Chapter 56

Chapter 56
## Chapter 56: The Performer and the Spectator

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A frantic wave of data surged through our communication devices. While Han Sang-ah and I prepared for our clandestine entry via the specialized “refrigerator” conduit, Lee Se-eun was coordinating with the remaining hunter teams to facilitate our breach into the Erosion Core.

― *Updating enemy count. We have identified 778 slimes in the vicinity. Relaying regional coordinates now…*

The strategy was simple: the other hunters would agitate the slimes prowling throughout Bratsk, drawing them away from the center to clear a path for us. Despite the plan’s logic, the sheer volume of monsters—778 in total—was staggering and far exceeded my initial estimates. It was in this chaotic setting that the specialized operations team Lee Se-eun had commissioned truly proved their worth.

“They are certainly skilled enough to justify her keeping them on a permanent retainer,” I remarked.

Han Sang-ah gave a silent nod of agreement.

Through our earpieces, the operators filtered out the noise, providing only the vital intelligence each hunter required. They mapped out movement paths and shouted warnings about incoming threats with surgical precision. Was their call sign Seagull?

“We had professional support back at Gyodongdo Island as well,” Han Sang-ah noted.

“True, but this is a different league,” I replied.

I’m not usually one to compare, but the gap between government-contracted operators and high-end private specialists is vast. Private efficiency often leaves public bureaucracy in the dust.

― *Prepare for the breach. Initiate movement in five minutes. We project a cluster of roughly 25 slimes near your target zone. Expect a variance of five.*

The order crackled in our ears. Han Sang-ah and I shared a deep, steadying breath. Our window had finally arrived.

― *The moment we verify your entry into the Erosion Core, all diversionary units will disengage. Reminder: all external communication will be severed once you are inside.*

We sprinted across the frozen Siberian expanse, guided by the voices in our heads. The natural environment was already biting, but the unnatural aura of the Erosion Core amplified the freeze. With every meter we gained, the temperature plummeted further.

“Dammit,” I muttered, flicking away the frost that had begun to crystallize on my eyelashes.

― *You are closing in. Five slimes are currently converging on your position.*

“Divert them if you can,” I requested. I didn’t want to burn through my stamina before reaching the Core; there was no telling what horrors awaited us inside.

― *We are pulling as many as possible, but you will likely have to bypass at least three.*

Given that hundreds were swarming the city, having to deal with only three felt like a miracle. I was practically ready to thank the operators personally.

Just as they warned, the slimes lunged from the shadows.

“Ignore them and keep moving!” I shouted.

“Understood!”

We couldn’t let ourselves get bogged down. Although it was just the two of us, we possessed enough agility to weave through their strikes without stopping. Dodging the lashing tentacles, we pushed forward. The landscape shifted from barren forest to a graveyard of cracked asphalt and rusted, snow-choked industrial ruins.

“We’ve entered Bratsk territory.”

― *Confirmed. Maintain your current heading.*

Bratsk was a modest city, now a ghost town. We vaulted over collapsed factory walls and raced through abandoned residential blocks until we reached the housing district. There wasn’t a soul in sight. The air coming from the massive, dark rift ahead was so cold it felt like it was freezing the blood in my veins.

This was the source: the Erosion Core, better known as Bratsk’s Refrigerator.

― *Enter the rift within 30 seconds. If you miss this window, the diversion teams will take heavy losses. Comms are dropping now. Good luck.*

30 seconds. There was no room for hesitation or mental bracing. If we didn’t jump now, the other hunters would be trapped in a meat grinder. The moment we crossed the threshold, the radio went dead.

“Han Sang-ah, now!”

She nodded, her expression grim. It was all or nothing. We leaped into the void together.

For a heartbeat, everything was pitch black. Then, a heavy resonance shook the air, and the darkness was replaced by a blinding, sharp light. A voice thundered through the space.

In the midst of a cold so sharp it felt like needles against our skin, the frozen air itself began to coalesce into glowing script.

**⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙**
**[Welcome to the Ballroom.] [One shall perform, while the other observes.] [Two are as one. One is as two.] [Without perfect harmony, nothing shall be gained, and you shall never stand before me.]**

“What is this?” I started to ask, but a voice cut me off in my ear.

― *Yoo Chan-seok, stop! Don’t move a muscle.*

It was Han Sang-ah’s voice, but she was nowhere to be seen.

― *There is a razor-thin blade inches from your throat.*

I froze, confusion washing over me. “What are you talking about?” I looked around. I appeared to be standing in a massive, opulent palace hall—cavernous and completely void of furniture. I slowly raised a hand toward my neck.

My eyes saw nothing but empty air, yet my finger suddenly brushed something cold and sharp. A thin line of red appeared on my skin.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Was I blind to the danger? I tried to process the mechanics of the room. “Han Sang-ah, what else do you see?”

― *There is a blade at your throat and a web of tripwires surrounding you. The entire hall is a minefield of traps. Also, three passages just opened.*

I could see the doors swinging wide.

― *A slime is emerging from each entrance. But… I can’t touch anything. My hand just passes through the walls and the floor.*

I stared at the open doors, but to my eyes, they were empty. The reality of our situation clicked.

“I get it. You’re the eyes, and I’m the hands.”

The threats were invisible to me, but I was the only one who could physically interact with the world. Han Sang-ah could see every peril, but she was a ghost, unable to strike.

― *…I see. We have to work together.*

Without her, I was a dead man walking into a meat grinder. Without me, she was a helpless witness to a void. This was the meaning of “two as one.”

― *On the bright side, the slimes are moving incredibly slowly. Maybe a fifth of their normal speed.*

Hearing that, I studied the ground. The floor was a grid of alternating white and translucent ice tiles. Using my instincts as a veteran, I formulated a plan instantly.

“Listen. Use my starting position as the origin. Call out the coordinates for the slimes and the traps using the tile grid. Can you handle that?”

― *I’ll make it work. Just be ready.*

I gripped my spear, staring into what looked like an empty, peaceful room.

“Don’t sweat it. If we make a mistake, we just adjust. Just keep me alive—I’ve got too many debts to pay off to die here.”

― *Fair enough.*

First, I had to deal with the invisible blade at my windpipe.

― *No, a bit lower! Stop—it’s right there.*

I moved my hand, but her warning was a fraction of a second late. My fingertip was nicked again before I found the physical mechanism holding the blade. I swung my spear, shattering the invisible hilt.

― *An axe is swinging down from the ceiling! Step three paces to the side—wait, sorry, three paces to the left!*

I lunged to the left as she corrected herself.

“Normally, that would have split my skull by now,” I panted.

― *…It was moving in slow motion. About twenty percent speed, just like the slimes closing in.*

The system was giving us a handicap to account for the communication lag.

― *I’m sorry. I’ll be faster with the callouts.*

“Don’t apologize. Just stay sharp. We don’t have time for ‘sorry’.”

This was too high-stakes for politeness. I was effectively a blind man in a swordfight. My life was entirely in Han Sang-ah’s hands. It wasn’t just that the enemies were invisible; I had no sensory feedback—no sound of footsteps, no shifting air.

“I’m trusting you completely. Small errors are fine, just keep the rhythm.”

Telling her “not to fail” would only cause her to freeze up. I needed her focused, not terrified.

― *…Understood. Trap at (3, 15). If you step there, the walls will fire arrows.*

“You can see the triggers?”

― *Crystal clear.*

Because she couldn’t fight, her perception had been heightened to see every mechanical detail.

― *Tile (7, 8) is a pressure plate for floor spears. Slimes are at (18, 5), (31, 7), and (5, 7). The nearest one is swinging at you—17-degree angle, left to right. Retreat two tiles!*

Han Sang-ah began rattling off data like a rapid-fire narrator. I moved my body in a frantic dance, trying to match her words.

“Gah!”

― *Sorry!*

A slime’s limb or a hidden trap grazed me, drawing blood. It was impossible to be perfect in such an absurd scenario. Even with the world slowed down, the mental tax was exhausting. It made a three-legged race look like child’s play.

“Stop explaining the traps,” I grunted, refining our shorthand. “Just tell me where not to step.”

We stripped the communication down to the bare essentials. As I took more minor hits, we found our flow.

― *Two hazards. Zero-five-one-three and one-two-zero-eight.*

I found myself using old military phonetic styles to process the numbers. (05, 13) and (12, 08)—simple grid coordinates for this massive frozen chessboard.

― *Shift to (2, 3). Enemies at zero-three-one-five, two-zero-one-five, and one-three-zero-five.*

Slowly, we synchronized. My head was pounding from the mental math, and my muscles were screaming, but we were surviving.

― *One down.*

We finally managed to kill one of the slimes. I couldn’t see the creature dissolve, but I felt my spear hit resistance and then pass through empty air. I took her word for it.

It took nearly five grueling hours, but eventually, all three slimes were purged.

― *My brain feels like it’s melting,* Han Sang-ah groaned.

“You and me both.”

Suddenly, my vision blurred and snapped away. I felt my perspective soar upward until I was looking down at the hall from the ceiling. Below me, I saw Han Sang-ah standing exactly where I had been.

“Well, looks like the roles just flipped,” I said, my voice echoing in her ears now.

― *Yeah. I see what you mean.*

Now it was my turn to be the eyes, and her turn to face the invisible meat grinder. Five more slimes began to emerge from the doors.

“There’s five this time. Get ready.”

The number had increased, but the enemies were still slow. We had the system down now. It wouldn’t be easy, but it was doable.

― *I’m not planning on dying today,* she replied.

“Then don’t miss a step.”

With the positions reversed, we began the headache-inducing dance all over again.