Life Mission

Often, people have strange dreams. Call them dog dreams. A few cannot shake them off. There is nothing they can do. It is not reality. But it bothers them.

If multiple people have the same dream and acknowledge that they are not dreaming and that it is reality, they would work to figure out what the phenomenon is.

-[I killed 5 Kawods with a hammer.]

-[3 Gremlins.]

-[Everyone. My friend did not come back. I think he died there.]

-[Mine was to steal something weird.]

-[Same with me. I had to steal 2 eggs from Beck and it felt like I was shooting Mission Impossible.]

Tatak.

Cha Jun Sung looked through the conversation in the chat room on his blog.

As he had expected, there were a lot of people who had gone through what he did. It had not yet been reported on the news, but that was not far off from happening either.

-[I caught 21 Kawods by using cognate predators as bait. My goal was to escape, but there was nothing I could do because they were blocking the exit.]

-[Amazing!]

-[Are you a UFC world champion or something? How could someone catch 21?]

-[Don’t lie.]

“I can’t believe it either ok.”

Cha Jun Sung had been learning fencing since he was young, and added boxing in order to maintain his health while playing Life Mission. Had that helped?

Reading the text in the chat room, it seemed the average time getting in and out was 3 hours. It was fast because they had only faced 5 to 6 Kawods.

“Some people had an easy time while some spent an entire day on it. That’s pretty shitty.”

The day after his return, he read the manual. If he spent a day inside the mission, a day passed in real life as well. It was an exact 1:1 ratio.

It was important that he could not bring items from reality into the briefing room or mission location. The helper decides what is allowed and what is not.

-[Will you go again?]

Cha Jun Sung thought for a second before texting back.

-[I’m going to go. Why?]

-[Hey fake Overload, you haven’t gone into the store yet, right? Try going in.]

Cha Jun Sung looked at the PDA on his wrist. It was a piece of equipment with a lot of functions. There were so many that he could not even list them all.

‘Alright let’s open it.’

He did not open the store as people expected him to. He was curious, but had completely forgotten about it with his thoughts about whether or not he would go again.

Ping.

He operated the PDA. A clear hologram and a list window flashed.

-[Store: Level D]

-[Equipment] [Food] [Medicine] [Materials] [Reinforcements] [Synthesis] [Transformation] [Miscellaneous] [Body Modification] [Daily Necessities]

The list became more detailed when he clicked on a menu item. For example, if he went into Equipment, there was Weapon and Armor.

-[Did you open it?]

-[Yes.]

-[There are a lot of things on the menu, but try going into just one. Go into Materials.]

Cha Jun Sung went into Materials. A motley of materials made him dizzy. There was a wide variety of materials. Most of them were strange.

-[Try typing precious metals or gems in the search window. You’ll be surprised.]

He tried searching precious metals. Platinum, gold, silver, etc. – they were sold by weight.

-[Gold 100g: 100 points]

-[Description: Material that goes into item synthesis, reinforcement, and transformation.]

“Was the price of gold $5,000 for 100g? The reward for the tutorial was 100 points. No, it would be 150 points for 150g since he had killed a bunch of mutants. He had earned $7,500 in one go. So in the end, it was money?”

$7,500.

It is too little to change a person’s life, but it was more than a month’s wages at a good job. This was a world where people would sell their souls for money.

High risk, high return. Even if it was a hell where people had to risk their lives, there would be plenty of people willing to do it as long as the return was appropriate.

-[If you become strong with the equipment, money comes in. It’s an opportunity!]

-[I agree!]

-[If you go through body modification and use the battle shoot, you’re a walking one-man army! An opportunity in Life Mission! Let’s fly our employment worries to Andromeda!]

-[I bought 50g of gold with 50 points. $2,500 is in my hand!]

As this specific subject became discussed, the chat room’s fervor rose. They acted in a frenzy as though they had earned everything with their inflated dreams.

“That’s when you’re still alive. As if everything will go their way.”

Each mission was a matter of life and death. Cha Jun Sung lived freely, but the others had greed, ambition, and avarice.

-[If you look in the Medicine menu, they sold cancer inhibitors, growth promoters, and blood too!]

That was a bit surprising. Each item could provoke medical innovation.

Cha Jun Sung left the chat room to properly look through the store. Even if others did not explain it to him, it was easy to understand it as long as he had the PDA.

“Unbelievable. Do points use money to control all things?”

Money is what has decided everything until now. Now, that would become points. There was nothing they could not do as long as they had points.

“Do I need to go too…..? If I don’t go, that would mean these people would rise above me. I don’t like that.”

He was not undermining others, but the people who were below him would stand atop his Overload reputation if this continued.

He would rather die than lose. Odin’s warning that he would not be able to live if he did not have power also stuck in his mind. He was muddled for various reasons.

“I can select between Level D and E missions. By difficulty, Level E has Level 1 and 2, D has Level 3 and 4 mutants. From Level 3, their strength and growth expand so I won’t be able to even leave a scratch unless I’m properly armed.”

He could tell through common sense. His pack and basic items were just 100 points.

Even with 5260 points, he would not be able to acquire the equipment necessary to complete a Level D mission. He would need many more points.

-[Body Modification]

Cha Jun Sung clicked on the list that would make it possible for him to take on a crowd of mutants. In the Level D store, there was surgery up to stage 2.

-[Gains from 1st stage body modification: 100,000 points]

-[Gains from 2nd stage body modification: 200,000 points]

Gain and probability were ensured until the 4th stage in the virtual version.

But the gain and probability fell from the 5th stage, and the character could die if the body modification failed. The character is deleted from the 9th stage onwards.

In a situation where people can evolve into superhumans, it had to be difficult.

Swipe.

Cha Jun Sung looked through the store for a few hours. There were a lot of curious things.

He did not get sick of it. He chose the optimal equipment he could get with his 5260 points. The Level D store was taken out of consideration, his points did not allow for it.

-[Low class impact tights: 1500 points]

-[Plastic armor: 1500 points]

-[Steel katana: 1000 points]

Impact tights fit the body closely and absorb external shock.

The 1cm thick special textile acted like a sponge. The disadvantage was that it was vulnerable to attacks of focused strength or sharp materials because of its low level.

The plastic armor is light, but high in elasticity and hard. If worn with the impact tights, they covered each other’s disadvantages.

The steel katana is a sword. It’s power and cutting force were strong, so it was advantageous to have before a fray. It was a symbol of Cha Jun Sung’s Overload and a weapon he was very familiar with.

“I’m gaining confidence.”

This was the equipment he chose costing a total of 4000 points. If he were wearing these, he would be able to fight 21 Kawods with his eyes closed.

“I guess I’ll need weapons? A pistol is a little weak, but a submachine gun is good.”

-[Mp7 red fire: 500 points]

It was a good one. It had a fast burst speed and its penetration was significant.

It had the basic 8 magazines with 271 bullets… 30 rounds per magazine. He intended to leave 1 round loaded.

“I’ll use the remaining 409 points on expendables. Food and medicine are important.”

If he didn’t eat, he would be exhausted even without moving. If he treated his wounds right away, he could prevent major injuries. It was a grave mistake to think that weapons are the only essential items.

“Perfect.”

Cha Jun Sung praised himself as he looked at the item list. He had not wasted even 1 point. He had calculated the weight he could lift and efficiency as well.

“I can handle Level 1 with this equipment for sure, but I can also give Level 2 a try.”

Level 1 could not get through the plastic armor and impact tights. It could if the damage accumulated, but he would not stay still.

Level 2 was dangerous to go up against right now, but the odds for a one-on-one fight were greater than 90% if he used the red fire and dagger before a struggle.

How did he know?

He was following the route he had gone through as a beginner again. He did not even think about Level 3 because there was a high possibility of dying from a single blow.

“Uh….. What the hell am I thinking? What am I doing right now?”