A Veteran Player is Needed in the Apocalypse

Chapter 63: The Promise (6)

“To a monster…?”

Plato asked in a trembling voice as he stared at the bloodstains.

“Have they already… been attacked?”

However, both the Commander and I shook our heads in response to his question.

It seemed the Commander had immediately recognized what these bloodstains were, but instead of speaking, he simply looked at me, as if signaling me to explain.

I let out a small sigh and said,

“This wasn’t caused by a monster.”

At my words, Plato was startled and asked again.

“If not a monster, then what could these bloodstains be?”

“You probably wouldn’t know. You’ve never shot a person before.”

“Excuse me?”

For a moment, Plato tilted his head, not quite understanding, but soon enough, he seemed to grasp what I meant. His eyes widened in shock as he looked at the bloodstains again.

“Then… are you saying that this is…”

“Yeah. This isn’t a monster’s doing. It’s the trace of one person shooting another.”

“Not a monster, but a person…”

Plato turned his gaze, alternating between me and the Commander.

“His Excellency seems to think the same way. How on earth could you two figure that out?”

“Take a closer look.”

I pointed at the bloodstains with the end of my rifle as I explained.

“The blood is dispersed like mist. The droplets are small, meaning the blood was propelled rapidly due to the weapon’s impact. If the drops are this fine, you can assume it’s from a firearm. Monsters don’t shoot guns, so it’s clear—this was caused by people.”

Once I finished explaining, the Commander nodded, indicating that I was right. Plato’s mouth hung open slightly in disbelief.

“I mean… I get that His Excellency might know, but how does Lord Haydam know such things? Hasn’t Lord Haydam also never shot a person before?”

“I may not have shot someone myself, but I’ve seen plenty of people who’ve been shot.”

“Oh…”

Plato seemed to remember that I had been with General Batom during the execution.

I had been sprayed with blood from people who had been shot before, and I had even been shot by a bullet from that bastard in Unicorn Zone. How could I not recognize the blood spatter from a gunshot?

Of course, apart from that, I had also seen it frequently in crime dramas before I was possessed.

The Commander, assuming that I had seen many such things before my regression, looked at me without the slightest hint of suspicion.

“Did people from another zone attack us?”

Upon hearing that someone had shot another person, his first thought was that we might have been attacked by another zone.

Of course, I hadn’t ruled out the possibility of a player from Unicorn Zone either, but we had been moving north in pursuit of monsters.

Cola Zone was the northernmost zone out of all the zones.

There was no reason for people from other zones to come all the way up north to attack us.

Besides, beyond this area lay the Crevasse Region.

And judging by the pattern of the bloodstains, there hadn’t been any prolonged firefight; it seemed like a single exchange had taken place, and then it stopped.

“If it were an attack, there would be bloodstains scattered everywhere. This looks more like people who knew each other shot one another.”

Plato looked at me with a face full of disbelief.

“Are you saying that soldiers from the same zone shot each other?”

“That’s how it looks.”

“That’s impossible…”

Plato, who had been staring at the scattered bloodstains on the snow with a shocked expression, gathered what little hope he had left and asked,

“Could it have been a misfire? Considering that they took the body with them…”

“Judging by the small amount of blood spilled, it seems likely they’re still alive.”

“But it wasn’t an accident.”

This time, the Commander spoke up.

“The bloodstains are pointing in different directions… It looks like Team 2 exchanged shots and then scattered in different directions.”

As I lowered myself to examine the snow, which had piled up softly, something that had been obscured by the snowstorm caught my eye.

Just as the Commander had said, the bloodstains led off in different directions.

I also found boot prints that hadn’t yet been fully covered by the snow. They seemed to belong to our soldiers, and there were no boot prints that belonged to soldiers from another zone.

The footprints and bloodstains were both headed in different directions.

As if they had parted ways while bleeding from gunshot wounds.

“If it were a misfire, there’d be no reason for them to go in different directions… It’s clear that something’s wrong with Team 2.”

‘Good thing we came out to find them.’

Had we not come out, these traces would have been buried under the snow, and everyone would’ve assumed that the missing junior officers had been taken down by monsters.

Team 2’s leader had specifically picked Lucas and Bones, meaning he had other intentions from the start.

Not a promotion, but something else.

* * *

“Damn it… Xbal…”

As Lucas helped Bones walk, blood seeping from his wounds, Lucas muttered a curse under his breath.

Hearing Lucas curse, Bones let out a small chuckle.

“Didn’t know you could curse.”

“And you think this is the time to laugh?”

Lucas and Bones had been selected by Team 2’s leader for a scouting mission.

It was another veteran soldier who first noticed something was off during their search when the leader started leading them in a strange direction.

“Team leader, I think we’re off course. Isn’t that Team 3 over there?”

When the soldier pointed out the mistake, the team leader responded,

“I’m following separate instructions. Just carrying them out.”

Since the leader was part of the Commander’s team, the others were unsure, but they followed him.

However, even after the recall signal was sent, the team leader didn’t turn back, which finally made the others realize something was wrong, and they began to protest.

But the team leader simply shouted at them.

“Haven’t you learned anything from watching Lord Haydam? If you’re men, you should be thinking about making a name for yourself and returning with glory!”

The leader had intended to continue pursuing the monsters from the start, and he said anyone who wanted to return could go back.

Of course, Lucas, Bones, and several other soldiers insisted they should return immediately, but the majority wanted to stay and gain merit. With more people siding with the leader, the atmosphere leaned toward continuing the search.

At this point, Bones had already sensed that something was wrong.

He whispered to Lucas, sticking close.

“Lucas.”

“Why are you whispering?”

“Be careful. We’re surrounded.”

“Surrounded? By who?”

Lucas flinched in surprise and looked around, but all he could see were their fellow team members.

“All I see are our team.”

“I’m talking about them.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look carefully. They’re walking around us in a circle.”

At Bones’ words, Lucas cautiously looked around, pretending to check the surroundings.

Sure enough, it didn’t look like a standard formation for a monster-hunting mission. Their teammates seemed too focused on Lucas and Bones, almost as if they were encircling them.

By this point, Lucas also realized something was wrong.

While the teammates who had argued to return were casually walking at the back, those who had insisted on continuing the search were holding their guns, pointed in the direction of Lucas and Bones.

What was going on?

As Lucas was about to ask the team leader something, he heard the order.

“Stop.”

The team leader, who had been walking ahead, turned around with his gun raised. Bones quickly chambered a round and aimed his weapon at the leader.

The team leader, surprised by Bones’ quick reaction, hesitated for a moment, but then a shot rang out from the side, grazing Bones’ arm.

The soldier who fired the shot aimed again, this time at Bones’ head, but Lucas shot the man’s arm first, causing the bullet to miss, flying over Bones’ head instead.

Despite the searing pain and the sensation of fire running down his arm, Bones held on to his weapon and pulled the trigger, sending the team leader flying backward with a shot to the shoulder.

As another soldier aimed at Bones, Lucas stepped in front to block the shot.

But then, a few others stepped forward to form a barrier.

These were the soldiers who had earlier advocated for returning after seeing the recall signal.

“Why are you shooting at the junior officers!?”

It seemed they hadn’t received any orders from the team leader.

Since Lucas and Bones had been re-assigned by the Commander and Meursault, there were also soldiers in Team 2 who weren’t loyal to the team leader.

The Team 2 leader, clutching his bleeding shoulder, glanced over the soldiers standing in front of him, scanning their faces.

Then, recognizing a familiar one, he opened his mouth to speak.

“You were sponsored by General Max to become an officer too, right?”

The team leader, barely managing to stand while applying pressure to his shoulder wound, spoke in a mocking tone.

“General Max said this: ‘That puppy I used to adore thinks it’s a wolf now, so we should just cook it.’”

At those words, the eyes of all the team members present turned towards Bones.

There wasn’t a single person here who didn’t know that Bones was a fervent follower of General Max.

Both Bones and the soldiers standing in front of him looked incredulous.

“That’s absurd. What could a cadet who just graduated from the Academy have done so wrong that General Max himself would order Bones to be killed?”

“You must’ve heard about the rebellion at the graduation ceremony.”

This current subjugation was composed mostly of a small, elite force of Academy graduates. The story of how the newly graduated junior officers had pushed to abolish the recommendation system and advocated for an entrance exam had already spread among the senior officers.

But still…

“You’re telling me that’s enough of a reason to kill a young officer? And we’re supposed to believe that?”

“It’s not just that. If you don’t want to die too, lower your guns and step back.”

“Don’t make me laugh. Even if General Max ordered it, we can’t just do that.”

In the end, Team 2 split into two groups, each pointing their weapons at the other.

One of the senior officers, who was supporting Bones, glanced sideways at Lucas and said,

“Lucas, take Bones and run.”

“But…”

“No ‘but’! Run like hell and link up with another team.”

Gritting his teeth, Lucas started running, supporting the pale and weakening Bones as they fled.

After running for some time, Lucas had to admit that they were lost in the snowy plains.

Ahead of them, an endless expanse of snow stretched out.

But more agonizing than the realization that they were lost was the distant sound of gunfire they’d heard while fleeing.

How many of them had survived?

“Damn it!”

Lucas, much like Bones earlier, spat out a curse, while Bones, groaning in pain, let out a weak laugh. He pushed Lucas away feebly and said,

“Hey… Stop wasting your strength and just leave me.”

“Leave you? What are you talking about?”

“Leave me here and go. It’ll be easier for you to find your way alone, won’t it?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’ll die.”

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you. Let me die.”

“Bones!”

Lucas shouted angrily, but Bones shouted even louder in return.

“General Max wants me dead!”

At that, Lucas was left speechless.

The fact that General Max had ordered his men to kill Bones—it still felt unreal to him.

General Max was known for being approachable, treating both his adopted children and regular soldiers without distinction.

Even though Lucas was backed by a different officer, he had always considered General Max a man worthy of respect.

And now, he was supposed to believe that Max had ordered Bones to be dragged far away and killed just because he didn’t follow his orders?

“He wants it. He wants it. My father wants me dead… So… the only way to repay him for his kindness… is to die…”

“Is that really something you should be saying when senior officers sacrificed themselves to save you?”

Lucas, frustrated by Bones’ constant talk of repaying General Max’s ‘kindness,’ let go of him, and Bones collapsed onto the snow, sobbing.

“How could…! How could father do this to me…!! Acknowledgment from him was all I ever wanted. I became an officer for him…!!”

“Bones…”

Bones usually referred to him as ‘General Max.’

Even though he thought of Max as his father, it was as if saying the word ‘father’ was something forbidden.

And now, in this moment, the word finally slipped out of his mouth.

Lucas, who knew that Bones genuinely considered General Max a father figure, found himself at a loss for words.

If the officer who had supported him had ordered his murder, he’d likely be the one lying on the ground, crying.

Bones, now collapsed on the ground, continued to sob and mutter.

“Just leave me here to die… I’ve got nothing left anyway…”

Lucas understood Bones’ despair, but abandoning him wasn’t something he could do easily.

Boom…

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and Lucas, losing his balance, collapsed beside Bones.

As if in response to Bones’ despair, the ground continued to tremble in succession.

After the quake subsided, a long shadow loomed over Lucas.

“Wha…”

With a sense of foreboding, Lucas looked up, and his eyes met the sight of a gigantic monster towering over them.

“What the…”

Lucas, seeing the monster, was left momentarily speechless.

The massive monsters they had faced earlier in the day now seemed insignificant compared to the sheer size of the creature standing before him, as if a colossal cliff had appeared right in front of them.

The monster, covered head to toe in white fur, looked down at them, blood smeared across its mouth.

Barely able to form words, Lucas managed to call out to Bones.

“Bon… Bones… Get up…”

The monster, watching Lucas mumble in a voice as small as an ant, curled its lips into a sinister smile.

“Bones! Get up, you bastard!!”

Lucas, snapping back to his senses, raised his gun and began to step back, but Bones still lay face down in the snow, his expression one of resignation.

“Get a grip, Bones! Are you really going to die here like this?!”

Lucas shouted, but he doubted whether his voice was reaching Bones in his current state.

Even if Lucas left Bones behind and tried to escape, would he even survive?

Knowing that his chances of survival were slim even if he ran, Lucas chose instead to aim his trembling gun at the monster.

And then.

“Get down.”

A familiar voice came from beyond the monster.

With a blast, the monster’s abdomen burst open, sending its guts flying, revealing a hole through which Lucas could see the other side.

Standing there was Haydam, holding a thick firearm that no child should have been able to handle.