TTOA Chapter 126
by VolareEven with his body stiff, his gun unconsciously tracked to the next target. Seo Eui-woo was right. He wasn’t hitting them by sight, but by instinct.
Each shot from the rifle hit its mark in succession, causing the creatures to fall like dominoes.
Kwon Jae-jin’s lips were pressed tightly together.
Now, there were no living creatures on the outer defense perimeter.
He had to shoot the creatures embedded among the corpses below the outer defense perimeter.
Jae-jin took a deep breath. Then, he pressed the Goggles resting on his forehead down over his nose.
He turned on the power and set it to automatic mode.
Strangely enough, it didn’t feel unfamiliar. Just like in his dream, a blue hologram frantically appeared before his eyes.
While the ground was dark like a deep swamp, and it was difficult to distinguish between the corpses, creatures, and Espers all mixed together, the hologram identified the terrain boundaries and distinguished between friend and foe when he wore the Goggles. It read the Identification Tags and marked registered Espers as allies and unregistered creatures as enemies.
He felt like he could shoot like this. No, it was actually a great help in shooting.
He felt like he knew what to do and that he could do it.
Jae-jin pointed his gun downwards. Seo Eui-woo stared with widened eyes at Kwon Jae-jin, who was using the Goggles without ever having been taught how.
“Jae-jin, that…”
Even Seo Eui-woo was this surprised, so the Espers who only knew Kwon Jae-jin as a Mutant who had sneaked into the Special Residential District couldn’t help but be shocked.
The eyes of those who had been repeatedly brainwashed into believing that Mutants were not like them, formal Espers, but only targets for extermination, wavered. Those whose lives had been saved by Kwon Jae-jin were completely stunned for a few seconds.
The principle that Mutants were uncontrollable and therefore subject to extermination seemed to be shaken.
Seeing is believing.
Seeing it with their own eyes, Kwon Jae-jin looked like an elite, no less than a member of the Special Task Force.
No, considering this was his first deployment, he was even more outstanding.
They couldn’t read any hesitation on Kwon Jae-jin’s face. Even if he was afraid, he didn’t stop and did what he had to do, and he tried to make the best judgment in everything.
He was a tenacious fighter who didn’t give up even when driven to the extreme.
Bang! Bang, bang!
Gunfire rang out incessantly.
Kwon Jae-jin just focused on shooting.
Not a single shot missed, accurate. He pierced through the darkness and rain, hitting only the creatures.
Seeing the creatures collapse powerlessly as he shot them, a raw, electric thrill coursed through his bloodstream. He felt hot to the bones.
He felt elation.
The recoil was electrifying,
Even excited…
Primal emotions overflowed. He felt like he was naked.
Instinctive fear of the monsters.
The pressure of facing the Creature Wave.
The confusion of being caught up in a sudden situation.
Nevertheless, the determination to do what he could.
Every time a creature fell to a bullet, it felt like a knot of resentment lodged in his heart was breaking. The humiliation, frustration, and helplessness he felt as a Mutant were shattered to pieces. It was like he was kicking away the past days when he was trapped in his house and couldn’t do anything, and it was taken for granted.
Leaving the past behind and moving forward, Kwon Jae-jin was growing rapidly.
Growth is the expansion of the world.
For a newborn, the baby’s cradle is the whole world, and for a child, the neighborhood they live in is the whole world. As an adult, that radius expands even further. As they grow, the fence surrounding them expands further.
In fact, the Frontier District was a vague, unknown space to Kwon Jae-jin.
Even the Special Residential District was new to a civilian who had lived his whole life in the 6th Residential District. The thrill he felt when he entered the Center was still vivid, as if it had just happened. But now, he was facing the vast world beyond the outer defense perimeter fence.
Kwon Jae-jin felt an even greater sense of space than when he stood on top of the Center.
To put it in perspective, it was similar to standing on the vast ocean.
When he entered the Center, he felt a sense of stability as if he were being incorporated into a well-built system. But this place was new land that had not yet been developed. It was close to nature.
Seeing this vast Frontier District directly, he realized that the war with the creatures was not simply a matter of life and death, of taking lives, but a struggle to seize land.
Every time humanity takes a step forward, overcoming adversity into that harsh world dominated by monsters, humanity’s world expands and grows.
Kwon Jae-jin came here of his own will and was resisting as he pleased.
He was free.
He had never expected that such a thing would be possible.
He hadn’t even thought that he wanted this kind of battle.
Before coming here with Seo Eui-woo, he had never dared to hope that he would achieve freedom with his own hands. He just thought that it was enough to extend his dying life and spend money as much as he wanted. Dating while giving up, loving while resigning himself. That was all there was.
But now, it was so…
So… wishing and wanting,
He felt like he could never give up this freedom again.
Kwon Jae-jin fell into a trance and fired his gun like crazy.
His breathing became increasingly labored, and sweat formed on his forehead and seeped into the inside of the Goggles. His fingertips trembled uncontrollably. His eyes stung and the tip of his nose turned red. His heart was beating so fast it felt like it would die at any moment. His tense muscles were as hard as stone, and his whole body ached. He felt like he was going to explode. Brilliant sparks flew beneath his skin.
Endlessly. Endlessly…
He fired bullets until he had used up all the magazines attached to his waist and harness. After firing the last bullet, the chamber was empty, and the trigger spun idly. Only then did he come to his senses. He raised his head and saw that the horde of creatures had been completely driven out beyond the 2nd Residential District.
It was beyond the effective range of the rifle.
But Seo Eui-woo’s ability could reach far beyond that distance.
Krrr, krrrk!
Kieeeek!
The creatures let out chilling death screams.
The monsters crushed by Seo Eui-woo’s merciless ability were helplessly trapped and flattened. Like folding paper, the creatures were folded in half. Again and again in half, crumpling and shrinking. Then, finally, they couldn’t withstand the pressure and burst with a thud.
The massive ability surged endlessly, crushing all approaching monsters.
Crack, a roar as if the sky was splitting was heard, and white lightning struck vertically. A strong light flashed and disappeared in an instant, flickering black and white quickly before his eyes.
At the end of the omnipotent slaughter, the black wave that had been constantly rushing in subsided.
The cries of the creatures were no longer heard.
All that remained were motionless corpses.
‘…Is it over?’
Kwon Jae-jin swallowed his hot breath and slowly looked around.
There was no movement of enemy forces displayed on the Goggles. It seemed all the creatures were dead.
Only then did Jae-jin release the stance he was holding the rifle in and lowered his arms. The strength left his shoulders, and naturally his head turned towards the ground.
As his gaze fell to the ground, the Espers who had fallen beneath his feet came into view belatedly.
‘!…’
Several allied markers appeared on the Goggles. But all he could see below were just crushed lumps of flesh.
Red, minced lumps of meat.
The entrails and bones of dozens of people were scattered, and torn combat uniforms, missing limbs, and broken weapons were scattered here and there.
There wasn’t a single intact corpse.
Half-eaten by creatures, or bitten, or torn apart…
His gaze lingered on one head that was relatively well preserved. It must have been a perfectly alive human being just moments ago, but now he could barely make out the facial features. The clump of fur soaked in blood seemed to be hair.
As the rain washed away the dark red blood, one protruding eyeball came into view, and he made eye contact with it.
The rain dripping from the eyeball looked like tears.
Kwon Jae-jin’s expression faltered. He almost dropped the rifle in his hand, but it stopped in mid-air and floated. It seemed Seo Eui-woo had caught it.
“Don’t look.”
Seo Eui-woo pulled Jae-jin into his arms. His body was enveloped, and he felt a hand patting his back.
“It’s better to close your eyes. Close them. Don’t open them.”
“Ah…okay.”
“You can rest assured now. You did well. Jae-jin, you were really great.”
Seo Eui-woo whispered softly. His voice was kind, but there was fatigue in it. Seo Eui-woo also seemed to have used his ability quite forcefully. It was because he wanted to quickly annihilate and win without wasting time. Sweat formed on his handsome face.
“It’s okay now… It’s over.”
“….”
“It’s all over.”
Over… he said.
Is that so… is that right?
Is it all over like this…?
Kwon Jae-jin slowly raised his hand. His palm was throbbing as if he had been hit by someone, and his fingertips were still trembling. He wrapped his arms around Seo Eui-woo’s waist with that arm. As he leaned his body against his chest and stood close, Seo Eui-woo naturally pressed his lips to Jae-jin’s cheek.
The combat uniform soaked in rainwater was slippery. The kiss was also wet. Because it was wet, there was no Guiding effect at all, and the Goggles they were wearing interfered and bumped into each other, but Seo Eui-woo didn’t care and rubbed his lips against Kwon Jae-jin’s cheeks and lips.
“Let’s go now. It’s raining. Jae-jin, you’re all wet.”
“Ah…”
“And you’re trembling too much. Your body is stiff too… You’ll catch a cold.”
His voice sounded muffled as if it was submerged in water.
The sound gradually faded away, and a high-pitched tinnitus was heard from afar.