Papapapat!
Cha Jun Sung and Park Jin Hyuk ran. They looked back when they could to shoot and throw grenades. Each time, one or two cannibals always died.
“I did as much as I could.”
“Agreed!”
Lloyd’s group did not follow them. They had set everything up for them with difficulty and all they had to do was take it, but he could not take care of that for them as well.
It seemed the man they met in the meat locker, Campbell, had also followed Lloyd. Had they formed a friendship in the few days they spent together?
“They’re persistent!”
“Jump into the ocean once we reach the summons area.”
“The ocean?”
“If they follow us in, today’s the day they die.”
If they had taken the right path, the cliff they were first summoned to would appear.
It was 20 to 25m high.
Even if they fell into the ocean, the absorptivity of their equipment would reduce the friction.
The end of the forest was coming. They could hear the sound of waves nearby. Cha Jun Sung took out a grenade and pulled the pin. Park Jin Hyuk followed suit.
“Put the grenade on the ground and run!”
“Ack!”
Pat!
The grenade fell to the ground. It would go off in 5 seconds. Park Jin Hyuk made a fuss and jumped into the ocean. The cannibals filled the area behind them.
They were similar in speed to Cha Jun Sung, but the distance closed in as they ran. There was the problem of stamina as well, so it would have been a problem if it had been a long distance.
Kwang!
The grenades exploded and fragments flew out. It swept the cannibals that had gathered and they collapsed. But it was not over. There were still some standing.
Kung!
When the explosion disappeared, the evil cannibals and dozens of cannibals threw themselves into the ocean. They were determined to kill Cha Jun Sung at the very least.
“I prepared this for you.”
“Kung!”
Cha Jun Sung threw the grenade in his hand. The cannibals opened their eyes wide. They were falling in open space. Unless they could fly away like birds, there was no way to avoid it.
Kwang!
The shockwaves of the grenade hit Cha Jun Sung and Park Jin Hyuk’s bodies. Fragments came flying at them, but their plastic armor and impact tights absorbed it.
Splash!
Still it was early to think that they were safe because they had fallen in the water. The cannibals that had survived the blast were swimming towards the two. It was a complete horror.
Tutututu!
The cannibals were not used to swimming and there was a notable difference in the way they moved in comparison to the way they moved on land. This made it easier to shoot them.
In their submerged state, they made the approaching cannibals into fish food.
“Let’s end this, it’s a drag.”
“My thoughts exactly!”
If the difficulty of Level E was this high, nothing needed to be said about Level D. Level D would be uncertain even after acquiring the best gear and going through the 2nd stage of body modification.
The number of cannibals gradually decreased and they eventually killed all of them off.
“Is that the end?”
“Could be?”
“There aren’t anymore.”
“Wow!”
Park Jin Hyuk put his hands in the air and cheered. Their attack on the cannibals was over. Then they heard the words they wanted to hear so much.
-[Congratulations. You have cleared Level E upgrade mission, Field of Meat.]
-[You have earned 3000 points, and Level D mission and store are open.]
Park Jin Hyuk was delighted at the fact that the Level D mission and store had been unlocked. Cha Jun Sung did not hear the last words because he had already unlocked them.
-[Please go to shore to return to the briefing room or reality.]
“Let’s find a low place.”
Cha Jun Sung looked at the cliff slopes and shook his head. They could not climb it.
But they both knew how to swim. They swam and rested by floating when they were too tired. After swimming like this for 20 minutes, they came to a beautiful waterfront.
Park Jin Hyuk put all of the weaponry into the space compression bag and held only the sniper rifle. It was the best weapon against a surprise attack.
“Now that we’ve finished, it’s a bother to annihilate them.”
“Should we go back?”
The purpose of Field of Meat was not annihilation. There could be cannibals remaining on the base, but he did not want to continue fighting.
“Let’s follow the waterfront. We might find Lloyd and his men.”
“Okay.”
Their shoulders were heavy. They were exhausted and as their tension relaxed, the fatigue spread. However, he did wonder what happened to Lloyd and the others.
There was nothing they could do if they had died in the forest, but they might run into them if they had made it out.
“There!”
“I saw.”
They could see what they estimated to be 40 to 50 dead bodies. It could not be people. It had to be cannibals. It seemed there had been a great battle.
Among the cannibal corpses, there were the bodies of Lloyd, Henry, and Martin.
They had died in a gruesome way. It looked like they had fought back until the end and were hacked up. Could it be that they thought it unfair that they died? There was anger in their widely open eyes.
Cha Jun Sung touched Lloyd’s body. It was still warm but some time must have passed since his death because it was starting to cool. This was the same for Henry and Martin.
“What about Carlyle and Campbell?”
“Do you think these three died while opening up a path for them?”
“Could be.”
Cha Jun Sung walked away from the bodies. They could make money by selling their gear, but he did not need it and did not really want to do it.
They found Carlyle’s body not far from Lloyd and the others. He had his face down in the sands.
“They opened up the path for him for nothing.”
“Tsk!”
Park Jin Hyuk had a bitter look. He did not like the man, but he had never wished for his death. He just did not like him, it was nothing more and nothing less.
Cha Jun Sung felt something strange while examining Carlyle’s body.
“What are you doing?”
“The cause of death is unclear. Other than his blue face, there isn’t any wound.”
“What about it?”
“There isn’t a cannibal’s body nearby and he’s dead alone.”
He looked for a mortal wound to figure out Carlyle’s cause of death, but he was perfectly fine. Other than his blue face, there was nothing that could have killed him.
“I think he suffocated.”
“Suffocated?”
“They say when someone suffocates, their face turns blue. I saw in on TV.”
Cha Jun Sung thought that Park Jin Hyuk’s explanation made sense.
“Fight against me.”
“What? Kuk!”
Cha Jun Sung went behind Park Jin Hyuk, put his head in a headlock, and squeezed.
Park Jin Hyuk flailed. The impact tights expanded and pushed against Cha Jun Sung’s strength, but it was loose. He had discovered a new vulnerability.
“Ow….. My neck.”
“What do you think?”
“I think suffocation is right. The impact tights don’t function against it.”
“But there was a repelling force.”
“You have a lot of muscular strength because you went through body modification. How could I withstand it?”
It sounded like the impact tights would have been able to protect him if he had not gone through body modification. A cannibal would not have done something so onerous.
“Campbell…..”
“Are you saying he went through body modification and is the one who killed Carlyle?”
“In context.”
The only other survivor in this mission was Campbell. It could not help but raise suspicion. It would be a PK if it were a game, but it was murder since it was reality.
“That guy completed a Level D mission and opened the store!”
“Since I’m not the only one who’s special.”
“Why do you think he did it?”
“The reason why he did a PK? There’s a different pleasure in killing users than in killing mutants. Or he’s doing it to gain experience.”
“But this is reality. What experience? He’s psycho.”
“Point.”
“Huh?”
“Do you think he can take another Lifer’s points if he kills them?”
It was not information that was recorded in Lifer World. Of course opinions were divided. Would they be rewarded points even if they killed Lifers? Was there someone who had killed before?
“I’m sure there are a lot. A ton.”
There was no way murderers did not exist in this crazy world. If they were given points? They would tell people not to share the information in the greed of wanting to take all the points.
“Kill someone to confirm?”
“Probably.”
“If you find Campbell?”
“I’ll probably kill him if it’s possible, but I have no intention of going out of my way. Let’s look and decide.”
As he continued with Life Mission, there would be a day when he killed a human and not a mutant with these hands, wouldn’t there? The only difference was whether that day would come sooner or later.
“He’ll be close by.”
“How do you know?”
“Lloyd’s body was cold, but this one is warm. He’s close.”
Cha Jun Sung lifted his head. They needed to go to the summon area if they wanted to complete the mission. Campbell would be heading towards the summon area as well.