After running like a madman being chased by ghosts, he saw smoke filling his vision as soon as he reached a relatively open area.
He couldn’t see clearly, but he knew exactly what had just happened.
“Marcus!” He shouted, even though he hadn’t seen the man yet, he was absolutely sure that it was the stupid man’s doing.
Trying to call out the man’s name again louder, “Marcus!!!” But there was no response at all.
Suga clenched his teeth in frustration, thinking of all kinds of torture scenarios for the man in his head.
As the smoke cleared, Suga scanned every corner carefully with his eyes, until finally he spotted a blond-haired man, whom he had been searching for, standing near a tree exactly right next to him, and without hesitation, Suga immediately pulled him closer, grabbing the man’s collar tightly.
“You bastard! What did you just do!?”
“Wait! Listen to me!” The man’s face turned pale as he saw Suga’s sharp gaze.
“It was a small explosion, I used a small one.” He tried to explain his reasons, but Suga certainly didn’t want to hear this ridiculous excuse from this man.
“Huh? Small?! I could hear the explosion from miles away!”
“Look! It’s safe! I didn’t burn a single tree!”
Loosening his grip on Marcus’ collar, Suga checked his surroundings again.
The area that was previously covered in smoke was now clear and normal, just as he had claimed, no trees were burned.
But still, this man’s behavior nearly gave him a heart attack.
“What’s the point of you doing this stupid thing, Marcus?! Can’t you restrain yourself for a moment until our hunting day is over?!”
Staring at Marcus’ face, the culprit being stared at tried to avoid Suga’s deadly gaze.
Suga clicked his tongue, now his gaze fell on Marcus’ hand holding a remote-like object.
“Is this allowed?”
“The written rule is as long as you don’t damage or burn the forest, so don’t worry, we’re safe—” Marcus tried to reassure him that there was nothing to worry about, but his voice was weak, as if regretting being caught red-handed here.
“Marcus, hand over your backpack.”
Just as Suga uttered those words, Marcus tightly pressed his lips together, gripping his backpack straps even harder.
He avoided making direct eye contact with Suga, as if pretending that if he didn’t see him, he wouldn’t exist, like a child playing hide-and-seek.
“I told you to give me your backpack, or I’ll punch you in the jaw again.”
Hearing the warning, Marcus face crumpled, giving Suga an incredulous look.
“You’re scary, Suga! I thought you were a cute Asian guy, but you’re really scary,” he protested, half-shouting.
However, Suga didn’t care, he extended his hand, signaling for Marcus to hand over the backpack.
Reluctantly, Marcus took off his backpack and handed it to Suga with a sad and unwilling expression, as if Suga was a villain who was oppressing a poor man.
Suga snorted, grabbing the backpack and putting it on.
“Ah!” he winced, the backpack was so heavy on his shoulders.
“What do you have in here, Marcus?” he furrowed his brow, grumbling as he shook the backpack, creating loud noises of hard objects clashing inside.
Marcus didn’t answer, still wearing a somber expression.
Suga ignored him, and grabbed Marcus’s wrist, pulling him along.
“Let’s go back to the tent.”
But before they could take a step, a car was coming towards them, and Marcus’s expression instantly changed.
He yelled, “Don’t come this way!!!”
Whether the driver of the car heard Marcus’s warning or not, the car kept moving.
Suga looked puzzled at what was happening, he had no idea why this stupid idiot suddenly yelling like that.
But a few seconds later, Suga found the answer right in front of his eyes.
BOOM—
Something exploded again, but this time it was louder than before.
The car flipped over, and smoke engulfed the scene.
What the fu—
The scream inside his throat got prevented as Suga saw the person driving the car quickly getting out and jumping away from the exploding fire.
The trees and grass around them were catching fire.
Breathing a sigh of relief as he saw the man still alive, despite the heavy backpack he was carrying, Suga quickly approached the man who had collapsed on the ground, and moved him further away from the ongoing explosion.
Marcus had planted a landmine in the ground.
The man lying on the hard ground was coughing violently.
Suga tried to carefully examine the injuries of the man, which seemed severe, but fortunately, he was still breathing.
He quickly turned his head towards Marcus, who was standing silently, watching Suga.
Marcus’s face was pale, not because he was worried about hurting someone, but more likely because he was anxious about the punishment he would receive after this.
I’m going to report this guy so he can be dragged to the Red Area.
Why the fuck is he still employed here?
This is insane, Suga muttered under his breath, biting his lower lip.
He would save his curses for later when they returned to the tent.
“Fuck, do you have any water?” the injured man on the ground asked.
“Wait a moment, I’ll look for some,” Suga said as he took off the backpack he was carrying.
But then, he let out a frustrated sigh as he opened the backpack and found that it only contained cables and tools that he didn’t even know the name of. Read this novel at novelping(.)com for the best experience.
Damn it.
The alarm blared through the air, echoing throughout the forest, and soon after, the sound of footsteps from a stranger made Suga jump for a moment.
He turned his gaze to the back and saw Marcus, whose eyes widened as well.
There stood a tall man with a muscular frame, wearing a dark green uniform, a special instructor uniform.
He had reddish-brown hair and his eyes were a deep red color, it was unnatural.
The man stared intently at Suga, who was sitting near the man who had been driving the car earlier, which was still emitting smoke and flames.
Even though the man did nothing but stand there, his presence alone was overwhelming—heavy, commanding, enough to stir unease in Suga’s chest.
There was no doubt—this was not someone to take lightly.
A shiver crawled down his spine.
What should I do?
How do I handle this?
The uncertainty pressed in, leaving him on edge.
The man who was lying down also opened his eyes wide.
“Instructor Zion… He… He’s here…” His voice was hoarse and stuttering, at that voice Suga looked at him in confusion, noticing the trembling expression on his face, before his gaze returned to the tall man who was now walking towards their position with a calm and expressionless face.
So—
“Marcus, you’ve done it again.”
Coming to a stop in his tracks, the man addressed Marcus.
“I told you it would be better for you to be in Noir than here.”
The man gently squeezed Marcus on the shoulder, and Marcus squinted at him.
“How many times do I have to tell you I don’t want to go there.”
“But you can do this whenever you want.”
“Who says that? The fines there are multiple times higher than here.”
The man laughed, a laughter that did not show any amusement at all.
Shrug— the man lying down tightened his grip on Suga’s shoulder, pulling Suga closer to him.
“Take me away from that monster.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll explain later! I don’t want to be a victim of that mad scientist man— fuck, my shoulder hurts.”
The man whispering aggressively, Suga hesitated at first, but seeing the trembling lips and pale face of the man, he swiftly removed the heavy backpack belonging to Marcus and carried the man.
Shit— this man is heavy, grunting as he tried to balance himself, “Damn, you’re heavy!” Suga straightened his back with the heaviness of a man on it.
His body may be small for a man, but he still had decent muscle strength to carry heavy loads.
Despite the difficulty, Suga tried to jog lightly, so that the man, who was still engrossed in conversation with Marcus, wouldn’t notice them as they moved away from the area.
“You … Ha, why do we have to go far away, you’re injured, we can ask for help if he’s really an instructor.”
“Are you crazy? Huh you’re a newbie, no wonder. That’s Zion, Zion Hughess, don’t you know the rumors about that guy. Ack—damn, my skin seems to have burn marks.”
The man on his back grimaced, Suga adjusted his position for a moment, then resumed jogging slowly.
“It’s your own fault for driving the car in the forest, are you stupid?”
“Hey, little shit, how was I supposed to know that Marcus was there. Just get me as far away as possible now—”
“You’re in pain and you’re so demanding, geez.”
After they felt they were far enough from the previous area, Suga picked up the pace of his run.
Honestly, he didn’t know the direction, all he could see along the way were tall, dense trees and large rocks.
The man in his arms seemed to be getting weaker, and Suga shook his body.
“Which way are we going?”
“Ugh—” the man winced again, “You really are a newbie, try listening for the sound of a river, usually people set up camp near the river—”
“Don’t fall asleep! Stay conscious!”
He had to get this man treated as soon as possible.
But as time went on, the sunlight faded, and their path grew darker.
Suga stopped for a moment, trying to listen for the sound of a river, but his heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest when someone suddenly emerged from behind a tree.
“One cat and one dirty rat.”
The man muttered lowly, walking leisurely with a thin smile on his lips, causing Suga to freeze in place.
“Why are you running away? Did you do something wrong?”
There was a rifle in the man’s hand, he swung it around as if it was a child’s toy.
Why the fuck is he here?
How is this even possible?
Haven’t we run far enough?
Suga hadn’t heard any footsteps other than his own this whole time.
Zion.
The name of the man Suga had heard of since he first entered IHPS.
An instructor from America.
As the man took a step closer, Suga’s legs instinctively moved back, and every time Suga moved, the smile on the man’s lips grew even more amused, as if he was thrilled to see Suga on edge.
Although he didn’t know anything about this man, he knew those eyes very well, the gaze of a predator.
If your survival instincts as a human being were still functional, your hackles would rise in front of this man, and your brain would send out a signal, telling you to run away from this man as fast as possible.
Fuck— cursing inwardly, in moments like this, Suga felt his head throbbing even more painfully than usual.
His vision blurred slightly, and the weight of the person he was carrying on his back did not help Suga to get away from this man as quickly as he wanted.
“You…” After feeling they had enough distance between them, Suga tried to speak despite his dry throat, “You’re an instructor, right? Do you know the nearest medical team around here… My friend is injured.”
I don’t know what made me able to speak so smoothly, luckily I didn’t stutter.
The man, apparently who was an instructor named Zion, grinned thinly after hearing Suga speak so cautiously.
He took a step closer, causing Suga to almost slip, accidentally stepping on a rock while trying to maintain distance.
“Yeah, I am an instructor, so why are you running away when I want to see the condition of your friend… Ah, is that really your friend?”
What’s with that question …..
Suga nodded slowly.
Observing his reaction, the man’s eyes widened for a moment, making his pupils more visible, then he burst out laughing that echoed in the air.
Suga adjusted the position of the man he was carrying on his back, furrowing his brow— This man is insane.
“Well then, tell me the name of your friend.”
Is this how an instructor would react when seeing a injured member up close?
For some reason, this made Suga’s anger rise a bit.
He clenched his teeth.
headaches seem to make him behave more boldly.
“Okay… I don’t know his name. I just met him today and I’m also a new member here. Can’t you see the guy I’m currently carrying on my back?! He’s injured because of Marcus’!”
Suga half-yelled.
How could he not?
He was starting to panic when he felt the man he was carrying on his back no longer moving, but he was relieved that he could still feel his heartbeat.
The man’s footsteps came to a dead stop, his head lowered, however Suga noticed the man’s trembling shoulders—damn it, he was laughing.
“You’re funny, really.” Raising the hand that was holding the rifle, the man walked back to Suga’s position, the crisp sound of his boots crunching on dry leaves getting closer, and this time Suga gave up trying to move away, realizing that this man wouldn’t just let him go.
“You said … you’re a new member here?”
They were now just two steps apart, and the man’s proximity made Suga raised his chin to look up, swallowing hard on his dry throat, god, how tall was this guy?
He was impressed and scared at the same time.
“Yeah, I’m a new member. So, please cooperate, and please tell me where the medical team is located here.”
It’s good that his voice wasn’t trembling.
Surprisingly, he did not break eye contact with this madman, though he was actually, extremely nervous.
The eyes that were looking at him made Suga’s knees weak, were those eye colors real?
Or was this guy just an edgy person who liked to wear colored contact lenses?
Those colors …
definitely not the eyes of a human.
The instructor lowered his hand holding the rifle, and Suga’s pupils followed as the hand moved down.
Could instructors even use weapons like that?
Weren’t only members scheduled for hunting?
“Well then, follow me,” he said calmly, with a warm tone of voice like any regular guy, but still carrying an air of authority.
“I’ll let the rat go this time, just this once.”
Rat?
The man’s gaze shifted to the man that Suga was carrying.
“Though it’s a shame I won’t be able to use him, I could have treated him too. It’s a pity you don’t trust me.” He shook his head as if Suga had stated something offensive, then suddenly, the corner of his lips lifted up, creating a sweet smile.
This time, his face …
it was actually quite pleasant to look at, not as intimidating—
“Come on, what are you waiting for?”
As the man walked ahead, Suga finally followed him from behind, still feeling a bit hesitant.
He didn’t know exactly why, but the man who was now unconscious— the man he was carrying on his back, seemed to be afraid at the mention of this man’s name.
Though he couldn’t put a finger on it, Suga’s instincts were screaming at him to stay away from this man.
There was an obvious heavy, dark aura surrounding him.
I don’t want to die yet
Repeating those words in his mind like a mantra, Suga stared intently at the broad back of the man in front of him with a sense of wariness.