Chapter 285
Chapter 285
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: War of Attrition
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Information warfare is always crucial.
Knowing about your opponent allows for thorough preparation, and it even helps create variables in your favor.
That's how I've managed to navigate this mess so far.
When facing Miji, I wasn't up against the pure version of her—I had some intel beforehand.
But if the opponent has information on me too, everything changes.
Cold sweat trickles down.
They know. About me.
And they've prepared countermeasures against me.
They knew I could track them down, so they hid in the corpses on purpose.
How?
"Hey, snap out of it!"
Song Arin smacked my back, snapping me out of my thoughts.
A thudding sound, and my mind clears.
"Don't make that shocked face!"
"...You're right, Arin."
I compose my expression and organize my thoughts.
"Even if they know about you."
"Yeah."
"They don't know everything about you accurately yet, right?"
"What do you mean?"
Song Arin furrows her brow slightly at my question.
"I mean, if they really knew you, they wouldn't have tried something like that."
"Tried..."
I realize what she's getting at.
"Are you saying they're learning about me right now?"
"Exactly."
She nods.
"You know where they're hiding, so they're deliberately leaving a body in plain sight to test you. They're gathering intel on us."
"...That makes sense."
"Can a mere parasite think that strategically?"
"Probably not."
"Who knows."
Yoo Daon looks at us and asks, and Song Arin and I answer immediately.
"It might be smarter than us."
"Right. Or it could have a perfect grasp of how we operate."
"Hmm, yeah, that could be."
Yoo Daon rubs her chin with a groan, and Jang Chaeyeon looks at us.
"It's fine."
She nods.
"We can handle it. We always have."
...
Jang Chaeyeon is right.
Worrying about it now won't change anything.
"Chaeyeon is correct. Let's go."
I nod and look at the man.
"Huff... huff..."
He's catching his breath, staring at us.
"You people..."
"We're from the Gangseo Branch."
"Gangseo Branch..."
He scans us carefully, then looks at Yoo Daon.
"Ah. Those weirdos..."
"...Yes, those weirdos."
"No, sorry. I didn't mean it like that."
I stop him from bowing hastily and continue questioning.
"Did something happen to you?"
"...Ah..."
He looks around again and covers his mouth.
"Urk..."
After a few dry heaves, he starts explaining.
"I was just... walking. Then the guy next to me suddenly stopped... I asked why, and his back just..."
"It ripped open and something burst out."
"...How did you know?"
"It happened to us too. And then?"
"...It burst out and took down one of us. But we're not amateurs, so we handled it decently... The problem came after."
He stammers on.
"Suddenly, it felt like foreign matter in the group. You know that feeling?"
"I get what you mean."
Alienation.
When you realize you're different from others, or they reject you.
"Yes. Suddenly, this alienation hit me, so I looked around."
His hands tremble as he continues.
"And everyone was staring at me."
Everyone was staring at him?
Something's off.
"...Hold on."
Song Arin snaps her fingers, and the man's body freezes, as if she had the same thought.
"If that was the case, you shouldn't have survived. How did you?"
...
"He's refusing to answer."
Song Arin frowns at me.
"Force it out?"
"...Please do."
"Got it."
She snaps her fingers again. The man's face twists in pain, then bliss, cycling through expressions before he speaks in a flat monotone.
"One of them urged me to sell out my comrades."
"Urged you to sell out your comrades?"
"Yes. They said they'd spare me if I did."
"...Then those bodies..."
"Yes, from another team."
"What about your team? The monster that used to be one of your team?"
"It ran."
"Where to."
Song Arin's voice lowers, and the man points down one path with a steady, emotionless tone.
"Deeper in."
...
Snap! Song Arin snaps her fingers, and the man straightens up.
"Stay here. And confess your sins."
"Understood."
"Recite the fifth line of the manual issued to Management Bureau personnel."
"...Even if I abandon everyone to save myself, I'll end up dead anyway. Don't throw away your greater future to avoid momentary anger."
"Don't forget that. Live by it."
"Understood."
"...That's what he says."
Song Arin looks at me.
A bitter taste lingers in my mouth, but I meet her gaze without showing it.
"No choice. What's done is done."
"...You're so cold even now."
"Someone has to be."
It's just always me.
"...Fine."
Song Arin sighs and looks at me.
"What now?"
"What do you mean? 'Don't throw away your greater future to avoid momentary anger,' right?"
"...Yeah. You really are optimized for the Management Bureau."
Song Arin gives a wry smile and stands beside me. We start walking again, leaving the corpses and the man standing there impassively behind us.
*
This riverbank—or should I call it the flesh walls of some bizarre organism? Either way, the first issue was the stench.
Walking was tough too. But most irritating of all was...
"...This path is so tricky..."
Yoo Daon mutters as she steps forward.
She was right.
No matter how you looked at it, every path was identical. It was impossible to get your bearings.
"Good thing there's bloodstains and a scent trail. Otherwise, we'd be hopelessly lost."
I nod in agreement with Yoo Daon and survey our surroundings.
Without her, we'd already be lost.
"This way, right?"
"Yes. The smell's still coming from here."
Yoo Daon wrinkles her nose and sniffs.
"Don't worry. No chance of getting lost."
"Got it."
I glance back at the other two.
Song Arin scanning tensely, Jang Chaeyeon looking around constantly.
"Anything in sight?"
"Nope."
"Not yet."
After confirming with them, I step forward, then halt at Yoo Daon's words.
"The smell. It's strong. Coming from ahead."
We all ready ourselves at her whisper.
-Thud... thud...
-Thud... thud...
Approaching footsteps.
We hold our breath, preparing to strike.
-Tatata!
Footsteps rush from ahead.
I draw my gun. What leaps out freezes my thoughts.
It was a person's lower body.
No idea where the upper half went, but the legs were just walking toward us.
No eyes in the sockets.
Countermeasure.
"It's a diversion! Everyone, hurry...!"
I shout urgently as a shadow looms overhead.
I look up. The falling upper body meets my eyes.
Its mouth splits into a grin.
A translucent window appears.
[Name: X]
[Age: X]
[Talent: X]
[Abilities: X]
[Background: Fooled you this time.]
[Weakness: X]
...!
I leap back and extend my hand.
[Chronos Shield: 10 seconds remaining]
A translucent barrier unfolds, halting it midair.
"One...?"
No way it's just one.
I frantically scan the pink flesh for more, but see nothing.
The barrier fades. Jang Chaeyeon extends her hand, freezing it again.
-Whoosh!
It hurtles away with force.
Out of sight, and...
...
Jang Chaeyeon closes her eyes and clenches her fist.
-CRUNCH!
A gruesome crushing sound echoes. She opens her eyes.
"Cleared."
...
...
...
None of us had time to respond.
We braced for the next threat from behind.
Five minutes pass.
Ten minutes, and realizing nothing else comes, we exchange looks.
"...Let's go."
And then,
-Tatata!
Footsteps again, and a wrist falling from above.
Same pattern.
Easier this time.
How many ambushes hit us as we advanced?
"Wow, they just keep coming...!"
"...Hoo..."
"...Damn..."
...
We were all exhausted.
Only Yoo Daon looked fine, waiting for us.
"...This..."
"...Yeah. Seems Chaeyeon was right."
I nod at the weary Jang Chaeyeon.
"It's a war of attrition."
*
...
-Thud!
In the quiet office, someone sets down their coffee and stands.
"Team Leader?"
"Don't call me that. I can't even do team leader duties right now."
"For someone saying that, you finished the paperwork awfully fast."
"Anyway."
Dull blonde hair sways as she rises and gazes out the window.
Bright sunlight, chilly weather.
"No more work?"
"Ah, no. All done. Heading out?"
"Yeah. Time to clock out."
"Go ahead. ...Why are you grabbing your gun, though?"
-Click!
After checking it, she slings it on her back. Eileen answers quietly.
"Gonna take a stroll by the Han River."