Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 69

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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 69

 

ep13. Blood Raining (1)

 

“It’s okay to cry, boy.

 

Before the tears you’ve swallowed harden, let them out with sound.

 

It’s fine to rest, man.

 

The world won’t disappear just because you close your eyes.

 

Be yourself, son.

 

Don’t become something faceless.”

 

I was forcibly turning the pages when I paused at a passage that caught my eye.

 

For some reason, encountering this sentence again after so long made me sigh.

 

So I closed the book I was reading.

 

As expected, this kind of escapist reading couldn’t organize the tension that had risen to the top of my head.

 

Two days had passed since the Concentration Suppression Period ended.

 

In that time, Team 1’s casualties had increased from 6 to 7.

 

The condition of the wounded was also terrible.

 

Agents whose arms or legs were shattered beyond any hope of reattachment.

 

They had received another kind of death sentence.

 

The smell of death was vibrating from all directions.

 

I couldn’t be free from that stench either.

 

I closed the book and turned on my tablet out of habit.

 

Then I opened Team 1’s operation report that was uploaded yesterday to look at it again.

 

—

 

■ “The Bleeding Island” Operation Report

 

Operation Period: May 9-12, 20XX

 

Personnel Deployed: 30 people

 

Operation Objectives

 

: Initialization of “The Bleeding Island” (suspended on May 11)

 

: Acquisition of “Big Cat” fragments (added on May 11)

 

■ Operation Log / Day 3

 

21:00 Entry into J-5 Zone

 

21:11 Confirmed “Alpha” departure

 

21:15 8th engagement / “Big Cat”, “Gardener”

 

21:44 J-5 Zone breakthrough

 

21:54 Standby order

 

22:35 New mission ‘Acquisition of “Big Cat” fragments’ issued

 

■ Operation Log / Day 4

 

06:00 Entry into J-6 Zone

 

06:17 9th engagement / “Big Cat”, “Gardener”

 

06:42 Retreat

 

07:00 Entry into B-5 Zone

 

(Omitted)

 

13:30 Entry into J-6 Zone

 

13:47 12th engagement / “Big Cat”, “Gardener”

 

14:09 “Big Cat” fragments secured

 

14:21 Withdrawal order

 

15:00 Entry into F-7 Zone, breakthrough

 

15:10 Entry into G-2 Zone, breakthrough

 

15:20 Entry into H-4 Zone, breakthrough

 

(Omitted)

 

16:00 Entry into A Zone, 13th engagement / “Big Cat”, “Alpha”, “Gardener”, “Echo”

 

16:11 “Big Cat” retreat

 

16:17 “Gardener” repelled

 

16:29 “Alpha” retreat

 

16:33 “Echo” repelled

 

16:46 “The Bleeding Island” reorganized

 

—

 

The 13th engagement that caused great damage to Team 1 members occurred just before the operation’s end.

 

Until just before that, Team 1 members had been quite elated.

 

The reason was, of course, the mission change from the previous day.

 

-Suspension of “The Bleeding Island” initialization mission.

 

-Secure fragments of “Big Cat”.

 

The sudden mission change naturally required explanation, and the command division willingly revealed the reason.

 

-Confirmed cessation of Special Zone activity.

 

-“Big Cat” fragments likely the medium.

 

Like Kwon Mu-seop and Baek Sa-ra, Team 1 members were also excited by this news.

 

So they forgot their accumulated fatigue and broke through dangerous zones to engage in two fierce battles with “Big Cat”.

 

They achieved a great victory in the 12th engagement and obtained fragments of “Big Cat”.

 

Now all that remained was to escape safely from there.

 

They were veterans, and their morale was sky-high.

 

So they advanced, refreshingly smashing through the obstacles blocking their way.

 

When they were approaching the exit, Team 1 members were definitely elated.

 

But that didn’t mean they relaxed their vigilance or let their guard down.

 

Then why did it turn out this way?

 

It must have been because the enemies were as desperate as us, no, more desperate than us.

 

* * *

 

Beep- Click-!

 

Late at night, there was the sound of a door opening.

 

As soon as I heard the sound, I got up and ran to the entrance.

 

The front door opened and Jae-gyeom came in.

 

“Welcome back, you worked hard.”

 

“…”

 

I greeted him, but Kwak Jae-gyeom looked at me once then dropped his gaze again.

 

It had been almost a week since I last saw Jae-gyeom’s face.

 

But Jae-gyeom’s expression was coldly hardened like I’d never seen before.

 

His face was gaunt and his eyes were dead.

 

“Did you eat?”

 

At my question, Jae-gyeom reluctantly nodded and went inside.

 

From his gait, there didn’t seem to be any major discomfort.

 

He just seemed tired.

 

And the back of his hands were mottled with scraped wounds.

 

Kwak Jae-gyeom had been detained in the Management Bureau’s detention center for the past two days.

 

But those wounds on the back of his hands still had blood on them as if they were fresh.

 

They couldn’t have been from injuries at “The Bleeding Island”.

 

It looked like he had punched walls or something while alone in the detention center.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

At my question, Jae-gyeom hesitated, then muttered almost inaudibly.

 

“I’d like to rest.”

 

Jae-gyeom went straight into his room and firmly closed the door.

 

I could only watch him like that.

 

Kwak Jae-gyeom was also part of Team 1, and had carried out missions at “The Bleeding Island”.

 

Team 1’s final battle took place in Zone A, the entrance to “The Bleeding Island.”

 

It was highly unusual for “The Big Cat” and “The Gardener” to ambush there.

 

The first casualty occurred just 2 seconds after entering Zone A.

 

It was due to the “Sticky Blood” that “The Big Cat” spewed out.

 

Afterwards, our personnel’s response left “The Big Cat’s” body half-destroyed.

 

“The Big Cat” fled, leaving only “The Gardener” behind, and “The Gardener” was soon repelled.

 

During this process, 2 people exploded and blood rained down.

 

Team 1 moved urgently to recover the wounded.

 

However, what some members heard wasn’t their team leaders’ orders, but the “Voice of the Dead” from “Echo” that had appeared at some point.

 

It was a trap, and waiting behind the trap was “Alpha.”

 

“Alpha” defeated the scattered members individually and seized their firearms.

 

A gunfight ensued.

 

1 person died instantly, 3 were shot.

 

Meanwhile, the flowers that “The Gardener” had planted bloomed.

 

Flowers that grew from within their bodies tore through the members’ skin and finally bloomed in full.

 

At this point, there were already 6 casualties.

 

Cha Si-eon neutralized “Alpha” and the gunfight ended.

 

Response Team 2 also succeeded in repelling “Echo.”

 

With that, the battle ended, but the deadline had also been exceeded.

 

The restructuring period of “The Bleeding Island” was over.

 

At that moment, the stagnant Special Zone began to stir.

 

Like a cicada shedding its shell, space writhed and the ground tilted.

 

The team leaders, sensing the spatial restructuring, ordered their team members to evacuate.

 

Then, a Response Team 4 agent who had been entranced by the “Voice of the Dead” mistook Response Team 3 for a threat and attacked.

 

Response Team 3’s Im Su-ho nearly got shot, and Kwak Jae-gyeom fought with the Response Team 4 agent.

 

At that moment, space distorted and clung to them.

 

Just as they were about to be dragged into the spatial reconstruction, Cha Si-eon grabbed and pulled them out.

 

After that, Cha Si-eon himself seemed to try to escape, but there wasn’t enough time.

 

Space collapsed, and two days have passed since then.

 

Cha Si-eon was still missing.

 

* * *

 

Another day passed.

 

He had already skipped breakfast and it was almost lunchtime, but Kwak Jae-gyeom still hadn’t come out of his room.

 

Knock knock-

 

“Jae-gyeom, are you awake?”

 

Thinking this couldn’t go on, I knocked on Kwak Jae-gyeom’s door.

 

But no answer came back.

 

Is he still sleeping?

 

I should at least make him eat lunch.

 

Just as I was about to open Jae-gyeom’s door.

 

Ding-

 

A message notification sounded from my tablet.

 

-Agent, is Kwak Jae-gyeom okay?

 

It was Ha Yu-ju.

 

-He doesn’t seem okay at all. He won’t eat and just stays in his room.

 

Yu-ju’s speech bubble appeared and disappeared in response to my reply.

 

It seemed like she was writing something and then deleting it repeatedly.

 

After about ten seconds of this, a new message arrived from Yu-ju.

 

-Agent, could you come out for a moment?

 

-Right now?

 

-Yes. I have something to give to Kwak Jae-gyeom, but I think he’d hate it if I went directly…

 

We agreed to meet in the break room in 30 minutes.

 

I encountered several staff members in the corridor leading to the break room.

 

But unlike before, no one offered a greeting nod.

 

Everyone just passed by like ghosts, their faces stern and gazes distant.

 

The vending machine area and external communication booths in the waiting room, which would normally have people gathered in small groups, were also empty.

 

That desolate space seemed to represent the Management Bureau’s disorder.

 

I was sitting alone in the empty break room when.

 

“Agent.”

 

I turned my head at the familiar voice.

 

Ha Yu-ju was running over with quick steps.

 

“Here, this…”

 

As soon as Yu-ju came up to me, she held out a heavy plastic bag.

 

Inside were snacks and drinks that could be easily consumed.

 

“He probably won’t come out of his room. So I thought he could at least eat this…”

 

“Should I just give this to Jae-gyeom as is?”

 

“Yes. But don’t tell him it’s from me…”

 

Yu-ju trailed off mid-explanation.

 

Then, as if emotions were welling up, she frowned and vented.

 

“He actually hates it when other people worry about him. He’s got a nasty temper… But he won’t snap at you or anything, Agent.”

 

Yu-ju seemed annoyed at her friend’s temperament that wouldn’t even let her worry in peace.

 

I understood her feelings completely and smiled bitterly.

 

Usually he seemed like just a cheerful, frivolous guy, but Kwak Jae-gyeom had unexpectedly sensitive sides.

 

Well, if he were completely frivolous, he wouldn’t have ended up in detention either.

 

The reason Kwak Jae-gyeom was locked up in detention.

 

It was because he beat up a Response Team 4 agent as soon as he came out of “The Bleeding Island.”

 

Kwak Jae-gyeom lost his reason and threw punches, claiming that agent was responsible for Cha Si-eon’s disappearance.

 

It wasn’t wrong, but they had to consider that the agent was also in a state of confusion.

 

So they shouldn’t have blamed him unconditionally.

 

They especially shouldn’t have resorted to violence.

 

Moreover, they were carrying live ammunition at the time.

 

So putting an agent who barely survived and returned from the battlefield in detention wasn’t an excessive measure.

 

“Jae-gyeom must have a lot on his mind too. Everything will be fine once Team Leader Cha returns.”

 

I forced myself to think positively to comfort Yu-ju.

 

Coincidentally, a rescue team had been deployed to “The Bleeding Island” at dawn today.

 

It was 60 hours since Cha Si-eon was isolated, so it couldn’t be called a swift response.

 

But I heard there was no need to be pessimistic.

 

Since it was none other than Cha Si-eon, everyone believed he would surely be alive somehow.

 

“Ah…”

 

But Yu-ju looked flustered after hearing my words.

 

When I looked at Yu-ju sensing something strange, Yu-ju bit her lips.

 

Then, with a face full of dismay, she said with difficulty.

 

“The rescue operation for Team Leader Cha… that was suspended this morning…”

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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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