Chapter 80

Episode 80. Difficulties always happen at once (3)

"Ugh... I hate this."

Seol Ah-rin grumbled as she let out a sigh. She wasn't able to fix her makeup or change her clothes. Going outside in such a mess was one of the things she hated the most. But she had no choice. She hated fighting the Flame Queen more.

"Too bad I ripped my pants... But this sweater is my favorite."

Without her underlings, she wouldn't be able to prevent her clothes from burning as she dealt with the Flame Queen. Seol Ah-rin put on a jacket she stole from a collapsed staff member over her sweater and walked briskly down the hallway.

"Run... run away!"

The inside of the facility was chaotic. There must have been some sort of error because sirens were ringing everywhere, and staff members were crumpled on the floor.

"You can't be here. The system is completely shut down right now, so you have to get out of here quickly!"

Amidst the chaos, a hunter ran up to Seol Ah-rin and shouted. He rambled on, talking jargon about the facility, and Seol Ah-rin nodded unenthusiastically.

It looked like he was saying the door was breached and that she needed to run.

Booom!

At that moment, the wall next to the man crumbled down, cutting him off. The wall fragments scattered and dust clouds erupted from inside, and a bunch of tiny Goblins rushed out, wielding daggers.

"Ahh... you have to run......."

The hunter who had warned her mumbled, buried under the debris.

Seol Ah-rin coldly stared at the sight and moved her fingertips slightly. And instantly, something exploded.

Green flesh and red blood splattered over the broken bits of the wall.

As if a storm had swept past, nothing was left where the Goblins and the hunter used to be.

Squish.

Seol Ah-rin shrugged as she stepped on the horribly torn pieces of the hunter's body.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Too bad you were there."

Seol Ah-rin smiled playfully and walked away. Her shoes clicked on the floor.

The pungent smell of gunpowder followed the trail she left behind.

"Hummm—hummmm—hummm."

As if to shake off the scent, Seol Ah-rin tossed her hair back carelessly.

* * *

"It's not this way. To the left! Oh, I don't know. Sheesh."

Sung Hyun-woo, who was on my back, said a few words and then grabbed his head. It was understandable since he'd probably never experienced this kind of discomfort while looking for someone.

"It's okay. Don't try to analyze the coordinates, just slowly look for her with x-ray vision."

I soothed Hyun-woo and moved step by step. I killed all the monsters I encountered on the way and led hunters in danger to safety. And in the process, I was looking at all the places Seol Ah-rin might be.

"What's going on? What's wrong?"

"Oh, good. Seung-hyun Hyeong, please go to the maintenance room and protect the people hiding there!"

I met Kim Seung-hyun on the way and assigned him the role of protecting the people I rescued. Although he looked puzzled, Seung-hyun Hyeong quickly said okay and ran in the direction I told him.

It was a relief. Now I could focus more on the job at hand.

"Ajusshi, I found her! That woman over there, named Seol Ah-rin!"

Sung Hyun-woo shouted. He was clinging to my back, moving his head around. He stretched out his arm and pointed to one spot, and I quickly turned around and ran the way he led me.

"Bring down the wall in front of me!"

I didn't have Mirage, so I left it to Hyun-woo to clear the way. His precise control of telekinesis created a perfect passage while preventing me from being buried under debris.

"Ugh, what's that smell?"

Sung Hyun-woo murmured. A strong smell of gunpowder burst out as soon as he made a hole in the wall. It was something that you could have probably smelled in a war zone before monsters and Rifts appeared.

It was the unique smell that Seol Ah-rin's ability left behind in the area it was used. Sung Hyun-woo had definitely found her trace.

'She's still very violent.'

I could see dead bodies of monsters sticking out of the debris and faint remnants of human flesh. Something must have gotten on her nerves, causing this horrible outcome.

"Ajusshi, a little faster!"

Following Sung Hyun-woo's directions, I kept running. The walls in my way fell as soon as I saw them, and when I sometimes reached a dead-end, Hyun-woo's carefully controlled telekinesis created a tunnel-like entrance.

The deeper I went in, the more I could see how poorly this building was made, although it was the building protecting South Korea from the Monster Fields. I could tell how much the Association had neglected it.

Even the Association's Gyeonggi branch building wouldn't be this fragile.

I unknowingly bit my lower lip. The only reason the Fields were blocked off and civilians were safe was that hunters had sacrificed their lives and devoted themselves, even cutting down on their sleep.

"The Monster Fields? It's quite profitable. You can get great results compared to what you invest."

Remembering what Kim Min-jae thought of this place before I came back in time, I became furious. I passed through wall after wall. The protective walls that were supposed to withstand attacks from giant monsters collapsed easily, not even able to resist Hyun-woo's telekinesis.

And after continuing for a while.

"I-is it you, hunter Jeong Si-woo?"

After tearing one more wall down, I could see a staff member on the floor. He was covered in blood. It was the man who joked about getting my autograph on the first day.

There was a big hole in his stomach, but he still looked calm. Even in this situation, his face was expressionless.

Cough. The staff coughed up red blood as he called my name.

I hurriedly approached him, crouching down.

"Are you alright? Your stomach... Oh."

I couldn't help but frown at the strong smell of blood. As I neared him, I could see that his wound was much worse than when I saw it from afar.

Outstanding Insight started to analyze his state automatically. His organs were damaged beyond repair, and he had lost too much blood. It looked like he had long passed the golden hour. He would soon die. No matter how I tried to think differently, it was an irreversible fact.

"Do I look... alright? Haha...."

"......."

"Don't worry about me, and go... I'm about to die, but there are still many hunters and staff inside that could live. They'll need... your help."

I could clearly hear his weak voice. He grabbed my hand, and the ice-cold touch seemed to run through my whole body.

"And... I have something to tell you."

"...Yes."

"The woman who was rescued. She's not a civilian. She killed the hunters. All they did was grab her wrist to tell her to evacuate. But she completely destroyed this place and ran away humming."

Blood poured out from his stomach. He kept talking, words spilling out like a perforated water balloon. His voice got slower and slower, and his facial muscles convulsed strangely. He was nearing death with every second.

"Be... careful. Don't try to provoke her... get help......."

He couldn't finish; his hand dropped, and I could never hear his voice again.

His eyes were still open. I covered his face with a jacket.

"......."

"Ajusshi, are you all right?"

"No."

I hadn't experienced the death of a close person in a long time. I thought it wouldn't affect me and that I was used to it now, but I guess I was far from that.

My fingertips stopped shaking. I had been worked up due to the circumstances, but my head now cooled down quickly. My rapidly beating heart also calmed down. Whoo. I took a deep breath. The damn smell of gunpowder filled my lungs.

"......."

I picked up the cigarette case that fell out of the man's pocket. There were two cigarettes and a lighter crammed in it. The smell of cigarettes was strong.

The smell reminded me of my past self. The Analyst Jeong Si-woo in a desperate situation, smoking a cigarette.

Looking beyond the imaginary smoke I exhaled in my mind, I felt like something in my head snapped.

"Sung Hyun-woo."

"...Huh?"

"From now on, teleport to the coordinates I tell you."

My head was spinning, and I felt dizzy and nauseous.

"Ajusshi, those are uncertain coordinates. If they overlap with a wall, you could lose your limbs. If you're unlucky, your head will fly off, and you'll die."

"I know."

"......."

"But do you think I'll make a mistake?"

I tapped my thigh twice. Due to Information Access, I had taken in the entire structure of the facility in my mind. My spinning brain instantly finished calculating, and it didn't occur to me at all that the results would be wrong.

It was because I dismissed all distracting thoughts. I got rid of the assumption that one mistake could kill me, along with my memories from the past.

Hyun-woo looked at me for a while, then he closed his eyes and prepared for teleportation.

"Just do what I tell you from now on. Over the next five minutes, we might have to teleport hundreds of times. "

And with that, the world flipped. The cold dead body in front of me disappeared, and I could see a woman running somewhere.

Seol Ah-rin. There was no need to check her face. I could tell just by the strong smell.

The coordinates that Sung Hyun-woo teleported to were exactly behind her on the right. If they had been slightly different, we would have emerged in front of her. Then it would be no surprise if we died on the spot. Without hesitation, I immediately kicked the ground and jumped up, swinging my leg at her back.

Thwack!

"Argh!"

Seol Ah-rin's body rose to the air slightly. Crack. Her heel broke. I had aimed precisely for her waist, but her ability prevented me from hitting her properly.

I needed an extra hit.

I thought of the coordinates in my head. Sung Hyun-woo read my thoughts and immediately put them into action, and I teleported right below Seol Ah-rin, who was about 10 centimeters above the floor. I touched the floor with my hand and kicked up at her body like an acrobat.

"Ugh......!"

I accurately hit her abdomen, but the blow was shallow. The barrier covering her skin was blocking my attacks.

[Wouldn't it be better to stab her with a sharp weapon for a surprise attack?]

The Traveler muttered. Only someone oblivious of her could suggest that.

But using sharp weapons against Seol Ah-rin was like suicide. To earn the slightest chance to defeat her, it was best to deal with her without weapons.

Thwack. Thwack!

With Sung Hyun-woo reading my mind, I teleported countless times. I appeared from above and below and attacked her constantly, and Seol Ah-rin covered her head and screamed, not knowing what was happening.

"You bastard!"

I heard a livid shout. At the ear-splitting voice, I stopped hitting Seol Ah-rin and immediately grabbed her by the hair.

"Hyun-woo, one more time."

Because hair also counted as part of the body, Seol Ah-rin, Sung Hyun-woo, and I were able to teleport simultaneously to the coordinates I assigned.

"I said come out—!"

And the place we teleported to was above the Flame Queen's head.

I twisted my body in the air and threw Seol Ah-rin, who I was still grabbing by the hair.

"I... Ugh!"

Seol Ah-rin flew into the Flame Queen, who had been shouting wildly. The Flame Queen fell to the ground.

"Hyun-woo, push those two into the center of the Field."

Following my instructions, Sung Hyun-woo forcibly teleported with the two women who still didn't know what was going on. Now it was none of my business whether one of them died, both of them died, or whether they fought like cats and dogs.

I scratched my head while looking around the area where the two nuclear heads were about to explode.

"I should've done this from the start."

Trying to minimize risk had just complicated things. The thought that a lot of people could die from my mistake had prevented me from acting boldly.

Yeah, this was more like me. To exclude all other assumptions, trust only my calculations, and taking action.

Booooom!

I could hear a powerful explosion from deep inside the Fields.

I calmly listened to the noise and then started heading over to clean up the messed-up facility.

But then, the phone in my pocket rang.

"Hello?"

-Oh, Si-woo? Are you at the Fields right now? Are you okay?

"Yes, what is it?"

It was Han Yeon-soo

-I just got word that things are going crazy over there! So much that the damn Association is heading over directly.......

"Of course, they should come. If they don't send back up in this kind of situation, people will curse them to their graves."

-Well, it's... Sigh, it's different from what they usually do. I don't know what they're up to, but they're being excessive.

"This place is messed up enough for them to be excessive."

-But still not enough for this sort of action! Si-woo, be careful!

What was I supposed to be careful about? Why did I have to worry about the Association sending back up?

Those were my thoughts as I was about to hang up.

And then.

-The President of the Association, Kim Min-jae, is heading to the Fields with all of his elite troops.

"...What?"

I wasn't expecting this.