Terrestrial Savior Archetype - T.S.A Chapter 4 (part 2): Choice and Focus (2)

Thud, thud!

The sound of shoe soles scraping against the floor echoed loudly from just below the stairs.

It was the sound of people coming down and turning the corner.

Then suddenly, the sense of urgency seemed to come to a halt.

That’s when a low rumbling started.

“……?”

Jae-hyung and Jeong-woo couldn’t immediately grasp the situation below as they were about half a floor away from Team Leader Jo.

“Team Leader, what’s going on?”

Jeong-woo, who had a foreboding feeling, overtook Jae-hyung and leaped down to the lower floor.

Soon, a crowd of people entered his sight.

Those who were just about to open the emergency exit and go outside were pushing something into Team Leader Jo’s hands.

Starting from insect repellent spray to office knives, screwdrivers, and hammers.

It seemed like they had gathered various self-defense tools from the office.

“Do not come any closer! I warned you!”

The man with a hammer, standing at the back of the crowd, shouted with a terrified expression. The reason they were on guard against this side was one.

Because Team Leader Jo had the words ‘Predator’ displayed.

Not only was it a phrase with an unfavorable connotation from the start, but he was the only one attaching such strange words while everyone else seemed fine, so it was bound to be unsettling.

“…Wouldn’t it be better to leave quickly instead?”

Jeong-woo muttered with a furrowed brow, and the man with a hammer gestured to his colleagues.

It meant telling them to hurry up.

Creak.

The closed iron door reopened, and people started to exit one by one.

‘But they managed to get weapons ready after all.’

Jeong-woo scanned the stiff opponent up and down.

Although he didn’t know if they were office workers from any particular office, it was still impressive to see them gathering and moving together, each carrying something.

Then a thought occurred to him.

If he had to fight against those people, could he have won…?

It might seem ridiculous, but the moment he faced hammers and screwdrivers with his bare hands, all the humor disappeared.

When you think about it, even bug spray is a threatening weapon.

If you rushed in and sprayed it in their eyes, they would be out.

‘I have to quickly learn how to use the Essence. We are weak without weapons.’

Finally, the man with a hammer moved his body beyond the iron door.

Jeong-woo quickly tensed himself to check the opponent’s Essence reserves.

Thump.

A blue number appeared before his eyes.

The Essence the man had was only two.

In contrast, Team Leader Jo had ten, Jeong-woo himself had five, and Jae-hyung had three.

“Let’s go. We’re probably very late since no one has come down from above.”

Team Leader Jo stepped on the stairs leading to the basement and took out the car keys from his pocket.

From the moment they first entered the emergency exit on the eighth floor, Jeong-woo felt something strange. It was because the emergency staircase was too comfortable compared to what he expected.

It was a 10-story building.

If all the office workers had rushed out at once, wouldn’t chaos have erupted by now at the first or basement entrance?

Because even during normal lunch hours, there was a rush of people to both the elevator and the emergency exit, so the offices had agreed not to overlap their lunchtimes.

Therefore, there was no need to mention the ‘traffic congestion’ on a day like today…

“Isn’t it strange? We haven’t felt any signs of people since earlier.”

Jeong-woo raised a question, and Team Leader Jo, who was leading the way, stopped walking.

Jae-hyung also strengthened his voice, trembling with unease.

“That’s true. Even during lunchtime, it’s usually not this calm…”

They were currently between the second and third floors of the basement staircase.

They didn’t encounter anyone even at the entrance to the basement second floor they passed earlier.

Although they hadn’t opened doors on every floor, there still should have been some atmosphere.

It felt as if all humans had disappeared except for the three of them, and the interior of the passage was silent.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t heard any car sounds leaving.”

Team Leader Jo leaned against the concrete wall and spoke softly.

Behind this wall was the underground parking lot.

But even from a distance, sounds should have been audible.

Sounds like starting the engine or the friction of tires when turning a corner.

However, despite the situation, they didn’t feel any imminent threat other than silence.

If they used their imagination, let’s say a gate opened and a monster appeared.

Then there should have been traces of people fighting or running away from it.

At the very least, there should be bloodstains on the floor…

“For now, let’s open the door a little to see the situation inside.”

Team Leader Jo was also carefully examining the floor while walking.

If a serious incident had occurred, they would be able to confirm it when they opened the door leading to the parking lot.

There was a high chance that people had calmly left or, conversely, they would witness a horrific scene.

Given the circumstances, all three of them had a high probability of expecting the latter.

A parking lot floor that turned into a floor filled with torn-apart corpses or a sea of blood…

They finally arrived at the entrance to the basement third floor.

The iron door was tightly closed, and still, no sound could be heard beyond the wall.

Thunk.

Team Leader Jo held onto the door handle and spoke to the other two.

“If you see anything red, turn back immediately. Let’s abandon the car and leave through the main entrance on the first floor.”

Nods.

Jeong-woo and Jae-hyung nodded without saying a word.

Thump, thump.

Their heartbeats rose and made their ears tingle.

Jeong-woo stared intently at Team Leader Jo’s rough-looking hand slowly turning the handle.

Creak…

The handle began to move with a low friction sound.

Clank.

Eventually, the door lock was released.