Chapter 59

■ Escape Directives for 「Ant Hill That Steals the Five Senses」

Survive for 29 hours.

If you endure for 29 hours, you will return to reality.

However, several fatal dangers exist here.

Please familiarize yourself with the contents below and ensure your safety.

[Major Hazards]

1. Cold

The temperature in this area is -1°C. Beware of hypothermia.

2. 「Ant Lines」

These are white lines covered in mucus, scattered between trees or across paths.

Due to their strong adhesive power, they easily stick to clothing or the body, and they are extremely tough, making them difficult to cut even with knives or scissors.

It is possible to melt them with fire, but you cannot expect much effect from the firepower of an ordinary lighter.

If 「Ant Lines」 attach to your body, escape quickly, even if you must cut away clothing or skin.

If you shake the lines trying to remove them blindly, they will become more tangled.

If you are caught by these 「Ant Lines」, you will not return to reality even after 29 hours have passed.

In addition, if 「Ant Lines」 touch your skin, bodily deformation may progress.

3. 「Execution Ants」

「Execution Ants」 are dangerous entities that roam this hill and bite humans to death.

They are ant-shaped entities reaching 1.8m in body length, and are characterized by their greatly developed sickle-shaped mandibles.

These mandibles can easily sever human bones.

There are 28 entities in all, and they regard humans as prey and track them.

The human detection range of an 「Execution Ant」 is approximately 100m, and in this Special Zone, which has a total area of 2㎢, most places fall within the detection range of 「Execution Ants」.

If two or so adults work together, it is possible to kill an 「Execution Ant」, but such action is not recommended.

Practical methods for surviving 「Execution Ants」 are as follows.

1. Find the 「242 Stone Towers」 scattered throughout the 「Ant Hill」.

2. When you touch this 「Stone Tower」, a red brand will be engraved on your wrist. Only one brand can be engraved per 「Stone Tower」, and a 「Stone Tower」 that has granted a brand will collapse.

3. 「Execution Ants」 cannot attack a person who bears this brand. However, the duration of this brand is at minimum 21 minutes and at maximum 50 minutes.

4. Before the brand disappears, find a new 「Stone Tower」 and renew the brand.

5. Repeat the above actions for 29 hours and survive the 「Execution Ants」.

Then, good luck.

---

In short, tag with your life on the line.

We had to avoid traps and monsters and find 「Stone Towers」.

For 29 hours, nonstop, even with one of the five senses stolen.

At that time, the chance of survival changed greatly depending on which sense was taken.

In particular, if sight was taken away, the situation became hopelessly difficult.

“I can’t see in front of me.”

And of all people, Manager Kwon Mu-seop had drawn that.

-Ant No. 6 has already caught the scent and is coming. For now, move to a 「Stone Tower」.

To make matters worse, tracking had begun too.

-The nearest 「Stone Tower」 from your current location is 80m away. Another 「Stone Tower」 requires going 130m farther from there.

“Manager, take my hand.”

For now, I grabbed Kwon Mu-seop’s arm and pulled him.

But he had so much luggage that he could not stand properly.

“I’ll just stand up on my own.”

Kwon Mu-seop smiled awkwardly and stood by balancing himself.

But then.

“Manager, beside you……!”

THUD—!

Kwon Mu-seop slammed his head into a tree and sank back down.

This is bad. What do I do?

As I fretted, Yoon U-jeong said,

-Do-un, if the Manager gets in the way, you can just abandon him.

“Are you joking?”

I was dumbfounded and asked back with a straight face.

Then Kwon Mu-seop laughed unseriously.

“Stop teasing, Deputy Manager. Do-un is serious right now.”

That made me even more dumbfounded.

What is he saying when he can’t even get up alone…….

“Do-un, put this on first.”

When every second was urgent, Kwon Mu-seop searched through his luggage and pulled something out.

It was a lightweight padded jacket.

“It’s below freezing here. You need to maintain your body temperature.”

Because a necessary item had suddenly appeared, I was rather bewildered.

I put that padded jacket on under my vest and held my hand out to Kwon Mu-seop again.

“I’ll hold you from the side.”

“Mm, if you take care of me like this, it’s a little embarrassing…….”

-The Manager is getting senior-citizen treatment.

“See? This is definitely going to last a long time.”

Yoon U-jeong teased endlessly.

Kwon Mu-seop muttered unseriously.

They could not read the mood.

Is now really the time to be this relaxed?

What exactly are they trusting to act like this…….

“Deputy Manager, you can give directions, right?”

-Goodness, making me work at this hour. Turn on the body cam.

As Kwon Mu-seop stood again, he turned on the body cam attached to his chest.

Then he asked Yoon U-jeong in return,

“You said Ant No. 6 earlier, right?”

-Yes. Your current location is D-6 Area.

“Then this must be the entrance to the walking trail.”

-Try moving for the first time in a while. Straight ahead at two o’clock.

“Do-un, let’s go.”

After finishing the conversation, Kwon Mu-seop took a long step forward.

Then he began running without hesitation.

What is this?

Startled, I followed behind him.

At first, I chased awkwardly, then soon panicked and ran with all my strength.

Even so, I was only keeping pace with Kwon Mu-seop.

No way. Is he really running?

Was saying he could not see in front of him perhaps a joke?

The instant I suspected this.

CRASH—!

Kwon Mu-seop, who had been running ahead, tripped over a tree root and fell.

“Deputy Manager…….”

-Ah, I’m sorry. I was drinking water for a moment.

Kwon Mu-seop stood with a sigh.

Since he had fallen once, one might expect him to hesitate, but he began running again at the same speed.

Far from holding him, I was busy keeping up behind him.

-Keep going straight. Rising stone-step section. Turn at 11 o’clock in 5m.

Yoon U-jeong guided the way like a navigation system, and Kwon Mu-seop continued forward.

-Stop!

SCRAAAAAPE—!

Kwon Mu-seop stopped abruptly, making the sound of gravel scraping under combat boots.

Then he asked back in a voice without the slightest disturbance.

“Why?”

-Ant No. 8 is approaching, and it’s a little fast.

“How long?”

-I don’t think you’ll have time to mark two 「Stone Towers」.

“Then one first.”

Kwon Mu-seop ran without caring that an 「Ant」 was coming.

After I followed him up the hill path for a while.

A small stone tower came into view.

It was a stone tower one commonly saw when walking mountain paths, roughly built by placing small stones on top of a large stone.

“Do-un, touch it.”

I wanted to yield first to the person who could not see.

But I had no shame to say that when I was panting for breath.

I placed my hand on the 「Stone Tower」 as instructed.

Then the 「Stone Tower」 collapsed like dust, and a red band appeared on my wrist.

A mark as if I had been tied with rope. Is this the brand?

Now I was safe even if an 「Ant」 appeared.

The problem was Manager Kwon Mu-seop, but there was no time to ask what he would do.

“Deputy Manager. Tell me the direction and distance of Nos. 6 and 8.”

-No. 6 is 130m at 7 o’clock, and No. 8 is 60m at 10 o’clock.

“Continue relaying Ant No. 8’s position.”

Kwon Mu-seop spoke calmly and put down his luggage.

Then he took out something like a round rod and attached it to the muzzle.

Is that a silencer?

-24m, 22m, 19m, 17m…….

Meanwhile, Ant No. 8 was closing the distance more and more.

Rustle—

At the presence that had finally arrived, I lifted my head.

It was on top of the hill.

It was literally an ant.

Like a sculpture by an artist with good powers of observation, it was a horribly enlarged ant.

The 「Ant」 shook antennae like steel rods and charged toward us.

“Manager……!”

PFFT—!

Just as I was about to shout, one of the 「Ant」’s eyes shattered.

PFFT— PFFTPFFTPFFT—!

With suppressed noises, its legs were blown off, its head burst, and the 「Ant」 became riddled with holes.

Kwon Mu-seop was calmly sniping with a gun equipped with a silencer.

Dumbfounded, I looked back and forth between Kwon Mu-seop and the dying 「Ant」.

The Deputy Manager had told him the direction and distance.

But even so……?

-Ant No. 8, silenced.

Only after Yoon U-jeong’s declaration did Kwon Mu-seop stop shooting.

At the sight of him casually waving away the smoke pooled in the silencer, I asked in disbelief,

“Manager.”

“Mm?”

“Is it true that you really can’t see?”

“Would I lie about something like that?”

Kwon Mu-seop burst into laughter.

In the middle of that, Yoon U-jeong cut in.

-At this rate, you can conserve more 「Stone Towers」.

“Yes. I was worried because it’s been a while, but it’s going better than I expected.”

At their peaceful voices, I grew even more confused.

Perhaps having seen my expression, Yoon U-jeong cackled and said,

-Do-un, that place was originally the Manager’s front yard.

“Front yard?”

-It’s the place he was in charge of back when he was a team leader. Back then, he wasn’t holding himself back like now, so he went in and out almost like it was his own home.

Huh…….

-Manager, Ant No. 6 at 7 o’clock, 30m.

Yoon U-jeong cut off the small talk and informed him again.

PFFTPFFTPFFTPFFTPFFT—!

Another 「Ant」 was riddled with holes.

If it had happened once, I would have called it coincidence.

But if he did it like this in succession…….

-You’re not dead yet, Manager.

“Hahaha, in what sense?”

-Whew, your skills, of course. What else would there be?

“Are Nos. 7 and 9 coming too?”

-Yes, they’re running with their eyes flipped. They’ll take about 3 minutes and 9 minutes to arrive.

---

If two or so adults work together, it is possible to kill an 「Execution Ant」, but such action is not recommended.

「Execution Ants」 are connected in numerical order.

If one is attacked or killed, other entities connected to that entity will sense this and attack you.

---

「Execution Ants」 had the habit of linking up and retaliating.

But to a human with a gun, and even to a human named Kwon Mu-seop, who could hit them without looking, mm, how should I put it.

It was rather a convenient habit.

Ant Nos. 7 and 9, who came seeking revenge for their own kind, eventually boarded the express train to heaven too.

They said Ant No. 10 had also set out, but that it would take about 15 minutes to reach us.

Kwon Mu-seop waved away the smoke from the silencer with his hand and asked,

“Deputy Manager, what time is it now?”

-The current time is 1:02 a.m.

“Mm, then we slept for less than 2 hours.”

That was right.

We had lain down to sleep after 11 at night.

“Do-un, would you try setting this up? I can’t see.”

Kwon Mu-seop lowered the gun and handed me the long piece of luggage fastened to his lower back.

CLANK—!

A piece of luggage wrapped in waterproof cloth and making metallic sounds.

When I opened it, the frame of something was waiting to be assembled.

It was a lightweight one-person tent.

“Pitch that and sleep for 4 more hours. That’s how we’ll endure 29 hours.”

“Manager, did you know we would be dragged here?”

“No way.”

“Then how did you have this…….”

I could not continue speaking and looked back and forth between Kwon Mu-seop and the tent.

As if he truly could not see, Kwon Mu-seop smiled with his gaze placed far away.

“My instincts are a little good.”

Can this be explained by instincts?

Suddenly, two scenes came to mind.

Kwon Mu-seop’s name written multiple times on the Agent of the Month list.

Cha Si-eon maintaining a particularly rigid posture whenever he saw only Kwon Mu-seop.

……Have I been greatly misunderstanding Manager Kwon Mu-seop?

At that moment, as if something had occurred to him, Manager Kwon Mu-seop took out his notebook.

Then he suddenly paused and made a serious expression.

“Wh-what is it?”

“I forgot I can’t see.”

Kwon Mu-seop grew gloomy and put the notebook away again.

Excuse me, Manager. Could you please do only one or the other?

-Manager, just in case, set up camp in front of the next 「Stone Tower」.

“Yes, that would be safer. Do-un, the ring Sa-ra gave you should work here too. I’ll try to make sure you won’t need to use it if possible, but know that for now.”

Watching Kwon Mu-seop push things forward smoothly, I realized again.

Manager Kwon Mu-seop was neither reckless nor unreliable.

He was simply competent.

A person capable of carrying his subordinate through a Special Zone.

As if bewitched by something, I looked at Kwon Mu-seop’s back as he walked ahead.

Had we climbed the hill for about 10 minutes?

-Both of you, stop!

At Yoon U-jeong’s shout, we stopped abruptly.

-There are 「Ant Lines」.

「Ant Lines」?

At that moment, a faint groan was heard.

“Please save me…….”