Black Badger

Chapter 101

The lights came on.

The areas where the ceiling had collapsed remained dark, but everywhere the structure was intact glowed with light.

Fortunately, we were hidden in the shadows of the debris.

The footsteps of several people approached.

"Much better!"

Mick said.

"But this place is still a mess!"

I could easily imagine him delivering those irritated words with his usual nonchalant expression.

Ricardo and I didn't move from behind the debris. We pressed ourselves right up against the massive chunk that cast the shadow, holding our breaths.

"Where did those two go?" It was the voice of the woman who had realized a few hours earlier that the Green Dream had no effect on me.

"Those two should be outside..."

"Probably got crushed to death!"

"Hey!"

Was this a cop?

It was the male police officer who had picked a fight with Asil who shouted.

"Why did things turn out like this!"

His voice trembled with anxiety.

"You pretended not to notice, so shouldn't you have run the match properly!"

"Shut up. We're the ones suffering the most here too."

Infighting had broken out.

The argument started with the police officer's shout. I listened closely as the corrupt cops and Mick's gang bickered.

Why did the arena suddenly explode?

I don't know. Some crazy bastard did a bomb terror attack.

With this many casualties, what do you plan to do?

Clean up and bolt.

Easier said than done. This has gotten too big. We're pulling out of here. From the start, we just turned a blind eye to your deviations, and we have nothing to do with this incident...

"The police should have done a proper safety inspection in the first place!"

The mafia side spouted nonsense.

Neither side realized they had been played by the elders.

They each saw the other as the root of the problem, so their voices didn't die down.

Ricardo muttered under his breath, just loud enough for me to hear.

"Kill each other."

What?

I turned to my senior with a dumbfounded expression, but he pretended not to notice.

And sure enough, the situation unfolded just as he wanted.

"You guys are always too busy covering for the badgers."

Jae-yeon?

It was Jae-yeon. I narrowed my eyes and leaned forward.

He was disguised as a cop, blending in among the corrupt police.

His young, obnoxious voice grated on the organized criminals' pride.

"You're the ones shitting on a perfectly served meal!"

The sound of guns being cocked echoed through the air.

It seemed Mick and his men were readying their weapons.

The police response accelerated the slide toward catastrophe.

"Who are you aiming at, pointing guns at cops!"

"Shitheads. If you kill us, it'll make things even worse!"

The pair of male and female cops who had hassled Asil shouted.

Then Jae-yeon's voice followed.

"You won't even shoot anyway?"

A sneering tone.

Even though it wasn't directed at me, I wanted to throttle Jae-yeon. It was impressive that the mafia hadn't pulled the trigger right then.

What he said next grated even more.

"Go ahead, shoot."

His talent for provoking others was as sharp as ever.

"What's wrong? I said shoot."

"Kid..."

"Shoot! I told you to shoot! Shoot! Shoot! What are you waiting for? Shoot!"

Ah.

"You little pest!"

If it had been me, I'd have put a bullet in Jae-yeon's guts in a fit of rage...

Bang!

What?

Even though I'd been suppressing my irritation, I was pretty surprised.

They didn't even know Jae-yeon had an Augmented Body.

Shooting at a cop?

I blinked several times and muttered softly to myself.

"That's badass."

My senior, head bowed, responded.

"You almost bolted out there~..."

The bullet must have hit him in the gut.

There was no sound of bones crunching. Just Jae-yeon's short grunt. And the sound of him clutching the wound and collapsing to the floor.

The conflict escalated.

"Fuck, those bastards actually shot!"

"No, shut up and stay still, Regina!"

"You told us to shoot?"

Mick was right.

"We shot because you told us to. Why the hell are you freaking out now?"

His voice, devoid of ups and downs but laced with irritation and anger, was spot on.

Now the cops were loading their guns too. The sounds of Mick's men cocking and aiming followed.

I felt a little sad that I couldn't watch this entertaining spectacle with my own eyes. It was fun enough just listening; how much more so if I could peek?

Bang!

This time, it came from the cops' side.

But unlike the first shot, it didn't end with a single bang. Gunfire poured like rain. The deafening noise made the creature inside us react and thrash.

The thick scent of blood wafted in.

Sounds of human muscle and bone crushing, skin tearing followed. Muffled screams from people and the thuds of bodies hitting the ground. Even without seeing, I could tell a mass slaughter was unfolding behind the debris.

Hm. I'd definitely heard sounds like this before.

There were no guns in the world I was born in, so it must have been after coming here that I'd encountered this kind of chaos.

But I had no intention of dwelling on the faintly resurfacing past right now. It was too exhilarating a situation to get depressed reminiscing about the old days.

As the gunfire died down, I waited quietly.

Silence descended.

The air settled. Confirming the quiet, I slowly stood up. Ricardo also rose slowly, using the debris for support.

After checking that my senior was okay, I walked toward the smell of gunpowder, blood, and torn flesh. Where the gunfire had raged moments ago, now only ragged breaths and groans could be heard.

As I moved past the debris, my view opened up.

The gruesome aftermath of the firefight lay before me.

It was over.

Most people were dead. The two cops were clearly gone. Jae-yeon lay face down, unmoving—obviously playing dead.

The mafia side was in a similar state. Twisted joints that couldn't be more broken, shattered skulls leaking brains. Mick's unseeing eyes stared blankly at the void.

"It's all over, senior."

"Seems like it~."

Ricardo walked over slowly and commented.

"It's nice and quiet now..."

I agreed with silence.

I looked at the bodies strewn across the corridor.

What caught my eye was Mick. His odd posture was suspicious. He must have pulled something from his inner pocket before dying. In his left hand was a round, black object.

What was that?

I stepped over the bodies and bent down.

At the same time, someone suddenly popped up from a pile of corpses.

"Ah."

He muttered calmly.

"Good thing I wore the bulletproof vest."

He acted all cool.

Jae-yeon ruffled his blood-matted hair and lifted his head. I gripped the remote and slowly straightened up, staring at him blankly.

His torn blue police uniform hung off him, and his police cap lay upside down in a pool of blood.

Jae-yeon grinned at me.

"We meet again."

He strode over.

"It was a long way. I have a gift for you."

I didn't respond.

I just stared blankly as he approached. Jae-yeon stepped on a split-open skull, bursting brains, and crushed a twisted joint further as he closed the distance.

Stopping in front of me, he smiled brightly.

"Ta-da."

I took the ziplock bag he pulled from his inner pocket without fuss.

It was a transparent ziplock about the size of a napkin. Inside was a syringe filled with pink liquid.

"The antidote. Enough for five people, so give some to Asil too."

"Is this really the antidote?"

I turned to show the ziplock to Ricardo.

My green-eyed senior had stood up and was silently observing the situation.

He nodded at the ziplock held in the air, his expression unreadable.

I didn't know what he was thinking, but since he'd confirmed it was the real deal, that was enough.

"Thanks."

I pocketed the ziplock.

Then I let go of the Death Mask I'd been holding.

I didn't forget to pull the remote from my pocket and press the button.

[Warning. All cages will open in 10 seconds.]

Run!

I spun and dashed toward my senior.

[Warning. All cages will open in 10 seconds.]

"Shit..."

Jae-yeon cursed.

I didn't stop. I scooped up Ricardo's body. Ignoring my senior's dumbfounded mutter, I sprinted to the elevator. The AI counted down in a clear voice: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6...

[5]

"You..."

My senior, slung over my shoulder, clicked his tongue.

"How did you do that?"

"The remote!"

[4]

I shouted while running in one direction.

"I opened it with Mick's remote!"

Three, two. We reached the elevator. As the AI said one, I slammed the down button, and the closed doors slowly parted.

I shoved our bodies through the narrow gap.

The moment my feet hit the elevator floor, the countdown ended.

[0. All cages are now open.]

Clunk!

The descending elevator.

I carefully set down my senior, whom I'd hoisted roughly. Then I took in the horde of creatures pouring from the cages.

Some crawled out slowly, others shot out like bullets.

Even Jae-yeon, who looked at me with a hollow laugh.

He didn't even turn to the creatures charging at him.

"You crazy bastard..."

Jae-yeon's low mutter.

The elevator doors began to close. The A Level corridor quickly filled with creatures. Yet in the narrowing view, the fox-like figure didn't move.

Not even as the swarming creatures engulfed him, hands shoved into the pockets of his blue police uniform.

Thud.

The heavy close of the elevator doors.

We safely descended to the first floor.

*

We escaped the collapsing tower just fine, and Ricardo's physical abilities had returned.

Everything seemed to be resolving smoothly.

If only we hadn't started arguing in the elevator.

"I'll be right back. Haven't I handled things well so far?"

"A half-dead guy who spat blood, what gives you the confidence to yap~?"

Even as we exited to the first floor and ran toward the stairs leading to the arena, the bickering continued.

I didn't want to send my senior up there, and he had no intention of letting me go either.

Even when I partially conceded to his point and suggested, "How about you only go up to the undamaged floors?" he didn't accept.

In the end, I was the one who bent.

Because Ricardo had snapped coldly.

"Who's the senior here?"

A newbie who didn't even know about the promotion exam and a war hero.

I bowed my head and submitted to authority.

"I'm sorry. I'll follow."

"Fine..."

"Just let me tag along."

Knowing how severe PTSD could be, I was desperate.

"If I'm a hindrance up there, I'll come right back down without a word."

Ricardo nodded after a brief silence.