🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 25
“Isis.”
“Yes.”
“Even when we leave in three days, let’s tear this place down before we go.”
“Yes. Let’s do that.”
“Definitely.”
This damn, wretched survival camp.
You couldn’t even call this place a survival camp. Even if it is an apocalyptic world, wouldn’t it be really unfair to get beaten to death by a person, not a creature?
It was only after I had fully rested that I realized I had forgotten something.
‘What was it……?’
I thought about it deeply, and then it hit me like a bolt of lightning.
“Isis! We were supposed to ask about the creature movement routes while treating them!”
I had been so focused on treating them that I had completely forgotten.
“It’s alright. We plan to keep observing them anyway.”
“That’s true. Let’s make sure to ask next time we make our rounds.”
We continued our conversation in hushed tones.
“I wonder what Luca and Jade are doing right now.”
“They are probably hiding well near the camp, eating the food Marina brought and resting.”
“……That does sound likely.”
Especially for us inside the survival camp, it’s hard to know, but the people outside probably don’t have much else to do.
“Luca didn’t sleep much last night, so he must be tired…….”
He was the one who had slept the least among the four of us. Because of the sudden horde of creatures, Luca and Isis couldn’t sleep properly.
“Now that you mention it, are you okay, Isis? You’re not tired?”
“I’m fine. I can stay up for a day and still be alright.”
When Isis spoke in his gentle voice, a sense of stability washed over me.
The long, long night and the day where I had to stay tense the entire time passed, and night was falling once again. Time flowed slowly, yet quickly.
“Lia, you really worked hard!”
At the sound of Anna calling my name, I straightened my posture again.
“We prepared a special meal for dinner tonight!”
Seeing Anna’s face made my head feel complicated again. I wanted to get answers to my questions before getting directly involved with this survival camp, but it didn’t seem like it would be easy.
* * *
Dinner was more nutritious than lunch.
The soup wasn’t watery and had plenty of solid ingredients. They said it was a special meal, and it seemed they had really put in the effort.
After finishing every last drop, the early night arrived.
Being in the survival camp didn’t change anything. We still couldn’t trust the people inside the camp, so Isis and I took turns keeping watch through the night.
And so, another quiet night passed.
On the morning of the second day, while checking the patients’ conditions, I was able to gather a lot of useful information.
First, the creature wave occurred approximately three months ago.
An uncountable number of creatures swarmed in and swept through the entire surrounding area. In the process, many people from the original survival camp died.
It seemed as if an overwhelming fear was imprinted on their brains; most people who recalled the creature wave reflexively trembled or found it difficult to talk about it. Of course, there were also those who spoke about it nonchalantly.
“I risked my life to come here after hearing rumors that the number of creatures in this area was low, and right after I arrived, I encountered a creature wave. Sigh, such is my fate.”
“……Was the number of creatures originally low here?”
“Huh? Yeah. Word spread quietly about a few places where the creature numbers were low, and the Duchy of Drain was one of them.”
“Could you tell me about those places where the creature numbers were low?”
“You saved my life, of course I can tell you that much!”
Since the people here probably wouldn’t know detailed information about individual creatures, I mainly steered the conversation towards creature hordes, which are easier to observe, and the creature wave to gather information.
After diligently memorizing everything, I immediately went to Isis, briefly shared the information, and organized it.
Date the Creature Wave occurred: 3 months and 2 weeks ago from the current date.
Location where the Creature Wave was first spotted: The eastern outskirts of the old survival camp.
Direction from which the creatures swarmed: Southwest relative to the survival camp.
Number of creatures after the Creature Wave: Increased so much it’s difficult to compare to before.
‘Creature wave…….’
“Isis, a creature wave is when an incomparably larger number of creatures swarm in than a creature horde, right?”
“If a creature horde is a shower, a creature wave is like being hit by a waterfall.”
Gasp.
Last night, dealing with the creature horde was already very difficult, and he calls that a shower? And a creature wave is a waterfall?
“……If you encounter a creature wave, even thinking becomes a luxury.”
Isis’s golden eyes seemed to be quietly blazing. He was recalling memories of fighting creatures.
“You have to let go of your conscious mind and fight the creatures on instinct.”
“…….”
“Because if you miss even a single one of their movements, you lose your life immediately.”
“That sounds deadly.”
Extremely so.
If at all possible, I really wanted to avoid it.
“Thinking that way, it’s quite rare for this many people to survive a creature wave.”
“Huh?”
“Usually, when a creature wave occurs, everyone in that area is wiped out.”
The people staying in this camp number around thirty to forty.
They are all survivors of the creature wave.
‘Before, Jade and Luca said that in their previous survival camp, everyone except the two of them was wiped out……’
There are quite a lot of survivors here.
“……I need to meet Marina tonight.”
“You’re going to leave the camp?”
“Marina would know more about the internal affairs of the camp than we do.”
“Are you going to ask her about what happened during the creature wave?”
“Yes.”
We are leaving this camp tomorrow.
That meant we had to finish everything by tomorrow.
“I want to talk with Anna.”
“If you wish. But I’m still not sure if Anna is someone we can trust.”
Although we became close quickly due to our common points of being Korean and being Possessed, it’s true that there are still questionable aspects, so I nodded.
I couldn’t fully trust Anna either.
But precisely because of that, I thought it was even more necessary to talk to her.
* * *
As soon as I decided I wanted to talk, I immediately took action.
“Anna.”
“Lia, you’re alone.”
Confirming that Isis wasn’t around me, Anna comfortably used informal speech again.
“Yeah. I told him I wanted to talk to you.”
“……Is that so?”
Anna avoids my eyes. It must be because of the question I asked before. Sorry, Anna, but I did come to get the answer to that question.
“I want to ask you again.”
“…….”
“Do you really think this camp is fine as it is?”
No answer came. I continued speaking gently, sighing.
“Most of the patients I examined were injured from being hit. They were wounds caused by people hitting people.”
“……I know.”
“The fact that you’re hesitating to answer means you already know the answer, don’t you?”
I looked straight into Anna’s eyes.
“So tell me.”
“……Sigh.”
Anna let out a big sigh. Then, she finally gave me an answer. It wasn’t the answer I wanted, though.
“This is our camp’s business. You’re an outsider. Can’t you just pretend you don’t know and let it go?”
“Why are you letting it continue like this?”
“Lia, please.”
Her voice was firm. Yet, it was also earnest.
“If you need help, I’ll help you. If you want information, I’ll give you the information I have. If you want, I’ll even give you tips on raising favorability. So, please don’t take an interest in our survival camp’s affairs and just leave quietly.”
“Is it that hard to just tell me?”
“…….”
Seeing that I wouldn’t back down, Anna closed her mouth. A heavy silence lingered for a moment. After a long silence, Anna finally spoke again.
“I have no reason to tell you, you know.”
A cold line drawn.
Although we had exchanged a few chats through the chat window, we only met in person for the first time yesterday.
Yeah, when you look at it coldly, we were complete strangers.
“Right, you have no reason to tell me.”
But the sense of kinship from coming from the same place and being in the same situation.
The comfort of being able to comfortably talk about things from our time in Korea.
Adding a bit of pity to that…
“But for you, the new friend I trusted, who cursed my ex-boyfriend with me yesterday, I’ll tell you. Isis and I have seen the true state of this camp, and we absolutely cannot just leave.”
