NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4 - Achievement, Defending the Base
Chapter 4 – Achievement, Defending the Base
Episode 4.
After venting his emotions until he felt relieved, Youngmin looked around.
He saw blood, vomit, and people huddled in the corner.
He pointed at a woman and a man who looked like they would be good at cleaning.
‘You. And you. Come forward and clean up this floor.’
The two who were singled out hesitated but didn’t approach.
Seeing how they were terrified even when blood flowed near them, they seemed to fear infection.
Finding it bothersome to explain that it wasn’t contagious, he bluntly said:
‘If you don’t move, I’ll throw you out.’
‘……’
‘W-what right do you have to throw us out?’
Thinking they were quite brave to voice opposition after witnessing a murder right before their eyes.
Youngmin smiled faintly.
‘Right? I’m the owner here.’
‘……’
‘Move if you don’t want to be kicked out.’
After watching them begin cleaning despite their fear, Youngmin left the PC room.
His destination was his home on the fourth floor.
Contrary to his concerns, there were no infected inside the building.
More precisely, there were hardly any people at all.
Thinking about it, it made sense that there wouldn’t be people during daytime hours.
The shabby commercial building that housed his home and PC room was a mixed-use building consisting of a few office-tel units for working professionals and some commercial spaces.
When he opened his door, a massive animal pounced on him.
Woof woof!
A huge German Shepherd covered in brown and black fur.
It was Perd, the dog he raised.
‘Perd. Don’t bark.’
After dragging the excited Perd in by his collar, he closed the door.
An office-tel consisting of two rooms.
His home had no TV or dining table, just a lone bed, and was filled with various aquariums and cages.
A scene that might make others mistake him for an animal lover. However, Perd was the only being Youngmin truly cared for.
When his urges became unbearably strong, Youngmin would kill one of his pets to satisfy his bloodlust.
These were all traces of what Youngmin had endured and restrained throughout his past life.
‘But from now on… I don’t need to be satisfied with mere animals.’
And these creatures would finally burn their bodies as sacrifices for his fulfillment.
Achievement, Human Kill.
If killing humans could be an achievement, couldn’t killing chameleons, hamsters, and tropical fish be achievements too?
***
▶▶▶▶▶ 【BANG!】 ◀◀◀◀◀
[Minor Achievement, ‘Lizard Killing’ has been accomplished for the first time!]
[First Achievement Reward: Low-grade Skill Draw Ticket]
A black ticket fell before my eyes.
◆Skill Draw Ticket
[A slasher show to satisfy the Godseats who seek stimulation!]
[Kill. If you’re lucky, it might change your life?]
[Tip: Tear it in half to start the skill draw!]
I picked up the ticket and put it in my pocket, then continued my work.
Each time I mechanically killed the animals I had raised, gunshots rang in my ears and hologram messages appeared.
[Minor Achievement, ‘Tropical Fish Killing’ has been accomplished for the first time!]
[First Achievement Reward: Low-grade Skill Draw Ticket]
Youngmin had raised nearly a dozen different species of animals.
Since small and weak animals couldn’t completely satisfy his impulses, he had to suppress his urges in various ways as much as possible.
[Minor Achievement, ‘Mouse Killing’ has been accomplished for the first time!]
[First Achievement Reward: Low-grade Skill Draw Ticket]
▶▶▶▶▶ 【BANG!】 ◀◀◀◀◀
[Level Up! You have become an Awakened LV2!]
[MP increases by 1 and the power of all your skills increases by 10%!]
[Moderate Achievement, ‘First Level Up’ has been accomplished!]
[First Achievement Reward: Skill, Inventory]
‘Level up?’
There wasn’t anything like an experience bar in the status window.
If I had to guess, it seems like leveling up is possible through the act of killing or by achieving a certain number of achievements.
Youngmin also noticed the modifier ‘Moderate’ that appeared for the first time.
‘Simply killing an infected was a minor achievement, but killing an infected with bare hands was called a great achievement.’
And now ‘Moderate.’ It probably indicates the grade of the achievement.
It was when he had analyzed this information and killed all the animals.
▶▶▶▶▶ 【BANG!】 ◀◀◀◀◀
[Small Achievement, ‘Equal Slaughterer’ has been accomplished for the first time!]
[First Achievement Reward: Skill Selection Ticket]
◆Skill Selection Ticket
[A gift for you, the fair executioner who has killed 10 types of living beings!]
[You can choose one of the skills offered by the Godseats.]
The result of about 10 minutes of slaughter.
Youngmin became a LV2 Awakened and obtained 9 Low-grade Skill Draw Tickets, 1 Skill Selection Ticket, and the Inventory skill.
‘I’ll start with the Skill Selection Ticket.’
[Having caught the interest of the Godseats, you can choose a skill by your own will!]
▶List of Available Skills
Skill proposed by Hades
-> Wall Walking (You can walk on walls)
Skill proposed by the Rooftop Heavenly King
-> Strong Fist (When striking with your fist, a destructive power correction is applied)
Skill proposed by the Great King of Hungry Ghosts
-> Hungerless (You do not feel hunger.)
‘Number 3 is out. I’ll have to choose between 1 and 2.’
Although Strong Fist would probably be more reliable when acquired.
Youngmin recalled how he had climbed through pipes to enter the PC room to avoid danger.
Since engines have lost their utility, with elevators and cars no longer moving, having a means to move while avoiding danger would be good.
Therefore, Youngmin chose number 1.
****Skill: Wall Walking****
[Consumes 1 MP per 30 minutes to walk on walls.]
‘Next is the skill draw ticket.’
He took out the ticket and tore it in half.
A roulette appeared and began to spin.
[The roulette is spinning! -> Portable Refrigerator skill acquired!]
****Skill: Portable Refrigerator****
[Consumes 1 MP per 10 minutes to emit 0 degrees Celsius cold air from your hands!]
It’s not even a cold attack, just 0 degrees Celsius?
What a piece of garbage.
Now he understood why the skill draw ticket had the modifier ‘low-grade’ attached to it.
While he was at it, he used all his skill draw tickets.
[The roulette is spinning! -> Saliva Application skill acquired!]
[The roulette is spinning! -> Tingly Tingly skill acquired!]
[Skill slot insufficient. Please empty a skill slot to acquire the Tingly Tingly skill.]
The Saliva Application skill increased recovery rate on parts where saliva was applied, and Tingly Tingly was a skill that made the contacted opponent feel a slight electric shock.
‘Abandoning Tingly Tingly skill acquisition.’
[The roulette is spinning! -> Toy Gun skill acquired!]
[Skill slot insufficient. Please empty a skill slot to acquire the Toy Gun skill.]
****Skill: Toy Gun****
[When you make your hand into a gun shape, you can fire a bullet-shaped shockwave from your index finger.]
[However, the power is only about that of a BB gun bullet! Because it’s a toy gun!]
‘This could be useful.’
Even if the power was weak, hitting vital points like the eyes could still be effective.
Besides, having a means to exert physical force from a distance could be useful in various ways.
It might not be very effective against the infected, but without hesitation, he replaced the Portable Refrigerator skill with the Finger Gun in his slot.
Youngmin was already considering combat with other awakened individuals.
At the point where he had 5 low-grade skill draw tickets left, he stopped spinning the roulette.
‘Using them when I don’t have slots would be too inefficient.’
He was satisfied with having obtained one useful skill.
‘Status window.’
―――【Awakened Status Window】―――
◆Name: Ji Youngmin (Human, LV2)
◆MP: 11
◆Skill Slots: 5
[Inventory] [Dex Weapon] [Murderer’s Time]
[Wall Walking] [Toy Gun]
◆Achievements Unlocked: 16 (▼)
―――――――――――――――
A slight smile escaped his lips.
Level 2 with 5 skills.
He wasn’t sure how others were spending their time, but this should be enough of a foundation to stay ahead of everyone else.
He had finished everything he needed to do at home. Youngmin packed the rope, hammer, jackknife, and handcuffs that had been kept in the house into the large backpack hanging on the wall.
‘Ah. Come to think of it, I got the Inventory skill.’
◆Skill: Inventory
[You can store items in a subspace with a volume of 30 cubic meters.]
[The laws of entropy do not apply inside the subspace, so living creatures cannot be stored!]
Volume of 30 cubic meters. Slightly smaller than a typical studio apartment.
Youngmin stuffed everything that might be useful, including Perd’s food, into his inventory before heading down to the PC room with Perd.
The PC room had already been cleaned and people were having serious conversations there.
They must have elected a representative in the meantime, as a man in a suit stepped forward when he entered the PC room.
‘Ah, welcome, owner. We have something to discuss with you.’
Despite appearing to be at least twenty years older than Youngmin, the suited man spoke politely using honorifics.
It was as if he was saying, ‘We are intellectuals, so let’s be courteous,’ to Youngmin who had ordered them to clean using informal speech.
‘It might be fun to play along with their rhythm.’
Youngmin smirked as he replied.
‘What is it?’
‘As you’ve seen directly and seem to have gained mysterious powers yourself, you probably understand best that Earth has changed.’
The suited man continued, gesturing enthusiastically as if giving a business presentation to a company executive.
‘So I was thinking we could occupy this PC room for the time being and assess the situation. We have enough food here to last a few days.’
‘The food is mine, though.’
The suited man responded as if he had anticipated this.
‘You must have heard the message about the engine stopping. The building’s electricity is out. You won’t be able to eat everything before it spoils, so wouldn’t it be better if we all shared?’
He was right. Most of the food in the PC room, except for ramen and drinks, was frozen and would spoil quickly.
‘Having a group is better for survival than going it alone, even for you, sir. The government will take measures within a month at most anyway.’
Thinking he had gained the upper hand, the suited man’s tone subtly changed.
‘So I believe it’s better not to be hostile among fellow humans… what do you think?’
His tone remained respectful and humble, but there was an underlying sense that he was trying to persuade Youngmin.
‘This guy is smart and quick to assess the situation. However…’
When convincing people, you should state clear facts, not wishful thinking.
Youngmin suddenly understood why generational conflicts occur.
The old ways that always shout ‘In my day.’
The problem is the older generation that is trapped in the past and unable to accept new changes.
‘I guess in this case, it’s strange that I’ve already adapted when it’s been just an hour since Earth was destroyed.’
Youngmin opened his mouth emotionlessly.