Chapter 44
Lee Hoin didn’t step forward either. He simply stood there, watching them. In the tightly wound tension of the space, a middle-aged man spoke.
“…Shouldn’t we choose the one with the least combat ability?”
The one with the least combat ability. And who exactly decides that?
I stayed silent for the moment. Then the middle-aged man looked toward one side. It was the small-framed woman with long hair.
It seemed they weren’t that close either. I wasn’t sure whether to call that fortunate or the worst case.
It was both.
The woman snapped back:
“You haven’t been helpful in any of the attractions so far, either!”
—
[Good. It’s turning into a mess.]
[Breaking apart before even starting?]
[The other side might have already begun.]
—
Amid this meaningless clash, Lee Hyun remained silent.
Why was that guy here, outside of his usual command structure, together with those two? I raised a brow slightly as I looked at him, then finally spoke.
“We can’t go with the weakest. You need both hands on the handle, and the cart has four sides. The tunnel is wide, and the cart is the only thing emitting light. That means one person is always out of the fight, and unless all five of us stay alive, we can’t cover everything.”
The visible range was too short. The tunnel was too wide, and the only light came from a small glowing stone on top of the rock in the center. All four sides had to be guarded.
If the one holding the handle went down, four people would guard four sides, and then three would have to cover four sides.
Completely inefficient.
Rather, the one holding the handle should be…
“Someone with fast reaction speed.”
Someone who could hold the handle and still dodge on their own if needed.
That narrowed it down to two candidates.
Lee Hyun and Lee Hoin.
A police officer and an athlete. People whose lives revolved around using their bodies.
The middle-aged man and the woman both trembled slightly.
“…Then our overall combat power drops too much.”
The woman’s words only revealed her own inadequacy. It was true that losing Lee Hyun and Lee Hoin would lower our combat strength; they were easily worth more than one person each.
Unlike the other two, who barely seemed capable of handling even one role.
Without another word, I grabbed the handle.
And pressed it down.
Psssh
With a sound like air being pumped in, the cart began to move forward. When I pressed slowly, it moved slowly. When I pressed faster, it sped up.
It required a fair amount of strength, and speed mattered.
That characteristic was now clear.
As the cart suddenly started moving, Lee Hoin quickly secured one side, and Lee Hyun regained his balance almost immediately. The woman fumbled for a moment before stabilizing, and the middle-aged man recovered last.
“It’s heavy. If we want to move fast, we have to press fast.”
When I released the handle, the cart stopped immediately with a screech.
No inertia at all.
“It stops the moment you let go.”
If we stopped while enemies attacked from all directions, we’d be torn apart on the spot.
In the end, we needed someone who could keep pressing it hard and fast no matter what.
“…Let’s rotate. Three shifts. Me, the police officer, and Lee Hoin. The other two focus entirely on protecting whoever’s on the handle. If we stop, we all die. Better to get your arm pierced than all of us dying, right?”
As I said that, I looked at Lee Hyun and Lee Hoin.
Lee Hoin nodded lightly. Lee Hyun stared at me for a moment, then said:
“Understood. Who goes first?”
“No, wait…! Still, this is–!”
The middle-aged man tried to protest, but then seemed to realize he had no better solution and shut his mouth.
There were several reasons I excluded him.
First, his movements were slow. When the cart moved, it took him much longer to regain balance compared to the woman.
Second, he was too scared. It would be better if he were calm or even reckless like Cha Hyeongseo. Because of that, the woman was out too. I could already see fear in her eyes, not vigilance, toward something that hadn’t even appeared yet.
If someone panicked and let go of the handle without warning, that would be like serving themselves up on a platter.
No need to explain all that.
“The police officer goes first, then me, and you last.”
I completely excluded the middle-aged man and the woman. I placed the man on the right, the woman on the left, myself at the front, and Lee Hoin at the rear.
“When you let go of the handle or change positions, shout it out loud. Otherwise, one side will be left open. No unauthorized movement.”
At my words, the middle-aged man flared up.
“You look like a kid. Why do you keep giving orders?”
But as Lee Hyun silently grabbed the handle, he eventually picked up his weapon instead.
Age didn’t matter.
What mattered was who was useful in this situation.
“Starting now.”
Lee Hyun said.
The cart began moving, gradually picking up speed.
Then a window appeared before my eyes.
—
Distance to destination: 99%
Tribute durability: 100%
—
As the sound of the cart rolling along the rails continued…
Click.
The percentage dropped.
95%.
At the same time, something shot out from the left.
An arrow.
Fortunately, the cart was moving, and the arrow passed awkwardly through the center. No one was hit, but I heard the woman gasp.
“Don’t panic!”
I shouted without turning back.
“If you can dodge, dodge. If not, just get down!”
There was still nothing visible within the range of the light. We couldn’t stop and search.
What we needed to deal with…
“Only the ones in the air and anything trying to get onto the cart!”
I gripped my dagger tightly. Behind me, I heard the middle-aged man gulp.
Lee Hyun maintained high speed.
—
Distance to destination: 90%
Tribute durability: 100%
—
90%.
The moment I saw that number, I shouted:
“Officer, switch! Don’t stop– I’m going in!”
I steadied myself on the moving cart and approached Lee Hyun.
—
[An ominous sound can be heard…]
—
At that moment, something began crawling from somewhere.
No, more like countless tiny footsteps echoing.
Tap-tap-tap
Tatatatatat
Tatatatatatatatatat
Lee Hyun handed me the handle.
Hearing those sounds, I pressed it harder, faster.
“They’re coming!”
Lee Hoin shouted.
Yeah.
They were coming.
A damn huge number of them.
Something was rushing toward this cart.
Should we go even faster so they can’t reach us?
No… more importantly, where?
Where are they coming from?
The sound grew louder.
Tatatatatat
Tat-tat-tat
Tatatatatat!
“…In front.”
Lee Hyun moved to the front, gripping his longsword.
“In front,” he said.
In front?
‘Shit.’
From the front?
My mind raced.
If they’re coming from the front and we have to break through…
“Lee Hoin!”
He turned toward me.
I released one hand from the handle, pushing it with the other to keep moving.
If we had to break through, then we had no choice but to force our way through.
Faster than now.
Even if durability dropped, it couldn’t be helped.
—
Distance to destination: 85%
Tribute durability: 100%
—
Tatatatatatatat
Tatatatatatatatat
Tatatatatatatat
—
[They’re coming…]
—
“I’m increasing speed, we’re breaking through!”
The moment I said that, Lee Hyun held his longsword horizontally.
Blade outward.
Right hand on the hilt, the other gripping the spine of the blade.
Shhhk– Shhhk–
As the handle pressed down, the sound of rushing air echoed harshly.
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