"That was close," Yu Seol said.
Most of the team had rolled away from the blast, but Nora got caught in the explosion.
She'd taken some damage— it was nothing serious though, but Conan was already scolding her for it. Yu-Seol's lips twitched, watching the two players.
.
.
The group continued to enter deeper into the dim hallways.
It was difficult to navigate. However, they could see countless shelves lined around the corridors, stocked with supplies, unused weapons, and ammunition.
"What kind of place is this?" one player asked. "Isn't this supposed to be a power company? Why are there so many weapons?"
"True. The facilities look well-maintained as well," another chimed in. "This feels like some dual-purpose power and military company. Talk about PMC."
BallsDeep69 picked up a Kurokomo Katana from one of the skeletal corpses scattered about. "Finders keepers, right?"
Dual-Sword Lunatic shook his head at BallsDeep69's smug expression, then grabbed another fixer sword to complete his dual set.
"What killed these guys?" Dual-Sword Lunatic asked. "Why are there so many scattered bones? Even bone dust? The lore in this game is starting to get confusing."
"… Years-old bloodstains and decomposed corpses…" Conan muttered, examining the remains.
"This place dates back one to two years, by my estimation."
"So was it raided?" Kiana asked, confused.
Conan shrugged. That hypothesis was close, but not quite right to Conan's thoughts.
"Look," he said, pointing to the corpses.
"At what?" Kiana asked, baffled. She wasn't much of a thinker like the others, who were already contemplating about the lore of the game.
Kiana was the type to jump into the battle without thinking.
"Several different identities are present—The Syndicate… the Association. I don't know what those factions mean in this City, but it's strange to see them dead together."
Conan crouched beside one skeleton, running a gloved finger over a shattered rib.
"Based on bone density and tissue decomposition, these bodies didn't die at the same time. This was a recurring disposal site."
"They didn't enter at the same time."
While everyone was staring at him in utter confusion with Nora being excited without a shred of understanding.
However, she still found it exciting like watching a detective movie.
"As for what killed them…" He glanced at the skeletons torn to pieces, as if hit by a bulldozer. "That remains a mystery."
If humans had done this, why tear the bodies apart so thoroughly? The physical trauma exceeded anything achievable with modern weapons.
"In conclusion, this isn't a simple raid," Conan stood up, wiping bone dust from his gloves.
"And judging by the bite marks on the marrow... I suspect we aren't alone down here."
He wondered if the game featured non-human monsters capable of tearing people into unrecognizable pieces.
"You understood that?" Dual-Sword Lunatic stared in disbelief at BallsDeep69 constant nodding as if understanding.
"Of course, I am much more smarter than a paramecium like you." BallsDeep69 smirked.
"Fucker." While Dual-Sword Lunatic was about to unsheathe his swords. They stopped at the voice of Conan.
"However, there is only one truth…"
"And that is!?" Nora leaned forward excitedly.
"And that is… we'll find out soon enough."
He adjusted his glasses and continued walking.
"Ugh! What was all that buildup for?" Nora groaned.
The group continued forward, looting supplies along the way.
After a few minutes, they reached the middle section.
A cylindrical structure towered before them—a generator standing like a giant rocket, its height extending into darkness above and below.
Everyone gazed at the sight in awe.
"If this is only the tutorial…" Seol-ha murmured, looking up at the moonlight streaming through cracks in the ceiling.
"I wonder how much crazier it'll get once we reach the actual game."
"So pretty," Kiana whispered.
"Let's keep moving," BallsDeep69 said, his eyes fixed on stairs leading to a terminal. He pulled an Enkephalin box from his pocket.
"Everyone stay calm and watch your surroundings. We don't know if mobs might spawn."
The team tensed, scanning the area while BallsDeep69 worked on the terminal connected to the generator.
As he connected the Enkephalin, the generator roared to life.
Lights flickered on, illuminating the massive chamber and a series of locked blast doors ringing the perimeter.
A holographic display on the central terminal flashed, updating their mission log.
[ Mission Details: Complete the 3 Ordeals ]
[ Objective 1: Clear Information Team Department ]
[ Objective 2: Clear Welfare Team Department (Locked) ]
[ Objective 3: Clear Disciplinary Team Department (Locked) ]
[ Final Objective: Secure Golden Bough from the Main Control Room (Locked) ]
"Whoa. That scared the hell out of me," His voice echoed, causing Dual-Sword Lunatic to say.
"What a wuss." He said with a mocking tone as payback for his insult from back then.
"Tsk." BallsDeep69 ignored and said after rejoining the team. "It says we have to power up four sub-generators connected to the departments while clearing the three ordeals. Anyone up to the task of guinea pig?"
He gestured toward another generator at the end of the hallway.
"Oh! Let me!" Nora ran ahead.
"Hey, wait up!" Dual-Sword Lunatic called, checking for traps as the group hurried after her. Conan sighed.
Moments later, with a heavy hiss of hydraulics, the blast door marked "INFORMATION TEAM" ground open, revealing a dark hallway lined with office cubicles and server racks.
"Dammit, why is it still so dark in here?" One of the players said.
Conan adjusted his glasses and muttered to the team, "We need to find the main electrical panel,"
However, everyone felt an eerie feeling. The air felt damp and suffocating, and the lights on some sides were flickering.
Something felt off. Conan swept his flashlight across the hallway, and the others followed suit, flashing in different directions.
"Why does this place look so creepy?" Dual-Sword Lunatic shivered.
"It's like we're playing Resident Evil in one of those laboratories."
The team searched through the hallways with countless open doors, they stopped and entered inside a place filled with countless empty stasis pods, they all stayed close together.
There were terminals powered up, waiting for them to assign tasks to it, which they had been looking for.
As they approached, looking around, the place was huge, however, it was eerily quiet.
As they reached the center: a faint, wet pop… pop… pop… sound kept echoing in the room.
"What's that smell?" Kiana asked, pinching her nose. "Smells like rotten honey."
However, the smell was filtered so it didn't smell bad at all. It was that Kiana recognized the smell. Reminding her of the expired honey she had left outside for days back at her home.
Yu Seol looked up as a drop of red liquid landed near her.
"What… is that?"
Something revolting clung to the ceiling. Yu Seol felt her stomach lurch, but the System intervened before she could retch.
A pixelated mosaic filter flickered over the gory details, blurring the viscera into abstract blocks of red and brown.
Numbing her visual shock, but the wet, squelching sound remained nauseating to her.
Fleshy, amber-colored cocoons swelled along the ceiling, pulsing like infected hearts.
"Um… guys. Look up," she warned, raising her pistol.
Before she finished, the cocoons burst open.
Thud!
"Ah! Shit! Get it off me! What the hell is this thing?!" a player screamed as a worm latched onto his face. Blood suddenly leaked from the his face.
"Hold still." Conan fired, the bullet piercing the worm without hitting the player.
"Not good… They've surrounded us," Kiana said, shooting several worms mid-leap.
"Dammit, they're burrowing!" Dual-Sword Lunatic swung his blades wildly, sparks flying as his blades met concrete. "Why are they so fast?!"
These worms are hard to follow, but not impossible to track as long as you focus enough, Yu Seol thought, unsheathing her sword and cleaving through one mid-jump.
But…
Swoosh. Splat!
She cut down another as it lunged, then stepped back to avoid a third. Flesh and blood sprayed into the air like a fountain.
There are too many. Seol-ha grimaced but stayed composed.
The swarm was overwhelming. For every worm they cut down, two more erupted from the vents or the ceilings with fleshy pixelated cocoons.
"Formation is breaking! Fall back!" BallsDeep69 shouted, kicking a worm away before it could latch onto his leg.
"We can't! The hallway is blocked!" Dual-Sword Lunatic shouted.
"Out of my way! The great Nora shall clear the path!"
Nora slammed her hammer down, unleashing a shockwave of electric discharge.
Boom!
[ BLACK DAMAGE ]
- Induces 5 seconds of Todd's Paralysis to any living organism.
The worms blocking the hallway were instantly paralyzed granting them enough time to rush out and kill a few that were in the way.
"Great job, Nora! Everyone, break through!"
They escaped the blockade and formed three lines to cover every angle.
"Come here, you slimy bastards!" BallsDeep69 stood at the front with Yu Seol and Dual-Sword Lunatic, weapons ready.
The worms attacked chaotically—mindless mobs without formation or coordination.
The player team, however, was organized.
The worms burrowed through the hallways, but the limited space and obvious burrowing sounds that got louder as they are about to attack made their attacks predictable.
Yu Seol and Dual-Sword Lunatic reacted fastest with their melee swords.
Still, Conan and Kiana had already eliminated more than half the horde with their guns, greatly minimizing casualties.
The swarm dwindled from hundreds to dozens, then finally none remained.
"Shit. That was close," Dual-Sword Lunatic said, sitting on the ground and wiping away imaginary sweat.
"This young lady is exhausted," Kiana said, leaning on Seol-ha's shoulder.
Seol-ha was about to shake her off when a system notification appeared.
[ Mission Details: Complete the 3 Ordeals ]
[ Objective 1: Clear Information Team Department (Completed) ]
[ Objective 2: Clear Welfare Team Department (Pending) ]
[ Objective 3: Clear Disciplinary Team Department (Locked) ]
[ Final Objective: Secure Golden Bough from the Main Control Room (Locked) ]
[ Team 6 have suppressed Amber Dawn ]
[ Reward: Information of the mobs in Ordeal 1 ]
[ The Perfect Food ]
- The worms move in groups and move erratically, they are a threat against weak employees, particularly those with either Level 1 Fortitude or a Suit weak to Red Damage. Due to their movement while attacking, the worms can quickly switch to the opposite side of the target, making melee weapons and slow-attacking weapons harder to hit with if the employee's Attack Speed is too low. Hence, it is highly suggested to use Ranged weapons or fast-attacking weapons if possible.
Red: Vulnerable (2.0)
White: Normal (1.0)
Black: Normal (1.0)
Pale: Vulnerable (2.0)