Chapter 62
The creatures that had swarmed in stopped in front of the safe zone and screamed in frustration. An alpha with red eyes approached through their midst and opened its mouth.
“I… hate the day so much.”
“……”
“I wish it were night for 24 hours. Then I would have caught you from the beginning.”
Enough with the nonsense. The nights were already longer than the days, and they could create darkness at will. Their greed knew no bounds.
Seo Won frowned in displeasure, but the alpha continued speaking.
“I was going to keep you alive and savor you slowly, for a long time, but that won’t work. I’ll have to tear off your limbs and eat you while listening to your screams… Otherwise, this anger won’t be appeased.”
“…Crazy bastard.”
“I won’t waste the next opportunity so futilely, so look forward to it. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this anxious, so I feel alive.”
When the alpha reached into the safe zone, the body part that crossed over went limp. The creature watched this quietly, then pulled its arm back out and tore off the dead part, throwing it toward Seo Won. However, before the flying arm could arrive, Baek Rak struck it away with his sword, sending it outside.
When the alpha looked at him, Baek Rak said quietly.
“Your head will fly off before that happens.”
Baek Rak’s movements were quite graceful as he swung his two swords to shake off the black blood.
Baek Rak, who had sheathed his swords and embraced Seo Won as he sat slumped, turned around first. Even while receiving the stinging gazes of the alpha and creatures on his back, Baek Rak walked calmly.
Ahead of them stood a barrier built as large and high as Yeongdeungpo Station.
The place they had arrived at, leading thousands of creatures and an alpha, a higher-tier entity, was Seoul’s second safe zone, Gangnam Station Shelter.
***
Seo Won couldn’t help but be amazed as soon as he entered the shelter.
Where had Gangnam, which had been full of tall buildings, gone? The inside of the shelter was completely filled with vegetables, trees, and fruits. It looked like an orchard and farmland combined.
Just as the people tending the fields were looking at them warily, a man who came up from the underground stairs gestured to Baek Rak and Seo Won.
“You two over there, come this way.”
Seo Won, who was still being carried, belatedly broke away from Baek Rak and stood on his own two feet. His legs trembled a little, but not enough to prevent him from walking. Seo Won followed Baek Rak toward the man.
“Did you bring the item?”
To the man’s sudden question, Baek Rak nodded and said.
“Where’s the administrator?”
“Check the item first.”
What on earth did he bring that they’re acting like this?
Seo Won knew that Baek Rak had received something from Han Seong Hyeon before coming here. He remembered it wasn’t very large. It was so small that he hadn’t even noticed Baek Rak carrying it on the way here. But if the other party valued it this much, it must be something extremely precious. What could it be?
Baek Rak, who Seo Won expected would immediately produce the item at the man’s request, chuckled and shook his head.
“The administrator first.”
“I can’t let you meet them with an unverified item.”
“I can’t show it to someone I don’t even know.”
The man’s brow twitched for a moment. He looked displeased at being doubted.
“I’m the supervisor in charge of the ground level.”
“Well. Whether you’re a supervisor or not is something I can ask the administrator about.”
No matter what the man said, Baek Rak had no intention of trusting him. The other party seemed to realize this too, as his face contorted. The atmosphere became even more hostile than before.
Perhaps because of this, the people who had been stealing glances at them were now staring openly. Looking at Baek Rak in the ominous atmosphere, Seo Won saw that he was completely ignoring people’s gazes.
After engaging in a silent battle of nerves for a while, the man suddenly grinned and said as if it were regrettable.
“I don’t know when the administrator will have time. They’re a very busy person.”
He acted arrogantly as if boasting that this was his territory. By continuing like this, he was pressuring them that they wouldn’t be able to see the administrator. Then Baek Rak stared at the man with his mouth closed.
Tense tension rose from their glaring gazes.
Seo Won, who had been restless as the situation seemed to be going strangely, nudged Baek Rak. Meaning he should tone it down. But however that was interpreted, Baek Rak opened his mouth.
“Then we’ll have to wait until they have time.”
At the unexpected answer, the man asked in bewilderment.
“Wait?”
“We’ll meet when they finish all their busy work and have leisure time. Meanwhile, we’ll just look around the shelter.”
This created a very ambiguous situation where neither won nor lost. Both the man and Baek Rak maintained their pride, but no final victor was determined.
But Seo Won could understand what Baek Rak was aiming for.
He was buying time to find a hunter with fire abilities.
In this situation, there was no way the man would readily let them meet the administrator. Rather, he would drag out the time, telling them to wait anxiously. During that time, they could go around looking for the hunter under the pretext of touring the shelter.
“Then I’ll assume you’ll let me know when you’re ready. Let’s go.”
Baek Rak ended the business before the man could react. Then he pushed Seo Won’s back, leading him toward the stairs going underground.
Seo Won awkwardly went down the stairs and glanced back. As expected, the man was glaring at Baek Rak with a face that suggested he would never contact them.
Whether this should be considered good or bad…
In any case, finding a needle in a haystack was just beginning.
Going down the stairs, a familiar yet unfamiliar underground shopping area spread before their eyes. The structure seemed to be preserved as it was, but inside was not a shopping area but people’s real lives.
While the people at Yeongdeungpo Station lived above ground, the people at Gangnam Station lived underground. It probably also served as a bunker in emergency situations. It was very efficient since they only needed to block the stair entrance.
On the left was a restaurant, on the right was a warehouse, and next to it were small shops. The further they went inside, the more residential spaces appeared, but strangely, even after walking for a long time, there was no end.
Only then did Seo Won realize that this place wasn’t the Gangnam Station he knew. These people had expanded underground, increased the size, and created one giant fortress.
It could be seen as a very defensive shelter.
‘But how do we find a fire hunter in this vast place?’
All the people passing by were looking at them curiously with sidelong glances. Judging by the area, there seemed to be more people than at Yeongdeungpo Station, and at this rate, they really might not be able to find anyone.
After wandering around for a while, they discovered a small rest area with no people. Rather than looking around aimlessly, it seemed better to make a plan first, so Seo Won tapped Baek Rak’s arm.
When Baek Rak stopped walking and turned around, Seo Won rolled his eyes and said.
“…Let’s rest over there for a moment.”
Baek Rak seemed to have already drawn a line with him, but Seo Won still hadn’t decided how to treat him.
However, one thing was certain: he had no intention of acting like Baek Rak. Even if others mocked him for having no pride, it couldn’t be helped. He didn’t want his relationship with Baek Rak to grow distant. He just… wanted it that way.
‘Somehow… both Baek Rak and I seem to have changed a lot from the beginning.’
He wasn’t sure what had changed exactly.
Baek Rak seemed to have no objection to Seo Won’s suggestion and sat on the bench first. When Seo Won followed and sat next to him, silence flowed for a moment.
While secretly stealing glances at Baek Rak, wondering how to start the conversation, Seo Won was startled. Their eyes had met. As he swallowed dry saliva, Baek Rak turned his head and spoke first.
“You wait here.”
“…Huh?”
“I’ll handle the searching myself.”
At the sudden announcement, Seo Won whipped his head around. But Baek Rak was only looking straight ahead as if he had said everything he needed to say.
“Alone… you’re going to search alone?”
“……”
“With this many people, how can you search alone? Wouldn’t it be easier if we searched together?”
When Seo Won looked bewildered, Baek Rak looked back with dry eyes.
“What can you do?”
“…What?”
“I can find them with light contact, but you?”
Finding hunters who hadn’t revealed their identity until now was not an easy task. Unless they used their abilities, they couldn’t be distinguished from ordinary people. However, Baek Rak could distinguish hunters with just brief contact. That was an ability only possessed by pursuers who awakened guardians.
If they had obtained even small information, they could have filtered out people who weren’t hunters, but in the current situation, Baek Rak had no choice but to touch every single person in the shelter.
In such a situation, it was fair to say there was nothing Yoon Seo Won could do.
“Tell me, what can you do?”
“……”
“Yoon Seo Won.”
His face suddenly flushed hot.
Seo Won couldn’t tell if what he was feeling now was embarrassment or shame.
Baek Rak was just stating facts as they were, but from the listener’s perspective, he couldn’t help but feel his own incompetence. In reality, there was nothing he could do, and he was even directly pointed out for it.
It felt like standing naked in front of people.
“Don’t try to do anything. I don’t expect that from you.”
But he couldn’t say anything because Baek Rak wasn’t saying this to diminish his self-esteem. His calm tone contained no hint of mockery or intention to discourage him.
It was just a process of dividing what was realistically possible and impossible, and organizing to move efficiently.
That’s why he couldn’t open his mouth further. He couldn’t express his emotions or blame Baek Rak for speaking that way. Baek Rak had already made up his mind to treat him this way.
Simply as an existence to be protected.
It was what Seo Won had wanted from Baek Rak, but not in this direction. If he was only protected without any interaction, wouldn’t that be no different from an object?
Did Baek Rak really want this?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
