Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 206

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

Editor’s Survival Manual Episode 206

ep28. Blooming School (7)

August 14, afternoon.

“But Master.”
“Even if I lie to you, what can you do about it?”

This bastard…….
While I was shaking my head at the Guide’s insolence, Jae-gyeom beside me held out his tablet and spoke.
“Hey, have you seen this?”
“What is it?”
“It’s a patch the design team made. Still a draft, but Otter drew it. They want me to pick one of the two?”
Could it actually be an otter…….
An animal baring its fangs fiercely within a circle.
An animal curling its long body into a round shape.
Yeah, they were both otters.
After thinking it over briefly, I chose the otter head displaying its canines toward the viewer.
“Isn’t that usually the kind of design you put on an armband?”
“Oh, Otter said that one was good too.”
“Can I see? Show me.”
It was then that Yeon Ga-ram, standing beside me, showed interest and approached.
Jae-gyeom glanced at him, then readily held out his tablet.
Having done so, the moment Yeon Ga-ram tried to take it, he pulled his arm away to the side.
Yeon Ga-ram flinched, then reached out his hand again.
In response, Kwak Jae-gyeom playfully pulled his arm away once more.
“Hey, are you messing with me?”
“That’s correct.”
When Yeon Ga-ram’s expression turned serious and he asked, Jae-gyeom nodded calmly.
At that, a frustrated Yeon Ga-ram reached out his arm again, and Kwak Jae-gyeom dodged again.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—
“Hey, I’m your senior……!”
“I know that too.”
Yeon Ga-ram asserting his seniority.
Kwak Jae-gyeom acknowledging the inversion of hierarchy while teasing back.
The two of them kept up their meaningless bickering for a while, and eventually they stood up from their seats and started running around the house.
Their energy is good…….
Thanks to that, the quiet Small House became filled with the sort of commotion you’d see from a dog and cat playing around.
I tried to stop them a few times before giving up and looking back at my laptop.

“Even if I lie to you, what can you do about it?”

On my laptop screen, where the Guide was parasitizing, was a sentence that, no matter how many times I looked at it, felt unpleasant.

* * *

August 15, early morning.
“The otter snarling design got rejected. They said it’s too cute to put on a Response Team member’s shoulder…….”
Yu-ju came and spoke to me as I was resting briefly after finishing my dawn jog.
At that, Jae-gyeom beside me nodded his head.
“Yeah, that’s not the kind of member who’d wear something like that.”
When the mention of members came up, I wiped the sweat from my face with a towel and asked back.
“Response Team 1 and Team 3 are going in, right?”
“Yes. The Team Leader and senior line.”
This operation to capture the Big Cat would proceed with six members from Response Team 1 and Team 3 respectively.
A team of twelve people was assembled, centered around experienced seniors.
So Cha Si-eon would be deployed on this operation, but Kwak Jae-gyeom would be excluded.
Instead, Jae-gyeom was scheduled to wait with me at the Small House.
“A snarling otter wouldn’t really fit those people, would it?”
Kwak Jae-gyeom murmured seriously, mimicking Yu-ju’s phrasing.
I nodded in agreement.
Those are people who’d be better suited with a snarling tiger or bear on their patch.
And a snarling otter on top of that—it’s just too ridiculous.
Now the date was set, the members were decided, and the patch design was finalized.
The operation was being prepared step by step.

* * *

August 22, morning.
“Everyone be careful out there.”
“Yes, sir!”
The operation team members responded loudly to Kwon Mu-seop’s words of caution.
They boarded the official vehicles, armed and ready.
Kwon Mu-seop exchanged greetings with each of them as they climbed aboard, and I stood beside him, seeing them off as well.
And among them was Cha Si-eon.
“Be careful out there.”
“I will.”
You……. No, never mind.
What we need is an accepting attitude.
I was baffled for a moment, but soon I sent off Team Leader Cha Si-eon with a generous heart.
After that, I headed to the Small House with Jae-gyeom and Yeon Ga-ram.

“You’re here again, Master.”
“Shortly, twelve Management Bureau personnel connected to the Blooming School will enter. Their names are Ra Gil-chan, Han Seung-yo, Woo Jae-seon, Kim Bo-hui, Kim Eun-tae, Lee Min-ha, Cha Si-eon, Kim Su-ho, Park Se-gwang, Choi Yong-su, Song Hyun-woo, and Hwang In-han.”
“I see. I wish them the best!”
“Now, your job is to bring any injured among these twelve directly here.”
“Yes, understood. They’re all people carrying heavy souls, but if they’re dying badly enough, I can transport them.”

Dying badly enough…….
I understood what it meant, but the phrasing still felt uncomfortable.
As I grew uneasy, the Guide added:

“So we’ll have to be careful they don’t drop dead on the spot!”

At the time, I thought this was just a malicious joke.

* * *

August 22, afternoon.
As long as the core isn’t destroyed, the entities in a Special Zone regenerate no matter how much damage they take.
The Big Cat was one of those dangerous entities that had been destroyed several times over but appeared again as time passed.
That’s why the Management Bureau didn’t place much importance on destroying the Big Cat itself.
The reason this Named Dangerous Entity and its mercenary individuals were still roaming around was precisely that.
Nine times.
The number of times the Management Bureau had repulsed the Big Cat over the past three years.
There was some risk involved, but it wasn’t an impossible target if you set your mind to it.
To the Management Bureau, the Big Cat was exactly that kind of existence.
“They’ve started.”
Jae-gyeom murmured while looking at his tablet.
The body camera footage of the personnel deployed to the Blooming School was being transmitted live on Jae-gyeom’s tablet, placed beside the Guide.
Personnel passing through corridors where crimson flowers bloomed.
They were tracking the Big Cat while being guided by the Control Team.
Soon they arrived at the lecture hall in Building S.
Bang—!
The moment the door opened, an explosion sound burst from the tablet speaker.

—Big Cat confirmed! Team A responding!

Followed by the voice of Response Team 1’s leader.
In that instant, the quiet interior of the university turned into a war zone.
Debris, smoke, explosions, vibrations.
The screen shook chaotically.
And beyond that, a skinless beast crouching in the corner of the wide lecture hall came into view.
Then came gunfire, explosions.
Boom—! Boom—! Boom—! Crash—!
Furniture shattered and flew apart before the Big Cat burst through a window and escaped outside.

—Big Cat has fled! In pursuit!

The Response Team members leaped through the window.
Rapid gunfire—!
Gunshots continued.
The Big Cat was being attacked by personnel stationed in the courtyard.
The Big Cat charged through the courtyard, trampling everything as it bounded.
The Big Cat turned its body, trying to flee.
Bang—!
As if stepping on a trap, its front legs exploded.
“…….”
Although the Big Cat seemed to be cornered smoothly, we watched the scene without letting our guard down.
But then.
The Guide, which had been quiet, suddenly began writing.

“Master, I have made a meaningful observation regarding the twelve people you mentioned earlier.”

An observation?

“In 3 minutes and 19 seconds, there is a very high probability that seven of them will die. The remaining five will suffer critical injuries, barely clinging to life.”

……What?

“What are you suddenly saying?”
“First, I must praise your response capabilities. You have succeeded in overpowering the Big Cat, a god. But I regret to inform you that this god is no less desperate than you, and not alone.”
“Speak plainly.”
“In 2 minutes and 47 seconds, the Big Cat will abandon part of its divine authority and call for aid, which will manifest as a calamity unlike anything you have ever witnessed. It is both a tribute and a punishment for the human who drove a god into a corner.”

I was quite startled by the words the Guide poured out.
Even reading them, I couldn’t fully comprehend.
As I grew confused, the Guide added:

“If you need proof, I’ll show you what’s about to happen.”

The laptop screen the Guide had been writing on changed to display the exact same feed as Jae-gyeom’s tablet.
The body camera footage of personnel who had entered the Blooming School.
But that footage, which started with the same scene, began to play several times faster than what appeared on Jae-gyeom’s tablet.
The Big Cat writhing in pain, its front legs already destroyed.
Response Team members suppressing fire, continuing to drive the Big Cat forward.
An explosion ripped through the Big Cat’s lower body, leaving it tattered.
As if its cervical spine had been pierced, the Big Cat’s head fell limp to the ground.
As the Big Cat collapsed, the Response Team slowly closed in.
Then the Big Cat cried out in agony.
It cried and cried again.
A dying creature crying out desperately to heaven like a prayer.
Then the surroundings suddenly darkened.
A thick, crimson cloud covered the bright blue sky in an instant.
And then Bleeding began to fall from the heavens.
And the personnel struck by it crumbled like sandcastles…….
“Hey, what’s wrong? What showed up on the screen?”
When I suddenly startled while looking at my laptop screen, Jae-gyeom asked in confusion.
Then, a chilling sound came from Jae-gyeom’s tablet.
Skreeee—!
It was the Big Cat’s cry.

“If we leave things as they are, seven deaths will be confirmed and five will be predetermined. Shall I bring those twelve here?”

I had no time to explain what I’d seen to Jae-gyeom.
So I asked the Guide directly:
“Can you do it?”

“It’s possible with the aid of a newborn god.”
“If you go now to meet the Raven, I will conduct an exchange between you and them. The Type 1 Special Zone will eagerly welcome an exchange of one human for twelve lives.”

You’re telling me to go in there?
If I do that, all those people can be extracted?

“Have you decided, Master?”
“One life for twelve—I think that’s absolutely not a bad trade!”

There was no time to think.
At that moment, crimson rain streaks also appeared on Jae-gyeom’s tablet screen.
—Ugh……!
One of the personnel in the screen cried out, tearing at their own sleeves.
The exact same scene the Guide had shown me.
The instant I saw it, I shouted toward the Guide:
“Bring those people here!”

“Then prepare to meet a god. To meet a god, you must first be purified.”

Purified? Damn……!
I pulled the in-ear device and tablet from my vest and threw them away.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
Jae-gyeom, still struggling to understand the situation, asked me in confusion.
But I had no time to answer.
After throwing away all my electronic devices, I urgently ripped the smartwatch from my wrist.
“Hey!”
Jae-gyeom tried to stop me.
I shook off his hand and finally tore off the smartwatch and threw it away.
Then a new sentence appeared on the Guide’s screen.

“Now I understand why the souls in the cage rejoice!”

* * *

And now.
The date is probably August 23, the time unknown.
Having regained all my memories, I slowly let the confusion settle.
I remember now.
I had crossed over that way, and those people had been moved to the Small House.
When I arrived, the Big Cat and Bleeding had already dissolved and disappeared somewhere.
Recalling all this, my frantically racing heart found its original rhythm again.
“Phew…….”
I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead and let out a long breath.
I thought it was a disaster, but I managed to put out the immediate fire.
Good thing.

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