Chapter 25
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Rescue (2)
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Sung Dong-gil carefully examined the traces left by someone on the ground, and as if adding a footnote to those marks, system messages began to appear.
It was the [Field Investigation] skill he had acquired while training with his colleagues.
[Soot from a campfire made with dry branches and solid fuel. Approximately 2-3 days old.]
[Two footprints stained with ash around the campfire.]
‘Someone camped out here for a rest, then hurriedly stomped out the fire with their feet… But why?’
Along with his questions, Sung Dong-gil began following the footprints that were barely visible to the naked eye.
After walking about thirty steps, he discovered that the footprints led behind a massive boulder.
[Rock partially destroyed by some impact. Based on weathering, approximately 2-3 days old.]
[Deepened footprints continue from behind the rock toward the center of the canyon.]
[Counting footprints….]
[Skill level too low to confirm.]
‘They hid behind the rock, but got ambushed by something… and a fight broke out.’
As the system messages described, the faint footprints grew noticeably deeper as they led toward the center of the canyon.
Around the chaotic cluster of footprints, bloodstains—red and yellowish—were scattered everywhere.
Sung Dong-gil grabbed a handful of the dirt and sniffed it.
[A familiar stench lingers in the soil.]
[Skill level too low to confirm.]
The system said it couldn’t identify it, but Sung Dong-gil could guess.
It was the same foul stench he had smelled strongly in the police chief’s office before coming here….
“Hornet larvae fluid smell….”
“Uncle, did you find something?”
Jung So-hee, who had been silent behind him, couldn’t hold back her curiosity any longer.
“Hmm… I can’t be certain, but it looks like our kids were resting here when they got into a fight with the hornets.”
“So they’re safe?”
“That’s the question. If they fought, there should be bodies left behind—hornet or human. But there aren’t any—”
“Shh.”
Lee Min-jun cut Sung Dong-gil off and extinguished the lantern. He pulled them behind the rock into the shadows.
As he drew the [Silent Fairbairn-Sykes], the entire group melted into the shadows.
It was the [Shadow Step] skill, now affecting nearby allies since his level had reached 5.
They held their silence for a dozen seconds or so, when a faint buzzing of wings echoed from ahead.
Buzzz—
A swarm of house-sized hornets flew in at high speed, hovering over where Lee Min-jun’s group had been, scanning the area.
Each hornet was the size of a small dog, but they looked slightly different from the ones they’d encountered before.
Sleek bodies with black bases accented by thin yellow stripes.
And massive stingers at the ends of their tails that stood out.
Buzzz—
After scouting around and finding nothing, the hornets turned back the way they came.
It wasn’t until a full five minutes after they left that Lee Min-jun’s group emerged from the shadows.
“Min-jun, you deliberately held back from fighting just now, right?”
“Yeah. Confirming your colleagues’ survival comes first, Uncle Dong-gil. If they’re being held hostage, charging in blindly could put their lives at risk.”
Lee Min-jun sheathed his dagger and continued.
“We’ll destroy the dungeon core by fighting those things after we secure their safety.”
“Thanks for looking out for them, boss.”
“It’s not like it’s just empty words.”
As they exchanged thanks.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots rang out from deep in the canyon. At the same moment, Lee Min-jun kicked off the ground and dashed forward.
* * *
“Huff… huff….”
“Hold on, sunbae.”
A young man with a gentle face was supporting a limping middle-aged man as they ran.
Their clothes were in tatters, barely qualifying as rags.
—Arrrghhh!!
A death scream echoed from behind. It had to be another sunbae holding off the enemies for them.
The young man glanced back. The enemies were still far enough not to be visible to normal eyes, but he could see they were closing in fast.
If they were flying ones, they’d be here in no time.
“Huff… Just a bit more. If my memory’s right, there’s a small crevice around here.”
—Kyaaah!!
The screams were getting closer.
They needed to hurry.
“Huff… No good, chick. You run at least.”
“Sunbae, steel yourself. We’re not—”
“Listen to me! You’ve got to escape and report to the chief!”
“…You’re telling me to run again?! Once is enough with Team Leader Sung.”
The young man ignored his sunbae and hoisted him onto his shoulder.
He wanted to live, just like his sunbae said. He didn’t want to die in a place like this, even if he had to die.
But leaving someone behind meant suffering even worse guilt.
He was already carrying the weight of one life; he didn’t have the strength to bear the pressure of all his teammates sacrificing themselves to save him.
If it happened again… if he was left alone again….
‘No.’
The young man shoved the thought from his mind. They had to survive together, no matter what.
Buzzz—
Faint wingbeats sounded from behind.
Wham!
His sunbae shoved him hard.
The middle-aged man hit the ground with a thud and struggled to his feet on his injured leg, drawing a hand axe.
“Sunbae!!”
“Woo-jin! Why’re you acting like such an idiot when you’re usually so cool-headed?! At this rate, we’ll both get caught. Go back to the station and call for backup. You know they don’t plan to kill us right away.”
“But—”
“Go—!!
The burly middle-aged man bellowed, and the gentle-faced young man, Woo-jin, flinched back.
“Sunbae… then you have to hold out. I… I’ll definitely call for backup and come back.”
“Hey. I’m Gu Dong-beom from Songpa Station Violent Crimes Unit 1. Who’re you worrying about? Go!!
Choi Woo-jin forced his reluctant feet to move and started running.
Blood dripped from the gash on his back, but he had no time to care.
He plunged into the branching canyon paths without hesitation. He already had the route memorized.
When he’d been captured by the hornets before, his [Composed] skill had calmly etched it into his mind.
—Kyrraaagh!
Sunbae Gu Dong-beom’s scream echoed through the canyon.
“Huff… huff… Fuck!!
He knew running even one step farther was the way to honor his sunbae’s sacrifice.
Woo-jin spat curses that didn’t match his face and pushed his legs harder.
* * *
Stagger—crash!
Woo-jin’s legs gave out mid-run, sending him tumbling across the ground.
He’d lost too much blood; his breaths came ragged, dizziness spinning his vision. A bitter taste of dirt filled his mouth.
He needed rest to recover his stamina.
“…Huff.”
Rolling on the ground, Woo-jin rolled his eyes. The cliff crevice he and Sunbae Gu had marked as a rest spot was just ahead.
“…Huff… huff.”
He grabbed the nearby wall and dragged himself up like he was climbing, then pounded his trembling legs with his fists.
“Fuck! Move! Move, damn it—!!
Buzzz—
The swarm’s wingbeats sounded again.
His mind snapped alert, and he tried to step forward.
Crash!
He just tumbled on the dirt again.
‘Team Leader Sung sacrificed for me. Sunbae Gu did too. I can’t… absolutely can’t die here, fuck.’
Fueled by the desperate will to survive, he clawed forward with his hands hooked like talons toward the crevice.
He scraped long trails in the dirt, crawling doggedly.
Buzzz—
He turned at the wind on his back to see a massive black silhouette hovering in the air—like a demon at a glance.
The hornets hovered leisurely, as if daring him to run more.
“Get lost… Get the fuck out!!
Knowing it was futile, he still drew his .38 from its holster.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The revolver’s shots echoed long through the canyon, but the hornets mocked him, approaching slowly.
They couldn’t kill humans by the queen’s sacred command.
They had to take them alive and use them as intended.
Knowing their intent, Woo-jin cursed inwardly, but inescapable fate loomed.
‘Damn, failure after all….’
As he squeezed his eyes shut to accept his doom.
‘…?!’
Splatter—!
Something crushed with a sound, and a rotten stench stung his nose.
When he opened his eyes again, a man stood there gripping a massive greatsword.
‘What? A dream? No way someone else is here….’
He rubbed his eyes in disbelief at the surreal scene, but the needle-like light falling from the canyon top illuminated only him.
“Wh-who are you—”
“Stay back. Uncle Dong-gil will be here soon.”
‘Uncle Dong-gil…? No way, Team Leader Sung? He was definitely at Jamsil….’
The impossible info kept coming, leaving him dazed, but the man didn’t wait—he charged the swarm.
And with one swing.
Whoosh—
He swung the massive greatsword—looking too heavy even to hold—vertically, tearing the air with a rip as a third of the swarm exploded.
‘My god….’
Could you even call someone swinging a sword that huge so effortlessly human?
Even if the world had gone mad, Woo-jin’s common sense couldn’t comprehend where such an outlier had come from.
Of course, the swarm didn’t just take it.
The two halves split by the vertical slash launched a pincer attack: one rose high in the canyon, the other clung doggedly to the young man in individual combat.
The hornets that had snatched his sunbaes weren’t weaklings.
‘….’
But the greatsword wielder was just too strong.
The young man went wild as if he’d been waiting for this.
Splatter—!!
He ripped a hornet’s stinger off with both hands, yanking out its guts with the detached barb.
His iron fist, clad in armor, smashed them, bursting their tough bodies.
One-sided slaughter.
Centered on the greatsword planted in the ground, he was nearly invincible in the green-tinted earth.
“Ugh, the sky!”
While the fierce ground battle raged.
Whoosh—!!
The aerial swarm dove like dive bombers, stingers first, assaulting the young man.
The black spear formed by dozens of hornets was something you absolutely couldn’t counter head-on like before.
Even the skilled Unit 1 sunbaes had been overwhelmed by that attack.
“Watch out!! It’s danger—”
He squeezed out a hoarse shout to warn him.
Click.
Reflexively drawing his sawed-off shotgun, he aimed at the diving swarm and pulled the trigger.
Boom—!!
Thunder roared as brilliant light poured from the muzzle, erasing the hornets.