One Difficulty After Another (7)

They said it was a mere 70 meters and 100 meters. For a fast-moving monster, those distances would fall within its striking range in an absolute heartbeat.

I hurriedly brought up the live CCTV feed closest to the Hyeonra Department Store intersection.

“…….”

I hoped something would appear on the display, but with the currently operational cameras, the situation at the intersection was completely invisible. I immediately switched over to check the CCTV feed adjacent to the hotel.

“Nothing is particularly visible from here either.”

“Yes.”

This vantage point was also obstructed by surrounding buildings, failing to secure a clear line of sight. Under the current circumstances, it seemed the only feed capable of verifying the actual scene was that single CCTV engulfed in the dust storm. I pinned the dust-covered screen to the bottom right corner once more and scrutinized the entire CCTV network for Sector C-4.

“Fortunately, there is no change in the dungeon’s scale!”

— Excellent! Let’s move a bit faster! We’ll arrive at the hotel within one minute! — We have about ten minutes left until we reach the scene! — Head straight to the intersection! I’ll check the hotel and head right over to your position! — Yes, Team Leader! “Ha-neul-ssi, keep monitoring the situation continuous-like.”

“Yes.”

Tapping my shoulder, the Deputy Team Leader returned to his desk. I continued to scan the entire CCTV network while keeping a fixed eye on the dust-shrouded screen.

As of right now, it was impossible to discern whether the monster was continuing its straight advance or if it had veered off in another direction. That said, I couldn’t just sit on my hands and wait idly until the Team Leader arrived. It was precisely as I was sorting through the busily operating cameras.

Bzzzz— Bzzzz—

The unexpected vibration of a smartphone rang out. I cast a rapid side-glance at Kim Se-hyun.

“It’s spam.”

“…….”

I hadn’t even caught a glimpse of his phone, yet his sheer certainty in declaring it spam was subtly suspicious.

I looked at Kim Se-hyun once more, but true to form, his hands were entirely empty. When our eyes met again, he let out a heavy sigh, pulled out his phone, and verified the text message.

“…It really is spam.”

I wondered if it might be something else, but it seemed it truly was just a spam message. Watching him slide the phone back into his chest pocket with a look of irritation, I redirected my eyes to the monitor.

— Whew, just arrived at the hotel!

Before I could even resume scanning the screen, the Team Leader’s ragged breath came bursting through the network link. I focused entirely and listened closely to the exchange.

“What is the status of the field?”

— There’s absolutely no sign of life around the hotel right now!

“Can we assume they have evacuated?”

— I have to verify it. Where was the emergency announcement button located in this hotel again?

“There should be a small panel underneath the front desk that opens up. It’s installed right inside there.”

— Good! Once I wrap up here, I’ll head straight over to the intersection!

“Yes.”

While the monster’s trajectory of movement was critical, our absolute highest priority was the whereabouts of Prince Edward’s entourage. Hearing that the hotel was devoid of life triggered a sudden thought. I immediately spoke to the Deputy Team Leader.

“I’ll scan the perimeter outside the dungeon zone.”

— Youngest, while you’re scanning the outside, see if those Association bastards are en route too!

“Yes, Officer Kim.”

A task of that nature was as easy as pie. Rapidly selecting the CCTV feeds where pedestrian traffic was heavy, I displayed them on the monitor to search for Prince Edward’s entourage and the Association’s vanguard.

“…….”

Given that a mass evacuation was underway, Prince Edward’s entourage wouldn’t have been able to make it very far. I scrutinized the areas immediately adjacent to the dungeon, but no noticeable figures caught my eye. I immediately switched over to scan the evacuation shelter closest to the hotel.

— Fortunately, it seems they evacuated safely from the hotel. I’m heading straight to the intersection now!

“I’ll patch a call through to the evacuation shelter immediately.”

— Perfect!

Fleeing to the nearest shelter upon dungeon generation was a universally recommended response protocol worldwide. Prince Edward’s entourage should naturally be heading toward the local shelter as well, yet no individuals fitting their description were anywhere to be seen.

Could they have chosen an alternate route to avoid the dense crowds? I began expanding my search parameters further, bringing the live road CCTV feeds onto the screen.

— Confound it! Officer Kim, Officer Park! When exactly are those Association bastards scheduled to arrive?

The Team Leader’s urgent voice came tearing through the previously quiet network link. I asked in a hurry.

“Has something happened?”

— It’s a Clam Worm! Currently, three individual entities are swarming directly toward the intersection!

— Gasp, a Clam Worm?

For a Clam Worm, a monster that strictly manifested in coastal dungeon zones, to appear right in the absolute dead center of the city? And three distinct entities at that?

The revelation that as many as three Clam Worms—monsters widely recognized as the most agonizingly difficult to handle among the entire worm class—had manifested was by no means good news.

“Handling three Clam Worms simultaneously will be quite difficult for Big Guy to manage all on his own.”

With even Kim Se-hyun chiming in, the situation felt thoroughly bleak. Temporarily halting my search for the Prince’s entourage, I booted up every single CCTV link connecting Sector C-4 and the Association headquarters.

“…….”

Reflecting on the track record of those Association hunters, it would ordinarily take an immense amount of time for them to actually deploy to the scene. Starting from the Association headquarters, I scrutinized the screens one by one along the trajectory toward Sector C-4 where the dungeon sat. After a few minutes ticked by, I spotted them in a thoroughly unexpected location and immediately relayed the tactical data.

“The Association hunters have just entered Sector C-4!”

— Isn’t this the absolute first time they’ve managed to beat Officer Kim to the scene?

Just as the Team Leader noted, I wondered if an Association hunter had ever been deployed to a live field this rapidly in history. I continued to shadow their movements through the CCTV feeds.

— We are also on the verge of arriving! — Excellent, then I’ll do whatever it takes to hold the line until everyone gets here! The Team Leader’s voice came through the comms, firmer than I had ever heard it before. I poured my genuine emotion into my voice.

“Please stay safe out there!”

— Hahahaha! Hearing our youngest worry about me infuses me with strength I didn’t even know I had! — Don’t worry too much! For today at least, the Association is being far more cooperative than ever before! — Naturally! If even a microscopic scratch hits that slacker’s house, their own heads will roll too! Because the situation had turned so incredibly frantic, I had briefly forgotten the reality that Kim Se-hyun’s house fell squarely within the dungeon’s effective zone. I parted my lips to ask Officer Kim if the Association hunters were also fully cognizant of that fact.

“Does the Association also know for a fact that Kim Se-hyun’s house is within the dungeon radius?”

It was a question that felt as though it had walked right into my own mind and voiced it. Nodding my head, I strained my ears to catch the incoming response.

— Yes! When we submitted the cooperation request and informed them a dungeon generated in Sector C-4, you should have seen how thoroughly panicked they were! I thought they were frantically trying to establish contact, but—dodge! BOOM!

An earth-shattering roar detonated almost simultaneously with the command to dodge. It was a massive sound that couldn’t even be compared to the structural collapses I had heard previously. I instantly straightened my spine, concentrating entirely on the audio feeds filtering through.

Unidentifiable ambient noises continued to transmit over the network link. I swallowed dryly multiple times against the mounting tension when the feed cut back in.

— I thought they were just trying to call him, but they suddenly slapped down an A-Rank hunter for deployment, of all things! I thought it was incredibly bizarre, but the moment I heard the slacker’s house was over there, it all made perfect sense! Hearing Officer Kim’s stable, grounded explanation brought an immense wave of relief.

— Ha, so you’re saying they deployed an A-Rank hunter strictly to defend the slacker’s house? — That appears to be the exact case! Team Leader, we have arrived on scene! — Officer Kim takes the left worm, Officer Park handles the right! Tell the Association to split their forces to both sides, leaving one B-Rank and one C-Rank! Once the auxiliary support hunters arrive, command them all to stand standby in the rear! — Understood! It seemed the Association hunters had integrated into the field right around the exact same time Officer Kim and Officer Park touched down. The moment the Team Leader’s tactical directives went out, foreign voices began filtering through beneath their responses. While such a hyper-cooperative stance from the Association should have ordinarily felt completely anomalous, right now, it was a godsend.

I let out a sigh of relief, prepared to refocus entirely on the live combat audio streaming from the front lines. Right then, the re-emerging buzz of a vibration oddly arrested my ears. I shifted my gaze toward Kim Se-hyun.

“It’s spam.”

True to form, he delivered an immediate answer without checking the screen. Staring at Kim Se-hyun intently as a consecutive string of text alerts went off, I spoke up.

“Even so, just to be completely safe, I think it would be wise to at least check it.”

Right—to dismiss it as mere marketing text was pushing it, given that spam messages rarely bombarded a phone in such a rapid, continuous sequence. It was entirely possible that someone was desperately trying to establish a lifeline with Kim Se-hyun.

Perhaps because of the volatility of the current environment, it was simply impossible to stop my mind from automatically jumping to Prince Edward. I stared at him silently.

After a few seconds of silence ticked away between us, Kim Se-hyun let out a chuckle and slid his hand into his jacket pocket. He pulled out the device as if to verify the contents, but then abruptly flipped the smartphone screen directly toward my face to show me the display. Startled by the sudden exposure, I frantically whipped my head away.

“See? I told you it was spam.”

“…I-I see.”

If I had known it would be that, I would never have suggested he verify it in the first place. Although the absolute critical areas were obscured from view by the edge of a fabric sheet, I had never in my wild imagination expected a spam message to contain a photograph of a completely stark-naked lower body. Furthermore, the pose suggested the individual was lounging spread-eagle across what appeared to be a mattress.

“…….”

In my entire life, I had never witnessed a spam message embedded with an actual graphic photograph of that nature. The heat rushed so violently to my face that my entire system felt as though it were running a massive fever. Stealing a quick glance down at my own hands, even the inner skin of my wrists had turned a vivid, flushed red. Letting out a series of forced dry coughs, I squared my body back toward the monitor.

“Hyung, shall I fetch you a glass of water?”

Kim Se-hyun’s voice asking if I needed water was absolutely brimming with laughter. While the sheer embarrassment had mounted right to the absolute crown of my head, there was no logical reason to give him the satisfaction of showing it. I gave a firm nod, maintaining a perfectly unbothered facade.

“I’ll even float a few ice cubes in it for you.”

Humming a light tune under his breath, Kim Se-hyun sauntered away from his seat. Keeping a covert eye on his retreating figure, I frantically shuffled my mouse across the pad. Right then, a black sedan navigating a roadway situated at a considerable distance from the active dungeon zone caught my eye. I immediately magnified that specific feed to full screen.

“…….”

How on earth is this vehicle all the way over here…?

I had merely blown up the image because it clipped my peripheral vision, but I hadn’t expected to locate them this instantaneously. Spotting both the British Union Jack and the South Korean Taegeukgi fluttering from the front hood of the vehicle, I immediately relayed the data to the Deputy Team Leader.

“Deputy Team Leader! A vehicle highly suspected to be transporting Prince Edward is currently moving toward Sector A! It is currently crossing the Hatae Station checkpoint situated right on the border of Sector A and Sector C!”

“What is the license plate number?”

“It’s KOR-014!”

Verifying the plate numbers rendered it an absolute certainty that the individual riding inside that sedan was Prince Edward. The Deputy Team Leader, who had immediately cross-referenced the state protocol plate numbers, turned his eyes toward me. He gave a firm nod, and I couldn’t have felt more profoundly relieved. I quickly broadcasted the update to the comms with a brightened face.

“Team Leader, we have officially verified that Prince Edward’s entourage is currently transiting safely into Sector A.”

— Inhale, excellent! That strips away one massive anxiety. Everyone, defend that intersection at all absolute costs! Do not let even a microscopic hairline fracture hit Kim Se-hyun’s house! — Understood! Having confirmed the absolute safety of Prince Edward, the Team Leader rapidly streamlined the field operations. I was continuously swallowing down dryly while listening to the ongoing live combat audio when a paper cup suddenly manifested right in front of my nose. I glanced to my side.

“Drink up.”

I assumed he was still at the water dispenser, but I didn’t know when he had managed to brew a cup of coffee and walk back. Accepting the cup, I spoke.

“Thank you, Se-hyun-ssi.”

“…Sure.”

In stark contrast to his demeanor when handing over the beverage, the moment the words of gratitude left my mouth, a heavy pout settled across his features. Mystified by his sudden shift, I asked.

“Is something the matter?”

“You just look incredibly busy.”

I didn’t understand why he was suddenly pointing out how busy I looked—and delivering it in a voice thoroughly laced with absolute dissatisfaction at that. It wasn’t as if this were his first time witnessing the department respond to a live dungeon crisis, rendering his reaction a bit baffling. Setting the paper cup down onto my desk surface, I called his name.

“Se-hyun-ssi.”

“Yes, Hyung.”

The face that had looked utterly at war with the entire universe just a second ago transformed into an absolute picture of misery within a fraction of a heartbeat. I was momentarily flustered by the sheer velocity of his emotional transition, but staring into those heavily downturned, puppy-like eyes that looked ready to sink right through the floorboards, I opened my mouth.