Rust - Chapter 163



Only Krnovel

RUST -163

The mutant struggled for a while with his whole body on fire before collapsing.

Acrid smoke filled the hallways, but no fire alarms sounded and no sprinklers worked. If it weren’t for the winter and the building’s cladding wasn’t fireproof, it would have been dangerous.

“There. Are they US soldiers? Green Berets? Delta Force?”

A husky voice. A woman’s voice of an unknown age could be heard beyond the barricade.

Maru thought for a moment and then answered.

“I am a mercenary for the US Department of Homeland Security.”

“A Homeland Security mercenary? Even mercenaries use optical cloaking devices these days.”

“······.”

The woman continued speaking, perhaps interpreting Maru’s silence awkwardly.

“I didn’t mean to be sarcastic. I just wanted to say thank you for clearing up the things stuck on the barricade.”

‘I never thought I’d be thanking an American mercenary. I’m getting old,’ a small grumble could be heard.

“So you came to rescue us? There’s been a lot of noise down there for the past few days. Did you find an escape route?”

“······.”

The woman’s voice was filled with emotion, perhaps frustrated by the continued silence on the floor.

“You didn’t come to rescue me? What? Did you come here for that damn research data or confidential information?”

Without releasing his hiding position, Maru pressed his body against the hallway wall.

‘You too?’

That meant that people were sent from other sources besides the Department of Homeland Security to try to get information.

‘Military?’ ‘Virginia?’ These were the first two places that came to mind. I had to compete with kids sent from other places.

“···My mission is not rescue.”

“Kuuuuuuuuuu. Well, it’s better if you’re the kind of kid who speaks so frankly. That’s why. The commander here has that damn information. If you want to meet the commander, you have to come inside, right? But what can you do? There’s no entrance right now. It’s going to take a long time to get in and out—a very long time.”

It was definitely difficult to get in and out because the barricade was welded when it was made. It must have been an inevitable choice to block the mutants rushing in from outside.

‘Stay outside for a long time and deal with the mutants?’

Or maybe, create an escape route? She was a funny woman. You must have seen her cut down mutants. Is she fearless? Or is she confident enough?

Well, in a space like this, a flamethrower would be a scary weapon. Where would you run to in the hallway? If you get hurt, you can just roast them together, right?

Kiiing- Kiiing-

Kim Yang approached with a mechanical sound. A dark aura emanating from the exosuit. An atmosphere of exhaustion, hardship, and sorrow. Swaying- Maru released his hiding.

[25% battery remaining. Power saving mode starts at 20%.]

[320 rounds of ammunition.]

[Why didn’t you open the barricade?]

What are you doing instead of opening the door? As Ms. Kim raised her question mark, a woman’s voice was heard from inside the barricade. The husky voice was excited.

“X-Gear? Wow. This is an optical cloaking device, and an X-Gear? Judging by the armor, is it an exosuit? In Afghanistan, it only had a frame.”

At that unique voice, Kim Yang’s eyes grew wide.

[You··· Director Yoo?]

Kim Yang’s voice came out of the communicator.

Director Yoo? Maru’s forehead furrowed.

So, the person who was above Manager Hong and Yang Kim in the World Group? Why is that person here?

“Hey. There. I’m saying this because I’m used to getting paid to roll around, but if you’re going to do a mission to find information, how about doing the rescue part at the same time? I’ll pay you well. If you’re going to work, wouldn’t it be nice to earn twice as much?”

“······.”

“With optical cloaking equipment on the exosuit, if we can distract them, at least half of them will be able to escape.”

“··· Think about it.”

“Make a quick decision, because the atmosphere looks like things will get crazy soon.”

The voice behind the barricade gradually grew distant. It seemed that there was something to discuss on that side as well. Maru confirmed with Kim Yang.

“Director Yoo, World Group. Is that the Director Yoo I mentioned before?”

[The voice is unique so it’s certain.]

The fact that someone with a director-level title came is because that old man with a knife went missing? That may be one reason, but it was right to think that World Group was after the research data of Japanese pharmaceutical companies.

[I think his personality has changed a bit.]

“okay?”

[There is a lot of talk.]

“······.”

[In the past, he would only give short answers and his eyes would sparkle whenever I said something.]

“······.”

[Manager Hong also had a really hard time. Director Yoo said he raised him well···]

“······.”

It was Ms. Kim who finally spoke up. “You seem to have become more talkative after seeing Director Yoo?” Of course, she didn’t say it directly. Maru knew how to avoid being tired.

[···So, how much did Director Yoo brag about the Colt Python? He had two of them, and they were really rare .45 caliber guns···.]

Of course, he couldn’t let his guard down. Kim Yang, who was no less than Gi-soon. It would have been difficult to argue back here. Maru listened silently with one ear and let it go out the other.

So the best defense. Whether silence worked or not, Kim Yang concluded.

[···So. Isn’t it wrong to be nice and do well?]

Let’s be nice and good? Why?

It was Ms. Kim who was emitting a bright and shining feeling through her exosuit helmet.

======

======

The barricade was a crude construction of several haphazardly layered and woven together, but it was sturdier than it looked, with key areas welded together tightly.

Chik- Chik

Sparks flew and iron turned red hot.

“Paste it there one more time.”

“This way?”

“Yeah, there.”

“yes.”

This structure was actually more suitable for stopping monsters with enough strength to bend metal plates and tear open iron doors, because even if one side was torn off, there was still another structure stuck inside.

Director Yoo called the man who supervised the welding site.

“Where is the youngest?”

“Minwook? He’s on guard at Area 3. Should I call him now?”

As soon as Director Yoo nodded, the site supervisor immediately sent someone.

“Hey, you over there. Bring the youngest. Do Min Wook.”

“Minwook, are you talking? Okay, I understand.”

The field director couldn’t hide his curiosity. Director Yoo smiled bitterly when he saw that.

“They sent the kids from America again.”

“Are you guys just going to take the data this time too?”

As Director Yoo nodded with a cigarette in his mouth, the man took out a lighter and lit it.

“Whew- I knew they were a bunch of bastards, but they’re still funny….”

Director Yoo’s eyes became so cold that they almost looked blue. This is already the fourth time. He came in, but can he just grab the materials and escape?

If even one of them had managed to escape with the data, they wouldn’t have kept pushing them here. Sending them again meant that all the guys who left here had died. All the guys who had gathered the data and left so far.

“Any word from the rescue team?”

The field director spat out gloomily.

“You idiot. That fucking idiot is acting up. Acting up… Are you a princess? Wait?”

The on-site director’s expression did not change despite Director Yoo’s verbal abuse.

“It looks like they’re determined to do it this time since they’re still being noisy. But they’re still wrong.”

The fact that the rescue team was unable to come up despite being supported and harassed for over a week meant that they had effectively given up. The irony is that while the rescue team was unable to come up, the guys who wanted to collect data managed to come up successfully.

They were all guys who had the same mission. They were fools who thought that just because it was easy to get in, it would be the same to get out. They were idiots who came up one after another and then got kicked out on the way back down.

“Wouldn’t it be better to bomb them once and take advantage of the opportunity?”

“With the snow piled up like this, precision bombing is impossible. The volcanic eruption is also making it difficult for bombers to take off.”

What the hell is going on? Even GPS is a mess. The aftermath of the volcanic eruption has destroyed satellites, and aren’t radios malfunctioning right now?

Kaak- Director Yoo, who had been spitting out phlegm, hit his chest. It felt cool when he smoked a cigarette, but his chest felt even more blocked. It was a dirty feeling as if fine volcanic ash and dust were sticking to his lungs.

“Are the people who came this time also speechless?”

“I can see from their own mouths that they call themselves mercenaries. They’re a bit different from the guys that came before···.”

Certainly, the guys that came this time were a bit different. From their equipment, to the optical cloaking robes and exosuits. If the guys that came before were muscular weaklings, then maybe the equipment these guys are carrying is different?

First of all, the guy with the optical concealment equipment. He was real.

Hoo- Director Yoo’s fingertips trembled slightly as he exhaled cigarette smoke.

The mutants have become more difficult over time. Now, they can grow 10% in size in just 3-4 weeks. A person who is about 180cm tall can become almost 2m tall when transformed into a mutant.

It wasn’t just that he had grown taller. His leather had become so tough that it could block bullets as if it were bulletproof. 5.56mm bullets were no answer, and armor-piercing bullets were all that was needed to make a dent.

But cut that kind of variant?

Is it a special weapon? Do they use something like a single-molecule cutter?

‘It’s not just a simple weapon.’

Certainly not. Whether or not they were armed, it was crazy to approach the mutants. The very fact that they could approach the mutants with their keen senses was not normal. Approaching the mutants, who were monsters that knew how to fight instinctively, and engaging in close combat was a feat in itself.

‘It’s worth a try if you have an exosuit.’

First, the stealth guy uses his power reconnaissance to find the way, and then uses his exosuit to penetrate the front.

If you escape while the mutants are rushing at the exosuit, you will at least meet up with half of the rescue team digging outside.

‘What method would be better?’

In order to keep them from just wiping their mouths and running away like the last kids, there needs to be some kind of trigger. I don’t think money alone will be enough.

As Director Yoo was gathering his thoughts that were dispersing like smoke at the beginning of a new year, a young voice was heard.

“Did you call?”

“Uh- the youngest is here. You have some work to do.”

Hey, cute youngest. Why don’t you take one of the pretty refugees and have them tangle with your mercenary brothers?

They say that fishing starts with a honey trap. It was the same in Iraq and Afghanistan. All the guys who got their noses pierced got caught like that. Director Yoo smiled.

======

======

The number of refugees, which had once exceeded 3,000, was reduced to only about 800 after just four weeks.

The first to die were children and the elderly. Those with weak respiratory or immune systems were unable to withstand the rapid environmental changes and died first, followed by adult men and women.

At first, it was people in their 20s and 30s, then people in their 40s and 50s. Later, even people in their teens and 60s had to defend the line if they could carry a gun.

Even though they defended the line like that, it wasn’t safe. People suddenly went crazy. Violence suddenly erupted in places where refugees gathered. Gunfire followed. Grenade suicides. There were endless accidents happening inside.

The situation was getting worse by the minute.

As the hospital’s outer defense line was breached, the defense line was moved inside the hospital. And before long, the hospital lobby defense line was breached.

Every time the defense line was breached, the number of people decreased. The number of people decreased as they went up from the first floor to the second floor, and from the second floor to the third floor.

Unable to bear the continued pressure and despair, many people went crazy and the number of people committing suicide increased. The 15th floor was pushed back like that.

Didn’t they say that in the worst case scenario, the instinct for species preservation increases? There were many people among the refugees who had met each other’s eyes.

Min-wook was also that kind of case. The youngest just quietly looked at the girlfriend he met here.

“Min-wook, so what did Director Yoo say?”

“······.”

“You said we could survive?”

“···okay.”

According to Director Yoo, this will be the last chance.

Escape or stay trapped and dry up.

“You have a close friend named Yuki.”

“Why him?”

Suspicion flashed in his lover’s eyes. The youngest shook his head, saying that was not the case.

“They said that special forces broke through this time.”

“Really? US Special Forces? Really?”

“Oh. Director Yoo asked us to help those people.”

“we?”

“Yeah. You, me, and one or two more people.”

“Okay. I’ll tell Yuki.”

That’s how the four of them, including the youngest, met Maru and Kim Yang.

“You’re going to help us?”

“Yes. If there’s anything you need, please let me know.”

Wow-

The exosuit rose up.

Oh- Oh-

Kim Yang said to the admiring children.

[Get out.]