Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 77

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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 77

ep13. Blood-Raining (9)

Thud- Thud- Thu-du-du-du-duk-!

The 「Blood Rain」 began to fall.

It was literally rain made of blood, true to its name.

As thick, sticky blood poured down in torrential streams, the stars disappeared from sight.

The transparent window was also stained with splatters of blood droplets.

It was a far more terrifying sight than I had expected.

I had thought that 「Blood Rain」 would just be rain that happened to be red.

But the blood droplets hitting the glass window contained sticky viscosity and unknown chunks.

So I had to watch with my own sober eyes as flesh slid across the glass surface.

All while wondering if the shadow of the 「Big Cat」 might appear between those streams of blood.

About 30 minutes passed in that state.

“…You said that Type 1 Special Zones mimic the wars that took place in those spaces.”

I looked at the blood-soaked window and spoke with a sigh.

“So this kind of blood rain actually fell here?”

“In reality, it would have been much worse.”

Cha Si-eon answered my groan-like question in an indifferent tone.

Like other Type 1 zones, this place was also a space where memories of war were carved.

It was dawn on June 28, 1950.

When the North Korean Army moved south, Seoul citizens took to the refugee roads.

But at that time, there were only 5 bridges over the Han River, and among them, the only one people could cross on foot was the Han River Pedestrian Bridge.

Thousands of refugees flocked to the pedestrian bridge.

But when the crowd filled the bridge completely, the bridge was blown up.

With a bright flash, flames shot up, and the people on the bridge were torn to pieces and thrown into the air.

Then they fell like rain onto the river water.

That explosion was neither an attack by the North Korean Army nor a mistake by US aircraft.

It was the doing of our South Korean Army, trying to prevent the North Korean Army from crossing the river.

People who were cast out by their own country without knowing why.

The bridge that devoured countless numbers of them was the Han River Bridge that crosses this very island.

“It’s somehow strange. Having a cafe like this in a place where people died.”

“Quite a bit of time has passed.”

Cha Si-eon was right.

The Korean War happened long before I was born, around the time my grandparents were born.

Those who died then have no voice, and most of those who remember them have also left this world.

It was now a thing of the past.

But it wouldn’t be something completely over.

That event remained in the world as a story, and we were now trapped in a space that mimics that story.

“What if you were a soldier who had to blow up the bridge?”

Cha Si-eon suddenly asked me.

“Would you follow the orders from above exactly as given?”

This guy, why is he making me imagine such painful scenarios…?

Hmm, well. What would it really be like?

A soldier must of course follow orders.

But there are many people on the bridge.

Disobeying orders in wartime means execution by firing squad.

But the bridge is full of people.

If I don’t blow up the bridge, the enemies will come down.

Then should I at least try to buy some time for people to evacuate…?

“I would have just done whatever I wanted to do. Screw orders and principles.”

As my contemplation grew long, Cha Si-eon muttered.

“Isn’t that right?”

“I can’t say that’s wrong.”

At my confession, Cha Si-eon snorted as if he had expected as much.

Yes, I admit it.

I could never be a good soldier.

I’m a person with too many questions to move according to orders.

It’s fortunate that I became an editor instead.

If I had become a soldier, I would have been the worst of the worst, driving my superiors crazy.

Newly aware of my own looseness, I turned the question back to Cha Si-eon.

“Then what would Team Leader do?”

“I don’t know.”

An immediate answer came back.

But it didn’t seem like insincere deflection.

Rather, it seemed like something he had been pondering for a long time.

But that answer being ‘I don’t know.’

It wasn’t an answer that suited Cha Si-eon.

Perhaps thinking the same, he added belatedly.

“I would probably follow orders.”

I was a bit surprised by Cha Si-eon’s confession and asked back.

“Do you want to massacre civilians and spend your life tormented by guilt or obsessed with self-rationalization?”

“How could that be the case?”

Cha Si-eon retorted emotionally at my question.

So I looked at him with eyes that said ‘then what do you expect me to do?’

“Without obedience to orders, military organizations cannot function.”

“That’s only true when the orders are normal.”

“Judging that is the role of the commanding officer. The job of those receiving orders is to trust that the command division makes the right judgment and respond accordingly.”

“What if that command division is a bald dictator telling you to fire on citizens? Would you still follow orders unconditionally because they’re orders?”

“I wouldn’t follow them. Attacking citizens in peacetime to strengthen one’s own power is a palace coup, so it’s not a legitimate order to begin with.”

“Then what about blowing up a bridge where those citizens are gathered?”

“That’s an order given in wartime to stop hostile forces… Why are you already treating someone like a war criminal?”

Cha Si-eon got emotional again seeing my expression.

I slightly covered my face, wondering if I had done it again.

But perhaps already somewhat scratched, Cha Si-eon added in a displeased voice.

“I’m not affirming that order itself. I know that the command division at the time was historically irresponsible and incompetent, and I know how great the consequences were of cutting the bridge without a plan.”

“But you’d follow the order?”

“That’s how you maintain at least the form.”

Cha Si-eon answered my counter-question in a firm voice.

“Whether it’s a nation or an army, having form allows the minimum line to be defended, and having that minimum line allows you to plan for what comes next. That’s why soldiers must follow orders according to principle, even if they have doubts.”

Cha Si-eon’s tone was resolute.

But was it just my imagination?

This sounded to me like Cha Si-eon’s self-justification, or rather, self-hypnosis.

Cha Si-eon’s base is military.

I heard that Section Chief Kwon Mu-seop spotted him and brought him over from special forces.

But Cha Si-eon talking about a soldier’s duty didn’t look particularly proud.

Was it because he was ashamed of his organization’s mistakes?

If so, he should have answered that he wouldn’t repeat the same mistakes.

Not that he’d have no choice but to follow orders.

Or he could have just played dumb and feigned ignorance completely.

It’s not like anyone was ordering the current him to blow up a bridge full of people.

But why does this guy deliberately bring it up himself just to be self-deprecating?

It was puzzling.

If you’re going to reflect, then reflect properly.

If you’re going to ignore it, then ignore it completely.

Come to think of it, this seems like the same pattern he used on me yesterday?

My editor’s intuition sensed something.

…But well, Team Leader Cha Si-eon isn’t an author I’m in charge of.

And he’s certainly not a friend either.

“I understand what you mean. But don’t go to such extremes. This isn’t wartime, you know?”

“….”

Since we weren’t close enough for me to pry into his inner thoughts, I glossed over it appropriately.

Perhaps sensing my intention, Cha Si-eon also kept his mouth shut.

I was looking at him, thinking Team Leader Cha’s mood was indeed strange, when it happened.

Boom-!

The floor shook with a loud noise and heavy vibration.

“…!”

Cha Si-eon and I were startled and looked around warily.

Thud- Boom-!

The sound of something colliding forcefully.

Since the epicenter seemed quite far away, it was reaching us faintly.

What is this noise?

Is the Big Cat making it?

Or is it another entity?

Maybe it’s some kind of deception to strike us with a diversionary tactic.

We held our breath and focused on that unidentified impact.

The distant roars and vibrations continued intermittently.

Yes, like that for a full 5 hours.

* * *

The roaring seems to have completely stopped.

And the blood rain has stopped too.

“The rain has stopped.”

I said, looking at the clear sky.

“But nothing came.”

Just as I said, we peacefully welcomed the morning without any events.

This was very fortunate for us.

But instead of purely celebrating this, I chose to use it impurely.

“We were so tense because the Big Cat was supposedly targeting us.”

“….”

“But it never came.”

“….”

Cha Si-eon remained silent.

Right, he probably has nothing to say.

He threw a tantrum by himself, saying the Big Cat would appear when the blood rain fell, and even made a huge fuss about it.

But it never came, so he must be speechless.

“Team Leader Cha, what do you think happened?”

“…We got through it safely, so isn’t that enough?”

Wow, that’s Cha Si-eon for you. Still acting confident even now.

If it were me, I’d be too embarrassed to even lift my head.

As I grinned at Cha Si-eon’s tenacity, Cha Si-eon got worked up and opened his mouth.

“There might have been some variable. Like that sound that was echoing all night….”

Bang bang bang bang-!

Just then, a roar interrupted Cha Si-eon’s words.

We stopped talking and tensed up.

Damn, what the hell is this sound?

It keeps us on edge all night but never reveals its true identity.

Moreover, the sound just now was closer than what we’d been hearing all night.

After focusing intently on the incoming sounds for a while.

Cha Si-eon muttered quietly.

“I think the rescue team has arrived.”

Rescue team?

I was half-doubtful of Cha Si-eon’s words but listened carefully to the continuing sounds.

Bang bang bang-! Bang bang bang bang-!

This is… gunfire?

“Communication still isn’t working.”

I said, looking down at my smartwatch.

“They probably forced their way in. They can’t afford to lose Seo Do-un.”

“Then was the sound that echoed all night also from our rescue team?”

“That probably wasn’t it. They wouldn’t have entered during the blood rain.”

Right, that’s correct.

Blood rain isn’t something you can block with an umbrella or anything.

And A Zone, where the Management Bureau’s corridor is located, is an outdoor space with nowhere to take shelter from the blood rain.

So it would make sense that they waited for the blood rain to stop and then immediately entered.

Then what was the identity of the roaring that echoed all dawn?

No, more importantly.

“So what do we do now? Do we wait here?”

If you’re lost, the best strategy is to stay put and wait instead of moving around.

But is responding this way really right in the current situation?

“For now, we should….”

Cha Si-eon was just opening his mouth when it happened.

Crash-!

Something pierced through the glass window and tumbled down in front of us.

It was a bird.

…It was a crow.

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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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