Chapter 49 : Report
Chapter 49: Report
Seogeok!
Having sliced off even the venomous stinger tail, Baek Woohyun stepped onto the head of the giant scorpion monster.
As what it once thought of as a flying insect—now an enemy threatening its life—climbed atop its head, the giant scorpion monster shook its body while making keureuk sounds.
However, with its pincers severed and even its venomous stinger tail cut off and neutralized, the creature had no means left to stop Baek Woohyun.
Kwadeuk!
-Keu-reuk-reu?
As the blade that broke through the carapace of its head stirred its brain, the giant scorpion monster staggered and soon collapsed with a heavy kuwoong- sound.
This was also proof of just how massive the creature’s body was. After all, it shook the surroundings just by collapsing in place.
Though it had no effect whatsoever on Baek Woohyun standing atop its head.
*
“This is just… It’s no match at all.”
“He even beat the Hunting Dogs, so a medium-sized Reverse World boss wouldn’t be difficult at all. It’s a natural result.”
-His dodging is art for real
-What kind of guts does he have to dodge everything by a hair’s breadth lol
-You guys know what? Scorpions aren’t insects either!
-Ugh, the insect brain rot for real
***
Seuseusu…
As the giant scorpion monster died, the mysterious power that had filled the Reverse World began to fade away.
Since the Reverse World was a world created to prevent dimensional invasion, it was losing its power now that even the boss creature had died and the invaders had been sent back.
First, the trees that made up the ash-gray forest crumbled one by one, and the veil that covered the sky also gradually collapsed.
It was as if a black-and-white film was transforming into a color film—color was returning to a world that had been filled only with gray.
‘This is something I haven’t seen in a very long time too.’
Baek Woohyun quietly looked around at the scene of everything regaining its color. Seeing something like this even in ‘that place’ was from a very long time ago.
The reason was simple: originally, Reverse Worlds didn’t close in this manner. The current scene was an exceptional case.
Normally, once the people inside exited through the passage, only then would the Reverse World with its fallen boss creature be sealed.
Cases where the entire Reverse World collapsed like now were of two types: one was when the cleanup succeeded with the passage destroyed by external shock, and the other was─
‘When the Reverse World entered a runaway state.’
─When the dimensional invaders trapped inside broke through the Reverse World and emerged outside.
Naturally, both were quite rare situations, and of the two, witnesses to the latter could be counted on one hand.
A Reverse World runaway was when the dimensional invaders’ power grew so strong they could no longer be contained—how could anyone be inside in that situation?
Unless one was at the level of Baek Woohyun from ‘that’ world, it would be utterly impossible.
“······.”
Soon the altered terrain tangled and distorted wildly, then changed back to that of the original world.
This meant the Reverse World’s collapse had nearly reached its end. It also meant there was no need to stand still worried about getting caught up in it.
Baek Woohyun lightly stepped on the ground to assess the degree of change and nodded.
‘Should I go back to Lee Yujin for now?’
Having made his decision, Baek Woohyun moved toward where Lee Yujin was hiding.
Of course, he merely moved in roughly the same direction, not to the exact location. That was impossible in the first place since the terrain had completely changed.
Still, he was able to find Lee Yujin without much difficulty, because she happened to be emerging from where she’d been hiding.
“Junior!”
Lee Yujin, who had been trying to stand up while leaning against a tree, smiled brightly at the sight of Baek Woohyun approaching her.
“I believed you’d do it! Awook!”
“…Are you alright?”
When Baek Woohyun quickly approached and supported Lee Yujin, her body went limp as she complained of pain, saying “Ayayaya-“.
At least the wound hadn’t worsened thanks to her staying still and hiding, but it was such a serious injury that she seemed to need quick treatment.
After all, the bandage wrapped for emergency treatment was dyed bright red from considerable blood loss.
“Let’s get out of the forest first so you can receive treatment. I’ll carry you on my back.”
“Should we?”
“Excuse me.”
Baek Woohyun, with Lee Yujin on his back, headed straight out of the forest. Despite moving carefully so her wound wouldn’t worsen, leaving the forest was instantaneous.
Unlike the twisted and expanded internal space of the Reverse World, the forest in reality wasn’t very wide, making this possible.
The first thing the two saw upon leaving the forest was soldiers with brightened faces busily moving about preparing to retreat.
“Agents! You’re out- Huk! Are you injured? Medic! Quickly call a medic! Bring a stretcher too!”
“Understood!”
Captain Kim Jiwoong made a fuss upon discovering Lee Yujin on Baek Woohyun’s back. Well, it was understandable upon finding blood-soaked bandages.
Soon medics with a stretcher quickly approached, and Baek Woohyun carefully lowered Lee Yujin and laid her on it.
Even during this very simple process, she had been grimacing from pain, but suddenly grabbed Baek Woohyun’s wrist.
“Oh right, please report to Team Leader for me, Junior. I’ll, rest a bit.”
“Understood.”
When Baek Woohyun nodded, Lee Yujin smiled weakly and slumped on the stretcher. It looked like she no longer even had the energy to say anything more.
However, considering the situation, the fact that she still hadn’t lost consciousness and even showed a smile was rather a testament to how strong she was.
The same could be said for not forgetting her duty and speaking of it even as she was being carried away.
“······.”
Baek Woohyun, who had been watching the medics leave carrying the stretcher with Lee Yujin on it, soon took out his work smartphone from his pocket.
When he tried calling Team Leader Kim Cheol’s registered number, before the ringtone even went twice, he heard the answer, “This is Kim Cheol, Team Leader 1 of the Otherworld Management Bureau.”
“This is Agent Baek Woohyun. I’m calling because the Reverse World cleanup mission is complete.”
“Baek Woohyun? Why are you calling instead of Yujin?”
“Agent Lee Yujin is seriously injured and has gone to receive treatment. She didn’t have the strength to report, so she told me to report in her place.”
“Seriously injured? Yujin? To the point she has no strength?”
It was clearly felt that Kim Cheol on the other end of the smartphone was flustered.
Well, Kim Cheol had no choice but to be flustered.
After all, it would be hard to imagine Lee Yujin getting injured so badly that she could barely contact him in a small Reverse World with merely insect-form monsters trapped inside.
To him, it must have felt as absurd as a full-grown adult suffering crippling injuries severe enough to cause disability while playing in a children’s playground.
“It’s difficult to give a detailed report over the phone.”
Baek Woohyun said while glancing at Captain Kim Jiwoong still hovering nearby.
It was impossible to discuss over the phone line—and with listening ears present—about the Hunting Dogs attacking inside the Reverse World.
Kim Cheol, hearing his response, was silent for a moment, then soon answered.
“Alright. Then return for now. We’ll talk about the details when we meet.”
“Understood.”
When the call ended, Baek Woohyun, left alone, looked around. With the situation clearly concluded, the soldiers were preparing to withdraw even more busily.
Lee Yujin’s vehicle was also left abandoned beside them, but there was nothing that could be done about that. It wasn’t as if the departing Lee Yujin had left him the car keys.
‘Don’t I not have a driver’s license here in the first place?’
Suddenly, Baek Woohyun’s thoughts turned to the problem of how he would return to the Otherworld Management Bureau headquarters.
Even if he roughly knew the way, having traveled it a couple times including ‘that place’, didn’t he lack the means to get there? Unless he planned to run all the way there, that is.
It was right then that Captain Kim Jiwoong approached him as he pondered with a puzzled expression.
“Do you need a vehicle by any chance?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“If a military vehicle is acceptable, I’ll take you to Otherworld Management Bureau headquarters.”
“Would you do that?”
Baek Woohyun readily nodded.
When he didn’t refuse, Captain Kim Jiwoong’s face brightened slightly as he smiled.
“Let’s go right away.”
Taking a military vehicle to Otherworld Management Bureau headquarters didn’t take very long.
This wasn’t just a figure of speech—it really was the case.
When he’d come by car with Lee Yujin, he’d been able to look over materials and have conversations, but on the return trip, that was completely impossible.
It felt as if the route had been drastically shortened. Perhaps it was a technique to reduce boredom by cutting out useless sections.
In any case, thanks to this, he was able to arrive at Otherworld Management Bureau headquarters in almost just a few dozen seconds, so it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“Thank you for the ride.”
“Not at all! Thanks to you, we were able to return without any problems, so we’re the ones who are more grateful!”
After Captain Kim Jiwoong, who bowed his head several times, departed, Baek Woohyun entered the headquarters.
Then, as if it had been waiting, a notification sounded from the smartphone in his pocket. It was the same exquisite timing as when he’d left the training ground before.
When he checked, it was a message from Kim Cheol, telling him to come to Team 1’s conference room as soon as he arrived at headquarters.
There was no need to ask separately where Team 1’s conference room was. This too was because he’d already looked at the map when leaving the training room earlier.
Moreover, he had frequently visited Otherworld Management Bureau headquarters even in ‘that place’, so arriving without getting lost after seeing the map just once was perfectly natural.
After all, to master infiltration and retreat, he’d had to memorize even building cross-sections seen in passing.
In any case, in the conference room he’d quickly arrived at, Kim Cheol was reading documents with a serious face.
He didn’t know what the content was, but judging by the deeply furrowed brow, it seemed to contain quite troublesome content.
He wasn’t even looking at Baek Woohyun who had entered the conference room.
“······I’m here.”
“Ah. You’re here. Take a seat first.”
When Baek Woohyun sat as instructed, Kim Cheol sighed and closed the documents.
“So. What on earth happened for Yujin to be injured to the point she couldn’t even report?”
At the straightforward question that followed without preamble, Baek Woohyun explained step by step.
Starting from the encounter with the corporate-affiliated awakeners including Choi Hyeongcheol, to the anomaly that occurred while passing through the passage, and finally the encounter with the severely wounded Lee Yujin.
As the story reached that point, Kim Cheol, who had been listening quietly, stiffened with a hard expression. It was an expression full of considerable anger.
“······What happened to those bastards?”
“They’re dead.”
“Dead? You just said Yujin was attacked first… Ah.”
Kim Cheol, who had been asking back in puzzlement, seemed to recall something and nodded in understanding.
Just as Lee Yujin, who had previously not stopped Baek Woohyun from leaving alone in the Reverse World, seemed to have heard about him, so too did Kim Cheol.
Actually, it was natural if one thought about it. It was common sense to share information about new recruits within the team.
Especially if that recruit was a human experimentation subject who had been undergoing experiments in the name of research, and who had sliced through dozens of security guards when escaping.
“By any chance, among the items those bastards had, was there anything that could serve as evidence? Like a smartphone.”
“There is.”
Baek Woohyun took out the smartphone that Choi Hyeongcheol had possessed from his pocket and handed it to Kim Cheol.
He already knew all the contents anyway, and he had no use for it, so there was no reason not to give it.
Kim Cheol’s eyebrows twitched as he received the smartphone and checked its contents.
“…You’ve already checked the contents, of course.”
“Yes.”
“Huuu- Alright. Got it.”
Kim Cheol’s thoughts as he sighed were obvious.
He was lamenting that a new headache had been added when there was already so much work.
However, instead of saying anything more, he lightly shook his head and issued an order of dismissal to Baek Woohyun.
“You must be tired, so go rest for now. Forget about what’s contained in there for a while.”
“Understood.”
“There will definitely be something you can do later. Until then, you have to be patient. You understand what I mean, right?”