Terror Infinity Side B
Chapter 3, Apocalypse Alice
Of the fourteen newbies this time around, three of them gained my attention. The first was a ten year old kid. He was obviously of Middle Eastern descent. Oddly, however, alongside a traditionally dark skinned complexion, he possessed a dirty blond hair color that was strikingly similar to Kodaka Hashagawa’s, more dirty than blond though. His eyes held a mean look in them that would make most strong men and women alike step back. I felt that maybe he had some European blood in him.
The second newbie that caught my attention was an older man in his early 40's who looked to be a foreigner of Irish descent. The man emanated a leadership vibe and he was able to calm down the other newbies now that Trash Mob was gone. Come to think of it, this may have even been a calculated move on his part. If so, then it reveals he is a man of intelligence... Something that we all need now that Saki is gone.
Lastly was a Japanese youth in a dark blue jacke caught my attention. He was definitely around the same age as Misaki and myself. His appearance was very average, but... he was strangely off in some way. I couldn't exactly explain it. He didn't look weird or anything like that. In fact he was more on the good looking side than not. Still, I couldn't help but feel that something was off about him.
These three newbies were different from the rest of the batch, but here in this dimension that was in fact a good thing. I guess it's worth giving them all a chance to introduce themselves. That way we can determine if they have the potential be allies, liabilities or... something worse.
Shin: Alright, everyone listen up! I'm the team leader here and everything that this girl Hikari said earlier is true. This isn't some trick and you’re not being punk’d on some T.V show. As you have now seen with your own eyes, enhancements are real. By seeing how easily I took one of your fellow newbies with little effort, you should now know that everything you see is the truth. Now, ignoring the guy that I knocked out and have no intention of helping out in the mission, please state your name, occupation and skill set. That way my comrades and I can assign each of you responsibilities. Please do so quickly as the mission will begin at any moment and we've wasted enough time already.
We've predicted beforehand that not every newbie will be exceptional in combat, but they may still have their use still. Even if they can't fight, they may possess a skill that could be helpful to us all. Like Saki once said, people who have talents outside of combat are invaluable. Hackers like Hikari, people who can fix vehicles like Misaki, or even those with the talent to potentially build sci-fi weapons and magic tools are a must-have for any team. That's why I asked for their skill set. It may be worth the risk to cover such a talented person, even if they can’t fight right now. We are looking at them as a potential investment. We protect them now and later we'll have them work for us for the sake of survival as equal teammates who support one another.
Of course, it was unlikely that we would be able to find such a talented individual, but it was still worth the effort to assign the newbies roles. Even if they are weak and without talent, the power of teamwork can't be overlooked. The newbies could, perhaps, be useful at some point in the mission. Assigning them jobs at the very least will help make sure that they don't hold us back in critical moments.
Newbie 1: Responsibilities? Do you really want us to fight monsters?
Newbie 2: That's like asking us to die!
Aqua: Don't worry too much about that. Unfortunately for all of you, this mission's difficulty is a bit too high. You all will most likely not make it, but if you listen to what Shin and the rest of us have to say, then you might have some hope of living through all of this... and not die a horrible and painful death.
Shin: Thank you Aqua. Now like my girl-, ow! That hurt! (Stoically enduring the pain from when Aqua just stomped down hard on my foot, I continued) Whatever. As my comrade here said, we will hear what you have to offer to the team and see if you can participate in the mission with us. If you have no value to the team then you will have to obey everything that we tell you and stay out of our way. You're also free to do your own thing, but if you do then I refuse to take responsibility for your safety and will not permit my comrades to do either. You are on your own for the rest of the mission if you leave our side. I recommend not arguing and siding with us. Then, hopefully, starting from the mission after this one, you will have gained enhancements and will have the ability and opportunity to become proper teammates, but don't be afraid. As long as we stick together we will all make it out of this alive. That is my promise!
I meant every word I said, but still, it was unlikely anything will be born of this. We will most likely be forced to forgo safety as we race to the Diseased Girl on account of the six hour deadline. There is also a good chance we could unexpectedly be caught up and separated in the Labyrinth of the Diseased Girl should it manifest here at the school. What I said about working together will only mean something if we all can meet up later.
I then listened to the newbies introductions, yet didn't bother to commit anything to memory as they were all ordinary. Like I originally thought, there were no useful front stage talents that empower anyone to fight alongside us, nor anyone with background talents who can help the team improve later. I could only sigh in the face of this disappointing batch of newbies. While caught in the grips of my disappointment, the three I took notice of began their introductions.
Derrick: My turn? Okay, my name is Derrick. My occupation is that of a farmer/owner of a farm. I started out twenty years ago and built it up with my own hands to what it is today, one of the largest producers of malted barley, potatoes, Irish whiskey, and stout in my country of Ireland. My skill set comes mainly from farming and hunting, which I do in my spare time now that my company has grown so big. I have a dozen people working under me who can handle the day to day tasks. I can use a handgun fairly well, but I am more accustomed to a hunting rifle. I also make sure to keep in very good shape, so I won't slow you all down.
Shin: Not bad. What were you doing in Japan then? Vacationing?
Derrick: Business. I was attempting to make to contracts in Japan when I suddenly found myself here. This is way outside of my expertise, but I can run and shoot if that helps.
Hikari: That is actually plenty. We welcome you aboard (This sinking ship). Next up is...
Hikari then looked towards the young boy with dark skin. The boy looked at Hikari with enough intensity to make Hikari, a Player of God's Dimension who's risk her life regularly, take a step back. Shin and the others didn't feel any bloodlust from the boy, so they didn't attack him like Trash Mob. After a tense moment they allowed him to introduce himself.
Connor: ...Connor. Mercenary of five years in the Middle East. Specialty, assassination and long distance marksmanship. Best sniper in the Middle East. Was in Japan on business.
Hikari: ...Um, doing what exactly? And you said five years? How is that...
Connor: ...
Hikari: ...Shin!
Shin: Calm down Hikari! He isn't going to bite... probably. Aqua, do you know anything about him?
Aqua: No. As sad as it is, child soldiers are not rare in this world – especially in countries where wars are fought either for long stretches of time or repeatedly under new names or banners.
Shin: So he's like the MC of Jormungang (My favorite child soldier who travels with an arms dealer)... though his hair is blond instead of white… though it still stands out all the same.
Aqua: That's your first thought? You're a terminally ill otaku you know?
Shin: That I am my... comrade (My first wife to be was about to hit me). Anyways, Connor, are you half something? Your hair is blonde.
Connor: ...
Shin: Okay... Moving on.
I had never met a child soldier before in real life. Even so, I didn't have the time to feel sorry for the boy's sad life since it was a gift for the team at this moment. Connor definitely had the aura of an experienced solider and his long battle experience placed him above Aqua, even rivaling Kampa. That was why I was glad to have him as a new Player.
Connor supposedly even had the talents of a sniper. The same talent as the deceased Zero. We should make it a priority not to lose such a talented individual like we did with Zero in BTOOOM. More so than that, I also felt that pulling the child soldier into Team Japan would greatly strengthen us in ways even we couldn't understand at the moment. I had a gut feeling that he would be an asset rather than a liabilty.
Shin: (Connor reminds me of Zero in a way. They are both men of few words, or boy in his case. He's a child, but he has far more life experience than me... Except with women. My sexy 34D redhead girlfriend and my smart, cute, glasses girlfriend... No one in the world can match me!)
Having finished talking to Connor, I turned my attention towards the youth of a similar age to myself in the wrinkled blue coat. He was smiling as if he was excited to finally get his turn to speak.
Shin: So what's your name? Guy in the blue jacket.
Jin: Me? So it's finally my turn. Ah, don't take what I said negatively. I don't mind that you got to me last out of the fourteen of us. I'm just that kind of guy after all.
Aqua: Shut up and just get started! We don't have time for nonsense.
Jin: Ok! My name is Jin. My occupation is officially that of a student, but I am also an aspiring pro gamer.
Shuai: Pro Gamer? You mean those guys who play video games and online games for money, making a living by doing so? The guys that sell items online, or win tournaments?
Jin: That's right. I am the number one player of Moon Monochrome, Soul Trial, Heaven's End, Destiny, Royal Road, and New World. I can proudly say that despite being born human trash, I am quite skilled in gaming due to my control skills. It's my one and only talent, as lowly as that is. It does nothing to contribute to society whatsoever, so it's hard to be really proud of it.
Hikari: So you're very good at games, but why do you keep putting yourself down? I don't think being a professional gamer is a bad thing if you can make a living with it. Better than just being a useless Otaku!
Shin: Hey!
Jin: What do you mean why I... Ah, that, sorry but sometimes I forget that I do that. It's just a habit due to my parents. They lived off the money that I won in-game and the tournaments that I entered. Even while they lived off of me, they still kept telling me that I was worthless and that gaming wasn’t a real job. They are definitely not the best parents in the world, but they are right though. No matter how much one makes in video games, one's station in life won’t increase in society by much.
Shin: I don't completely agree with that, but we can hear your dark past later. Do you have any skills outside of gaming?
Jin: None that I can think of. If this seems unreal like it's a game my gaming knowledge might come in handy, but judging by the knocked out guy in the corner and not seeing a decreased HP bar over him, I can see that we aren't in a game world. Still, I'm very physically fit and can run for a long time. For pro-gamers, getting sick could lead to major losses as we constantly have to keep at the top above other players. I work out intensively for three hours a day and have been doing so for years ever since I started by career.
Shin: That's one thing. Well, maybe if you had enhancements you-
Jin: That's enough about me, now tell me more about you.
Shin: Me?
Jin: Yes. It was amazing how you dealt with that guy... Ahh?
Shin: Trash Mob? That's what I call him since I never bothered to catch his name.
Jin: Right. Then, Trash Mob, the man who was threatening your group. That display of power is beyond normal men. Even pro athletes and fighters who claim to be the strongest in the world can't compare to you. You really showed us who's in charge. It was awesome!!! I'm now your biggest fan!
Shin: F-fan?
Connor: What's there to be impressed about? He was too lenient since he only knocked him out when he should have just killed him.
Jin: It couldn't be helped, right? According to the watch, it says he would lose 1000 points for killing one of us New Players and ending this mission in a negative score results in death here in this world. Also, 1000 points can evidently be used to increase a stat by 100, so who would waste it on killing someone like that guy? I wouldn't.
Stolen novel; please report.
Connor: What strange rules. It's like this world is a game.
Jin: I know right!? It's an amazing game where you risk your life to survive and become stronger. None of the games I've played before could ever match this world... Although this world isn't a game, but a Light Novel! I'm more into games, but I did read the book, so…I guess that I'm lucky.
Hikari: Shin, come here for a second.
Hikari who was listening in on Jin's introduction called Shin over to speak in private in a corner of the room. Once Hikari was sure no one could hear them she began to speak softly.
Hikark: Shin, don't you think that there is something off with that New Player Jin? He gives me the creeps.
Shin: I get what you mean. I can't read him at all either.
Hikari: Don't you think he's dangerous as well? He oddly positive about all of this and even when he was telling us about his parents and how he was raised, there was no shred of sadness. He just zealously went on about how much of a failure he was. Jin might be crazy or broken if his parents were as bad as he said they were, so shouldn't we do something about him?
Shin: Maybe if he turns out to be a threat to us, but I don't think we should just break his legs over questionable behavior. Jin's a top professional gamer and this world here has game-like elements. A guy like him may come in handy and he could offer a different perspective on things. I'm a fan of Manga and Anime with deep insights, you give critical analysis, Aqua uses experience from seven missions to date to make her decisions, Misaki is headstrong and looks at things straight forward, Kampa looks at the world as a mercenary mission, and Shuai... well, he's something. Different view points are a good thing, Hikari. Not bad, so until he does something out of line, we should just play along with him and if he does do something that places us in danger I'll kill him myself even if it costs me 1000 points!
Shin gave his honest opinion about Jin to Hikari to reassure her, yet he left out his own worries. As Shin spoke to Jin he was reminded of himself in a way. Jin didn't outright say it, but clearly he had some issues with the real world and saw potential within God's Dimension for himself.
Like Shin, Jin saw the Mission World of Apocalypse Alice with wonder and not just fear or hate, but unlike Shin who learned the importance living and comrades on his journey so far... Shin felt Jin was hopeless. There was madness underneath Jin's smile and the words that he spoke. He was fundamentally different from Shin who wanted to grow as a person and one day face the real world.
Shin: (To sum it up Jin is like the worst part of myself who's in love with God's Dimension despite the dangers and horrors, but that's all there is to him... Except something dark which I can't identify, yet I also don't think he is one of The Four Pillars either. Still, I'll keep an eye on him to be safe).
What Shin, Hikari, and the others were most worried about the newbies was not whether they could keep up with the team, but if they were spies for The Four Pillars. Sozin had given Shin and the others a warning that there was a very good chance that Mass Enlightenment might try to make contact with Team Japan soon since Team Japan was originally under their sphere of control.
Saki herself had even conveyed that Mass Enlightenment, along with the rest of the Pillars, were aware of the current Team Japan, and they would be preparing to make moves against them in the future. It appeared to Shin and the others that the Four Pillars didn't like the idea of an independent team like theirs. That was why there was a good chance that someone would send in a double agent among the newbies to assess, or possibly kill the members of Team Japan. With that dire warning in mind, each and every one of them were on guard.
The best choice all together would be to disable all the newbies so that they couldn't complete the mission and completely abandon them, yet that wasn't an option. Shin felt that, while his team wasn't weak, they were not too strong either with just the six of them. Only Aqua and Shin fit the description of powerful enhanced Players of God's Dimension. Further more half of them (Aqua, Misaki and Shin) were close range fighters. Kampa was a gunner, and Hikari and Shuai (since he is still in the early stages of his enhancement path) were basically support roles. They were lacking midrange fighters like Kampa and with Zero’s death they no longer had anyone with long range potential aside from Hikari and Shuai's ability to spy with their enhancements.
Shin: (This isn't a problem that can be fixed with mere power ups in our enhancements. We need new talents – new blood injected into the team so we can keep advancing forward. Additionally, if someone here were to unlock their Genetic Constraints on this mission there's a good chance the next mission will be a team battle. We cannot afford to be weak when we come up against another team. As we are now... We're not equipped to face both the mission and another enemy team at the same time).
Shin knew he had to take a risk trusting the newbies. However, since no one aside from Derrick, Connor, and Jin had yet to impress him, he chose to only deal with those three for now and intended to leave the eleven – no, ten newbies to their fates in the Labyrinth (Trash Mob’s injuries basically put him out of the game before it starts). If they live then great! If not, then they just die. Shin placed his team's welfare above all, so he won't take great risks that endanger them.
Shin: Derrick, Connor, and Jin please come here. I'll allow you three to be trial members for Team Japan since I feel potential from you three. I'll give you some equipment. Here are submachine guns with spare ammo of low grade magic bullets, if you can use them. We will allow you two more cartridge of magic bullets which you will be allowed to get more from either Aqua (from her RPG Bag) or myself (via the Na Ring) when you need it. Here are bullet proof vests inscribed with low level magic protection. These are Magic amplifier tags you can place on a weapon which will then become a low level pseudo magic weapons. Here are a few grenades you can throw at enemy (I already shared the BIMs six ways with my team). Use these for escaping dangerous situations. I doubt they will be able to kill any magic based monsters, but these could slow them down. Then lastly, here are some low level healing potions. As a warning I’ll let you know the healing potion won't instantly heal you, but it will over time, so keep that in mind. Also, remember this: I'm giving these items to you because I see your potential and want you in the team. HOWEVER, you’re not members yet. I will still expect you to listen to reasonable orders from my team. In exchange, my teammates will support and even save your lives if possible, though we won’t risk ourselves if it's impossible or there's a high chance of fatalities among the main team. Still, you will be much better off than the other newbies. If you accept these conditions you may keep these items. If not and you want to do your own thing hand them back now.
Shin was proud of his speech and current actions as a leader. While he didn’t know it, the others were also impressed, especially Hikari as she remembered Shin from the first mission when he was just a reckless Player. Still, Shin himself actually wondered if the three newbies understood his words.
All three accepted his deal to become trial members of Team Japan. Derrick was looking at his gear amazed. Connor wore a look of disinterest but still took the equipment and looked it over in detail. Jin... He looked at it all with reverence – especially the Healing Potion that was just right out of a game. Shin wondered if they were even listening. He let out another long sigh.
As for the other newbies left out... They didn't take it so well. They showed a look of discontent and hatred at Shin and his team for not giving them better gear. They weren't familiar with the story of Apocalypse Alice, yet they understood from the mood that it was incredibly dangerous and just the handguns with magic bullets weren't going to be enough to let them live.
In the end they could only hold their tongues. The man sprawled out on the floor in the corner, bloody and unconscious, and the red haired women who never took her eyes off of them, had intimidated and suppressed any ideas of rebelling against the team. They could only endure for now.
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Misaki: Everyone, be careful! The mission is starting!
It was just as Misaki said. Until now the classroom they were in was filled with students in their seats who were not moving, but suddenly life could be seen from them. Some students began to talk among themselves, stand up and walk around the room. They were going about their life without concern, yet they were not interacting with any of the Players. They even ignored the beaten man on the floor even when they stepped in a puddle of the blood leaking out from his mouth.
Aqua: Don't mind this. NPCs programmed by God will usually ignore you in the beginning. Of course, if you do something really suspicious in front of them then they will call you out on it.
Kampa: And that man on the floor isn't suspicious?
Aqua: Who knows? He was like that from the start before the mission started, so maybe he’s treated like a natural part of the scenery.
Shin : Like a potted plant... I wouldn't want THAT in my home.
Hikari: Could you all stop fooling around for just one-
- *EXPLOSION*!
Student 1: What was that?
Student 2: Everybody, look outside. A fight is going on!
Shin: Everyone be careful! Something might-
Suddenly a chill wind swept across the classroom, yet no one else except Shin, Aqua and perhaps Connor felt this coldness. Shin's body trembled and he immediately took out his Auto 9 RoboCop gun through reflex (which now had a Magic Amplifier Tag attached) and he opened fire on the source of the dark and cold energy he felt outside the windows. The bullets impacted the window, yet the windows were unharmed and the bullets bounced helplessly off.
Everyone was startled by Shin's sudden action, especially the students who only now acknowledged the Players existence within the room and looked at them with fear. It was only a secondary concern, yet they didn't appear to be in any of the Girl Killing Curriculum classrooms. Shin could tell because they reacted to gunfire by screaming and not taking defensive action like Magicians who activity raid Labyrinths should have done.
Shin: The mission had started, yet God doesn't want us to interfere with what's going on. Fuck!
Shuai: What's happening?
Hikari: Shin, look outside!
Shin and the others then went to check the windows and outside they saw a group of students. One was running away extremely quickly while the others crowding around a single student passed out of the ground.
Then a darkness crawled out from the student on the ground quickly swallowing up the crowd of students. It didn't stop there. The darkness spread throughout the courtyard and all too quickly reached the school. The school, the classrooms and all the students within the building, were devoured by a darkness they couldn't fight back against it. They would be unable to stop the impending darkness even with the most powerful of magic technology that this world had to offer.
Shin: Everyone get ready! We’re-
Nothing.
Only darkness.
Shin couldn't finish warning to his comrades and the other newbies. They were all too quickly engulfed by the darkness. The Players, students, and teachers within《Metropolitan Kichijouji High》were devoured by the greatest darkness that nearly wiped out the human race and is still trying to this day...《Labyrinth Disease》.
Standing next to the world's most dangerous Labyrinth, Apocalypse 666, now stood another Labyrinth. This Labyrinth stretched for miles and miles underground, couldn't be entered from the outside which was irregular. It's fate, whether it would stay in the world permanently or whether it could be erased from existence, rested with the people within and they were alone in this struggle.
The battle of Empress' Grave 44 begins!
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Authors Note:
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Proofread by Hoebagger
Now let's start the journey to Kill the Girl and Save the World!