Chapter 176: Lead and Silver Coins (30)

Chapter 176: Lead and Silver Coins (30)

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Swoosh!

Throwing oneself forward, eerily bright twin yellow lights instantly cling to the side.

The transformed creature's appearance was, indeed, close to that of a tiger. To be precise, it was closer to what had been a tiger.'

The skin and facial muscles rotted and decayed, leaving only traces of fur and skin on a skull that definitely resembled that of a large feline. The bizarre sight of yellow sclera flashing in the empty eye sockets. The fur visible through the tattered military uniform was dry and dull like that of a completely decayed corpse, but oddly, the essence within was filled with the resilient muscles characteristic of a predator.

It was as if it was a predator whose exterior had completely rotted away.

Crack! Crick-crack!

Sparks fly where hand meets hand, and in the moment of catching one's breath after deflecting a blade aimed at the side, a gun barrel has already found its place before one's eyes.

"Damn it So fast!"

Bang!

Eeeeee-

A ringing in the ears accompanied by a burning pain. I was grateful for the pain at the tips of my ears, for there was no better assurance that I had dodged the enemy's attack, given how my head was so heated I couldn't even remember what I was doing!

The fact that I had blocked it meant that the enemy's guard was down.

There is a flow in close combat. Both the attacker and the defender must endure the same shock, and those in motion have a harder time regaining their balance than those standing still, leading to a failure in attack turning into a change in offense and defense. The most basic common sense in close combat.

My left arm was stiff from the shock of defense, but my right arm was free. Thanks to the forward momentum, aiming at the enemy's head, now fully exposed to the front, unusually fast for someone who had lost their balance

"?! Damn!"

Swoosh!

Thud!

Instinctively applying the brakes with my toes and stepping back, the creature's saw-like teeth brushed past my approaching right arm. The bite strength was enough to make my ears ring from the sound of teeth clashing.

"Argh! This bastard bites! Common sense doesn't work on him!"

"Ha ha ha! Then, wouldn't a tiger bite a person?"

"What tiger! Like a zombie tiger or something!"

Trying to buy some time with conversation, but I realized that conventional methods wouldn't allow me to gain the upper hand against it.

The ferocious claws coming from the blind spot and the huge teeth aiming for the neck. The movement was beast-like, but as I dodged and moved, the creature's gun barrel was suddenly in front of my head.

A combat style that swings wild nature with precise calculation, almost perfected.

I don't know what memories it was born from, but this variant calling itself Old Tiger was undoubtedly specialized in combat.

"Damn it. It's coming again!"

I saw the creature leap. I needed to dodge, but my balance was already severely off from hastily stepping back.

"I can't dodge!"

Ping!

In a split second, my left hand pulled the pin from a grenade at my waist and rolled it towards my back as I fell, positioning us both perfectly to be caught in the explosion.

The creature's bright yellow pupils tracked the pin before it even hit the ground. The sound of the fuse burning must have reached the beast's ears. Truly intending to detonate the grenade rolled towards myself.

"To die together, huh. Such a pathetic act!"

With a growl, it twisted its body. Perfectly launching itself forward, it then used its waist to spin around, kicking off the ground with a flexible movement to create distance.

Click-click, roll-roll

However, the expected explosion did not sound, and as the creature retreated, I barely managed to create some distance, finally catching my breath.

"A dud Relying on such luck isn't like me."

Click.

Seemingly amused, Old Tiger picked up the dropped grenade.

At the top of the grenade's safety handle, the metal between the fuse and the detonator was crushed, rendering the grenade incapable of exploding. It wasn't a simple defect; it looked like it had been pressed with a very strong force, which brought a satisfied smile to Bulu's lips.

"A trick Yes. Your most favored claw. Sharp and cunning. Quite a sight to see. Excellent. Truly excellent!"

".After turning someone into rags, that's praise."

"Even in this situation, you have the leisure to say such things, so of course, I must praise."

"It's not about being leisurely, dude. It's just the kind of person I am."

Bulu chuckled and tried to remove his hand that had been pressing down on his side.

Pssht-

Damn it. It burst open. Somehow, I need to stop the bleeding. Need to keep him talking.

The first strike. Unable to handle the surprisingly sharp movement of the creature, my side was deeply cut.

If it hadn't been for the rapidly clotting agent I had activated, my entrails would have spilled out. Even with the good medicine provided by Dome, wounds need time to heal. If it starts to attack again, the wound will only worsen.

An insurmountable enemy.

Me, currently in dire need of immediate medical attention due to a fatal injury.

Suddenly, an idea so wise it made me wonder why I hadn't thought of it before came to mind.

Run away!

Upon further thought, the current situation was too strange. This is a Type 3 variant. A walking disaster of the wasteland. Treated almost like a natural disaster.

Whenever he shivered with his own miserableness, he would always seek out the warehouse at the edge of the base.

The Bengal tiger, as big as a house, but now just a skeletal figure after being trapped for a long time.

It had been trapped while searching for food. Thinking to skin it and send its hide as a gift to his superior for more support, he had planned to keep it until he found an expert.

"Grrrrr. Gwaaah!"

Clang! Clang clang!

Despite not having eaten or drunk for days, I was captivated by the look in the beast's eyes as it lunged towards me, trying to bite me through the iron bars. That integrity, disregarding its own life. Why did that look of hatred comfort me so? It was through this beast alone that I felt I received the treatment I deserved.

I sent the butcher away, and the tiger within the iron bars stayed in the warehouse. I wanted to see that look of hatred flourish and then watch as it dimmed and died away. In the end, at the moment of death, this beautiful creature would also struggle hideously towards life. Thus proving that my actions were close to human nature, proving that I wasnt wrong.

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"However, Bulu, that great tiger never extinguished its hatred, even at the moment of its death."

The final memory of the original. A survivalist so immersed in self-loathing that he couldnt even remember his own name.

"There was an enemy airstrike, and despite his efforts to survive, he was absurdly close to dying from a bomb shard. Clutching his bleeding stomach, he ran towards the warehouse. I don't know why. Maybe he wanted to prove his innocence until the last moment, or perhaps he just ran to the place that had always given him comfort out of habit."

There, he meets his end, greeted by the sharp claws of the tiger, which had always generously provided him with scorn and hatred.

"Bulu the old great tiger thought of only one thing. I will kill the one who imprisoned me here. Just once, if I could sink my claws into his neck! That would be enough. And when the human, bleeding, leaned against his cage, Bulu knew his time had come. The forepaws of the tiger, already blurred from not having eaten anything to the point of dying, were miserably thin. Normally, not even a finger could fit through the gap in the bars, but now his entire paw could be shoved through."

The man was trembling and bleeding. His neck caught by the gleaming claws, mercilessly pulled.

"The last thing the man, whose neck was nearly severed, saw was the tiger looking down on him. A miserably skeletal figure. Yet, its eyes shone brightly, seeming satisfied as he fell! At that moment, he experienced unbearable misery and enlightenment. Ah, I didn't want to see the beast broken."

It was a moment of proof. A proof that his life, admired and praised by everyone for surviving well, was wrong. A proof that there were others who, like his comrades who rushed towards death, emitted something other than fear in the face of death!

In his dying moment, his fingers touched the carcass of the tiger he had always admired. And the virus, taking over the host's body, began to pull in the carcass of the most vividly remembered entity in the host's memory into its body..

Professor felt a sense of awe in the midst of his continuous recollections.

"Wait a minute. So, your goal is?"

"Yes. I want to experience the fear of death once more. The inescapable death. In that absolute terror, will I run away as the man did in the past, or will I fight back like the tiger? Did the man truly overcome his ugly nature in his final moment, or was it merely comfort? To prove this, I've done quite grotesque things. Throwing myself into a horde of armed humans, charging at those among the so-called Type 3 variants that seemed absurdly strong. I've even attacked those you call Raptors. But I realized none of them were the opponent I was looking for. The human hordes were too weak. The Type 3 friend was strong enough to kill me, but there was no will in its eyes. Just a large inanimate object reacting mechanically. The Raptors maybe they could have been a substitute, but they weren't satisfying enough."

Step. Step.

The flaming skull of the old tiger approached me.

"What I want is a worthy adversary. Someone who can remain detached in the face of death's terror, just like that tiger who threw everything away for just a moment. Someone who can push me to the edge and gift me the fear of death. There's probably somewhere I could die right now. I'm not invincible, and I can't face endless enemies forever. But death met in a crowd isn't satisfying. I want someone like him, who can project everything onto me. There have been those who were detached in the face of death, but they didn't overcome their limits and simply died. There were those who reached the brink of Type 3, but they were just half-corpses stuck in the past. None could become the worthy adversary I sought.

The beast's foul smell was almost upon me, close enough to feel. Though it had no expression, I could sense it. He was genuinely happy.

"In my series of failures, I finally found you. Through countless pains and fears of death, you move forward, not backward. You've already started your metamorphosis with your own strength, yet your integrity remains unbroken! Finally, I've found it! The most perfect material to become my adversary!"

I left him to his passionate rant and slowly started to back away. I had pulled enough time to clot the blood, and true to the unstable ego of a Type 3 variant, he enjoyed talking about his origins and past.

The problem was, the flaw or weakness in that memory was absurd.

His goal is self-verification. He wants to experience the fear of death, but only a single entity that meets his standards can be the target. He needs to prove whether he's a coward or brave? So, he'll only be satisfied if he's defeated in a one-on-one battle! What kind of masochist is this?'

The bigger problem was, he had chosen me as that target. The way he spoke was so earnest, as if he was about to propose; it didn't seem like he'd let me go easily.

Screech-

He slowly approached me, retracting my steps, and unsheathed his claws.

"Struggle as much as you can, add to the ordeal. You've already proved yourself to me in many ways, so it won't take long. Perhaps, we can move on to the final stage right now."

"The final stage is?"

"To die. You must die to be reborn as a strong and perfect adversary of mine. You're already partly unstable in this state, but if you fully turn into Type 3 Hmm. Exciting. I can't wait!"

"!!!"

He's saying he'll kill me!'

Slowly, slowly, slowly!

My backing away sped up. To think, a powerful old man was telling me I can't wait' in this context. I shouldn't have come here!

As I backed away frantically, I scanned my surroundings for anything useful. Something, anything, to fend him off!

Crunch!

"Erai!"

The moment I heard the beast's hind legs digging into the ground, I ripped off a car door that was within reach and threw it, then put all my effort into leaping to the opposite side of the creature.

"Trying to escape? Still trying to defy your destined fate!"

"Just let me go, you maniac! I'll probably turn into a mutant soon anyway, just wait until then!"

Screech-!

"The wait has been too long! Just give up and surrender your neck! I'll make you reborn as my very own adversary!"

Crunch!

"Argh! Stop your nonsense! A damned old furry masochist yandere male corpse! Don't court me with your crazy traits that no industry would accept!"

I threw whatever fragments I could grab behind me as I ran towards the outside of the base.

If there was anything to be gained from my conversation with the creature, it was that there was no need to worry about it attacking the rear of District 47 reinforcements if I fled. After all, this corpse tiger had followed me here.

The sprinting speed is similar! If I keep leading it outside the base, buying time, Ian and Ezel's team will finish up top, and without a sniper, the base's forces can push the enemy back, creating some breathing room, and then, uh our forces will come to save me! Holding this thing off is already doing my part! Yes, that's the plan-

Screech-

"Uuuugh!!! Oh God!"

Professor desperately prayed, seeing a chunk of his hair being sliced off by the beast's claw. He pleaded for support to arrive while he was still alive.

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