Chapter 80

Was it because I had worn it around as a ring until now?

The fragment of 「Big Cat」 wound around my hand with an extremely familiar feeling.

I picked up that fragment, the bone pieces almost the size of my forearm, as many as I could see.

At that moment.

KREEE—!

「Big Cat」 noticed my presence and roared.

THUD— CRASHCLATTER—!

But while trying to rush at me, it tripped over its own feet and fell.

KREE— KRRRRK—

It seemed to be trying to get up, but it could not easily control its body.

Looking closely, fire had caught around the bastard’s neck.

Had it suffered internal damage from using 「Fire Spitting」 with its wounded body?

In any case, this was an opportunity that would not come again for me.

I hugged the fragments to my chest and headed for the passage.

KREEEEDIDIDIT—!

「Big Cat」 screamed futilely.

I ignored it and ran.

No, I tried to.

“……!”

My entire body stiffened, as if ice water had been poured over my head.

What slowly followed that bodily reaction was fear.

The aura of death, so vivid it felt close enough to touch.

I froze as I was.

Run, run, run.

My brain sent signals, but my body would not move.

Sssrk— thud— sssrk— thud—!

While I stood frozen, 「Big Cat」 began crawling toward me.

Run, do not move, run, stay still like you are dead!

At last, opposing impulses clashed inside my head.

In the meantime, 「Big Cat」 arrived right in front of me.

It was then.

-You have already won, so do not chicken out.

At the words that suddenly surfaced, I came to my senses with a start.

KREEE—!

“Urgh……!”

I threw everything I had been holding and avoided 「Big Cat」’s forepaw.

THUD—!

CLANG— JANGLE—!

When I dropped the fragments, they made the sound of steel pipes striking each other.

After avoiding the attack for the moment, I reached out to pick up the fragment again.

THUD—!

「Big Cat」 swung its forepaw at me.

Was it because of its injuries?

It could not exactly be called agile.

Instead, it was extremely hysterical.

CRASH—! CRAASH—!

「Big Cat」 stamped its forepaw irritably.

I gritted my teeth, rolled my body, and picked up one fragment.

Then, as if I had been waiting, I stabbed that sharp fragment under the chin of 「Big Cat」 as it attacked me.

KREEAAAAAA—!

「Big Cat」 screamed and flipped its body.

In the meantime, I picked up the remaining fragments.

KRRK— KIKIKIKIKIK—

At that instant, the sound of a spring being wound came from above my head.

Damn it, is it trying to spit fire again?

「Big Cat」’s body had just begun to swell and shine.

BANG—!

Along with a sharp gunshot, a hole opened in 「Big Cat」’s body.

BANG—! BANG—!

Bullets that flew in one after another lodged in 「Big Cat」’s body.

「Big Cat」’s body, which had just been swelling, deflated again like a balloon losing air.

I used that opening to run toward the passage.

At that moment, something pitch-black stuck close behind me.

“……!”

Startled, I looked back, then realized what it was and let out a sigh of relief.

It was Cha Si-eon.

Judging by how he was covered in soot, this man too seemed to have barely survived.

Without even a moment to greet each other in relief, we ran side by side into the passage.

We kept running like that, then stopped for a moment in the completely dark maze.

“Hoo, haa…….”

“…….”

There, we caught our breath for now.

“The fragments?”

Cha Si-eon asked me while turning on the searchlight.

I smiled and showed him the fragments hooked over both of my arms.

Aside from the one I had stabbed into 「Big Cat」’s neck, I had secured two.

Seeing that, Cha Si-eon also exhaled a long, long breath.

“You worked…….”

GRRRRNNNK—!

It was while Cha Si-eon was saying something.

The maze where we stood began to distort.

What is this?

The space gradually expanded like a rubber ball under pressure.

Then came a strange bursting sound.

Pop— pop— pop—

“……?”

POP— POP— POP—

“…….”

Without anyone needing to speak first, we turned and ran toward the exit.

I did not know the identity of the sound.

What was clear was that it was gradually getting closer to us.

POP—!

And when that explosion sound grew very close.

KIKIKIKIK—!

Damn it, I knew it!

「Big Cat」 had appeared again.

The bastard was charging at us, breaking through the narrow gaps of the maze with sheer strength and bulk.

At that ignorant charge, the maze walls of unknown material were stretching like rubber and bursting with pop after pop.

KREEEE—!

With its ruined body, the bastard was chasing us tenaciously.

Damn it, it seems having the fragments taken is worse than death to you, huh?

Then I will defend them with my life too!

We ran madly over the violently shaking space.

After a while, the rift came into sight up ahead.

That rift had become more than half smaller than when we entered.

What had been almost as large as a gate was now no more than the level of a small side door.

That was better, if anything.

That bastard would not be able to pass through this gap.

Cheering inwardly, I passed through the narrow rift.

Cha Si-eon immediately followed behind me.

But then…….

“That bastard is not stopping.”

“……Dodge.”

“To where?”

“To the first floor, the trap!”

Cha Si-eon shouted and ran toward the railing of the split-level floor.

CRAAASHCRACKCRACK—!

At that moment, 「Big Cat」 expanded the rift in midair further with its body and burst out.

“……!”

Damn it, how long do I have to keep seeing insane sights like this?!

KREEAAAA—!

Right in front of 「Big Cat」 was Cha Si-eon, leaning against the railing.

As soon as 「Big Cat」 saw Cha Si-eon, it charged, and Cha Si-eon jumped over the railing as if he had been waiting.

Watching 「Big Cat」 follow after him, I also took the stairs down to the first floor.

CRASHCLATTERCLATTER—!

With a tremendous sound, 「Big Cat」 fell into the center of the lobby.

「Big Cat」, which had fallen hard, floundered and pushed against the floor with its forepaws.

But seeing how it staggered and could not get up, it seemed it was now struggling to bear even its own weight.

On top of that, very coincidentally, the place where 「Big Cat」 had collapsed now was exactly where we had set up Cha Si-eon’s dummy yesterday.

No, this should be seen not as coincidence, but as Cha Si-eon’s intention.

“Seo Do-un!”

Yes, I know even if you do not call me.

I went to the place where we had stayed all night and pressed the switch.

Click— KABOOM—!

---

■ Response Manual for New Pattern “Trap Objects” in ‘Area C. Citizens’ Stacks’

2. Danger Factors

1) Exploding heart decorations

If the trap beside the first-floor stairs is stepped on, the bombs placed in the corresponding space all explode at once.

These bombs take the form of ordinary decorations such as paintings, vases, and ceramic dolls, but can be identified by the red heart patterns stamped on their surfaces.

---

I slowly lifted my head.

The surroundings were quiet.

There was no more sound or movement.

Only the dust that had risen in showers from the explosion drifted soundlessly.

Soon, the dust also settled, and 「Big Cat」’s figure was revealed.

The bastard lay limp as if dead, all its bones broken.

Ha, I thought we had gotten nothing from all that effort overnight.

But we ended up using the trap we had dug in advance like this.

Kreee—

At that moment, a faint cry came.

It was a sound made by 「Big Cat」.

Don’t tell me it is still alive?

It was when I was shocked by 「Big Cat」’s life force.

Craack—

There was the sound of something splitting.

Craack— riiip—!

At the sound from above my head, I looked around in surprise.

Then I soon discovered it.

The sight of space slowly opening, like old clothing tearing because it could no longer endure wear.

“……!”

When I was shocked again by that strange phenomenon, Cha Si-eon spoke.

“The rescue team broke the core.”

“The rescue team?”

Already?

Surprised, I checked the time.

The current time was 10:30.

But wait. My smartwatch is working again too, is it not?

“This is Seo Do-un. Can you hear me?”

As soon as I saw that my smartwatch had turned on, I shouted.

Almost at the same time, a familiar voice came.

-Do-un!

It was the voice of Field Division Deputy Manager Yoon U-jeong.

-Do-un, are you all right?

Yoon U-jeong urgently asked after my safety.

Startled, I looked back at Cha Si-eon, then answered with delight.

“Yes, I am all right. And Team Leader Cha Si-eon is with me too!”

-Si-eon? Si-eon is with you too?

“Yes, he is beside me. There is nothing especially wrong.”

When Cha Si-eon answered directly, a loud cheer rang from my smartwatch.

It was the cheering of the Situation Control Room employees.

-Well done, you two. Thank you, both of you!

Yoon U-jeong spoke in a choked voice.

-You really worked hard. The core was broken, so you should be able to come out soon. You really worked hard, you bastards……!

At Yoon U-jeong’s overwhelmed voice, I too somehow felt my throat tighten.

But this was not yet the time to set off celebratory fireworks.

Craack— crack—!

The space was opening wider and wider.

We had to prepare for release.

Kreee—

And 「Big Cat」 was still groaning, so what do we do with that?

-Do-un, release is your first time, right? Just do as the manual says, and hold on to Si-eon properly. Si-eon, you take care of Do-un.

Yoon U-jeong, unaware of our situation, spoke comfortably.

At that moment, Cha Si-eon reported to Yoon U-jeong.

“We are currently in a standoff with 「Big Cat」. 「Big Cat」 is unable to fight, and weak life signs are visible.”

-「Big Cat」 is there too?

“Seo Do-un obtained fragments of 「Big Cat」. And I think additional acquisition is possible now.”

As expected, Cha Si-eon was aiming for fragments.

I understood. The more materials, the better.

-Risk factors?

“Unknown. With permission, I will attempt it.”

-You little……

But Yoon U-jeong did not readily give permission.

“There is not much time.”

Even when Cha Si-eon urged her, it was the same.

When permission would not easily come, Cha Si-eon quietly added,

“Manager Kwon Mu-seop would permit it.”

-You bastard, seriously…… Hey, we already held your funeral once, you bastard! Do you know that?!

Yoon U-jeong thundered like lightning.

But that was only for a moment.

Yoon U-jeong drew in a deep breath, then ultimately stepped back in irritation.

-Just let me hear that you died again after going out of your way to report you survived. I will tear you apart. Secure the fragments!

“Thank you.”

“…….”

As expected, Team Leader Cha was a psychopath pretending to be an FM type.

Cha Si-eon turned calmly after turning Yoon U-jeong’s insides upside down.

Then he approached 「Big Cat」, which was twitching intermittently.

Kreee—

I grew tense along with him and watched Cha Si-eon’s actions.

Please, I hope this does not end with him getting into trouble because of greed.

Perhaps Cha Si-eon did not want to be torn apart by Yoon U-jeong either, because he took his steps carefully.

It was then.

Riiip— riiiiip—!

A gap in space ripped open all at once, and something leapt down from within.

“……!”

It had a face I knew very well.

It was 「Alpha」.

Damn it, you again?

We gritted our teeth as we saw 「Alpha」 leap down onto 「Big Cat」.

It was when Cha Si-eon rushed forward, trying not to lose the first move.

CRRRACK—!

Something utterly unexpected happened.

「Alpha」 had snapped Big Cat’s neck.

What is this? Why its own ally…….

CRACK—!

「Alpha」 twisted 「Big Cat」’s mask and tore its neck off completely.

At that moment, dark-red liquid gushed out from beneath 「Big Cat」’s jaw.

It was 「Sticky Blood」, one of 「Big Cat」’s weapons.

SPLAAASH—!

“Back!”

As soon as Cha Si-eon saw the flooding blood, he stepped back and shouted.

That 「Sticky Blood」 was a substance similar to 「Blood Rain」.

It melted anything just by touching it.

But what on earth is this?

It seemed 「Alpha」 was not an exception either, because the bastard’s forearm began melting down in streams.

And 「Big Cat」’s body also began flowing down with it.

Was it planning to interfere so we could not obtain any fragments?

Even to the point of melting away its own body?

It was then.

「Alpha」 did not care that its own body was melting, and instead dug into 「Big Cat」’s body.

Then it pulled something out from within.

I was shocked, thinking it had pulled out its organs or something.

But it was not.

What 「Alpha」 had pulled from inside was not that monster’s heart or intestines.

The delicate thing hanging from 「Alpha」’s shoulder.

Something almost like the silhouette of a woman……?

The instant I doubted my own eyes, the space collapsed.

And we were released outside.