Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Main Server (2)
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The doctor's prescription was probably something like narcotic painkillers or blood coagulants.
'About 5 to 10 mana.'
There were bandages, of course, and most RPG games offered potion-like items too.
Seeing the price listed below the description that said they healed wounds and boosted mana recovery speed made me feel a bit relieved.
"Minimum sales unit is 150 mana...."
It was a pack of 10. At least it was an item within reach.
It was also something essential since injuries were unavoidable.
'I don't know how effective they are, though.'
If I thought of them as spare lives, they weren't that expensive.
I lingered on the medicine tab for a while, eyeing a few items.
And once again, I spotted a familiar name.
'Purification agent.'
As expected, purification agents were available for purchase in the shop.
「Purifies contaminated mana. Purification amount varies based on personal mana operation ability.」
As always, the explanation was curt and unhelpful, but I wasn't annoyed.
I'd already tried one before, and besides, it had nothing to do with me anymore.
'I have the growth-type purification trait.'
Ethan, who had promoted to beta, had the non-growth type that didn't even show proficiency.
Mine, on the other hand, had levels and proficiency—a growth type.
It was clearly an upgraded version.
The visible info made that fact crystal clear.
'Purification agents are for gammas.'
The vast majority of gamma-rank players who couldn't even take the promotion exam had to rely on them.
When they hunted monsters and absorbed mana, a chunk of it had to go straight to purification.
The shop price for a purification agent was a whopping 100 mana per pill.
Gammas had no choice but to grow slower than higher ranks.
'Not my problem, though.'
As I scrolled down to check other items, a notification popped up.
「A new comment has been posted.」
Ding. A red dot appeared on the speech bubble icon at the bottom left.
"Community."
I muttered under my breath, and a white screen popped up.
The player count at the top had increased.
'10,098....'
My eyes lingered on the ten thousand mark for a moment.
Ignoring the new posts, I manipulated the search bar.
Soon, the secret post I'd made to exchange info with Ethan came up.
I entered the pre-agreed password and opened it. Ethan had left a comment.
- (Secret Comment) It's finally started.
We'd agreed to set all past and future comments as secret ones.
Just in case no one guessed the password by chance and read our convo.
I mainly shared info on mana and the system.
Ethan provided classified intel from the UK or US that I couldn't access.
We had to be careful not to attract attention.
⌎(Secret Comment) Yeah, finally.
⌎(Secret Comment) You see the mission update?
Ethan replied right away. He'd been waiting for me.
⌎(Secret Comment) Not yet.
I typed the comment while pulling up the mission window I hadn't checked yet.
But before I could properly look at it.
⌎(Secret Comment) Check it out. Seems like we have choices this time.
I read Ethan's comment first.
'What...?'
Then I took in the mission window.
"Huh."
I was speechless for a moment.
* * *
I headed straight home after work.
Then I went to the bathroom to wash off the dirt.
As hot water poured from the showerhead over my naked body, the mission window from earlier flickered in my mind.
What I'd seen was a list of missions I could undertake.
Unlike the previous ones that dragged me in by force, now I could choose which ones to do.
Realizing that, I hesitated, sure.
There was no reason to walk into danger voluntarily if I wasn't being forced.
But that hesitation lasted only a few seconds.
Because this damn game hadn't given me a choice when it started.
If the system forced me again.
If I got surrounded by dozens of monsters again.
'Playing it safe now could lead to death later.'
In the end, I decided to try a mission.
Of course, I planned to prepare thoroughly first.
I hadn't finished browsing the shop yet, so that came first.
If there were any useful skills, I'd buy them to bolster my strength.
For something like mana operation that levels up with proficiency, I'd need practice time too.
'Right, I need to contact that uncle too.'
In case I needed help.
There was a lot to do ahead.
But the scene I'd witnessed earlier cluttered my head, making it hard to focus.
In the end, I pulled up the mission window again.
'Mission window.'
Mission available list and mission completed list.
The window was simply divided into two tabs.
But the contents were anything but simple.
The densely packed numbers in the white window made my vision swim.
「Mission Available List (8,651)」
The mission list updated with the main server's activation numbered around eight thousand.
None had special titles.
They were all marked with numbers.
01-15(0/10)
01-18(0/10)
01-9(0/10)
01-1(0/10)
01-19(0/10)
01-8(0/10)
....
Ethan and I figured the first number was the difficulty.
They were sorted from 01 to 10, so probably.
But strangely, the second number kept changing.
A mission marked '01-9(0/10)' had five slots earlier, but after some time, it dropped to two or three.
That's why we guessed it was the monster count.
'They move around.'
The third number's meaning was still unclear.
'And from 03 onward, there's no third number at all.'
Really unhelpful notation.
As I stared at the numbers shifting in real-time, I scrolled all the way down.
There it was again—the sight that had been messing with my head for hours.
8,073,885.
8,642,813
10,664,239
11,006,971
17,330,320
....
Just seeing those numbers in a different format from the upper list made my hands shake.
My breathing grew ragged in an instant, the tremor spreading through my whole body.
The numbers at the very bottom of the list changed occasionally too.
'No way those are missions too, right?'
If by some chance those represented monster counts.
Staring at the absurd figures made me close my eyes.
As if ignoring the mission window altogether.
Even though I'd decided to go ahead, the longer I stood there, the more suffocated I felt.
I stood motionless under the shower spray for a while.
But soon I scrubbed my face and muttered.
"Get it together."
No time to waste like this.
'Let's get out first.'
I had to keep moving. Plenty left unchecked, and mana training too.
I hurriedly finished showering. As I toweled off.
"Ah."
I'd forgotten to bring a change of clothes.
With Yeon-woo around, I'd gotten in the habit of bringing them when showering.
Lost in thought today, I'd blanked.
Fortunately, the siblings were still at cram school.
Grabbing just my towel, I stepped out of the bathroom.
At almost the same time, a beep sounded.
"Huh?"
The front door was opening.
No password beep!
Reflexively, I covered my lower half with the towel.
Frozen like that, I came face-to-face with my siblings as they entered.
The bathroom and front door were in a straight line, of all things.
The awkward silence was brief.
Yeon-woo dropped her plastic bag and screamed, covering her eyes with her hands.
"Kyaa!"
Her fingers spread wide open!
'If you're covering, cover properly!'
Stunned by her antics, my body finally thawed.
I bolted to my room like a shot.
I slammed the door shut, and right away, frantic footsteps approached.
"Kyaaak, kyak! Six-pack! Biceps! Firm chest! Buff shoulders!"
Yeon-woo's excited shrieks started up right outside my door.
My face burned red.
I threw on clothes at lightspeed and flung the door open.
"bronze-skinned Kang Hyun-woo! Show me once more!"
Yeon-woo, making a rectangle with her fingers, bounced around in front of me, chattering nonstop.
My face still beet red, I pressed down on her head firmly.
"Why are you two home at this hour?"
"School's off for founding anniversary today."
Jin-woo, who had picked up the abandoned bag and come inside, answered.
They'd been studying at home on the day off and went grocery shopping.
'Come to think of it, it's mid-June?'
I vaguely remembered hearing about the founding anniversary around enrollment month.
With all the system and game thoughts, I'd forgotten.
'Damn it.'
Thinking back to moments ago made my head throb.
Oblivious to my state.
Yeon-woo sneaked up and tried to lift my T-shirt.
"Where do you think you're going!"
I snatched the hem and glared.
"Aww, just one more peek at the six-pack! I had no idea our oppa had such a great body."
"What do you mean peek? Look at your boyfriend's later!"
"Tch, it's not like it'll wear out from looking. So stingy."
Yeon-woo pouted but kept tugging at my shirt hem, refusing to give up.
I firmly pushed her hands away.
"What was that just now? The password?"
"What do you mean... Oh, used the master key."
"Hah? Wasn't it lost?"
"Found it while getting out summer clothes."
Gave me a headache, really.
'Did she see? Of course she did.'
They hadn't asked outright yet.
But to dismiss it as not seeing.
'We locked eyes straight on.'
As I rubbed my furrowed brow in turmoil.
"Hyung, mind if I make doenjang jjigae for dinner?"
Jin-woo asked while unpacking groceries from the bag.
I sighed and nodded.
"...Yeah, need help?"
"We got it."
"Call me when it's ready. I'll rest up."
"Got it."
I turned to head to my room.
"If you won't show, at least let me touch!"
Yeon-woo clung to my leg and yanked at my sweatpants.
"Hey, hey! My pants are coming down!"
"Think of it as helping with muscle anatomy study, just once!"
Mentioning studies in this mess.
I usually gave in on study stuff, so she was exploiting that.
"You...."
"Just touch the six-pack once...."
"Enough!"
I yelled, yanking my pant leg from her grip.
Before she could latch on again, I retreated into my room.
"Nooo, my six-pack!"
Yeon-woo's wails continued beyond the firmly shut door for a while.
But soon Jin-woo intervened.
"Cut it out and come help."
Yeon-woo quieted and moved away from the door.
I didn't let my guard down, though.
With sensory expansion via mana operation, I monitored outside.
"Oppa ever gotten hurt before?"
Sure enough, whispers reached me, voices lowered.
* * *
"So there's no other info."
"I've told you everything I know."
Ethan had been summoned by MI5 Director David.
This kind of meeting wasn't new.
David called Ethan periodically, and the reason was simple.
To ask the same questions he'd grilled him on endlessly.
'Persistent bastard.'
From what Ethan had seen, David was creepily tenacious.
"I was asking if there might be new developments in that community place."
"I told you that too. It's been quiet for four days."
Ethan's sharp tone couldn't hide his hostility.
He could never see David in a good light.
- Don't you need to know how this unreal phenomenon you're experiencing will affect your homeland?
- This is precisely when patriotism is needed.
- Your family lives in this country, don't they?
- We must control dangerous variables to protect them.
In the past, he'd invoked Ethan's family to coerce cooperation.
He was also the one who'd ordered a gun pointed at Ethan's head.
David treated Ethan like a lab rat in the name of the nation and greater good.
"Four days... Right, the day the presumed deaths happened."
Ethan didn't bother replying to David's mutter.
Instead, he sighed deeply and opened the community window.
"Still nothing even if I check again. It's been dead silent since then."
This wasn't a lie. The community had gone radio silent four days ago.
No new posts, no new comments.
The player count at the top told the tale.
'10,092.'
Fewer than after the promotion exam.
Meaning six players had died.
Four days ago, some mouthy players had talked about partying up, and in the mission list, 01-10(6/10) had bolded.
Less than two hours later, it reset to (0/10), and the top player count dropped.
That's how they figured out the third number.
'Number of players who can enter the mission site.'
The community froze after confirming that new fact.
Everyone finally grasped death's reality.
Unlike the tutorial, injuries didn't heal now.
Ethan unconsciously touched his neck. The spot a monster had bitten.
As he swallowed dryly, David tossed another question.
"Those six really died?"
Damn System