There was a CCTV control room underground.
As I went down with Aki, I saw the seniors gathered together. Thick cables snaked across the stark tile floor. Dozens of monitors covered the walls and emitted bright light.
The monitors showed creatures of all sorts.
"Have you reported it?"
"Yes."
Richard Green asked without taking his eyes off the screen, and Iho replied.
Everyone in the room wore hardened expressions, their gazes fixed on the screens. Most of them didn't even glance back at . I stopped at the threshold of the control room door and took in the scene of the quiet room.
I hadn't expected the situation to deteriorate this quickly.
Aki hopped inside and stood next to the seniors. The people kept their eyes glued to the CCTV screens.
Only Ami turned her head to look at .
She was the only one who truly understood the situation.
"Tier 7 estimated?"
Tvain's voice echoed through the spacious room.
"Does that an it could be Tier 8 or Tier 9?"
It was obvious what he ant.
A single massive creature occupied several screens. It stood tall amid the countless creatures we'd seen the day before. It was gigantic, incomparable to the Mad Buffalo, the Witch, or the Apostate. If we went up to the second floor and looked out the window, we could probably make eye contact with it standing there ominously.
It stood motionless, its gray fur draped like hair. Its torn eyes were charred black, more like black sclera. This thing, never discovered before, strangely resembled a human.
There was a reason the seniors ignored the swarm of creatures surrounding the small Breath.
I just stared at it quietly.
Was the reason I kept wanting to cry guilt, fear?
Or so other unidentified emotion?
After I stood there for a while, I looked down. Ami stood among the seniors, looking up at .
I held her gaze for a long ti and said.
"Ami."
"Yeah."
She walked over to briskly.
"Want to step out for a bit?"
I was grateful she understood right away.
The seniors didn't care whether we left or not. They didn't even pay attention when we finished talking on the stairs and ca back in.
Everyone was busy seriously discussing the cause and counterasures. Why this unprecedented situation had occurred. How to overco the current crisis.
They probably had no spare energy to worry about one anxious newbie.
But the conversation changed the mont Ami revealed the cause of the current situation.
*
The control room flipped upside down.
Everyone was angry, but two n were especially furious. Richard Green and Jason Tvain. They rampaged, demanding to find Ye-hyeon. Connect a call with him right now.
Did communication work here too?
It did, apparently. The mont he heard Ami's revelation that creatures were flocking to , Tvain had grabbed my collar and slamd against the wall. Now, in front of the phone ringing with the connection tone, he snarled.
"You crazy bastard."
He was angry that he couldn't imdiately smack Ye-hyeon's face.
"You knew this and sent us out without a word? Selfish bastard. Slimy snake! Our lives an nothing to you?!"
"If that were the case, he would have kept it hidden until the end."
Ami countered coldly.
"The Commander said to reveal this fact without hesitation when necessary and deal with the enemy accordingly."
"If he wanted us to deal with the enemy, he should have told us before we left! Damn it, is it that hard to say one word? That hard?!"
"There must be a reason why only you knew, Ami."
Richard Green was more composed than Jason Tvain.
That didn't an he wasn't angry. Fury swirled in his sharp eyes.
Of course. I would be angry too. At , at Ami and Ye-hyeon for hiding the truth.
"In any case, I can't accept the current situation."
Even if it ant being dragged along by Jae-yeon, wouldn't it have been better to just stay inside the Core?
A heavy atmosphere hung over the control room. The mood, heavier than before, showed no signs of improving. The swarming creatures weren't going to retreat, and the others were angry too.
Walker clamped his mouth shut, and Aki rolled her eyes fiercely. Silvia stared coldly at the screen, and Barbie covered her mouth. Even the good-natured Iho wore an expression of disbelief.
And then they all looked at like they were looking at the creatures.
Suddenly, I missed Ricardo. He had said the idea that I was a Tier 10 creature was ridiculous.
"Why isn't this bastard picking up?!"
"It's 3 a.m."
[Hello.]
The connection tone cut off like a ghost.
[Report the situation.]
A husky voice rang out.
It was ti for him to be fast asleep. Yet the Supre Commander's voice showed no trace of drowsiness, as if he'd been working all along.
It hadn't been long since I'd beco a Black Badger, but hearing his voice still made my heart race with tension.
The seniors reflexively straightened their backs.
Tvain spewed curses.
"You fucking bastard!"
"Please explain."
Green, maintaining so reason, spoke up.
His suppressed voice carried undeniable anger.
"What the hell is this kid, and what were you thinking sending us out of the Core with this brat without a single word?"
[How badly have the creatures flocked?]
Ye-hyeon asked back in a voice showing no surprise or distress.
It was Ami who explained. She reported the current situation neutrally. The swarm of creatures completely surrounding the Safe Point's small Breath. The unclassified high-tier creature standing in the midst of the swarm.
Tvain ranted excitedly with curses, but he was ignored.
Once Ami's explanation ended, Ye-hyeon spoke calmly.
[It's worse than when Hilde first went out of the Core. Yoon reported that back then, he eliminated the Witch, returned to the supply depot, and watched Hilde fighting in the basent through thermal imaging caras.]
So that's how he knew I did well!
I hadn't been by his side when he was battling the pig in the basent, so I wondered how he knew. I was shocked by the truth I learned belatedly.
That guy. He was just watching enjoyably.
Tvain stopped cursing and blinked once.
"No way the pig was half his doing too?"
[No.]
Ye-hyeon answered emotionlessly.
[That was a creature that intruded when we were restocking supplies, unrelated to Hilde. The thermal imaging showed it appeared in the basent right when the food started running low.]
I could almost hear my ntor's voice: 'Didn't you even check sothing this basic?'
As mories of that day resurfaced, I listened to Ye-hyeon's crisp explanation. There was no new information. It overlapped with what I'd overheard that day in the guest room between Ye-hyeon and Ami.
Not all creatures were targeting . The fact that the creatures approaching weren't doing so with goodwill.
Silence fell once the superior's concise explanation ended.
The sound of machines whirring. The regular breathing of the people gathered in the control room.
Breaking the stillness that made feel the dawn was Richard Green, his eyes brimming with anger.
He glared at the phone as if he could shatter it.
"I still don't know what this kid's identity is or why you let a guy like this in."
[I have no obligation to explain.]
A cold reply ca back.
[You don't have to understand all my decisions. As for what I can tell you, Hilde is the joker card I hold.]
What?
My eyes widened. My jaw dropped involuntarily.
The people simultaneously looked up at .
Several pairs of gazes flew toward .
Only Ami's eyes held sympathy and affection.
[Whether that becos a card of victory or defeat, ti will tell.]
I couldn't read his feelings from the flowing voice.
[Anyway, things have started rolling. Richard. Formulate a plan centered on Hilde. The fact that the creatures are targeting Hilde and besieging the Safe Point ans the opposite: without Hilde, the creatures will scatter from the Safe Point.]
"I'll ask in detail when we return to the Core."
"Yeah. Fuck, do whatever the hell you want. Power tastes good, huh?"
[Hilde.]
My na was called out of nowhere.
I flinched and jumped, then ca to my senses. The seniors' scattered gazes flew back to .
A faint hint of amusent mixed into Ye-hyeon's following voice.
[It's question ti again.]
"Ah."
The 'Q&A Ti with the Supre Commander' had returned in a relatively short period.
The first ti I t him face-to-face. After the cabin was destroyed, when he called my private number out of the blue. When I ate raw fish with him at my ntor's house. Up to the last ti, when I went up to the office in patient clothes.
Every ti I faced Ye-hyeon, he allowed to ask questions. As if he wanted to draw out reality with my own power and recall mories.
Was he giving such an opportunity this ti too?
In any case, I had no intention of refusing. I had questions. I picked the one that puzzled most from those swirling in my head and threw it out.
"Do you know how the creatures detect my location?"
[I don't know that either.]
The answer I expected ca back.
I thanked him and tossed one more short question.
"If I beco a card of defeat, will you discard without hesitation?"
[Probably.]
"Yes. Please do."
My mind eased.
Because I knew he wasn't holding onto for personal reasons. Because I'd heard with my own ears that he'd accepted as a badger under a big-picture judgnt. And because I'd heard that if a problem arose, Ye-hyeon, as the one in that position, would make the necessary decision without hesitation.
Now I could comfortably blend in among the black badgers.
While I strove to beco the Supre Commander's ace card of victory.
"Thank you for taking my questions."
Ye-hyeon answered with silence.
*
The person on the call changed.
After wishing Ye-hyeon well, he promised any support needed and called soone else. Because Richard Green had asked to switch. He was needed to formulate the plan.
That soone was Yoon.
Hildebert Talev's ntor.
Yoon expressed irritation over the phone.
[Just let him use the sword.]
He didn't bother hiding the annoyance in his voice.
[I told you that's best for that kid. With a sword in hand, he pulls his weight. Without it, he's worthless.]
"You should have taught the newbie basics from the start."
[If you're going to backseat drive, teach him yourself.]
No thanks.
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