NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 23
“Why did you hesitate like that!”
There were no words to respond.
Rather, if I had just gone out without delay, things wouldn’t have escalated this much.
The moment I thought it might be greed, who could have expected someone to come walking up the stairs so boldly?
“Let’s run first. Hurry.”
“Which way—”
“Run forward. I’ll follow behind!”
Sarah’s figure bracing against the wall in a shooting stance brought on a sense of unease.
If my judgment here were to fail and anyone from the Omen family, or even Sarah, were to fall behind…
“I’m not suggesting we stay—”
The sound squeezing through the gap came with fire spewing from the gun’s barrel.
“Khhack!”
And just like that, the corpse blocked the narrow passage.
“So I told you to hurry up and go, huh… Follow me!”
The escape from the game was all my responsibility.
I planned the escape route, decided the prisoners I’d take, and it was all my choice who would die along the way.
Sometimes, I’d deliberately get captured by heavily guarded forces to kill their leaders or scientists, thereby slowing their progress.
But this was the first time I’d been rescued.
Which is why it felt unfamiliar.
To not know what to do or how to act and merely follow someone else’s orders in such a situation…
“Here, left. Left!”
Running led us to an abrupt incline where the flowing water abruptly stopped in the sewer.
Above, light suddenly shone through.
“Sarah!”
“Yes, Grandfather!”
“Come up!”
Starting with Ms. Dieterich.
She immediately ascended, and lastly, Sarah was helped up by extended hands.
After firmly pulling her up, Curtis began hurriedly pouring something down the slope.
…It was oil, the kind used in generators.
“And Father?”
“He’s behind. He’ll go help set up booby traps. Always be careful with the pipes!”
When looking around now, this escape route had been fortified long ago.
Not only was a heavy machine gun aimed at the downward slope, but Mr. James had even planted makeshift bombs for us to cross.
The tightly strung wires at ankle level made one involuntarily gulp.
“And… we’ve gained more people.”
“It’s Angela Dieterich. And you are…?”
“Curtis Omen at your service, Lady Dieterich.”
“Nice to meet you. Uh… then, what should we do from here?”
“We need to give them a scare.”
“A scare?”
“Predators chasing fleeing prey are often too excited, more focused on how to toy with their catch rather than how to catch it.”
—Crash.
The sound of the bulk colliding was on an entirely different scale from that of a rifle.
And the motions of pulling and placing such a bulk were effortlessly sharp.
“But don’t you think the sight of my colleagues ahead being shredded to pieces might affect someone?”
“…”
“And imagine if they were forced to come up here because their superiors whipped them, only to be welcomed by the small gifts we’ve hidden—would they still want to chase us covered in blood?”
Certainly, Curtis had been a war veteran, perhaps suffering from PTSD.
But why did this appear to be the happiest I’d seen Curtis so far?
“Hmm, by the way, what does Ms. Dieterich do…?”
“Doctor. She used to practice veterinary medicine upstairs.”
“So you worked as a doctor under the Nazis.”
“…Yes.”
“And without you, the Nazis would be without—”
“A doctor. Yes.”
“Then you’re their Achilles’ heel!”
Curtis burst into hearty laughter, clapping his hands.
But even as Curtis appeared cheerful, Ms. Dieterich’s expression grew gloomy and uncomfortable.
“Perhaps… we should ensure Ms. Dieterich crosses to a safer place first. It would be for the better, wouldn’t it, Ms. Dieterich?”
She nodded awkwardly, trying to smile but clearly uncomfortable.
Curtis, noticing this, cleared his throat a few times before waving at Mr. James.
“My son will guide the way. Follow him.”
Among the busy three, my role felt inexplicably detached.
As I blankly stared at the installed heavy machine gun, Curtis’s wrinkled hand firmly grabbed my shoulder.
“How’s your body? Are you unharmed?”
“Yes. Thanks to you.”
“Direct your thanks to my granddaughter. We’re here only because of Sarah.”
“Because of Sarah?”
Holding the machine gun tightly, Curtis glanced down the path we had ascended.
“Stubborn, that’s hereditary, but my son’s daughter never complained or grumbled while growing up. I thought it was because she was a girl.”
Then he chuckled.
“Omen truly lived up to the name.”
“…”
“You’ll compensate for how she’s stubborn, won’t you?”
“Of course. I said I’ll settle the debt with interest, including her life.”
“Did you?”
Nodding, Curtis looked at me with an oddly delighted expression.
…Could he possibly have divine plans for me in the future?
“Alright, let’s stop here with the chatter. Bring that bag over.”
Carrying the somewhat heavy bag and opening it, it was filled with containers of nails and explosives.
“I tried to make some booby trap bombs, but compared to what you made, they’re too rough and unusable. Hence, you’ll finalize the traps.”
“So what we’re setting up now—”
“Only the empty containers with detonators inside. Ah, while we’re at it, shall we put a few here?”
His finger pointed right beneath us.
Plastic pipes embedded between the sandbags where the machine gun was placed.
…Surely not.
“Don’t look at me like that. I have no intention of becoming a kamikaze here. Seeing my great-granddaughter is my modest dream, you know.”
Great-granddaughter? Here in this underground?
“Precautions, just in case. I can’t let such a slippery girl fall into the Nazis’ dirty hands.”
His loud laughter made me sigh as I proceeded to fill the already stationed containers with nails and explosives.
“It’s done.”
“Good. Go finalize the traps, then. Are the Nazis chasing well?”
“Sarah blocked the passage by killing a soldier, so… their time is likely stretched—”
“Shh.”
“Ugh!?”
My mouth was suddenly clamped shut by a wrinkled hand smelling slightly sour.
But what stood out most was the sound of boots.
The dark path we ascended was gradually lit up by the flashlight’s glow.
“Go finalize the traps. Call James over.”
“To buy time? But—”
“Buying time?”
Curtis suppressed a burst of laughter, then gently patted my back.
“You’ll understand when you see it. What a .50 caliber can do.”
***
“Move, move!”
Defense troops moved in circles under the guard unit’s urging.
As they advanced, an uphill slope appeared ahead of them.
“Frank, you lead the squad through that passage. The rest will ascend the slope. Execute!”
While one group of soldiers moved into the dark passage, those ordered ascended the slope, placing their first steps onto it.
“Ugh!?”
What they first realized was that the slope’s surface was extremely slippery.
No one could gain proper footing and ascend properly.
“What’s the matter?”
“It seems oil has been spilled. We can’t ascend.”
“So you’re saying the people we’re chasing couldn’t come up here?”
“Seems so—uh!?”
The guard unit soldier, having shaken his head, pointed at a rope line.
“Why would a rope connected to somewhere be placed here, soldier? Is your head just for decoration? Your eyes? Your judgment?”
“Not at all, sir. I will ascend now.”
Thus, one soldier grabbed the rope firmly with his hands, pushing off the floor with his feet, while others started ascending behind him.
At that very instant—
—Squeak.
A spine-chilling creaking sound pierced through the soldiers’ ears.
“What was that?”
“What happened, soldier?”
“There was a sound from above. It’s too dark to see anything.”
The moment the guard unit soldier supported himself on the slope with one hand and illuminated the top with his flashlight.
Both the soldier gripping the rope at the very front and the guard unit soldier saw it clearly.
An unnervingly thick gun barrel.
Sandbags piled up as if anticipating their ascent.
“Huh, uh—”
Realizing something was terribly wrong, the soldier gripping the rope tried to let go.
“Auf Wiedersehen, you Nazi bastards!”
Before the brain’s command to let go could register, a gruff voice of an old man thundered in the soldiers’ ears.
And the orange flower that blossomed before their eyes.
—BOOOOM!
The deafening explosion that followed tore apart and scattered the bodies.
The bodies clinging to the rope tumbled down along with the flowing channel’s path, the flashlights illuminating the armored guards, who were now shredded like fish.
By the time other troops returned from rushing through another route, the slope was already flowing with flesh and blood.
Among those who attempted to ascend, none survived.
“…”
No one dared to move or speak.
Clearly visible holes in the thick concrete walls.
Such was the unmistakable warning.
Neither raising their heads nor aiming weapons at the slope was permitted.
[Max, Max, report the situation.]
The blood-soaked radio flashed for a moment, then shattered with another roar of explosion.
A distinct hole was gouged into the concrete floor.
[Frank, Lieutenant Schultz here. Report your situation.]
“…”
The hand holding the radio trembled like a quaking aspen.
[Frank!]
“There’s a machine gun emplacement, Lieutenant. We can’t advance.”
[What did you say? Speak again. What did you say?]
“A heavy machine gun emplacement, Lieutenant. It just destroyed the wall and wiped out Max’s squad. Pursuit is impossible…”
—Rolling sound.
The sound of something rolling caught everyone’s attention.
Suddenly, soldiers’ eyes were drawn to what resembled fireworks.
A lit fuse, dangerously short, attached to a long plastic stick.
“Bomb—”
The explosion filled the passage completely.
After the thick dust settled, a gruesome scene was revealed.
“My arm, my arm!!! Aaaaaaah!!!”
“Somebody, grab my stomach, my stomach is torn open. This isn’t supposed to be here…”
High above such voices,
The old man finally removed his hands from the heavy machine gun and leisurely lit a cigarette with a calm expression.
“You asked about buying time?”
“…”
“No, I said wasting time. Wasting plenty, too.”