Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 119

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Editor’s Survival Rules Episode 119

ep18. Rescuer (3)

After heavy silence, Kwon Mu-seop opened his mouth.

“Does that mean Team Leader Kang was still alive until June 5th?”

“According to the coroner’s judgment, yes.”

At the researcher’s words, my heart sank with a thud.

But before that shock could spread throughout my chest, the researcher added:

“However, we see it a bit differently.”

“Differently?”

“First, the deceased was found two years after going missing. But his nutritional state was very good, and his muscles had barely deteriorated. If he had survived on ‘Fake Rice’ like other victims, he should have been found in a state of starvation.”

“…”

“Moreover, the condition of his clothing was the same. There were torn and contaminated parts, but there was no wear or old grime. Clothing worn continuously for two years without changing couldn’t be in this condition.”

Right.

The appearance of Team Leader Kang Seung-cheol that I found was too clean.

For someone who had survived in that isolated place for nearly two years.

“So our estimation is that the deceased was probably preserved in the state he was in when he went missing.”

“Preserved?”

“Yes. Otherwise, it can’t be explained.”

For muscles not to deteriorate, one must eat sufficiently and move around.

But if he had been active for two years wearing only one set of clothes, those clothes should have become rags reeking with body fluids and friction.

However, Team Leader Kang Seung-cheol was in good condition both physically and clothing-wise.

As if time had stopped for him alone.

As if he had truly been preserved somewhere.

The researcher continued his explanation.

“And we found connected bruises on the back of his head, left upper arm, and right thigh. According to the coroner, it looks like traces of rolling down a steep slope while unconscious.”

“When did those injuries occur?”

“These also appear to have occurred around June 5th.”

At the researcher’s words, gazes turned toward me.

As if asking whether I had seen Team Leader Kang Seung-cheol falling.

But I hadn’t seen anything.

At that time, I was running on the bones of the “Fake God” and had no time to look around.

“You said Team Leader Kang was found at the bottom of the Ten-story Stone Pagoda. Then can we assume the slope he rolled down was the Ten-story Stone Pagoda?”

“Yes, we’re estimating that as well.”

Gazes turned toward me again.

So I conveyed what I had seen.

“The ‘Fake God’ was coiled around the Ten-story Stone Pagoda with its body. So the Ten-story Stone Pagoda was mostly hidden by those bones, and only the bottom part was visible.”

“I see…”

The researcher muttered heavily.

Then silence flowed again.

It seemed everyone was having similar thoughts.

But no one had yet voiced those thoughts aloud.

And I felt momentarily nauseous as I recalled the serpentine form of the “Fake God.”

* * *

Meetings at the Management Bureau don’t have much conclusiveness.

They’re mostly about sharing situations rather than reaching conclusions.

So after meetings, it often feels like more problems have piled up, but fortunately, mood changes happen quite quickly.

“Oh, hyung. That was good just now.”

Don’t lie!

With blood rushing to my face, I barely held back from shouting out loud.

Instead, I struggled more desperately to find a way to escape.

But Kwak Jae-gyeom, mounted on top of me, easily neutralized my struggles and continued to pin me down.

In the afternoon, I come back to the gym to receive basic training.

Kwak Jae-gyeom, who uses me as a mop to clean the floor under the guise of jiu-jitsu training.

And when I’m helplessly overpowered like this, advice flies in from all directions.

“Spread your elbows to create space. Space.”

“Don’t flail your legs, use your waist. Wrap with your waist.”

“No. Don’t keep escaping in the same direction. That’s not it, Agent.”

Ugh, if it were as easy as it sounds…!

I endured the spectators’ murmuring and struggled desperately to shake off Kwak Jae-gyeom.

After struggling like that for about ten minutes.

“Stop.”

Baek Sa-ra’s single word saved me.

Kwak Jae-gyeom’s thighs that had been constricting my upper body finally loosened.

At the same time, the agents who had been chattering around us scattered and disappeared from my sight as if nothing had happened.

But even if they do that now…

I was already in a completely worn-out state, both body and mind.

“Huff, huff…”

So today too, I have my weakness proven to me.

When will I ever be able to overpower Kwak Jae-gyeom?

Still, after moving my body and exhausting all my energy, headache-inducing worries completely disappear.

It really is an excellent mood-changing method…

“You did well. But when your arms are tied up like just now, don’t try to escape using only upper body strength—you need to use your lower body too. Keep your lower body from floating, or you can hook onto your opponent to support your strength.”

Baek Sa-ra explained gently while correcting my posture.

So when I tried again, taking her teaching into account…

“Ugh, I almost got flipped just now.”

“Agent, don’t just push—look for gaps. You need to penetrate through gaps.”

“Push with your pelvis, pelvis. Push the pelvis with your forearm.”

…The results didn’t change easily.

“Good work, hyung.”

Jae-gyeom extended his hand to me as I lay sprawled on the mat.

Unlike me, dripping with sweat and panting, Kwak Jae-gyeom was perfectly fine.

So I realized anew that the gap between me and Jae-gyeom wasn’t something that could be closed in just a few months.

Actually, that was natural.

Kwak Jae-gyeom was someone who had trained for years to become an agent.

The other agents here were the same.

They had all repeatedly undergone this kind of high-intensity training without fail.

Being a rescuer isn’t a job given to just anyone.

While I was barely catching my breath, Baek Sa-ra came over and said:

“Otter, I think I’ll be quite busy starting next week.”

“Huh?”

“The Special Zones that were reset before will be regenerating soon. I think I’ll be deployed on exploration missions.”

“Ah…”

The “Island” that Apophysis had destroyed.

The “Hotel” where the interruption experiment had failed.

Even “Ant Hill” where the core secured by researchers had been destroyed.

It was time for those reset Special Zones to regenerate.

So the Management Bureau had to explore those spaces with new rules from the beginning again.

“If there are days I can’t supervise you, I’ll contact you in advance. I’ll arrange for a substitute, so you can continue training at this time.”

“Yes. Please take care of yourself.”

At my words, Baek Sa-ra smiled brightly.

In Greek mythology, there is a figure named Sisyphus.

He was punished for deceiving the gods by having to push a massive boulder to the top of a mountain, but whenever he struggled to reach the summit, the boulder would roll back down to the bottom.

Even when he pushed the fallen boulder back to the top, the same thing would happen.

So Sisyphus was a figure who endlessly repeated this meaningless labor.

Repeating the same task without any fruition.

There could be no punishment more futile and arduous than this.

And if I were to say that the work done at the Management Bureau is similar to Sisyphus’s eternal punishment, would that be going too far?

Exploring Special Zones and resetting them.

Exploring again and resetting again.

Enduring this repetitive pain and tedium must also be one of the roles of the Rescuers.

* * *

After finishing afternoon training and lying dead for a bit, it’s evening.

After receiving individual education before dinner, my daily schedule is complete.

And today is the day Kwak Jae-gyeom works the night shift, so I ended up spending the evening alone.

When I have time alone like this, I read Management Bureau manuals or exploration reports.

They’re not particularly interesting, but since my life depends on it, I open them whenever I get the chance.

Besides, there are so many exploration reports that I haven’t even finished reading them all yet.

I turned on the tablet document to continue where I left off yesterday.

That’s when the meeting from earlier in the day suddenly came to mind.

So I changed my mind and searched for and opened a report I had already looked at before.

—

Analysis Report on Special Situations Related to “The Siren-Ringing Train Station”

■ Overview

“The Siren-Ringing Train Station” (hereafter “Train Station”) is a Type 1 Danger (A) grade Special Zone whose exploration was completed on July 11, 20XX.

It was managed stably thereafter, but due to the Special Zone’s inherently high lethality, it entered a reorganization phase around January 20XX.

On January 14, 20XX, the reorganization of “Train Station” was successfully prevented through the concentration suppression period.

However, from that point on, abnormal attraction and hostile reactions toward Special Management Bureau employees began occurring from “Train Station,” leading to an investigation.

■ Damage Status

Case 1.

– Time of Damage: January 21, 20XX, 5:29 AM

– Victim: Response Team 11 Agent Kim Bum-jun (1 person total)

– Damage Details

Arbitrary entry into the waiting hall of “Train Station” while sleeping in residence.

Crushed to death by “siren sound” 51 seconds after entry.

– Remarks

Agent Kim Bum-jun had previously harbored complaints about the prolonged rescue operation for (Redacted) Agent.

He regularly expressed these complaints to those around him and frequently mentioned (Redacted) Agent.

Case 2.

– Time of Damage: January 22, 20XX, 10:00 AM

– Victims: Exploration Team 8 Agents Kim Gu-bong, Min Seo-hee (2 people total)

– Damage Details

Direct entry into the waiting hall of “Train Station” to place additional rule books and investigate Agent Kim Bum-jun’s crushing death.

Agent Kim Gu-bong crushed to death by “siren sound” 52 seconds after entry.

Agent Min Seo-hee crushed to death by “siren sound” 109 seconds after entry.

– Remarks

First observation of consecutive occurrences of “siren sound.”

(Omitted)

Case 5.

– Time of Damage: February 18, 20XX, 2:22 PM

– Victims: Analysis Team Researchers Park Dong-hae, Lee Eun-su, Jeong Pil-hyeon (3 people total)

– Damage Details

Arbitrary entry into the waiting hall of “Train Station” while in meeting at Research Department meeting room.

Researcher Lee Eun-su crushed to death by “siren sound” 56 seconds after entry.

Researcher Jeong Pil-hyeon crushed to death by “siren sound” 121 seconds after entry.

Researcher Park Dong-hae crushed to death by “siren sound” 183 seconds after entry.

– Remarks

The victims were in a team meeting at the time of entry, with a total of 7 people attending the meeting including the victims.

Meeting attendees had been reviewing (Redacted) Agent’s exploration logs for the past week.

The 3 victims did not have particularly more exposure to (Redacted) Agent’s materials than other team members.

Case 6.

– Time of Damage: February 20, 20XX, 10:30 AM

– Victims: Contaminated Person A, Prisoner B, C (3 people total)

– Damage Details

Direct entry into the waiting hall of “Train Station” to investigate abnormal activity of “Train Station.”

Prisoner C crushed to death by “siren sound” 44 seconds after entry.

Prisoner B crushed to death by “siren sound” 98 seconds after entry.

Contaminated Person A crushed to death by “siren sound” 141 seconds after entry.

– Remarks: None.

—

I was carefully going through the report.

Weeeeeng-!

A faintly audible siren sound.

I was startled by the sound, then sighed when I saw the alarm that appeared at the top of the tablet screen.

-Nuruk Two.

An alert alarm that appears just when you’re about to forget it.

It seemed another disturbance had started at the Contamination Containment Facility.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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