The Age of Adaptation
“What are you up so early for?”
Yaaawn. Yoo Sung-hwan, still in the middle of a huge, groggy yawn, looked at his brother.
Yoo Sung-jun seemed to be busily writing something. Sung-hwan sat across from him and took a long swallow of cold water, then held out the notebook.
“Um... Raid plan drafting and key operations?”
How many operations were there? One, two, three...
Five in all.
He must be talking about the resonance-core mission in the underground bunker.
Sung-hwan knew that mission too.
A C+ rank mission.
And this was at a time when he was only just getting used to D-rank missions.
Was there really so much room for a multi-pronged approach?
“You’re already preparing for this?”
“There’s no downside to getting ready in advance. I wrote down the things you’ll need too. Don’t leave anything out—put it all down.”
Sung-hwan looked at the blanks his brother was tapping with a finger.
Did he mean their gear, their body-enhancement level, even the detailed effects of his innate trait? What was all this, anyway?
“Questions for the Higher Being?”
“I told you what the benefits were when a user’s rank goes up, right?”
“Yeah, that you can ask the Higher Being one question about anything...”
“Have you decided what you’re going to ask?”
“Well, yeah. You want me to write that down?”
“We need to coordinate. You’re not going to waste an opportunity like that, are you?”
“Did you use yours super efficiently, then?”
“You, me, and Jeyca. Who do you think got us this far without any serious danger?”
“So it’s all thanks to asking the Higher Being the right question?”
“I won’t deny it.”
“Hmm...”
Sung-hwan rubbed at his chin.
He already had one question in mind.
But he really didn’t want to say it aloud.
“Can’t I just not tell you?”
“Why?”
“Because it’s embarrassing.”
“Come on, what’s embarrassing between family?”
“There is. Anyway, there just is.”
“Still, say it. If you waste such a valuable chance, that’s a loss. I’m going to ask Jeyca about it too.”
“Um. I know it’s embarrassing...”
Twisting uncomfortably as he thought it over, Sung-hwan finally let out a long sigh.
“Fine, if you’re putting it that way, I’ll tell you. But don’t laugh.”
“I won’t laugh. This is serious—why would I laugh?”
“Hmph. In that case...”
Sung-hwan’s face had turned grave by the time he spoke.
“How to get an infallibly accurate gun or ability.”
“Pfft!”
“Ah, damn it!”
“Sorry, sorry. Heh. But that’s just too outrageous. Even the Higher Being would probably say something like that doesn’t exist, right?”
Sung-hwan knew that much.
There had never been a trait or gun in the game that hit every single shot.
“I figured reality might be different.”
“Then ask about it when you rank up. Read the Higher Being’s reaction and infer the answer. But if you misread it and choose your question based on that, it could be a disaster. If they flat-out say no, that chance disappears.”
“I know. I’m not that stupid.”
“Who said you were stupid? So, should we come up with a few questions together?”
“Sure. It’s not a bad way to kill time before morning exercise.”
And so, their discussion about questions went on for well over an hour.
Fortunately, they managed to narrow it down to three that seemed worth asking.
“So you’re going to choose one of these and ask it?”
“Yeah. And nothing dangerous happened in the real world?”
“Nope. The bodyguards Choi Hyun-seok assigned seem pretty capable.”
“More capable than you?”
“I don’t think so?”
At his brother’s tilted head, Sung-jun nodded.
Probably not.
After all, he’d never seen a user who could shoot better than Sung-hwan.
When it comes to Another Earth, nothing beats being able to see clearly and shoot straight.
He wore a satisfied smile until his brother got up.
“The side dishes are in the fridge, so help yourself. I’m heading out to work out.”
“Yeah, be careful.”
Today was one of their scheduled rest days.
He had no intention of bothering his brother even a little, not while Sung-hwan could relax properly.
Just as his brother headed into his room to get ready for exercise, he stuck his head back out.
“Oh, hyung. You should learn how to cook too. Then you can talk casually with Jeyca noona and get a little closer. She told me something, too.”
“W-what did she say?”
Still half-risen, Sung-jun asked the question.
His brother finished with a grin.
“She asked me seriously if I wasn’t a eunuch.”
Yoo Sung-jun made a solemn decision to get closer to Jeyca today, no matter what.
***
“We’ve got the target in sight. Moving in now.”
That was the report from the man watching the apartment from a distance.
After hearing the answer crackle through the earpiece, he shifted his position.
The same was true for the figures visible on the opposite building.
Dozens of people were moving at once.
In plain clothes, each of them blended into the surrounding buildings and crowds while keeping only the target under surveillance.
“He went into the gym, just as expected.”
— Morning workout. Link internal and external units and keep him covered.
“Understood.”
The man slipped a hand into his jacket.
His fingers brushed the smooth barrel he’d bought from the Enter Room.
All it needed was a stock and a scope, and the sniper rifle would be complete.
It was more than enough for a protection job.
That 150,000 points hadn’t come for free.
I don’t know who the hell that guy is—the one getting protected by our Blood Rain outfit—but he hit the jackpot. To think he’d be under the clan leader’s protection.
Honestly, it was ridiculous.
From the look of him training, the guy under guard seemed like a user.
Body Enhancement Level 1 for sure. But his posture’s a little clumsy. Guess he only started working out recently.
How on earth had someone like that managed to take down an infector?
Had he gotten Body Enhancement Level 1 by leeching off someone?
Body enhancement and Omega Suit enhancement could be boosted by proxy.
Points could be obtained by transferring equipment or selling it cheap, but who the hell would do that?
Or maybe he bought points with money from some user who had no intention of surviving after Dark Cover and used that to get body enhancement.
As long as he made up an explanation to suit his mood, any reason would do.
The man spent his protection shift that way, mostly.
He evaluated and imagined the man called Yoo Sung-hwan.
Heh, looks like he lives with his older brother. Don’t tell me he’s just clinging to his hyung and getting by?
While he was busy entertaining himself with wild guesses, time passed.
When he saw the target come back out, he moved his position again.
Next stop is the bank?
That was a little risky.
By now, rumors had started to spread.
The end of the world was coming. A few groups had begun preparing, and so on.
Even people who knew nothing about Another Earth were starting to feel the danger and brace themselves.
Because of that, acts of terrorism had become more frequent too.
Places like banks and densely populated areas, where primal urges could run wild, were already under control.
And they were going there without hesitation?
Weird...
The man took up position on top of the bank building Sung-hwan had entered.
He planned to snipe anyone from a terrorist organization if they tried to approach the bank.
From here, there was no blind spot.
The man tucked into the corner pulled out his gun.
He attached all sorts of components to the pistol-shaped weapon.
Those terrorists are pathetic. They’ll probably come trying to rob a bank, only to get cut down by Blood Rain’s escort.
He was confident the people assigned to this job were as good as any other users out there.
This gun alone is proof. Heat-source detection, trajectory correction, complete noise suppression. Anyone who gets hit by it will feel like they’ve met the silent reaper himself.
Trying to rob a bank through this kind of firepower?
The terrorists had to be insane.
They were living through an apocalypse, and still trying to indulge themselves with a little luxury by hitting a bank.
And not just that—they’d have to beat the escort team, who was likely in the top ten percent of all users.
“Huh? One of the guys protecting me.”
“...?”
Did he hear that wrong?
The man turned his head.
Yoo Sung-hwan, the target he was guarding, was standing right beside him.
“I was wondering where one of them went. You were on top of this building? You really are thorough. But you got breached. So I came up here, just like I thought I should.”
“Uh... uh...”
The target, smirking, reached into his clothes.
What he pulled out, crouched in a kneeling firing stance, was a gun barely as big as his hand.
He pressed a button, and it expanded.
A support stand unfolded, and he set it against the parapet of the rooftop.
Then he pressed another button beside a circuit line etched into the body.
Bzzt.
The barrel heated up as he took aim. There wasn’t even a scope.
He simply stared into the distance, relying only on the front sight.
W-what the hell is going on? What is happening here?
The man, swallowing his shock, aimed in the same direction.
But all he could see were ordinary civilians.
Across from the bank, people inside a café, people waiting for a bus...
Huh?
For a moment, that was all he could think.
Then, all at once, the people who had looked perfectly mixed in with the civilians stood up.
Hands went into pockets and came back out with something. Those were definitely guns you could buy from the Enter Room...
Fwoosh!
At the gunfire from beside him, the man turned his head.
Just from the sound, he could tell.
The gun Yoo Sung-hwan was using was the kind that would swallow his entire accumulated point total and still leave him short.
B-7.
A weapon that used high-tech spatial compression to condense air to its limit, accelerate it, heat it, and fire it out.
That thing didn’t even need a reload.
Wasn’t it the real silent reaper?
I underestimated him...
One gunshot after another rang out.
One by one, the men who’d been hiding themselves collapsed before they could even take cover.
In less than a few seconds, they were wiped out.
“Phew, cleanup’s done. You’re giving me those terrorist gear drops, right? I handled them.”
The radio was a mess now.
Questions came pouring in—had he done that? How had he even noticed terrorists mixed in with the civilians?
They had mistaken the sniper point for being beside their own position.
“Sir? Hey, sir?”
Only after the target’s request did the man finally nod belatedly.
“Then please take care of the bodies too.”
Apparently that was enough of an answer, because Yoo Sung-hwan smiled faintly.
He waved and left the rooftop.
The man stared after him, dazed.
Only then did he realize it.
The ones who had been protected all this time weren’t Yoo Sung-hwan.
It had been them.
***
“You swapped your shoulder guard for a new one?”
“I had some points left. Bought it with those.”
It was gear used to absorb shocks at the shoulder and provide protection while aiming.
Sung-jun hummed under his breath as he watched his brother check over his equipment.
“You say you bought it with leftovers, but that thing isn’t cheap. I’m pretty sure it costs at least 30,000 points.”
“It is a little pricey. Still, it’s fine. It’s a meaningful purchase, isn’t it?”
Well, it wasn’t as if he’d wasted points on nonsense.
Sung-jun looked at the two of them preparing for the mission, then turned his gaze away.
Soon, he would have to join Igrato’s raid.
So he had to choose one plan from among the many he’d divided it into.
The mission they were about to enter would become part of the process of choosing that one.
This is how I’m checking it.
The all-survival method the Higher Being had revealed to him.
Among those, this would determine which approach was safest.
“Jeyca. Sung-hwan. Wrap it up and come over here.”
“Huh? You got close with Jeyca noona? You’re using casual speech now?”
“Thanks to someone’s advice, I opened up a little.”
“Ahaha. Do you know how cute you looked when you were flustered?”
He let out a sigh as Jeyca came over, laughing brightly.
Just thinking back to that moment made him shiver.
Sung-jun still found it easier to slaughter infestors than to deal with women.
“Forget that. I’m sharing the mission, so take a look.”
He showed them the carefully selected D-rank mission.
The same expression rose on both their faces: What is this?
Sung-jun understood their reaction.
This was exactly that kind of mission.
The Pain of Child-Rearing
📍 Location: Nearby area
🎁 Reward: 250,000 points
Type: Escort
Difficulty: D
Description: There is a being in the vicinity that is the key to evolution. It is still nothing more than a being without presence, without a core. Raise it. Protect it from the other infestors. Lure the beast by raising a being with both presence and core. Then hunt it.
Reward: 250,000 points
It was the second one-off mission he’d encountered since the “Pit Corpse Nest,” a place that held nothing but bad memories.