Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Calculated Mistake
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“Rei, tentacles at your eight o’clock. Please take care of them.”
At Lee Si-woo’s request, Rei drew the twin daggers from her waist just as a bundle of tentacles shot out from the wall.
*Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.*
The silver arcs tracing Rei’s dazzling fingertips minced the cluster of tentacles.
During the harvest season, the tentacles could appear from anywhere at any time, making them difficult to deal with. However, as long as you weren't caught by a surprise attack, their combat strength was so weak that they weren't hard to handle.
The only problem was that avoiding the surprise attacks was difficult.
After dealing with the tentacles, Rei flicked her daggers to shake off the bodily fluids and spoke.
“Tarantula’s Crisis Detection.”
Rei suddenly hit the nail on the head, sending a chill down Si-woo’s spine, but he tilted his head with a look of utter confusion.
He was usually adept at managing his emotions and expressions, but right now, his inner thoughts were so plain on his face that he looked almost naive.
It was a simple act to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.
“Crisis Detection? What’s that?”
Rei narrowed her eyes into slits.
“The way you’re sensing the tentacles right now, it’s similar to the Talent of the Tarantula from the Monster tribe. No, it’s identical. Is this a coincidence?”
Si-woo shrugged.
“What a strange coincidence indeed.”
“Is it an ability? Or an item?”
Si-woo said with a slight smile.
“Is this an interrogation?”
“…No. I’m just curious.”
“Then I’m under no obligation to answer. What’s important is whether I’m helpful to you, Boss, not what abilities or items I possess. Isn’t that right?”
Rei scowled and let out a sigh.
“Haa… I suppose you’re right.”
Kyle, who had been secretly observing Si-woo’s exchange with Rei, narrowed his eyes.
Ever since he learned that Si-woo possessed a crisis detection ability, he couldn’t shake the thought that everything in the labyrinth was revolving around him.
The Tarantula’s disappearance, the early arrival of the harvest season, and the deaths of numerous members of the Pure tribe.
Come to think of it, hadn't all these incidents started after Si-woo arrived?
As the self-serving suspicion that Si-woo was the cause of all recent misfortunes reared its head, Kyle’s eyes became bloodshot.
‘I knew my judgment wasn’t wrong. That bastard has to die… for us to live.’
His gaze filled with hostility, Kyle’s hand fumbled for the pistol inside his coat.
It was his brother’s keepsake, a weapon his brother had spent his entire fortune to purchase from a mechanist.
‘Hawk.’
The Hawk looked just like a pistol from Si-woo’s Earth, but it was a magi-tech weapon that used the owner’s mana as ammunition instead of gunpowder.
‘If I kill him, that mage backing him won’t just stand by… but it doesn’t matter. If I can just take the artifact he has, the chances of finding the stairs will skyrocket. I just need to get out of here before the mage arrives. So… I have to be patient. The moment I catch him alone, then I’ll….’
He desperately wanted to kill Si-woo, but Kyle was not foolish enough to act on impulse.
However, suppressing his murderous intent wasn’t easy, so whenever the dark urge surged, he habitually touched the pistol in his coat.
Just then, the black pupils of Si-woo, who had been staring straight ahead, slid sideways.
The gaze that Kyle inadvertently met was chillingly predatory, like that of a hunter waiting by a set trap.
Si-woo’s dry voice flowed out.
“Tentacles on the floor. Everyone, full-power jump forward.”
As he said this, Si-woo leaped up like a kangaroo, and the other survivors, including Kyle, followed suit.
Perhaps it was like the Pavlov’s dog effect, having been conditioned by Si-woo’s voice for three hours?
It was an action born of habit, one that preceded suspicion, and suddenly, Kyle had a gut feeling.
He had made a mistake.
A chill ran down his spine. Si-woo’s flat, emotionless gaze had not left him, even as his own body launched into the air.
‘Ah…’
*Swoosh!*
Right where Kyle had been standing—and only from the ceiling in that exact spot—a tentacle shot down. The positioning was so precise, it was as if it had been aimed.
*Splat!*
A crimson flower bloomed from the ceiling as Kyle’s body was torn to pieces.
The Hawk fell through the gore, clattering across the ground like a pebble.
An uncomfortable silence. An ensuing stillness.
In that brief but profound quiet, Si-woo slowly bowed his head.
“I’m sorry. I have no excuse. I… I misjudged the tentacle’s position. I must have lost focus from the fatigue.”
At this sudden death, some were suspicious, some were angry, and some lamented.
And some didn’t care at all.
‘If I misjudged Kyle’s intentions, then I’ve made an irreversible mistake. But… even if his death remains my sin, I will not regret it. I, who never hesitated to use any means necessary to satisfy my own greed back on Earth… for me to seek morality now would be the height of hypocrisy.’
Si-woo closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them to the sight of Kyle’s pathetic death.
His eyes shone with a cold light.
‘I didn’t live such a wretched life just to die like an insect in a world I don’t even know. I will survive, no matter what. Yes, just like that day…’
Suddenly, the memory of that day flashed through his mind.
Yanbian, China, 1998.
The place where he had to lose his parents and friends.
That day, in order to live, he had to bury all his guilt there.
Drawing on that dark memory, Si-woo forced away the lingering aftertaste of murder and spoke.
“I have no excuse. But what’s more regrettable is that I have neither the time nor the luxury to mourn Mr. Kyle’s death right now.”
His eyes drooped with sorrow, his voice laced with guilt.
Perhaps because of this, most of the survivors felt more pity for Si-woo’s mistake than anger.
In fact, a few even tried to console him.
They reasoned it would be strange for Si-woo, who had no mana, to not make a single mistake during a three-hour forced march, especially as a newcomer to the Pit.
However, they didn’t know.
From the moment Si-woo judged that Kyle harbored hostility toward him, he had been looking for an opportunity to frame his death as a mistake and beg for forgiveness with an excuse.
Yes, for the entire three hours.
‘Was it… really a mistake?’
Rei couldn’t shake her uneasy feeling.
The circumstances were just too convenient.
Ever since the Tarantula incident, Kyle seemed to have lost his judgment and self-control, consistently showing hostility toward Si-woo.
If a third party like Rei could notice it, could the target himself, Si-woo, have been oblivious?
No, she was certain he couldn’t have been. Therefore, the situation pointed to one conclusion.
This was no mistake, but a clear-cut murder.
And Si-woo’s next action further fueled her conviction.
“I’m sorry, but… I’ll be taking this.”
As one of the survivors cautiously tried to pick up the Hawk, Si-woo’s foot stomped down on its barrel.
It was a decisive movement, like a child marking their toy.
“What kind of nonsense is this? This is a memento of a man who died because of your mistake. And you’re going to take it? Ha! There’s a limit to shamelessness!”
As the survivor snapped, Si-woo replied with a blank face.
“Of course, I know I’m being shameless. But I have no mana, my physical abilities are pathetic, and I’m unarmed, so my ability to defend myself is nonexistent. In such a situation, what choice do I have? I have to be greedy, even if it means being called shameless.”
“Well, maybe you have a point. But the problem is, this is a magi-tech weapon that runs on mana. In other words, if you, who have no mana, take it, this fine weapon becomes useless junk. So cut the crap and hand it over. We can protect you, can’t we?”
Just then, Martin, who was standing in the rear, interjected in a sullen voice.
“Stop your damn scheming… Hey, why don’t you mention that if we just charge it for him, our friend here can use that magi-tech weapon?”
The survivor, thoroughly annoyed by Martin’s interference, shot back.
“Squad Leader Martin, that’s too inefficient, which is why I said I’d take it and protect him instead…”
Martin scoffed openly.
“Who’s protecting whom now? It’s obvious to anyone that there’s a bunch of idiots here who’d be dead without Si-woo. Am I wrong?”
Martin found the survivor, blinded by greed and trying to provoke the young wolf, pathetic.
If he had a brain in his head, shouldn’t he know a thing or two?
Like who held their lives in his hands, and what would happen if they disobeyed that person.
‘This bastard is really getting on my nerves… Does he think I want to give the magi-tech weapon to Si-woo? For better or worse, that guy’s got us on a leash right now, so we should be kissing his ass until the harvest season is over, shouldn't we? Dammit, this is why you can’t do anything with fucking idiots.’
Martin, who, like Rei, was convinced this incident was no accident, strode forward and slapped the face of the survivor arguing with Si-woo.
*Smack!*
“Ugh… W-What is this…”
Martin spat on the ground and snapped.
“Enough. Shut up and listen. When push comes to shove, I’ll ditch trash like you and run with just Si-woo. In this godforsaken situation, if we lose this guy too, we’re all dead. So… stop acting up and keep your head down. Don’t piss me off.”
Thoroughly intimidated by Martin’s threat, the survivor backed away.
He wasn’t stupid enough to get on the bad side of Martin, who was second to none in terms of strength within the Pure tribe.
When Martin turned back to Si-woo, he was already picking up the Hawk from the ground and examining it.
Anyone would have thought it was his from the start.
Dumbfounded by his brazen behavior, acting as if he and the other survivor didn't even exist, Martin asked in an offended tone.
“Hey, aren’t you sensing for tentacles? If you lose focus like that, you’ll get yourself killed.”
“Ah, my apologies. I was distraught and not in my right mind. I’ll start moving immediately.”
As Si-woo put the Hawk away in his coat and took the lead, Martin spoke in a low, deep voice from behind him.
“Don’t forget. You owe me.”
He was right. If Martin hadn’t stepped in to manage the situation, it would have been difficult for Si-woo to claim the Hawk.
Without a valid reason, if that survivor had refused to back down, Si-woo would have had to give up to avoid arousing unnecessary suspicion.
Of course, he could have taken it by force, but that would have turned all the survivors against him.
And for Si-woo, who had to consider what would happen after the harvest season ended, that would have been a self-destructive move.
With a gentle smile, Si-woo said in a soft tone.
“You won’t regret this.”
Funnily enough, Martin felt a sense of relief at those words.
Absurdly, this newcomer had already grown so significant that he could sway his emotions at will.
“…Right. That’s all that matters.”
As Martin kept his eyes fixed on Si-woo’s back as he cleared the path ahead, Rei quietly approached his side.
She spoke in a whisper.
“Good job. Now is the time to support Si-woo.”
Martin glanced sideways at Rei.
“You know too, don’t you, Boss? That this might not have been an accident. And yet, did I do the right thing?”
Rei shrugged and said nonchalantly.
“How should I know?”
Martin shook his head.
“That’s a mighty responsible thing to say, isn’t it?”
Rei grinned. It was a light smile, one that might seem foolish, but for that very reason, it had a way of drawing people in.
“Let’s worry about the complicated stuff later and focus on surviving for now. We’ve lived this long while being treated like dirt. It’d be too sad to die like insects now, wouldn’t it? Right?”
Rei’s words struck a chord with Martin.
Even though this place was called the Pit, the final destination for vermin, it was still a place where all sorts of people lived, and not everyone’s life was the same.
Some enjoyed their own forms of pleasure, while others scraped by at the very bottom, even here.
And in this unfair world, it was usually humans who occupied that bottom rung.
“Yeah. We have to live. After everything we’ve been through to survive, dying like this makes no sense. So I will live. Whatever it takes. Somehow…”
Watching Martin clench his fists with venom in his eyes, Rei spoke casually.
“I was thinking about why you’re helping Si-woo. I guess you’re trying to curry favor with him, right? Well… you can keep him close, and if things go south, you could backstab him and take the artifact. If that doesn’t work, you could just leech off the guy who has a mage for a backer and profit from it. Right?”
Her meaningful words made Martin’s expression harden like stone.
“Even if you are the boss, you’re speaking too carelessly. I’m not that kind of person.”
Rei stared at the serious-faced Martin. It was an unsettling gaze, as if she could see right through him.
“I’ve been through the wringer with you in this place for three years. It might seem short, or it might seem long… but it’s been enough time to know at least a part of you, if not all. So let me tell you this. Leeching off him is fine, but don’t do anything else.”
“…I know what you’re trying to say, but as I’ve said repeatedly, I’m only helping Si-woo to survive. I have no other ulterior motives.”
Rei said calmly, her face impassive.
“You know what I’ve learned living in this goddamned world? It’s that you have to go with the flow. Right, when a fair wind blows, you raise the sails, and when you sense a headwind, you furl them. If you do that, you eventually reach land. Well… even if it’s not the land I wanted to reach.”
Was it her unsolicited advice that annoyed him?
Martin reacted sharply without thinking.
“If you weren’t going to reach the land you wanted, why did you even set sail? That’s fucking stupid.”
Rei’s eyebrow twitched at Martin’s sharp retort.
“You…”
“That’s enough. Let’s leave it at that.”
Martin waved his hands dismissively and put some distance between himself and Rei.
At his gesture of wanting to end the conversation, Rei simply shook her head with a shadowed expression, not bothering to speak to him further.
Meanwhile, regardless of Martin and Rei’s bickering, Si-woo’s attention was elsewhere.
It was because of a message from Barathrum.
[A consumable life form is nearby. Would you like to consume it?]