Chapter 222

A skyscraper that has been bombed or demolished by a past catastrophe.
Kim peered cautiously out the shattered window.
It was a vast intersection. A bank, a hospital, and all sorts of infrastructure. The densely packed shops hinted at its former vibrancy.
But now there was only a trail of destruction.
Scattered shards of glass, toppled streetlights. Houses with roofs blown off and storefronts with signs knocked off. The clock tower, an iconic symbol of Shalem since the 18th century, was tilted.
In the boulevards stood giant old trees that seemed to have grown from the nourishment of the city. It was the scourge that brought Shalem to its doom, and today, destruction has come once again to the dead city.
“That’s…….”
Next to me, I heard Leila swallow hard.
A crack ripped through the trunk of an ancient tree. Tentacles extending from the cracks covered the ground like pulsating veins. The number of eggs embedded in the cracks was impossible to count.
That wasn’t all.
Tentacles sprouted everywhere, and new Parasites appeared. Every now and then, soldiers would replenish and run off somewhere. I also noticed some prowling around as if guarding a nest.
After getting a read on the power, he lowered his stance again.
“I’m not going to break through right away.”
“I know it’s reckless, but is there any other way?”
The crack was easy to find because it was right out in the open, but it was hard to get to. There’s no way to see it. The moment it was discovered, all the parasites would pounce.
“I don’t know. First of all, what time is it?”
“Oh, wait, it’s 19:25.”
“That’s a little tight.”
Arrived later than predicted.
As it turns out, we lost the car too soon. But it was only by a few tens of minutes, not enough to derail our plans.
“If the guys who went first made it back safely, the bombing is scheduled for 20:00. If we miss the timing, we’re out of luck. Kill or be eaten, we’ll just have to try.”
“Okay, let’s find a safe place to start.”
“Let’s get moving.”
Kim glanced back one last time as he walked away.
The clock tower, now a legacy of Shalem, is trampled by the snow.
* * *
The range was mind-boggling.
Fist-sized flying bells prowl the neighborhood like patrol drones, and you can hear the marching sounds of a horde of parasites without even trying. Bizarre cries sit like scabs on your ears.
She had to be careful to take a single step. Fortunately, she was able to quickly find a place to use as an airlock. Leila’s extraordinary memory came into play.
“Phew, I was afraid we were going to get caught.”
Leila sighed with relief as she closed the iron door, careful not to make a sound. Her heart sank as she realized the dizzying array of boxes inside.
“It’s been a while, but it’s still the same, hey, Kollok! Kung fu… except for the dust.”
“It’s a basement warehouse. Did you have any business coming to a place like this?”
“Up here used to belong to Warden Helena, and she was a bit of a collector, if you will, and she had so many personal items that she couldn’t keep them in the lab… ahaha.”
It was something Kim knew about. In the game, Leila hides out here for a while. It’s a scene where she remembers Helena, the woman she considered family, who was actually her biological mother.
Nothing spectacular.
It’s littered with Helena’s favorite childhood dolls, broken music boxes, and her own drawings and albums. He’s a narcissistic type, even by Chuck’s standards.
I don’t really care.
“He’s a long dead man.
You could say that the spirit lives in the machine, but at least Kim didn’t consider it a life. I wouldn’t call a system that can only spit out stiff words more than an AI a human being.
I leaned back against the box and closed my eyes.
First, we reviewed our progress so far. There were some surprises, but the outcome was pretty good. My arm is only slightly injured, but it’s only a minor hiccup. Physically, I’m still strong.
“It was less expensive than I thought it would be.
Leila didn’t seem too tired. Even if she doesn’t recover after every stage like in the game. As long as she’s in shape, she’ll be fine.
And the next plan.
After the bombardment has passed, you must somehow reach the rift beyond the surviving parasites. The basic idea is simple enough, but the question is how to fill in the “somehow”.
“I can’t do it like a game.
As it stands, Leila is in for a tough fight. In my experience, the most comfortable way to play her is Chapter. Burn the field down to her HP, refill it, and move forward.
‘That’s crazy, only in a game…….’
If it’s not possible because it’s real.
Conversely, some methods are only possible in the real world.
Inspecting the ideas that came to mind.
We concluded that the odds were in our favor.
“This is crazy, too.
Well, not bad for the last one.
After a while.
-Woof!
A vibration comes from the ground. The lamp hanging from the ceiling shook. Kim glanced up at the ceiling, then locked eyes with Leila.
“That’s a start.”
“Let’s take a peek at the situation.”
Squatting down, he cast a spell and the equipment was created.
Four-wheeled drone [Ob-013 Scorpion]. Leila quickly opened the steel door. Kim carried the drone up the stairs, then returned to the warehouse and began operating the display.
Outside, a war was unfolding.
Aircraft cut across the ashen sky over clustered buildings. Bombs pounded the ground, falling bombs exploded in mid-air, and airplanes were shot down.
Crumbling cities, burning streets.
Parasites were crushed by the collapsing building. Rows and rows of industrial-looking eggs were caught in the blast. A thick plume of smoke rose with the pollutants.
The bombardment effectively reduced the number of parasites.
But in reverse, it was only a reduction. The barrage was relentless. Flight bells crashed into the airframe like a flock of crows. The fuselage, pierced by a giant awl, crashed into a bank building.
How much time has passed.
The shock that had been shaking the basement died down.
It was the signal I’d been waiting for.
“I’m leaving.”
“Yes!”
Kim let go of the display and gripped the rifle with both hands. From now on, not a single second would be wasted. He quickly left the basement and stood on the street.
On the opposite block, a crashed airplane burned. A swarm of parasites gnawed hungrily at something. Kim tore his gaze away and ran to the corner of the street.
In an apocalyptic scene, I found a clock tower on the verge of collapse.
“I’m getting on that thing. Follow me!”
The Parasites chased after them as they were afraid to enter the clock tower. Kim fired his rifle from the top of the stairs. He had expended all of his ammunition and was about to pull out a new weapon when Leila stepped forward.
“Mr. Hyun, go upstairs!”
The current spread like a spider’s web, defeating the horde that had rushed to the doorway.
Neutralized, I hastened my steps. They hooked onto the creaky railing and climbed the tilted building, supporting each other. Along the way, Kim planted C4 on the pillars.
I didn’t have to climb to the top.
The walls of the clock tower were gouged out here and there by repeated bombings. Reaching a point with a clear view of the range, Kim gripped the wire tightly.
Leila didn’t need to be told, but she recognized Kim’s plan.
Take a couple deep breaths. She grabbed Kim’s hand and spoke determinedly.
“…I’m ready.”
“Okay. 3, 2, 1.”
Immediately after the count ends.
Kim flipped the detonator switch.
Kaaaaaah!
The unstable clock tower began to fall.
Under a dead tree in the middle of the intersection.
All parasites detected the disturbance.
A shadow of overwhelming size was cast on the ground.
The collapse was sudden, and it was too late to react.
You notice a silhouette of some objects hanging from a clock tower.
The siren-like scream was drowned out by the massive mass.
Koooooong……!
The crushed parasites had left no trace. The aftermath of the bombing hadn’t yet worn off, and smoke from all directions severely limited visibility.
One collapse after another followed. Parasite’s senses to detect vibrations were impaired, and the acrid odor paralyzed his sense of smell. It was a condition that dulled their reactions.
In the smoke, on the branches of a dead tree.
Two figures fell at high speed.
Next.
Kim and Leila have reached a rift.
“Finally.
In “Polaris,” Leila traveled all the way here in a single bound and extinguished the rift. This completes her narrative as a savior. But in reality, she was not saved.
Shortly after closing the rift, Leila collapses from exhaustion. The scene then cuts to her waking up in the culture. The professor and the rest of the lab are ecstatic, but Leila’s reaction is tepid.
The Professor and the player realize that Leila does not recognize them. The Professor speaks to Leila from her memory, and she realizes that she doesn’t recognize him.
– It’s been a while, Leila.
– You might be confused right now. Who we are in front of you, and even who you are.
– Don’t worry, though.
– We remember you.
And so ends the main story of Polaris.
Just as the Professor, who had forgotten all of his past, was drawn to Leila before, this time the Professor is drawn to Leila.
Maybe it’s a good end to the story of Polaris. It’s a decent ending, with the right amount of closure and new beginnings, and some people liked it.
But.
“I don’t like it.
I don’t want a cliffhanger, a loose end, a story that I’ve been drowning in for years. I don’t want it to end at the expense of the person who worked the hardest and deserves the most.
That’s why he’s here.
Cheesy!
As soon as he touched the crack, a burst of blue light burst forth. It was a phenomenon he had witnessed many times before, but Kim was struck by a sensation he had never experienced before.
A foreign sensation that invades the mind.
It was radically different from the power of the priests. The foreign substance had taken root deep within Kim’s consciousness. Through the forced connection, all sorts of information was transmitted.
It was the collective consciousness of Parasite.
Insatiable hunger, the need to conquer, aggression toward all life but their own. A command to a network that spanned the entire species. A gigantic will raced through their brains.
Woof!
My vision turned red. Blood poured from holes all over his body. Erosion and resistance. The pressure in my brain became extremely intense as I fought the vague process. My head felt like it was going to explode from the rush of blood.
“……Hyun!”
“Don’t look away, focus!”
The sarcastic Kim picked Helixivir. Unmodified, the prototype developed by the Legion. With a frantic, trembling hand, he jabbed the needle into his neck.
[mutation rate 58.4314%].
[Mutation rate 62.1197%]
Not yet. Not enough.
Poof!
You injected all three bottles you brought in. The mutation rate rose exponentially. After a certain point, the crystals covering the flesh began to fall off.
The skin is discolored. It felt hard and rough in texture. The changes were not only external, but internal as well: every tissue in her body vibrated as if her genetic information was being overwritten.
The consciousness that had been swept away stood upright in place.
It was still aware of the collective consciousness of the Parasite, but its self-consciousness was unshaken. It wasn’t a one-way erosion, but a coexistence.
It was disgusting, but it helped.
The crack twisted as the current intensified. The light swallowed the parasites from all sides. As if erasing data, the bodies that touched the light disintegrated in an instant.
After a tug of war.
Kim saw it.
[Mutation rate 100%]
[Agent ‘Kim’s’ talent is triggered].
Chizigic─!
There was a jitter as if there was noise.
When the field of view is corrected again.
Kim was standing at a completely different intersection.
But there was no sense of unfamiliarity.
A familiar scene you’ve seen before.
This is Tulavia.
This was where the drifting started.
Surviving as a One-Star in a Dead Game – Chapter 223 (Complete)(223/223)