Sawon stroked Ji Hayeon’s neck and head gently. He rubbed his ear and swept along his jaw so Hayeon could feel him fully through touch. Even so, Ji Hayeon’s trembling didn’t stop. Sawon lowered his head and pressed his lips to Ji Hayeon’s forehead. Then Ji Hayeon lifted his face toward him. Sawon kissed his eyelids so he couldn’t open his eyes. Hayeon clutched Sawon’s clothes tightly.Sawon’s lips moved from his eyes to his cheek. The farther his lips went, the more desperately Hayeon wrapped his arms around him. With each kiss, heat pooled slowly around both of their chests. He heard a loud heartbeat. There was no way to tell whose heartbeat it was. Heat spreading from the chest swept across limbs and left a tingling sensation.“…….”It was, without question, not physical contact done out of desire. Even so, their bodies seemed to accept the act as indistinguishable from affection between lovers. Without realizing it, Sawon brought his lips close to the edge of Ji Hayeon’s mouth. He heard Hayeon swallow. It was in that moment that Ji’s arm lifted toward Sawon’s shoulder.[The door is opening.]Drrrk.At the same time as the elevator chime, the two separated. Their field of view brightened.“What… did we just… do….”Ji Hayeon stammered. Sawon was just as flustered.Why did I do that.For an instant, without even noticing it himself, he had almost kissed Ji Hayeon in earnest. But there was no way he could reveal something like that. Acting casual, Sawon curved his lips into a light smile and mouthed:Shock therapy.Sawon immediately drew his sword and swung the blade up with no real strength behind it. With a bursting crack, the elevator lights shattered. Once the lights went out, everything went dark. The hallway beyond the elevator doors was ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ just as dark.– Ah! Fuck! What the hell!Mok Geonho brushed shards off himself and grumbled. Sawon lifted his mask and answered.– Freeze tag. Mok Geonho, you can move now.Stepping out of the elevator, Sawon slid the comm back into Ji Hayeon’s ear. He pulled Ji’s mask back up too. Before either of them had any time to settle their tangled emotions, they were already out of the enclosed space. Ji Hayeon had gotten out safely just as Sawon wanted, yet Sawon still couldn’t fully strip away his lingering confusion.It’s basically therapy. So why is my body reacting like it was real…?Sawon pressed his left palm firmly against his chest a couple times. Then he lightly shook his head.Sawon reunited with Nine immediately afterward. Holding the beast that welcomed him eagerly, he walked until he reached the central lab on the 43rd floor without encountering any Deaters. Even so, he couldn’t let his guard down. This place also needed to be powered by Ji Hayeon’s Metena.Sawon held Nine up with one arm and looked around. Ji Hayeon was checking the comm’s hologram projection. Since a personal hologram was invisible to others, there was no way to know what he was looking at.If that bastard strains himself one more time, he’s really going to collapse….Sawon walked across the dark lab and something bumped against his toe. The lab was still littered with the bodies of researchers and Deaters they hadn’t collected yet.– Ugh… We should really clean this up fast.Mok Geonho tiptoed over corpses as he spoke. None of the people on the floor had intact bodies. Nine burrowed into Sawon’s chest. Sawon patted the young beast’s backside and agreed with Mok. The bodies were in terrible condition, but considering there had been an explosion, the machines were relatively intact.Thanks to the security system?Sawon kept his eyes on Ji Hayeon. He was now at a toppled desk doing something.What is he doing now?Sawon started toward him to check when Ji Hayeon coughed and covered his mouth with one hand—he even lowered his mask so it wouldn’t carry through the comm.The room was dark, but Sawon could see it. The soaked mask, and the blood leaking through Ji Hayeon’s fingers. Once his coughing stopped, Ji tossed something from the desk drawer into his mouth. Sawon shifted Nine onto his shoulder and approached. Lowering his own mask, he knelt beside him on one knee.“Are you going to be okay?”“Not okay, cough, what’s not okay. I’m fine, this much is nothing.”Sawon tore open a med-kit pellet attached to his chest belt and held it right under Ji Hayeon’s nose.“You don’t look fine. Lift your face.”Then he squeezed the pellet hard. Viscous Metena oozed out. The slime-like Metena flowed down and covered Ji Hayeon’s nose and mouth, forming a transparent mask. As it gently pulsed, the blood on his skin faded as if washed away with water. After wiping his face clean, the Metena was absorbed into his skin. Sawon roughly mussed Ji Hayeon’s hair—Ji looking up at him—and stood.“Let’s finish fast and go rest.”Thud!Just then, a heavy sound rang from far down the corridor. Sawon quickly pulled his mask up. Ji Hayeon pulled his mask up too and stepped in front of the data device.Sasasasasasa.With an insect-like sound, movement crept closer. Sawon gripped his sword again.– Looks like something noticed us.– Do these things only follow us?Mok Geonho gripped his whip and complained, and Sawon looked at him like he was pathetic.– Of course. Who else would they follow, their buddies down below?– Gross, disgusting. These damn Deater bastards. I just want to wreck them and leave already.Sasasasasasasak.Dozens of feet scraped against concrete and marble. Sawon tilted his head to listen toward the outside.– Sounds like something with a lot of legs. Centipede type? Or a spider?– Ugh, fuck. I hate bugs.Sawon gestured behind him, and Nine quickly fled back into Ji Hayeon’s arms. Ji naturally braced the baby monkey again. He placed his free hand on the device.– This time, it’ll end faster than before.Sawon asked him:– Chief, this place is already a mess—can we still not break anything?Ji Hayeon shot him a sharp glare.– No.– Yes, understood.Sawon gave up immediately and stood blocking the door. The access door had already been half torn and bent from the chaos a few days ago.Sasasasak.The sound was right in front of them now. Thick, long shadows appeared.– Geonho, your favorite centipede’s here.– Uack, fuck!!Mok Geonho shuddered. As he stepped forward, the centipede-type Deater revealed itself. The two hunters hacked the centipede apart, then slaughtered the others chasing behind it. Every one of them looked identical. The floor seemed to have been overtaken by a swarm. And again, all of Sawon’s nerves were pulled toward the back.“Hoo….”Because he could hear that short, strained breathing again. In the brief gaps of fighting, Sawon kept turning around. A blue hologram projected from the data device, and the info jumped into the small external device in Ji Hayeon’s hand. The more rapidly the floating data appeared and disappeared, the more Ji’s brow tightened. From the face Sawon had cleaned, nosebleed now streamed down again.Ah… him again.Sawon sliced through the centipede’s head with his long sword. Clearly, he needed to teach Ji Hayeon the value of taking care of his body. And drill in the fact that an intellect-type Awakened’s physical durability was garbage. He solidified the thought, and when he glanced back again—“S9 District.”Words his trained eyes recognized flashed by.Initial Personnel: Team 3 (Total 136)Team Leader: CODE 16 (Chief Hunter Gu Sawon)Code Number 16. It was his own code number, engraved on his combat suit. The lines that passed in less than a second lodged vividly in Sawon’s mind.Ji Hayeon coughed and spat blood. Soon after, he lifted his hand off the device. Swaying, he caught himself on the desk’s corner and barely stood. Ji Hayeon put his mask on.– It’s… done. Let’s get out….– Ugh, Gu Sawon! Centipedes keep coming, where are we going? Are we taking that elevator again?Sawon stared down the corridor. Another swarm of bug-like footsteps echoed from far away. He immediately checked Hayeon. Even while doing so, he kept swinging his sword.“Kkii.”This time, Nine had already retreated to Ji Hayeon’s back to avoid the blood he was shedding. The more Ji staggered, the more Nine’s body swayed like a hammock.I need to get him out fast.Sawon stared through the window intently and said:– Let’s take the shortcut.– Shortcut? There are no melt-types here though?– Not that. There’s a faster exit.– Where? What is it?

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