The hands of a clock.
One large.", "One small.", "Moving the way they always move.", "Without asking anyone's permission.",
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Tick.", "Tick.", "Tick.",
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The sound of it low.", "Vibrating in the thin metal walls of the tent.", "Finding every surface.", "Coming back changed.", "Slightly.", "But changed.",
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The table.", "Long.", "Low.", "Old wood.", "The kind that had been carried from somewhere else and set up here because something was needed and this was what was available.", "Papers covering most of it.", "Documents.", "Maps.", "Printouts of things the screens had shown and someone had decided needed to be physical.", "Needed to be held.", "Computers between them.", "Screens still running.",
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Nine people.", "Around the table.", "Eyes fixed on a single point.",
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The man at the front.", "Short.", "Heavy.", "His voice carrying in the way voices carry when they have learned how to use a room.", "Eating all the attention in the tent.", "Taking it without asking.",
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"Here is the plan."
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He turned.", "The board behind him.", "A photograph of the mountain.", "Large.", "The green of it visible even in the image.", "The movement on it not visible but known.", "Everyone in the room knowing what was on those slopes.",
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"We know where the rift is.", "Top of the mountain.", "The plan is to split the entire force.", "Nine teams.", "Each one pushing up the mountain as fast as they can move.",
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He looked at the table.
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"The rift is expelling monsters every five to six minutes.", "If we don't move fast we will have a swarm on our hands that changes the math entirely.", "We cannot allow that.",
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A pause.", "His eyes moving across each face.",
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"As many of you have noticed your guild numbers have increased.", "That is Olympus.", "Additional manpower.", "Additional equipment.", "The new support will be providing backup.", "But authority remains with the guild leaders.", "Respect the chain of command within your respective guilds.",
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A voice.", "From somewhere at the table.", "Not raising itself.", "Not needing to.", "Just arriving.",
"The future of mankind itself.", "Reduced to a race.",
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Lee Ji-hoon.", "His eyebrow finding the ceiling briefly.", "His mouth pulling into something that was almost a smile and decided to become one.",
"So this all amounts to.", "Get up there.", "Kill monsters.", "As fast as you can.", "Correct.",
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He looked around the table.", "The same smile.",
"Why don't we all attack together.",
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Eyes moved.", "Then moved away.", "Finding other things to land on.",
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He looked at Ji-eun.", "The smile staying.", "She looked back.", "Something in her expression that wasn't quite a smile and wasn't quite not one.",
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Gun-woo.", "His voice even.",
"We can't attack together.", "The ants outnumber us.", "A concentrated attack gives them a concentrated target.", "The plan is to stretch their forces.", "Spread them across the mountain.", "Create openings where they don't exist yet.",
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He stood.", "Slowly.", "His chair finding the mud beneath the tent floor as it moved back.",
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He looked at all of them.", "One face.", "Then the next.", "Taking his time.",
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"Let's go out and do what we do best."
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The table moved.", "People rising.", "The specific sound of preparation finding its final shape.", "Equipment checked.", "Words exchanged briefly.", "The particular quiet that precedes noise.",
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Behind them.", "On the wall.", "The clock.",
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Still moving.
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Tick.", "Tick.", "Tick.",