95 – Concerns about pre- and post-processing
People hurriedly moving in front of their eyes.
Wearing masks and scrubs, they were rushing in and out of the operating room, talking about the urgency of the situation.
It’s dangerous to stay like this
Both of them could die…
and..
Seeing them like that, I said without hesitation.
“I will do it! Use as much as you need! I… I don’t care what happens!”
I am screaming as I roll my arms…
As they listened to my voice, the doctors’ faces began to look puzzled, but soon they nodded and approached me.
*
“… .?”
What I see in my mind is…
It was an unfamiliar ceiling.
What I feel at the same time is the blanket over me.
And the next sound…
-beep! beep! Beep beep! Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep!
“..f*ck… ”
Now, even if you’re not a soldier, the useless and familiar sound of a wake-up call that automatically triggers swear words.
While listening to it, I didn’t have to get up, but I started to lift my body, which felt heavy.
“What.. Where is this place?..”
The last memory that remains is returning the hunters while declaring the mission complete.
And.. the extreme fatigue that started to push right after that.
I remember that I was relaxed and fell asleep due to the reaction from the last 10 days of all-night work.
However, the place where I am now lying is not a command room, but a place that looks like a military quarter.
Although there was no one around except me. Once it was.
It seemed that others had brought me here after the operation was over.
Feeling a little grateful for that fact, I got up from my seat, made the bedding, and dragged my frowning body out for a bit to wash up.
“Looking at the time zone… did you sleep almost all day?
*
“Aide!”
“Ah.. Glass.”
Glass appeared in front of me as I headed to the operation room after washing my body.
Originally, she was completely exhausted along with other air force hunters while on a reconnaissance mission, but it seemed that she had recovered somehow.
“Are you feeling better?”
“Yes, I am all well, but what about Aide? I know you’ve had almost no sleep for 10 days because you’ve been conducting information analysis and commanding.”
“I am much better now. As expected, after sleeping like dead for a day, I was able to recover.”
The saying “sleep is the best medicine” comes to mind very clearly.
After briefly asking each other how they were doing, I carefully asked Glass.
“Um… By the way, do you know what happened after that?”
“Ah yes. That’s what it means..”
Regarding my question, which had been asleep for a day, Glass began to explain in a calm voice what had happened in the meantime.
*
After the battle, the lieutenants and guild masters began to organize the situation.
There were many things to do, such as reporting on the victory, replenishing consumed supplies, and reconnaissance.
The culprit behind the devastating defeat to the allies in the previous large-scale offensive and the existence that caused numerous casualties.
However, despite the fact that no one is unaware of this fact, none of those gathered here at this moment came up with an opinion to remove the Abyss, which had the same shape as a discolored human body.
“First of all, everyone will know when they see it. I think it would be unreasonable to see that existence as an Abyss right now.”
“I agree. Of course, doubts still remain, but since I saw that scene in front of my eyes, it’s a bit…”
They were the ones who had fought a bloody battle with them just a few hours ago, and included those who had been treated but whose injuries were still throbbing.
However, apart from that fact, the scene they saw in common.
At the last moment, to protect the Hunter belonging to the Dreamers, he sacrificed his arms without a moment’s hesitation.
And crucially… the Dreamers Hunter in question, the person whose life was most in danger because of that.
Called by the name of Joggs, although it’s in the name of surveillance, even at this moment, she was restrained as if she was dealing with a real friend or comrade.
“That person is so great. In a way, it’s a pretty dangerous situation, but you’re taking on such a job yourself.”
“There seems to be a story behind it, but… what the hell is that?”
Ara speaks with some doubts about Kara’s words.
At that time, Deputy Ha-eun carefully raised her hand and opened her mouth.
“Actually… after that, there’s a story I roughly heard about this.”
Because she couldn’t hold back her curiosity, it was Hayoon who eventually asked the general story through Are, the person there.
Then, she began to carefully tell the story she had heard to those in front of her.
The restoration of Pyongyang in the past and what that person named Joggs experienced.
And… the story that the humanoid Abyss in question might be one of the hunters who were sacrificed at that time.
Hearing that, complex emotions began to appear on the faces of the guild masters and lieutenants.
“Of course… I can’t be sure if that’s really the Hunter, but honestly, I’m also looking at the possibility that it’s probably high right now. They have the same facial features, and above all, they say that they clearly put their serial number right after the tail was cut off.”
“..Um…surely, if it’s up to that level, it’s a bit suspicious, but…”
Although it was an Abyss that had shown quite a strategic move the other day, it is a matter of another dimension to understand the words and have a conversation with it while having clear knowledge.
Above all, they were able to make some hypotheses in that they came to their senses after removing the pair of dragon heads from its waist.
As a matter of fact, after being captured by the Abyss, the body was controlled by the heads of the dragons, and as they were cut off, they were freed from that rule.
The reason why the Abyss were able to make strategic moves was also because of the results of using that one that was being used as a host.
At the same time, the reason why the Abyss showed aggression against the group led by it in this battle is that there is a possibility that the Abyss’ perceptions were confused due to the presence of humans as hosts.
Like that, while analyzing the situation in their own way, the hunters and lieutenants automatically began to feel apprehensive.
‘In other words.. Under this situation, it means that a human could become an Abyss in case of bad luck…’
‘It’s scary… In other words, it means that among the hunters who died on the battlefield so far, there might be a guy who appears like that person.’
An Abyss created by using humans as materials… or by transforming humans.
The reason it was scary wasn’t just because of their superior combat and strategic skills.
That humans can become Abyss… soon. In some cases, it meant that emotional pain could be involved in dealing with guys who had been treated as mere monsters so far.
Although this time it seemed to work a little positively, it meant that in the worst case, even if you saw the enemy in front of you, you might be caught in hesitation and not be able to wield your weapon.
‘It’s a completely different matter to annihilate simple monsters and to kill humans…’
‘Someone out there wouldn’t care about that fact, but…’
With such an uncomfortable but unwanted situation buried in a corner of their minds, the guild masters and their lieutenants decided to take some time to think about the treatment of those captured alive in the abyss… or ‘survivors’.