10. Cleansing -4

The rain was streaming down outside. It was like a tropical downpour.

‘TuTuTu-Tuk’

The sound of the water dripping down from the ceiling and hitting the floor of the pit was loud. In the dim pit were two people lying against the wall of the pit, staring out into the ducky outdoors, the both of them locked in their own thoughts. The pit had two entrances, one on the left and one on the right side. There was a small ditch that had been dug out that housed a small, brazier-like campfire that had been lit. The two were sat opposite each other looking outside, the two of them having tracked in rain water from outside, leaving a streak of ink-black streak of rain.

For an hour, San had already been in a state that welcomed a life and death situation, staring outside.

“This… Just what exactly am I to make of this situation…”

San mumbled to himself. While exhaling a long line of cigarette smoke, San fiddled around with the ‘broken’ cell phone in his hand, the same phone whose battery he had taken out and was currently displaying a blinking light that indicated a message had been received. His gaze was still focused on the dark outside.

Biyeon was sitting down with her arms wrapped around her knees, her neck slightly raised up, staring outside. She needed to think about something, but her thoughts were all jumbled and she couldn’t concentrate.

“Just why in the world am I here…?”

She whispered to herself.

And in that silence, time slowly carried onwards, as though it was entangled in a spider web.

“This is a game… ”

San mumbled to himself again. San was chewing on the b.u.t.t of a cigarette that had burnt out. His gaze was fixed outside, but his mind was in a deep inner world, constantly thinking about something.

‘Tuk’

San haphazardly tossed out the cigarette b.u.t.t. Bombarded by the rain, the b.u.t.t quickly dissolved away. In the dim light, San’s eyes shone like those of a wild beast’s.

“Lieutenant Kim…”

“…”

Although he had called out to her in a quiet voice, Biyeon had lifted her neck and gazed at San. Her eyes were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with tears. In her eyes, she saw the blurry and refracted appearance of a determined San.

“I don’t which son of a b.i.t.c.h is playing this f.u.c.king kind of prank on us, but I suggest we do things as we see fit. Let’s look for a solution. This feeling like we’re a couple of bugs that have been caught gives me a dirty feeling… It really sucks…”

“…”

Biyeon nodded her head instead of replying with words. Many thing that could not be calculated were constantly circulating around her mind, screaming out at her. The data was inadequate, but her mind was asking for answers.

Biyeon went and opened a folder on her cell phone again.

In the dark, the light coming off the LCD backlight reflected off her face. The silky silhouette of her face shone enough to push back her dim surroundings.

“Sender : Nir(Nil)

Recipient : 05-won, Kim Biyeon

Mission : Hunt 1 Arpin (See Screen)

         Capture 1 Hawk (See Screen)

Reward : Leather, Teeth, Oil, Feathers, etc

Penalty : Blood Hunt

Solution : Up to user discretion

Time Limit : 24 hours

Next Mission : Tomorrow evening at 6 o’clock “ [TN: So this was kind of confusing to translate, I’ll make fixes as the context becomes clearer. In this context, ‘Hawk’ in Korean is ‘매’ which is p.r.o.nounced ‘meh’, but in this part, the author writes ‘호크’ which is p.r.o.nounced ‘ho-keu’ which is why I just put it down as ‘Hawk’. Again, I’ll extrapolate on it and make appropriate changes in the future should I feel it necessary.]

San also took out his cell phone and was looking at the message.

“Sender : Nul (Nul)

Recipient : 04-won, Kang San

Mission : Hunt more than two Argon(See screen)

Reward : Leather, Teeth, Oil, etc.

Penalty : Blood hunt

Solution: Up to user discretion

Time Limit : 24 hours

Next Mission : Tomorrow evening at 6 o’clock“

He pressed the ‘Next’ b.u.t.ton. The screen was kind enough to display the picture of this creature called an Argon. And it was a video at that as well. It was reminiscent of a dinosaur-era hunter called an oviraptor. [TN: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oviraptor%5D It was a popular creature that made an appearance in the movie “Jura.s.sic Park”. Does that mean they are in the age of dinosaurs then?

Next to the picture was information vital to hunting the Argon.

“They were kindly enough to display it in Korean… I guess I’m grateful. [TN: Can’t capture in English, but it’s sarcastic] I guess the great King Sejong would have liked you… 18…’

San muttered to himself. [TN: King Sejong the Great was a swell guy. Came up with the Korean alphabet Hangul and supported science and other cool education stuff.] It was a tone that gave off a metallic, and b.l.o.o.d.y scent. [TN: No idea what this means. Idiom perhaps?]

‘- Length: 4 meters

– Height: 2 meters

– Weight : 1 ton

– Length of Front Feet : 1.5 meters

– Vertical Jumping Ability : 3 meters

– Horizontal Jumping Ability: 7 meters’

“Catch two monsters like this… just shut up and can’t even ask why… risk my life…keu-keu- this isn’t some online game either… well f.u.c.k… are you f.u.c.king with me?”

‘tak’

San silently whispered to himself while closing the folder in his phone.

Biyeon was staring with a stern expression at the phone while fumbling with it in her hand.

‘Just who could have sent this? The senders were named Nil and Nul… just how were they able to send the message? Is there a base for mobile phones in the vicinity? But does it make sense that the phone would still work with no power? But it’s working right now… is it a principle like Active RFID?  Plus what is this… these creepy beasts… to catch these by tomorrow and skin them?‘

Of course he had tried to call the sender. And the result? Horrible. He doesn’t even want to think about it again. Repeatedly touching the caller b.u.t.ton again, she clenched the phone in her trembling hands. She shuddered. Earlier she had gotten really close to the brink of insanity. She had really suffered through some torturous sounds.

From the moment Biyeon kept pressing the call b.u.t.ton, a call began.

‘Keu-keuk-kak-kak-ki-ki-ki-ggik-ggik’

When she pressed the send b.u.t.ton, a sound rang in her head. It was a sound that came from the depths of h.e.l.l. It was like the sound of nails scratching on a blackboard, but of a magnitude a hundred times worse. Within the sounds was a dense screamed, of which there was a cold and creepy sound mixed in. And like someone was sc.r.a.ping away at a rusty bra.s.s bowl, the sounds mercilessly shook her head.

In short, it was a sound that was hard to deal with, even for a mere ten seconds. San and Biyeon were going crazy, and they rolled around in the pit like mad dogs. Although the sound had only gone on for a minute or so, it was enough to make the both of them drool and foam at the mouth. The sound stopped after exactly one minute.

With the degree at which they clawed at the floor, some finger nails had broken off which also caused blood to flow from their fingertips.

And like that they spent two hours in a wretched state.

“But still… we… survived.”

Biyeon turned her head and looked at San with a resolute expression.

“Of course! How can we die in this f.u.c.king state? If we are to die, we will at the very least find out which son of a b.i.t.c.h is responsible for sending us to this nonsense world and for what reason we were sent here… I, Kang San, will not die like this. Unfairness… embarra.s.sment… ah! f.u.c.k- it p.i.s.ses me off just thinking about it…”

San replied while rubbing his bandaged fingers.

“Anyways, this situation seems to be real. I guess we’ll know once we see it tomorrow. Let’s get ready for battle like that b.a.s.t.a.r.d wants. I don’t know who this b.a.s.t.a.r.d is but I will fight, is a soldier unable to fight? It’s a game that wants us to hunt, we should make preparations based on what we were given. For now let’s ready our equipment, then we can plan a strategy. ”

“Yes sir.”

The two got up and began readying and cleaning their equipment. Uncertain of what lay before them, the only thing they could rely on was the information they had given, in which case, the chances of them risking their lives would be be very high. Although there were an overflowing amount of reasons to not believe, there were just as many reasons to believe as well. They could only clench their teeth and prepare for what’s to come.

‘Solely, for the sake of our survival… this is a game. A survival game…’

San once again inspected his K-1 Rifle and magazine that he got from the army. He wore a pistol and its holster on his right side. He thought about handing it to Biyeon, but to a person with no shooting experience, the pistol would be more of a burden. It would be difficult for her to adjust to it. He then grabbed a leather strapped and weaved it up and down and sharpened his knife. [TN: Lost in translation] After considering his the prey he has to hunt, San decided to also remove the helmet on the parachute. He also packed some Ray-ban sungla.s.ses. Sungla.s.ses are a paratrooper officer’s romance. He had bought them for a photoshoot because they coordinated well with a beret that he wore for the photo, but as it turns out, it really did help when keeping the sun out of his eyes.

Biyeon packed up her K-1 rifle and its bayonet. The creatures they had to hunt were agile and relatively small.  One is an ostrich-like reptile called the Arpin, and the other is an eagle-sized bird called the Hawk.

It seemed they were ready to an extent. Now they have have to a.n.a.lyze the mission details and come up with a strategy to for the operation.

“Let’s figure out how to deal with our prey now, sir.”

Biyeon’s voice came up from the pit.

San raised his head and looked at Biyeon. His eyes were open wide.

From within the pit, he saw that her eyes had changed, they had become steady and sagacious… he was looking at a wonderful warrior.