Life Mission

Chapter 18

Kwajik!

The massive middle-kick struck the knife-tailed macaque in the temple. It was an attack to the death. Its head tipped at just one blow and its neck broke.

The knife-tailed macaques made a fuss and encircled Cha Jun Sung.

It was obvious that they were angry. He did not worry though because they were weak. It was just annoying that they attacked without warning.

Dozens of them poured in. Everything was blocked off, so there was no retreat. Whether he struck through either side or he kill all of them, Cha Jun Sung’s only choice was annihilation.

The sword danced. It was a simple slash and stab. The knife-tailed macaques’ limbs were getting cut off. The power in the slash was like the strength of an axe.

Cha Jun Sung stabbed the knife-tailed macaque in the stomach and broke its neck. It was because another one tried to get his head with its tail.

Knife-tail.

It is similar to the knives used in the kitchen. Since the tail was connected by a bone, being stabbed with the tail would feel like being stabbed with a knife. It was the best to avoid it.

“Cocky.”

Cha Jun Sung avoided the tail and grabbed the tail, pulling the arm. The knife-tailed macaque flew through the air and fell to the ground.

It wriggled as though it were having a seizure. Something had gone wrong with its back on the impact from the fall. It would die if left alone, but Cha Jun Sung did not do that.

He held it by its tail and spinned before letting go. It flew and mixed in amongst the others that had been approaching.

Papat!

Cha Jun Sung hit the floor. There was no need to hesitate. His vision that had increased by 2 times and reflexes reacted automatically to the dangerous attack.

He had become strong enough to kill dozens of Level 1 mutants with his bare hands.

No matter how much they attacked, his outstanding equipment and strong body protected him.

This was body modification. It was the best item that made it possible for an individual to fight without cumbersome equipment.

Cha Jun Sung’s sword split the knife-tailed macaque from its head to its rear. It felt strange. It was not bad.

His smile twisted. It was so sinister that Park Jin Hyuk would have taken a step back if he had seen. Cha Jun Sung was gripped with this new lack of emotion.

His blood boiled as his heart beat faster. He was overcome with an impulse to slaughter the mutants. His sanity sank and his instincts took over.

“I’ll kill you all.”

Bang bang!

Tutututu!

The grenade and red fire he had been holding back on did their jobs.

Beyond the smoke, Cha Jun Sung looked like a devil.

Hahaha!

Cha Jun Sung took the head of a macaque with a half-broken neck and pulled with all of his strength. The bones ripped apart. This was not something he would have done under normal circumstances.

He did kill as much as he could, but he had not done anything so cruel before.

He shoved the sword into open parts relentlessly. He only wounded them to the point right before death on purpose. He wanted to make them feel pain.

His eyes were bloodshot like a beast seeking its prey.

He killed and killed without stopping. He could not control the madness. He swept back and forth like a sailboat pushed over by a wave.

Roar!

As he heard a great cry, the leader of the macaques appeared. It was a Level 2 knife-tailed macaque. The numbers in his subordinates had visibly been reduced.

It was only a matter of time before they would be wiped out. The macaque needs to hurry up and kill Cha Jun Sung before they suffered more damages. This was only his thinking.

‘Is that the leader?’

Cha Jun Sung looked the macaque up in down while covered in blood. It was big.

There would be much pleasure in slashing it. If he were in his right mind, he would have started a search but he considered it cumbersome now. He brandished the sword while he thought.

‘Come at me at the same time. I’ll cut you into pieces of meat.’

Cha Jun Sung dragged his sword as he ran. The macaque also ran. He needed to relieve his desire before this feeling disappears.

***

Cha Jun Sung leaned against a boulder as he gasped for breath. It was a compromising situation.

In front of him, the macaque with the stomach ripped open was dead with its tongue hanging out.

“I.....”

More serious than the fact that he had killed the mutants with cruelty was that he had lost his senses. He had gotten to this point after feeling strange when seeing blood.

He did not know the cause. Was it that he naturally fell into slaughter as he started killing living things? Or could this be post-traumatic stress disorder?

“No. I would have shown symptoms if it were PTSD. This happened suddenly.”

What could the problem be? He would figure it out no matter what.

If he went crazy while working in a party, nothing said that they would not mistake him for a mutant. If he had been as he just was, he would kill everyone.

“Body modification?”

The only change that had happened to him was the body modification. The equipment was inanimate. It could not shake a person’s sanity. He had no doubt it was the body modification.

“Odin.”

Cha Jun Sung called Odin.

There was no response. The helper does not communicate with their Lifer during a mission.

“I’ll just let it go since I’ll hear it once I return to the briefing room anyway. I don’t want to hear it while I’m in this mood.”

-[What do you think body modification is?]

Odin replied. But instead of a response, he turned it into a question.

“It’s strengthening a person’s body to make it possible for them to fight against mutants.”

-[That is correct. Then I will ask, won’t there be a price to this power?]

“Price?”

-[Each person has a different depth to their talent. People who are born with a talent are often called geniuses.]

Cha Jun Sung just listened. Odin’s explanation had not ended.

-[But genius or not, people are just another object, and there is an obvious limit when looking at the strain.]

Body modification breaks through the limits of each person and their strain. It is taking the skin off of the existing being and giving rebirth as a new being.

Evolution into a superhuman. Body modification was the process of making an unhumanly human by injecting a special transcendence cell.

“There is no price. I’m losing as much as I gain. So in other words, you’re saying it’s a side effect?”

-[I will not deny it.]

“That’s weird. Didn’t you say there would be no side effects until the 4th stage?”

-[This is not a side effect. It is something that naturally follows once you go through body modification. The side effects you will experience in the 5th stage have a direct impact on your life.]

“Why didn’t you tell me in advance? If I had known, I would have at least been expecting it.”

-[All we can do is answer your questions at a standard we are allowed to. We do not amicably solve your curiosity.]

Cha Jun Sung had an expression of giving up. It was just like an emotionless artificial intelligence to answer in this way.

This meant that he must now preemptively ask every possible question. Odin was saying that it was all the fault of the person who purchased the item without looking into everything.

“What’s the solution? If I get like this every time I see blood, I’ll have to keep doing solo missions forever.”

-[You can only focus so you don’t lose your sanity.]

“That’s.....”

-[Control your sanity with your will. If you are swayed by just body modification, you will not be able to advance as a Lifer.]

“You’re playing on my pride. I was eaten up whole this time, but it won’t happen again. You think I’ll lose to a cell?”

-[You could lose.....]

“What? Tell me honestly. You’re a person or artificial intelligence with emotions, right? When I think about it, you taunt people. You’re cunning.”

-[Since you have resolved your curiosity, please return if you would like to ask further questions. Would you like to return to the briefing room or reality?]

“Send me home.”

Only he would suffer if he kept arguing with Odin. He was satisfied with finding out the cause. He would need to learn to try to control himself while going through solo missions.