Chapter 37

Chapter 4 Eyelid (10)

***

Creak, creak

“This one is all broken too, hmm. This side looks a bit better... Ah, there’s one.”

Just like in the world, things that seemed like perfect plans always had issues when put into action.

‘According to the original plan, I should just keep exercising until I die...’

At first, everything went according to plan. After lifting about 50 times, I would thrash on the floor in agony from the regeneration pain, but once I recovered and got up, the exercise equipment felt much lighter, so I kept adding more weight.

What I overlooked was that these infection factors lacked the endurance I expected.

After repeating the same process for about six hours, even though the regeneration pain was the same, I couldn’t lift the equipment anymore after fully recovering.

‘It might be a stamina issue. Just because someone is strong doesn’t mean they can maintain that strength indefinitely. Even with the help of the infection factors, mutation blood, and mutant blood, this seems to be the limit. The muscle growth isn’t as rapid as I thought it would be.’

If the durability is fixed at 120 and there’s no need to increase the exercise load, then even just a 3kg pink dumbbell should lead to significant muscle growth. But as I continued, I realized that without gradually increasing the weight, my body wasn’t being pushed.

‘There must be some mechanism I don’t know about. Maybe they made it so you can’t play this kind of bug exploit, or... the glass-like body is strong against pulling and stretching forces, which might have prevented muscle cell damage.’

With the extra time, the professor was searching the Mandalius mansion.

The professor had gathered various types of fish, dried fish, seaweed, fresh-looking clams, and a bottle of flour, all wrapped in a curtain from the dining room and slung over his shoulder.

‘This reminds me of the early days of the wasteland when I used to go farming.’

Even though all the food had been taken, he still went around collecting things like windows, building materials, furniture, and vehicle parts that were hard to produce. Back then, there were many recently deceased people, so 2nd form mutants roamed everywhere. Now, mutants still wander outside, and there might be a few inside the mansion, making the situation very similar.

‘The more I think about it, this game is very similar to our reality. The black spots disease in World 1 made those infected aggressive towards other tribes. The undead chaos in World 2—becoming undead after being killed by them can be seen as a contagious disease. And the mutation blood in World 3, which is almost the same disease except for the pathogen’s mechanism.’

Is all of this just a coincidence? Especially when the game content, which became the only connection after the world changed, is like this?

[If you clear everything, we’ll invite you to the headquarters.]

It felt like he had glimpsed the reason why so many groups pour money like water to support top players.

While thinking, the professor kept checking his surroundings and quietly moved around the mansion.

- NoruDrug: Wow, our professor is really cleaning this place out without making a sound.

- Jokass: I told you. Those who survive alone in the wasteland are either crazy or have some serious skills. Just watching him play, you can tell he’s not ordinary. Fast hands, sharp senses, quick thinking. He’s not just anyone.

- takealook: He checked all the cabinets in the dining room and gathered what he needed in less than two minutes. Even with wooden splinters and marble fragments scattered everywhere, he didn’t make a sound.

- GanjangGaybar: Ah, he’s cleaning this place out so thoroughly. It’s so relaxing. This is healing.

The usual community members, a fountain of knowledge about things he didn’t know.

“Hmm... Speed Wagon?”

- Speed Wagon: What?

“...Never mind.”

- Speed Wagon: Boring.

The professor carefully tucked away the questions that kept rising in his mind.

‘I shouldn’t think that I’m the only one who knows this secret. I’m not the only one playing the realistic mode, so someone must have experienced this.’

But there had never been a single post in the community about GG being closely related to reality or anything suspicious.

‘It’s one of two things. Either GG filters out such posts, or... some group that caught on to something takes immediate action when such posts appear.’

The dome, which has a dedicated team studying GG 24/7, couldn’t possibly be unaware of this. But if the dome’s research team, which shares most of their findings about GG, is hiding this one thing...

The professor shook off the chain of thoughts.

‘This isn’t something I should worry about. What’s the point of knowing about the masterminds behind the collapse? If I let this slip, I’ll just become a target.

Judging from the situation and the unusually high death rate of GG streamers, it was best to forget this information.

“Ugh, ugh...”

Thud, thud, thud.

‘Mutant! Direction: Central staircase on the first floor!’

Swish!

His body reacted instantly as he thought. He tied the bundle of items he had gathered securely to his body, crouched as low as possible, and moved silently.

Since he had been careful not to make any noise from the start, he had almost mastered this aspect. The increased muscle strength allowed him to move around the mansion without making a sound, even with the added weight.

‘After all, even large predators like tigers and lions, which weigh over 250kg, can move quietly. The key is to keep your center of gravity stable, lower your posture, and move smoothly while having enough muscle strength to support your weight.’

The professor, who often moved stealthily in reality, recalled how much stamina such movements required and once again felt the utility of muscle strength.

- HighWayNachoman: Professor, what are you looking for? It seems like you have a goal since there are rooms you’re not checking.

“There is. I checked around, and the mutants have pretty much destroyed everything, but I should still check the count’s room, right?”

In fact, he had hoped for something valuable as he climbed up. Like the bunker in Sector 45, the count’s mansion should have plenty of valuable items. Even if he only took a few items to fill his four-slot inventory, it would be quite profitable.

But when he actually got up there, the mansion was almost completely destroyed. The outer walls of the first and second floors were mostly gone, and the interior corridors were completely wrecked, with no valuable items left. There were even burn marks, indicating that there had been a fire.

“Hmm... still intact. The count’s room, I guess?”

A door that was clearly different from the others, with intricate carvings, opened to the sides.

Click, click!

“Damn... is it locked?”

After checking that there were no mutants nearby, the professor forcefully twisted the locked handle.

Crack!

“Ah! It’s open!”

The professor dropped the broken handle and entered the count’s room. The room was... beyond his imagination.

“Wow...

- GanjangGaybar: Wow...

- Jokass: Oh my...

- NamBathri: Good grief...

- Speed Wagon: ...What a mess.”

It was clean. If it weren’t for the soft carpet covering the floor, it could have been a monk’s cell, with nothing left. There were signs that things had been torn out, and marks where items had been hung, indicating that it wasn’t empty from the start.

“Did they take everything during the chaos?”

It was really absurd. From the urgent tone of Roman, the situation must have been very tense. So, while other mages were fighting the mutants, the servants must have come up and gathered all the valuables.

“This... despite seeming tasteless, is actually quite aristocratic in a way.”

The professor, who had already had a low opinion of the count, now felt even more disappointed. He searched the empty room out of habit, but found nothing valuable. The only thing left was some research records with slight burn marks.

“Mages, who leave the most important research records behind and only take valuables. Sir Isaac, why do you keep coming up with such rumors?”

The records seemed more like personal notes of the count.

As he skimmed through, a familiar name caught his eye.

======

...Test Subject 15, Professor. A fallen noble. The infection has spread throughout his body, and even divine power cannot heal him. He has a few unique characteristics. Using the results of past research, he might be useful. He’s a low-level mercenary from a nearly defunct mercenary guild, so there’s no need to worry about any special handling if he dies during the research.

======

“Damn, if I hadn’t met you, I would have died.”

The professor had known most of this, but it still made him angry.

======

...It seems he has a deeper relationship with Charlotte de Agate than expected. This is his third visit today. Refusing treatment has its limits. I should contact the tower and take action.

======

“Hmm. The influence of the Lead Flow school in politics is greater than I thought? To the point where they can influence the duties of the kingdom’s first knight...”

This was valuable information. The Lead Flow school had connections with the political nobles of Rodric Kingdom.

[So you’re still into self-harm? Hehe. Even a gentle hit causes problems, so a full-force punch must be incredibly painful. Do you enjoy the pain?]

A disgusting scent. An even more disgusting voice.

‘...Didn’t you promise to leave me alone if I won?’

[So I did, didn’t I? But I’ve been good for the past five days, right? And we never set a specific time limit, did we?]

Another change was this parasite. After being quiet for a while, it started to speak to the professor a few days ago.

[Do you really need to check your strength this way? You can figure it out when an enemy appears later.]

‘But what if the enemy is stronger than me? I need to know my combat strength to decide whether to fight or retreat when I encounter an enemy by chance.’

[Hmm, expert! Knowing and experiencing are different, indeed!]

After recovering from his mental fatigue, this parasite was now grating on his nerves.

‘Ignore it. Pretend it doesn’t exist. After all, it can’t do anything to my body, which is completely under my control.’

“Gah!”

The professor, having adjusted his breathing, swung his fist at the wall with all his might.

-BOOM!

“Gah!”

The shock was so great that the entire underground building shook. The professor, thrown back by the intense pain, alternated between looking at the completely destroyed wall and his arm, which had been ripped off and flown to the back. The arm had been torn from the shoulder, giving an idea of the force of the impact.

“...Strong?”

- GanjangGaybar: No kidding?

[Amazing!]

‘Please, just stop.’

In front of the professor, a幻影 appeared, excitedly waving its hands.

‘Hey parasite, can you at least stay quiet when you’re living off someone else’s body?’

[But it’s so interesting! Every time you punch, your arm flies off! There’s nothing like this in your memories! It’s fun! Seeing the world through your eyes, your efforts, and all your sensations and experiences are new to me! Ah, I want to move too. Can I borrow your body for just one day? Please! I’ll use it nicely and return it! You’re using it recklessly anyway!]

‘...Disgusting creature.’

Even though it was acting friendly, the parasite hadn’t given up.

“I need to get rid of this thing... Should I treat it like a possession by a malevolent spirit and visit a temple for a blessing?”

After examining the arm lying on the floor a few times, the professor decided it would be faster to regrow a new one and threw the old one away, entering the bathtub.

“Ugh, the smell.”

The bathtub was filled with fresh mutant blood, just like the first day he arrived. After the solution started to rot two days ago and he had to dispose of it, he had secretly gone out at night and kidnapped two 8th-level mutants, extracting their blood.

“The experiment results and the feeling when I captured the mutants confirm one thing.”

[What?]

In response to the parasite’s question, the professor frowned for a moment before speaking.

“This body can only be developed as a grappler.”

The professor recalled the night he accidentally met a mutant and, instead of using the prepared weapon, instinctively broke its neck.

***

Thud.

“Good. This is no problem.”

The professor pulled his arm back and then pushed it forward at a slightly faster speed towards the wall.

Thud!

A slight tingling sensation. But functionally, there was no issue.

“Good. It’s still holding up. Let’s try a bit more...”

He pulled his arm back again and punched the wall as if striking someone.

Bang!

Ouch!

“Ouch! Damn. This much is too much.”

It had been eight days since the professor started training in the count’s basement. Today, he finished his exercise a bit early and was testing the strength of his body.

The professor’s body had undergone dramatic changes. He had grown about 20cm taller, reaching over 210cm, and his muscles had developed, making him much bulkier. The growth in muscle strength had plateaued, and he was now trying to determine how strong he had become.

[You still have the habit of self-harm, don’t you? Hehe. Even a gentle hit causes problems, so a full-force punch must be incredibly painful. Do you enjoy the pain?]

A disgusting scent. An even more disgusting voice.

‘...Didn’t you promise to leave me alone if I won?’

[So I did, didn’t I? But I’ve been good for the past five days, right? And we never set a specific time limit, did we?]

Another change was this parasite. After being quiet for a while, it started to speak to the professor a few days ago.

[Do you really need to check your strength this way? You can figure it out when an enemy appears later.]

‘But what if the enemy is stronger than me? I need to know my combat strength to decide whether to fight or retreat when I encounter an enemy by chance.’

[Hmm, expert! Knowing and experiencing are different, indeed!]

After recovering from his mental fatigue, this parasite was now grating on his nerves.

‘Ignore it. Pretend it doesn’t exist. After all, it can’t do anything to my body, which is completely under my control.’

“Gah!”

The professor, having adjusted his breathing, swung his fist at the wall with all his might.

-BOOM!

“Gah!”

The shock was so great that the entire underground building shook. The professor, thrown back by the intense pain, alternated between looking at the completely destroyed wall and his arm, which had been ripped off and flown to the back. The arm had been torn from the shoulder, giving an idea of the force of the impact.

“...Strong?”

- GanjangGaybar: No kidding?

[Amazing!]

‘Please, just stop.’

In front of the professor, a phantom appeared, excitedly waving its hands.

‘Hey parasite, can you at least stay quiet when you’re living off someone else’s body?’

[But it’s so interesting! Every time you punch, your arm flies off! There’s nothing like this in your memories! It’s fun! Seeing the world through your eyes, your efforts, and all your sensations and experiences are new to me! Ah, I want to move too. Can I borrow your body for just one day? Please! I’ll use it nicely and return it! You’re using it recklessly anyway!]

‘...Disgusting creature.’

Even though it was acting friendly, the parasite hadn’t given up.

“I need to get rid of this thing... Should I treat it like a possession by a malevolent spirit and visit a temple for a blessing?”

After examining the arm lying on the floor a few times, the professor decided it would be faster to regrow a new one and threw the old one away, entering the bathtub.

“Ugh, the smell.”

The bathtub was filled with fresh mutant blood, just like the first day he arrived. After the solution started to rot two days ago and he had to dispose of it, he had secretly gone out at night and kidnapped two 8th-level mutants, extracting their blood.

“The experiment results and the feeling when I captured the mutants confirm one thing.”

[What?]

In response to the parasite’s question, the professor frowned for a moment before speaking.

“This body can only be developed as a grappler.”

The professor recalled the night he accidentally met a mutant and, instead of using the prepared weapon, instinctively broke its neck.

***