Life Mission

Jigneon worked the Lifers a bit before ending the mission.

It is because it became meaningless since Evil Queen and Bon Load died. They weren’t able to complete the mission, but they were given ample points.

They just didn’t get the dream box.

Cha Jun Sung was the only one to get it.

He got it informally. No one knows that he got the dream box. 100,000 entered, and 40,000 were sacrificed in the end.

Even this is because the level 8 split skeletons died when Evil Queen died in battle.

If that hadn’t happened, there would have been more loss.

When the command center collapsed, Park Jin Hyuk, Koharu, and Basil stepped up. There had been nothing special. They had just lent their force.

Strategist’s group had fortunately survived, but they were in critical condition. They were treated with top medical equipment, but it is impossible for them to recover inside the mission. So all they were able to do was to hang on to their lives. They need to be sent back to Mechanic City to heal completely, but returning is only possible through the subject’s will.

So the only thing they could do was to wait with them until they regained consciousness.

With Jigneon’s mission ending, Lifers left only the dead and went back to reality. Regardless of whether they won or lost, they had a glory full of wounds.

***

Cha Jun Sung is facing Jigneon.

He is quiet.

They have seen each other a few times until now, but this meeting is a little special.

Bang bang bang!

Ack!

Jigneon turned on a hologram.

Cha Jun Sung’s expression is bitter. Bloody Kingdom is colliding with Parasite King in the hologram. The situation is better than that of the World Federation because they are fighting against a normal level 9, but they are doing poorly because they only have 2 level S Lifers.

Over time, Parasite King made Africa completely his. A tremendous number of them die. It is a field of corpses.

The point is changing in various ways and the situation is progressing quickly. He isn’t watching in real time. It is a video that has been edited with the important parts.

The video quickly came to an end.

The result is failure.

Blood King and Dark Side survived, but the damage beyond that was as disastrous as that of World Federation.

Neither of the two groups will be able to dream of attempting level S missions.

Unless they form an alliance.

There’s no guarantee for completion even if they form an alliance. They might be able to do something about Parasite King, but Black Lord and White Queen are too much.

“The two powers failed at level S missions. But we were able to get the information we needed because you killed Evil Queen. It’s just a pity that...”

“What is?”

“That we didn’t get to fully see Evil Queen’s abilities. If you had fought without self-destruction, we would have been able to gain more useful information.”

Cha Jun Sung did not agree with Jigneon.

Even if he redid what happened, he would not let Evil Queen show her full capabilities. Cha Jun Sung is level 9 and though he had support from 2 Miracles, there are invariant laws. One is that he only has one life.

“What happens to Life Mission now? Will it go away?”

Cha Jun Sung changed the direction of their conversation because he didn’t want to keep talking about what was already the past. For the first time, he had the chance to find out everything he wanted to know.

“A tremendous amount of energy goes into Life Mission’s maintenance. We’ll use it if we need to, but we’ll have to give up if we don’t need to. We’re thinking of stopping it.”

There are 4 level S missions left, but 1 or 2 is plenty. They didn’t expect all clears. They don’t have to hang on to level S missions since they already saw a level 10 killed.

“How will you take care of the two worlds?”

“I don’t know how you’ll take this, but we’ve never even thought about that. We wouldn’t have created this if we were going to take care of it.”

Only Life Mission would disappear.

Mutants and Lifers would just live in their respective environments.

Jigneon didn’t feel anything like guilt regarding what they had done. They think of humans like animals to test on.

“If it stops, does that mean we can never go into the mission world again?”

“We can leave a few permanent gates. Of course we would no longer be involved, so Lifers would have to support it on their own.”

Cha Jun Sung thought about missions without interference from Life Mission. That is when all elements of the game would be gone and it would become total reality.

“If you open permanent gates, can mutants come to reality as well?”

“Yes. You all will have to block it or something. It isn’t a decided matter. We need to hold a meeting about it. Anyway, a notice will come up soon. The time has come to get away from the experiment and to face reality. Ah! It’s our problem. It has nothing to do with you all.”

“The real reality...”

“I guess we need to tell you? You do have the right to know. Follow me.”

They are currently talking in a small space in Jigneon’s laboratory.

Cha Jun Sung followed him without saying anything.

***

It is boisterous.

People dressed smartly look at Jigneon and Cha Jun Sung. More accurately, they are looking at Cha Jun Sung.

Cha Jun Sung felt them looking at him, and looked over the place that Jigneon had brought him to. Thousands of holograms filling up the space.

Lifers battling mutants inside the holograms, those watching all of this, and Life Mission officials. It is a new world.

“This is the Situation Room. There are a few dozen other places as well. This is how we have an idea of Lifers’ every move.”

He gained information on time through the battle videos here.

Cha Jun Sung remained silent.

A few officials recognized him, but they did not acknowledge it and focused solely on understanding what Jigneon was saying.

“We’re short on level B battlesuits! Hurry up and make them!”

“It’s the same for level A, too!”

“Speed up the weapon supply!”

“Speed it up!”

Shouts bursting from here and there.

The next place that Jigneon took him to was a workshop larger than dozens of ordinary stadiums combined.

It was a system that not even 21st century contemporary human, Cha Jun Sung, could understand with its all too complicated configuration and mechanical equipment.

“This is where tens of thousands of people labor to create Lifer gear. I’m sure you knew that we didn’t just make those things with the flick of a hand?”

He had thought that they made them easily.

It is a science that opens dimensions and tweaks time.

Cha Jun Sung went blank for a moment. This is more surprising than the Situation Room.

Things that Jigneon showed him like the holograms were different only in scale, but he had guessed how they were being surveilled.

Woong!

Jigneon opened the gate.

In outer space, they are inside a giant ship that is as big as 20% of Korea. It was too large to move on foot.

“The third is a place where you’ll frown as much as it is where the full-scale studies are done. You might not want to see it, but you’ll have to see an unwelcome face too.”

“An unwelcome face?”

“Each of the supervisors are in charge of the Situation Room, Workshop, and Genetic Institute. We have the authority to engage anywhere, but there’s a difference in size. Once you see the Genetic Institute, you’ve basically seen all of Life Mission. When that happens, I’ll tell you why this was made.”

Cha Jun Sung could guess who was in charge of the Genetic Institute.

If it isn’t Gabenu, it’s Borteth.

All he had with Gabenu had been a clash of pride. Their relationship isn’t so bad that he would rage.

Zing!

Jigneon goes through the gate.

Cha Jun Sung followed him in. When his vision changed, an unwelcome face and a scene that really did make him frown, were waiting for him.