Chapter 165
Chapter 165
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 165. Crisis Detection
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Gravity cannot be defied.
There was a time I learned that lesson down to my bones—right after scarfing down a meal and crashing on my back, only to wake up with a brutal case of gastritis.
My parents were both working back then, so I pulled through thanks to my little sister and childhood friend nursing me. But that was probably the first time gravity took on such a massive meaning inside me.
What I ultimately realized was this: people shouldn't lie down right after eating. Mostly because your stomach acid climbs right back up.
"Gravity applies to all beings, right?"
"What're you on about?"
Jang Chaeyeon, who had been gathering steel marbles, shot me a puzzled look.
"We can test it out starting now."
She stared at me for a moment, then nodded.
"Sure. If you wanna experiment."
She had no clue what I meant, but she looked like she got it anyway.
"Daon, Arin."
"Yeah!"
"Give me one big opening, and you two cover it perfectly."
"Got it!"
"Alright."
Yoo Daon and Song Arin nodded.
"And Daon."
"Yeah?"
Was it okay to ask her for this?
I hesitated for a second, but Yoo Daon gazed at me with a gentle smile.
"Whatever it is, just say the word."
"..."
"If it's what Jaeheon wants, I can make it happen."
Every time I saw that look on her face, I started second-guessing if I was really the one calling the shots.
"...Just once, like before—let it take a bite out of you."
"Oh, like offering up a body part? Anywhere's fine?"
"Exactly. Just suffer through it once when I tell you."
"That's no big deal! I was worried you'd ask me to sacrifice my head or something... but anywhere works!"
Yoo Daon nodded with a smile.
"And Arin, keep an eye on Daon."
"...Ugh."
Song Arin glanced at me and sighed.
"Fine. Got it. Hey, black hair—listen up. I'll back her up perfectly."
"No fighting, you two."
"Aw, we don't fight!"
"True."
So what I'd just witnessed wasn't a fight, but some kind of overflowing friendship?
"I'm counting on you."
They both nodded at my words.
"Let's go, Arin!"
"...Right."
Yoo Daon charged at the enemy to draw its attention, dodging attacks, while Song Arin expertly raised her pistol and slammed bullets into the monster's joints.
Whenever an unavoidable strike came Yoo Daon's way, Song Arin would flick her hand back.
Like a puppet on strings, Yoo Daon's body jerked to a halt, pulling her backward.
"Thanks!"
"Gratitude's nicer with a pretty voice!"
Yoo Daon laughed, and Song Arin clicked her tongue.
Song Arin firing her gun like she had eyes in the back of her head, thanks to Yoo Daon creating the perfect angles. Yoo Daon moving with total understanding of Song Arin's intentions.
Perfect teamwork, plain as day.
If they could fight like that, why not just get along normally?
"Time to take the hit!"
Yoo Daon shouted, glancing at Jang Chaeyeon.
The marbles she'd gathered had fused into one massive steel orb.
Pure brute force compression.
"Ready."
"Now!"
"Yeah!"
Yoo Daon dodged its attack on purpose, pressing her arm against its leg.
Her arm vanished like an eraser, leaving her sleeve dangling empty.
It retched like it was vomiting something up,
and Yoo Daon's arm reappeared.
"Chaeyeon!"
Jang Chaeyeon pulled her arm back at my call.
The steel orb followed suit.
-Whooosh!
She punched forward like hurling a baseball at full speed, and the massive orb rocketed into its mouth.
-Boom!
It let out a grotesque noise, doubling over and writhing with indescribable sounds.
"It's in pain," Yoo Daon murmured calmly, watching it all.
Soon, it spat out the steel orb.
Then, countless things poured from its mouth.
Indescribable horrors.
Clumps of hair, bits of flesh and skin, scattered bones.
"Eek!"
Song Arin recoiled in horror, and Yoo Daon pulled back with a stiff expression.
The monster heaved them up for a long while.
[...Gonna... live...]
It mumbled as it toppled backward.
A putrid stench filled the air.
"..."
Yoo Daon closed her eyes briefly, murmuring a quiet prayer.
"You suffered for so long. Rest easy now."
Her voice brimmed with such agony that no one, myself included, could say a word.
"...Shall we go?"
She lifted her head from her moment of silence.
"..."
Jang Chaeyeon glanced at her and moved past. Song Arin chewed her lip before following.
"...Daon."
"Oh, Jaeheon."
Yoo Daon turned to me with a smile.
"You okay?"
"I should be asking you that. You alright, Daon?"
"I'm fine."
She nodded.
"Pitiful soul."
"Yeah."
It probably never imagined it'd end up trapped in a hospital—
"Because it never met you, Jaeheon."
"...Huh?"
All eyes turned to Yoo Daon naturally.
"If it'd met you, Jaeheon, it could've lived a different life."
"...I don't think so."
I'm not someone with that kind of power.
I've just done what I could and lived my best.
"No."
But
"You could make that happen, Jaeheon."
Yoo Daon's face shone with utter conviction, leaving me speechless.
It was something beyond trust—nothing else to call it.
"Something's coming."
Team Leader's mutter shattered the mood, his eyes narrowing.
Jang Chaeyeon gathered her marbles back into her pouch, Song Arin reloaded her gun, and Yoo Daon clenched her fists.
-Thud thud!
Urgent footsteps, and the door flew open.
A nurse appeared.
Jang Chaeyeon slammed her hand to the floor at the same moment, smashing the nurse into the ground.
-Whoosh!
Song Arin flicked her index finger like conducting an orchestra, twisting the nurse's body and forcing a key from her pocket.
"Thanks."
Song Arin pocketed the key and looked at me.
"Let's move."
"Right."
She jammed the key into the now-closed door.
-Click!
The lock turned, and the door swung open.
A acrid stench assaulted our noses,
"Whoa..."
Team Leader muttered, peering down the hall.
The corridor was a wasteland.
Every window shattered, the floor scorched black.
Traces of someone smashing everything in sight.
"Looks like they showed up."
Only two people came to mind who could trash the place this openly.
But how do we even find where they went?
The manual's weak on real-time info anyway.
If I think about it...
-Kaboom!
Something shattered in the distance.
"No need to overthink it."
Not with them smashing so blatantly.
"Just head toward the noise."
Before stepping off,
I turned back to the patients.
Their eyes were fixed on the five of us.
"Arin."
"Yeah?"
Song Arin turned to me.
"Should we leave the door open?"
"..."
Her gaze swept over the crowd in patient gowns.
"You think they'd survive out there?"
"No idea."
But at least the dangers seemed gone.
"Who knows. If they smash this place to bits, maybe it'll vanish and they can go back to normal."
"..."
Song Arin looked at them,
then closed her eyes briefly.
After a moment, her face paled as she opened them.
"I implanted a sense of safety. Even if they come out, instinct should guide them to somewhere secure."
"...Thanks."
"Nah. Honestly, I'm glad you're the type who thinks like that."
Song Arin muttered and stepped forward.
The five of us moved through the ruins.
"...Jaeheon."
-Boom! Kaboom!
Sounds we could never make in our fights echoed—utterly horrific.
"Yeah, Team Leader."
"This feels really bad."
Team Leader stared ahead, his face etched with fear.
"Something's at the source of that noise."
"Something... yeah, has to be."
If the Branch Director and Containment Team were fighting that hard, it wasn't just 'something.'
Something way beyond my imagination.
The closer we got to the noise, the louder the horrors grew. Team Leader looked at me.
"Jaeheon, what if we wait?"
"Wait it out?"
"...Not a bad idea. We're not gonna be much help against whatever those monsters are tangling with anyway..."
Team Leader trailed off, staring ahead.
-Boom!
The wall exploded, and a figure burst through.
"Aaah!"
Team Leader screamed,
and the person from the rubble coughed up blood, hacking.
"...Branch Director?"
It was her.
She spat blood repeatedly, then locked eyes with me and widened hers.
"Kim Jaeheon and the HR Team? I couldn't find you anywhere—thought I got lucky not getting nabbed."
"We were locked up with the patients."
"I see. *Hack!*"
*Ptui.* She vomited more blood.
"Not a great situation."
"Looks that way."
"I came in cocky, took out or crippled every doctor in Gangbuk Hospital—nothing weird about sending them all underground right now."
She muttered, gazing ahead.
"But the hospital director's a real pain."
-Thud, thud...
Footsteps approached,
"Gah...!"
Team Leader gasped and shoved me aside.
-Shhh!
His hair rained down.
Right after I stumbled sideways,
the wall crumbled.
Beyond it stood a figure.
You'd expect a gown covered in grime from all this chaos, but no—this one gleamed blindingly white, drawing the eye.
And
"Ugh..."
Yoo Daon clutched her nose.
"Daon?"
"That... person, no. Thing..."
She scowled.
"The stench is insane."
As her words ended, the director's face came into view.
Perfectly human.
Except its jaw hung unnaturally slack.
Lower jaw drooping to its chest, it stared at us,
"...The perfect result."
mumbling something incomprehensible at Yoo Daon.
Her body stiffened.
A translucent window popped up above its head.
[Name: Gangbuk Hospital Director]
[Age: 74]
[Trait: -]
[Talent: -]
[Background: -]
[Weakness: -]
My eyes showed only the bare minimum, as expected.
Jang Chaeyeon positioned beside the Branch Director, Song Arin behind me.
The Branch Director spoke.
"Heo Chan, Team Leader."
"...Yes."
Not who I expected—she called Team Leader by name.
"After the Butterfly's Dream incident, you were almost bald."
"Y-Yes..."
"Might go fully bald after this one?"
"..."
Team Leader's face sank into gloom.
"Management Bureau's looking for a hair growth serum."
Even their tech couldn't fix baldness.
"HR Team, you'll help out, right?"
A translucent window appeared over Team Leader's head.
[Name: Heo Chan]
[Age: 49]
[Trait: Complacency]
[Talent: Crisis Detection]
[Background: He did not say. Crisis Detection is surviving by expending one's own lifespan. Like human life, there's a body part that meets permanent death. Namely, the hair follicles.]
[Weakness: Complete baldness would make it impossible for him to properly use his ability.]
"...Jaeheon."
"Yes, Team Leader."
"..."
Team Leader bit his lip hard.
"I'll back you up fully from here. I'll warn you about dangers. Go fight!"
"What about your hair, Team Leader?"
"Shut it, punk!"
The Branch Director clenched her fist, and the four of us drew our weapons.
Time to escape.