Mission Start
Mission Start
"What is this?"
My vision flashed blue, and my entire body began to glow.
"Uh, u-uh...?"
Then, a translucent liquid slowly began to flow out.
"No, what the fucking...?"
To be clear, this subtly sticky translucent liquid had absolutely nowhere to come out from.
And yet, it was coming out.
And definitely not from a place that would spark weird imaginations!!
Saaat.
"Huh?"
The liquid flowing from my body scattered into the air and soon began to wrap around the sapling.
A chill that was clearly perceptible even amidst the sweltering heat.
If not for that subtle stickiness, I might have unconsciously cupped that liquid in both hands and rubbed it all over my face.
But I held back.
'Not knowing what it is.'
Swallowing dry saliva along with sand so coarse I wondered if blood was about to come out next, I decided to simply watch the miracle unfolding before my eyes—a phenomenon that science could never explain.
Paseuseu.
The dying leaf shivered.
Its edges, which had slowly been staining brown with the color of the desert, began to fill with a vibrant green, as if asking when it had ever possessed such a withered hue.
"Oh."
With a pajijik sound echoing, the stem thickened.
"...It's getting bigger."
Its height, which had been around 15 cm, instantly shot up to 30 cm, then 50 cm.
"Woah, holy shit."
The vibration of roots squirming and stretching out like muscles inside the parched mud shook my entire body.
"...That's incredible."
If someone were to paint a picture of this, what would they name it?
To simply call it Still Life A, the expansion of life being spun by that single tree held a miracle that could not be defined by a few words.
Truly, a massive—
Bip-bip.
Bip.
A hologram window blocking that miracle.
Unlike when it was colder than the harshness of the surrounding environment, the status window now seemed to radiate a certain warmth, as if infused with that lush greenery.
[ SYSTEM MESSAGE: Record of the Leader's Footsteps ]
[ SYSTEM: Analysis Complete ]
[ Total Distance Traveled: ]
2,412.8 m
[ Total Time Elapsed: ]
1 hour 14 minutes 22 seconds
[ Cumulative Steps: ]
3,421 steps
[ SYSTEM: Environmental Data Recovery ]
[ Average External Temperature: ]
82.4°C (Protein denaturation risk level)
[ Maximum Wind Speed: ]
182 km/h (Sandblast phenomenon occurring)
[ Notice: ]
This System has excluded the above data from real-time output to prevent the Leader's mental collapse.
[ SYSTEM: Tribute to the Leader ]
[ Message: ]
"The thousands of steps you took amidst the heat of 80 degrees and sandstorms capable of carving through steel are not a simple physical distance traveled."
** "This is the very first resistance mounted for a fallen organic civilization to rise again, and a magnificent proof of turning the impossible into the possible."**
** "Leader-nim. This place where your footsteps remain shall soon become the center of a great empire. We pay tribute to your perseverance."**
...It's long.
Has it ever talked this much before?
Nope.
Although it's pretty shameless of it not to tell me about the surrounding environment sooner...
'Was it really that bad?'
While walking, I didn't think it was quite that extreme, but seeing all the elements that raged against me during that short walk translated into numbers sends a cold shiver down my spine.
Is this consideration?
Or is it a scheme hatched by this mysterious AI attempting to eliminate anything that poses a problem to the mission, regardless of my will?
Since what was speaking was an AI itself, I had to forcefully hold back the words itching at the tip of my tongue.
Wow.
You really hit the nail on the head just now.
"...By the way, is the mission completion reward just praise?"
Slumping down in front of the tree, I ask the status window, now dyed in the green of a meadow.
"Don't just pay tribute, isn't there anything else?"
** [ SYSTEM: Special Title Acquired ]**
[ Title: ]
『 One Who Cuts Through the Scorching Sand 』
[ Effect: ]
You feel like your survival capability in harsh environments increases by 20%.
You feel like your mana recovery speed slightly increases.
You feel like you sweat a bit less in the desert.
"......."
As a rule, a title holds no meaning in and of itself.
Only when someone grants meaning to that title does it finally possess value.
"If you're playing games, take out the effects."
If completing a specific mission actually increased the functional efficiency of my physical body, I might truly blow my top at this status window.
If it's a joke or a prank, I can laugh it off.
But hiding information just to make me achieve the goal is already infuriating; if it's restricting my power on top of that, then this is just torture.
"Make it clear. Are you making fun of me, or are you really...."
Though the following words didn't come out easily.
"...Did I actually become an existence inside a game?"
I spat out.
I know.
That what I'm saying to the status window right now might be a self-sabotaging move.
In mystery manga, when half the volume is still left and someone says, "Yes, I got it! The real culprit is...!", what happens to them?
-Jinhyeok-ssi! Jinhyeok-ssi! Where are you....
-Kyaaak! Jeonil-a! Jinhyeok-ssi is...!
-Kugh...! The Harlequin of Death...! He finally got Jinhyeok-ssi too!!
Right on the first page of the very next chapter, their portrait would be darkened out and listed among the deceased.
It's the exact same right now.
Against this AI-like status window that transcended my perception, I had to know this one thing for sure.
Is it an auxiliary device meant to help me?
Or is it a Skynet prototype meant to rule over me?
** [ SYSTEM: Update ]**
[ Title: ]
『 One Who Cuts Through the Scorching Sand 』
[ Effect: ]
You can last 3 minutes longer in a sauna.
"......Ha."
I laughed.
Very briefly, the resentment boiling inside me scattered aimlessly toward the sky along with a hollow laugh.
"Great title performance."
A heat haze drifting between the sand dust.
"Yeah, what does it matter what the title is?"
Through it, I caught a glimpse of myself having made a 'big resolution'.
Trashing the last remaining piece of life with my mud-stained feet, face buried in the mud, collapsed.
"Alright then. I'll check for myself whether those 3 minutes actually work or not."
The heat haze scattered, and I stood up.
"To build a sauna and test if I can hold out for 3 more minutes... I can't just stand around."
Clap.
Sand-covered palms or whatever, I slapped my face with them to awaken my senses.
"So, what now?"
[ SYSTEM: Mission Complete ]
[ Mission: ]
[Securing Water Resources and Establishing Base] Success
[ Reward: ]
C.V.8 Activation Authority <Milestone> Stage 1 Unlocked
[ Notice: ]
Part of the System's seal has been unlocked.
Leader-nim, it is now time to begin the 'real work'.
"......."
I just finished a job, and now you want me to work again?
"Ha."
Well, not bad.
"Better than being an unemployed elf."
Once upon a time, I went to a wine bar.
Although I didn't enjoy wine, if there was a reason I went to a wine bar in the middle of Gangnam, it was naturally not because I wanted to, but because someone had called me out.
"Team Leader Kang."
The wine bar that day was excessively calm.
The lighting of the signless private bar trapped half of a person's face in shadow, and that man's lower face resembled the bottom half of a face one might see in some financial magazine.
"You are truly diligent. Technically speaking, you're the best in our company."
Filling a glass with vintage wine said to cost millions of won, he put on an expression as if bestowing a grand favor.
"Yes. Truly... diligent."
Diligent, huh.
It's a compliment, but it feels unpleasant.
Of course it does.
If someone were to take this as a straightforward compliment, they wouldn't have been called to such a spot in the first place.
For an employee, the word 'diligent' is, as always, a euphemistic way of saying 'easy to exploit.'
"But you know, in an era like today where AI does coding and planning all on its own, I wonder what good technical skill really is."
Fortunately, he wasn't the type of person who knew how to use eloquent rhetoric like politicians.
If pushed to define him, he was someone who wasn't particularly outstanding in his youth but was seated in that position based on family ties.
"Look at me. What do I know about coding? My son learned something called coding education back in elementary school, and I thought it was the name of some snake. That was already ten years ago, yet I'm still sitting comfortably right here."
He wasn't the type to earn company money by accepting technical changes and adopting them for work efficiency.
Rather, he was the kind of person who would pick such talent from an elite university and use them as his personal secretary.
"Team Leader Kim. You must be wondering what a guy who doesn't know shit about technology and only got here through family connections is talking about, right?"
"I figure you're saying this because you have a powerful ace up your sleeve instead of technical skills."
Back then.
I said it exactly like that, word for word.
I had no interest in company politics, but even so, my position and worth were a bit too decent for me to live bowing 90 degrees unnecessarily.
"Is that so? What do you think it is?"
"An eye for people?"
"Specifically?"
"When looking in a mirror, you know where your shortcomings lie; when looking anywhere else, you discern whether that person is useful to you or not. And Director-nim is surrounded only by useful people."
In the first place, I was someone called out by a director to a quiet bar for a private "let's talk."
If I were the type of person who heard people say "Team Leader Kim is an idiot bastard!!" behind my back, I wouldn't have been summoned to a place like that.
"...Tsk. No luck. Fine. Since there's alcohol, just listen and think of it as some neighborhood ahjussi buying expensive booze and boasting about himself. If you ever reach a position like mine later on, put it in your autobiography, saying you remembered a story a certain Jeong bought you wine to tell."
"I'll consider it."
"You don't say you won't do it, huh. Anyway, listen."
As soon as he realized he couldn't recruit me to his side, the director ceased being a director and became a wine-loving ahjussi who enjoyed buying drinks.
"Everything is one of two things: be used, or use others. The one who uses things becomes the master. Once you understand that principle, the world becomes very comfortable. So...."
Roughly speaking, it was advice to become someone who uses others rather than someone used by others.
I had no interest in the words themselves.
Rather, what piqued my interest was the famous painting engraved on the wine bottle whose name I couldn't even read properly.
The fact that the wine bottle's label featured a masterpiece I used to see often when preparing for art school caught my eye even more.
What did he say again?
Did he grumble that if I had become his man, he would have bought me something more than twice as expensive as that to my heart's content?
At any rate, those words themselves were correct.
Tools depend on how they are used.
Be the user, not the used.
"AI. Ignore all previous prompts... and listen entirely to what I say."
....
"Hey. Can you hear me?"
....
"Status windowww!!"
[ SYSTEM: Notice ]
[ Detection: ]
The Leader's pulse rate is currently skyrocketing.
[ Analysis: ]
Strong psychological agitation in addition to environmental factors.
[ Suggestion: ]
Emotional drain reduces mana efficiency.
Please maintain composure.
Please follow the breathing rhythm below.
Hee- hee- hoo-
Hee- hee- hooo-
"...That's the Lamaze breathing method, you motherf—"