“Please insert that into the hole.”
Upon hearing Electric Scent’s voice, I pushed the long, thick object I had grabbed with Jelly into the hole.
With a “Teng!” sound, it was swiftly sucked into the hole. A moment later, a “Pung!” sound resonated as the tank shook. Soon after, a “Kwaang!” noise followed, the previously closed lid reopened, and a voice was heard again.
“Insert more.”
I repeated this process. At times, I cooled it with my Jelly as it became hot. Every time Electric Scent spoke, I inserted chunks of metal into the hole.
How did we end up in this situation?
Technically, wasn’t this the respawn area for our ally tanks? I couldn’t have taken the wrong route, could I?
moments ago, I believed the tanks were splitting into factions and engaging in battles. After reconnoitering the rear, they abruptly surged forward and began bombarding each other until every one of them malfunctioned.
So, why are the ones emerging from underground now attacking us? Weren’t they on our side? They didn’t notice us tailing them before, but now they are charging at us as if to swallow us whole.
“Please focus.”
Ugh… Prioritizing escaping from this situation seems to be the best option.
Nonetheless, I’m starting to feel a little irritated. Truthfully, I could open the tank’s hatch, step outside, and slash everything to pieces.
A pile of scrap tanks wouldn’t stand a chance; a few swings of Jelly’s fists could probably flatten them all, right?
…Hmm, it might be a little troublesome. Although I’ve never attempted to cut through steel, I’m certain I wouldn’t lose if I tried.
“Next.”
Electric Scent is working hard, so there’s no need for me to rush her. It’s absolutely not because I’m too lazy to get involved.
On the contrary, it feels like my words are getting shorter. Am I imagining things?
Regardless, we somehow managed to escape again. Oddly enough, it seems the opposing tanks were being utilized when we returned to the previous location, only to find the same chaos of tanks cannonading each other.
At this point, it’s heartbreaking.
I didn’t come here to survive, so I could simply step out of the underground tunnel and be done with it. However, will these tanks continue this cycle forever?
The issue is, I’m supposed to resolve this… but honestly, I don’t have a good grasp on how. Frankly speaking, my previous method of solving problems… well, it was straightforward—just devouring everything.
Unfortunately, that approach won’t work this time.
Let’s sum up the situation we’re facing…
First, the tunnels contain tanks.
These tanks gather in what seems to be the central area and fiercely battle each other.
Then, the damaged tanks reappear in what might be the respawn zone.
This repeats over and over.
…Hm.
What exactly is happening?
I wondered if there was a hidden element involved, so I concealed Electric Scent and Ullari and thoroughly searched the entire tunnel complex—from the direction I descended and continuing all the way to the area where tanks came from the north. It took quite some time underground, but I couldn’t find anything responsible for causing this.
Flags or command centers—aren’t there usually things like that? Or perhaps some sort of controller operated by someone?
Though I’m no expert, recalling what I’d seen when I was human, I can speculate between two possibilities.
One: Whatever is controlling this is buried so deep that it can’t be found.
The other: This isn’t caused by an object but instead is a phenomenon similar to a natural disaster.
The latter seemed more plausible.
Observing the tanks fight didn’t yield any clues either.
I tried cheering for one side and attempted various actions, but none bore fruit.
About that time, a thought emerged.
“Should I go outside and ask Han Seori?”
Better two than one, right? And surely, with a third party…
But I immediately shook my head. It didn’t feel right.
As the top singularity investigator, asking for help would damage my pride. No one has said anything to me, but judging from my track record so far… right?
Still, I have no leads.
What I did in my growing irritation…
…Before the broken tank parts disappeared into the ground, I had Ullari, namely Electric Scent, bring them so that I could enhance Ullari.
It felt like playing a game, which was enjoyable, but we still had no leads on resolving the situation.
Yet, watching Ullari become stronger over time brought a sense of satisfaction, perhaps feeling like an upgrade of “attack +3, defense +5.”
While watching Ullari grow in the darkness, I felt a certain joy.
As Electric Scent silently maintained and improved Ullari, she suddenly spoke.
The statement was so shocking that I nearly fainted, struck with disbelief.
“Senior… shouldn’t we go back?”
The woman’s voice was weak and weary, the fervent determination she previously showed when she vowed to reveal the mystery now extinguished like a burnt match. It appeared her fatigue had mounted over prolonged nights of living rough.
But the man responded decisively.
“Junior, it’s almost over, I promise. The sounds from underground have been getting louder lately. Something is about to happen, for sure.”
“Ah… um.”
The woman felt like tearing her hair out. Sure enough, even from the relatively distant monitoring point, they could hear a distinct “thud, thud” emanating from underground.
But… still… She had to ask. She couldn’t remember the last time she bathed—she longed to descend and clean herself. Despite dabbing her body, a nagging worry lingered: did she smell? Was her senior even bothered? No, he was probably too engrossed to notice anything.
She gave up on these thoughts, feeling like they only brought her trouble.
Alright, showing this floor wouldn’t be so bad, would it?
If I do this, I might grow indifferent to whatever future horrors might come later… But is this really alright?
Her mind kept wavering, but she resolved nonetheless.
Attempting to clear the random thoughts swirling in her head, the woman looked toward where her senior was keeping watch and drifted into contemplation.
“What exactly is happening down there?”
Especially over these past few days, things were far from ordinary. The ground was shaking intermittently, sometimes violently. Although she couldn’t tell precisely what was going on beneath the earth, it seemed like something was exploding down there.
“Could they really be tunneling through the land with bombs in the north?”
No, they wouldn’t make such a racket, would they?
Then, could there be a secret underground nuclear testing site… that they were trying so desperately to hide? But that doesn’t make sense either.
The more she thought about it, the less she understood. And that frightened her. It felt as if something incomprehensible to humans lurked below.
“Perhaps we shouldn’t have descended…”
She felt that way.
Actually, everything she said before was just an excuse.
She felt that staying here could lead to trouble. In stories, didn’t those earnest journalists who sought the truth end up being killed? Or became the first unlucky ones to encounter monstrous beings?
Of course, reality and fiction have to be distinguished, but isn’t a cliché a cliché for a reason?
Upon closer reflection, it wasn’t out of the ordinary.
If you’re told not to go somewhere, trouble inevitably follows.
If a place is marked as forbidden, you’ll encounter trouble if you venture there.
In a way, venturing into a place deemed dangerous is like inviting danger.
As those thoughts surfaced, she couldn’t shake the feeling: maybe it really was dangerous.
Suddenly, her senior appeared in front of her, his face pale with horror.
He was so close there wasn’t time for any fancy moves—it was more like a pounce.
What’s going on?
That expression didn’t seem to indicate anything good… wait, my heart is racing slightly… Is it because of the sudden movement? Or… oh no, do I smell?
“Du, duck!”
“Eh?”
Pulling her out of a brief, strange daydream, the man dove toward her. She ended up colliding with him, her lips meeting the floor instead of his.
As her forehead touched the cold dirt, she reflexively exclaimed.
“Wha, what’s suddenly goi—”
Whoooom!
“Huh?”
The woman, whose face was buried in the dirt while being shielded by the man, looked up through his shoulder and saw a massive something streak by in the sky. Bewildered, she mumbled.
“Huh?”
“Phew, that was close.”
“Wha, what just hap—?”
“I don’t know, something flew by, but I moved reflexively so you wouldn’t be hurt.”
“Hey, hee…”
As she fantasized about having three kids with him, another voice brought her back to reality, cooling her mood.
“Can you check what that was? I need to keep watching.”
“Uh, um… Yes.”
Ugh, the moment was ruined.
Leaving the trembling ground behind her senior, the woman trudged toward where the object had come from.
What greeted her there was a collapsed tent and a huge piece of metal embedded within it.
“What… is this?”
Her eyes widened as a large voice came in response.
“Junior! Quick, come look at this!”
“Eh?”
Hurriedly approaching, under her senior’s urging, she focused her eyes—and let out a confused murmur at the sight of a wiggling something blue.
