Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 68. Amusement Park
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I look around inside the truck racing fiercely through the night.
There were people of various ages.
From elderly folks to kids who looked like high school students. Why had they all ended up here?
"If you're curious, why not just ask?"
An indifferent voice strikes my ear.
She's young.
That was my first thought upon seeing the Response Team leader.
It wasn't that she just looked young.
She was bizarrely young to be leading a team.
It was just that her aura was so utterly out of place.
Frizzy platinum blonde hair, and a face that had been through hell and back.
Unconsciously, I checked above her head again.
[Name: Ailin]
[Age: 21 years old]
[Trait: None]
[Talent: None]
[Background: Having lost her entire family at the cathedral when she was young, she spent over a decade grinding her bones to dust with effort, joining the Response Team as its youngest member and eventually becoming its youngest leader. The sole driving forces behind her are her determination to find her family and her will to end all of this.]
[Weakness: She's just an ordinary person. Kill her, and she dies.]
She wasn't hiding anything.
She had zero traits. Not even any abilities. Just a plain old human.
How had a human like that made it this far? No, how had she ended up like this?
"My words must not ring true to you."
"...My apologies. I was lost in thought for a moment due to worry."
She stares at me blankly before opening her mouth.
"I've heard the story. Kim Jaeheon from the HR Team."
"Me?"
"Yeah. Lots of people in the Response Team are curious too. How the hell you not only survived Kangseo University Hospital but also took down a single doctor in the process."
That explains it. The way the others had been looking at me wasn't normal.
"I'd love to hear your adventure tale, but... sadly, no time for that."
With that, she pulls out a tablet while gripping her pistol.
"Listen up. The place we're heading to is Sora Land. It's only been open a short while. From what other teams have dug up, there's no involvement from any organization so far."
People listen intently to her words.
No involvement from an organization.
"In other words, it could be a natural occurrence or even containment object involvement. You all know what that means."
Tension ripples through the group at her words.
"Forget common sense. And we're going in as a small elite squad."
She glances around as she says this.
"First off, anyone with living wives, kids, or parents—step back."
A few people move back.
"Next, anyone who hasn't found the person they want or needs to be somewhere else—step back."
A lot more people step back.
Not many left now.
"Finally, anyone who just doesn't want to fight—step back."
No one moves at those words.
"...Good. Grandpa Kim. You're with me."
"Yes, sir."
An elderly man raises his hand in salute.
"And you, Section Chief Lee, Assistant Manager Park. You two as well."
"Understood."
"Yes."
A neatly dressed man and a middle-aged woman step forward.
It's kind of amazing how they're treating someone who looks so much younger with such respect.
"Finally..."
Her gaze turns to me.
"Not coming?"
"No such plans."
As I stand up from my seat, eyes turn toward me.
"I'll do my best."
"Good. As expected from someone who survived—you even carry your composure differently."
"It's more like faith."
If it's the HR Team people I know, they won't go down that easily.
At my words, she twitches an eyebrow once before shifting her gaze to the others.
"We're going in as five. The rest of you, stand by and scout escape routes."
"""Understood!"""
The group shouts in unison.
I hear the clamor of voices.
Soon the truck stops, and as the back door opens, people pour out.
Before long, only me, the Response Team leader, and the people she selected remain.
"Time for the briefing."
In the truck's cramped, room-like space, she starts speaking in her youthful voice, waving her pistol.
"First, there's only one official entrance we know of. We'll go in first, wait until closing time, then head out."
She twirls the pistol as she continues.
"After that, we'll arrive at the amusement park's main gate, they say. The problem starts here."
Click. The gun she's waving stops dead.
"Beyond this, we have almost no intel. The Management Bureau plans to handle shutdown and containment, but since there might be side effects like at Kangseo University Hospital, they're taking a lukewarm approach for now."
It had only been open for a week, she adds.
"In short, aside from survivor testimonies, this is our primary reconnaissance."
The mood sinks.
I recall the manual I saw at Kangseo University Hospital.
How much death, intel, and blood from how many people was soaked into that manual?
And now, the first blood to stain it would be ours.
"I'll do everything to ensure we all return alive. However."
She looks around, stands, and bows 90 degrees.
"I'm apologizing in advance."
...
Silence descends.
"You might die where my power doesn't reach. And depending on the situation, I might have to abandon you all—even myself."
Still bowed, she continues.
"If that happens, resent me for it. Blame it on your incompetent leader who couldn't save you, and direct all your anger at me."
After a long silence, she raises her head.
Perhaps from holding the bow so long, her face is flushed red.
"I'll take it all."
The three others start laughing at her words.
"That's enough, Team Leader. It's not the first time we've heard this, and we'll keep hearing it from here on out."
The old man lets out a hearty laugh.
"Well, with nothing left to lose, if we die, we die, right?"
The man smiles as he replies,
"You're still as cute as ever."
And the woman just wears a gentle smile.
Then, all four pairs of eyes turn to me.
Guess it's my turn to speak.
Let me think.
"I'll do my best."
With that, the briefing ends.
*
Hiding behind a tree, I watch the people draining away like the tide, then stand next to the Response Team leader in her hoodie.
Soon, she looks up at me.
"Ready?"
"Yes."
"Good."
With a grunt, she slips a bulletproof vest over her hoodie, holsters her pistol, and grabs the rifle leaning against the tree.
Click. As she checks the gun, she looks at me.
"...You really don't need a rifle?"
"Nope."
She knows it too—conventional firepower can't take down those kinds of monsters. If it could, they'd all be riddled with bullets already.
"And yet you take the vest. That's funny."
"From experience, getting hurt really fucking hurts."
I glance at the pinky on my immobilized left hand.
The laceration's mostly healed, but the bone's not fully set yet.
...
I feel her gaze, meet her eyes, and she stares at me blankly before speaking.
"You've got a veteran vibe."
"Hmm... Team Leader—"
"Call me Ailin. No titles in the field—it's not good."
Not the title, her name?
I shrug despite the question in my mind and call her by name.
"Ailin."
"Yeah, Kim Jaeheon."
Should I ask or not?
After a moment's hesitation, curiosity wins out, and I open my mouth.
"How'd you become team leader?"
...
She stops fiddling with her gun and stares at me blankly.
"Rather than doubting Ailin's qualifications... the Management Bureau promotes based on seniority, right?"
"That's why I'm team leader."
"...?"
Ailin answers dryly at my words, then resumes handling her gun, while the others chuckle.
"The team leader's the longest-serving member of the Response Team."
"Yes...?"
"It's her 10th year this year, right?"
...
At the team members' words, she sighs and speaks.
"What a tiresome question I keep hearing."
"It's not tiresome for us, but maybe for outsiders."
"I don't care about outsiders, so it's fine."
"You're doing it again~"
What a strange feeling.
In the lively atmosphere, everyone checks their gear.
Let me see—I've got my pistol and butane canister secure... statue too, black orb too.
As we're finishing up gear checks,
-Clang!
The iron gate shuts with a sound, and Ailin mutters.
"Get ready."
The lights flick back on.
Blood-red lighting like spilled gore.
A bizarre melody of a song flows out.
-Welcome to~ Sora Land~ full of fantasies and dreams~
Someone stands before us.
A clown beaming brightly in front of us, handing out balloons.
The botched makeup occasionally reveals his face, and behind it was something showing muscle and bone, not human skin.
It felt like a half-dead human—or a monster forcibly wearing human skin—was greeting us.
Five balloons sway in welcome.
"Welcome! Sora Land's nighttime opening!"
He grins ear-to-ear as he looks at us.
"...Take them."
Ailin mutters as she accepts a balloon, and we follow suit.
"These balloons are just like your lives! Please keep them safe!"
I check above the clown's head.
[Name: Clown]
[Age: Created two days ago]
[Trait: Life Link]
[Talent: None]
[Background: Having visited the amusement park, he can't rest even in death.]
[Weakness: When the amusement park vanishes, so does he.]
...
I look at the balloon.
Fist-sized—not that big.
I glance at the others.
All four are tense, staring at their balloons.
"This thing... probably bursts with poison gas or something."
"Or maybe it really can't burst..."
"Or perhaps we have to pop a few..."
They're all discussing it seriously.
I sink into thought too.
The key here is the trait: Life Link. So then—
Whoosh—
Something sharp flies from afar.
-Pop!
It pierces the old man's balloon like a stab, and it bursts along with him.
"...Ah..."
With a short death rattle, he collapses.
"Take cover!"
As she shouts, she dives behind the tree, and we all reflexively duck inward.
Me and Ailin behind the tree, the other two under the bench.
-Thud! Thud!
Sounds of something hard embedding.
So then—
"Everyone, hold your balloons to your chest."
The three look at me puzzled at my words.
"Hurry!"
I shout, and they hurriedly clutch their balloons to their chests.
Life Link, amusement park, and balloons.
Right now, we were wandering this place with our hearts exposed.