Chapter 585 – You’ve grown a lot (3)

Kim Woo stared at the laughing Lee Soo Hyuk for a bit before standing up.

"Yes, it'll be good to confirm how useful they will be during battle."

The two people behind him stood up as well.

"Hyung-nim, I'll go too."
"It's fine. You guys stay here. We need people to stay and protect the shelter as well."

Kim Woo then addressed Lee Soo Hyuk.

"I'll take a couple of my subordinates but leave these two behind."

He then walked out of the meeting room without waiting for Lee Soo Hyuk's response.

He heard Cale's voice at that moment.

"I'll go and get a few people as well."

Lee Soo Hyuk's started to frown.

"Rok Soo, I don't know how strong you and Choi Han are, but Park Jin Tae or Kim Woo should be enough to support the rescue team."

Of course, Lee Soo Hyuk was using Park Jin Tae's strength from when he had been the central shelter for this basis.

"It's a level 3 and not a level 2, so having more people might actually get in the way."
"Soo Hyuk."

Doctor Kang interjected.

"But it seems to be pretty dangerous since they asked for you, so wouldn't it be better to have more people?"
"Doctor-nim. About half of the entire rescue team is currently out around Yeonsan-dong. They didn't ask for the rest of the rescue team and just asked for me, which makes me believe that the situation is something I would be able to handle on my own."
"Mm. That's true, but…"

Doctor Kang nodded his head although he wasn't fully satisfied and Cale shook his head.

"The more the better."
"…Rok Soo."
"Hyung."

Lee Soo Hyuk flinched once more after hearing the word, 'hyung' from Cale.

Cale continued to speak in a calm voice.

"It's not good to always try to take care of everything on your own. You need to share the burden if you are able to do so. Don't you agree?"

Lee Soo Hyuk seemed to be slightly at a loss for words.

"Hahaha!"

Ma Seung Jin started to laugh at that moment.

"Wow. Lee Soo Hyuk, he got you good. Yes, you need to listen to your dongsaeng more."

Heo Sook Ja then started to speak to Cale.

"Please go bring the people to go with you. However, it takes about one hour to get to Yeonsan-dong. We need to get there as quickly as possible, so please keep that in mind as you select people."
"I understand."

Cale then left the meeting room with Kim Min Joon and Lee Jin Joo.

Choi Han had left as soon as Cale said he would go get some people.

Lee Soo Hyuk watched Cale's back with his mouth still closed.

"Hyung."

Park Jin Tae said something as he passed by Lee Soo Hyuk.

"Kim Rok Soo is the same but different."

Park Jin Tae walked past Lee Soo Hyuk with an expression that seemed to be a mix of bitterness, dejectedness, and a bit of anticipation as he followed behind Cale.

"…Ha!"

Lee Soo Hyuk laughed before touching his scabbard.

He then started to speak to Park Jin Tae who was walking away.

"Hey, Jin Tae, by the way…?"
"What is it?"
"Is there anything you need to say to me?"

Park Jin Tae was silent without looking back before responding a moment later.

"Ask Lee Seung Won or Lee Jin Joo."
"…Hoooo. Is that so?"

Lee Soo Hyuk nodded his head and then asked something else.

"Did you keep our promise?"

Park Jin Tae started to frown.

Lee Soo Hyuk had asked Park Jin Tae to take care of the shelter as he left and the two of them had made a promise.

'Hey, Jin Tae. I don't know about anything else, but I hope you can protect the people in this shelter. Can you do that?'
'Hyung, don't worry. I'll do a good job.'

'Damn it.'

Park Jin Tae continued to walk without responding.

Lee Soo Hyuk was watching the nonresponsive Park Jin Tae's back with a cold and sunk gaze.

He then smiled toward the messenger who was wary of him and started to speak.

"You should get ready to go with me too. Oh, and turn off the alarm."
"Yes, hang-nim!'

* * *

Kim Woo frowned while walking out of the open northern gate.

"Wut you bring so many people for?"

Park Jin Tae started to frown.

"Who cares if we have a ton of people? You just take care of your subordinates."
"…Ha. That son of a bitch."

Kim Woo shook his head and walked over to Cale and Lee Soo Hyuk.

Everybody who would go to support the rescue team had gathered in less than 10 minutes.

Lee Soo Hyuk and the messenger were the only ones from the rescue team and most of the people were Cale's people.

Lee Soo Hyuk started to speak to Kim Woo and Cale.

"Let's get moving. Yeonsan-dong is quite far so we will move as quickly as possible."

The messenger raised his hand as Lee Soo Hyuk motioned to him with his eyes.

"I have a map, so please follow me."

Cale could see a light surround the tip of the messenger's feet.

He seemed to have an ability that helped him move quickly.

Lee Soo Hyuk peeked toward Cale's team.

Park Jin Tae, Choi Han, Choi Jung Soo, Kim Min Ah, Bae Puh Rum, and Joo Ho-Shik were with Cale. The White Rabbit was with them as well.

The rest of them were resting at the castle.

"I won't wait for you if you fall behind."

Lee Soo Hyuk quickly started to run.

"Let's go!"

Kim Woo followed behind him. He was moving quickly as well.

The two subordinates he brought with him urgently followed as well. One of them quietly whispered to Kim Woo.

"Do you think those punks will be able to keep up?"
"Hmph. Their true strengths will instantly be revealed if they can't."

Kim Woo sneered as he ran even faster.

They couldn't use vehicles since the cataclysm.

Public transport and even most cars and motorcycles were destroyed and unable to be repaired.

Furthermore, the gas stations were almost all destroyed or exploded around two months after the start of cataclysm, making it so that even repaired vehicles would just be useless hunks of metal.

That was why the only way to move quickly right now was by using abilities or physical strength.

One of Kim Woo's subordinates started to chuckle.

"I don't think they can since they have so many feeble looking fool-!"

It was at that moment.

The Kim Woo group and Lee Soo Hyuk immediately looked back.

Swooooooosh-

They felt a gust of wind.

Wind was surrounding Bae Puh Rum.

"Okay, let's go!"

The White Rabbit that had Joo Ho-Shik and Choi Jung Soo on top of it jumped forward as soon as Bae Puh Rum said that.

Bae Puh Rum then shot forward with Kim Min Ah on his back.

"…What the?!"

Kim Woo could see them instantly move past them.

But that wasn't the end.

Joo Ho-Shik who was hanging on the White Rabbit clasped his hands together and started to mumble as they passed by Kim Woo.

"I have faith!"

A gust of wind that was much stronger than what Bae Puh Rum had caused pushed them forward from behind.

Cale was standing there with a whirlwind around him.

"Let's go."

Park Jin Tae and Choi Han moved forward with Cale on his whirlwind.

Cale lightly patted the silent Kim Woo's shoulder as he passed by.

"Shall we go? Don't we need to quickly rescue them?"

He then used his whirlwind to surround Kim Woo and his subordinates as well.

Kim Woo felt his body becoming lighter.

It made him feel as if they could get to Yeonsan-dong really quickly like this.

"Ha!"

Kim Woo scoffed as if he was in disbelief but his pupils were shaking.

'…He's a multiple ability user?'

The Seomyeon central shelter people had not heard about Cale and the others' abilities yet.

It could not be helped.

They had started the discussion with information about the unranked monster and this emergency situation had come up while the validity of this information was being discussed.

Cale confirmed that Bae Puh Rum's wind was supporting the messenger and Lee Soo Hyuk before he started to speak to the messenger.

"We should hurry."
"Ah, of course!"

The messenger gulped and moved forward.

Lee Soo Hyuk quietly looked at Cale before following behind him.

Their movements became much faster thanks to the wind that was the combination of Bae Puh Rum, Cale, and Joo Ho-Shik.

But there were obstacles in their way.

"Grrrrrr-!"
"Grr!"

There were monsters starting to come out after noticing humans.

"Tsk! Hyung-nim, should I take care of them?"

One of Kim Woo's subordinates started to speak.

Kim Woo was about to nod his head before he saw something.

"My, my."

He looked toward the thing that was moving right next to the messenger. This thing looked as if it would make a lot of noise with every step it took, but it didn't make any noise at all.

The White Rabbit was speaking in a gentle yet disappointed voice.

It then moved forward.

"Get lost if you don't want to die."

The monsters charging forward hesitated and stepped back as soon as the White Rabbit's red eyes glowed.

"Whimper. Whimper."
"Whimper."

Kim Woo and his subordinates dropped their jaws in shock.

Lee Soo Hyuk looked toward Cale who started to speak.

"This gentleman, Mister Rabbit, is not only able to communicate with humans, but he is also able to instill a significant amount of fear and pressure in the Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters to make it difficult for them to approach us."

Kim Woo looked shocked.

'What? Gentleman? Mister Rabbit?'

"We can ignore these small groups of Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters as long as our Mister Rabbit is with us."

Cale slightly bowed toward the White Rabbit.

"Thank you very much, Mister Rabbit."
"Not at all. Something like this is easy to do."

Mister Rabbit responded with a gentle smile.

"Haigoo."

Kim Woo scoffed in disbelief, but nobody cared.

He looked toward Lee Soo Hyuk as he was curious about Lee Soo Hyuk's reaction to this unbelievable situation.

He believed Lee Soo Hyuk would be just as shocked.

"Mm. It looks like we can move quicker and safer."

Lee Soo Hyuk was calm.

"That's great."

He then ignored the monsters that had retreated and quickly moved forward. Cale did the same and Kim Woo blankly watched the two of them for a moment before quickly chasing after them.

Kim Woo's group was about to be left behind.

But Cale did not care about them and continued to move while following the messenger's guide when he made eye contact with someone.

It was one of the two people on the White Rabbit's shoulders.

It was Choi Jung Soo.

Choi Jung Soo turned back and looked at Cale before awkwardly smiling and turning his head once they made eye contact.

"Why are we taking that punk with us?"

Cale turned his head after hearing a voice next to him. Park Jin Tae was peeking at Choi Jung Soo as he continued to speak.

"Am I wrong? He doesn't seem to be that strong."

Park Jin Tae had never seen Choi Jung Soo fight yet.

But according to Kim Po-Chul and even Choi Jung Soo himself, Choi Jung Soo's ability was just a physical ability and nothing special.

Park Jin Tae was looking at Cale as if he could not understand why he brought Choi Jung Soo with them.

"I asked to bring him with us."

He heard Choi Han's voice at that moment.

Park Jin Tae could see Choi Han calmly responding to him.

"I asked Rok Soo hyung to do so."

'Why?'

Park Jin Tae wondered about the reason.

But his question was soon answered.

"He'll become stronger than you."
"What?"

Park Jin Tae looked toward Cale in shock.

"That punk?"
"Yes. He has great potential. In fact…"

Cale looked toward Choi Han who confirmed that Choi Jung Soo could not hear them before he started to speak.

"He'll become as strong as me."

Park Jin Tae looked back and forth between Choi Jung Soo and Choi Han as if he could not believe that.

Who was Choi Han?

This bastard who had suddenly appeared was quite strong.

If Kim Rok Soo shocked people because of his numerous strong abilities, Choi Han showed amazing strength with his sword art alone.

But this punk named Choi Jung Soo could become as strong as Choi Han?

He could not believe it.

"I'll make sure of it."

Choi Han closed his mouth after saying that.

Cale quietly looked at Choi Han.

Until the moment Choi Jung Soo died…

He had not been stronger than Choi Han.

The White Miru was weaker than Choi Han's black Yong.

But Choi Han seemed to want Choi Jung Soo to get to his level, no, to surpass his level.

Cale could understand what Choi Han was thinking.

'I'm the same.'

His gaze headed toward Lee Soo Hyuk.

'I can't be certain whether this world is an illusion, a parallel world or whatever it may be.'

In that case, Cale, team leader Kim Rok Soo…

Had to pass on the things he had learned from team leader Lee Soo Hyuk to the Lee Soo Hyuk in front of him.

"We're almost there!"

He heard the messenger's voice and Lee Soo Hyuk turned toward Cale who was staring at him and started to speak.

It was an urgent situation, but he was speaking extremely slowly.

"Hey, Rok Soo. What do you want to do?"

The messenger shouted at the same time.

"It's over there!"

They all looked toward a building.

One side had crumbled, but the three-story story building was maintaining its shape.

"Screeeeeeeeeeeeech!"
"Grr!"
"Caaaaaaaaaaaw!"

There were numerous monsters surrounding the building and trying to get inside.

"Ugh! Block them!"
"Ugh! Keep it up! The leader-nim will be here if we hold on a little longer!"

People wearing yellow bands around their arms were attacking the monsters through the building windows and preventing the monsters from getting inside.

But they were outnumbered three to one compared to the monsters.

"Huh?"

Some of them turned toward Cale's side.

"They're here! The reinforcements are here!"
"The leader-nim is here!"

Their faces lit up with joy. Some of the rescue team members started to shout into the building with hope on their faces.

"Please hold on a little longer! We will be able to go to the shelter now!"
"We are safe now!"

The extremely skinny people who were gathered together inside the building started to cry or gasp in relief as they clasped their hands together.

They were the people the rescue team members had found.

They were weak and injured to the point that they could not even speak as they just silently showed their joy.

The rescue team members protecting them started to tear up seeing their silent tears and smiles.

Cale's group couldn't see everything, but they could tell that the rescue team had noticed them.

Cale started to speak.

"I said that we would show you our strength. We will take the lead with this one."
"What?"

Kim Woo started to frown, but Lee Soo Hyuk who was in charge of the rescue team nodded his head without any hesitation.

"Okay."

He then added on.

"Do a good job."

His voice was cold unlike usual.

He was saying this as the person responsible for the rescue team and not Cale's hyung.

He was saying that he would be watching.

"Ho! Lee Soo Hyuk!"

Kim Woo was riled up.

"Even if he is your dongsaeng, you can't just let him take control-"

Kim Woo could hear Cale nonchalantly start to speak at that moment.

"Park Jin Tae."

It wasn't a very loud voice.

Click.

Kim Woo saw Park Jin Tae take a gun out of his pocket.

Cale gave the order.

"Fire."

Park Jin Tae pulled the trigger.

Tang! Tang!

The target was obvious even without saying anything.

Joo Ho-Shik shouted as the bullets shot out toward the monsters.

"I have faith!"

Kim Woo looked toward Joo Ho-Shik as if he was crazy, but Kim Woo had no choice but to flinch at that moment.

Baaaaang! Baaaaaang-

There were two large explosions before fire started to spread from the monsters in the rear.

"Screeeeeeeeeech!"
"Grrrrr!"

The monsters in the rear started to scream.

Lee Soo Hyuk's eyes clouded over as he watched.

"You got stronger."

Cale started to speak as Lee Soo Hyuk turned toward Park Jin Tae.

"Choi Han, Kim Min Ah."
"Yes, Rok Soo hyung?"
"Is it my turn now?"

Cale pointed toward the monsters.

"Go wild."

Choi Han and Kim Min Ah charged forward to where Cale had pointed.

Clang!

The shining black aura violently shot out of Choi Han's sword as it came out of the scabbard.

"Mm!"

Kim Woo subconsciously flinched at the violent nature of the black aura.

But he had to turn his head after hearing something else.

Boom!

He heard a dull noise before noticing a large spear in Kim Min Ah's hand.

Kim Min Ah easily grabbed this large spear that was much taller than her and charged toward the monsters.

"…Ho."

Kim Woo gasped.

He then heard Cale's voice again.

"I will explain the plan since I am taking the lead."

Cale closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them back.

The record of this incident filled his mind.

He shared the primary goal of this operation.

"Our primary goal is to rescue all members of the rescue team while killing all nearby monsters in the process."

Kim Woo and Lee Soo Hyuk's expressions changed at that moment.

Lee Soo Hyuk started to speak.

"…Rok Soo. What about the others?"

Cale quietly looked toward Lee Soo Hyuk.

Lee Soo Hyuk never discussed this Yeonsan-dong rescue team massacre incident.

It was because it remained as a grudge in his heart.

It was a painful mistake as well.

'No. It wasn't a mistake. It's not a sin to be tricked.'

People changed their views about monsters after this Yeonsan-dong rescue team incident.

Large bodies and strong physical strength.

Extremely destructive attack capability.

People used to think that that was how they could differentiate between the strength of monsters until this incident destroyed that thought process.

"The people inside the building that the rescue team is trying to save…"

Cale brought up the reason that Lee Soo Hyuk, who had been tired and losing the reason to fight during this time, had no choice but to bury this incident deep inside his heart.

"Are Grade 1 monsters."

They were Grade 1 monsters with a special ability along with a charm ability to lure other monsters.

These monsters were able to pretend to be the humans they killed so that they could kill even more people.

"They are Mirror Masks."

The only humans inside that building were the rescue team members.

The rescue team members were protecting these Mirror Mask monsters and not humans. These Grade 1 monsters were aiming for them.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]