93 - Robot

TL/Editor: raei Schedule: 5/week

Illustrations: None.

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The robot opened a passage.

Ahead lay the underground containment chamber where it was trying to herd them, and behind surged a wave of drones - certain death either way.

Lee Yeonwoo chose the wave of drones. Following the enemy's plan seemed more dangerous.

"We need to face them here!" Yeonwoo shouted.

Before he finished, the team leader and squad leader fired their taser guns. A series of blue flashes lit up the corridor.

Three forks of blue lightning arced across the hallway, wrapping around one steampunk drone and two bionic drones, sending sparks flying everywhere.

Zap-!

The smell of burning insects filled the air as the bionic drones fell, their delicate wings shriveling. But Yeonwoo's expression remained grim.

Hiss-! Hiss hiss-!

The steampunk drone, spewing misty vapor, continued its mechanical movements unfazed, as if immune to the lightning strike. Gears meshed precisely, cylinders pulsed like a heartbeat.

Crackle-

The lightning snake coiled around the steampunk drone blinked its round eyes and shook its body, as if wondering why the drone kept moving.

The snakes coiled around the bionic drone corpses raised their heads, watching their comrade carried off by the drone. They looked like spectators at an amusement park.

Yeonwoo smacked his forehead and shouted:

"Don't attack that drone! Target the bio- no, the big bugs! And the rest of you, don't just stand there!"

As Yeonwoo flapped his hands to make it easier for the lightning snakes to understand, three snakes tilted their heads before lunging at a passing bionic drone.

Blue lightning raced along the bionic drone, burning its wings and frying its nervous system. The drone plummeted instantly.

Meanwhile, the others started shooting at the steampunk drones.

"Only target the steampunk drones! The snakes will handle the bionic- sh*t! Watch where you're aiming!"

Chaos erupted. The Intelligence Department agents and Special Forces members fought competently enough, but the researchers clumsily aimed their pistols, nearly shooting their own teammates.

Finally, one steampunk drone closed in.

Hiss-! Clank clank!

Its heavy piston hammered the Special Forces member's bulletproof plate.

Wham wham wham, the successive blows drove the soldier back. Though the plate held, he couldn't withstand the impact.

"Push back!" the squad leader shouted.

The soldier gritted his teeth and shoved his full weight into the plate. Wham! As the steampunk drone staggered-

Bang bang bang-!

The squad leader fired three shots in rapid succession, hitting the drone's important components. Three bullets lodged deep. The brass-colored metal crumpled.

The steampunk drone crashed with a thunderous clatter.

Suddenly, Yeonwoo's brow furrowed. Something felt off, but he couldn't pinpoint it.

'Something's not right. A dull, murky feeling-'

Before he could finish the thought, disaster struck.

Clunk clunk-

High-pressure steam shot out of the fallen, writhing steampunk drone like a jet of water. Then, in an instant-

BOOM!

It exploded.

KABOOM-!

The explosion was beyond imagination. Flames erupted skyward as gears, pipes, and cylinder fragments sprayed like shotgun pellets. Add to that scalding steam and water droplets.

Aaaargh! Screams echoed through the corridor. The Special Forces soldier who had pushed back the drone collapsed on the spot. Those hit by shrapnel nearby howled as they examined their wounds.

And Yeonwoo stood motionless. He stared blankly at his forearm where a metal shard was embedded. Blood trickled out.

Bang bang, bang-!

"They explode! Only shoot the wings! Disable them!"

"We've got wounded!"

"Fall back! To the stairs! Get to the stairs!"

Gunfire, screams, all sounds seemed distant. Even pain felt muted. The world itself seemed to recede, leaving only the sound of his heartbeat.

His dizzy mind filled with nothing but terror and confusion.

'Why?'

It was clearly a predictable danger.

Of course a steam engine could explode if hit. Yet he hadn't realized it until the moment of detonation? He hadn't reacted at all before being hit?

'I failed to recognize a potentially fatal danger?'

As he struggled to regain his senses, someone grabbed Yeonwoo's collar and yanked him.

"Snap out of it! Why are you just standing there when everyone's retreating?!" the team leader shouted.

"Ah..."

Yeonwoo stumbled for a moment before he started running, chasing the others fleeing down the underground stairs.

Drops of blood left a trail on the corridor floor. The drones pursued ferociously, following the blood trail before stopping at the stairway entrance.

Then, with a clatter, a shutter descended, firmly sealing the stairway entrance.

---

---

The stairs led down to the underground containment chamber.

People groaned and stumbled painfully as they descended. They stopped at the landing.

They knew the blast shutter had come down at the top of the stairs, and the drones were no longer pursuing.

Without a word, everyone slumped to the floor or leaned against the railings and walls to catch their breath.

"We'll start emergency treatment," one of the few remaining Special Forces members said, his face grim.

They moved around tending to the wounded. Tearing clothes to use as makeshift bandages was the extent of their first aid.

Meanwhile, Yeonwoo crouched in a corner, staring at his forearm with a dazed expression. Life and death had crossed paths in an instant. If that shard had pierced his neck instead...

"Yeonwoo, you okay?" someone asked.

"Are you alright?" another voice chimed in.

The investigation team members surrounded Yeonwoo with worried words, but he didn't hear them.

Lost in confusion, his thoughts raced.

'Everything was going so well.'

He'd collected anomalous entities from rainwater to bags, and even gained a vague sense for calculating probabilities. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ n0vᴇl(ꜰ)ire.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

The plan to secure weapons from the Aerial Weapons Research Institute wasn't bad either. There were some risks, but those were necessary.

'I needed to take those risks.'

It was a dilemma. To hone survival instincts, he had to throw himself into life-threatening situations.

But what was the result?

'I nearly died. Couldn't even react.'

Yeonwoo stared at the darkening, hardening blood. The mind that had desperately sought ways to survive when faced with death now refused to move.

Just then, the squad leader stood before Yeonwoo. He waved a piece of cloth as he examined Yeonwoo's wound.

"I'll treat that," he said.

"...It's fine. I don't need it."

"The bleeding seems to have stopped, but still-"

"Really, I'm fine."

Rrip-

Yeonwoo reached out to touch the metal shard, then gripped and yanked it out. As if pulling out a splinter.

"Whoa!"

Not just the investigation team, but even the squad leader recoiled in shock before freezing in place.

The wound didn't bleed further. A scab covered it. At a glance, it almost looked like new pink skin had already formed.

"...Are you from the Superhuman Battalion? They wouldn't need drones there though."

"He's just an investigator. You can go now. There's someone bleeding over there," the team leader said, sending away the puzzled squad leader. He turned to examine Yeonwoo.

Yeonwoo's face was grave as he placed the shard in his bag. An ominous air surrounded him.

"Yeonwoo. You worried about dying? Don't be. How many investigators do we have here?" the team leader asked.

"No. I need to worry more. I was careless."

Yeonwoo stroked his wound, his eyes hardened with resolve.

His probability-sensing ability seemed to have dulled his instincts in exchange. In the end, he'd repeated Future Yeonwoo's mistake.

'There's no difference between the maniac searching for the Ark and the fool seeking deadly situations to train survival instincts.'

Forget honing survival instincts - avoiding dangerous situations in the first place is the right move.

"I need to get back to basics. I got overconfident just because I could drink some rainwater and handle dice. I'm just a simple human after all."

He recalled the Human Qualification Exam, that certification. When he'd struggled desperately to survive as a single individual.

Yeonwoo reaffirmed his determination silently.

'I am just a simple human.'

A human in the flesh. A human who could die from a single anomaly. Like the office workers who'd died here, a human who could perish at any moment without it being strange.

As if his dulled instincts were reviving, his mind began to race. Heightened senses perceived the world with crystal clarity, his pounding heart pumping vigor through his entire body.

Rustle-!

Yeonwoo unfurled a document.

A map of the Aerial Weapons Research Institute, along with information on drones and anomalous entities. He called out:

"The robot guided us underground. We need to figure out why."

"What's there to figure out? It's trying to kill us, obviously," a pale-faced researcher nearby answered.

Yeonwoo didn't even look up as he scoured the document. "How it kills us is the issue. The anomalous entities underground aren't directly dangerous. So why drive us down here?"

There were no anomalous entities capable of directly killing people, like controlling drones or hacking networks in the manner of the Grammar Nazi Robot.

Suddenly, the researcher's face turned from white to blue, then back to white again.

"No way... It couldn't be."

"Tell me," Yeonwoo pressed.

The researcher looked at the sealed stairway entrance. After licking his dry lips several times, he spoke. "Some departments have a collapse system for worst-case scenarios. A system to bring down the entire building so nothing can escape..."

Yeonwoo's eyes widened. The researcher shaking his head reflected in those round eyes.

"But that would endanger the robot too. It wouldn't go that far."

"We can't be sure of that."

How could one predict an anomalous entity's thoughts? They had to assume the worst. Yeonwoo immediately stood up and fired off a question.

"The collapse system - what are the chances the robot has taken control of it by now?"

"Time... It probably hasn't yet. It's an independent system, and some parts need to be manually unlocked."

With bionic drones around, they couldn't be complacent. The transport bionic drones likely had appendages resembling hands.

Yeonwoo raised his hand and shouted:

"We're going after the robot right now! Who's coming with me?"

Two of the least injured people stood up.

The squad leader and team leader.

The others were either too badly hurt or needed to tend to the wounded. They'd lost so many people already that few remained.

Without looking back, Yeonwoo started down the stairs.

"Let's deal with that Grammar Nazi Robot quickly. Before it tries anything else."