Clearing the Game at the End of the World

“Mmmm…… there is a plan, but it’s a little complicated to explain.”

“Why? I thought you said you could read all of Gyosu’s memories?”

“It’s complicated because I read ‘all’ of it. It’s not like a human’s brain is like a computer, where they can search up a keyword and think of just that. Especially this Vessel guy. He thinks so much that I can spend all day just looking at what’s happening in his mind. It’s like a grapevine of minds in here.”

‘I did actually find the plan that Gyosu organized, but I don’t need to tell them that.’

It wasn’t a lie when he said reading thoughts was complicated. When a person thought of an ‘apple’ for example, not only did they think of related keywords like its sweet taste, red color, or type of fruit, but also new branches of thoughts based on the new keywords.

But who was he? An incredibly bizarre lifeform that was born from within the consciousness of another person.

Hyde had already found the ‘Easy explanation of how to deal with Old Picture for Ian and Vex’ from Gyosu’s maze of memories.

=====

1. Buy time. Causes powerful psychowaves when triggered. The waves traveled through the entire Area 47 last time, so they should have done the same this time as well. Since the Dome obviously heard it as well, the Investigation Bureau will charge in if they buy some time. We can leave the rest to the experts.

2. It’s impossible to know exactly how many Investigation Bureau members will be dispatched, but they will have left some to defend from the Raptor’s attack. The Core, which manages the entire energy system of the Dome, and the defense turret control center—these two were most definitely going to be attacked. Since the Investigation Bureau is now absent, the Dome will fall if these two defense systems go down. Must go intervene and block them. Since the management staff of the areas are not just normal civilians, a little bit of warning will go a long way.

3. Once the Raptor’s attack is stopped and the Investigation Bureau returns to the Dome with their Exosuits after dealing with Old Picture, the situation will be resolved when they attack the Raptor’s troops from the back. This operation will be over once the remaining lackeys are dealt with.

Conclusion : Buy time by driving around in a car, and head to the Dome when they arrive.

=====

A neatly organized plan repeated over and over in his head, as if he meant to show it to someone. It was probably a message to Hyde in case he lost consciousness. To tell him what to do.

It was definitely a good plan alright. One where the members’ safety was prioritized and they could leave at any time or place in order to keep them safe.

But that was what Hyde disliked.

‘This is the first time I came out on this side of the world. And there’s this huge monster! And guys I’m supposed to have a huge grudge against! And there’s a bunch of epic weapons in that trunk of my trusty ally, and you just want me to act as bait? That won’t do. No siree! Of course not!’

Safety was important. Since if the Vessel, Gyosu’s body dies, he dies as well.

It was also important to comply with the rules that Vessel set. If he just ignored everything, ate up some people, and went on with his own business, he would instantly be considered a hostile opponent and never be able to come out under Vessel’s intention.

But the most important thing to him was that what he was doing had to be entertaining.

Towerjacking in Tobrune? That was fun. He was able to destroy a mage tower that controlled an entire city and was able to fight a Level 6 mage at full power.

Fighting a demonized Dark Mage? He shouldn’t even get started on that! The adrenaline of playing a game of tug of war between the borders of life and death! Excitement! Pleasure! He would have been mad if he wasn’t called to the action!

‘I want to have fun! Happiness, sadness! Hope and despair, joy and depression! Any and all stimulation is precious! Ahh, it’s so fun! The Vessel’s dangerous life, it’s so, so entertaining!!!’

After Hyde was born, the only times he was able to experience the real world, not through Gyosu’s memories and vague senses but through his actual body, were when he was either facing an opponent strong enough for his life to be in grave danger or in a situation at a similar level of danger.

So those moments set themselves as his real ‘life’ in Hyde’s soul.

It had already been a long time since Hyde first became addicted to the strong stimulation.

“First. We have to spar with that hunk of a dude.”

This was the reason why a plan completely different from Gyosu’s plan left Hyde’s mouth.

He was still planning on following Gyosu’s intention of saving their group and protecting Area 47 from the Raptors. But the process—that process was going to be a bit different.

“Damn it. So we couldn’t just leave it after all…..”

“Of course. You should know from how that guy acted, but it looks like a lifeform that’s much more concentrated on its mental state than its physical state. And that guy’s gone off the rails? Then where would the place that’s attracting its attention the most be~?”

“The….Dome?”

Snap!

“Correct! After all, it is the location where the most ‘minds’ are concentrated. Nobody knows exactly why it projects its past onto others, but there still should be a reason why it’s doing that, right? So then, wouldn’t the place where it can do that action the most be the inside of that Dome wall, where there’s basically an entire ocean of humans?”

‘Huh? I just blurted out anything that I could think of, but it sounds a lot more reasonable than I thought.’

There is a reason why Old Picture is continuously sending out that odd psychowave, was a quote from Gyosu’s thoughts. But the rest of the statement was just something he made up in order to persuade Ian and Vex, but it was actually plausible when he thought about it.

‘Dang…. it’s completely different from just watching it from the inside. This is one heck of a brain!’

That was Hyde’s review of using Gyosu’s brain in person. Up until now, all he did after coming out was fight to the death, but this was his first time actually using his mind. The way one thought or topic expanded out to hundreds of thoughts in mere moments, it was almost hard for his mind to keep up with it.

Hyde was starting to like being outside even more.

“A-alright. Then what’s the reason? Why should we? Defend the Dome from Old Picture’s attacks?”

“Because we wanna live?”

Hyde responded to Vex’s question without even a second of hesitation.

“Now, think about it. The Raptor Society. Famous for their mobility, firepower, and strict military structure. On the other hand, the Dome. Famous for their urban warfare, mechanized infantry, siege…. no, stronghold defense system. That’s an overall summary of each organization’s military traits. The Dome is famous for never losing in its territory, especially in city warfare. You guys should know that reason, right?”

“Of course we do. I’m all for that gunpowder and explosives, but that’s Dome’s ancient defense technology…. Don’t even get me started on it. My jaw almost got dislocated from how far it dropped.”

Within a colony of an extremely dense population, there was a mandate of manpower development for at least 3 hours a day. And through that, there was an incredible accumulation of power and the operation of the city’s ancient defense facilities that used that power.

When it came to the Dome’s city defenses, they boasted a firepower that was almost at the level of the Old Civilization’s peak technology.

“Yeah. The Old Civilization’s defense weaponry. Kandal-class stationary railguns, plasma walls, super-strong deflective electromagnets, etc… It’s why the Dome’s reputation was able to spread worldwide. But because it’s such an important facility, it has to go through an extremely complicated arrangement of steps in order to activate. So if Old Picture managed to push through with that big body of his and let out one large [Grawrrr~], then what do you think will happen?”

“…….The entire city will be paralyzed.”

“Precisely! It doesn’t matter whether it’s normal civilians, soldiers, or personnel; they’re all going to pull their hair out and whine about how ‘I’m a piece of trash! I deserve to die!’ Our friends in the Executive Department probably prepared that play to guarantee 100% success, but even without that play, as long as they triggered Old Picture enough, it would have most likely attacked the city. And if the city gets paralyzed like that, then the staff that activates the city’s defense system will also disappear, and then if those black reptile dudes charge at the helpless city…..”

“The Raptors…. will take over Area 47.”

Clap clap clap clap!

Hyde started clapping in an exaggerated manner and winked at Ian, who finally arrived at the conclusion.

“Ex-acto! That rock-hard head of yours is finally starting to work! The entirety of HIV is wanted by the Raptors. So we’ll no longer be able to stay at Gyosu’s shelter, and it would be quite difficult to escape from the Raptors when they took control of all of the surrounding areas as well. Even if we run away, we’ll get caught not long after. And you know that, right? What the Raptors do when they capture humans. Metal Jaw, I heard you used to be a Raptor? You should know better than anyone.”

“……Bio Diesel. I’m getting sick just thinking about it, so can we move on?”

Schlp!

Hyde wiped away the drool that had unconsciously formed in his mouth. Those Raptor guys, even though their name is based off of a carnivorous animal, must have a similar taste to him. ‘Squeezing’ out the oil from humans that were useless. Since Raptor Society had such a large usage of fuel, they were looking for replacements when they arrived at the ingenious concept of ‘Bio Diesel’.

“Anyway, if that guy goes to the Dome, we’re dead. But if we just half-ass it, then we’ll get hit by its [Rawrrrr!] and die from brain damage. Since we’re trying to attract its attention, we might as well land a solid blow on it. At least a blow hard enough so that it can’t scream at us again.”

“So we need firepower…. We did bring some with us, but is it okay to use it? Gyosu said we brought this for some other reason.”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. He prepared that because he thought it was going to be a normal play. Those were free gifts for the people in Area 47 as an apology and to create a good impression for the BDSM caravan. It just being B-quality promotional products only applies to gun hoarders like you, Metal Jaw. To normal survivors, they’re plenty high-quality. It’s more than enough compensation for ruining a day’s worth of schedules.”

Well, with how things were progressing, it looked like the losing side was going to take all the blame.

Skreee—!

In response to Hyde’s continuing statement, Ian stopped the car and momentarily stayed still.

“Why? What?”

“….Tch. You’re starting to sound an awful lot like Gyosu.”

“Oh! Really? So? Are you starting to warm up to me at all?”

“No, I feel even more disgusted. Get out! You’re the one that said we need to beat up that massive monster, so get armed.”

“Oooo! Weapons! Show me the guns! I want to shoot a g— uuuuahh!”

Ian shoved the excited Hyde out of the truck with his foot, then got off the car to open the cargo section of the car.

Drrrrg— thunk!

“Get one that you like. ‘Specially you, shortie. I know you like small, sturdy ones, but this time we’re going monster hunting, not humans. I’ll be choosing yours this t—”

“Woooooaaaahhhh!!!”

Just as he was about to recommend a weapon to Vex, who was still following behind them with an anxious expression, Ian couldn’t help but turn his head to the source of the loud cheer.

“It’s a gun! G.U.N.! Weapon! Gunpowder! In the flesh! Not just ones from memories! They’re actual guns!”

And where he looked was a Hyde that leaped towards the mountain of wooden boxes and started to open them left and right with a crowbar.

Clack! Clunk clank!

“A Beretta 92! An automatic pistol made in Beretta, Italy! This was considered the big gun of an entire era! Mmmm~ that sweet smell of metal! This model’s long time of usage gave it that much more opportunity to suck up blood. It’s like it actually smells like blood too!”

Thunk!

“FN P90! Nicknamed dodgeball! Gyosu doesn’t like this one! Back in his Special Ops days, a guy he thought was dead dragged this one out, and Gyosu got shot in the leg, and another one of the soldiers died too! Wow, I rewatched that memory at least a few dozen times, but I never thought I would get to see it in real life!”

Unlike his expectations, his reactions were much more… manic… and knowledgeable.

Vex turned his gaze toward Ian. Back when the two lived together, the bulky man had also reacted in the same way every time they obtained a new firearm.

“Uh, mmm……You…. know your stuff.”

“Of course I do! I’ve read Gyosu’s memories, especially the ones connected to guns, probably hundreds of times over! This one over here is the same model as the one the gun dealer was selling at the entrance when Gyosu went to an offline market for the first time. The Vessel really, really wanted it, but it was too expensive, so all he could do was drool on it. This one is the one that saved his life during the Tarel Ground defense, and I could go on for days, but…..”

Click!

Hyde picked up an especially large revolver from among the scattered boxes of firearms.

“This guy. The S&W M500 holds a special place in my heart. Back when Gyosu used magic in the other world, he shot a bullet out of blood by imagining this gun.”

Looking at the gun that Hyde so preciously gazed at, Ian couldn’t help but nod his head.

S&W M500. It was a special one.

It had a long barrel with a revolver-type five-round chamber.

Like its name, it used 500 S&W Magnum bullets and produced nearly twice the kinetic energy of the Desert Eagle’s 50AE bullet, the renowned superstar of large-caliber pistols.

Unlike its manly traits, its weight, capacity, and practicality are completely trash, so it is generally not preferred by others, and because Ian himself didn’t have much interest in handguns, it was separated as promotional material.

‘He….. might not be as bad of a guy as I thought he was.’

Looking at Hyde stare at the menacing pistol with the eyes of a fanboy who met their favorite celebrity, Ian could feel the strain in his eyes soften.

“Ahem! Para…… Hyde. You’re much more cultured than it expected.”

“Heheh. Can I have this? Vessel knows how to shoot it, so I’ll be able to shoot too!”

“Ahem! If you want to. The bullets are in that corner, so don’t forget to take them.”

“Thanks! Thank you so much, Metal Jaw! I shouldn’t just be standing around like this; I need to go out and try—”

Thunk!

“Woaooahh!!! Grenades! M67! Nicknamed apple for their rounded appearance!”

Thump.

“Weapons that explode! They’re bombssss!!!”

Thump thump! Thump! Thump!

Hyde was acting like a child at Disneyland for the first time.

And watching that Hyde with Gyosu’s face look at the firearms as if they were some sort of incredible treasure, Ian’s heart started to race.

Gyosu and Vex. Both good friends, but with one common trait that was missing.

Ian had dreamed for a long time. A companion with similar tastes to him that he could talk to for days and days about weapons.

Although it was a parasite that invaded Gyosu’s body, its soul had a completely different trigger and vision from Gyosu’s. It, like his own, was crazed over gunpowder and bullets.

Gr-in!

In the end, Ian failed to keep the edge of his mouth from curling upwards.

‘He is definitely dangerous…. but I can’t bring myself to hate him.’

‘Ahh, Gyosu Park. I thought I would never be able to understand what you meant.’

“Oy, Hyde.”

“What? You can’t… give me this one?”

“Not in the slightest. Take everything and anything you want. But Apple’s firepower is used against people, and because of its range, which depends on the user’s strength, it’s not necessarily the best choice for our current situation. Why don’t you try using the grenade launcher over here?”

“Ooooooh! Grenade launcher! Epic!”

Kehehehe!

Keehee!

At some point, Ian and Hyde completely forgot about their current predicament, and the two dove deep into the world of weapons talk.

And Vex, who had been messing with an RPG’s tube, was staring at the two with an even more anxious expression.

Clank— Clank—

Clank— Clank—

“Listen closely, you idiot. There are 15 minutes until reinforcements come. Until then, the two of us need to fend off Old Picture.”

As the massive body of Old Picture started to appear in their sight in the distance, Ralph Monclair spoke to the rookie IB member that came with him.

“Even if the suit’s shield somewhat blocks out its psychowaves, it’s impossible to completely block them out when they’re in that state. We’ll probably fall unconscious after about 2 to 3 hits as well. So before that happens, we need to turn its attention completely towards us, then run away at full speed.”

“Turn the attention of that massive guy to us…. I don’t think our peas will do anything. Are we supposed to dance in front of it or something?”

‘This idiot might be fine. If depression could walk, it would definitely run from this guy.’

Monclair, who had somewhat of a determination to sacrifice his life, thought to himself as he looked at his subordinate, Ezel, who seemed to take quite literally everything lightly. If he needed to choose someone that was in the furthest state from depression, he wouldn’t have even a moment of hesitation in choosing his crooked subordinate.

“That’s why we brought that. Thunder Clap.”

He actually didn’t plan to bring any other member on this suicide mission, but the weapon that Ezel had already attached to his Exosuit was so essential that he couldn’t bear to leave him behind. Thunder Clap. After recklessly facing Old Picture for the first time and barely managing to calm it down with countless casualties, the weapon was created especially to deal with giant mutants.

The Thunder Clap was a weapon that consisted of two parts: a compressed battery and a glove connected to it. It was activated through the glove parts attached to the Exosuit, where an incredible amount of electricity was shot through in a short period of time. Its name came from how the electricity sounded like the sounds of clapping when it activated.

‘If we had just eight, no, seven more Exosuits with Thunder Clap on them with us, then we could have aimed to completely suppress it…. but our situation couldn’t help it. This should still be enough to turn its attention toward us.’

The problem was that it meant the Exosuit needed to come in close quarters with the target, and because the energy was emitted so quickly from the suit, there would be a limit to the usage regarding the shield and other supportive devices. Since that opponent was Old Picture, it meant that they would need to endure a direct hit from its psychowave at point blank distance with their shield practically nonexistent.

“….I’m sorry. Dragging you into this mess when you just came to the Investigative Bureau.”

“Don’t you remember what I said? I was planning on coming out on my own anyway. Thank you for coming with me, Manager Mon!”

“Hah, you mad lad. You’re going to make it big if you get out of this alive, you idiot!”

Clank! Clnk!

And so, while reaffirming their resolve, the two Exosuits arrived at the central area. In front of the two who were prepared to jump right in, something weird caught their eye.

“What’s that? Something…. is getting chased by it?”

“That’s good news for us. It means someone was paying attention before us…. If we’re lucky, then we may not need to make contact before the main squad comes. A large truck painted black… is it the Raptors? Just looking at the body, it’s a Raptor’s truck, but it’s hard to know without their signature mark. Can you recognize who they are? Assuming from the sound of gunshots, it looks like they’re intentionally attracting its attention on purpose.”

“I’m…. not sure? It’s hard to tell without a magnifying…..!!!!!”

Suddenly, Ezel’s eyes shot wide open. It was the black armored truck without the Raptor mark he saw back when he went to Gyosu’s shelter. And Gyosu’s group had participated in the play because of the Executive Department.

Connecting the two pieces together, it wasn’t difficult to figure out who the people riding in that truck were.

“My goodness…. why are they always in the center of all the drama…?”

“Why? Did you figure out someth— Hey! Where are you going?!”

Clank, clank!

“Hey! Stop! There’s no reason for us to bother attracting its attention anymore! Idiot! Hey, you bas—”

Ralph tried to stop his subordinate, who suddenly started moving as if hypnotized by something.

“Sorry boss! This is between me and them!”

“Stop right there, you f—ing—! Hey, hey!!!!”

Clankclankclankclankclank!

But Ezel was already running towards the armored truck, and Old Picture was chasing viciously behind.