207 – What the Returner Endures (4)
“What is that guy?”
“Jiji, Jiji.”
Enduring the stares of numerous passers-by, I lay down on the bench and gathered my thoughts.
“Hmm… “
When I say that this floor is a floor that I can proceed alone… Let’s assume that the standard is not me, but the mysterious player A.
An average player whose level is reasonably high, who knows how to use weapons, who recently learned how to use magical power, and who has one useful trait. So, let’s imagine that a mid-level player who was a little behind, who would be around the 10th floor by now, has grown to this point.
If this mid-level player faces me, he will be defeated within 10 seconds. Even if I try to raise my inexperienced magical power, it is not enough to fight against the ‘chill’, and even if I do not use the chill, there is a difference in my swordsmanship proficiency. For reference, 10 seconds is based on ‘suppression’, but assuming killing, it can really be done in less than 1 second.
From the beginning, I raised my stats evenly through achievement levels, and through repeated regressions, I received a lot of desirable rewards.
“Hmm… “
However, even this average mid-level player cannot win even if he brings a truck of ordinary people. Gun? It’s still difficult for me and Choi Ji-won to avoid guns, so let’s say that’s the case with modern weapons such as guns, missiles, and bombs… Other than that, arrows, clubs, tasers, baseball bats, etc. Cannot be used by ordinary people to defeat the player no matter what they do.
In fact, on a gambling site, there was a match between an average mid-level player and a professional martial artist. The martial artist, who was skillfully avoiding attacks and accumulating damage, made a single mistake and fainted due to a broken bone. There was. This happens because the basic specifications are different.
So why do we bring up the story of mid-level players in the first place? To that extent, I wanted to say that the space called ‘Hyundai’ is safe for players.
It is not true if the player is invincible. If a sniper puts a bullet in your head, you die, if a missile flies at you, you die, and if a nuke explodes, you die. However, ‘surviving’ itself is very easy when there is no national aggro. If you run, hide, and deceive, you can hide for a week. It’s gum.
“Will a meteorite fall?”
This is also the reason why I expect a fantasy-like event rather than a typical modern setting. A meteorite may fall from the sky. Or maybe the gate will open and monsters will pour out. Maybe there will be a zombie outbreak.
Whatever it was, I was expecting the end of this world. The word ‘survival’ has a lot of weight. The 4th floor supports my prediction.
“… “
If this happens, clearing is clear, but my mentality is more of a problem. Let’s imagine that a zombie outbreak breaks out. What am I going to do to survive? It’s not difficult. But what about other ordinary people?
Dozens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, perhaps more will die fleetingly. It will scream out in pain and earnestly beg me to save it and help it. If the end of the world progresses, there is not much I can do. Even if you do your best, there will definitely be someone who dies.
It is clear that the words and curses that those people will spit out will harm my mental strength. It is a space that is too vivid and familiar to be dismissed as ‘aren’t they people in the tower anyway?’ It is clear that the moment we become insensitive to the death of these people, we will also become insensitive to the death of real people.
“… “First of all, I’ll try my best, and if it doesn’t work, I’ll have to go back.”
It is best to use regression to eliminate the root cause. Until then, do your best, and if it doesn’t work out, you can just go back.
The problem is that my current movements are determined by the type of ‘disaster’… If a disaster such as a zombie virus or an epidemic occurs where ‘people harm people’, you must go to a place with few people, such as a mountain or the sea. However, in the event of an indiscriminate disaster such as a ‘meteorite’ or ‘gate’, it would be better to go to an urban area with a lot of infrastructure and thorough preparations.
“Let’s just stay in the city for now.”
You will find out in a few hours anyway, so there is no need to gamble now. It would not be too late to stay in the city for now and return after seeing the true nature of the ‘disaster’.
Save as many people as possible. When a situation goes beyond my capabilities, I give up and go back to protect my mentality. The goal is to collect as much information as possible, eliminate the source if possible, and end everything the moment you first enter the ’21st floor.’ This should be enough.
“Okay.”
After organizing all my thoughts, I went to sleep on a park bench. I wanted to save my strength for tomorrow morning.
“I don’t smell like alcohol… teacher! Teacher! I got reported! “If you sleep here, your mouth will turn!”
“…Police?”
“Yes. It’s the police. We’ll take you to your house, so can you tell us your address? Oh, please show me your ID too.”
“Oh my.”
“Teacher? Teacher! Where are you going!”
On the way, a good citizen reported it to the police, so we had to run away from the park.
“… “It’s sad.”
Is this how foreign workers feel? A person who has no identity, no money, and no means of proving who he is cannot live normally in modern society.
Even though it wasn’t a survival mission, I was a fugitive anyway.
**
From Noble mtl dot com
The next morning. 8 O’clock.
“Whoa… “
I think I slept for about 30 minutes. I slowly got up from a deserted forest. It was a wet, grassy area with more bugs and animals than people, and the gentle chill froze the water, acting as a floor and driving away the annoying bugs.
“The pad is… “
The iPad I was holding in my arms was fine. I was worried that it might break down due to the cold or water getting in, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. I return my slightly sore shoulder, check that my armor is in good condition, and then lie down and check my iPad.
“Uhm… “
The first thing I did was check SNS, but nothing seemed to be happening. They are just saying what they want to say, and there is no talk about anything unusual or unusual.
Next, I checked the news channel.
“If anyone has seen this girl, please call 112 immediately.”
The status of the news channel viewed on the iPad is strange. There is a large picture of a girl hanging in the background, and the anchor’s tone is very serious.
“We ask for the active cooperation of citizens. Thank you.”
No, it’s not just about the news.
“… “There’s a report of a missing child on the front page of the newspaper.”
Newspaper.
“Are missing children even aired in advertisements?”
“YouTube is strange these days. “I guess so.”
YouTube.
“Wow, what a surprise.”
“Why are you hanging a picture of a child so big?”
Electronic display board.
That girl’s face was on every promotional tool that a country could use. Her round eyes, white skin, and a little bit of breast meat left behind. He looks roughly between the 5th grade of elementary school and the 1st grade of middle school.
What is unusual is that it is not a photo taken in everyday life, but a photo taken from the front, like a criminal’s mug shot. The background is also extremely white.
“… “That’s strange.”
This is something I have never seen in my life, and it is truly bizarre. I’ve seen pictures of missing children posted on walls somewhere, but this is the first time I’ve seen them advertised here and there like this.
Yes, if it were some kind of kidnapping incident, it would likely be covered in the news. Since it has been confirmed as a crime, it is not strange to see it on the news. However, the sight of a simple disappearance, not a kidnapping, making headlines like this…
The doubt that started out as a strange feeling of incongruity slowly began to grow and soon became closer to certainty. It was just before 9 o’clock, so it’s not just naive, it’s foolish to dismiss this incident as a coincidence.
“But how is that girl related to me…” “
“Help… Please help me brother… “
So, just as I was thinking about how this might relate to the ‘survival’ mission, a girl who was so pale that she was completely white was staggering towards me.
“No way… “
No way. This is the tower. I expected this to happen from the beginning. The girl walking over there… It was the same girl I saw on the news a little while ago.
It was only then that I realized.
“Is this what it meant… to survive?”
If you don’t do it, you will die, so stepping forward with a desperate heart to survive is not courage. It is a survival instinct, and something even animals can do.
“Wait there quietly. “I’ll go.”
Courage is walking into a dangerous situation with your own feet, even though you know it is dangerous.