Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 161

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Editor’s Survival Rules Episode 161

ep21. Shrouded in Mist (11)
“Gasp……!”
I drew a deep breath and opened my eyes.
As my vision gradually sharpened, I saw the Waiting Hall of the Train Station.
Had I come back……?
I caught my breath and looked around.
The vast Waiting Hall held only me.
And the Glass Ceiling stood intact above, holding up the sky as if nothing had happened.
It was peaceful, untouched by any catastrophe.
I stared blankly at the restored Train Station before snapping to my senses.
This wasn’t the time to be distracted.
I had to find a door first.
Fortunately, there was a suitable door next to the Ticket Booth.
An opaque glass door that the ticket booth employees used.
That would work.
I walked over to it and opened it immediately.
In that instant.
Crash-! Smash-!
A motorcycle came barreling out from inside and plowed through the glass door.
“Aaaaah……!”
“……!”
Followed by a loud scream.
I froze beside the doorframe to avoid being caught in the chaos, and the motorcycle came bursting into the Waiting Hall before the rider suddenly wrenched it to a stop.
Screech-!
The bike tilted as if it would tip over, then came to an abrupt halt.
Two men in combat fatigues sat astride it.
“What the—? What else now! Is this the Train Station?”
The man shouting in alarm was none other than Jeong Jin-u.
And sitting behind him, scanning the surroundings, was Han Seung-yo.
“Is this Yongsan Station or the Train Station? What the hell is going on!”
Jeong Jin-u, who’d been almost angry a moment before, turned to look back.
Then his eyes widened as he looked at me.
“Agent Seo Do-un?”
“Yes. Neither of you are injured, are you?”
I gave up on the destroyed door and approached where the two men had settled the bike.
“No injuries, but—did we die?”
Jeong Jin-u asked urgently.
I smiled, relieved to see him, and answered.
“No. You didn’t die.”
“Then what’s happening? And why are you alone?”
Jeong Jin-u looked around again, then realized I was the only one here and frowned slightly.
Then he spoke with sudden seriousness.
“Otter.”
“This is your senior’s heart, Sara.”
“You really are the Otter Agent…….”
I laughed again at Jeong Jin-u’s muttering.
Then I spoke to the two men, still bewildered.
“A moment ago, a bomb fell from Yongsan Station onto the Bridge.”
“Wow, so we didn’t see it wrong?”
“No. It really happened.”
“And the fact that we ended up here…….”
“I brought you here using the properties of this Nascent Stage Special Zone. You agents, as you were 13 seconds before death.”
“Like the Director?”
“Yes.”
“But that means we’re dead……?”
“But right now, you’re alive.”
Jeong Jin-u’s expression went blank at my answer.
His face had plenty to say, but there wasn’t time for detailed explanations right now.
“I’ll explain everything once everyone’s here. We need to find the others, so when more people arrive, could you give them a brief explanation?”
At my words, Jeong Jin-u stopped questioning and nodded.
Instead of the door Jeong Jin-u had destroyed, I looked around for a new one.
Since something could burst out from inside just like before, a glass door probably wouldn’t work.
That’s when a metal door caught my eye.
Yes, that should do.
I went over to it and opened it again.
Then, one by one, the agents who had been dead began emerging from inside.
“Seo Do-un?”
“That bridge that just collapsed?”
“Park Jung-hu died…….”
“But I’m right here?”
“Damn it!”
Fortunately, since Jeong Jin-u was the only one riding the motorcycle, no other accidents occurred after that.
Soon after, all the people who had been caught in the bombing near the Bridge’s anchor ring came out.
Now all that remained were Baek Sa-ra and Cha Si-eon, who had died fighting on the spiral ramp.
These two had a different situation.
I swallowed quietly.
Then I spoke to the agents bustling behind me.
“I think it would be best if you all stood back.”
I warned the agents, then leaned my back against the wall beside the door.
Then I just stretched my arm to the side and opened the door.
Crash-!
Sure enough.
The moment I opened the door, I heard the sound of something striking down hard.
“…….”
Even though I’d steeled myself, a chill ran down my spine at that sound.
At the same time, the metal door flew outward and flung open as if rebounding.
My wrist almost broke with it.
Then, appearing before me, was Baek Sa-ra.
“……?”
Baek Sa-ra had clearly struck the metal door hard with her sword, and now stood with her feet in a wide stance, the blade held low.
“Otter?”
Baek Sa-ra, scanning sharply, spotted me.
Then she tilted her head and added.
“An adult……?”
For some reason, Baek Sa-ra was even more bewildered by the fact that I was an adult than by anything else.
As Baek Sa-ra studied my appearance, I too examined hers carefully.
Fortunately, she showed no signs of injury.
She was breathing naturally.
I couldn’t directly check it now, but her pulse was surely beating steadily.
Reassured by that fact, I smiled.
Then I muttered thoughtlessly.
“The cute part’s over.”
“……?”
Baek Sa-ra still hadn’t grasped the situation.
Normally she would have immediately shot back at my joke, but now she just blinked.
I looked at her for a moment, then spoke.
“Thank you.”
“Yes?”
“You won’t remember, but you risked your life to save me.”
“I did?”
At my words, Baek Sa-ra’s eyes widened.
As if it couldn’t possibly have been her.
But there was no point in denying it.
I saw it plainly.
“Yes. Thanks to you, all the other agents survived as well.”
“That’s… good then.”
Baek Sa-ra noticed the other agents gathered across the Waiting Hall and murmured.
Then she noticed someone was missing and asked back.
“What about Team Leader Cha?”
“We need to revive him now. Team Leader Cha is the last one.”
“Team Leader Cha died too?”
Baek Sa-ra asked, sounding even more shocked than before.
This time her expression was truly disbelieving, so I laughed despite myself.
Yes, I understood.
When someone who seemed like they’d never die suddenly drops dead, it really is absurd.
I fully sympathized with Baek Sa-ra’s shock and explained.
“I drove off the Big Cat and Alpha. But then the River Crosser appeared again, so he stayed behind to protect me.”
“Ah…….”
Baek Sa-ra nodded, finally understanding.
“It seems like they’re coming back in the order they died.”
At my addition, Baek Sa-ra thought for a moment and asked back.
“Who came back first?”
“Agent Jeong Jin-u and Agent Han Seung-yo.”
“Ah.”
Baek Sa-ra nodded again.
This time her expression showed no surprise whatsoever.
At Baek Sa-ra’s unflinching certainty—whether in faith or disbelief—I laughed again.
Then I asked her to stand back like the other agents, just to be safe.
Now for the last one.
Team Leader Cha Si-eon’s turn.
When the door opens, the dead return in the state they were in 13 seconds before death.
The rule I’d confirmed in the Hotel applied equally here.
It wasn’t the Raven’s doing.
That creature was unconscious now, being helped by something else.
In any case, that’s why Jeong Jin-u smashed the door with his bike, and Baek Sa-ra struck it with her sword.
So what about Cha Si-eon at 13 seconds before death?
He’d be firing his gun wildly at that moment.
And his injuries had been severe.
“There could be gunfire. Everyone stay alert, and prepare for First Aid.”
The agents nodded at my words.
I closed the metal door that Baek Sa-ra had struck with her sword.
Then, leaning my back against the wall, I carefully turned the door handle.
Click-
“…….”
There was no sound.
I’d expected gunfire to erupt immediately.
With a bad feeling, I pulled the door handle.
And I came face to face with it.
Cha Si-eon’s straight-backed silhouette.
Cha Si-eon stood facing away from the door, looking at something in the distance.
“Team Leader Cha.”
At my call, he finally turned his head.
Cha Si-eon’s face was calm.
And his hair had shortened back to where it touched his shoulders.
At the same time, still covered in blood.
Sensing something off about his disheveled state, I asked.
“Are you alright?”
“I just met the Monks.”
“Here?”
“Yes. As the Aging disappeared, the injuries I’d sustained just before also vanished.”
Cha Si-eon’s voice was oddly clipped as he spoke.
No, that was probably his normal way of speaking.
What I’d grown accustomed to was a sample from Cha Si-eon eight years hence.
“So you’re fine now?”
“Yes.”
Thank goodness.
I’d worried how to get a critically wounded person out, but she’d even helped him recover on her own.
I found myself somewhat grateful to that woman.
“Explain the situation.”
Cha Si-eon said as he stepped into the Waiting Hall.
He’d surely realized he’d died and come back.
I laughed weakly at his businesslike demeanor.
Cha Si-eon glanced at me.
But I pretended not to notice and spoke up.
“After separating from you, Team Leader, I also met the Monks. And then I arrived here.”
I decided to omit the part about me dying.
I couldn’t even mention the woman I’d met.
Since I couldn’t explain it properly, anything I said would just make me repeat myself endlessly.
So I stuck to the essentials.
“Our assumption was correct, and all dead agents have returned.”
Cha Si-eon looked over the agents, including Baek Sa-ra, and nodded.
Then he scanned the Waiting Hall and asked back.
“Has the Great Siren been dealt with?”
Cha Si-eon immediately sensed that this wasn’t the ordinary Yongsan Station but the Train Station Special Zone.
Since the siren wasn’t sounding, he seemed to think something was wrong.
“No. This is a zone without entities.”
“What do you mean?”
“We need to get out of here first.”
“……?”
“We have very little time, sir. We need to leave right now if we want to save the agents.”
Cha Si-eon looked at me, waiting for an explanation.
So I had no choice but to lie.
“I’ll explain in detail once we’re out.”
Cha Si-eon’s eyes narrowed.
Suspiciously sharp instincts.
At his scrutinizing gaze, I dropped all pretense and spoke.
“You said the first priority of this operation was for everyone to return alive. We need to leave now.”
In principle, I was right.
This place was a dangerously chaotic Special Zone with tangled properties that could even recreate bombing.
Escaping was the urgent priority.
“All operatives, listen up.”
In the end, instead of pressing me further, Cha Si-eon called the agents.
“Due to unexpected variables, we’re evacuating immediately.”
No one raised an objection.
Having died once and come back, survival was now the priority.
“But how do we evacuate?”
Still, the agents asked the question.
This was the Train Station, yes, but it wasn’t the one we’d known before.
No siren sounded and no Railroad Police appeared.
So there was no guarantee the evacuation method would remain the same.
So I answered the asking agents.
“We board the train at the Platform using the standard method.”
“Is that still valid?”
“Yes, it’s valid now. But we don’t know how long it will stay that way, so we need to hurry.”
The agents didn’t doubt my word.
We received our tickets and headed to the Platform together.
As we ran toward the Platform, a strange feeling washed over me.
Memories of running this path with Lee Sol overlapped.
It was a similar yet different situation.
Actually, it was exactly the same.
When we arrived at the Platform shortly after, the train was waiting for us.
All the agents boarded the train with their tickets.
I climbed aboard first and counted the agents entering from the entrance.
And when Cha Si-eon boarded last, I watched him step further inside before calling to him.
“Team Leader Cha.”
Cha Si-eon turned just his head to look at me.
I hesitated for a moment, unsure what to say.
But then I thought—why say anything to someone who already does things right?
So I smiled bitterly and recited.
“Please destroy my will.”
“What…….”
I stepped back and got off the train.
Cha Si-eon’s eyes widened.
He turned as if to grab me, but I closed the train door.
Click-
Cha Si-eon’s final expression was quite fierce, but it didn’t matter.
The moment the train door closed, the space that had been desperately maintained shattered like broken glass.
* * *
“Alright, I hear you. Let me rephrase so you can answer more easily. Pick one.”
The woman laughed deeply.
“You alone getting out alive, or everyone else getting out alive.”
At the choice the woman presented, I wanted to ask in return.
Do you enjoy this?
I hope you don’t indulge that twisted taste using my author’s face.
Well, aside from such grievances, I considered the matter.
That the choice itself wasn’t bad.

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