Save Me, Scrapper!

Sawon sprang forward as if jumping and swung his sword. With a single blow, the Deater in the doorway was cleaved in two. Right after, Mok Geonho’s whip swept lightly across the front. The Deaters crowding there had their waists cut, and their upper bodies dropped to the floor.
– Mok Geonho, you take the right. I’ll take the left. We only deal with whatever comes at us.
– Got it.
However many had been down here to start with, the number of Deaters surging in kept increasing. But it still wasn’t high enough to be truly troublesome. Even as he hacked apart the Deaters in front of him, all of Sawon’s attention was funneled toward Ji Hayeon standing behind him.
Converting Metena into some other object’s energy is inefficient. If he’s putting out that much power with such a wasteful method, that means his Metena is getting burned like crazy… There’s no way his body isn’t taking a massive hit. Overload is just a matter of time.
Screeee-eeech!
The record units feeding on Ji Hayeon’s Metena glowed brighter and brighter. The light spilling out was enough to illuminate the corridor. The stronger the light shone, the more Sawon’s face twisted, and the more the Deaters went berserk. Harsh, rasping breaths began to pound against his eardrums.
Splat!
Deater blood sprayed across Sawon’s face and the floor. He didn’t care; he just kept swinging his sword mechanically. His heart and mind were already fixed entirely on Ji Hayeon’s vital signs.
That bastard… he’s not going to last long.
Thud!
Sawon’s sword scraped along a Deater and the wall together. A groove dug into the scored wall, bits of debris crumbling down. He’d let his guard down and lost control of his strength for a moment.
– Hey, hey, Gu Sawon! I told you not to wreck the building! If you smash everything again, I’m gonna have to…!
– Yeah, I got it. I won’t break anything anymore, all right?
– Damn, this bastard. If you’re gonna wreck stuff, do it when I’m not around.
Clicking his tongue, Mok Geonho cracked his whip. The sounds of flesh and muscle tearing, bones breaking, blood splattering, and boots sloshing through sticky puddles all tangled together into a messy din. And in the middle of that, a faint breath brushed Sawon’s ear.
“Ugh… hff…”
Sawon flooded his sword with Metena and swung hard. The Deaters coming at them from the front were shoved back into the walls by the pressure of his Metena.
– Watch it, I said!
“Kkii.”
A thin monkey cry reached him.
Sawon turned around. Nine was peeking out from Ji Hayeon’s side. But Nine’s forehead and the bridge of his nose were stained red. Sawon’s gaze dropped straight to Ji’s feet. Drip—one drop, two drops of blood fell, slowly widening a red pool. Even without seeing exactly what shape he was in, Sawon knew. He’d already seen it before.
Screeee-eeek!
A new group of Deaters came charging from a distance. Biting down on his lip, Sawon drew a dagger and hurled it at them.
– Chief. Unless you’re planning to die here, cut it out.
When he glanced back again, he saw Ji’s hand press the button on his mask.
– It’ll… hff… it’ll be over soon.
Ji said that and immediately pulled his mask back up. He was clearly making sure his voice wouldn’t go out over the comm. That bothered Sawon even more.
Should’ve brought another researcher instead of Mok Geonho.
For no real reason, he shot Mok Geonho an icy look. His hands never stopped swinging the sword. Feeling his stare, Mok Geonho glanced at him.
– What. What is it.
– …Hurry it up. These bastards just keep coming.
– Hey. How is this my fault?
Mok Geonho blamed all three of them.
– Yeah. It is your fault.

Sawon blamed only Mok Geonho.
– Oh, you little shit, seriously.
– Just hurry up. Clean them up already.
Sawon was about to explode another wave of Metena pressure when:
[Permission reset completed.]
[Disconnecting.]
The blue light began to dwindle. Ji Hayeon raised his mask and pressed the button.
– It’s… done.
– Oh! Chief, nice work!
Mok Geonho’s voice brightened as he answered. Even at the good news, Sawon’s expression didn’t ease. Instead of calming or praising Ji, he reminded them of the next task.
– Where’s the elevator to forty-three? You said it’s in here. Let’s get out, quick.
He felt like he wouldn’t be able to breathe easy until he checked what state Ji Hayeon was in. Probably a habit from field work—making sure there were no gaps in the line, no hunters left behind, and whether he needed to jump in. If not for that, there was no way Ji would be weighing on him this much. It was probably the same reason he was feeling more and more on edge. Ji headed for a corner.
– Inside. Open the emergency exit door.
I know he’s a weak bastard… Guess that’s why I can’t stop worrying.
In a level, flat voice, Sawon gave the order:
– Chief, you secure the elevator. As soon as the doors open, we pull out fast.
– And what about these guys? What if they follow us in and wreck the whole records room?
Mok Geonho objected. They needed a shield at the entrance to hold the line until the elevator took them up.
Thinking it over, Sawon looked up at the ceiling. Just under three meters high, maybe…
He immediately pictured Nine’s true form. For a Deater, Nine’s true body was on the smaller side. The doorway might be a little narrow for him, but not so much that he couldn’t stand.
He heard the sound of Ji working the elevator. Sawon pulled his mask down and stretched one hand back, crooking his finger.
“Nine, come here!”
Nine, who’d been clinging to Ji all this time, ran over beaming, delighted, and jumped into Sawon’s arms. Sawon bumped his cheek lightly against the top of Nine’s head.
“Hyungs are going up first, so you stay here and guard the door for a bit, okay?”
“Kkii…?”
Deaters reacted to light and humans. Thanks to Ji pulling the power, the light had gone dim, and once the three of them got in the elevator and went up, the humans would be gone. Nine was a Deater, so those monsters wouldn’t attack him. Deaters didn’t kill their own. With no prey left, they would just wander around aimlessly.
“I’d take you too if I could, but those bastards are too riled up. We’ll go first and send the elevator right back down, so ride it up by yourself. That door, right there. Got it?”
Nine stared up at him with an unreadable look. Sawon smiled gently.
“Our Nine is a brave little monkey, so you can handle it, right?”
“Kkiik!”
Only then did the baby monkey answer proudly. With a bitter twist of his lips, Sawon patted Nine’s rump a couple of times. Even knowing Nine was a Deater, he was also half-forgetting it. Because of that small, delicate spider-monkey shell.
Ding.
[The door is opening.]
– Elevator’s here.
Even knowing Nine’s true body, leaving him behind like this weighed heavily on Sawon’s mind. Mok Geonho asked,
– Gu Sawon. What do we do. Should I go first?
And there was one more person who weighed on Sawon.
The elevator, and Ji Hayeon.
Sawon looked for a moment at Ji holding the elevator door, then pulled his mask back on.
– Mok Geonho. Once you get in the elevator, stick your head in the corner.
– What? What are you talking about.
– Close your eyes and put your head against the wall. Otherwise it’s gonna mess up the next op.
– What op?
– You wanna stand here wasting time while the Deaters crowd in?
Even Ji Hayeon hadn’t been briefed on what kind of “mess up” he meant. Questions flickered across both Ji’s and Mok Geonho’s faces, but only for a moment. Sawon shouted:
– Mok Geonho, what are you saving your eyeballs for. They’re coming again. Move!
– Damn it, what the hell are you planning that I have to… Fine!
Mok Geonho darted into the elevator first. His pride clearly wounded, he hesitated a moment, then closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to the metal wall. It was the misfortune of being a hunter who followed orders to the letter.
– I have no idea what this is, man. Hey, my head’s on the wall!
Only then did Sawon swing his sword one last time and retreat. He tugged his mask down and tossed Nine lightly upward.
“Nine, I’m counting on you.”
“Kkii!”
Midair, Nine turned into a transparent organic mass. At the same time, the guards attached to Sawon’s arms and legs turned to organic matter as well, merging together like jelly. The organism swelled into a huge lump and took on the form of a Deater.
Thud!
By the time Nine landed, what stood in front of the door was a massive spider-monkey-type Deater. With a roar, Nine planted himself in front of the entrance, blocking it with his entire body. Sawon sprinted for the elevator. As he boarded, he grabbed Ji—who was still holding the door—and pulled him inside.
[The door is closing.]
Through the narrowing gap, all they could see was the darkened records room and Nine’s back. Just before the door shut completely, Sawon turned Ji’s body so he was facing him. Ji’s face was smeared with blood from eyes, nose, and mouth alike. His unfocused pale irises swept the sealed space with rising panic. Sawon grabbed his mask and pulled it down.
“Chief.”
Ji Hayeon’s vision was collapsing ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) bit by bit. Sawon could see it happening. His blood-stained lips ground together, and fresh threads of red ran down. Sawon didn’t know what terrors were filling those pretty eyes. He couldn’t even guess. The only thing he could be sure of was that Ji Hayeon was being dragged deeper and deeper into a warped phantom and growing more terrified by the second.
“Ji Hayeon. Look at me.”
Sawon cupped his white cheek and forced their gazes to meet.
“Hey. Look at me, yeah?”
Only then did Ji’s eyes land on him.
“Try closing your eyes.”
Sawon covered Ji’s eyes with one hand.
“In times like this, focusing on your other senses works best.”
Even among hunters, plenty of people took psychological hits. Every time, the Institute would stimulate their physical senses to blunt the damage. It was a simple, one-dimensional prescription that only really worked on hunters, but still.
“…I can’t… see anything.”
Ji said in a trembling voice. Under his palm, Sawon could feel Ji’s eyeballs rolling wildly.
Can’t hit him, can’t knock him out, can’t even pinch him.
Among the ways to stimulate the body that didn’t involve pain, the only solution Sawon could come up with was skin contact. He carefully plucked the comm from Ji Hayeon’s ear. When his rough fingers brushed the curve of Ji’s ear, Ji flinched. Sawon pressed their noses together and answered.
“It’s okay. You can hear my voice, right?”
He whispered softly. With Ji’s sight blocked, he was steering him to focus on sound and touch instead.
No idea if this is going to work, but…
– Hey. Why did you even tell me to do this. Huh? Do I have to stay like this?
Mok Geonho’s voice came through Sawon’s comm. Ignoring his colleague’s question, Sawon lowered his voice even further.
“Don’t worry about anything else. Just focus on me. Okay?”
Before Ji could respond, Sawon brought Ji Hayeon’s ear to his chest.