The Age of Adaptation
Orgg had a keen nose.
Wrapping himself in military tape until not a drop of water could get through had been worth it.
The creature stopped mid-roar and kept twitching its nose.
As soon as it sensed there was no prey nearby, it wandered off. With that, Clunce’s howls rang out more clearly.
The other monsters, too, were thrown into chaos by the predator’s intrusion.
Stupid as they were, they wasted no time advertising their position as they fled.
They would buy him time.
And in that time, Yoo Sung-jun intended to escape.
Intended to finish this sudden mission.
That was certainly the plan.
Mission has been changed.
So I figured...
He checked the mission despite the situation that had come to pass.
It was the status Loki had displayed through the linked smartphone.
Tutorial: Escape the Abandoned Factory
Type: Escape
Difficulty: D
Description: Orgg has invaded the waste processing facility where D-Virus-infected beings have taken root. Because of the creature, the facility’s quarantine system has been activated. Find an exit and escape.
Reward: Points awarded depending on the escape method.
The difficulty had changed, of course, but so had the description.
The quarantine system activated?
As if to confirm it, sirens began to wail. Above the entrance to the escape route, a steel door came crashing down.
It was fast enough that even if he had bolted the moment Orgg left, it still wouldn’t have been enough.
Thud.
Even after the iron door slammed shut, the siren kept going.
The once-quiet abandoned factory was suddenly stuffed with a deafening racket.
Roars, screams, and the siren all at once.
Fuck, this is insane.
Yoo Sung-jun raked a hand roughly through his hair.
They called this a sudden mission.
Variables like this? They’d happened often enough back in 1.0.
The rewards went up, sure. But so did the chances of dying.
This isn’t a game.
Because it was a game, he had challenged himself so casually.
He had aimed for the higher difficulty.
That was how he’d grown strong so quickly.
And because his synchrony had been high, even sudden missions had boasted a success rate of over eighty percent for him.
No one else could have matched that success rate if they tried until they died.
That was why the videos from that time had pulled in such decent numbers.
Fine, it said escape.
He needed to stay calm.
If he panicked here, he would botch even the things he’d already decided to do.
Yoo Sung-jun dragged up the old instincts from back then.
He recalled the method.
In a sealed space like this, escape routes are usually on the roof or through the sewer.
But the sewer was out.
After prowling all over while wiping out the Grobls, he had confirmed that every drainage route that might be used as an escape had been blocked with iron bars.
That leaves the ceiling...
They frequently hid in the ceiling to ambush the Clunces one by one.
In the process, he’d seen users running their lungs out, and he’d also seen doors shut along the direction the reinforcement bars continued.
Right. Doors.
They were closed, but if I ram one hard enough...
They might open.
In particular, the door on the southeast side of the ceiling was a wooden one, unlike the others, which were covered in steel plates.
Whether it led to a maintenance room or up to the roof was anyone’s guess.
Still, it was a choice worth trying.
All right.
Having made up his mind, Yoo Sung-jun left the container and headed down into the sewer.
Fine dust of stone dribbled down from the ceiling at regular intervals.
Proof that Orgg was busily sweeping this place clean, turning it into its new den.
If he was found, he wouldn’t even have bones left to bury.
The instant it caught him, it would tear him in half with strength so absurd it matched that monstrous size.
“Aaah! Why is Orgg here?! I thought this was the tutorial!”
“Its weak point! Aim for its weak point! If you hit the back of its knee, you can get away!”
“Go around! I’ll draw its attention!”
Sharp screams and shouts rang out.
Three voices.
Conveniently, they were also the direction he needed to go.
As he moved, he listened to Orgg’s roars and their cries.
So everyone except me was clumped together.
[That does raise the survival rate.]
But it also lowers the points you can earn from hunting Infectors.
[On the other hand, it allows people to divide roles and cooperate.]
No matter how hard they work together, that won’t do a damn thing against high-level Infectors.
You needed better gear than that. Individual control. That was all that mattered.
2.0 would be exactly the same, down to the bone, just like the game had been.
Which was why forming a party from the start only slowed his growth.
That was also why Yoo Sung-jun had ignored the love calls from giant clans and preferred a ruthless solo style from the beginning.
Still, I can make use of them.
They would become bait for each other and aim for Orgg’s vital spots.
Yoo Sung-jun, who had ended up reaping the benefits down in the sewer by sheer accident, broke into a run.
Thanks to them, he no longer had to muffle his footsteps.
From here on out, it was a race.
Bang!
“Kyah! Han Jin-ah!”
“Ghk! Go! It’s failed. Just the two of you—get out alive!”
“Damn it!”
The tutorial. Even when it seemed low in difficulty, it was harder than anyone could imagine.
The fact that no user had escaped yet said enough.
I was focusing on hunting Infectors to earn points, sure.
But those people had probably prepared carefully.
Slowly, steadily, they would have secured their escape route.
And then, when the chance finally came—just as they were stepping out of their hideout—they had run into Orgg.
What a fucking cursed timing.
There was no other way to describe it but bad luck.
Ironically, thanks to their despair, Yoo Sung-jun was lucky.
He’d been able to avoid Orgg’s ears.
Creak.
He opened the sewer hatch and climbed up.
Then he pressed himself against the wall of the abandoned factory and moved.
Beyond the container, he could see the steel-reinforced pillar.
The firmly fixed ladder was there, too.
Kiik!
Damn it.
Would it really be so hard if things just went a little easier for once?
Yoo Sung-jun frowned hard at a Clunce blocking his path.
Startled by Orgg’s roar, the thing came charging at him.
Fear had lost to hunger.
He wrapped both hands around the dagger held reverse-grip.
And lunged with his teeth bared.
I’m breaking through. Single-mindedly, he lowered his stance. Dropping almost to a tackle, he met the creature’s eyes. The dagger drove toward its throat.
Slash! Thunk!
The creature’s claws crossed with the dagger.
They sliced through the taped area around the claws.
The dagger pierced its throat.
The moment he pulled it free, he was running again.
He sheathed the dagger and stopped at the reinforcement bar.
“Here! Hurry!”
“Go, let’s go together!”
Two voices drew closer. No way.
Are they coming here?
Looks like they weren’t the kind of users who took Another Earth lightly.
They must have realized the type had changed to escape and chosen a different route.
And that route had happened to be here.
Should he escape together with them?
No. Could he even do that?
Grrrroooaaar!
Yoo Sung-jun shook his head.
It was too difficult. Orgg’s roar was already very close.
He climbed the rust-covered ladder at once.
Once he reached the ceiling, he pushed straight ahead.
Just a few dozen steps in front of him, he could see the wooden door.
A door crusted over with mold.
“Hurry up and climb! Hurry!”
“J-just a sec. I can’t— I can’t catch my breath...”
Yoo Sung-jun froze when he heard movement behind him.
They were climbing up.
Which meant Orgg’s footsteps were right on their heels, too.
Creak. Creak. The ladder groaned under their movement.
It was shaky. Just as expected, the rusted ladder couldn’t bear the weight of two people.
Crack!
“Hee-seon!”
“S-save me...”
Gasping cries crossed in the air.
Yoo Sung-jun kept going, but he glanced back.
It might have been a coincidence. What he met eyes with in that moment was—
A half-broken ladder. A man hanging precariously from it. Maybe he’d grabbed hold of the ladder with one hand to keep a woman from falling. He was clinging on by one hand alone.
The man shouted as soon as his eyes met Yoo Sung-jun’s.
“P-please help us! Hurry, before Orgg gets here!”
Before it gets here?
Too late for that.
Without hesitation, Yoo Sung-jun turned around.
Orgg was already closing in, reaching out with its hand.
“Ah...”
“Aaaagh!”
The last two survivors were dragged into the creature’s brutal grasp.
He didn’t want to look at that scene, so he ran.
Driving his shoulder forward, he slammed into the wooden door.
Crack! In the back, along with the dreadful sound of flesh being torn apart.
Crunch!
The door broke.
Even while staggering on his last reserves, Yoo Sung-jun quickly took in his surroundings.
Good. It’s the roof.
The empty surroundings and the distant view beyond were all bleak beyond measure.
A gray city stood there, as though every living thing had gone out.
He turned his gaze and looked for a way down.
He had to leave the abandoned factory for the mission to be over.
Fortunately, there was a ladder leading straight down.
He had no intention of climbing down it one step at a time.
He roughly wrapped his hands in the smooth tape and grabbed the outer edge of the ladder.
Then he slid down it.
His hands felt as though they were burning from friction.
Maybe the skin had peeled off already.
He’d check later.
At the bottom, he braced himself and put on the brakes.
He landed safely and sprinted across the wide parking lot.
He passed the sign that read Hope Food and slipped out through the entrance.
At the same time, Loki said,
Mission cleared. Transferring you to the Enter Room.
A strange buoyancy wrapped around his body.
The faint roar of Orgg receded into the distance.
And just like that, the three-day mission came to an end.
When the tension finally left him, he had no strength left at all.
Yoo Sung-jun slumped in place and realized he had arrived in the Enter Room.
Starting point settlement.
Loki’s words didn’t even register.
All he could think was whether he could have saved the two if he’d moved immediately.
My little brother is waiting.
Should he have risked himself to save them?
If this had been a game, maybe he would have done a good deed like that once.
But this place was, unmistakably, reality.
What if he tried to save them and ended up getting himself killed too?
Then his little brother would be left alone.
When the disaster of forced inheritance came, Sung-hwan would die without even being able to prepare.
If I’m not certain, I should never help someone else.
For now, then, he had to put himself first, absolutely.
In this reality, where he couldn’t challenge things without limit, saving others came after that.
Settlement complete.
A list flickered into view before Yoo Sung-jun.
Infectors defeated: 620 points
Last survivor: 1,000 points
Impulsive escape: 800 points
Total: 2,420 points
“Can I also sell the equipment I recovered?”
Of course.
Then the items he’d sell were already decided.
Yoo Sung-jun took out the backpacks he had stuffed full from the survivors.
Are you selling everything?
“No, everything except mine.”
Total value: 282 points.
Everything he’d said he would sell vanished.
So, to satisfy the curiosity that had risen, Yoo Sung-jun asked, “You said it at the start. Because of the body’s adaptation, you can’t provide equipment right away.”
That is correct.
“Then shouldn’t you be able to provide equipment that has nothing to do with bodily adaptation?”
Impossible. We also bring equipment down from above.
“So there’s another being above you...?”
They are the ones who took us in after we failed to deal with the D-Virus. We call them Higher Beings.
“Higher Beings...”
They value information more than money. Information about Infectors, strategies for clearing them, how to respond in different situations, and the various ways to use emotion and equipment depending on the circumstances. To them, all of that is worth more than monetary currency.
“So by providing that, you gather data they can use to reclaim your planet, and they convert it into points for you?”
For now, resistance is the goal, but yes, that is accurate.
It didn’t seem like they’d hand anything over if he just threw a tantrum.
In the end, he had to buy everything with points and prepare that way.
Either way, they were beings that granted him the power to prepare for the disasters ahead.
He didn’t know how others would feel about them, but to Yoo Sung-jun, who had already grown thoroughly accustomed through the game, they were beings to be grateful for.
“Then can I go back now?”
You may remain here for the duration of your Enter Room stay.
Yoo Sung-jun looked up at the ceiling.
Just as he’d expected, faint numbers showed how much time he had left.
Three hours, huh.
Before heading back, he pulled out his smartphone.
He wasn’t sure when it had been installed, but when he tapped the Another Earth 2.0 app, a long list of categories appeared.
It’d be faster to find out what I can’t buy.
Time, life, and space cannot be purchased.
While taking Loki’s explanation into account, he mentally tallied his points.
A total of 2,702 points.
It was what he’d earned by selling everything except the backpack.
From now on, this would be worth more than any other resource.
Soon enough, another Another Earth 1.0 user who’d gone through something similar would spread the word.
The heads of state in each country will probably refuse to believe it at first, then scramble to react.
He couldn’t picture that process clearly.
He’d never experienced it.
And so Yoo Sung-jun was checking what to buy next when he asked, “How much time has passed in the real world?”
The same amount.
“Three days, then...”
His little brother must have been in an uproar.
He’d better go back.
He asked Loki to send him out.
Would you like to receive treatment for your injuries?
“How much?”
50 points.
“Ridiculously expensive. Take it.”
Treatment will begin.
Warm light spilled from the ceiling.
As it bathed him, every wound on his body healed.
“Send me back now.”
Understood.
At the end of that familiar sensation, his smartphone vibrated violently.
It was his brother’s messages.
“Hoo...”
Yoo Sung-jun powered off the smartphone and let out a long sigh. He was truly exhausted.
For now... shower first. He needed to wash off the blood and the bodily fluids stuck to him, then collapse into a deep sleep.
After that, he’d dig through the internet.
If he searched the active Another Earth community, he might uncover information even Loki hadn’t managed to tell him.
Explaining the situation to Yoo Sung-hwan would come after that.
Yoo Sung-jun stripped off his ragged exercise clothes and headed for the bathroom.
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