Life Mission

[You have earned 200,000 points and 80,000 achievement points.]

Koharu made the lower body into rags. She chopped it up like as though she were cutting up meat. The lower body is the center of mobility. It is just a figurehead if that collapses.

Hah!

Thump!

Koharu sits down. Her battlesuit’s energy is under 10%. She can just charge the energy, but she needs to rest in order to regain her bodily strength.

Violet was also standing up by leaning on the javelin as if it is a cane. She is not severely hurt anywhere. She is only tired as if she has run a long distance.

Ah!

Swish!

A meteor falls. The booster multiplied the speed of falling.

Cha Jun Sung became a ray of light and passed by the Caicus, cutting its shoulder in a moment of inertia. Due to this, his shoulder muscle was ruptured.

Bang!

The Caicus held back the awful pain and punched Cha Jun Sung. The impact could crumple the battlesuit, and he was pushed back as though he could drag through the ground.

Boom boom boom!

Grenades dig in where its arm is cut off and its shoulder is showing.

It may be tough on the outside, but there is nothing to do about the inside. Its shoulder is dug into and red flesh splatters out. The amount of bleeding is enough for 4 or 5 people to die.

The Caicus stumbles. Bleeding out is one thing, but he is blinded by this kind of extreme pain it is feeling for the first time. Is this death? Is it dying?

Park Jin Hyuk pours out the attacks. Cha Jun Sung is not in that great of a state either.

He took all of the hits head on unlike Koharu and Violet. He had not been able to protect his body properly like the state of the battlesuit.

With repeated attacks on its weakness, its shoulder rips. Its other parts are still hard and tough. There is no point in attacking those places.

The Caicus falls over. As it is a giant, it took a long time.

It is not dead. If they leave it alone, it can live even though it will be handicapped. It may be weaker than before, but it it will still be able to bring out the strength of a level 5.

Cha Jun Sung dragged his ruptured shoulder and broken leg near the Caicus’ brain, and embedded the Wolf Kill in its eye.

The Caicus trembled with hollow eyes and then stopped breathing.

[Congratulations. You have cleared level C mission Closed Area. You have earned 200,000 points and 100,000 achievement points. With mission completion, you have earned 600,000 reward points and 300,000 achievement points.]

Park Jin Hyuk, Kyoko, and Hercules came down to the battlefield. They are fine but 3 battle personnel are about to collapse – no – they have collapsed.

However, there is still a result. They left their reserve power as is and completed a 600,000 point mission without issues. This means that they can afford to do more.

“It’s a single shot even though it’s a level C, so we were able to finish it in a day.”

“We need to pick out missions like this, though it is a disadvantage that it’s so tiring.”

They need to repair their battlesuits and weapons, and they need to rest for a few days.

As short as the time for completion is, the greater the danger is. That is why they need to be careful. But it is still more comfortable than an ongoing mission.

“Let’s go back. I’m sure everyone will be able to purchase the weapons they want if we just do a few more?”

Violet is fine for now because she has a 3 million point weapon.

The problem is Cha Jun Sung’s group. They realized for sure while fighting with the Caicus that they need to get rid of level D now. Level C has become more desperate.

“It’ll be quick.”

There is not long left once the points they already have and the points they earned in Closed Area are combined. And as long as they are purchasing, they will be buying other items.

***

He attacked Closed Area, the mission he had vowed to complete, with perfection. It had not even been difficult. It is proof of how much he has advanced.

Cha Jun Sung went in and out of 500,000 to 700,000 point missions with his party members because of the time limit and to purchase other items.

If levels D and E are just tastes of Life Mission, level C is where they can really start seeing the super scientific abilities in the items.

There is no longer any need to fight with battlesuits and vibrating weapons.

If they have a lot of points, they can become owners of artifacts they see in fantasy stories. It is just that they are created with science instead of magic.

They each want different gear because everyone’s style of battling is different, but there are 3 things that they all want in the level C store.

[Protect ring: 6 million points, 1.2 million achievement.] [Description: A ring that forms a magnetic field defense with a 3 meter radius, with maintenance time and strength determined by energy emission.] [Rapid charging device: 5 million points, 1 million achievement.] [Description: An upgrade on the average charger, this is able to charge the basic battlesuit to 100% in 10 minutes.] [Emergency return portal: 7.5 million points, 1.5 million achievement.] [Description: Once every month, it is possible to abandon a mission under level B without restrictions regarding rules set by the assistant.]

They need 30 to 40 million points for the time limit, 3 things, and other items. The serious aspect is that this is Cha Jun Sung alone.

With 5 people, it is a total of 150 million! Assuming they switch their equipment over time like in the virtual version, there is no end.

They are short by a lot, so Cha Jun Sung’s group put their all into missions.

After working for a few weeks, their cumulative existing and gathered points reached 15 million. They thought for a bit and then purchased the time limit and protect ring.

Excluding Violet, the party members also finished setting to top level C weapons. Their power had increased even more.

As a result, they completed a 950,000 point attainment mission within 2 days yesterday. 4 level 5s appeared, but they each took on 1.

They each received 1.5 million reward points. It would be good if they achieved this each time, but their energy is low because they have been working hard.

Cha Jun Sung stopped activity so that they could rest, but there had been a lot of changes in Mechanic City while they were focused on missions.

First, the inflow of people into Mechanic City had multiplied by more than 10. Lifers had begun to enter in earnest with differences in time.

Is that why? There are more instances of people looking for real estate, places to live.

Therefore, Cha Jun Sung used his remaining points to purchase properties located on the path from where he is, zone A area 25, to area 24.

His party members followed suit. Violet in particular, used the Florence clan’s power to basically absorb area 25.

No matter how trivial of an area it is, each area has a representative center. The center of area 25 is the way to cross into area 24.

It is because facilities are there. Lifers who want to reside in area 25 will try to get near area 24.

Fortunately for all Cha Jun Sung knows, the count for large guilds in zone A is low.

Even if they are there, they are late and Cha Jun Sung’s group was moving one step ahead. His goal is clear. He cannot take over an entire zone and area.

Cha Jun Sung wants the 5 training rooms in areas 1 through 5 of a zone. They are scarce, so he will somehow scrape up the points to buy them.

The cheapest training room in area 5 is 120 million points. If he keeps this pace up however, it is not impossible.

Other large guilds are focused on other zones and are not paying attention to zone A. It is a large piece of land without an owner. It is the key to a niche market.

While Cha Jun Sung was just hanging out, something happened that would gain the attention of all Lifers including himself.

It happened quietly, but the stirring became the beginning of an auction war.

***

“There are a lot. Shall we go?”

A man in his mid-30s mumbles as he looks at dozens of lucky boxes.

They are what he has gathered until now by riding buses. He is a typical bus Lifer. He is able to count the number of mutants he has killed on his own with one hand.

He focused on using the reward points to increase his wealth in reality. He knows his place well. It is impossible for him to fight a mutant and survive.

No one dies pleasantly after not knowing their place and getting involved. Lifers and friends who entered the reality version around the same time screamed.

If he had gone through missions normally? There is nothing that says the same would not have happened to him.

Even still, he persisted in missions and became a level C Lifer a few days ago. This is not as easy as one would think. There needs to be luck to cruise through it.

Ring!

He opens a lucky box. He had gathered them as a hobby. He has exactly 42. He was going to sell them, but decided to open them for fun.

His expression goes sour. He heard that they have a terrible probability.

Opinions on lucky boxes are plastered with swears and insults on Lifer World. They are called 1 second boxes. It only takes 1 second to change $100,000 into 1 cent.

That was true. After 30 seconds, 30 boxes became worth 30 cents. Tissue, ramen, a bullet, a pencil.

“Ugh. I just wasted $4.2 million.”

If he had sold them as is, they would have brought him enough to buy a mansion. It is all about to disappear. He just has 3 lucky boxes left.

He earns about 3 million in a month, has over 20 million saved, and can raise more from now on, but the disappearing 4.2 million in front of him seems like a waste.

Ring!

[What! No way!]

“Huh? Why are you surprised?”

When he opened the 2nd lucky box, the man’s helper coughed. It is possible for artificial intelligence to be surprised. It is a wonder as to what surprised it.

“What is this? Is it a card? Argos, did you see this and get surprised?”

The man picked up the black card in the lucky box and scanned it on the PDA. He could just ask his helper, but he can also do this.

[Top store opening card.] [Description: If you put this card in the PDA, you can open a higher store than Lifers that are higher up can.]

“..... Open a store?”

The man cocks his head. He is a level C Lifer. One level? Is he able to take a look at the level B store with this card?

It seems like a good thing, but it is not completely to his liking. What is he supposed to do after opening it? Even the level C store has items that are priced at millions of points.

If it is level B, it will reach over that. There is no point in it for him.

Ring!

The man opens the last lucky box. This time, a 300 point pistol came out. Ultimately, all he got out of this is this strange card.

[There’s a 1 out of 10 million chance.....]

“You’re saying there’s a 1 in 10 million chance to pick out this card? No way!”

[I’ll have to tell you since you don’t understand what that card is. It has a value that could shake up the balance in Life Mission.]

Helper Argos is making a fuss. A card to open up the top store, the name and description are simple. On the other hand, its true meaning is not that simple.

It is in the description, but not included in the conditions. It may be garbage that opens up level D in level E, but it is a treasure that opens up level B in level C.

If he uses it in level B.....?

[It opens level A. According to the circumstances, it could even open up S.] [A Lifer’s power comes from the store. Rather than being a step ahead of others, you could transcend an entire level ahead of everyone.]

It might be unattainable to the man as he thought, but it is an invaluable treasure to a Lifer with ability.

What would happen if this fell into the hands of a top Lifer, someone like Cha Jun Sung?

There is just one chance. If they gather as many points as they can to go through level B body modifications and purchased items from the store, there is no guess as to how far they could advance.

“So this is an incredible thing?”

[It is beyond that. You are someone who has come out above atrocious probabilities. If you decide to take the path of a Lifer now, you could come out on top.]

He is falling far behind as a level C, so he cannot catch up to rankers.

But if he continues with level 2 body modifications and purchases a battlesuit to gain experience, the card will handle the rest.

Even if Argos cannot tell him, level B mission will become Lifers’ graves when they need to start fighting mutants that are nearly perfect level 7s.

Only those who advance and show potential for advancement will go to the top.

“I have to sell it.”

[Se – sell it? You’re going to sell that? What are you selling?]

If Argos had been human, it would have fainted from high blood pressure. He is going to sell the card! This is an action that helpers cannot understand.

“You think I’m crazy? If level C has level 5 and 6, isn’t level B level 7? I know from the virtual version that I can’t handle them. I’m going to sell this for a high price.”

[*&^*%$$$#$^***^(%$$##.]

The man did not want to hear Argos screaming, and shut the PDA off. He made his decision regarding the card.

It is true that it makes him ambitious, but he does not want to get caught up in a dream and take a rash challenge. He will sell it for a high price. He will hand it over to rankers or a large guild.