Damned System

Chapter 15. Main Server (2)

They were narcotic pain relievers and blood coagulants that required a doctor’s prescription.

“Between 5 to 10 mana.”

There were also bandages, as well as items similar to potions available in most RPG games.

Seeing the prices listed under the description indicating they would heal wounds and increase mana recovery speed gave some relief.

“The minimum sale quantity is 150 mana…”

It was a bundle of ten. At least it was an item within visible reach.

Given that injuries were inevitable, it was a necessary item.

‘I don’t know how effective they’ll really be.’

Considering it as a backup life, it didn’t seem too expensive.

For a while, I paid attention to a few items in the pharmaceutical tab.

Then I noticed a familiar name again.

‘Purification pill.’

The purification pill was also available for purchase in the shop.

「Purifies corrupted mana. The purification value varies according to individual mana manipulation ability.」

As always, the explanation was unfriendly, but it didn’t make me angry.

I had already used it once, and now, it was something irrelevant to me.

‘I have a growth-type purification trait.’

Ethan, who had been promoted to Beta, had a non-growth type, with proficiency levels not displayed.

In contrast, I had a growth-type, with levels tied to proficiency.

Clearly, it seemed like an upgraded version.

The visible information was very clear.

“Purification pills are items for Gammas.”

Most of the Gamma-rank players, who hadn’t even taken the promotion test, had to rely on purification pills.

When hunting monsters and absorbing mana, some of it had to be inevitably spent on purification.

The listed price for a purification pill in the shop was a hefty 100 mana per pill.

The conclusion was that Gamma players naturally grew slower compared to higher ranks.

‘Well, it’s not my problem.’

Just as I tried scrolling down to look at other items.

「A new comment has been registered.」

Ding, a mechanical sound accompanied a red dot appearing on the speech bubble icon at the bottom left.

“Community.”

I muttered softly, and the white screen appeared.

The number of players listed at the top had increased.

「10,098…」

My attention only briefly lingered on the five-figure number.

Ignoring the newly posted articles, I manipulated the search bar.

Soon, the secret post I wrote to exchange information with Ethan appeared.

I entered the pre-agreed password, and opened the post to find Ethan had left a comment.

– (Private comment) It has finally begun.

We had agreed to keep all previous comments, and any new contents, entirely in private comments.

To prevent anyone who might randomly guess the password from seeing their conversation.

I mainly provided information about mana or the Damned System.

Ethan provided confidential information from England or the U. S. that I couldn’t access.

This naturally made us cautious of other people’s eyes.

⌎(Private comment) Indeed, finally.

⌎(Private comment) Did you check the mission updates?

Ethan quickly replied. It seemed he had been waiting for me.

⌎(Private comment) Not yet.

As I commented, I summoned the mission window I hadn’t checked yet.

However, before properly examining its contents.

⌎(Private comment) Check it. It seems we have a choice this time.

I read Ethan’s comment first.

“What…?”

When I finally glanced at the mission window.

“Huh.”

I was momentarily speechless.

* * *

I had returned home as soon as I finished work.

And headed to the bathroom to wash off the dirt.

As I stripped and let the shower water cascade over me, the mission window I saw in the afternoon lingered in my mind.

What I had seen was the list of available missions.

Unlike the previous missions I was forced to be dragged into, now I could choose the missions I wanted to proceed with.

When I realized that, I hesitated.

There was no reason to walk into dangerous situations if I wasn’t being dragged into them.

But that hesitation ended in a few seconds.

I had no choice when this damned game had begun.

If a moment came again when the system forced me.

If I found myself surrounded by dozens of monsters.

“Being cautious for immediate safety might lead to death in the future.”

In the end, I decided to try the missions.

Of course, I planned to have ample preparation time.

I hadn’t yet fully explored the shop, so that was first.

If there was a skill that could potentially help, I had to purchase it to improve my strength.

If it was something like mana manipulation, where proficiency could increase, I needed practice time.

“Right, I have to contact uncle too.”

I thought I might need help.

I had many things to do.

However, the sight I had seen during the day clouded my thoughts, making coherent thinking difficult.

As a result, I summoned the mission window again.

“Mission window.”

There were two tabs: one for mission availability, and another for completed missions.

The mission window’s structure was simple.

But its contents weren’t.

The sheer number of digits densely packed in the white window was overwhelming.

“Mission Availability List (8,651)”

The mission list, updated along with the main server’s activation, contained approximately 8,000 missions.

These weren’t labeled with any special titles.

They were all marked with numbers.

01-15(0/10)

01-18(0/10)

01-9(0/10)

01-1(0/10)

01-19(0/10)

01-8(0/10)

……

Both I and Ethan believed that the first number indicated the mission’s difficulty.

It was sorted sequentially from 01 to 10, so likely.

But strangely, the second number changed frequently.

A mission marked ’01-9(0/10)’ appeared as five initially, only to become two or three after some time had passed.

Our hypothesis was that it might indicate the number of monsters.

“Since they move.”

The meaning of the third number was still uncertain.

“Beyond 03, there’s not even a final number.”

The markings were truly unfriendly.

As I scrolled all the way down, I saw the scene that had been haunting my mind for hours.

8,073,885.

8,642,813.

10,664,239.

11,006,971.

17,330,320.

……

Seeing those numbers displayed in a different form from the mission list above made my hands tremble.

Even as I tried to steady my ragged breath, the trembling spread throughout my body.

The numbers located at the bottom of the list were also changing from time to time.

“Surely that isn’t a mission too?”

If by some chance those numbers indicated the count of monsters.

Staring at those daunting numbers alone was staggering, causing me to close my eyes.

Avoiding the mission window, just like that.

I thought I should go even though I judged so, but I felt suffocated as time dragged on.

I stood there, under the pouring water from the showerhead, for a while.

But it didn’t take long before I rubbed my face vigorously and muttered.

“Get a grip.”

I couldn’t afford to let time slip away.

“I should get out first.”

I had to keep moving. There were still many things I hadn’t confirmed, and I had mana training to do.

I quickly finished my shower. As I dried off with a towel.

“Oh.”

I realized I hadn’t brought a change of clothes with me.

I had developed a habit of bringing clothes while bathing, especially when Yeonwoo was home.

Today, I had forgotten because I was preoccupied with other thoughts.

Fortunately, it was still time for my siblings to be at their cram school.

I only brought the towel I used to dry himself with and stepped out of the bathroom.

Almost simultaneously, beep!, came the sound of a machine.

“Huh?”

The front door was opening.

I hadn’t heard the sound of someone entering the password!

Simply as a reflex, I used the towel to cover my lower half.

In that state, I found myself meeting my siblings, who had opened the door, head-on.

Unfortunately, the bathroom and the front door were in a straight line with each other.

The awkward silence was very brief.

Yeonwoo, who was holding a plastic bag, dropped it, screamed, and covered her eyes with her hands.

“Kyahhhhh!”

Yet she spread her fingers wide open!

“If you’re going to cover it, do it properly!”

I was flabbergasted by Yeonwoo’s action, but it was enough to break my frozen state.

I dashed into my room at lightning speed.

Bang!

Slammed the door shut just when I thought I heard chaotic footsteps approaching.

“Kyaaa! Eek! Six-pack! Biceps! Firm chest! Broad shoulders!”

Yeonwoo’s excitement, chasing me to my room door, erupted.

My face turned beet red.

I quickly pulled on my clothes with lightning speed, yanking the door open.

“Bronzed Kang Hyunwoo! Show us just once more!”

Yeonwoo, making a rectangle with her fingers, began darting around and babbling in front of me.

With a red face, I pressed down hard on Yeonwoo’s head and said.

“What are you doing home at this hour?”

“School’s anniversary, no school today.”

Jinwoo, who had picked up the plastic bag Yeonwoo had dropped, replied.

They had stayed home to study on their day off and went shopping at the supermarket.

“Come to think of it, they mentioned it was in June or something?”

I remembered them talking about the school anniversary vaguely around the month of their admission.

With the Damned System and the game on my mind, I had forgotten all about it.

“Damn.”

Pondering the incident momentarily gave me a headache.

Whether they knew about my current condition or not.

Yeonwoo slyly tried to raise my T-shirt.

“Hey, just stop!”

I jerked, grabbing my shirt.

“Why, why? Let me see the six-pack! I never knew our Orabang had such a great build.”

“See what? Look at your boyfriend’s body later!”

“Oh, come on, it’s not like it’s gonna wear out or something. Why so stingy?”

She pouted her lips but kept trying to pull at my shirt.

I firmly pushed her hands away.

“What was that just now? How did you get in?”

“What do you mean… Oh, I used the master key.”

“Ha? I thought it was lost?”

“I found it while taking out the summer clothes.”

What a headache.

“Did they see? They must have, right?”

At the moment, neither of the siblings asked about anything.

But it seemed impossible they hadn’t seen.

“I faced them too head-on.”

While I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration.

“Hyung, is soybean paste stew okay for dinner?”

Jinwoo asked as I took out ingredients from the bag.

I sighed and nodded.

“… Yeah, should I help?”

“We’ll do it.”

“Then just call me when it’s done. I’ll be resting for a bit.”

“Okay.”

As I moved to head into my room.

“If you won’t show, let me at least touch!”

Yeonwoo clung to my leg and began pulling at my sweatpants.

“Hey, hey! The pants are coming down!”

“Help me with my skeletal muscle study, just once!”

Bringing up studying at a time like this.

She did it deliberately because I almost always helped her with her studies.

“You little…”

“Just once, let me…”

“Stop it!”

My loud shout pulled my pants from Yeonwoo’s hands.

Immediately, I retreated into the room.

“My six-pack!”

Even from behind my tightly closed door, I could hear Yeonwoo’s fuss for a while.

But soon Jinwoo intervened.

“Stop it and come help.”

Yeonwoo, now quiet, walked away from the door.

However, I did not relax.

I extended my senses through Mana Manipulation, keeping an eye on the situation outside the door.

“Has Orabang ever been hurt?”

True to my suspicion, their hushed conversation echoed through.

* * *

“So you have no further information.”

“I’ve told you everything I know.”

Ethan had been summoned by MI5’s director, David.

This wasn’t the first time for such a meeting.

David regularly called for Ethan, and the reason was simple.

To ask the same tiresome questions over and over again.

“So persistent.”

From Ethan’s perspective, David was unnervingly tenacious.

“I thought I’d ask if there’s new information on this community thing.”

“I’ve told you about that too. It’s been quiet for the last four days.”

Ethan’s pointed voice never concealed my hostility.

He could never regard David kindly.

– You must understand the unreal phenomena you’re experiencing could impact our nation.

– Now is the time when patriotism is needed the most.

– Your family is living in this country, aren’t they?

– You must control risky variables to protect them.

David had once wielded Ethan’s family to force cooperation.

He was also the one who had Ethan placed at gunpoint.

With the rhetoric of serving the nation and greater good, David treated Ethan as merely a laboratory specimen.

“Four days… yes, the day those presumed dead.”

Ethan chose not to react to David’s muttering.

Instead, he sighed deeply, reopening the community window.

“Even upon repeated checking, there’s nothing new since that day.”

This was no lie. The community had been as silent as a grave for four days.

Not a single new post appeared, nor did any comments increase.

Due to the number fixed at the top of the community page.

“10,092.”

It was lower compared to when the promotional test had finished.

Meaning six players had died.

Four days ago, a few players who only talked started mentioning parties, and the numbers for a mission labelled 01-10(6/10) boldened.

And in under two hours, it reverted to (0/10) with the displayed player count at the top decreasing.

Thanks to this, it became clear what the third number in missions 01 and 02 signified.”

“Player count that can enter the mission site.”

In exchange for discovering this, the community had frozen.

It seemed they only then began to fully realize death.

Unlike the tutorial, injuries would no longer heal as time passed.

Instinctively, Ethan touched my neck, the area where a monster had bitten.

At the moment I swallowed hard, David posed another question.

“Did they really die?”

Damned System.