By Zephyria 
Even seeing it with his own eyes, Ire couldn’t believe it. The thing that emerged from the water had a human head and what appeared to be arms on its torso, but anyone could see they resembled a crayfish’s pincers.
“What is that…?”
It stood motionless, facing them.
“Looks like the lobster I ate a few days ago.”
“Is that a person?”
“No way.”
They looked around for a place to hide, but there was nowhere suitable.
“Slowly move behind the car.”
As Kim Ha-yoon said, Ire backpedaled and moved behind the car. Kim Ha-yoon immediately sent a request for assistance using the watch on his wrist. It seemed he was calling Kim Seon-oh, asking him to bring weapons.
Ire hoped the grotesque creature would return to the water, but a moment later, something wriggled up his back. He immediately recognized it as the tentacle that had attacked Seo Young-jun. The way it moved like heat haze didn’t bode well.
“Captain…”
“Yeah, I see it.”
The smile disappeared from Kim Ha-yoon’s face. His lip, bitten earlier, was swollen red, with blood welling up in small clumps. Could they hold out here until someone else arrived? Just then, the thing in front of them moved from side to side, dancing like a cobra.
When its entire body was revealed, Ire couldn’t help but be shocked. It wasn’t just that its arms looked like pincers; countless legs of different sizes were attached to the lower part of its torso. It was a bizarre figure with a human head on a crayfish’s body.
Could it be a robot? Ire had heard that combat robots were created during the period of rapidly increasing infected, but they were scrapped after experiencing many trials and errors, and since then, only industrial and household robots had been mainly produced. If it was a combat robot of that form, it would have been quite a blow to the enemies…
But Kim Ha-yoon flatly said it wasn’t a robot.
“Where’s the gun?”
“Wait. I’ll get it.”
It was then, as Ire was about to go to the trunk. Whoosh—! Something flew by at high speed, shattering the window with a crash and piercing through. It was a tentacle that had come through between Kim Ha-yoon and Ire, and the bulging veins on its surface, which seemed to pulsate, resembled a human penis.
Both held their breath, only their eyes moving. Looking closely, the end was as sharp as a knife. With a chilling scratching sound, it moved from side to side as if searching for something, then quickly pulled out and returned to its original position.
“I don’t think it can see us.”
Just as Ire was feeling relieved, the grotesque creature began to sprint towards them. Or perhaps “fly” was a more accurate description. The way it stamped the ground with its pincers and jumped resembled a giant grasshopper. Seeing it rushing towards them at a terrifying speed, Ire quickly took out two rifles from the trunk and threw one to Kim Ha-yoon.
He was about to pull the trigger on the target when the thing was one step ahead. It came and plunged its large pincers into the car, tearing the thick metal like paper.
“Get out of the way!”
As the thing swung its pincers mercilessly, the car flew to a spot more than ten meters away. The monster, seen right in front of them, was overwhelmingly suffocating.
Switching the rifle to burst mode, Ire pulled the trigger, and twelve bullets per second were fired non-stop. The thing, under attack, screamed and thrashed wildly, and the two slowly widened the distance between them. Even as shell casings piled up on the ground, the thing only writhed and didn’t fall.
Damn it. If it’s not a robot, how can you explain that?
While Kim Ha-yoon was attacking, Ire glanced at the car that had rolled far away. Lee Boram’s small bomb was in the trunk of the car. He was going to detonate it without hesitation if Kim Ha-yoon showed any strange signs when he met him today, but he never thought he would use it this way.
It took time to assemble it, so Ire called Kim Ha-yoon with a troubled expression.
“Captain! Can you hold out alone for one minute?”
“One hour is enough.”
Normally, Ire would have found it hateful, but today, that bravado was surprisingly reassuring. Knowing that they could both die if they hesitated, Ire left Kim Ha-yoon and ran to the car. He tried to find the small bomb in the trunk of the overturned car. Then, realizing that there was no sound of gunfire, he raised his head and stared straight ahead.
Kim Ha-yoon was throwing the gun with the empty magazine on the ground and taking out a dagger from his waist. Ire’s hands became busy as well. Unfortunately, the small marble-sized object was nowhere to be seen. Because the car was completely overturned and crushed, it was impossible to look inside the trunk.
Having no choice, Ire gave up on the bomb and picked up an ax. He ran with it, but the monster suddenly turned and looked at Ire. Whoosh—! The tentacle flew again, and it arrived right in front of his nose in the blink of an eye because of how fast it was.
Barely dodging it, Ire grabbed the tentacle with his hand, but it was so slippery as if it was coated with oil that he couldn’t grab it at all. The tentacle quickly returned and disappeared behind its back.
“Captain!”
Ire was about to throw the remaining magazine to Kim Ha-yoon, but he waved his hand at the monster.
“Hey! Over here. Come to me. See this?”
“Don’t! It’s too slippery to grab!”
As if understanding, the tentacle flew accurately towards Kim Ha-yoon. Kim Ha-yoon spread his palm wide, and the tentacle pierced through his palm as it was. Before he could even scream in surprise, Kim Ha-yoon quickly wrapped the tentacle around his arm and pressed it to the ground.
“Cut it off!”
At those words, Ire ran mindlessly and swung the ax greatly. Thwack! When he struck the ground hard enough to dent it, a whitish, fishy liquid splattered everywhere, and the tentacle was cut off. With a screech, it thrashed madly. Ire inserted the magazine and covered Kim Ha-yoon. The tentacle that had pierced Kim Ha-yoon’s palm was still wriggling.
“Damn it. Feels disgusting.”
“Are you okay?”
Kim Ha-yoon shook the hand with the tentacle stuck in it and smiled.
“Are you worried about me? I’m touched.”
“Of course not…”
“Then show me your front teeth too.”
“I’m not in the mood for jokes, so get rid of that and stay behind me. That bastard is furious.”
Kim Ha-yoon pulled out the wriggling tentacle and threw it on the ground.
“I think its back is its weak point, right?”
Ire had a similar thought. The tentacles came out of its back, and it never showed its back while fighting. Now that the tentacle was cut off, wouldn’t it be possible to damage other parts on the back with a gun or knife?
While he was thinking that, the thing seemed to have regained its senses and kicked off the ground and ran. Every time it was hit by a bullet, its body was pushed back, but it quickly returned to its original state. Was this what they meant by digging in the air? Ire made a troubled expression as he replaced the last magazine, and blood was flowing non-stop from Kim Ha-yoon’s hand, and his complexion was not good.
“I’ll lure it, so aim for its back.”
“You’ll die.”
“Weren’t you the one who would be happiest if I died?”
“……”
Then, without asking anything more, he ran to the other side. Ire even thought about leaving him to die, but he thought it was better to have at least one person right now. The thing’s target had now changed to Kim Ha-yoon. Whether it was because of the deep grudge for cutting off the tentacle, the thing chased Kim Ha-yoon as if it had gone crazy.
Shoot! Kim Ha-yoon’s voice rang out, and Ire aimed his gun at the thing’s back. Knowing that Kim Ha-yoon could die if he made a mistake with only a few bullets left, Ire pulled the trigger, and the bullets that flew hit the thing’s back of the head and body.
Even after shooting one, two, three bullets, it was far from fatal, and it only got more angry and thrashed. It would be easy if he knew where the tentacles came out, but it completely hid its appearance and didn’t show it. Ire’s face gradually distorted as he looked through the scope.
The tentacle appeared and disappeared for a very short time, and surprisingly, it was below the waist. If it was a person, it would be around the crotch area.
Shit… It wasn’t just that it looked fucked up, but was it really a dick?
If so, then the white thing earlier wasn’t blood, but…
Barely suppressing the rising nausea, Ire took a breath. The distance between Kim Ha-yoon and the thing was getting closer and closer, and cold sweat ran down his back. It was usually not easy to shoot a bullet into a specific part of a moving enemy.
Kim Ha-yoon dodged the thing’s attack with the ax he was holding and struck down on its torso. The nimble and threatening appearance, despite having a hole in his palm, made Ire wonder for a moment which one was the real monster. However, Kim Ha-yoon was also human, so Ire could feel that he was gradually getting tired.
Ire concentrated all his nerves, leaving the last bullet.
Hoo…
He waited for the thing’s tentacle to appear inside the scope.
One, two, three…
Finally, the end of the tentacle popped out, and at that moment, he mercilessly pulled the trigger.
Bang—