“When we move, we go in a line like this, and only the people following at the very back are disappearing. Without any particular common factor.”
I watched the swaying 9th doll and spoke.
“The 8th person directly in front would be the likely suspect.”
“Yes, but the 8th person directly in front was always different. Rather, since the 9th position keeps going missing, no one wants to stand in the 8th position, which is even delaying the raid.”
“Did the other personnel always stand in the same positions?”
“Hunters are a bit sensitive about jinxes. Since it’s a matter of life and death, after all.”
Baek Yejun pointed at several spots and explained that there were always two or three people who wanted to stand in the same positions.
“Is there a reason you suspect the culprit is a hallucination-type?”
“Because there has to be some degree of volition to break away from formation. When entering Gates, we wear bracelets with anti-straggling magic, and it’s a tool that requires the person’s own will to remove.”
I looked down at the purple paper band on my wrist. It was the bracelet I’d received after filling out the roster earlier.
So it had that function.
Having always been deployed only for corpse collection and post-processing procedures after raids ended, I knew nothing about how things worked on this side.
“How did the missing Hunters disappear?”
“According to testimonies, everyone answered in the same way—that they were together and then suddenly disappeared.”
“What about the bracelets?”
“They were found abandoned. Without their owners.”
My education was short, so I wasn’t confident in using my brain. But my field sense was good, so I felt like I’d see something once I actually went and observed.
“Let’s just dive in and see.”
***
Inside the Gate was a ruined city.
“Ugh, look at that mold…”
One of the Hunters deployed to the Gate frowned.
The city looked like Exit 5 of Jangseungbaegi Station on Line 7, appearing as if it had been in ruins for at least 500 years.
There wasn’t a corner of the buildings and structures that wasn’t covered with green moss, and ominous black stone pillars had pierced through the asphalt floor, jutting out abruptly in irregular patterns. Additionally, unknown holes had been drilled in the ground making ominous noises, and occasionally the earth rumbled with a thud-thud-thud.
“The feeling is strange.”
“It’s like walking on the ocean floor, right?”
When I muttered, the person who would be in charge of filming with me today answered. Wearing orange sports sunglasses, he was a drone technician. He said he was an Esper who used wind abilities to operate drones more easily.
“Ordinary people would experience much more severe cognitive distortion. Small things look big, straight lines look curved. How fortunate to be an Esper, even if F-rank.”
He seemed to have mistaken me for an F-rank Esper like himself, but since revealing I was an E-rank Guide wouldn’t be helpful, I let it be.
Today I was participating here as a cameraman for the filming team, not as a raid member, and would observe the Hunters while receiving their protection. It was suitable for disguising without much effort while being non-combat personnel—perfect.
“You turned on the body cam properly, right? Turn off the recording function since clothes rustling creates noise.”
In addition to drones and cameras, the filming team wore harnesses over their tops with body cams attached to the chest and back. They wore holsters at the waist and thighs, but these contained high-performance batteries and memory cards instead of guns. It was an outfit solely for filming.
“Is there a reason we’re walking in the middle of the formation?”
I asked after finishing a simple equipment check.
Of the 9 people who entered the Gate, 2 were filming team and 7 were Hunters. Among the group moving in a single file, I was 5th and the drone technician filming staff was 6th—there was something a bit strange about this.
“Because the middle is easier to protect. If we mess up, we go squawk! right away.”
The drone technician pronounced “squawk!” while stroking the rosary hanging from his neck with his hand.
“I see.”
Thinking tactically, the filming team’s position made sense.
When I formed teams of 9 as a Warrant Officer, I organized them in the order of scout-team leader-communications-gunner-medic-grenadier-security-assistant team leader-rear guard. Generally, the 2nd was the team leader, the middle was the protected target, and the last was an experienced soldier.
“Don’t get distracted and capture the Hunters well. The camera’s looking at the sky.”
I straightened the camera that had tilted on my shoulder and captured the back of Hunter Choi Gukhwa’s head walking in front of me.
He was the person they said had fiction summoning abilities.
“Huh? Are you filming me? Filming Hunter Baek Yejun would get better view counts~”
Hunter Choi Gukhwa, who unnecessarily brought up Baek Yejun at the front, didn’t seem entirely displeased as he fixed his hair and adjusted his face angle to appear better on screen.
“Hunter Baek Yejun does have star quality. I heard he’s going to leave the association soon and start a guild?”
“They say all the named ones are leaving the association to start guilds these days. Isn’t it totally like ‘those with, those without’? We can’t even dream of it.”
Hunter Kim Haeseon with confusion abilities and Hunter Park Suheon with black magic abilities behind the drone technician also joined in the conversation.
Following civilian associations, now guilds? I really felt that the era of forced conscription was truly ending and the era of privatization of Hunter services was approaching.
The world never stays still for a moment and keeps spinning so busily.
“I heard he was making a fuss trying to get famous, and now that bastard’s doing a guild too? Tch.”
“There’s a Hunter in front too, so speak quietly, shh, shh.”
Is this something to say so openly when it’s all being captured on camera?
If you want to get famous, it would be more effective to manage your public image like that bastard who dresses up like a peacock at the Blue Dragon Film Awards and even acts coy. What a clueless guy.
Clack-clack, clack…
Just then, the sound of something massive pounding the ground could be heard from afar.
Clack-clack-clack-clack…
“Whoa…”
Between the moss-covered buildings, a giant centipede dripping viscous liquid from its maw climbed up a building, stopped, wiggled its antennae, and looked this way.
“It looks disgusting.”
“Don’t even mention eggs. Please…”
Screech!
Before we could even finish our impressions, the centipede leaped from the building and charged this way. Not only was its bulk impressive, but its approaching speed was exactly like a fighter jet charging at full speed.
Kwaaang!! Whoosh—
“Aaah, poison! Poison!!”
The liquid dripping from its mouth melted the surroundings, as if acidic.
“Healer! Rear support!”
Hunter Choi Gukhwa jumped forward first, pulled out a long spear with black veins sprouting from thin air, and threw it.
Kwaaang! Clang!
The other Hunters also poured firepower to catch the giant monster before their eyes. Someone raised purple flames, and someone cast a buff so the Hunters would sense less of the killing intent the monster emitted to raise their morale.
“Chaotic, right?”
Even amid all this, Baek Yejun came to me with a relaxed face and spoke. I captured him on camera while responding.
“Aren’t you going to work?”
“I’m an area-of-effect type, so people get hurt~”
I slightly lowered the camera to briefly show his sword, then filmed his face again.
“Did you bring that sword to slice radish when making soup?”
At my question, he suddenly lowered his face to my ear and whispered in a voice too low to be caught on camera.
“I’m carrying it for show. Want to see?”
He works really hard on image management.
I nodded. Seeing my signal, he smiled lightly, then raised his arm and drew the sword.
“Alright. There’s nothing good about dragging things out from the first battle, so I’ll finish it quickly.”
Shing—
With a sharp sound, the sword’s cold silver blade was revealed.
He grasped the sword’s hilt with both hands and raised it vertically at the center of his chest so the blade faced his own face. Then, with the appearance of a devout believer, he closed both eyes tightly and began reciting something.
“—Cover my eyes.”
Kurururu—
The sky, which had been covered by dark clouds, slowly opened and a thin ray of light poured down over the centipede monster. Baek Yejun’s bright hair was lightly disheveled by a breeze that began blowing from somewhere.
“…! Yejun Hunter is using a skill! Everyone get out of the way!!”
“Hey! That’s coming!! Everyone back off!!”
Sensing an unusual energy gathering, the Hunters stopped their concentrated fire and hastily pulled their bodies back.
“Only.”
The sky was sharply torn open as if slashed by a blade.
“Let me see your truth.”
Flash—!
Soon a white flash struck down upon the centipede monster.
“Amen.”
A beat late, an eardrum-splitting roar shook the earth’s axis.
The centipede monster, bisected in an instant, crashed to the ground making a tremendous noise. Blue flames spread to all sorts of buildings and structures on the ground, emitting heat, and everything within a certain radius where the flash struck was charred black, with ash flying.
I captured it on camera and looked at Baek Yejun through the viewfinder with dazed eyes. He approached me again and whispered in my ear.
“But I’m non-religious.”
Just how badly does he want to succeed to commit to a concept this intensely?
