Chapter 111

Creak. Creeeak.

The eerie sound of plastic joints clashing echoed.

That sound burrowed into my eardrums like the creak of a rocking chair moving on its own in a horror movie.

[“Over there. Can everyone see it?”]

[“Yeah, I see it.”]

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Androids, each carrying black tumors, began pounding furiously on the lecture hall door.

There were about thirty of them. Maid-type androids and janitor androids were mixed in. Not just androids—drum-shaped security patrol robots were also ramming into the tightly sealed door, tumors attached to their bodies.

[“Damn it, they look just like Ciel.”]

[“How do they look alike? They’re completely different. The makeup, the outfit, even the way they make expressions—it’s all different.”]

[“Still, the face is the same. It’s a fact. They probably came off the same assembly line.”]

[“I know. I’m just saying it like that on purpose. Otherwise, how are we supposed to fight them without getting distracted? Even if they look identical, I gotta use some mental control—like, ‘Nah, they look nothing alike.’ That way I can focus.”]

[“Both of you, focus.”]

Silence and Raina’s chatter was cut short by Iri.

She was hiding at the corner at the end of the hallway, quietly watching the androids’ movements, and now clenched the handle of her shield tightly. Then she began timing it.

After a deep breath—one, two, three.

[“Now!”]

Iri dashed forward and activated [Thousand Pound Weight], yanking one of the androids right in front of her.

Caught by the gravitational pull of [Thousand Pound Weight], an android was dragged over more than 20 meters and toppled at her feet.

Its head landed in a perfect spot.

Thud!

She stomped down hard on the head.

Her combat boots shattered the plastic-made skull. As expected, these weren’t security units—they were way flimsier than the ones they’d encountered in the colony.

“Let’s go!”

She raised her voice and kicked off from the spot, charging toward the android horde. Shield in her left hand, shotgun in her right, she pulled the trigger.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

She had never been confident with firearms, but her aim wasn’t hopeless enough to miss a whole crowd with a shotgun.

Even if she fired wildly with only rough shoulder support, the spread of pellets shredded two or three androids with ease.

Meanwhile, from the other end of the hallway, Silence and Raina began their assault too. Raina tapped the minigun trigger in short bursts, sending out controlled shots, while Silence calmly landed precise hits with his pistol.

Surrounded by all three of them, the androids didn’t even last ten seconds before turning into countless fragments.

Creak. Creak.

The black tumors dropped from the androids. The tumors were trying to assemble new bodies from whatever intact parts they could find now that their hosts were destroyed.

But—

“Let’s finish them off properly before they crawl away.”

The three had already learned how these things behaved. Without hesitation, they fired at the black fleshy masses crawling across the floor.

Screeeeeeech!

Though they shouldn’t have had any vocal cords, the tumors emitted eerie cries as they died under gunfire.

It was an utterly clean conclusion to the battle. After checking her remaining ammo and the others’ condition, Iri turned toward the lecture hall door.

It was the one the androids had been trying to break through. They’d slammed into it so hard, the metal door, once firmly locked, had bent inward dramatically.

Would they even be able to escape through that later?

‘They must’ve heard the gunfire from inside.’

Whoever was inside had likely realized the berserk robots were gone.

Without hesitation, Iri pounded on the lecture hall door and shouted,

“Is anyone inside? We’re here to rescue you!”

As if they had been waiting for this, a flurry of movement could be heard from the other side.

It sounded like they were removing the makeshift barricade blocking the door. Soon came the sound of the doorknob rattling, but as expected, the warped door wouldn’t open.

“Step back! I’m kicking it open!”

After confirming the presence had moved away, Iri mustered all her strength and kicked the door.

Crash!

With a loud bang, the already half-loosened door flew inward into the lecture hall.

Silence whistled nearby, and she gave him a side glance before gesturing for Raina to go ahead. She still wasn’t great at dealing with strangers.

Reading her intent, Raina stepped inside and cheerfully called out,

“Is everyone alright? I’m Raina Alton, first-year from the Tactical Combat Department! We’ve come to rescue you!”

Inside the lecture hall were five young men and women gathered together. Judging by their white lab coats, they were likely students from the Science and Technology Department.

Realizing that their rescuers were Adaptees from the Tactical Combat Department, their faces lit up.

“Th-thank you for saving us. Just a little longer and that door would’ve broken!”

“This place isn’t safe. We’ll take you somewhere secure, so please follow us.”

“Somewhere safe?”

“We’re using a sponsor company office on the 249th floor as a temporary shelter. If you wait there for a bit, you can escape via aerial transport from the parking lot—”

Just as Raina was explaining—

Iri locked eyes with one of the female Science and Tech students. The others were unfamiliar, but she recognized this girl.

“You’re…”

She didn’t know her name.

But she remembered the girl was one of the members of Leon Albert’s study group. A Stingray scholarship student too, someone she had seen around the cafeteria from time to time.

“……”

Iri stared at the girl without saying a word. Perhaps feeling guilty for the bullying, the girl couldn’t meet Iri’s eyes.

Sensing the strange tension between the two, Raina fell silent. The other students glanced around, confused by the atmosphere.

“……”

“……”

The silence dragged on.

Iri remained expressionless. Her violet eyes quietly lowered behind her eyelids, and with a short sigh—

“F-fine! It was my fault! I’m sorry, okay?!”

The girl clasped her hands together and began pleading in panic.

She was likely afraid of being abandoned in a moment like this. Only Raina seemed to understand why the girl reacted that way. The others just stared back and forth between the two, perplexed.

Iri gave the girl a curt response.

“Just make sure you keep up.”

“Huh?”

“If you get caught on the way, I’m not coming back for you.”

With that, she coolly turned away and exited the lecture hall. The ends of her silver hair, tied tightly, swayed ever so slightly.

Watching her walk away, Raina leaned toward Silence and called him over.

“Senior.”

“[What is it?]”

“Didn’t Iri look a bit like someone just now?”

“[So it wasn’t just me who thought that.]”

Though they didn’t mention a specific name, the two could tell they were thinking of the same person.

That back of Iri as she turned around—

For some reason, it resembled Aaron’s.

Rescue operations continued after that.

The three of them focused on the Main Building and the Science & Technology Building, eliminating androids threatening students and escorting them to safety.

During that process, Iri had a few more experiences similar to when she’d met the female student from the Science and Technology Department, but she brushed them all off.

The number of students and staff rescued by the trio steadily grew.

Most were unaffiliated students, but there were quite a few scholars from other corporate sponsors as well. There were also a notable number of Adaptees from the Tactical Combat Department.

Once a reasonable number of Tactical Combat Department students had gathered, Iri decided to form a new rescue team.

After all, it was nearly impossible for just the three of them to cover such a vast complex—and the other Adaptees were eager to join them.

Thus, they organized six rescued Tactical Combat Department students into a rescue team, forming Team B and Team C. Each group was assigned a zone, and they began rescuing other students using similar strategies.

The ridiculous part was that no one had even thought about rescuing others until Iri’s group showed up.

They had merely banded together with a few acquaintances or nearby individuals, only concerned about fleeing from the attacking androids. Not one had considered joining forces with other groups.

‘Yeah, that’s our Academy alright.’

Thoroughly individualistic and selfish.

A mindset cultivated and conditioned by the corporations.

Even if there were many androids and robots inside the Academy, most were non-combat models.

Had the students gathered calmly and fought together in unity, things likely wouldn’t have escalated to this point.

‘The Tactical Combat Department must be the same.’

They’d probably split into small groups, fighting individually, with no real concern for the rest of the Academy or their fellow students.

‘Can’t be helped.’

Originally, she had planned to sweep only the Science & Technology Building and the Main Building, but to truly end this situation, more combat personnel were needed. Since Ciel and Miyu seemed to be struggling in the network realm, they had no choice but to do more on their end.

With that, Iri changed the plan to include the Tactical Combat Department building in their sweep.

And unsurprisingly, upon arrival, things were unfolding exactly as she’d anticipated.

Scattered small groups.

Top-tier students who only cared about their own safety, indifferent to the rest.

Even though the security androids in the Tactical Combat Building were far more aggressive, raising the difficulty of the fights, the real reason the damage had worsened was the rotten attitude of the students from the start.

“……”

The Special Class trio felt bitter about that realization, but there was no time to wallow in sentiment.

They continued moving, rescuing more students and expanding their ranks.

Along the way, they encountered classmates who used to avoid Iri, and even Adaptees from Militech—the rivals of Stingray—including bastards like Leon and Donovan, who had once tried to kill her.

Yet Iri showed no personal grudge. She let them join the student formation without complaint. Perhaps realizing it was better to be part of the largest group, they followed her without resistance.

After making their rounds and rescuing many students and faculty, they had gathered a considerable force.

“[I think this is enough.]”

“Yeah, Iri. I’m out of ammo too. Let’s not overdo it—let’s head back to the shelter.”

Of course, not everyone had been saved in time. Many had met tragic ends. Even now, in some classrooms, there were likely bodies left behind in grotesque states too awful to describe.

Still, they had done everything they could. The damage likely wouldn’t grow any further. Now, all that remained was for Ciel to disable the turrets—restored by the automated repair system—and then they could all escape this hell together.

With that in mind, she issued orders for the other teams to return and began walking toward the temporary shelter.

Originally, the Stingray office had served as the shelter, but with so many people, they’d relocated to the holographic artificial park.

Thinking she could finally rest after briefing the students one last time, Iri stepped into the indoor park.

And then—

“……What is this.”

Chaos had erupted there.

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