Instinct's Warning
"...Was I too rough?"
"Not at all, Master."
Watching Seo-rin's legs tremble slightly as she rinsed her mouth at the sink, I wondered if I'd gone too far. She had already regained her usual composure and was now dutifully washing away the fishy liquid and scent left in her mouth—her role as a tracker demanded it.
We'd already spent more time than planned. It was time to move quickly.
"Then I'll begin now."
She wiped the water from her lips and stood up, tilting her head back just as Chae-yun had done the day before to catch the scent. I was still doubting whether this method could possibly work when she turned to me.
"This way."
Without needing further instruction, I gave her a nod to proceed. Seo-rin acknowledged it and took the lead, and I followed close behind.
"Let's withdraw."
"Sir? The operation period isn't over yet..."
"Come on, there's no point staying here anymore."
Remaining here would only waste time. Somehow, they'd found a way to avoid detection by the radar. As expected from a highly intelligent species. Still, I didn't believe they'd fled or hidden themselves. They were targeting us. It was obvious they were after us now. They wouldn't let go of the threats that had endangered them so easily. If it were me, I'd want to identify exactly who had pushed me this far.
"Sitting around like this won't make them show up either. Unfortunately, the operation's a failure."
"Then about the report..."
"No, you can write that after we return. First, let's recover the radar."
"Understood."
After issuing the recovery order, I stepped out of the trailer and lit a cigarette.
"Ah, seriously... this sour smell on my body..."
The spring breeze brushed through my unkempt hair as I exhaled smoke into the air. I should request a shower facility next time. I looked up again at the university buildings.
"A way to find them... a way to find them..."
An idea flashed through my mind.
"Maybe this could work. Though the higher-ups might not like it..."
Following behind Seo-rin as she walked briskly across campus, sniffing the air, we gradually approached a deserted parking lot. Far from the lecture halls and close only to the faculty offices, it was a lot used almost exclusively by professors. Definitely not a place students would easily wander into.
"...It's that vehicle."
Seo-rin stopped and pointed at a truck parked in the distance. It looked like an ordinary cargo truck.
"You can smell them from there?"
"Yes."
I took a deep, steadying breath. Calm down. Finally, an opportunity to figure out what these bastards were up to. At the very least, they didn't know about the existence of ancient humans. That gave me the advantage.
"Good work. You can go now. I'll handle the rest."
"Understood."
She bowed politely, then turned and walked away. If things turned violent, I couldn't guarantee I'd be able to protect her while escaping. Sending her off beforehand would make things much simpler.
"Alright, then..."
The moment I took a step toward the truck, the same headache from before surged from my head down my spine. The pain was just as intense, but it vanished before I could even cry out. Just like when I'd touched that handkerchief, an image tore through my mind along with the agony.
'School outskirts.'
'Danger.'
'Light.'
"...What was that?"
My feet refused to move forward. The truck held their identities, yet something else felt more important. But I couldn't grasp what it was. ...And if I went there now, it would be dangerous. Again, there was no evidence, but I was certain of the danger.
"..."
I abandoned the approach, took a deep breath, and stared at the truck.
'Seven people.'
'Five men, two women.'
'One of them...'
"Ah, fuck... what the hell is this now?"
I rubbed my temples, trying to ease the pain from the images flooding my mind.
'One of them is dangerous.'
A man in a white lab coat stood conspicuously near the truck. I instinctively ducked down to hide.
"Not here."
I had no power right now. The place I needed to go was...
'School outskirts.'
I didn't understand why I was doing this either. When I'd mentioned it to Chae-yun yesterday, she hadn't seemed to know anything. Unlike yesterday, these images were violently tearing through my mind, and I found myself leaving the area as if compelled. Now I was heading toward the outskirts of campus—the opposite direction from the parking lot—where there was truly nothing. Just grass and a path leading up a hill. The reason I was going there was absurdly simple, nothing more than a gut feeling, and the ridiculousness of it all left me without even the energy to laugh.
What mattered most right now was uncovering their identities—or at least sabotaging them. Yet here I was, pushing through the underbrush instead.
"What the hell am I doing...?"
'Duck.'
My legs, which had been stepping through the grass, instantly bent at the knees to hide my body.
"...So in the end, we have to recover it ourselves. That's what you're saying."
"Still, we've decided to withdraw. I mean, the previous Alpha Team all died. This is nothing compared to that."
I could hear voices. Men in black iron masks and protective gear—they seemed to be from the same unit as the pursuers who'd chased us before. They were fiddling with a large black device in front of them.
"...Done. Detection device number FLE-1 has been deactivated. Beginning recovery."
The device, roughly the size of a small car, let out a loud clunk, and the light it had been emitting went out. As the beam shooting into the sky faded, I looked up to see the white dome covering the school slowly dissolving and disappearing.
'That thing.'
'Light.'
'Inside it.'
That machine. There was something inside it. Something far more important than their identities.
I pulled a mask from my bag, put it on, and leapt down from a height roughly equal to a second-story building.
"Halt. Who are you?"
As expected, the landing made a loud noise. The four men surrounding the machine immediately turned toward me, drawing unfamiliar pistols from their waists and aiming them.
"...Are you a student? You shouldn't be here right now."
One of them approached me with a surprisingly polite tone, advising me to leave. Even so, it felt like a threat. The man stopped right in front of me.
"...Professor?"
In an instant, I grabbed the hand reaching for his pistol, twisted it the other way with all my strength, and heard a sickening crack as something hard snapped.
"Aaaagh!!"
"Situation! We've been attacked at FLE-1!"
The remaining men fired at me. Not bullets—something blue. They streaked through the air with sharp sounds and flashes of light. Electric rounds? They still thought I was human. To block the projectiles flying straight at me, I grabbed the man with the broken arm—who was writhing in agony—and used him as a shield, charging forward through the hail of fire.
"What the...?!"
I ran at full speed while carrying an adult man. The men, witnessing the absurd sight, kept firing their blue lightning in panic. As expected, trained professionals were different. Once I closed the distance, I hurled the now-unconscious man at the one shooting from the left.
"Guh?!"
The impact sent him flying, and he collapsed, seemingly knocked out. I picked up a rock near my feet and threw it with all my strength at one of the remaining two. It crushed his iron mask and sent his body flying into the air.
"Don't move!"
A shout came from behind me. I slowly turned around with both hands raised. The last man I hadn't noticed was aiming his pistol at me.
"Take off the mask."
"....."
"Take off the mask!"
The moment he aimed from a distance, I kicked the ground with all my might. A cloud of dirt and leaves obscured his vision.
"This fucking...!!"
I ducked low, dodging the wildly fired rounds, and charged through the dirt to grab him by the collar, slamming him straight into the ground.
"...Sounded like his neck broke."
Once my pounding heart calmed, a sigh escaped me.
"Maybe I should learn boxing or something..."
It was just my ridiculous physical stats overwhelming them. The fight itself had been childish—something an elementary schooler with no technique would do. Anyway, reinforcements could arrive soon. What the hell was inside that machine that had drawn me here? Following the message in my head, I smashed and tore at the machine's exterior, ripping off the hinges until a round object emitting a blue glow appeared.
"...This is..."
An organic entity connected by wires and encased in steel machinery.
"A fruit?"
It was a fruit emitting an abnormal amount of light.