Chapter 11 - Training Officer (3)

My training officer returned before long, bringing a strange glass box with him.

Was there something inside?

"A level-three fungal creature."

Fuck!

Yun approached, dragging the wheeled glass box. It reached roughly to his ribs and was wide enough to fit six car tires with room to spare.

The thing inside that glass cube was a mushroom.

It looked like an enormous inkcap mushroom. An inkcap melting into black ooze, except with a seething mass of tentacles at its base. They extended in every direction, completely covering the bottom of the glass box. The sight of their ceaseless writhing made me frown involuntarily.

"What does level three mean?"

That was the first thing out of my mouth.

Yun explained flatly.

"The higher the number, the more dangerous it is. Level one means an armed civilian could survive. Level two can be killed by someone with special training, even without an enhanced body. From level three onward, assume you need an enhanced body to kill it. This is a level-three creature you'll encounter very often outside the cores."

"How high do the levels go?"

"Ten. A life-form that requires deploying every experienced Badger."

"Something like that exists?"

"It did. None have been sighted since the First War. For reference, the closer they look to humans, the more dangerous they generally are. The angel-type creature you encountered would be classified as level six or seven. Something one or more experienced Badgers can handle."

Why was its level so high? I'd really been to death's door and back.

A chill settled in my stomach as I remembered the creature driving its sword down against the blue sky. The thing Ska had blocked so easily looked far more human than this inkcap creature. It had even held a weapon in its hand. Enough said.

I stared into space, remembering when my life had hung in the balance.

"They stopped it so easily, I had no idea it was that dangerous."

"Who killed that one?"

I blinked at the question.

"Aide Ska and my senior, Ro. I think Ami and Riccardo killed the spider-like one clinging to the window."

"They're all war heroes. They're among the ten best Badgers, so of course they'd make short work of a mere level-six creature."

They were in the top ten? Given the reason this organization existed, there couldn't be only a handful of Badgers. Judging by the size of the buildings and grounds here, it was clearly an enormous organization.

In other words, they were the elite of the elite.

How had I ended up with such extraordinary people...?

"The other two rookies you saw when you fell out of the portal have never been to war."

He apparently meant the man and woman Riccardo had sent home partway through. The man had blue eyes, but his mask covered his nose, so I hadn't seen his face. The woman was short, with a two-toned bob in yellow and pink.

"Karl Doe has at least been here a while. But the two-tone kid is still a completely green recruit. It hasn't even been a year since she stopped being the newest."

Then she was the senior just above me.

I thought I understood why those two had kept their mouths shut that day. With three people from much earlier intake classes there, they wouldn't have dared speak carelessly.

As I vaguely recalled the events of a few weeks ago, the chainsaw suddenly switched on.

"Aah, shit! You scared me!"

"Explanation's over. Time to start," Yun said ominously.

Damn it.

I forced a smile as I held the rattling chainsaw.

I had nothing but bad feelings about this. I doubted the inkcap creature would stay put like a real mushroom. And was I any good with a chainsaw? Probably not. Even without my memories, I could tell it felt unfamiliar.

But I couldn't bring myself to protest aloud.

Yun placed a hand on the glass box.

"I'm sure you can tell what you're supposed to do just by looking."

"I know what I'm supposed to do, but I have absolutely no idea how."

"Just swing the chainsaw."

My esteemed senior offered that extremely useful piece of advice.

"You definitely won't die."

He wasn't saying I wouldn't get hurt.

At this point, I could only laugh. After a few hollow ha-has, I asked another question.

"I doubt there's much point asking, but what's its attack pattern?"

"Find out firsthand."

I was asking because I wanted to know before I experienced it!

Once again, my thoughts failed to make it out of my mouth. Without so much as telling me to get ready, Yun pressed down on something on the glass box.

The instant I stepped backward, the glass box opened on every side. Tentacles writhed and spread in all directions.

All or nothing.

I raised the chainsaw, imagining I was about to make braised mushrooms.

A bizarre scene unfolded before me. The moment the glass opened on all sides, the creature's tentacles stretched out. The writhing mass slowly widened its reach. The individual tentacles weren't especially thick, just intricately tangled like tree roots.

It didn't attack right away.

Yun watched the inkcap with both hands shoved into his pockets. He stood closer to the creature than I did, completely motionless.

He was fine standing there? Did it not attack first?

I studied Yun and the mushroom beside him, then lifted a foot to approach.

One step.

THWACK!

A dull pain shot across my face. No sooner had I registered it than my back and tailbone hurt too. My vision jolted. Ringing filled my ears, along with the sound of a loud crash.

I pulled myself up with a grimace.

Had that tentacle walloped me?

Asbestos fell onto my head. With a small groan, I peeled my back away from the wall I'd been slammed into.

I'd nearly dropped the chainsaw, too. Struggling to open my eyes properly, I planted the now-stopped chainsaw against the floor and used it as a cane to stand.

Yun was still standing in exactly the same place.

Perfectly fine.

"Why just m—"

THWACK!

I got hit again. Mercifully, the mushroom slapped my other cheek this time. I must have smashed my shoulder blade against the wall pretty hard. A sharp pain stabbed through my right shoulder.

My entire body thrummed with pain.

No, seriously, why was I the only one getting hit?

As the shock and pain gripping my body began to recede, I forced my eyes open. Tentacles writhed in midair. They had split into two broad masses, forming rounded fists.

If I stood, I'd get hit again, wouldn't I? If I tried to approach, too.

Then I'd cut them off before they hit me. He must have given me a chainsaw because it could cut through them.

I scraped together enough strength to spring to my feet. After several deep breaths, my energy began returning. I resolved to swing the chainsaw the instant I got up.

Slowly, I moved my thumb and switched it on.

WHIIIIIR!

The saw spun noisily. I sprang to my feet, swinging it at the same time.

CHOP!

"Got it!"

"Hey."

Yes? Just as I was about to answer, a powerful rush of air struck my face. I turned my head, but not quickly enough.

THWACK!

I didn't fall backward. I staggered, then regained my balance. Something had split open; my mouth filled with the taste of blood. Struggling to see again, I swung the chainsaw.

CHOP!

It cut cleanly through, accompanied by the sound of collapsing tentacles. The severed lengths struck the tops of my feet. I barely managed to open my eyes and take stock.

The instant I turned my eyes toward the creature, my vision filled with an enlarging mass of tentacles.

THUD!

A direct hit.

This time, I went tumbling. I lost the chainsaw, too. A small cry escaped me as an impact left the back of my head ringing.

This was brutal.

Lying on the floor, I rubbed my battered forehead. He'd said level three. Not five or six. There had to be an unimaginable gulf between this and the highest level, ten, and I couldn't even get close?

Its attack pattern wasn't even complicated. The stalk itself stayed rooted to the spot, after all.

There had to be some way.

I lay on the floor thinking until the pain faded and my head cleared. Then an odd fragment of memory popped up.

I was holding a controller, looking at a large screen. Grotesque graphics. Cute, bouncy graphics. Loud sound effects and repeating patterns...

Repeating patterns.

I slowly sat up.

"Why am I the only one getting hit?"

At my gloomy question, Yun moved only his eyes.

"It attacks when an object above a certain height moves."

"Aha. No wonder you haven't moved at all."

Aside from raising one eyebrow, Yun remained unnervingly still. The more I saw of him... what a peculiar man. How many people moved so little and showed so little expression?

Looking at the man standing in exactly the same pose as before I'd been hit, I asked,

"Can I crawl over and cut it with the chainsaw?"

"No reason you can't. Though you wouldn't be able to in the field."

"Is there a standard head-on approach for the field? How do you usually deal with that thing?"

"Walk up and punch it."

Simple, and not remotely helpful.

I stared at the writhing creature in exasperation.

At this point, I was going to kill it out of sheer stubbornness if nothing else.

Frowning, I considered how to break through. Apparently I could crawl over and kill it, but that clearly wouldn't work in the field.

If I was going to kill it, I'd do it head-on.

After a few more beatings, I'd see the pattern. It had suddenly come back to me: I'd always been the type to finish a game once I started it. Rhythm games, RPGs, whatever it was, I kept playing without getting bored until the end.

I gulped down the blood pooled in my mouth.

"Yun."

"What?"

"Is it all right if this takes a while?"

"Suit yourself."

There was no emotion in Yun's voice.

"If you feel you can't do any more, you can stop right away. If you want, you can keep going until dawn."

"Oh. Surely I won't still be at this by dawn."

"I hope not, either."

"I'll try to finish before standing that still starts getting difficult for you."

Though that would mean taking quite a few more hits.

I reached out and grabbed the chainsaw I'd dropped. The pain that had wracked my whole body was gone now. I would no doubt feel the same sort of pain when I stood, but being afraid of it wouldn't get me anywhere.

I let out a long breath and prepared to stand. My training officer remained rooted to the spot like a statue.

I'd finish this before the man said he needed the bathroom. With that lofty goal in my heart, I rose to my feet, chainsaw in hand.

* * *

I got hit more than thirty times.

On the thirty-second attempt, I figured out the exact pattern. On the thirty-third, I managed to cut off every tentacle flying toward me. Then came attempt thirty-four. On my thirty-fourth try, I cut through the tentacles and was making my way toward the mushroom.

For the first time in hours, I drew close to my training officer. The mushroom creature was getting closer. The inkcap loomed larger and larger. A fungus with nothing left to wriggle.

I dashed up to it and saw its black cap. Raising the chainsaw, still smeared with tentacle residue, I brought the running saw down with all my strength.

PSSSSHHH!

The cap split in two, and ink drenched my body.

It stung!

"What the hell is this?!"

"I told you it was poisonous."

For the first time in several long hours, Yun moved. Some ink seemed to have splashed onto him too. With an impassive face, he brushed himself off.

"If you didn't want to be drenched in ink, you should have finished it with your fist. Anyway, it's definitely dead. Good work."

"It still stings."

The giant mushroom sagged in two halves. I'd killed the creature after thirty-four attempts, but I felt none of the satisfaction I'd expected.

I stood there, feeling a sharp sting everywhere the ink had splashed. As I remained still, my breathing settled and my senses returned to their normal pace.

The creature lay split like a mushroom sliced with a knife, leaking ink. Severed tentacles littered the training room. The stopped chainsaw. The damaged walls. The fallen asbestos.

There was a slick sort of smell, hard to describe.

As I stared blankly at the traces of my desperate struggle, I let the chainsaw drop.

"Does an enhanced body neutralize poison, too?"

I turned my head as I asked. Yun, who had been looking around, met my eyes. He had stood without moving for nearly three hours, yet showed no sign of fatigue. His inscrutable, pitch-black eyes looked straight at me.

The man really was like a ghost.

"Some poisons, yes. Others, no. We're definitely more resistant to poison than ordinary people."

"This mushroom's poison is one we can neutralize, right?"

"No."

What?

"If you got covered in its poison in the field, you'd have to take an antidote. But this one's poison has been neutralized, so it doesn't matter. Do you know how poisons work?"

I hadn't even known my own face. Did he really think I'd know how poisons worked?

My expression must have answered for me, because Yun gave a small snort.

"Basically, for a poison to kill a human, it has to be absorbed into the body and reach the heart. Usually it enters a vein and travels to the heart that way. You'd have to cut about halfway through an arm to reach an artery, so it's hard to get in that far. Once the poison reaches the heart, the powerful pumping sends it through the lungs, then out into the arteries. So you have to take action before that happens."

"What if you don't have an antidote?"

"Like I said, this thing doesn't spray ink if you punch it. And if you're covered in poison and don't have an antidote, first wash it off quickly with soapy water to neutralize it."

And what if there wasn't any soapy water, either?

I held back, figuring Yun would get irritated if I asked that too. Besides, I was too tired to chatter. Once I realized the ink covering me was safe, my tension snapped loose and exhaustion flooded in.

I wanted to sit down. That had been far too much strenuous exercise out of nowhere. My arms hurt, every place I'd been hit hurt, and my legs hurt.

If the floor hadn't been soaked in ink, I would have collapsed onto it. I closed my eyes and heaved a tremendous sigh.

"... Anyway, I killed it. Even if it took me a stupidly long time."

"You know..."

I opened my eyes at Yun's words and answered wearily.

"Yes?"

"I think you used to do sports."

I blinked.

"Me? You think so?"

"Yeah."

I wanted to know what made him think that. I was also curious about his assessment, after he'd watched this whole ridiculous performance without budging. If he thought I'd done sports, didn't that mean my movements hadn't been entirely clumsy? Had I done better than I'd thought?

But Yun turned away without elaborating.

"Anyway, I've got a rough idea. Let's go. We need to wash."

"What about all this?"

"A robot will come clean up. Don't worry about it."

Yun surveyed the training room.

"For the showers, go out to the right, then..."

"Aaaah! Yun!"

I jumped. Whipping my head around, I saw Ami staring wide-eyed from the training room doorway. Two men stood behind her: Riccardo and a man I'd never seen before.

Riccardo leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, his eyes crinkling in a smile. As though he'd known this would happen.

The unfamiliar man surveyed the training room in disbelief.

Choi Ami broke out of her frozen stance and came running.

"What have you done to Hilde?!"

She rushed straight up to Yun and began pummeling him with her fists.

"He's only been officially assigned for a day! What have you done to him?!"

I knew it. The man was a crazy fucker.