Flame Shower
The universe is cold. Capitalism is cold too. But the romance of men is as hot as the sun.
“Lie down and die. Stand up and die!” “We don't submit to the clan’s rule!” “Join the Super Rookie Corps, you kid!”
As I moved between the green-labeled and yellow-labeled zones, I gathered as many prisoners as possible who hadn't even had time to farm or think about escaping. The gathered prisoners numbered only twenty, less than half of the hundred originally sent in, but I didn't care.
There were those who had moved in clan units before, devouring Dark Zones with huge numbers and even trying to kill Lucy, but now twenty under my command?
'This is enough to devour the entire Dark Zone without leaving even a crumb.'
Originally, I was both an EFD veteran player and a fixed-party leader. The fixed-party members I took with me daily to slaughter countless Dark Zones were now leading nearly twenty people. This level was enough to declare martial law over the entire Dark Zone.
“I’ll say this in advance: Our goal isn’t to gather junk and escape. Throw away any thoughts of making money with such lazy minds in this Dark Zone.”
I gathered fresh Ass-ei, distributed the hastily made weapons, and explained the survival strategy as kindly as possible.
“This place is a space dominated by Primordials that have infiltrated all sorts of machines and fused with them to target us. The machines themselves are our enemies, and to hunt them, we must use the ‘machines’ they possess.” “Like these makeshift weapons?” “Yes. After hunting them, we can extract relatively well-preserved various machine parts, small power sources, emergency fuels, etc. The Dark Zone runs on such a farming system. Especially fuels and small power sources have the common trait of being vulnerable to fire, so they can be used as makeshift explosives, or as materials to make cutters or flamethrowers. All are materials we can obtain from them, and at the same time, things that can deal meaningful damage to them.”
Isn't that amazing? Weapons made from what the enemies took to kill them. It's like making a 'vaccine' by injecting weakened viruses to form antibodies in the body.
'Although the Machine Spirits look a bit gross, it's not entirely wrong.'
According to EFD settings, they are classified as lifeforms, but I don't know exactly what Machine Spirits are. In fact, there were many rumors that they are either alien lifeforms or bio-weapons that escaped from secret labs, but no definite identity was ever revealed. Perhaps they were planning to reveal it for the 10th anniversary, but before that, I was reincarnated.
“This fire… is really dazzling and beautiful.” “It’s even warm.” “If we could burn all the bastards with this fire… I’d do anything!” “Woo! Woo! Captain! Give the order!”
The prisoners who had come to call me 'Captain' were all waiting for orders with dangerous glints in their eyes. Thinking about it, the fixed-party members I played EFD with always had this feeling. When I briefed them, they listened. When I ordered, they moved. As if they had bet their entire lives on the Dark Zone.
'I've already bet my entire life on EFD for 10 years; is there any reason to bet it again?'
I picked up a modified iron rod made by hammering sharp blades or nails into the head parts of slaughter robots and swung it around.
“Show them that if they eat us, we can eat them too!”
Farming and destruction differ only by a single character in the letters, but I would show them that fundamentally the same act.
“Kiieeeeeek!” “Super Rookie! Super Rookie!” “I’ve been waiting for a captain like you for a long time!” “Even though I couldn't enter Seoul University, I successfully joined the Super Rookie Corps!” “Tonight’s dinner isn’t nutrient porridge without meat, it’s chicken!”
The sub-zero temperatures falling in real time, the darkness where you can't see an inch ahead without light, and the desperate last struggles of the bottom-of-the-barrel lives huddled under my name couldn't stop it.
“Then, let's move as planned!”
We started advancing, overcoming the cold inside the space station with the heat from the portable heaters made from small power sources. The small flames steadily burning at the ends of the flamethrowers fitted with disposable fuel tanks were ready to transform into massive firepower the moment fuel was injected through the nozzle.
There was more to it. I repaired the poor weapons the prisoners had one by one and modified them to be usable. Thanks to that, the F-grade prisoners who had been wielding cheap spears, clubs, and knives had become C-grade heavily armed prisoners.
Kik, kiriririk!
Just as the Machine Spirits, who had noticed the noise, heat, and light from afar, started gathering one by one. Since we had already come this far, we had to abandon the stealth infiltration play, so we were halfway out.
“Multiple Piranha schools ahead! About 10 Slaughter Robots confirmed!”
The scout prisoners who had been taught the exact type and characteristics of the Primordials immediately reacted and sent warnings to the rear. To not freeze to death and to prevent muscle atrophy, the rear guard moving with the portable heaters formed formations by clasping their weapons. Prisoners who had torn off alloy iron plates and Slaughter Robot chassis armor and welded them into shields stood at the front, and prisoners wielding flamethrowers filled the gaps on both sides. As expected, this simple yet actually difficult formation was also taught by me. Of course, there were some clumsy prisoners, so movements got tangled, and some got frostbite. Whenever that happened, I would wave my eyebrows and run over to slap the chests of the Ass-ei who had fallen out of line without mercy. But at the same time, since I was also a sweet guy, instead of the ones who got hit on the chest and fell, I directly filled the empty spots.
“Throwing team, prepare to throw!” “Prepare to throw!”
To show the example as prepared throwers, the first ones grabbed the makeshift explosives and threw them like cannonballs with all their might. The makeshift explosives that smoothly passed over the heads of the shield soldiers bounced several times on the floor like bowling balls and rolled, then exploded by the timer fuse set aside.
Kwaaang!
Although the firepower itself of the makeshift explosives wasn't that strong, instead, they filled with overflowing metal scrap debris. Kwang! Kwaaang!
Thanks to that, every time a makeshift explosive exploded, the Piranha school that had almost no armor took the biggest damage, and the Slaughter Robots that had followed in among them couldn't avoid component damage.
“Since we can't finish processing all the scout Primordials, this Wave will never end! Push forward with the intention of wiping them all out!” “Uoooooo!”
Even after the explosives exploded, the overwhelming presence of the Machine Spirit legion pushing in like a tidal wave could have crushed the spirit. But the prisoners at the front line firmly held their positions with shields and flamethrowers. And humans and Machine Spirits clashed.
Kwa-jik! Kwoong! Eejijjik!
The bone-chilling dissonant sounds that could be heard just by listening erupted from all over, and at the same time, the shield soldiers were pushed back slightly by the tremendous physical impact. But since we didn't plan to just take it, other prisoners grabbed the backs of the shield soldiers and pushed them to endure as much as possible.
“Now!”
Right after creating a perfect stalemate, a simultaneous flame baptism was shot through the gaps in the shields. Machine Spirits don't freeze easily when fused with machines, so they're resistant to cold, but conversely, they're extremely vulnerable to powerful heat that burns the circuits and destroys them. Burning the machine means the Machine Spirit inside the machine is also incinerated together.
Puhwaaaaa! Puhwaaaaaa!
The sudden 100% pure flame baptism that poured down on the Machine Spirits who had been pushing, tearing, and causing a ruckus made the on-site reaction very hot.
'I didn't know why people go to hot springs in the summer when it's so hot, but now I get it.'
If you soak them in fuel and burn them in the icy cold, who wouldn't hate it? In summer, the creator of air conditioners rules the world, but in winter, I, Han Seungho, the creator of flame hot showers, will rule.
“Oring! Oring!” “No, how long has it been? It's already o-ring?!” “If the fuel is all gone, fall back!” “Fall back all the flamethrowers! Now it's our turn!”
Since we couldn't get that much fuel from the beginning, the fun flame hot shower ended quickly, but the electric saw murderer's stage was ready to follow.
“It’s nicely grilled. Shall we slice a steak for the first time in a while.” “What are you doing outside?” “Slaughterer.” “Wow, a professional.”
The hulking prisoners wielding industrial cutters with output boosted by attaching small power sources and viciously modified chain swords walked forward. There were also Lee Duho and his brothers wielding heavy hammers, and the ones who were just strong in brute force were perfect for this.
“Shields! Open the path!” “Open the path! Open the path!”
The shield soldiers shouted loudly and split left and right, and the formation changed instantly. Now the shields that had no gaps completely blocked the left and right sides of the wide corridor, and the only open center was the single plank for humans and monsters enjoying the slaughter.
Gwaaaaaang!
The electric saw with noisy rotating blades, the high-output cutter that could pierce thick metal doors, and the hammer that turns humans and Machine Spirits alike into paste.
“Charge!”
The hulks with melee weapons first charged with a battle cry, and the Slaughter Robots that had come out by pushing through the nicely grilled Piranha school also charged with terrifying momentum. Those who would be easily beaten 'once or twice' if seen for the first time, but due to their unique learning ability, they figure out countermeasures after seeing the same thing more than twice. That's the characteristic of Machine Spirits. Since they are such, there must have been information about 'human close combat' from the previous battle that they learned. So this battle is definitely one they think they can win easily. Not with me around.
“Sniping!” Bang! Ta-tang!
The prisoners who had ranged weapons, including me and Lee Doo-pal, slightly opened the gaps in the shields and launched surprise harassment shots. There was probably no countermeasure for the suddenly flying projectiles in the close combat that was about to burst. Even if there was, at best, they would just hold on relying on their armor, or at most, see the gun muzzle and take evasion actions. In fact, some Slaughter Robots took defensive postures or attempted to evade as soon as they saw the muzzle coming out. 'Forgetting who is in front of you for a moment.'
Whoosh!
A heavy blow from Lee Duho falling on the head of the twisted posture guy. The Slaughter Robot that had been prepared for it from the beginning would naturally dodge or take the hammer, but the ones who were distracted by the muzzle became scrap from the can first.
Kwaaang!
The refreshing sound of a home run echoed, and the head of the first victim was cleanly separated. Next was the dismemberment show of the Slaughter Robot using the cutter. Not to mention being a former butcher, it was skilled at cutting structures similar to the human body.
“Hyung! Pass that one to this side!” “Got it!”
When Lee Duho pushed the head of the slaughtered Slaughter Robot with the hammer end to the side, Lee Doo-sik, who followed, cut the Machine Spirit and the Slaughter Robot in half with the chain sword that was about to spring out. What sprang up was not blood and flesh but black oil and metal fragments, but it felt like a scene from a slasher movie as brutal as if it could be clipped in the hand.
In the middle of that, we were laughing madly. In the closed space environment, the murderous cold reaching minus 30 degrees, and the pitch-black curtain that seemed impossible to lift, and the Machine Spirit legion approaching with ever-changing red glows. In fact, this level wasn't it, wasn't it relatively normal, and I was doing mental victories.
'Still, the Dark Zone adventure is going well as planned?'
One glass.