The Front Line

If someone asked whether I was afraid of the monsters, the answer would have been no.

I had already faced enemies stronger than these — and far more of them.

No matter how hopeless the situation, as long as someone stood beside me, I was fine. As long as I had a reason to hold on, I could fight as long as it took.

Just like at that SS-rank gate in Siberia — if there was even the smallest purpose that demanded I fight, I could endure anything.

But here, there was nothing.

No one left to protect.

The world wouldn't end if I disappeared.

So why did I have to fight?

My vision flooded red and blurred at the edges. Reality peeled away, and my body felt light — as if it were floating.

Just as I was about to close my eyes—

My senses, stretched to their absolute limit, had started causing problems.

A cascade of blood-red warning messages flooded the display — and then the consciousness synchronization rate crossed seventy percent.

Reason dissolved. My vision drowned in black.

"Where... am I...?"

My head ached.

Memories of every kind tangled together, making it nearly impossible to assess the situation. So I just stared blankly up at the sky. Because of a gate that had already reached the mid-stage of reality erosion, the heavens above were the color of blood.

A blood-red sky. Sky... Right. My name was Lee Haneul. And Serena Eustania.

I was the one who created the Sky Sword. An S-rank Awakened. And... the Sword Saint? But what was I doing here?

"Ugh...!"

The headache narrowed my vision. Beyond that shrinking field of sight, monsters came pouring in.

And over them, someone's phantom superimposed itself.

The precious people who had smiled at me as I fled. The soldiers who threw themselves in front of monsters to buy me time. Even the nameless ones I had failed to save.

Those gazes were anything but kind.

Their eyes, cold and rigid, locked onto me like machines. Lifeless dead pupils burned red with resentment.

"Ah..."

My body froze solid. My sharp instincts screamed at me to run — but my body refused to listen.

Because the people I had left behind were watching me. Asking, Are you going to run away again this time?

"Is this... a dream?"

Somehow, nothing felt real.

I was standing in the middle of Siberia in a skimpy outfit and I wasn't cold — so this place refused to register as reality.

That was why I couldn't move even as the monsters closed in. My clouded reason couldn't form a proper judgment.

The price for that, I paid with my body.

"Ghk...!?"

A crash rang out — the sound of my body slamming into the wall of a collapsed building.

The giant monster's fist was anything but light. A single blow painted my vision red.

"Ugh, that hurts...!"

Only then did my mind snap back.

My head throbbed like it was being stabbed, and I frantically scanned the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠area for a medic. But all that entered my sight was the pure white fur of the monsters that had surrounded the plaza.

Ah. Right.

I had been left behind alone while my allies retreated.

Alone again — the only one left alive, abandoned among the enemy. No purpose, no goal, dropped into the middle of madness, waiting for nothing but death—

"I don't... I don't want that... I don't want to be alone anymore..."

I muttered the words without strength and raised my gun again. Through blurred vision I pulled the trigger, and a flash of orange light erupted, dropping the gorilla monster that had been closing in.

But there was no way I could hold a base alone after everyone else had pulled out. In the gap while I reloaded, a werewolf lunged.

"I can't take any more of this..."

Still muttering, I gathered wind around my fist. My unfocused black eyes flooded blue, and the trajectory of the charging werewolf unfolded before me in perfect clarity.

I drove my dagger down along the end of that path.

THOOM—!

The werewolf's body burst into white particles and detonated. The dagger in my hand crumbled apart as a blue shockwave expanded outward in a perfect ring.

"So get out of my way. All of you."

With the restraints on my mind released, even my staggering body easily absorbed the recoil. Bullets fired along the most efficient trajectories punched through five charging yetis.

I raised my gun toward the eagles gliding in with talons bared.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"I'm going to kill every last one of you — and then I'm going home."

Precise aiming wasn't necessary. Ten gunshots cracked. Ten corpses dropped limply to the ground.

Only then did a brief silence arrive.

"Hah... hah... hah..."

A gate that had begun reality erosion spat out monsters at regular intervals. For an activated D-rank gate, that interval was roughly five minutes.

I needed to fall back. There was no way this body could hold out for long. Retreat, reorganize, close the gate — and then go home.

That was what I needed to do... but—

"Aaahk...! There are still trash mobs left!?"

From far off, a woman's scream reached me.

I should ignore it. If I got bogged down here, I wouldn't make it back to Base A. Then I'd have to weather the second wave with no fortress and no equipment.

But...

Are you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠going to run?

Just like you did at Vladivostok?

Going to offer someone else up as a sacrifice so you can survive alone again?

Must be nice, living like that.

"...Shit."

The clinging, sticky memories that followed me everywhere wouldn't allow it.

I discarded the empty gun, picked up one from a corpse's grip, and dragged my staggering feet forward.

"No way — it's only been ten minutes since we started... is this for real?"

A woman's voice rang lonely through the empty Base B. Looking over the base that monsters had completely wiped out, her expression was pure disbelief.

Which was only natural.

In Front Line, the average time for a base to fall was twenty minutes. No matter how badly allies performed, this was an abnormal pace.

The streamer Ara muttered at the chat window as if she'd been wronged.

"This is such a setup! Does it make any sense for this to happen right before I recover my rank points?"

"No, I'm seriously being set up this time, okay?"

Hearing her viewers' cold reactions, Ara's voice rose another notch.

Honestly, this time she really did feel wronged.

Ara knew perfectly well that she wasn't good at Front Line, and she even used that for self-deprecating jokes from time to time... but this match, she was convinced, truly wasn't her fault.

There had been teammates who deliberately sabotaged the allies. Burning ammunition on purpose, or "accidentally" blowing up barricades with grenades.

Reaching the conclusion that a few of the toxic users commonly called "snipers" had slipped onto the same team wasn't difficult at all.

"Did none of you see the guy who drove the tank straight into the Claymore minefield? I'm telling you this match is messed up!"

That was when three yetis smashed through a collapsed building and charged.

"Aaahk...! There are still trash mobs left!?"

Panicked, Ara raised her gun. Without a second to think she opened fire on full auto. From five meters away, ten holes punched through the fur of the leaping yeti.

The bravely charging yeti dissolved into particles on the spot. The monsters trailing behind flinched slightly — a small bonus.

But the price of mindless full-auto fire was steep. With a sharp metallic click-click, the empty magazine dropped free.

"Ah..."

Under the viewers' mockery, the yetis that had hesitated at the gunfire charged again. Ara squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the pain that was about to hit—

THOOM—!

A shotgun blast from somewhere swept the charging yetis away in a flash of light.

"...?"

"Hah... hah... This time I wasn't too late..."

When she carefully opened her eyes, a girl stood there.

Black hair matted with blood and snow hanging loose around her face, half-torn military fatigues hanging off her frame — a fragile girl standing there as if she might collapse at any moment.