The four of us quickly ran back to the ground floor of the building where the others should be at.
To our surprise, Eunjoo was out there fighting with everyone. That means, everyone retreated from their posts that were breached.
"Ms. Sung! Minhyuk-ssi seems to get a gist of what was happening!" Mingyu called for Eunjoo and brought us to her who also ran to us in a state of surprise.
"Minhyuk-ssi, do you know something about this?" She asked, and to me, I think she was very suspicious of the situation as well. It probably should be obvious that they all broke in at the same time.
"Surely you know there's something suspicious behind the attack." I asked Eunjoo as she nodded to me.
"Yes. They were all done almost at the same time if not at the same time." She replied.
"If you've seen the huge headless spider before and know something about male spiders hypnotizing other spiders, it's not least likely for them to hypnotize humans."
It took Eunjoo and the others near us to process what I meant, but they seemed to understand what I meant after a while.
"Don't get your hopes up. I was just guessing. There might be another reason how this happened." I told them before they expect my guess to be actually right. I might just make myself their enemy for lying.
I looked around the building to see groups fighting the insects that were trying to get inside. It didn't take long before more of the insects entered inside, breaking through the windows and roofs of the building.
Clearly, this was taking a toll on our group. We won't last any longer than three days without a secure building. My intuition just tells me we're going to need a building like this in the next few days.
"Hey, we need to go outside." I called for Eunjoo who thought our conversation had already ended and started fighting against the insects trying to get in the building.
"Excuse me?" She turned her head to me with a furiously questioned look on her face.
"We might need this building in some way. We can't let it be destroyed, so we need to lead them away from the building." I repeated. Clearly, she heard it right the first time I said it. She just couldn't believe what I said. Anyone in this building really won't be able to believe it, so it's a natural reaction.
I could see it. The anger and hesitation on her face and the responsibility she needs to be committed to fullfil until the very end of her life.
"I can't do that! Now that my students are separated from their family, it is my duty to protect them until they can reunite with them or until my last breath. Ever since I became a teacher, that is now one of my life's most important commitments." She said in a very determined and stern tone in her voice. I can really tell she's dedicated her life to her students.
"Then, why won't all of us just go outside and you protect them until your very last breath?" I told her and she was taken back.
"How could you say that?" She asked.
"We just can't switch from building to building only to be destroyed. We only have a limited amount of building in the city and not all of them would be able to withstand the same kind of threat this building is facing right now." I explained.
"Then, why not fullfil your duty outside the building if you're really determined to do it? They won't last a week by moving from building to building." I asked her, purposely trying to put pressure on her. It took her a few seconds before she finally gave me an answer.
"Alright. Do you have a plan?" She asked, finally making her decision.
"Yeah. Let your students buy bows and let the adults go outside and be the bait. I noticed that most of us here are adults." I told Eunjoo about the plan and her tense face returned to normal.
"Kind sir, you should have mentioned that my students will remain inside so I didn't say all that pointless stuff." She kindly smiled, but the anger in her smile could be felt in the air.
"No. You gained at least a few of my respect and trust." I replied.
"So, that was a test?!" She finally snapped at me at a time I never expected her to snap at me.
"Yes, but please worry about that later. That's the least of our worries. My question now is, are you willing to be the bait along with us?" I asked Eunjoo, and knowing what she said earlier, she would agree. I'm just asking for her consent to do so even though it won't be necessary at a time like this.
"Yes. Definitely." She nodded with a determined face to do what's best for her students.
"Mingyu, tell your classmates to go to the second floor and split into two groups with one having less members and have swords as a weapon and the other to have a bow. Call the adults as well." I called for Mingyu and he did exactly as I said. He told the students to buy bows, and a few seconds later, all of the adults in our group stood in front of us.
"Is there... a plan?" One of them nervously asked.
"Yeah. We become the bait." As I said that, the looks on their faces changed. They were clearly shocked and confused if I really meant it.
"I'm not joking by any means. But you only need to act as a bait outside the building. The four of us here can protect you all and take all the coins from all of you. There's no need to fight if you don't want to." I informed them, hoping this would get them to help us.
"Huh?! We're becoming the bait and you're not letting us get some coins as well?! Fuck them kids, and let them be the bait!" A man shouted from the back before he started walking away from us.
"Then, fight for the coins while also becoming the bait. We need to protect this building as much as possible, so directing the insects out of the building is the best possible choice for us all." I told him which might have been like pouring fuel into a fire. They were all looking furious.
"There's loads of buildings outside here! We can just move to another—" A woman from the back shouted, clearly angered by my statement.
"It'll be impossible to find another building like this. Most of the buildings here are near the subway and above the subway, a huge, headless spider lives in the subway with a swarm of juvenile headless spiders. Tell me, do you think there's a building safer than this? Decide quickly. We don't have much time." I cut her off to explain why we couldn't change buildings. I'm sure everyone listening to me understood what I meant, they just didn't want to do it.
"To hell with that! I'm not sacrificing my life for these snotty brats." Someone shouted and some of them walked away. They decided to stay inside the building and just protect it by fighting those that entered.
"Then, stay inside here. If we do make it past the first night and survive, I'll make sure that those who didn't take part in my plan will die by my hands." I just thought they might reconsider their decision if I threatened them, but it didn't. Instead, it enraged them further.
"Minhyuk-ah, that's too far and selfish." Gunwoo grabbed my shoulder in anger. And what does he mean by "selfish"? Aren't they selfish as well? They're just as selfish as me in this situation.
"Why do you think they should live when it's the fruit of our hardwork and they didn't even want to take part in it?" I asked.
"That's just the right thing to do! Saving lives and protecting each other!" He rebutted, but whether things are right or wrong meant nothing to me.
"The "right thing to do," huh? Letting others take risk for your own benefit... I'll talk about this later while I think about it for now." I turned around and started walking away. I walked out of the building and try to see if my hypothesis of the insects being attracted to bigger masses of people was false.
Jiyoon-ssi, Gunwoo and Eunjoo followed me outside and the students seem shocked to see us outside. We also noticed that the insects were attracted to any mass of people, but they would focus more on the bigger onces. Maybe as long as we can get a few away from the building and let the others deal with it, we'll be fine. I just can't wait to fill up their lives with regret later.
"Well then, I entrust my life to this hypothetical statement of yours, Minhyuk-ssi." Eunjoo smirked confidently yet nervously when we all saw the insects that turned their heads towards us.