WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 339: Sunlit Shade (6)
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Even then, the believer who had become a monster was racing through the tunnel at grotesque speed. The space was cramped by all the piping, yet that huge body of writhing muscle moved with unbelievable flexibility. Judging by its movements alone, it was like watching an annelid. Its skeletal structure must have strayed far beyond human norms.
Gyeoul took the microphone and called her name.
“Hwangbo Esther.”
The reaction was immediate. A red signal lit up on the control screen, notifying them that power had been cut in that section. The last image caught by the closed-circuit camera before it went dark was Esther crushing the speaker with inhuman grip strength and tearing out thick wires. Eyes rolled white with rage glared straight into the center of the screen.
But the power system was independent from section to section. Sensors detecting heat and motion showed Esther’s route. In truth, even without the sensors, her location was easy to follow. Wherever she went, wires and electronic devices were destroyed. The detection devices were also going out one after another with dull pops.
That ferocity slammed into the iron bars dividing the compartment. Boom! Steel bent. The screen showing it from beyond the bars shook as well. The girl, no longer human in form, began warping the bars with terrifying strength.
It was a brief opening. Gyeoul called her name again.
“Hwangbo Esther.”
Once more, boom! The enraged Esther thrust her longest arm between the bars. Fingertips bent like hooks clawed viciously at empty air. Two handspans remained between them and the speaker. Gyeoul asked calmly.
“Esther. Do you remember my voice?”
「Whooo are yooouuu!」
“I am Lieutenant Colonel Han Gyeoul. When I met you, I was still a Lieutenant.”
「…….」
A pause. The movement on the other side died down. Only sharp breathing could be heard. Confusion gnawed into rage. When Gyeoul glanced aside, Security Chief Grimm was gesturing with a grimace. The meaning was for him to keep stalling. Grimm was changing the deployment to match Esther’s position.
What should he say? Gyeoul searched his memory, then broke the silence first.
“For those who are in Jesus Christ, there is no condemnation... for the law of life in Christ has set you free from the law of death... I think that was written on the note you gave me, though I’m not sure I remember it exactly. You wrote it yourself, right?”
There had been other long verses too, but even with correction, this was the most he could recall. Back then, his 「Memorization」 level had not been high. Skills raised later did not apply retroactively.
After hesitating, Esther began pulling the bars out one by one. It was still monstrous strength beyond anything human, but she was no longer seized by blind rage. The huge girl crouched in front of the closed-circuit camera and fixed her gaze on the lens. It was as if she were trying to peer through to this side. Then she quietly asked.
「Youuu read thaaat?」
“Yes. I promised I would. You said the Lord hates liars.”
「It reallyyy is Lieutenant Colonel Haan Gyeouuul…….」
Esther tilted her head.
「But whyyy are youuu thereee, Lieutenant Colonel?」
White teeth showed her suspicion.
「Reaaally, whyyy are you thereee right nooow? Were youuu on the same sideee as these baaastards toooo, Lieutenant Colonel? If sooo, I thiiink I’ll get veeeery, veeery aaangry…….」
Gyeoul softened his answer as much as he reasonably could.
“I’m not sure. I don’t really know whether I’m on the same side or not. I was only just called here. So I’m having trouble understanding this situation.”
「…….」
“Esther, you tell me. How did you end up like that? Who are you holding? Where are you trying to take them?”
「……Liaaar.」
The girl giggled sadly and darkly.
「Do not preteeend you do not knooow. You came hereee to save this baastard and stop me anywaaay……! I do not neeed aaanything anymoreee. I do not want to live in this bodyyy any longerrr! I’m just going to kill this Campbell baastard and that fucking pastor baastard! Just those twooo……and then I’ll kill myseeelf!」
“You’re saying you’ll kill Pastor Park Tae-sun?”
「Yeees! That son of a biiitch! He tricked uuus!」
Bang! Her fist, full of bitter grief, struck the tunnel wall. A fistful of concrete crumbled away. Tears fell drop by drop beneath Esther’s jaw. Her crushed lips held a sneer.
「Kik……. After I became like thiiis, my ears got reeally sharp, you seeee. So sharp I couldn’t sleeeep because the sound of breathing bothered meee. And then, like, I started hearing sounds that weren’t sounds toooo. Static-filled words that ended with over, overrr. So I heard it aaall! Park Tae-sun! That fucker! What liiies he told! Whyyy weee! Became like thiiis! And that weee! Can’t be cured anywaaay! And have no choice but to diiieee!」
Then she grabbed the camera and speaker at the same time.
「You knooow, I don’t want to fight youuu, Lieutenant Colonel. Sooo, stay still right thereee, okayyy? And tell the others toooo. Tell them all to back awaaay. If they get in my waaay, I’ll kill them aaall!」
Crack. The glass split, and the closed-circuit feed went dark at once. The speaker went out too. Red signals multiplied on the control screen. Esther was running wild again, steadily closing in on the church. The reason she could find her direction even underground was probably because she had the ability to sense magnetic fields, like the Trickster.
Chief Grimm asked a question.
“Did you learn anything?”
The conversation with Esther had been in Korean. So Gyeoul summarized the contents. There had not been much to learn, so a few words were enough. Irritation settled on the security chief’s face. Grimm seemed to sympathize with the girl’s motive for murder.
“So in the end, her target is the cult leader?”
“Yes.”
“Damn it! Priority protection target or not, I want to tell him to just die.”
But Grimm was in no position to do that. The course of the quarantine war was at stake.
Thanks to the little time Gyeoul had bought, the exits from the underground tunnel were sealed by a narrow margin. Chief Grimm ordered the team to prioritize capturing Esther alive over killing her, as long as the encirclement was not broken.
“Our firepower is overwhelmingly superior! Use nonlethal methods as much as possible, and even if you fire, aim for areas that don’t look fatal! This is the first special mutant to appear among the believers! If we succeed in capturing it, that thing will become a high-value sample too!”
The way Grimm called her a sample sat badly. Not that Gyeoul was the one feeling that way. Grimm’s tone itself made it sound that way. As he had said in his conversation with Jin-seok, killing a person was not something even a veteran could feel comfortable with. So the enemy had to be something other than human.
As suppressive fire unfolded on site, one tactical operator pushed back.
“Can’t we use sleeping gas?”
“Stupid question. Are you trying to kill Campbell? A dose strong enough to put that monster to sleep would easily exceed the lethal dose for a human. Giving up on the hostage is the last resort. Don’t make me repeat myself!”
“That is exactly why I’m saying we should use it.”
“What?”
“Major Campbell deceived us. Judging by the circumstances, the Major is probably the one who turned the kid into that monster. Otherwise there’s no reason for that much hatred.”
“…….”
“The chance of rescuing the hostage safely is low anyway. In that case, I think we should at least secure the sample for certain. That’s better than trying to get both and losing everything.”
Chief Grimm scowled.
“If the circumstances point that way, all the more reason to keep Campbell alive. We need to find out how the monster was made. Securing the target doesn’t guarantee we’ll uncover the mechanism too! Cut the bullshit and control the battlefield properly! We pursue only the best result!”
Esther’s roar mixed into the gunfire filling the scene. Even using the hostage as a shield, the girl could not easily get out of the tunnel. The security personnel positioned in advance had lines of fire spread in every direction. Their calm shooting drew extremely precise fields of fire. Every one of them was a seasoned veteran.
Chief Grimm gave the next order.
“Cut off her retreat!”
It was an order to blow up the tunnel Esther had passed through. Power had been cut, so remote detonation was impossible, but troops had already been deployed to the rear as well. Fighting a special mutant holding a hostage inside a narrow tunnel was not a wise choice. It was better to collapse the path instead.
At that point, West Branch Manager entered the room late. Even after receiving a brief report from Control Operator Schreiber, West pressed Chief Grimm.
“Capture alive? Isn’t that too mild a response? What if that monster escapes?”
Chief Grimm looked as if the superior officer was being a nuisance when Grimm needed to focus on command. But since the scene was at a stalemate, there was still room to answer.
“As Lieutenant Colonel Han Gyeoul confirmed, the target’s objective is clear. The chance she will attempt escape at this point is low, and the chance she will succeed is practically nonexistent.”
“No, that isn’t enough to reassure me.”
West was acting extremely nervous. There was a reason for it.
“Right after the report went to the Secretary, a strategic bomber formation took off.”
“…….”
“Do you not understand how serious this is? A special mutant with human intelligence and the ability to use language has appeared. If the target escapes and we can’t even locate it afterward, this whole area could be hit with nuclear weapons. Even if we somehow evacuate the base personnel, we won’t be able to take care of all the refugees too…….”
“Calm down.”
Chief Grimm cut off the superior officer. Grimm emphasized each word clearly.
“What you’re describing is a meaningless assumption, and panic from the people upstairs. If things truly go wrong, we can blow this zone ourselves without any need for bombers. Don’t you remember?”
“Mm…….”
“Just watch for now. We still have the situation under control.”
West Branch Manager shut up.
At the scene, Esther was being driven into a corner. The girl fired aggressively, but this side had not suffered a single death, or even a serious injury. There were only a few light wounds.
In the middle of it, one of Esther’s rifles malfunctioned. The girl used a spare hand to yank the bolt roughly, ejecting the jammed casing, then resumed her furious spray of fire. Gyeoul found that skill strange.
‘Esther should be younger than I am.’
When he had not known the identity of the girl who had become a monster, he had accepted it as something that could happen. This was a refugee zone, and plenty of people in the Saints Church residence district would have received training as volunteers.
But now Esther’s age was the problem. He did not know exactly how old she was, but he remembered the youthful face he had seen before. To enlist in the U.S. military, a person had to be at least seventeen years old. It was the same in the refugee zone. That standard had not changed since before the plague.
Releasing the safety and pulling the trigger were things one could do with secondhand experience alone. But the way she had handled the malfunction just now showed more experience and training than that.
His thoughts did not continue for long.
“Lieutenant Colonel. Try talking to her again.”
It was Chief Grimm’s request. When Gyeoul looked over, Grimm added an explanation.
“She probably feels that this can’t continue anyway. Persuade her to release the hostage.”
“She doesn’t seem to have a reason to surrender.”
“You only need to stall again this time. The snipers are waiting for an opportunity. They’ll sever as many arms as possible in a single moment.”
“…….”
Gyeoul picked up the microphone with reluctance. An operator gave him the sign. It meant he was connected to the scene. At the same time, suppressive fire stopped on site. Esther, who had been shooting from cover, seemed suspicious of the sudden silence and was peering outside with Campbell as cover.
“Esther. Can you hear me?”
「……Is it you again, Lieutenant Colonel? So you really were on the same sideee.」
That gloomy giggle came again.
Footnotes:
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