Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 012
Chapter Title: Shadow Worm, Cha-Ratevil (4)
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5.
The crisis of the raid party's total annihilation struck when everyone had let their guard down.
Even I, with all my experience, hadn't anticipated it. I never imagined those things could pull off "something like that"...
“ We'll move at a brisk pace.”
Before that, though, Shin Tae-yeop had set an incomprehensible advance policy.
Moving quickly underground was tantamount to suicide. You never knew where the human cockroaches were hiding.
Just walking could get your ankle torn off by one of their jaws, leaving you crippled.
But this time was different.
The moment Shin Tae-yeop snapped his fingers, "magic" unfolded.
Roar... Roar... Roar...
Flames bloomed along the outer walls of the platform, their light faintly illuminating the surroundings.
I was impressed by his preparedness.
He'd installed torches in advance.
Using his unique skill to light them.
In simple terms, the darkness of the underground was no longer a threat.
Exclamations erupted from all around.
Jeong Ha-kyeong's reaction was the same.
“Damn, that's awesome. Not super bright, but... enough light to spot those wheel bastards, right?”
“It's an even better situation than that.”
“Why?”
“Human cockroaches fear fire. They scream and flee, but with flames everywhere, they can't even approach.”
That was probably why everyone became overly optimistic.
But excuses wouldn't fly.
Something had felt off ever since we entered the long corridor connecting the platform to Shelter City.
What was it?
A wriggling sense that something was terribly wrong. So I kept scanning our surroundings like a madman.
“Why the sudden freakout?”
“Something's wrong. It's too quiet.”
Jeong Ha-kyeong gave me a look like I was an idiot.
“You said earlier the flames keep the human cockroaches away, right? So of course it's quiet.”
“No. The flames do drive them off, but...”
There wasn't a single one. Not even a cry could be heard. This was their lair, wasn't it?
Huh?
I froze in place for a moment.
The torch at the very front... something was eerie about it.
The flame was flickering.
Continuously. But the shadows in that area showed no change.
No change?
I didn't know exactly what it was.
But the definite foreboding that "something" was there... soaked my back in cold sweat.
“Stop.”
The instant I shouted that.
The shadow shot up abruptly. At a glance, it resembled a massive mantis.
It was the prelude to madness.
There wasn't even time to think about what was happening.
The mantis swept through the lead B Squad at the front with something like a scythe.
Someone's head flew into the air, and someone else let out a scream.
A woman's shrill, piercing laughter echoed through the corridor.
「HIHIIIIIIIIHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」
Shadow... worm...?
If it's a shadow worm... no way... it couldn't be.
Why had we assumed the boss would wait obediently? This world was just overlaid with game elements—it wasn't a real game.
“Boss! It's the boss!”
The worst was only just beginning.
As I drew the Dawn Sword and charged forward, something dropped from the ceiling in front of me.
A quick glance revealed a slimy liquid.
Yellow and sticky... just like human cockroach saliva.
Human cockroach?
No, no way.
I jerked my head up, and my mind went blank in an instant.
What I saw first was a human face.
But tentacles shaped like penises. Fangs like a saber-toothed tiger.
Its body was a cockroach, but the three pairs of arms sprouting from it were human arms.
That was a human cockroach.
Countless human cockroaches blanketed the ceiling in black. Human eyes stared right at me.
Monsters mimicking humans had schemed, ambushing us to kill humans.
“Fuck, human cockroaches!”
Curses exploded from behind, and suddenly the surroundings plunged into darkness.
Each time, horrifying screams that sounded "human" rang out.
No way.
Those weren't screams from people under attack.
It was the human cockroaches shrieking as they threw themselves onto the torches to extinguish them.
...These things were using ambush tactics?
“Uhihihahahahahaha!”
The moment the massive darkness descended, human cockroaches rained down from the ceiling.
“Sh, shit, I can't see a damn thing!”
“Aaagh! Get it off! Get it off me! Someone get this thing off!”
It was a madhouse of chaos.
A human cockroach's roar brought human screams.
A hunter with his throat torn out collapsed in front of me, gasping for breath.
I swung the Dawn Sword, cleaving a human cockroach's head in two.
As it died, it let out a human scream. "Mommy," or something?
The next instant, the Dawn Sword rang out, the second one's blood splattered my face, and soon I spun sideways, severing the third one's neck.
Four... five... six.
No matter how many I killed, they kept coming.
Control had collapsed. Few hunters could fight in the dark.
There were attempts, but those trying to light up became priority targets and were hunted.
Hahaha... hehehe... hohoho...
The human cockroaches' chilling laughter filled the corridor, interspersed with the frail groans of humans.
“Save... save...”
“Ah... ah...”
Pitch blackness where nothing was visible. As all hope flickered out.
“Stop!”
That single shout reverberated, and an unimaginable miracle protected us.
It was magic.
Until I snapped out of the battle frenzy, that was all I could think.
Magic that saved the raid party from death. Magic that revived hope.
Shin Tae-yeop had cast that magic.
──Roarrrrrrrrrr!
In an instant, flames unfurled into a semicircular barrier.
Acrid smoke rushed in, but visibility was immediately restored. The range was vast enough to shelter the entire raid party.
“...Hiiiieeeeek!”
It was astounding.
To our allies, it felt only like cozy warmth, but the human cockroaches engulfed in the flames turned to ash in seconds.
This guy.
Just how much favor had he received from the Holy Apostles? Endless use of unique skills, each one overwhelmingly powerful.
“Kiiiiiaaaak!”
“Kiiiieeee!”
It took less than five seconds to annihilate the enemies inside the barrier.
The ones outside wailed in agony but slunk away from the barrier.
“W-what the hell?”
The hunters were dazed for a while but soon grasped the situation and erupted in cheers.
“How's our leader's flame taste, you fuckers!”
“Drewah, I told you Drewah!”
But I couldn't cheer with them.
A quick scan showed three critically wounded and six dead. Out of 21 combatants, we'd been halved in an instant.
“Lead Hunter uncle...”
A low voice from behind.
A voice squeezed out through pain. Turning to look, I could only sigh.
“Come here... quick...”
It was Shin Tae-yeop.
He was slumped against the corridor's outer wall.
Covered in blood. His face was pale, his eyes trembling weakly.
Even as a female B Squad hunter desperately staunched his neck, black blood kept pouring out.
“His throat's torn out, flesh and all.”
It was the voice of someone on the brink of death.
Of course it was. His head was barely attached.
“This is as far as I go. I was a beat too slow dodging...”
I closed my eyes.
The Dawn Sword trembled wildly in my grip.
I knew this world was futile and brutally real. Still, this was... too futile.
“Now it's your turn, uncle... to be the striker... I...”
Like a fairy tale hero, there was a boy who led the adults.
But in this insane world, that boy's end was neither fairy tale-like nor heroic. It really was a mad world.
“See that bend in the passage ahead...? The boss is hiding there... Waiting for me to die, I bet.”
I glanced that way.
No visible form, but its horrific presence was unmistakable.
“You telling me to go take out the boss now?”
“Yeah... I put up a flame wall in the passage, so it can't escape... Or rather, it won't...”
For a moment, I was dumbfounded.
He'd created this barrier in his wounded state and done that too?
“Take the survivors and go. Leave the wounded.”
“No way. I'm not leaving you.”
The female hunter staunching his wound rebelled. Shin Tae-yeop flicked his gaze outside the barrier.
Communicating with his eyes. Look at that massive encirclement.
“Staying here means total wipeout. All pointless deaths. My misjudgment... But if someone takes down the boss...? Then it's a badass sacrifice...”
Think.
There has to be a way. A way to save everyone.
There has to be. Please, in this fucked-up world...
“Take the lighter from my left pocket... It's imprinted with 《Flame Star》. Spin the flint, and it'll activate once. Use it to break the encirclement...”
That was when Jeong Ha-kyeong came over and whispered in my ear.
“Help me out. We need to get him out of here.”
“...Get out?”
“My unique skill is 《Super Acceleration》. It's a gamble, but... I might be able to drag two people to the Paradise Zone.”
Going to the Paradise Zone changes what...? No way?
“You're saying you'll use the Paradise Zone's healing function?”
“Exactly.”
“Wait a second. What about everyone else?”
“We ditch 'em! Didn't you see? This kid's worth more than dozens of other hunters. No one can replace him!”
No, wait.
Jeong Ha-kyeong's words sparked a ray of hope.
Hold on. What if I fit "that" into what she said...?
The puzzle pieces clicked rapidly in my mind. Paradise Zone. Healing. Super Acceleration. And...?!
...It might work.
No. I have to make it work.
I knelt on one knee in front of Shin Tae-yeop.
And pulled the lighter from his pants pocket. A lighter with an intricate magic circle engraved on its surface.
“You use this.”
I gripped his hand firmly around it.
“Use it to hold out while I take the boss. How long could you last?”
“How long...? What the hell. Just forget about me now...”
“I can't. Remember? There's that rock-paper-scissors system.”
“Huh?”
Shin Tae-yeop's fading eyes flickered briefly. I held his cooling hand and declared firmly.
“Please. Hold out for 10 minutes. I'll take down the boss in that time.”
It was all an uncertain gamble.
I might not beat the subordinate. Hunting the subordinate might turn this place into paradise right away.
But if I defeat the subordinate and it immediately becomes the Paradise Zone...?
I had to bet everything.
The situation was dire enough to rely on such a gamble.
“In the meantime, rally the survivors and protect the wounded.”
Was it his innocence?
Shin Tae-yeop was under a massive delusion.
When the flame barrier fades, just not abandoning the wounded and fleeing would make someone great.
In that chaos, would anyone charge the boss?
But if Shin Tae-yeop uses his flames to rally the survivors, this story might head toward a happy ending.
“Stop...”
Shin Tae-yeop shook his eyes instead of his head.
“Listen up, uncle. A striker can't be soft. Even if it means sacrificing the whole raid party... a striker who ends the boss... that's a great striker─”
“─Is that so? Then screw being a great striker.”
At those words, the Dawn Sword rang out with a zing─.
Why? It felt like the sword truly wished for me to do so. And that I could.
“I won't abandon you. Or anyone else here!”
“...How.”
“If I beat the boss, we can achieve all of it, right?”
I forced a fake smile.
My limbs were already trembling.
I knew better than anyone this was a mad challenge with slim odds.
But to conquer this mad world, I had to go mad too.