Vol 5 Chapter 7

SPACE 7. Like a Phoenix!

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

The huge body rose off the floor. The man rolled around as it fell.

“Oh my god! The Mumu……these guys…..how did the Mumu…..?”

Ark stared at the huge body with astounded eyes. The slime like body was definitely similar to the Mumu that he saw in the Charenjok’s hiding spot. But there was one crucial difference. It was clear just from the name recorded on the information window.

It only had one name! It was called the Mumu. This Mumu was a huge collection of dozens of other Mumus. It wasn’t just the size. The Mumu in the hiding spot had smooth and wriggly skin like jelly and was cute. However he couldn’t find that type of charm in this creature. He didn’t know if it had anything to do with Osiris’ curse but it had turned into a disgusting black mass. He saw the creepy skin and remembered something.

‘I…..I’ve seen that before!’

It was the black form he witnessed at the top of the elevator shaft!

‘There’s no doubt about it. This guy. He is the one who attacked the elevator and swallowed the Phoenix members hanging in the shaft!’

It became increasingly clear. The Phoenix squad’s enemy!

Roaaaaar!

Then the black form flew at Ark again. Long tentacles spouted from the body and shot towards Ark. He rolled his body and there was a roar as the tentacles hit the ground and caused pits. The tentacles had tremendous power! The Mumu that was the Phoenix squad’s enemy! And maybe……it was Ark’s enemy.

‘Damn, I’ve reached this point……’

Ark bit his lip and glared at the Mumu. Even if they were hanging in the vertical passage, the Mumu was able to instantly defeat the 30 strong members of the Phoenix squad. He was facing such a monster alone. Ark was thinking it was all over!He didn’t know how that monster got here but it was a disaster for Ark.

‘Dammit, why did this have to happen?’

Various curse words rose in his throat. But after a moment, Ark took a deep breath and pushed it down.

‘Calm down Ark! You shouldn’t become so upset that you’ll become rushed. The attack is incredibly fast and powerful but it isn’t impossible to stop. An attack in a straight line like the previous one will be easy to avoid. I have to focus on the fight! And……’

Ark looked at a cylinder with a blue light in his bag. It was the mana battery pack that he received from the Rama’s bunker on Beltana. It was an item that could restore 1,000 mana when wearing the battle suit. Ark had obtained 2 battery packs from the Rama. He had used one of them fighting against the Gigantic on Beltana. He had used the battery pack to summon the Hell hound and trick Valencia. And he thought about using the remaining one on the 40th floor. In fact, Ark had expected something like this to a certain extent. He didn’t know a huge Mumu would emerge but he hadn’t expected it to end that easily. He had bad luck inside the game so his intuition had sensed something. Thanks to his intuition he was prepared for something happening. Anyway, thanks to that Ark’s battle suit was 100% charged!

“Armour armament!”

Then Ark stood up and shouted. A shock wave spread out as the armour was summon and enveloped Ark’s body. The glossy black battle suit that looked like an insect carapace wrapped around Ark’s body. Ark opened both arms and shouted.

“Super alloy dagger! Fire Eagle P-40!”

The sides of his bag opened and both weapons sprang out. It was the shotgun that Ark used as a primary weapon, the Fire Eagle P-40! In his left hand was his dagger!

“Not yet! Mind shield!”

<A shield with 270 durability has been generated around the body. The shield will reduce all damage by 40~60% until the durability falls to 0.

In addition, the effect of Backstab or Sudden Blow will be nullified by 100%>

A blue sphere was created around the battle suit after the information window appeared. His battle mode was completed!

“Now let’s go! Be prepared to die!”

Ark’s eyes shone red as the helmet closed up and turned. And the moment he looked at the Mumu!

Cheolpeok! Chwaak! Cheolpeok! Chwaak! Cheolpeok! Chwaak!

The Mumu’s body vibrated violently. 6 bits of flesh 4~5 metres long shot towards the ground and supported the huge body. It looked exactly like a spider! The shape was exactly the same as the spiders created by the meteorite.

“W-wait a minute! A Mumu! Aren’t you a Mumu? The Mumu that attacked the elevator? Why did it suddenly turn to a spider? Isn’t this cheap? What is your identity?”

Ark thought the monster only had the tentacles. It might be fast but it could only go in one direction so it was easily avoided if he concentrated. So he had thought the odds were in his favour. But it suddenly grew 6 legs!

“This is a foul!”

Kuaaaaah!

The Mumu’s entire body started moving like a storm. Six legs at the same time? Tentacles? Body? Anyway, the long legs started moving like a whip towards Ark.

“Dammit!”

Ark cursed as he turned his body.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

It was the sound of the legs continuously striking the ground. While avoiding a huge impact, he moved in the wrong direction and backed up against a wall. Ark was pushed by the impact into the wall. But there was no time for him to scream. The Mumu’s legs were flying straight towards him.

“B-block it…..Sonic Sword!”

Ark raised his dagger. A ringing sound occurred and he could feel pain throughout his entire body. He called it a leg for convenience but the flesh was 1 metre thick. It was impossible to stop the shock wave produced by such a huge body with a dagger. Ark who had used his dagger to block was stuck between the Mumu’s leg and the wall. But this wasn’t the end of the Mumu’s attacks. The Mumu started pushing its leg down towards Ark. Then its body started spinning and sparks flew between the wall and the battle suit.

-32 damage…..

His health fell at a tremendous speed. The great power pressed him against the wall and he was grounded like a pestle. Rather than a battle, it was like the Mumu was using Ark as a toy to play with.

‘No! I can’t fight properly like this!’

Ark bit his lip and desperately lifted the Fire Eagle.

“Ouch! Ouch! S-Set Bullets Shooting!”

Cheolkeok, cheolkeok, cheolkeok! Pepepeng!

Flames shot out form Ark and the leg was blown off. At the same time a piece of flesh fell off the leg. Ark kicked off from the wall and rolled several metres away. His health had decreased by 20% in just a few seconds. A loss of 20% at the start of the battle was a painful loss.

‘The Mind Shield didn’t even hold up against that damage…..he didn’t know what it was but the firepower was destructive. I’ll die if I’m even careless for a short while.’

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!

Another leg was approaching from the other side. Ark’s battle style was to block the enemy’s attack with the dagger and then using the pistol or shotgun to counterattack. However his dagger couldn’t stop the huge leg.

‘But!’

Pepepepeng!

Bullets spewed from the muzzle of the Fire Eagle. The Mumu’s leg was pushed back and flesh torn off. It was the effect of the shotgun!

‘But that guy has 6 legs. On the other hand, the firing rate of the Fire Eagle was 3 seconds! I can’t stop all of the legs using just the Fire Eagle. I have to avoid the rest. Fortunately this area is wider than the control tower. I can take full advantage of the facility if I concentrate. I can’t stop moving my legs!’

Ark turned around and ran through the legs in the opposite direction. The firing speed was 3 seconds so he made sure to shoot every 3 seconds. He had to use the weapon to stop the legs.

Kwa kwang! Kakak! Kakak! Kakak!

He would attack with the dagger whenever the leg was pushed back. But the level 20 dagger couldn’t deal any damage to a boss monster of the control tower. Even when he dealt a few hits, he couldn’t see any signs that the Mumu’s health was decreasing. It was the same with the Fire Eagle. The Mumu’s body wasn’t iron so the Fire Eagle would exert 100% of the damage but it only lost 1% with every bullet that hit.

‘I can’t be hasty. Right now avoiding damage is more important than dealing it. I can keep attacking as long as I don’t receive more damage. The most important thing right now it to endure it. If I hold out as long as possible then I can also read the attack patterns! My swordsmanship and Fire Eagle will be used as a shield instead of a weapon!’

Offense through defense! That was the tactic that Ark chose. And with that tactic, using the Fire Eagle to push back the Mumu’s legs was more important than ever. He needed to step carefully or there might be a fatal result.

“Set Bullets Shooting!”

Cheolkeok, cheolkeok, cheolkeok! Pepepeng!

Ark placed the muzzle on the approaching leg and pulled the trigger. He avoided the attacks from the other legs, reloaded the gun and swung his dagger when he could no longer avoid the legs.

Pepepepeng!

There was no time to think once the battle began in earnest. He also had no time to check the Mumu’s body. Ark ran around the wide power generating facility! Blocking two legs took a lot and it required all his concentration if four legs attacked at once. How much time had passed?

‘Now I’m starting to see the pattern. At first I had no room to think but the moves become simple once I’m used to it. It sometimes shows irregular movement but I can hold up if I use the Fire Eagle!’

Tuntun said that the Mumu was a creature with almost no intelligence. It might’ve changed to a huge Mumu but it was still stupid. In the beginning he didn’t have the timing and received at lot of damage. Now he couldn’t avoid it to a certain extent and had room to breathe. But it had high attack and defense so it would take him a while to defeat it. Ark was good at fights but he couldn’t keep up his concentration forever. He had to defeat it while his concentration was maintained!

‘Now is the time to switch to attack!’

Ark turned his body and stared at the Mumu.

Snap!

There was a crack as he received a huge impact to his stomach. The pressure pushed Ark backwards and he looked down at his stomach.

“Ugh! What is this? This is…..chunks of iron? No, machine parts! These are machine parts?”

Various mechanical parts were lodged into his stomach. The extravagant pressure was caused by the chunks of iron hitting him.

“P-Perhaps?”

Ark suddenly lifted his head. The Mumu’s body on the 6 legs was swollen like a balloon and metal objects were flying from its mouth.

Peng!

Ark reflexively lowered his body and the iron chunks hit behind him. The metal parts had barely missed Ark.

“U-unbelievable…..t-this bastard……it can even do ranged attacks?”

The huge Mumu had picked up metal parts while travelling around the control tower and now it was launching them as projectiles. The huge Mumu used its recycling ability to create projectiles! But he wasn’t complimenting it. This ability was terrible for someone fighting the Mumu like Ark. The situation changed 180 degrees once the Mumu started to shoot the iron chunks. The situation had been good for him because he became familiar with the leg’s attacks. But that pattern didn’t help once the iron chunks were added. The iron bullets flew at a speed difficult for him to see!

Peng-snap! Peng-snap! Peng-snap!

The Mumu fired the iron chunks every 0.1 second. The iron chunks aimed at his legs, shoulders and head. Fortunately this was the power generating facility and it was filled with various mechanical devices. He could hide behind those machines to catch his breath. But that only lasted for a moment.

Peng! Peng! Peng! Peng! Snap! Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

The machines crashed to the ground when it was hit by the indiscriminate shower of bullets.

“Pant pant pant, the Mumu! I can’t die like this!”

Ark face darkened as he ran and confirmed how much of his health had decreased. He confirmed that his health was reduced to 60%. On the other hand, the Mumu still had 90% health left. He had attacked dozens of times with the Fire Eagle and only reduced the health by 10%. Now the chance of him winning was 0.1%.

“Dammit! This isn’t funny! I’m Ark! I can’t die like this!”

Cheolkeok, cheolkeok, cheolkeok! Pepepeng!

Ark ran behind the machines and attacked for 5 minutes. Then something unthinkable occurred. One of the pipes that was broken from the Mumu’s attack started spreading unidentified gas. The gas ignited when Ark shot his Fire Eagle and flames spread everywhere.

“Oh my god……!”

Ark watched the flames and murmured in a blank voice. Suddenly a shadow jumped out from the flames and stood in front of Ark. In the next moment the flames parted like the Red Sea.

–Fire! There is fire! Start the fire prevention tasks!

Chwaaaaah!

Water started to stream down from the ceiling.

“H-how…..?”

Ark who had been raising his Fire Eagle muttered with a stupid expression. Ark started at the man that appeared through the flames. The man had a large body and red hair like fire!

“Pureah?”

“Alan!”

Then he heard a familiar voice from behind. Ark reflexively turned his head and his mouth widened. One man was descending the ladder connected to the control tower’s outer wall. The light attached to the battle suit revealed that he was the leader of Phoenix’s team B, Clark.

“Clark? And Pureah as well! T-then the other members?”

“It is only us!”

Clark jumped down from the ladder and aimed his arms at the Mumu.

“Energy Blast!”

10 lights simultaneously formed from Clark’s battle suit. It moved in a circuit to gather at his wrist and was fired as a ball of light. Energy blast was the main weapon of Clark’s Esper battle suit! The mana ball was guided like a missile and exploded when it hit the Mumu’s body.

Roaaaaar!

Clark ran up to him while the Mumu wobbled.

“Alan, are you okay? Why did you break your connection to the multiple communication network? Don’t you know we thought you were dead?”

“Huh? B-but I checked it shortly after the surprise attack in the elevator…..”

“At that time I used a grenade and spatial movement to barely escape. But my Nymphe received damage from the grenade exploded and didn’t work for a while. It was the same for Pureah. Pureah used the flamethrower when he was eaten and he was immediately thrown up again. You probably checked your Nymphe when mine wasn’t working and Pureah was still eaten. I met up with Pureah but you didn’t connect to the network so I thought you were dead.”

Ark broke the network connection after he checked it. He was the only one who escaped from the elevator so there was no reason to maintain the connection when he needed to talk to Jay. Anyway, since then Clark and Pureah proceeded with the mission. They were in the vicinity of the 20th floor when Charem suddenly started falling. That was when Ark cut the power to the particle accelerator. Clark thought that a problem occurred in the power facility so they went there and saw the Wire Camera Ark used to stop the propeller. Then they descended the ladder and saw Ark fighting the Mumu.

“But I never imagined…..you would be fighting here alone. You might’ve guessed already but that thing is out enemy. At that time…..I saw it clearly. It swallowing my colleagues inside the dark shaft!”

Clark glared at the Mumu.

“That monster bastard, I can’t let it go now that I’ve encountered it again! Let’s show the power of the Phoenix squad! Let’s go Alan! We’re going to get revenge for the colleagues inside its stomach!”

“Ohhhhhh!”

Clark and Pureah yelled and ran up to the Mumu. The situation changed once Clark and Pureah joined.

“Energy Blast!”

“Burning flames, Frame Buster!”

A ball of light and flames flew towards the Mumu. In a fantasy world, slime like monsters would be weak to magic. It was the same with Galaxian. The Mumu’s health started going down at a ridiculous speed after being hit by the mana sphere and the flames. But they couldn’t take the counterattack of the Mumu lightly. It swung its legs and continuously fired iron chunks.  While they had the best firepower in the Phoenix squad, Clark was an Esper so he had weak defense while Pureah’s movement was slow thanks to the flamethrower.

‘If Clark and Pureah die then there is no way to defeat the Mumu! I need to draw the attacks!’

“Take this! Set Bullets Shooting!”

Cheolkeok, cheolkeok, cheolkeok! Pepepeng!

Ark attacked the Mumu with the Fire Eagle. The water from the sprinklers above his head continued putting out the flames. Furthermore, the fan had stopped working so the facility was filled with thick smoke. Ark ran around in the thick smoke and attacked the Mumu while Clark and Pureah kept on attacking as well.

“Pant pant pant, this terrible guy. Where did this monster come from……?”

Clark groaned in the middle of the battle.

Clark was still unaware of what it was. The opponent was the Mumu that worked as a floor cleaner. The Mumu’s combat power was beyond what was expected for something that worked as a floor cleaner. Even though Clark and Pureah joined, the Mumu still has a 6:4 advantage. That wasn’t the only problem.

The concentration of toxic fumes in this area has reached the limit! If you don’t leave this area quickly then you can suffer fatal nerve damage!

<If you can’t escape within the time limit then various penalties will be applied to your stats>

Time remaining:  50 seconds, 49 seconds, 48 seconds……

It wasn’t necessary to say but the body coating wasn’t invincible. The power generating facility was a place that make all sorts of harmful gases. Unidentified fumes and various gases were leaking from the pipe. The ventilation also stopped so the gathered gases rose beyond the level that his body could endure. Thankfully Ark’s resistance rose by 50% thanks to his Survivor coating so the penalty wasn’t applied yet.  But Clark and Pureah already received the penalty.

“Ugh! I-I’m feeling dizzy…..!”

“Ouch! I feel sick! V-vomiting…..!”

It was so intense that the Pureah vomited out of the bottom of his helmet. Their movement speed and hit rate also decreased so the battle was become more disadvantageous as time passed.

‘ It is suicide to stay here! We have to move out of here before it is too late!’

Ark eyed the hole connected to the top of the control tower. It was the only exit. In fact, Ark had tried to escape many times when fighting against the Mumu. But the Mumu wasn’t just watching. If he climbed the ladder here as a 99% chance he would be hit.

‘It is possible now that Clark and Pureah are here!’

“Clark, Pureah, focus your attacks on its ankle and sneak out of here!”

“Damn, it can’t be helped. Pureah!”

They were experiences soldiers so long explanations weren’t needed.

“Burning flames, Frame Buster!”

“Energy Blast!”

“Set Bullets Shooting!”

All the attacks exploded on the Mumu’s body. While the Mumu was stumbling around, the three soldiers turned and ran towards the ladder. Ark turned once he reached the ladder and reloaded the Fire Eagle.

“You guys climb up first!”

“Understood. Pureah, let’s go!”

Clark and Pureah climbed the ladder. Ark shot the approaching Mumu and jumped up.

Kuaaaaah!

The Mumu let out a roar of anger behind him.

———————————————————————————————————————–

Kwaaaaah! Kwaaaaah!

A storm blew and scattered the clouds. The space distorted and dozens of space ships appeared. A soldier on the space ship in the centre turned his head and shouted.

“Photon movement is complete! We’re arrived at the target coordinates!”

“Can you see any objects in range?”

“I can’t see anything!”

“Is there a shield?”

Marquis Martin looked around with sharp eyes at the expanse of clouds in front of him. Marquis Martin had mobilized dozens of cruisers after receiving the GPS information from Ark’s transmission.

“They are hiding well like parasites but……”

The corners of Marquis Martin’s mouth lifted.

“Deputy, check the photon distribution in this region. If those guys used light speed movement to escape then there should be a large amount of photon distribution.”

“The figures are normal. No signs of moving photons are detected.”

“They are still hiding then. Okay, use the optical scanner.  Search every corner of this 20 km area while the height will be 3 km from this space ship.”

Tutung! Tutung! Tutung!

10 circular flying objects flew at Marquis Martin’s command. They started to slowly search in a range of 20 km and a height of 3 km. After a moment, sparks started flying from one of the circular objects and a huge object was revealed. It was a city covered in transparent glass!

“We’ve finally exposed them! That rat den Charem!”

The circular objects launched just now was an optical scanner. It radiated a strong disturbance radio wave in the designated area to find anyone hiding. And the optical scanner was able to release Charem’s camouflage function. The circumstances were as good as finished now that he had arrived.

“Install the dimension net around Charem!”

Dozens of gas objects were thrown from the cruisers surrounding Charem. When the gases connected, a huge net made of red light was formed. Just like the name, the dimension net was able to stop warp or photon movement. Marquis Martin spoke in a relaxed voice once the dimension net was installed.

“Charem has been discovered using the optical signal. We’re the army belonging to the galactic federation. This is a warning to the stateless city ship that invaded the galactic federation illegally. If you don’t release the shield within 30 seconds then we will be forced to shoot you down.”

Marquis Martin’s words were changed to an optical signal and sent to Charem. But there was no reaction from Charem. There couldn’t be a reaction. The Sufferers were wandering the control tower so there was no one to receive the signal. So 10 seconds passed.

“Are they trying to hold up? They must think lightly of the federation.”

Marquis Martin folded his arms and laughed. The soldiers sitting in front of the panel looked puzzled and said.

“Marquis-nim, the photon distribution is rapidly increasing in the area 2 km ahead! Photon movement!  It seems to be a few Ogre-class cruisers based on the photon distribution. There are at least 5 of them!”

“Finally the master of the rats have arrived.”

Kwaaaaah! Kwaaaaah!

As soon as Marquis Martin’s words ended, a storm occurred and 5 cruisers showed up. Various characters were carved on the side of the cruisers. The soldier who confirmed it nervously swallowed his saliva.

“They are from the 3rd alien confederacy. The Aschulat cruisers.”

“Marquis-nim, we are receiving some communication.”

“Allow the connection. I want to hear what they have to say.”

A screen appeared in the control room and showed an alien species. Marquis Martin started talking as soon as he saw the alien that looked like ET.

“Ha, who is this? Aren’t you Aschulat’s ambassador? How unexpected. You said you had no time when I asked for an interview many times so why are you here?”

–Marquis Martin, what are you doing here?

The ET alien sent Marquis Martin a nasty look.

“What are I doing? Shouldn’t I ask you that question? I don’t know what you mean. I was just doing military training in this territory. Yet there was a huge accident and I discovered this stateless city ship hiding here. It is impossible for us to pretend not to see it.”

–Marquis, don’t you know? Charem…..

“Does that mean it is associated with the Aschulat?”

–No, that…..

“Of course that is impossible. I’ve found this city accidentally but I’ve heard rumours about it. This is the city that serves as the focal point for smugglers in the north. Surely our allies the Aschulat won’t be associated with something like this. There are rumours that the senior politicians of the federation tolerated this city’s presence in exchange for information. Yet didn’t the Aschulat break the agreement? In other words, Charem is just a free, illegal city. It doesn’t matter if I shoot them down.”

–Marquis Martin, you…..

ET glared at the Marquis. Then the ET alien rolled its eyes and sighed.

-Okay. You know the circumstances so I won’t mess around. To be honest, we’ve been worried about Charem for a while. One day they suddenly cut off all communication. While we were surveying this area, we detect the radio wave of a nearby communication signal. Now I just want to ask. If Marquis Martin is here then that means the communication was sent to you. Does that mean the reason Charem broke off the communication is also related to you?

“Are you trying to place the blame on me?”

Marquis Martin smiled and nodded.

“Indeed. You’ve devised a plausible excuse.”

–Excuse?

“Well it doesn’t matter what you say.”

Marquis Martin ignored the ET’s words and looked at the deputy soldier.

“Deputy, tell all ships to prepare for bombardment. The target is the city in front of us!”

-Marquis, do you think you will be safe if you do something like this? It will be a war!

“Shut up!”

Marquis Martin raised his head and exclaimed.

“Do you think the federation will tremble at a threat like that forever? I’m saying this clearly from the position of an ally. Will you support or stop us? If you can’t answer clearly then disappear. And return to your home planet. If you want then I will give you a war!”

–Marquis, you have made a big mistake!

“I guess so.”

Marquis Martin smiled and turned away. And he was about to give an order to the dozens of cruisers aimed at Charem.

“Marquis-nim, something is strange. Look at this. Half of Charem has been changed into ruins. Furthermore, the speech signals won’t penetrate the shield but thousands of people are flocking and waving their hands towards us. It is like they are welcoming us.”

“Welcoming us? That is…..”

Marquis Martin muttered and frowned. Then a soldier suddenly shouted.

“Over there! The outer walls of Charem’s control tower!”

Another screen appeared next to the one of the ET. Charem’s central control tower was emitting black smoke and people climbing up a ladder on the outer wall. Marquis Martin didn’t know the first two people but he was surprised at the identity of the third man.

“That helmet is clearly Ark! He was alive?”

Ark had screamed in the middle of a conversation and disconnected it. Marquis Martin thought he had connected the communication device to the antenna before being caught by guards. Yet he was unexpectedly on the control tower’s outer wall.

“Why is that guy over there? What’s going on…..?”

Marquis Martin murmured with confusion. Then he saw something emerge from the hold and wrapped around Ark’s ankles.

———————————————————————————————————————–

“The federation and Aschulat’s cruisers!”

Ark heard Clark’s cry while he was climbing out of the hole. He turned and saw dozens of space ships. The streamlined cruisers with the logo of a blue planet belonged to the federation.

“That’s it! They’ve come!”

A cry emerged from Ark’s mouth. The federation’s cruisers had finally arrived at Charem. Now the problem of Charem could be settled. And Ark would also receive the quest reward! Ark’s eyes couldn’t see the guns aimed at Charem. The aliens hiding in the safety zone were the same. The aliens were so shaken by the horrors of the Sufferers that they didn’t notice the tense situation between the federation and Aschulat. Anyway!

“That’s it. If I deal with this guy then the rest will somehow…..”

Ark murmured as he crept up the ladder.

Hwiririri! Chwarararak!

Then dozens of tentacles emerged from the bottom and wrapped around him.

“Ugh! W-what is this? That bastard!”

Ark’s face warped as he looked down. The Mumu was sticking to the wall like gum and creeping up it. The flesh was torn from Ark, Clark and Pureah’s attacks but there were enough flesh to form tentacles to wrap around Ark. At the same time Ark experienced a huge pulling force.

“Alan! Damn! Energy Blast!”

“Frame Burst!”

Light and flames poured down from the top. A few tentacles were torn or burnt but it was ineffective. The Mumu continuously wrapped more tentacles around Ark. Ark was unable to go up the ladder and the Mumu was gradually approaching the propeller.

‘I made a mistake! I can’t separate from this guy! In that case……’

Ark looked down for a while before grinding his teeth together.

“Shall I end this? Okay, let’s see this through to the end!”

Ark shouted and released his hand from the ladder. Ark was pulled by the tentacles and fell.

“Heok! A-Alan! What are you doing?”

“Is he trying to catch that monster for us……?”

“Oh my god! That brat! No! We can’t lose him now that we’ve reached this point! The Aschulat and federation cruisers just arrived…..he can’t die like this!”

Clark yelled at him from above.

“I’m alive!”

Ark yelled from the bottom. Clark and Pureah had misunderstood the reason why Ark jumped off. Of course his colleagues were also important to Ark. But this was all to secure his own safety. No matter how much they became friends, he wasn’t going to sacrifice what he got over the last fortnight. Ark fell down because the odds were in his favour.

Tong-!

Ark had fallen onto a propeller’s blade. Then he rolled until he was about to fall between the blades into the facility.

‘There!’

Ark took out a small object and threw it. He immediately fell between the gap into the power facility.

Pejik, pejik, kwa kwa kwa kwang!

An explosion occurred in the centre of the propeller. The explosion snapped the Wire Camera tangled around the centre of the propeller and it started turning again. The Mumu was still near the propeller as it hadn’t followed Ark’s action! There was no need to imagine the following scene.

Ka ka ka ka! Ka ka ka ka! Ka ka ka ka!

It was the awful sound of flesh being torn up. The Mumu’s enormous body was unable to follow Ark and was cut by the propeller. How much time had passed? Finally large lumps of flesh fell into the facility. The upper portion of the body also fell and a spider emerged from it.

‘The curse! It is the core of the Mumu!’

“18 Barrage!”

Ark ran towards the spider and shouted. At the same time, the shoulders of the Hyper Drone opened and steam emerged. His fists started to move like engines were attached to them.

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!

The mana was finished and the battle suit recalled.

-Your level has risen!

-Your level has risen……

The messages popped up in front of Ark. His screen was filled with 7 level up messages! He had gained 7 levels.

“Pant pant pant! It is a success!”

The battle suit disappeared and Ark felt drained. He was drenched in sweat and gasping for breath as he looked at the fiercely spinning propeller.

“I never thought it would be used like that.”

It was the object Ark had thrown before rolling off the propeller. It was the ‘tiny bomb for suicide’ that he received from Marquis Martin. It caused an explosion like a grenade but the range wasn’t strong enough to blow up everything in the area It as able to destroy the Wire Camera without damaging the propeller. Marquis Martin gave him the bomb to blow himself up if something went wrong but it ended up saving his life. Once again, every item he gathered could be used in the future.

“But it’s up to here. I no longer have the strength to move.”

Ark muttered as he flopped to the ground with exhaustion.

“Alan, are you alive? Just wait! I’ll teleport down……”

“N-no! I’m fine! Just stay there until the fan gets rid of all the gas!”

Ark raised his upper body and shouted. And he got up despite wanting to lay down and sleep. This room contained the corpse of a boss monster that gave him 7 levels. Loot of a considerable standard was likely to be dropped by the boss monster. Ark had no intention of sharing the loot with NPCs. Yet Clark was thinking about teleporting to his location?

“Damn, they don’t give me any time to breath!”

Ark cursed and moved his body. In fact, the Mumu has dropped many items in different directions thanks to the propeller. Most of them were machine parts picked up from the tower and bullets. But Ark used his Dig skill to search through the body and found an amazing item.

Item Type: Removable Grenade Launcher  Wearer Restriction: Level 100

Attack: 15~120  Firing Rate: 20.40Sec

Durability: 18/30 Number of Ammunition:  3

A grenade launcher found in the body of a mutated Mumu. Although the Ray Steel is slower than grenade launchers exclusively for heavy armoured troops, it is a secondary device that can be attached to rifles and is useful on the battlefield.

The Ray Steel has transformed in a strange manner in the Mumu’s stomach and general grenades can’t be loaded anymore. When a metal of a suitable size is loaded into it, it would be compressed and converted into a strange type of bullet. Therefore it can’t produce the explosive results of a normal grenade launcher. But the strongest is that you don’t need to waste money buying expensive grenades. You can use any metal or machine as a projectile.

However, the damage will depend on the metal or machine parts used. It is a good chance to get rid of wasteful japtem when there is no room in your bag!

<Strength +20, Stamina +10>

<Special Option (Bullet Production): Metal or mechanical parts can be changed into bullets and launched>

* Can be attached to rifle affiliated items

A grenade launcher that used metal parts to fire bullets! It was different from the grenade launchers exclusively used by heavy armour troops. His level was too low to use it and the attack was 15~120 but it was a unique weapon! The Ray Steel was a normal item sold in stores but it transformed while within the Mumu’s stomach and a unique weapon was born.

‘I can get a lot for it even if I don’t use it directly.

Ark packed it in his bag and started to collect the smaller items. His bag became full with machine parts but he had no intention of abandoning even 1 copper. In addition, the metal parts could contribute to his hacking skill. After 10 minutes. Ark gathered all the useable scrap iron and looked at the propeller.

“It is good that I destroyed the Mumu with it…..but the propeller is rotating again so I can’t get up. Do I have to wait here until the federation retakes the management system? Well it can’t be helped. I’ll just increase my hacking proficiency until then.”

Ark sat down, grabbed one of the circuits and connected it to his Nymphe. And he eventually raised his skill proficiency.

“Eh? T-this is?”

Information that he hadn’t possible considered was shown on his Nymphe screen.