Endzone: Simulated Apocalypse

Cyanide stood on the roof of a short building, inspecting the warehouse not too far away. There were several mutants loitering around it, wearing what looked like bright green, fluorescent construction worker attire. It would seem they were once employees at this warehouse, but like with the researchers at Aterra, they had been taken by mutation as well.

In Cyanide's hands was a crowbar. Well, he called it that, but really, it was just the broken exhaust pipe of a vehicle. He had ripped it off of a flipped-over car on the way here, using his upgraded strength. It wasn't a strong weapon by any means, but it was better than bare hands. At least this thing had the potential to kill with its sharp, jagged edges.

"Cyanide, this appears to be a warehouse for kitchen utensils, from what I can see on the labels of the cardboard boxes on the shelves," Luna said. "It may not be a great harvest, but it will definitely at least contain some knives."

"… You can see from this range?" Cyanide asked, slightly surprised.

"Yes, through the tiny windows. This new body of mine can't scan through walls, but my vision is incredibly precise so long as I have clear sight of the target. It feels like an upgrade and a downgrade at the same time, compared to back on Earth."

"Huh, I see." That will definitely come in handy in the future, Cyanide was certain. "Can you get a rough estimate on how many enemies are inside?"

"Given how the warehouse doors are open and the amount of mutants roaming outside, I wouldn't expect the inside to have any less. I suggest taking out all the mutants on the outside first to gain some levels and get stronger, then challenge the inside."

Cyanide nodded, then hopped off the roof.

"That's the plan."

*****

Using the dusty vehicles parked in the parking lot as cover, Cyanide snuck his way to the side of the warehouse. That's where he would start — and there was a mutant right in front of him, blocked only by a car.

Still oblivious to Cyanide's presence, the mutant wandered around aimlessly, movements robotic yet sluggish at the same time. Cyanide, peeking through the car's dusty windows, saw that the mutant's head was turned away from him. It was the perfect opportunity.

Leaping up just enough to get on top of the car, he slid across the roof of the sedan and stabbed the mutant directly through the back of its neck in one swift motion. The sharp end of the exhaust pipe he held in his hands tore through the other side of the mutant's throat, making it impossible for it to even make a sound…

"G-Guh…"

… Apart from gurgling a bit, anyway.

Of course, Cyanide made sure to let go of the pipe right after shoving it through, since metal conducted electricity, and he didn't want to get shocked. The mutant gagged momentarily, then fell forward, hitting the car in front with a soft thump before collapsing onto the floor, dead.

Once the electricity stopped flowing out of its body, Cyanide took back the exhaust pipe, then used it to help calmly tear off all ten of the mutant's long and sharp metal fingers before placing them into his cloak pockets. With some trimming, these things could become deadly throwable projectiles. He could only regret not doing this with the first mutant he slayed in the Aterra building a while back.

Silently, Cyanide stood back up and made sure no other mutants had been attracted by this takedown. Once that was confirmed, he settled on his next target a few meters away and killed it the same method. All these cars in this parking lot made for great cover, perfect for stealthy operations like this one.

After harvesting the fingers of the mutant once again, Cyanide saw the message he had been waiting for appear in front of his face.

[Level Up.]

[Level 2 -> 3.]

[You gained 10 CP and 1 SP.]

[Core Skill Unlocked: Inspect]

Not wasting any time, Luna read his thoughts and pulled up the character screen for Cyanide. There, he allocated his newfound CP, then purchased the [Stealth Takedown 1] skill. The exhaust pipe apparently counted as a melee weapon, since it showed up on his character screen as an equipped primary weapon, so it should work when paired with the skill.

Cyanide's new stats now look like this:

[STATS]

[Level: 3]

[HP: 30/30]

[STR: 10]

[AGI: 7]

[VIT: 6]

[INT: 1]

[DEX: 1]

[LUC: 1]

[Available CP: 0]

[Available SP: 0]

He figured HP — his health — scaled with level, and since INT, DEX, and LUC weren't of any importance to him right now, he spent all his points into STR, AGI, and VIT. Mainly STR, since the exhaust pipe he had right now was by no means a strong weapon. He needed to make up that with his STR stat, thus increasing the chances of a guaranteed execution with Stealth Takedown.

With this acquired, Cyanide decided to test the new skill out. There was a mutant walking towards him right now, but it didn't seem to have noticed him. Slowly, Cyanide circled around the car he was hiding behind to come up behind the mutant, then ran the Core Skill he received for free upon reaching Level 3: [Inspect].

[Name: Construction Worker Mutant (Stage One)]

[Level: 2]

[HP: 50/50]

[Category: Humanoid]

A level below Cyanide… perfect.

Coming out from behind the car, Cyanide swiftly and silently wrapped the exhaust pipe around the mutant before pulling back with all his strength, performing a flawless standing rear choke.

Normally, this wouldn't have worked — mutants are made of machinery and do not need to breathe. But with Stealth Takedown, this action actually drained its HP in an instant, and the mutant collapsed to the floor.

… Well, almost.

Cyanide bent down to harvest the fingers, but the mutant suddenly growled and lashed out with a surprise attack.

"RAGH!"

"…!"

Cyanide hurriedly dodged backwards a bit before launching the exhaust pipe straight down the mutant's throat, piercing it instantly. Then, he quickly looked around, seeing if some mutants had been attracted.

… Yeah, they definitely had been.

Quickly casting [Invisibility], Cyanide retrieved his weapon and got out of there. The other mutants, who now all had their faces turned this way in alarm, lumbered closer and closer. Cyanide, who had retreated several cars away, held his breath. The mutants would definitely spot their comrade's dead body — even if they were stupid, they could at least see and process basic information like that. After they see the corpse, they'll definitely be alar-

"…?" Cyanide narrowed his eyes as he watched the mutants literally walk right past where he had killed their friend, then continue pacing around aimlessly for a while more. Then, after a good minute or so, they returned to their original patrol positions, wandering aimlessly.

Confused, Cyanide went back to the place where he had used Stealth Takedown. Once there, he furrowed his brows in puzzlement.

"… Where's the body…?"

Luna, with a slight smile on her face, appeared beside Cyanide in her hologram.

"There is no body. That's the beauty of it."

"… This wasn't mentioned in the skill's description."

"The skill?" Luna giggled a bit. "Did you forget we're in a game, Cyanide?"

He stopped. This world had been so realistic that he really had forgotten. The corpses automatically disappeared after 30 seconds or so.

"No," Cyanide replied, hiding his forgetfulness. "Naturally not."

"Then let's carry on. There are still quite a few mutants to go… and they're all isolated," Luna said with a sly grin — and if it weren't for the black mask that covered her eyes, Cyanide was sure she gave a cute wink. "That makes them the perfect assassination targets, no?"

But then, he suddenly realized something. 'If their bodies disappear after they die, then...'

Cyanide reached into his pocket, where all the harvested fingers were stored. Keyword: were. He found his pockets completely empty, the fingers he harvested earlier nowhere to be seen.

"... Luna, you could've warned me."

"I thought you knew, Cyanide," she responded innocently. "I already told you earlier that any parts or equipment salvaged from mutants directly won't last, didn't I? That includes their bodies too. I figured you were just doing that to practice your fine motor skills."

"..."

It was hard to argue there.. After all, Cyanide was the type to do something like that.