This Universe Needs Old People - Chapter 60



Only Noblemtl

Apocalypse Needs Old People Episode 060

58. Promise (3)

While the soldiers cleaned up the corpses of the large monsters, the commander and I sat across from each other in the makeshift barracks.

“What happened?”

“What happened?”

The commander and I asked each other the same question and simultaneously frowned slightly.

I would like to hear an explanation in chronological order, but since I am a junior, I should answer first.

“I thought I fired the wrong signal flare. I thought there would be no more than six, so I brought only Meursault and the new officer, but my judgment was wrong. If I had known there would be nine, we wouldn’t have come alone.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

The commander asked me with an expression of unprecedented confusion.

“How did you get them out?”

Oh. Is that what you asked?

But I don’t know why they suddenly ran away.

To be honest, I felt a little uneasy.

It’s a good thing they ran away, but since we don’t know why they ran away, they might attack again.

But just saying you don’t know why isn’t the answer the Commander wants.

There’s nothing I can do. I have no choice but to tell you Meursault’s hypothesis.

“Actually… even in the area we searched, we didn’t see a single large or small monster.”

“You didn’t see a single one?”

“According to the team members’ reports, they said that only footprints remained, as if they were frightened by something and ran away all at once.”

“Just like the guys who ran away a little while ago.”

The commander’s eyes became strange.

“I can’t believe what I saw either… but they seemed to be running away from you. If the monsters had already fled from the direction you searched, then you must have been the one causing them to suddenly run away.”

“But I don’t know why the monsters are running away from me. They didn’t seem that scared of me until I got here and killed two of them.”

“I also find that part strange. It’s not like you suddenly changed during the fight.”

There are some changes in the middle, but… I can’t tell the commander that it might be because of the title, so I’ll have to respond appropriately.

“Is it possible that he got scared after seeing me easily defeat two of them?”

“Well, that’s the most likely, but right before they ran away, they seemed angry at you for losing a comrade.”

“Then I really don’t understand why.”

If you answered to this extent, I think you showed your sincerity in answering the commander’s question.

Now it’s my turn to ask the commander.

“But what happened? How did you end up fighting nine large monsters?”

The commander sighed deeply and answered my question with a worried voice.

“This one is the same. I don’t know why.”

“yes?”

“As you may know, large monsters do not usually travel in groups.”

Of course, this is a characteristic I am well aware of.

Large monsters are the ones that eat other monsters indiscriminately.

There were no exceptions even if the monsters were of the same rank, and there were many cases of large-class monsters eating large-class monsters.

Instead of moving around in groups, they are quick to avoid each other when they meet.

“But after we started searching the center, those guys who hadn’t been seen for hours suddenly attacked us from behind. And they came in a group.”

“A group of large monsters attacked us by surprise?”

As I’ve said before, the smaller the monster, the more intelligent it is, and as it gets bigger, it often becomes dull and unintelligent.

But, it’s not just one or two, but nine entities with a high level of thinking like ‘surprise attack’ appeared at the same time?

‘Come to think of it, among the guys I dealt with earlier, there was one who was a bit more clever… … .’

I didn’t think much about it a little while ago because it was a tense situation.

Raising one’s head to prevent being shot with one’s own jewel was also not something that could be easily found in large monsters.

Was it that individual that led the surprise attack in a group?

“Then why did you only fire six shots…?”

“Yes. Four people were swept away in the first surprise attack. It seemed like they died instantly. We quickly fired the signal flare we had, and two teams had come out to search nearby, so we survived. After that, other teams saw the signal and joined in, so we’re still alive. There were a lot of guys who didn’t make it, but the damage was less than I thought… … .”

The commander trailed off and then spoke to me in a firm tone.

“It’s all thanks to you.”

suddenly?

“I think I arrived the latest.”

“No, it’s not just about direct help.”

The commander rested his chin on his hand and looked at me intently.

“Thanks to your efforts, many soldiers survived, but we survived this much because our numbers were small to begin with. If we had formed a punitive force like usual, the casualties would have been much greater. If all those people had tried to escape the monsters’ surprise attack, we definitely wouldn’t have been able to surround them as quickly as we did now. The monsters also tried to attack us, who had fewer people than them, so they blocked each other’s paths and slowed down. Thanks to that, we were able to escape to where Team 2 was… … .”

The commander paused for a moment, then asked me with a look of mixed suspicion and anticipation.

“Did you know by any chance?”

hmm.

Yes, I told the commander that I am a regressor.

It was conceivable that they had changed the punitive force into teams, knowing in advance that a surprise attack by a large monster would occur.

It’s suspicious that he knew the future but didn’t say anything.

On the one hand, there is an expectation that if this situation had been anticipated, the subsequent issues would have been resolved.

However, the reason I organized the punitive force into teams was purely for efficiency, and I am not a true regressor.

In the games I played, there was no story about large monsters attacking in groups.

The commander seemed to sense from my expression alone that I was completely unaware of the situation, and his eyes took on a look of suspicion and anticipation.

“I guess you didn’t know.”

“This is something that has never happened in the future I know.”

“Then… wasn’t that guy involved?”

“If it’s him… … .”

“I’m talking about someone who is either a player or a regressor in the Unicorn Zone.”

The other day, when a Unicorn Zone player attacked me.

I told the commander that the guy could be a regressor like me or a player like my mother, and it seems he hasn’t forgotten.

The commander’s guess that he might be involved in this incident wasn’t so far-fetched.

What if something that didn’t happen in the game happened here?

The first thing to suspect is player intervention.

Right now, the guys from other districts are at best just sending guards to my district, but considering the technology of the Unicorn District, they should be able to control large monsters.

but…….

‘I do think, ‘Is it really necessary?’

He’s the guy who shot me right in front of my nose.

There is no reason to go through the hassle of controlling large monsters to attack us.

Moreover, if it was his doing, it is also incomprehensible why the monsters retreated in vain.

“I don’t think the guy who shot me would use a monster.”

“I heard that the guy originally wanted to kill was that kid named Darling Outsider. What if he’s after your friend again?”

“It’s too inefficient to say that they were targeting Darling. They should have sent the monsters to that guy’s team instead of your father’s team in the first place. It’s also too ambiguous to say that they were targeting your father. When the monsters ran away, didn’t they just ignore your father’s side?”

In response to my rebuttal, the commander leaned back in his folding chair, resting his hand on his forehead as if his head was throbbing.

“…Should I return to the area?”

Since we caught five of them, we were able to achieve the goal of the expedition to some extent.

Those nine were probably the only large monsters around here.

It might have been better to go back than to stay and risk my life in this place where something unknown was happening.

It was a bit awkward to leave the four behind, but if they ran away when they saw me again, it would be difficult to subdue them.

“dismissal.”

At that moment, Meursault opened the barrack door and came inside.

“I’m reporting. A total of 5 monsters were subdued. A total of 6 people died during the battle, and the bodies of 2 of them have not been found yet.”

“Are there any injured people?”

“There are 24 injured people, 3 seriously injured and 21 slightly injured. All personnel waiting in other areas have been confirmed to be safe, and are being moved here under the leadership of Lieutenant Platon. The monster corpses are ready for transport… but what do you want to do?”

It seems that Meursault also came to ask whether he would return.

The commander looked at me with a face that asked what should I do.

… Are you really asking me to decide now?

“How many of the 21 people in Gyeongsang Province can ride a bike?”

When I asked that question, Meursault answered right away, as if he had anticipated my asking.

“All 21 of them can ride a bike at least.”

“Then let’s just return the corpses and wounded soldiers to their quarters first.”

The commander looked at me quietly and asked,

“Do you want to continue searching?”

“I think we’ll have to do that until the wounded soldiers return. Those who have surprised us once, there’s no way they won’t try again.”

The commander and Meursault looked at each other and nodded simultaneously.

“We can’t just send the wounded soldiers, so we need to select a few soldiers to return with them.”

“I guess I’ll have to reorganize it.”

The two quickly decided who would return, reducing the number of teams from 10 to 5, and assigning 11 people to each team.

The team leader of each team was decided to be the survivors of the commander’s first team, and since the first team was assigned to veterans with a lot of combat experience to assist the commander, the deaths of four team members were painfully painful.

Since there were six survivors in Team 1, including the commander, one of them was not given the role of team leader, but was instead entrusted with leading the wounded soldiers.

My team of 10, which had no casualties or injuries, was made up entirely of new officers, so we were evenly divided into 5 teams.

Meursault and I were naturally in Team 1 led by the Commander, but what was surprising was that the Commander put Banggu Seok Yeobo in Team 1 first.

“Are you taking him with you?”

“Isn’t that your friend running towards you before the monsters escape?”

Even in that hectic time, I must have seen Banggu Seok Yeo-bo running towards me.

Well, I’m not sure if he was of any help, but I was impressed by his growth when I saw him come to my aid in that situation.

Then Meursault looked at me as if he had just remembered and said:

“Come to think of it, Private Outsider was standing in front of the barracks with a pensive look on his face… … .”

“You’re in front of the barracks?”

“Your Majesty and I will take care of the rest, so wouldn’t it be better for you to go see your friend?”

When Meursault said that, the commander also told me that I could go out.

I didn’t think I needed to worry about team formation, so I bowed my head slightly and walked out of the barracks.

As soon as I stepped outside, I felt a hand grab my arm and hold me.

“Dopa… Haydam!”

When Meursault said that he stood there in thought, it was not an exaggeration.

Banggu Seok-yeo was pale as if she had seen something very scary, but even when she almost died at the hands of the Unicorn Player, her face had never been this frightened.

Even I asked absentmindedly, “Are you… okay?”

“Those guys just now… Those guys!”

Banggu Seok-yeo kept shaking her head as if she couldn’t hear my questions.

“Something is strange… something is wrong… … !”

Now that I look at it, the hand holding my arm was also trembling.

It’s a bit of an overreaction to say that it’s simply because they fought several large monsters just a moment ago.

“Calm down. I also thought it was strange that a group of large monsters attacked us all at once, so I’m going to find out-”

“I told you, it’s not a problem if you’re all herded around!”

The corner lady screamed, so I quickly covered her mouth.

Because the commander and Meursault were right behind them, with a tent between them.

The corner lady looked at me with resentful eyes, but it was fair to say that he had almost called me a dopamine addict just a moment ago.

I took the guy away from the barracks and only after I made sure there was no one around did I release my hand from covering his mouth.

“First, calm down.”

“… … .”

“Now tell me what the problem is.”

“Those guys… … .”

The woman in the corner swallowed her saliva and continued speaking.

“I saw them eat people… … .”

I nodded as if I understood.

“It must have been terrible.”

I tried to sympathize with her in my own way, but Bang Gu-seok shook his head violently.

“No! It wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t terrible, that’s why it was a problem!!”

“What do you mean, that?”

I got tired of listening and ended up making a face, but the lady in the corner of the room answered in a mumbled voice.

“I saw it clearly. The body of a person eaten by those guys… … .”

The guy looked at me with trembling eyes and slowly spat out.

“As soon as it touches their teeth, it disappears into blue particles.”