Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 166

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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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Survival Rules for an Editor 166

ep22. Ⅻ(5)
Bang-! Crash-! Rat-a-tat-tat-!
A series of brilliant explosions echoed through the space.
In the waiting hall of the Train Station teeming with unconfirmed entities.
And at its center, Cha Si-eon, grinding away abnormal phenomena like a shredder.
If I hadn’t known Team Leader Cha, I wouldn’t have been able to tell which side favored me—or even which side was human.
“……Is that real?”
“Yeah…….”
Confused, I asked the woman, and she answered in a listless tone.
Thanks to that, I learned Cha Si-eon wasn’t a phantom, but my confusion didn’t end.
If that’s really Cha Si-eon, how did he get in here?
This place, the Train Station, is connected to The Island in its nascent stage and has consequently taken on the characteristics of the Special Management Zone in that early period.
So the external passage should be sealed—that was our hypothesis.
Could it be the corridor is still open?
……Wait, actually.
He’s alone right now.
I’d overlooked it because he was destroying his surroundings so casually, but Cha Si-eon was moving solo.
Surely not.
No, it wasn’t “surely not.”
If he’d come back after maintenance from outside, he would’ve come with a team.
There’s no way he’d be wandering alone like this.
I grew gradually horrified at the realization.
Did that bastard jump out of the train……?
After me?
“Huh…….”
Is he genuinely insane?
Why would I revive him just to have him throw it all away…….
I stared at that rebellious fool blankly before snapping to attention.
Then the bond holding me here…….
I turned back to the woman at the thought that crossed my mind.
The woman whose expression had been off since earlier.
And her white veil shrinking steadily, while in contrast, brilliant lights flashed noisily.
With every circumstance pointing to a single truth, I ventured to speak.
“Isn’t this a breach of our agreement?”
“…….”
At my words, the woman’s mouth fell open and she stared at me.
And the lights flashed louder and more chaotically.
That blinking felt almost like cackling.
Shimmer-shimmer-shimmer-shimmer-!
Bolstered by their zealous response, I continued.
“You said you’d revive all of my friends and let them go. So why is that person acting like this here?”
“……He came out on his own?”
The woman muttered as if aggrieved.
“It’s not my fault your friend’s a lunatic.”
“Either way, the fact remains you didn’t keep your promise.”
“Hah…….”
A promise the woman made to obtain me.
Revive your friends and let them go.
With this promise, the woman asserted ownership and rights over me.
But that promise had shattered spectacularly.
Because of Team Leader Cha, who didn’t leave this place but caused a disturbance instead.
As if my estimate was roughly correct, the woman sighed with a note of disappointment.
“What even is this bond…….”
That was it.
The reason the woman couldn’t take me away.
Though she’d tried twice, she ultimately couldn’t follow through—because the woman hadn’t yet kept her promise.
Whether that was by her will or against it didn’t matter.
What mattered now was that Cha Si-eon was here.
And so our agreement had become void.
“This is absolutely ridiculous.”
The woman lamented to the empty air.
Then, as if genuinely baffled, she asked me.
“You close with him?”
“Not particularly.”
“Then why?”
“It seems to be his personality.”
“Ah, how frustrating.”
Shimmer-shimmer-shimmer-shimmer-!
Behind the woman saying she was frustrated, the lights practically rioted in their flashing.
They all seemed to be bursting with dopamine at this twist.
Crackle- crackle-crackle-
And the space where those frenzied lights gathered was steadily growing smaller.
Where we are now is the Big Cat’s territory.
The woman said she couldn’t come here, so she brought her own domain along.
Those wing-like, snowy gaps—that was it.
But seeing it close bit by bit, it seemed the woman didn’t have much time left to stay here.
“What a shame.”
The woman murmured regretfully.
Indeed, the woman had to leave here now.
Abandoning me, still bound to this space.
So I’ve made it……!
Just as I was inwardly cheering at this fact.
Crash-!
The woman suddenly pinned me down.
I fell backward without time to respond, and she straddled me, wrapping her hands around my throat.
“……!”
Startled by hands tightening around my neck, I grabbed her wrists.
But I couldn’t shake her off.
Those slender wrists remained fixed in place, not budging an inch.
With that grip, the woman began applying pressure at her fingertips, slowly strangling me.
“Ack……!”
In panic, I looked up at the woman.
She looked down at me expressionless.
She neither smiled nor scowled.
She simply looked down at me, delicately constricting my airway.
What’s this? The promise already…….
Is she just going to kill me outright?
Forgetting the promise, the bond—everything?
A chill ran through me and I thrashed desperately.
But my efforts were meaningless flailing.
While I struggled in desperation, the woman strangled me without apparent strain, and my breath began to fail.
Damn it, let go……!
As I writhed upward fighting for air, the woman bent her upper body closer.
I stared up at her approaching face in despair.
That face grew blurry.
I saw the lights the woman carried shimmer.
Beautiful, like stars perched on the Milky Way.
Just as my consciousness was slipping away.
The woman whispered to my ear.
“I’ll let you go this time.”
The pressure suddenly released.
“Hack! Gasp, gasp……!”
I gasped for air and twisted my body.
Then I quickly scrambled backward, trying to slip out from under her—but there was no need.
By the time I sat up, the woman was already gone.
Only I remained here, gasping for breath.
Death had passed me by.
Death had been certain, but circumstances changed.
I felt this truth sink in as I touched my throat.
Then I lifted my head and looked beyond the door.
The figure who had changed my situation with that choice was still busy smashing everything around.
* * *
Bang-! Boom-
At last the explosions stopped.
The tremors that had followed like aftershocks gradually subsided.
I noticed the space beyond the door had grown quiet and carefully poked my head out.
Team Leader Cha stood in the center of the waiting hall like a conqueror, surveying his surroundings.
I wanted to hurry over and join him, but rushing out recklessly might get me shot.
Calling out loudly all of a sudden was risky too.
So I lingered at the doorway, waiting for Cha Si-eon to notice me.
It didn’t take long.
Cha Si-eon’s gaze, sweeping the perimeter, fell on me.
I waved both arms eagerly as if I’d been waiting, signaling that I knew him.
“Team Leader!”
Cha Si-eon raised his gun when he saw me, but after confirming my face, he swung the muzzle to the side.
“Team Leader, it’s me!”
I called out again, showing him my open palms.
Then Cha Si-eon, who had been observing me from a distance, started striding toward me.
He seemed to recognize me.
Perhaps because I’d just been brought back from death, I felt strangely limp.
I couldn’t believe I could be this happy to see this person.
If anyone asks me my deepest wish, I should say I’m grateful to meet them again.
With this feeling, I moved toward Cha Si-eon.
But as the distance narrowed and I could make out his expression.
I instinctively stopped walking.
What’s this? The atmosphere seems…….
Just as I sensed something was wrong.
Cha Si-eon covered the remaining distance in quick strides.
Then.
Whack-!
“……!?”
A heavy blow landed on the crown of my head.
I, caught off guard, took the hit directly and froze in shock.
My scalp throbbed painfully.
But the psychological shock far outweighed the physical pain.
So I stared at Cha Si-eon with a vacant expression.
What was that. Did he just hit me?
Did he strike the top of my head with the edge of his hand?
Team Leader Cha? Me? I’m not Kwak Jae-gyeom……?
I couldn’t believe what had just happened to me.
So as I looked at Cha Si-eon with astonished eyes, he spoke flatly.
“I thought you were an enemy.”
“That’s a lie!”
Jolted back to my senses, I burst out indignantly.
But Cha Si-eon didn’t bother explaining.
He didn’t even pretend to listen.
As if to say: So what if I did?
I stared dumbly at Team Leader Cha before managing to calm myself with two sighs and a deep breath.
Right, what’s one hit to the head?
He made trouble—fair point. Let that go and assess the situation first.
“What happened?”
“What happened with you?”
“Huh?”
“You suddenly demand I destroy your will and jump out of the train—then stand there looking fine and acting pleased to see me?”
I, who had genuinely been happy, felt oddly embarrassed.
This situation seemed more serious than I’d thought…….
Or rather, it wasn’t more serious—it was grave.
Cha Si-eon was furious, and there was no sign he’d let it slide.
As I belatedly started to read the room, Team Leader Cha continued his interrogation.
“Are you insane? Or are you contaminated? Either way, what is this situation?”
“There were circumstances that warranted it.”
“So you acted in your right mind? If you take independent action like that, what are the rest of the unit supposed to do?”
“There wasn’t time to explain properly. And if I disappeared without a word, it would cause confusion, so I at least told you, the team leader…….”
“So you called for someone and then jumped out of the train?”
“…….”
At Cha Si-eon’s words, I felt a belated pang of regret.
There really had been no time or leeway earlier.
So I’d done what seemed urgent then, but now I finally understood what situation I’d created.
And what choice Cha Si-eon had been forced into because of it.
There’s no excuse for this.
“I’m sorry.”
“Tch…….”
I apologized, and in front of me, Cha Si-eon only exhaled a deep breath.
Since that sigh still seemed quite angry, I ventured to add.
“You can hit me again if you want.”
“……Enough.”
Cha Si-eon clicked his tongue as if exasperated.
But I saw it.
His hand started to rise, then came back down.

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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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