Life Mission Chapter 15:

Life Mission
Volume 1 Chapter 15
 

“What is this place?”

“I found it by chance while I was running away . There are a few other places too . ”

The place where Zephyrus had led him was a bunker that could fit around 10 people . There were things like food and supplies in random places .

He said that they were not purchased, but already here when he first found it . Items found on a mission can be used . They cannot forget that it is reality .

“Odin, you passed the interview . ”

“Interview?”

Cha Jun Sung tipped his head in puzzlement . It sounded like Zephyrus had decided on some benchmarks and tested him . Zephyrus relieved his curiosity .

“I saw 3 things . ”

He then explained .

First, he did not underestimate him because he was young .

Second, he allowed him to take on all of the mutants .

Third, he was the same until the very end .

He was young, but he had his own standards . He could be seen as very thoughtful .

“Are those three criterions hard to fulfill?”

“I tried out a lot of parties, but there weren’t many who even passed the first . ”

Countless times, he had heard laughter of disbelief at first sight or the words that a minor should not be leaving prank comments online . They did not see him as a Lifer .

“The second was to see which side you considered important . ”

It had not mattered that he used harsh words in his post to try to filter out the garbage . The people who came in were all the same .

However, he had not given up . He had the belief that a good person would come in at some point . Someone like Cha Jun Sung who was still looking for a party even after experiencing the bitter aspects of it .

“Until now, there were 3 other people who had passed the second point . But they were busy shooting their guns when the blood-sucking insects came swarming in . ”

This he could understand . Blood-sucking insects needed to be eliminated early on . Those people must not have trusted Zephyrus’ skills .

Cha Jun Sung himself could not guarantee that he would not have done the same if he had not trusted Zephyrus . That was how dangerous the insects were .

“Since I passed the interview, is it time to earn trust?”

“Of course . ”

Cha Jun Sung thought Zephyrus was cute . Though he did not act young, he was .

Looking at him as one Lifer to another however, his skill and personality was one to be admired . Age cannot become a determining standard of evaluation .

“What can I say to gain that trust? Information that only I know?”

Cha Jun Sung spoke casually . He did not have any intentions on surprising him .

Zephyrus was someone he wanted to make into a comrade, but he did not want to be at a disadvantage . Since he did not seem like he would speak first, he would have to tell him in the pretense that he had been fooled .

“I’m sure you know that Level 2 mutants appear when it’s 1000 points?”

“I saw that on Lifer World . ”

“From 1500 points, 2 come out . I think there were about 400 Level 1 mutants?”

Cha Jun Sung continued to explain that because they were smart, they recognized objects that were a danger to them and hid while ordering the dwarves around .

Zephyrus asked questions as he listened . The difference between reading about it and listening to someone who had experience speak was that of theory and encounter .

Then Cha Jun Sung said the most important thing .

“Acting alone instead of as a party will make it difficult to reach over 1000 points . Even if you are the best out of 100, you’re nothing when facing numbers . ”

Whew .

Zephyrus sighed . There was no disputing it . That was the reason why he did not move over to another mission .

He had spent everything on the case, but his goal was to get points from Underpass and buy the best equipment from the Class E store . He estimated it would take a month .

“While we’re on it, I’ll tell you one more thing . I earned 5260 points in the tutorial . That became the foundation for this equipment . ”

“A special mission?”

“I guess that’s what is linked to the reason why we need to move quickly . If you stay in one place for a while, the evil blood-sucker could appear or there could be another format…”

Zephyrus was shocked . He looked like he had seen a ghost . He muttered,

“Oh, how did you know that… . . !”

“Knowing the term special mission means you’ve already gone through it and… . . looking at your behavior upon entering Underpass, I can assume . ”

Cha Jun Sung had not only looked at Zephyrus’ skills . He had kept Zephyrus’ words and defensive behavior in mind .

It might be difficult to put something together with one piece, but a profile can be made out after gathering pieces . It was like a puzzle .

“With this much, I believe you have something to say as well . ”

Talking alone defied the courtesies of give-and-take . Since he taught Zephyrus something he did not know, Zephyrus also needed to hand over information .

“I only know what I learned through Underpass . ”

Seuk .

Cha Jun Sung gestured to him to continue as he did not care about such things .

The listener is to decide if the information is useful or not . Even if it is useless, he liked Zephyrus . He would be satisfied with becoming comrades .

“Exactly 12 days ago, I came into Underpass in a 6-person party . ”

He was rewinding his memory .

Zephyrus recalled when he first stepped into Underpass 12 days ago .

***

Zephyrus’ first party . It is also the only party that was annihilated .

Their reason for choosing Underpass was nothing special . It stood out while they were looking for 500-point missions . To put it simply, they were just looking for something that would pay .

The start was smooth . Since they were all experienced in Life Mission, they knew what they needed to be careful of while facing the blood-sucking insects .

Since there were 6 of them and they were all fairly skilled, they completed the mission without much problem .

Then, one of the party members suggested looking around the underpass just for fun instead of heading back .

The party had delightfully agreed . It was a Class E mission anyway . Blood-sucking insects did not pose much of a danger . This was why the party was wiped out .

“Had you not heard an explanation on the overall difficulty from your helper?”

“… . . We had heard it, but didn’t know how exactly it would apply . ”

Tsk .

Cha Jun Sung had a bitter expression . The information from helpers were basic, but you could avoid a meaningless death by following their instructions . They had overlooked that .

It was difficult to survive while taking caution of only what was visible . The chance of survival was higher when being careful of something that could not be seen to the eye than what could .

Zephyrus’ party had ignored this and crossed a river they could not return from .

He could empathize on the one hand . He had listened to Odin, but he would not have understood the importance of it if he had not experienced Caicus .

“As we went along the path in the Underpass, we came upon the evil blood-sucker’s home and the mission went from Class E to Class D . ”

Siksik .

They had heard a sound come from a hole they saw in an alley they were passing .

They thought that it was the sound of wind passing through, but threw a grenade into it just in case, opening the door to **** themselves .

“2 evil blood-suckers who were guarding hundreds of cocoons came out . ”

Evil blood-suckers were Level 3 . They were the final evolution of blood-sucking insects . They were repulsive because they looked like a cross between an earthworm and centipede .

Its nature was as atrocious as its appearance – it was cruel . It enjoyed stabbing its opponent to death with its spikes or wrapping itself around the opponent to cut it up .

It showed its strength as a Level 3 mutant through its fast speed and unexpected movement . But 2 evil blood-suckers came out? That was bound to be a disaster .

“Was giving up the mission not an option?”

“We were forced . We could have if we had not been discovered by the evil blood-suckers, but we weren’t given the option once they had already seen us . ”

“So you couldn’t force a return . ”

“No . ”

Lifers’ forced returns were only possible if they did not move from the spot they were in .

When he asked Odin about the principles, Odin had said that the location needed to return switches if someone moves, so they cannot calculate it in real time .

The time it takes to calculate the return was 5 to 6 seconds . But to stay still for that time while an evil blood-sucker was approaching meant that they were flirting with death .

“Even if you shoot your gun and somehow hit it, you can’t wound it very much . ”

“Maybe… . . ”

“All our party members had were pistols and simple SMGs . ”

Ugh .

Cha Jun Sung let out a sick sound . He pitied Zephyrus who had witnessed the deaths of all of his first party members . The flesh of the evil blood-sucker was thick and tough .

It would be hard to penetrate even with his red fire . For penetration, stronger firearm was necessary . Zephyrus’ sniper rifle was just barely suitable .

“2 people died like that and 4 people including me, ran away . ”

“You can’t show your back . ”

“There was nothing we could do because our options were dying or running away . ”

Blood-sucking insects only had a developed sense of smell . But the evil blood-sucker had a variety of the five senses . They were natural hunters . It did not let go of any prey it targeted .

“Each person was hunted . That was the first time I heard screaming like that . ”

When emotions were mixed in, screaming sounded different . It was hair-raising .

Eventually they reached a different place as they ran away . Fortunately, one comrade also survived, but he was out of his mind after witnessing 4 people die .

“That’s when you discovered this bunker?”

“No . It was a different one . ”

“The other person… . . ”

“The way to get into each bunker is different . ”

The bunker they were currently in could be entered by opening the door . The bunker Zephyrus was talking about was another place where they needed to open the top door as if it were a tank and go down into it .

“I was faster because I had discovered it, and he was following behind me . ”

“So he got dragged out . ”

“The entry was so narrow that they could not kill me without dragging him out . In that time, I was able to crawl into the bunker, and I lived . ”

Zephyrus’ face turned dark . He was feeling guilt . To him, it was as though he had sacrificed a comrade for his own survival .

“I would like to say something, but can you listen to it as though it was coming from an adult?”

“I’ll listen . ”

“You cannot be free from death the second you enter this place . But if you become involved in another’s death, only think about one thing . ”

“What is that?”

“Whether it was intentional or not . ”

“That’s hard . ”

“I’ll solve it for you . Did you kill that man to live?”

“Never!”

Zephyrus denied it vehemently . You couldn’t automatically say he was pure just because he was young, but he was also clearly not someone who would kill another to stay alive .

“That’s it . If you didn’t make it happen, it was that person’s fate to die there . And it was your fate to live . ”