Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: 17. Great Demone Battle Simulation (1)
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3 a.m.
Moscow's northern outskirts. Russia.
Sokolniki Park.
In one corner of this park with its beautiful scenery, there was an underground facility that had been cordoned off by police tape for years.
A place once used as an underground chapel by the Russian Orthodox Church.
A woman burst out from there, gasping for breath.
"Hah... hah......"
Even in the darkness, her eyes glowed red.
Her gaze trembled with anxiety.
Damn... damn it all... You bastard! Where the hell did a monster like that come from...!
The woman grumbled as she anxiously scanned her surroundings.
She was a member of the demone organization 'Invisibility'.
At the same time, she was the lead researcher on the secretly developing 'Transcendent Demone' project.
The ultimate, worst demone weapon—not just accepting abyssal mana, but one that could be possessed by abyssal entities themselves.
That was what 'Transcendent Demone' meant.
From planning to production. After five years, a prototype had finally been completed.
Suddenly, an unidentified intruder had stormed into the underground lab.
What the hell is that guy? From the Central Council?
In that fleeting moment, she brushed aside her rising questions and focused on the most important one.
Should I run?
It seemed impossible.
All the staff working in over a dozen rooms had been slaughtered. And they were all demone who weren't weak individually.
Right now, the prototypes were holding them off, buying time, but...
Or hell, should I just kill myself?
Better that than let them take the information.
Resolved, the woman reached for the dagger at her waist.
No, she tried to.
Her hand grasped at empty air. The sheath was empty.
The next moment, she felt her body stiffen.
Behind her.
The stairs connecting to the underground lab, now pitch-black with all lights out. A large hand emerged from there, wrapping around her neck. Then she felt a blade pressing against her throat.
It was her own dagger.
"Kuh... Al... already here..."
In the moonlight piercing the darkness, a man's head appeared beside hers.
"......"
Her mouth wouldn't open.
His breath reached her ear.
The 'fear' she hadn't felt since becoming a demone crushed her entire body.
"One of the prototypes went missing."
His voice flowed out like sweeping sand with a broom.
"Wh-what are you talking about......"
"The X-Type. Command-type Transcendent Demone."
The woman's eyes widened.
That was top-secret even among secrets, information not even the researchers fully knew.
A project she alone had directed unilaterally.
And that's what the man was referring to.
"Th-think I'll tell you? Kill me instead......"
"That was the plan. But gotta make it painless."
"......!"
"Killing a bunch of you, I noticed something. You're more human than you'd think. When death's near, your true nature peeks out, but if it's too painful, you cower. Pathetic. Like puppets with cut strings flopping around."
Each of his words poisoned her ears, sticky and foul.
He whispered into her ear.
"Wanna dance under the moonlight too?"
*
The woman opened her mouth.
'The X-Type has already been converted for demonstration and sent to Invisibility HQ.'
Hands reached out to welcome Yoo Ji-tae as he sank into his inner world.
He commanded.
"Erase up to 34."
Line 34 on the checklist was struck through.
"And you."
"As you command, my liege."
This time, a clone emerged from the sub-space darkness.
"Quit the police gig and prepare 「Impersonation (AA)」."
"Any specific target in mind?"
「Impersonation (AA)」
A skill possessed by the clone, allowing possession of the dead.
"Vera."
Yoo Ji-tae named the lead researcher woman he'd just killed.
The clone, sharing his memories, understood the order.
Right now, Yoo Ji-tae planned to infiltrate the demone organization 'Invisibility' with a spy.
"Loyalty to my liege."
After the clone vanished into sub-space,
Yoo Ji-tae awoke from his inner world.
His mood was foul.
'Prototype X' had died by his hand every round.
This 'command-type Transcendent Demone' could link numerous demone minds into one. The longer it survived, the more minds it linked, growing ever more dangerous.
Originally, he knew Prototype X's identity. In all previous rounds, it had been a Russian man. But this round, it had changed.
According to the dead lead researcher, this X was female.
As expected, the Apocalyptic Clock stirred.
X's identity changing was another 'anomaly of Round 7'.
So he needed to investigate more closely.
"Ready, my liege."
Then, a frail woman's voice sounded.
Yoo Ji-tae turned to see the dead lead researcher 'Vera' standing, gazing at him.
"Go find out who X is."
"Loyalty to my liege."
The clone vanished on the spot.
Early morning.
The sun hadn't risen yet, but around dawn when the sky began to brighten.
Yoo Ji-tae returned to the dorm.
Clank.
"You're back?"
"Yeah."
The kids were still asleep. The guardian, who had been dead silent in the living room corner, greeted him.
He'd once wondered if the thing would adapt. Now, it was indispensable.
Cleaning was a hassle, after all.
"Any orders for today?"
"None. Watch Winter like usual."
"Understood."
"I'll be back in three days. Take good care of her."
"Pardon? Three days?"
He nodded.
For the next three days starting today.
Yeoreum's 'Great Demone Battle Simulation' class was scheduled. A sort of exam unfolding over 2 nights and 3 days in a virtual dungeon.
Guardians were required to participate.
"Hm......"
The guardian eyed him cautiously.
The guardian glanced at him cautiously.
Truth be told, the guardian had been fretting lately over Winter.
Taking care of a baby was incredibly tough. Especially a prickly one.
No matter what he did, Winter remained indifferent, and she often took offense. The guardian always ended up hurt.
"Why."
"...It's nothing. I'll do my utmost to follow your instructions."
Still, three whole days—this was a golden opportunity to bond with Winter...
With that thought, the guardian bowed politely.
Great Anti-Demon Battle Simulation.
Cadets moved in teams of three, with guardians providing directions from nearby.
This was called operating. In superhuman units dedicated to monster subjugation, there were always superhumans serving as operators. Here, the guardian filled that role.
The cadets hunted demons they encountered in the dungeon, while guardians observed their battles. Offering advice was acceptable, as it fell under the operator's duties.
Various artifacts recorded their actions and words as data, making cheats—like a guardian stepping in—like impossible.
With no real demons in the mock battle, the "demons" encountered were other cadets. They treated each other as enemies and sparred in simulation. Of course, only until the batteries in their issued armor cores ran dry, so serious injuries were unlikely.
Thus, the key question was who Yeoreum had teamed up with.
Her answer was straightforward.
"Our team? Who knows?"
He was at a loss for words.
"You don't know?"
"Nah. Well... whenever everyone was pairing off on their own, I just hung back?"
"Yeah."
"So probably 'cause of that, I got stuck with all the leftovers who didn't make a team. Total scraps."
She swept back her short bob of red hair. A white ear poked out amid the crimson strands.
Then, as if struck by a thought, "Ah—." Her eyes widened.
"But those guys, they all seemed kinda... you know."
You know?
"Uh, what was it. Lone wolves? Nah, not quite."
?
"No, like, the cadets without guardians."
Ah. Solo cadets.
Among Lair's cadets, some enrolled solo, without guardians. They were at a disadvantage in nearly every aspect of Lair life, often hailing from minor families or small organizations too strapped to afford one.
Soon enough, at the rendezvous point, their fellow cadets arrived.
"Ah, h-hello."
A stiff, awkward boy bowed his head shyly. He was short, but his frame—shoulders and all—was solid enough. His perpetually hunched neck screamed lack of confidence, though.
"Yeah. Name?"
He could see it on the name tag, but asked anyway.
The boy added, head still lowered,
"Uh, um, I'm... Hisaki Sojiro. Call me Sojiro, please..."
Japanese.
"I-I'll do my best..."
He nodded and glanced aside.
The girl with him was a bespectacled type. She didn't lack confidence, but a melancholic air hung over her face.
"...Kim Ji-in. Nice to work with."
He nodded.
Whatever the case. For the next two nights and three days, these two would be running the Great Anti-Demon Battle Simulation alongside Yeoreum.
As Yoo Ji-tae opened his mouth to brief them,
"Fucking hell."
Yeoreum eyed the pair and muttered.
"Stuck teaming with these losers."
Loud enough for everyone to hear.