Chapter 167

“「Big Cat」’s older sister.”

At Cha Si-eon’s murmur, I nodded fervently.

It was to emphasize how unavoidable my situation had been.

“So that thing proposed a deal to Mr. Seo Do-un, and under the condition that it would revive our personnel and send them out, Mr. Seo Do-un would remain here and be killed by that ‘older sister’?”

I nodded again.

An excellent summary.

However, I would like him to avoid saying the words “older sister” in that voice as much as possible.

After making me sit in front of him as I nodded diligently, Cha Si-eon fell into thought for a moment.

Then he looked at me again and grew quietly angry.

“So you truly did not have time to say this one sentence?”

“…….”

At Cha Si-eon’s blatant grudge, my nodding stopped dead.

I would rather he hit me one more time.

Cha Si-eon did not hit me. Instead, he kept pressuring me with words and looks.

But because I knew my sin, I answered with a humble attitude.

“To make an excuse, I really had no room to spare either…….”

Bombs had fallen from the sky, and Team Leader Cha and Baek Sa-ra had both died.

In the end, I had died too, only for a woman called “「Big Cat」’s older sister” to suddenly expose my repeated deaths and make a strange proposal.

“I thought escaping from here was the first priority, since everyone had died and come back to life. I was also not confident I could explain the situation sufficiently.”

Honestly, if I had told them exactly as it was, would people have accepted my story?

They probably would have thought, That bastard must be contaminated, tied me up, and dragged me away.

I would probably have done the same.

That was why I had given only Team Leader Cha a hint that was not quite a hint and slipped away, but after cooling my head and thinking about it, it seemed my actions had been quite a bolt from the blue for Team Leader Cha.

One member of the operation team he was leading suddenly called him, grinned, and threw himself out of the train.

From Team Leader Cha’s point of view, had it not been a scene from a horror movie with absurd plausibility?

As if thinking about it made him angrier, Cha Si-eon cooled his anger for a moment, then spoke.

“Thanks to that, my personnel and I survived, so I have nothing to say, but at the very least, discuss things before acting from now on. And as for the conditions of that deal…….”

But he quickly grew pissed again and exhaled.

“……I understand why Mr. Seo Do-un judged it that way. However, even if exchanging one life of your own for 12 lives may be arithmetically correct, when Mr. Seo Do-un’s special nature and strategic value are considered, Mr. Seo Do-un’s return alive may in some ways be more profitable. So from now on, even if a proposal like that comes, do not ever judge independently. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir…….”

“And we are also people prepared to die. Not only are we not targets Mr. Seo Do-un must risk his life to save, we have already received many lives handed over to us.”

“…….”

“Do not add your own life on top of that. Not if you know why we volunteered. We are already heavy enough.”

That was true.

They were people who had come to resolve their han.

People who wanted to take on that role directly instead of merely cheering on the Otter, and people willing to risk their lives to do so.

But I had nearly placed one more burden on top of that.

Realizing this, I spoke humbly.

“I will make sure something like this does not happen again.”

At my answer, Cha Si-eon exhaled for a long time again.

Since Team Leader Cha’s displeasure seemed somewhat relieved, I quietly added a greeting.

“And thank you, Team Leader. I survived thanks to you too.”

“You have not survived yet, so do not relax.”

This fussy bastard. I went out of my way to say thank you…….

“……But Team Leader, are you not also acting alone right now?”

I asked, hoping Cha Si-eon would flinch.

I did have a fault and was crawling on the ground, but that did not mean he was in a position to scold me proudly right now.

However, Cha Si-eon instead snorted.

“Do you think I am you? I properly handed things over to the personnel before coming.”

Huh, really?

“Did people let you go obediently?”

“When I said I would bring Seo Do-un back, everyone understood.”

“…….”

Come to think of it, Team Leader Cha had a large bag with him in addition to his own equipment.

I had wondered what it was, since it had not been there before.

So people had piled equipment and food on him while telling him to bring me back.

I had been inwardly reassured, thinking Team Leader Cha was an accomplice like me.

He was not.

I was the only sinner, and he had been the slave hunter.

Looking anew at the large bag beside Team Leader Cha, I felt a chill.

Just how long was Team Leader Cha planning to wander around here for him to have packed like that?

With that much, he could hold out alone for a week……?

“In any case, since you are alive, that is enough. We will rest for 15 minutes and escape.”

Cha Si-eon, who said that, looked a little tired.

Well, earlier, he had been running around like mad and hunting entities.

He said he had broken through 12 spaces before meeting me, and that all-out fights like that had occurred in five of them.

It was a situation where he had every right to be tired.

So Team Leader Cha put down his weapon for a moment and sat on a chair in the waiting hall.

“We will use the same method the Deputy Director used to escape from the nascent-phase 「Hotel」.”

According to what he had observed while wandering around until now, 「Railway Station」 was also following the characteristics of the nascent phase exactly.

So Cha Si-eon intended to find “「Railway Station」 at the time period when the Special Zone was formed” and escape from there.

Since it was an already confirmed escape method, the judgment itself was reasonable.

The only problem was…….

“There is a high probability that once we leave here, we will not be able to enter again.”

“That is probably true.”

Cha Si-eon readily agreed with my words.

I painfully understood Manager Kwon Mu-seop’s words that “you can see the Special Zone using its head.”

Seeing it twist space and even pour down a bombing, I could not help but acknowledge the malice of the things hostile to us.

And their clear sense of purpose too.

The Type 1 Special Zones did not want us to defeat 「Railway Station」.

If so, there was a high probability they would lock 「Railway Station」 in this state.

Just as they had hidden 「Island」 tightly away without opening it again.

From humanity’s standpoint, this too would be victory if one called it victory.

Several spaces that dragged in humans and killed them would be semi-permanently closed.

However, if that happened, our original objective would never be achieved.

Lee Sol would be left abandoned like this.

As if noticing my thoughts, Cha Si-eon spoke.

“The highest-priority objective of this operation is everyone’s survival. And if we die, there will be no one to protect Lee Sol either.”

This too was correct.

“So for now, our priority is getting out alive. Moreover, the information secured this time is considerable. We should be able to use this achievement as a foothold to consider the next operation.”

At Team Leader Cha’s words, I had no choice but to nod.

Right, excess is as bad as deficiency. Selection and focus.

If we kept getting greedy just because the situation had improved somewhat, we would only be likely to suffer a setback instead.

A decision to break things off once would probably be necessary too.

“From the waiting hall to the platform, the space of 「Railway Station」 is not separated by doors. So if we escape through the platform, we may be attacked by 「Giant Siren」. Therefore, this time, we will move to 「Circulating Library」 and escape by way of 「Library」.”

I nodded at Cha Si-eon’s explanation.

After 15 minutes, we rose from our seats.

To move to 「Circulating Library」, we first needed a book.

And the space with many books in 「Railway Station」 was the business center on the second floor.

There, we had to find a picture connected to 「Circulating Library」.

We arrived at the business center and opened the door.

But outside the door, stars were sparkling.

“……?”

Stars sparkling in deep blue empty air.

And clouds scattered like feathers.

It was not difficult to infer what the scene before my eyes was.

“Is this…… the night sky?”

“…….”

That was right. This was the night sky.

The only problem was that the pretty night sky was spread out in the place where an indoor space should have been.

Cha Si-eon carefully examined the scene, then took a candy out of his pocket and threw it outside.

Whoosh—

The candy did not fall downward. It flew sideways.

Then it disappeared, moving endlessly farther away without hitting anything.

Click—!

As if he had seen something he should not have seen, Cha Si-eon closed the door.

Then he calmly opened the door again.

“…….”

Fortunately, the night sky had disappeared.

Instead, this time, a blue sky was visible.

When I glanced downward, clouds were laid out far below.

It was a scenery one could only see by riding an airplane.

Click—!

This time, Cha Si-eon closed the door without even throwing anything.

Then he said to me as if nothing had happened.

“Let us try another door.”

We opened the door of the in-station police center beside the business center.

Then bright light greeted us.

Fortunately, the heat did not cross over to our side.

GURGLE— GURGLE—

What filled the space beyond the door was red lava, writhing as it moved.

“…….”

Cha Si-eon took out another candy.

Just how many candies are in Team Leader Cha’s pocket?

While I had such carefree thoughts, Cha Si-eon tossed the candy into the lava blocking the doorway.

Sssss—

The candy melted beautifully.

Cha Si-eon looked back at me and asked as if dumbfounded,

“What is going on here?”

“Are you asking me that?”

That was when it began.

Us wandering around Railway Station and opening and closing doors frantically.

But every door there betrayed our expectations and showed us some nonsensical space.

A rock face, inside dirt, the deep sea, inside the body of a living creature, and so on.

Spaces we could not enter, or spaces where we would certainly die if we entered, appeared.

Even the door Cha Si-eon had used perfectly well just before was the same.

Three hours passed like that.

Only after opening and closing doors thousands of times, perhaps more than 10,000 times, did we realize it.

Apparently, we were trapped here.

“Team Leader.”

“Yes.”

“Did you perhaps pass on my request to dispose of my will?”

Cha Si-eon quietly looked back at me.

His expression said, Do you think I did?