Chapter 63

-It is now heading in your direction, Manager.

At Yoon U-jeong’s report, I suddenly remembered.

The nightmare-like situation that had occurred in the 「Warehouse Club」.

Back then too, some crow had barged in and messed with the barcode-headed 「Employee」.

-If you continue moving in your current direction, you will reach Ant No. 5’s detection range in approximately 20 minutes.

“Understood. Please find a new detour route.”

Yoon U-jeong set a new route for us.

And so we left the easy-to-walk skirt trail and climbed the mountain path again.

It would be fine if we avoided it like this, but I did not have a good feeling.

We won’t get thoroughly hit like last time, right?

At that moment, Kwon Mu-seop, who was walking ahead, called me.

“Do-un.”

“Yes?”

“Do you perhaps like birds?”

“I neither particularly like nor dislike them.”

“I see.”

“Why are you suddenly asking that…….”

When I asked what he meant, Kwon Mu-seop gave a soft laugh.

“It’s nothing. I was just wondering why it had to be a bird, of all things.”

What is this supposed to mean now?

At that moment, Yoon U-jeong’s voice rang out again.

-Manager, the bird has shaken off Ant No. 5. No. 5 has stopped moving in D-3 Area.

“If it is D-3, that is the exact center of the narrow southeast section.”

-Yes. I think you will have to give up on the 「Stone Towers」 on that side.

Ant No. 5, lured by the bird, had unfortunately settled in narrow terrain.

If it held out there, we could not use the 「Stone Towers」 we had saved beyond it.

The situation had become a little tangled, but it was not yet time for despair.

There were plenty of 「Stone Towers」 in other areas too.

But then.

-Manager, the crow has made contact with No. 4 as well. No. 4 is moving. It is moving down from A-8 Area toward the center.

Yoon U-jeong spoke in a voice mixed with dismay.

-……After shaking off No. 4, the crow is heading toward No. 3.

As if No. 5 were not enough, No. 4, and even Ant No. 3, began moving toward us.

No. 4 from the north, and No. 3 from the west.

Thanks to that, we were caught between three 「Ants」.

“Where is the midpoint between Nos. 3, 4, and 5?”

-B-3. I will guide you there first.

The mirth and playfulness disappeared from Yoon U-jeong’s voice.

I too grew tense and moved to the new point.

But even after that, the crow alternately moved the three remaining 「Ants」.

This was not anything like coincidence.

Absurdly enough, that bird was driving us.

As if playing Go, placing black stones beside white stones, it was surrounding us.

-How about just catching the 「Ants」 and leaving only one behind?

Yoon U-jeong proposed.

We were nearly surrounded, and the movement route for securing 「Stone Towers」 had also become tangled.

Since it had come to this, she meant that we should get rid of the 「Ants」 and leave only the very last one.

The remaining time was now about 9 hours.

There was still quite a long time left, but the 「Ants」 were not such weak entities.

Unless we set out to catch one deliberately, it would probably not die easily.

So it would also be a method to endure economically with one 「Ant」.

Kwon Mu-seop shook his head.

“Let’s see where it drives us first.”

-Haa…….

At Kwon Mu-seop’s strange stubbornness, Yoon U-jeong let out a sigh.

With Ant No. 2 at our tail, we climbed the mountain while avoiding Nos. 3, 4, and 5, which were gradually closing the distance.

The place we finally arrived at was the summit of this mountain.

The beacon mound that served as the entrance to the 「Ant Nest」.

“Haha.”

In front of the beacon mound, Kwon Mu-seop burst into laughter for some reason.

“Deputy Manager, how should I take this?”

-Why are you asking? You are going to do whatever you want anyway.

Unlike Kwon Mu-seop, who seemed amused, Yoon U-jeong was blunt.

The atmosphere between the two of them changed abruptly.

Why are these people suddenly acting like this?

-You will not listen anyway, but if you are perhaps thinking of entering the 「Ant Nest」, please reconsider. I am begging you.

……What?

At Yoon U-jeong’s words, I looked at Kwon Mu-seop in surprise.

Even though Kwon Mu-seop could not see, he was feeling around the square opening of the beacon mound with his hand.

“What do you mean, entering the 「Ant Nest」?”

“Do-un, do you think it is really a coincidence that we are here right now?”

“Pardon?”

“Doesn’t it seem like that bird sent us here?”

Instead of answering, Kwon Mu-seop asked me in return.

His face was strangely heated.

Because the superior who had been fairly composed was making an expression like that, chills ran over me.

With a somehow ominous premonition, I grew serious and answered.

“Yes, it looks highly intentional. But is there any need for us to follow that intention?”

Rather, it was a situation where we should act in the exact opposite way.

We had a safe escape right before our eyes, but then some crow appeared and began stirring up trouble.

If there was intention here, it was naturally malice, and if we had been driven according to that intention, then this was a trap.

That was the common-sense way to think about it, so what was Kwon Mu-seop saying right now?

“That bird right now is the same kind as the one that barged into the 「Warehouse Club」. It may even be the same bird.”

“I nearly died back then.”

“That’s true. But as a result, that bird barged in and broke ‘Three Steps, One Death.’”

“…….”

“If, thanks to that bird, one Special Zone was conquered, then at maximum, that is our ally, and at minimum, the enemy of our enemy.”

Huh.

“For things to be as you say, Manager, that crow would have had to predict even that I would realize the function of the membership.”

“Isn’t that possible?”

“It may be possible. But that is still only an inference…….”

It was when I was arguing in frustration.

RUSTLE—!

Ant No. 2, which had been peeking around near us, suddenly charged this way.

Damn it, the brand disappeared already!

Realizing the brand on my wrist had vanished, I hurriedly grabbed the gun.

No, I tried to grab it, but Kwon Mu-seop was faster.

Manager Kwon Mu-seop swiftly pulled the gun I was carrying.

Then he aimed precisely in the direction the sound had come from.

PFFTPFFTPFFTPFFT—!

“……!”

The 「Ant」 was smashed apart in an instant.

“Deputy Manager, how long will it take Ant No. 3 to get here?”

-About 15 minutes.

“What about Nos. 4 and 5?”

-About the same. If they move, I predict 15 minutes each.

“Then we have about 40 minutes of leeway. Let me know when No. 3 comes.”

Leaving me startled behind, Kwon Mu-seop calmly received the report.

Then he leaned his back against the beacon mound with a much more relaxed attitude.

Was it my imagination?

That appearance seemed to be showing off that he could catch 「Ants」 anytime.

With that relaxed posture, Kwon Mu-seop began again.

“Do-un, the number of times you have been dragged into Special Zones is 6 now, right?”

“Yes.”

“All 6 times were Type 1 Special Zones. Don’t you think that is strange? Why Type 1 every time? Did the Type 1 Special Zones call you in? That probably is not it.”

“How are you so certain?”

“From the perspective of Type 1, your existence itself is a disaster and a calamity. You suffered too, of course, but honestly, the losses were much more severe on the Type 1 Special Zones’ side than yours. If I were Type 1, I would not even touch you.”

Kwon Mu-seop said this as if joking.

It was rather absurd, but I had nothing to say.

Because it was true.

If I were a Special Zone that existed for the purpose of devouring humans, a human named Seo Do-un, who only dug out weaknesses and slipped away, would be extremely irritating.

Though I wondered whether it was right to speak about Special Zones by personifying them like this.

“Then who keeps moving you into Type 1 Special Zones? It certainly does not seem like an action favorable to Type 1.”

So that was why he said, at minimum, the enemy of our enemy, and at maximum, our ally?

But this too was only an inference.

I wondered if I should dispute all of this one by one right now.

But I had to, didn’t I?

If I did not dispute it properly, we looked likely to enter the 「Ant Nest」 just like this.

“Manager, for what you are claiming now to hold, there has to be some actor behind the phenomenon of me being dragged into Special Zones.”

“That’s right.”

“And that actor and that crow must be identical, or on the same side.”

“That is also right.”

“Finally, the crow’s barging into the 「Warehouse Club」 must truly have been an act that guided me to find that place’s solution.”

“Mm, exactly. It has to be.”

“But none of those things has been confirmed, has it? They are all inferences, and using those as the basis for another new inference is too reckless.”

I said this hoping he would please come to his senses, but why?

Kwon Mu-seop’s smile only deepened.

“Yes, everything you said is right. But Do-un. You asked me earlier, didn’t you? Whether I knew we would be dragged here.”

“……Yes.”

For now, I nodded.

There were only three or four Special Zones that required cold-weather gear, including the 「Ant Hill」.

Among them, the only place where a tent would be useful because a long stay was essential was this 「Ant Hill」.

So the fact that he had prepared this exactly was certainly surprising.

But then Kwon Mu-seop brought up something even more unexpected.

“Actually, it is the opposite.”

“What do you mean, the opposite?”

“I did not prepare this because I knew we would be dragged here. I prepared this so that it would drag us here.”

“……?”

“It was a test. Whether the thing dragging you into Special Zones could read my intention, and whether it would play along.”

Wait, what on earth is he saying right now……?

“And we were dragged here exactly. Among the 16 Type 1 Special Zones, if you exclude the 5 you have already visited, there are 11 left. A result that matched my intention exactly came out at a one-in-11 probability.”

So what he meant was, this had not been a prediction, but a request?

He had not prepared a tent because he thought I might be dragged into the 「Ant Hill」. He had prepared a tent in advance and hinted that it should drag me to the 「Ant Hill」?

What on earth is this?

Is he saying that the phenomenon that shakes me around so mercilessly is, when understood properly, this communicative and tactful?

At Kwon Mu-seop’s claim, my forehead grew hot.

My head was already on the verge of bursting, but Kwon Mu-seop continued with a smile.

“Want me to tell you something even more interesting?”

“……Is there more?”

“Deputy Manager, what time was that bird observed?”

-Exactly 21:00 today.

“What time did Group 1 begin their operation?”

-Exactly 21:00 today.

“…….”

“Somehow, it became a diversionary operation. Thanks to that, there is no chance the mercenary entities will cross over here. The 「Island」 side will be more urgent and busier.”

I ended up losing my words.

“When you knock on a door and a sound returns, that means someone is inside.”

Kwon Mu-seop spoke quietly.

“You said it felt like Special Zones were games made to be cleared. My thoughts are a bit different, but I agree that the concept of clearing exists.”

“…….”

“If so, there should also be hints for clearing them. I do not know why, but those hints seem to be expressed actively only toward you in particular.”

I could not deny it.

Because I too acknowledged that my situation was special, peculiar, and strange.

So?

So what was Kwon Mu-seop’s conclusion?

That we should heed that crow’s revelation and enter the 「Ant Nest」?

“The decision is yours.”

Kwon Mu-seop noticed my conflict and said this.

“My instincts say we should enter here, but I cannot force danger on you.”

After egging me on this much?

“There is no CCTV inside there either. We cannot receive Deputy Manager’s support, so it will be more dangerous than now. So I will follow your choice. What will you do?”

……You really are one old fox.

I swallowed those words and asked back instead,

“Were there hints like this during Sol’s father’s time too?”

“I think there were. Though I did not realize it then.”

“Then let’s go.”

-Do-un…….

Perhaps she had placed a faint hope in me, because Yoon U-jeong sighed.

If we endured only 9 more hours, we would return safely.

If I only wanted survival tomorrow, there was no need to force this kind of risk.

But if I got out of here alive?

I would have to keep fretting, not knowing where I would be dragged next.

If that was the case, whether it turned into porridge or rice, it would be better to dig into it.

“Thank you.”

Kwon Mu-seop smiled brightly and placed a hand on my shoulder.

Yoon U-jeong let out a deep sigh, and for some reason, I remembered.

My attending doctor, whose face had crumpled at the name Kwon Mu-seop.