[ D day - 3 ] [ 23 H : 59 M : 28 S ] [ Home Town A ]
Vikram felt he had revealed something earth shattering and sky breaking to his brother.
.
..
…
The pause felt very very dramatic, as if he had become a hero in a sci-fi fiction. The illusion broke under ten seconds.
" What sort of beings ? " Vinod asked, without even a treble in his voice.
Damn!
Ofcourse, his brother does not know what kind of beings are in portals. Of Course he could not understand there could be a danger that not even the army could solve easily.
Now, there's a dilemma ! Does he tell his brother or he doesn't ?
Considering the danger, he must tell his brother. However, he knew his brother. He could not keep his mouth shut for the life of it.
Even if a terrorist places a gun to his head, he would probably babble.
The moment he tells Vinod, the entire world would know, with a latency of six seconds. That's how fast his brother could spread gossip.
The problem is - Vinod is not well trusted.
If the people listening took it as a joke, only to repent tomorrow, then it's a joke.
Thus, it needs to go with something that would make people believe.
What .. ?
What could he use ?
Finally, Vikram thought of a method.
If it works, it's great. If it doesn't, then it's no skin off his back.
Then, he spoke at length to his brother.
" this .. would people pay money for such ? " Vinod asked curiously.
"There are plenty of crazy people who have money on their hands. " Vikram answered.
" But cash or cryptocurrency only… Don't you think if it's truly an apocalypse like event, then cash is useless ? " Vinod asked.
" Pay up if you want information. " Vikram quipped.
" I am your brother !!! " Vinod grumbled on the other side.
" All the more reason to keep the account clean. " Vikram answered, with a laugh.
He could imagine his brother gnashing teeth on the other side.
Hopefully, asking for this money would probably make sure that people would take the information seriously.
Though he doesn't know any powerful people by himself, as any elite working man in India, he had one person within three degrees social relationship that knows powerful people. If not Hillary Clinton, that person would at least have the phone number of local senator.
All they need is one such person to hear this message, then confirm the information with their own network for his authenticity to spread.
Obviously, then people would pool money to buy the information, but Vikram is not looking to make money for spreading information, he is trying to create a market for the gene fragments. As long as they believe initial news, they would believe the later news. Once such credibility is established, he has rock solid background to stand on.
It's a gamble with the deck stacked in his favor.
He did not know the storm he created with his words.
Before he slept, Vikram typed up all the key points about portals, survival strategies and known disasters in a few words.
Then, he bought a website domain overnight, published only this file on the particular website, against a series of passwords.
The passwords are in Vinod's possession.
When it comes to tomorrow, Vinod would be able to sell well, Vikram was sure.
He had the strong feeling he had forgotten something, but at this point, sleep is more important than tossing needlessly.
Thus, he closed his eyes to take a rest.
Before the four hours were over, Vikram woke up by himself.
He felt very much refreshed.
His father was still sleeping.
Vikram placed his hand on his father.
[ Specimen of Human Species detected. ]
[ Analyze ] [ Evolve ] [ Ignore ]
The options displayed, as if he could choose one of them.
Vikram happily chose to analyze. He wondered what in the world could analyze and reveal about his father.
[ Evolution Specimen H - 10338 ] [ Bull Dungeon ] [ Evolution Gene Fragments: 0 ]
Vikram frowned.
He opened his own.
[ Mutant : Vikram ] [ Specimen H - 2234 ]
Evolver …
At the very end, there was a dungeon name. Automatically, Vikram opened the explanation.
[ Butterfly Dungeon ]
The name is prescribed in the portal, but the dungeon his father sees is different.
Moreover, while everything for his father is described in a faint white light, his own had a subtle green light over the dungeon name.
Vikram opened it.
[ This is a special dungeon opened when three portals are cleared consecutively in a single location. The dungeon is seasonal, and it's prizes vary wildly. As people say - Fortune favors the bold ]
Vikram swished the explanation away.
At this point, it doesn't matter whether he has the explanation or not.
The best is to clear the dungeon and aim for one more before the night is through.
Vikram dressed up, left a note for his father, and left for the butterfly dungeon.
He was going in blind here.
Srue, he cleared plenty of portals, but that does not mean this would be easy too. From ancient times, flies have been the nemesis of swordsmen.
Sure, one swordsman could kill a fly, but not a swarm.
Thus, he revised the strategy once again.
First, the small ones, he would kill with an iron net.
If they are bigger, he would bash them with the cricket bat. Larger ones, he had no choice but to use the iron crow bar like a javelin.
He didn't have time to make proper iron weapons. Even if he has serious iron weapons like swords, he doesn't know how to use them. So, for now, the spear, or the spear-like iron bar is the only weapon he has available to himself.
Due to last night's excitement, the people are still standing watch over the portal location, all with rotating watches to safeguard their equipment.
The interviews are still ongoing, as is the tea business.
Some seem to be having a sweet naptime, like the you-tuber who caught Vikram on camera.
At four in the morning, almost all of them are napping away.
Vikram jumped like a grasshopper over the mountain to reach the red portal that opened right atop the mountains.
He hoped at least one person below would film the scene, for it would definitely look like there were two suns in the sky when the red portal is filmed.
Such an interesting scene, and he could not see it because he is dismantling the said red portal from inside.
He took a long breath, and entered the portal.
He brought sufficient water and rations, after all, he could store an infinite amount of food and water as long as he paid for it.
The butterflies at the beginning were small.
It was easy to kill them. Surprisingly, they did not drop any gene fragments, but dropped an universal sounding fragment.
When there was a lull in the swarms, Vikram opened his status panel and checked it.
[ Gene Token]
[ Could be used as substitute for any gene fragment, given complete form of the trait exists somewhere within the evolver. ]
From what he understood, gene fragments are not always pure. Eg ; the night vision would have improvements such as heat recognition, microscopic vision .. etc. these little elements are not expressed immediately, but their effect would improve grade of the trait.
This is a great item. He did not know what at the moment, but Vikram is sure it has many uses.
The golden skin is turned on automatically.
All of his skin condensed into strong golden colored scales. Then, the top layer changed it's color, making him blend with the surroundings.
The blood sucking butterflies, which would have swarmed him, flew around confusedly.
Vikram thanked his lucky stars that butterflies depended on vision, not smell.
These butterflies are the size of an arm, and a wickedly sharp sucker extended before them, which could pierce through his arm, even with the golden skin.
Vikram did not delay.
The faster they die, the faster he gets out of here.
The cricket bat came out, scoring sixers left and right.
Every hit squashed a butterfly.
[ Wing mod 0.1 ]
The drops are completely different from what he got in a normal portal, but Vikram was in no position to pay attention to that.
He swung left and right, as if he was the white, while butterflies are the black on a board of go.
He applied his brain on the spot, while thinking he was probably overreacting. However, in the end, it proved to be an absolutely correct decision, for the butterflies were indeed following a scheme of flying reminiscent of a battle formation.
Chills ran through Vikram's back at the sight. Had he applied the wrong solution, the wrong direction, even just killed staying at the same location, he would have been a permanent dinner buffet for the butterflies.
After all, he has superheal, he won't die. The butterflies are just enough to keep him incapacitated forever.
He shuddered once more. Then made a firm resolution, no amount of caution is overcautious.
Words, which were proved to be the most correct decision he has taken his entire life.
He hid behind a boulder, and waited for the next butterfly to come out.
As of now, the beasts always came out from the center of the dungeon, so he could put his back to the periphery easily.
His caution proved utterly right this time around.
The next butterfly to come out shone with gray shimmer all over its body. It's watery eyes blinked at the surroundings, while light glinted of it's wickedly sharp wings.
It's a steel butterfly, the size of a human.
Vikram sighed.. This is but the beginning, not the end he knew.
While he was thinking , the steel butterfly swung in the air, and a boulder was cut off cleanly by its wings.
Vikram shivered as he held his neck and watched the fearsome opponent, hoping to figure out at least one weakness.