Chapter 7: The Descent into Chaos

“Right side checked.”

Han Do-hoon, despite his large build, skillfully navigated the narrow, low underground passage while checking the map displayed on his device. With the two veterans smoothly handling their respective tasks, the patrol progressed swiftly.

Sa-yoon followed Han Do-hoon, tracing a thick water pipe with his hand as he moved. The wall, whenever touched, vibrated rhythmically.

The place they had infiltrated lay directly beneath the subway system that crisscrossed Seoul. A terrorist attack here would undoubtedly lead to a massive catastrophe.

“This is our first point.”

At the location marked on the map, a designated area sign lay toppled over. Sa-yoon flipped over the long-abandoned, rusted A-21 sign with his foot.

“No recent traces of anyone passing through. Shall we start scanning below?”

Without hesitation, Sa-yoon plopped down onto the ground. He placed both hands on the earth and closed his eyes.

‘Chae-jun would surely scold me for scanning so ungracefully,’ he thought. Yet, comfort was paramount. A sensation traveled down through his fingertips.

The underground passage was reconstructed into 3D coordinates, and any masses within were analyzed.

“No explosives or life signs detected down to the fifth basement level.”

“Has the entire A-sector already been scanned?”

“Yes.”

Sa-yoon rose to his feet, dusting off the grime from his trousers. Perhaps because it was a long-abandoned underground bunker, there were fewer objects than he had anticipated.

In this state, it seemed the task would take less time than expected.

“That finished quickly.”

“This area is quite shallow. From the next sector onward, I’ll have to scan much deeper.”

“…”

Despite Sa-yoon’s helpful explanation, Han Do-hoon gazed at him with an inscrutable expression.

“What? Am I suddenly looking amazing?”

“It is certainly useful.”

To complete a task in mere minutes that would typically require physically traversing the underground and individually sweeping every inch with an explosive detector — calling such an ability ‘useful’ felt like an understatement.

In an era rife with terrorism, a Spatial Dominance ability user was a talent every nation vied to recruit. As the sole S-rank Spatial Dominance ability user, Sa-yoon had never once dropped from the top spot on any nation’s scout list.

“Have you no intention of coming to the front lines?”

“Absolutely not.”

‘He wants me to go to the front lines, after I rejected countless prestigious offers to stay in Korea? He might as well just curse me directly,’ Sa-yoon thought.

The front lines were the most active combat zone among the overseas deployment sites where Han Do-hoon worked. It was a place where “Rains” outnumbered humans, and wilderness overshadowed civilization.

Only Espers with pronounced violent tendencies, those unable to adapt to group living, were dispatched there. In a way, Han Do-hoon himself was quite remarkable.

To willingly spend years in such a place was astonishing. ‘Perhaps his strange inclinations could be somewhat understood if they stemmed from such a harsh environment,’ Sa-yoon mused.

“Let’s just head down.”

Sa-yoon dismissed the proposal as unworthy of consideration and moved towards the next area. The subsequent area lay ten floors below ground.

Pressing the button for the industrial elevator heading downwards, Sa-yoon gazed into the seemingly endless depths of the underground. It felt like a space where insects would swarm.

“Ugh. I don’t want to go.”

From this point onward, it wasn’t an underground passage but a bunker. Thick lead filled the spaces between floors, a safeguard against radiation exposure.

Communication with the surface would be difficult, necessitating double caution. Meanwhile, the elevator, having ascended scattering dust, rumbled as it began its descent again with both of them inside.

Aged concrete fragments clattered down between the steel girders. It was utterly dilapidated, yet the fact that it still moved at all was a relief.

“We can investigate point B, then ascend to re-equip.”

“Rather than going back and forth multiple times, I almost wish a Rain would just pop out quickly.”

Sa-yoon uttered words that would surely make the commander blanch. However, if a terrorist attack was inevitable, dealing with it as soon as possible was preferable.

Preparing for an unknown future attack was far more troublesome.

Screeching metal.

Then, sparks suddenly flew from the wall. A piece of iron supporting the elevator snagged on the wall, then tore free and flew into the air.

The elevator, losing its balance, slammed into the wall and flipped upside down. The accelerating elevator plummeted rapidly towards the bottom.

Inside the plummeting, inverted elevator, Sa-yoon deftly regained his balance. In the fleeting moment between floors, he caught sight of a grotesque creature’s shadow.

The shadow was violently shaking the steel cables tethering the elevator, attempting to sever them.

“It’s a Rain.”

Han Do-hoon, having spotted the same thing as Sa-yoon, blasted through the elevator’s ceiling. Sa-yoon slipped through the molten metal and pushed off the wall.

The elevator they had been in crashed to the bottom with a deafening roar. Sa-yoon swiftly transmitted information to the operation camp.

“Headquarters. Confirmation of Rain appearance in Sector FA443, 13th basement level. Estimated two entities. Will search the vicinity after neutralization.”

[Roger. Standby team changes… su-pport coming…]

The returning audio crackled. ‘As expected, communication is unstable after dropping underground,’ he thought.

While Sa-yoon reported, Han Do-hoon moved quickly. He dealt with the Rain clinging to the ceiling, then immediately charged the one waiting in the passage.

The Rain, twisting its body at grotesque angles while moving its tentacles, instantly melted away. The horrific sound of the monster’s flesh splattering and its tentacles writhing echoed through the underground passage.

Having swiftly dispatched the two Rains blocking the passage, Han Do-hoon straightened his back. The scorching heat slowly dissipated within the confined space.

“…”

The corpses were cleanly pulverized, requiring no separate cleanup. Sa-yoon nudged the Rain’s remains with his foot, surveying the surroundings.

“No explosives in the vicinity. No humanoid life forms. Thirteen Rains detected around the right corner.”

As Sa-yoon reported his scan results, Han Do-hoon moved swiftly. This was a battle unfolding in a cramped space.

Han Do-hoon’s combat style was more advantageous than Sa-yoon’s, who had to meticulously calculate coordinates for movement.

The flames swirling around Han Do-hoon brightly illuminated the dark sewer, then fiercely surged forward.

“Well done. Keep it up.”

Sa-yoon clapped his hands, cheering on Han Do-hoon as he fought. ‘Indeed, having someone else do the hard work is the best,’ he thought.

Sa-yoon neatly moved the fallen Rain corpses, one by one, piling them in a single spot. The swarm of Rains was swiftly dealt with.

Han Do-hoon, having precisely pierced the thirteenth Rain, dusted off his hands.

“Since Rains have been found, the probability of explosives being in this vicinity has increased. Ugh.”

“This has become useless.”

Han Do-hoon checked his wrist, then powered off his device, its signal completely blocked. The lead shielding seemed to prevent any signal reception whatsoever.

With supplies already irregular, keeping a non-functioning device on was a waste of power. It would be more efficient to move to another location before turning it back on.

Sa-yoon also powered off his device, its communication indicator deactivated.

“This is truly useless. What era is this, that we can’t get a signal underground? I’m going to complain to command about this. Where else are military communications managed so poorly?”

Sa-yoon grumbled as he resumed walking towards the designated point. For Sa-yoon, who navigated by reading coordinates in his mind, the blocked device posed no obstacle.

However, it was somewhat amusing to have the much larger Han Do-hoon following him like a puppy, solely focused on him.

“How long until we reach point B?”

“About ten minutes on foot. I could go faster, but I need to scan as I go.”

“We should arrive around 12:30. It might be wise to start consuming our rations as we move.”

At Han Do-hoon’s words, Sa-yoon glanced back. Even Sa-yoon couldn’t ascertain the exact time with his device powered off.

He wondered how Han Do-hoon, who didn’t even wear a wristwatch, had figured out the time.

“On the front lines, there are areas where the sun never rises. You can gauge the elapsed time by heating a stone and monitoring its cooling temperature.”

“That’s quite ingenious.”

Han Do-hoon, too, was a fellow with many strange talents. “Then let’s eat and move.”

Sa-yoon sat down on the floor and pulled a liquid meal from his pocket, sipping it through his mask. ‘Meal’ was a generous term; in this dusty pit, only combat rations were edible.

Han Do-hoon also retrieved a small dried ration and began to chew. The awkwardness of being confined in a small space with such an uncomfortable person made Sa-yoon squirm.

Unable to bear the sounds of dried rations crumbling and liquid food being slurped, Sa-yoon broke the silence first.

“Speaking of the front lines again. What was it like? I heard it’s no place for humans.”

“It’s a place devoid of order and common sense. Rains outnumber people.”

Han Do-hoon replied briefly, his face impassive.

“It’s quite something that you stayed there for so long.”

“There are comforts to it, too. You don’t have to worry about what others think, and you can do as you please without anyone knowing.”

‘Indeed, for someone with such peculiar sexual preferences, such a place might be comfortable,’ Sa-yoon thought, nodding to himself. Unaware of Sa-yoon’s reaction, Han Do-hoon quietly chewed and swallowed his food before speaking again.

“There, you have nothing to hide, nothing to avoid.”