WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Ryuu

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◈ The Little Prince in the Ossuary

00037 <-- The Little Prince of the Ossuary -->

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In despair, the soldier threw himself from the helicopter. A 30-meter free fall. To the awaiting creatures below, he was a feast falling from the sky. His descent killed two, but the rest began to devour him. It seemed he had pulled a few grenade pins during his fall. The resulting explosion was loud.

「Fisher Three down. Fuel depleted.」

The first drone deployed finally crashed. Its fuel had been running low for a while.

The string of setbacks convinced the platoon leader. The headquarters repeatedly urged retreat.

The mission had reached a critical juncture. Retreat was safe, advancement perilous.

Gyeoul hesitated.

「Insight」 recommended acquiring a skill. It suggested that with a minimum of level 11 in 「Movement」, there would be a chance to overcome the situation. The extreme obstacle-negotiating and evasion capabilities would allow him to navigate through the chaos.

Level 10 in any skill was the maximum a normal human could reach through effort. Beyond that was the realm of geniuses. Even with 「Talent Advantage」, the experience points required after level 11 were burdensome. This was why Gyeoul only had one skill at level 11: 「Firearms Mastery」.

It was possible. If he used up all his resources, he could reach level 14. He had accumulated plenty of experience points from various interactions and unused ones.

Therefore, Gyeoul's concern was not the investment but the success rate.

Another warning followed.

“Platoon leader! Strange ones have appeared!”

They were indeed strange. Although scarred, they weren't decayed like the others. They had overcome immune rejection. They looked like cured leprosy patients. Their entire bodies were muscular, yet they appeared agile. Their skin was so pale it was almost gray, with visible veins beneath.

Gyeoul thought.

‘So, after special mutants, come enhanced mutants.’

Enhanced mutants, commonly called 「Ghouls」. Easier than special mutants but troublesome when they appeared in groups.

They were running in perfect form. While ordinary mutants flailed wildly, these clenched their teeth and sprinted like athletes. Powerful, swinging arms. Steady eyes. Abnormally thick thighs.

Ratatatatatat!

Machine gun fire knocked down the enhanced mutants. Those that weren't hit in vital spots got back up. The platoon leader made a decision. So did Gyeoul.

“Damn it… fall back! Retreat!”

The Rangers moved in one direction, Gyeoul in another. The platoon leader was shocked.

“You! What are you doing?!”

Gyeoul ran vertically up a house wall, grabbed the eaves, and kicked off, flipping his body to land on the roof. All in one breath. The advanced combination of 「Movement」 and 「Insight」 calculated the optimal route, displaying augmented reality lines in his vision. These lines, updated in real-time with the changing situation, guided his movements with varying colors indicating different probabilities.

The impressive movements caught the enhanced mutants' attention. They targeted Gyeoul first. They leapt from the ground, clinging to the roof, using only the elasticity of their arms to spring up again. Before it could land, while still in the air, Gyeoul kicked it.

His boot struck its solar plexus. Clutching its chest, it flew back and hit the ground, convulsing.

Five more ghouls climbed up.

Ratatat!

Gyeoul shot one. The overlapping angles reduced shooting efficiency, and the second one bled as it approached. Gyeoul thrust his bayonet. The fixed blade below the muzzle pierced the chest, moved upward, and stabbed through the jaw into the brainstem.

A new threat approached from behind. He dodged the gray hand, reversed his grip, pulled back the rifle, and kicked the third one's shin. Crack! The sound of breaking bones. The unbalanced ghoul rolled down the roof.

The fourth one grabbed him. They grappled, switching grips. The fifth attacked from behind. Gyeoul jammed the rifle's body into the fourth ghoul's mouth, twisted sideways while entangled, and aimed the rifle and the fifth ghoul at each other. Gyeoul's left thumb found the trigger guard. He fired until the magazine emptied.

The fifth ghoul's ribs shattered. It fell, spitting blood. Dying violently, it colored the roof red.

One left. Gyeoul overpowered the ghoul with pure strength. Slowly but surely. The high-level combat skills provided strength enhancements. The ghoul knelt. Gyeoul pinned it down. With his knees on its arms, he sat on its pale chest. He firmly gripped the rifle with both hands and pulled it towards him.

Crunch—

The sound of dislocating jaws and tearing flesh. The ghoul's empty scream. Gyeoul raised the rifle with both hands and started bashing its head with the buttstock. A violent, crushing blow to kill. Blood and flesh splattered, and the shared viewers cheered. With each strike, the hot stone of rage grew in his chest, widening the gap with reality.

The screams slowly subsided. Like the final cries of a dying cicada.

Meanwhile, the Ranger platoon had retreated a fair distance, safely evacuating the injured. Sergeant Perry watched, unable to take his eyes off Gyeoul. On the roof, ordinary mutants were forming a living tower to reach the boy, collapsing and rebuilding repeatedly.

Gyeoul reloaded his magazine, scanning his surroundings. The helicopter hovered in the airspace. The survivors must be hiding below. There was no mention in the communication of their concealment being discovered. It must be the Western Motel.

His receiver was noisy. The platoon leader's voice had been calling for Gyeoul.

「Clown! Clown! Hey, Clown! Respond!」

Gyeoul transmitted back.

“Yes, this is Clown.”

「What are you doing! Are you trying to get yourself killed? You need to follow orders!」

A mix of concern, frustration, and anger in equal measure. Gyeoul replied.

“Sorry, but my command chain is different. I don't necessarily have to follow your HQ's orders, right?”

「Are you out of your mind?!」

Gyeoul used the keyword provided by 「Insight」.

“My commander is the Camp Roberts officer, and his only order was to kill the monsters in Santa Maria impressively. He didn't say I had to obey Captain McGuire either. So, I'll complete my mission. I'll also take care of an additional task.”

Using provided keywords added system corrections, even if acting skills were lacking.

「You're joking...」

“I might be busy for a while. Please understand if I don't respond.”

Gyeoul rolled a grenade. It bounced and landed right on the forehead of the first mutant climbing the tower. Then, an explosion.

Boom!

Blood and flesh scattered in the air. Shredded entrails fell to the ground.

Gyeoul jumped. He landed on the writhing mass of still-living bodies and ran to the road. Black dots moved on the dusty asphalt. They were like ominous cockroaches, crushed under his boots.

A drone hovered nearby. Its lens captured Gyeoul.

The helicopters seemed to have run out of ammunition. The gunfire from the helicopters had ceased. The two helicopters turned towards the base.

The fight was now entirely Gyeoul's. About 200 meters to the destination. Every mutant in the area noticed Gyeoul. The young soldier ran. The mutant horde chased.

No matter the numbers, an uncontrollable group always had gaps. Gyeoul exploited those gaps. Amidst flailing limbs and attacking bodies, he found narrow paths.

When there was no path, he made one. Feeling trapped, he grabbed a mutant's wrist, pulled it down, used it to trip others, rolled away, and slipped through the loose mesh of legs.

He rose from the roll. Five meters ahead, an enhanced mutant. Gyeoul shot its knee. The collapsing body supported by its hands. He stepped on it like a stair, leaping over more mutants.

He felt trapped again. Gyeoul climbed onto an abandoned camper van. Running across the roof, he leaped off the edge. A flight without wings. The hungry creatures below howled. Gyeoul landed on a tree branch. Using its elasticity, he leaped again. The system's adjustments absorbed the landing impact, converting it into forward momentum.

He covered 15 meters with two jumps.

There was no need to stick to the road. He vaulted over walls, ran across roofs.

Finally, the first "Boogie One," the original Grumble, noticed him. It turned away from the hiding civilians. Though surrounded by dying creatures, the predator's yellow eyes didn't miss the new target. The fixed gaze of a predator.

[ROAAAR!]

The monster prepared to charge.

Gyeoul had been waiting for this. With his current evasion rate, he was confident.

The monster's thick legs bulged with veins. Its massive weight and terrifying speed. Every mutant between it and Gyeoul was trampled. At the precise moment, Gyeoul leaped. The Grumble's fist missed by a hair's breadth.

The Grumble plowed forward another ten meters. The blood and bone mixed pavement was left behind. Exhaling steam from its nostrils, the monster slowly turned. Gyeoul provoked it again. The furious ground trembled. The asphalt cracked like a spiderweb. Overwhelming power and weight. The swept-away mutants flew in pieces.

「Be careful, Clown! 6 o'clock! Boogie Two has spotted you!」

He felt it. The sharp sensation in his bones, the augmented reality warning. Another Grumble appeared. The interaction of 「Combat Sense」 and 「Survival Instinct」.

Gyeoul knelt, aiming carefully. He needed to create a time gap between the two monsters' charges. Rapid breaths, heaving shoulders. The aim wavered, but the shooting skill was level 11.

Ratatatat! Three shots fired in semi-automatic mode burrowed into the gaping throat of the first Grumble. Gyeoul immediately moved. The massive weight of the creature missed him by a hair. The roar of the wounded monster echoed. Gyeoul dodged again. The second Grumble smashed into a house before stopping.

How many times did he repeat this? The mutant horde gathered in the city center faced a massacre. The ground was a sea of blood and corpses. Reinforcements arrived in the form of two helicopters, rearmed and back from their base. Perhaps sensing their impending doom, the distant mutants began to scatter.

Gyeoul decided it was time to finish the Grumbles. He maneuvered them to one side, firing bullets alternately as they roared. Only three grenades left. He couldn't kill both with just that. He focused on one, making it bleed out, while the other was left weakened. The helicopters descended, aiming at the crippled Grumble. The grenade launcher was pointed at the growling beast.

Thunk—

A soft thud with a significant impact. The grenade exploded before the Grumble could close its mouth. Its final breath was a mix of blood and fire.

Gyeoul surveyed the area. He found the Western Motel. He walked there steadily. He didn't need to deal with the surviving mutants; that was for the soldiers disembarking from the helicopters. One soldier hesitated in front of Gyeoul, unsure of what to say, then simply saluted.

--------------------------- Author's Note ---------------------------

They say it usually takes about three hours to write a chapter...

I wish I could do that too... heh...

Footnotes:

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