Chapter 51 – First Time at Bunker 88
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You have decided to join the society of the mutants. Since you can't live alongside ordinary humans, why not take a spin and try something spicy? This race will challenge all hardcore players as the difficulty of the game increases by ten-fold.
As a mutant, killing monsters or workout is not the only way to gain experiences. You can earn your character EXP and skills by killing humans and other living beings, including other players!
In exchange for such a privilege, the humankind will either kill or capture you when they realize that you are a mutant.
This Tutorial Quest will support you to get used to the harsh environment of the native NPCs and what the Hydra Faction has to face. Work together with the mutated natives, and you will understand this world from a different point of view.
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- Obtain level 50 or higher.
- Raise your relationship with the Hydra Faction to friendly.
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- Racial change and a racial skill of your choice.
- Class change and a specialist skill of your choice (Depending on the chosen class).
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'A race change quest!? Do I really need this even though we came this far?'
Sometimes, Misha wondered if this was a game or reality. The system and the quests were gamey, but the expression and the conversation from the NPCs were somehow realistic.
'Okay. Fine! I'll infiltrate the mutants as my grandma ordered!'
Misha raised her chin and looked into the eyes of Thorn.
"Take me to your base. I'll join you."
Thorn laughed when he heard the confirmation from Misha.
"Great! Give me a second. I'll inform the guys from the base to help me loot these machines first."
He ran back to his mech.
His robot's legs were not in a condition to travel because of the explosive shells of the Raptor captain. He, too, needed transportation to bring him and the mech back to the base along with the loots.
…
Ten minutes later, trailer trucks and another escort mech arrived at their location. Twenty burly men with similar yellow tentacles out of their back scrambled to disassemble the broken mechs to the trailers.
From one of the trailers, a woman with scales as skins jumped off the front seat and walked toward Misha and Thorn.
Misha thought she was a lizardwoman from the first glance as her scales extended from her cheeks down to her arms and legs. Everything beside her face turned into snake scales.
However, the burn scar and her missing ear ruined her beauty. She could have been a looker had she not had those red scars on her face.
The woman noticed Misha's stare. She smiled back.
"Surprise? Nice to meet you, Misha. I'm Crystal, the commander of Base 88."
"H-Hello! I'm Misha."
"So, Thorn said you are willing to join us. Since you have just turned, do you have any question about our kind?"
"Y-Yes. What is Hydra Virus?"
Crystal grinned, "Do you know about hydras in the myth? The monster that can regrow its heads?"
"Oh, that? Yes, I know. But, does it connect to the virus?"
"Have you ever seen the corpses of the monster that invaded earth 200 years ago?"
"No."
"Their appearance was the same as depicted in the novels. Nine head hydras, eight head hydras, the leaders of those monsters even had 12 heads. They were the culprits of this apocalypse world. That's why we're calling the virus by the name [Hydra]."
"Will we turn into them in the future?"
Crystal and Thorn laughed.
"You have a good imagination. Too bad, we won't. At best, you will either become like Chacha or me. None of us will change into a monster. Actually, we saw it as a blessing. Do you know that several of our members were born in the 21st-century when the apocalypse happened? They are still alive, and they retain their look when they were first infected."
"Eh?"
Crystal smiled at the small eyeball on Misha's chest. Tama was looking at them with sparkling eyes as if it was expecting something from them.
*Nom-Nom Mew?*
*Guuu*
"Ugh."
Misha's stomach cried. She had not eaten anything yet.
"Missy, you'd better eat the gels that I gave you, or you will go berserk and become a zombie at this rate."
"A zombie!?"
She thought if her hunger bar reached 0%, the game would turn her character into a zombie. As a result of her panicking, she opened the foil sheet and shoved the green jelly into her mouth.
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*Meeeeew* (Give me one!)
Tama cried in envy. It wanted a piece of it, too.
Thorn and Crystal could not stop laughing at the baby Tama and Misha's reaction and relationship.
"Chacha, don't you think that the baby acted like Kai?"
"Please. My Kai is more mature than that. At least, he tried to search for food himself."
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An hour later, they brought the hungry Misha and Tama to their base along with the loots, the Missile Silo 88.
As they entered the base, many workers with the same yellow eyes and tentacles rushed in to help out. Some of them also had scales on their skins like Crystal.
From the first glance, Misha believed that over a few hundred people lived inside the bunker.
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'Sweet! I've infiltrated the rebel clan.'
Misha was grinning from ear to ear as she did not disappoint her grandmother. In eagerness, she turned to Crystal, who was busy ordering her subordinates.
"Miss Crystal. What can I do here?"
"Oh, for now, let's settle a place for you to live. Chacha, you're her nanny. Go and help her."
Thorn's face twitched, "Chief, I ran around like a workhorse these days. Can't I get a rest?"
"You broke your robots. Had you not obtained the loots, I would have kicked you out of the hunter division! Go and help Misha, or else!"
Thorn head lowered as he sulked. He walked back to Misha and muttered in a discouraged voice.
"Let's go, missy."
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Half a day later, Thorn gave her enough food, yellow mutated gel for her to last for two more days. Tama also had her fill, but she did not satisfied with the quantity.
From now on, Misha could apply for a job inside the base to earn virus jellies, which this base used as a currency.
Also, she was given a capsule room as her sleeping quarter. It was similar to a capsule hotel or a pod hotel in the commoner areas of her world. However, her current place was not up to the standard.
As a capsule quarter, there were 10 other female residents in her section. Misha was given the number 12 room, which was a circular hole, which was enough for her to slide inside to sleep.
In the sleeping hole, she could sit up as there was enough space for her to move around. Although the place reeked of moldy smell, she did not see any insect, ant, or cockroach. She wondered why.
Soon, she got her answer.
As Misha slid out of her capsule room, one of her quartermates was looking upward. She looked up as well, and she saw a cockroach crawling on the ceiling.
'Welp, I figure it won't be that luxurious. Hi, Peter.'
Suddenly
*Whoosh*
The girl extended her tongue like a frog, catching the cockroach and took it into her mouth. She crew it with a blissful smile.
"…"
*Nom-Nom Mew?* (Is that eatable? Can I eat one?)
Misha covered her face with both hands.