Chapter 27: The Smile Behind the Slaughter.

The plan was simple.

Let the guys approach a little closer, and forcibly create an opportunity to push through with a battle of reaction speed.

Who shot faster, such a simple and clear gamble.
In fact, it was closer to just ramming than a plan. It was also a really dangerous and reckless attempt. He had to react faster than all three of them combined, and considering the rear support, the odds would only get lower.

But in the end, since this was the only means he could choose….

He had to do it to live.
If he couldn’t, he would die.

It had always been the same in the experiences he had gone through until now.

Every time, the majority were battles of speed to see whether he could put a bullet in the monster’s mouth before the variant species that popped out from all directions bit off his head.
Thanks to that, he had repeated the sudden shooting training to the point of being sick of it.
The memories of that time were still engraved in every joint of his body.

‘Please, let that feeling not be rusty even now….’

Seo Jin lowered the barrel and slightly released the safety on his rifle.

Click-

He quietly caught his breath, waiting for the target to approach enough.

He could feel it.
The presence brushing against the grass in the mountain.
The sound of footsteps stepping on gravel.
Constantly approaching him… a cautious approach.
The presence of three people approaching with a few steps of distance.
They were gradually closing the distance.

First, he would knock down those three at the vanguard first.
Before the remaining support could react, he would subdue them first….

After that, he would have to rethink depending on the enemy’s response.

It was a gamble that was embarrassing to even call a plan, but that was the only way. Also, because it was a gamble he was confident in that much, he was trying it while risking his life.

A consciousness that had been sharpened sharply somehow.
His tense nerves were tautly pulled for the single moment of battle that would unfold ahead.

The stray thoughts that messed up his head and the heartbeat that jumped out of tension gradually disappeared, and he was sharpened sharply while focusing on only one goal.

Seo Jin carefully adjusted his breathing, gauging the opportunity.

Thud-

Thud-

Waiting,
waiting,
and then….

At the optimal moment, he pulled the pin on the smoke grenade and rolled it towards the front of the vehicle.

A cloudy smoke burst out.
He could also feel the movements that were reacting to that reflexively.

‘Now-!’

The instant that the enemies’ gazes were gathered, Seo Jin walked back around the rear of the vehicle.

And the moment he left the cover, he hit the heads of the three people that caught his sight almost simultaneously.

Tatatang-!

He didn’t miss.
He sensed that all three bullets had hit the target the moment he pulled the trigger.

He had definitely done that-

Seo Jin’s expression became dazed for a moment as he faced the figures who were still standing unharmed.

A helmet with only faint bullet marks left slowly turned to look at him.
A full-face mask that completely covered their face.
The lenses embedded in the middle were shining eerily.

That wasn’t an ordinary bulletproof helmet.
Because below that, the entire body, including the neck and shoulders, was covered in the same material in a jagged manner.

‘Enhanced armor…!’

A variable he couldn’t have imagined.
Equipment that should have been on the front lines, why was it blatantly appearing in the middle of this civilian area? He couldn’t understand it properly. It was really an unexpected case.

Above all, because there was no heavy presence unique to the armor, he hadn’t noticed until he saw it directly.

Was it a next-generation prototype that he had only heard rumors about?
He could say that he had obtained a clue in the part where he could gauge how many groups could privately operate such a thing, but…. it had no meaning right now.

A puny rifle bullet like this would never work on armor that shielded against Hexa Virus contamination and even withstood a variant species’ bite once in a while.

Seo Jin almost lost his mind in the momentary bleak feeling.

What woke up his consciousness in that state was the gun barrel that was belatedly reacting and returning.

His heart sank.

He immediately jumped back and took cover again behind the vehicle.
Right after, a hail of bullets returned.

Tatatatata-!!!!!

The windows and taillights shattered, and the car body was gradually becoming a rag.
The constantly continuing gunshots also began to get closer again.

Seo Jin felt bleak.
He couldn’t think of a way to overcome the situation with only the equipment and power he had right now.

If he had been more careful,
if he had properly assumed various possibilities and been careful…
he wouldn’t have been driven to a crisis so easily.

But Seo Jin was too impatient.
At a point where there was only about a month left in his life,
he had belatedly realized the conspiracy related to the death of the most precious person.
He hadn’t been in his right mind until now.

Because he had always been living with her memories, all the emotions he had been longing for and regretting every minute, every second, had changed into a resentment that didn’t cool down at any moment and blocked his vision. So he had recklessly charged without even properly preparing.

Looking back, it was just an absurd action that was completely unlike him.

But it was a mistake he couldn’t undo now.

Seo Jin silently reloaded the magazine and then advanced the bolt.
He thought while holding the rifle like that.

In fact, there weren’t no weaknesses at all in the enhanced armor either.
The eyeglass lenses on the helmet’s face.
Only that place, which was connected to the wearer’s vision, could be penetrated by rifle bullets.

But to aim and hit a lens the size of a small coin, a constantly moving target, faster than all of the enemy’s reactions combined, three times in a row…. was close to impossible.

Even so, Seo Jin didn’t give up.
Because he had a responsibility to finish it somehow.
He had to struggle to the end no matter how meaningless it was.

The presence that was gradually getting closer now didn’t even allow him to continue his thoughts.

A deep sigh leaked out.
His heart was racing.

He took one deep breath, and Seo Jin didn’t hesitate any longer.

He moved right away.

Raising the gun barrel at the same time, aligning the sights,

the moment he turned around outside the cover like that-

The heads that were visible in front of his eyes all burst.

Pujik!! Wooddeuk!!!

Blood and scarlet flesh that splattered in all directions.
The armor was all that was left, swaying and collapsing with their shoulders lost.

Seo Jin froze with the gun barrel aimed in the air.
He was frozen, forgetting even to breathe at the sudden scene that had unfolded before his eyes.

Soon, a chilly silence came.
The gunshots that had been shaking the mountain until just now had all disappeared as if it were a lie.
The presences that had been approaching from around since earlier all at the same time….

Seo Jin’s eyes slowly moved.
The flesh that was lying on the dirt floor, and the blood that had splattered all over the grass.
After blankly staring at those horrible sights, he soon felt an unfamiliar presence.

A clear sound of footsteps was slowly approaching from behind his back.

But the feeling of running lightly was somehow cheerful, with a feeling that a child was excited, so…. it contrasted strangely with the scene of carnage that had unfolded around him.

Goosebumps rose. The presence stopped behind Seo Jin, who was stiffly frozen like that, unable to turn around. A sigh-like, delicate voice slightly brushed his ear.

“Teacher, I found you♥”

Seo Jin unconsciously widened his eyes.

A familiar voice. But recalling someone who he had never imagined he would encounter in this kind of place, situation…. he belatedly slowly turned his head.

Then, his gaze immediately met hers.

A beautiful woman with bright blonde hair mixed with light pink had messed up was giving Seo Jin a bright smile with a twinkle in her eye.

“Ta-da! Surprised? How was the surprise gift I prepared?”

A cheerful voice that was somehow excited echoed.

Clearly, it was the first time they had reunited in several years, but she hooked her arm around his as casually, without any hesitation or awkwardness, as if they had seen each other just yesterday.

Her crystal-clear eyes were bent sweetly as she stared up at him.

The 아이 who had been as pretty as a fairy even at their first meeting 5 years ago was now completely mature and exuding a beauty that made it difficult to take your eyes off her. Moreover, her shy expression, like a girl drunk in her first love, also added to her pure and refreshing charm.

But the color that had reddened her cheeks now was someone’s bloodstain.

The pieces of flesh hanging on the tree branches and the blood that was soaking his feet was also the scenery she had created.

In the middle of this simple and brutal massacre, the incongruity of a pure, beaming, angelic smile… was giving off a really bizarre and dangerous atmosphere.