Black Badger - Chapter 35

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Natty

◈ Black Badger ◈

Chapter 35: Rescue Mission (1)

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Ye-hyeon definitely seemed to know something.

Of course, that did not mean I had the nerve to grab the Commander-in-Chief and badger him. Especially when my senior partner had brought back good news.

Yoon seemed not to have expected Ye-hyeon to return. He widened his eyes when he saw us sitting at the table eating sashimi.

Then he tried to kick me out.

“Ye-hyeon, you're back? I told you to call before coming home. Hey. It's settled, so you can go back now.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you. I won't forget this kindness.”

“Yoon. How can you kick the kid out at this hour?”

Flustered, Ye-hyeon stopped Yoon from sending me away.

Just as Ami had told me, Yoon was weak against Ye-hyeon both personally and professionally. In the end, I got to stay the night.

We quickly cleared away dinner. Once we were done cleaning up, Ye-hyeon pressed a banana pudding into my hands.

His expression was gentler in private.

“Looks like Mueln finally met Hilde. Did you stop him, Yoon?”

Ye-hyeon gave Yoon a look that said, What got into you? Well done. It was the sort of look that made me infer Ye-hyeon had been in charge of correcting Yoon's behavior.

At the unexpected praise, my senior partner replied in a dry voice.

“I thought Mueln might kill the kid if I egged him on.”

A sharp observation.

“Besides, I got the test results he conducted, so I have no reason to complain.”

After quickly cleaning up, I shut myself in the guest room.

I quietly got ready for bed. After washing up in the small bathroom across the hall, I shut myself in again.

I fiddled with my phone for a while, then lay down. I should wake up early and return to the more comfortable old dormitory building.

I slept soundly, without even dreaming.

*　　　*　　　*

Then I woke at dawn.

Beep-beep!

The door opened, then shut heavily with a thud! I woke to the sound of someone tossing off their shoes. I lifted my sleep-heavy eyelids.

The room was bluish. Light spilling through the gap beneath the door from the entryway was dazzling.

As I blankly stared at the ceiling, I slowly grasped the situation. Ami must have come back. She had said she could arrive as early as last evening.

It sounded like the men were coming from deeper inside the house to greet her.

“You're back.”

My senior partner's low voice chased away the last of my sleep.

“Good work. It's a mess.”

I could hear Ye-hyeon's quiet whisper too. The house was so incredibly silent that their conversation carried clearly.

I did not move, holding my breath.

Ami spoke.

“There are so many.”

Rustle.

I heard the sound of fabric shifting.

“They're packed outside the Core. All Level 5 or higher. One wave poured in, and I switched shifts during a brief lull.”

“What about the teams that went beyond D Zone?”

“They're all returning to F Zone.”

Ami's tone was sharp, unlike usual. Her usual cheerfulness was entirely gone.

Ye-hyeon asked in a businesslike tone as well.

“What about the Portal Zone?”

“They aren't gathering there. They're only converging on the Core. The train station has been fully closed. The highest-level defense systems have been activated at every supply depot in F Zone, and no entry is allowed.”

“Alright.”

After a brief silence, Ye-hyeon's calm voice continued.

“No word from A-Tech?”

“None. The Core is fine too.”

Yoon answered briefly.

The conversation ended there. The silence of dawn after a return home.

In the cool air, the clock went tick-tock. I listened closely, straining my ears. It seemed creatures were gathering near F Zone, around the barrier John Mueln had created and Choi Yoon had commercialized.

Did this happen often?

Yoon's cold words gave me my answer.

“This is because of the rookie, right?”

My heart dropped.

Ye-hyeon did not answer at once. A suffocating stretch of time passed as my heart tightened.

After a long while, the Commander-in-Chief slowly broke the silence.

“Hilde merely lit the fuse. It was something we would have faced eventually.”

“What is Hilde? You know something, don't you?”

Ami asked.

My heart beat faster and faster until I could barely breathe. Still, I forced down the sound of my breathing. I did not move a muscle, so they would not notice I was awake.

I heard Ye-hyeon sigh.

“We'll have to redeploy Core personnel to the outskirts for a while. Yoon, add the new recruits, including Hilde, to the call-up system. There will be fewer people in the Core, so teach them civilian rescue procedures as well. We'll have to put them into regular missions earlier than usual.”

“Yes. But if the rookie is the cause, shouldn't we pull him aside for special management instead of assigning him regular missions? If he runs around rescuing civilians and draws in creatures, there won't be a solution.”

“Hilde isn't drawing in every creature. Only the creatures that want to kill that kid are gathering.”

Huh?

I stared blankly at the pitch-black wall.

That was it?

I sat with the silence that followed and stared stupidly into the darkness. In the end, it did not seem to make much difference. Still, I thought I was giving off some kind of creature-specific hormone.

But that was not it.

As expected, Ye-hyeon knew something.

Yoon asked the question I wanted to ask in a low voice.

“Then why are they doing it? Are you going to leave things like this?”

“For now. Until it becomes harder to hide Hilde.”

“Who are you hiding Hilde from? The creatures seem to know now.”

Ye-hyeon did not answer.

He probably gave a bitter smile. Or perhaps he lowered his gaze and stayed silent. Either way, his expression must have been an answer. The senior members did not press further.

The house fell quiet again. I stared at the wall, more troubled than ever.

Why do you keep holding on to me? I told you several times to just dispose of me.

I said I did not want to cause trouble, that I did not want to burden the people who had shown me kindness. I was desperate enough to suddenly call the Commander-in-Chief's private number and immediately accept Mueln's offer.

What was I supposed to do now?

If the problem kept getting worse, I would have to find a solution, even if I had to do it alone...

Ami's voice pulled me from my thoughts.

“Still, I like Hilde.”

Her youthful voice pierced my heart.

“Warm, steady, and kind. Hilde doesn't rush to step forward, but isn't too passive either. Everything is unfamiliar and approached with care, but Hilde isn't overly afraid. Hilde is a really good junior. I like Hilde.”

“Really? That's good.”

I heard Ye-hyeon answer with a smile.

“If you rate Hilde that highly, Hilde must really be a good kid. It sounds like Hilde and Yoon are getting along well too.”

“An interesting one, at least.”

“Yeah. And Ricardo likes Hilde a lot too. He says he's only interested because Hilde is a human who fell out of a portal, but he takes care of Hilde far too much for that.”

Ami let out a bright laugh.

“He says it annoys him that Hilde runs around everywhere with that pathetic body. That's a huge compliment coming from Ricardo, right?”

...Why is that a compliment?

I wanted to ask, I don't understand. But I had to pretend to be asleep, so I could not.

I heard Ye-hyeon laugh quietly, followed by Yoon's scoff.

The residents' dawn conversation continued briefly before my senior partner's dry words brought it to an end.

“Anyway, if that's your decision, I'll make sure the new recruits can take regular missions starting tomorrow.”

*　　　*　　　*

Less than three days after that conversation, I jolted at the tremendous noise coming from my phone. It happened while I was returning to the old dormitory building after training with Yoon.

My loudly vibrating phone blared.

[Call-up order. Creature sighted in Sector B, Zone 1.]

[Level 5. Serious casualties expected. All Badgers in Zone 1 are requested to deploy.]

This was Zone 1.

Where was Sector B?

[Creature sighted in Sector C, Zone 1.]

[Estimated Level 6. Scientific name undetermined.]

Why did the levels keep rising?

Should I go toward the higher-level one? The moment I thought that, my phone's red screen changed to an incoming call. It was my senior partner.

When I answered, he spoke without urgency.

[Go to Sector B. Press the alert and a map will come up.]

“What about Sector C?”

[I'm going.]

Was that irritation in his voice, or was I imagining it?

[I was going to have dinner with Ye-hyeon.]

I was not imagining it.

[There are more people in Sector B, so two more are deploying there. You just focus on civilian rescue.]

“What if I'm the target again?”

[If it looks like they're after you, lead them to Sector C.]

The reply came in an even voice.

I began running through the increasingly chaotic streets, toward the roadside, where I could catch a bus or taxi, or hitch a ride somehow...

[Take the car. I've set the destination, so it'll drive itself.]

Screeech!

A sleek white car stopped beside me.

It was the new car Yoon had picked out this time. How did he know where I was and send a car here? He really was practically psychic every time.

I climbed into the driver's seat.

“What if this one gets wrecked too?”

[Another one's on the way, so it doesn't matter.]

I heard the sound of a gun being loaded through the phone.

[If you need to, ram it into a creature. It's not that expensive.]

I had worried for nothing.

He made me feel deprived without even trying. Grumbling, I buckled my seat belt and shut the driver's door.

The spotless sports car started off with a loud roar.

*　　　*　　　*

Sector B.

Now I understood what he meant by lots of foot traffic. It was a typical busy commercial district. People who had been out meeting others ran desperately, their faces pale with fear.

The white sports car became trapped in the crowd. People ran in the opposite direction from the car. It felt like I had been dropped among a migrating herd of buffalo.

The self-driving car gave up on moving forward. I got out of the stopped sports car.

“Move! Move!”

“Mom!”

“Ah! That hurts!”

[A creature has appeared at H Tower. Please evacuate immediately to a nearby shelter. A creature has appeared at H Tower. Please evacuate immediately to a nearby shelter.]

The sounds of the chaotic city crashed over me.

Breathing in the fear-filled air, I checked the map. The GPS told me I had to go farther in.

This is insane.

Like swimming upstream, I forced my way through the crowd. I was unarmed, but Yoon had explained only a few hours ago that whether I had a weapon was not what mattered.

“Hey! You there! You can't go that way!”

A uniformed man raised his voice at me.

“You won't be any help if you go in there! Leave the creature to the Badgers and evacuate!”

“I'm a Badger!”

I shouted back at the police officer holding a light baton in one hand.

“I'm coming through!”

Eyes turned toward me.

People glanced at me as they passed. I ignored the gazes that clung to me. I had to grit my teeth and try not to hit the civilians running for their lives.

Ah, there were too many people. I couldn't get any speed...

Whoosh!

A sharp sound cut past my ear.

My white hair scattered in a fierce gust, then fell back into place. Something seemed to stop beside my ear.

My eyes widened as I whipped my head around.

And I found a woman riding a board in midair.

Her hair was pink and yellow, split into two tones.

“Taleb?”

The woman called Shu Diamond looked down at me with expressionless blue eyes.

“H Tower?”

“Yes.”

“Excuse me.”

I immediately answered her unhurried question, and the short-haired senior bent at the waist.

She gripped my torso with both hands and pulled me up.

“Argh!”

I was yanked into the air like a doll caught in a claw machine. My view quickly rose higher.

The fleeing civilians slowed and looked up at us.

“What the hell is that?”

“Hold on tight so you don't fall.”

As she kept gaining altitude, Shu gave her instruction in a husky voice.

Clinging to the senior, who looked even smaller than Ami, I nodded frantically. If I fell from here, it would be a complete disaster. I would surely collide with one of the civilians beneath me and kill someone...

Whoosh!

The board took off.

“Argh!”

“Estimated arrival in three minutes.”

Shu's calm report from atop the hoverboard was swept away by the wind.

“I'm accompanying the new recruit.”

Holding tightly onto the senior's arm, I tried to keep my eyes open.

The scenery rushed past. The wind struck my eyes, bringing tears. Blinking through the sting, I watched the building draw closer. Clear glass windows rushed toward us frighteningly fast.

I loomed larger and larger. The silhouette of a huge man held in a small person's two hands...

Crash!

We shattered through a glass window and entered the tower.

“Arrived at the tower.”

Shu tossed me onto the floor, then jumped off the board.

“I'll handle the second floor and above.”

Someone must have given an instruction through the communicator.

The senior stayed silent for a moment, then turned and looked down at me.

“Taleb takes the first floor. Assist Jonathan Kudo with creature subjugation. You've been instructed to help civilians evacuate.”

“Yes.”

“The most important thing in creature subjugation within a Core is to ensure that no civilians are killed or injured by Badgers.”

The two-toned-haired senior added a personal opinion in a flat voice.

“You know what I mean. We may fail to save civilians, but it can never be acceptable for a Badger to kill one while subjugating a creature.”

I nodded as I listened to what Yoon had explained a few hours earlier.

Of course I understood.

The thing the organization called Black Badger feared most.

They had surpassed the limits of the human body, overcome aging, and escaped the fate of death. Naturally, they had taken a superior position. The thing they had to fear was exposing that position to the entire world and impressing their power upon it. It was reminding the entire world of the danger posed by their existence.

Because humanity's enemy might become not the creatures outside the Core, but the Black Badgers living within it.

“I'll keep it in mind.”

If I were Ye-hyeon, I would have given the same instruction.

The Badgers must have endured until now because he had consistently given orders like that. I nodded once. Then I ran down to the first floor, leaving behind the senior as she mounted her board again and flew away.

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