Terrestrial Savior Archetype - T.S.A Chapter 12 (part 1): Unintentional Encounter (2)

-You seem to handle your kind quite easily. Your actions differ from the survey results.

The evaluator spoke up after a long silence.

Jeong-woo was momentarily taken aback as the voice of a third party resonated in his mind, having momentarily forgotten its presence.

It was indeed the moment when he had just taken down the last of the three fugitives.

The man dropped five essences, bringing Jeong-woo’s total essences to an impressive 128. However, his rank was still ‘3.’

‘If there is a discrepancy between survey results and actual behavior, are there any penalties or deductions?’

His last line was sarcastic, but Jeong-woo genuinely considered holding back if it could lead to deductions.

-Not in this case. However, there is a possibility of receiving the role-change right to become a predator.

‘A predator? So, does the predator’s role involve killing fellow beings?’

As Jeong-woo asked, the evaluator fell silent again.

‘You evaluators have it easy. You say whatever you want and choose only the convenient questions to answer. We are here struggling with the fate of our planet.’

-…

Was it a misunderstanding?

Jeong-woo felt like the evaluator was briefly shaken by his words.

In any case, there was some gain from the conversation.

Now he could gauge what kind of role the predator was.

Killing fellow beings without hesitation was considered ‘predator-like’ behavior.

Therefore, Sun-woong, the active predator team leader, was not acting ‘predator-like’ enough.

‘You said that if your abilities don’t match the given role, the role can change or disappear… You did say that clearly.’

Jeong-woo remembered most of the information Earth transmitted.

He had left the other two alive earlier. He wasn’t sure if Sun-woong handled them well. If he couldn’t take care of them despite creating a return ticket, he would find it difficult to survive in this world.

About 3 minutes later.

As Jeong-woo returned to where Sun-woong was, he narrowed his strides upon hearing a familiar sound.

Pat, pat, thud.

It sounded a lot like the noise made when chopping firewood on a rainy day.

The sound of damp wood breaking apart due to the moisture.

He knew it well from when he once worked part-time at a mountain cabin.

But the sky was so bright. Where on earth…

‘Madness.’

Stepping out of the alley and back into the residential area, Jeong-woo was astonished.

Sun-woong was continuously smashing the head of a man who had fallen to the ground with a spanner.

Then, suddenly, a clear metallic sound rang out.

Thud! Thud!

The spanner crushed the man’s skull completely and hit the ground beneath.

“T-Team leader!”

Though they had promised to call each other by their names, his heart raced, and the word “team leader” slipped out when he grew anxious.

Even when Jeong-woo rushed over with a fierce determination, Sun-woong didn’t stop swinging the spanner.

Thud!

Only when Jeong-woo grabbed his right arm did he finally manage to turn to the side.

“What are you doing? There’s no need to go this far…”

His heart felt like it was seizing up as he spoke. Jeong-woo stared at Sun-woong with widened pupils.

And in response, the former business team leader, with vacant eyes, met Jeong-woo’s gaze.

“I couldn’t use the Essences…”

The sentence sounded odd, but Jeong-woo could understand it instantly.

It must be about the essence not activating when he tried to finish off the two guys.

Jeong-woo had experienced a situation where his essence didn’t activate when he wanted, so he could well imagine what had happened.

‘This person can’t bring himself to kill his own kind. But how did he get assigned the role of a predator?’

Even amidst this, Jeong-woo shuddered at his doubt about the role assignment.

In fact, Sun-woong’s reaction might be considered natural as a human.

“For now, let’s move from here. We’re almost home.”

Jeong-woo grabbed Sun-woong’s shoulder and helped him up.

In response, Sun-woong looked at Jeong-woo with empty eyes, as if losing himself.

An overwhelming sense of loss seemed to dwell in his pupils.

-Question 5. Please evaluate the area you live in and its residents.

Suddenly, another memory surfaced.

Question 5 from the Earth’s survey.

What was the answer he gave?

The terrain of Haengun-dong is 80% steep slopes.

Even just going around the neighborhood was like a march.

Given the circumstances, one can only imagine what it would be like during the freezing winter.

His daily commute was not an easy one.

Every time Jeong-woo headed to work, he would sigh deeply when he reached the 200 meters of downhill that extended to Nakseongdae station.

Then, when someone in front slipped, his gallbladder would go cold, and he would narrow his strides.

Sometimes he would see someone boldly using a paper box as a makeshift sled.

On those days, the image of that person sliding down the slope would stick in his mind and make him smile until lunchtime.

But on the way home, he had to climb back up that same downhill.

As he gasped for breath while walking, he would often come across around ten neighborhood residents walking uphill.

As is the case with most cities, it wasn’t an atmosphere where people greet strangers.

Still, there was a sense of camaraderie he felt whenever they went up and down the slope.

‘They are good people, living earnestly and not causing trouble to others. Although the neighborhood’s terrain is terrible, what can we do? Some of us have no choice but to live here, and that’s us.’

It was an ambiguous answer to call it an “evaluation,” but Earth approved it.

Perhaps it was the collection of such vague answers that led to him being assigned the role of “Savior.”

‘Good people…’

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