Surviving in the 121st Century - Chapter 81



Only Noblemtl

As the lights that had been brightly illuminating the vast space disappeared, the place was filled with darkness for a moment.

The child, whose vision was darkened, swallowed dry saliva without realizing it. What could have happened? Was the special envoy dead? A normal person would die if their upper body was cut diagonally, but wouldn’t the special envoy, who had magical powers, have survived?

Because the space that had been bright for a moment had become dark, I couldn’t see Jincheol and the special envoy’s current status.

“···”

But after a while, the darkness naturally receded and the blurry surrounding scenery became clearer. The strange underground light that had been pushed out by the bright lights was coming back in through the open ceiling and illuminating this place.

And then, belatedly, the special envoy’s body, split open, fell backwards. Blood, internal organs, machine parts, and the like poured out from the split area due to the force of the fall, and the sword that had been embedded in the center of his chest naturally rose up as the blade was pushed against the floor behind his back.

The blade stuck in his chest looked like a white tombstone.

“···This can’t be happening. I’m going to···die here···?”

Wow, shit. Still alive? Jincheol, who stood up while swiping away Aiman’s sword, stuck out his tongue at the special envoy’s whispering voice. It was amazing that he could still talk when the things inside his body were pouring out like that. Is that because he’s a cyborg?

Jincheol, who had gotten up, looked down at the special envoy’s face, which was bare of any dirt, and spoke.

“Hey, Mr. William. Where are the others?”

“···His Majesty the Emperor will punish you··· You bloodline of a traitor.”

“As I said before, betrayal is something that happens between people who know each other.”

“The blood flowing through your body, the sacred blood shining on your arms… is proof of your betrayal….”

“If you’re going to be that picky, you guys are the traitors. You’re the descendants of the guys who destroyed civilization after going through that fucking war.”

“···what?”

A vague question appeared on the special envoy’s face. Jincheol said, reaching out for the handle of the sword that was just right for him to hold.

“I thought that after the war, people would live well while being considerate of each other. I had seen more clearly than ever what would happen if things went to extremes, so I thought that even if things were to go wrong, they wouldn’t do that again. But they say it only lasted a little over a hundred years.”

“···?”

Jincheol’s left hand held the sword. He held the sword like that and looked down at the special envoy’s face. The special envoy felt fearful for some reason when he met those bleak eyes. Strangely, he felt like a child being scolded in front of an adult.

“So, the betrayal was not mine, but theirs, and since their bloodline has descended to you, it should be me, not your great emperor, who should punish the traitor. I am the only one who lived through that time and experienced that battlefield, so I should be the one who pays the price… You don’t know what I’m talking about? I also hear the same nonsense about being a traitor and being a bloodline….”

Jincheol, who was making eye contact with the special envoy, felt something at that moment and trailed off. The strange sensation was coming from his left hand, where he was holding the sword. To be exact, from the barcode tattoo on his left arm.

The special envoy also felt something and opened his eyes wide.

“Yes, you…! What the…”

The next moment, Jincheol’s tattoo glowed brightly, illuminating the underground space. It did so even though Jincheol had not given it any intention. Moreover, it wasn’t just Jincheol’s tattoo that was shining. The special envoy’s remaining body, the two lines of barcode tattoos on his left arm that glowed with an ominous blue light, also glowed.

And it began to flow through the special envoy’s remaining skin and the blade of the sword stuck in his chest, and then onto Jincheol’s left arm.

“What the fuck is this?”

The envoy’s tattoo, which had turned into a ball of light, entered the blade one by one, drawing a new pattern under the original tattoo. Just like the envoy had done a moment ago, a two-line glowing barcode tattoo was being drawn on Jincheol’s left arm. Of course, the color was much brighter and hotter on this side.

“What the hell. Am I some kind of Highlander? Fighting with my own kind and draining their power? What the hell did that crazy AI do to my arm?”

In the brief moment that Jincheol felt embarrassed, one line of the barcode tattoo had completely moved to Jincheol’s arm. And immediately after, the remaining line of barcode that the special envoy had originally had also moved and tried to move to Jincheol’s arm. Since the forearm was already densely filled with two lines of patterns, if that had moved, it would probably have left the upper arm out.

“Crash···!”

At that moment, the eyes of the special envoy who was watching the movement of the tattoo with eyes as bewildered as Jincheol’s changed. It was a look that Jincheol knew well. The eyes of a person who has made up his mind. And that determination is often not for oneself, but for a cause one believes in.

“What the hell is this kid doing-”

“I will not hand over any more proof! For His Majesty the Emperor! For the chosen one-!”

Since his lungs and lower torso were completely torn apart and unable to create abdominal pressure, the envoy should not have been able to raise his voice so loudly. But strangely enough, a roar that resonated throughout the vast space burst from his throat.

Without a second thought, Jincheol raised the blade of the sword that was stuck in the bastard’s chest and split the bastard’s head in two from the bottom. However, even though the bastard’s head was split in two, the bastard’s eyes still shone.

Immediately afterwards, a pale spark of light shot out from the bastard’s left arm, and then exploded.

Aiman, who was approaching them, was thrown back by the explosion and the shockwave and ended up rolling around among the mutants’ corpses. However, he quickly got up, covered in black blood and entrails. His eyes quickly searched for Jincheol.

“Jincheol!”

Jincheol was lying on the ground quite far away from the center of the explosion. Aiman ​​ran to him.

“Hey, Jincheol! Are you okay? If you’re conscious, answer me-”

Jincheol, who was lying down, raised his hand. Only the child who ran in a hurry could see Jincheol’s face covered in soot and his hair half-burned. There was no visible serious injury. It was just a funny sight.

And Jincheol, unlike his fierce appearance, had a blank expression on his face. He was looking at the sky, or more precisely, the ceiling of the place where underground light seeped in, and his left arm stretched out toward the ceiling.

“···What are you looking at?”

“I feel like I’ve been experiencing a lot of incomprehensible things today.”

“I see. I thought they were all dead, so it’s strange how they could cause such an explosion.”

That wasn’t the part I didn’t understand. Jincheol, who was about to say something, closed his mouth. Thinking about it, that was also the reason he didn’t understand it. It just felt like he had done something strange, so from Jincheol’s perspective, it was just like magic.

After that, Jincheol coughed up some dust and sat up. He could see the dented epicenter of the explosion, which was belching smoke, and the corpses of mutants scattered around it.

Among them was a large mutant who had been whispering incomprehensible things to Jincheol. Its body was torn to pieces in the explosion and mixed with the bodies of other mutants.

“···Well written.”

“huh?”

Aiman, who was looking at the epicenter like Jincheol, turned his head. He saw his long sword that Jincheol had held out. When he received it, he saw Jincheol raise his body with a groan of difficulty. Jincheol stood up with a cracking sound in his joints, but then staggered to the side and fell. Aiman ​​quickly supported his body and spoke.

“Are you really okay?”

“···Hehe. Of course. It’s still a bit noisy here and there, but it’ll get better soon. If my body was going to die at this point, it would have melted and turned to dirt long ago.”

“···”

Aiman ​​just stared blankly at Jincheol.

“why?”

“I came down to this underground today and I have many questions. I expected to hear some of them from that envoy, but in the end, he was blown up without a trace and only you were left.”

“···You don’t regret that, do you?”

“Of course not. Even though we didn’t talk to him for very long, I could easily tell that he was a terrible person. You’re better off living with someone like that.”

Heh. Jincheol laughed with a breathless sound. Aiman ​​continued speaking while looking at that laugh.

“In that sense, can I trust you to tell the truth?”

“Let’s get out of this basement first. Ramien will rescue some people, and Doljumeok and Haita will be waiting outside. We’ll talk about that later.”

“···Okay, I understand. I’ll do as you say.”

Jincheol stood for a moment and looked around. The corpses of mutants were scattered everywhere, and traces of an explosion were visible among them. The soft underground light was illuminating the scene.

Jincheol, who had been looking at the scenery for a while, turned around with the support of Aiman.

The dark passage they had just passed through greeted them again. After passing through the passage that seemed short and long, they came across the hotel lobby where the group had split into two. There, they saw dozens of Rabitos standing there with anxious expressions, looking in this direction, and behind them, they saw owl masks guarding the surroundings.

“Jincheol!”

Among them was Ramien. She threw aside the rifle she had been aiming at the passage and ran towards him. Then, with tearful eyes, she looked at Jincheol, who was leaning against Aiman ​​and walking towards him.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“I’m a corpse, except for my healthy body. What about you? Did you find Ipani?”

Ramien laughed heartily at that question. She turned around, and a slightly smaller Rabito approached from among the group of Rabitos who were huddled together.

Jincheol had to control his expression when he saw her. Her right arm was missing from the elbow. It was easy to tell that it wasn’t originally missing by looking at the dirty rag wrapped around it and the dark, discolored blood stains.

And this was the case for most of the other Rabitos gathered there. They all had one of their limbs cut off.

Jincheol first bowed his head slightly to say hello.

“Uh… It’s Jincheol.”

At that light greeting, Ipani bowed deeply in greeting. Slowly straightening her back, she smiled at Jincheol despite her haggard appearance and spoke. It was a calm and gentle smile that made it hard to believe that they had met in this underground, in this situation.

“My name is Epani. I heard that I was able to come this far thanks to Ramien. Thank you so much.”

“No, not necessarily.”

As she tried to bend down again, Jincheol quickly stopped her. Then he flinched again, because there was a bundle hanging from her arms. Something was wriggling there.

She must have noticed Jincheol’s gaze because she showed him the inside of the bundle with her other arm. Jincheol blinked.

“···What is this?”

White skin. Ears that prickled. Teeth that didn’t even have baby teeth yet. Eyes that couldn’t even open were all that could be seen, a bluish nose that was twitching. Tiny creatures the size of Jincheol’s fist were wriggling inside the bundle.

“These are the babies of the white people. The white people came to the surface not simply to eat us, but to make us look after these babies.”

These little things grow up to become those weird mutations? And you brought them back to the ancient times? Ipani continued, sensing the meaning in Jincheol’s gaze.

“These babies haven’t been eaten by anyone yet.”

Jincheol turned his gaze to look at Ramien. Her large eyes were filled with extremely confused emotions.

Relief, anger, bewilderment, love, disgust, etc. But in the end, what grew the most was love, and the confusion cleared away, leaving behind acceptance. Ramien approached Ipani and hugged her, looking at Jincheol.

“It’s unfortunate, but these are all the people we found underground.”

“···Really? Okay. Then let’s get out of here. It feels like we’ve only been here for a few hours, but it feels like we’ve been rotting away for days.”

[I totally agree with this chip! Show me some sunlight, damn it! Hehehe!]

Ipani and the other Rabitos were startled by the voice that suddenly interrupted. Instead of explaining anything, Jincheol took out a hotel chip from his pocket and shook it roughly.

[Hee-ha-! I’m dizzy! This is why guests ride roller coasters?! If Bone Chip had a digestive system, he would have switched the exit and entrance and poured it out coolly!]

“Shut up. We’ll have time to talk quietly once we get back up to ground level.”

[Conversation? Alright! Just one thing before that!]

“One thing? What?”

[···Take a look at the traces of that half-penny. Some of it will remain.]

“That guy blew himself up?”

[There are parts that guests tore off before entering this hotel.]

Hotel Chip was right. As they came out of the hotel, Maro, who had been guarding Stone Fist and Highta, held out a mechanical arm to Jincheol. It was the last remaining part of Special Envoy William Lambert.

Jincheol, who had been carrying it and patting Maro on the head, soon realized that he had to carry Doljumeok. He was still unconscious and the Rabitos were too small to carry him.

“Fuck.”

In that way, Jincheol, with his bones tingling, the stone fist snoring behind him, and the other people and the rescued citizens, went back the way they came and escaped the underground.

It was already bright noon outside.