Chapter 32
Extrasensory perception?
Like in the previous run, Gorgodio reacted.
Yes! I can vaguely feel a sort of wave—like the presence of those horrifying bastards! I survived that monster hospital with this ability! It'll help!
So you really did manifest a superpower. Got it! Let's go up together!
Hey, musclehead! Is that okay?
We're short on manpower right now!
Well, that is true!
Come to think of it, hadn't the nun talked about vampires last time?
Between the fake Bureau and everything else, are they short on manpower because there are so many enemies to deal with? Whatever. Fine by me. Right now, it seems like I was accepted because of that reason.
Follow me!
I immediately followed the two of them.
It looks like the Bureau is short on manpower.
Yeah! We really are! In my opinion, you'd be perfect as a rookie!
Curas said, constantly scanning left and right.
A rookie.
Jaaldi had said the same thing.
We usually scout people who survive getting caught up in strange phenomena! But just by looking at you, I can tell you'd make a great rookie!
Let's finish this job first, then think about it!
Fair enough!
Honestly, I still hadn't figured out just how capable this real Bureau was.
Was it really right to join them as a rookie in that situation?
Of course, whether it was right or wrong, it would be better to go in if I wanted information. I still had far too much I didn't know. In this world, all kinds of ghost stories run rampant, and the Bureau is the organization that stands against them.
In a situation like this, being a mere individual is practically the same as becoming powerless. Hadn't I already gone through the vampire, the fake Bureau, the monster hospital, and the giant all as an individual?
The only thing I could do on my own was flee by using my regression ability.
And if the real Bureau were an organization with nothing to offer, the world wouldn't still be this normal. At the very least, I hadn't seen any strange phenomena in my life before the vampire.
So how's that superpower doing now!
Gorgodio shouted in a mechanical voice.
Up above! Something's whining up there! It feels like something's coming down! Be careful! It's pretty strong!
Coming down?
The warrior in mechanical armor took a fighting stance while looking toward the stairs. Curas, in a strange posture, stood guard behind him.
A brief moment passed.
ㅡDrip.
A creature with bone spikes jutting from all over its body came down from above.
Please win!
If I lost again, I'd have no choice but to keep longing for Department Head Lee Do-hyung...!
It's true! It was real!
Gorgodio exclaimed in his mechanical voice.
Hey, that's amazing!
Curas shouted in surprise as well.
I felt a little embarrassed. Really, it wasn't any superpower at all—I was just telling them what I already knew because of regression. But because they thought I was a real superpowered person, they were getting worked up.
Still, one thing was certain.
That this sort of method would be highly effective for persuading agents.
ㅡBwoooom!
The wings attached to the back of his armor spread open as boosters spewed fire. Last time, I'd been caught off guard, but this time we got the first strike.
ㅡKWAANG!
Gorgodio's supersonic punch slammed into the monster's body. It was truly a devastating blow. Unable to withstand the impact, the monster flew back and crashed into the stairs.
At the same time.
Watch out!
ㅡShrrrak!
Two tentacles with bone spikes embedded in them rapidly sprouted from the monster's body. In the previous run, Gorgodio had been taken down by those. Both arms were seized and he was literally torn apart, armor and all.
But now he wasn't alone.
ㅡSnap!
The moment Curas snapped his fingers, his light-green hair fluttered.
ㅡPeeeeow!
A burst of flames exploded from the middle of the monster's tentacle, blowing it apart!
Holy shit!
A superhuman who controls fire?!
Mr. Curas, are you Roy Mustang or something?!
I've heard that one a hundred times in my life!
Then at least wear the blue uniform too!
Quit your bullshit, you bastard! If you become a rookie, you'd better be prepared!
ㅡPababababak!
Curas kept snapping his fingers without pause, causing explosions that blew apart the tentacles as they kept sprouting.
The sight was like that of a conductor leading an orchestra.
Though to put it kindly, he was a conductor; if I were to describe it honestly, he looked like someone flailing around in a panic after falling into water.
Either way, with Curas providing cover, Gorgodio completely smashed the bone monster. Since Curas was blowing up every threatening tentacle the instant it appeared, this time we really could win.
Victory!
That was dangerous! For real! This thing is strong!
An excited mechanical voice burst out.
Haah...! If I'd missed even one tentacle, you'd be dead, musclehead!
Dead, my ass. I still wouldn't go down in one hit. Honestly, something like this I could probably handle on my own.
What bullshit.
Gorgodio, you bastard, you'd definitely die in one hit!
Quit acting so damn cocky, seriously!
If only Department Head Lee Do-hyung had come here and beaten the hell out of this bastard, he'd learn some manners!
Anyway. Very useful, aren't you? That's exactly the kind of extrasensory ability the Bureau wants.
Is that so?
Yeah. Well, I suppose it's because you had that kind of ability that you survived the hospital.
That hospital... it was hell itself. Can't the Bureau do anything about it?
When I asked as if fishing for information, Curas nodded.
Cheongakmeri Hospital is classified as an A-rank anomaly. It's a very dangerous place.
An A-rank!
It was surprising, but after hearing so much information, that A-rank evaluation made sense. Department Head Lee Do-hyung, who got one-shot by the hospital director, was a powerhouse even recognized by Salhyeongjo, that powerful crusader.
Then, Mr. Curas! How many of those monsters do you think there are?
Who knows? I'm not sure, but since you and I took them down, I'd say they're below B-rank. Maybe around C-rank.
This is an S-rank apocalypse, you idiot.
He really doesn't know shit.
It feels strange, facing that gap in information.
"C-rank" my ass; those monsters could originally show up in groups of dozens or even hundreds.
No time to waste. Let's go up right now.
Let's go.
I went back up with the two agents.
Yo, can you sense anything?
I can't really tell right now.
In truth, no such superpower even existed. The bone monster I'd seen here was the last one. From here on, I'll just claim I'd used up all my mana, so I can't sense them well anymore.
Then all we have to do is kill whatever comes out.
A solemn mechanical voice.
Tentacles sprouted from the walls, ceiling, and floor. Gorgodio stomped on them and smashed them with his fists, blowing them apart one by one, and Curas, too, kept snapping his fingers and incinerating them all.
This was definitely solid.
Once we'd subdued one strong bastard, nothing but trash was coming out. At this rate, we should be able to reach the top floor without any problems.
Thinking that, we climbed one more floor, and this time the scenery changed.
Hmm... I can tell what this is right away.
Yeah, musclehead. Same here.
Green spheres had sprouted all over the floor like fruit.
I called them fruit, but they were as big as exercise balls.
The two agents stepped forward and started blowing the exercise balls apart.
ㅡGlorp!
It was utterly disgusting to see green bodily fluid burst out. But there were too many of them. It looked like they were spread across the entire floor.
If we just crush all of these, that'll do it!
Agreed.
Were they trying to break everything because they thought this was the important part?
No, this won't do.
These green spheres looked important, but they weren't the central core. What I'd seen was that red wrinkled sphere.
ㅡPow!
The agents diligently kept removing the exercise balls... but I didn't think we had time for that.
We needed to go straight to the top floor. If we wasted time here, who knew what other monsters might be produced upstairs and come down.
Good.
Let's use my superpower again here.
Agents! I'm sensing a stronger wave above us!
What?!
It's stronger than here! From what I can tell, this isn't the time to be breaking these! I have a strong feeling we need to deal with what's above first...!
Really?
Maybe because I'd already built up some goodwill?
Good! Let's go up!
Curas agreed.
I think it'd be better to break these first. We just need to crush them as fast as possible.
No, you bastard, Gorgodio!
We don't have time for that!
This bastard is secretly such a troll...!
Ugh...! Ah! The wave is getting stronger, ooooh!
I went all out on the act, clutching my head and sticking out my tongue. I even twisted my body around and put on a huge show of how insanely I was reacting. Anyone seeing it would think I was some stray dog that got bonked on the head with a stick on a hot day.
Wait! Gorgodio! It looks like this guy's extrasensory ability is reacting to something really strong! We need to take out the guy upstairs first!
Y-yeah, that definitely seems to be it! Let's go!
The two agents raced up to the floor above.
Phew!
Done.
Man, controlling people really is hard.
Is this the burden of being a regressor?
How is it this hard to explain and persuade someone about something I already know?
Let's go together!
I followed them up as well.
The moment I stepped inside, I knew this was the top floor.
It was the same scene I'd seen on the flower's top floor before regression. The entire floor had turned into scarlet flesh and chunks of viscera, and at the center of it all a wrinkled red sphere was pulsing, connected to tentacles.
ㅡBoom!
ㅡKwang!
The two agents were already fighting the tentacle monsters that kept bursting out of the floor. More accurately, they were destroying them the moment they appeared.
These bastards! They just keep coming!
Ha! If we'd wasted even more time downstairs, we would've been in real trouble!
It's a relief they finally realized that.
Agents! That thing! That red thing! It looks really important!
I can tell that much just by looking! But it keeps regenerating!
What?!
Look!
ㅡBoom!
The moment Curas snapped his fingers, the sphere exploded.
But.
ㅡGlorp!
In less than three seconds, new tissue bulged up and fully regenerated.
So it really does regenerate endlessly.
No wonder every run ended in collapse.
It looks like a type of entity that can't be destroyed by normal methods! We need heavier firepower!
Heavier firepower...!
You! Go down right now! I'll give you my phone, so go call for backup!
You want me to go down alone?
Yeah! We'll hold out here as long as we can!
No.
Having the two of them buy time here wasn't a good option. Tentacle monsters were still being produced, and Gorgodio was going berserk like crazy, but I'd already seen his limit.
Curas wouldn't be able to keep snapping his fingers forever either.
The two of them would die before reinforcements arrived.
We have to finish this here.
Now that I'd brought it this far, there was no reason to wait for the next run. No matter what, I'll finish it this run.
ㅡPaat!
I took off the bag I'd been carrying.
And pulled a box out from inside it.
It was a box I'd seen for the first time in a long while.
I'd always ended up losing it because so much kept happening.
Hey! You! That thing—!
These are meds I was prescribed at Cheongakmeri Hospital! I'm going to feed them to that bastard!
I know this isn't normal medicine! But who knows? Maybe this medicine will 'cure' that monster! Mr. Curas! Clear a path for me! I'm going!
You little—!
ㅡBoom!
Right after that, the tentacles sprouting in front of me exploded and disappeared.
A nice assist from Curas.
I ran while clutching the box.
All I could see as I sprinted was the wrinkled red sphere dead ahead.
A flood of memories flashed past me.
Apocalypse?
Tell it to get lost already.
The time has come to end everything!
Aaaaaah!
Shoving the exploding tentacles out of my field of vision, I opened the box lid. Inside, I confirmed that extremely disgusting chunks of flesh were writhing around.
Mr. Curas! Blow this bastard up once!
ㅡBoom!
The red sphere exploded.
I could see a small piece of flesh bulging up. I shoved my hand into the box, clenched it like I was grabbing a prize from a claw machine, and thrust it straight into the exposed tissue!
ㅡRIIIP!
A moment later, the red sphere swallowed the medicine and finished regenerating.
Back off!
After Gorgodio kicked apart the tentacle aiming for me, he grabbed me and hurled me toward Curas.
The moment I landed in Curas's arms.
ㅡBrrr!
The entire floor trembled violently.
And then.
ㅡShrrrk!
The tentacles, after acting up like crazy, suddenly froze as if time itself had stopped...!
It worked!
The medicine worked!
H-hey! Agents! This feels bad, so evacuate first!
Get out!
ㅡSquirm!
A bizarre movement.
At the same time.
ㅡPeeeeow!
The entire floor began to explode!
A horrifying sight, like a whale carcass exploding!
Gorgodioooo!!!
Hold on tight!
Gorgodio flew in with his boosters on and caught us both in his arms. Then, while still holding us, he twisted his body and slammed a vicious kick into the wall.
ㅡKWAANG!
We smashed through the wall and came out into the open.
As we were airborne, I could see
ㅡRumble!
the building collapsing.
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ㅡDing.
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[You have prevented the early descent of the 'Descendant of the Singing Star'.]
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[As a reward, you have obtained 5,000 points].
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[You have resolved it for the first time.]
[As a reward, the status window function has been unlocked.]
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What?
What?