Six Soldiers

I could see almost every move the Mutant made.

No — "almost" didn't even cover it. My dynamic vision tracked every last twitch of its body.

Was the Vision Enhancement skill really that powerful?

More than that, even though I'd used Stat Amplification to boost Strength instead of Agility, I could still ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠more or less keep up with its movements. And that was with an Agility stat of a measly seven.

In short, this wasn't the Mutant I knew from the webtoon.

It had shown up early, and it was infinitely weaker for it — and I'd barely escaped with my life from a thing like that. Only with these people's help, at that.

Click!

Augh…!! When the hell is this going to be over?!

"Aaah!!"

"Quit whining."

"I'm not whining…!! You're driving that thing into raw flesh — how is that not supposed to hurt?!"

"Hurt or not, you endure it. Leave it like this and the arm's going to rot."

"……"

At that grim warning I clamped my mouth shut, shuddering every time the stapler went click.

She was sealing the split wound on my left arm with an office stapler — not even a medical one. The one silver lining was that both the stapler and the staples being driven into my forearm had been thoroughly soaked and cleaned in disinfectant.

"So what was that monster, anyway? It didn't seem like an ordinary zombie."

"That's a Mutant, and I can say that now without any— wait, huh??"

"Pardon?"

"Mutant…?"

"Mutant?"

"Mutant! Yes! It's a monster called a Mutant!"

Was it because I'd cleared the quest? I could say the word Mutant freely now, with no restrictions at all.

"How is it different from a regular zombie?"

I had to turn my head. Someone else had asked the question.

A man standing with his arms crossed, thick veins bulging on his forearms like he was showing them off. And it wasn't just him — the woman currently stapling my arm was also in military uniform.

Right. The ones who'd pulled me and my companions back from the brink of death ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were soldiers.

"The biggest difference is intelligence."

"Intelligence?"

"Yes. The one that was chasing us had enough smarts for short conversations. That means it can open doors, tail people quietly, and casually tear down barricades stacked at an entrance. It can also scream to call other zombies."

"Is that true?"

"Yes. And they're strong by default — not even in the same league as zombies. Especially with that intelligence, they can push their physical abilities to the absolute limit. Each individual also has its own traits. Some are stronger, some are faster, some can jump higher and farther, some are smarter. The one that chased us specialized in raw power…"

"And?"

"It was a stubborn bastard."

I couldn't say more than that. What I'd been about to add was that Mutants didn't just get stronger — they evolved. Of course, those kinds of Mutants wouldn't show up for a long time yet.

Now it was my turn to ask questions.

"Why are soldiers out here? Five people seems like a pretty small unit for any kind of operation."

"That I cannot—"

"Not five. Six."

"Sir."

The soldier with the veined arms snapped a salute. The man who returned it with a light nod pulled a chair over and sat down beside the nursing officer bandaging my forearm. Then he looked straight at me and answered the question I'd just asked.

"We were on a helicopter escort mission. An unexpected variable brought the bird down, and we're currently waiting on orders from HQ."

"Ah… I see."

"May I ask a few questions of my own now?"

"Yes. Go ahead."

"Ah… your name?"

"Kang Juhan."

"I can't disclose my unit, but I'm ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Captain Son Gijun. This is Sergeant First Class Kim San."

"I'm Kim Mihi. Rank of lieutenant. Treatment's done — keep it dry, and I'll do a dressing change this evening."

"Thank you."

"Alright, you all talk among yourselves~"

As Lieutenant Kim Mihi stood up, Captain Son Gijun gestured for Sergeant First Class Kim San — still standing with his arms crossed — to take a seat. Just like that, I found myself sitting across from two solidly built soldiers, feeling for all the world like I was being interrogated.

"Have you encountered many of these Mutant creatures?"

"No. This was the first."

"Then how do you know all that information? Traits varying by individual is the kind of detail you only learn after meeting multiple specimens."

"……"

I'd only tried to share as much as I could because these people had saved our lives — and that had backfired. Still, it was fine. Nothing I'd told them was information that would harm them.

"To be honest, the part about individual traits was my own speculation."

"So you gave us false information?"

"Not false. I meant it as a warning — that it could be the case, so stay careful."

"Then how much of it is confirmed?"

"That it has intelligence, that we exchanged a short conversation, and that it's incomparably stronger than a zombie — those are confirmed."

"What kind of conversation?"

"'Do you think I'm stronger than you? Or not?'"

"……"

"……"

"When I asked that, it said I was weak. Not clearly enunciated — more like wea…k… like that."

"A monster capable of conversation… Then what about that wound on your arm? Did the creature do that?"

"No. It's a cut from a knife."

"A cut… It doesn't look like one."

"No! He got hurt protecting us! It wasn't from the monster!"

Han Nari jumped in at exactly the right moment. The suspicious looks didn't fully disappear, but at least the conversation moved along faster after that.

"So you learned from police radio that the military was in Yeouido, and you were heading there?"

"Yes."

"From police radio…"

"It's not impossible. If someone in their family was there, they could have gotten word."

"True enough."

"Is the investigation over, then?"

"Investigation? We were simply curious why you were moving under such dangerous conditions. One last thing, then — would you show us your Status Windows?"

"I refuse."

"Why?"

"I'm genuinely grateful you saved us, but that's deeply personal information, and we have no obligation to disclose it."

"Kang Juhan."

Sergeant First Class Kim San started to cut in from the side, but Captain Son Gijun put a hand on his shoulder and gave a small shake of his head to stop him, then wrapped up the conversation.

"It's not the most comfortable place, but rest easy. We've secured this location."

"Thank you."

Captain Son Gijun and Sergeant First Class Kim San stood and moved toward the window, where they began talking with the soldiers keeping watch on the surroundings. We finally let the tension drain from our bodies and spoke quietly among ourselves.

"Hey, why are those soldiers so damn grating?"

"A guy walks in with an arm like that in a world like this — of course they're going to be on edge."

"Well… when you put it that way, I got nothing…"

"Gihun hyung, they still saved us. Talking about them like that is a little…"

"Who said anything? I'm just saying the way they talk feels exactly like interrogating a criminal. Rubs people the wrong way."

"Yeah, but…"

Something felt off.

It wasn't Gihun and Park Mingu's conversation that was strange — it was Jihye's attitude. Even if the soldiers had her tense before, why was she still frozen solid now?

"O Jihye."

"Y-yeah…?"

"You hurt? Injured?"

"Unnie's hurt??"

"Where? Are you okay, unnie??"

"N-no…! I'm not hurt…!!"

"Then why are you like that?"

"L-like what…"

"Why are you so wound up?"

"It's just… I feel weird… hard to put into words… Anyway, it's just… my body feels kind of chilly too…"

"Is it a cold??"

"In this weather?"

"You can catch a cold in summer, you know?! Soldier unnie! Can you take a look at our unnie??"

"I-I said I'm fine…!"

It wasn't sweltering, but June still didn't exactly scream "cold weather." Of course, people caught colds in June too. Colds hit year-round.

If it had been anyone else showing the same symptoms as Jihye, I would have written it off as a cold myself. But this was Jihye — I couldn't just let it slide. Not with the skill she had.

It was a danger-sense skill that one of the webtoon's main party members also acquired early on. It didn't catch every threat — nothing had flagged before the Mutant appeared, after all — but every so often it instinctively sensed danger.

If no one in the party had possessed this skill, the webtoon never would have made it to chapter 283. They all would have died long before that. That was how serious it was: once the skill triggered, a major crisis always crashed down on the protagonists.

If ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the cold-like feeling Jihye was experiencing was a warning from Protective Instinct, we needed to be careful. Something even more dangerous than a Mutant might be about to hit us.

The one bright spot was that our situation had improved compared to before. Clearing the quest had netted us three stat points and a Random Skill Box. Not that everyone got the same rewards. The three stat points were a shared reward; the other was distributed at random.

"Let's raise our stats first."

"Then what should we put points into??"

"Hmm…"

I thought for a moment at Choi Huijin's question. Strength, Mental, and Durability didn't need boosting right now — the girls weren't in a position where they had to fight immediately. What they needed most was Agility, for sharper, faster movement. But as we'd confirmed on the way here, Stamina mattered too. Being fast meant nothing if you couldn't keep it up.

"Looking at the map, we've covered about six hundred meters. To cross Mapo Bridge from here, we've got another two kilometers, and then a bit more to reach either the soldiers' position or the nearest building for cover."

"So we should raise Stamina?"

"Doesn't that feel like a waste for Stamina? Raising Agility would let us move way faster and safer than we can now."

"But Juhan oppa said…"

"What you raise is up to you. Stamina or Agility — put it into whatever you think you need. For reference, we covered six hundred meters, but you started slowing down around the two-hundred-meter mark."

"Then Stamina after all…"

"If we can move faster, we can take short rests and keep some breathing room, right? As long as that monster isn't chasing us, we don't have to run for our lives!"

A heated debate broke out over the best choice. Meanwhile, I invested my three stat points one each into Strength, Agility, and Stamina. Dumping everything into one stat to build a clear advantage could be a solid strategy, but with Stat Amplification in my toolkit, keeping balanced stats early on was the smarter play. I could pick which stat to amplify depending on the situation.

Now it was time for my third skill.

"Hoo…"

A bright red box that, depending on how you looked at it, either resembled a Christmas present left by Santa or a gift soaked in blood. I exhaled deeply and tapped it lightly with a finger.

What would come out this time?

As the red box began to tremble, my anticipation climbed. This time, I really wanted a skill that was unmistakably useful in combat. Park Mingu's Single Blow wasn't bad, but I was hoping for something a cut above the ordinary. Something like—

Yesss!! That's what I'm talking about!!

It wasn't a skill I could fire off whenever I wanted. It wouldn't be much help against ordinary zombies either. But the tougher and more dangerous the opponent, the higher this skill's value soared — assuming I could actually trigger it, of course.

I just hadn't expected to use it on him first. Well, as a test subject, he wasn't a bad choice.

Ssshhk—

Wait. Was he seriously about to fight me with that?

The machete gleaming under the fluorescent lights looked razor-sharp. If he was going that far, I should've brought a damn entrenching tool myself!

"Hey, Jaeyeol. How about we put that down first?"

"……"

Apparently not. And his eyes were not normal. Then again, I'd have lost it too in his position. Not losing it would have been the weird part.

Seriously, though — why was this so-called god such a perverted bastard?!!!

Thud—

Yang Jaeyeol took a step toward me, machete in hand. The reason the two of us were in this situation was a black quest I'd received about three hours earlier. A quest dripping with that twisted god's particular tastes.