Clearing the Game at the End of the World

“N-no. No. No!!!”

Clatter!

Vex appeared from the alleyway covered in blood. The strength must have completely left his legs, as he was dragging his body towards them with the bayonet in his hands, but when he saw Ian and Gyosu on his back, he cried out as he grabbed onto Ian’s pant leg.

“I thought it was my imagination—it has to be my damn delusions! Hepburn, Hepburn is..!!!”

‘This guy, I don’t think he’s completely back yet. He’s still half inside the illusions.’

Ian could tell what state Vex was in instantly. That monster’s screech triggered the trauma of the person listening to it. He was reminded of his dead wife and child, and for Vex…

‘He must’ve seen Gyosu die or something.’

The first thing he needed to do was wake him up. For narrow alleyways like this, Vex was much more useful with his close combat than his firepower.

“I lost him again. Just… just like 6 years ago! I couldn’t change anything!!!!”

Slap!

“Aeugh?!”

“Sorry, we’re in a bit of a rush, y’know. Vex, gimme your hand.”

After slapping Vex’s face to stop him, Ian pulled his hand up under Gyosu’s nose.

Snnmf. Sffff.

A light gust touched the surface of the bloodied hand.

“Look. He’s still breathing.”

“Huh. Huh?”

Physical evidence was much more effective than a thousand words.

The glint in Vex’s eyes returned instantly. Ian envied how simplistic the guy was. He needed to wake up by listening to the nagging of his dead wife, but this was all it took for him.

“He’s alive. Just knocked out from the impact of that shockwave.”

“He’s…..alive?”

“Yeah. I’m a little hurt right now. Gyosu died in that illusion of yours, but not me? Why’s he the only one you’re looking for?”

“Uh…..huh? Jaw? You’re alive? But I was sure I saw you get crushed by a tank….”

“That’s sure damn specific. Get up. We don’t have time to be listening to your—”

[GRRRRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!]

Ziiiiiiiiiing—!

“Gaghh! Daydreams!”

The large giant of a corpse with only an upper body cried out once more. It wasn’t as strong as the first one it let out, but it still knotted up their insides and made their minds go blank.

He was still managing to hang on somehow, but he wasn’t confident that he would be able to continue standing if this went on.

Vex, who now seemed to be completely back in his senses, immediately turned his head towards Gyosu when he was hit with the psychowave, then started to move.

“It’s this way! Hurry! If that’s what made Gyosu unconscious, then we need to get him away from here!”

“You’re finally starting to make sense. So did you clear out that place? I’m not exactly in the shape to help out….”

Ian was left speechless after witnessing the sight when he followed Vex into the alleyway. There were two that had been hiding right around the corner. There are a total of four corpses on the external stairs on the left and right walls. And a leg submerged in a pool of blood sticking out of the crossroads towards the inner side of the alley.

It was obvious who the one who did this was. The only person that came out of that alley covered in blood was the shorty in front of him.

“You… did all of this? With that dull bayonet?”

“I thought of it more as a dull awl than a blade. If you stab the inner part of the eye hard enough, you can pierce through the thin part of the skull. Six were through ambush, and the other four were from the gun I took from them.”

Vex picked up the gun leaning against the wall that he must have prepared in advance and tossed it to Ian as he pointed inwards.

“I wiped out the squad that was defending this place. We just need to get past this alley, and then we’re not too far from our truck.”

Looking at Vex ushering them, slightly swaying from a headache, Ian couldn’t help but hold back an exasperated laugh.

The crimson boot prints and handprints on the walls, windows, and pipes showed just exactly how the man had moved through the alleyway.

“Gyosu sure has a good eye, picking up a guy like this…”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“Keheheh, I was talking to myself. Lead the way, chief!”

It was a good thing for them anyway. If they could somehow get to their truck by getting through this alleyway, it would be possible for them to escape from the immobile monster.

Dome? Raptor? Election? A monster that can annihilate the entire Area 47?

‘That’s none of my business. If Gyosu doesn’t wake up from this, we’ll just take the food and water from the shelter and ditch Area 47.’

Living a long time in the Wastelands meant that they had that many more experiences of loss.

“Just be alive, Gyosu. We’ll get you to a doctor soon!”

And because of that, Ian knew what was the top priority in a situation like this.

Thunk— Bang!

“Hey! Be more careful, can you? Don’t you know that impacts are critical to a person who’s hit their head? We carried him together on purpose to soften the fall too!”

“H-Hepburn hurt his head? Is it bad? What’s his condition?! Can he wake up?!”

“Argh, you! Get off me! How would I know any of that?! I’m not Old Man Woojin!”

“What exactly happened to make him unconscious?! Did he hit his head hard?! Did the monster do something to…?”

Du-d-d-d-du— vrooooom!

Ian quickly started the engine because he knew there was going to be no end to this once it started. As if their concerns were almost foolish, the scenery outside of the street that had been the stage of the play was unbelievably peaceful. Crossing through the street, themed like the Old Days, empty of corpses, blood, or people while leaving behind red footprints, they were able to safely arrive at their parked armored car.

“What do we do if Gyosu doesn’t wake up?”

“We go to the shelter, pack a week’s worth of food, and leave. Let’s go to Area 45. The area around the bunker is a bit hectic, but it should be relatively safer in the surrounding regions since there are fewer scavengers. You lived there, right? I’ll leave the rest to you when we get there.”

“What if… he doesn’t wake up even after we get there? You saw it too. The illusions. That… was showing us the worst memories we had. If he was knocked unconscious, that means he wasn’t able to withstand it. Gyosu actually might never….”

“Fuck! Hey! Can you quit jinxing it? So what! What if Gyosu never wakes up? You just want to ditch him?!”

“That’s not! You know that’s not what I meant!!”

“Uh….”

Grab!

Ian snatched up Vex’s shirt in the heat of the moment and let go from the shock.

‘I can’t keep my cool.’

The adrenaline from battle and Old Picture’s psychowaves pulled the emotions they contained inside them out into the open. Not to mention, they were in a situation with no time to waste without even a part of a plan. Triggering the monster just before the Executive Department’s plan succeeded was Gyosu’s plan. There was definitely a plan regarding what to do next in Gyosu’s head.

But Gyosu was currently asleep, and although he pretended to be logical, Ian himself was also anxious about what they had to do next, just like Vex was.

“Hey……”

“Damn it. I’m a merchant and a fighter, not a tactician. I know we’re going to be held responsible for this current situation if we run away, but it’s not like I know what to do in between that monster and the Dome and Raptors…..”

“Hey!”

“What! Why are you even calling for…..?”

Ian was just about to lash out in irritation at the voice that continued to ask for attention, but then suddenly stopped to think.

‘Wait. Vex is right in front of me. Then……. who?’

Ian’s face turned toward the back seat.

Vex was currently looking behind them like Maria was when Jesus was revived, so the only one that was left was….

“Oh. Metal Jaw. Vex. And the fresh….. not really, air. Nice to meet you all!”

Gyosu. Gyosu was smiling at them with a dumb grin, wiping the blood from his nose.

“Gy-Gyosuuuuu!!”

The emotions that Ian had been pressing down erupted at once as he lunged at Gyosu.

Grasp!

“Damn it, damn you! You are one hell of a lucky bastard! You actually managed to win the coin toss!”

“Wow! I didn’t think you would greet me so nicely! Thanks! I really like you too!”

Ian, who had been sniffing up his snot aggressively whilst hugging the slightly dull Gyosu, felt that something was a little off. The Gyosu, who would have normally reacted with something along the lines of, ‘Agh, that’s gross! Get off of me, you grown men!’ was not only hugging him back but was even rubbing his face against this bearded chin!

“…..Gyosu Park?”

“Heheheheh. Are you acting dense? Or are you just in denial? Metal Jaw, Ian?”

With a shiver suddenly rushing down his spine, Ian pulled back and was able to see Vex’s bright expression turn pale. He could also instinctively feel it.

The thing in front of them was not Gyosu.

“W-w-w-w-who…. are you?”

“I dunnoo. I thought that questions were usually used when you wanted to learn about something you didn’t know. But looking at those expressions….. what you’re asking right now doesn’t look like a question.”

“Damn it…. then Gyosu, what happened to Gyosu?”

“The number you are calling is currently unavailable. To leave a message, please speak to Hyde after the beep!”

Hyde made a phone sign with his hand as he leaned towards the two men, a smile on his face as if he were enjoying this situation.

“Beeep—”

.

.

.

.

“You….. f—ing bastard….!”

And his playful attitude only made the vein on Ian’s forehead pop out even more.

Scrrrrgh!

Ian locked his arms around Gyosu, no, Hyde’s extended neck, and tightened his grip.

“Ack! Aghhh, is this what you call ‘messing around’, the action of playing rough with those in close relationships? It’s quite shocking…. cough! Hey, let go. I said let go. Agck!”

Tap tap tap tap!

“Ghuuuuuh, in my memories…… you’re supposed to let go….. when I tap out….”

“You. You’re that thing, right? The crazy parasite that’s inside of Gyosu’s head.”

“Gaghh, l, let goo! I’m going to die at this ra—”

Ian thought to himself as he tightened the force on his arm. If this guy came out because Gyosu lost his consciousness, then maybe knocking this guy out would bring Gyosu back.

And Hyde, who had been coughing and struggling to breathe, suddenly started to snicker as he spoke to them.

“Kaugh, keheheh…. Metal Jaw. I know that you’re thinking…. but if I lose my consciousness, Vessel will actually die.”

“……Damn it.”

So Ian had no choice but to let the guy go. He didn’t know if Hyde was telling the truth or not, but he didn’t want to risk it when it was Gyosu’s life on the line.

“Cough, cough! Gah, my throat. Suffocation. It’s a lot different from what I thought. It looked like Vessel loved things like this…. no. He hated going in the water at first, too. Then will I like it the more I do it too? Hey, Metal Jaw. Can you do that one more time?”

“Stop spitting nonsense and continue talking about what you were saying before. What happened to Gyosu? And what does it mean when you say he’ll die if you lose consciousness?”

Keke!

Even after receiving the hostile glares of Ian and Vex, Hyde was just happy that any of this was happening. These two definitely hated him. But that emotion was out of their affection towards the Vessel that was sleeping inside of him at the moment, so as a result, it was like he was receiving their hatred and affection at the same time.

‘Ahhh, how wonderful! To be able to feel both positive and negative emotions at once! Oy, Vessel! Did you prepare this for me? It’s almost too good to be true!’

“Seriously, I really can’t hate you….”

“What?”

“I’m going to help you. I have a favor from Vessel, and it looks like there’ll be less to enjoy out here if the life outside gets difficult. Now then, driver! Let’s go!”

“Go? Sorry, but there’s no reason for us to listen to you, parasite.”

“Pft!”

“Did you just laugh?”

Hyde quickly waved his hands in denial at Ian’s growling threat.

“No, sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh at you. It’s just that you said so boldly that you weren’t going to listen to me, but the fact that you’re going to end up doing so anyway is a little…. ah, sorry. I did laugh at you.”

“Speak. Properly. If you don’t start talking. I’ll torture you until you bring out Gyosu. There’s a lot more ways to torture the human body without damaging it than you think.”

Vex had at some point slinked closer to Hyde and pressed his thumbnail under Hyde’s fingernail. Looking at his frigid expression, it was certain that his thick nail was going to pierce the skin under his nail if he played around any longer than this. Will it hurt? Of course it will. That guy looks like an expert in this field.

“Tch, this is the problem with the outside people. They all move before they think. Vessel always thinks twice, even three times, before moving, though. Mmm, I definitely chose the right person.”

Although Hyde hadn’t budged despite Vex’s threats, he decided to finally give the answer the two men wanted.

Flick, flick.

Hyde’s finger pointed towards Old Picture, which could be seen between the buildings in the distance.

“Vessel and I share memories. So I also saw the ‘next’ plans he made before he lost consciousness.”

“The next…. plan?”

“Yeah. The plan to calm that giant crybaby down and stop the Executive Department, who’s probably going bats**t crazy right now, and the Raptors, who are racing towards us. So…”

Pap pap!

“Giddy up! We don’t have that much time, my friends!”

Vex and Ian’s expressions crumpled up even more at his friendly action of patting them on the back.

“Bloody hell. This entire f—ing situation is ridiculous…..”

“Ahahahah! My birth itself was pretty ridiculous, so maybe that’s why I get caught up in all of these situations!”

“…..”

“Hey, little buddy, you brighten up too! I promise that I’ll give it back after taking good care of it! It’s not like I can stay forever! When Vessel wakes up, he’ll come right back!”

Vrrrmm—!

And so, like Hyde said, Ian had no choice but to turn the wheel in the direction Hyde pointed at. Towards Old Picture, the one that they just barely managed to escape from.

Unlike Vex and Ian, who were clearly anxious,

“What a day! What a lovely DAY!!!”

Hyde’s expression, for some reason, was filled to the brim with joy.