Chapter 39: Chapter 39

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Chapter 39: Aptitude Test (3)

Bang! Bang! Clang—!

Lee Yeji’s helmet fell to the tunnel floor and rolled away.

The sound of metal hitting asphalt echoed, drawing everyone's attention one by one.

"Hyung! Are you alright... Eh?!"

"Yeji?! Yeji, what are you doing here...?!"

Jaehyuk, who had been approaching with concern, dropped the sword he was holding in shock.

Jieun widened her eyes in disbelief, covering her mouth.

"What’s this? Who is it?"

"It's not a monster... it's a person?!"

Pause.

Everyone froze, caught off guard by the sudden shift in atmosphere.

Those who were trying to push through and those who were blocking them alike.

The clash of weapons was replaced by the murmur of confusion spreading like dust in the air.

And then—

Shing!

I quietly lowered my sword.

"Long time no see."

"…Eunho."

Lee Yeji was trembling, unable to meet my gaze directly.

Was she afraid I would attack her?

Don’t worry.

You’re safe.

There’s no need to tremble...

But I couldn’t bring myself to say the words I should when facing a frightened teammate, shivering in fear of her life.

Because their purpose, clad in shining armor and wielding spears, was all too obvious.

To stop us.

Jieun, kind as ever, seemed more concerned about their safety than their intentions, asking with worry in her voice:

"Are you okay, Yeji? We were so worried. You disappeared so suddenly..."

Yeji replied in a quiet, almost inaudible voice that she was fine.

Perhaps it was because of the current mission, or maybe she'd been through rough times while we were apart, but her sharp personality seemed to have dulled significantly.

The same Yeji who used to bicker endlessly with that foul-mouthed guy.

Wait... speaking of which...

"Where are the others?"

When we returned from the training center, there was a sudden earthquake—something about an emergency downsizing.

It scattered our group, leaving only the people here reunited: Jieun, Jaehyuk, Yura and her father, Sola, and Yeojin.

But we still hadn’t found—

"Don’t tell me... are the others...?"

"A-are they here?!"

Jieun began the question, and Jaehyuk finished it, his voice urgent.

Yeji nodded silently.

And then—

Thud.

Three people emerged, panting, from beyond the blood-red veil.

"Shit! What’s going on here?!"

"Oh my! You’re all here!"

"Hey, kid! I knew you were still alive!"

A familiar voice cursed, accompanied by an over-the-top gesture.

As the man confidently lifted his helmet, I was met with a familiar face.

"Damn it! Finally, we meet again. Where the hell have you been?"

It was the foul-mouthed guy, but instead of his usual Nike hoodie and cap, he was dressed in armor and a helmet.

And beside him—

"Goodness, are you alright, miss? You must’ve been so scared!"

The cleaning lady fussed over trembling Yeji.

"And now we’re saved!"

The security guard let out a cry of relief.

Sigh.

What even is this?

"How did this happen? And what’s with the armor?"

"Well, uh... that’s..."

Jaehyuk, overwhelmed by the unexpected reunion, hurriedly asked, but the three glanced nervously into the darkness.

As if someone was watching them.

‘There must be someone behind them.’

Clack!

Instead of waiting for an answer, I took the helmet from the foul-mouthed guy’s hands.

I examined it for a moment and then placed it on my head.

"...!"

The tunnel’s interior came into sharp focus, illuminated even in the darkest corners.

Colors vanished like a black-and-white filter, replaced by what looked like a high-quality infrared camera feed.

"I can’t quite see faces clearly."

"Exactly! Without those flames, it would’ve been a disaster. If we’d fought without knowing, we could’ve all lost our heads!"

"Oh my goodness!"

The foul-mouthed guy shuddered at the thought, and the cleaning lady nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, the security guard pointed to the blazing flames and asked:

"You lit that fire, right, kid?"

I nodded silently, and he let out an impressed exclamation, as if he’d expected it all along.

"I knew it! You always think ahead!"

"Well... yeah. Anyway."

More than twenty people.

Rare equipment you couldn’t even find in a mid-level shop.

Yeji’s desperate expression, avoiding my gaze and biting her lip.

"You’re the defense team, aren’t you? Your role is to stop us from crossing that wall."

"...!!"

"What exactly is your mission?"

"That’s... uh..."

The security guard hesitated, looking both awkward and remorseful.

So I turned to Yeji.

"Yeji."

"Y-yes?"

"Is it true that for each person who crosses, someone is erased?"

Flinch!

Honest as ever, Yeji’s shoulders shook.

I knew it.

"What?! Hyung, what are you talking about?"

"So, if we succeed in our mission, does that mean they fail?"

"That can’t be...!"

[The Defense Line has been established.]

[Successfully pass through the ‘Path of Darkness’!]

If our mission was to cross the ‘Path of Darkness,’ then their mission was to defend it.

The penalty was undoubtedly ‘erasure.’

"To be precise, [Hold the Defense Line. Each time an enemy crosses, one of you will be erased randomly]."

Yeji pointed toward a faint, translucent wall behind them.

So that’s what they were referring to as the “barrier.”

If we live, they die.

If they live, we die.

In that case—

‘We’ll go with Plan B.’

Plan A, the straightforward approach to break through the defensive lines and reach the finish line, was abandoned.

It was a good thing I'd prepared a backup plan in case the monsters we faced were too powerful.

“Young man! What do we do now?”

The foul-mouthed man spoke up, his face set with determination.

At that moment—

“Damn it, so what I’m saying is… ugh!”

Thud!

A fully armored figure strode over and kicked him square in the back.

The impact sent the foul-mouthed man sprawling forward like a book snapping shut.

“What the hell?!”

He whipped around, seemingly ready to flip a table, then froze.

“…Big brother.”

The moment he recognized the man standing behind him, he grit his teeth but took a step back.

Big brother?

I had expected a torrent of curses, but this situation was taking an unexpected turn.

“You little punk, can’t you shut your damn mouth?”

The man who’d just delivered the kick sneered.

It didn’t make any sense, yet the foul-mouthed man simply lowered his head and stayed silent—just like everyone else around us.

“…”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

This guy was a head taller than the rest, his build overpowering, his demeanor oppressive.

And the wicked club he swung idly in one hand only added to the menace.

Had he subdued everyone here with brute strength and violence?

“…What do you think you’re doing?”

I let my displeasure drip from every syllable as I spoke.

In response, he spat on the ground and bellowed.

“If even one of you tries to escape, you’re dead!”

Ridiculous.

I clenched my fists involuntarily at the absurdity of it all.

“Damn it, after everything I’ve done to survive, you’re telling me to die in your place?!”

A younger man, unable to contain his fury, shouted as he broke into a sprint.

“I’m leaving! No way you’re stopping me!”

In a blur of speed, he vaulted toward the pale gray wall in the distance.

The agility stat on that guy must’ve been something else.

Before anyone could react, he was already halfway over the barrier.

In that brief moment of breathless silence—

“You little bastard!”

The so-called “big brother” swung his club with a roar.

Wham!

The weapon smashed into the young man’s head just as he disappeared over the wall.

Wham! Wham! Splat!

Blood sprayed outward in a radial burst.

“Arghhhhhh!”

The poor man’s dying scream faded, and the survivors’ horrified cries filled the air.

“Aaaaaah!”

“Did he just kill him?!”

“You maniac! What the hell are you doing?!”

The other survivors from the Nam Mountain area, who had come here with me, were too shocked to hide their fear.

Unlike us, the armored people simply averted their eyes.

They’re not surprised.

Not shock, but terror had taken hold of them.

They’d seen this kind of thing too many times before—people killing people.

Meanwhile, the “big brother,” who had just crushed another human’s skull like tofu, calmly muttered—

“Little rats.”

“Hi-hic!”

“Guess I’ll have to kill them all or break their legs. That’ll stop anyone else from running, won’t it?”

He casually wiped the blood off his face with the sleeve of a woman standing nearby.

The nonchalant look on his face made me sick to my stomach.

“Right? Don’t you think?”

“Y-yeah… right.”

I couldn’t take it anymore.

I stepped forward.

“And who the hell are you?”

Gripping the hilt of my sword, I savored the weight in my hand.

And then—

“Hey! You, guard! This guy’s your friend, huh?”

Step.

“Guess you’re just as stupid as them, huh? You think you won’t get the same treatment?”

[Translator - Night]

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‘Stupid,’ huh?

This idiot clearly had no idea who he was dealing with.

Time to teach him a lesson.

“Six minutes, twenty seconds.”

“What?”

“Two minutes to find the way, four to get through the tunnel, twenty seconds left.”

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting?”

Just enough time to beat you down.

“Th-that guy…!”

The foul-mouthed man stammered, unable to hide his growing anxiety.

“That bastard’s way more dangerous than you think…!”

But whether or not his concern reached me, I simply raised my sword in silence.

“Twenty seconds.”

And with a brief whisper—

“The hell is he saying? This guy’s out of his mind—GAH!”

Swoosh!

The blade slashed through the bastard’s thigh, cutting into the exposed flesh between the armor.

“AAAAARGH! Who the hell are you?! How is this even working?!”

“Why? It shouldn’t?”

“Do you know how much I’ve invested in my defense stats?!”

His panic was understandable.

After all, everyone here had seen him take claw attacks from monsters and come out with nothing more than scratches.

He had boasted endlessly at the start of this mission that he didn’t even need armor.

But I—

“Oh, yeah. I figured something felt off. Thought my sword was dull from killing that millworm earlier.”

“Wha—GAHHH!”

With a calm expression, I swung my blade again.

It was like slicing through a frozen hunk of meat that had been left in a freezer for too long.

Splat!

Blood gushed from the man’s meaty thigh in vivid streams of red.

“!!”

The foul-mouthed man’s jaw dropped in shock.

“That easily?!”

The so-called “big brother” who ruled over this group like a king, claiming he was the only one who could defeat monsters—

“After all that bluster, he’s getting beat like a dog…”

"Guards, janitors... where do these pathetic bastards even crawl out from?"

"Urk…! I-I was wrong! Please stop…!"

"Your tone’s too short."

"I-I was wrong! Please forgive me…!"

But what’s with that pathetic sight?

He boasted so much about pouring everything into his defense and building a body like a rock.

Yet here he was, wobbling as he clutched his bleeding leg.

‘Damn it all!’

The foul-mouthed man practically screamed in triumph.

* * *

Slash!

This time, Lee Eunho moved behind the staggering man and slashed horizontally at his calf.

Earlier, when the bastard charged at Lee Eunho with a cudgel the size of a baby’s head, the tension had been enough to make hands sweat.

Swoosh! Bang!

But by lightly sidestepping, Lee Eunho avoided the blow entirely, causing the man to slam his head into the tunnel wall with the cudgel still in hand.

Watching the concrete wall cave in like that, something inside me felt like it had burst wide open, like a blockage suddenly cleared.

"Graaaah! You rat bastard!"

‘Hah…!’

No matter how strong this guy was or how destructive his weapon might be, it didn’t matter to Lee Eunho.

As long as he didn’t get hit, that was enough.

‘He’s not even a match for him!’

And it seemed the bastard finally realized it too.

His eyes rolled back as he prepared one final strike.

“You’re dead meat, you bastard…!!”

The reason this jerk had been able to take down monsters in the first place.

It came down to his “special move,” born from a rare item he had stumbled across by chance.

“This thing’s lethal when I swing it, but it’s even deadlier when it comes back around. It’s a damn miracle weapon, I tell you.”

“R-Really?”

“Yeah, you punk. So if you’re planning to run, think twice. I’ll crush the back of your skull.”

Vroooom…

The cudgel embedded in the tunnel wall began to hum ominously, as if signaling that it was ready.

That thing…!

The cudgel shot like lightning toward Lee Eunho’s back.

"Look out! Behind you—!"

Confronted with the horrifying sight, Lee Eunho muttered quietly.

“Accelerate.”

And then—

Swish!

A gust of wind blew through, revealing a surprising sight.

“A… door?!”

A steel door had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, standing firmly between Lee Eunho and the oncoming cudgel.

The bastard, sprawled on the ground with his hand still outstretched toward the cudgel.

And Lee Eunho, who had somehow thrust a longsword into the bastard’s armpit.

“Graaaaaaah!”

The entire tunnel echoed with the bastard’s agonized screams before he foamed at the mouth and passed out.

“There were still 10 seconds left.”

Lee Eunho clicked his tongue, almost as if he were disappointed.

‘It’s over.’

The bastard who had ruled like a king had been taken down in an instant.

In just 10 seconds.

“Well then. For now…”

Without even sparing a glance at the fallen man, Lee Eunho moved forward.

Step.

He walked toward the “door” that had appeared out of nowhere, with the cudgel still embedded in it.

Then, grabbing hold of the cudgel, he spoke.

“Store.”

“!!”

Flash!

“Oh, it works now.”

Was it the audacity of casually confiscating the cudgel, or the fact that this wasn’t his first time trying it?

Either way, it left everyone stunned.

In any case—

「06:05」

The fight was over, and the leader of the defensive line had fallen.

Even his most crucial weapon had been stolen.

“It’s over…”

The survivors behind the wall all let out despairing sighs.

Everyone realized it.

This mission was a failure.

Their armor wouldn’t protect them from him, and all of them would soon break through the wall and leave.

“Is… is it done?!”

“So now all we have to do is run…”

But just as the survivors of Namsan began preparing to dash through the wall one by one, Lee Eunho spoke.

“There’s no need.”

Instead of leading them forward, he stepped out and blocked their path.

Step.

“There’s a way for all of us to survive.”

“!!”

Standing beside the still-burning flames, the light cast him in sharp relief, like a spotlight on a raised stage.

“Young man! What do you mean?”

“We don’t need to break through the wall to get to the safe zone.”

“What?!”

A wall that stretched from the floor to the ceiling, completely blocking the tunnel.

Getting past it without going through it sounded absurd.

“What? Are you messing with us?”

“What nonsense is this?!”

But even so…

“There’s… there’s a way, right?”

The foul-mouthed man couldn’t help but blurt out a question.

If it were him…

The guy who had done the impossible time and again…

“There is. We can get through. And it doesn’t have to be this way.”

They could trust him.

“I believe in you, Eunho!”

“Me too! That young man’s never steered us wrong before.”

“That’s right! Our leader is incredible!”

Listening to their unwavering trust, Lee Eunho nodded calmly and walked toward the tunnel wall.

Step, step.

“Let’s take the side tunnel.”

“What?”

“There’s a side passage here.”

Rustle.

Leaving only cryptic words behind, Lee Eunho turned toward the tunnel wall.

“A side passage? There’s nothing there!”

“Yeah! Not even a sign! What are you talking about?”

The concrete wall, dented from the earlier battle where the bastard’s cudgel had struck, still bore the impact marks.

Lee Eunho, holding the cudgel, said one word.

“Summon.”

And then—

Thud!

He started smashing the wall.

“What are you doing?!”

“Surely you’re not trying to break through that wall? Do you know how thick it is…?!”

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud…

Ignoring the outcry, Lee Eunho gripped the cudgel with both hands and kept pounding the wall.

Once, twice, three times, four times…

Each time the metal weapon struck the wall, dust rose and fragments of concrete scattered.

And then—

“There’s… a hollow inside?!”

Behind the thick wall, a hollow cavity began to reveal itself.

“It’s a real passage! What the heck?!”

“A hidden evacuation tunnel? Why was this blocked off?”

“Wait… how did you even know this was here…?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

Stunned by the unexpected revelation of the hidden path, people stammered in disbelief.

But Lee Eunho simply swung the cudgel nonchalantly and said what he needed to say.

“You coming, or not?”

‘Damn it…’

He’s so damn cool!

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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