of words.
For a split second, she wanted to bolt. No—more like beat the coward trying to run into submission.
Lira despised cowards. People who screwed up and never apologized. Ones who committed all sorts of atrocities yet strutted around shamelessly. The nausea that surged whenever she saw them was impossible to hold back.
And right now, that's exactly what she looked like.
Lira bit her lip hard. A faint metallic tang touched her tongue.
“...I ditched her and ran. That's when the cadaver horde hit. So, Captain...!”
Her fists clenched so tight that blood trickled from where her nails dug in.
“That's enough. We'll hear the details after the mission.”
“...Yeah. Got it.”
“For now... it'd be nice if we could recover the body.”
His tone was matter-of-fact. How many people did you have to lose before news of a squadmate's death left you this calm?
Lira couldn't even begin to fathom it. Especially not now, after sending one away with her own mistake.
Soon, 1st Squad headed back to the spot where they'd last seen Nera, accompanied by the enforcers.
No one spoke on the way.
The other enforcers read the mood and kept quiet. Nova rarely talked anyway, and Carlos wasn't the chatty type. Lira was the only one who usually filled the silence, but she hung her head like a condemned criminal.
“This the place?”
“Yeah...”
Carlos scoured the surroundings. All he saw was barren wasteland without a blade of grass—and cadaver corpses.
Nothing more to see.
That was how enforcer deaths usually went. If you could recover a body part, you were lucky.
Defeat in the field meant you'd lost the brutal survival game. Predators became prey in an instant, scattered as fodder for the next cycle of life.
“Nothing here, huh.”
Somehow, the situation felt detached from reality.
The first time he'd laid eyes on Nera, he'd figured she wouldn't last. Her physical stats were impressive, but her movements lacked something.
She didn't have what it took to survive out here.
Yet bizarrely, she always scraped by, teetering on the edge. Scraped by the right word? Nera was always so casual about it.
Did she not fear death? Or was she just that confident she'd pull through? That smug expression never cracked.
He hadn't been particularly fond of Inspector Nera, but he'd thought their partnership would last. That's why he'd pushed to give her the Reaper before this mission...
No one can predict the future.
“Let's head back.”
Carlos finally gave the order.
On any other day, Lira would've marched out with light steps. Today, though, her feet wouldn't budge.
Carlos moved ahead, and the enforcers followed one by one, glancing warily.
“Nova, mission's over. Get up.”
But Nova—who normally trailed Carlos without a word—was rummaging through the cadaver pile.
“Here. Human.”
All eyes turned to Nova's odd behavior.
After digging through the corpses for a few minutes, what she pulled out was...
...Nera.
Everyone's eyes went wide. Lira was undoubtedly the most shocked.
“...Ughh. Whassat... Is it morning already...?”
Nera mumbled in blissful ignorance, her face the picture of peace. The sticky cadaver blood coating her hands? Apparently no big deal as she rubbed her eyes contentedly.
“Are you insane? Why the hell were you sleeping in there?”
Glad you're alive—she could've said it, but Nera's nonchalant act made holding back the harsh words impossible.
Nera blinked around with a serene expression.
“'Cause it's the safest spot?”
Pure lunacy, delivered plainly.
“They just ignore you if you hide in there?”
“Yup. Cadavers rely more on smell than sight, usually. Sure, they'd normally sniff out the P.V. Virus like pros, making it hard to hide—but pile up enough bodies like this, and their senses get all muddled. Plus, the horde was acting weird anyway. And as you know, my activation index is just a measly 2.5 Stage, so these 3.0 Stage cadaver bodies in here were...”
“Enough. Stop.”
It was a reflexive snap from sheer absurdity, but her explanation flowed so naturally it caught him off guard.
Carlos was flustered in more ways than one. She wasn't usually this talkative—was her head still fuzzy from waking up? Or did that seemingly crazy stunt actually have logic behind it?
And brazenly claiming a 2.5 Stage index like that. Who'd buy such nonsense?
Carlos covered his eyes with one hand and let out a deep sigh.
Lira stared blankly, raising a limp hand.
“Rookie, clean her up.”
The only one who seemed unfazed was Nova. Or maybe her calmly accepting this chaos made her the weird one.