Life Mission

Thump.

His heart trembled. Because he was scared? It was that, but also..... out of expectation? Excitement? It was like when he had first entered Life Mission 10 years ago.

“It’s only been a day since I said I wouldn’t go back, but I guess I won’t last another 3 days.”

He could not deny his instincts. His determination was weakening.

He wanted to go in the mission and get ahead of everyone else. He was actually ahead of everyone now. But only if he didn’t stop here.

“It’s too late to go to sleep now.”

The equipment that appeared as holograms looked at him and seduced him. They were more tempting than a naked woman. It became a night of worry.

***

“I don’t know!”

The equipment Cha Jun Sung had bought in the middle of the night were organized next to him.

The impact tights and plastic armor were okay, but he would be arrested if the red fire and steel katana were found.

It was all equipment that he had used when he started playing Life Mission.

“E-class mission list.”

-[Searching E-class missions. There are 35122 missions available.]

There were a variety of missions. They all had different goals and rewards.

The lowest were 300-400 points, but there were some that exceeded 1500. The highest in class E was 3000, but he had no intention on overdoing it from the beginning.

“Since there isn’t a limit on how many I can enter and leave, let’s start from the lowest and make our way up in order.”

He decided on starting with missions below 400 points. The 3 goals were annihilation, attainment, and escape. It was simple. Either kill everyone, do something, or run away.

“This looks good.”

-[E-class mission: Dwarves in the darkness] [Goal: Annihilation]

-[Scenario: Kill the dwarves that have passed the barricades and occupied a supermarket.] [Reward: 350 points]

Since it was class E, the scenario was as simple as the tutorial’s. There was not a lot of thought put into it. It would become more complicated as he went higher in class.

“There are a few more things I need to buy if I want to complete a real mission.”

He was short on points, so he could only complete a few E-class missions. He did not want to overdo it.

“Even if I want to collect more information on the missions, any more than this is too much.”

It had only been 2 days since the reality version started. Everyone was in a state where they had taken the first step. No one was in a position to teach someone else. Everyone was in the same situation.

“I’ll advance a step while everyone else is hesitating.”

Though it was a simple step now, soon it would become a distance that could not be shortened.

***

Wiing.

“Is that the place?”

-[3-floor supermarket]

Cha Jun Sung examined the sign. The writing was unfamiliar.

It looked like the language of a developing country. From the outside, it looked like a supermarket from one of Korea’s major companies. Judging by its size, it must have been large inside as well.

“If they’re Level 1 mutant dwarves that like the darkness, they must be gremlins.”

They are aggressive. Their darts are toxic.

As they are fairly strong, compared to other weak mutants, they enjoy hunting more than they act as cognate predators. Even level 2 mutants avoid gremlins who attack in hordes.

“I’ll start with the red fire and use the sword once I get used to battle.”

This is reality. He did not confuse it with the virtual version.

In the virtual version, he may have been the Overload that killed a Level 9 mutant, but in reality he was just an average person who exercised a bit. He would die if he overreached by excessively trusting his equipment.

“Should I wait until the morning?”

It was evening. He did not have any equipment for his vision, so everything was dark. Even if he got used to the dark, there was only so much he could do with human vision.

In the morning when it became lighter, he could check the market and its surrounding area.

Nod.

Cha Jun Sung decided to wait it out. There was nothing to lose in waiting.

Kiki!

He heard unpleasant laughter. It was like something was laughing at him.

“Ugh! They’ll be walking around because it’s nighttime, but I haven’t used the odorless spray.”

Gremlins were nocturnal. They would avoid the sun by staying inside the supermarket during the day, but they would come out at night to move around or hunt. He had forgotten.

Bang!

Chiik!

Cha Jun Sung searched through his pack and sprayed himself. He could not fool the ones who had already seen him, but it would be better to spray it even now. There! Let’s greet some customers.

“One gremlin?”

Seuk.

He could see a gremlin’s head by the building. Cha Jun Sung took his red fire with a silencer. It was around 30 meters away.

Pew!

Puk!

The gremlin was shot in the head, whether by luck or skill, and fell over. There was a bursting sound in the air, but it was not enough to cause trouble.

-[You have earned 12 points.]

“A gun really is good.”

It was easy. It died in a shot. He would be able to kill dozens.

Seuseuk.

Cha Jun Sung approached the gremlin. It was carrying a coarse but not dangerous weapon. It was the type that could be blocked with just his plastic armor.

As he searched the body, he found a dart and tried jabbing his impact tights with it. He had controlled the length so that it would not touch his skin even if it got through the fabric.

“It doesn’t go through.”

It did not go in no matter how much he pushed on it. It might go in if he pushed against it on a wall, but there was almost no risk of an external attack because that was unlikely to happen.

“I’ll still wait.”

Conceit becomes a trap, and the best decision is to go along with his plan. Nothing lost from being cautious.

***

Pewpewpewpew!

Changchangchangchang!

Every time he shot the red fire, a window of the dark supermarket shattered. He broke each one he saw mercilessly.

Hwak!

Kyak!

Rays of sunlight flooded in. Shrieks followed. The gremlins scrambled to find a dark place to hide from the light.

That was his chance. It seemed they were more averse to the sunlight than they were to intruders. The red fire chased their unprotected movement like a swarm of bees.

“There are a ton of them.”

He stopped counting after he killed over 100 of them.

He had swept the first three floors, and all that was left was the basement. It did not have windows, but that was okay. He had spent 50 points for a photothermal magazine.

Snap.

Cha Jun Sung switched the magazine. It was his last one. He had used them sparingly, but he still used 241 bullets. If he failed in the basement sweep, he would have to go into battle.

Sukuk.

He took the dagger out and slit the throats of the gremlins that were still alive. There might have been ones that were hiding, but he would check after finishing up with the basement.

Tubuktubuk.

Cha Jun Sung got on the escalator with the dagger in his left hand and the red fire in his right. He did not turn it on. He was just following its path.

He left the escalator and stopped walking. Dozens of pairs of eyes blinked at him from afar.

Cha Jun Sung sneered as he took out a round object from his chest.

The photothermal magazine would shine a tremendous light for five minutes. If this went off, it would be as though there was daylight in the basement.

Seuk.

Cha Jun Sung wore the glasses attached to his plastic armor. Its tinted lenses would protect his eyes from the photothermal magazine.

Bibibibi!

The timer was five seconds. If he did not throw it in time, it would detonate in front of him.

Pwak!

Kyah!

He closed his eyes because of the light that seeped through the tinted glasses. The eyes and skin of the gremlins who had been exposed to the photothermal magazine burned.

It was so painful that they died one after the other.

“If the missions under 400 points are all like this, I can do a bunch.”

It was advantageous to have more points. But rash behavior always proved to be ineffective.

The equipment he could carry was limited if he did not have 50,000 points to acquire the space compression bag. A lot of items interfered with his movement unnecessarily.

“I won’t get complacent, but from what I’ve felt...... I’m embarrassed that I was so nervous.”

He knew that it was because of the equipment. Other than his exhaustion, he did not have any injuries. All that he had was a few scratches on the plastic armor.

Pewpew!

Cha Jun Sung used the red fire on a struggling gremlin and picked up the photothermal magazine. He could use it in a better way.

The photothermal magazine he had purchased was not to be thrown on the ground, but imprinted.

Swish.

Snap.

Cha Jun Sung threw the photothermal on the ceiling. A strong magnet came out of it and it attached itself to the structure. The interior of the basement became bright.

As the range of light widened, the darkness went away. The gremlins naturally fled into areas where the light was weak.

Kiik!

It was pathetic how they were struggling with each other to stay in the shadows.

“So you’re the leader.”

Deep in the darkness hid a gremlin about a half larger than the rest. The leader gremlin looked at Cha Jun Sung with malice.

“Goodnight.”

Pewpew!