Black Badger

The broadcasting station realized very quickly that they had hit the jackpot.

Their recent purchase of high-performance, state-of-the-art drones had become their winning card. Everyone had insisted that such specifications were unnecessary for aerial filming, but one of the executives was a drone maniac, so he bought drones that could even be used for military purposes. The kind that communicated via satellite.

And so footage of the Badger and the student was being recorded right now.

Even though they were outside the Core.

Since the founding of Center Core, the drone industry had grown explosively.

Badgers carried out reconnaissance outside the Core using drones. Black Badger was one of the richest government agencies, and when it came to reconnaissance equipment, they spared no expense. Naturally, the market grew rapidly.

Right now, they were the ones holding the broadcasting rights.

The faces of those who had been ashen at the thought of losing their expensive aerial equipment now brightened.

“Send it out live!”

The team leader, who came running in a panic after receiving the report, issued the order.

“Hurry! Before the Badger side sends a ‘request for cooperation,’ also known as a threat!”

They had no intention of letting Black Badger steal this golden egg from them.

A couple of drones had been sucked into the portal along with the others, but the only one that survived was theirs. Meaning they had the exclusive opportunity to broadcast.

The staff moved quickly.

The moment they started the live broadcast, the Badger side moved as well.

“The Badger side is asking for the drone’s location!”

“Tell them to figure it out themselves!”

This drone belonged to them—Rocker, the media company.

Rocker, which had a talent for manufacturing eye-catching enemies and generating views from it. They intended to hold onto exclusive rights to the footage for even a second longer. Not only from other media outlets, but from a government agency like Black Badger.

“They can just send a cooperation request to UTM!”

If Black Badger tried to determine the location by sending a cooperation request to UTM (the drone traffic management system), they would have to go through numerous annoying procedures.

The video-data rights belonged to Rocker. And Rocker fully intended to refuse UTM’s information-sharing request for any number of excuses.

Where would they ever get footage this sensational again?

If Badger figured out the drone’s location, they would send their own drones, and then the viewership would be split. The sensational drama might end early.

That could not be allowed.

They beamed as the number of live viewers skyrocketed.

Not even five minutes had passed when a call came in.

“Team leader!”

The youngest employee, who had sprinted over at full speed, called out to the team leader who was monitoring the live broadcast.

“It’s the Commander!”

The faces of those gathered around the monitors froze with shock.

But that surprise soon twisted into a sense of superiority. The Commander was definitely going to beg them.

It was an urgent situation—surely he would ask for the drone’s location. A matter of saving a life...

Watching someone of that rank bow his head was thrilling.

“He must be shitting his pants right about now.”

“Of course he’s worried. If that girl dies, his own head will roll.”

“Not to mention, wasn’t that portal the one that opened right under her feet?”

“Let’s see how nicely he grovels.”

The team leader picked up his phone with an ecstatic smile.

“Hey. Keep pushing out breaking news while I’m on the call. ...Ah, yes, yes! Commander, what brings such a busy man to us?”

[Since you’re broadcasting the footage, you must know. There is a student outside the Core.]

But the voice coming from the phone was miles away from anything that could be called pleading.

[Please provide the drone’s exact coordinates. Unless you would like to be known as a media company that sacrificed a high schooler’s life for sensational content.]

“...What?”

A completely unexpected line came through.

The faces of the newsroom staff twisted back into shock.

“Are you threatening us right now?”

Shock turned to rage within seconds.

They were used to attacking, not being attacked.

People usually didn’t pick fights with those who bought ink by the barrel.

“All information provided by the drone belongs to us!”

[The satellite that guarantees your drone’s communication does not belong to Rocker. You are free to refuse until the end. However, if that is the stance you take, we will file a lawsuit against your media company while submitting a cooperation request to UTM.]

The Commander spoke coldly.

[Decide within two minutes. I will not ask twice.]

The team leader spat out ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) a string of curses.

He kicked a folding chair nearby—bang!—sending it flying into an innocent reporter, then pointed his finger at the youngest employee.

“Give him whatever the hell he wants!”

The youngest sprinted out, completely pale.

The call ended.

Beep—. Beep—. The dial tone rang mercilessly.

The Rocker team leader, panting in anger, slammed his phone against the floor.

“Goddamn bastards, abusing their power with every breath!”

“Oh! Team leader!”

A staff member glued to the monitor shouted.

“This Badger is the same one from the article a year ago! The rookie Badger who got trapped in the building with the President of Cureus Corporation!”

“Really?”

The fuming team leader rushed to the monitor.

“That pretty boy? Jackpot! Push a breaking news alert—pull in more viewers!”

“HATN already put out breaking news. They must’ve seen our footage.”

“Those rat-bastards!”

Even while cursing viciously, the team leader grinned.

He stared at the white hair and vivid golden eyes on the screen.

The Badger was just finishing treating the wound on the student’s ankle.

After lowering the cuff of the rolled-up jeans, he stood.

The Badger, who had remained shockingly calm ever since falling outside the Core, raised his head.

“He’s looking this way.”

And, for the first time, he saw the drone.

With clear, bright yellow eyes.

***

“Yun!”

Hiroshi, the physicist from the Science Division, shoved past people as he sprinted through the building.

“Yun! It’s an emergency! Where are you!”

Hiroshi was normally terrified of Yun.

Like all the other ordinary scientists and technicians. But right now, he had forgotten all fear as he screamed Choi Yun’s name.

A man known as the NPC of the Science Department, together with John Mühlen.

But unlike John Mühlen, this NPC occasionally attacked passing characters.

The man rumored to snack on clueless rookie scientists stepped out of the restricted area.

“What?”

Yun, looking utterly exhausted, glanced at Hiroshi.

“Commander calling?”

It wasn’t.

But the news Hiroshi brought was just as urgent. That was the only reason he wasn’t killed by the Science Division’s NPC.

Most of the scientists were already gathered in front of the massive screen.

They had been groaning as they watched the broadcast, but when Yun approached, they scrambled aside.

Yun let out a dry laugh as he stared at the Rocker live footage on screen.

“Does that kid have humiliation written in his birth chart or what.”

With a weary voice, he asked no one in particular:

“Location?”

“Rocker gave it to us.”

The head of the Science Division, standing with arms crossed, immediately replied.

“They say our side is preparing to launch drones too. And we’ve been ordered to identify the cause of the portal opening.”

“Where is it.”

“They say it’s the A-zone inside D-zone—Thornvine Amusement Park.”

Hearing the familiar name, Yun clicked his tongue.

He knew exactly where that was. A famous place before the war. A massive theme park. When she was in elementary school, Ami used to beg to go there.

But the dream never came true. The war broke out, and the theme park was not included in the shelters.

Creatures seeped into the abandoned park.

A place of nightmares and hallucinations.

At some point, Badgers began calling it “Thornvine Amusement Park.” The nickname came from the troublesome, man-eating plants that encircled the park like a wreath.

Because of those vicious plants, the park was designated as A-zone. Not too far from the Core, but isolated like an island. Badgers had avoided it for a long time.

There were no water sources, geological resources, wheat, or rice fields nearby, so reclamation had never begun.

Meaning there were no Badgers close enough to rush in and help immediately.

Creatures eager to devour those two would be swarming.

“Can they get out of there?”

Someone asked in a trembling voice.

“The location they fell into is the worst. It’s not C-zone where portals are installed, nor E or F-zones where tracks exist, but D-zone—inside that, A-zone.”

“Let’s find out what caused this mess first.”

Yun finally lifted his head and stared at the junior on the screen—those golden eyes shining clearly.

“It looks like the portal opened during the event. Bring me any footage that captured it.”

The moment he finished speaking, scientists rushed into motion.

Yun listened to their hurried footsteps as he stared hard at the golden eyes on screen.

***

There is a drone.

It seems to be functioning properly.

“I’m sorry.”

As I looked at it carefully, I heard San’s trembling voice.

“I’m really sorry. I don’t think I can run fast...”

She said she was seventeen.

A high schooler, living in an apartment near the event location. It was a public holiday, so she had gone out to walk her dog and watch the event. She happened to grab the fence and saw Yehyeon, and was just thinking she should head home.

Then the crowd suddenly started screaming and running.

She hadn’t even known that the portal had appeared beneath Yehyeon’s feet.

But she did know that her dog was being dragged somewhere.

So she had sprinted after Cookie.

Without seeing her surroundings properly.

“What do I do. It’s bad enough that I fell, but my leg isn’t even fine...”

The short-haired girl with shoulder-length hair could not stop crying.

“I should’ve held Cookie’s leash tighter...”

“It’s okay.”

I gave San a faint smile.

After she nearly had a panic attack upon falling outside the Core, I barely managed to calm her down.

Seeing her eyes flushed red hurt my chest, but I was relieved that she had regained this much rationality. She was breathing normally and grasping the situation correctly.

She was a strong kid.

“It isn’t your fault. I’ll carry you. Don’t worry.”

“I’m heavy...”

“You’re not heavy at all.”

Answering softly, I bent down to match her eye level.

The girl in a gray hoodie and oversized jeans lifted her head.

I smiled back at the eyes—bloodshot, but containing firm resolve.

“You see the drone?”

San tilted her head, following my finger.

“Oh? Yes! Is that thing working right now?”

“It seems so. They’ve probably pinpointed our location.”

I only hoped it wasn’t one of the trashy broadcasting stations.

But even if it was trashy, I had no choice but to be grateful for a functioning drone right now.

My sharpened instincts had detected both kin and Creatures.

Especially the kin.

The ones who had planned to pull Yehyeon outside the Core.

Those who, the moment he crossed over, would have kidnapped and killed him—right now, they were not moving. They were not approaching me and San who stood in the abandoned plaza.

They were not even showing themselves.

Because the drone was in the air.

A drone whose ownership I could not confirm. A drone watched by unknown eyes. As long as it hovered above, the kin had no choice but to hide. It was not time yet for them to reveal themselves to humans.

They could not afford the risk of showing themselves.

But the moment the drone crashed, the kin would charge at me.

Until the machine fell, they would send Creatures to capture me.

Meaning that thing was my lifeline.

I looked up at it.

Then, at the lens attached to it, I gave a faint smile.

“I will endure, so please come find us.”

I did not know whether the sound would be heard.

After speaking to the one behind the lens, I reached out and lifted San.

The girl shrieked.

“Eek!”

“Sorry. We’re going now.”

“...Huh?!”

San wriggled in my arms.

“Going where? Is there a safe place? I can still run! I can run, really!”

“Later. Right now, put your hands over your head.”

The Creatures that had finished assessing the situation were closing the distance.

I held San braced forward like a backpack and finished preparing to sprint.

I aimed for the weakest point in the tightening encirclement.

“If you get too dizzy, tell me. Tell me if anything feels uncomfortable.”

“O-okay! But I really can run—oh? Hilde. Over there, something—”

“Let’s go.”

I struck the ground.

And I ran. Feeling the teeming presence of Creatures with my entire body.

To send this good, strong kid home alive.

To keep an innocent child from being dragged into the filthy war between me and my kin. I began to run.