The tolling of a bell in the silence.In its own way, there's a certain charm to it.Right now, things felt similar.A bizarre level of stillness hung in the air, a thick blanket muting the world.The only thing breaking it were pained groans that echoed like background noise.*KAAAAAANG—!*A tremendous roar, an awkward mixture of metallic ringing and a shattering crash, ripped through the quiet.Anyone still in their right mind could only stare blankly at the scene.*KAAAAAANG—!**So I guess skills don't work unless it's a bladed weapon.*A flicker of disappointment.I'd wanted to try unleashing a 'Slash' with the club, but the support skill didn't respond.Still, the fortunate thing was that the riot baton was remarkably sturdy, more so than it had any right to be.*KRA-D-D-D-DAK—! TAAAAANG!*The second layer of alloyed glass burst apart.People stumbled backward in shock.The reason I bothered to finish breaking the glass was simple. I had to get inside.Normally, I'd have used another method, but since one door was already wrecked, any other way felt like too much of a hassle.It would just eat up too much time."Hey.""Ah, y-yes?""Do you mind if I take this?""Th-that… Yes, please, take it."While the flustered security guard just stood there fidgeting, the people who had been inside began to move, one by one."O-outside!""Don't push, let's get out slowly!"A tide of people gushed out.As if the floodgates of a dam had been thrown open, hundreds, thousands, burst into the open air.It wasn't hard to guess why they were rushing out.Inside Wayless, everywhere except for the main facilities lacked the special shielding.All the lights were dead.The pitch-black interior would have undoubtedly amplified the chaos and fear of the unfolding disaster.In a way, this mass exodus was preordained.And it was actually the right answer.The reason it's so difficult to break into the Wayless headquarters in the early stages of the game is simple.The interior is swarming with too many mutants and infected. From that perspective, having this many soon-to-be mutants pouring out meant that getting inside Wayless would be a much smoother process.A frantic commotion.Yet even amidst the racket, a clear voice reached my ears."Just what is your identity?"Eli Wayless's question.It came out of nowhere.It was a high-level question that couldn't be answered easily.The real me.The me that's a player character.Neither could be explained simply.So, I had no choice but to explain with the one thing that was somewhat clear."Kyle Han.""Kyle Han?""That's my name.""I'll remember it.""Make sure you repay your debt later.""Yes… Of course, I must.And as for breaking the entrance, there won't be any legal responsibility, or any other trivial problems.""I'm not particularly worried about that."With the apocalypse about to begin, the very words 'legal responsibility' only served to highlight how little she grasped the current situation."…Is that so?""Well then, if you'll excuse me."She's a skill-based survivor.An exceptionally talented individual.This means the only reason she's an important survivor is purely because of the abilities she possesses.Therefore, for now, I don't need her.Even though she's part of the Wayless family, my judgment told me that bringing her to the top floor wouldn't help me get the master key.She's just one of many children who happens to bear the Wayless surname.According to the lore, that's precisely her position.As much time as I'd wasted, a sense of urgency began to flare up again.*I have to get moving again.*There could be no more wasting time.The confidence I'd gained about my traits had even given me the courage to move a little more hastily."Um."Just as I was about to cut through the crowd like a salmon swimming upstream, Eli called out to me for a moment.Her words were faint, nearly drowned out by the surging mob."Th-thank… you."*Looks like the favor-farming was a success.****Once the mutants appear, they'll begin an indiscriminate assault on any creature that isn't their own kind.An individual hit by that attack has a high chance of becoming infected and creating yet another victim.One could say their habits are no different from zombies.However, there is a clear difference from zombies.Their physical abilities evolve.Even just the infected are transformed into monsters that surpass normal categories.What if their numbers are in the tens of thousands? It's doable.Hundreds of thousands? Still doable.But the scale is different.Tens of millions.Tens of millions of individuals scour the world for prey like a swarm of ants.Can they be stopped? It's close to impossible.Even just 10% of this city's population is several million.And of course, this isn't the only city.Thus, the easiest way to clear this game is one thing.Annihilation.The only ending that allows for a speedrun.Self-destruction using nuclear weapons.Right now, I have to exclude that ending route from my options. Because it's an extreme ending where even the player character dies.Not that there are many other options left.Surviving on a deserted island through self-sufficiency, or escaping and building a bunker in a remote place.However, even those aren't ideal endings.In the first place, in the game, you meet the ending conditions if you survive for a specified amount of time.This isn't a game. It's become reality.In that case, I can't cling to a route where I live for just a few more months.Then how? I don't know the way.I have to find it, starting now.At least, I see through most of this world.The first button to fasten is the Wayless headquarters.Find the 'Master Key' that can control this city and normalize the situation as much as possible.—As I was having such thoughts, the flight of stairs I was bounding up was already nearing its end."This is gonna drive me crazy."The staggering height of 76 floors.A dizzying height to climb without the technological innovation of an elevator.The strange thing was, even while climbing such stairs, not even the [Exhausted] status effect appeared."...At least I picked a good one with Mechanical Cardiopulmonary."My heart and lungs hadn't even been replaced with implants, yet my body doesn't tire easily.*'Though I don't know about when hunting the infected…'*Even with a mechanical heart and lungs, under the premise of only using melee weapons, beating down hundreds of them would be overwhelming.So, equipment is also important.Powerful equipment that would let me survive even after striking down hundreds, thousands of them.One of those pieces, luckily, is on the top floor of the Wayless headquarters along with the master key.Just as I approached the top floor."That was quite a show."At the entrance to the top floor, dozens of men in black suits were already staring blankly at me."You got an implant or something? Hmm, no way. Implants should all be dead right now… No, if it's a military-grade implant, it'd have shielding."My head grows cold.It seemed they were curious about the situation at the entrance and my lack of exhaustion.The part where they knew all those important details.That's only possible if the major facility's alarms and security cameras are fully operational.It also meant the top floor of Wayless was prepared for an electromagnetic pulse.*'I already knew, but…'*The anxiety I had, 'just in case,' subsided."You've got a talent for making a man feel awkward."The middle-aged man scratched the back of his head, looking abashed.His hands, which I could faintly see, were covered in scars.At the same time, the man's relaxed demeanor was subtly grating.However, at the same time, I was also glad to see him. Because he was a familiar face.At first I didn't recognize him because of my blurry vision, but I'm sure of it now."Go back. No matter the situation, this isn't a place for outsiders to be coming and going.""Can't you step aside?"Vergo Heinz."I don't know who you are, nor do I know for what purpose you've come."A rare survivor you can meet if you run to Wayless at the start of gameplay.A middle-aged appearance means he's a pure human who hasn't had NH-03 injected into his body.This was the first time I was seeing Vergo uninfected by a mutant.***Vergo Heinz.A survivor who becomes infected while fighting mutants inside the Wayless headquarters.He's even a survivor who is friendly to the player, so a build to save him and have him join the team had been researched for quite a long time in the community.Myself, who was active under the nickname 'Kyle Han,' was also one of them.However, no matter which route you took, it was impossible to save a Vergo who had already become infected."Chief.""Oh, right. The manual says to subdue immediately, but the situation is chaotic, isn't it? Let's not make things troublesome."Such a Vergo, in a normal, uninfected state.That's why even in this urgent situation, his appearance comes off as favorable.*'Still, there's no time to be distracted.'*A blank stare. At the same time, dozens of eyes are fired at me. Roughly thirty men.Among them, more than half had bloodshot eyes.However, the tension from before had lessened a little.It was probably because my confidence in my traits had settled in, just a little.Our eyes met along with my contemplation.Should I try to overpower them?If I think of myself as a game character and them as nothing more than survivors in a game, it's worth a try.No. It's more than enough.Flashy controls would be impossible, but if I forced my way through, it seemed like it would work out somehow.The problem is what comes after I break through all of them. Even if I try to enter the top floor, the defense systems on the top floor would surely activate.*'Can I break the defense facilities?'**'It's different from the entrance. The riot baton will be crushed first.'**'I need firearms or bombs. But I can't even use firearms…'*Subduing them is not a good choice.Then, I'll persuade them.How on earth should I approach them to persuade these blockheads? My head already hurts.Separate from such thoughts, the security agents were also no pushovers.They don't even let out a common groan.They just guard the door with heavy expressions.The signs of mutation should be accompanied by extreme pain by now, yet the sight of them overcoming it with sheer willpower is even somewhat marvelous.*'Let's try to persuade them first.'*How? A moment's thought.If it were the player's character, what lines would they have uttered?Perhaps because of the situation I was facing, a carefully chosen and selected voice came out."I've come to resolve the situation.""No, the situation will be resolved soon. It's not something for an outsider to interfere with.""Do you really think so?""And what reason is there not to think so?""More than half are already showing symptoms, aren't they?"A short Q&A.With just that conversation, I managed to create a crack in Vergo's relaxed expression.*'Is this working?'*"Do you know something?"It must mean he's that desperate.So, I spit out a truth that seemed a little more plausible."The reason you are not showing symptoms is because you have not been administered NH-03."And the clue about the symptoms, which I spat out head-on, makes the agents in black suits subtly… Waver.Because they, too, must vaguely feel something.*'…Hmm.'*Still, something's missing.This much is just a tiny bit insufficient.After racking my brain, that 'something' flashed into my mind."Therefore, the head of Wayless will not be fine either.""...Interesting." With those words, Vergo was lost in thought for a moment.*'Now I'm getting a proper reaction.'*In the game, there's no route where the head of Wayless is alive. So I was certain.That by now, he would surely be showing symptoms.For Vergo, he had no choice but to be deeply concerned.A short silence passed like that, and Vergo's expression when he had gathered his thoughts was quite gruesome."The population that has been administered NH-03 is enormous in this city alone. Isn't the assumption that it's becoming a problem too dangerous?""The situation doesn't lie. The difference between those who are showing symptoms now and those who aren't is clear.""If, as you say, NH-03 ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) has become the problem, do you know a way to alleviate the symptoms?""Yes."A way to stop the mutation.It exists. However, it's a shortcut.It's not certain. But I sense that I have to throw out a definite answer as bait right now."That's why I came here. If the situation goes to the worst… the city will fall into chaos."Even if it's a clever play on words, its weight changes depending on the person receiving it."Chaos, you say? It seems like we can overcome a disaster of this level just fine?""It would be impossible if the head of Wayless were to die."Of course, whether he lived or died, the results that would immediately unfold would be similar.However.For a brief moment, the space between Vergo's eyebrows crumpled deeply."You're crossing the line.""The situation is that critical.""What on earth is your scheme?""It's not a story I'll share with you. Guide me. To the head of Wayless.""So you were a madman who knows how to talk plausibly. Do you think he's someone you can meet with a few simple words like this?"As if he was dumbfounded, he snorted and began to get into a stance.All the surrounding personnel didn't show it in their expressions, but their stances had already subtly shifted to pounce at any moment.It was a situation where a scuffle could break out at any moment, but my thoughts deepened.*'So entering the top floor isn't going to be easy after all.'*However, before those thoughts could conclude.*WHIRRR— Clank.*The dark interior of the stairwell instantly brightened.The door opened more simply than expected, and a bespectacled man of small stature who came out of it was sending a nonchalant gaze my way."A curious guest."The master of Wayless.Gale Wayless.It's not too late yet.

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