The Age of Adaptation
He had been confident he could get out alive.
Which meant he wanted Yoo Sung-jun to finish this raid, one way or another.
A new application of Wave Detection.
He’d learned it from the Higher Being, and with that alone, he figured he could at least keep himself alive.
So he left the bunker and waited.
If things went as planned, Choi Hyun-seok’s actions—his devotion to the nation—would spread through Yoo Sung-jun’s mouth like a hero’s tale.
And when the mood had ripened enough, he’d make a dramatic return from the dead.
If everything worked out, this would be a huge advantage in recruiting capable people from every field and winning over public sentiment.
In a flash of judgment, he had already sketched that future.
That was why he’d stepped up in the first place. But then—
‘He’s got a little brother, and he still saved me from that situation?’
He staggered to his feet.
A deafening crash burst from beyond the door.
The door, slammed shut by the force of the infector assault, wouldn’t budge no matter how hard he shoved.
He couldn’t see it, but he could guess with absolute certainty that a horrific bloodbath was unfolding on the other side.
‘No matter how much of a Meteor he is... I’m not expecting him to win. Could he at least lure it here?’
He had only been thinking about running for his life anyway, not luring anything.
And yet Yoo Sung-jun had clearly said it.
- Don’t make me do it. You do it.
Choi Hyun-seok stepped back from the door.
He turned and ran down the corridor slick with cultivation fluid, first at a careful pace, then faster and faster.
His mind was still crowded with negative thoughts.
A dozen or so alpha-type infector leaders and Muaj.
Could he really break through these monstrous infectors and lure Muaj away?
If this were Meteor from the game, maybe.
It would be so easy he could do it with his eyes closed.
But Yoo Sung-jun now—
‘Impossible. It’s impossible.’
Choi Hyun-seok had spent his life calculating profit and loss. Miracles were not a concept he had ever entertained, let alone spoken aloud.
So he shook his head.
Yoo Sung-jun’s death.
A portion of the alpha-type leaders repelled as bait while the rest of the players were cleaned up.
Then the surviving players would be gathered and sent back into the central hall for the operation against Muaj.
It was a clear, clean ending.
Which made it even worse.
‘Yoo Sung-jun’s value is worth more than thousands, tens of thousands of others. And this situation is going to hell.’
Compared to the other great powers, South Korea was outnumbered.
So he’d planned to build a quality pool of players to fend off pressure from other clans and nations.
But everything had gone wrong from the very beginning.
Choi Hyun-seok kept biting his lip and, in the end, had no choice but to cling to the miracle he’d never believed in before.
If Yoo Sung-jun was lost in this mission, then safety after Dark Cover would drop with him.
‘Fine. Pull off that damned miracle once. I’ll believe in it this time.’
If a miracle did happen.
If Yoo Sung-jun succeeded in luring Muaj.
Then the trap had to be flawless.
‘The plan was to anchor it to the wall and, just before Muaj passed through the corridor, deploy the steel lines in a net structure.’
Would that really be enough to bind Muaj safely?
No—it had to be enough.
Only then could the raid end without further damage.
‘Like you said, I’ll set the trap and wait. So you’d better lure it here no matter what.’
Silently praying that Yoo Sung-jun would succeed, Choi Hyun-seok hurried toward the cargo warehouse.
***
Remember the resources available to you.
Derive a way to break this situation.
Alpha-type leaders were closing in from every direction.
Muaj’s blade-like clusters of tentacles lashed toward him.
Thought raced onward, accelerated by physical enhancement and Breathing.
‘Can’t use adrenaline right now.’
Yoo Sung-jun recalled the fight with the Sasquatch.
Five minutes after he’d used it, the adrenaline had vanished—and left him drowning in a heavy, bone-deep fatigue.
And the pain? That was its own problem.
Improved physical capability didn’t mean his muscles had simply grown stronger.
It meant the brain’s limits had been forced open with the help of hormones.
Once that threshold returned to normal, not only pain but even a sense of depression came crashing in, leaving him unable to want anything at all.
So adrenaline had to remain his final reserve.
‘Then I’ve got no choice but to make the most of Breathing and what’s left of the output.’
65% remaining.
Right. Thanks for the support.
Yoo Sung-jun tilted his body.
As his balance shifted to the right, he kicked off the ground.
A Muaj tentacle slammed into the floor where he’d just been standing.
The lines from the NU-101 mounted on the Omega Suit absorbed part of the nano-particles.
Using the power source itself, it generated rounds.
No need to fuss with racking a slide and loading them one by one.
All he had to do was pull the trigger.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
If it were a hand cannon fired in rapid succession, it would sound like this.
Tentacles hit at close range and burst apart one after another.
For a moment, the confusion eased beneath the thunder of the blasts.
He rolled backward, narrowly avoiding a sharp foot that scythed down from above.
Muaj wasn’t the only enemy.
“Kikikikik.”
An infector the size of a human laughed in a sinister, scraping voice.
Instead of arms, it had wings of thin membrane, which it spread wide.
Then it glided again and accelerated.
Its membrane wings flapped hard.
With a ripping shriek as the air split, the creature shot forward and thrust out its legs, turning them into weapons.
Those legs gave off a frost-bright killing intent.
Small as it was, it was still a boss-class infector at the end of Level 4.
Not only did it possess bodily durability, it had abilities too.
The creature’s legs vibrated violently.
It was a power akin to ultrasonic vibration.
“I’ve got something similar myself.”
He swung the gun aside and grabbed his greatsword.
He poured his will into the nanoweapon.
Available output: 3%.
That was enough.
To cut down an infector using a power inferior to his own weapon.
“Ki...!”
The creature yelped when it saw the blade and hurriedly changed course.
Yoo Sung-jun’s greatsword followed the shift.
In the narrowing distance, black light flashed.
The long black line that erupted from the blade sliced vertically through the infector—and the tentacle Muaj hurled after it.
Sskak!
Thud.
The infector’s corpse split left and right and brushed past Yoo Sung-jun’s side.
At the same time, Yoo Sung-jun sheathed the greatsword and kicked off the floor.
The moment he sprinted away, attacks from the other infectors slammed into the place he’d stood, smashing and tearing it apart.
- Damn human rat!
In the cylindrical central hall, Yoo Sung-jun’s movement revolved around Muaj.
He ran clockwise, slipping out of the encirclement formed by the other infectors.
The application of Breathing—one-point focus. His constricted pupils held only Muaj.
He perceived every tiny movement it made.
He pulled the trigger.
The tentacles aimed at him burst apart again.
The confusion eased. His senses came back to him enough to be useful.
Then a violent gust struck him, and he dropped his head.
A sheet of metal skimmed the top of his skull and buried itself in the wall.
He stopped running and turned.
Rooooar!
A massive, gorilla-like infector was pounding its chest and roaring.
Probably figured if it couldn’t catch him, it might as well throw something.
He shrugged and shifted his gaze.
The corridor lay beyond Muaj.
That was where he had to go to reach the cargo warehouse, where the trap’s entrance had been prepared.
- Running around like that is over, human.
“So I stopped.”
He released one-point focus.
Exhaling slowly, he looked around.
A dense tangle of tentacles had hemmed him in.
Beyond them, the alpha-type leaders waited, watching for an opening.
One order from Muaj and they’d all come swarming in.
- Do you know why I’m giving you this chance?
“Pretty obvious. I’m the most impressive one in the human pack, so naturally you want me.”
- You understand well. Accept my brainwashing. Do that, and I’ll let you live as my loyal servant. If you cannot—
“I’ll kill you.”
He cut the creature off and sneered.
Hundreds of eyes set in the orb narrowed at once.
The huge mouth, lined with sharp teeth, opened wide.
“Why is it that every bastard who says he’s giving you a chance sounds exactly the same? Is that from a movie you watched when you were human? Ah, or did your queen tell you to brainwash humans too?”
- ...You know the queen?
“More or less. That bitch who toys with idiots like you like they’re dolls.”
So you’re her toy too.
When he said it with a faint laugh, every eye on Muaj crumpled into a glare.
The dangling tentacles were gathered back in.
Its body swelled twice its previous size, and the confusion ability disappeared.
What remained were the grotesquely sprouted blade-like tentacles.
Yoo Sung-jun was glad.
- Die in agony after struggling futilely!
“Eh, struggling alone is lonely.”
Breathing. He tightened his grip on the greatsword.
He sent 30% of the available output into strength, and into his legs.
The monstrous tentacles surged forward.
As if they’d been waiting for it, the alpha-type leaders rushed in too.
Yoo Sung-jun lowered his stance.
It was similar to a sprinter’s start.
With the greatsword thrust straight ahead and his body aligned behind it, he looked like a single lance.
The legs were what fired it forward.
BOOM!
The iron floor of the central hall exploded helplessly beneath him.
At the same moment, a tentacle whipped past his side as Yoo Sung-jun charged like a shell.
The Omega Suit tore. Skin tore with it, and blood sprayed into the air.
The remaining nano-particles repaired the suit. At the same time, the greatsword struck Muaj’s body.
‘Reducing the number of tentacles for me? How thoughtful.’
Thanks to that, he caught his opening, and with one-point focus he landed exactly where he wanted.
The location of the creature’s reason-organ.
The massive greatsword drove into the lower right corner.
“Let’s struggle together.”
He quickly withdrew the blade and leapt past Muaj.
He could see the creature’s eyes trembling violently. Then they turned red.
The infector’s reason had been destroyed, leaving only beastliness behind.
He’d caught two birds with one stone.
The infectors’ brainwashing was broken, and Muaj could no longer tell friend from foe.
Krarararak!
It let out a thunderous roar and scattered tentacles in all directions.
Among the thrashing limbs, the freed infectors reeled.
Some rushed to devour the infector Yoo Sung-jun had killed.
Others charged at Muaj—or at Yoo Sung-jun.
Split between those two urges, Muaj chose.
Krak!
Its mouth gaped wide. The tentacle cluster bent like a spring.
It compressed the spring against the floor and blasted itself forward in a single burst.
BOOM!
The direction it chose was the corridor.
Straight toward the place Yoo Sung-jun had just entered.
“Damn it!”
Cursing under his breath, Yoo Sung-jun pushed 10% of the Omega Suit’s output into speed.
His body surged faster than before.
With the greatsword stored away, Yoo Sung-jun ran.
Krarararak!
Behind him, the mindless Muaj gave chase.
CRASH! CRUNCH! BANG!
The metal corridor was mangled and blown apart by Muaj’s charge, now twice as large.
Its narrowness, compared to Muaj’s body, helped restrain the frenzy only slightly.
Yes—slightly.
‘Still fast as hell.’
Those spring-like bundles of tentacles.
They were propelling Muaj’s body forward like a mad thing.
The wound where Yoo Sung-jun had driven in his greatsword had long since healed.
It had even reabsorbed the tentacles it had flung out, making itself denser and larger.
But it still couldn’t restore the organ itself.
Kraaaaagh!
Muaj howled like a beast as it bore down on him.
He could hear several heavy impacts mixed in behind it—other alpha-type leaders were following too.
Cold sweat broke out on him. He swallowed dryly again and again.
His breathing was getting shorter. He was starting to gasp.
He’d pushed himself too hard for too long.
Which meant it was time to bring this raid to an end.
“Keugh!”
Tak!
He hurled himself forward desperately.
Muaj’s jaws snapped shut an instant too late, closed by the rebound of its own momentum.
He barely avoided having his back torn open.
Now it was time to push harder.
He rounded a bent corner.
Instead of slowing down, he kicked off the wall and accelerated even more.
‘Just a little more...!’
The exit came into view.
Beyond the bright opening, mountains of containers stood out.
The cargo warehouse. The final destination of the lure operation.
He hammered his screaming legs onward.
He did not ease the tension in his thighs.
If he let up now, he felt like he’d collapse and roll across the floor.
“...More!”
Players appeared at the exit.
He heard faint shouts.
At the front stood Cruiser, already in position.
Beside him, Choi Hyun-seok was waving both hands over and over.
Looks like he’d set the trap properly after all.
‘Last one.’
The tendons in the suit rose taut and dense.
Yoo Sung-jun leapt hard and cleared the exit.
Muaj, following right behind him, opened its mouth wide.
Half its body was already over the threshold.
“Now!”
At Choi Hyun-seok’s desperate cry, the anchors activated.
The ones packed densely around the walls near the exit spewed steel lines.
KWA-CHACHACHAK!
The thick steel trap unfolded.
Muaj snapped its jaws shut at the sight.
Hundreds of tentacles burst from its body like bullets.
---!
If a massive grenade had detonated, it might have sounded like this.
So many sounds overlapped that they turned into a ringing in his ears.
‘...Ah.’
It was a mistake. A mistake born from preparing for the game version of Muaj.
He rolled across the floor and barely managed to steady himself.
Then a horrifying sight filled Yoo Sung-jun’s eyes.
The trap had worked.
But it had failed.
The larger, stronger Muaj tore through the steel lines.
The tentacles it had shot out shredded the guards and attackers who stood in their way into chunks of meat in an instant.
Even the blockade had collapsed.
The worst possible outcome.
Yoo Sung-jun clenched his fist.
Just because the trap failed didn’t mean the raid had failed too.
‘No.’
He could see the final key to the party’s survival shoot up into the air.
The cratered head of Muaj, struck by the steel lines.
And from there, part of its brain had been exposed.
“Khheh...”
That was as far as he got.
Adrenaline surged through him under the Omega Suit’s power.
His body, so exhausted he looked on the verge of collapsing at any second, recovered at astonishing speed.
Pain receded, and the darker emotions thinned.
He stopped breathing. With one-point focus, he fixed only on Muaj’s brain.
Thump.
Yoo Sung-jun sprang upward.
Seeing the brain now at eye level, he opened his mouth.
The way to understand a new application of one’s nature.
- They say if you eat the brain of an infector above Level 6, you can often grasp it.
The instant his brother’s words flashed through his mind—
Crunch.
Yoo Sung-jun bit down hard and swallowed the brain of the Level 6 infector, Muaj.