TTOA Chapter 61

#61

“This is a Mutant/Late-Blooming Esper/Guide.”

“Keuheuk.”

Kwon Jae-jin groaned in agony as his injured chest was pressed down.

The Lieutenant Colonel indifferently pressed down mercilessly on his heart with a hand covered in a stiff, black glove, not caring about Kwon Jae-jin’s pain.

He looked cautious, as if reconfirming his judgment.

He was like a well-trained military dog.

You could tell from his hair slicked back with pomade, not leaving a single strand, and his restrained movements without any unnecessary actions.

“A Mutant/Late-Blooming Esper/Guide? Are you sure?”

The soldier holding the scanner was startled, took his hand off the Goggles transmitter, and grabbed his gun.

“Yes.”

“Then, do we kill him? We wasted a Healing Factor.”

“Wait. This isn’t a regular Residential District. We need to find out how he managed to sneak into the Special Residential District and then deal with him. It’s impossible for an ordinary person alone.”

“…You mean he has an accomplice? Among the Espers.”

“He’s a criminal. Be careful with your words.”

The Lieutenant Colonel muttered bluntly. His gaze sweeping over the collapsed Jae-jin was cold.

“This might not be the only one. There’s a possibility that other Mutant/Late-Blooming Espers/Guides have been smuggled out.”

Jae-jin grimaced miserably.

A stream of hot blood flowed down his black eyelashes. It seemed his forehead was cut. His vision was already blurry, and now blood was blocking his sight, making it even more frustrating.

‘If I get caught like this, I’ll die, and Seo Eui-woo will be punished too…’

If he was dragged to the Center, it would be over. They could use Mental-type Ability to delve into Kwon Jae-jin’s memories and find out who had smuggled him out in an instant.

He had to escape.

Or, even if he couldn’t escape,

‘At least I have to die alone…’

Jae-jin endured the pain and trembled slightly with his right hand. He still held the pistol that hadn’t been taken away.

‘Shoot. I have to shoot. I have no choice.’

At that moment, Kwon Jae-jin’s right elbow was trampled by a military boot.

“Huh, so you’re still fidgeting with your fingers.”

“Ugh!”

With a motion similar to grinding out a cigarette butt with a heel, the joints were twisted, and Jae-jin’s wrist drooped unwillingly. The man resembling a military dog gestured to his subordinate.

“Lieutenant Kim, disarm him.”

“Ah, yes. Ma Tae-o, Lieutenant Colonel.”

The pistol was taken away easily. All the bullets left in the harness were also taken.

“Is the scan complete?”

“Currently, it’s 98% complete. It’s almost done.”

“Report. My arrival will be delayed.”

A completion message popped up on the scanner. Subsequently, Kwon Jae-jin’s identity was clearly displayed.

“Affiliated with the 6th Residential District. Kwon Jae-jin. 26 years old. Male. Officially declared missing and deceased on September 2nd of this year. Four months ago.”

“Hmm.”

Lieutenant Kim handed the scanner to Ma Tae-o, Lieutenant Colonel. Lieutenant Colonel Ma received the screen and carefully checked it. Just then, the tall bushes behind them shook violently.

A black shadow leaped up in an instant and bit into Lieutenant Kim’s back in one gulp.

Krrrreureureuk!

It seemed the wolf-type Beta Creature had come down following the prey it had missed.

Leading a pack with it.

“Kkyaaaaak!”

Lieutenant Kim, his flesh torn off, helplessly spurted blood and rolled on the ground. Lieutenant Colonel Ma immediately opened fire. After inflicting effective gunshot wounds on a few of them, he immediately deployed his ability.

“Get your head together and stick close to me!”

A translucent spherical shield spread around Lieutenant Colonel Ma Tae-o. It was beautifully colored like a soap bubble.

Even when bitten by wolf teeth that could shatter bulletproof glass in an instant, the shield didn’t have a single scratch.

Lieutenant Kim crawled to Lieutenant Colonel Ma’s feet in a prone position. If he could get inside the shield, he could buy time to use the Healing Factor.

But the wolf was faster.

The monstrous mouth gaped open, and a long tongue stretched out. A tongue that moved freely as if it were a tentacle. It wrapped tightly around Lieutenant Kim’s ankle like a rope and yanked him away. Dragging him into its mouth.

“Aaaaak! Uheok! Kkyaaaaak!”

Lieutenant Colonel Ma Tae-o watched Lieutenant Kim’s demise, his bones being chewed and eaten, and had to calmly send a radio message to his troops without wavering. He turned on the Goggles transceiver and reported the situation and location.

“This is Ma Tae-o, Lieutenant Colonel of the 7th Special Task Force. Requesting support. Wolf-type Beta Creatures. Number is five. Coordinates are…”

Jae-jin knew that this was his last chance.

Now that the Creatures’ attention was focused on them. Only now would he have a chance to escape.

Fortunately, the Healing Factor was having a slight effect. The leg bones weren’t fully connected, but he could barely move his body. If he couldn’t walk, he would have to crawl.

“Heueu. Euk.”

Swallowing his groans, Kwon Jae-jin walked out of the seemingly safe shield ability on his own. The wolves immediately targeted the moving Jae-jin.

“That Mutant/Late-Blooming Esper/Guide, is he planning to die!”

Kwon Jae-jin didn’t look back and ran, limping. The wolves left Lieutenant Colonel Ma and followed Kwon Jae-jin entirely.

Jae-jin ran dangerously between the trees. Two of the wolves stepped on branches and went up, while the rest chased from below. He heard Lieutenant Colonel Ma firing from behind. Two wolves collapsed with a thud.

However, the fact that Jae-jin was in a critical situation hadn’t changed. He felt like he would be caught and eaten right away.

But, there was no other way.

If he was dragged to the Center, Kwon Jae-jin would be killed, and Seo Eui-woo would be punished, but if he was eaten by the Creatures, only Kwon Jae-jin would die.

If he inevitably had to choose one of the two, wouldn’t the latter be better?

He could see the end of the valley nearby. Below was a breathtaking Canyon/Ravine that seemed to have been cut down.

‘Ha.’

Jae-jin ignored the wolves’ green eyes that were pouring down like will-o’-the-wisps and panted as he looked down at the Canyon/Ravine.

He couldn’t quite gauge how high it was.

Seo Eui-woo’s seaside mansion cliff was not even a cliff. This was truly a precipice.

He had seen strangely shaped rocks before, but this was the first time he had seen such a scenic view. Below the cliff, he could see nine streams of valley water winding. Beside the valley water that flowed without freezing even in winter, there were two pairs of overlapping rainbows of seven colors.

‘…I should have just come when Seo Eui-woo suggested it…’

He scoffed at his past self, who was full of ambition to change the future.

He had complained that 4 years of life was short, but he was now walking the road to the afterlife in just 4 months.

It seemed that both the first and second lives were filled with regret.

The third chance… probably won’t be given.

Jae-jin resigned himself and closed his eyes. He sincerely wished that Seo Eui-woo would have a proper Guide after he died. He hoped that a real Guide, who was an Esper from birth, would appear, not this Mutant/Late-Blooming Esper/Guide halfwit.

Kireureureuk!

Before he could even properly pray, something damp and hot wrapped around Kwon Jae-jin’s wrist.

It was like a sticky tentacle, the Creature’s tongue.

The wolf Creature that had been chasing Kwon Jae-jin grabbed his injured wrist with its tongue and pulled. Instinctively, he put strength into his lower body to avoid being dragged away, but with legs that hadn’t even healed, it was not enough to withstand it.

“Keuheueuk!”

The wolf Creature pulled Kwon Jae-jin with its tongue and finally bit him in the mouth. The dense teeth, like shark teeth, ruthlessly pierced his back and stomach.

It felt like he would be painfully chewed and eaten alive like this.

At that moment, a loud gunshot rang out.

Bang! Bang, bang!

The bullets fired by Lieutenant Colonel Ma Tae-o accurately pierced the head of the creature holding Kwon Jae-jin.

The ferocious wolf staggered sideways and collapsed. He had killed the remaining wolves as well; their bodies were scattered on the ground.

“Should I say thank you? Thanks to you becoming bait, I was able to finish it easily.”

He opened the wolf’s jaws and pulled Kwon Jae-jin out. The tongue wrapped around his wrist didn’t come off easily, so he had to cut it off with a knife.

Lieutenant Colonel Ma cut off the Creature’s tongue with a Jackknife hanging from his waist, like cutting an umbilical cord.

“Kwon Jae-jin, was it?”

“…Keoheok.”

“You’ve got guts. I would have praised you if you were my subordinate.”

Kwon Jae-jin lay next to the corpse of the wolf-type Creature with its head pierced, and coughed up blood violently.

The Healing Factor effect was circulating, but he had new wounds from being chewed by the wolf’s teeth. Jae-jin coughed painfully and glanced at Lieutenant Colonel Ma.

“I don’t need, the same, superior… to leave me to die by being bitten.”

“I acknowledge your courage, but my troops will be here soon. Give up.”

Lieutenant Colonel Ma took off the belt he was wearing and used it to tie Kwon Jae-jin’s wrist.

He tightened the leather belt tightly, restraining his wrists so that he couldn’t untie it on his own, and took off the gloves stained with the Creature’s black blood.

“Kwon Jae-jin. Who has been hiding you for four months?”

Lieutenant Colonel Ma Tae-o coldly questioned him. With the intention of threatening him, he strangled Kwon Jae-jin’s neck with his bare hands and pressed him into the dirt.

“Tell me how you got through the Special Residential District border gate…”

However, the moment their skin came into contact, his expression stiffened instead.

“What, what… what?”

The man who was the very definition of FM, like a military dog, made an absurd sound that didn’t suit him at all, and furrowed his brows. His black eyes, which had no light in them as if holes had been drilled in them, wavered slightly.

“Are you… Guiding me now?”