Endzone: Simulated Apocalypse - Chapter 70

Deep down within the dark pit the trio had fallen into, a moan escaped a certain girl’s lungs.

“K-Kyah~! W-Wait, Cyanide, that spot’s-”

“Shut up, you’re so annoying!” A male’s voice whispered coldly in disgust, cutting her off amidst the darkness.

Suddenly, lights in the room flickered to life, and the pit of darkness was dark no more. It was also revealed that the girl—Kirika—had landed on top of Cyanide, and she embarrassingly crawled off of him.

“U-Um… sorry.”

“… Tch.” Cyanide dusted his clothes off, then slowly rose to his feet. Glancing around, he realized they were in a laboratory. It would seem they had succeeded in infiltrating this place, and as for the mutants…

He looked up, only to find that the ceiling had been sealed, and not a single mutant had fallen in with them. It was as if this place had protected them, one way or another. But the ceiling being shut also meant that while the mutants outside couldn’t get in… Cyanide, Kirika, and Silverfang couldn’t get out either.

“Looks like we have no choice but to explore this place, huh?” Kirika murmured, closing her eyes. “I am detecting a few auras in this place, though, so be careful. They seem stronger than most—Stage Two, perhaps…?”

Silverfang sniffed the air like a bloodhound, then gave a nod. “Me can confirm.”

“… I see. Well, you’re staying right here,” Cyanide ordered. “Your footsteps make too much noise.”

“Me understand,” Silver replied with a nod. “Should you be in trouble, you must only call. Me will come as fast as me can.”

“Heh, what a reliable guy,” Kirika said with a snicker. “Hey, Cyanide, you should take some pointers from him.

Cyanide, ignoring her, drew his weapons just like Kirika, and together, the two entered the secretive underground library, filled with secrets waiting to be uncovered.

*****

– Meanwhile, Outside Aterra Headquarters –

“What’s this…?”

A man stumbled upon the massively tall skyscraper building in front of him in all of its glory. Of course, this man wasn’t impressed in the least, but he was somewhat intrigued.

His name was Ragnar Creed. For the past several days, he had been searching for any powerful enemies to kill. He needed to win this game, in order to realize his wish. And in order to win this game, he needed to get stronger. Stronger than any other player, stronger than any mutant.

Back on Earth, he was used to being stronger than everyone else. A supersoldier experiment gone wrong, he possessed ten times as much strength as what a normal supersoldier should’ve had. Not a single one of his foes has ever escaped from his clutches, and stayed alive.

Well… mostly.

There was but a single person who somehow always managed to evade Ragnar, the so-called Titan of Shadows. His real name and face were both unknown to Ragnar, but he did know the person’s alias: Cyanide. No matter how much Ragnar tried to hunt down this top assassin of the underground, this guy somehow always ended up finishing his job—killing the target—before Ragnar could even get there. He was a constant pain in Ragnar’s ass, that was for sure.

But never mind that—all of that’s in the past. Right now, Ragnar had to focus on this new world—Endzone. And his current objective? To explore the building in front of him. His [Radar] skill had picked up on something in here, and the energy signature was stronger than any mutant he’s faced before.

He was currently Level 20, so he should be able to take whatever was inside here on. That’s how confident he was. The idea of running away didn’t even cross his mind—that’s just the kind of person he is. Headstrong, iron-willed, and stubborn.

Stepping through the rotary doors of the building, Ragnar headed directly for the basement. That was where the energy signature was coming from according to his [Radar], and he didn’t care about anything else. EXP and leveling up were all that mattered. He must win this god-forsaken game.

When he opened the door at the bottom of the stairs, however…

“Doo-do-doo, doo-do-do-doo~”

An old man, humming some kind of tune unfamiliar to Ragnar, walked out of one of the many doors down the corridor with a paper in his hand.

“…”

“Doo-do-do-” The old man suddenly stopped as he spotted Ragnar a few meters away, and dropped the paper in his hand.

“W-Who the hell are you?!”

Ragnar, confused at what to do, arched an eyebrow.

“Me? Er… I am Ragnar Creed. And you are…?”

“Uh…” Doctor Finch fell into thought momentarily. It would seem this man didn’t know that he was a mutant just yet, and was therefore not attacking him. If that’s the case, then he could take advantage of that…

“A-Ahem, you can call me Finch. Nice to meet you, but uh… this is my home, so could you please leave…?”

“… Hold it,” Ragnar suddenly said, narrowing his eyes. “Your ‘home’? You mean… you are a native here, not a player?”

“Er… yes…?” Doctor Finch replied hesitantly, not used to lying.

“… Hm.” Ragnar fell into thought momentarily. His [Radar] skill was currently on cooldown, so he had no way of telling whether or not the man before him was in fact hostile. He didn’t seem like it, but people had many faces—Ragnar knew that all too well.

He was now stuck between a decision on what to do. On one hand, there had been only one hostile presence his [Radar] had picked up on in this building, and this man appeared to be the only lifeform here. On the other, though… if this man named Finch was truly a native of this world and not an enemy, then trespassing on his ‘home’ wouldn’t exactly be right. Ragnar had his own justice to uphold, and breaking and entering into other people’s homes wasn’t part of it.

In the end, Ragnar decided to simply retreat for now, and wait until his [Radar] was back up to make any moves. He definitely was not done here, though. Whatever it is was lurking here, he would find it. It wouldn’t be long until the cooldown of his [Radar] skill was over, and when that happened, he will be able to find the root source of the signal he picked up on earlier.

Whether that truly came from this man, Finch, or a different entity altogether… would soon be revealed to Ragnar.

If the former, then he would simply kill this mutant in human’s disguise, but if the latter, then he would hunt it down.. It was that simple.