Black Badger

Suddenly, what ghost?

I blinked and looked down at the seniors sitting at the four-seat table.

“I don’t particularly believe in them, and I’ve never seen one.”

Someone once told me that I was the type who simply couldn’t see most ghosts or spirits or whatever.

I just let it slide. I had no interest in that back then or now.

David said, “Oh sh—man, same,” but Chen threw both his palms upward toward the ceiling and shouted:

“No, I’m telling you it’s real! And I wasn’t the only one who saw it! The NPC from the Round Tower said he saw it too!”

“It was probably a Creature.”

“What kind of Creature has a translucent human shape? And disappears if you shine a headlight on it?!”

Chen shuddered, rebutting Jun’s remark.

“It had its face covered like it was wearing a white sheet.”

“Maybe your damn eyes are defective?”

“A sheet?”

I blinked next to Ro, who answered listlessly.

“Are you talking about something like a veil?”

And what’s an NPC from the Round Tower supposed to be.

The science building NPCs were John Mühlen and Choi Yun, but I had no clue what the Round Tower referred to.

Chen flinched, his eyes going wide.

“What the hell! How did you know that!”

Ah, damn.

It was likely not a ghost but a projection—one of the wizards’ clones.

Suppressing the urge to roll my eyes, I gave an awkward smile.

“Well, I just guessed. But what exactly is the Round Tower’s NPC?”

“You don’t know the Round Tower?”

“No.”

“What? You don’t? Who's your super—”

David shouted mid-sentence but didn’t finish.

Probably because he realized halfway through who my superior was.

My superior, meanwhile, didn’t even look this way and lazily drank his coffee.

For a moment, the conversation died. Chen trembled saying he couldn’t forget the ghost wearing a white veil, Jun mocked him, and Ro lost interest in the talk.

David was busy gauging Yun’s mood.

Someone help them out.

“The Round Tower is the nickname of the Safe Point in E-zone~.”

Someone draped an arm around my shoulder. A familiar voice sounded right next to me.

A faint scent of tobacco mixed with wood.

I turned my head and met the green eyes of a senior.

“And the NPC is what we call a Badger who doesn’t enter the Core and lives there....”

“So there are people living inside the Safe Point.”

“Chen! Is Trevor still in the Round Tower?”

Ami stretched her neck out and shouted.

Chen replied while chewing something.

“Yeah, that bastard’s beard grew even longer. Give it a bit more and he could probably strangle himself with it.”

“He still doesn’t plan on coming inside?”

“He came into the Core once, but he threw up. Said there were too many humans.”

Ah, he’s renounced civilization.

“I heard his field got bigger?”

Well, even in my old world, there were always people who carved out a home in places where no normal human should’ve been able to live.

Most of them were reclusive masters. To survive alone against monsters or natural disasters, you needed a certain level of strength.

There are always people with bizarre levels of solitude.

“Ric. Don’t eat the orange chicken. It’s freaking awful.”

“All the food here is like trash anyway~.”

Ricardo kept his arm around my shoulder as he walked. Naturally, I followed.

Jonathan was already picking his lunch.

Maybe I should get a decaf latte.

I was about to ask the green-eyed senior whether he’d drink a latte when Ro shouted.

“Ric! You got a cigarette left?”

Ricardo turned his head back.

He slipped the free hand—not the one on my shoulder—into his inner pocket and threw a cigarette pack behind him.

I stared at Ricardo and Ro with small shock.

“What are you looking at~?”

“Why do you call the senior by his real name?”

The green-eyed senior smirked. He understood me even without a subject.

“What does he call you~?”

“‘Kumbelevrt Kumchum,’ ‘Kumdeberrt Warrre,’ ‘Kumbeverrt Taliban.’”

“They all sound similar anyway~.”

“Is it because you’re from the same place?”

We loaded our trays with food.

Then we sat down behind Ami and Yun’s table. Sophia and Carl must have come and gone early. Sophia hated everyone, but she went easier on Carl since they were in the same intake. I was grateful that Ju grouped them into a team.

Forks, knives, chopsticks—everyone’s chosen utensils made clear metallic clinks.

As we began eating, the seniors who had finished their meal started chatting beside us.

“I’m telling you, I didn’t see things!”

“Sounds fun.”

Ami murmured mischievously.

“I wanna see it too.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you actually saw it. I nearly pissed myself!”

“Did you see it inside the Safe Point?”

I asked as I snapped my wooden chopsticks in half.

If he saw it inside the Safe Point, that would be annoying. The more I listened, the more it sounded not like a ghost but like one of the wizards’ scouting spells.

No physical form, invisible under sunlight—perfect for reconnaissance.

“Yes, I did. Do you even listen to what people say?”

I’d have to report this to the upper ranks as soon as we got back.

“Hilde, you’re not scared of ghosts, right?”

I ignored Chen’s nagging and Ami stretched her neck and asked.

I bit off a mouthful of ramen, swallowed, and replied.

“I’ve never seen one, so... I guess I’m not scared.”

“Knew it. When we did that horror escape room, you were perfectly fine.”

“You do escape rooms with him?”

Jun let out a snorting laugh of disbelief.

“You like him or something? Are you two one of those vague... things?”

“I do escape rooms with whoever’s free. I even went with Jason once.”

Everyone’s gaze instantly went to Ami.

“We did a horror theme then, too, and Jason kept trying to break things whenever he got startled, so I swore never to go with him again.”

“Why would you go with that bastard anyway?”

“Because going with my brother is boring. He doesn’t get scared by anything and just clears through everything without reacting.”

Suddenly, an image of my superior at an escape room café, solving everything stone-faced, popped into my mind.

I let out a small laugh while eating ramen, and Ami added:

“But Hilde didn’t get scared at all either. I think he’s more scared of my brother and Ric than ghosts.”

“Well of course.”

I answered immediately, and Ricardo beside me arched an eyebrow.

Jonathan, who had been eating in front of us, lifted his head.

Jonathan looked at Ricardo with suspicion.

“How do you treat Hilde normally for him to say that....”

“Oh come on~ I treat him well~.”

“Being nice and being scary are separate matters.”

I lifted my ramen cup to drink the broth as I said it.

Ami laughed cheerfully. David gave me a look like I was amusing.

Yun, silent until now, quietly spoke:

“So he does realize I’m nice to him.”

How is this man this shameless every single time?

“I was talking about Ric, senior.”

“So you’re saying I’m not nice?”

“As expected of your brilliant mind.”

“Pff.”

Jun spat the ion drink he was drinking.

David and Chen stared at me like they couldn’t believe it.

Those who were at least somewhat acquainted with me weren’t surprised. Even Jonathan didn’t react much. Across from Kudo—who was eating udon with a fork—Ricardo smirked, and Ami burst out laughing.

Yun let out a small snort.

I finished the ramen # Nоvеlight # broth with a shameless face.

I ate some of the other food as well. Leisurely, listening to the seniors chatter as I finished lunch. David asked who got scared the most during escape rooms, and Ami said, “The truly scared ones don’t even come, but among the ones who do, Bobby was the most terrified,” just as I finished eating.

Now for that latte.

I set down my utensils, thinking that, when my senses sharpened instantly.

Something approaching quickly.

I stood up.

“Eight o’clock direction!”

Crash!

The window shattered.

Sharp spines poured into the dining car along with glass shards.

Everyone moved fast, but since I’d sensed it first, I was the fastest.

I stretched out my right arm and caught the spine that would’ve stabbed into the senior beside me.

“You!”

Ricardo looked at my hand with fury.

“Again!”

“I’m sorry!”

My hand shot out reflexively.

Seniors were rising. The window was shattered into pieces. Utensils and dishes flew.

More spines kept flying, glass kept exploding.

Amid the chaos, stepping back and forth, I apologized desperately.

Because of the adrenaline flooding my system, I didn’t feel any pain.

Blood was running from my hand because I caught the spine, but unlike when I faced the Butterfly, my arm wasn’t punctured, so maybe it was fine.

Not that I was oblivious enough to voice that excuse.

Narrowing my eyes at the wind whipping through, I shouted:

“My hand moved reflexively!”

“Do you not understand that my wounds heal instantly, you dumbass?!”

“What the hell is that?!”

David shouted next to the furious Ricardo.

He was looking out the train window.

Dozens of Creatures were flying along the rail-bridge.

And riding the largest Creature—something human-like.

A handler.

Not just a handler—he was a chimera. Everything above his lower jaw resembled a beast. Thick black feathers, reddish eye sockets.

He rode a Creature that resembled a giant hawk—but was far larger and featherless.

Seba.

My fellow Titan looked at us.

More precisely, looked at me.

Then he smiled.

Boom!

The train shook.

The moment I leaned out the window, something hit the back of the train. The impact-absorbing train wobbled dangerously.

“Aaagh!”

“What the hell is that?! Is that humanoid?!”

Chen screamed in terror.

Bang! Ratatatatatata!

Yun counter-attacked.

The bullets aimed perfectly at Seba but didn’t hit. The Creature Seba rode shot into the sky like a hawk.

I could feel that he was heading toward the top of the train.

If you take out the handler, the fight ends quickly.

Ratatatatatatatat! The seniors fired at the Creatures shooting spines. Ami, Yun, Jonathan, and Ricardo knelt beneath the window and returned fire.

Chen’s squad also began returning fire from the opposite side.

I would take Seba.

I stepped onto the window frame to climb onto the roof.

At that moment, I saw something that made my skin crawl.

Ah.

Bang! Ratatatatatatat!

Ratatat! Ratatat!

Ratatatatat! Bang! Ratatatatatat!

“Obstacle on the tracks!”

I shouted at the top of my lungs amid the gunfire.

Deflecting incoming spines with my blade, I added:

“They blocked the end of the bridge with stone!”

“What?!”

Chen shouted, voice cracking.

Jun and David’s screams came next.

“Holy sh—!”

“Hey! We’re on a bridge!”

Yun and Ricardo darted out of the car.

They were going to stop the train.

Jonathan jumped up and yanked me down into a seated position.

Ami leaped up and ran after Yun and Ricardo.

“If it looks bad, I’ll grab them both and escape!”

She shouted sharply and disappeared into the engineer’s cabin.

“Prepare for collision, everyone!”

“Prepare for train collision!”

I turned on the radio and relayed the situation to the unseen Carl and Sophia.

Ro wasn’t nearby—he’d gone out for a smoke—but since he wasn’t one of our squad, I couldn’t relay to him.

“Get down!”

ScreeeEEEECH!

A shrieking brake sound.

The train went into emergency stop.

Jonathan pulled me into his arms. I planted my blade into the floor of the train car to hold myself against the forward momentum.

Chen’s squad wasn’t prepared.

They rolled forward, each making different noises.

“Aaagh!”

Plates, food, bowls, and shattered glass rolled with them.

Everything spilled.

Even Giacomo Ro rolled forward.

“Uwaaaah!”

The senior tumbled down the aisle toward us.

I stretched my leg out and caught him with my foot.

I managed to catch his body. Ro raised his head in confusion, then, seeing me, widened his eyes.

“Oh! Kumde!”

He gave a thumbs-up.

“Thanks!”

That’s not my name....

The moment I opened my mouth to reply, Ami’s voice burst from the radio.

[Impact incoming!]

And then—

BOOOOM!

An enormous shock.

A heavy, crushing impact.

With an ear-splitting sound, the dining car we were in was hurled off the tracks.

The derailed car fell beneath the bridge. Everything moved with the slanted, falling train car. The shock was so great that it tore my sword free from the floor.

I couldn’t even make a sound.

The three of us rolled and slammed into the smashed window frame.

Under the shattered frame lay a white snow-covered mountain slope.

“Jump and run!”

Ro was the first to regain his voice.

“We’re gonna get crushed, for f—’s sake!”

He didn’t give us time to answer.

There wasn’t time anyway. The moment he finished speaking, Ro leapt onto a snow-covered tree. Jonathan grabbed me tightly and jumped out the window.

Cold air slapped my face.

The snow-covered trees rushed up quickly.

The moment I realized they were pines, my memory cut off.

***

When I opened my eyes, Jonathan was staring down at me.

His face pale.

Thank god.

“Hilde.”

“Jonathan. Are you alright?”

I looked at the senior and gave a faint smile.

“Thank you for saving me. I thought I might get crushed to death.”

His brow wrinkled.

Jonathan Kudo, covered in dried blood, looked down at me with a completely different expression than when we were trapped in the Tower.