Clearing the Game at the End of the World - Chapter 177: Lead and Silver Coins (31)

****

Squeeeek-!!!!

Bang! Crash!

“Hey, let’s make a U-turn! We can’t break through this!”

“Shut up and look for mines! The rear armor is weaker compared to the front, so the moment our backs are exposed, the snipers will be all over us!”

Regrettably, the situation for Ian and Ezel, who were part of the breakthrough team, was not much better than fleeing across the wasteland pursued by a mad tiger.

The trusted tank armor was tattered. The multi-layered reinforced windshield, piled up to the point of blueness, was so cracked that it was hard to see what was ahead, and the supposedly unbreakable elastic alloy tires were severely slowed down due to the shards of a nearby exploded mine embedded in them.

“What kind of madmen are we dealing with that can take down advanced tank armor with sniper fire, which even has self-repair functions….”

“The level of gunmen rotting in the wasteland is way beyond average. There were also problems with the makeshift modifications, the connection between the vehicle and the armor was frail-”

Crack!

“-and!”

“Aaaaaah!”

“Instead of screaming, read the radar! If you push any harder, we’re really going to die!”

“-42 degrees, 13 meters! 15 degrees, 28 meters! 1.2 degrees….7 meters!”

“If it was 7 meters, you should have said something sooner!”

Squeeeeeek-!

Kraaaaash!

At the moment Ian sharply turned the steering wheel, the nearby earth overturned, filling the truck with the sound of shrapnel hitting like machine gun fire.

‘….We’re being hunted. Their shooting skills are excellent, and they’re good at planning. We might really die here….’

Mines that don’t just explode on contact, but can be detonated remotely. While being threatened by gunfire, and trying to navigate around the dangerous areas marked on the radar-

Crash!

Boom!

Kraaaash!

Squeakkkk- Thud!

“Damn it! I’ve never seen such an absurd method of mine deployment before!”

The direction they were trying to escape to was layered with dozens of shock mines that detonated simultaneously, pushing the heavy armed truck with their aftershock. If it had been a normal combat vehicle, it could have been flipped over just by the shock.

‘The dust is thick and visibility is low, but we’re almost there. There’s hardly any gap between the gunfire and the impact, so at most it’s 100, 200 meters. And if they’ve been herding us like this…’

Beep! Beep-beep! Beep!

“Hey, this…!”

Ezel started to call out the coordinates of the mines but then lost his words.

The smoke cleared, revealing a rocky hill. The exosuit’s radar showed mines laid so thickly in front that there was no room for even a single person to pass.

“They’re not even trying to hide it now. It’s as if they’ve just tipped over a box of mines and scattered them. They must have been busy too? It’s really clumsy at the end.”

“If you don’t want to end up as meat scraps on those clumsy mines, do something! Reverse! Reverse, reverse!”

“How many times do I have to say they are remote mines. There must be plenty laid on the path we came too. They’ve been setting off mines to herd us here. They won’t let us out easily.”

Although Ian was obsessed with explosives, this wasteful form wasn’t his style.

‘The truck’s modified defenses are too strong to be penetrated by sniping. Although it’s shattered here and there, the armor still protecting vital parts is intact. They plan to immobilize us and pound us to their heart’s content…. Hmm. So, the mines on the exit path must be around here? If we back up, the rear wheels will lift first, flipping us like a turtle. Then the weaker underside will be battered.’

Bang! Bang bang!

Crack! Crackling!

Thud!

Unfortunately, there was no more time to think or move. The enemy’s bullets had finally penetrated the multiple layers of reinforced glass and began reaching inside the vehicle.

“….It’s penetrated. Damn, the bullet hit the seat!”

“They switched to ammunition with good close-range penetration.”

Amid the smoke and dust, the sniper’s bullets relentlessly targeted the windshield. It wasn’t just the sound that was jarring, but rather it felt as if the bullets were piercing directly into their ears, shot from a very close distance.

After a moment’s hesitation, Ian flung open the door of the driver’s seat and stepped out, grabbing the restless Ezel by the collar and pulling him towards the driver’s seat.

“Whoa! Are you crazy….! Where are you going!”

“Just spin the tires in place for a while. Make sure I’m not visible.”

Without waiting for a response, Ian ventured into the battlefield strewn with mines and snipers.

Quickly crawling under the truck, a cloud of dust kicked up behind him. With a loud squeal, a makeshift smokescreen began to billow around the vehicle.

‘It’s hardly enough to cover a large truck…. But it should be enough to conceal one person moving in the blind spot behind the truck. Let’s see. If I were planting mines…. Surely around here….’

Ian hurried to a pre-thought location. Right behind where they had fixed the vehicle. If he had designed this minefield, he would have laid a dense array of shock mines that could push forward regardless of the enemy’s defenses.

Swish-

Sweeping away the dirt, Ian saw the distinctive flat, concave shape of the shock mines and a fierce smile formed on his lips. What he was about to do was a bit crazier than the insane things his mad friend routinely did.

A vehicular delay shock mine that could blast any object within a 15-meter radius weighing up to 1.5 tons. With such a valuable tool abundantly available right before him, how could he think of retreating without using it?

Gathering all the visible shock mines he could find, Ian crawled under the idling truck and began delicately installing them one by one. Using the knowledge of demolition engineering he had studied long ago, methodically and carefully. Some right under the axle. Some propped on a small rock to give a slight angle.

In less than a minute, he had scattered about fifteen shock mines he had collected haphazardly under the truck. Lastly, he lowered the armor skirts of the tank and pressed all the maintenance triggers on the metal tires to make the truck settle. Confirming that the bottom of the truck had nearly turned into a sealed chamber as it sank, Ian quickly entered the cargo compartment of the truck.

Thump thump thump!

“Hey, Ezel! It’s done, now come over and start up the suit!”

Bang!

Crackling!

“What do you mean it’s done! Are you prepared to die!”

“Uh…. similar! Just come out quickly!”

“Similar? What do you mean, similar! Did you carve a tombstone or something!”

“If you’re late, you won’t even get to do that, you coward!”

“…..Damn, these BDSM guys, one and all are crazy….!”

Muttering every divine name he knew in his mind, Ezel ran towards the back of the vehicle.

What caught his eye was Ian, who had gathered all sorts of firearms aboard the truck and was now in the auxiliary battery slot of the suit. And what he was fiddling with in his hands….

“Are you insane! Why did you bring that! Throw it away now!”

“It won’t explode, man. I’ve already dismantled the remote detonator. Thought about it and realized I needed a trigger since it didn’t have one.”

It was the concave shock mine.

The mines that had been persistently tormenting them. And the man with the steel jaw, smirking while tinkering with the mine.

Realizing the kind of person Ian was, Ezel became very uneasy.

To Ian, a pin was something to be pulled, gunpowder was something to be detonated, a button was something to be pressed, and a bullet was something to be shot, no matter what. And now he intended to use a mine against the sniper on the distant rocky hill…. Why?

“A trigger?”

“Yep. They aren’t fools; if we hid amid the dust, they’ll suspect we’re up to something. I didn’t have time to fiddle with every mine laid beneath us, just positioned them roughly, and planning to start with this one.”

“Tampering with each one? The ones you’ve laid?”

Ezel’s anxiety intensified. [The ones I’ve laid.] The madman was currently tampering with mines. ~Since he mentioned the ones he had tampered with, it implies that the subject of his current tampering and those he hadn’t gotten to must be the same. So, that guy has laid mines right under our feet, mines that could be detonated by the enemies at any moment….

Wham!

“What, what the hell! Are you insane!”

“You’re the insane one! If you want to die, do it alone, Metal Jaw! As if dodging mines wasn’t enough, you bring them over!!”

“I told you it won’t explode! Those were the ones laid in our retreat line! They only explode when the car backs up, it’s safe if we just stay put here!”

“You obviously don’t understand what ‘safe’ means! ‘Safe’ means sitting in a warm and cozy home, slicing fruits, laughing over someone else’s broadcast, not being isolated on a pile of mines that snipers can detonate at any moment while getting pounded by dozens of snipers! This is…. This is just madness!”

Ezel wasn’t a fool. The suddenly lowered vehicle. The shock mines Ian mentioned laying under the truck. The ‘trigger’ Ian mentioned. This insane guy planned to detonate multiple shock mines to blast their group, along with the truck, into the rocky ravine!

“Do you know that people blown up by mines are usually referred to as ‘casualties’!! Huh!”

“You nutless coward! We have no other way to survive here but to do this mad thing! Trust me, man! Back when I was a rookie, I blew up a building with thousands of 5mm rounds! I’ve scattered 40 tiny plasma rods and won against odds of 50 to 1! Don’t doubt the calculations of an expert! Anyway, the snipers will run before we even get close! There’s no other way to approach them this fast!”

“Damn…. Daaamn!!!”

Whirrr- clank!

Despite his internal tears, Ezel powered up his exosuit. The deed was done. Unless Ezel shot that pyromaniac’s head off, the madman would faithfully execute his crazy plan, and sadly, if it came down to personal combat, Ezel was more likely to end up with a bullet in his own head.

Whish- click!

Seeing Ezel ready, Ian immediately attached a time-fuse to the shock mine and threw it behind the vehicle, then quickly slammed the cargo compartment door and jumped into the auxiliary battery seat.

Tick. Tick.

Seconds that felt like eternity.

“….Can I ask one thing?”

“12 seconds.”

“Not that. In your crazy stories about 5mm gunpowder and plasma rods…. was there any friendly fire?”

“….!”

Ian hesitated uncharacteristically. However, the uneasy expression on Ezel’s face as he looked behind the seat caught Ian’s trademark eerie smile.

Grin.

“….I apologize in advance.”

“For what?”

“You don’t need to know. By the time you find out, you’ll be in a state to accept that apology.”

.

.

.

.

.

“Ah.”

As he comprehended those words, Ezel finally snapped.

“Damn youuuuu!!!”

“Hahaha! Get used to it, Cherry! You’ve been marked by Professor Park! No matter how much you struggle, you’ll have to join in this madness dozens of times from now on! Accept it! Embrace the warmth of BDSM, Ezel!”

“Aaaaah!!! God, Buddha, Jesus, Confucius! President! Chief Mong! Kimi! Jim! Nadella! My unknown motheraaaa!!!”

Ezel, feeling a sharp sting, saw the adrenaline shot Ian had sneakily injected into his thigh, and preemptively lamented the impending tragedy.

Click-

Eeeeeeeeng-!!!!!

Ezel’s scream echoed like a harmony along with the characteristic acceleration noise of the shock mines.

Whoosh-

“Uh-!”

Before the thought that they had exploded could even register, the tremendous force and acceleration of the shock wave left Ezel unable to scream, clinging only to the control stick of his suit. Although he couldn’t see outside from within the cargo compartment, the distinct sensation of being airborne and the ticklish feeling in his stomach made it clear they were in the air.

And the unique terror of free-falling, too.

Whoosh-

The snipers of District 38’s Enforcement Department, known for their cold professionalism, could not hide their confusion at the spectacle unfolding before their eyes.

The target they had cornered, a truck that had seemed like a solid turtle ready to be beaten down, was suddenly enveloped in dust and then shot up into the sky.

Whoosh- whoosh- whoosh- whoosh-

Had it been a person popping up like that, perhaps they would not have been so flustered. They were veterans, after all, accustomed to all manner of bizarre happenings in the wasteland. However, what was now spinning through the air like a thrown hatchet was a massive truck. A mad contraption reinforced with a tank’s top plate and a strengthened frame, flying across the sky. And directly towards their position!

“Is it… flying?”

Someone’s mutter shifted the snipers’ confusion into chaos.

“It’s enemy air support!”

“Disengage! Move to the next sniping point-”

“Argh! It’s a flying truck!”

Whoosh- whoosh- whoosh- whoosh-

Crash!

True to Ian’s reputation as unrivaled in destructive engineering in the wasteland, he had successfully targeted the truck to land precisely on the target location, albeit with a marginal error.

Although the truck and cargo compartment had detached due to the impact, they nonetheless managed to land (somewhat) safely right in the midst of the enemy lines.

Creak, whirr- boom!

Squeak-

As the cargo compartment thudded to the ground and the half-torn door slowly swung open, a large figure emerged.

Whirr- click!

“Aaaaah! Aaaaaaaah!”

“Hahaha! Didn’t I tell you to bite your tongue!”

Bursting from within were Ezel, spitting out a mix of coagulant and blood in red foam like a madman, and Ian leaping from the battery compartment wielding a massive machine gun.

“Hard to see your faces, you prissy ladies-!”

The snipers, regaining their composure, raised their rifles, but Ian, who had been preparing, was much quicker.

Ratatatatatatatata!

“Hahaha! Consider this a grand welcoming salute!!!”

Ian quickly took out several snipers and suppressed the rest who took cover.

“Cherry! If we don’t each take out our share, we’re all dead!”

“Aaaah! Aaaaah!”

Unable to speak properly due to biting his tongue, Ezel responded by shielding himself from the raining bullets.

“Iuuu, aaaaa, aaaaaa-”

Facing Ezel was a monstrous cross, spewing dense flames. The opponent, a grotesque mutant piled up with what seemed like doubtful biological components, was a formidable challenge.

****