Life Mission

"….."

"Do we have to go further?"

The force was uncomfortable. The moment they climbed the ladder out of Underpass, special mission Black Devil's Shadow was activated. It was 1.8 million points. They were still wondering how to complete a 2 million point mission, but they have gotten caught up in one that was almost there. Since it had only been activated and they had not started, it gets canceled once they go back into Underpass. It was not the worst-case scenario.

"Black Devil? I think I can tell what it is if it's a parasitic type."

The rankers thought of different mutants. Level C means level 6.

There was nothing that matched among level 6s. It said that it was uncompleted. There was a level 7 that matched the description perfectly.

"Oriax."

"What's an Oriax?"

"A level 7 mutant. It's mostly active at night. It has a meek nature too."

Cha Jun Sung explained it to Park Jin Hyuk. It is parasitic, but it does not eat hosts or lay eggs like parasites do. Is it possession? It goes inside the host and brings out the limits to its potential. That is how it brings out the strength of level 7. Once the Oriax gives up the parasitism, the host goes back to the normal state.

It does not kill living beings, but is parasitic. It is mild in nature as well. How mild natured could a mutant possibly be? Unless it is hungry, it does not attack anything that is not a threat to it. In the virtual version, the Oriax's influence is higher in the distribution chart than that of other mutants. This was because it posed a small threat to survival. It would have been a level B mision if the Oriax had been an adult, but it must be level C because it had not been able to find a host and is in an immature state.

"Then it must be safe?"

"That's not it. What if we get caught when it's hungry? We need to fight."

They can be guaranteed a certain amount of safety if they only move during the daytime. The Oriax hates daytime. They are able to show their full potential in darkness.

"It'll be mid to top level 6 even in its immature state."

"Don't you think it'll be doable?"

"There will probably be sacrifices, but we should be able to kill it because it's a level 7."

Half of the rankers had caught Oriaxes before. Cha Jun Sung had as well. Level 7s are not particularly separated into low and mid levels. The level is the end. Of course there was a difference between the strong and weak within the same level. The Oriax is one of the top level 7s. They needed to be aware of a certain amount of danger.

The force members looked at the hole behind them. It was not too late. If they got down, they could focus on the Public Underground mission.

"Strategist. There really isn't a way to get through the entrance?"

"We'll find a way to get through."

They couldn't go in. Say they opened the entrance by blowing it up with bombs. Then what happens? Blood Suckers were waiting in front to take their enemies down one by one.

What if they didn't go down and just throw bombs? Public Underground's width was that of a small town. Even if they threw reinforced bombs, the enemies could get out of the explosion radius. If the enemy attacked right when they were trying to go in, a few members of the force would have to fight with a large number of mutants.

"Ugh! If only biochemical gas guns worked!"

Nuclear paces. It was as he said. If only the biochemical gas guns had worked, they could have thrown it inside and cleared out a safe area for them. They would have been able to use the gas mask function on their battlesuits.

It was the method with the highest possibility until now, but after blowing them up on the Blood Suckers' bodies, they didn't cause chemical reactions. It was not because they died.

There was no biochemical weapon as strong as the virus. Mutants have incredible immunity due to their infection with the A virus, so Blood Suckers are able to withstand biochemical weapons. What happens if they use it anyway, and their gas masking functions stopped working? If they took even one breath, the force would lose all attack power.

"Let's attack the ground like this."

Weapon Master had been silent with his arms crossed, when he spoke up for the first time.

"We'll be able to use 100% of the force's ability to fight with this terrain."

He thought it would be better to do this than to try to get through the entrance. It was wide. They had a full view. Even if mutants came swarming in, they could use all of their weapons. They would get to the hole in the ceiling without fighting if they were lucky. The Oriax's mild personality had a part in coming to this decision as well.

"If we really don't think we can do it, it's okay to complete Black Devil's Shadow and re-enter Public Underground. Since the top is empty, there's no reason to risk everything for the entrance."

The force members clapped. It was as Weapon Master said. It was a roundabout way, but it was safe.

"It's a good method."

"Yeah."

Cha Jun Sung agreed. Their actions were easier on the ground. It was a factor that they couldn't ignore.

"If everyone is thinking the same thing, we'll go through with it."

Strategist made the decision. They might need to complete 2 missions, but it was not a good method to keep pushing one thing without grounds. Their goal was to complete the advanced mission. Even if the process was a bit complicated, there was enough reason to go through obstacles if the results were advantageous.

[Force moving.]

They heard the radio and the battle line moved. 2 parties made of non-battle Lifers stood in the center, and 8 parties were divided into 2 of east and west to form a boundary.

The ground was a small city that had been reduced to ruins. Half of it was mixed with nature because there was no human touch.

[12.7km remaining until the location. Do not put your guards down.]

The goal of the new mission was to find and kill one Oriax, but there would be a fair amount of level 5 and 6s in this kind of city. It would be better to discover them early on to avoid engagement and battle only when it was absolutely necessary.

Bang!

Cha Jun Sung jumped into the air. His powerful turning kick, accompanied by the booster, smashed Congo's chin.

Its appearance was similar to a gorilla, but it was a level 4 mutant that was almost 4m in size.

Its chin bone was crushed, but such an injury didn't kill it. Even so, Cha Jun Sung is satisfied with the hit and goes in search of another opponent.

The Congo grabbed its chin and ran to catch Cha Jun Sung, who hit it and left. But its legs were hot. Precisely, it was its heels.

Koharu stabbed at the achilles tendons with her daggers. With painful soreness and impaired mobility, the Congo looked back. In the time that its attention was turned away, Violet appeared from the front and penetrated the Congo's chest with her javelin.

"Violet! On top!"

"Huh!"

Bang bang!

Violet turns and blocked the body coming from above with her spear.

The impact from the spear flowed through her battlesuit and out through her feet to hit the floor.

Tang tang tang!

Park Jin Hyuk sniped at the head of the Congo attacking Violet. Koharu also added in a bit of aid, and focused on trying to get rid of at least another one.

Cha Jun Sung's group was not the only busy group. The whole force was experiencing it. It took 4 days to go 28km. It was too slow. It could not be helped because they protected themselves as best as they could while moving, avoiding mutants.

The distance of 12.7km to the ceiling coordinates was marked in a straight line. The distance was multiplied because they were going back and forth.

The distribution of mutants here was incredible. It was hard to believe that this was a 1.8 million point mission. One unique aspect was that as Adumoque's area, the different species living here had hostile relationships.

So there was no worry of a concentrated attack, but battles were fierce once they start because the mutants' levels are so high. Like it was now.

Tutututu!

A few force members handled a machine gun as large as a person, and showered down on the Congos. They didn't shoot blindly. They only shot at the heads of those on the outside. If they shoot wildly, they could hit allies.

"There are so many of them!"

"Kill them!"

Hundreds of Congos were surrounding them. Not all of them were level 4s, and 70% are level 3. However, there were so many of them that it was a melee. The force fights divided into parties. If they stuck together in this wide space, there were restrictions to their movement.

Woong!

The force members avoided the Congos' attacks, took out rapid charging devices, and attached them to their battlesuits. They used the devices twice, and they were really useful items.

They couldn't expect a full charge because they kept using energy, but there was no reason for them to become empty cans because they charged as much as they consumed.

Cha Jun Sung cut a Congo's arm with his Time Limit. His party members swarmed to the injured Congo. It was a group battle. They refrained from individual action, and acted mainly in team play.

Bang bang!

There was an explosion from afar, accompanied by acrid smoke. It was Nuclear's doing. Whenever rankers created room, he approached a Congo and shoved a bomb in its mouth. The head exploded and it died.

Cha Jun Sung sighs and looked around. 10 parties annihilated the Congos. Others are either done or finishing up.

"I thought I was going to die."

"You did well."

They encouraged each other. It was a relief that there were no level 5 and 6s. If they had been mixed into these hundreds, the Lifers would have ended up with a death count.

They went into battle 3 times while going 29km. All 3 times were this difficult. As long as they were not overwhelmingly strong, there was no effect on volume.

"It said that the mission name is Black Devil's Shadow, right?"

"Shadow my ass! Oy! Is this an attainment mission? It's annihilation."

The number coming at them was high level. They didn't see any level 1 or 2. The lowest were level 3 and 4. They killed several hundreds and were exhausted.

Beep beep!

[The remaining distance is 983m.]

Strategist calculated the distance. They were close. When thinking of this as the Congo's area, there could no longer be any battles until they arrived at their destination. If they were unlucky, they could step into another's area.

The force members reorganized and went the rest of the way. They still had slack because they packed plenty of articles for them. Fortunately, unwelcome guests did not appear because this was the home of the Congos they just annihilated.

"Is this it?"

"Whew! It's impressive. This means that blood parasites are swarming under this, right?"

It was the hole that they saw briefly through the detection robots.

It was like looking at an ant hell that they couldn't get out of once they fall in. Except for the center where sunlight seeps in through, the entire surrounding area was dark.

"I'll take a look around. Prepare for an attack."

[Night vision activated.]

Woong!

Strategist activated night vision and checked inside Public Underground. He couldn't see well, so he moved to the center of the hole.

"Um."

"What is it?"

[Share view.]

Strategist shared what he was seeing with the force on a hologram.

"Huh?"

"I don't see anything."