Reality Check (5)
Somewhere in a basement.
In the darkness, where they had been too afraid even to light a fire and had been left in blind blackness, one figure turned toward a thread-thin shaft of light with a look of confusion.
The howling of the beasts that had been echoing from outside vanished all at once, as if it had been a lie.
"It’s quiet now. They’re gone."
"Shh. Don’t let your guard down yet."
When Jin Sia, the C-class hunter, started to move toward the crack in the door blocked by a barricade, Park Geon, the B-class hunter and leader of the dismantling team, reached out and stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
The beasts had scattered when the thunderous crash came from outside, but there was no telling whether they might suddenly return.
Now that the situation had already become this dire, they couldn’t afford to lose their caution. If they did, they wouldn’t survive.
"But Team Leader, we have to get out fast while they’re gone."
"I understand why you’re anxious. But we lost the signal beacon. We don’t even know which way leads to the exit anymore. For now, this basement is the only place they can’t get into. It’s safer to wait for outside personnel to dismantle the gate—or find us."
"But if we drag our feet, we’ll end up—"
"...Haah."
Park Geon only shook his head at the suggestion from the male hunter sitting behind them and at Jin Sia’s fretful complaints.
The situation was bad. They had lost the signal beacon, and they had also lost one member of the dismantling team.
That one death would rest squarely on his shoulders.
Three B-class hunters, one C-class, one D-class.
The actual dismantling and hunting of the boss monster had been handled by the three B-class hunters; Jin Sia, the C-class mage, had been there for healing and support; and the last, a D-class porter, had been carrying equipment and following behind them.
At the time of departure, it had seemed like a perfectly workable formation—yet something had gone wrong when they measured the origin of the gate, the extraterrestrial core.
The first reading judged the gate’s danger level to be B.
If they had B-class hunters, they would be more than capable of stalling the enemy.
In other words, with three of them, they should even have had excess manpower. They could complete the mission while giving the C-class and D-class members some experience along the way.
But once the five of them entered the lower district of the town, they realized just how badly that danger assessment had been mistaken.
—Wait. The mana level in the air is strange from here on out. The contamination from the Beastification Factor is far too high.
—W-wait, these things... are they all beasts?
—...D-dangerous. Maybe six or so would be manageable, but this number—Fall back!
In an instant, dozens of beasts closed in and surrounded them.
One beast alone wasn’t especially dangerous. A B-class hunter could handle two at once without much trouble.
But no matter how seasoned a B-class hunter was, handling that many at once was impossible.
It would have been manageable if they could deal with them one by one, but this city overflowing with beasts belonged to them, not the hunters.
They had to keep slipping into some corner of the city, buying time, holding out as long as they could, only to be broken through again and again.
By changing hideouts three times, they had barely managed to survive.
The problem was that their signal beacon had been destroyed in the meantime.
The Association moved too quickly in its judgment. Because this gate was near the capital, they rushed the measurements so they could deal with it fast. This gate should have had an A-class hunter on the scene. If not that, then at least a team built for one-against-many fights.
But regrets came too late.
Park Geon had pushed forward, broken through the beasts, found a basement they couldn’t enter, and hidden the team there.
Now that the signal from the beacon had been cut off, outside forces would surely send additional support.
If they had time, they would definitely make it out alive.
The problem was that this was a Gothic-type gate.
Inside Gothic-type gates, the air was thick with the Beastification Factor.
These were almost the only gates with a real time limit.
In this space, simply breathing slowly turned a person into a beast like the others.
All an individual’s mana resistance could do was delay the transformation.
If this had been a normal B-class danger level, they could have held out much longer... but in reality, this gate’s contamination level was A-class.
Even a B-class hunter could only last a few days.
At least Jin Sia, though officially C-class, had stronger mana resistance than one might expect and could endure almost as long.
But the D-class they had brought along solely as a porter hadn’t lasted.
"What if we end up like that too?"
"The Association will try to solve this as quickly as possible. This gate’s location is what it is. Don’t get ahead of yourself. We still have time. It’s unfortunate... but joining the dismantling team was his choice. Falling behind him is his fault, and mine. You don’t need to worry about it."
"..."
That was what Park Geon said, but Jin Sia merely thumped a hand against her chest, as if she couldn’t stand it.
Who said we cared about that guy dying? I want to live!
We’re just saying we should get out while we still can. There’s no sound outside right now, so why are we supposed to sit here and rot?
"But reconnaissance is still necessary. I’ll go check outside alone. You stay hidden and wait for my signal."
"Team Leader?"
"You’re going alone? We’ll go too."
"H-Hang on, you mean I’m supposed to stay here by myself? I’m coming too!"
Everyone said they would follow Park Geon, but his will was clear.
He didn’t want to lose even one more teammate. This basement was at least safe.
If he checked outside and found no danger, he would have to lead them out beyond the city; but if it was still dangerous out there, then they should wait here for rescue.
"No. Stay here and wait, all of you. That’s the best option. I’m not trying to run off alone, so calm down."
With that, Park Geon carefully opened the basement door.
And just as he was about to turn back and close it—
"GRAAAGH—!!"
A beast.
How long had it been hiding there?
One beast had been concealed on the roof of the neighboring building, where it had a clear view of the basement entrance, and now it dropped.
It came straight down at Park Geon, claws bared.
"Watch out!"
Jin Sia screamed in terror, but it was already too late.
Park Geon tried to raise his shield as fast as he could, but he couldn’t turn his body faster than the beast falling at his back.
He couldn’t avoid being cut. All he could do was minimize the injury...!
That was what he thought—yet several seconds passed, and the beast’s claws never came down on Park Geon’s back.
Instead, a far more shocking sound of destruction tore through the air and slapped everyone in the basement across the ears.
THWAAANG—!!
It was a sword blade.
A huge single-edged sword, easily a meter and a half long, came flying from far away, spinning like a boomerang. It slammed into the falling beast and hurled it into the wall of the neighboring building.
The beast, never even cut by the blade, was flung along with the sword and crushed into a pulp between the wall and the blade as it was split cleanly in two. It died without even getting the chance to scream.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
Was it because the wall the blade had struck was a supporting pillar?
The neighboring building beside the one where Park Geon’s dismantling team was hiding began to collapse, half of it crumbling as a single column was blown away.
Building debris came crashing down on the beast’s severed body, burying it deep into the ground.
The booming roar of the collapse sounded just like thunder.
Even as half the building sank, Park Geon crouched low and scanned the surroundings.
Something terrifying had thrown that weapon.
Something on a completely different level from the beast that had been lurking here.
"H-H-Hic! Wh-what is that? What’s going on...?"
"Close the door and hide! Hurry!"
As Jin Sia panicked in the middle of the collapsing building, Park Geon shouted.
The hunters inside obeyed immediately and slammed the basement door shut with force.
Park Geon raised his shield again and turned toward the direction from which the weapon had come.
This wasn’t the work of a human. No hunter could throw a weapon, split a beast apart, and half-collpase a building all at once.
He had to lure that thing’s attention away from this place.
Only then could the others live, even if he died.
His hands were shaking. Death was drawing near.
Slowly, the dust from the shattered bricks began to fade. Something on the other side was walking toward him, step by step.
Park Geon tightened his grip on the shield.
He drew his sword with one hand.
Then he struck the shield with the sword, making an even louder noise.
He wanted it to look at him.
But even as the dust cleared and the figure emerged, Park Geon could only wonder if he was dreaming.
The footsteps were strangely light.
She wasn’t very tall.
No, she looked almost human.
She wasn’t a beast.
Though she did look beastlike, in the sense that her entire body was drenched in blood.
Even covered in so much blood, though, there was something impossible to ignore about her strange allure.
What walked toward them was a silver-haired woman, her hair looking pink in places where blood had soaked into it.
Her spandex pants and training jacket were torn here and there, as if she’d been bitten all over by beasts.
The tight fit of her clothes outlined a body that looked less like a fighter’s and more like a decadent woman from the street.
Her chest, straining with presence against a shirt dyed red, and the shadow of her nipples pushing through as if they were erect beneath the fabric...
It was a bizarre, utterly unbalanced sight.
He couldn’t tell whether she was trying to express killing intent through blood, or sensuality through her lines and figure.
She was walking toward Park Geon like something that made him think of a heavily exposed female vampire who thirsted for human blood. Fear gripped him, and yet something in him was drawn in at the same time.
Was this how people felt when they faced an ancient god?
They were said to become enchanted by an incomprehensible power and willingly thrust their hands into that hellish contract.
For one absurd moment, Park Geon even wondered whether the woman in front of him might be the ancient being that had made its home inside this gate.
But that delusion ended just as quickly.
Breaking through the smoke screen, Choi Eunho bared his teeth in a twisted, ugly grin the moment he saw Park Geon, and said,
"Wow. Look at that face. You look like you’ve pissed yourself. Everyone, come on out. It’s time to go home."