Chapter 81

The world collapsed like a broken mirror.

The instant I thought the ground beneath my feet was giving way, I was already in dark water.

Rumble—

“……!”

The worst situation that could occur when being released from a Special Zone.

Transfer to the bottom of the Han River.

The moment I realized I had fallen into the river, I forced my eyes open.

Then I looked around to tell which direction was the surface.

But the water was too murky to distinguish up from down.

On top of that, the current sweeping my body away was far too strong.

What do I do? Which way should I go…….

I could feel the oxygen left in my lungs rapidly running out.

The fear of drowning came over me.

Gurgle—!

In the end, the air I had been holding escaped, and muddy water rushed into my mouth.

At that moment.

I felt bright light.

Then something grabbed me by the nape of the neck and began dragging me.

The sound of water splashing.

Pressure that felt as if my ribs were sinking in.

And light, returned again.

“Urgh, cough!”

I vomited water in a rush.

Barely inhaling, I forced my eyes open.

The first thing I saw was Cha Si-eon, dripping water.

Then I saw the brightly lit Han River.

Unlike us, reeking of fishy water as if we had barely survived death, the May Han River flowed calmly, filled with glittering ripples of sunlight.

I admired that peaceful scenery, then closed my eyes again.

---

Splash—!

I was running over blood.

Without knowing why, I ran, kicking up the blood that surged past my knees.

A striped necktie swayed against my chest.

It was the necktie from the school uniform I had worn in high school.

For some reason, I was dressed in my school uniform, running in the form I had had when I was still a boy.

-Save me.

A voice rang in my head.

-Pl, ease, save, me.

There was not only one voice.

-Why are you interfering?!

-It is just a whim.

-Die, die, die die die die!

-I was curious what you would do.

-Devil! You devil!

-You will definitely regret it.

Words I could not understand stirred me up.

Driven by those words, I ran blindly.

But beyond the blood, there was someone.

A woman.

A delicate woman crouched down, weeping.

I stopped running and approached her.

Then I pushed the woman’s shoulder and knocked her over.

Splash—!

The woman fell after being pushed by me, and I collapsed with her.

I strangled the woman with all my strength.

But the woman being strangled smiled at me instead.

With a very familiar face.

……Author?

The moment I recognized that face, a crow cried.

And at that moment, the dream broke.

---

Clatter—!

I flinched and kicked my foot.

Because of that, the bed shook with a thud, and someone beside me muttered,

“You will grow taller.”

Startled, I turned my head and found Cha Si-eon lying in the next bed.

Ah.

Only then did I realize I had had a nightmare and let out a breath of relief.

“I am past the age to grow taller…….”

“That is unfortunate.”

“……?”

I was still half-awake, but I could tell Cha Si-eon had picked a fight.

“The unfortunate thing is…… cough!”

I was about to retort, “The unfortunate thing is Team Leader’s personality,” but coughed instead.

“Cough, cough!”

Ah, I am dying.

The coughing had started again.

This place was the Bureau’s Medical Center.

Yesterday, Cha Si-eon and I had been released from 「Island Where Blood Falls」 and returned to reality.

Then we were hospitalized side by side.

Cha Si-eon because of external injuries such as stab wounds and bruises sustained on the 「Island」.

And me because of internal injury from water entering my lungs when I sank to the bottom of the Han River.

This is unfair, seriously.

I went to all that trouble not getting hurt inside, only to have an accident while coming out…….

My current symptoms were chest pain and frequent coughing.

They also said there was concern for dry drowning, so they were observing my condition.

“Cough, cough!”

“If it feels like you are going to die, call the medical staff.”

“If I look like I am going to die, cough! At least pretend to worry……!”

When I snapped at him, Cha Si-eon took out a bottle of water and threw it toward me.

After barely stopping my cough, I wet my throat and caught my breath.

Ah, what a vicious start to the morning.

The dream was vicious too.

I recalled the dream from last night, which had been entirely bright red.

A dream where I strangled the author I was in charge of in a pool of blood.

It seemed the last thing I saw in 「Island Where Blood Falls」 had unconsciously shocked me after all.

Yesterday, 「Alpha」 had taken some woman out of 「Big Cat」’s body.

What exactly was that woman?

Cha Si-eon also said it was the first time he had seen something human-like separate from inside 「Big Cat」.

But Team Leader Cha did not seem to attach great significance to it.

Among the entities of Special Zones, there were quite a few with human forms, so it seemed he regarded it as merely one of that kind.

So I had simply thought that must be it too.

But to have such an absurd dream.

Most of all, the female figure that came out from inside 「Big Cat」 did not resemble Author Na Bit in the slightest.

Her face was almost impossible to see because she was stained with blood, but even just looking at her body, she was a completely different person.

Author Na Bit’s feet, when she went around wearing sandals, were small and blunt.

But the tips of that woman’s feet had a sharp shape.

I did not know why I had a dream like this.

Maybe it was because the only woman I knew well was Author Na Bit.

It was when I was trying to shake off that nonsense dream.

Knock, knock—

Along with the sound of knocking, guests came to visit.

“Do-un, how is your body?”

It was Manager Kwon Mu-seop.

Kwon Mu-seop entered the hospital room together with Kim U-in, and this time too, he was holding something like a snack set.

Even though I was hospitalized as often as I ate meals, he never failed to bring a hospital-visit gift.

“Just sit down.”

When Cha Si-eon tried to rise from his bed, Kwon Mu-seop spoke briefly.

Then he placed the bakery shopping bag beside my bed and smiled again.

“Is there anything you want?”

What is this obvious offensive?

“Tell him to buy you a house. If you say it now, he really will.”

Kim U-in slipped in some advice from the side.

Then would cash be better?

I was about to say that, then closed my mouth again.

Because, like before, they might really withdraw a huge amount of cash for me.

“Just say the word. I will do whatever you ask.”

“A house, a house. A 24-pyeong apartment in a good school district in Seoul.”

Kwon Mu-seop spoke as if he would truly take out everything inside him for me.

And Kim U-in offered advice that seemed realistic yet unrealistic.

“Just settle it all in one lump sum when I quit.”

When I replied casually, Kwon Mu-seop laughed refreshingly.

“You truly did well this time, Do-un. Thanks to you, we got over one hurdle. Without you, things would have been extremely frustrating for a while.”

I felt that anything I said now would sound like false modesty, so I only nodded.

Kwon Mu-seop looked very happy.

The reason was, well, understandable.

Would it only be Manager Kwon Mu-seop?

When I was dragged into 「Island Where Blood Falls」, the Bureau’s atmosphere had been extremely vicious.

But when we secured fragments of 「Big Cat」 and Team Leader Cha Si-eon returned alive as well, the atmosphere reversed 180 degrees again.

They said everyone had regained their sticky love for humanity.

Of course, because there were employees who had fallen in the line of duty, it was not a noisy festival atmosphere.

“First, the fragments you secured have been handed over to the Research Division. They decided to process the smaller one first.”

“They are making it into a ring, right?”

“That’s right. As before, they will melt it down and combine it with titanium.”

“Then how many will come out?”

“2 at the same purity as the one Sa-ra had. And they say 1 will come out at a slightly lower purity than that.”

“Ah…….”

That is much fewer than I expected.

So that was why Team Leader Cha tried to overdo it until the end to secure more fragments.

That additional attempt had ultimately failed because of 「Alpha」’s intrusion.

“No need to be disappointed. Just the fact that ring production has begun is already exceeding the goal. You saved us again, Do-un.”

“No. I did not do it alone, and Team Leader Cha was the one who truly went through all the trouble.”

Embarrassed by Kwon Mu-seop’s extreme praise, I gestured with my eyes toward Cha Si-eon.

It meant we should share this burden, and it was also a confession that the one who truly worked hard was that side.

Yes, the one who had rolled around inside and suffered terribly was actually Cha Si-eon.

“Mm, yes.”

But what is this?

Kwon Mu-seop nodded without even glancing toward Cha Si-eon.

Cha Si-eon also did not join our conversation and only sat there as if on standby.

Feeling that the atmosphere was somehow strange, I changed the subject.

“The 「Island」 was reset yesterday, right?”

“Mm, that is right.”

“How did you do it? Did the core come out immediately?”

Yesterday, the time 「Blood Rain」 stopped was 8:30 in the morning.

And the time the 「Island」 was reset was 10:30.

If the rescue team had been deployed after 「Blood Rain」 stopped, their activity time had been only 2 hours.

On top of that, the core of 「Island Where Blood Falls」 had been found in J Area, which we had not even seen.

Then how had the rescue team reached J Area in that short amount of time?

At my question, Kwon Mu-seop smiled bitterly and answered.

“Apophis at least does as much as they are paid for.”

Apophis?

“Did they not say those people had given up on the search?”

“They did, but once we attached enough hazard pay, they went in.”

“Ah…….”

If they said they could not do it because it was dangerous, then one only had to spend enough money for them to accept the danger.

……Is that not too villainous?

“Um, how much……?”

“Mm, that is an internal secret.”

It seemed they had spent an enormous amount.

“But how did those people find the core that quickly?”

“Because the Special Zone had weakened, I suppose. A total of 45 people went in, and as they moved around, the spaces turned out easier than expected. So they split up into pairs and went around. It seems breaking one space took less than 30 seconds.”

As expected, the Apophis mercenaries had immediately noticed the 「Island」’s downgrade.

So after grasping the situation, they split into 22 groups and began conquering it.

They used bullets like water and began defeating the spaces one by one, with each group destroying areas at a rate of two or so per minute.

With that kind of firepower, there was no way the Special Zone could endure.

Even if, as Cha Si-eon had estimated, there were around 8,400 rooms.

“I also saw the report from your side. There were some reckless things here and there, but the results were good, so I cannot say anything. In any case, you truly worked hard.”

If I ask him to buy me an apartment, he might really buy one.

No, before that, a report?

How could he have already seen a report?

……Team Leader Cha, was it you?

Yesterday, you had your side stitched up, and you have already written and uploaded a report?

Why? Why on earth……?

“Mmph, cough!”

Perhaps because Cha Si-eon’s outrage was too shocking.

“Cough, cough!”

The coughing that had stopped for a moment burst out again.

When I began coughing, Kwon Mu-seop clicked his tongue.

“It is a problem that your body has been damaged. Rest more, Do-un. If you need anything, tell me immediately.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Kwon Mu-seop rose from his seat, and I barely stopped coughing as I answered.

“Cha Si-eon, you come see me for a moment.”

But Kwon Mu-seop called Cha Si-eon separately.

Cha Si-eon immediately stood and went outside with Kwon Mu-seop.

But Kim U-in did not go out with them. He remained in the hospital room and only sighed.

What has this atmosphere been since earlier?

Unable to grasp the mood, I only stared blankly at the situation.

Cha Si-eon and Kwon Mu-seop seemed to be talking in the corridor, because I occasionally heard voices from outside.

Then suddenly there was a loud sound.

CRASH—!

Even with my eyes closed, it sounded like Cha Si-eon getting hit.