Chapter 64

A beacon mound was a structure built to raise signal fires.

Bell-shaped, made by stacking stones, and about 3m tall.

In the middle, there was one hearth for lighting fire and smoke.

And beneath this hearth, it was wide open and connected to the 「Ant Nest」.

That was the egg-laying chamber of the 「Execution Ants」.

At the same time, it was the central area where the core of this Special Zone existed.

I rode the wire down.

Coming down a vertical passage with neither stairs nor a ladder felt newly dizzying.

It won’t be easy to climb back up.

This won’t become my grave, right…….

When I shone the searchlight ahead, I saw a long tunnel.

The ceiling was fairly high, so there was no need to crawl.

“Deputy Manager, what happened to the bird?”

-It disappeared. It is no longer observed.

Yoon U-jeong answered Kwon Mu-seop’s question.

Just as the crow had caused chaos in the 「Warehouse Club」 and vanished all of a sudden, this time too, once we entered the 「Ant Nest」, it had gone somewhere.

It felt like we were being thoroughly toyed with, but a played card cannot be taken back.

Since we had already come in, we had no choice but to go.

Together with Kwon Mu-seop, I moved deeper into the tunnel.

After a while.

I stopped short.

“Why?”

“……There are ant eggs.”

I murmured while looking at a gigantic mass.

It was approximately 2m tall, with a circumference of about two arm spans.

An ivory oval object heavily occupied one side of the tunnel.

“It’s probably not an egg, but a pupa. When the number of active 「Ants」 falls below half, they immediately prepare the next generation.”

Isn’t that even worse?

That means if that cocoon cracks open, that monster ant will crawl out.

The three 「Ants」 outside won’t suddenly die of natural causes, right?

-Manager, you must finish exploring the 「Ant Nest」 within 30 minutes. Otherwise, it will become truly horrible.

Perhaps imagining something similar to me, Yoon U-jeong spoke seriously.

As she said, we did not have much time.

The next-number 「Ant」 would come this way soon and attack us.

Then we would have no choice but to catch it, and catching Nos. 3 and 4 would still be all right.

But if even No. 5, the last 「Ant」, met us here, and if we caught that 「Ant」, the ant eggs here would hatch all at once and attack us.

Then this place truly would become our grave.

Time allocation was important.

We had to finish exploring the 「Ant Nest」 before Ant No. 5 came, go outside, and renew the brand.

So, what am I supposed to do now?

We came this far in accordance with that bird’s intention.

What comes next? Does it want us to wander around blindly and find some item?

What am I supposed to do if it gives a hint and then stops like this?

If this were really a game, I would have demanded a refund immediately.

-Ant No. 3 is approaching the beacon mound.

We still have not found even a clue, and already…….

“Manager, when No. 3 comes, I will try using Ms. Baek Sa-ra’s ring.”

“All right, let’s try it.”

Feeling as if this would turn into neither porridge nor rice at this rate, I made the proposal.

If the 「Ants」 also feared this ring, we would be able to buy time.

Kwon Mu-seop nodded without objection, and in that state, we waited for Ant No. 3.

At that moment, news came that made me doubt my ears.

-Manager! 「Alpha」 observed! Point B-7!

「Alpha」?

Why is that name coming up now?

-Ant No. 3, silenced! 「Alpha」 attacked Ant No. 3!

“……!”

What is this?!

Not only had 「Alpha」, which had been observed in 「Island Where Blood Falls」, suddenly crossed over here, it had attacked an 「Ant」?

A mercenary entity had attacked a dangerous entity from another Special Zone.

I had never seen nor heard of such a record.

Then what was this exceptional situation?

Don’t tell me, is it after us?

-Ant No. 4 is moving toward 「Alpha」. 「Alpha」 is also moving toward No. 4. Both sides are running at full speed, contact within 3 minutes!

My guess was right.

「Alpha」 was trying to annihilate the current generation of 「Execution Ants」.

-You must leave the 「Ant Nest」 immediately!

“No. We will keep going to the central area.”

-Manager!

“If we go out now, we die.”

-……!

“Even if we leave the tunnel, we will still be chased by 「Ants」, and under the current circumstances, we cannot respond to 「Alpha」 either. We will go to the central area instead and destroy the core.”

He means to reset this Special Zone?

Certainly, that was the only way we could live right now.

But if that happened…….

“Deputy Manager, what is Group 1’s situation?”

-They just confirmed 「Alpha」’s departure and are forcing a breakthrough.

At Yoon U-jeong’s report, Kwon Mu-seop moved his feet again after briefly stopping.

He walked like a person who could see and spoke to me.

“Do-un, you heard that, right? 「Alpha」 stopped fighting our elites and came this way. What do you think that means?”

“It means we caught them off guard?”

“It means your survival is the most important thing. So run.”

Kwon Mu-seop drove the point into my hesitation and picked up speed.

I too emptied my head and followed behind him for now.

-Ant No. 4, silenced! 「Alpha」 is heading toward Ant No. 5!

Damn it. It feels like someone has put a knife to my heart.

-Fork ahead!

At Yoon U-jeong’s shout, Kwon Mu-seop stopped in a hurry.

“A fork?”

-It appears to be a structure newly formed after the last exploration.

“Then left first.”

Kwon Mu-seop chose without hesitation.

After running like that for several more minutes.

-Ant No. 5, silenced!

In the end, the 「Ants」 had been annihilated.

-「Alpha」 is heading back toward the beacon mound!

“Do-un, give me the gun!”

Kwon Mu-seop took back the rifle he had entrusted to me.

“Take the pistol and stick to my back. They won’t be able to spit 「Ant Lines」 properly for a while, so ignore those.”

Kwon Mu-seop gave quick instructions and ran again.

As I ran with him, I took off the glove on my left hand.

Then I gripped the pistol Kwon Mu-seop had given me, supporting it with both hands.

CRRRRACK—

The pupae in the passage began to move.

CRACK— CRRK—

The sound of something tearing apart continued, but Kwon Mu-seop ignored it and kept running.

SQUELCH—!

At last, one pupa split open, and an 「Execution Ant」 pushed out its head.

PFFTPFFTPFFTPFFTPFFT—!

As if he had been waiting, Kwon Mu-seop fired toward that direction.

The newly born ant died without even properly emerging from its hard cocoon.

After that, whenever the sound of a cocoon splitting came, Kwon Mu-seop shot it down one after another.

How long had we run like that?

“Manager, it is a dead end!”

“Let’s go back.”

Kwon Mu-seop swiftly turned around while changing magazines.

Returning along the way we had come, we inevitably had no choice but to face them.

The 「Ants」 that had hatched behind us.

-Four 「Ants」 ahead!

PFFTPFFTPFFTPFFT—!

BANG—! BANG—! BANG—!

Kwon Mu-seop fired indiscriminately, and I shot and hit the ones that came forward.

We continued advancing like that.

-「Alpha」! It has entered the 「Ant Nest」!

「Alpha」 had finally arrived.

Damn it, the final boss is here.

We had to destroy the core before that bastard caught us.

To return to the branching point, we kept running while toppling the 「Ants」.

Yoon U-jeong could no longer tell us 「Alpha」’s movements.

Of course she could not. There were no surveillance cameras inside this tunnel.

We now had no way of knowing where 「Alpha」 was or what it was doing.

In the middle of that, Kwon Mu-seop suddenly shouted.

“Do-un, put on your mask!”

Mask?

I wondered why he was suddenly doing this, then felt my throat and eyes sting.

Because my sense of smell was paralyzed, I had not noticed at all.

It seemed 「Alpha」 had done something.

We hurriedly put on our masks.

Meanwhile, the tunnel grew thick with smoke.

Damn it, did it set a fire or something?

Even as my vision blurred rapidly, the 「Ants」 kept pushing in endlessly.

Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen…….

I counted every single 「Ant」 we caught without missing one.

If only one remained, couldn’t I somehow handle it with the ring?

Or if we annihilated them quickly like this, couldn’t we buy some time until the next generation of 「Ants」 hatched again?

While thinking frantically, we caught the 「Ants」, then caught more.

But our true threat was no longer the 「Ants」.

Stop—!

When we had almost reached the branching point, Kwon Mu-seop raised his hand and stopped.

The total number of 「Ants」 caught so far was 25.

But the attacks suddenly stopped.

I did not know the whereabouts of the remaining three.

Had they not molted yet, or were they taking a nap somewhere?

And so came a breathless quiet.

In that strange stillness, Kwon Mu-seop guarded the front as if he had sensed something.

I looked with him too, but because of the thick smoke, I could not see anything.

It was then.

-Ahead!

PFFTPFFTPFFTPFFTPFFT—!

Something flew in through the smoke.

Kwon Mu-seop unleashed burst fire toward that gigantic shadow.

THWACK— THWACKTHWACKTHWACK—! SPLASH—!

What fell after being shot was an 「Ant」…… head?

For some reason, that 「Ant」 head that fell to the floor had no body.

In that state, its salivary gland burst, and only 「Ant Lines」 flowed out in streams.

What is this…….

HISS—!

While we were distracted by the 「Ant」 head, something charged at Manager Kwon Mu-seop.

What sprang up from a blind spot with its body lowered was short-haired Cha Si-eon.

It was 「Alpha」.

“Grk……!”

I was about to feed a bullet into that smug face, then changed my mind and pulled the back of Manager Kwon Mu-seop’s neck.

It was an action I took reflexively at the crossroads of life and death, and it was the correct answer.

「Alpha」 was too fast for me to aim and hit.

On top of that, the knife it swung had been aimed precisely at Manager Kwon Mu-seop’s vital point.

CLANG—!

「Alpha」’s knife missed and tangled with Manager Kwon Mu-seop’s rifle.

Having grasped 「Alpha」’s position, Kwon Mu-seop regained his balance and pulled the trigger.

CLACK—!

「Alpha」 kicked Kwon Mu-seop’s rifle and knocked out the magazine.

PFFT—! Tick, tick—!

The rifle became an empty toy, and 「Alpha」 swung its knife again.

CLACK, SKRRAK—!

Kwon Mu-seop blocked the knife with the body of the rifle.

But even for Manager Kwon Mu-seop, dealing with 「Alpha」 while unable to see was beyond him.

「Alpha」’s knife struck Kwon Mu-seop’s body again and again.

Even when I tried to support him with the pistol, there was no opening to interfere.

Just as I was about to join in with my own body because I had no other choice.

RUSTLE—!

To make matters worse, one 「Execution Ant」 charged in.

But then…….

CRUNCH—!

That 「Ant」 bit into 「Alpha」’s side.

What is this? Could it be the successor to an 「Ant」 「Alpha」 killed?

In any case, an opening appeared.

BANG—!

The bullet I fired lodged in 「Alpha」’s shoulder.

BANG—!

The next shot into its torso.

Perhaps it too felt the impact, because its body lurched.

With the 「Ant」’s mandibles embedded in its side, it could neither resist nor counterattack.

A once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Lastly, I aimed for its head.

BANG—!

CRRRUNCH—!

The moment I pulled the trigger.

Or perhaps slightly faster than that, 「Alpha」 twisted the 「Ant」’s neck.

SPLAAASH—!

And transparent mucus burst from the 「Execution Ant」’s salivary gland.

The raw fluid of 「Ant Lines」 scattered in all directions, covering everything there.