Chapter 65

HISSS—!

I burned the 「Ant Lines」 with the blowtorch.

“Urgh, haaah! Hah……!”

From beneath the 「Ant Lines」 spread thin like a single-layer quilt came groans and ragged breathing.

It was Manager Kwon Mu-seop.

HISSSSS—!

I melted the remaining 「Ant Lines」 around him with the blowtorch.

Only after he could finally move did Kwon Mu-seop take off the pieces of equipment tangled with the 「Ant Lines」 one by one.

Only after taking off his bulletproof vest and even tearing off his sleeves was he finally able to escape.

His condition beneath it was ghastly.

Both arms had been slashed to pieces and were covered in blood, and the mucus had seeped even into the wounds, hardening into clumps of white 「Ant Lines」.

“Manager…….”

“It’s all right. Thanks to that, the bleeding stopped.”

Realizing why I had called out, Kwon Mu-seop spoke calmly.

「Ant Lines」 were a substance that could contaminate someone just by touching the skin.

That had entered not bare skin, but wounds stabbed by a knife.

And yet he said it was all right. What part of this was?

“Do-un, are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m all right.”

In truth, I did not know.

Like Kwon Mu-seop, I had thrown away both my vest and padded jacket, leaving me defenseless.

I could not do anything about the 「Ant Lines」 stuck to my hair, so they were still hanging there in strands.

I worried that I might unravel from the head into a skein of thread, but right now, I did not even have time to worry.

“What happened to 「Alpha」?”

“It is pinned under the 「Ant Lines」.”

I shone the searchlight on the floor.

Kwon Mu-seop could not see it, but one place covered by 「Ant Lines」 was bulging up unusually.

It was 「Alpha」.

Earlier, when driven onto the defensive, 「Alpha」 had twisted the 「Execution Ant」’s neck and ruptured its salivary gland.

Because of that, the mucus of the 「Ant Lines」 had exploded, and we had been covered in all of it.

The mucus hardened the moment it touched objects, making a thin film like paraffin.

Thanks to that, we had nearly suffocated to death.

No, I think we had almost died.

If my hand had not reached the blowtorch, we certainly would have died.

After twists and turns, the two of us escaped the 「Ant Lines」, and we were both an utter mess.

Click, click—!

On top of that, even the gun had broken.

“What should we do about 「Alpha」?”

“Let’s just leave it and go.”

Would that be all right?

No, even if it was not all right, there was nothing we could do.

If we tried to tear off the 「Ant Lines」 to catch 「Alpha」, we might be counterattacked.

Rather than take that risk, it was better to leave it trapped like this and destroy the core.

Then we might also be able to test what happened to a mercenary entity from another Special Zone when this Special Zone broke apart.

And more important than anything, we had to destroy the Special Zone’s core before our contamination progressed.

We had barely returned to the branching point.

We entered the right path, which we had not chosen earlier.

……But seriously, this is driving me insane.

New cocoons were growing all over the passage.

It seemed they were preparing the next generation again.

Earlier, 「Alpha」 killed two 「Ants」, right?

Then only one remains now.

But why hasn’t that one appeared yet?

I kept watch in all directions and slowly advanced.

My stamina was gone, and my steps were heavy.

But because Kwon Mu-seop was silently following me, I could not show how tired I was.

He must know too that 「Ant Lines」 had entered his wounds.

He must also know far better than I did that if a Special Zone’s substance was injected into the body, extreme transformation could occur.

Even so, Kwon Mu-seop did not waver.

He was a person coldly rational not only toward other people’s lives, but toward his own life too.

Stop—!

“Why?”

When I stopped walking, Kwon Mu-seop stopped with me and asked.

“The passage is blocked by cocoons. It seems a torn cocoon and a newly grown cocoon are interlocked.”

I thought it was strange that one 「Ant」 was missing.

So the path was blocked because two cocoons were tangled together.

I shone the searchlight through the gap between the joined cocoons.

Sure enough, on the other side, one 「Ant」 was wandering back and forth.

“There is one 「Ant」 over there. It seems to be the last entity of this generation.”

“Test whether the ring has an effect.”

HISSSSS—!

I widened the gap between the cocoons with the blowtorch, then held out the hand wearing the ring.

KIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIK—!

The 「Ant」 shook its antennae as if having a seizure.

It was clearly frightened.

But it did not back down easily like the 「Employees」 of the 「Warehouse Club」.

Those 「Employees」 had, in any case, been neutral entities.

In contrast, this 「Ant」 bastard was a definite dangerous entity.

On top of that, we had annihilated two generations of them.

We were even approaching the core of this Special Zone right now.

It was only natural that its reaction was more hostile.

What do we do now?

We need to pass through here. How are we supposed to neutralize that…….

It was then.

-Manager!

Instead of the radio we had left behind because it was tangled in 「Ant Lines」, Yoon U-jeong’s voice rang from my smartwatch.

-「Echo」 has been observed in A-3 Area of 「Ant Hill」!

「Echo」?

This was the name of another mercenary entity.

But even that had appeared? It had not even been 10 minutes since 「Alpha」 was suppressed.

“Do-un, clear the path.”

“The 「Ant」 is not backing down even after seeing the ring!”

“I understand, so clear the path and tell me the 「Ant」’s position.”

At Kwon Mu-seop’s instruction, I burned away the remaining empty cocoon.

“The 「Ant」 is 1m ahead. The cocoon is almost fully melted. ……Now, it’s coming!”

When the cocoon melted down, the 「Ant」 charged toward us.

CRUNCH—!

Kwon Mu-seop stabbed it down with the knife.

Kwon Mu-seop grabbed one of its antennae and slashed fiercely.

After finally carving out one of its mandibles, Kwon Mu-seop shouted to me.

“Do-un, run!”

Damn it……!

Gritting my molars, I leapt over the debris underfoot.

Then I sprinted with all my strength.

Hurry, faster!

If I don’t destroy the core quickly, Kwon Mu-seop will die!

CRRRK—

But this was not the time to worry about someone else.

CRRRK— CRRK—

What is that?

The cocoons in the passage began to twitch.

Don’t tell me the last 「Ant」 died?

No, there was no way Manager Kwon Mu-seop would make such a mistake.

At that moment, the cheerful voice of a certain educational material flashed through my mind.

-Special Zones have a habit of desperately protecting their cores.

-If a core is threatened, the Special Zone will withdraw all activity and focus on protecting the core.

Damn it, it had activated.

The self-protection system of this Special Zone had!

CRRK— RIIIIP—!

The 「Ants」 finally tore through the cocoons and emerged.

But was it because they had not gone through the proper process?

The newly emerged 「Ants」 were not intact.

Instead of their usual black and glossy exoskeletons, they were covered in something like translucent husks.

KIKIKIKI— KIKIKIKIKIK—!

Those immature entities tried to bite me to pieces.

Then, with only a few steps left, they retreated again and made a nauseating cry.

The ring.

It was because of the ring Baek Sa-ra had given me.

But how long would this remain effective?

RIIIIP— RIP—!

The cocoons kept tearing in front of and behind me.

Before long, like a person participating in a marathon, I ended up running in a pack with those 「Ant」 bastards.

After a while.

KIIIK—!

One 「Ant」 that had been backing up while facing me finally charged at me.

I rolled my body and narrowly avoided its mandibles.

SPLAT—!

But the floor was wet.

Is this 「Ant Lines」……?

Damn it, I knew the floor had felt sticky for some reason!

These incomplete things were leaking mucus everywhere.

Since I had seen the mucus, I took out the blowtorch again.

Then I turned the firepower up as much as possible and lit a fire.

KIIIIIIK—!

The 「Ants」’ husks melted down.

I used that to drive away the ones loitering in front of me.

It was good that a path had opened, but because of the melted husks, the floor became even stickier.

No, it was not merely sticky. My feet began sinking deep, as if I had stepped into a tidal flat.

I forced myself to run through it.

As weight was added to my steps, it felt like my heart was going to burst.

My legs also grew heavier and heavier, to the point they felt about to snap off entirely.

I even thought I wanted to give up and be comfortable.

But if I did that, Manager Kwon Mu-seop would die for nothing……!

With the determination that if I died, I would die while running, I endured.

At that moment, my vision suddenly brightened.

Outside? No, it was a wall.

The light of the searchlight had reflected off the blocked end of the tunnel, making it bright.

THUD— THUD— THUD—!

The sound of my heart rang loudly in my throat and ears.

Is this the end?

Why is there nothing here?

Don’t tell me, if we took the wrong path…….

I was about to turn around immediately, as Kwon Mu-seop had done, but stopped.

When I came down this path, the 「Ants」 tore out of their cocoons.

That meant I had come correctly to the central area.

Gasping for breath, I looked around.

After shining light on the walls almost like a madman for some time.

Stop—!

I discovered a black sphere placed on the floor.

No, is it even a sphere?

It was so pitch-black that I could not sense its volume at all.

It looked more like a hole than a sphere, so I had not recognized it immediately.

It was the core of the Special Zone.

KIKIKIK—!

When I shone light on the core, the 「Ants」 thrashed even more and came running.

I threw my heavy body forward and reached out to the core.

But what is this?

I felt resistance.

A feeling of being pushed away, like pressing together magnets of the same pole.

CRRK— CRRRK—!

My hand would not advance through the air.

A form of force I had never felt in my life pushed me away.

Enduring the feeling of my vision going dark, I squeezed out my last strength.

“Uu, aaaaah……!”

CRACK—!

There was the sound of something breaking.

And my hand touched the core.

VMMMM—!

A strange vibration passed through my body.

But that was all.

The core did not break.

Why?

I struck the intact core again with my fist.

This time, I felt no resistance.

Only the sensation of punching a sculpture made of iron.

It won’t break!

Why? They said it would break immediately just by touching it……!

I pounded the core again and again, then turned back in anxiety.

“……Huh?”

The 「Ants」 were melting into the floor and disappearing.

Something white dropped in front of my eyes too.

It was the 「Ant Lines」 that had been tangled in my hair.

What happened? Is it resetting?

The 「Ants」 gradually seeped into the floor, then vanished completely.

The husks that had melted down into mud all disappeared without a trace too.

I stared blankly at that, then picked up the core lying on the floor.

That thing called a core was only about the size of a bowling ball.

It was when I was hurriedly banging it against the wall to break it.

Step—!

At the presence behind my back, I quickly turned around.

“Do-un.”

It was Manager Kwon Mu-seop.

Kwon Mu-seop was approaching me in a state even more tattered than before.

While observing his surroundings with his eyes.

“Manager, can you see?”

“Yes, I suddenly can. What happened?”

“I don’t really kno— mmph!”

I stopped answering and covered my nose.

The acrid smell of smoke rushed in all at once, and the bridge of my nose stung.

It seemed my sense of smell had returned too.

Kwon Mu-seop asked back,

“The core?”

“It is here.”

“……It didn’t break?”

“As you can see…….”

Kwon Mu-seop looked at the core with a bewildered face.

Then his brow furrowed faintly.

“You, the ring?”

The ring?

I turned over the hand holding the core and belatedly realized that the ring had disappeared.

Of the two rings, the silver ring remained as it was.

The one that had disappeared was only the black ring Baek Sa-ra had given me.

“Huh?”

Startled, I examined the floor.

Where did it go?

Even just earlier, when I reached out to touch the core, it had definitely been there.

But now I could not find even a fragment.

As I looked around, Kwon Mu-seop spoke into my smartwatch.

“Deputy Manager, please confirm the situation in 「Ant Hill」.”

-I am checking now. There appears to be no change in the size or form of the space. 「Echo」 has disappeared. And all 「Ant Lines」 have disappeared.

“What happened to the woman contaminated by 「Ant Lines」?”

-She is alive. Her body, which had been lost to contamination…… has all been restored.

“……!”

Does she mean that woman?

The young woman who had left us her final words?

At the unexpected good news, my face brightened.

But Kwon Mu-seop did not swing between joy and sorrow, and asked back gravely.

“Are there no missing body parts or bleeding? Are you certain the body that had transformed due to contamination has been restored?”

-That is how it appears. The citizen in question is currently walking normally.

Kwon Mu-seop’s eyes wavered with unknowable emotion.

When Kwon Mu-seop could not continue speaking, Yoon U-jeong added in a trembling voice.

-It seems that the Special Zone…… has stopped functioning.