Chapter 65 - Transfer Procedures (2)

Chapter 65: Transfer Procedures (2)TL: SHW

My role at the Ability Management Agency primarily involved raid support.

I draft raid guides, ensure there are no issues with support supplies, and provide basic training to new Hunters…

I don’t usually enter dungeons. That doesn’t mean I’ve never been inside one. I entered during my licensing process, and even after that, the old man dragged me into dungeons saying I needed to gain practical experience. Additionally, even after joining the agency, I was pulled into dungeons a few more times under the excuse of a manpower shortage.

I also had instances where I assisted Yoo Ji-eun in raids. Yoo Ji-eun even asked me to join her team.

All of that are just memories now.

Anyway, when you raid dungeons, there are a few things you naturally get used to. Like the sticky taste of potions in your mouth, or the weight of mana pressing down on your body every time you pass through a gate.

Moreover, there are a few things you learn.

What it sounds like when a monster chews on human bones. That a human body, or a Hunter’s body, is tougher than it looks and doesn’t die easily even if all its bones are broken.

Or what human blood smells like.

I checked the floor. As expected, there were no traces of a salamander’s fluids.

It hadn’t been long since the dungeon broke.

The number of salamanders increased as I got here. Since Kim Chae-min blocked them, they shouldn’t be swarming in this direction, but you never know.

…I can think about that later.

I looked back at the orphanage.

The salamanders around here are following us. Given the speed they are multiplying, this place would have been taken over soon anyway.

Hmm. In any case, this area should be safe from salamanders. At least at this point, the children should have been safe. There was enough time to evacuate. Even if they hadn’t managed to evacuate, they would be safe as long as they were on the upper floors.

So why does it smell like blood?

“Teacher Kim. Stay here with student Tae-woo.”

“…Okay.”

Kim Chae-min didn’t argue with me. Kim Chae-min noticed it too.

Even if the salamanders attacked the orphanage, the smell of blood is unusual. Salamanders don’t eat humans. If you get poisoned by a salamander, your flesh melts, you don’t bleed profusely.

I passed through the orphanage’s front gate. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ɴøᴠel Fɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

From the outside, it looks quiet. There’s no sign of life.

If it weren’t for the pungent stench of blood hitting my nose, I would think everyone had evacuated safely.

Slowly, I followed the smell of blood.

I entered the orphanage building.

No one was there.

I passed the first floor and went up to the second. Still, no one. I went further up. From the second floor to the third. And from the third…

“……”

On the third floor staircase, I found the first corpse.

A man with his eyes wide open. His throat was torn out in one go. But that kind of wound wouldn’t cause instant death. He bled to death.

Was there something other than the salamanders?

The trail of blood continued. Blood soaked the stairs and hallways. The bodies of teachers and volunteers who were probably working at the orphanage were scattered intermittently.

Each of them had parts of their bodies torn off. It seemed like the work of some unidentified monster, but there was something off.

The bodies didn’t show signs of trying to escape. They didn’t resist. As if…

“Hmm.”

I checked each room. It didn’t seem like there were any survivors, but you never know. I hadn’t found any children’s bodies yet.

…Of course, it was just a vain hope. In the end, I finally found them.

The children were gathered in a small room. Were they hiding from the Salamanders? Or from the unidentified thing that killed the teachers?

I gritted my teeth and turned back because I couldn’t bear to look any longer. This was evidence. If I clumsily touched it, the culprit might not be caught. Whether it was a monster or not.

Retracing my steps past the bodies I had found, I exited the orphanage. Seeing the stiff look on my face, Kim Chae-min’s face turned pale.

Without saying a word, I got into the car.

“Let’s go.”

“…Um, what about my siblings?”

“Later. I’ll tell you later.”

“Can’t you tell me now?”

No. 3 might have sensed something. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have asked so desperately.

“Please. Tell me. What about my siblings? The teachers? Why? They’re okay, right?!”

Is this an act? Is he genuinely choking up, making those gasping sounds?

Although he was the older brother I couldn’t stand in the lab, many children followed No. 3. He took good care of those kids, comforting those who cried for their mothers, and putting to sleep those who tossed and turned from nightmares. Often, he helped the younger kids eat, resulting in him being the last to eat himself.

He wasn’t a bad kid. He was a model student. In many ways. Maybe he truly bonded with the siblings he met at the orphanage.

“They’re my siblings!!”

“…”

But hearing his desperate cry…

For a moment, I had such a thought.

Since the orphanage turned out like this, the connection between No. 3 and the Ark would become somewhat loose. If I took him under the pretext of protection and enrolled him in the pilot high school… I could monitor No. 3 and identify any contacts from the Ark more easily.

I recalled the dead teachers and children inside the orphanage. Among them, there would be innocent people unrelated to the Ark.

…No matter how I justify it, it felt too trashy.

‘Hwijae, do you understand?’

The old man didn’t raise me like this.

‘I know what you saw in there. But… Hwijae. Didn’t you say you hated that lab director?’

‘…Yes. I hate him.’

‘What you did was exactly the same as what that director you hate did. Do you want to become just like that lab director?’

‘No! …No. I don’t want to be the same.’

‘You’re a much better person than that piece of shit. You can become a much greater person.’

‘…’

‘You become a better person than that bastard and laugh at him to show him.’

What would the old man have done?

‘I believe in you, Hwijae.’

He would have sincerely pitied No. 3 and tried hard to help. He might have promised to uncover the truth.

I’m different from the old man. I couldn’t comfort No. 3 like the old man would, and frankly, I didn’t feel like it.

Still.

The old man taught me that I must.

So… So.

“Teacher Woo?”

I banged my head against the window. Thankfully, I only shattered the front glass.

Only after feeling that coldness did I regain my composure.

Alright.

Don’t forget the old man’s words.

‘I believe in you, Hwijae.’

I’ve always lived up to that belief. I won’t give up now.

* * *

“Everyone’s dead.”

Lee Mi-seon plopped onto the sofa and gulped down some cold water.

After emptying an entire bottle of expensive mineral water in one go, Lee Mi-seon wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. While she drank, a Hunter from Daseon connected the TV and laptop.

“It’s all done, Master.”

“Alright, alright. Go out for a while while the adults talk.”

The young man, who looked like a college student if not a Hunter, smiled awkwardly and left the room.

…Wasn’t he the one who used to make coffee at the pilot school? I remember him making non-alcoholic cocktails too.

Well, as long as he’s satisfied, I guess it’s fine. Daseon probably pays well too.

Lee Mi-seon started manipulating the laptop while speaking.

“From the street CCTVs to car black boxes. There wasn’t much to salvage from the orphanage’s internal CCTVs.”

The oversized VIP room TV flickered before displaying a poor-quality CCTV footage.

“It’s this person.”

I stared at the screen.

Despite the hot weather, the person is wearing thick clothes that cover their entire body. A black hoodie and cargo pants with pockets. A slender frame. But due to the baggy clothes that don’t reveal any body curves, it’s impossible to tell if it’s a man or a woman.

Moreover, thanks to wearing a cap and pulling the hood of the top over it, even the face isn’t visible.

“Height… about 165 cm.”

“The face? Anything on that?”

Hong Seok-young asked sharply.

“Nothing captured. This was zoomed in from a distance.”

The video started playing.

Red hair fluttered under the cap. The steps were light and almost weightless. The corners of the mouth that can be glimpsed are turned up. Smiling.

Kim Chae-min tilted his head.

“A woman…? A man, maybe. Anyway, they did this? With what?”

“That’s…”

Lee Mi-seon pressed a key. The screen changed.

The light footsteps continued. The hand that was in the pocket comes out and moves.

Creeeeak.

There was no audio in the CCTV footage, but you can hear it.

A line appeared on the car following the movement of a finger. As if torn by a sharp claw. Like the throats of the people dead in the orphanage.

The figure paused, seemingly admiring their work, and looked at the car.

They tilted their head. Then, playfully, they spread both hands. For a while, both hands moved as if conducting an orchestra.

Then they suddenly stopped.

The figure clasped their hands together.

Slowly, the car crumpled.

It crumpled and crumpled until it became a small… ball.

“Next, they went to the orphanage.”

The video Lee Mi-seon showed was choppy. But the figure entering the orphanage was clearly seen.

And leaving as well.

Their hands were red. The person waved them to shake off the blood but soon gave up. They roughly wiped their hands on their black clothes and looked up. The smiling mouth was now clearly visible.

With still blood-stained hands, they made a gun gesture and aimed it this way, no, at the CCTV.

The screen went dark.

Lee Mi-seon gulped.

“That’s the end of it.”

“…Why did they kill them? A serial killer taking advantage of the dungeon break?”

“With that level of skill, they could have avoided being captured on camera. They showed themselves on purpose. There must be a reason.”

“Could it be they knew the orphanage was connected to the Ark?”

“That smile is unmistakably that of a pleasure killer.”

I racked my brain. There’s no way I wouldn’t remember such a distinctive figure.

But what’s scarier is that they’re not in my memory. Was such a person still operating secretly even twenty years later? Where on earth? Surely not in Korea?

“That… I think I know who that is.”

Hong Seok-young, who had been replaying the part where the car was crumpled, suddenly spoke.

“You know?”

“It’s the one I was chasing in South America.”

“The one Hunter Hong was chasing?”

“You know, the black market.”

“Ah. That incident?”

Lee Mi-seon responded knowingly. Judging by the look, Kim Chae-min knew about it too.

Probably that… story about the remains of an acquaintance who died in a dungeon. He had mentioned going to the black market in South America to find the missing remains.

“You saw that person?”

“No. I didn’t see them. I was chasing them, but in the end, I lost them.”

“Then how can you be sure?”

“I heard rumors. There’s a crazy bastard who turns anything they don’t like into a small ball and keeps it as a trophy.”

Hong Seok-young frowned.

“But something’s off.”

“What is?”

“Why do you think I was chasing them?”

Hong Seok-young replayed the video from the beginning. The jaunty walk. The playful gestures.

“I heard that person is the boss of the Ark.”