Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 74

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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 74

ep13. Blood Raining (6)

“I’m not ruling out that possibility.”

Cha Si-eon’s quiet voice left me speechless.

“I’m prioritizing Seo Do-un’s survival above all else. But it’s not for Seo Do-un personally. Does that explanation suffice?”

It did.

I could understand all his actions up to now.

But agreeing and supporting it was a separate matter.

“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”

“Telling you wouldn’t have changed anything.”

“You must have at least looked for other methods.”

“That’s exactly why I didn’t. It seemed like a pointless waste of time.”

“…!”

“The situation is bad. Communications are cut, escape isn’t guaranteed, and we lack information about what happens after the reorganization. On top of that, a Named Dangerous Entity is targeting us. This isn’t a situation where we can leisurely try multiple options like before. That’s why I chose the most conservative method.”

Right, I understood what he meant.

If we try to save both, there’s a high probability both will die.

But if we decide to save only one and let the other shoulder the risk, at least one person’s survival rate would increase.

That’s what Cha Si-eon had been doing all along.

Thanks to him, I had cleared multiple stages without exhausting my stamina.

And I had learned the strategy for this space through observation.

Even if we can’t escape like this and the “Blood Rain” falls, at least the next dawn would be safe.

The “Big Cat” was targeting Cha Si-eon, and Cha Si-eon was already prepared to be bait.

Right, I fully understood your intention.

In the end, you’re saying you’ll burn your body like straw to save me.

“I’ll say it again—this isn’t for Seo Do-un personally. So don’t feel unnecessary guilt and just follow orders. Didn’t you say with your own mouth that you’re an important person?”

Cha Si-eon spoke while squeezing out his voice.

Seeing him press both temples with his hands, it seemed another headache was coming on.

Damn, I had no words to refute him.

As he said, Cha Si-eon looking after me wasn’t for my sake.

Some possibility that I might unravel the clues to the Special Zone.

He was just clinging to that possibility.

And if we could just stop the Special Zone, one Management Bureau agent’s life wouldn’t even need to be spared.

The calculation was crystal clear.

“Wait a moment, Team Leader.”

But I still couldn’t accept it.

“The premise is wrong from the start. What makes me an important person? It’s because of the assumption that I get some hints while being dragged around by the Special Zone, isn’t it?”

At my words, Cha Si-eon forced himself to look at me.

His eyes, barely managing to focus, were bloodshot as if blood might flow from them.

I looked straight into those eyes and continued speaking.

“And I was dragged here now. Right in front of you, Team Leader, even carrying food. What could this mean?”

“….”

“I interpret this as meaning I should survive and escape together with Team Leader Cha.”

That possibility you’re clinging to.

That possibility dragged me in and illuminated you, Cha Si-eon.

So you need to live too.

If you believe in this possibility, you should show at least this much seriousness.

“If that were true, we should have found an answer by now. But even after Seo Do-un arrived, the situation hasn’t changed.”

“….”

“The space rules remain the same, and Seo Do-un hasn’t discovered anything different either. Isn’t that right?”

This time, Cha Si-eon’s counter-question left me speechless.

The sight of us exchanging silences was quite pathetic.

“So we shouldn’t blindly trust the situation. Whether it’s an opportunity or a trap must be judged anew every moment.”

Damn, so this time it’s a trap, not a hint?

So you’ll sacrifice your body first, then I should try to survive alone after that?

“I’m not doing this out of blind faith, but because your judgment is too extreme, Team Leader. Even if I get one more day, it’s not like some solution will emerge, so why are you betting your life on such an uncertain possibility?”

I raised my voice, feeling the conversation going in circles pointlessly.

“Does this really make financial sense? Right now, you’re the one who isn’t judging with a clear mind…!”

But the words in my mouth couldn’t all come out.

Thud-!

It was because Cha Si-eon had grabbed my collar and shoved me against the wall.

“…!”

Like a few hours ago, my throat was compressed again.

Cha Si-eon glared at me with a far more menacing expression than a few hours ago.

With eyes not just bloodshot but tinged with blood, he growled like a cornered beast.

“Just take what’s given to you in moderation.”

“You crazy… Cough!”

“If you’re weak, face reality and take what’s offered when it’s offered.”

“….”

I reflexively resisted, then stopped.

Then I looked at Cha Si-eon, who was half out of his mind.

Cha Si-eon also looked at me briefly, then let go of my collar and stepped back.

Then he turned away as if avoiding his own actions.

What washed over me, equally avoided, wasn’t humiliation or anger.

It certainly wasn’t pity for that foolish bastard either.

What surged through me now was familiarity.

A sense of déjà vu stemming from old memories.

That’s right.

I had disliked Cha Si-eon from the beginning.

But it wasn’t entirely Cha Si-eon’s fault.

Rather, it was because of the resemblance.

His occasional words, actions, and atmosphere were so similar, so terribly alike, that through him I was remembering.

My dear father, who had already passed away.

* * *

5:03 PM. We cleared the 25th Zone.

“Huff, wheeze….”

Cha Si-eon no longer hid his labored breathing.

I also stopped asking if he was okay.

6:11 PM. We cleared the 29th Zone.

A “Faceless Thing” deeply stabbed Cha Si-eon with its sharp hand.

But Cha Si-eon handled the bleeding and treatment himself.

7:01 PM. We cleared the 31st Zone.

The speed of clearing stages had noticeably slowed.

Cha Si-eon’s movements were the same.

Seeing even small mistakes increase, I had an intuition.

There wasn’t much left—that man would die soon.

It’s a common characteristic of such self-righteous types.

They rise quickly and fall just as fast.

So there was no need to particularly hate them.

They’re short-lived anyway, so if you wait a bit, they’ll die on their own.

I had nothing to lose here.

There’s no way it could be a loss when he’s making a fuss about burning his own life to save me.

I didn’t even have the confidence to mourn Cha Si-eon’s death.

I could feel responsibility, but he had personally removed even that motivation.

So I really had nothing to lose.

Just take what I could get moderately, as he said.

I could do that without any trouble.

Letting deaths close to me pass by without compassion was one of the things I was good at.

19:42. We broke through the 34th Zone.

When we emerged from the zone, the sunset was setting.

The sky here seemed to properly paint day and night.

I looked at the still indigo sky and the clouds dyed red, then checked the time.

Since it seemed about time, I opened my mouth for the first time in hours.

“Five minutes have passed.”

“….”

When I announced the end of the break, Cha Si-eon forced himself to get up.

His movements clearly showed he was struggling just to maintain his balance.

I watched that sight for a moment, then approached Cha Si-eon.

Then I extended my hand to him, who still hadn’t managed to stand up.

It wasn’t with the intention of supporting him.

“Endure it. Isn’t this what you chose?”

Cha Si-eon looked back and forth between my face and hand with slow movements.

I was holding a medicine bottle in my hand.

“….”

Cha Si-eon silently opened his palm, and I poured medicine into it.

“Let’s rest for just 5 more minutes until the medicine takes effect.”

I said after confirming that Cha Si-eon had swallowed the medicine.

Then I looked at the sunset again and gradually felt hungry.

So I rummaged through the plastic bag and took out a snack to eat.

While I was eating the long snack by breaking it into pieces, I heard the sound of a rice sack collapsing next to me.

Slide- Thud-!

It was the sound of Cha Si-eon, who had been leaning against the wall, collapsing.

He was struggling desperately to straighten his tilted posture like the Little Mermaid.

But his trembling arms could barely support his own body.

I ate my snack while appreciating that strange sight.

When I just calmly watched, Cha Si-eon asked me half-doubtfully.

“What was that medicine you gave me earlier…?”

“A sedative.”

“…!”

Cha Si-eon’s face was colored with shock.

Wow, a sight I’d never seen before.

“Are you insane…!”

“I never said it was aspirin. If Team Leader can’t even distinguish medicine, just go to sleep.”

Despite my well-intentioned advice, Cha Si-eon didn’t listen and pressed both arms against the floor.

Since he was trying desperately to get up, I stood up first.

Then I lightly kicked one of Cha Si-eon’s arms.

Thud-!

Cha Si-eon crashed face-first into the floor.

He looked at me with an expression that said he didn’t know what had happened, then soon fiercely muttered my name.

“Seo Do-un…!”

Sorry, but that’s not scary.

It’s like an anesthetized tiger growling in its sleep.

When Cha Si-eon tried to grab my ankle, I stepped back.

But it would have been fine even if he caught me.

The guy was panting, unable to even lift his own eyelids.

“Since it’s come to this, get some rest. Among kids who pull all-nighters studying, there aren’t any who actually study well.”

“What nonsense are you… Does this seem like a situation to joke around…?”

“Who jokes around with matters involving their own life? Proper rest and maintenance are also strategies. Didn’t you learn that in the military?”

“Who was the one interfering with rest…!”

Interfering?

Ah, was sitting there at first supposed to be resting? I didn’t know.

“Can’t grasp the situation… doing this kind of thing…!”

Cha Si-eon glared at me while grinding his teeth.

Ha, he really endures tenaciously.

I took out a handkerchief from my vest and unfolded it.

Then I gently placed it over Cha Si-eon’s face like I would for someone who had passed into eternal rest.

“Please sleep, Team Leader. I’ll wake you when it’s time.”

“Kugh…!”

It’s much better now that I can’t see his face.

He became quiet too.

With his vision blocked, drowsiness seemed to pour over him more earnestly.

Yes, Cha Si-eon who resembles my father.

Stop enduring and just sleep.

Who are you being stubborn for?

I was truly confident.

Confident that I’d be fine even if you died.

But there might be others who wouldn’t be.

There are people desperately waiting for your safe return.

And I also don’t want to deliberately despise any death.

So rest, man.

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

“This bastard….”

“….”

Persistent, really.

“Damn guy who doesn’t listen… fucking bastard….”

Cha Si-eon started muttering like someone under sleep anesthesia.

“From the beginning, constantly… irritating….”

But it was all cursing about me.

I was so dumbfounded that I asked the unconscious Cha Si-eon.

“What did I do so wrong to you?”

I’m really asking because I don’t know.

Did I act arrogant like you, did I nitpick for no reason?

The medicine I just gave you? This is also something you already did to me.

“Interfering….”

“…?”

“In my work… why….”

What is this about?

I pondered for a moment over the fragments of words Cha Si-eon had uttered.

Then I remembered what Baek Sa-ra had said.

-But he is someone with tremendous pride.

-Otter did what Team Leader Cha couldn’t do.

Could this possibly be the same context?

I pondered for a moment, then asked with half-belief and half-doubt.

“Are you talking about Lee Sol by any chance?”

“How do you know that… you damn bastard…”

…Is this guy really unconscious?

Isn’t he just taking this opportunity to say all the curses he’s wanted to say?

I was dumbfounded and asked again clearly.

“Are you upset that I saved Lee Sol instead of the Team Leader?”

“Shut up… Fuck…”

“…”

It’s unfortunate that the smartwatch is broken.

I need to record all this and play it back to him.

Come to think of it, it didn’t necessarily have to be an audio recording.

I suddenly thought of an alternative and checked the time first.

Then I opened my notebook and wrote.

—

8:01 PM.

Cha Si-eon said ‘fuck’ to me.

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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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