Clearing the Game at the End of the World

Chapter 166: Lead and Silver Coins (20)

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"An excellent choice, indeed! The judgment and decisiveness characteristic of Area 47! You have truly made the right choice for the future of humanity!"

A man who makes quite a fuss, to the point of furrowing his brows, when I quietly suggest we act together.

"Is there such a lack of talent in the administration? Why is it you again?"

"Well, because I'm in charge of external activities for the administration, you see?"

The man, smiling as if he had grabbed a lifeline on the edge of a cliff.

Karel Belmont, the spokesperson for the administration, continually lavished praise on us.

"As you know, the administration is mostly made up of former researchers and technicians. They are all somewhat introverted, lacking talent for diplomatic activities. Everyone actively recommended me, so I became in charge of external activities."

"Hmm You're a researcher too, right?"

"Yes!"

"Any papers published or notable achievements before the great war?"

"Well, I was a bit younger back then."

"What about research achievements after the war?"

"That. While I was diligently working on it, I was recommended for the role of in charge of external activities."

As expected. Driven out due to incompetence.'

I thought he was rather clumsy, and indeed, he seemed to be an unwelcome figure within the administration.

A case of joining the wrong line'. He had some education, but compared to the stellar individuals of Dome's administration, he was on a level hard to compare, getting pushed around and ending up doing menial tasks. If he had gone to the Enforcement or Investigation Bureau, he might have been treated as an ordinary member.

"Cheer up."

"Excuse me?"

Looking at his clumsy face, the future seemed very bleak.

The thought that these were the only allies we could count on in the current chaotic situation was frustrating to death, but there was no choice. The administration was the closest thing to an ally we had in this madness.

The Investigation Bureau? Too cozy with the Raptors, and the fact they could turn on us at any moment was a fail.

The Enforcement Bureau? Hmm That was tempting. But these guys had teamed up to plunder with those fanatical fools. The box that had fallen into their hands was now with the Artist Union?

The current main target and groups expected to have connections. This was also a fail.

If only I could somehow get just 40 experienced soldiers. It's frustrating that the administration, practically without any real force, is the only answer'

Well, what can you do? Have to make the best of this situation.

It's like going into a game where you have to infiltrate enemy lines soon, but instead of combat mercenaries, you've ended up with ones for research and internal affairs.

Fortunately, the administration, now our ally, was not utterly useless.

"Let's see ah, here it is. The research records on the incomplete mutation device!"

Given that we couldn't afford to waste even a second before the actions of the Artist Union became irredeemable, it was inadvertent that we became the initial response team. Rushing out without information in such a hurry and getting lost in the wrong place would mean a direct timeout.

Ultimately, the goal of this operation was the suppression of the mutation device', so the original owners, especially those who had spent as much as five years researching it based on the top technical personnel, couldn't possibly have no information.

I almost snatched the documents Karel passed to me and quickly looked them over.

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[Top Secret]

[Non-Lethal War Termination Project No.9]

[Wide-Area Brainwave Interference Device, Orpheus Project]

[Researcher James.15's Record]

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"Wide-area brainwave interference device? Orpheus? Karel, is this correct?"

"Didn't I tell you? Even if it's not feasible, it's a technology with political influence. Isn't it worth that much if it's a new strategic weapon project from the old era?"

Flap, flap.

The speed of flipping through the documents increased. The characters that entered my eyes were directly organized in my head by Hyde. The more I read, the more I felt swear words rising in my throat.

The person who created this was, insane.

[Science, science will bring about the end of the world.]

A summary of about 20 pages of classified documents, the diary of a researcher using the pseudonym James 15.

This Orpheus' device was, in a word, a suicide induction device.

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.Now that Andrei Gedroits and his colleagues have opened up the possibility of digitizing human consciousness, the academic world is seriously researching technologies that directly interfere with the human mind. Our focus was one thing. If all memories of a person can be digitized and replicated, then, conversely, can digitized memories be sent back to a person's consciousness? Even if those memories are completely different from the original ones?

I remembered the faces of my grandfather, who suffered from dementia in his later years, and my grandmother, who was sad that she could no longer remember even herself. If memories could be extracted like data and then reinjected, maybe.

.The research was going smoothly. Gedroits Company's first research team gladly cooperated with the research. Being the frontrunners in AI learning research, they could handle the psychological aspects we were lacking. These people are geniuses. It's embarrassing to be called a genius by geniuses.

.It was surprising that a clue was found. Is this really possible? Although it was just a small node that could hardly be considered a memory, we succeeded in creating something like dj vu. I've lived my whole life without religion, but recently I've been thinking about going to church. Will you forgive me, Lord?

.The number of soldiers around the laboratory increased. It's been almost two months since we were cut off from outside news due to secrecy, and the atmosphere was suspicious. A military official suggested we take a different direction' with our memory implantation device. Memories don't necessarily have to be delicate? An overload of information, human overload? What are these crazy people talking about? Absolutely unacceptable. Our research is for people with Alzheimer's! Absolutely, not until I'm dead and buried!

.Adam. Jamie. They were too precious friends to die like that. The rumors were true. The exploding laboratory, dragged away by soldiers, I survived. The vehicle carrying my colleagues burst in front of my eyes. People who wanted to leave their names in history disappeared without leaving a single piece of their bodies. Soldiers forcibly placing me in a military truck like luggage and radioing for retaliatory bombings on all major cities. The orders were to completely burn down well-known cities, but no one opposed it. The world, the soldiers. Everyone had gone mad. Maybe me too. The faces of my colleagues, whom I would never see again, and the design of the human overload device alternated in my mind.

.Another failure. Just one more step and it would have been complete. We had even succeeded in human trials! Only effective with headphones, and even then, it required exposure for more than 10 hours. This is. just a torture device, not the mass destruction weapon, not Orpheus, that I wanted! No matter what I tried, I couldn't produce enough output to access human memories! Exactly where, how did it go wrong!

.My legs gave way. The blood flowing from my side had soaked my pants, making them too heavy. I read through my own writings. My diary, which contained facts that should never be revealed, not missing a single detail. Maybe I wanted to confess. To make excuses to my colleagues whom I would meet in death about tarnishing our brightest moments. But now it's all over. The sound of the coalition forces' guns has come right up to the lab. I have a gun too. A small pistol with just one bullet in the chamber. How considerate.

My revenge ends incomplete.

Disappointing, and yet, a relief.

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Zeus, Agni, Horus, Moses, and now Orpheus.

Sometimes, scientists seem like children. Or, is it natural to want to give a grandiose name to the work of one's life?

[The one who makes such things is not just a scientist but a mad' scientist. Mad people tend to be sentimental.]

A logical deduction.'

Anyway, so the identity of the [box] turns out to be a mass destruction weapon that ended unfinished and thus remained unnamed to the world.

Yes, a mass destruction weapon. Not a mutation device, but rather a kind of unique weapon.

".It wasn't originally intended to cause mutation."

"At the beginning of the war, almost nothing was known about the operating principle of the mutation virus. It seems that military officials at the time wanted something out of a comic book, a brainwashing device, or some weapon that would make heads explode like watermelons with a beam of sound waves, but realistically, that was impossible. What James.15,' the scientist named, chose was a method to implant glitches' in the mind through brainwave stimulation, destabilizing and driving the mind insane."

"Glitches' errors? Did I understand that correctly?"

"To put it in simpler terms, it's artificially induced delirium. The research started as a treatment for Alzheimer's, so there would have been a lot of overlap."

Delirium. Delirium, indeed.

A type of elderly disease that causes hallucinations, delusions, anger, etc., in a short moment. However, the device ended incomplete, and the developer's records spoke of low output and range, and the slow effect time, among other things.

Slurping-

Then, a lingering memory surfaced.

[A boy who went outside the shield collapsed, convulsed wildly, and then mutated.]

Orpheus's shortcomings were overcome with a very immediate effect and a range wide enough to encompass the entire Dome.

[The scene of disappearance with almost no blood. Signs of violent combat.]

Evidence proving there were only signs of destruction, no actual physical injuries.

If it wasn't a fight, but traces left by the mutant rampaging alone due to the madness that lingered even after the transformation?

The ununified traces were those of the ambiguous Type 3 mutants, more like a unique Type 2.5, left by mutants with distinct characteristics.

All facts pointed to one conclusion.

Someone completed it. Someone finished that old-gen slaughter weapon. And in the worst possible way!'

Professor recalled the skin mask safely tucked inside his coat.

A jewel of old-era technology, dubbed the intellect group of Dome, whose principles and manufacturing methods even Dome had failed to uncover.

A group that had succeeded in maintaining a relationship close to symbiosis, far beyond just manipulating mutants, and claimed that all humans, except newly born children, must die.

Initially, the group that raided Dome and ultimately took the box.

Happy Blind.

One of them must have it. The one who stole the box, completed it, and is maintaining it.

W was currently conducting performance tests on the [box], completed by someone within Happy Blind.

The once blurry goal was becoming clearer and more focused.

With our current lack of combat capability, a single operation targeting the objective would be the best we could do.

Of course, I'm not planning to take on this heroic solo mission.'

He considered how to utilize the administration. The most important target information. Knowledge. Technical personnel. Research.

Zap!

"Technicians! How could I forget about them!"

Sitting in the administration lobby, Professor slapped his knee and stood up abruptly.

"Investogation! The Investigation Bureau were looking for technicians! They're struggling because they tampered with the radio tower without knowing anything!"

"Technicians Ah! We could send technicians from the administration! Even if they're hostile towards each other, they wouldn't refuse something given for free! If the communication is restored, we could inform Area 47 of the situation and request support."

"No, wait! Think about it, Ezel. Would those who cut off communication over election results restore it before everything's settled? They're already struggling to manage with incompetent civilian technicians; they'd surely snatch up the opportunity to exploit more."

"That makes sense. So, what now?"

What now? Can't you see? Even after spelling it out like this, you still don't get it? It's so obvious!

"Don't you get it yet? Ian, Vex! I've told you everything!"

At Professor's gesture, as if they should have understood by now, Ian and Vex just shrugged their shoulders.

"We can't even keep up with the conversation."

"Don't beat around the bush, just spit it out. You're driving me crazy, you know."

"It's me who's about to burst, darn it! Really! [If we send them] to be exploited! If we say we're sending a technician, they wouldn't touch a hair on their head, would they? They'd nicely let them into the radio tower, safely guiding them right to the core control unit that's the center of this wide-area jamming?"

"Wait, get inside?"

"Yes, dude! What's the need to fix it completely? We just need to send one message to Area 47! The radio tower that's silenced all the nearby Areas beyond Area 38, you think it can't send one message beyond its jamming signals? Just zip in, send a we're all going to die, humanity's doomed' kind of message, and zip out. We might not manage on our own, but with Area 47's mechanized combat units, we can definitely take on Happy Blind!"

Professor spoke as if going out to buy a hot dog from the street was no big deal.

Ezel thought Professor had completely lost it due to stress.

To go into the middle of enemy territory, use a facility completely under their control, and then get out.

If this is easy, then what's hard? Do we need to physically stop an orbital bombardment with our bare hands?

Ezel was planning to give Professor a piece of his mind for spouting nonsense.

"Easy to say, but the Investigation Bureau isn't stupid The moment we get caught, we'll be hunted down like rats in the radio tower. Right, guys?"

Although Professor had appointed himself as the leader, he respected the opinions of his team. Seeking their agreement, Ezel turned to see, indeed, the other two nodding along.

"Ah, right. That's a good point. Since it's an old-era building, it's sturdy enough not to collapse even if we blow it up."

".Huh?"

"With many corners and narrow buildings, and the enemies are trained soldiers, human soldiers at that! Hey, Hepburn! Truth be told I've been worrying if I've become useless, if being from the 40s Areas meant I was washed up. For a mission like this, there's no need for second thoughts! I'm in!"

"Khhhh! Finally, something worthwhile! Honestly, coming up over the 40th Area, I thought my stomach was in knots. Move quietly, avoid fights, we don't know who the enemy is, let's just observe That's not our way! I was braking so hard I thought they'd wear out!"

Ian, apparently thrilled at the prospect, was the first to dash outside.

"I'll go get the car from the lodging; think about what personal weapons you'll need!"

Seeing his happy demeanor, Ezel was at a loss for words, and Professor came up beside him, slinging an arm around his shoulder.

"Agent Ezel Raiden, defender of democracy. By a vote of 3:1, the operation has been approved. It's a dangerously risky place, so it's better to have one more person, right? You're not planning to abandon your friends and just watch from a safe distance, are you?"

"Damn it I always say, if I die here, it's on you, Professor Park."

"Ah, okay, okay. I'll accept your curse, and you can even write in your will that I was the cause of your death, and put on my tombstone [Professor Park is the reason I died]. Happy?"

Instead of responding, Ezel buried his face in his hands. Seeing his resigned figure, Professor laughed heartily.

"Here! Bring me a set of administration lab coats, some tools, and a map of the radio tower! And bring a technician who knows how to handle the tower's communication equipment!"

"Are you planning to infiltrate disguised as a researcher?"

To Karel's almost incredulous expression, Professor nodded emphatically.

"Only one of us. Me, Ian, and Vex are too well-known, so it's hard for us to just walk in. But we have one friend who isn't as famous yet."

He twitched!

Ezel, who had been mumbling something with his face buried in his hands, stopped moving and then started to shake violently.

Oh, my long-time friend, soygaybar. I did make at least one good friend.

"Me?"

His face turned the color of dirt in an instant, and he pointed at himself with his finger as I nodded with a bright smile.

"Yes, you. You were also cooped up in the car, scanning with radar, and apart from some old fogey at the Investigation Bureau, no one knows your face. It looks hard to just break into because it's an old building. Go inside and open the door for us."

I winked at him as I said, We're friends, right?' and grabbed him as he tried to get up, not knowing what to do. If you're happy, just say you're happy.

"I'm going to die. I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die here!!!"

"Yes, yes. Admiral Yi Sun-sin said that if you seek death, you will live. I like that you're already showing such determination, Ezel."

Ezel's last hope was fading away at the sight of Professor who clearly had no intention of letting him go.

Why did I ever come to this damned shelter?

As Ezel was engraving the map provided by the researcher into his mind, with tears in his eyes, he was rehashing the regrets he had repeated hundreds of times on his way here.

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