Chapter 151

1 minute 45 seconds after operation commencement.

Baek Sa-ra, riding a bike, charged into the waiting hall.

VROOOOM—! SCREEECH—!

Baek Sa-ra turned without slowing down even on the slippery marble floor.

Her brown hair, tied high into one ponytail, streamed like a flag.

In the meantime, the siren rang twice more, and even as I was shoved around frantically, I kept Baek Sa-ra in my sight.

“「Railway Police」 shows no response!”

SCREEECH—!

Jeong Jin-u reported on the bike’s safety, and Baek Sa-ra stopped in front of us.

3 minutes 7 seconds after operation commencement.

Baek Sa-ra got off the bike.

Jeong Jin-u took the bike and climbed on in her place.

And Han Seung-yo, who had just saved me again, put me onto the back seat behind Jeong Jin-u.

“Take care of yourself, Otter…….”

WEEEEEE—!

Baek Sa-ra’s request was buried under the siren sound.

VROOOOM—!

Jeong Jin-u turned the handlebars without hesitation.

“Urgh……!”

I nearly fell off and hurriedly grabbed Jeong Jin-u’s waist.

CREAK—!

A familiar pressure pressed down on the crown of my head.

But that lasted only a moment. I felt the force crushing me fall away behind us.

“Otter Agent, is it working?”

“Yes, I think I can evade it!”

“Bike evasion successful! See, I told you it would work!”

As expected, Jeong Jin-u was a man who eventually did what he wanted to do.

And when his stubbornness produced results, he was frankly delighted.

VROOOOOOM—!

“……!”

By lifting the front wheel of the bike and riding like that, no less.

Unwillingly caught up in that stunt, I hung on in horror.

Did my appearance seem pitiful?

-Are you not going to be careful?

At that moment, Baek Sa-ra’s cold warning came through the earpiece.

-What did Jeong Jin-u do?

-Is Jeong Jin-u insane?

-Does Jeong Jin-u die?

And then came the criticism from the other members.

“…….”

Did he think he might be beaten to death?

Vroom, vroom—

Jeong Jin-u began driving safely again.

5 minutes 32 seconds after operation commencement.

BOOM—!

Baek Sa-ra blew up the electronic scoreboard in the waiting hall.

It was to protect the agents’ field of vision.

CLATTER— CLATTER—!

Fragments of the broken scoreboard fell to the floor, and from between them, something long and black grew.

SSSSSS—!

It was 「Railway Police」.

-「Railway Police」 has appeared.

Baek Sa-ra calmly reported the situation and drew the sword on her back.

「Railway Police」 whirled like a propeller, and Baek Sa-ra also responded by turning her body with her sword in hand.

CLANG—! CLANG—!

The sound of metal striking metal pierced through the bike’s engine noise.

But I could not even see 「Railway Police」’s movements.

What I saw was only Baek Sa-ra turning her body as if dancing alone, and sparks flying around her.

CLANG—! CLANG—! GRIND—!

After several such collisions.

Something became entangled in Baek Sa-ra’s sword, and as if she had been waiting for it, Baek Sa-ra pulled the sword back and took out her pistol.

Then she shot the cord that had tangled around the sword and gone slack.

BANG—!

With a sharp gunshot, the black cord flew apart into fragments.

I stared as if entranced at Baek Sa-ra standing straight in the middle of them.

That was the first monster I had ever witnessed.

An incomprehensible aberration that had taken off people’s heads and split them in half with light movements.

But to cut and erase that thing so easily.

It felt as if the nightmare lodged inside me had been cut away along with it.

-「Railway Police」 silenced.

-Entering.

8 minutes 11 seconds after operation commencement.

Cha Si-eon and the rest of the personnel entered the waiting hall.

THUD—! THUD—!

The attack team agents set down drone bags as large as coffins.

While they took out the drones, the escape team agents installed mobile CCTVs throughout the waiting hall and set out to secure Tickets.

The drone attack team completed preparations within dozens of seconds after entry.

WHIRR—

One drone rose into the air.

It drew the exact same spiral as it had last week at Yongsan Station.

SHATTER—!

Soon, the ceiling glass broke in exactly the same way.

From between the fragments, 「Railway Police」 grew without fail.

It seemed that entity too recognized drones as human tools.

「Railway Police」 flew in to attack the drone operator.

But 10 minutes after operation commencement.

The second 「Railway Police」 was dismantled by Baek Sa-ra again.

In the meantime, the monitoring drone went out through the collapsed ceiling and scanned the form of 「Giant Siren」.

And at that moment, I was evading the 28th siren.

“Seo Do-un, wear my helmet!”

Jeong Jin-u shouted at me.

The helmet I was wearing was nearly destroyed and barely hanging on.

I tore off that tattered thing.

Then I took off the helmet of Jeong Jin-u, who was driving the bike, and put it on my own head.

Jeong Jin-u’s face, now without a helmet, was visible through the bike’s rearview mirror.

Jeong Jin-u was grinning with his face flushed, utterly exhilarated.

13 minutes 33 seconds after operation commencement.

-Modeling of 「Giant Siren」 complete.

-Noise-generation locations of 「Giant Siren」 transmitted.

-Coordinates confirmed.

At the Control Team’s report, the drone operator answered while looking at the tablet.

Two drones flew up again.

-「Giant Siren」 is showing hostile response!

Together with the Situation Room’s warning, the sky suddenly darkened.

A deep shadow fell over the ceiling glass that had reflected the blue sky.

It was 「Giant Siren」’s hand.

KRAAASH—!

「Giant Siren」 struck the ceiling with a hand the size of a volleyball court.

SHATTER—!

All the ceiling glass broke and poured down like a rainstorm.

-Mr. Policeman, over there!

Glass fragments like hail were falling over our heads, yet some agent was still joking in the middle of it.

But that composure did not last long.

-Drone unharmed.

The drone that avoided the attack flew toward 「Giant Siren」’s neck.

BOOM—! BOOM—!

Light flashed with a roar.

WEE— WEEEE—

At the same time, the pitch of the siren sound broke.

BZZT— BZZZZT—!

The siren sound was completely cut off before long, and in its place, something like the noise of a broken radio began to continue.

-Siren sound stopped.

15 minutes 50 seconds after operation commencement.

Cha Si-eon declared 「Giant Siren」 neutralized.

When the siren sound that had been blaring madly stopped, a strange silence arrived.

Jeong Jin-u slowly stopped the bike.

Then he looked beyond the shattered ceiling.

BZZT— BZZZZT—

「Giant Siren」 had its neck half severed, and its head hung to the side.

That thing was the old enemy that had sealed the Bureau’s mouth for years.

But no one dared cheer in triumph at its miserable state.

Rather, a solemn tension hovered at the scene.

-Have the mercenary entities been confirmed?

-Not yet.

-Group 2, carry out the second attack.

At Cha Si-eon’s instruction, about a dozen drones flew up at once.

BOOM—! BOOM—! BOOM—!

Orange light flashed with the roaring sounds.

It exploded, exploded, and exploded again.

CREEEAK—!

Like an old utility pole tilting, 「Giant Siren」’s massive body began to lean.

-Brace for impact.

At Cha Si-eon’s warning, the agents moved away from beneath the glass ceiling.

A moment later.

THOOOM—!

A roaring sound accompanied by vibration shook the ground beneath our feet.

And 「Giant Siren」 collapsed onto the steel frame of the ceiling, hanging its horrifically huge siren head over us.

Cha Si-eon looked up at that sight for a moment, then checked the surroundings.

He seemed to be waiting for the mercenary entities.

Type 1 Special Zones did not want 「Railway Station」 to be solved.

That was the hypothesis we had made, but the fact that there was no sign of anything even after things had gone this far instead felt ominous.

CREEEAK—

In the meantime, 「Giant Siren」 gripped the warped ceiling frame with its hand as if trying to lift itself up.

Its hand was gaunt, like a roughly imitated sculpture made by weaving steel bars together.

It was absurdly long and thin, and at the same time, sharp.

So the moment it gripped the ceiling frame, the steel frame, unable to withstand its weight, collapsed.

SCREECH— CRASH—! BOOM—!

Together with the collapsing ceiling, 「Giant Siren」’s hand fell to the waiting hall floor.

The moment that hand writhed on the floor, the crisis response team, including Cha Si-eon, moved to respond.

RATATATATA—!

Under the pouring bullets, the metallic fingers bent and broke, then were eventually severed and flew off.

PING— PIIING— CLATTER—!

BOOM—!

Then a drone blew up 「Giant Siren」’s elbow as well.

BZZT— BZZZZT—!

Static flowed from the speakers of 「Giant Siren」, whose neck was hooked on the ceiling.

Was it only my imagination that the sound felt like a groan full of pain?

The siren brought down close was truly enormous.

It also looked pitiful, rusted as if left neglected for a long time.

The shock I had felt when I first saw that thing half a year ago was still vivid.

A being close to supreme, one that had rapidly shaved away my desire to survive.

But I no longer felt the authority of fear it had possessed.

Now, that thing was nothing more than wretched scrap metal that had been trespassed upon and dragged down.

THOOM—!

「Giant Siren」’s arm jolted up greatly with an explosion, then drooped back onto the floor.

When it naturally connected the floor and the ceiling, Cha Si-eon asked,

-Baek Sa-ra, can you enter?

-I can.

-Confirm the core’s location. We will cover you.

-Yes.

Baek Sa-ra began climbing up 「Giant Siren」’s arm.

Stepping on things like tangled electric wires, Baek Sa-ra climbed all the way to the ceiling.

Baek Sa-ra crossed the steel frame of the ceiling with catlike flexibility, then approached the area near 「Giant Siren」’s collarbone.

BZZT— BZZZZT—

「Giant Siren」 continued spilling static.

Baek Sa-ra took out a knife and carefully began opening the area below its collarbone.

Scrape— scrape—

Bzzt— bzzzz—

The eerie sound of the blade and the static of the siren continued for some time.

-……Core, found.

22 minutes 39 seconds after operation commencement.

The core of 「Giant Siren」 was found.

But what people felt was neither relief nor a sense of achievement, but deep grief.

The core had truly come out from that location.

I looked at the bike’s rearview mirror for a moment, then immediately turned my head.

Jeong Jin-u’s eyes were bloodshot red, and he was clenching his teeth.

-Mr. Seo Do-un.

I heard Cha Si-eon call me through the earpiece.

Knowing what I had to do, I got off the bike.

Then, like Baek Sa-ra had done, I loosened my body to climb up to the ceiling.

That was when it happened.

-Above!

Cha Si-eon suddenly shouted.

Startled, I raised my head.

「Giant Siren」 was still tangled in the steel frame.

I did not see any particular movement.

But above?

Confused, I looked upward.

The collapsed ceiling.

Ms. Baek Sa-ra.

「Giant Siren」.

And beyond them, visible blue…… water?

Water?

What loomed over our heads was not a blue sky.

It was blue river water, and a small island floating in the middle of it.

I froze in bewilderment.

If a bomb were falling from the sky instead, it would be terrifying, but understandable.

Because that too was a memory engraved into this space.

But what was falling over our heads was another world.

The scenery of an island was descending rapidly toward us from high above.

As if closing the pages of a book.

As if 2 different pages were being overlaid into one.

While I stood frozen, overwhelmed by that unrealistic sight.

Cha Si-eon reached my side and dragged me back.

“Baek Sa-ra, come down!”

Cha Si-eon shouted to Baek Sa-ra while holding onto me.

Baek Sa-ra grabbed a wire and leaped down from the ceiling.

But I could not hear the sound of Baek Sa-ra landing on the floor.

Because the falling scenery, faster than that, overturned the space in an instant.