Life Mission

Zephyrus hit his own head. He was being stupid. He said that he would catch everything himself but had forgotten about the mission while lost in this conversation.

Zephyrus put the rectangular case in his left hand and plastic box in his right on the floor. His attire was exceedingly casual.

‘He doesn’t have any accoutrements. Is this a state of relaxation from this being his 10th completion? I’ll see how he does.’

It seemed the case was his weapon. All he wore were low class tights and partial protectors. He appeared to have gathered a fair amount of points.

‘His equipment is weak. From the way he speaks, he isn’t the type to waste his points. Either he gathered them or….. had he used all of them on that case?’

The case opened. Inside was a 3-level stair-like structure.

Each level was immaculately organized with 3 components. They were separated into parts – crossbow, sniper rifle, a variety of bombs.

‘Terrorist? Sniper?’

Terrorist bomber.

Sniper shooter.

Cha Jun Sung thought Zephyrus’ job to be one of those two. It couldn’t be both because that would be inefficient.

Cha Jun Sung thought of the blader job.

With the virtual version’s qualifications, he would need millions of points. He could not waste points in this situation. Other Lifers were the same. They needed to choose one thing and focus all their points on that. It didn’t do to spread your points thin.

He was extremely quick in putting the crossbow together. It was not an ordinary crossbow. It was an automatic crossbow capable of firing 20 shots.

“I finally bought this.”

Zephyrus admired it when he finished its assembly, as he pulled the sniper rifle out.

Cha Jun Sung’s gaze went to the sniper rifle. He had seen it in the store while looking at firearms. He could remember it being worth more than 3000 points.

It was shorter than a normal sniper rifle. It was a semi-automatic sniper rifle.

“This is a set item. I used 20,000 points to buy it.”

“Ho ho.”

Cha Jun Sun laughed in disbelief. 20,000 for a case and a few weapons? It was ridiculously expensive, but there must have been a reason why Zephyrus bought it.

“If you buy this case, every day you automatically get 10 arrows, 50 bullets, and 2 bombs of your choice. There’s a benefit in the long term.”

That meant he saved the cost of daily ammunition for low level missions.

“Wait here.”

Tatat!

Zephyrus took the crossbow and box and went forward 20 meters. They were in the sewers, but there was no problem with vision because light seeped in from many places.

‘What is he trying to do?’

Cha Jun Sung observed Zephyrus. His hunting method was the opposite of his.

It seems like he uses his head to hunt rather than his body? His profession leaned toward the sniper side. A terrorist is called a life destroyer.

Zephyrus had a fever bomb in his hand.

He then opened his box and took something else out. It was raw meat dripping with bright red blood. It was a fever shot.

“These guys go crazy over blood. After a minute, they’ll come in hordes.”

“It’s a double-edged sword.”

“Exactly.”

He did not go around killing them, but instead made them all gather in one place. If something went wrong, it could turn into a concentrated attack instead of a lure.

Their shadows appeared first because of the angle of the light. The mutants were not walking towards them, but crawling. They wriggled like maggots. Their number was unclear.

“Blood-sucking insects?”

“The mission is complete once you catch about 150 of them.”

A white lump the size of a human head with hair growing out of it was crawling.

It was impossible to differentiate between the head and the rear. A strange liquid was dripping from the hair. Paralysis toxin. He was certain it was a blood-sucking insect.

‘Could it be?’

Cha Jun Sung quickly looked around him. Blood-sucking insects were scary. They became stronger as they matured. The ones in front of them were just newborn babies.

One could not underestimate them just because they were babies, however. They were still among the top five strongest in Level 1. Though they seemed slow, they became as fast as lightning once they detected food.

“The evil blood-suckers aren’t here.”

“Have you seen the evil blood-suckers? How far is their home?”

“You don’t have to worry about them as long as you don’t go too far in.”

Zephyrus’ explanation was succinct. It was a silent indication that he would not say more.

Cha Jun Sung believed that the information this boy had said he earned from this place, the Underpass, had to do with his approach to the blood-sucking insects. Whatever it was.

His eyes squinted. The fact that evil blood-suckers were here meant that there were creatures of a higher level. Just an evil blood-sucker alone was Level 3. Getting caught meant death.

They could only abandon the mission with a bow. He could not understand what kind of place this was. Judging by the forages, it seemed to be linked to a special mission like the Closed Area mission.

Slurp slurp.

The blood-sucking insects had attached themselves to the raw meat and began sucking the blood. Some took pieces of it and chewed. It was grotesque.

A rough guess was that there were 35 to 40 of them. Zephyrus waited until they gathered, press the button on the fever bomb, and threw it into the center of the insects.

Puak!

Kiak!

As the fever bomb went off, the blood-sucking insects melted. Smoke filled the underpass. The cost of the bombs was high, but this much was worth it.

“I got like this after playing Life Mission for half a year. How about you, Odin?”

“It’s been 10 years since I started with the beta. I know the blood-sucking insects well. Can we speak a little after the mission is over? Or should I say to exchange information?”

“We’ll see.”

Zephyrus pretended to be indifferent, but showed a positive attitude. He would have turned down the offer if Cha Jun Sung had just been asking for information, but he was interested in an exchange.

Click.

Zephyrus stood in position with his sniper rifle and waited for the blood-sucking insects to re-emerge. He had no anxiety. There was a sense of calm in his actions.

Kiki!

Immature blood-sucking insects only have a developed sense of smell, and the rest of their senses were degenerate. The reason why he lured them as a strategy was for the advantage of the terrain.

He meant to fight without worrying about other variables. They came out as long as there was an odor. Going around finding them one by one was unnecessary in many ways.

Kwajik.

The blood-sucking insects that had appeared in hordes ate the burnt pieces. Their sizes expanded as they ate.

If one became as big as a person, it would advance to a Level 3 evil blood-sucker.

Tang!

Zephyrus’ sniper rifle hit a blood-sucking insect. That was when he showed the power of a semi-automatic. Even while the blood-sucking insects were being attacked, they focused on eating.

Tatatatang!

He shot and shot. Zephyrus did not use a grenade. He only focused on the distant enemies with his eye on the scope. He had great aim.

He might have shot for too long, because the blood-sucking insects reacted to the smell of gunpowder. They could differentiate between smells coming from near and far.

Kiak!

The insects that had been busy eating the meat began screaming in Zephyrus’ direction. They were poised for attack, recognizing an enemy.

They went from the speed of a person walking to almost a run.

Dozens of muckworms came in like a wave. It was truly detestable. Some rode the walls and some the ceiling. Their attention was dispersed in all directions.

“We’ll kill them as we escape.”

“Okay.”

Tangtang.

Each time Zephyrus took a step back, an insect died. Even disregarding his age, he had amazing skill.

“Careful!”

Cha Jun Sung held his red fire in a desperate gesture. The insects riding the walls sprang off with their teeth bared.

The distance was not more than a few meters. Within seconds, one was right in front of Zephyrus’ face.

Puk!

A surprising incident arose. Zephyrus took out his crossbow and fired at the insect. The arrow pierced through its mouth and hit the ceiling, breaking in half.

He kicked the dead insect and continued on.

“Ha……”

Cha Jun Sung was truly in awe. Even if this was Zephyrus’s 10th time in the mission, his performance could not be attributed to a familiarity with the mutants and terrain alone.

That was talent. He did not yet know a lot about Zephyrus, but he was showing great talent as a sniper.

-[Congratulations. You have cleared Class E mission ‘Underpass’.]

-[You have earned 500 points.]

At some point, they had reached completion of the mission. He had received a free 500 points just while observing.

Other Lifers would have asked for a distribution of the points instead of a sweep, but Cha Jun Sung was honestly at peace. He did not care if they did this a few more times.

“You said you wanted to talk? Since it’s a hassle to speak through our helpers or outside, follow me. We have to move quickly.”

Zephyrus rushed to gather his equipment and directed Cha Jun Sung. He went along obediently since it did not seem like Zephyrus had bad intentions.