The Babysitter Wants to Stop Dying

Chapter 6: Terror (1)

[Special Situation Occurred!]

[Special Situation Occurred!]

[Achievement - First accomplishment of ‘Great Sacrifice for Others’!]

[Ardent Protect* is maximized!]

[The unlock rate of Nat*** Wea temporarily increases!]

[Nat*** Wea Unlock Rate 20%]

[Lottie ***'s Foresight/Stealth abilities are synchronizing-]

[Please note that the duration is extremely short in proportion to the low unlock rate!]

[Acquiring a clue due to the achievement!]

<2nd Clue>

You protected what is most precious to the protagonist. He is also the key to the curse.

Clue Accumulation Rate 2/5

***

"Kkeueueuk...."

I couldn't get a grip on my senses. Even if every joint in my body was severed and every single blood vessel burst, it wouldn't be this agonizing.

I had experienced death numerous times in Astava, but this one was terrible enough to be counted on one hand.

To be crushed by mercilessly falling boulders under a collapsing building.

After blinking my unwilling eyelids several times, my blurry vision slowly cleared. I darted my eyes, now accustomed to the darkness, around, but it was pitch black all around. Moreover, I was still amidst a pile of rubble.

‘Did I revive just as I was?’

Of all times?

‘I could have revived outside this mess. My body must have been in the worst state.’

I don't know why my already crappy ability keeps acting up as if it's malfunctioning.

The only saving grace was that the boulders that had completely covered me were gone. Was this the system's own way of being considerate, since I could have died again after reviving?

The only scenery visible was nothing but rocks that were practically boulders.

Kureureureuk-

When I shifted my body slightly, I heard the sound of crumbling rocks from here and there. I was wondering which way to get out when.

"Euu-."

A small whimpering sound came from below my prone stomach.

"Lottie!"

My dizzy head finally recognized the child's presence. Lottie was sniffling in the hollow space between my body and the rubble. All the while, she was tightly gripping the hem of the apron I was wearing.

"Lottie, it's okay. Let's come over here."

I slowly turned over and carefully reached out my hand to grab the child and pull her up. Even though I moved gently, the creaking sound of rock fragments echoed from all around.

At least the space was ample. I placed Lottie on my chest and stared at her, and her palm-sized face, covered in soot, was on the verge of tears.

"Were you scared? No, it's okay. I wonder how long our Lottie has been like this-?"

The situation was serious, but I forced a smile and rubbed Lottie's eyes with my hand. The black soot only got darker.

‘...My hand is dirtier.’

Wiping her face was put on the back burner, and after a few more rounds of cooing and soothing, Lottie soon quieted down. I could see her blinking her eyes even in the darkness.

"Our Lottie is so brave, isn't she? Huh?"

When I laughed exaggeratedly, the little one laughed along. As expected, our Lottie is something, should I say, a hero? Occasionally, she definitely shows an extraordinary side.

No matter how nonchalantly I was acting, for her not to be wailing in a situation like this. Let's pretend I didn't see the tears and snot that got on my hand.

"By the way, what on earth is going on."

I held Lottie in my arms and got up. If my memory served me right, we were in the wreckage of the collapsed Center building.

‘By the feel of it, it's not a Gate problem. A terror attack has clearly occurred, but the quiet outside suggests a lull, perhaps?’

I couldn't decide whether it was better to get out of here or just stay put.

No, actually, I had to get out. Staying here, where it could collapse at any moment, was a foolish course of action.

My mind had recovered to some extent, and my body was fine to move. But I could die as soon as I got out. The problem was that I had no idea what the situation was like beyond this pile of rubble.

‘My dying is one thing, but what do I do with her.’

After a long while of frowning and unfrowning, I finally made a decision. Until then, Lottie was held quietly in my arms.

"Lottie."

"Uu-."

When I called the little one in a grim voice, I felt the small hand gripping my collar tighten.

"We're going to go outside now. To do that, we have to play a game. Can you do it?"

"Uu!"

"You have to speak properly."

"Yes!"

"Good. There's only one rule. This is a game where we both lose if Lottie makes a sound. You must not make any sound until Hyung says it's okay. Are you confident?"

"Yes! Confiden!"

I wonder if she even knows what she's answering.

But spending time here was not a very wise thought. Above all, the ground has been shaking for a little while now.

Is the attack starting again, or is someone approaching....

"Ugh!?"

Suddenly, something struck my head.

A thrilling sensation shot through my mind. Before I could even react, my vision flashed. A scene I had never seen before flashed before my tightly closed eyes.

"We will be inducting the babysitter, Mr. Arsen Neroro, of the Association's 6th Childcare Center, into the *** ***."

"What on earth is that supposed to mean!"

"You can't just notify us of such a grave matter like this!"

"The *** is an independent union of Rankers, not affiliated with the Association! The recruitment of members is the sole authority of the ***, and especially the **. Do you have anything more to say?"

"Professor!"

They all roared at each other, raising their voices over a huge wooden table.

Two women, three men... no, four?

I don't know. The pain feels like it's searing my brain, and I want to identify the faces, but I can't. I can only vaguely see them like dolls.

Moreover, my limbs were trembling just from trying to concentrate on their slurred pronunciation in the middle.

"Hey! You, stop that woman! Does this make any sense right now?"

"Pardon? Ah.... Well, I...."

"Are you saying that to this person right now? Are your heads just for decoration? There's a limit to being shameless!"

As the small, skinny woman threw a fit, the pain rapidly subsided. Like a candle being extinguished, the entire scene vanished in an instant, as if it were a lie.

Before my wide-open eyes were only Lottie and I, and a pile of rubble like a fortress wall.

"What...."

I gaped stupidly. There's a limit to how random things can be. What was that just now?

‘Am I having hallucinations now? No, it's too strange to be a hallucination.’

I closed and opened my eyes for a long time, wondering if I would see it again. It was pitch black. Nothing appeared. ...Wait a minute.

Haven't I heard that sharp female voice somewhere before?

"Hyung-ah?"

"...It's nothing. It's nothing, I'm okay."

I stared blankly into the air and then stroked Lottie's head. I can't be dazed here. Who will protect her then?

I shook my head as if to shake it off and tightened my arm holding the child.

"Alright, from now on. Game start!"

As I spoke, I quickly scanned my surroundings. It's very faint, but there's light coming from above. It seems we weren't completely buried at the bottom, so it was certain we could get out.

‘I hope everyone is safe.’

Leaving the faces that flashed before my eyes behind, I carefully stretched out my arm. Small pieces of rock rained down on my head.

***

Kwaaang!

Kugung-

"...This is, crazy."

After carefully searching for a gap in that precarious place for some time, I, who had finally escaped the rubble, could only let out a cold sigh.

"What on earth is going on."

The surroundings, where I stood on the completely collapsed building, were a total mess. Is this what it's like to stand in a pile of ashes? Everywhere was gray. It was so horrific that I was dumbfounded..

‘Could it be that everyone is dead?’

I had a terrible thought and then shook my head. Even if the sitters are weak, most of them are superhumans. They were selected in preparation for a situation like this, so they should be able to take care of themselves.

But the situation before my eyes, no matter how many times I looked, made a groan escape me.

I was definitely on the verge of peacefully going to sleep, but the oh-so-peaceful Center was now gone.

The white, large building and the fresh scenery that had spread out before it were gone, and in their place, an enormous amount of dust and debris filled my vision, making it impossible to see an inch ahead.

The air, thick with acrid smoke, made it hard to even breathe. My eyes stung and a cough threatened to erupt. I hurriedly wrapped Lottie's face with my apron.

‘Should I have just stayed put.’

But the regret was fleeting. I immediately began to search for a way to survive.

As expected, it wasn't a Gate outbreak. If a Gate had opened, I would have inevitably encountered at least one monster bastard. Those things had an uncanny sense for the smell of humans.

This was a terror attack. The worst-case scenario the Center had been so wary of.

"Lottie, hold on tight."

In the distance, over the smoke and ashes, a pillar of fire soared fiercely, and the sounds of vibrations and explosions could be heard. The terror wasn't over. It was just quiet here for a moment.

‘I have to find a shelter.’

There were numerous shelters hidden in the Center.

The Center Director had told me when I first joined that the shelters were designed by a genius from the Association, and he had asserted that no superhuman, unless they were S-rank, could destroy them in a short time.

‘Two under the Center building, one in the annex, and two by the sea, was it.’

A space where we could buy time until reinforcements arrived, no matter what happened. For now, that was the only thing I could rely on.

It was just as I had come down from the building's wreckage.

"...!"

‘Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!’

I flinched back at the sign of someone in front of me. I stared at the huge hole in the ground and clenched my fists.

I lowered my body and held Lottie even tighter in my arms. It was impossible to see an inch ahead to run away. I don't know what kind of bastard it is, but come on, you son of a....

"Arsen!"

"...Ms. Helga?"

What came out of the dirt pit was Helga.

My tense body relaxed. Holding a young boy in her arms, she approached with a limping gait.

Helga, whose ability was physical enhancement, seemed to have protected the child well.

"Arsen and Lottie are safe too. Where have you been until now?"

"We were trapped under the building. We just escaped."

Helga's complexion was deathly pale. The area around her thigh looked damp, which seemed to be an injury.

"Instead of greetings, let's find a safer place. Give him to me."

I took Marvan, whom Helga was holding. Originally, only the assigned sitter could have contact with the children, but given the situation, she handed the child over without a word.

Holding two children was a burden, but it was better than an injured person doing it.

"Is Marvan asleep?"

"He kept crying, so I gave him a sedative as per the manual so we wouldn't get caught. Didn't you give Lottie one?"

"...Lottie wasn't crying, so I was planning to just keep her with me for now."

Only then did I remember the two small pills in my apron's inner pocket. I was out of it, and the child was so quiet that I hadn't thought of it. When I answered naturally, Helga shook her head, panting for breath.

"It would be better to give it to her. We must not, absolutely not get caught. They are searching everywhere."

Her face, as she said that, was gripped by fear. I needed to know what she had seen, and if it was related to that meteor-like thing I saw right before I died.

"What on earth happened? I think I died when the building collapsed, how long has it been since it happened?"

"Two hours? Three hours? I don't know. How long has passed.... Sophia died right in front of my eyes. A steel bar fell from the sky and... her head!"

She looked dazed as she spoke, as if she couldn't believe it herself. Sophia was the sitter in the room next to Helga's. They seemed to visit each other's rooms often, so did something happen to her in the meantime?

That woman was also a physical enhancement type, but to think she died so helplessly.

"With all this chaos, where are all the Rankers? Let alone the Center Director."

"I was running around frantically.... Ah! I saw Rowena moving the children. I haven't seen Cobe, the Center Director, or the Administrator. Where did they all go? Could it be that they were all taken down?"

That's exactly what I'm saying. The very purpose of having Rankers at the Center is as a countermeasure for things like this, but no one is here? Does that make any sense? Were they really all taken down?

"Arsen."

It was when Helga and I were moving towards the Center's annex shelter, with our guards fully up. She, who had been constantly scanning her surroundings and leading the way despite dragging her leg, stopped dead in her tracks.

"Come to think of it, Amanda told me something before bedtime."

"...What did she say?"

"That the Center Director was drinking with the Administrator and got completely drunk. That he'd be scolded if the General Manager caught him."

...The Administrator?

Helga looked back at me with trembling eyes. My head spun. The Center Director, a Ranker, was dead drunk right before a terror attack?

My face crumpled, and I shouted.

"What kind of nonsense is that! The Center Director definitely...!"

"Doesn't drink. He said he can't hold his liquor."

The corners of Helga's eyes were trembling finely.