Chapter 385
Chapter 385
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Gangseo Branch Site
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-Thud! Thud! Thud!
Sounds echoed from below, and the Team Leader gritted his teeth before looking up.
"Let's head up."
"Got it."
No one questioned the Team Leader's call.
His crisis detection felt like the straight answer on a test sheet.
We rushed out into the hallway, and the others who'd been watching us followed suit, scrambling out after us.
"What's going on?"
"The HR Team just left!"
"Where to!"
"Uh, where are you going?"
Someone who'd been staring at us fired off questions in a panic, and I answered.
"Up! Hurry!"
"Hey! The HR Team says go up!"
The guy shouted my words, and at the same time, everyone else came pouring out, heading upward.
"Come on, move!"
"If the HR Team says go up, it must be safe!"
Soon the stairs were packed with people climbing, and the HR Team members stared at me.
"Were we this famous?"
"More famous than we thought."
Song Arin asked in disbelief, and I answered flatly as she sighed and shook her head.
"What a mess this is turning into."
"We can't just abandon those people."
"That was never an option anyway."
She replied to my mutter with a sigh.
-Rumble...
Meanwhile, something below kept collapsing.
I wondered if we should go down to help when Jang Chaeyeon grabbed my wrist and shook her head.
"Even if you went now, there's nothing you could do."
She spoke in a calm voice, tightening her grip on my wrist.
"The branch chief went through hell to get us down here. We can't go back up."
She stated matter-of-factly, staring straight at me.
"Right?"
"...Can't argue with that."
Soon, crashing sounds like someone had gone down to fight echoed from afar, and Jang Chaeyeon tugged my wrist.
"Let's go."
"..."
As she pulled me along, I glanced down below.
It was nagging at me.
*
We climbed under the Team Leader's lead.
He seemed seriously worried, pushing upward without pause.
"How far up are we going, Team Leader?"
"As far as we can."
He answered my question and kept moving, so I glanced back...
Murmurs rose as a crowd of people trailed us.
The noises from below grew louder, and those looking down screamed.
"Wh-what is that?"
"Run! Hurry!"
I couldn't see much from the front, but those behind seemed to spot something.
"Team Leader!"
"Keep going up, everyone!"
I shouted, and the Team Leader started ascending toward the upper floors.
Jang Chaeyeon watched, then vaulted the stair railing to peer down, grabbing my arm with wide eyes.
"You'll die if you jump!"
"I'm not jumping. Just looking!"
I had to see what was chasing us—to prepare mentally or whatever.
"..."
Something squirming below came into view.
"Just people?"
Jang Chaeyeon, gripping my arm beside me, peered down and muttered in confusion.
She was right; they were just people.
A man in a shabby suit—tattered rags, really—crawling up the stairs on all fours, face blank.
Normally, quadrupedal movement tires humans out, but this guy seemed fine, scrambling along effortlessly.
Then he opened his mouth.
"Block it!"
"We can't block it!"
"Aaargh!"
Different voices came from his mouth.
"..."
"..."
Jang Chaeyeon and I were speechless for a moment. Squinting at the man,
[Name: Lee Joo-hyung]
[Age: 32]
[Talent: Predation]
[Talent: Predation]
[Background: Their ambitious plan to taste a better world through enhanced taste buds failed. Heightened senses turned him into a monster driven not to savor the world, but to devour everything in gluttonous greed.]
[Weakness: Cut out his tongue. Deprive him of the pleasure of taste.]
No choice.
I clicked my tongue, stepping outward to jump down, when Jang Chaeyeon grabbed my shoulder.
"No."
"Huh?"
"You and Yoo Daon can't go. Song Arin!"
At Jang Chaeyeon's shout, Song Arin, who'd been climbing ahead, turned to look. Jang Chaeyeon beckoned, and she slid down the railing to us.
"What now!"
"We block it. You and me."
"..."
Song Arin eyed the thing crawling up, squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them.
"Damn it... I really don't want to... but yeah, it's just you and me who can stop it, right?"
"Yoo Daon and Kim Jaeheon can't."
"Got it."
She rolled her shoulders and headed opposite the crowd. People seeing this started yelling.
"It's the HR Team! HR Team's fighting the containment object!"
"So we're good now, right?"
"Not good! Shut up and run!"
Song Arin snapped back irritably, then looked at me.
"What do we do?"
"Cut the tongue. And don't get eaten."
"Right. We'll take it down or come back running."
With that, Jang Chaeyeon and Song Arin dangled from the railing, swinging their arms.
"Ready? Here we go?"
"Hurry up."
"Don't rush me."
Song Arin grumbled at Jang Chaeyeon's words and jumped down, with Jang Chaeyeon right behind.
The moment they hit the stairs, I spun around and urged the stragglers from the rear.
"We can't hold it long! Up, now!"
I sent people upward while glancing down.
-Boom!
Jang Chaeyeon slammed the charging man into the wall, and I bolted up again.
How long did we run?
"Huff... huff..."
Blinding sunlight hit us as we reached the rooftop, no higher to go.
Panting crowds filled the space, with Park Ye-eun anxiously scanning around ahead.
"Wh-where's Ailin unnie?"
"The response team already went down to fight."
A woman wiped sweat, answering her mutter.
"Unnie..."
"...She'll be fine. It's not for show that she's team leader."
The woman soothed pale-faced Park Ye-eun gently, and I turned to the Team Leader.
"Team Leader."
"...Hold on."
He raised a hand to stop me, eyes closed as if recalling something.
"We're in trouble, Jaeheon."
"Why?"
Why so scary again.
"We can't go higher. What now?"
"...Aren't they blocking it below?"
I hadn't heard those voices anymore.
"Y-yeah."
The Team Leader muttered, staring at the rooftop door.
"I don't know why, Jaeheon. Really don't."
"..."
Staring at the door, a thought hit me.
"Group people by teams."
"What?"
"Now!"
At my words, HR Team members started herding others.
"Teams together! Hurry!"
"This way! Other teams that side!"
The Team Leader, me, Park Ye-eun, and Yoo Daon herded them like cattle. Soon, teams clustered.
"Jaeheon, what are you doing?"
The Team Leader stared, baffled. I ignored him, looking ahead.
"Team Leader."
"Yeah."
"Look."
I nodded toward the groups. His gaze followed.
Amid the huddled masses, two stood unmoving.
"The fear you sensed first wasn't from below."
Something far worse.
A man and woman, well past middle age, both smiling kindly.
The odd part?
"...Mom, Dad?"
Yoo Daon squinted and muttered. The Team Leader turned to them too.
Right. They strongly resembled Yoo Daon.
Mix them right, and you'd get her.
"I knew you were smart, but..."
The woman receiving my gaze slowly spoke.
"Didn't know you were this sharp."
"..."
I stared silently as she smiled softly.
"So you're Kim Jaeheon. Looking after our Daon."
-Bang! Bang!
No hesitation.
I drew and fired.
Bullets pierced the woman's forehead, then the man's.
Screams erupted, but I kept eyes locked.
For good reason.
[Name: Yoo Hyun-jun]
[Age: 50]
[Talent: Not Human]
[Talent: None]
[Background: This is not a human.]
[Weakness: Get rid of it for now.]
[Name: Park Young-in]
[Age: 48]
[Talent: Not Human]
[Talent: None]
[Background: This is not a human.]
[Weakness: Get rid of it for now.]
Both flagged as non-human.
Screams rippled through the crowd as she staggered but stared at me, unconcerned.
"Good decisiveness."
"Worth taking along, right?"
"Seems so."
They continued chatting, Yoo Daon's mom smiling gently.
"Hmm, then..."
She pulled a square object from her pocket.
"...That..."
A perfect cube.
Like a kid's puzzle cube.
I'd seen it before.
"Let's begin."
The manual unfolded simultaneously.
[Employee Manual]
[Safety Rules for the Gangseo Branch Site]
The cube dropped to the ground.