Chapter 166

CRASH—! BOOM—! RATATATA—!

A series of splendid roars rang out one after another.

The waiting hall of 「Railway Station」 was swarming with unidentified entities.

And at the center of it, Cha Si-eon was grinding the abnormalities down like a shredder.

If I had not known Team Leader Cha, it would have been a sight where I could not have told which side was friendly to me, let alone which side was on humanity’s side.

“……Is that real?”

“Yeah…….”

Confused, I asked the woman, and for some reason, the woman answered gloomily.

Thanks to that, I learned that Cha Si-eon was not an apparition, but my confusion did not end.

If that really is Cha Si-eon, how did he get in here?

This place, 「Railway Station」, had connected to the nascent-phase 「Island」 and had thereby taken on the traits of a nascent-phase Special Zone as well.

So our hypothesis was that the path from outside would have been blocked too.

Could the passage still be open?

……No, wait.

He is alone right now.

I had overlooked it because he was smashing everything around him too calmly, but Cha Si-eon was currently acting alone.

Surely not.

No, it was not “surely not.”

If he had gone outside, gotten himself in order, and entered again, he would naturally have come in with a team.

There was no way he would be wandering around alone like that.

I was slowly horrified by the fact I had realized.

That bastard jumped off the train……?

After me?

“Hah…….”

Is he really insane?

No, when I went to the trouble of reviving him and sending him out, he should have left obediently…….

I stared blankly at that rebel, then snapped back to my senses.

Then the bond that is holding me here is…….

At the thought that crossed my mind, I looked back at the woman.

The woman, whose expression had been poor since earlier.

And the woman’s white surge, which was shrinking more and more, while the lights flashed noisily in contrast.

Everything seemed to point to one fact, so I spoke indirectly.

“Doesn’t this make the promise different?”

“…….”

At my words, the woman stared at me with her mouth rounded open.

And the lights flashed even larger and more noisily.

That blinking seemed almost like loud laughter.

SPARKLESPARKLESPARKLESPARKLE—!

Empowered by their fervent response, I continued.

“You promised to save ‘all’ my friends and send them out. Then why is that person doing that here?”

“……You are really going this way?”

The woman muttered as if aggrieved.

“It is not my fault that your friend is insane.”

“In any case, it is true that you failed to keep the promise.”

“Hah…….”

The promise the woman had made in order to obtain me.

I will save your friends and send them out.

Using this promise, the woman had claimed ownership and rights over me.

But that promise had now been beautifully broken.

By Team Leader Cha, who had refused to leave this place and was causing a disturbance.

As if this inference of mine was more or less correct, the woman sighed in a voice mixed with frustration.

“So this was what that bond was…….”

That was right.

The reason the woman had been unable to take me.

The reason she had tried twice, yet had ultimately failed to carry it out, was because the woman had not kept the promise yet.

Whether that was due to the woman’s own will or someone else’s did not matter.

What mattered right now was that Cha Si-eon was here.

And because of that, our promise had become invalid.

“This is truly absurd.”

The woman lamented into the air.

Then, as if she could not understand at all, she asked me,

“Are you close with him?”

“No, not particularly.”

“Then why?”

“I think it is because of that person’s personality.”

“Ah, how upsetting.”

SPARKLESPARKLESPARKLESPARKLE—!

Behind the woman who said she was upset, the lights flashed almost as if they were rioting.

It seemed everyone was bursting with dopamine over this reversal.

Bzzzt— bzzzzzt—

And the space where that frenzy of light had gathered was steadily growing narrower.

The place we were in now was 「Big Cat」’s domain.

The woman had said she could not come here, so she had brought her own domain with her.

That was precisely that white gap like wings.

But seeing it gradually closing, it seemed the woman did not have much time left to remain here either.

“What a shame.”

The woman murmured regretfully.

As expected, the woman now had to leave this place.

Abandoning me, who was still bound to this space, as I was.

Good, somehow, I have survived……!

Just as I inwardly cheered at this fact.

Thud—!

The woman suddenly pounced on me.

Before I had time to respond, I fell backward, and the woman climbed on top of me and wrapped her hands around my neck.

“……!”

Startled by the touch choking my neck, I grabbed the woman’s wrists.

But I could not shake those hands off.

Her slender wrists did not move at all, as if they had been fixed in place.

In that state, the woman began slowly tightening her fingertips around my windpipe.

“Kgh……!”

Flustered, I looked at the woman.

The woman was looking down at me without expression.

She neither smiled nor grew angry.

She merely looked down at me and delicately choked off my breath.

What is this? The promise already…….

Could she be planning to just kill me?

Throwing away the promise, the bond, everything?

At that chilling premonition, I struggled desperately.

But my actions were nothing but meaningless floundering.

Unlike me, desperate, the woman choked me without showing any sign of effort, and my breath gradually stopped.

Damn it, let go……!

As I twisted my body to survive, the woman leaned her upper body over me.

I looked despairingly at the woman’s face coming closer to me.

That face grew increasingly blurred.

I could see the lights the woman bore flashing.

They were beautiful, like stars perched on the Milky Way.

Just as my consciousness was about to fade.

The woman whispered by my ear.

“I will let you go this time.”

Suddenly, the pressure released.

“Cough! Hah, haah……!”

I gasped for breath and twisted my body.

Then I hurriedly backed away, trying to escape from beneath the woman, but there was no need.

When I lifted myself up, the woman had already disappeared.

Only I remained here, gasping for breath alone.

Death had passed me by.

Death had been certain, but the situation had changed.

Feeling the reality of that fact, I touched my neck.

Then I lifted my head and looked beyond the door.

The person who had changed my situation through a certain choice was still wholly absorbed in smashing everything around him.

---

CRASH—! THOOM—

At last, the roar stopped.

The vibrations that had continued like aftershocks gradually subsided as well.

Realizing that the space beyond the door had gone quiet, I carefully poked my head out.

Team Leader Cha was looking around in the middle of the waiting hall like a conqueror.

I wanted to join him quickly, but if I stepped out carelessly, I might get shot.

Suddenly calling him in a loud voice was dangerous all the same.

So I lingered by the doorway and waited for Cha Si-eon to discover me.

After a while.

Cha Si-eon, who had been maintaining all-around security, turned his gaze toward me.

As if I had been waiting for it, I immediately waved both arms and made myself known to Cha Si-eon.

“Team Leader!”

Cha Si-eon briefly raised his gun after seeing me, but after confirming my face, he turned the muzzle aside.

“Team Leader, it’s me!”

I shouted again and showed him both my hands.

Then Cha Si-eon, who had been observing me from far away, began striding toward me.

It seemed he had recognized me.

Perhaps because I had survived death, I felt strangely drained.

To think I could be this glad to see that person.

If he asked for the code word, I would say I was glad to see him again.

With that feeling, I went toward Cha Si-eon as well.

But as the distance narrowed and it became a range where I could confirm the other person’s expression.

I instinctively stopped walking.

What is this? His atmosphere is somehow…….

The moment I thought it was unusual.

Cha Si-eon reached right in front of me with quick steps.

Then.

Thwack—!

“……!?”

A heavy impact struck the crown of my head.

Caught off guard, I was hit as I stood there, and froze in shock.

My head throbbed painfully.

But rather than the physical pain, the mental shock was far more overwhelming.

So with a blank face, I stared at Cha Si-eon.

What was that just now? Did he hit me?

Did he strike the crown of my head with the edge of his hand?

Team Leader Cha? Me? I am not Kwak Jae-gyeom……?

I could not believe what had happened to me.

So as I stared at Cha Si-eon with eyes shaking like an earthquake, Cha Si-eon intoned monotonously,

“I thought you were an enemy.”

“Do not lie!”

Only then did I come to my senses after having been frozen solid, and I shouted.

But Cha Si-eon did not particularly explain himself.

No, he did not even pretend to listen.

As if to say, I say that is what happened, so what are you going to do about it?

I stared stupidly at that Team Leader Cha again, then barely calmed myself with two sighs and one deep breath.

Right, is getting hit in the head once important right now?

It was true that I had caused trouble, so I would let it pass, and first, we had to understand the situation.

“What happened?”

“You are the one who should explain what happened, you bastard.”

“What?”

“You suddenly told me to dispose of your will and jumped off the train, so what exactly are you doing now, pretending to be glad to see me with such a perfectly fine face?”

I had truly been glad, and for some reason, I became awkward.

This atmosphere is somehow more serious than I thought…….

No, it was not more serious than I thought. It was simply grave.

Cha Si-eon was pissed as hell, and there was no sign that he would let this pass moderately after looking at the situation.

When I belatedly began watching his mood, Team Leader Cha continued his interrogation.

“Are you insane, or are you contaminated? Whichever it is, what is this situation now?”

“There were circumstances that warranted it.”

“So you did that while in your right mind? If you act alone like that, what are the remaining personnel supposed to do?”

“There was no time to explain properly. But if I disappeared without saying anything, there would be confusion, so first, only to you, Team Leader…….”

“So you called someone over and then jumped off the train?”

“…….”

At Cha Si-eon’s words, I belatedly realized my mistake.

Earlier, there truly had been no time or leeway.

So I had done what was urgent first, but now I finally realized what kind of situation my choice had created.

And also what kind of choice Cha Si-eon, pushed by that situation, had made.

There was no room for excuses here.

“I am sorry.”

“Phew…….”

I admitted my mistake, and in front of me, Cha Si-eon only let out a deep sigh.

That breath still sounded quite angry, so I carefully added,

“You may hit me one more time.”

“……No need.”

Cha Si-eon clicked his tongue as if dumbfounded.

But I saw it.

Cha Si-eon’s hand half rise, then lower again.