38. Lv.4 (2)
38. Lv.4 (2)
March 17th, dawn.
As soon as I hit level 4, I killed a Flower and checked my status.
'It didn't go up.'
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Nexus Core : Metallokinesis lv4[0/100]
===================================
Well, the Flower only gave 1 point even at lv.3, so it was a natural result, I suppose.
If that was the case, there was no need to stay here.
I stopped walking on the 7th floor and headed down.
I left the 102 building,
entered the building next door, and picked the lock of a house.
"Cough, cough."
A musty house.
Since I needed to run some experiments, I just opened a window and sat down.
'...Can I lift heavy things now?'
Since my level had increased by dozens, maybe even hundreds of times, I felt like I could easily lift something like a gun now.
I immediately started the experiment.
I thought about levitating a gun.
'......'
A gun weighing about 5kg.
It floated.
Then, what about something heavier?
Inside the house,
I found a large TV and a computer tower.
I narrowed my eyes.
It floated.
The TV and the tower were floating in mid-air.
Then, what about something even heavier?
I looked outside.
Then, I tried to think about levitating a car.
'It doesn't work.'
The refrigerator didn't work either.
As I continued the experiment, I roughly figured out the mass I could control.
'Is it about 10kg to 20kg?'
That seemed to be about it.
It was a weight that was big if you considered it big, and small if you considered it small.
Still, compared to the previous LV.3, it was a tremendous growth.
'...No, wait.'
It was too early to be disappointed.
There were a few things I hadn't tested yet.
Since the standard for my superpower was weight, naturally, I tested weight first, but there were many other things.
For example, speed and force.
I took out a bullet and sent it flying.
A bizarre noise rang out.
ㅡPpeoeok!
The bullet was completely embedded in the concrete wall.
ㅡTududuk
ㅡTuduk
The wall next to where the bullet was embedded crumbled and fell off.
'...The weight increased, and the speed increased too.'
And enough to be lethal, at that.
Now, I could kill enemies with the metal scraps lying on the roadside.
Then what about force?
I thought about tearing off a part of the door handle in front of me.
Normally, it wouldn't work.
Up to lv.3, the maximum force I could exert was about the strength of an adult throwing something hard.
However.
Speed is force, and force is speed.
ㅡUdeudeuk
Now, the door handle was naturally torn off and flew toward me.
Lv.4 increased speed and force superhumanly.
'Wait a minute, if this is the case...'
The reason I couldn't use my ability freely before was because I lacked speed and force.
Controlling a bullet right away was just a trick I used to block incoming bullets by controlling them at that exact moment; it wasn't because my force was strong.
'......'
If so, now, I could crush a gun before the enemy could fire it,
and I could grab something made of iron and tear it off to throw at the enemy.
From now on, I wouldn't even need to break the locking mechanism inside a door.
I could just tear it off with force.
It was just that I couldn't lift things that were exactly heavy; everything else was possible.
It felt like the restrictions on speed and force had been lifted.
No, wait.
Hold on.
I just can't lift them.
Can't I control force and manipulation as I please?
I looked at the vehicle outside.
A vehicle that should have had no reaction before.
ㅡUdeudeuk
ㅡUdeudeuk
The vehicle was being crushed into a scrap heap, creaking in several places at a certain size.
ㅡKkudeudeudeuk
ㅡBeep beep beep beep
Infected creatures swarmed in.
And I could control that torn-off mass as it was.
At this level...
'......'
I changed my train of thought.
It's true that I've become stronger, but I shouldn't be arrogant.
Traps not made of metal, someone coming with a wooden baseball bat to ambush me, or a human with immense physical abilities, etc.
It's an ability with many weaknesses.
To put it bluntly, if they spray poison gas, I'd just die.
However, now I could really be called a superpowered individual.
Until now, honestly, other than blocking bullets or sending kitchen knives and hammers flying to smash heads, it was an ability that was ambiguous to even call a superpower.
And, tricks were also possible.
ㅡBeep beep beep
The anti-theft alarm rang.
My superpower pulled a vehicle.
I can't lift it, but since I can push or pull it, it means I can force it to move like that.
'...I don't know why I have this kind of power but can't lift it into the air.'
It seems the superpower formula based on mass hasn't changed, after all.
If this is the case...
'...Then does lv.5 break the weight limit?'
That would mean I could send a building flying at the speed of a bullet.
'......'
If this is the case, how strong would other abilities become when they reach lv.4, or no, lv.5?
And, is it really true that IN Company created these abilities?
There's definitely something going on.
But since things have turned out this way, I had to do what I could do right now.
#
"You came early today?"
"Yeah."
I talked about my ability.
"Then..."
"Yeah."
Now I need to make other plans.
I washed up, came out, and took out a piece of paper.
IN Company.
Sejong Special Self-Governing City.
Eunha University.
Green Fresh Market. -> GP Apartment
Cultural Center
I erased numbers 4 and 5.
I rewrote number 4.
IN Company.
Sejong Special Self-Governing City.
Eunha University.
Bugang-myeon.
There was no need to go to Eunha University now that I had reached lv.4.
Same for IN Company.
Especially now that I know about the Sentient Beings and numerous Variants, and that IN Company is gathering powerful superpowers.
Even a small place like the Cheongju branch was too dangerous.
What if there was a high-level superpowered individual? What if there were several?
No, even if not that, what if there were poison gas or traps that push with mass?
'......'
I'm not an invincible being who doesn't die.
If I had colleagues with decent abilities, soldiers using modern weapons, or disposable pawns, it might be worth going in together.
But I already know too much.
It means I need to approach it even more cautiously.
Having said that.
'I just really want to dive in, though.'
It's one shot at life anyway, and looking at the state of the IN Company special forces I've seen so far, I feel like I could easily crush them even if I went now.
Then, I'll put IN Company on hold for now.
However, there was a reason I was trying to push IN Company to the back.
'......'
Food is the problem.
In the end.
Food.
We have food for a few months, but we're not people who are going to live for a few months and die, so securing sustainable food is important.
And to secure that, it's correct to leave the city center.
'......'
Or, I could just wipe out IN Mart and Green Fresh Market with my current ability and bring it out, but in the end, that place has its limits too.
That's why my heart was leaning towards going down to Bugang-myeon.
'I also need to check the 32nd Division military, and maybe try to make a field or something in a rural area to cultivate crops, or raise the level of A-rin's ability to attempt breeding through Taming.'
There were various ways.
In particular, I focused on A-rin's ability.
I heard information that currently, at lv.1 it's a mouse, and at lv.2 it's the size of a cat.
Then that means at lv.3, she could tame things like pigs or cows.
'Besides, when I asked, they said there are about 10 cats now. Once tamed, there's no distance limit.'
Doesn't that mean we can raise 10 chickens right away?
If she levels up there, the number will increase, and we can run a chicken farm as we please.
We can just release them into the wild and tell them to come back.
'...Of course, breeding won't be easy.'
Weasels, birds of prey, and cats kill a lot of chickens.
But even if we just lock them up and extract eggs, food supply is possible.
'That's for now, though.'
There might be abilities related to converting to meat, or farming, or plants.
I mean, we already have Subspace, Healing, and Taming, so it's fully possible.
So...
#
I gathered all our members and opened my mouth.
"...You're saying we should go down outside of Cheongju."
"Right. What do you guys think? If we go down right away and there's a decent military, we join them, and even if not, we have the power to escape."
Metal manipulation is a great matchup against soldiers.
Plus, we have bullets.
"It means it's not a problem even if it's like a warlord group. Even if they're shitty guys, we'll win."
I said what I had thought about alone earlier.
"Even if that place is ruined, it'll be better than here. The vicinity is a rural area with very few people. We could take one of the houses there and farm or raise livestock. Especially even if there are Sentient Beings, if we clear them out in advance, they won't come this way. It doesn't seem like those guys are that smart."
The kids who weren't talking.
"Honestly, the problem with the Infected and the IN Company personnel is big. Just the places where IN Company personnel were, there are two places I've seen. It means this place can be raided at any time. As for the Infected, Sentient Beings can push in at any time."
I narrowed my eyes.
"Of course, I'll decide by majority vote. It's your risk. Feel free to give your opinions."
Then people started to open their mouths one by one.
"Isn't it dangerous to go down? Like the road."
"Looking at the satellite map, it's fine. This way is a road with absolutely no people, so if we go down along the stream and then take this side road, we can get there right away."
"...I like it here, but honestly, I'm anxious. There were those Sentient Beings the kids told us about."
"The Infected are definitely a problem. Of course, that requires the assumption that the other side is fine... but honestly, other groups are a bit scary too. It means it's uncontrolled."
It didn't take long for the conclusion to be reached.
#
To move.
But it wasn't that we should just blindly go down to Bugang-myeon.
Move to the countryside, but keep a distance from the Bugang-myeon side, and check it out first.
Of course, before that, I planned to raise the kids' superpowers appropriately.
"Young-jun, Yu-rim."
"Uh. Yes. Hyung."
"Yes."
"I'm going to leave you two at lv.1 for now. It's not that I'm abandoning you, it's because your abilities are 10% aptitude abilities."
Levels aren't inherited.
"I want to use this right away, but there might be side effects. It says to replace it, but I don't know about that aptitude."
"Yes."
"So, before we go down this time, I'm planning to raise Eun-bin and Tae-jun's abilities first."
Currently, everyone except me has a low level.
Seo-yoon, Yun-ji, and A-rin are lv.2, and Eun-bin, Tae-jun, Yu-rim, and Young-jun are lv.1.
Among them, I plan to raise Eun-bin and Tae-jun to lv.2 first.
It seemed better to change and raise Young-jun and Yu-rim's abilities after I finish checking later.
"Eun-bin is good even now, but I'm raising it to check. You know about Tae-jun, right?"
"Yes."
"Yes."
The man and woman answered at the same time.
"Eun-bin, can you do it?"
"I can do it."
The woman answered immediately.
Well, she had moved with me before, too.
"You."
"Me too. I have to do it even if I can't."
"Yeah."
Good motivation.
That was two days.
Until March 19th. I took Eun-bin and Tae-jun, quietly dealt with the surrounding Infected, and made them lv.2.
I don't know about Eun-bin, but anyway, since it went up, her ability must have gotten better.
What became clearly different to the eye was Tae-jun's Subspace. A Subspace bag expanded to 1m x 1m x 1m.
It means he can put more things in than the space he could put in before.
Of course, since the restriction is large, he could only use it as a bag.
'The volume increased 8 times.'
It's a tremendous ability.
It means he can carry around as much as he can put in a small warehouse now.
'Of course, since it ends if he dies, he shouldn't put really important items in it.'
It's a difficult ability.
Anyway.
While catching Infected around the residential area, no abnormal signs were felt. IN Company's special forces didn't come, Sentient Beings didn't lead Infected to come, and no new Variants I didn't know about were roaming around.
Quiet silence.
But because of that, I was a bit more anxious.
'......'
I needed a safe space.
And information, too.
#
March 20th.
ㅡTuk
ㅡTuk
Two bullets flew and pierced the heads of six Infected.
The speed was so fast that they didn't even shatter, but just fell down with a single hole in their heads.
'For a car, this van will do.'
I brought up a van that was relatively intact in front of the house. While killing all the Infected around it.
With this, I think we can take the national road, not the highway, and go down towards Bugang-myeon.
Well, that's that.
[Please save me. Please. It's too hard. 4th floor, Cheongju Hana Sports Center, 8-lane direction. Please save me. Anyone...]
Yesterday, while bringing Eun-bin and Tae-jun,
on the radio I kept on,
a rescue request rang out from a gym or fitness center called Hana Sports Center in this vicinity.
A young woman's voice.
However, there were quite a few suspicious points. First of all, the voice was loud and clear. Usually, if they were really starving and struggling, the voice would be cracked and dying like the 3 siblings, but the woman wasn't.
On top of that, the place called the sports center was also suspicious.
'I'd understand if it were an apartment.'
It's strange that they went out of their way to catch a radio signal at a sports center and broadcast it to several places.
Therefore, I thought I would go and see once.
If that's a real survivor, I'll see what happened there, and if not...
'......'
I thought as I moved my feet, and arrived soon.
A 4-story sports center building came into view.