Fortune Cookie (7)
'Hide, you say?'
Given the state of the residential area, if a heat source was moving in this situation, it was more likely a ghoul than a human.
– Distance 50! The number is... I can't count!
50 meters. Through the blizzard, I couldn't see or hear anything yet. But at times like this, the machines' sensors were more reliable than our eyes.
In a split second, we exchanged glances. Even though the situation suddenly became urgent, we didn't panic. It was because we'd already discussed in advance how to act at moments like this.
'I can't hide here.'
Visibility was less than 10 meters. To hide, I'd have to find somewhere to conceal myself, but that was impossible with this level of visibility. Even if I managed to hide, it could turn out to be a spot that was actually easy to be discovered.
Furthermore, the residential area was covered with strange biological tissue. The writhing mass looked far from pleasant. I had no idea what it was or what its function might be, so meddling with it recklessly was out of the question.
In that case.
'Instead of hiding—'
We had to escape. I had no intention of staying here long anyway. Nor should I have.
– Run. As fast as you can.
I immediately pushed off the ground. Instead of the sound of snow scattering, what came instead was the squelch of flesh grinding together. Somehow, I thought I could faintly hear the ghouls' wails.
Once again, Eric took the lead. Nadia mounted Carry and followed behind him. I deliberately kept to the rear, adjusting my speed. No one asked where we should go—because we'd already discussed it.
Our destination was the tram tracks, elevated above the ground. Whether we fled or fought, it would be less risky to do so on the tracks.
The security robot Alpha ran beside me. The clanking sound of metallic armor plates meshed with Alpha's movement.
Since Alpha was built for guarding purposes, its armor plating was thinner than that of a security robot. Instead, it was designed to be lightweight and agile. It could easily keep up with our speed.
– Wouldn't hiding be better? I don't know what's drawing them in, but the number of heat signatures closing in is increasing. There's already one reached behind us—you might be better off suppressing your presence.
Hide in the blizzard. That's what Licorice said, but I shook my head. In reality, the roar of the wind was muffling the sounds of our running.
However, that was only a temporary effect. Believing that the ghouls wouldn't notice us even if we hid was a gamble too risky to take.
【Kiaaaak!】
A ghoul's shriek. Contained within it was both rage and elation. As we dashed toward the tram tracks, the distance between us and the ghoul swarm rapidly narrowed. The howls became clearer, and I also began to distinctly hear their feet pounding.
A blue light flickered ominously in the air. Will-o'-the-wisps. The bluish light that could frighten people was gradually becoming tangible. Protruding blue crystals embedded in the ghouls' bodies were clacking against each other in their violent movements, producing sparks.
– Up there!
Alpha pointed toward the tram station in the center of Sector D's street. Normally, we would have taken the elevator, but that was unavailable. With the power out, we had no choice.
As the snow briefly thinned, the scenery of the residential area burned itself into my vision.
Pulsing biological tissue, writhing flesh studded with blue crystals, tilted signs, giant icicles clinging to buildings, shattered windows, pristine snow covering the traces of unspeakable horrors beneath.
The street that used to be filled with people who struggled but held onto hope no longer existed. Now, death alone reigned here. Cold and heavy.
【Kuaaaah!】
The swarm of ghouls running from all sides spotted us and immediately changed course. Because the blizzard had died down, we'd been discovered much faster than expected.
A group of ghouls that had passed us by unknowingly also altered their course upon hearing the howls. We still had a long way to go. At this rate, we'd be surrounded.
These were the ones with raw blue crystal embedded in them. Even maintaining a standoff was of no advantage to us.
'Damn you, crazy Roxy...!'
It wasn't really his fault, but I cursed him anyway. After all, he'd jinxed it; now everything was a tangled mess. We hadn't triggered anything, so how had they known to flock here?
Anyway, since we'd already been detected, for a moment I considered calling Roxy now and escaping this place. But that thought lasted only a second. I gave up on it.
Had we been discovered from the very start, I might have done exactly that, but with our position being so ambiguous, there weren't many options. I'd factored in the possibility that pureblood supremacists might still be alive in the residential area, and that more ghouls from elsewhere might be drawn by the noise—these calculations had led to this mistake.
Even if I called Roxy now, there was no scenario where we could board the shuttle. I remembered too well how the ghouls had driven their claws into the walls and climbed up before. If the shuttle got brought down, that would truly be the end.
【Kieeeek!】
I swung my plasma cutter at an oncoming ghoul. There was no time to kill it, so I focused on wounding it enough to prevent pursuit.
A blue half-circle sliced the blizzard. With a hiss, a ghoul with a split head spewed body fluids as it fell backward. Most creatures would've died instantly from such an injury.
But this one immediately began to regenerate, its body spasming intermittently.
Noticing others trying to grab my group up ahead, I did the same to them. Because of that, I faltered a bit, but it was better than letting my companions get caught.
'Almost there...!'
It wasn't far to the Sector D tram station.
Eric was still at the front. Taking risks for the breakthrough, he shoved ghouls to the side with all the force of his sprint as they approached him. When he jammed a combat knife into a joint, the ghoul crashed down, unable to get up easily.
Alpha was using his fully charged shockwave emitter to push the ghouls away. The shockwaves, exploding with a 'paang', even drowned out the wind, toppling several ghouls at a time.
The collapsed ghouls, unfazed, received little damage. The knockback effect was due to the increased range of the shockwave. The monsters rose quickly and charged again.
As this tense tug-of-war continued, the ghouls let out more shrieks, echoing through the Sector D like a resonance.
For now, we were barely holding them off, but the moment the emitter overheated and stopped, we'd be swallowed up by the tide of ghouls. Nothing would be left of us—not even bones.
'Seriously, damn you, Roxy—!!'
As I surveyed my surroundings, I cursed Roxy, who was probably comfortably on the shuttle, once more. Eric was prying open the tram station door with his exosuit, while Nadia and Carry defended him, along with Alpha.
A desperate battle raged amidst the blizzard. This wasn't a situation where biding time meant victory; we had to buy time and escape, or we wouldn't survive at all. We were drastically outmatched.
– I think the security protocol activated before the system shut down! It's in emergency lockdown, I can't open it alone! Hyun-woo, you have to do it!
'I'm already coming, you don't even have to say it...!'
Muttering words no one could hear, I ran toward Eric, skidding to a stop on the ground. Eric, frantically forcing the door, looked at me with relief.
He tried to help me, but I stopped him. There was no need for two people. More accurately, there shouldn't be two. Someone had to get inside first and check the interior, otherwise, we couldn't fend off the ghouls.
"Nadia, go in!"
We'd already been discovered. I shouted at the top of my lungs to cut through the wind and make myself clear.
"...!"
Nadia saw me holding the door. Gritting her teeth, she shot beneath the opening without hesitation. Since the door wasn't quite high enough for her and Carry to pass together, she had to dismount just before reaching it and rolled across the floor. She made it through.
She hadn't slowed down, so I heard her exclaim in pain once on the other side—a short "agh, ugh"—but only for a moment, as she quickly shouted,
"Come in, quickly!"
"Eric!"
"Yes!"
Eric, who was blocking the ghouls, went in, leaving only Alpha and me outside. As soon as I let go, the blast door would drop. Even with Eric and Nadia both holding it on the other side, the two of them alone couldn't bear the weight.
– I'll discharge all excess energy to buy time!
As Licorice shouted, Alpha's core went into overheat. It was a special feature of a broker's security robot. Blue sparks sprouted from Alpha's core, and the moment his armor unfolded like wings, they shot out in all directions.
A booming "kwung" noise and a trembling "chchchchch" echoed through the air. The maximum output shockwave from leveraging the core. It blasted everything around us, and for a second, it felt like even the blizzard paused.
【Kieeeek!】
The ghouls were flung away, rolling chaotically across the ground. Crashing into each other and flailing wildly as they tried desperately to rise first. That frantic rush actually delayed their actions.
"Hurry up!"
– Alpha will hold the door! Go!
With his whole body venting white smoke from the overheat, Alpha held the door in my place. All I had to do now was slip beneath.
Then—
... Crack
"...!"
Sensing imminent danger above me, I instinctively threw myself backward. Nadia's eyes went wide as her outstretched hand missed me. Her mouth also opened in shock as the next moment unfolded.
Crash!
A giant icicle clinging to the building smashed down exactly where I and Alpha had been. What rotten luck. An icicle alone wouldn't break Alpha, but it was enough to jar him. After all, Titan's ice crystals weren't ordinary.
To make things worse, a ghoul briefly shook off the shockwave and rammed straight into the door where we had just been.
Screeee—!
Alpha, struggling to endure, began to lose balance. I took a deep breath. My vision slowed; the ghoulish shrieks stretched and grated on my nerves. Even the pounding of my heart felt sluggish.
The ghoul, blue crystals jutting from its body, leapt high and clung to Alpha, biting into its shoulder and tearing away a chunk. Shards of machinery flew.
It seemed the impact even hit its core, as Alpha's mono-eye flickered unstably. It could no longer hold the door. Nadia screamed.
"No!"
"Hyun-woo!"
Just before the blast door closed, time seemed to slow to a crawl and Eric's gaze met mine—no, to be precise, the blue glow from his helmet. His words suddenly echoed in my mind.
'I repaired what was broken.'
He repaired what was broken. Not the front of the helmet, but the back—meaning someone from behind betrayed him.
Eric had always walked in front, before I even asked. Trusting someone with your back—that means trust. He trusted us even now.
Before its fall, Myosotis was connected to the pureblood supremacists. Licorice's words came back to me.
Frankly, I felt uneasy. I couldn't bear the thought of being separated from Nadia, and I knew just how vicious the pureblood supremacists were.
But I also had faith that Eric wasn't that kind of person. This time, I didn't just force myself to ignore my unease. Since he trusted us, I had to show trust too.
At least, in this moment, we shared the same goal.
Any hope of regrouping was gone. Stubbornness would only reduce the time we had left to escape, lowering our odds of survival.
I made up my mind quickly.
'... Eric.'
I trust you.
If Nadia had been left behind with anyone else, I would have stubbornly insisted we reunite, even at the risk of my life. But because she was with Eric, I could see the bigger picture.
Thud...!
The blast door, propped open with such difficulty, rattled from the ghoul's charge and slammed shut. And with that, the distorted slowness of time snapped back into real speed, multiple events happening at once and ending almost simultaneously.
I slashed the ghoul tearing at Alpha with my plasma cutter, then kicked it away. As I dragged Alpha up to its feet, I muttered quietly. Countless blue lights glared at me. I felt suffocated in the thick, oppressive atmosphere.
"Go ahead. I'll follow soon."
– Hyun-woo, no...!
"I'm saying it now—I'm not jinxing anything. I'm going to smash them."
I couldn't afford to waste more time in front of the tram station. Otherwise, not just me, but Eric, Nadia, and Carry would all be in danger.
I ran for the alleys behind Sector D to escape the ghouls. One-armed Alpha hurried after me.
And more ghouls chased behind us.
Screaming as they tore the air,
Stomping the ground,
Swinging their grotesquely altered arms.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
【༼ ᕤ◕ロ◕ ༽o:【】:::::::〉】