Clunk!

The 3 meter body of the Spectre lost strength and fell to the ground. The floor rang under the weight.

-[You have acquired 1800 points.]

“You’re giving a lot.”

Every level jumps by 10 times the points before, so level 1 is 10 to 20, level 2 is 100 to 200.

Points are separated into 5 stages, and one can confirm the level of a mutant he catches by getting 200. It means that Spectres are top level.

The Lifers could not take their eyes off of Cha Jun Sung. Even though it is a surprise attack, he killed a level 3. The way he moved before that was extraordinary as well.

Kyak!

The angry Spectre glared at Cha Jun Sung. Its brother had died of an error in judgment.

“You regret it, right?”

Puk!

Cha Jun Sung recovered his sword from the dead Spectre’s head and shook the blood off. He wanted to end that one too, but he had something to do.

If he killed one, he had done his duty. He would leave the rest to the other Lifers.

“You kill them.”

“Help us! We ask you respectfully! It’s taking a toll on us!”

The Lifers beg Cha Jun Sung. 5 people died while chasing the Spectres. With the members now, a few more will die.

“I’m sorry, but I have a friend. His safety is priority.”

He had discovered Park Jin Hyuk while crossing the container boxes. He was fighting Snatchers from a corner. Support? He was alone.

Park Jin Hyuk is weak in a melee. He can hold out now, but he will soon reach his last. He needs to get to him as quickly as possible. He cannot waste time here.

Cha Jun Sung squinted at the Spectre and moved. It is a problem if it follows him. Fortunately, it did not follow him. The Lifers bothered the Spectre as well.

Kwakwang!

A dark heat comes in from the passage. There are no level 3 mutants and it is dense with the most powerful of the force. There is less and less noise.

It must be the end.

Tu tu!

Battle with the Spectre begins again as well. He was sorry, but he only has one body. Cha Jun Sung aimed his red fire at the Snatchers.

Pew!

The Snatcher’s body plunges and hits under the container box. No matter how fast they are, they cannot avoid the shots unless they have eyes on the back of their heads.

Pew pew!

“You’re here?”

“How many are you fighting?”

“8.”

“I saw 5, I killed 1, so you killed 3?”

Blood covered Park Jin Hyuk’s gear. It is a mix of the Snatchers’ blood and his own. He has a lot of wounds where he was ripped and stabbed. They are signs of struggle.

Kik!

4 Snatchers are wary of Cha Jun Sung. He looks larger and stronger than Park Jin Hyuk. They get farther away from him if he even scares them a little.

“Rest. I’ll take care of it.”

“Oy!”

Park Jin Hyuk sat on the floor. It is not a joke. He had spoken like he was joking, but he really is tired. What would have happened if Cha Jun Sung had been late?

Kyak!

They are just 4 Snatchers. There is nothing they could do against Cha Jun Sung with his sword and gun. If they try anything, they die? Their intestines were cleaned up.

***

Bang!

The Crawlion’s chest was split open after he was hit by the grenade launcher, and fell over.

The Lifers look at the passage with hope. Please stop coming!

Following level 2 and 3 mutants, level 1 mutants came out to bother the Lifers. Even if runts come at them, they are on the brink of insanity because it is so chaotic.

“It’s, it’s over!”

“Wow!”

“The nest stopped producing!”

Mutants do not come in anymore. It seems it has consumed all of the nutrients and cells necessary for production. In the end, the Lifers had won.

Among the celebrating Lifers, Chun Myung Ik looked uncomfortable. He had expected for there to be casualties before progressing with the mission.

But he had not calculated this much. They had built a tight defensive ring in the warehouse. The mutants had taken it apart completely.

Groups 1, 2, and 4 of 60 people had been focused on the passage. Group 4 was made up of the Lifers who had accepted Hocheon guild’s invitation.

Since group 3 was put up against the Spectres, they could see the damage situation upon their return.

“How many people died?”

“9 people from group 1, 2 from group 8, 6 from group 4. Group 4 includes the snipers. It seems a lot of them survived because their skill and equipment are at the level of raid leaders.”

Oh Min Ho looked haggard as he gave his report. 23 people died in 3 groups. It is not what they had expected, but it is better than failing the mission.

-[Master, we handled the Spectres.]

-[Losses?]

-[….. 1 raid leader, 3 guild members, and 6 external members died.]

That is 10 people.

Then combining 20, 23, 10 people, there were a total of 53 dead.

47 survivors. He almost laughed out of disbelief. They can consider the first 20 as people they had sacrificed with consideration for the future.

33 people! His warning that it could be annihilation if they let their guards down, was real.

-[What’s left?]

There is nothing. Since they took care of the passage, they had killed all mutants that the nest had produced. Now if they kill the nest and cross through the rest area, the mission is complete.

-[Did you figure out how they got in?]

-[They ripped through the ceiling of the cargo lifts we came in.]

This experience made the large guild understand how it had met a strong opponent and had suffered such severe damages in their first attempt.

If they had known that the mutants would go around the warehouse to come in, they would have distributed the power instead of focusing it at the passage. If they had done that, the mutants would not have gotten through.

‘I’m confident we can reduce the losses to under 20 in the next challenge.’

Information is power that is not visible. If large guilds that had completed the mission before Hocheon, had shared this information, they would have gone through it comparatively easily.

-[Who killed the Spectre?]

-[The chief killed one and number 617 killed the other.]

-[Number 617?]

-[Yes. And he and number 429 took care of 10 Snatchers.]

2 people taking on that many mutants? Chun Myung Ik remembered seeing Cha Jun Sung fighting the Spectre with his sword before he moved away.

-[Uh….. Master.]

-[Speak.]

-[I think number 617 went through body modification.]

-[I know that much too. You think it would be his bare body when he is running at a Spectre?]

He had gone at a level 3 mutant with cutlery. He is either brave or crazy. But neither are applicable. It has to be body modification.

-[I believe it is the 2nd stage.]

-[What?]

The raid leader gave his explanation with a mix of what he saw and his personal opinion.

Cha Jun Sung jumped from a 7 meter high, 3 story container box and while avoiding the Spectre’s attack, stabbed it in the head with his sword.

‘There’s someone other than that guy who’s gone through the 2nd stage of body modification?’

From what Chun Myung Ik knows, there is only 1 other person who has gone through the 2nd stage of body modification. There could be other Lifers, but it was hard for him to believe that.

-[Alright.]

They are holding on for now. They need to complete the mission first. As the situation became stabilized, the scattered Lifers gathered in the passage. They all looked battered.

There were a lot of injured. They take medicine out from their packs and space compression bag to treat their wounds. Unfortunately, none of the Lifers have medical equipment.

“Not even a large guild has a medic.”

“It was a unique profession even in the virtual version. If you do that, you get sick from anger.”

A medic is a non-combat job specializing in treatment, but its ability to attack is terrible.

In the virtual version, they are at the lowest ranking. It is a time when points push back money. Is there a Lifer willing to purchase expensive medical equipment to give free services?

They need to save all of the points they would have used on weapons and equipment to be able to purchase middle standard medical equipment from level D. It is not easy even with help from a large guild.

-[The injured rest, and everyone else will go to kill the nest. It’s tired. The only mutants it’ll be able to produce are level 1 or 2.]

The nest does not produce on nutrients alone. As it is a hermaphrodite, it needs the cells corresponding with the level. If it is freshly evolved, 2 mutants is its limit.

-[Let’s end it. This mission.]

The force follows Chun Myung Ik. The time to end it is approaching.