Chapter 210
Sometimes, dignity and pride overpower the survival instinct. Even when one knows they will die, they rush into the flames like a moth to a fire.
Defying the survival instinct is a foolish act. No matter how brave a soldier or warrior may be, they do not ignore it.
Only after listening to their instincts and senses, if they still decide they must disregard their survival instinct, do they truly face death.
Of course, I'm not exactly in a position to say that. I've thrown my life away more than once because of useless pride and emotions.
‘I was just lucky.’
I had a talent for violence. And the circumstances around me aligned just right, allowing me to survive without having to beg.
If even a single cog in the wheel of fate had slipped, I wouldn’t be standing here.
Step, step.
The delinquents in the square approached me. Some held knives or metal rods.
Crunch!
I grabbed the arm of a charging human boy and twisted it. Then, with a light sweep of my foot, I tripped him, sending him tumbling to the ground with a broken arm.
‘A clean break.’
The younger they are, the faster they heal. I had no intention of crippling these kids.
I just wanted to teach a lesson to those whose survival instincts had dulled—to show them that failing to recognize their opponent could get them killed.
‘These kids… they’re not from the bottom of society.’
At a glance, they looked like ordinary street thugs, but their clothes were clean, their skin smooth. Their nutrition was excellent, with a youthful flush visible on their faces.
They had never fought for survival, and their lack of wild instincts had dulled their sense of self-preservation.
‘A rich kid’s rebellion.’
Honestly, it disgusted me. The sight of those who grew up without hardship indulging in reckless behavior was unpleasant. In the past, I would have shattered their limbs without hesitation.
Crunch!
But now, I settled for merely breaking their arms and legs.
‘…I must have grown up a little.’
Everyone has worries and fears. Even those who have never gone hungry since birth must have their own troubles.
“Yanaka! Teach them a lesson!”
“Yanaka! Yanaka!”
A girl, seemingly the leader of the delinquents, stepped forward. Cheers erupted, and even the ones writhing on the ground from their fractures called out the name Yanaka, enduring the pain.
Thud, thud.
The human girl named Yanaka bounced lightly in place, loosening her body. Through the fluttering fabric of her clothes, well-toned muscles were visible. Her shirt lifted slightly, revealing firm abs. Several combat reflex implants had been embedded in her body, their circuits faintly glowing beneath her skin.
She was a girl, but she was about my height. Rather than the curves characteristic of female hormones, her body had firm and angular lines. Her long, slender limbs gave her a unique, androgynous look. To her peers, she must have had an almost mystical aura.
‘She’s refined her body for combat through hormone regulation.’
Such a delicate procedure required wealth. Nerve and hormone treatments weren’t as simple as a couple of injections. Stabilization alone took years.
Creak.
Yanaka gripped the knife strapped to her thigh and assumed a stance. Her steady posture and sharp gaze suggested she had considerable combat experience.
“Step aside. You know you’re no match for me.”
I spoke casually. Yanaka had already assessed my skill. She must have also realized that my limbs were high-performance cybernetic implants.
A faint tremor ran through her lower body. Even with a blank expression, her lower half betrayed her emotions.
‘Fear.’
Yanaka was afraid of me. She knew she couldn’t win, yet she still stood before me.
“Mister, I have a reputation to maintain. If I want to keep leading, I have to fight—even if it means breaking my limbs.”
“I just want to take that little Crawler with me. Believe it or not, I’m his guardian. I can’t just stand by while he wanders the streets with delinquents.”
I turned my gaze to Boyan. He flinched and looked away.
“If you’re his guardian, then I have even more reason not to back down. We don’t hand over our friends to adults.”
“You go to school and eat meals paid for by adults during the day, don’t you? Judging by the cost of maintaining your body, I’d say it’s not cheap. And yet, you consider adults your enemies? That’s ridiculous.”
“I know it’s contradictory. But we’re not trying to rebel completely. This is just a temporary escape. So just let it go. When the time comes, we’ll return and live however the adults want us to.”
Yanaka spoke calmly. The way she articulated her contradictions so logically suggested she had received a good education.
“Listen, kid. I—haah…”
I sighed. Boyan was already making a run for it. He knew as well as I did that Yanaka couldn’t stop me.
Buzz!
I bent my legs and sprang forward. Yanaka moved to block me.
Swish!
I hooked her leg with my foot and pulled her shoulder with my hand. Even as her balance crumbled, she swung her blade toward my neck.
Tap. Crack!
I caught the blade between my fingers and snapped it. The broken shards clattered to the ground.
“Sorry, but I’m not some easygoing adult. I’m just a half-grown one. I’m not going to go easy on you just because you’re young.”
I lightly clenched my fist and struck Yanaka in the abdomen. I controlled my strength, but it was enough to leave her struggling to get back on her feet.
“Guh… Ugh.”
Yanaka collapsed to her knees, gagging. In that moment, I took off after Boyan.
‘Damn Crawler!’
For all his whining, Boyan moved fast. Even without proper training, he climbed buildings with his bare hands and dashed across rooftops.
Crawlers were practically born with adaptive three-dimensional maneuvering embedded in their genes. Even on instinct alone, he raced through the complex structures without hesitation.
‘I’m not closing the distance as quickly as I expected.’
Even for a Crawler, this was unusual. The moment doubt crept in, my brain worked on its own, analyzing the situation and drawing several conclusions.
‘Boyan ran instead of helping his friends when they were getting taken down.’
Boyan wasn’t the cowardly type. He wasn’t the kind to abandon his crew and flee without a second thought.
‘…He did something he can’t let me find out about.’
And now, even I wasn’t catching up as quickly as I should.
“That little shit…”
I clenched my teeth. My head heated up, my vision expanded, and suddenly, I saw the path forward.
Crack!
I cranked up my leg’s output, launching myself high enough to crack the rooftop beneath me. Practically flying, I closed in on Boyan.
His head and back came within reach. I moved to tackle and pin him down.
Swish!
Boyan, as if trained, sensed my presence and rolled to the side.
Thud!
I landed hard, grimacing. Boyan, panting, scrambled away.
Snap!
I shot my arm out and hooked my fingers around the nape of his neck, yanking him back. His clothes stretched to the point of nearly tearing.
Thump!
I kicked the back of his knee. Only then did he finally collapse forward, landing face-first.
“Boyan, open your damn eyes before I dig the truth out of you.”
I grabbed him by the collar, glaring down at him. Boyan trembled, avoiding my gaze, before finally forcing his eyes open.
“L-Luka… I-I…”
“Stimulants?”
I bit my lower lip.
Even at night, his pupils were unnaturally dilated. His mouth was dry, reeking of that distinct, acrid scent.
The moment he saw me, he bolted. Even for a Crawler, his escape instincts had been too sharp.
‘Stimulants.’
Boyan had taken them.
I clenched and unclenched my fists.
‘What do I do?’
With the way I was feeling, I wanted to beat him senseless until he couldn’t stand. But that wasn’t a solution. If Boyan were the type to submit to violence, he would have obeyed his father long ago.
“Why did you run? It’s not like we’re never going to see each other again.”
I let go of Boyan’s collar as I spoke.
His already-dilated pupils widened further. Judging by his state, he was bound to suffer a splitting headache once the drug wore off.
“…If you found out I took stimulants, I figured you’d half-kill me. You’ve got a bit of a temper, Luka. I was going to explain later.”
“Hmm.”
I couldn’t really argue with that. That must have been how he saw me. And honestly, he wasn’t wrong.
“And… you’ve been avoiding me lately.”
“I wasn’t avoiding you. I was just busy. Damn it. Whatever, just sit down. I’ll hear you out.”
Scratching my head, I sat down on the rooftop ledge. The building owner from below had come up after hearing the commotion, but when I tossed him a credit chip, he shut his mouth.
Boyan was breathing heavily. I waited for him to calm down.
“I started realizing something was off while attending school. Sitting through class made my whole body itch—I could barely stand it. My head felt like it was spinning, and there were so many times I just wanted to jump up and run out. But when I looked around, I was the only one feeling that way. No matter how many times I told myself to focus, it was impossible.”
I listened. This was exactly what Jafa and I had predicted. Boyan wasn’t adapting to the traditional academic system. Even when putting in the same time and effort, he was falling behind.
“But you’ve been reading and studying on your own all this time.”
“That’s because I was choosing subjects I was interested in. At school, you have to study things outside your interests too. Do you know what Crawlers are worst at? Doing things they don’t want to do. That’s why other species think we’re lazy. It’s just that our interests are different, but in the end, I couldn’t escape the nature of a Crawler either.”
Honestly, I struggled to understand Boyan. Deep down, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was just an excuse.
I had learned whatever was necessary, absorbing it like a sponge. Even with marksmanship, while I wasn’t on par with the Imperial Guard, I was still at an expert level.
‘If it’s necessary, you learn it, whether you like it or not.’
But what was obvious to me seemed impossible for Boyan.
Even among the same species, understanding one another is difficult. It’s even worse when there are stark biological differences between species. If most Crawlers struggled with this, then it wasn’t just about willpower or effort—it was a real, nearly insurmountable obstacle.
“So you turned to drugs to overcome the conditions you were born with?”
“I know it’s stupid. But just until I graduate… I thought I could use them sparingly.”
Soldiers and warriors often relied on drugs. But that was because they operated in extreme environments—where a lack of skill meant death. Side effects didn’t matter when survival was at stake.
“You’re still young. You have time—”
“Time? I don’t have time. Crawlers live shorter lives than humans—about half as long. I’m already falling behind, and I don’t even have as much time as everyone else. What do you think I can possibly achieve?”
Boyan snapped back sharply.
“Don’t whine. You knew this path was difficult when you chose it.”
I had no intention of coddling him just because he picked a hard road. Choosing a difficult path wasn’t what made someone great—it was walking that path without complaint.
“I’m not whining. That’s why I found my own way. The kids in that group all come from wealthy families, so the drugs they use are high-grade and clean. I’ll only take them when necessary and quit later. When I use them, my chaotic thoughts clear up, and I can focus—just like other species can.”
I felt an instinctive sense of rejection. Using drugs just to study? Saying he’d only use them when necessary and quit later? That was far too naive. I could already see Boyan’s future—one of addiction.
‘But does he have another option?’
I couldn’t outright reject his choice when I had no better solution to offer.
Should I respect Boyan’s decision and judgment? Or should I assume this would only end in misery and stop him now?
It was a difficult question, even for me.
“But you were already on stimulants back in the square, just messing around. You weren’t studying. You took them just to relieve stress, didn’t you?”
Boyan averted his gaze at my remark.
“…I won’t do it again. I promise—I’ll only use them when necessary.”
I closed my eyes. There was no doubt—Boyan’s life would be ruined by drug addiction.
‘Will he resign himself to reality and live as a Crawler, or will he walk the ever-narrowing path along the edge of a cliff?’
There were limits that effort alone couldn’t overcome. No matter how much a natural human trained and disciplined themselves, they would never overpower a Crawler or an Equessian in sheer strength.
That was why humans relied on mechanical and biological enhancements, accepting the risks to push themselves beyond their natural limits. I was a product of that very mindset, which made it difficult to tell Boyan not to do the same.
In this era, it wasn’t just humans—all species had to surpass their biological limitations through artificial means. Only then could they achieve greatness.
“Boyan, listen carefully. If I ever see you losing control of yourself, I’ll—”
I stopped mid-sentence, turning around as I stood up.
“Haa… haa…”
A woman had followed us. The leader of the gang—Yanaka. She steadied her breathing quickly and pulled out a handgun.
“…Let Boyan go!”
Yanaka aimed at my torso and pulled the trigger without hesitation. Even though she was aiming for the abdomen, there was no sign of doubt in her shot.
Bang!
I raised my palm to my stomach and caught the bullet. The round spun in my grip before clattering to the ground.
“You… you blocked it?”
Yanaka’s eyes widened in shock.
“In my neighborhood, that’s just basic training, kid.”
I grinned.