The Vulgar Sonic Attack
Skreeeeech.
A black sphere-shaped van screeched to a halt on the roadside.
It was wrapped in lettering: [Badgirl Hero Agency].
Peeling in places.
"Sorry. The road is too narrow up to the neighborhood. I guess you can walk from here?"
"Ah. Yes. Thank you."
Miss Poem stepped out of the passenger door, holding her coat in one hand.
Before she could close the door, Hyeryun spoke up.
"Yeah. Take care, and listen well to the new operator. From what I saw yesterday, she has real skill."
"Yes. Understood. Don't worry."
The passenger door closed, and Hyeryun leaned her head out the window and waved her final greeting.
"Yeah~ Make sure to take care of your body first."
Vroom.
Miss Poem gave the departing Hyeryun one last wave and slipped on her coat.
She walked toward the sewer entrance.
And she fitted the earphone connection device.
Static crackled.
"Hello?"
No answer came back.
The connection was already active, and faint voices of a man and woman drifted in.
『...Miss Poem might be a little out of her depth...』
『...You couldn't even see her fighting. ...』
Miss Poem's cheeks flushed a little.
She raised her voice a bit.
"Um. I'm here. Operator-nim."
Static crackled.
『Ah, good. You arrived on time. It's visible from here too.』
Miss Poem reached the sewer entrance.
Inside, a damp smell mixed with the sound of flowing water seeped out.
Miss Poem showed her hero ID to the safety officer from her coat pocket and waited.
The officer stepped aside.
She glanced inside.
The sewer was wider than expected.
On one side, a black channel flowed low.
On the opposite side, a long maintenance path barely wide enough for one person continued.
Old moss and dark stains spread across the wet concrete walls.
The maintenance path floor gleamed under a thin water barrier.
As she went deeper, the light spacing became sparser.
From a few steps in, gray concrete and darkness mixed.
The sound of flowing water and dripping water echoed softly inside the sewer.
She put her hand to the earphone and said,
"Yes. Should I enter right away? It's too dark inside to see clearly."
『No. Why don't you give it a test attack at the entrance first? Then we might see how many come out?』
Miss Poem looked around.
A safety officer was still right beside her, and not far away, many adults and children were gathered.
She put her hand to her ear again and muttered,
"Huh? Nothing's visible?"
Through the earphone's faint static, Juyeong's voice came through.
『...There's no enemy, but you're telling me to swear at Inseo? There's people here...』
The safety officer beside her was still watching Miss Poem, and behind them came the murmuring of children and adults.
"That unnie is what kind of hero is she"
"What rank is that person?"
Miss Poem, with her flushed cheeks slightly lowered her head and whispered softly,
"Should I?"...
『Yes? Y-yes... If possible, please.』
Miss Poem didn't move, still looking down.
Only her left hand slowly rose, brushing her hair behind her ear.
And her right hand stretched straight toward the dark passage, palm open wide.
Her lips moved silently.
"...Fuck."
The safety officer's eyes widened.
One adult nearby, holding a child's hand, quickly covered the child's ear.
At the same time,
The air at the sewer entrance rippled, and invisible waves spread.
A tearing sound echoed as if a huge wind was being sucked inside.
Shuuuung.
Krung.
The sound of a huge wind hitting the wall inside the sewer echoed.
And then,
Kwakwakwa-kang.
Immediately, a tremendous noise burst out of the sewer entrance.
The safety officer quickly ducked his head and twisted his body in the fierce wind.
Debris and gray dust swirled thickly.
Miss Poem alone stood unmoved, taking the wind straight on.
She just furrowed one eye slightly.
**
?
Did I do something wrong?
Or did I mishear? Yeah, that's it.
How could that uptight Inseo unnie use a swear word.
Ah.
Just not my eyes playing tricks.
Now my ears are getting the hang of it, huh.
Through the headset, the on-site noise came through.
The sewer screen shook.
The lights inside the screen showing the sewer entrance flickered.
On closer look, it was fly wings.
The wings sped past the lights.
The light was blocked several times, and the shadows inside the sewer shook.
Ah, there it is.
Chungcheong behind her stood up and pointed at the screen, shouting,
"Ah, look! There they are! The monsters!"
Ho, tsk. I saw it too.
Adjusting the headset mic, she said,
"Miss Poem. Multiple Insect C-type in front. They're coming out toward the entrance. Prepare for attack and fire on my signal."
『Yes. Understood.』
In the sewer entrance screen, Miss Poem now raised both hands.
I watched the inner sewer screen at the top of the display.
'Because of Miss Poem's hero attack trait, it's a one-shot timing type.'
Gradually, the shadows of the lights moving toward the entrance appeared.
By now, Chungcheong had come right next to the operator's seat.
She pointed at the CCTV screen while bent at the waist and said,
A strong soap smell suddenly hit me.
"Should I attack?"
Ah, why do these women come in so close.
"No, not yet."
Just a little more. Just a little more.
Now.
"Now!!"
『Fuck!』
Huh? Again?
It wasn't a mishearing.
The voice was even louder than before.
That word came through clearly.
Fuck. Ren.
Kwakwa-kang.
A louder noise than before came through the headset.
Dust was blown out from the sewer entrance visible on the screen.
When the gray dust spread around the entrance, Miss Poem raised her hand to wipe the dust from her face.
Inside the screen, she was looking into the sewer inside.
It seemed like she was checking how much the attack had hit.
No.
She couldn't be certain yet.
There was no guarantee all the monsters inside had been hit.
"Miss Poem! Don't stay at the entrance! Get to the side!"
『Yes.』
Miss Poem had already moved from the entrance, and at that exact moment,
A huge shadow appeared on the CCTV screen at the entrance.
It was a fly monster.
It looked pretty big.
"A fly monster is coming out the entrance soon. Prepare!"
『Yes.』
Inside the screen, Miss Poem was standing with her back against the wall beside the entrance.
When the fly monster poked its head in, she brought both hands together like a gun and aimed.
And her voice came through the headset again, clear.
『Shit.』
Tang.
What? What kind of thing?
Like a real gun, the compressed air from the tip of her hand pierced the fly monster's head.
Krung.
The monster crashed to the ground without flying up, its legs and wings trembling on the body that had been slammed to the floor from the head.
『Shit. Shit. Shit.』
Tang. Tang. Tang.
Kwak. Kwak.
Through the headset, the sound of a bug tearing came.
Ugh. Gross sound.
Inside the screen, the monster's body burst, and wing pieces flew everywhere.
Ugh.
Even on the screen, vomit was shooting out, but Miss Poem in front looked calm.
But, that's an incredibly strong technique? D-class?
Wow.
I forgot what to say and just watched the screen.
"See? What did I say."
Chungcheong pointed at the fallen monster on the screen with her finger.
"Inseo isn't the type to be D-class. Those are like gum."
Yeah, yeah, I know. You too.
Now I get it.
I knew it was a sonic attack, but it was language-based, fired from the hand.
But the language was swear words?
Ha.
Inseo unnie really doesn't match.
『Haa. Haa. What should we do now?』
Through the headset, Miss Poem's voice came with rough breathing.
She was using her powers a lot, and inside the screen she was bending her waist to catch her breath.
"Yes. Please wait here for a moment. According to the report, there are more than three inside."
『Haa. Haa. Yes. Understood.』
Chungcheong shrugged as if she couldn't believe it.
Then she leaned her face in close and said,
Why is this woman like this?
"Huh? It's not over yet? Inseo has already fired many times and is tired? It looks like she caught more than two, right?"
Close.
Too close, I could hear her breathing.
I pulled my chin back a little and stepped back, answering while looking at the screen.
"It's a wipeout mission. It's still not enough. If we end it here, it's abandonment mid-way..."
But she couldn't risk the assigned hero either.
She seemed tired, but if she stopped here she wouldn't get even half the maximum reward.
It was a bit regrettable.
What to do.
No. Safety first.
"Yes. Then let's stop at this point—"
『I'll do it.』
"Huh?"
『I can do it. I can just enter like this, right?』
Inside the screen, Miss Poem walked straight toward the dark sewer entrance.
『Haa. Haa. You don't seem to know my abilities well. May I tell you...?』
"Ah? Yes?"
『If I use it too many times, the power weakens, and it's like running full speed... Haa. Haa. I get tired, so continuous shots are a bit hard. Haa.』
She finished her words with rough breathing.
Through the headset, it felt a little strange.
More than that, she didn't even learn the hero skills properly while operating.
I felt no face.
"Yes, yes. I'll assist properly. Don't worry."
『Yes. Thank you. There are monster corpses that seem to have been caught by the first hit. I'll keep entering.』
"Yes! Please be careful."
Chungcheong beside me said with a frowning face,
"You're not forcing her, are you?"
"Didn't I tell you not to ignore Miss Poem?"
She did it herself earlier.
"Yeah, but right now she won't go out?"
Eh, won't she? What?
Her ability?
Then what?
At that moment, something rippled in the passage in front of Miss Poem on the screen.
A black shadow in the darkness briefly blocked the light.
That's?
"Miss Poem. One monster is estimated in front. Can you see it? Make the first preemptive attack."
『Yes...』
『Damn it.』
Ah. Doesn't adapt.
Ting.
But the sound was a bit weak?
Through the headset, Miss Poem's low sigh came.
『Ah...』
Chungcheong pointed at the screen with her finger beside me.
"Oh no. Look. The technique isn't coming out!"
Shit. Emergency.
"Get out of the way. Miss Poem. Back the way she came—"
『Kyaa.』
A black shadow rushed past Miss Poem on the dark screen.
Chungcheong said into my headset,
"Inseo! Are you okay?"
『Yes.. Yes, I dodged, but she's blocking the entrance.』
I quickly looked at the sewer map provided by the city.
I had to get out immediately.
The entrance was blocked, and the nearest exit was on the opposite side.
"Miss Poem. Run straight to the opposite side. At the junction that comes out, turn right. Hurry!"
『Yes!』
I scanned the screens leading to the opposite exit quickly.
No special movement within the range of the CCTV.
Tack. Tack.
Haa. Haa.
Through the headset, there was only Miss Poem's running sound and rough breathing.
Chungcheong beside her also stood with a flushed face, saying nothing.
Miss Poem reached the emergency exit indicated on the diagram, as shown by the GPS signal.
"Is there an emergency exit on the right there? We can go that way."
On the screen, she was standing in front of the emergency door.
I swallowed hard.
Please.
『Ugh. Ing. Ah. It won't open. It looks locked from the opposite side.』
This bastard. Then where is the closest one.
Where?
Where?
Should I send her to the opposite sewer entirely, not an emergency exit.
『There's still monster sounds behind. There's a passage here, so I'll go straight.』
Eh?
A passage not on the diagram.
She must have dug it later and not updated the diagram.
Shit.
It no longer appeared on the CCTV screen.
Miss Poem's GPS signal was moving to a place that was not the map.
『There are two forks ahead. Where should I go? There's still sounds behind. It doesn't seem like one or two!』
Oh no. No passage marks on the map at all.
But there's even a fork.
I can't see.
Nothing visible.
What to do in this situation.
"Ah, um, that's a place not on the diagram..."
『Hurry! Just pick one!』
I looked at other diagrams. Nothing came to mind immediately.
Should I ask which of the two to choose?
If there was a drone, I could have checked in advance.
But right now I can't.
Am I even doing what I should be doing while sitting here?
No. Think. Kang Jiwoo.
Think.
What do I need right now?
Operator.
Suddenly she popped into my mind.
The woman who survived after an elevator fell in Euljiro, broke through every situation with pure luck.
Chungcheong.
Her face, flushed right in front of me, appeared.
Yeah.
The answer is right here. Where was I trying to find it?
I looked straight into her eyes and said with slow force,
"Chungcheong. If it were you, right side. Or left, where would you go?"
"Huh?"
