Surviving Restructuring

“We’ll be joining you shortly.”

“I’ll keep one of them on standby.”

The head of the Personnel Bureau’s Field Support Division One—commonly known as the director’s fighting dog—recalled his master’s words.The target was Lee Eun-Ho, so everyone else was to be wiped out.

“Eliminate his limbs first.” Thus, he issued his orders. “If you go down sloppily, you won’t even earn a clean death.”

With dry, emotionless eyes, he carefully swept his gaze over those lined up before him. Though called the Field Support Office, they were actually warriors. Each and every one of them led a special task force of the Human Resources Intelligence Command.

They were in charge of internal processing, quietly disposing of employees under the director’s authority. On his behalf, they had amassed distinguished achievements, paving the way for his rise to power.

That was precisely why he understood what kind of person the director was. He would instill fear by displaying the gruesome downfall of those who displeased him, while granting intoxicating pleasure to those who earned his favor.

“But, if we cleanly deal with the pests in that forest...” one of his men said.

“There will be rewards waiting for us, enough to live in luxury for decades,” he assured.

The ten unit commanders answered in unison, “Yes sir!”

The leader gave a short nod. “Status?”

“Disruption team, all clear.”

“Infiltration team, all clear.”

“Combat team, all clear.”

“Supply team, all clear.”

Their replies were pure, sterile professionalism, utterly devoid of emotion. That made them all the more reliable. Still, it was far too early to relax.

He reminded them. “Complacency is forbidden under any circumstances.”

They approached even the extermination of a single insect with utmost seriousness. That philosophy was what had brought them this far.

“What about Lee Eun-Ho?”

“Unconfirmed. He doesn’t appear to be in the forest. Shall we wait?”

He knew well of Field Support Division Two’s failure. More than that, under the director’s orders, he had personally recovered their corpses and analyzed their injuries.

“There’s no need for that.” He had neither the intention nor the reason to repeat the same mistake. Which was why he tossed a gift for the pests, like a formal salutation. “Begin with a greeting.”

It was a biochemical bomb designed to forcibly rupture and pry open internal energy channels.

***

Sssss—

At the center of the forest lay a wide-open clearing, where the log cabin and control tower stood. A missile-like bomb fell straight down onto their office, ruthlessly smashing through the sturdy wooden fence.

Bloody tears streamed from Yeon Bo-Ra’s eyes. “U-Unnie?”

[Caution!]

[Your Stamina is rapidly decreasing due to toxic mist.]

[Evacuate the contaminated area immediately and administer an antidote!]

Ji-Eun touched the inside of her right ear. “Hold on!”

Then, a personal screen unfolded over her eyes like a pair of sunglasses.

Bo-Ra’s Stamina is dropping! Twenty-nine percent, twenty-eight, twenty-seven!

The sudden attack had drained a massive amount of Stamina. Ji-Eun felt the same dizziness and numbness creeping into her limbs.

[The Log Cabin(Lv. 5) partially blocks toxicity.]

[Effects of toxic mist are greatly reduced.]

The damage was so severe that it tore through the building they had painstakingly upgraded. That meant Bo-Ra, whose Stamina was lower than hers, had taken a far worse hit.

“It’s still not at a critical level,” Ji-Eun said.

“I can still move,” Bo-Ra replied.

If this had happened back when a light tap could knock her over, she would’ve died already.

“Uh... The bleeding stopped.” The blood tears halted as if by magic. However, not too long after, Bo-Ra’s face flushed red as she clutched her head and collapsed. “Kuk...”

“B-Bo-Ra?! What’s wrong?! There wasn’t another attack—”

“I-It’s too cold...”

Not just her face, but her neck, her earlobes, and even the sliver of scalp visible beneath her hair had turned red. After the feverish heat passed, leaving behind bone-deep chills, Bo-Ra retched again, coughing up blood as if expelling poison.

“I’ll call Sol-Ah—”

“Kuk!”

In the next moment, Ji-Eun was shocked, but not because of the dark clump of blood Bo-Ra spat out. “Y-your Stamina! It’s going up again!”

Twenty-eight percent. Twenty-nine. Thirty...

Slowly but steadily, her Stamina began to recover.

Ji-Eun’s eyes went wide. “D-did you just regenerate? You had a recovery ability?!”

She didn’t recall Bo-Ra having that ability just days ago. Until now, only Jae-Hyuk among them possessed regeneration.

Bo-Ra wiped the blood from her lips. “It’s because of immunity.”

“Immunity?”

“I got it after finishing the Intermediate Physical Training class.”

“What? You already cleared intermediate?!”

Her eyes shone with hope and pride at no longer being a burden to anyone. “Yes, but barely.”

“That’s amazing, Bo-Ra! All that effort paid off!”

When Bo-Ra had first met Eun-Ho, her Stamina had dropped to three. Now, it was seventeen. The explosive growth was made possible by pouring every reward she’d earned into herself, plus a week of brutal special training.

Reassured, the two women picked up their weapons and moved forward.

“Then...”

“Shall we go?”

“I’m ready.”

They charged back into the chaos, into the team members thrown into pandemonium by an ambush that had come far sooner than expected.

“Psychokinesis!”

“Mold!”

***

Without a sound, enemies poured in from aircraft that blotted out the sky and the dark forest beyond the shattered fence.

“Shit! Why are there so many of them?!”

“I’ll hold them back!” Bo-Ra cried out.

Whoooosh—!

She swept her hand through the air. In an instant, a massive wall rose up around the collapsed fence. It was bristling like a hedgehog, packed with hundreds of poison-coated spears and cannons they had prepared in advance.

“All units, halt!”

Faced with the unexpected obstacle, the enemy force chose to detour around the wall that towered like a second Great Wall.

“This way!”

That was when Yeon Bo-Ra shouted, “Go around!”

She was pointing them toward sections where gaps had been deliberately left. Those were trap zones, prepared by other team members.

That side should be safe...

Bo-Ra tilted her head upward. At that moment, enemies began dropping from the sky without parachutes, carrying nothing but massive shields.

Then, a warning rang out toward her.

“Duck!” Park Gong-Chan yelled.

“Okay!” she answered instinctively.

Boom—!

The shield shattered as Park Gong-Chan’s shot slammed into it.

“What the hell?!”

“What the hell is that guy?!”

“What do you think?” Park Gong-Chan said flatly to the enemies.

His second shot smashed a masked helmet, while his third took the enemy’s head clean off.

“I kick balls,” he added.

“What?!”

“Get it together! Defensive formation!”

Some enemies raised barriers, but Park Gong-Chan kept firing again and again until they broke.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—!

There wasn’t a shred of hesitation in his shots. He simply relied on the custom vest Eun-Ho had given him, and the lethal throwing skills he had honed at the academy.

“Aaaaargh!”

In no time, the forest’s greenery was drowned out by blood and gore, which the team shared plenty of responsibility for.

“Mister! A little closer!” Sol-Ah shouted.

Still, it wasn’t very noticeable thanks to Yoon Sol-Ah’s newly acquired broad-range healing skill.

“Mass Heal!”

Fwaaaash—!

Concentric circles spread out from her feet, wrapping everyone standing within them in a thin, translucent layer that sealed their wounds.

“Yoon Sol-Ah! You said you didn’t have the Stamina to use that!” Yeo-Jin screamed.

“I do if I take drugs first,” Sol-Ah shot back. As she chugged down the stamina-recovery potion Dmitri had given her, she shouted, “Anyone who can’t handle the poison, come this way!”

“Keugh... T-thank you, miss!”

Brains splattered, blood flowed and amid the blue glow of the Mass Heal, Kim Ji-Eun moved faster than anyone else.

“Jin-Sol! Cha Jin-Sol!” she shouted.

“Material—Kuk...” he cried.

“Psychokinesis!” Ji-Eun barked.

She yanked a teammate out of an enemy’s grasp and flung him back to their designated position.

Having lost his original target, the enemy lunged toward Ji-Eun at blinding speed. “There is Kim Ji-E—”

Bang! Bang!

Soon, three bullets slammed into his forehead, putting an end to his attack.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

More enemies swarmed in at the sound of gunfire, only to fall one by one. She fired endlessly, packing every ounce of her mental strength into each infinite bullet.

Swoosh—!

Just then, a chilling sword strike rang out from beyond the wall, accompanied by a blinding flash of light.

“W-what is that now?!”

The wall that had turned the forest into a fortress began to split apart horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. Merciless slashes carved into it, widening the cracks until the wall finally collapsed.

Crack!

Thuuuud—!

As if they had been waiting for it, enemies flooded in like a tidal wave.

In that instant, Ji-Eun sensed the danger and death itself advancing toward them, akin to a predator closing in on fragile wildflowers. “Get back!”

The iron ball Park Gong-Chan sneakily threw disintegrated the moment it touched the pitch-black smoke cocooning the figure ahead.

“Y-you are...”

The muttered words faded before they could finish.

“This miserable clearing hasn’t changed a bit.”

Ssssssss—

[You have been exposed to the aura of death.]

They didn’t need anyone to tell them that the presence was their enemy, the director.

[Your innate vitality has been drained.]

[Your Stamina has decreased.]

[Negativity and despair have replaced positivity and hope.]

He was on an entirely different level from any enemy they had faced so far. It wasn’t even a matter of strength or weight class. How could bullets stop a tidal wave? How could closing one’s eyes prevent the sun from rising and setting?

“W-we’re completely outmatched. This is suicide.”

“Isn’t it too dangerous for us to fight this on our own?”

“Can’t we hide somewhere? Just until the team leader comes back!”

It was a kind of fear that even Ji-Eun’s exceptional mental strength couldn’t withstand. Terror, anxiety, and tension had already seized her mind.

Yet, despite everything, she raised her gun. “We can’t.”

“I’m just saying this just in case.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“When I’m not around, you’re the team leader, Ji-Eun.”

It was nothing more than an offhand remark, but Eun-Ho’s words had lodged themselves deep in her chest. They burned with a hot, itching intensity akin to a living flame.

“Everyone, just hold on a little longer!” Ji-Eun shouted. “We have to protect the forest!”

The moment she cried out with all the courage she could muster, the forest answered.

Thuuud—!

[The Wailing Forest bows before the ruler’s proxy.]

The primordial land trembled, wildflowers and grasses quivered, and ancient trees that had stood unmoving for countless ages straightened their branches.

In the next moment, they rose.

Thud—!

[The Forest Guardians have awakened.]

They still remembered that moment.

“All Guardians, heed my call!”

They still remembered the overwhelming presence of the Guardians that filled the forest, and the ruler’s voice that forced even them to kneel.

“Eradicate the enemies who threaten the sacred forest!”

There was a command brimming with absolute conviction, and the fervent response of loyal creations.

“By the master’s will!”

“By the master’s will!”

“By the master’s will!”

The monsters bowed their heads before their sovereign.

“T-this is insane!”

“They’re on our side, right?”

For their master, the Guardians had risen once more to protect the forest and their people.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

[Warning!]

[Defense protocol has been activated in the Wailing Forest!]

[Switching to Defensive Stance.]

Almost at the same time, a red system window flashed before everyone’s eyes as the security guard shouted urgently, “Guard!”

Fwaaash—!

[You are now within the Guard Post area.]

[It has been linked with the unique ability Guard.]

[Unauthorized intrusion will be repelled under the guard’s protection.]

“Students! Misses! Everyone, over here!” the security guard yelled.

“M-Mister!”

Light burst from the security guard as he ran over, heels half-crushed into his shoes. It was the warmest half-dome imaginable. “The range has expanded quite a bit. Durability’s gone up too! I can hold them for a while!”

“What the heck! Am I the last one?!”

“Ms. Song! Hurry inside!”

Next came the cleaning lady, charging in barefoot, impossibly imposing. “Just you wait. I slapped a turbo booster on my vacuum!”

The tip of her sharp spear split like a bundle of chopsticks.

Vroooooom—!

From the gaping mouth of that crocodile-like weapon, a roaring motor echoed through the clearing.

“Huh?”

The pitch-black smoke that had blanketed the area was sucked straight into the cleaning lady’s vacuum.

“Holy shit, is she absorbing death itself?!”

“Stop spouting nonsense and fight over there!”

Swear-Master and Lee Ye-Ji forced their trembling legs to move and raised their weapons.

Then, Choi Jae-Hyuk stepped forward, planting himself in front of them. “Stay behind my back!”

“Hieek! Why is your body so damn big?!”

“Did you do one of those upgrades or something Young Man?”

Jae-Hyuk had swollen grotesquely like the green monster from the movies.

At that moment, the director finally said, “Do I really need to deal with vermin like this myself?”

The masked man bowed his head. “I will handle it, sir.”

He lowered himself, then sprinted forward, closing the distance in an instant.

However, the man who once trembled at even the smallest wound due to childhood trauma was gone.

“Ultra Regeneration. Pain suppression, one hundred percent! Here I gooo!”

Only a warrior remained, one who had cast pain itself into the depths of forgotten memory.

“Focus fire! Charge!” demanded the director.

Clang! Clang—!

Sword strikes rained down, all aimed solely at Jae-Hyuk, as if by prior agreement.

“Why is that bastard hogging all the spotlight?!” Swear-Master shouted.

Jae-Hyuk’s left arm, slashed deeply, dangled uselessly below the elbow. An arrow trailing flames burned the flesh behind his thigh.

Yet he roared, “It doesn’t hurt at all!”

Thwack—!

He ripped out the flaming arrow and drove it straight into the enemy’s throat.

“He’s insane!”

It wasn’t just the enemy who was overwhelmed by the sight.

Beeeep—!

“You pieces of shit!”

Shrill curses blasted through a loudspeaker, piercing their ears.

“Eek!”

“You ugly fucks come barging into someone else’s home! What kind of bullshit is that?! All you’re good for is fucking things up like the trash you are!”

This wasn’t to hide their own weakness. It was to protect everyone.

The fear that had spread among them like a plague was gone.

As the tide slowly began to turn, the director stepped back from the rotting phlegm that crept up to his feet. “Tsk. Your effort is disgusting.”

The deathly being’s momentary displeasure didn’t end with words.

Suuuuush—!

Pitch-black smoke erupted explosively from beneath the man’s feet. The chilling aura of death gathered once more, coalescing into a familiar shape. A colossal fist slammed down as if to crush Swear-Master.

“W-what is that?”

“Is that a hand?!”

The toxic mist poured down like a torrential rain, colliding head-on with the barrier. In the next moment, it shattered, surging forward as if everything before had merely been a warm-up.

Crunch—

The hand-shaped mass of poison seized the man by the throat.

“Ugh... W-what is this! Kuk...”

The moment his complexion turned like a filthy snowfield in winter, a brilliant white beam split the dark air in two.

From within that light stepped a late arrival.

“I apologize for being late,” Eun-Ho said calmly.

“T-T-Te—”

“Team Leader!”

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