Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 76

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

Editor’s Survival Rules Episode 76

ep13. Blood Rain (8)

“Even so, the reason Area A hasn’t appeared is because all the zones we’ve broken through are each different spaces.”

What kind of nonsense is this now?

“Right after being isolated, I marked the time on the wall next to the exit every time I broke through a zone to inform the rescue team of my location.”

When I looked at him puzzledly, Cha Si-eon explained.

“But when I re-entered that zone, the traces I left weren’t there. At first I thought the space recovered quickly, but on my 83rd attempt, I found traces I had left before for the first time in Area H.”

I wondered what that ‘☆Duplicate 1’ written next to H meant.

So that’s what it was.

But only one duplicate while wandering around 92 times?

“So my conclusion is that the spaces we thought were the same zones and broke through are actually different spaces that look identical, and there are countless numbers of them.”

“Wait, hold on.”

I barely swallowed the medicine in my mouth and interrupted.

“I thought this place consisted of 10 rooms, and when you clear one room, the next room is randomly assigned like a spinning roulette. But you’re saying that’s not it?”

“That structure itself is correct. It’s just that the randomly appearing rooms aren’t 10 but much more, and the ratios are different too.”

What the hell does this even mean.

“So you’re saying this is roulette spinning, but Areas A and J that haven’t appeared yet have such narrow winning areas that they’re hard to even see?”

“Yes.”

“Instead, the other zones have proportionally much more, but it’s not one wide section but several small sections?”

“Exactly. If you think of it that way, it explains both why spaces only duplicated once and why A and J haven’t appeared yet.”

Huh…

So what we’ve been doing wasn’t ordinary roulette spinning but gacha with ridiculous odds?

The number of zones Cha Si-eon broke through alone was 92.

The number of zones broken through while taking me along is 34.

Area A still hasn’t appeared despite a whopping 126 attempts.

Then what’s the ratio between A and everything else?

1 in 1,000? Or 1 in 10,000?

It’s incalculable.

This was literally finding a needle in a desert.

“But you were planning to find Area A by breaking through recklessly?”

I asked in disbelief.

Then Cha Si-eon answered somewhat defensively.

“The probability is low but it’s not zero, so I thought it was worth continuing to try.”

“…”

“I also had the purpose of making you learn how to clear each zone.”

So that’s why you ran yourself ragged.

You acted all rational by yourself, then did such a brute force thing…

When I stared at him incredulously, Cha Si-eon also seemed embarrassed and avoided my gaze.

Fine, let’s say it’s all because of being sensitive from lack of sleep and hunger.

“I understand the structure for now, but why did it become so messed up? It wasn’t like this originally, right?”

Just coincidence? Some kind of defect due to downgrading?

Well, it doesn’t seem like it would be that simple.

“Area J also hasn’t appeared at all like A, and J is the Big Cat’s stronghold, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“Then only Area A with the Management Bureau corridor and Area J which is the Big Cat’s stronghold had their accessibility reduced.”

Could this really be coincidence?

“The Big Cat is a peculiar individual in many ways…”

When I slowly began, Cha Si-eon stared at me intently.

“Ant Hill stopped working when it touched the Big Cat’s fragment. Then couldn’t we consider that it has authority to operate the Special Zone?”

“That would be a reasonable assumption.”

“It’s certain that the Big Cat suffered quite a bit during the intensive suppression period, and that it became difficult to enter its stronghold after the second reorganization.”

“…”

The Big Cat usually stays in Area J and only roams other areas when Blood Rain falls.

I don’t know if this is simple behavior or due to some constraint.

What’s certain is that after the second awakening, access to Areas A and J became very difficult.

Area A being connected to the Management Bureau’s corridor makes sense, but why Area J?

“Couldn’t we interpret this as the Big Cat being scared?”

Team 1 failed their mission during the last intensive suppression period.

That doesn’t mean the Big Cat won though.

The downgraded Island.

Two destroyed mercenary individuals.

And Ant Hill that stopped working.

All of these could be considered the Big Cat’s failures.

Considering that creature’s desperate attempts to block our path.

“You said you encountered the Big Cat at dawn, how did you escape then?”

“I had a rifle then. However, I ran out of bullets midway and responded with a pistol and knife, and the Big Cat fled when I stabbed around its chest area.”

“If it runs away from that much, couldn’t we drive it away again?”

“All we have for weapons now is a pistol with few bullets left and a knife.”

“But look, Team Leader. Even when that thing ran away, you were alone holding just a knife. If it’s something that runs away even then, we don’t need to fear it so much.”

“Don’t underestimate it carelessly. You’d die if hit by a dump truck driven by a child too.”

“I’m not saying to underestimate it. I’m saying don’t assume we’ll definitely die if we encounter it.”

“…”

“Setting the Blood Rain timing as the deadline was also because of the Big Cat, wasn’t it. But is that really necessary? Is dodging, avoiding, or driving away the Big Cat again really so impossible that we can’t even consider it?”

Cha Si-eon silently rubbed his face.

“Of course, you could think of it as a dangerous gamble. But the other options are the same. If your being eaten by the Big Cat guaranteed my survival, I’d want you to sacrifice yourself too. But the situation after that is also a series of uncertainties, and if so, traveling with you is more advantageous for survival than going alone. And above all.”

I paused and looked directly at Cha Si-eon.

“Do you really want to die here, Team Leader?”

“…”

At my question, Cha Si-eon’s eyes deepened.

He lowered his gaze as if agonizing, then soon muttered like a sigh.

“Understood. I’ll follow your opinion, Seo Do-un.”

How unusual for him not to be stubborn.

When I looked at him curiously at his surprisingly quick agreement, Cha Si-eon added with irritation.

“I knew this would happen from the moment you started running your mouth.”

His tone was completely fed up.

Hey, when did I ever nag like that.

Come to think of it, I guess things generally went my way.

While I was having minor reflections, Cha Si-eon hesitated uncharacteristically.

Then he recited while looking to the side.

“And I’m sorry about earlier. Acting inappropriately was my fault regardless of reason. I apologize.”

Huh.

I doubted my ears.

Really? Did I hear that correctly just now?

I looked at Cha Si-eon half-believing, half-doubting.

But that guy avoided looking at me.

With a quite embarrassed expression.

Huh, what a thing to live to see.

I never thought the day would come when I’d get an apology from him.

I watched that unfamiliar scene for a moment, then spoke up.

“Team Leader.”

“Go ahead.”

“Since we’re on the topic, did you really think I was fake at first?”

Cha Si-eon remained silent for a moment before speaking.

“To be honest, I thought the possibility was low.”

“Then why did you suddenly throw me like that?”

“There’s no harm in being careful, and I thought it wouldn’t matter even if you were real.”

This bastard…?

“Don’t you feel sorry about that?”

Cha Si-eon fell silent again at my question.

He seemed to think deeply, then nodded and answered.

“No, that’s fine with me.”

…I need to live a bit longer.

Until Team Leader Cha becomes a better person than this.

* * *

When the human body touches “Blood Rain,” it melts away.

So when night comes, you must secure a safe space before the “Blood Rain” falls.

First, the garden is excluded since the sky is wide open.

The outdoor spaces ‘Zone A. Square Lounge’, ‘Zone H. Outdoor Performance Hall’, ‘Zone I. Amphibious Forest’, and ‘Zone J. Island Promenade’ are also unsuitable.

The remaining zones are indoors so they’re somewhat better, but we also had to prepare for the “Big Cat” that appears when the “Blood Rain” falls.

So ‘Zone D. Gallery 1’ and ‘Zone E. Gallery 2’, which are long corridor formats with no cover at all, were naturally eliminated.

‘Zone B. Indoor Concert Hall’ and others where you have to frantically avoid danger elements are also unsuitable.

Considering all these various conditions, the most suitable place to spend the night here was ‘Zone C. Citizens’ Library’.

“Oh.”

I let out a light exclamation seeing the scene beyond the door.

“Fortunately, we found it right away.”

Cha Si-eon also nodded beside me at my relief.

The space we arrived at had a duplex structure.

The wide hall had one wall that was floor-to-ceiling windows, showing the open garden.

Next to it, the duplex-structured zone had a library on the 1st floor and a cafe on the 2nd floor.

Also, near the stairs connecting the 1st and 2nd floors, there was a small exhibition space for craftspeople.

Overall, it looked like a large cafe at a resort, perfect for relaxing.

The current time was 12:45 AM.

We had arrived at ‘Zone C. Citizens’ Library’ at just the right time.

“Let’s finish cleaning first. I’ll take the 1st floor exhibition space.”

“Then I’ll handle the heart side.”

Cha Si-eon and I split up briefly on the 1st floor.

While Cha Si-eon beheaded the “Faceless Things” popping out from the exhibition space, I walked around the space finding all the heart marks and moving them.

After dealing with the dangerous elements like that, we made a dummy with Cha Si-eon’s outer clothing and placed it near the large windows.

Then I hid the ‘heart-marked objects’ I had collected around it.

Next, we positioned ourselves by the stairs where we could see the large windows head-on.

Fortunately, there were several soft bean bags placed in that space.

So we sat on those as well.

Since we had to stay awake for 6 hours while the “Blood Rain” fell, this level of comfort should be acceptable.

The problem was that after positioning ourselves and taking cover like this, hmm.

Was it because the stars in the night sky were twinkling beyond the large windows?

Or was it because the bean bag sofa was too cozy?

I unexpectedly became too peaceful.

As drowsiness was starting to creep in, I rummaged through the plastic bag and pulled out a canned coffee.

Even though I had consumed quite a lot, the snack bundle Yu-ju gave me still wasn’t empty.

She must have spent quite a bit of money on this, right?

I was reminded anew that this was all devotion directed solely toward Kwak Jae-gyeom.

So I asked Cha Si-eon sitting next to me.

“Are those two dating?”

“They’re close, but they’re not in a dating relationship.”

“How are you so certain?”

“Because our team prohibits office romance.”

Oh my…

This harsh regulation couldn’t have created a separated couple like the Weaver Girl and Cowherd, could it?

“Ha Yu-ju seemed to worry about Jae-gyeom a lot.”

“Women’s goodwill often means nothing.”

“Is that from experience?”

“It’s from observation.”

Cha Si-eon spoke as if he had mastered something and downed the rest of his coffee.

While we were replenishing our caffeine like that.

Thud, thud-

Like red paint being thrown at the glass window.

Thududududuk-!

The “Blood Rain” began pouring from the sky.

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