Origin (38)
"......."
Silence lingered. But it wasn't quiet. The only thing filling the surroundings was the sound of the mimic chewing on the Alpha.
The frame twisted, the armor crumpled, the actuators were torn apart, and cracks formed on the core. When the core finally accumulated more impact than it could withstand and began to make an unstable sound, ready to explode, there was a loud gulping sound as the mimic swallowed.
That was the end. It had even swallowed the explosion. No—the explosion itself seemed to lose its force and simply faded away.
The surrounding light dimmed. This was because Alpha 1 had vanished so meaninglessly. Darkness creep in, and the mimic took the opportunity to meld with its surroundings and camouflage itself once more.
Even as I watched, I couldn't tell the real from the fake.
'I never thought I'd lose an Alpha like this.'
Even though one more remained, the loss in firepower was a painful blow.
Everyone looked shocked. Even with the mimic right in front of us, no one noticed it. Not even I, who had been on guard, sensed anything unusual.
Maybe the wavelengths of the scattered blue crystal ore were disrupting our senses.
'...... It's different.'
If the mimics I'd seen until now were incomplete models, the one observed in the wall now was a completed form. The difference in level was that dramatic.
I wasn't sure about its actual combat abilities, but when it came to setting traps and waiting in ambush, it was on a whole different level. This hadn't happened because we let our guard down.
We always kept in mind that there could be ghouls and mimics, and we performed multiple checks before entering the tunnel.
Throwing in chunks of ice, shining our flashlights, scanning with Alpha's sensors—until now, the mimics we encountered would react violently even to mild external stimuli and go berserk. It was a crude method, but both safe and effective.
But now the situation had changed. These things had learned patience. They'd evolved from violent predators into cautious hunters waiting until their target fell completely into their grasp.
'Carrot has to finish his research on them quickly.'
Carrot was thoroughly analyzing the mutated creatures from various samples. I wanted him to produce results faster. When facing something, knowing and not knowing can determine whether or not you can turn the situation around.
Eric gently pulled Celestia back and spoke.
"Hyun-woo, let's look for another route."
"No."
I shook my head. Eric's earnest gaze turned to me, silently asking why I disagreed and what I'd noticed.
"We can take a look around, but I wouldn't get my hopes up. I doubt this is the only place like this."
"Do you mean...?"
"I'm pretty sure the pureblood supremacists set this up themselves."
From the obstacles we faced even before entering the refinery, I couldn't shake the feeling that they were artificial. Someone else's hand was clearly at work.
That would be the pureblood supremacists—the ones who invited us here and left us no choice but to come.
"Then, you're saying we have to get through this place?"
Celestia's voice carried a hint of seriousness. Even if I couldn't see her expression, it was easy to guess her brow was tightly knit.
Where should we go? I looked up at the facility, too massive to take in at a glance. The walls surrounding it were so high, I couldn't even see the facility beyond them.
At first, I considered scaling the wall, but quickly gave up. Understandable, since the monsters here weren't ghouls, but mimics.
With creatures capable of imitating objects, they could be hiding in unexpected places, waiting for prey. If you listened closely, you could hear faint noises mixed with the wind.
【Kiiiik.......】
【Kideuk.......】
Almost like a child's laughter, or perhaps someone snickering—it was a very soft sound, but enough to send chills down my spine.
【( l|l⚆ᗝ⚆)】
Carry was speechless at the sounds coming from the tunnel where the Alpha had entered and failed to return. It seriously considered using his flamethrower. An unpleasant, stifling atmosphere quickly settled.
Nadia climbed onto Carry and called out to me.
"Hyun-woo, I'll take a quick look around with Carry. It'll be faster that way."
She wasn't wrong. Even if it couldn't fly into space, Carry wasn't limited by height constraints. Flying around on Carry made for a quick and effective recon.
There was no need for all of us to move together. I had planned to send out a scouting team anyway, and no team fit better than Nadia and Carry.
"Don't fly too high."
"Yeah, don't worry."
I watched Nadia as she moved away. She appeared fine outwardly, but her ears and tail were utterly still.
How to put it? Maybe with a phrase I'd seen somewhere before. There is a goal, but no path. To me, Nadia seemed lost, unsure of where to go.
It seemed like she was hesitating about something. If so, what was Nadia hesitating about? What was she afraid of, that she wandered and didn't find the path?
I knew that Nadia wasn't herself right now. She overprotected me, would cry as if her world had ended if I bled even a drop—she had always been a little off, but ever since returning from the robot production facility, it had become even more pronounced.
'...... Me.'
Since Nadia declared herself my partner, I had done my best to help her return to normal. I saw it as my duty and believed it was my responsibility for saving her life.
Now that some time had passed, her anxiety had eased somewhat, though not completely. Still, I trusted that spending time together, as we had been, would let things heal.
I was living in the present, but this present wasn't our ending. Even if a story comes to its end, it's just another beginning—I believed we would be the same.
We waited for Nadia and Carry to return, and before long, they did. They must have moved quickly; in that short time, ice shards clung to their suits.
"Hyun-woo, there's a detour, but I wouldn't recommend it."
All the external pipelines of the facility had burst, spilling blue crystal ore across the ground. Even if we climbed up, the facility itself was sealed by security protocols, making normal entry impossible.
If we looked hard enough, there might be a gap, but the same kinds of threats likely awaited us there. Maybe even worse.
They'd also spotted a strange creature crawling along the facility's exterior wall—one that resembled the parasite we'd seen in the cargo sector.
Nadia said that beyond this spot seemed to be relatively safer. Other places had weird cocoon-like things hanging past the walls.
Also, even though you might call this an exterior wall, it wasn't open to the sky.
'Then the only thing left is a frontal assault.'
It was clear that this was the moment to use it. After a moment's deliberation, I spoke.
"Carry, come closer. Let me get that from the box."
【(`Д´)ゞ】
Carry quickly approached, pressing his body next to me. I took out the polar impactor attached to the bottom of his box.
Eric, realizing what was about to happen, asked quietly,
"Are you going to break through?"
"Yes, if everyone agrees."
As I looked at each of them in turn, they all nodded. With their agreement, I attached the polar impactor to my suit. The heavy weight encased my entire arm.
Although it was smaller in basic size than the laser setter, its stake made it harder to handle. Unless your suit was customized for strength-support, you'd need at least some auxiliary equipment due to the awkward weight distribution.
I had no supporting gear, no strength-enhancing customizations—nothing. I just relied on my own strength, and that was good enough for me.
"With the output increased, I don't know how far the aftereffects will spread. Ghouls or parasites like the one Nadia saw might rush at us when they hear the noise, so just stay alert. I'll break through in front."
"Yes."
If we were only going to face the same situation by taking another route, it made sense to break through here and conserve energy.
Honestly, it felt a bit wasteful to use the polar impactor here. Still, when you need it, you need it. There was no point in saving a trump card forever and ending up dead because of it.
I changed my way of thinking—thank goodness for the polar impactor. Without it, I'd have had to scrape away at the wall with a plasma cutter bit by bit.
Vwoong—
Energy from the core of the polar impactor flowed into the stake, creating a strange vibration. As I took a deep breath and positioned myself, energy began to rapidly charge the stake.
Even before it was upgraded, this tool smashed up the Blue Eye's exoskeleton and upper body. It was designed to bore through rock with high metal content and blue crystal influence, so this wall shouldn't be an obstacle.
Not even the mimics hiding inside.
Seeing me bring the stake to the tunnel, everyone took a short breath. Paang-! The stake, now charged, whipped back and fired, striking the wall.
A blue wave of energy radiated from the tip of the stake, rippling through the air. This happened because refined blue crystal was used as fuel.
For a moment, the epicenter of the wave warped and created a sort of void. I'd used the polar impactor many times, but I'd never seen a void like this before.
'This...'
Kyle really had created a monster. I'd just provided the blueprint and materials, yet he'd produced this performance. Sure, I set it to near max output to avoid working twice, but the force was now doubled.
And the results were clear.
A huge hole opened in the facility wall that had just moments ago been firmly sealed. The mimics, sensing something was wrong, shot out a mass of tentacles at me, but the energy spikes from the stake tore through them first.
It was the textbook definition of a clean breakthrough.
'That's a relief.'
The hole, torn open as if by a storm, was now wide enough that we wouldn't have to crawl inside—then, as the energy faded, it shrank a bit.
Calmly reloading the stake, I listened.
From within the breached tunnel came a rush of fishy blood, sticky fluids running down, and fleeting glimpses of blue particles. The mimic's core inside the wall had been shattered.
The noise from piercing the wall wasn't as loud as I thought. In the tunnels, using it would make the rock ring like an enormous bell, almost deafening. Maybe the wall here was weaker, so all I heard was the crumbling. Thankfully, no other monsters rushed in.
【Kiieeek.......】
Even after being struck by the surge of energy, one of them was still alive, but looked close to death. The scream sounded like a death rattle.
I was about to deal a final blow for safety's sake, but could only relax. When I checked the polar impactor's core, it glowed red from unvented heat.
Despite the extreme cold, the air shimmered around the core. It seemed like I had overloaded the core for extra output.
As I recovered the impactor, the others, who had stepped back, quickly approached.
"...... Impressive."
Eric exclaimed quietly, seemingly amazed at the output.
Truthfully, I was also surprised. Kyle definitely did a great job improving it. With this, I felt confident I could take down any enemy.
"Hyun-woo, I think there are still some alive in there."
"They're almost dead—Carry and Alpha can handle the rest. Carry, give them a good sweep."
【(⌐■_■)-︻╦╤─】
As if it'd been waiting, Carry pulled out its flamethrower. Since it was already loaded, as soon as carry aimed, the flames shot out.
Blue fire roared into the tunnel. Screams tore through the passage. The movement inside shuddered and bucked as if something tried to escape, but I spoke calmly.
"Alpha, finish it."
【Order received. Removing contamination.】
Alpha, charged up his shockwave emitter and pushed the weapon into the tunnel. The shockwave exploded inside.
Its force cleared away the blue flames and delivered a final blow to the mimic that had still been groaning inside. The gurgling sound was cut off almost immediately.
Better safe than sorry—there was no guarantee there were only one or two mimics in there.
The tunnel had grown slightly wider than before, but we'd still need to crawl. It looked like Alpha could just barely fit.
"Alpha will go in first—who wants to go next?"
"I'll go, Hyun-woo."
"Hmm... Sure."
Nadia, being small, would be able to get out easily. The order was set: Nadia, then Carry, Celestia, me, and then Eric.
Soon, Alpha cleaned up inside and moved forward, followed by Nadia and Carry. The gap seemed a bit tight for Carry, but it managed to push itself through using its thrusters.
'Maybe I should've made another hole.'
The thought crossed my mind, but using the polar impactor again was out of the question right now. With the mimic dead and no longer supporting the wall from inside, the tunnel was already unstable. If I pushed further, the passage could collapse.
Heading elsewhere raised concerns about the parasites. If we split up and got surrounded, there'd be no way out.
"Hyun-woo, I'm out. Carry made it safely, too."
"Wait a moment. I'll be there soon."
"Oh, but there's a small ledge inside the tunnel. Be careful—you might snag some of the equipment attached to your suit."
"Okay."
I glanced at Celestia, signaling her to crawl into the tunnel. She looked at the hole with trepidation, took a deep breath, and cautiously began to crawl.
Just as her feet disappeared inside, I followed behind. Sssk, thud—my suit scraped along the tunnel walls as I moved smoothly forward.
Suddenly, Celestia, just ahead of me, stopped dead. Wondering why, I waited, but she showed no sign of moving. Growing impatient, I tapped her calves and asked,
"Celestia, why'd you stop?"
"...... I'm stuck."
"Huh?"
"I guess the tunnel got unstable after Carry went by... My waist is caught..."
I was at a loss for words. Should I push from behind? But before I could decide, Nadia let out a small sigh.
"I already told you there's a small ledge in there. Can't you move forward a bit more? I can't reach you from here to pull you through."
"Nadia, try using a plasma cutter to shave off some of the tunnel—just don't go too far, so it doesn't collapse. Try to widen it a little."
"Worth a shot. Hold on."
It was a bit awkward. I deliberately looked away. Regardless, if Celestia couldn't get through, I'd be stuck too. For me and Eric to follow, the tunnel definitely needed to be a bit wider.
Not long after, Nadia signaled for Celestia to try moving again. Celestia, encouraged, pushed off with her feet.
Fortunately, she made it through safely, so I didn't have to push her from behind.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】