Black Badger

The Science Wing was a single building.

A skybridge connected it to the neighboring structure, but the entire building itself was considered the Science Wing. Some people even called it the Research Wing. The lobby was on the first floor, Café Senabi on the second, and from the third floor upward were the labs and the scientists’ offices.

It was from the largest office there that the Creature burst out.

Hiroshi let out a strangled scream as he stumbled backward.

“Uwaaaagh!”

The Creature closed in faster than his feet could carry him.

Razor-sharp claws shot toward his face.

What had been claws turned into a single dot filling his vision—

Bzzt-crackle!

“Uagh!”

[Shield activated.]

Martin’s voice resonated.

[Shield activated.]

“Shut it down!”

Hiroshi fell on his backside.

A translucent blue shield had appeared in front of him. The shield that bisected the lab. Martin had fired it from the round eyes of his device. The AI, usually running along the ceiling rails, was now hanging from wires, floating at a height of two meters.

The blue shield wrapped around the spatial transfer array.

Kate ran past the shield and cut across the lab.

“Shut down the entire Science Wing except the skybridge!”

“Hey! Then we can’t get out!”

“If those things break outside, the Badgers’ support gets scattered too!”

Tears streamed nonstop down Kate’s face as she sprinted toward the red button next to the lab door.

“I’ll shut down all the windows!”

“Hey!”

Someone running barefoot screamed until their throat tore.

“Just a second!”

Clang!

She slammed the button.

Kate flipped open the transparent cover and began pounding the button with all her strength.

A few people cried out in panic, but she didn’t hear them.

Some ran out into the corridor; others sprinted toward Yun’s desk.

[Initiating shutdown.]

A clear female voice echoed through the building.

[Initiating shutdown.]

“I’m activating the mini-core!”

Sean shouted as he rushed to Yun’s desk.

“Everyone, gather up!”

The scientists flocked toward Yun’s desk.

Some dragged the slumped Hiroshi by the scruff of his neck. After reaching the desk, they clung desperately to the device Sean pulled out.

A mini core generator.

An emergency machine bought out of Yun’s own pocket — extremely expensive.

[Shield damage level 10%]

Thud!

A Creature slammed into the shield.

Creatures pouring out of the spatial array now filled the inside of the shield completely. Through the semi-transparent barrier, countless multicolored lifeforms pressed against it.

Each attacked the shield in its own way.

[Shield damage level 15%]

Bzzt-crackle!

Kwoong!

“There are too many...”

Someone whispered in horror as the number kept increasing.

“Why is it still going up?”

[Shield damage level 23%. Shield damage 30%. Shield damage 35%.]

“Hiiiik!”

“Install it! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!!”

“It’s done! Everyone stick to the desk!”

“Martin! Hold on!”

Wooooong— With its distinct sound, the mini core generator began to operate.

The scientists crouched under Yun’s desk. Sitting close to the generator, they stared anxiously at the core forming from the bottom up.

If it finished in time, it would hold steady until the Badgers arrived.

But generating a core took time...

[Shield damage level 57%]

“Shit!”

“At this rate we’re gonna die! Shouldn’t we run for the hall right now?”

“How many minutes left? Sean! How many minutes?!”

“Why aren’t the Badgers here yet?”

The curly-haired scientist sobbed.

“We didn’t shut down the skybridge, remember?”

KWA-AANG!

[Shield damage level 65%]

“Uagh! Uagh!”

“Martin! Make another shield!”

“Send all power to Martin!”

A scientist craned his neck to look.

“Martin! Use the entire building’s power!”

Click.

Everything went dark.

As the scientists screamed in terror, the blue shield glowed within the darkness.

So did the core device, humming as it continued generating the core.

[Shield damage level 70%. Damage 76%. Damage 82%.]

“We’re dead.”

“The core won’t finish before the shield breaks. We should run.”

“Are the Badgers still not here?”

Someone sniffled.

“Why aren’t they coming?”

The mini core continued forming at a crawl.

The scientists wiped their tears and looked toward the lab’s entrance.

In the darkness, the red shutdown switch glowed faintly.

Kate whispered with a tight, trembling voice:

“When the damage goes past 90%, we run for the hall.”

No one objected.

“If we all run the same direction we’ll get slaughtered, so split right and left—”

[Shield damage 85%]

[Damage 87%. Damage 90%]

At that moment, the scientists saw a pair of eyes.

Yellow eyes glowing like a cat’s.

Those who were rising to their feet froze.

Floating in the pitch-black void were two yellow lights.

The eyes staring straight ahead rolled slightly.

“Hilde?”

[Shield damage 93%.]

A crescent-shaped smile formed within the eyes.

[Shield damage 97%]

“Sorry for being late.”

The owner of the eyes stepped inside.

[Shield damage 99%]

“Stay where you are.”

Hilde spoke.

“Don’t move.”

[Shield damage 100%]

[br-zzzt— dis-zzzt— rupt]

CRASH!

KWA-AAAANG!

A heavy gust of wind tore across the lab.

The scientists saw the shield shatter; saw a white wave slice through the room the exact instant the shield broke; saw it shred the Creatures spilling out; saw the fragments scatter like debris.

Clack.

The lights flicked back on.

“Stay together in one place.”

Hilde gave a faint smile and leveled his sword.

***

They needed to plug the hole — that was the only real solution.

As he butchered the Creatures spilling out, Hilde’s brow furrowed slightly.

The scientists were crammed beneath Yun’s desk. They seemed to be generating a core; honestly, staying there looked safer than trying to run outside.

Slash—

He cleaved a Creature leaping overhead.

Its bisected corpse splattered across the hallway tiles.

His hands moved fast. He pushed back Creatures bursting out in every direction — shoving, slashing, cleaving.

The problem wasn’t that he couldn’t stop them. He could. But he couldn’t keep doing this forever. The Creatures were erupting upward, sideways, everywhere like a swarm.

This was dangerous.

He thrust a charging Creature backward with a single sharp strike and shouted:

“Martin! Can you rebuild the shield?”

[Restoring.]

A voice replied, crackling with unstable noise.

[Restoring.]

“How long for the core device?”

Thud!

He slammed aside a Creature flying toward his blade.

Sean shouted: 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

“Ten minutes left!”

Way too long.

“Anyone else still in the lab?”

He couldn’t see any.

Someone might be under the overturned desks. He had no spare attention to check on others while fending off the Creatures.

Humans didn’t give off detectable signals anyway.

“Looks like no one...”

“John!”

What?

“John is missing!”

“Huh? Now that you say it—!”

“He wouldn’t have gone home...”

“Shit. He really isn’t here?”

The scientists, who had just begun calming down, panicked again.

“He should be at the desk next to ours. Where is he?”

Damn it.

He definitely wouldn’t have gone home.

He had to still be somewhere within the Research Wing. Hilde narrowed his eyes while forcing back a mass of charging Creatures.

Bathroom? Another floor?

If he popped out from somewhere unexpected...

“He wasn’t here from the start!”

“Maybe he’s on another floor?”

“I’ll look for him!”

Hiroshi suddenly jumped up.

Hilde snapped his head toward him and shouted sharply:

“Sit down!”

Hiroshi froze in terror.

Hilde slashed a fluffy creature clinging to the ceiling, then ordered:

“Don’t move from there.”

Hiroshi dropped back to the floor.

Hilde jerked his chin and swung his sword. KWA-AANG! Several Creatures exploded apart. His clothes were completely soaked in blood. Creature intestines clung to his shoulders and arms, eyeballs rolled across the floor.

The lab floor was littered with exposed Creature innards from his strikes.

How do I plug this damn hole...

He chased down a Creature that nearly escaped behind him, killed it, then lifted his gaze.

“Martin?”

[Restoring.]

Martin rotated slowly in midair, answering.

[Restor—]

“Gyaaaagh!”

Someone screamed suddenly.

Hilde snapped his head around — though he didn’t need to.

“John!”

“Senior Mühlen!”

“Hilde! There! There!!”

He whirled toward the shout.

And there — deep in the lab, at the far right diagonal from him — the door to the controlled area had opened.

The area where Yun kept heads of his own kind.

A door that was normally locked shut.

From within, something long and thin stepped out.

Hilde froze, analyzing the situation.

Creatures kept pouring out without end.

More than ten scientists were crouched behind him. The mini core was still unfinished. Creatures rampaging left and right would slip through the incomplete core’s gaps.

They’d tear at human skin with their needle-like spines.

And all the scientists were just ordinary humans.

John Mühlen was an enhanced-body owner.

Two octopus-like Creatures were already leaping at him, but if Hilde swung his sword to cut them, he wouldn’t be able to block the Creatures flying toward the /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ scientists—

“John!”

Hilde shouted desperately.

“Dodge!”

It was probably a useless cry.

“Or run this way! Now!”

The genius scientist blinked.

The tall, thin figure froze on the spot.

Are you kidding me?!

“At least duck!”

They’re gonna get you!

Bang!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Creatures leaping at John Mühlen were pulverized.

Four Creatures that had been airborne were shot out of the sky. The closest one’s eyeball burst and fell onto Mühlen’s shoulder. The others were blasted backward, tumbling across the floor.

More gunfire followed.

Two different spots were raining bullets.

Hilde snapped his head toward the shooters — both possessed exceptional marksmanship.

“Stay put.”

It was Seunghyun and Yun.

“You’re not even well.”

Though they said that, the help was desperately needed.

He worried for them, but—

Pale-faced, they approached from different directions.

They were in such bad shape they didn’t even notice one another as they walked toward him.

The two men holding guns spoke at the same time:

“Put up a barrier.”

“Put up a barrier. Martin’s drained.”

Only then did they turn their heads and see each other.

Even while Hilde swung his sword nonstop, he could see both men’s brows twist sharply — cold, unpleasant expressions.

Their shared disgust was palpable.

“Fuck.”

Bang!

Yun cursed, and Seunghyun irritably fired into the innocent lab floor.

He dropped his empty magazine, slamming in a new one with annoyed fingers.

Ah.

This cooperation wouldn’t be easy.

Hilde exhaled a sigh torn from deep in his gut.

Then, tightening his grip on his sword, he answered:

“Fine. I’ll make the barrier. Back me up.”

Surely they wouldn’t start fighting right now of all times.

“Let’s hold them.”

Ignoring the silence behind him, Hilde sprinted deeper into the lab.