```
Sssss---
The pitch-black military boots stepped on the soft, fine dust, emitting a light yet lingering sound.
The mercenary wearing exoskeleton armor held his Gauss rifle and slowly climbed the unfenced stairs.
They took each step with caution, vigilantly observing their surroundings.
The pathfinder lights above them illuminated the decaying buildings under the dark night sky.
The silent darkness seemed as if it wanted to devour everything that had fallen into it.
Click—
A faint sound came from the deep darkness.
"Who's there?!"
The mercenary at the front immediately looked up and toward the direction of the sound in the darkness.
His headlamp shone out, casting light on an abandoned metal barrel.
It was a fire barrel that a vagrant once gathered around for warmth, with decaying wood scattered around it, some of which they had kicked over when they passed by.
The sound just now seemed to be from the cracking of the wood.
"Huh—"
