Chapter 18: Overwhelming Force-Abnormal Paradise(More than half a year)

The direction indicated by the elderly man in the suit led away from the control center. The four players exchanged glances and immediately broke into a run. With only eighty minutes left before the game’s time limit, their priority was to achieve a higher evaluation in the assessment—everything else could wait.

“Why did you bother with that lengthy speech just now? Trying to flaunt your superiority? Or has the Foundation grown so weak that it needs you to personally mentor the rookies?” The motley-faced clown sneered, his heavily painted red eyes narrowing. “Hmph, the Foundation prides itself on being the guardian of the Anomaly Park, yet it never cares about human lives. To cultivate a qualified recruit, you’d sacrifice countless lives without a second thought. That kind of ruthlessness isn’t all that different from us—the rats in the gutter, are we?”

The elderly man in the suit looked toward the struggling mimic chest, his tone calm. “Since its inception, the Foundation has always followed its own rules for survival. You should know, those people were doomed to die anyway. It is precisely the Foundation’s existence that offered them a chance to prolong their lives. As for our training methods, that’s none of your concern. Our aim is to foster guardians of order—whereas, even if you lot grow powerful, you’re nothing but a succession of madmen trying to destroy the world.”

At this, the old man’s expression darkened. “The Beacon of Chaos is doomed to fall.”

“Heh, we’ll just wait and see.” The clown gave a cold chuckle, casting a mocking glance at the now-stabilizing mimic chest. “Oh, I almost forgot to warn you—the energy in that emotional crystal might have been a bit much. Once it’s fully absorbed, the mimic is about to undergo a metamorphosis. Old tailor, if you’re scared of accidentally killing those ants, you can just give up—consider it a rare act of kindness on my part. Let them live, why don’t you!”

“Your petty tricks have never worked, and they never will.” The old man in the suit produced a newspaper from seemingly nowhere and tossed it lightly, letting it adhere to the mimic’s body. “It has ten minutes left before it completes its evolution. If they can’t last even that long, then it’s no great loss if all the rookies perish.”

The clown curled his lips, then, after a brief glance at the now-stabilized mimic, skipped off in pursuit of the players. The old man’s voice drifted to his ears once more.

“But if any of them manage to survive, what’s another stint in solitary for me? It’s only a matter of time, after all.”

…

[Prompt: Game time has reached eighty minutes. You have now received an ‘Outstanding’ evaluation in this assessment.]

[Prompt: Since you have chosen to continue the challenge, you are now entering ‘Battle Royale Mode—Stage Two Challenge.’ The strengthened mimic will hunt you for ten minutes, until all players are eliminated.]

[Prompt: Due to the greatly increased difficulty, the Chief Supervisor has left behind an item to shorten the game, as well as a special clue for unlocking a hidden quest. The condition for obtaining these: trigger the mimic’s second phase.]

The game notifications lightened the heavy atmosphere at once.

“The Chief Supervisor actually left us a shortcut? Looks like Embers’ earlier guess was right—if we want to survive to the end, we have to work together. If only Gallop were still here, we could share the burden a bit more.” The man with the scaled arm shook his head in regret—Gallop had fallen to a trap so sudden, there hadn’t even been a chance to help.

“That’s true. Running won’t solve anything; counterattacking is the only way out.” The one called NotAnExpert frowned tightly. Even the juvenile mimic had been a tough foe—how strong would it be now, on the cusp of adolescence?

“But our damage is just too limited!” Embers, sprinting alongside the others, looked grave. Even as the highest-level player, he had no confidence in withstanding the strengthened mimic, which they hadn’t even faced head-on yet. “Its health must have multiplied. Even if its defense is negligible, who knows how many hits it’ll take to wear it down.”

RainTomorrow, who still harbored some resentment toward Embers, spoke up abruptly: “You’ve talked enough—do you actually have a plan?”

“If we can’t boost our damage, all we can do is create a more favorable battle environment.” Embers found the answer self-evident, so he shot RainTomorrow a curious glance and turned to the veteran players. “On your way here, did you notice anything particularly useful?”

“Yes!” Scaled Arm immediately thought of where Gallop had been eliminated. “The containment facility for the Plague Doctor with the Raven Mask is shrouded in darkness, and the floor is covered with corrosive fluid. I once touched it by mistake—only those with a life level of five can be fully immune. Fighting there might be our best shot.”

“But I’m afraid we won’t make it that far before the mimic catches up, so we’ll need to find a way to delay it along the way.” NotAnExpert suddenly looked toward RainTomorrow. “If I remember right, your specialty quest is shutting down the [Armed Dolls] that broke out of containment. Is there any way to reactivate them?”

RainTomorrow thought for a moment. “It should be possible. As long as they’re still in place, we just have to restart their switches.”

The group sprinted at full speed, just managing to reach the location NotAnExpert had mentioned before the mimic appeared. Fortunately, a group of fully-armed humanoid dolls, large and small, stood silently in the corridor, undestroyed by the apostles of chaos. Along the way, they’d seen many forcibly blown-open security doors, so finding the armed dolls intact was a welcome surprise.

Listening to Scaled Arm’s account, Embers learned of the group’s previous ordeal. Under the lead of the Guard Lieutenant, they’d encountered these very armed dolls, which had broken out of containment. Though not as dangerous as the Brocade or the Raven-Plague Doctor, these dolls, with their variety of toy weapons, had caused no small amount of trouble for the Third Guard Squad.

The solution had been to turn off the dolls’ activation switches.

To save time, the guards had all mobilized, taking along RainTomorrow, who had an agility specialty. The dagger he now carried had come from one of these armed dolls.

“These armed dolls will automatically restart after a while. Look for the basic models with wind-up keys on their backs—you can set them to activate on a timer.” RainTomorrow clearly had more detailed information. At his instruction, Embers and the others immediately began searching through the dozens of dolls for suitable targets.

Of course, it wasn’t hard to activate the higher-grade models, but doing so would only lead to the players’ swift annihilation.

Just as the fifth basic doll was set to activate in half a minute, a much larger mimic finally caught up to the four players.

Screech! Screech!

Its long, sturdy limbs alternated as it charged forward, its gaping maw snapping open. Sensing the players ahead, the monster let out an excited screech. At the same time, the players all grabbed their weapons, ready to face the strengthened mimic for the first time.

They needed to hold out at least until the basic dolls restarted in order to make their delaying tactic work.

The battle began in an instant.

This mimic was not only much larger but also incredibly fast. Each time it missed an attack, the players could barely land a hit or two in return. The chest, which should have hampered its movement, now seemed to have no effect at all. It could attack with both its long arms and, at times, even sweep out with its legs.

The only consolation was that their attacks could still penetrate its defenses.

This meant that, even if the odds were slim, victory was not impossible.

Moreover, their earlier rest had paid off. Though the mimic brought immense pressure, the players managed, with some close calls, to hold out until the first armed doll came back online.

“Detected a large number of enemies nearby. Assault model combat doll—Recruit Seven requesting support from headquarters. Requesting support!”

A series of clicking joint sounds brought the doll to life. It immediately used a nearby higher-grade doll as cover and, as more dolls awoke, began organizing the group in a metallic, electronic voice.

“Headquarters is unresponsive. Assault model combat doll Recruit Seven assuming command. Recruit Nine and Thirteen, attack with me. Recruit Twenty and Twenty-one, provide suppressive fire!”

The addition of five armed dolls immediately threw the battlefield into chaos. Because the players were also identified as enemies, Embers found himself in an awkward predicament. The three assault dolls were manageable—one wielded a melee weapon, the other two fought barehanded—but the two assigned to suppressive fire were armed with guns.

[Prompt: You are under attack by the anomaly ‘Armed Dolls’—the firepower-type combat dolls, Recruit Twenty and Recruit Twenty-one.]

[Prompt: You lose two health points.]

…

Though the armed dolls’ guns were toys and the bullets plastic, the barrage left Embers completely unable to defend himself. Fortunately, his basic protective suit reduced the damage; otherwise, two shots would have taken nearly a third of his health. Perhaps luck really does balance out—in direct contrast to his earlier good fortune, Embers now found himself in dire straits. Searching frantically for cover, he was suddenly kicked by the mimic, his health dropping by another third.

[Prompt: You have suffered a powerful attack from the anomaly ‘Enhanced Juvenile Mimic.’ Minor abdominal injury and bleeding status.]

[Abdominal injury (minor): Attack range limited, attack strength reduced, wound will not heal over time.]

[Minor bleeding: Lose two health points per second, duration: fifteen seconds.]

[Prompt: Life Level 2 reached—this negative effect is now immune.]

With only thirty health points in total, Embers now had less than half remaining. In a moment of crisis, he unhesitatingly raised his life level, finally stopping the bleeding. It was worth noting that the mimic’s attack actually worked to his advantage—by drawing the dolls’ attention to itself, he was freed from danger and bought the players a chance to retreat.

“Move!”

NotAnExpert grabbed Embers and hurried after Scaled Arm and RainTomorrow. Though the pain in his abdomen was sharp, it didn’t slow Embers down. The players had considered waiting until both sides were battered and then ganging up on the mimic, but the one-sided carnage unfolding behind them made them abandon any thought of lingering.