Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 62

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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 62

 

ep11. Stealing the Five Senses (7)

 

Until now, the “Ants” that Kwon Mu-seop caught had charged straight toward us.

 

Moreover, they were quite large, so as long as we knew their direction, shooting and hitting them wasn’t difficult.

 

But look.

 

Rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle-!

 

The dazzling footwork of Rescuer 26 “Ant” targeting us.

 

It was moving back and forth in what seemed like an emotionally unstable state, so Kwon Mu-seop, who couldn’t see ahead, was unable to respond.

 

As a result, the heavy rifle was passed to me.

 

I recalled my body’s memory and took position.

 

Pfft-!

 

With the gunshot muffled by the silencer, the “Ant’s” body shook with a thud.

 

Pfft pfft pfft-!

 

When I fired in bursts, the “Ant” collapsed right there.

 

-Oh, you shoot well?

 

Thank goodness…!

 

I relaxed and aimed again.

 

Pfft- pfft pfft-!

 

When I predicted its movement direction and shot, the “Ant” collapsed without fail.

 

Just when I thought it would fall like this.

 

Swoosh-!

 

The “Ant” spat transparent mucus toward us.

 

That sticky substance easily flew 40 meters and poured down on us.

 

Crackle crackle crackle-!

 

Instantly, my vision was blocked and a loud foil sound rang out.

 

Section Chief Kwon Mu-seop had spread out a foil blanket to block the “Ant Thread.”

 

“Did any thread touch your body?”

 

“No, it didn’t touch me.”

 

Kwon Mu-seop sighed in relief and folded the foil blanket.

 

Spitting the “Ant Thread” must have been its last struggle.

 

The “Ant” was lying dead upside down, and our surroundings were full of transparent mucus.

 

I burned the “Ant Thread” with a torch to clear a path.

 

Then Yun U-jeong whistled.

 

-Wow, he’s better than I thought? Section Chief, you can entrust the gun to Do-un.

 

Finally escaping the weakling status!

 

But Section Chief Kwon Mu-seop still seemed to find me unreliable.

 

“Won’t it be heavy? It’s not flat ground but a mountain path.”

 

-Come on. He’s also completed military service, Section Chief.

 

“Still, though.”

 

Even when Yun U-jeong expressed her opinion again, it was the same.

 

I muttered awkwardly at Kwon Mu-seop’s persistent distrust.

 

“Section Chief, I’m not that weak.”

 

“No, it’s not that you’re weak…”

 

Kwon Mu-seop tried to explain something.

 

He only started speaking and the silence was growing long.

 

Section Chief, if you do this, it only sounds like I’m really weak.

 

Kwon Mu-seop also seemed to notice the atmosphere had become strange, and soon confessed as if giving up.

 

“Actually, Director Kim Woo-in gave me a warning.”

 

“Director Kim Woo-in?”

 

“Yeah, he said he won’t let it slide if I work you hard like during the ‘Warehouse-style Mart’…”

 

Huh, really?

 

“He called me aside last week and said that. He told me not to do useless things with you and to take care of you as gently as possible. He threatened me for almost an hour. He said if you get hurt for no reason, he really won’t let it slide this time…”

 

-Director Kim is scary, right.

 

“Right, he’s scary.”

 

He must really be scary.

 

Seeing him repeat “won’t let it slide” twice.

 

And Kim Woo-in wasn’t someone only I found scary…

 

I’m really glad he’s a doctor.

 

If he were on the opposite side of saving lives, he would have been much scarier.

 

“So Do-un, you really can’t get hurt.”

 

“…”

 

Watching Kwon Mu-seop earnestly entreating me, I finally realized.

 

The reason why our section chief, who has outstanding skills and experience, sometimes feels incompetent.

 

Our section chief has no middle ground…

 

“Section Chief, I understand what you’re saying, but you don’t need to be that overprotective. Just treat me…”

 

I was about to say ‘please treat me like the other agents’ but stopped.

 

Thinking about it, I felt I should be careful with my words around this person who has no middle ground.

 

“…I’ll be careful not to get hurt. I’ll carry the gun too. This much is really okay.”

 

“Alright. Then I’m counting on you.”

 

Watching Kwon Mu-seop smile brightly, I nodded again.

 

To think a superior with both skills and character could look like the neighborhood fool big brother.

 

This could be considered a talent if it’s a talent.

 

* * *

 

8 more hours passed.

 

It’s now been 15 hours since we entered the “Ant Hill that Steals the Five Senses.”

 

Now at about the halfway point, if I were to give a mid-evaluation, it’s been absolutely smooth.

 

So smooth that it felt like I came mountain climbing with my work superior rather than being dragged to a Special Zone.

 

There were a few incidents of catching “Ants” when the timing of renewing the stigma got mixed up in between.

 

But even this wasn’t particularly difficult.

 

Moreover, it will be easier from now on.

 

The number of remaining “Ants” is now 4.

 

The sections we need to avoid have also become much fewer than before.

 

The “Stone Towers” to use during the remaining 14 hours are abundantly left along the accessible slope path.

 

Now we were in a situation where we just needed to enjoy the winter mountain and kill time.

 

If I had been dropped here alone, I would have been in chaos fighting battles with the “Ants.”

 

What if there was no support from the Management Bureau?

 

Those aggressive “Ants,” the “Stone Towers” we had to find blindly, and the sudden cold would have all been fatal.

 

But the “Ant Hill” with Section Chief Kwon Mu-seop was really smooth in every way.

 

Even the condition of the woman caught in the “Ant Thread.”

 

“I have something to ask…”

 

When we visited her for the third time, the woman no longer screamed.

 

She only asked us calmly in a much more composed manner.

 

“If I die here, will you tell my parents everything?”

 

“No. Information about the relevant area is not disclosed to civilians. It will be reported to the bereaved family as a simple accidental death.”

 

“Then what do you usually explain?”

 

Tears streamed down from the eyes of the woman who had been trying to speak calmly.

 

“It can’t be murder. Then my mom won’t be able to live her whole life.”

 

“…”

 

“Suicide too, I think she’d be too shocked, so I want it to be as natural a death as possible…”

 

“We can report it as a fatal fall in the mountains.”

 

“That won’t work either, my dad loves the mountains… Just make it something like a heart attack. So no one has to blame anyone.”

 

The woman spoke with dignity even while sobbing.

 

It seemed she had finally accepted death as Kwon Mu-seop intended.

 

So she appeared to be doing her best to think about how to use this last opportunity.

 

“And I’m really sorry, but could you go to my house once?”

 

“If there are roommates, it would be difficult.”

 

“I live alone. My parents are in the countryside.”

 

“Then it’s possible.”

 

“Please throw away what’s in the drawer next to my bed… Don’t look at what’s there. And please delete my SNS accounts too…”

 

I think this is an important part.

 

Everyone has at least one Pandora’s box that would be embarrassing to show to others, especially family.

 

The woman found it funny even to herself, stopping her sobbing to let out a few chuckles.

 

Then she cried again and murmured.

 

That she was supposed to go out with a friend next week.

 

I found it painful to watch and turned my eyes away.

 

Then I looked at Kwon Mu-seop and was genuinely surprised.

 

Kwon Mu-seop was facing the woman even though he couldn’t see.

 

Rather, he seemed to be trying to make eye contact, as if that was the last courtesy he could show this woman.

 

“Thank you.”

 

The woman whispered, dyed white by the “Ant Thread.”

 

“I’m really sorry for cursing earlier…”

 

“Not at all. You’ve been through a lot.”

 

The woman who left her last words decided to live a little longer until we escaped from here.

 

We turned away once more, leaving the woman behind.

 

Compared to before when crying sounds followed behind us, this was a very quiet farewell.

 

* * *

 

In 14 hours, that woman will die.

 

She won’t die naturally, and we have to help with that.

 

A kind of execution.

 

No, it would be closer to a medical procedure helping eternal rest.

 

Either way, it meant ending a life, and that couldn’t be insignificant.

 

It’s an experience I’d rather avoid.

 

“Section Chief.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

Kwon Mu-seop responded to my voice while walking, tapping the ground with a wooden stick.

 

Now he walks well on his own without Yun U-jeong’s guidance.

 

Truly an amazing veteran.

 

Trusting his experience, I voiced the question that had risen in my mouth.

 

“What happens to that woman if this space’s core is destroyed?”

 

“Would it be right to weigh that?”

 

An unexpected counter-question came back.

 

“Pardon?”

 

“‘Ant Hill’ is a completely explored area. If we destroy the core, all the sacrifice and effort put in to understand this place’s rules would become meaningless.”

 

“…”

 

“Besides, if a new Special Zone is created, there will be more sacrifices. Even so, would destroying the core and saving that person be the right thing to do?”

 

Kwon Mu-seop’s voice and tone remained gentle.

 

So it seemed like a question he was asking himself rather than me.

 

-She won’t survive even if we destroy the core.

 

When an awkward silence flowed, Yun U-jeong interjected.

 

-The contamination has progressed too far. When the core is destroyed, everything that composed the Special Zone disappears and people are expelled outside, but what would happen to that person then?

 

Yun U-jeong explained with a troubled tone.

 

-She’d be thrown out somewhere with her contaminated limbs severed. Then she’d either die from shock, or unless she’s lucky enough to land in front of an emergency room, she’d die from excessive bleeding.

 

As Yun U-jeong said, that woman only had her upper body left.

 

Her arms and lower body had already become one with the “Ant Thread” and dissolved away.

 

Rather, it was a miracle she was still alive.

 

-Like everything in the world, some things have to be accepted even if we don’t like them.

 

Yun U-jeong’s voice was troubled.

 

It also felt like she was defending Kwon Mu-seop.

 

So I didn’t ask anything more.

 

* * *

 

The remaining time continued to flow smoothly.

 

Rather, the situation of the agents deployed during the Concentration Suppression Period was more chaotic than ours.

 

According to Yun U-jeong’s report, Team 1 in particular was struggling against the fierce attacks of mercenary entities.

 

The operation was a complete mess as “Big Cat” appeared in “The Bleeding Island” following “Alpha” and “Gardener.”

 

Moreover, the reorganization period of “The Bleeding Island” would end tomorrow, but they hadn’t even found the core’s location yet.

 

So shortly after, they planned to pour all their power against the mercenary entities blocking the entry route.

 

If they still couldn’t break through, they would have to acknowledge mission failure and retreat.

 

Despite such turbulent outside circumstances, the “Ant Hill” where we were remained quiet.

 

Now about 9 hours remained.

 

If there were no variables, we would escape from here safely.

 

Of course, my life couldn’t be that smooth.

 

-Section Chief, a bird has been observed in Area A-1.

 

A bird?

 

“What kind of bird?”

 

-Black feathers and beak. Body height from head to tail is about 60cm. The species appears to be a ‘crow.’

 

“If it’s a crow, that’s the one.”

 

-Yes, it’s the same species that appeared when Do-un was in the “Warehouse-style Mart.”

 

That bird appeared here too?

 

I turned to look at Section Chief Kwon Mu-seop in surprise.

 

Then I was even more surprised.

 

Kwon Mu-seop was smiling.

 

With his canines showing, wearing an unusually fierce expression.

 

-Section Chief, the bird is luring and moving Ant No. 5.

 

Yun U-jeong said seriously.

 

-Right now, it’s heading in your direction, Section Chief.

 

Another absurd situation was about to unfold.

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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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