by Yoo Seong
“Are you trying to place the blame on me?”
Marquis Martin smiled and nodded.
“Indeed. You’ve devised a plausible excuse.”
–Excuse?
“Well it doesn’t matter what you say.”
Marquis Martin ignored the ET’s words and looked at the deputy soldier.
“Deputy, tell all ships to prepare for bombardment. The target is the city in front of us!”
-Marquis, do you think you will be safe if you do something like this? It will be a war!
“Shut up!”
Marquis Martin raised his head and exclaimed.
“Do you think the federation will tremble at a threat like that forever? I’m saying this clearly from the position of an ally. Will you support or stop us? If you can’t answer clearly then disappear. And return to your home planet. If you want then I will give you a war!”
–Marquis, you have made a big mistake!
“I guess so.”
Marquis Martin smiled and turned away. And he was about to give an order to the dozens of cruisers aimed at Charem.
“Marquis-nim, something is strange. Look at this. Half of Charem has been changed into ruins. Furthermore, the speech signals won’t penetrate the shield but thousands of people are flocking and waving their hands towards us. It is like they are welcoming us.”
“Welcoming us? That is…..”
Marquis Martin muttered and frowned. Then a soldier suddenly shouted.
“Over there! The outer walls of Charem’s control tower!”
Another screen appeared next to the one of the ET. Charem’s central control tower was emitting black smoke and people climbing up a ladder on the outer wall. Marquis Martin didn’t know the first two people but he was surprised at the identity of the third man.
“That helmet is clearly Ark! He was alive?”
Ark had screamed in the middle of a conversation and disconnected it. Marquis Martin thought he had connected the communication device to the antenna before being caught by guards. Yet he was unexpectedly on the control tower’s outer wall.
“Why is that guy over there? What’s going on…..?”
Marquis Martin murmured with confusion. Then he saw something emerge from the hold and wrapped around Ark’s ankles.
————————————————————————————–
“The federation and Aschulat’s cruisers!”
Ark heard Clark’s cry while he was climbing out of the hole. He turned and saw dozens of space ships. The streamlined cruisers with the logo of a blue planet belonged to the federation.
“That’s it! They’ve come!”
A cry emerged from Ark’s mouth. The federation’s cruisers had finally arrived at Charem. Now the problem of Charem could be settled. And Ark would also receive the quest reward! Ark’s eyes couldn’t see the guns aimed at Charem. The aliens hiding in the safety zone were the same. The aliens were so shaken by the horrors of the Sufferers that they didn’t notice the tense situation between the federation and Aschulat. Anyway!
“That’s it. If I deal with this guy then the rest will somehow…..”
Ark murmured as he crept up the ladder.
Hwiririri! Chwarararak!
Then dozens of tentacles emerged from the bottom and wrapped around him.
“Ugh! W-what is this? That bastard!”
Ark’s face warped as he looked down. The Mumu was sticking to the wall like gum and creeping up it. The flesh was torn from Ark, Clark and Pureah’s attacks but there were enough flesh to form tentacles to wrap around Ark. At the same time Ark experienced a huge pulling force.
“Alan! Damn! Energy Blast!”
“Frame Burst!”
Light and flames poured down from the top. A few tentacles were torn or burnt but it was ineffective. The Mumu continuously wrapped more tentacles around Ark. Ark was unable to go up the ladder and the Mumu was gradually approaching the propeller.
‘I made a mistake! I can’t separate from this guy! In that case……’
Ark looked down for a while before grinding his teeth together.
“Shall I end this? Okay, let’s see this through to the end!”
Ark shouted and released his hand from the ladder. Ark was pulled by the tentacles and fell.
“Heok! A-Alan! What are you doing?”
“Is he trying to catch that monster for us……?”
“Oh my god! That brat! No! We can’t lose him now that we’ve reached this point! The Aschulat and federation cruisers just arrived…..he can’t die like this!”
Clark yelled at him from above.
“I’m alive!”
Ark yelled from the bottom. Clark and Pureah had misunderstood the reason why Ark jumped off. Of course his colleagues were also important to Ark. But this was all to secure his own safety. No matter how much they became friends, he wasn’t going to sacrifice what he got over the last fortnight. Ark fell down because the odds were in his favour.
Tong-!
Ark had fallen onto a propeller’s blade. Then he rolled until he was about to fall between the blades into the facility.
‘There!’
Ark took out a small object and threw it. He immediately fell between the gap into the power facility.
Pejik, pejik, kwa kwa kwa kwang!
An explosion occurred in the centre of the propeller. The explosion snapped the Wire Camera tangled around the centre of the propeller and it started turning again. The Mumu was still near the propeller as it hadn’t followed Ark’s action! There was no need to imagine the following scene.
Ka ka ka ka! Ka ka ka ka! Ka ka ka ka!
It was the awful sound of flesh being torn up. The Mumu’s enormous body was unable to follow Ark and was cut by the propeller. How much time had passed? Finally large lumps of flesh fell into the facility. The upper portion of the body also fell and a spider emerged from it.
‘The curse! It is the core of the Mumu!’
“18 Barrage!”
Ark ran towards the spider and shouted. At the same time, the shoulders of the Hyper Drone opened and steam emerged. His fists started to move like engines were attached to them.
Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!
The mana was finished and the battle suit recalled.
-Your level has risen!
-Your level has risen!
-Your level has risen……
The messages popped up in front of Ark. His screen was filled with 7 level up messages! He had gained 7 levels.
“Pant pant pant! It is a success!”
The battle suit disappeared and Ark felt drained. He was drenched in sweat and gasping for breath as he looked at the fiercely spinning propeller.
“I never thought it would be used like that.”
It was the object Ark had thrown before rolling off the propeller. It was the ‘tiny bomb for suicide’ that he received from Marquis Martin. It caused an explosion like a grenade but the range wasn’t strong enough to blow up everything in the area It as able to destroy the Wire Camera without damaging the propeller. Marquis Martin gave him the bomb to blow himself up if something went wrong but it ended up saving his life. Once again, every item he gathered could be used in the future.
“But it’s up to here. I no longer have the strength to move.”
Ark muttered as he flopped to the ground with exhaustion.
“Alan, are you alive? Just wait! I’ll teleport down……”
“N-no! I’m fine! Just stay there until the fan gets rid of all the gas!”
Ark raised his upper body and shouted. And he got up despite wanting to lay down and sleep. This room contained the corpse of a boss monster that gave him 7 levels. Loot of a considerable standard was likely to be dropped by the boss monster. Ark had no intention of sharing the loot with NPCs. Yet Clark was thinking about teleporting to his location?
“Damn, they don’t give me any time to breath!”
Ark cursed and moved his body. In fact, the Mumu ha
s dropped many items in different directions thanks to the propeller. Most of them were machine parts picked up from the tower and bullets. But Ark used his Dig skill to search through the body and found an amazing item.
-Ray Steel??? (Unique)
Item Type: Removable Grenade Launcher Wearer Restriction: Level 100
Attack: 15~120 Firing Rate: 20.40Sec
Durability: 18/30 Number of Ammunition: 3
A grenade launcher found in the body of a mutated Mumu. Although the Ray Steel is slower than grenade launchers exclusively for heavy armoured troops, it is a secondary device that can be attached to rifles and is useful on the battlefield.
The Ray Steel has transformed in a strange manner in the Mumu’s stomach and general grenades can’t be loaded anymore. When a metal of a suitable size is loaded into it, it would be compressed and converted into a strange type of bullet. Therefore it can’t produce the explosive results of a normal grenade launcher. But the strongest is that you don’t need to waste money buying expensive grenades. You can use any metal or machine as a projectile.
However, the damage will depend on the metal or machine parts used. It is a good chance to get rid of wasteful japtem when there is no room in your bag!
* Can be attached to rifle affiliated items
A grenade launcher that used metal parts to fire bullets! It was different from the grenade launchers exclusively used by heavy armour troops. His level was too low to use it and the attack was 15~120 but it was a unique weapon! The Ray Steel was a normal item sold in stores but it transformed while within the Mumu’s stomach and a unique weapon was born.
‘I can get a lot for it even if I don’t use it directly.
Ark packed it in his bag and started to collect the smaller items. His bag became full with machine parts but he had no intention of abandoning even 1 copper. In addition, the metal parts could contribute to his hacking skill. After 10 minutes. Ark gathered all the useable scrap iron and looked at the propeller.
“It is good that I destroyed the Mumu with it…..but the propeller is rotating again so I can’t get up. Do I have to wait here until the federation retakes the management system? Well it can’t be helped. I’ll just increase my hacking proficiency until then.”
Ark sat down, grabbed one of the circuits and connected it to his Nymphe. And he eventually raised his skill proficiency.
“Eh? T-this is?”
Information that he hadn’t possible considered was shown on his Nymphe screen.
Space 8
That Guy, This Guy, That Guy
“A demotion?”
“No, that is…..”
The middle aged man scratched his head with an embarrassed expression. It didn’t matter even if he didn’t reply. His facial expressions and gestures showed everything clearly. Irina replied with an emotionless face.
“I understand what you’re saying.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay. I know this isn’t your intention. I made up my mind when I decide to disobey Commander Haman’s instructions.”
After the Beltana war ended, she had expected to be sent to Hanan which was the hardest fought battlefield. She was generally indifferent to everything but she was also a user. And a user always needed experience. However the announcement was delayed for a fortnight and…..All of a sudden she received a notification from the section chief she belonged to and was given an unexpected mission. Irina was able to notice the rough situation immediately.
‘Commander Haman.’
Although the Beltana battle ended with the federation’s victory, Commander Haman was pushed into a corner. Ark was displayed as a war hero and the federation was concerned the media would start criticizing their treatment of prisoners so they pushed all the criticism towards the incompetence of Commander Haman. Naturally this was because of Irina. She rebelled against Haman but it didn’t work. Ark was the one who solved the problem himself. He placed the video of the battle onto the internet and attracted the interest of users and NPCs. But Haman didn’t forget that fact that she rebelled. The federation members also didn’t forget that she went against the decision of the higher ups. This mission she couldn’t understand was probably retaliation for that incident.
‘All the worlds are the same. Power was everything. This is a game so I was hoping that justice would win in here……’
But there wasn’t anything she could do. She wasn’t the type of protest in front of the presidential office. She had no ambition for changing the world. She just wanted a small shelter to relax. A small shelter where the eyes of a callous father won’t reach……
“I don’t understand.”
The section chief said as he stared at her.
“You knew about the circumstances of the federation yet you were still determined. I heard that you were about to receive a promotion to lieutenant soon. But that promotion was put off. So far you’ve never caused any problems. You also never showed interest in other people’s matters. Therefore I don’t understand why you did acted in a way that would attract Haman’s backlash. Is that Ark person someone special to you?”
“Special?”
“Isn’t he? I know that you’re not an emotional person.”
“I’m not an emotional person……”
Irina murmured with a strange expression. When she thought about it, the section chief’s words were right. She fled from her father into Galaxian and resolved to do all the work in her own way. That’s why she was obsessed with sticking to the rules. It was illogical that she took such actions on Beltana. It was definitely strange. This was also the part that her section chief was asking about.
‘At that time I was angry. Why? I didn’t like Commander Haman’s actions but there were different ways to dispute it. But I visited Commander Haman and questioned him excessively. Why did I act like that? What made me so angry? Does it have something to do with Ark like the section chief said? No, that is impossible.’
Irina thought for a while before shaking his head.
“I don’t understand either.”
“Hey hey, why does your answer have no sincerity?”
“It is unrelated to my sincerity. I just don’t know.”
“That sounds like you.”
The section chief smiled and said. But Irina didn’t say anything else. The section chief watched her for a while before saying.
“Anyway, this situation might be a little uncomfortable but just endure it. The atmosphere in the upper ranks is improving. If you handle this mission well then you’ll probably receive that lieutenant promotion. I don’t know if this will be a comfort but this mission isn’t easy. If the media is aware of it then the federation’s reputation might nosedive again so please deal with it before then. Do you understand? I recognize your skills so I believe you can handle this.”
“Understood.”
“This is the material sent from the field.”
The section chief handed her a file that said.
-Report on the mass breakout at the orbit prison Stael.
A new quest was registered after she read the words on the file
———————————————————————————–
“It’s been a while.”
Ark looked around with interested eyes. Paved roads were stretched out in all directions from the fountain in the plaza and chattering crowds were everywhere. Men and women wearing robes were sitting on benches reading magic books while merchants were selling goods in street stalls. Users wearing armour were shouting to gather users for hunting in dungeons. And chicken were crying from nearby buildings.
“This is the good part about New World.”
Ark laughed while sitting on a bench. That’s right. This wasn’t the pioneering era in the 24th century. It was a world in the 10th century…..a different world
. Instead of a world of gun and missiles, New World was a world of swords and magic. And this place was Selebrid, the capital city of the Schudenberg kingdom. Why was Ark suddenly in New World? It occurred a couple of days ago.
“Did you know?”
He had dropped in at Global Exos. The Planning Department chief Ha Myung-woo suddenly asked him.
“Huh? What?”
“The number of people connecting to New World is decreasing these days.”
“Ah, yes. I guess I’ve been busy.”
“Why is your answer like that? You can’t be that busy!”
“No, I really am busy…..”
This had happened when Ark first arrived in Charem. He was inside the pipes at the water facility so he had plenty of time. But Ark knew. Ha Myung-woo seemed to have gone through some difficulties judging by his voice. Once Ark was seated, Ha Myung-woo started to list his complaints.
“There are a various reasons for the number of connections decreasing. There are various errors every time an expansion pack is released and the development speed is slow so the new content can’t match up with the users’ level up speed. However, the planning team investigated and came to the conclusion that the biggest reason is that the player’s interest has cooled.
If the interest cooled then of course the number of connections would decrease. The 20 people of the planning team were mobilized for an investigation? Did they ever think that the cause of New World’s falling numbers was because of the stupid planning team? The words were in his throat but he swallowed them down. When Ark first joined Global Exos’ entrance examination, Ha Myung-woo was the person in charge of it. Despite becoming Global Exos’ advisor, Ark still found Ha Myung-woo difficult. Anyway, Ha Myung-woo continued talking.
“The planning team worried for a while so we created a new project. These days a massive amount of publicity comes from internet broadcasting. Therefore we have to promote the fantasy game system once again. After having users fill out a questionnaire, the answers came back as ‘Ark.’ Ark is the strongest person in New World so he is the thing that users are most curious about. So the planning team joined with an internet broadcasting company. The name will be ‘Ark, the Legend of that Time’ and it will be a trilogy!”
