Reality Check (6)
.
Things had gone better than expected.
The dismantling team that had gone in ahead of us clearly didn’t have much skill, but they seemed to have enough meta-awareness to know better than to make a scene. They’d stayed hidden and kept their heads down, which was the smart thing to do.
As I cleared out the beasts in the lower levels of the city, the stench of blood and the sound of bodies being torn apart had drawn every other beast in the area toward us. And yet a few of them had stayed behind near the prey, the way predators did when they were waiting for something to show itself.
I’d figured there might be survivors somewhere among the sections where even a few beasts were still lingering, and it had turned out to be right.
One beast was about to pounce on a man in his early thirties who had just opened the basement door, so I hurled the single-edged sword I’d brought with me like a boomerang.
The sword itself was a thing of the mortal world. Once it left my hand, its mana vanished, so it couldn’t cut the beast anymore, but it could still slam the thing into the building wall.
It died crushed between the blade and the wall, which was ugly to look at, but, well, it was satisfying in its own way.
Then I walked toward the man, who’d slowly come out of the basement empty-handed...
"...?"
Why wasn’t he saying anything?
We were leaving. It was time to go home.
Had he been so stunned by nearly dying that his mind had blanked out?
When I stepped closer in confusion, the man’s face flushed slightly. He cleared his throat, turned his head aside, and then lowered it.
"S-sorry. And thank you for helping me. But you are...?"
"Oh, I’m a rescue worker? More specifically, I came here to dismantle this gate. While I was at it, I figured I’d check whether there were any survivors from the dismantling team that went in first."
"So you’re from the Association."
"You say that like it’s a surprise?"
"We’re alive!"
Perhaps they’d heard our voices outside, because the basement door—where a woman’s voice had come from—burst open, and three people ran out.
One woman. Two men. The three of them wore expressions of pure relief, as if they’d just found their way out of hell, but when they saw me, they froze in visible confusion and stopped in their tracks.
What was with those faces? Was it because of the blood? They were hunters, weren’t they? It wasn’t like this was the first blood-soaked person they’d ever seen.
Baaah.
Fuck. Shut up, will you?
Now it was coming out in front of other people too.
Look closely. Sure, the woman’s one thing. But those two behind her?
It’s because I’m turned on.
...Huh?
They were wearing spandex that showed off every line of their bodies, and their outerwear was zipped only halfway up to the stomach.
The shirt had gone dark with blood, but it was still thin enough that the weight of the nipples showed clearly through the fabric. The blood had soaked in so much it was practically translucent.
You know because you’ve looked in a mirror, don’t you? If a woman like me is half-exposed like this, any man in the world is going to pitch a tent.
Only then did I finally look down at my own body.
I hadn’t even noticed because of the adrenaline.
Yeah, it was soaked in blood, but strip that away and I was just a bra-less slut in wet clothes, with everything showing through.
Fuck. The humiliation isn’t even the issue—it’s that they’re getting hard looking at me. I feel like chopping it off!
No!
Yes, you bastard!
From now on I should just wear armor. If I cover myself completely, maybe that’ll help.
The voice of instinct was trying to extol the beauty of exposure, but I forced my ears shut.
"I’m Park Geon, and I was the leader of this dismantling team. On behalf of the team, thank you."
"Thank you."
The man who introduced himself as Park Geon was at least decent enough, because he was doing his best to keep his eyes on my face and not let his gaze wander.
As long as he wasn’t obnoxious about it, that was good enough for me. He was a man, after all.
"There are four of you. We were told five people went in. Where’s the last one? Dead?"
"Ah..."
The three people standing behind Park Geon fell silent and exchanged looks.
There was no need for an answer. The way they were acting said enough—he was dead.
One person dead, huh...
I knew it couldn’t be helped, but it still left a bitter taste in my mouth.
"Yes, he’s dead."
"It’s just the four of us."
The woman and one of the men finally answered.
I nodded and let it go.
There was nothing I could do about the dead.
For now, I should at least get the living out.
"Take this."
With that, I reached into my waist pouch, pulled out a signal device, and handed it to Park Geon.
He took it with the kind of care you’d use for a lifeline.
Following the signal from that device would lead them to the exit.
None of them looked seriously injured, so I didn’t need to escort them myself.
"I’ve already cleared out all the beasts in the lower levels of the city, so you shouldn’t run into trouble on the way back. Take that and head out."
"Are you going straight to dismantle the gate, Hunter?"
"I should. I found the survivors, and there’s no reason to drag this out."
At that, Park Geon seemed to think for a moment, then handed the signal device I’d given him to the man behind him.
After that, he looked into my eyes with a serious expression and said, "I’ll go with you."
Haa.
He’d been the one guy who hadn’t annoyed me, and now he’d gone and become annoying.
"No need. Don’t do anything stupid and just go back with those three."
"He’s right, Team Leader. You just said she cleared the entire lower level by herself. At minimum, she has to be A-class. What’s the point of us tagging along?"
"Hunter! Actually, actually, the last one—he might still be alive."
"...He might still be alive?"
"Yes. The truth is, I... I left him behind."
Park Geon spoke like a man confessing a sin in a church, but honestly, I didn’t have much of a reaction.
Oh? He might still be alive? Then I should probably go look for him—roughly that much.
No matter where you were, survival sometimes forced you to make choices like that.
They probably hadn’t had the luxury of taking care of the weak.
"Our hiding place got exposed halfway through, and while we were moving, he started showing the early signs of beastification. I kept debating whether to bring him along or not... and in the end, I decided to leave him there."
"Right. Well. That happens. So you didn’t actually see him die."
The early signs of beastification.
Beasts don’t attack other beasts, so if he’d already started to smell like one, maybe he hadn’t been attacked.
If he hadn’t fully turned and died by my hand, there was still a chance he was alive.
If I moved fast, he could still be treated back in the real world.
"I’ll go check. You should head back."
"But I know the location. If I go with you, I can help rescue him faster."
"You don’t look that fine yourself. Your nails are getting longer, aren’t they?"
When I pointed at Park Geon’s fingers, he jerked in surprise and started fumbling with his hand.
The nails were already sharpened into points.
"Why already...? No, there should still be time..."
"It’s common for resistance to weaken when you’re under stress. Get treatment before it’s too late. Unless you want another corpse added to the pile."
"...Yes. Understood."
In the end, Park Geon told me the location of the old shelter where he’d left the last person behind, then took the other three and left with the signal device.
If they hurried back from this point on, all four of them could probably return to their normal lives without major trouble.
As for the last one...
That part was now up to me.
.
"Cough, cough."
The coughing wouldn’t stop.
My nails had sharpened.
Hair was growing out of the back of my hand.
Breathing was getting harder.
My head was hot.
My throat was dry.
For half a day, that had been the change running through Kang Juhyuk’s body.
The beastification factor, riding mana as it eroded flesh from within.
Physical corruption brought on by an alien attack.
A surreal disease that turned people into beasts.
Inside the room, now reduced to chaos, Kang Juhyuk had tied himself to a pillar and done nothing but wait for it all to pass.
The third hiding place. A safe zone he had barely managed to find while fleeing enemy attacks.
It had only been one day since he’d been trapped inside the gate, and his body had already started changing far faster than the others.
-Eek! Juhyuk’s arm!
-Damn it, shut up! What are you screaming for?!
-Th-the beasts are coming. We’ve been found. We need to move!
When the others saw his body beginning to change, and Jin Sia’s shriek drew the beasts outside to surround the building...
When the people he’d thought of as teammates, as seniors, started looking at him with completely different eyes...
Only then did Kang Juhyuk understand what it meant for all avenues of escape to disappear, what it meant to lose hope.
-Hold on, Kang Juhyuk. Hold out here until the gate is dismantled. Once you’ve beastified, those things won’t be interested in you anymore. Endure it as long as you can. Keep enduring. Once the gate is dismantled, you’ll be rescued. You can be treated. Don’t you dare lose your mind.
Ha.
What a joke.
They were the ones abandoning him, and they thought saying that made any difference?
But sadly, those words Park Geon left behind were the only thing keeping Kang Juhyuk alive right now.
Two more hours.
One more hour.
Thirty more minutes.
Ten more minutes.
Just a little longer.
Hold on a little longer.
Don’t lose your mind.
Don’t become a beast.
He hadn’t endured all this just to die like this.
He hadn’t lived this long just to end here.
He had to go back.
I have to go back.
"Grrr..."
He couldn’t speak.
All that came out of his mouth was the growl of a beast.
But not yet. He hadn’t lost himself yet.
He was still Kang Juhyuk. Not some nameless beast.
Twenty years old. Orphan Kang Juhyuk.
D-class Hunter Kang Juhyuk.
Kang Juhyuk, who had begged his adoptive brother to take him into the gate.
Kang Juhyuk, who lived day to day.
Kang Juhyuk, who had been looked down on by Jin Sia after she awakened and became a mage in a well-off family.
Kang Juhyuk, good for hauling luggage. Kang Juhyuk, the one they’d abandon the moment trouble showed up.
Kang Juhyuk, who had nothing and was worth nothing.
Ha.
No way was he dying like this.
Creak.
The loose hinge gave way, and the door opened.
Before Kang Juhyuk’s fading eyes, someone walked into the room.
Was this a hallucination?
What he saw was a woman of a beauty he had never once encountered in his life.
A woman who seemed like she had stepped out of a dream. A woman from a dream itself.
A pale woman draped in red.
"Grrrr..."
Was that it?
Was he dying?
Had an angel come for him?
It was a strange thing.
Just moments ago, he had been so furious, so aggrieved.
He had thought he would survive somehow, that he would endure.
And yet the moment a beautiful woman appeared, his heart suddenly grew calm.
Even he thought he was pathetic, and yet he still couldn’t look away from her.
Through that blurred vision.
Everything else was hazy and indistinct.
Only she was clear.
An angel, huh.
It would be nicer if someone just treated you well in the real world instead of rewarding you in the afterlife.
Still, at least I get an eyeful on the way out.
Even though it was an utterly trivial comfort,
Kang Juhyuk closed his eyes peacefully.
.
"You’re late."
I’d rushed as fast as I could.
I’d found him quicker than expected, too.
But the man in front of me was nothing but a beast from any angle you looked at him.
Hair had sprouted all over his body, his molars had lengthened, and as his body had grown larger, his shirt had torn apart.
The only difference was that he hadn’t attacked anyone yet, so there was no blood scent on him.
A beast with its eyes closed.
A beast that had bound itself to a pillar.
It looked as if he were sleeping, but really he was just in the final stage of beastification.
Once the body had completely turned into a beast, the mind deteriorated rapidly as well.
Once reason was devoured by instinct, once the mind slipped away into unconsciousness, that was the end.
When he woke again, both body and mind would have become wholly beast.
...I should kill him.
It was already over.
Even if I waited for him to open his eyes again, he’d just come at me from the other side anyway.
And I had no intention of letting a thing like that live after it lunged at me.
So.
The kindest thing would be to end it now, before he could even feel any pain.
And yet for some reason,
I couldn’t throw the punch.
No. I didn’t want to.
I could crush his skull right now.
That would be the end of it.
So why?
I didn’t want to kill him.
A D-class Hunter.
A disposable pawn they’d hauled along to use as a porter.
A scapegoat they’d abandoned for the sake of the team.
An existence with nothing and no value.
"I don’t... like that."
Then save him.
...What?
Hey. Read the room.
No, look closer.
This kid has only just closed his eyes.
He hasn’t crossed the final line yet.
If it’s me, I can cleanse him.
If it’s me, who carries my mother’s blessing, I can swallow that curse in his place.
Swallow the curse?
Want me to tell you how?
I’ll tell you if you’re okay with it.
...Why the hell was this disgusting bastard suddenly talking about something other than sex?
It was ominous as hell, but...
It wasn’t like I had anything to lose.
Fine, spit it out. What do I need to do?
Right. Then.
All at once, my hand moved on its own.
Fuck. Don’t move on your own! Use words!
But the bastard paid me no mind and made my leg move forward instead. Disgusting!
He came closer and closer to the sleeping beast.
Then he brought my hand...
to the waistband of the beast’s pants.
Hey...
What are you...
Huh?
W-wait, why are you takin—