The Age of Adaptation
Even the hardness of concrete couldn’t stop life’s stubborn will to survive.
Wild grass had grown so thick that it swallowed the soles of their boots.
The place they’d arrived at was a blue-green open field.
Yoo Sung-jun looked around the ruined space.
“Whoa. How long would it take for an airstrip to turn into this?”
“At least a hundred years, I’d say.”
At Cruiser’s question, Yoo Sung-jun kept his eyes fixed ahead.
The place had been destroyed beyond all development, beyond even collapse; it was an airport, and yet not an airport at all.
There, in front of him, was the desperate struggle humanity had waged to survive the virus.
It was a massive dome.
A gray steel structure that still stood proudly, showing no signs of rust.
At its entrance, swallowed in darkness like the gaping maw of a beast, there stood an opening.
And circling it were thousands of infectors.
“Everyone team leaders, gather up.”
He pressed a hand to his in-ear radio and spoke.
Since it was set to a private frequency, there was no interference.
Only the team leaders and he himself could communicate through it.
“All eighteen members are assembled.”
He gave the order as he looked over the people gathered before him.
There was only one standard by which the teams had been divided.
Could they, even if isolated from the other teams and left with only one team’s worth of strength, still bring down the boss-class target?
These were the users who formed that backbone.
They had already surpassed the threshold for hunting infectors at the tail end of Level 4, or even Level 5.
“Are the Omega Suit repairs complete?”
“Yes, sir.”
There was no need to shout any louder; that would only attract more infectors.
At the quiet reply, he nodded.
“How’s your body?”
“Perfect.”
Physical Enhancement Level 2. Omega Suit Level 1. Total equipment points: 200,000.
That was the combat power of a team leader.
They were weaker than Yoo Sung-jun, but with the support of their teammates, they were more than capable of taking down a boss-class entity.
“You’re the core of your teams. If you go down, your people get swept away with you. Understand?”
“We’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good. We’re moving to the entrance we already agreed on. Keep your positions and proceed with your teams combined as they are.”
“Shall we move out immediately?”
Maybe it was because he’d taken control of the mood through sheer force.
Everyone was behaving obediently, which suited him just fine.
“Issue your orders and handle everything carefully. Slow is fine. We’ll get plenty of chances to move fast during the bunker insertion operation.”
He also ordered them to check for the injured and any equipment malfunctions.
No one objected as they withdrew.
Well, it was a plan they’d hammered into shape by taking the team leaders’ opinions and improving on them.
I never expected managing and controlling a group to be this much of a headache.
Right now things were quiet enough to run smoothly, but Yoo Sung-jun knew better.
He knew exactly how clan-scale missions had changed in the game.
Real life will be worse. Fear of death. Pressure. And Muiaz’s power will throw them into chaos.
That was when the few users who could stand up and act had to step forward.
Yoo Sung-jun’s elite. The ones who had surpassed the standard.
“Hyung.”
At the sound of his name, he turned his head.
It was his younger brother, approaching with Jeyca beside him.
“Jeyca noona and I are going to be in the rear from now on too. We probably won’t be able to come close until the operation’s over.”
“So what, you came over because you wanted one last look and a chat?”
He smirked and stepped in front of his brother.
The younger man made a sour face.
“Last look? It’s not like we’re going off to die. We’re trying to make our dream of owning a home come true in this crappy world, aren’t we?”
An eighty-twenty point distribution. A command structure that would keep his brother as safe as possible.
And finally, securing the best ground in the bunker for the future.
He nodded as he pictured a life of comfort behind safe barricades after Dark Cover.
“Right. So…”
His gaze drifted.
When he glanced aside, he saw Jeyca.
For a brief moment their eyes met, and she gave a firm nod.
In a world growing more chaotic by the day, she was a trusted companion he had met along the way.
Reassured, Yoo Sung-jun continued.
“Let’s keep each other safe, stay alive to the end, and finish the mission.”
Apparently satisfied with that answer, Yoo Sung-hwan smiled.
“I’ll snipe anything that threatens you, hyung.”
“Good. That’s reassuring.”
Now it was time for everyone to take their positions.
Yoo Sung-hwan headed to the rear with Jeyca.
The sniper and helper users had gathered there in clusters.
Since theirs was the position that supported the grotesque infectors from a safe distance, they made up the largest group.
We have to make this work.
Blending into their ranks, Yoo Sung-hwan stared straight ahead.
He could see his older brother at the front.
Choi Hyun-seok and Cruiser stood on either side of him.
The three of them were laughing and chatting easily.
But to Yoo Sung-hwan’s eyes, none of them looked relaxed at all.
They were trying hard to hide their tension.
And no wonder. This was a raid against a rank 38 infector—one that stood just below the Five Evils, the strongest entities in Another Earth.
That only sharpened Yoo Sung-hwan’s resolve.
I will protect him, no matter what.
The role of the rear guard was to protect the people at the front and eliminate threats before they could reach them.
Steeling himself as a sniper, Yoo Sung-hwan wrapped his hands around his rifle.
***
As befit a bunker capable of holding several hundred thousand people, there were several wide entrances.
Maybe they’d once been used for cargo trucks.
“Tsk.”
Yoo Sung-jun clicked his tongue and swung his greatsword.
The massive blade was shrouded in an all but pitch-black sheen.
Crack!
He cleaved through the mass of flesh blocking his way and made his presence known.
Multicolored lines surged outward in a flash, then were drawn back in.
“I doubt anyone but Yoo Sung-jun would be able to alter and handle NWA like that.”
“I built it to be crude.”
He shrugged at Choi Hyun-seok’s admiration.
Then he stowed the greatsword and brought his firearms to the fore.
Roars echoed from all around.
He might have taken the lead as the strongest one there, but Yoo Sung-jun was still human.
He couldn’t block every direction at once.
That was what the users were for. They held back the masses and supported the hunt.
Shiiiiik! Thud!
BANG! KWA-BOOM!
Gunfire cracked at his ears.
Blades spun through the air with graceful precision, cutting down infectors in a blur.
Superhuman strength and telekinesis too. Their innate talents sure are varied, which is nice.
One user hefted and fired a 213-kilo Vulcan cannon as though it weighed nothing, slinging a ridiculous ten thousand rounds a minute.
It ground through the onrushing infectors like a meat grinder.
Here, at the entrance to a bunker made of flesh and tendon-like strands, weapons like that were useful.
Weapons and innate talents capable of slaughtering large numbers at once.
Maybe I should conserve my strength for now.
He lowered the nano-tech firearm he’d brought to the front.
It burned through nanomaterials and power, so using it immediately felt wasteful.
Better to lean on the others for a little while.
-Boss, the Level 2 Skinners coming from the western side passage have been cleared.
-Eastern side too…
Reports kept coming in through the in-ear radios.
The howling had definitely subsided.
But Muiaz, having noticed the intrusion, must already have begun countermeasures.
A faint vibration traveled through the floor beneath his feet.
Something big was coming.
That didn’t mean they could retreat.
Muiaz’s enhancement ability would only keep pushing the infectors’ powers higher and higher, inch by inch, until they reached their limits.
Yoo Sung-jun issued the order.
“Send the injured and the dead to the rear. From here on, skip casualty reports. I’m leaving that to your discretion.”
-What do we do about the mentally impaired?
Muiaz’s power had already reached them?
That was outside his estimate.
He met Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes.
The man shook his head.
That probably meant: yes, a variable had appeared, but they should keep pushing ahead with the operation.
If they withdrew now and came back later, there was no telling how much more time and how many points they’d waste.
And there was the Dark Cover problem too.
Yoo Sung-jun agreed.
“Send them to the rear as well and keep them there.”
-Understood.
The first clash had gone reasonably well.
Just as the scouting users had reported, the entrance was packed with Level 1 and 2 infectors.
He didn’t know what awaited them deeper in, but because they’d scouted so thoroughly, the losses were far lower than they might have been.
147 casualties, huh.
Roughly ten percent of their total force had already been cut away.
He had no idea what would happen if they went farther, but from here on out they were entering unknown territory.
They would have to work in sync and move with complete discipline, just as planned.
“Everyone maintain your positions. From here on, thirty percent of the vanguard guards and attackers will move to the rear.”
He spoke while staring straight ahead.
It was part of the plan.
Once they’d entered, they also had to protect the back line.
They had to be ready for infectors coming out of another entrance and trying to circle around behind them.
Still no sign of any more infectors being added.
It was a total darkness, and the environment of the living jungle was hot and stifling, full of irregularities.
Through the visor’s sensor-goggle function, he could see beyond the darkness.
Something was deliberately blocking the way ahead, as if trying to hide what lay beyond.
Yoo Sung-jun drew his greatsword.
“So that’s how it is.”
“How what is?”
“Choi Hyun-seok. Get the users to pull back.”
“Pardon?”
“They’re rushing to block our advance. Like they’re afraid something that absolutely has to happen is about to be stopped.”
Muiaz was smart. Smarter than ordinary humans.
And when someone like that went to the trouble of manipulating the environment to stop them, it usually meant one of two things.
Either they don’t have enough troops to stop us through this passage, or they’re preparing something else entirely.
He had no intention of letting that happen.
The obstruction was too obvious.
No matter how intelligent it was, how could it be smarter than users who had finished every possible preparation?
I can’t see it, but I can already guess its intent.
He gave the greatsword a rough swing, like he was slashing a golf club through the air.
The hurricane that followed violently tore through the passage.
BOOM!
A space far beyond what anyone had anticipated was sliced apart.
It wasn’t a vertical cut, but a horizontal one, and Choi Hyun-seok stammered in shock.
“W-what kind of ability did you add to that greatsword?”
“I just cranked up the destructive power while keeping the same brute-force feel.”
He nodded slightly and observed the change caused by the slash.
If something was blocking the way, then he would simply cut through it himself.
Not the front, but the bottom.
What kind of bunker underground has a straight passage like this?
Just as he’d expected, the flesh around them trembled violently.
If it had a mouth, it would have been screaming.
The sight of it failing to recover, dangling there helplessly, was almost pathetic.
It couldn’t keep its structure together, so the middle collapsed.
Thud! Koo-dududung!
The huge masses of flesh crashed downward.
At the sight of what was revealed beyond them, Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes widened.
“A slope?”
“Looks like a cargo passage.”
Yoo Sung-jun studied the bottom of the slanted descent.
The chunks of flesh he’d just carved away were writhing together in a heap.
The inclined path was slick with mucus.
“Everyone, use your spikes.”
It was a function he’d added precisely to account for slippery terrain.
Spikes sprouted from the underside of each person’s boots.
“Then we’ll keep formation and head down.”
“Haha! I’ll take the lead. Just follow behind me, hyung.”
Was he relying on his muscle-hardening innate talent?
Cruiser stepped forward.
Like a bodyguard repaying the debt of the life Yoo Sung-jun had once saved, he walked ahead.
The advance itself was uneventful.
That only meant they had to stay even more alert.
The moment tension eased, it would turn into carelessness, and carelessness bred fatal mistakes.
“Jeyca. What’s the current color?”
-Yellow.
He nodded at her immediate answer.
This place was still packed with threats.
Which meant trouble could erupt from the floor, the walls, or even within their own group.
I won’t trust anyone but my allies.
Even Cruiser was only barely within the range of people he could tolerate.
He gripped the nano-tech firearm NU-101 tighter so he could react at any moment.
He reached the end of the slope first and surveyed his surroundings.
So after the living jungle comes a tunnel shaft.
They’d stepped into the very kind of terrain they’d been trying to avoid.
He stared at the holes in the walls and ceiling on both sides, excluding the floor.
They had been punched through even the steel plating.
This was the kind of place where no one knew when or what kind of infector might come bursting out.
He waited for everyone to come down, maintaining Breathing.
And he wasn’t the only one waiting.
-RED!!!
Jeyca’s shrill scream.
At the same time, that chilling sensation hit him.
Gooseflesh broke out all over his skin.
Yoo Sung-jun, and everyone else, looked up.
Tentacles erupted from the countless holes.
Their tips split open.
He met the eyes of something glistening and disgusting.
Hexagonal purple irises stared down at the humans.
Yoo Sung-jun. Meteor. He knew those eyes.
Muiaz…!
The thought came with a shriek, and a ripple of static and distortion followed.
Muiaz’s ability: confusion.
“Aaaah!”
“Gghhh!”
The screams of the users swallowed the passage whole.