Chapter 286
Chapter 286
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Rolling
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"...Hoo..."
It's only natural to get tired if you keep pouring your focus into it.
Especially when your life is on the line.
I rub my weary eyes and scan the surroundings.
"Arin."
"Nothing."
Song Arin answers my mutter in an equally fatigued voice.
She too had been concentrating her mind to track its presence.
And handling the interceptions was Jang Chaeyeon.
"...This won't work."
Song Arin mutters and places a hand on my shoulder.
"This is a fight we can't win no matter what. We can't take on a horde by picking them off one by one."
"You're right."
Our chances are slim against an enemy whose numbers we don't even know.
So how do we win this?
My mind stalls, drifting to pointless thoughts like, if only Ahn Sanghyeon would just roll in right now, it'd all be fine.
No.
"Where's Ahn Sanghyeon?"
"He probably... that guy must've gone the opposite way from us."
Useless when you need him most.
I click my tongue inwardly and sort my thoughts.
We need to move now.
This is weird from the start. It's too quiet. Is it really possible for there to be no one around at all?
"...But this level of emptiness doesn't make sense."
Jang Chaeyeon voices my exact thoughts.
"Hey, that's 'cause we're split up..."
"No."
She shakes her head calmly at Song Arin's sharp rebuke and continues.
"No matter what, not encountering anyone is impossible."
"...Chaeyeon's right. And there are no victims."
That monster always mimics without fail.
Because its larvae aren't that strong.
I recall the larvae crawling toward me and Yoo Daon long ago.
It couldn't survive here with just those larvae.
"There should definitely be victims, but seeing none of them doesn't add up."
Unless it's evolved without me knowing, the lack of victims like this is impossible.
"They're deliberately trying to unnerve us."
"...Which brings us back to the same conclusion. So what do we do? Sitting here means we die."
Song Arin sighs at my words, and Yoo Daon, who had been watching, raises her hand.
"Should we just break through?"
"Are you crazy? No need for us all to hold hands and become hosts."
"But staying like this means we all die!"
"Hey, do you only have stop or stand as options?"
"Jaeheon."
"Hey!"
Yoo Daon looks at me with steadfast eyes.
"I'll protect you no matter what happens."
"No, now you're ignoring me?"
"..."
I lock eyes with Yoo Daon for a moment and sink into thought.
She's not wrong.
Staying put will just wear us down in a war of attrition, and we can't wait for Ahn Sanghyeon.
"...Daon, you take the front and run no matter what. Block with your body if you can."
"I can run even if my legs get cut off!"
"Then stop. Chaeyeon, shield our surroundings as tightly as you would bullets."
"It's different from before. I can do better now."
She speaks with an oddly confident tone.
"Arin, keep detecting. Grab my shoulder and run—squeeze if you sense something. No need to speak."
"...Fine, do that."
"I'll intercept anything that breaks through Chaeyeon's telekinesis."
I draw my gun and check the ammo.
"And we'll do it once."
"Once?"
"Not just running?"
"I trust our team."
I explain the plan to the remaining three.
Yoo Daon looks puzzled, while Song Arin and Jang Chaeyeon nod.
"It... makes sense..."
"Yeah. Not a bad idea. Simple and straightforward."
The plan's nothing fancy. High trust and decent combat ability open up more options.
"Alright. Let's go."
At my word, Yoo Daon takes a light step forward.
And immediately breaks into a run.
I stick close behind her, Song Arin grabs my shoulder.
Jang Chaeyeon follows, arms outstretched.
Sure enough,
-Kieeeek!
A single arm flies in from afar.
Doesn't that mean parasitism failed?
The arm bounces off Jang Chaeyeon's barrier.
-Kieeeek!
It lets out a cry again as it flies off into the distance.
"Why pull stunts like that...!"
Song Arin yells in annoyance, gripping my shoulder tight, as Yoo Daon charges ahead unhindered.
"Hey! Floor!"
Song Arin shouts urgently, and something bursts from the ground ahead.
An eyeball with legs.
"Eyat!"
Yoo Daon stomps it immediately—squish—and it bursts, melting the sole of her shoe.
The foul smell of burning flesh lingers briefly, but Yoo Daon resumes running as if nothing happened.
"Next time, I need to buy shoes that stay intact even on acid!"
"You'd never run in shoes like that!"
Song Arin snaps irritably at Yoo Daon's cheerful remark.
They get along great.
*
How long did we run?
"Huff... huff..."
Jang Chaeyeon breathes heavily and raises her hand—we all stop.
"Let's rest a bit."
"...Huff... whoo..."
"...Whoo..."
"Whew!"
Jang Chaeyeon pants, Song Arin wipes her forehead with the back of her hand, and Yoo Daon stands unfazed.
"But are we really doing what Jaeheon said? It feels too simplistic."
"If they want to take me down, that's what they'll do."
I'm a threat to them. And I just realized.
"They're trying to kill me by any means."
To the point of breaking their own principles.
The biggest survival instinct for parasites isn't much.
Just parasitism. That's it.
Solely to parasitize, survive, and become adults.
To that end, everyone in the Management Bureau had been parasitized.
But now it's different.
They're implanting parasites one by one into single arms, single eyeballs, and attacking.
Until now, they'd worn us down with guerrilla tactics.
The only reason for such inefficiency?
They see me—or us—as that much of a threat.
And we've just perfectly repelled it, proving guerrilla warfare is pointless.
So what's next?
"They're coming."
Song Arin mutters, and at that moment.
-Bang!
A gunshot rings out, the bullet stopping right before our eyes.
A blank-faced woman aims her gun at us.
Someone I'd never seen.
An ordinary face.
The difference...
"That's the one."
"Looks like it."
One arm missing, empty sockets where both eyes should be.
Yet she stares right at us and pulls the trigger.
A translucent window appears.
[Name: - ]
[Age: - ]
[Specialty: Mimicry]
[Talent: Acting]
[Background: This one wears human flesh like a skin suit.]
[Weakness: Every horde has a central hub.]
-Clack!
It emotionlessly reloads.
-Bang!
But before that, I put a bullet in its forehead.
The woman collapses limply, and at the same time, something splits open from the nape of her neck with a sound, a monster bursting out.
"Kraaa—"
Before it can scream, Jang Chaeyeon slams it into a mass of flesh and crushes it with her fist.
"Just like you said."
"More will come. Stay sharp."
-Step... step...
Footsteps echo from multiple directions.
"...That's... a lot?"
Song Arin mutters, Jang Chaeyeon takes a deep breath.
"Everyone, stick close. I need you bunched up to block all the bullets."
"If it gets bad, I'll take the hits and clear a path."
"..."
Soon, over a dozen people appear.
Most are strangers, but two or three I recognize from earlier briefings.
Management Bureau folks, then.
Some hold guns, others stand empty-handed.
The common thread: they're all staring at us—no, at me.
"...Not talking, huh."
Song Arin mutters, assuming a stance, and they do the same.
"What now."
"You can fight too now, Arin."
"True."
Song Arin sighs and extends her hand—threads shimmer from her palm.
"Yeah. Better to crush them at once than guerrilla nonsense."
The moment she finishes, the people charge at us.
-Rush...!
Dozens swarm toward us,
-Boom!
And Jang Chaeyeon's gesture sends them flying.
"Ten people down easy."
She mutters, as several aim guns at us.
At the same time,
-Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three precise shots, three temple holes, three bodies drop.
"..."
Not my shots.
"You okay?"
"...Did I just hear wrong?"
Song Arin furrows her brow at the voice that shouldn't be here and looks ahead.
"You heard right."
Footsteps approach, and Eileen appears.
"Eileen?"
"I got permission, so don't look at me like that."
Eileen mutters, glancing aside.
"And I picked up a stray on the way."
"Haha! I thought I'd roll around here forever! Seeing you all lifts my spirits!"
Ahn Sanghyeon.
Him, and the horde staring at us.
The perfect chance to turn this around.
"...Ahn Sanghyeon."
"Yeah?"
He looks at me.
"Let's roll."
"Heh..."
He grins like he'd been waiting.
"Perfect. Absolutely perfect."
He curls into a ball and tumbles forward.
"Here I go."
And there was light.