Chapter 19 - Getting Stronger
After that, Cyanide went around cleaning up the rest of the warehouse's exterior using the same method. Inspect, confirm that the mutant was a low enough level, then use Stealth Takedown on them.
Most of the targets were easy to take down, since they were isolated. In cases where they weren't alone, however, all Cyanide had to do was use a few pebbles from the ground and toss them to attract the mutant.
As for the mutants that weren't below his current level, rendering Stealth Takedown useless, he just saved them until last. As he killed more mutants, he leveled up more as well, so he could then use Stealth Takedown on the mutants he couldn't before.
By the time all the mutants outside had been cleared, bodies dissipated into nothingness thanks to the hidden passive of the skill, Cyanide was Level 7. He unlocked a new feature — the map — and also gained a plethora of CP/SP to spend. His new stats looked like this:
[STATS]
[Level: 7]
[HP: 70/70]
[STR: 20]
[AGI: 20]
[VIT: 15]
[INT: 1]
[DEX: 1]
[LUC: 1]
[Available CP: 8]
[Available SP: 4]
He saved 8 CP for emergency use — in case he needed to immediately boost DEX or LUC or something. By now, his strength and agility were both already on par with his original level back on Earth, which made him wonder just how much further he could go in this new world. He did not regret the decision he made to come here, whatsoever. Right now, he was feeling a thrill — a surging excitement — that could never be obtained through mere assassination missions he was already so familiar with.
As for his SP, Cyanide chose to buy the [Radar] active skill just as Luna recommended, then another one called [Dodge]. But contrary to expectations, this wasn't just any normal dodge. It was a deft tumble to one direction, yes, but it also reduced the remaining cooldown of his other skills based on how many enemies are in close proximity to him.
In other words… to get out of extremely sticky situations, he could use [Dodge] in the middle of a pack of mutants, then escape via the refreshed [Invisibility] skill, in case it was on cooldown.
And as for his remaining 2 SP, Cyanide spent them on two skills respectively: [Silent Shooter] and [Fleeting Steps]. Both of these were passive skills — the former allowing Cyanide's bullets to make less sound when firing them (but not completely), while the latter allowing his footsteps to make no noise at all, unless he intentionally tried to make sound with them.
As for other rewards Cyanide reaped, there wasn't much apart from about 27 bottles of Low-Grade Mutant Blood. It would be able to postpone the virus by quite a bit. One of the mutants, however, had been holding a proper crowbar in its hands when Cyanide took it down, and it had dropped the crowbar as an equipable weapon. That was a great find, since the exhaust pipe Cyanide had been using was already a completely different shape from what it once was.
After inspecting the crowbar, Cyanide also noticed items had stats as well, as well as a durability factor. The exhaust pipe, for example, had the following stats:
[Name: Broken Exhaust Pipe]
[Type: Weapon (Melee)]
[ATK: 2 (Original: 15)]
[DUR: 6%]
On the other hand, the new crowbar Cyanide just got, had the following stats:
[Name: Metal Crowbar]
[Type: Weapon (Melee)]
[ATK: 20]
[DUR: 100%]
As the durability (DUR) got lower, so did the attack power (ATK) of the weapon. Luna said it was possible to make an item's durability infinite through Enchantments, but that was unlocked at Level 30.
"… That's all of them on the outside," Cyanide muttered, then walked closer to the warehouse's open entrance and took a peek inside. He could spot several mutants loitering, but they appeared… different from the ones on the outside. Not in terms of appearance, but in terms of the way they moved.
While the outside ones were more like zombies, these ones on the inside were like robots through and through. Their movements were extremely mechanical and controlled, as if they were being manipulated by strict lines of code. Their eyes were also shining bright red instead of the usual white. It was almost as if they were being... controlled.
By whom or what he did not know, but they appeared to be carrying boxes to somewhere deeper inside the warehouse.
Cyanide raised an eyebrow. "What are they doing?"
"Interesting — I'm not quite sure either. The admin code from above disallows me from accessing any knowledge that you haven't discovered on your own yet. Try running your Inspect on them, Cyanide."
Cyanide did as told, and the results came up instantly. There was almost no difference to the ones on the outside… except their names.
[Name: Corrupted Construction Worker Mutant (Stage One)]
[Level: 2]
[HP: 50/50]
[Class: Humanoid]
"… Corrupted?"
"Hm… it appears they are being controlled by a higher-level mutant. If you damage one of them, the one controlling them will be alerted. I'd advise against it, given your current level."
"Right…" Cyanide used [Invisibility], then snuck into the warehouse. Inside, mutants were taking boxes off the shelves and carrying them deeper inside, but Cyanide had no intention of challenging this supposed 'high-level' mutant when he was only Level 7. He just wanted to get a knife, that's it.
Unfortunately, all he could find so far were cardboard boxes labeled plates and bowls. It would seem the actual utensils were deeper in.
Since it was too dangerous to stay on the ground with all these mutants patrolling around, Cyanide climbed up to the top of the various tall racks of boxes, then leaped from one to another that way. His silent footsteps paired with his swiftness made it easy to get by without getting noticed by the mutants down below.
At the final rack, where the knives were, however, Cyanide spotted something truly horrifying to his left. It was something he had never seen before.
"What the hell is that…?"