Taeseong quickly skimmed through the file summarizing the current operation, which he had received from Choi Harin, and immediately exited Tree.
Flap!
He then spread his massive black wings and soared into the sky.
Shoooooom!
With each beat of Lee Taeseong’s wings, the scenery around him changed in the blink of an eye.
“The location?”
—Coordinates have been sent.
“What’s the situation inside the ship?”
—Reports indicate that the escaped entities are freeing other entities from their containment units as well. Thankfully, thanks to the quick response of the managers, it hasn’t spread any further, but…
“So we’re running out of time.”
—Yes. The frequency of reports is decreasing. It seems they’re engaged in combat with the escaped entities, but… since the American branch managers are mixed in, the coordination isn’t going smoothly.
Recalling his days as a soldier working in joint operations with the U.S. military, Taeseong muttered bitterly.
“It’s the same wherever you go.”
Each country’s special forces hold pride in their units and homeland. That can manifest as patriotism, and sometimes it leads to success in missions that were thought to be failures.
However, in joint operations like this, that same pride can become poison. Oil and water don’t mix easily.
That’s why it’s customary to build bond beforehand in such combined operations.
This transport mission was a joint operation between American and Korean administrators.
The U.S. branch had requested assistance, and Korean administrators were dispatched.
A total of ten personnel were sent from the Korean side.
The Korean team’s leader was Song Jaejoong, a Beta-class administrator.
His ability was mind control.
He could freely manipulate the minds of any living beings within a 10-meter radius. Of course, the effect varied depending on the target’s mental strength.
According to the intel Choi Harin provided, he was a principled, but his ability was undoubtedly outstanding.
“Mind control, huh…”
Fortunately, the only members from Management Team 4 deployed in this operation were Lee Eunha and Go Young hee.
Oh Haeyoung had shown remarkable growth during the previous “Voice of the Mind” case and was currently attending a Gamma-class promotion evaluation.
Taesan was originally already close to Beta-class level and had recently made another leap in progress. He too was preparing for a promotion.
If only Team Leader Taesan had been here…
If he had been involved in this operation, Taeseong wouldn’t be feeling this uneasy.
He was a man like his name—Taesan (Great Mountain).
Looking at him reminded Taeseong of Master Sergeant Choi, a reliable comrade from his military days whom he could entrust his back to.
—Estimated arrival at the target in five minutes.
“The reports?”
—…They’ve stopped.
“Understood.”
Taeseong ended the transmission.
He had heard everything there was to hear.
From this point on, it was his turn to see and judge for himself.
He stopped mid-flight.
A massive ship came into view.
“That must be it.”
A 1,500 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) class container ship.
The vessel was large enough to carry roughly 1,500 twenty-foot containers (6.1m long, 2.4m wide, 2.6m high).
According to the intel, these were not ordinary containers, but special ones made of material similar to the inner walls of containment chambers.
The containers were densely stacked in tiers on the deck, lined up in tight rows. Each one of them held a contained entity.
Of course, that didn’t mean there were 1,500 entities. Some containers were surely empty. A few already had their doors wide open—probably the ones the entities had escaped from.
“……”
But something was off.
The ship, which should have been moving forward, was standing completely still.
Landing on the deck, Taeseong looked around.
“No sign of the administrators.”
The people who should’ve been there were nowhere to be seen.
Are they… below deck?
Just then—
Dozens of entities appeared behind him.
From beastlike forms to creatures covered in writhing tentacles—there was quite a range.
Taeseong looked at them and smiled.
“Perfect. I was feeling a bit hungry anyway.”
He had been feeling hungry already.
Due to the restriction of the ring, Taeseong was in a state of continuously consuming his vitality over 24 hours, which made him feel even more hungry.
If it had been any other manager in this spot instead of Taeseong, they likely would’ve had death on their mind. But in Taeseong’s eyes, those entities were nothing more than prey.
[Looks tasty. Looks tasty. Looks tasty. Looks tasty. Looks tasty. Looks tasty. Looks tasty. Looks tasty. Looks tasty. Looks tasty. Looks tasty. Looks tasty. Looks tasty. Looks tasty. Looks tasty. Looks tasty. Looks tasty.]
[I smell something. I smell it. Beast smell. Ghost smell. Human smell. Strange smell. What is it? That thing? What is it? Human? Right? Or not? Yokai? Anomaly? Ghost?]
[Shut up. That one’s mine!]
[$#^#$&$%&$%&@#@#$@.]
The entities babbled incoherently, then all at once lunged at him, drooling like mad.
Taeseong didn’t even draw his sword. He charged in barehanded. Maybe it was because his stress had piled up—he felt like getting a good feel of combat for once.
Crunch! Snap!
Each time Taeseong swung his fist, an entity’s skull exploded. Unidentifiable fluids and entrails splattered in every direction.
Seeing the carnage only made Taeseong move even more fiercely. He crushed skulls, tore off limbs, ripped out hearts. And of course, he didn’t forget to consume the crystals in between.
“Yeah. Keep coming at me.”
The entities were only Delta-grade at best, so there wasn’t much to gain… but he could feel his vital energy rapidly replenishing.
[Th-That one’s not normal. Something’s wrong.]
[Not human. That’s not human. I’m running. I’m scared. I have to get out of here.]
[Open the door! The door! Open another one! We’re not enough! We can’t stay here! I want to be free! I don’t want to die here!]
The entities, now terrified after witnessing power far beyond their expectations, were shaken to their core.
Some tried to flee the scene, abandoning the fight, but had their heads crushed by Taeseong using the power of Duoekshin.
Crunch! Crunch!
From the moment they crossed paths with Taeseong, they no longer had a choice. If they had kneeled down and begged for mercy the moment they met him, they might’ve had a one-in-a-million chance of surviving.
“If you’re gonna charge in once, then do it to the end. Runners die.”
Not running wouldn’t save them either.
[I-I’m sorry! P-Please spare me! I have a family!]
[Please, just let me live!]
Taeseong showed no mercy.
He specifically targeted the ones that showed even the slightest hint of retreat and burst their skulls. Watching the head of a comrade who was just exuding killing intent explode before their eyes was a traumatic sight, even for the entities.
[M-M-Monster! It’s a monster!]
[Nooo, I don’t want to die! Not like this!]
Taeseong muttered irritably.
“I’m so sick of being called a monster.”
He condensed energy into his right fist and punched hard, instantly disintegrating the entities in a straight line into dust.
Boom!
“……”
Roughly five minutes passed, and the only one left on the deck was Taeseong, soaked in blood from head to toe. The entities that had surrounded him were either shredded to pieces or consumed into his stomach.
Feeling the surge of vitality from within, Taeseong smiled in satisfaction.
“They said it goes down to the fourth basement level, right.”
Most of the entities on the deck were low-grade. According to the information from Choi Harin, the stronger entities had been confined underground for security purposes.
“That decision came back to bite them.”
The deeper the floor, the stronger the entities were likely to be, so the managers were likely stuck there. Plus, since they were in the middle of the ocean, escaping wouldn’t have been an option anyway.
If it were Eunha, she might manage by burning her lifespan…
Ever since she overused her abilities back at Aokigahara Forest, Eunha hadn’t been in good condition. She had apparently been training in preparation for promotion to Gamma grade, but Taeseong had no idea if it made any difference.
Step. Step.
Passing by dozens of containers, Taeseong eventually found the stairs leading underground.
“So… this is the first basement level.”
Once down the stairs, a wide, long hallway stretched before him.
Both sides of the seemingly endless corridor were lined with container boxes. The entire hallway was engulfed in darkness, and only the isolation room numbers above each container flickered on and off intermittently.
G-12. G-13. D-12. D-13.
A damp stench pricked his nose. Occasionally, it mixed with the scent of blood.
It was a smell Taeseong was used to.
He walked slowly. The sound of his footsteps echoed rhythmically through the hallway.
The first basement level was eerily quiet.
If there were even a single manager or entity present, there should have been some kind of sound… But it was as if everyone was holding their breath, waiting for Taeseong.
Then, suddenly—
“Please help me!”
A woman came running toward Taeseong, her hair messy and body covered in blood.
She wasn’t holding anything in her hands. Judging by her outfit, she appeared to be a manager.
She stopped just in front of Taeseong, tears streaming down her face as she pleaded.
“You’re the support manager, right? Please, help me. This place is hell.”
“A survivor?”
“Yes! If you come this way—”
Pop!
Before the woman could finish her sentence, Taeseong swung his fist. Her head burst open, and brain matter splattered everywhere.
But…
She didn’t die.
Reaching with both hands to feel for her vanished head, she then crouched and began crawling like a spider. In the next moment, she darted toward Taeseong at a terrifying speed.
“Click.”
With a click of his tongue, Taeseong drew Sisan Hyulhae from subspace and sliced her body into tiny pieces.
Squirm. Squirm.
Her chopped-up flesh began to reassemble, then swiftly fled toward the end of the hallway. Watching this, Taeseong conjured flames and reduced it all to ash.
He stared at the far end of the corridor and spoke.
“Come out.”
There was nothing visible in the darkness—but in response to Taeseong’s call, a little girl’s voice rang out.
[Buy some matches. Matches. These are really good matches. Hey, handsome mister. Wanna buy some matches?]
The girl hummed a tune.
[Matches for sale. Matches. Ah… wait, that’s not it. I stopped selling matches, didn’t I? Oh my, where’s my head today? Hohoho. Sorry about that.]
She laughed.
[Buy a corpse. A corpse. I’ve got cheap, tasty corpses for sale.]
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