The battlefield is cleared. Getting to the conclusion first, 39 people were arrested off a roll call. The remaining people can find out where they were taken through their helpers.
They will be released if they pay the points on their behalf.
The police must not care about the Lifers’ battle, because they disappeared after saying what they needed to. If they want to continue fighting, they could.
This is when Bolton interfered. He had gotten caught up in the moment and fought, but regained his senses when the battle had been intercepted. Violet was still in a craze.
‘Miss….. There is too much damage on the clan. If we can stop, we need to do it now. At this rate, we don’t gain anything even if we win.’
Violet raised her voice, saying that she will kill them to get revenge. She is so angry that her eyes are bloodshot.
From a 3rd party perspective, Cha Jun Sung thinks that Bolton is right. Their power is similar. According to the flow now, the best it could be is a static struggle. There is no winner and loser.
On top of that, he did send Hercules but he is worried about Park Jin Hyuk.
Fortunately, Dark Side did not seem to want to fight anymore either. Why would he not? The situation was twisted and has come to this.
More than 10 million points must have been deducted from both sides. Cha Jun Sung alone lost 300,000 and Violet lost over 60,000.
It is said that people grow with mistakes and failures. All they did was create a mess, but they really learned something.
When Violet would not listen to Bolton, Cha Jun Sung got involved to convince her.
The atmosphere is already broken. Florence clan Lifers also looked like they wanted to stop. Continuing when it is difficult for them to handle it is grounds for losing chief status.
‘You guys….. I’ll rip you to pieces. I’m going to kill all of you one day.’
It is the warning that Violet left with Dark Side as he retreated. They did not even pay attention to her. They have heard such words thousands of times.
32 people died and 15 were arrested. Cha Jun Sung looked at the Lifers taking care of the corpses and thought, ‘Are lives so trivial?’
It is a big deal if a person dies in real life, but it is a simple matter in this place.
Once the battle is over, the busiest person is Kyoko. She ran around to treat the wounded.
There is a shortage of medics, so some of the injured went back to the briefing room.
As time passed, Violet stabilized as well. She exchanged simple courtesies with Cha Jun Sung with tears in her eyes and went back to reality.
It could be seen as rude, but it is totally understandable. She must be conflicted. Cha Jun Sung is not narrow-minded.
Bang!
Cha Jun Sung turned his head at a heavy footstep. Park Jin Hyuk was returning in Hercules’ arms with an arrow in his shoulder.
“Sorry. I lost.”
“You did well.”
Cha Jun Sung comforted him. He had done his best. It is an impressive feat that he fought one-on-one against Makung and came back alive.
“It hurts. Be gentle.”
“….. You shouldn’t get hurt if it hurts. Bear with it for a bit.”
Kyoko is treating Park Jin Hyuk. She cut his skin and took out the spoke. He cannot move his body because the effects of the electric shock are lingering.
“Next time…..”
Park Jin Hyuk looks at the arrow and clenches his fists. No one likes to lose. He pledged to win if they meet again.
Bolton walked toward Cha Jun Sung. Since Violet went back, he is going to express his gratefulness on behalf of the clan.
“You have helped us twice including last time….. Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
Cha Jun Sung waves his hand. They help where they can. Even if it had not been Violet, they are bound to fight if they are in the same place as the murderers.
“I hope you’ll understand Miss Violet’s behavior. Her feelings will be inexpressible.”
Is it guilt? It is true that the murderers started the fight, but it is because Violet killed people from their group.
She could not have imagined that killing those 2 murderers would result in the deaths of more people in her clan. How could they express how she is feeling right now?
His conversation with Bolton was short. Thank you for helping. Violet will be in touch soon. Everything was over after such formal talks.
***
Violet called a few days after the battle. She had calmed down during that time and had returned to normal.
He could not tell if she was fine or if she was pretending to be, but it will probably be the latter. She sincerely apologized for returning like that.
Cha Jun Sung did not really need an apology but they need to resolve things clearly, so he willingly accepted her apology.
Violet used her own points to release the Lifers taken by the police. A couple tens of thousands had gone up in smoke, but she did not care.
Including the points lost during battle, it reached almost 1 million. The clan suggested distributing the points, but she rejected it.
She must handle it herself to be at peace of mind. That is that, and Cha Jun Sung has a couple things to ask her.
“You said that you won’t fight?”
“Yes.”
Violet cancelled the battle that she had put forth as a condition for joining the party.
She has received all types of favors, but is pulling out now? Honestly, Cha Jun Sung was iffy about fighting for real but he did want to try fighting in the virtual.
It would be fun. But it is true that he is at a loss because she is refusing.
It is a pity, but he decided to just go past it. They can try later when they become friendlier and there will be a lot of opportunities. It is not urgent right now.
“If I join your party, will you take care of my family as well?”
“Are you talking about a bus?”
“Similar.”
Take care of them? He could. But Cha Jun Sung is against entering a level C mission with them. Level C is where Lifers’ abilities start to become fixed.
The contribution system is applied in level C advancement. If they fall short of this, they cannot go right over to level B. The time is coming for them to advance with their own strengths.
Everyone worked hard together but only some people go over to level B and the rest need to stay in level C?
It definitely will be helpful if he goes in with Florence clan Lifers. However, it is a difficult mission with active level 5 and 6 mutants.
There are as many sacrifices they need to make as there is help. In that case, it is better to let them grow in a place that is a better fit for them than to drag them in.
At times, small groups are at an advantage over big groups. If it is Cha Jun Sung’s party and Violet, they could control themselves.
“Don’t take this the wrong way and hear me out. It does not help Lifers who are below level C to enter the mission. It is telling them to die.”
It is better to purchase a battlesuit in level D than to be carried along by others.
This is certainly the case for rankers, but the higher level groups under them are in the process of completing their points. It is proof that time is fair to everyone.
Within 1 month, the number of Lifers with battlesuits will increase exponentially. Average Lifers will gain the qualification to make an attempt at level C missions as well.
“Foster self-reliance?”
“Do you understand?”
“Roughly. If I join the party, what are you going to do after?”
Beep beep.
Cha Jun Sung chose a mission from the PDA and sent it to Violet.
He is sharing information. Violet accepted the information. The mission description comes up on her PDA. Why is he showing her this?
“If you accept, we could go right away.”
“Th-this?”
[C Mission: Closed Area] [Goal: Attainment] [Description: Dilapidated, a forgotten land, a place used to isolate the infected has become a habitat. The angry insulators resented the world that abandoned them, making them become monsters. Among them, truculent ones were born. Bring the truculent beings ruling Closed Area.] [Reward: 600,000 points. Lucky box.]
It is the Caicus mission. The mission is the same as it was for the tutorial. Other than the fact that the description has become more detailed, nothing is very different.
Truculent being. It is a one hit mission where they just have to take care of the Caicus. Escape missions are rare starting with level C. They are annihilation or attainment.
D and E are just warm ups and C is when the real missions start. It is the moment when bases are grasped. They are to focus on hunting.
They did not have to hunt in escape missions because all they needed to do was run away.
Cha Jun Sung intends to avoid annihilation from now on. There are more points with the number of mutants they catch, but those missions take a long time because they need to catch all of them.
He will focus on going through missions like this one where they just need to attain a specific goal for it to be over. It is fitting for a small group.
“600,000…..”
Violet fades off. She had been alone, but she almost died in a 200,000 point mission. 600,000 is 3 times that. If the clan finds out, they will oppose it because it is dangerous.
“I know about that mission. I know what the truculent being is too.”
“How do you know that?”
He does not need to cite the notepad. He had experienced the tutorial mission for himself. He witnessed the Caicus and he remembers the terrain and atmosphere.
“My tutorial was there. I received 5,000 points because I completed a special mission there. That became the foothold for my growth.”
The Caicus in Closed Area is a masculine adult that is 10m tall. It is strong but it is on the average side in size for its kind.
“Um…..”
Violet is in contemplation. This party has 2 rankers and an outstanding sniper. If she joins, there are 4 combat personnel.
Kyoko will not directly get involved in battle because she is a medic, but they could easily take on a Caicus with their strength.
A level 6 might be too much but she feels that they could even take on 2 top level 5s. That is on the premise that its underlings do not come out.
‘Twin giants.’
Cha Jun Sung repeated this. The keyword for Closed Area is twin giants. It means that there are 2 Caicuses and he had seen one of them.
Since they are not the top of their species, the party can hunt them with their strength. In case of an emergency, Kyoko and Hercules can fight too. They can do a lot if their strengths are combined.
“Level B. I’m going to advance in the shortest time possible and go over to level B.”
“Level B?”
Though indirectly, he has experienced a 1.8 million point mission. In comparison, he can estimate that it is roughly the difficulty of level C.
If he purchases weapons and support gear, he can develop faster than expected.
It is different by level, but the important thing is whether or not a Lifer can face the strongest mutant in a given mission.
All of the hardships and adversities they go through are in vain if they collapse in the end.
If they want to make an attempt at a level C advance mission at 2 million points, each person needs to own a battlesuit and must have gone through the preparations for a level 6.
‘Remodeling is urgently needed.’
He needs to remodel his battlesuit. In Cha Jun Sung’s case, he can lift the over booster. The problem is that he cannot remodel in a level C store.
It is 100% level B. He thought up to here as well. If he cannot do it with quality, he will push through with quantity. With normal Lifers? Of course not; with rankers.
He will get a hand from Lim Si Hyun and Han Chang Jin and exchange with additional rankers.
He can run into them because Mechanic City is open. They need to know how to help each other if they all want to grow. Later on, they will have to join forces even if they do not want to.
Thinking generously, 15 rankers with battlesuits should be enough. If they cannot remodel either, they will know that they need to push through with numbers.
“You said that this mission is possible right away if I accept?”
“Excuse me? Yes. We need a bit of preparation, but we could go tomorrow latest.”
“Let’s go.”
“Great.”
Violet accepted. She does not hesitate. She had been waiting and was all prepared. All she has to do is move them into actions.