Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 96

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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 96

ep15. Edit! National Museum of Korea! (12)

The spine bones laid out in the air swayed and shook every time I put my weight on them and stepped.

Running across stepping stones without any safety equipment was, well, how should I put it.

It felt like unwillingly enjoying speed.

Like little kids learning to ride a bicycle for the first time, pedaling frantically to avoid falling.

Thud- Thud- Thud-!

Just when I had gotten the hang of it and was running noisily across the spine.

Whoosh-!

The sound of something flying through the air.

I casually turned toward the sound, then ducked in surprise.

Crack-!

Something like a whip swiftly struck past above my head.

“Don’t… don’t… bother, us…”

It was a Contaminated Person.

“Save… us…!”

The Contaminated Ones who had been excited about receiving “Fake Rice” began to get angry at me.

Whoosh-! Whoom-!

But perhaps because I was hanging onto the False God’s spine?

They couldn’t strike me directly and just irritably created sonic booms in the air.

“You… must… die…”

“Catch… him.”

The Contaminated Ones also seemed to think direct attacks were difficult, so they began crawling toward me.

If I get caught there, I’ll really die.

I straightened my lowered body and ran across the spine again.

Slither-!

The Contaminated Ones immediately followed behind me.

I took out a bomb and threw it into the air.

Boom-!

The air burst into flames with a loud roar.

“Ahhh…!”

“Hot, hot!”

The Contaminated Ones took a direct hit.

But…

“No, I’m, hungry…!”

One Contaminated Person, driven mad by pain and hunger, struck the False God’s spine with all their might.

Sway-!

From that impact, the False God’s spine, which was already loosely connected, shook greatly.

“Ugh…!”

In that moment, my foot slipped on the swaying bone joint.

Slide- Thud-!

“Huk, heok…!”

I helplessly slid down below the spine bone, barely managing to grab onto a protruding bone section with my hand.

Thanks to that, I avoided falling, but I was hanging in the air with one hand.

Then the Contaminated Ones came at me as if they had been waiting for this moment.

Boom-!

I threw another bomb to drive them away.

Then I pulled my arm with all my strength.

Come on, the daily pull-ups I’ve been doing weren’t for nothing!

“Huu, hook…”

Having climbed back up onto the spine bone, I caught my breath for a moment.

Now the distance to the core was only 10 meters.

But the spine bones were twisted and tangled, making the route much longer and more complex.

What should I do? Should I just try jumping in a straight line?

As I was gauging the path ahead and my athletic ability.

Slither-

Without getting tired, the strings surrounded me again.

Judging by the mixture of gunpowder smell and subtle fishy odor, they must have taken considerable damage too.

But they kept stubbornly following me.

“Everyone get out of the way!”

I shouted while showing them a bomb.

I shouted boldly, but this was my last bomb.

With the goal right in front of me, I couldn’t fail by getting held back here.

“Don’t interfere, I’ll let you leave here. I’m trying to get you out of this place.”

I attempted to persuade them.

But my words didn’t get through at all.

“Not… necessary…”

“Don’t, bother, us.”

“Just… leave… us… here…”

They had no desire to return home at all.

Because they were addicted to “Fake Rice”?

No. They knew.

The bill they would receive when they escaped this pseudo-hell and returned to human society.

These people had captured newcomers like livestock just because they were contaminated earlier than others.

And they offered those people as sacrifices to receive rice.

Even considering the circumstances, the fact that they quite enjoyed that power couldn’t be forgiven.

There were countless witnesses here who had been captured by them.

So they wished for this.

Just like those who wore armbands in the past.

For their cozy hell to continue forever.

“…”

Should I just throw the bomb and blow up the core?

Then we would all be expelled to the outside together.

Humans would remain human, and the contaminated would lose their contaminated parts.

That would be easier for me too.

Rather than taking more risks here.

“Huu…”

I pondered for a moment, then let out a long breath.

“Don’t give up being human.”

Then I muttered words that were nothing more than a monologue and threw my last bomb.

Boom-!

Not at the core, but toward the Contaminated Ones.

“Gyaa… ah…!”

“Eee, eee, eet!”

While the Contaminated Ones scattered to avoid the heat, I ran.

Instead of following the curved spine bone, I strode forward in a straight line, stepping on the sparsely placed footholds.

The Contaminated Ones rushed to catch me.

Thin, strong strings tangled around my arms and legs, but it was already too late.

Crack-!

I had already reached the core and was extending my hand.

Crack- Crackle-!

Just like during the “Ant Hill” incident, I felt strong resistance.

Sparks flew along with the sensation of my entire body being pushed away.

The Contaminated Ones were also pulling me back from behind, trying to drag me out.

I desperately fought through the resistance with all my might.

That’s when it happened.

Snap-!

Something broke in my hand.

Crack, crackle- Bang-!

The black ring I was wearing shattered into pieces.

And my hand finally touched the core.

Rumble-!

A deep vibration spread out in all directions from my grasp.

Slip- Slide-

At the same time, the Contaminated Ones’ hair wrapped around my limbs loosened powerlessly.

A strange silence fell.

Was it over?

The moment I raised my head to assess the situation.

Thud-!

My body suddenly dropped about 30cm.

Then came an ominous sound.

Crack, crack, crack-crack-crack-!

The “Fake God’s” spine was collapsing.

No, this can’t be…!

I sensed the fall coming but there was nothing I could do.

I hadn’t learned how to survive a collapsing building yet.

“…!”

I ended up plummeting to the ground along with the crumbling vertebrae.

Crash-!

* * *

Everything before my eyes was white.

As if I had entered thick fog.

Is this heaven?

…That couldn’t be right.

This pain pressing against my back was clearly from reality.

Then what was this white smoke?

The bones of the “Fake God” scattered on the ground were turning into smoke and dispersing.

It was a fitting dissolution scene for an undead.

As I lay there unable to even think of getting up, staring blankly at it.

-Do-un.

Section Chief Kwon Mu-seop called my name.

His voice was tense.

Since my reports had cut off and only loud crashes had followed, he seemed anxious.

“Section Chief.”

Kwon Mu-seop sighed in relief upon hearing my voice.

I was in no condition to say I was okay right now.

But I couldn’t help the smile spreading across my face.

“The Special Zone closure experiment seems to have succeeded.”

-What did you say?

“I’ve secured the core.”

I hugged the black sphere on my chest even tighter.

At the same time, loud cheers came through the earpiece.

-Waaaah!

It wasn’t just Section Chief Kwon Mu-seop’s voice, but all the staff in the situation room cheering together.

-Quiet!

At Yun U-jeong’s shout, the surroundings quickly fell silent, and Kwon Mu-seop urgently asked me.

-Do-un, what about you? Are you okay?

“No, I’m in tremendous pain…”

I had fallen on my back from a two-story height.

Though the “Fake God’s” bones had acted as a cushion, the impact wasn’t small.

This was definitely going to cause problems.

-You’re hurt? Where… wait, what did you say?

Kwon Mu-seop stopped mid-sentence to receive a report from someone nearby.

Then he relayed the news to me in a happy voice.

-Do-un, Response Team 3 will enter soon. They say the thing blocking the corridor has collapsed and they’ve secured an entry route.

That was welcome news.

When Team Leader Cha and Jae-gyeom arrive, I’ll tell them to split up and carry my upper and lower body as promised.

Because I really can’t move at all now.

I wanted to leave the rest to Response Team 3 and just pass out like this.

But I barely held on.

I couldn’t let my guard down completely yet.

There were other people here besides me.

…But why has it been so quiet since earlier?

I forced myself up with this belated question.

With a somewhat light feeling, as if reviewing something already finished.

But when I actually got up, what I faced was a very bewildering and new situation.

* * *

Firm footsteps could be heard.

It was the sound of Response Team 3 coming down from the rooftop.

I sat under the ten-story stone pagoda watching them descend the stairs.

The first to reach the first floor was Cha Si-eon.

Cha Si-eon paused momentarily at the scene before his eyes.

Because dozens of people were lying dead.

Their faces ashen, dried up and skeletal.

Cha Si-eon quickly scanned the condition of the deceased with his eyes.

Then immediately ran toward me.

I also tried to get up to approach him.

It was an action worse than doing nothing.

I couldn’t control my body and swayed, so Cha Si-eon caught me and sat me back down on the ground.

Then he wrapped a blanket he was carrying around my shoulders and said.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Only then did I realize I was shivering from cold.

It was a common symptom of exhaustion.

After forcing myself to drink the water Cha Si-eon offered, I said.

“Some of those people are still alive.”

“Team 3! Search for survivors!”

At my words, Cha Si-eon shouted to the agents following behind.

The Response Team 3 agents scattered as soon as they came down to the first floor and began examining the people.

Several people among those collapsed on the ground were helped to their feet with support.

Some were even carried away.

However, the number selected in this way wasn’t very large.

Most of the people collapsed on the floor were already dead.

“Why did they die when the Core stopped?”

I asked even though I knew Cha Si-eon couldn’t answer.

It was a murmur I let out in bewilderment.

“I’ll investigate.”

Unlike me who was in confusion, Cha Si-eon maintained his composure.

I watched that steadfast figure for a moment, then spoke with difficulty.

“And this.”

Clatter-

I handed Cha Si-eon a flat piece of metal.

A silver metal plate with a serial number and name engraved in intaglio.

It was a Management Bureau identification tag.

Cha Si-eon looked at the identification tag, then asked me with a surprised expression.

“Where did this come from?”

Instead of answering, I pointed to the back of the ten-story stone pagoda.

Cha Si-eon’s gaze followed the tip of my finger.

Where I pointed, there was a corpse.

It was the corpse of a large man wearing the Management Bureau’s black combat uniform.

Seeing that corpse, Cha Si-eon muttered with a pale face.

“Team Leader Kang Seung-cheol…”

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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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