Episode 056
Rapid radio chatter flows through our in-ears. Since Han Sang-ah and I are assigned to infiltrate the refrigerator, Lee Se-eun is helping us enter the erosion source together with the other hunters.
— Compiling the number of detected entities. The currently detected slimes total 778 units. Detected area coordinates…
The hunters provoke and lure the slimes positioned around Bratsk, creating an opening for Han Sang-ah and me to approach the erosion source.
It sounds like a simple plan, but the problem is the sheer number of slimes roaming the Bratsk area.
Seven hundred seventy-eight. Far more than I expected. And in this environment, the operator team hired by Lee Se-eun begins to shine.
"They really are good enough to be her regulars."
At my words, Han Sang-ah nods.
Through the radio, the operators provide each hunter with only the information they absolutely need, guiding their movements via in-ear comms while warning them of potential dangers they might encounter.
Seagull, was it?
"I did get operator support before, back on Gyodong Island."
"It's on a whole different level."
I don't like making comparisons, but this really is a different league from the operators run by the state. There's always a gap between public enterprises and private companies.
— Please prepare to enter. Move according to instructions in five minutes. Twenty-five slimes are predicted near the destination. Maximum margin of error is five.
The instructions come through our in-ears. Han Sang-ah and I take a deep breath. So, it's finally our turn.
— The moment we confirm the two hunters have entered the erosion source, all units will withdraw. As you already know, communication with the inside of the erosion source is impossible.
Guided by the operators, we sprint across the snow-covered Siberian plain. It's already a bitterly cold region, but the erosion source makes it even colder. And as we draw closer, the cold only grows more intense.
"Damn it."
I brush the ice crystals clinging to my eyebrows away.
— You're almost there. About five slimes are heading in the direction of the two hunters.
"Please guide them so we can avoid engaging as much as possible."
I have no intention of wasting strength here. I have no idea what might be waiting beyond that erosion source.
— We're doing our best, but it looks like one or three will be unavoidable.
With hundreds swarming around, having to deal with only three makes me feel like bowing in gratitude toward the operators.
Just as predicted, the slimes rush at us.
"Ignore them."
"Right."
We can't afford to waste time dealing with them. There are only two of us, and we're skilled enough to keep running toward our objective while dodging their attacks.
Avoiding the slimes' stretching tentacles, Han Sang-ah and I keep running. The scenery gradually changes. The forest disappears, replaced by shattered roads and snow-buried abandoned factories.
"We've arrived in Bratsk."
— Yes, confirmed. Keep going straight as you are.
Bratsk isn't a particularly large city. Leaping over collapsed factories and sprinting past ruined walls and residential areas, we finally reach our destination: a housing district.
Not a single person in sight. With every breath, I can feel my body temperature steadily dropping. And all of that cold air is pouring out from the massive hole right in front of us.
The erosion source in question—the Refrigerator of Bratsk.
— Please enter the erosion source within 30 seconds. Any further delay will force unnecessary damage onto our allies. You will not be able to communicate with us once inside. Then—good luck.
Thirty seconds. No time to prepare myself mentally. We'll have to jump straight in. The moment we enter, communication will be cut off, and the operators will immediately order the hunters currently engaged in combat to retreat.
"Han Sang-ah, going in!"
At my shout, Han Sang-ah nods. Now it's either die or live.
We leap into the erosion source at the same time.
For a brief moment, my vision goes dark.
With a heavy sound, the darkness clears in an instant. And then, a voice echoes out.
In the bone-carving cold, the air before my eyes freezes and forms letters.
[Welcome to the ballroom.]
[When one acts, the other observes.]
[Two, yet one. One, yet two.]
[Without togetherness, you will achieve nothing, nor will you be able to have an audience with me.]
What is it talking about? At that moment, a voice rings in my ear.
— Yoo Chan-seok, what are you doing? Don't move.
It's Han Sang-ah's voice.
But Han Sang-ah herself is nowhere to be seen.
— There's a blade pressed against your neck right now.
I reacted with confusion at her words. What was she talking about? The place where I was standing looked like the hall of a royal palace—vast, expansive, and completely empty. Carefully, I raised my hand toward my neck.
I couldn't see anything, but the tip of my finger brushed against something sharp, and blood began to trickle down.
"Don't tell me…"
Is it that I can't see anything at all? I tried to quickly grasp the situation.
"Han Sang-ah, do you see anything else?"
Han Sang-ah answered.
— There's a blade touching your neck, and wires are set up all around you. That space is full of traps. And three doors connected to this place have just opened.
I could see the doors opening too.
— One slime is coming in through each door. But it looks like I can't touch anything. Everything just passes straight through my body.
Yet I couldn't see the slimes Han Sang-ah was describing. Still, I could roughly tell what was going on.
"Hey, looks like you're my eyes."
I can't see any of the dangers, but I can act. Han Sang-ah can see all the dangers, but she can't do anything.
— …I think I get it.
Without Han Sang-ah telling me, I have no idea what's happening around me. Han Sang-ah knows exactly what's going on, but she can't act at all.
Now I understood what "two as one" meant.
— Still, the slimes are moving extremely slowly. Compared to the ones outside, maybe about 20% of their speed.
At her words, I looked down at the floor. It was laid out in a grid pattern of transparent ice tiles and white ice tiles, like a giant checkerboard.
Relying on accumulated experience and instinct, I pushed my brain to its limits and reached a conclusion in an instant.
"Listen carefully. Using where I'm standing as the center, tell me the positions of the approaching slimes and the dangerous spots, using the tiles as coordinates. You can do that, right?"
— That's a good idea. I'll do my best.
I pulled out my spear and stared into the seemingly empty, hollow hall.
"No need to panic. Even if you mess up a little, it's fine. Just don't kill me. I'm way too young to waste my life being a debtor."
— Right?
First, it'd be best to deal with the blade aiming for my Adam's apple.
— No, a bit lower! Yes, it's fixed there.
As I moved my hand, Han Sang-ah warned me a split second late. I cut my fingertips once more, then followed her guidance, found the device anchoring the blade's hilt, and smashed it with my spear.
— An axe is falling from above. Dodge to the side, three steps. No—sorry. Three steps to the left.
I moved left as instructed.
"Honestly, it should've already hit me by now."
— …It was falling extremely slowly. Like the slimes creeping toward you—about one-fifth speed.
Maybe it was some kind of consideration, since Han Sang-ah had to give instructions and I had to move.
— I'm sorry. I should've given the instructions faster.
"It's fine. Focus. There's no time to apologize."
This situation was far too dangerous to waste time on apologies. "Blind man with eyes open" fit perfectly.
My life was entirely in Han Sang-ah's hands. This wasn't just about not seeing—I couldn't sense the surrounding threats in any way.
Attacking, evading, defending—everything had to follow Han Sang-ah's directions.
"I trust you. Like I said, a few mistakes are fine."
Yelling things like "If you mess up I'll kill you" or "Get it together" would be pointless. Needless tension only makes things worse.
— …Okay. There's a trap at 3–15. If you trigger it, arrows will pour out from holes in the wall.
"You can even see the structure?"
— Yeah.
It seemed that in exchange for being unable to act, Han Sang-ah could see absolutely everything.
— 7–8. If you step on the floor button, a spear will shoot up from below. Slime positions are 18–5, 31–7, and 5–7. The closest slime is swinging a tentacle at you. From left to right, angle 17 degrees. Step back two tiles.
Han Sang-ah rattled off words as fast as if she were rapping. I moved as best I could according to her instructions.
"Ghh."
— Sorry.
A slime's attack or a trap grazed my body, leaving a wound.
This insane stunt couldn't succeed perfectly every time. No one had ever experienced something like this before. Even if time for everything except me felt slowed to one-fifth, it was still absurdly difficult.
It was on a completely different level from something cute like a three-legged race.
"You don't need to explain the trap structures to me. Just knowing them yourself is enough."
If you tell me not to go somewhere, that's enough. Han Sang-ah's instructions needed to be as concise as possible. As I took injuries, I kept pushing to simplify her commands.
After many mistakes, Han Sang-ah and I finally succeeded in streamlining her instructions to the limit.
— Two traps. Zero five one three and one two zero eight.
I ended up digging out that bizarre military-style number counting buried in my memories.
What she just said meant 0513 and 1208. Combine two numbers into one, and they become coordinates on this massive grid: (05,13), (12,08).
— Move to two three. After moving, enemy positions zero three one five, two zero one five, one three zero five.
Slowly, bit by bit, we were adapting.
Honestly, my head hurt, my body hurt—it was absolute hell.
— One down.
And finally, after struggling with everything we had, Han Sang-ah and I managed to eliminate one slime. Of course, I had no way of knowing whether it was actually dead or not, so I just had to take her word for it.
After nearly five hours, we eventually succeeded in dealing with all three slimes.
— My head is pounding.
"Yours too? Same here."
At that moment, I suddenly felt my consciousness drift far away. The vast hall I'd been standing in spread out beneath my eyes like a bird's-eye view.
And where I had been standing just moments ago, Han Sang-ah was now there instead.
"Hey, looks like a role swap."
— Seems like it.
Now I had to give instructions to Han Sang-ah, and she had to move according to my directions. This is driving me crazy.
This time, five slimes entered.
"Five of them. Good luck."
Even though there were five, their speed was still drastically slow, and on top of that, we'd already adapted somewhat—even with our roles switched. It didn't seem impossible to handle.
— I don't want to die either.
I won't kill you, idiot. With our roles reversed, we had to repeat that horribly brain-melting procedure all over again.