variant
Officially, there is no passage between the city and the outside world.
This is because all roads leading to the outside were destroyed in order to block the spread of pollution and the invasion of monsters.
However, there were unofficial secret passages unknown to the public.
A long time ago, in the midst of reckless mining to dig out rare metals, an accident occurred in one of the shafts leading to the outside.
People thought that the six families immediately sent people to stop all mining in the nearby area and collapsed the tunnel, but the reality was different.
The tunnel did not collapse, it was only closed, and the six families secretly sent miners and equipment to recreate it as a passageway that could safely and quickly move large numbers of people and goods.
The only passage leading to the outside world.
And now, the corridor was constantly sending out four-digit troops and supplies for their use.
“This is outside… … .”
“The underground room is incomparably brighter! Is that the sun you’ve only heard about?”
“The air is fresh too! I never thought it would be this beautiful!”
Unlike an artificial light source that shines only enough to barely distinguish objects, the bright sun that illuminates the whole world brilliantly, the endless sky and vast land, cool and clear air instead of damp and smelly air.
People who saw the outside for the first time in their lives or after a long time burst into tears and cheers as they were overwhelmed by the expansive scenery.
‘It’s desolate and dry.’
Of course, this was the impression of people who had spent their entire lives underground, but the impression of Meteor was completely different.
A gloomy sky full of dark clouds, a wasteland that has dried up in red, and a stale atmosphere with every breath.
It was the scenery of a world that greeted an exemplary apocalypse that could only be seen in games or movies.
“I will share the covenant from now on! Of course, I assume you know, but take it as soon as you receive it! It’s out here! Don’t forget that pollution is accumulating in real time just because it’s out like this! Don’t make the mistake of risking your life for a few pennies!”
When Oswald’s name fell, the people of the Archon family began handing out covenants to the subjugation party.
Covenants that prevent the progression of contamination and alleviate some of the symptoms were so expensive that even wealthy people could not easily afford them, but in this expedition, they were only consumables that were rationed one bottle per person every day.
gulp!
“If you drink, move quickly!”
The most important thing on this expedition is time.
He scraped through the city and brought back an enormous amount of covenants, but the amount was far short of the amount consumed by the entire expedition.
Since you have to return to the city, you must leave at least half of the covenants you brought before you arrive at your destination, and you must leave an extra covenant in case the schedule increases due to variables such as encounters with monsters or bad weather.
The people were well aware of this fact, so as soon as they drank the covenant, they immediately began preparing to move.
“depart!”
* * *
A group of troops crossing a barren wasteland without a single blade of grass.
Yuseong, who was riding on a cart that looked similar to a car, but was not as fast, closed her eyes and thought as nothing appeared after a long time.
‘According to what is written on the map, it took a little over three months for the scouts to reach uncontaminated land.’
Of course, this expedition will end much sooner than that.
A person who wanders randomly in all directions in search of a destination that might be anywhere is not the same as a person who knows exactly where he is going and does not have to worry about getting lost.
There were also monsters.
The scouting party had to go back and forth to avoid the monster, but the expedition team could just push it away and move on even if it encountered a monster.
‘The question is exactly how long it will take… … . Knowing that, we can make an estimate of how fast the plan will proceed, but since we don’t know how much the map accumulates and there’s no unit of distance written down, it’s impossible to get an answer with simple calculations.’
If you arrive too soon, your plans will be disrupted, and if you arrive too late, there will be some variables.
Fortunately, there was a criterion for estimating the approximate distance.
The scouting party that came out went all the way in this direction and discovered a huge orc colony towards the evening of the third day.
If the expedition can figure out how long it will take to find the orc colony, we can approximate how long it will take to reach the untainted land by comparison.
A wasteland with no end in sight.
Yuseong, who was thinking that the expedition would be long while looking at the slowly darkening sky, smiled brightly at the shout from the front.
“Everyone stop! There is an orc colony ahead!”
“Oh my God, are there real orcs? What the hell are you eating in a place where there is nothing like this?”
“Is that an orc? But it looks different from what I saw in the book.”
Even if they were monsters, they were the first creatures they discovered on the ground, so most people looked at the orcs with interest.
However, some reactions were different.
“It is also a variant. I think there are about 300 of them?”
“Crazy, three hundred variants? Wouldn’t it be better to avoid it?”
“The other side has already found us. And you can’t avoid it in the first place. We didn’t just come to check the uncontaminated land, we came to carve a route there. Anything that could be a risk must be dealt with.”
“All ready for battle!”
When the contamination spread in the past, some of the races who had lived on the ground and the chiefs of each faction began to prepare for battle with a firm look on their faces.
“Do you know anything about the variant?”
Yoosung shook his head at Dorothy’s question.
It was difficult to memorize the strengths and characteristics of the five powers, the personalities and relationships of the members, and there was no time to study monsters.
I asked Kuzan just in case, but he only came back asking if I knew that.
“Life that has reached the final stage of contamination has two fates. One is death, one is a mutant that will be reborn in a terrifying form. And all variants have one thing in common.”
“What is it?”
“Regeneration.”
“Is it enough to be careful?”
“Otherwise, I wouldn’t have bothered to tell you. In my personal opinion, I would recommend staying back.”
Yooseong’s eyes narrowed.
I didn’t know how dangerous it was that he was telling me to stay away from the beginning.
“… … I will fight and decide.”
Considering the number of challenges remaining, it is right to avoid danger as much as possible, but recklessly taking care of safety will greatly hinder the plan.
Seeing the meteor clenching her fists, Dorothy said with a small smile.
“Stay out of my sight.”
“thank you.”
While Yoosung and Dorothy were talking, the situation was rapidly changing.
A group of Orcs from the village were rushing towards this side at a terrifying speed, raising a thick cloud of dust, and the expeditionary force began to hurriedly prepare for battle.
thud! thud! thud!
It was Gigant, a bipedal walking weapon, that stepped into the battle line.
However, it was quite small.
The average length is 3m, and the occasional large one barely exceeds 4m.
Of course, objectively speaking, it was by no means small, but [Unidentified creature. Very hostile to humans].
If Titan is a heavy machine, Gigant is only a car?
However, there were exceptions everywhere.
“Ha ha ha ha! The time has finally come for my cutie to play an active part!”
Vulcan’s Gigant boasts twice the size of other Gigant.
‘Did they say Tyrant?’
A gigantic body comparable to that of a titan, and two particularly thick arms.
It was an overbearing appearance worthy of the name of a tyrant.
“All fire!”
The moment Gigant settled down, countless cannonballs began to fall towards the group of Orcs.
Pure magical energy from fairies, elemental bombardments summoned by spirits, destructive magic created by wizards, and finally bullets and cannonballs fired with the power of gunpowder.
“Isn’t this how it ends?”
A voice uttered by someone tired of the ignorant firepower.
Yuseong, who was about to nod his head inadvertently, found Dorothy with a hard expression on his face and calmed down.
“come!”
The appearance of the orcs who appeared through the smoke was a mess.
Not a single one was intact, with half of the body blown off, large holes drilled everywhere, or charred burns.
Some cheered when they saw it, but some looked tired as they looked at the orcs who ran without dying even though they were injured.
‘It’s playing.’
As Dorothy said, Orcs possessed tremendous regenerative power.
As if rewinding time backwards, the orcs who regenerated their missing body parts slammed into Gigant with an indescribable roar, and the Gigant threw steel fists at the orcs.
The results were disastrous.
There were orcs flattened like crushed frogs, and there were also orcs whose bones were shattered and scattered across the floor.
But despite those injuries, the orc didn’t die.
“Where do you dare to be a deformed brat! Get lost!”
puck!
Correct.
The orc was killed by the fists of Tyrant controlled by Vulcan.
This is because the whole body has been shattered to such an extent that even regeneration is impossible.
However, no matter how good Vulkan did, at least one Gigant, and the other Gigant could not stop the Orcs from rushing.
“Kuh! Everyone hold on!”
thud! thud! thud!
If you think about common sense, there was absolutely no way that Gigant, who was a solid piece of metal, would be pushed back just because he collided with an orc.
However, the opponent is a mutant, not an ordinary orc.
Unable to overcome the maddening clashes of the Orcs, who were getting bigger and bigger through destruction and regeneration, the Gigants were gradually pushed back, leaving a hole in the defense line.
‘Is this a variant?’
Meteor’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the orcs who had squeezed in between the gigants.
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Joints twisted in bizarre directions, asymmetrical limbs, lumps protruding all over the body.
From a distance, I thought it was an ordinary orc, but when I looked closer, it was not an orc, but just a moving piece of meat in the shape of an orc.
Yooseong, who raised his magical power, threw a fist at the orc running toward him with a scream.
A volume containing the description of the penetration mirror.
The career that penetrated the skin turned the intestines into concussion, but surprisingly, the orc did not die.
Kkeuk! Kkeuk!
‘Can I endure this?’
Yuseong, who was embarrassed for a while, regained his senses and launched all kinds of attacks he could.
However, no attack knocked the orc down.
Even if bones and joints were broken, even if vital parts were pierced with fists filled with martial arts, even if the inside and outside was steamed evenly using a foot mirror and penetrating mirror, the orc only hesitated for a moment, but the orc quickly recovered from his injuries and charged vigorously.
‘It’s similar to when I dealt with the Nords. The offensive power is insufficient.’
Yooseong looked down at his fist and clicked his tongue briefly.
Even if you attack with the same power, unlike a blade that can concentrate power on a line or point, a fist that has no choice but to spread to the plane will inevitably suffer loss in attack power.
Personally, I preferred martial arts because it suits my taste and can be used naturally in any world, but recently I’ve been feeling the limitations of fighting with bare fists.
‘I can’t even use the artifacts I’ve obtained right now… … . We need to increase our attack power to continue fighting with Baktu. It’s also very large.’
Of course, this is not something you need to do right now.
Paperweight!
The overwhelming cutting power of the plasma axe and the regenerative power of the orcs were meaningless in the face of the high heat.
The endless power of regeneration has meaning only when there is a wound to regenerate.
Yuseong, who shook the ax madly and tore the orcs to pieces in an instant, began observing the battlefield while pretending to fight moderately.
‘Look at these?’
Variants are certainly strong.
He knows better than anyone else how heinous the synergy of physical abilities that transcend the limits of ordinary living things and regenerative powers that are close to immortality can be.
However, considering the power of the expedition, this level is not very difficult.
To compare objectively, there was no need for the entire expeditionary force to come out, and even one of the five forces could be enough to deal with it.
But the reality was not like that at all.
It’s not to the extent of being overwhelmingly pushed or fighting at a disadvantage, but it’s not easy to win.
What this meant was simple.
‘Everybody has no intention of fighting properly, right?’
A cruel smile hung on Yoosung’s lips.
this is not a game
