The Age of Adaptation
Kalakwa.
The thing was enormous.
It had split off part of its own body and set it to guarding the vast sleeping chamber.
It had turned its own limbs, fingers, and toes into subordinates, forcing them to protect its lair alongside the infested creatures it had subjugated, so that no one could disturb its rest.
In other words, it was a sleepy monster.
As long as no one trespassed into its territory, as long as no one destroyed the pieces of itself that stood guard, it would never wake.
Yoo Sung-jun targeted those pieces first.
The weakness he had uncovered through years of analysis: Cell Degenerator.
Using it, he severed those bodily fragments from Kalakwa, then picked them off one by one on his own.
Only after that did he wake the main body and fight it head-on.
He had poured everything he possessed into the battle and succeeded in subjugating it.
That was the kind of creature Kalakwa was.
Once it wakes up, stopping it is impossible.
He had seen it in the setting compendium.
When Kalakwa gathered up its body and expanded to its maximum size, it grew so massive that it could cover half the Australian continent.
That was why he had launched the assault only after pushing his equipment and body to the very peak.
And now Yoo Sung-jun’s face twisted hard.
“It’s the kind of bastard that won’t even wake up if you leave it alone. So what idiot is trying to wake up a monster like that?”
Jack Kalt spoke with his usual expressionless face.
“Unknown. For some reason, one of its fingers has developed a hive mind and forcibly subdued the infestors by sheer violence. They took the pack and left Kalakwa’s lair.”
“So the finger got damaged after that.”
“Yes. Right now, that thing is on its way back to Kalakwa’s chamber. Meteor, as you know, if it enters a certain range, Kalakwa will sense the damage to its body and awaken. And...”
“It’ll wipe out the entire area—and everything around it too.”
A fully awakened Kalakwa moving on its own was no different from dropping dozens of nuclear warheads.
The fallout would inevitably reach South Korea as well.
Yoo Sung-jun let out a quiet sigh.
He had been planning to focus on growth for the time being, glad to avoid a clash with Rupal.
“What kind of finger is it?”
“The middle finger.”
“The middle finger... What a fucking bastard. And what a fucking situation. How did you find this out?”
“I issued an order to the entire clan: if they’d raised their user rank, they were to ask the Higher Being. Ask what the greatest threat approaching us would be.”
It was an inefficient question, but the clan was large enough to make it possible.
“And they heard how to stop it, too, I take it.”
“They were told to contact you.”
Of course they were.
As Yoo Sung-jun nodded, Jack Kalt folded his arms.
“Meteor, do you know about point funneling?”
Farming points from low-difficulty missions by clearing achievements, then using them to buy equipment and pass it up the chain.
Yoo Sung-jun had heard about it from Choi Hyun-seok, so he knew the method.
But he had never paid it much mind.
“It only works early on. If you can’t pass the threshold, then no matter how many points you have, you can’t even invest them in yourself.”
There came a point where one could no longer adapt to bodily enhancement, a point where one could no longer control the Omega Suit.
After that, equipment became harder and harder to handle as it adapted to the enhanced body, and once that happened, even spending points couldn’t buy you strength beyond a certain ceiling.
Which meant fighting high-level infestors became nearly impossible.
That was why users who had crossed the threshold mattered.
Users who had proven they had the potential to become high-rankers.
Only with them could the raids of high-level infestors be held back.
Jack Kalt knew that, too.
He paced slowly in place.
“How many users do you think have crossed the threshold?”
“At least a thousand, I’d say.”
“No. Far fewer.”
Jack Kalt held up five fingers.
“Five hundred?”
“To be exact, 514. Compared to the world’s population, it’s absurdly small.”
Only 514.
The number of users who might have a chance of subjugating a level 5 infestor.
He must have heard that from the Higher Being as well.
“So you know the number, but not the individual identities?”
“Even when I did know, I couldn’t approach them.”
“Why not?”
“I was told to leave them alone if they were to cross the threshold. Interfering with the flow of cause and effect could cause them to fall short.”
So that was why Jack Kalt had asked to meet Meteor in person.
He had already intervened in the raid on level 6 Muaz, and Meteor had proven he had crossed the threshold by clearing the mission.
“Only the Quantum team leaders and you know about this matter. Spreading it any further would only stir up confusion.”
“So this is a small elite force trying to stop it, then?”
“Your sanctuary. My sanctuary. This is something that could damage both.”
He stopped pacing and looked straight at Yoo Sung-jun.
Then Jack Kalt extended a hand.
“Blood Rain Clan and Quantum Clan. I’d like to build a cooperative relationship that benefits both sides.”
Yoo Sung-jun stared at the hand for a moment.
He had even gone out of his way to share information about the Higher Being—information he didn’t need to disclose.
He was asking for help, offering to stand with them and block a threat that endangered them both.
But it was still unfair.
Even a little thought made it obvious this would demand a great deal of Yoo Sung-jun’s strength.
“Looks like you’ll be needing a lot of my help. Am I wrong?”
“I’m prepared to support you generously.”
“For example?”
“I believe I can provide up to one million points. I’m also willing to set the point distribution at 10 to 0 in your favor. I’d even be willing to hand over command authority.”
“Aren’t you giving too much away?”
“Because I know that no one but you can stop it.”
“There aren’t any others who’ve crossed the threshold?”
“In my clan alone, there’s... well.”
Jack Kalt smiled faintly.
“I’m the only one.”
“That’s an incredible manpower shortage. Fine, I’ll send a union invite so there won’t be any extra noise. I’ll set the point distribution, too.”
“Please do. I don’t mind.”
And so Jack Kalt was added to the alliance.
The distribution was set as well: Yoo Sung-jun 10, Jack Kalt 0.
Jack Kalt truly seemed satisfied as long as he could stop the finger and secure the safety of the sanctuary.
“When can you send the one million points?”
“It should take a few days. Since it’s basically a matter of trading points through equipment, after all.”
“Then contact me when you’re ready. Loki. Send Jack my contact information.”
Understood.
With that, the means of communication were secured, and Yoo Sung-jun took Jack Kalt’s hand.
“How much time do we have before Kalakwa’s middle finger enters its awareness range?”
“Exactly one month.”
“A month... That’s short.”
“That’s why I rushed.”
“Then can I give orders right away?”
“If you’ll just tell me, I’ll do my best to carry them out.”
For this matter alone, he could move Quantum.
Yoo Sung-jun issued orders immediately.
“Investigate that fucking bastard, the kinds of infestors he’s dragging around, his location, and the surrounding terrain and landmarks. Everything.”
“What will you be doing in the meantime, Meteor?”
“Getting ready to smash that middle finger.”
Before the burning fuse touched the vast powder keg, he needed to make something that could cut the fuse cleanly in two.
Cell Degenerator.
The material that had been the greatest help in Kalakwa’s subjugation.
At my current level, I can only make a degraded version, but that should be enough against a finger.
With the Quantum Clan now allied to him, it was time to defend the bunker.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Cell Degenerator wasn’t something he could simply buy in the Enter Room.
To make it, he needed several materials.
Yoo Sung-jun recalled his old ranker nature: analysis.
He still had the method of manufacture fresh in his mind, and from that he derived the formula for a degraded version.
The mineral matter of the Doug Spider Queen. The core of Undomination. And finally, a Death Spoil hormone sac.
Every one of them was hard to obtain, and the required raids were far from easy.
Even if he brought in the Blood Rain Clan, they still wouldn’t be able to inflict any meaningful damage on a level 5 infestor.
Choi Hyun-seok is busy discussing bunker defenses and the alliance with Quantum Clan, too.
So this was a problem the party would have to solve.
Doug Spider Queen and Undomination were both level 5.
If he guided the situation properly, they could be taken down.
The problem is the Death Spoil hormone sac...
That one required hunting the mature specimen.
The adult’s level was 6. It was on par with Muaz, the one he’d fought before.
That would need a little more thought.
It was urgent, sure, but right now the other two targets were what he needed to focus on.
“Did everyone finish getting ready?”
“Yeah. But hyung, how do you control the Omega Suit so well? I can’t control mine at all if I shift the power anywhere except sensing.”
Yoo Sung-hwan looked at the rainbow-colored threads flowing faintly over his brother’s Omega Suit with obvious envy.
While his brother prepared for the next mission, he and Jeyca had spent their time getting used to the suit and learning new ways to apply their natural talent.
Thankfully, the new applications had come quickly.
But the Omega Suit was different.
The distribution of power, the drastic changes in the body depending on the suit’s operating rate.
For both Yoo Sung-hwan and Jeyca, the range of control was limited strictly to sensing.
“You’re doing fine if you can control sensing alone. And neither of you are in positions that need raw strength or speed, right?”
“You mean we just need to identify the enemy’s weak points and safety zones as precisely and perfectly as possible?”
“That’s what I mean.”
“Well, I guess that makes sense. My sister and I just need to create the environment so hyung can run wild like a mad bastard. Guess so.”
“Mad bastard? You really know how to talk...” Yoo Sung-jun clicked his tongue, then asked, “But have you all gotten used to your natural talents?”
Jeyca smiled brightly.
“Yes. I’ve got One-Step Detection, and Sung-hwan has Momentary Prediction.”
Those were the names of the new applications.
Thinking of their effects, Yoo Sung-jun nodded.
“Both sound good. Then shall we head to the mission site?”
“Tell us when you absolutely need us to land a hit. We’ll back you up right away.”
“Me too. Tell us just before you reach the critical point.”
He could guess what the new applications were capable of.
Yoo Sung-jun selected the mission.
What he needed first was the mineral matter of the Doug Spider Queen.
So, after quite a while, he was headed back there.
E-rank mission, the Closed Copper Mine.
The three of them moved into the dark mine.
“Still dark as hell.”
A pitch-black cavern, heavy with damp air.
The rails laid across the floor and the mining equipment strewn about at random were strangely comforting in their familiarity.
“There’s a level 5 infestor nest down here, right?”
At his younger brother’s question, Yoo Sung-jun waved a hand.
“Save your bullets. No point wasting them on Doug Spiders—it’d just waste your points.”
“You’re widening the path?”
“Might as well. Your bullets and Jeyca’s are more expensive.”
Their firearms fired particle rounds made from nanotech.
The difference was that while Yoo Sung-jun’s weapon fired rounds synchronized with the Omega Suit, theirs loaded and fired standardized rounds.
One shot costs 150 points. Better save them. Swinging a greatsword is way cheaper.
He drew the NWA greatsword and took the lead.
As expected, the Doug Spiders were drawn in by the noise.
Before, he’d been alone. Now there were three of them.
Feeling a strange sense of reassurance, Yoo Sung-jun shrank the greatsword.
The blade shifted into a form better suited to being swung in a cramped space.
Soon, a Doug Spider rounded the corner and came into view.
As always, they led with their rear ends.
He fired the mineral matter he had stored away as a greeting.
“Filthy bastards.”
Tsk.
He clicked his tongue and charged straight in.
Before, he would have hidden inside a cart, but now he had the Omega Suit.
Thud!
The blow struck the mineral matter the size of a fist dead on.
The Omega Suit absorbed the impact with ease.
Yoo Sung-jun closed in like a hawk and swung the greatsword.
With a crisp sound, the Doug Spider was cut cleanly in two.
Two sword strikes and a single breath were enough to handle several of them.
“Keep moving.”
He kicked the corpses aside and forced a path open.
Then, retracing the route he had taken before, he and the others headed down to the bottom of the mine.
Whooosh...
But what was that wind noise he kept hearing?
As far as Yoo Sung-jun knew, the mine entrance had collapsed and been sealed off long ago.
It was a closed space.
Well, there had to be some gap for air to move in and out.
Still, he had never heard it this loudly before.
Has something changed in the months since I was here?
He tilted his head, sharpening his tension.
No matter how low the mission rank was, if he sensed something wrong, it was better to prepare thoroughly.
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