Life Mission

“This is it. Do it again. Talk or suppress – do whatever you need to create the conditions we need to capture him. That’s the easiest way if we’re going to take him to the palace.”

“Kikik! Yeah!”

Titan would have been able to bind him up, but this is not something that they can do. And it is not like they can take him after tying his arms and legs up. It is okay even if there is not a long period of time that they can control Cha Jun Sung’s mind. If they buy just a few days of time, they are prepared to make the most of it.

[It works!]

Beholder cheers. He succeeded in re-entry. Cha Jun Sung is physically exhausted from fighting Medusa under all sorts of restrictions, and he is experiencing hallucinations because of the poison. His mental defenses are bound to collapse.

[You’re the guy who came in before. Get out.]

[Me?]

[Yeah.]

[Did you go back to normal? It was a mess with two of you fighting before.]

[A part became stable because you were digging around. But that doesn’t mean I’ve gone back to my original self. It’s just a part. I’ll say it again. Get out.]

[I can’t do that. I have to take you to her Majesty. Do you know how far I walked? It was such a bother! Become one of us.]

[Where are we?]

It is unfair. Beholder can see into Cha Jun Sung’s mind, but Cha Jun Sung cannot see into Beholder’s. It is not a matter of who is stronger, but a difference in ability.

[Italy’s capital, Rome. You don’t remember anything? Not even who you are?]

[Me? I’m Cha Jun Sung. Didn’t you already see that?]

[I did, but it’s hard to believe. Hey! Are you really a human? We can communicate well. If all goes well, we won’t even need to fight.]

Beholder thought that the situation was going in their favor. It feels like if he keeps up a good atmosphere and sweet talks Cha Jun Sung, the battle could end now.

[Italy... Is this Europe? When you say Majesty, do you mean White Queen Lobelira?]

[You know her Majesty? Did you really kill that whore, Evil Queen?]

[If you don’t differentiate between reality and virtual... then, I did kill her. By the way, can I ask you for a favor?]

[What is it?]

[Can you help me so my mind can control my body? I’ll become one of you if you do that for me. I can’t do anything in this state.]

[Will it work if I separate the Oriax? I don’t think I can do it for very long.]

[A few days would be fine. Even a day.]

[Fine! I’ll try it!]

The situation is unraveling well. Beholder is happy that he completed his mission, and helped Cha Jun Sung’s mind to push the Oriax.

There is nothing to lose in gaining points with someone they will become colleagues with. But is there really nothing to lose? Pushing too far ahead without thinking is bound to lead to mistakes.

Beholder can figure out what Cha Jun Sung is thinking if he has the mind to find out. When the opponent became submissive, he skipped steps with the thought that he just needed to end it quickly. There is no way to know what might result from that.

An unreactive body on its knees. While Beholder was talking to Cha Jun Sung’s mind, his body did not move as though it were a machine with its engine turned off.

Medusa released the hallucinations. A tremendous amount of energy is consumed to maintain the hallucinations. She needs to rest in order to use it sparingly.

She wants to eat something, but this is a battlefield with level 8 monsters. Unless they are crazy, lower level mutants would not remain here. Every living creature will have run away as soon as Cha Jun Sung roared and revealed his presence.

If she cannot supplement her strength with nutrients, calming her short breath will provide her with conditions to fight in.

“Ha? All wounds healed in the time it would take for a cup of coffee to go cold? He didn’t absorb my poison as nutrients, did he? This is a problem if that’s true.”

Even if the poison has been diluted to 60%, it is harmful to the body unless it is a mutant that can handle poison. Though mutants have high detoxification capabilities and they are not affected, poison is still poison. It becomes an unnecessary attack.

It is easier to send it out than consume nutrients inside and detoxify. Then it is one of two cases. He either sucked up the venom to use as nutrients as Medusa said, or he stupidly did not expel the poison and is detoxifying from the inside.

“This won’t do. My dear children, go hunt for mommy.”

Kyak!

Medusa stroked the snakes camouflaged as hair and they fell out to combine into one and become a venomous snake 3 to 4 meters long.

She had not shown this ability while fighting with Cha Jun Sung. She has only ever shown this ability once in her life! It was in a battle of order with Inferno.

The colorful snake grows farther from Medusa’s view. Its writhing is like that of a sneak, but it is as fast as an arrow. Medusa sent her children because she cannot leave. She needs to guard Cha Jun Sung because there is no way of knowing what might change.

The snake must not be underestimated because it is small. It is still a level 6. If bitten by its fangs, a Lifer who has gone through the 4th stage of body modifications would not last 10 seconds.

Grey hair grows where the snakes had been. It is the hair she had when she had been human.

Cha Jun Sung did not show change even after several hours. He is still on his knees. Medusa relaxed and waited.

“Kihit!”

Beholder approaches from outside the battlefield. It is over. She will need to hear from him to know whether it was a failure or success, but it looks like a success.

“You’re here. How is he?”

“Kikik! Fortunately, we could communicate! His mind is split into two, but one side is for us. I helped that side to push down the other.”

“For how long? When will he wake up?”

“2 days minimum, 3 days at most? It’ll get longer and longer if I hold him. I’m sure he’ll be completely eaten later. 5 minutes is enough to wake up.”

Medusa’s expression becomes light. It took a few months to search for him. She relaxed and put her heart to rest.

Twitch.

“He’s moving.”

“Hee hee!”

A weak vibration, Cha Jun Sung’s body is reacting. It started from his fingers and toes, spread to his elbows and knees, and ended with his body and neck.

9 eyes open. There was no difference in his intensity, but he was not full of ferocity and savagery as he had been before.

Cha Jun Sung put his palm with sharp nails on concrete. When he squeezed with strength, the stone floor shaves off under the gruesome grip. He ground the stone fragments he held in his hand and let the powder fly with the wind.

Boom!

His knees straighten. The world looks small when looking at it from 10 meters in the air. Why is it so small? It is a toy? His senses that are amplified by the hundreds of what he had as a human tell him that he has become a being that exceeded limits.

“Like this?”

Cha Jun Sung changes his body. He has never changed the way he wanted to with a sane mind, but he is used to it. His body must remember.

“How do you feel?”

“I feel?”

A sound from ahead. Medusa in her sleeping state and Beholder in his awakened state. He cannot think of the word to express himself.

“It’ll be strange for now. You’ve abandoned yourself and evolved into a new being. But that ends soon, too. Adapting is quick.”

They understand Cha Jun Sung. There is no mutant that feels natural from the beginning after recovering normality. This was the same for Medusa and Beholder. How could they be natural when they do not know how anything worked out?

“The White Queen wants me?”

“You know her Majesty?”

“We’ve never met. I just know that she’s looking for me from my conversation with Beholder, but I don’t understand. Why is she trying to meet me?”

“Why else? She wants to gain an upper hand in the fight against the disasters.”

“The 6 disasters.....”