Chapter 9- The Warehouse

"Good that it didn't fall because of the earthquakes." Wan Yong said with a wide grin as he admired the sight of the building standing tall above anything and everything around it, declaring that even if everything fell, it wasn't going to fall too.

"It was built to resist natural disasters," Chin-Hwa replied coldly as he stared at the building's walls for any noticeable cracks.

"Can it handle the monsters though? That's the question we should ask." Soomin added as she adjusted her glasses.

"I wonder. It's still better than staying outside I guess." Wan Yong replied.

"Let's hurry." Hyun-Jae brought the group's attention back to their initial goal.

The group ran a few more dozens of meters before they reached the outer premiere of the warehouse which was surrounded by a wall and thick wires for protection. However, that wall had a huge hole in it because of a truck running into it perhaps because of the disaster.

Talon approached the broken truck and took a peek through the broken front glass. There, he saw a man's crushed body lying on the steering wheel, swimming in his own blood. Immediately, he looked away with a frown.

"Rest in peace…" He murmured with a long sigh. He knew that from now on, he would have to see many dead corpses and he had to grow accustomed to it as much as he could. It's a painful fact but it was still reality and reality is more often than not a very bad nightmare.

The others noticed his expression and immediately understood what he saw. 

Hyun-Jae shook her head with a subtly sad expression as she looked another way. "We can enter from there, it's open. She pointed at the gate on the northern side of the warehouse which was left open. Perhaps the truck was intending to leave the warehouse from that gate and then ended up smashing into that wall.

"The group then slowly made their way to the opened gates and took a peek inside. The interior of the property was basically an open cemented yard with the warehouse lying right in the heart of the property.

On this open area were some machines used to transport products that were completely abandoned. There was also blood stains everywhere. but no actual corpses.

"Be careful," Talon said as he stepped forward first and looked around him. Although he didn't see any Dimension Walkers, he was certain that this place wasn't empty.

'On a normal day, tens of workers are available here. They could've not escaped all.' He thought to himself as he clenched his spear before he turned to the others.

"Let's move, but keep an eye on your surroundings." He said.

Everyone looked at him silently with weird expressions. Talon noticed that and asked. "What's up?"

No one answered immediately until Shin-Il finally opened his mouth. "It's just… you naturally took the lead without hesitation, Talon. Why?"

"Hm? I'm the only one with a weapon here so it's natural that I step first to secure the place, no?" He asked back with a confused look. He didn't understand why it seemed so weird.

"You can step forward first. But, who are you to order us around?" The second to speak was Chin-Hwa, the cold prince. He had a strong glare on his face that he directed at Talon.

"Oi, relax, Chin-Hwa." Wan Yong said as he tapped Chin-Hwa's shoulder. 

"I'm simply talking. He has to understand that we're cooperating here, we aren't following anyone but Hyun-Jae." He added.

The tension between the members of the group intensified as everyone looked really uncomfortable. Especially Shin-Il and Soomin who remained silent. As for Wan Yong, he simply sighed inwardly.

"No one is leading anyone, Chin-Hwa. It isn't time for your pride to speak instead of your sound mind." Finally, Hyun-Jae spook as she gave her right-hand man a strong look as a warning.

Immediately, the handsome vice president averted his eyes with a click of the tongue.

"Sorry for his harsh words, Talon. He doesn't trust strangers that quickly." She then looked at Talon and said with an awkward expression.

"Don't mind it," Talon said as he turned around.

He honestly didn't care about Chin-Hwa's words as he was simply another arrogant and rich young man with an ego as big as this planet. He met many of those before. That was why Talon had no intention of interacting with this group more than he needed to. In his eyes, they were all the same arrogant assholes even if some were able to hide it better than the others.

Without adding another word, he started walking into the property with the rest of the group tailing close behind him.

The place was eerily quiet. So much so that Talon could hear his footsteps and his uneven breathing. The rest kept tensely looking around, searching for any abnormalities. Slowly, they made their way to the warehouse, not knowing whether they were safe or simply not aware of the looming danger around them.

No one spoke a word, not even to curse or to pray. Eventually, they reached the gates of the warehouse which were slightly parted open in a manner where only one person could enter inside at a time.

Everyone looked at that gap tensely for a good 10 seconds as if they were waiting for someone to enter. That's when two voices spoke at the same time.

"I will go in first." (x2)

Immediately, Talon lifted his head when he heard someone synching with his words. It was none other than Hyun-Jae who was also surprised to see he spoke too.

"I will go first since I have a weapon, as I said before." He repeated, trying to convince the beautiful student council president.

"A spear isn't good in tight spaces. You might not be able to defend yourself if something attacks you while you're trying to enter inside." However, Hyun-Jae retorted with a serious look.

"I can fight bare-handed. You don't need to worry." Talon didn't back down.

"Let me handle this one. We're sharing work here and I can't simply let you do all the dangerous stuff."

"..."

'She's oddly stubborn… Sigh, whatever, she can do whatever she wants.' Shaking his head, he gave up.

"Go ahead then." 

"Thank you," Hyun-Jae replied with a satisfied nod.

For some reason, she felt happy that she was able to take this role from Talon. It was very subtle but she could still feel it clearly and she didn't know where it came from. Her sense of rivalry flared for no apparent reason.

But, she quickly shook those thoughts away and focused on her task.

"B-Be careful, president," Shin-Il said worriedly.

"I will."

"I can go instead, Hyun-Jae." Chin-Hwa stepped forward and said with a hint of worry in his usually stoic expression. He was clearly anxious about letting the president go first.

"No, just stay here and follow me after I make sure nothing is inside," Hyun-Jae said before she turned around and stepped toward the gap.

Taking a deep breath, she peeked inside. The inside was dark so it was impossible to see anything. After a few seconds, she slowly moved through the gap and entered the warehouse.

'It's cold…' She thought to herself as she looked around. Other than that, there was nothing else in there. She walked deeper and deeper till she was right in the middle of the gigantic warehouse yet nothing appeared to attack her.

As she was about to turn around and call for the others, she suddenly heard noise awfully close to her. Before her instincts could kick in, monsters appeared out of nowhere and rushed toward her.

Their number was at least 9 or 10.

The others saw the scene and their hearts sank in. Their first thought was to immediately rush inside. However, someone was a step ahead of them. Dashing forward, Talon entered through the gap as fast as he could.

Meanwhile, Hyun-Jae had already taken a fighting stance.

"Where did these things come from? They weren't making any noise." She cursed as she immediately lifted her leg and kicked one of the monsters powerfully, sending it flying.

At the same time, the other Dimension Walkers quickly surrounded her. She had no way to escape them now.

Clenching her teeth, Hyun-Jae immediately ducked down, dodging one of the monsters before she punched it in the guts. Another one came rushing toward her, so she stomped it with her leg before using it as a support to jump in the air and kick another one.

Landing on her feet, she took a fighting stance again. Her expression was calm and her mind was focused and ready to react.

"I'm not an easy prey, am I, freaks?" She said. "Come at me."

*Swish*

At the same time, Talon appeared from behind the lines of the monsters and swung his spear, slicing a monster's head in two before appearing next to Hyun-Jae.

'He's fast.' She thought to herself with an impressed look.

"You might need a helping hand."