46. IN Corp Cheongju Branch (3)
46. IN Corp Cheongju Branch (3)
I stayed still for a while before coming to my senses.
It was because the heat vanished along with that bastard, allowing me to regain my sanity.
I floated the Nexus Core.
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Nexus Core : Metallokinesis lv4[0/100]
===================================
The core hadn't gone up at all.
It looked pretty dangerous, and in reality, it was an incredibly dangerous bastard, yet the core didn't budge.
I don't know why. Is there a different standard for lv.4? Or maybe...
'......'
I looked at the computer.
The computer and tablet had been smashed to pieces during the battle with that bastard.
I turned my head.
Corpses of humans lay on the floor, their bodies half-melted.
It seems all the IN Company personnel who were here—whether they were office staff, researchers, or special forces—were devoured by that bastard. Without being able to do a damn thing.
Then again, it was a bastard that even guns and grenades couldn't stop.
'A powerful... should I call it an Infected? Or a test subject?'
Did a mutation go wrong during an experiment, creating that bastard, which then wiped everyone out?
That monster. It's highly likely that the monster is the 27-year-old Baek Hanmin mentioned on the computer.
I don't know if it absorbs guns or explosions, but the bastard emitted heat and regenerated its body.
Earlier, it clearly stated that they injected a 90% suitability Pyrokinesis serum into Baek Hanmin-ssi, who had an 80% suitability hypnosis ability.
What would have happened if I had come here back when I was lv.3? Specifically, around March 17th or 18th, when these bastards were experimenting on 27-year-old Baek Hanmin-ssi.
If I recall correctly, on March 17th, I put everything else aside and reached lv.4 while hunting Flowers.
If I had come here first, I would've been dead meat.
'......'
So, it's safe to assume they conducted this experiment that day, and everyone here was killed by that test subject.
'Wait, then...'
The four flask serums I have. Is there a side effect to swapping those abilities?
I'd always wondered why those IN Company bastards extracted abilities with both low and high suitability. This explains it. There are side effects when swapping to an ability that exceeds your suitability.
That means these bastards are stockpiling superpower serums and looking for ways to overcome this in labs all over the place.
The reason is probably to safely transplant superpowers into the higher-ups... right? They hide away in some safe place and send their underlings to handle the extraction and experiments. That seems entirely plausible.
'Of course, this is all just my speculation.'
Excluding speculation, the facts are as follows:
IN Company uses special forces to extract superpowers from specific regions.
IN Company is researching ways to safely extract superpowers within labs like the Cheongju Branch.
IN Company is hostile to civilians.
IN Company created the Nexus Cores and the Infected.
The end.
I don't know the reason. The people who would know the reason are all dead or committed suicide, and everyone here is dead too.
It seems they secure civilians or other test subjects and conduct experiments across multiple locations.
'......'
There seems to be no chance of getting any more information unless I find another branch myself.
Still...
ㅡClick
ㅡClick
I took some photos.
I took some videos, and although I really didn't want to touch them, I checked the corpses of the half-melted IN Company special forces and researchers. The monster was gone, so I planned to thoroughly search the remaining rooms.
'You never know what might turn up.'
#
And something did turn up.
'INRS.'
The special forces members felt slightly different from the ones I'd seen before.
For starters, unlike those guys, they had the letters 'INRS' on their shoulder patches. 'IN' probably stands for Innovation Nexus, and the final 'S' is likely 'Service,' a word often used by special forces, but I wasn't sure about the 'R'.
What could 'R' stand for?
Rescue?
Raider?
Resistance?
Anyway, it seems like a unit used for a different purpose.
'It's not like they're some organization from a movie or something.'
The strange thing, however, was that I saw quite a few foreigners among the corpses. I couldn't help but wonder what reason they would have to come all the way to Korea.
On top of that, I don't know what people knew before the apocalypse to be so loyal to this company.
'Did they use something like contracts or brainwashing?'
As for the researchers, nothing came out except for their name tags.
The office workers didn't have anything either, aside from smartphones and such, and those were all locked, smashed, or dead, so they seemed useless.
Anyway, that's enough of that.
The important thing was this joystick-like object that I found inside the INRS unit's clothing. I knew this was a controller for a drone.
I'd seen one at that logistics center base.
'So they use drones, too.'
Civilians and people like that wouldn't be able to do a damn thing against drones. They say drones lead modern warfare, don't they?
But that means even with drones, they couldn't catch that monster. They probably tried using them inside, only to get caught by those tentacles and dragged to their deaths.
'That scorch mark also looks like they used something like a suicide drone.'
Looking at it now, I could see all the traces.
Traces leading from the R&D lab to the analysis lab. That means they could use drones against us, too.
'...That's going to be dangerous.'
Of course it would be. Modern technology has become so powerful; frankly, if they spray poison gas, attack with drones, fire missiles, or use snipers, civilians who've just gained some superpowers have no choice but to get hit.
'On top of that, there are powerful Infected caused by failed experiments.'
I think I finally understand why the country is so fucked. The reason Seoul collapsed might be because, while they were conducting superpower experiments, several powerful Infected like that emerged and wiped out the military and everything else.
'Is there anything that could be a clue?'
I walked around the remaining labs, looking for traces.
The place marked 'Chief Researcher's Office' was relatively intact.
'This place...'
It had a musty smell.
There were several documents, but they were all in analog format.
On top of that, the handwriting was so shitty I couldn't make heads or tails of it.
The only thing I could actually read was a tablet shoved into the far corner of the lab.
The screen was open.
[Date. March 17.]
[IN Cheongju Branch Chief Researcher Lee Ha-jin.]
[Report received requesting submission of INRS and INSS loss personnel and test subject success reports for each branch by the 19th. This is a core issue monitored by the Board of Directors, so researchers at the Cheongju branch, please pay special attention.]
[Depending on success, support procedures for each branch will proceed. Currently, 2 branches have succeeded in suitability serum. Max individual suitability is 29%, serum suitability is 32%. This Cheongju branch will use 93% serum on 27-year-old Reserve Sergeant Baek Hanmin (suitability 89%) procured from Cheongju City Hall.]
[The following order is sent to INRS and INSS within the Cheongju branch.]
[INRS : Please return by 18th 00:00 after erasing all data remaining in the activity area according to procedure.]
[INSS : Please pause all extractors within the extraction area and wait for orders. If there are no additional orders for 3 days, please move to the Sejong Branch.]
'......'
I narrowed my eyes.
My guess had been spot on. They really were experimenting to eliminate the side effects of superpowers.
'But it didn't work, so they're fucked.'
Well, that's that.
INRS, INSS.
These must be the names of IN Company's private soldiers, their special forces, right?
I'd seen the INRS. The guys who were here earlier, the ones with the patches.
'Then...'
The INSS, which was listed as the extraction area, is probably the guys I was fighting. I don't know what 'RS' stands for, but 'SS' is probably 'Security Service'.
'......'
Some naming sense they have.
More importantly, the fact that they moved to the Sejong Branch if there were no additional orders means that all the INSS personnel who were here moved to the Sejong Branch.
Meanwhile, the INRS who came here on the 18th at 00:00 all died.
'Is the INSS the unit that does the extraction outside, and the INRS is a unit that does something else?'
Cheongju Branch.
Sejong Branch...
'Besides, it seems the way they conduct these experiments at the Cheongju Branch is different from other places.'
It seems the experimental methods vary by branch in each city.
This place was passive about eliminating civilians while extracting and tried to do something all at once, but that means other places might be using different methods.
That meant I could run into all sorts of diverse and fucked-up Infected.
In the worst-case scenario, all the places conducting those experiments might be screwed, and a party of powerful Infected could be going on.
'Amazing. Just amazing.'
It looks like those fucked-up, retarded bastards are going to keep killing people.
ㅡClack
I stood up from my seat.
I'd scrolled through the tablet here and there, but there was no more information to be found. Anyway, I knew for a fact that these bastards were doing all sorts of crazy shit to obtain superpowers.
On top of that, they actually spread the infection.
'...And I also learned that if there's no suitability, they mutate into monsters.'
But did IN Company not know they would mutate like this? Those smart higher-ups wouldn't act this stupidly, and there's no reason to spread the infection.
If they wanted to obtain powerful superpowers, couldn't they just experiment secretly in some remote area? Who's going to find them in the remote areas of China, the US, or Mexico?
Did something go wrong during the experiments?
Or...
Was there a reason they had to spread the infection?
Infection and superpowers.
Suitability, experiments, and mutation.
Extracting superpowers from places where people gather—schools and hospitals.
'......'
I'll only know that when I meet their leaders. Though that's impossible in my current state. Tracking a multinational corporation that dominates the US from a small country like Korea is nonsense.
'I don't know.'
But it's certain that I'll clash with them someday. Tracking high-grade test subjects means they are capable of tracking high-suitability ability users.
'......'
I gathered the documents and made my way out of the basement lab.