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When does a man really feel that he's completely screwed?
Is it when my na grinds my teeth, stranded alone in the heart of enemy territory?
Or when I wake up to a doctor in a white gown informing , "Your condition is quite poor"?
No.
The answer is "when sothing goes wrong with and the friends beside can't even laugh about it."
Think about it. Those who would always co running over the mont sothing happened shouting, "Lololol idiot lololol," now co over with serious faces saying, "It's okay. Everything will be alright. Hang in there." At that mont, even the carefree fool who always said, "It's okay, I won't die," starts to wonder, "Am I going to die?"
It's going to take so ti before I can adjust to playing the ga in my current state, according to those who have been in this strange waiting room before.
First, the administrative researcher who's always by my side managing my body.
"It's an honor to serve you, Professor Park! My na is Cheisha, and I've been appointed as your physician!"
"Ah, yes, well."
"First, I'll explain the condition of your physical body, which you're most concerned about Are you ntally prepared?"
ntally what?
"Do I need to be ntally prepared?"
"Quite?"
Don't say it with such a happy expression, woman.
The screen that the physician showed looked like it could drive anyone insane.
In my mory, my body had a deford arm attached to a normal-looking man, muttering about how the lid of the connection device wouldn't close because of his left hand, but this was.
"Do the data sothing departnt handle mutant corpses too?"
"That's you."
.
.
.
.
.
"What?"
"That, Professor Park, is your body."
Damn. Should have listened to the doctor.
"Couldn't you have prepared at least a tranquilizer for ?"
"This is the waiting room for the connector. That's why I told you. You need to be ntally prepared."
My hands were trembling from the shock.
"Is that thing even alive?"
"It's not that thing'; it's your body. You can see inside, right? The heart is beating strong."
"That's because it's visible to the naked eye without any special equipnt."
Nowhere in the appearance of that,' which she called my body, was there any trace of my form.
Various chanical devices were stuck all over the black arms and legs.
The abdon, wide open, showed signs of ribs lted at the ends as if exposed to intense heat, and the sowhat intact intestines were chaotically mixed within.
"Surprisingly, 99.9% of the genetic traits are identical to those of humans, including the internal organs and cellular tissues. It seems that the transformation occurred while you were alive, affecting non-vital parts like skin, bones, and nails primarily, and then the activity of the box' halted the changes at a certain point."
"So, only the outer parts have transford, but the core is still human?"
"Yes, exactly!"
"But what about the bone shell on top of the intestines?"
"The ribs have grown about ten more to cover it. There's a similar rare disease in humans."
"And there's an extra heart?"
"If you wake up and play soccer, you'll probably be very good."
Crunch!
Hold it in. This person is a doctor. She doesn't look sane at all, and if I beat her up here, she might just cut off one or two of my fingers and say, It was like this originally. Do you know more about mutants than ? How many degrees do you have?'
What sowhat cald down was the progression graph of the mutant virus that this woman showed along with the video of my body.
"This is quite innovative. The virus levels are decreasing, albeit very slightly but its a significant physical reduction. The body tissue is gradually recovering, too. The black parts are regenerating much faster."
"Does that an I could return to my original state from this appearance?"
"Um yes! The virus is steadily decreasing and recovery is ongoing."
"Oh wow!"
"At the current rate, maybe in about 43 years and 8 months?"
Damn it-
"Actually, Professor Park, your condition was already a unique case in the world even before it beca this. No one can guarantee anything. The mutant virus itself seems a bit confused by the living human mutant' state that's imprinted in your genes. Maybe it's thinking, This isn't the right place,' and is trying to leave your body to find another host. Single-celled organisms operate on a YES or NO basis. Professor Park, you're in between YES and NO, arent you?"
I heard a lot of incomprehensible things after that but anyway, the desire to leave right away completely vanished.
If I leave now it just doesn't seem right. The way I look, fixed onto a steel fra and placed squarely in the center of a large room. It feels more like boarding an EVA from Evangelion than coming back to life. If they lt Professor Park's soul and inject it into , and the monster opens its eyes with a roar and shoots out of the city
Just looking at it, it seems built for combat and likely to perform exceptionally well. If a crisis hits Do, maybe President Young with his colored glasses might co and say [Get in your body, Professor].'
For now, I simply couldn't accept that this was my body.
As my mind was occupied with these thoughts, the next visitor was President Young.
"You don't seem very gentlemanly either."
"Gentlemanly? Uh not behaving like a gentleman If I disturbed your thoughts, I apologize. There wasnt really another appropriate ti."
"No, not that Anyway, good youre here. Seeing people co in one by one, it really feels like Im hospitalized."
President Young brought news about the outside situation.
"Did Do and Raptor clash again? I thought those guys were all dead? Weren't they the targets of so crazy mass killing device those madn activated?"
"It's the '38th District Do.' We've completely separated from them. Actually, according to the report you sent two months ago from District 38, the cooperation between Raptor and the District 38 Investigation Bureau was sowhat revealed. But you know what kind of people Raptor are. They dont engage in normal reciprocal relations; if they receive 1, they think only about taking the remaining 1. Making deals with such people is folly."
Raptor's movents were radically aggressive.
The chanized soldiers dispatched to the 30th district had heard from the local Investigation Bureau, Do is empty, so as promised, help us take command of Do!' And this ssage was passed straight to Raptor's headquarters, the Nest, and sensing an opportunity, Raptor imdiately withdrew from District 43 and started advancing towards the 38th District Do.
"Raptor's chronic weakness is the lack of advanced equipnt like shields, which makes adapting to the environnt difficult. The reason they so persistently attacked the 52nd District Do in the past was to conquer the city and loot it to make up for these deficiencies."
District 52 had blown itself up with the city's central power facility just before falling to Raptor.
Having previously faced a situation like chasing chickens only to end up like a dog that caught none, Raptor threw everything into this rare opportunity, rushing with all their might towards District 38.
"Did you just watch this happen? If an enemy you were facing off against left, you should naturally hit them where it hurts"
"They expected this and had already placed a lot of people there. By the ti we got the information and acted, Raptor's delaying forces had already secured a near carpet-bombing kill zone at the choke points. We're always in a position of defending a broad area with few troops, so it was difficult to respond agilely to such sudden movents. Plus, the movent speed of the Nest was faster than expected."
According to the President, it seems to have beco more agile due to the reduced scale from the last battle.'
Even though there were no jamming signals from District 38, all communications with District 47 were ignored, leaving them with no way to alert others of the attack
The Nest of Raptor, determinedly racing towards District 38, utilized its massive numbers of war machines to obliterate any mutants in their path and swiftly reached the district. As soon as the crazed administrative chief began his speech, they launched an advance into the city.
"It's either incredible luck or they had spies within their administration. How they managed to ensure their survival in such a definitive manner is beyond . But as a result, Raptor managed to kill all the nearby scavengers and wandering survivors when the first wave from the radio tower sounded, and by the third wave, they had swiftly taken over the city, demolishing and looting everything inside."
The core parts of the city's heart, the central generator, which could never be replicated, were dismantled and the entire city was virtually carted away, including its inhabitants.
"The good news is that our forces managed to strike back while they were slow from filling their bellies. The primary target for our troops was naturally the box.' Having experienced its power, we believed that if even that fell into Raptor's hands, it would be the end."
President explained that after a fierce battle, the exosuit team forcibly pushed through the supply lines and secured the box before retreating.
The result was the box, half-destroyed in my hands, overloaded and nearly exploding from the high-output energy of the radio tower, shattered once more by Raptor's assault.
The ruined District 38 Do.
And now, the real mobile fortress, New-Raptor Nest, which had dismantled and carried off the city-level shield and its generator, was now capable of moving to any extre harsh terrain.
Of course, the city-level shield also had a cloaking feature. Obviously, it wouldnt be as effective as when it was fixed in a city structure, but given the Nests size wasn't as large as Do, it was manageable. They had the technical staff for it. While not capable of enhancents or research, operation and maintenance were certainly feasible.
A silent and invisible city-like murder tank. Like having a fully crewed Arbiter tank.
"This is just a crazy party."
"That's quite the apt description."
President sighed, looking visibly aged since I last saw him. Well, he was the one who had to deal with it, probably feeling more frustrated than .
"So having achieved their objective, Raptor swallowed up the nearby refugees and vanished into the inner sectors of the 30s districts. Now, we find ourselves having to keep alert 24/7 to face them, even though they're off the radar."
That was the second' most serious issue, according to the President.
"Second? Then what's the first?"
"Obviously, its the insane increase in mutants."
"How bad are we talking?"
"Rember right after the war ended? When dead soldiers all ca back as mutants, marching in lines? It's similar to that. Just when we thought we'd pushed back the mutants and expanded the human survival zones, one idiot's blunder has us back to hiding and being hunted."
"Damn."
There were far more survivors hiding out than officially accounted for, and they started being hunted by an equal number of Type 2 mutants.
"Of course, your sacrifice It's thanks to that we can even think about these things. The completed box reportedly affected even within the shield, but this wasnt to that extent. It didnt produce nearly as many Type 3 and 2.5 mutants as the records suggest."
People had stopped production and were holed up in their shelters consuming stockpiled food, or risking their lives to break through to larger community groups like Do.
"Out of appreciation for your efforts, I'd advise that it's easier on your mind not to co out right now. Stay in and rest. Think of it as a vacation."
He approved an absurd amount of compensation for my services and injuries without a mont's hesitation before leaving. His expression seed slightly relieved, as if paying off so of the burden.
The next visitor was Ezel. Dressed in military uniform and with his face bandaged, he appeared
"Waaaaah! Heeeey!!! Fuck, youre not dead, right? This isn't so kind of virtual PTSD treatnt program, is it? You're my brother, right? Professor bro! Hahaha heeey!!!"
He started sobbing grotesquely right from the start.
Thwack!
"Ah, you crazy fool! Have you lost your mind? Whos your brother! I dont have a brother like you!"
"Sob! But, but you told to call you brother back then"
"When did I ever!"
"Ah."
Ezel then broke down completely, collapsing to the floor and wailing. Seeing his breakdown, I realized my mistakeblaming himself for being slow and incompetent, leading to my condition. As he banged his head on the floor loud enough to be heard across a construction site, I decided it was best to intervene. It wasn't difficult; a sharp "Cut it out, you maniac!" got him to sit up straight in front of , kneeling in formal posture. His obedience was almost more frightening. What on earth had happened two months ago?
"What happened to your face?"
"Uh Sob! This? It's nothing. That bitch burned my face."
What on earth had happened to lt away the playful, mischievous face of my friend into such a grueso state? As he hit his head on the floor, the loosened bandage slipped, revealing a face terribly distorted by severe burns.
"It's really nothing. There's good dication at the administration, and they say continuous treatnt should do the trick."
"Hey, how can you say it's nothing, man! To have burns that lt your skin"
"Should we compare it to your current condition?"
"Ah."
Right. I was injured almost to the point of death. From his perspective, it wouldn't make sense to call his injuries significant. The person in front of him was almost like a corpse.
Anyway, after calming and consoling Ezel a bit, he ntioned that he had formally joined BDSM after leaving Do.
"Who decided that? I don't like it."
"Ah, why!"
"Look, if you had stayed in Do, we could have called you whenever we needed an exosuit 1 1, joining our hobound slug. Would that have been better? Go back! Go hang on to the President's coattails!"
"Kuh, this harsh and biting feeling it's definitely you! I missed this!"
"What, what madness"
It turns out, two months ago, he had gone through various events that significantly changed his perspective.
"Just my concept of justice changed. You know, eventually, a world will co where a child on the street, when asked how to take cover from enemy artillery, wont have to ask Whats that? A world where you can ask a lone child where their parents are without automatically assuming they are dead. It would be good to live according to the old justice when such days co."
""
"But that's not the case now, right? These days, kids learn the Mozambique drill sooner than multiplication, and instead of toys, they receive knives as gifts. As adults who created this era, we do have so duty to bear a cold, damp justice."
"You Huh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense."
Change of beliefs and the current situation in Do. He said hundreds of refugees flood in daily. In matters of survival, people beco selfish and ruthless. There would have been divisions within Do too, and given the restrictions on the Investigation Bureau's movents, he wanted to maintain his sense of justice outside the group
"Refugee? What's that? No way. If there's any dissident, President Young would send them straight to the Underdo Human Developnt Program. Ian and I drove a tank into the Investigation Bureau's quarters and got kicked out. They asked to choose between opposing Do or BDSM, but I couldn't answer. That's when I made my decision."
Damn, I was a fool to ask.
During the remaining ti we had (Ezel ntioned there was a set visiting duration per person), we just chatted idly until I was about to kick him out when one last question popped into my mind.
"Hey. Why hasn't Vex co?"
"Hic!"
At that, Ezel jumped as if scorched by fire.
Could it be?'
"Uh, um, Vex ahahaha, that, um"
No way. Could it be possible? Could it?'
"Is Vex dead?"
"Ah, no! Not dead! Ca back alive, shooting guns and swinging knives, so energetic!"
"Then why hasn't he co? It seems like him to be the first one here."
"He's busy! Yes! Super busy, so busy his eyebrows are fluttering! Ah, my tis up! Ill visit again! Bye!"
Ding-!
[Player Soygaybar has logged out.]
Ezel, who clung desperately at tis, now hurriedly fled.
The reason for his behavior beca clear when Vex visited that evening.
"Sorry Hepburn. Its just, the blood, it gets dirty, keeps sticking annoyingly"
He had reverted to the speech patterns from when we first t.
Just like my friends who couldn't laugh at my situation before, now I was the one who couldnt joke about it.
Vex looked really bad.
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