Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: First Resolution #1
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"Super sense?"
Gorgodio reacted just like in the previous loop.
"Yes! It's like some kind of wave... I can vaguely feel the presence of those horrific bastards! I survived that freak hospital with this ability! It'll be a big help!"
"You've really awakened a superpower, huh. Got it! Let's head up together!"
"Hey, tank! You cool with that?"
"We're short on manpower right now!"
"Well, fair enough!"
Come to think of it, they'd been dropping hints about being short-staffed all this time. Hold on. The nun mentioned something about purebloods last time.
The fake Management Bureau was the same way—maybe they were shorthanded because there were just too many enemies to deal with? Whatever the reason, it worked out for me. Seemed like that's why they were accepting me.
"Follow us!"
I moved right after the two of them.
"Looks like the Management Bureau is short on personnel!"
"Yeah! Desperately short! You look perfect for a rookie spot, if you ask me!"
Quras said this while constantly scanning left and right.
Rookie.
Jaaldi had said the same thing.
"We usually scout people who survive getting tangled up in anomalies! But you? Yeah, you'll fit right in as a newbie!"
"Let's finish this job first and think it over!"
"Sounds good!"
Honestly, I still had no clue about the true capabilities of this real Management Bureau.
Was joining as a rookie the right move in a situation like that?
Of course, right or wrong, it was probably better for gathering info. There was just so much I didn't know. This world was overrun with all sorts of urban legends, and the Management Bureau was the organization fighting back against them.
Sticking around as a lone individual in a setup like this was basically asking to be powerless. Hadn't I already dealt with vampires, the fake bureau, that freak hospital, and giants all on my own?
The only thing I could pull off solo was using my regression ability to escape.
And if the real Management Bureau was some powerless outfit, the world wouldn't be this intact. At least in my life before the vampires, I'd never even seen an anomaly.
"So how's that superpower working now?"
Gorgodio shouted in his mechanical voice.
"Up above! Something up there is wailing like crazy! Feels like it's coming down! Be careful! It's pretty strong!"
"Coming down?"
The armored mechanical warrior turned toward the stairs and assumed a combat stance. Quras guarded his back in some bizarre pose.
A brief moment passed.
[Slither.]
A bony-spiked creature descended from above.
Please win this!
If they lose this time too, I'll have no choice but to miss Chief Lee Do-hyung...
"It's real! For real!"
Gorgodio let out a mechanical gasp of admiration.
"Hey, that's impressive!"
Quras shouted in surprise too.
I felt a bit embarrassed. Truth was, it wasn't any superpower—I'd just regressed and was spilling what I already knew. But they thought I was a real psychic and were freaking out.
Still, one thing was clear.
This approach was damn effective for convincing agents.
[Whoooosh!]
Wings unfolded from the back of the armor, boosters igniting with a roar. Last time, it started with an ambush, but this time, they had the first strike.
[Boom!]
Gorgodio's supersonic punch slammed into the monster's body. An utterly overwhelming blow. The monster couldn't withstand the impact and crashed into the stairs.
At the same time.
"Watch out!"
[Shurak!]
Two bone-spiked tentacles burst rapidly from the monster's body. In the previous loop, Gorgodio got hit by those. They grabbed both his arms and literally tore the armor off him.
But this time, he wasn't alone.
[Snap!]
The moment Quras snapped his fingers, his light green hair fluttered.
[Boom!]
A fiery explosion erupted midway along one of the monster's tentacles, blasting it apart!
"Crazy!"
A fire manipulator?!
"Quras, you some kinda Roy Mustang?!"
"I've heard that one a hundred times in my life!"
"Then why don't you wear that blue uniform like in the show!"
"Shut your trap, punk! Get ready if you join as a rookie!"
[Boom boom boom!]
Quras kept snapping his fingers nonstop, detonating explosions that shredded the tentacles as they sprouted one after another.
It looked just like a conductor leading an orchestra.
Well, putting it nicely. In reality, it was more like someone flailing in panic after falling in water.
Anyway, under Quras's cover fire, Gorgodio completely demolished the bone monster. With Quras blasting every threatening tentacle the second it appeared, victory was finally possible this time.
Victory!
"That was close! Really close! Tough bastard!"
An excited mechanical voice boomed.
"Hah...! If I'd missed even one tentacle, you were toast, tank!"
"Toast? Nah, I wouldn't go down in one hit. Honestly, I could've handled this solo."
What bullshit!
You totally die in one hit, Gorgodio, you bastard!
Acting all tough!
Chief Lee Do-hyung really needs to show up and beat the crap outta this guy to knock some sense into him!
"Anyway. You're pretty damn useful. That's exactly the kind of super sense the bureau wants."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. Makes sense how you survived that hospital with it."
"That hospital... it was hell itself. Even the Management Bureau can't do anything about it?"
I probed casually, and Quras nodded.
"Cheongak Mary Hospital is classified as an A-grade anomaly. Extremely dangerous."
"A-grade!"
Surprising, but after all the info I'd gathered, the rating made sense. Chief Lee Do-hyung, who got one-shotted by the hospital director, was a powerhouse even Sal-hyung the holy warrior acknowledged.
"So, Quras! How strong are these monsters?"
"Dunno exactly, but since tank and I took 'em down, probably below B-grade. Maybe C-grade at most."
This is an S-grade world-ending crisis, you idiot.
Seriously clueless.
Facing this info gap felt weird.
C-grade my ass—normally, dozens or hundreds of these things could've spawned.
"No time to dawdle. Let's head up."
"Right."
We climbed higher with the two agents.
"Yo, anything sensing?"
"Not sure right now."
Truth was, no such super sense existed. The bone monster was the last thing I saw here. From now on, I'd play it off as mana depletion making it hard to sense.
"Then we'll just kill everything that comes out."
A stern mechanical voice.
Tentacles sprouted from the walls, ceiling, and floor. Gorgodio stomped and punched them to pieces, while Quras snapped away, incinerating them all.
Solid and stable.
After taking down the big one, only small fry left. At this rate, we could reach the top floor no problem.
Thinking that, we ascended another floor, and the scenery changed.
"Hmm... yeah, I got a bad feeling about this."
"Same here, tank."
Green orbs dotted the floor like fruits.
Fruitballs about the size of gym balls.
The two agents stepped forward and started popping them.
[Blurch!]
Green fluid burst out disgustingly. But there were too many. They blanketed the entire floor.
"We just gotta smash all these, right?"
"Agreed."
They thought destroying these was key right now?
No, that wouldn't do.
These green orbs seemed important, but they weren't the core. What I'd seen was that wrinkled red orb.
[Splat!]
The agents steadily cleared the gym balls... but we didn't have time for this.
We needed to hit the top floor ASAP. Wasting time here might let another monster spawn from above.
Alright.
Time to use the super sense again.
"Agents! I sense a stronger wave from above!"
"What?!"
"Stronger than this! Feels like we shouldn't waste time smashing these! We gotta hit whatever's up top first...!"
"Yeah?"
Maybe because I'd already won them over.
"Alright! Let's go up!"
Quras agreed.
"We should smash these first? We can do it quick."
No, Gorgodio, you bastard!
No time for that!
This guy's a subtle troll...
"Urk...! Ah! The wave's getting stronger!"
I went all out with the acting, clutching my head and sticking out my tongue. I twisted my body in full ham mode for maximum effect. Anyone seeing it would've thought I was a neighborhood mutt hit in the head with a stick on a hot summer day.
"Hold up! Gorgodio! His super sense is picking up something massive up top! We need to handle that first!"
"Y-Yeah, looks that way! Let's go!"
The two agents dashed up to the next floor.
"Phew!"
Nailed it.
Manipulating people is harder than it looks.
Is this the regressor's struggle?
Explaining and convincing with prior knowledge is this tough.
"Let's go!"
I followed them up.
The moment I stepped in, I knew this was the top floor.
Identical to what I'd seen at Flower Apartments' top floor pre-regression. The entire floor had morphed into throbbing red flesh and organ chunks, with a wrinkled red orb pulsing at the center, connected by tentacles.
[Boom!]
[Crash!]
The two agents were already battling tentacles sprouting from the floor. More like destroying them as fast as they popped up.
"These bastards! Keep coming!"
"Hah! Good thing we didn't waste more time below!"
Finally realized it. What a relief.
"Agents! That one! That red thing! It looks super important!"
"I can see that! But it keeps regenerating!"
"What?!"
"Watch!"
[Boom!]
Quras snapped, and the orb exploded.
But.
[Blurch!]
In less than three seconds, new tissue swelled up, fully regenerating.
Infinite regen, as expected.
No wonder every loop ended in wipeout.
"Seems like a type that can't be destroyed by normal means! Need more firepower!"
"More firepower...!"
"You! Go downstairs now! I'll give you my phone—call for backup!"
"Me alone?"
"Yeah! We'll hold out here as long as we can!"
No.
Having them stall here wasn't smart. Tentacles kept spawning nonstop, and though Gorgodio was raging like mad, I'd already seen his limits.
Quras couldn't finger-snap forever either.
They'd die before backup arrived.
"Gotta end it here."
No reason to drag it to the next loop after getting this far. I'd finish it this loop, no matter what.
[Flash!]
I slung off my bag.
And pulled out the box inside.
It'd been ages since I last saw it.
Too many incidents—always lost it.
"Hey! You! That's—!"
"Medicine I got prescribed at Cheongak Mary Hospital! Gonna feed it to that bastard!"
"What kinda nonsense—!"
"I know it's not normal meds! But what if? What if this 'treats' the monster! Quras! Clear a path! I'm going in!"
"You nut—!"
[Boom!]
The sprouting tentacles ahead exploded away.
Quras's nice support.
I gripped the box and charged.
In my sprinting vision, only the wrinkled red orb straight ahead.
Memories flashed by.
Apocalypse?
Begone.
Time to end it all!
"Raaaaah!"
I shoved aside exploding tentacles from my periphery and popped the box lid. Confirmed the ultra-grotesque wriggling flesh inside.
"Quras! Blast that bastard once!"
[Boom!]
The red orb burst.
Tiny flesh bits swelled. I jammed my hand in the box, gripped like grabbing a prize from a claw machine, and shoved it into the exposed tissue!
[Squelch!]
The red orb swallowed the medicine, completing its regen.
"Get back!"
Gorgodio smashed a tentacle aiming at me with a cool kick, grabbed me, and hurled me toward Quras.
The moment Quras caught me.
[Shudder!]
The entire floor shook violently.
And.
[Shiver!]
The tentacles spasmed wildly, then froze like time stopped...!
It worked!
The medicine took!
"Uh, uh! Agents! Bad vibes—evacuate now!"
"Out!"
[Gurgle!]
A grotesque writhing.
At the same time.
[Booooom!]
The whole floor started exploding!
Like a whale carcass detonating—utter horror!
"Gorgodiooooo!!!"
"Hang on!"
Gorgodio rocketed in with boosters blazing, grabbing us both. He twisted his body mid-hold and delivered a badass kick into the wall.
[Crraaaash!]
We burst outside through the shattered wall.
In mid-air, I saw it.
[Rumble!]
The building collapsing.
.
.
.
.
[Ding.]
.
.
.
.
[This is your first resolution.]
[The status window function is unlocked as a reward.]
"What?"