Chapter 74

“I do not rule out the possibility.”

At Cha Si-eon’s low voice, I was left speechless.

“I am considering Seo Do-un’s survival as the top priority. But it is not for Seo Do-un personally. Is that enough of an explanation?”

It was explained.

I understood his actions until now too.

But agreeing and approving were separate matters.

“Why did you not tell me this sooner?”

“Nothing would have changed if I had.”

“We would have at least looked for another way.”

“That is why I did not. Because it seemed you would waste time uselessly.”

“……!”

“The situation is bad. Communications are cut off, escape cannot be guaranteed, and information after the reorganization is insufficient. On top of that, a named dangerous entity is targeting this side. This is not a situation where we can leisurely try several options like before. That is why I chose the most conservative method.”

Yes, I understood what he meant.

If both of us tried to survive, there was a high chance both of us would die.

But if we decided to save only one side, and the remaining side shouldered the risk, at least one person’s survival rate would rise.

That was what Cha Si-eon had been doing until now.

Thanks to that, I had broken through several stages without expending stamina.

At the same time, I had learned the solutions to this space by sight.

Even if we could not get out like this and 「Blood Rain」 fell, the next dawn would be safe for now.

「Big Cat」 was targeting Cha Si-eon, and Cha Si-eon had already resolved himself to become bait.

Yes, I understand your intention well enough.

In the end, you are saying you will burn your own body like a blade of grass to save me.

“I will say it again, but it is not for Seo Do-un personally. So do not feel unnecessary responsibility and follow instructions. Did you not say with your own mouth that you are an important person?”

Cha Si-eon spoke while squeezing out his voice.

Seeing him press both temples with his hands, it seemed his headache had risen again.

Damn it, I had nothing to refute with.

As he said, Cha Si-eon was not taking care of me for my sake.

The possibility that I might solve a clue to the Special Zones.

He was merely clinging to that possibility.

And if they could stop the Special Zones, then the life of one Bureau agent would not even need to be spared.

The calculation was that clear.

“Wait a moment, Team Leader.”

But I still could not accept it.

“The premise itself is wrong. What is the reason I am an important person? It is because of the inference that I receive some kind of hint while being dragged around into Special Zones, is it not?”

At my words, Cha Si-eon forced himself to watch me.

The two eyes that had barely managed to focus were so bloodshot they looked as if blood might flow from them.

I looked straight into those eyes and continued.

“And I was dragged here now. Right in front of you, Team Leader, even carrying food. What do you think that means?”

“…….”

“I read this as meaning I am supposed to escape alive together with Team Leader Cha.”

That possibility you people are clinging to.

The one that possibility dragged me in and illuminated was you, Cha Si-eon.

So you have to live too.

If you believe in this possibility, you should at least show that much sincerity.

“If that were true, the answer should have come out by now. But even after Seo Do-un entered, the situation has not changed.”

“…….”

“The space rules remain the same, and Seo Do-un has not found out anything different. Am I wrong?”

At Cha Si-eon’s counterquestion, this time I was the one left speechless.

What a lovely sight, the two of us exchanging silence.

“So we cannot blindly trust the situation no matter what. Whether it is an opportunity or a trap must be judged again at every moment.”

Damn it, so this case is not a hint, but a trap?

So you will grind your body into it first, and after that, I should try surviving alone?

“I am not doing this because I blindly trust it. I am doing this because your judgment is too extreme, Team Leader. Even if I gain one more day, that does not mean I will come up with some method, so why are you betting your life on that uncertain possibility?”

Feeling the conversation spinning around incoherently, I raised my voice.

“Does this really add up? Right now, you are the one who is not judging with a clear mind……!”

But the words inside my mouth could not fully come out.

THUD—!

Because Cha Si-eon grabbed me by the collar and shoved me against the wall.

“……!”

Just as he had several hours ago, my neck was crushed again.

Cha Si-eon glared at me with a face far more ominous than it had been several hours ago.

With eyes so bloodshot they were nearly bleeding, he growled like a beast driven into a corner.

“Just take what you are given.”

“You crazy…… cough!”

“If you are weak as hell, then face reality and take it when it is offered.”

“…….”

I resisted reflexively, then stopped.

Then I looked at Cha Si-eon, who had half lost his mind.

Cha Si-eon looked at me for a moment too, then let go of my collar and took one step back.

Then he turned away as if refusing to face what he had done.

What poured over me, having been turned away with him, was neither humiliation nor anger.

It was even less pity toward that foolish bastard.

What now flooded into me was familiarity.

A sense of déjà vu born from old memories.

That was right.

I had disliked Cha Si-eon from the beginning.

But that was not solely Cha Si-eon’s responsibility.

Rather, it was because they resembled each other.

Because some of his words, actions, and atmosphere from time to time resembled him so closely, so horribly, I was remembering someone through him.

My beloved father, already deceased.

---

17:03. We broke through the 25th area.

“Hoo, hooh…….”

Cha Si-eon no longer hid his roughened breathing.

I also no longer asked if he was all right.

18:11. We broke through the 29th area.

A 「Thing Without a Face」 deeply stabbed Cha Si-eon with its sharp hand.

But Cha Si-eon stopped the bleeding and treated it on his own.

19:01. We broke through the 31st area.

The speed at which we cleared stages had slowed noticeably.

Cha Si-eon’s movements were the same.

Seeing that even small mistakes had increased, I sensed it.

There was not much left. That human would soon die.

It was a common characteristic of that kind of self-righteous breed.

They soared quickly and fell just as quickly.

So there was no need to go out of one’s way to hate them.

They were short-lived anyway, so if one waited a little, they would die on their own.

There was nothing for me to lose here.

He was making a fuss about burning his own life to save me. How could that be a loss?

I was not confident I would grieve Cha Si-eon’s death.

I could feel responsibility, but he had personally taken away even my motive for doing so.

So there was truly nothing bad for me.

As he said, I only had to accept what was given in moderation.

I could do that without feeling anything.

Letting death close to me flow past without pity was one of the things I was good at.

19:42. We broke through the 34th area.

When we came out after clearing the area, the sun was setting.

It seemed this place’s sky drew day and night properly.

I looked at the still-indigo sky and the clouds dyed crimson, then checked the time.

Thinking it was about time, I opened my mouth for the first time in several hours.

“5 minutes have passed.”

“…….”

When I announced the end of the rest, Cha Si-eon forced himself up.

His movement made it obvious that even keeping himself upright was difficult.

I watched that state for a moment, then approached Cha Si-eon.

Then I held out my hand to him, who still had not managed to stand.

It was not because I intended to support him.

“Endure it. This is what you chose, is it not?”

Cha Si-eon slowly looked back and forth between my face and my hand.

In my hand was a medicine bottle.

“…….”

Cha Si-eon silently opened his hand, and I poured medicine into it.

“Let us rest 5 more minutes until the medicine takes effect.”

I said this after confirming that Cha Si-eon swallowed the medicine.

Then I looked at the sunset again, and I began to feel hungry.

So I rummaged through the plastic bag, took out a snack, and ate it.

As I ate, breaking the long snack into pieces, the sound of a rice sack collapsing came from beside me.

Slide— thud—!

It was the sound of Cha Si-eon, who had been leaning against the wall, collapsing.

The bastard was struggling desperately to collect his tilted posture, like the Little Mermaid.

But his trembling arms could only barely support his own body.

While eating the snack, I observed that strange posture.

When I only watched calmly, Cha Si-eon asked me half in doubt.

“What medicine did you feed me earlier……?”

“A tranquilizer.”

“……!”

Cha Si-eon’s face filled with shock.

Wow, this is a sight I have never seen before.

“Are you insane……?!”

“I never said it was aspirin. Team Leader, if you cannot even distinguish medicine, you should just sleep.”

Although I had kindly given him advice, Cha Si-eon did not listen and braced both arms against the floor.

Since he was struggling to somehow get up, I stood first.

Then I lightly kicked one of Cha Si-eon’s arms away.

Thud—!

Cha Si-eon slammed his face straight into the floor.

The bastard looked at me with an expression that seemed not to understand what had happened, then soon growled my name fiercely.

“Seo Do-un……!”

Sorry, but it is not scary.

Because it looks like a sedated tiger growling in its sleep.

Cha Si-eon tried to snatch my ankle, so I took a step back.

But I think it would not have mattered even if I had been caught.

Because the guy was panting, unable even to lift his own eyelids.

“Since it has come to this, please rest a little. Among kids who study all night, there are no kids who are actually good at studying.”

“What bullshit…… Does this look like a situation for jokes……?”

“Who makes jokes with their own life on the line? Proper rest and maintenance are also strategy. Did you not learn that in the military?”

“Who was the one interfering with my rest……!”

Interfering?

Ah, was sitting there at the beginning him resting? I did not know.

“You cannot grasp the situation…… and you do this kind of……!”

Cha Si-eon glared at me while grinding his teeth.

Ha, he really is stubbornly holding out.

I took a handkerchief from my vest and unfolded it.

Then I gently laid it over Cha Si-eon’s face, as if for someone who had entered eternal rest.

“Please sleep, Team Leader. I will wake you when it is time.”

“Urgh……!”

It is much better when I cannot see his face.

The bastard also became quieter.

With his vision blocked, it seemed the sleepiness was falling more fully.

Yes, Cha Si-eon who resembles my father.

Stop holding out and sleep.

Who is this stubbornness supposed to benefit?

I truly was confident.

Confident that even if you died, I would feel nothing.

But there would be people who were not like that.

There were people earnestly waiting for your safe return.

And I, too, did not want to deliberately despise a certain death.

So rest, man.

The world does not vanish just because you close your eyes.

“You son of a bitch…….”

“…….”

Persistent, seriously.

“You bastard…… who fucking does not listen…….”

Cha Si-eon began muttering like someone under sedation.

“From the beginning…… every little thing…… irritating…….”

But it was all insults at me.

Dumbfounded, I asked Cha Si-eon, who was in a state of incoherence.

“What did I do so wrong to you?”

I was asking because I truly did not know.

Did I act arrogant like you, or did I snap for no reason?

Feeding you medicine just now? This is something you already did to me.

“You interfered…….”

“……?”

“With my work…… why…….”

What does this mean?

I thought for a moment over the fragments Cha Si-eon had spat out.

At that moment, I remembered what Baek Sa-ra had said.

-But he is someone with enormous pride.

-You did what Team Leader Cha could not.

Is this perhaps in the same context?

After thinking carefully, I asked half in doubt.

“Are you perhaps talking about Lee Sol?”

“Why do you know that…… you annoying bastard…….”

……Is this bastard really unconscious?

Is he not just taking this chance to say every insult he wants to say?

Dumbfounded, I asked back clearly again.

“Are you dissatisfied that I saved Lee Sol in your place?”

“Shut up…… fuck…….”

“…….”

It was regrettable that the smartwatch was dead.

I should record all of this and play it for the bastard later.

Thinking about it, it did not necessarily have to be an audio record.

At the alternative that suddenly occurred to me, I checked the time first.

Then I opened my notebook and wrote.

---

20:01.

Cha Si-eon said “fuck” to me.