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Chapter 04…
“Push the wheelchair and follow behind. We’ll go ahead first.”
“Ah, yes. But—”
“…?”
“Are you military? Or a hunter?”
“I’m a civilian.”
“But how are you so good at fighting? I really—”
The middle-aged man still hadn’t shaken off his fear. Even while trembling, he looked visibly ashamed.
He probably felt guilty for not being able to evacuate or properly protect his disabled wife in time.
But I had no intention of blaming this middle-aged man.
In fact, this was the average.
A normal middle-aged man who wasn’t trained military or a hunter fighting monsters—that would be more strange.
Even hunters, when thrown into life-or-death situations, are often overwhelmed by fear.
I’ve seen plenty of them abandon allies just to survive during hunts.
For this man, he was doing well.
At least he didn’t abandon his disabled wife just to save himself.
“You’re brave enough as it is. Don’t blame yourself too much.”
I sincerely encouraged him.
It wasn’t only active-duty soldiers and hunters who fought.
This was an era where everyone fought for survival.
Non-awakened people fought in their own way—for their own survival and the safety of their families.
Like this man. Like my father.
Especially in situations like this.
When a sudden transition occurs, it takes at least 30 minutes to an hour for military, police, and hunters to arrive at the scene.
So civilians had to know how to fight as well.
“But…”
The man lowered his head.
“You did really well. Thank you.”
The woman in the wheelchair firmly held the man’s hand.
“If you hadn’t been brave and fought, we would’ve all died before these people arrived. I love you, honey.”
…Whoa, that’s sweet.
The woman’s gaze toward the man was full of affection.
And the man’s gaze toward her was the same.
I didn’t know if they had children, but maybe they’d even end up having a late-born child today?
“Anyway, we don’t have time for this. Sir, hold onto your wife’s wheelchair. And reload your weapon just in case.”
“Ah, understood.”
“However—”
My hand touched the back of the man’s hand as he was changing magazines.
“Don’t take out your gun unless absolutely necessary. I don’t want to die from a bullet you fired. Understand?”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“If you survive this, you should try to train when you have time. I know you’re busy, but what’s the point of anything if you die? There won’t always be someone to save you.”
“Ah, yes. I’ll consider it.”
“Let’s go.”
Checking the drone’s thermal vision, I saw monsters rushing in like a swarm of dogs.
Yeah. Gunfire always attracts monsters.
We needed to hurry.
* * *
Bang! Bang bang!
Boom! Boom!
Ratatatatatatatata!
Even while moving, continuous gunshots and explosions echoed from afar.
Dudududududu!
Above us, one Black Hawk helicopter and three Apache attack helicopters equipped with Hellfire missiles were flying around.
It seemed the military and police, armed with heavy weapons and air assets, were fully engaged in battle with the monsters.
“Hey! Here! We’re here!”
The guard shouted at the helicopter at the top of his lungs, then, realizing it wouldn’t work, pulled out a signal flare.
“Don’t.”
“Pardon?”
“Don’t fire that flare. Unless you want to die.”
“Why?”
The guard looked completely unable to understand.
“Wouldn’t taking a helicopter be faster than walking? And safer too.”
“You think monsters don’t have air units?”
“Huh?”
“Look.”
I pointed at the sky.
“Kyyaaaak!”
“Kyyaaaaaaak!”
Flying-type monsters.
Dozens of bat-like creatures suddenly appeared and began attacking our helicopters.
They were called [Gargoyles], though that name was also given by humans.
It’s not like humans would know their real names anyway.
“Aaaagh!”
A soldier inside one of the helicopters was seen falling.
Whoooosh—BOOM!
Eventually, one Apache helicopter crashed into an apartment building and exploded.
“Anyone still want to ride a helicopter?”
No one answered.
“If you still want to use a flare, do it after we leave—by yourself.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“Let’s move under the trees and through the bushes. Otherwise, those gargoyles will snatch us like we’re grabbing dolls from a claw machine.”
While moving, I checked the time.
‘We’re running out of time.’
This transition was a situation that couldn’t be handled with conventional human weapons and tactics.
Hunters would be deployed soon, but even that would be insufficient.
There were simply too many monsters being spawned.
The best solution was to flatten the area with bombing, reduce the monster numbers, then let hunters close the core of the transition—the gate.
In other words, our apartment would soon be turned into a wasteland by airstrikes.
Woooooo—
As expected, sirens blared, followed by an announcement.
-
“Attention residents. Bombing will begin in 30 minutes. Please evacuate immediately. We repeat, bombing will begin in 30 minutes…”
There was absolutely no consideration for the elderly or disabled, but I could understand it.
Generally, the longer a transition continues, the worse it becomes.
If left alone, stronger monsters would continue to emerge, causing even greater casualties and damage.
So bombing was unavoidable, even at the cost of civilian lives.
“Let’s move faster.”
We quickened our pace.
“Kyyaak!”
“Kyak!”
Several goblins blocked our path.
“I’ll handle it. Don’t point your gun.”
“Ah, yes!”
Thud. Thud.
I split the goblins’ skulls with an axe, clearing the way.
With training, even non-awakened humans could handle 1-star monsters.
At this time, I was a military officer candidate with a reasonably developed physique and strength, so it was possible.
“Huff… huff…”
Still, I was slightly out of breath.
Even back when I was a hunter, I wouldn’t have lost my breath fighting a few goblins like this.
“Let’s avoid using guns as much as possible. Not just because of gunfire—those things are sensitive to the smell of gunpowder too.”
“Ah, yes!”
“Understood.”
We moved quickly, but our pace was slow.
One of us was physically impaired, and avoiding monsters on the ground and gargoyles in the air made speed difficult.
-
NO SIGNAL!
At that moment, the drone was shot down by gargoyles, and we lost aerial surveillance.
About 500 meters remained to escape the transition zone.
It wasn’t far normally, but the terrain had turned into rough mountainous terrain, making movement difficult.
“Let’s leave the wheelchair. It’s better to carry your wife.”
“Understood.”
The man carried his wife on his back, while the guard and I took front and rear positions.
After about 100 meters—
“Stop.”
A bad feeling made me halt.
The surrounding bushes rustled, and monsters slowly crawled out, surrounding us.
Goblins, nolls with hyena heads, and even trolls.
A mixed group.
“W-what do we do?”
the guard asked, looking at me.
BOOM!
Instead of answering, I pulled the trigger of the shotgun.
“Keck!”
The noll that lunged at me was blown back, and the rest immediately charged.
* * *
We engaged in a fierce battle.
BOOM! Bang bang!
Not just me and the guard, but even the middle-aged man set his wife down and fired at the monsters.
But there were too many of them, and nolls and trolls could easily withstand one or two shotgun blasts.
‘Ammo consumption is too high.’
Empty magazines were piling up at our feet.
“Agh!”
The guard screamed.
A goblin had climbed onto his back and was slashing wildly with a knife.
I quickly dropped the shotgun, swung my axe, and split the goblin’s head off his back.
Thud!
The guard collapsed.
“Cough… cough!”
About one-third of his neck had been torn open, and blood was pouring out.
‘Damn it!’
I needed to stop the bleeding, but there was no time.
‘Pull him back first.’
BOOM!
I fired the shotgun to push back a troll, grabbed the guard by the collar, and dragged him backward.
“Don’t lose consciousness! Press it with your hand—wait, huh?”
What the hell?
Bang bang! Bang bang bang!
The guard was still fighting.
“Ghk!”
Even while coughing up blood, he pressed his neck with his left hand to stop the bleeding and kept firing his carbine with his right hand, unleashing bullets at the monsters.
‘You… I’m getting you out of here alive no matter what.’
His fighting spirit spread through me like wildfire.
Who said non-awakened people were helpless?
Even a simple apartment security guard had this kind of willpower!
‘Focus.’
While carefully managing ammo, I continued firing.
Swish!
A chain flew in and wrapped around a troll’s neck.
Slash!
The chain, lined with blades at every link, shredded and crushed the troll’s neck.
Thud…
The severed head rolled across the ground.
‘I expected her to arrive quickly—but not this fast.’
I didn’t need to look to know who it was.
In this time period, there was only one hunter who used chains like that here.
I turned my head with a faint smile.
A heavily armed female hunter stared at us expressionlessly.
In her hand was a blade-lined chain.
Choi Yura.
Call sign: [Bloody Mary].
The hunter who, in my past life, escaped this place together with me, my mother, and my younger sister.
