Life Mission

“What are you doing here?”

“Go back.”

When the hosts approached the bunker entrance, a few soldiers tried to stop them. Their goal is to open the door, so there is no reason for them to stop. The atmosphere is becoming cold.

The party made up of Lifers came with their flamethrowers and had the soldiers go back. It could be that they are crazy and unable to speak, but they have a feeling.

“This.”

“I’m getting a bad premonition. If you come any closer, I’ll cook you.”

A party member turned the flamethrower on. A red flame flicked out and grazed the floor. Did they feel threatened? They stopped.

Keureuk!

Their eyes meet and they get a feel for each other. The party members that they are hosts, the hosts that they have been caught. The actions to take after?

Wiing!

A soldier did not think and rang the siren. It is an emergency. Hosts entered the bunker. The party members prepared for battle as well.

“Why now?”

“There are few of them.”

They had been crept up on, but it is not a desperate situation. It does not seem like the inside has been compromised. If it had, there would have been chaos. There are just 3 of them.

“Too too!”

“Infestors!”

“Get down!”

The host that spit out 14 brown infestors sheds the human. The sound of bones breaking with the body twisting in a bizarre manner.

“That!”

“Level 4!”

The party members stutter. It is similar to the level 4 parasite that they had fought in sleeping room 1. The only difference is that it is a bit smaller.

The party members avoided the infestors with their enhanced senses, but the soldiers could not do the same. 7 hosts are going through transition.

“Fry them!”

Bang!

1 of the 3 hosts that completed transitioning first got to the party within seconds, and hit a member’s stomach. He went rolling back as though flying from the incredible strength.

He avoided instant death with his metal armor, impact tights, and body modification.

9 people launched their flamethrowers. The survivors started screaming from the dorms after detecting the noise. They have recalled their nightmares of the past.

A long and sharp tentacle licks out like a sword. The party members focus and run around to avoid it. From experience, it is just under level 4. It is a level 3.

“Damn it! Hey! Are you dead?”

“Ugh! Shut up!”

The party member who had been hit by the host rubs his stomach and joins the formation. At the same time, the 7 hosts completed their transition.

“It’s 10 to 10.”

The number of hosts and the number of party members is the same. The problem is quality. The quantity might be the same, but there is a huge difference in level. These people cannot win against level 3 mutants 1 to 1.

On top of that, one of the party members is a medic. He falls behind in battle. They are on a hinge.

“Did you radio in?”

“It’s frozen.”

A characteristic of the ark makes it so that their radios do not work once they reach a certain distance. To put it simply, getting support is a wish that will only come true in their dreams.

“The bunker isn’t safe either. How did they get in here?”

Bang!

The hosts were about to turn to look at the noise behind them when they fell back from an incredible force from the front.

“You?”

“You, you did that in one hit?”

“Ah. You guys don’t mind me and guard the bunker. From what the hosts are doing, it looks like they’re trying to open the door.”

Park Jin Hyuk does not undermine mutants. He has seen and experienced too much to do that. He needs to accept these as a type of extra-terrestrial intelligence as well.

Kyak!

“Huh? I hit them with all of my strength, but they healed already? So you’re level 3?”

He had hit with his foot, covered in a metal armor made of steel. And that was with all of his strength. If it had been a level 1 or 2, it would have died instantly.

“Shall we play?”

Papat!

Park Jin Hyuk holds the Head Hunter and withdraws. He provoked the hosts. Just 2 of them follow him. He is just a snack.

“You guys can’t.”

Tang tang!

Park Jin Hyuk avoids attacks from the tentacles and brought in the attention of more of them. Then, 3 more that had been attacked ran at him. There are 5 now.

5 level 3 mutants. He needs to face them properly to find out if it is too much or not, but there is nothing he can do even if it is too much. If he cannot do it, they all die.

The hosts fight and try to break the entrance. Park Jin Hyuk’s prediction was correct. They are not the main body, but the alter ego. The main bodies are outside.

‘Listen well. Parasites have their own shapes, so it was difficult to figure out their levels even in the virtual version. There is one distinction.’

It is what Cha Jun Sung had told him. The ability to infect is a basic ability given to the race, but only the main body is allowed to breed.

The 10 level 3s creating a mess right now are alter egos, so they cannot breed. That means that if they kill them now, they are putting out an imminent fire.

“Guard the entrance and take them on 2 people to 1! Soldiers, please support! Ugh! They can’t get the entrance open no matter what! Then it’s all over!”

The party members avoid the hosts while taking action to show that they understand.

Even if they do not say it, they will put their lives on the line to fight. Their only choices are to kill the 10 or to hold out until the force returns.

While the bunker was battling the infection hosts, the restoration team was reaching the main system at the stem. There were no mutants on their way there.

Not even 1 had come out. Is this really an advance mission? It is falling flat. They are just tense without the appearance of stimulating factors.

However, this is because of Cha Jun Sung’s party. If it were not for that party, they would have experienced incredible damages with the level 4 that appeared in the beginning.

‘The difference with Slayer’s Prison and Dead Ark – a hidden motive?’

With nothing to do, he just has more straying thoughts. It is pretty good for passing the time.

Cha Jun Sung thought deeply. Could it be that the location decided on by helpers is calculated not just by difficulty but also by potential? It is entirely possible.

There were almost 20,000 of the parasites that they encountered in the freezers. What if they had turned the freezer system off by ignorance and hatched them?

Since they are like a germ-like species, they would have spread in the blink of an eye.

If they had not handled it, a festival would have opened. An infection festival. It is the same with the source that they have not yet found, but the points could have also been decided with the risk factor in ind.

It is the same reasoning for Slayer’s Prison. A special mission had been superimposed, making it a level D advance mission. Regardless of how strong a Destroyer is, there was just 1.

If they went with the force that entered the ark, it would have been completed within moments. Measurements of mission points are not absolute, but relative.

Slayer’s Prison was matched to Cha Jun Sung’s group to give them that many points. Looking at the mission alone, it is hard to say that it is worth 20,000 points.

Thinking about it like this, there has to be something to the Dead Ark where 100 people have entered for a formal advance mission. Whether it is a potential risk or another.

“Are we far?”

“We’re almost there. Since this is the 4th floor, we just have to go down 3 floors.”

The Lieutenant responds to Han Chang Jin’s question. The main system is not at the top where they can see the panoramic view of the fairway, but under.

The ark was created to separate as a submarine in the case of an emergency. They had not been able to do this 4 years ago because their path was blocked.

Going without any obstacles, they went down 3 floors in less than an hour. The path is complex. If they did not have someone escorting them, it would have taken them days.

“This is it.”

A simple door blocks the party. The Lieutenant approaches the door.

Beep beep.

The automatic functions were off so everything had to be done manually, but the Lieutenant did what he needed to without complaints. The main system will soon be restored.

How much does he anticipate this? The ark that had been taken by parasites 4 years ago is being returned to human hands.

[Manual code entry. Auxiliary power operated. Headquarters will be opened in 10 seconds.]

Is the main system in the headquarters? It is a fitting term.

The door opened and they saw everything in the room. It is like a spaceship cockpit. There are hundreds of computers alone, and all types of things.

The Lieutenant went up the stairs. It is obviously the central hub.

“I will begin now.”

“Yes.”

The Lieutenant took out 5 strange cards from the backpack he brought. They are the captain and lieutenants’ recognition cards, that would be able to recover the main system.

He is not the captain. He can turn on the main system with his authority, but he cannot take over the position as captain on his own.

The captain and lieutenants each have a card, so they can override the captain if a majority are in agreement. Fortunately, he had gathered 5 of them.

3 cards were lost. He had not been able to find the lieutenants’ bodies.

There is strong security on it, but he can release it. If he can authenticate that the cadres were killed, it comes over naturally.

-[Fingerprint and eye recognition, 100% match! 3rd Lieutenant Andre Gordon confirmed! Main system operation. Restoring the authority of commander.]

“The captain and 5 lieutenants died. I want to receive succession of the title.”

The Lieutenant entered the 5 cards. The main system identifies the cards.

-[Main system down 4 years 3 months 21 days. Tracking card location.]

While the setting was being completed, it went into tracking. The computers turned on and started to split. They are the thousands of CCTVs that surveil the ark.

-[2nd, 5th, and 6th Lieutenants’ cards location confirmed in engine room. Bizarre alien creature found.]

“That’s!”

“Infection pocket!”