Chapter 1880 – 1880. Eternal Eden
The disgusting smell greeted me the moment I entered the building that had become a spider’s nest. It was a musty smell, the kind that seemed to stick to your bronchial tubes. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be a poisonous gas, but breathing this kind of smell for too long would probably give you a headache.
“Do as you were trained. Maintain formation.”
Gu Tae-hee commanded her subordinates emotionlessly. The subordinates accepted her command and focused on their formation. The guys in plate armor stood close together, looking as solid as a wall.
On the other hand, I sighed when I saw the security team. There was no formation or anything. They just looked like a bunch of idiots with guns. At least Park Hae-gil, who was from PS Security, and his subordinates were well-positioned. They held their assault rifles, slightly lowered their upper bodies, and took up a perimeter guard stance. Their special forces experience wasn’t just for show.
“Who’s going to take the lead?”
Gu Tae-hee asked me. Looking at her eyes, I could tell she wanted me to take the lead. It wasn’t pleasant to have a gun pointed at the back of my head, but there was no helping it. It was more reasonable for me to be in front.
“I’ll go first. The security team will follow right behind me. Tae-wang, you guys are in the rear.”
I put Tae-wang in the back to check the security team’s capabilities. I had provided them with generous equipment. I had even granted them a certain degree of privilege. If they wanted to keep their privileges, they had to earn their keep.
“Mr. Yoo-jin, isn’t there a specific plan?”
Park Hae-gil asked me. He had injured his right hand and was holding his gun in his left, and ridiculously, the most reliable guy on the security team was Park Hae-gil.
“What kind of plan do you need to kill bugs? Shoot when you see them. The spiders’ weakness is… well, how can they live if their heads are a honeycomb? These guys aren’t zombies.”
“Understood. We’ll prioritize aiming for the head. Did everyone hear that?”
The security team members nodded, looking tense. These guys were wearing bulletproof vests and helmets, yet they were still scared. I strode forward. The first-floor lobby was a mess with strange slime and spiderwebs, but there were no monster spiders in sight.
I pressed the button in front of the elevator.
“…Are you seriously going to take the elevator?”
Park Hae-gil asked, sounding slightly dumbfounded.
“It’s tiring and hard on the legs to take the stairs. The elevator is more convenient. No, damn it. Why isn’t it working?!”
“Well, of course, it wouldn’t be working. The building is in such a mess…”
“The elevator could still work. It’s not good to take anything for granted.”
*Drrrrk.*
The elevator doors suddenly opened. What appeared was a spider. From the moment the elevator started to open, my hand was already drawing my sword. It wasn’t a conscious action. It was a reflexive action ingrained in my body.
The cutlass gleamed silver. The monster spider pushed its sharp, elongated legs, like spears, through the partially opened doors, aiming for me.
But the cutlass sliced through them. Instead of red blood, a grayish-white slime oozed from the legs.
The spider, with its legs severed, faltered and counterattacked with its other legs. I leisurely cut those legs off as well. It wasn’t like I was fighting monsters for the first time, and there was no way I couldn’t handle something like this.
“What are you doing, you idiots? Pull the trigger.”
*Tududududududu!*
The assault rifles of Park Hae-gil and the other security team members spat fire. The monster, having taken dozens of bullets to the head, died instantly. *Thud!* The monster spider’s body fell down the elevator shaft.
“See? It’s nothing. Just aim for the head.”
“…It’s a bit much to say it’s nothing. The spider is excessively large. I already hated spiders, but… I hate them even more now.”
Park Hae-gil sighed. I checked the reactions of the other security team members. Most of them were tense, but none of them were cowering in fear or panicking. They might have become somewhat accustomed to the zombie situation.
“Mr. Yoo-jin, we need to form teams. There were too many wasted bullets just now. There are 30 people on the security team, so three people each… no, for safety, it’s better to make six teams of five.”
“Do it.”
Park Hae-gil quickly formed the teams on the spot and divided the directions they should mainly guard.
“Shoot immediately when you see a spider. As you saw earlier, unlike zombies, their heads are their weak point. If you mess up their heads, they die instantly.”
“Yes, team leader.”
It seemed like the basic system was in place. I headed towards the stairs, and the security team followed behind me.
Stairs leading down to the basement and stairs leading up.
‘It’s certain that there are some in the basement too… Seeing that the spider bastard was ambushing in the elevator, it means they have the intelligence to set traps.’
There were monsters in reality that set traps. It wasn’t that they were intelligent and set traps. They were just annoying bastards who did annoying things according to their instincts. You know, like those antlions. They were a kind of habit that was a trap. Annoying bastards that you knew about but were still annoying to deal with.
‘These bastards aren’t doing it out of habit. At least the queen spider knows how to use her head. If we go down to the basement, she might block the exits and do something.’
Having made my decision, I headed upstairs.
“Are you going to kill the queen spider right away?”
Gu Tae-hee asked. I turned around and looked at her. She held a mace in one hand and a pistol in the other, her one right eye gleaming brightly.
“It’s easier to get the job done if you kill the head first.”
“If I were the queen, I would order my subordinates to ambush and wait for you to come up.”
“…Do you have a better idea?”
“We can go up while clearing each floor. That way, we can eliminate the reinforcements that the queen can use in an emergency. We can also secure a way out.”
“What about the ones in the basement? You’re not saying we should go down to the basement first, are you?”
“I brought some things. Claymores. I’m going to install them on the basement stairs. The spider bastards will taste hell when they come up. It’s not enough firepower to collapse the building, so we can ignore the aftermath.”
“You’re not saying you’re going to clear out the ones in the basement with just a few landmines, are you? That would be disappointing.”
“I also have poison gas. It’s a special gas that settles low, so it won’t rise up. We can just block the entrance with some furniture lying around.”
“How did you get your hands on that stuff?”
“……”
Gu Tae-hee didn’t answer. Was it something that another technologist, not Na Chae-young, had made? No, I ruled out that possibility. Both claymores and poison gas were things that could be easily made with modern technology.
‘It must be the military. It seems like the Korean military in this world has more military power than the Korean military in other worlds. No, the fact that Korea has nuclear missiles says it all.’
“Will it take long?”
“Ten minutes.”
“Hurry up.”
Gu Tae-hee and her subordinates began working. Their swift movements were not boring to watch.
“…Now that I see it, they’re all former soldiers.”
“South Korea has conscription. It’s not uncommon for gangsters to be former soldiers.”
“They’re not just conscripts. They’re at least special forces. And they’ve seen combat. Where did you gather such people… Tae-wang is more impressive the more I see.”
Gu Tae-hee’s skills were a given, but it seemed like a high-ranking official behind Gu Tae-hee had put in a lot of effort.
‘Are they like political thugs?’
Ten minutes later, the work was done.
*Bang!*
A poison gas canister exploded inside the basement. We looked at the basement, which was blocked with furniture, from the top of the stairs.
“Poison gas. You’re sure it won’t come up, right?”
“It’s already been tested. They say the toxic components disappear after about four hours, leaving only residue.”
*Giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiik!*
A strange sound came from the basement. It wasn’t just one or two. I could easily guess that it was the sound of the monster spiders convulsing.
Gu Tae-hee clicked her tongue briefly.
“There are more than I thought. Did they set up an ambush in the basement…?”
I gestured with my chin towards the security team.
“What are you doing? There are a lot of them. They might come up, so keep your guns aimed. If they come up, don’t ask questions, just shoot.”
*Thump thump thump!*
The claymores we had installed exploded in succession. And the monster spiders that the claymores hadn’t managed to kill roughly pounded on the blocked basement entrance. The security team members flinched. It looked like they wanted to fire bullets at the entrance right away.
“Don’t waste bullets. Shoot when you see their heads.”
The entrance blocked with furniture collapsed, and the head of a wounded monster spider appeared. The team members immediately fired bullets. The spider died instantly. After that, a few more spiders came up, but they just died with bullets in their heads.
Soon, no more spiders came up, and it became quiet. We blocked the entrance with other furniture and decided to go upstairs.
On the second floor, the security team moved cautiously. On the other hand, I walked casually. A spider attached to the ceiling came down. Before the security team could react, I swung my sword and cut the spider in half, killing it. A foul smell came from the dead monster spider.
“It looks like these bastards are only hiding in dark places. Be careful in dark places.”
I nodded towards the security team.
“What are you doing? Go search and kill the spider bastards. You didn’t think I was going to stay in front the whole time, did you? You’re the security team. You have enough equipment, so you have to earn your keep. I’ll fire anyone who can’t earn their keep from the security team. Move.”
“Are you saying… just us?”
“Did you not understand what I said? Or are you pretending not to understand?”
“No, sir. We’ll take care of it.”
Park Hae-gil answered. He skillfully gave the security team the instructions they needed to follow. The orders were short, concise, and direct.
A moment later, the sound of gunfire rang out.
I waited in the hallway for them to finish clearing the area.
“Aaaaaaah!”
One of the security team members screamed. It seemed like he had been attacked by a spider. I didn’t move. Another team nearby went to support him. The guy who screamed was bleeding from his thigh, having been attacked by a spider.
‘They’re wearing armor and have guns, and five of them are moving together, and they still get attacked by a spider? That guy is out.’
Gu Tae-hee approached me.
“Are you just going to watch?”
“Monster spiders are nothing. They’re more annoying than zombies, but they’re just bugs. They need to gain combat experience at times like this. I need to conserve my stamina as much as possible. You hired me because of the queen spider, didn’t you?”
“…That’s right. The queen spider is the most troublesome. Keep in mind that there’s almost no information about the queen spider.”
The continuous gunfire soon stopped.
“Let’s go to the next floor.”
