A shoutout to ElDani!

I’m so sorry you came at such a bad time, but thanks for the review! It really helped a lot, and yes, my MC does indeed feel a bit too OP (but maybe not as much as the others in other fictions ;) ). I’m really glad you took the time to point out some problems, but don’t worry. I’ve already worked that out :D.

To the comments, the suggestions you guys made are really great and interesting. It makes me thing that I’m a lousy writer and very non-creative. I want to implement all those things, but this wouldn't be my work anymore if I did that, right? You guys want some unpredictability, too, right? You don’t really want to read a story which is a mash-up of reader suggestions, right?

Haha, anyways, regarding the transforming weapon and why our Protagonist choose to use one instead of swapping weapons… this is partly my fault. First, the MC likes transforming stuff, it’s a childhood dream, watching transforming robots and stuffs, you get the gist. Second, I’m sorry for not pointing it out in the story, but they can only equip one weapon at a time (MH, God Eater). I can make some bullshit explanation using the lack of research and conflicting isolation controls etc etc… But I’m not saying that there’s no possibility. (swapping equipped items through the bag is not possible too. You need to use the terminal to change your loadout, or that how it was supposed to be. *Rechecking past chapters for consistency.)

Anyways, thanks for the support! That was a long intro. Whew.

Here’s the delayed chapter. Two more incoming, don’t know when they’ll be done though!

Alexia Vindum was a 19-year-old teenage girl with long pale blond hair and a pair sky blue eyes. She was average in height. Her face was cute, making her look four to five years younger, yet her body was alluringly mature. Her breasts threatened to pop the buttons of her shirt, and her slim waist and shapely hips grabbed the attention of every passing male.

That appearance could not be seen on the girl lying on the cold concrete floor. In fact, it was hard to tell if she was the same girl. Right now, her chest heaved up and down as she gasped for air. Her long hair were in a mess. Her smooth skin was layered with sweat and dirt. Beside her was the same sorry figure of Jake Kingston.

As to what had happened for them to end up in that state, the culprit was sitting by the side, looking at the pitiful duo. It was none other than Allen. Novo Vulpia 4th Form was on his lap while he inspected it.

After agreeing to form a group in the Bar, he brought the two to the to see their combat abilities, and form proper group strategies for different opponents and situations.

Alexia was a Class II Rank 0 CrySol. Her choice of weapon was a long gun, which was reasonable as her role was support. She had two Skills: Stimulate and Cloak. The former allows her to increase the recovery of Vitality and Stamina of the target of the skill. The latter weakens her presence, removing her from the perception of those around her, and let her sneak past enemies as well as snipe them without attracting any attention during combat.

Jake, unexpectedly, was a Class III Rank 4 CrySol. He was equipped with a tower shield and lance. He used the most basic combat style for vanguards: block and poke. Unlike Alexia, he did not have any Skill.

The initial results of the simulated combat training was disastrous. Alexia didn't know when to provide covering fire and would end up hitting Jake with friendly fire. Jake on the other hand, despite being a vanguard and with tanking equipments, couldn't keep the target’s attention on him, thus, making his shield just a heavy luggage to slow him down.

In the end, the party positioning that Allen assigned was to have Alexia single out enemies that were wounded and retreating outside of Allen’s melee range. Jake would stay with Alexia to protect her in case she draws the enemies’ attention. She couldn't keep Cloak activated all the time after all.

They kept on fighting against different simulated beasts with classes higher than them until the two almost fainted in exhaustion.

“You’re so amazing… Even though you’re a Class I, you’re so strong.”

Alexia had finally slightly recovered and praised Allen.

“Is that related to you being able to 100% assimilate the Living Crystals in your body?”

“I don’t think so. The assimilation only increases physical abilities by a small amount.”

It was Jake who answered her question.

“His movements were efficient, accurate, and precise. He utilizes his body to the fullest, while making split-second decisions in front of the enemies. To say the least, he’s pretty much godlike.”

“That’s enough of the praises.”

Allen didn’t let their compliments get to his head. Complacency leads to defeat. It was fine to appear confident, but make sure to still be cautious deep inside.

“Rest and prepare, we’ll leave in an hour.”

“You sound just like the Head Trainer.”

Allen ignored Jake’s comment and went back to his workshop to take the new add-on function for his from the terminal. It was similar to the completion beacon. Instead of sending a signal to be picked up and sent back to base, it sends a signal for a resource collection team to come and start collecting the resources.

After installing the function, he logged out to eat a late lunch comprised of instant noodles and bread. At around 3pm, he logged back in. There was a message on his from Jake to tell him that they were waiting for him in the hangar.

Making sure that there was nothing amiss in his equipments and items, he went straight to the meeting point.

“You’re finally here.”

“Are we ready to go yet?”

The two were quite excited even though they had suffered terribly in the training a while ago. They were probably itching to test out the combat strategies that he had bored into them.

“Make sure you have everything you need like spare ammunition and recovery items.”

“I’m all set.”

“Let’s go! Let’s go!”

They all hopped on Jake’s Worldrunner, with Alexia taking the spot between the two guys. When she wrapped her arms around Jake’s waist, he suddenly straightened his back in excitement. Even though his appearance and actions were rough and quite like a playboy, the truth of the matter was that he was inexperienced. Allen snickered a little. Jake heard him and shot him a glare.

As they left the hangar and went out through the eastern gate, Allen looked back at the base. From afar, it looked like a simple rectangular building surrounded by a circular wall. The rest of the base was underground. Mission Control, the Bar and Lounge, and some personnel residences were located on the surface building. The underground complex was divided into multiple layers, with the regular residences at the bottom most layer. There were also non-personnel residents who live in the base, mostly the family members of the personnels.

The rest of the levels would be the laboratories, the training grounds, and the CrySol workshops. Base 19 was less developed than other bases so there were more places that could still be improved and expanded. This also meant that in terms of defense and research development, the other bases were much better than Base 19.

Allen looked forward as they sped toward their destination. In his mind, Base 19 was already his home. In such a short time, he had experienced a lot in this place. He may be alone for now as the only player, but the NPCs were not bad companions.

It took them about twenty minutes before they reached their destination. Along the way, Allen saw the place where he intercepted the Vulpia pack. The corpses were already gone and all that remained were the traces of battle like the damaged greeneries, the scattered blood, and strange holes in the ground.

“We’re here.”

Jake slowed the Worldrunner down to a stop. They were at the base of a small rocky hill. The first to get off was Allen, and he quickly scanned the surroundings to make sure if there were any enemies hidden nearby. Strangely, along the way they had not encountered a single enemy. This lack of enemy presence was quite unnerving.

“It feels strange…”

Alexia felt the same. She walked toward Allen while cautiously looking around.

“What are you guys worried about?”

Jake on the other hand, despite being a Class III, seemed to not notice the unnatural situation.

“Just keep your eyes peeled. We’ll secure the perimeter first, then head in the Vulpia den.”

Allen took the lead position while the other two followed a few meters behind, with Jake as the rearguard and Alexia in the middle.

They first scouted the area around the hill. There were huge rocks scattered randomly everywhere from the base to the top of the hill. Some were small fist-sized rocks, a few which were as big as a man’s torso, and two to three that were as big as an elephant.

Atop the hill, the scenery was breathtaking. The spent a few minutes there gazing at the vast forest spread below. From afar, they could see a range of mountains further to the east. To the west, they could catch a small glimpse of Base 19. To the north, a shadow loomed over the forest draped in thick dense fog.

“There were a lot of holes in the ground in the surrounding forest.”

Alexia reported what she noticed as they went down the hill. Their destination was the cave entrance that lead into the Vulpia den.

“Not really sure what could cause that.”

“Me, too.”

Allen sighed as he listened to the two. Despite being higher classed than him, they were more of a rookie than him. It was to be expected. Compared to players which can access a database outside of the game and with a different way of thinking, the NPCs were constrained by their ‘story’ as the people who live in this world. Just the basic explanation that players have 100% assimilation with the in contrast to non-players is a testament to the NPCs lack of power. In this world, the players were destined to be the heroes, while the NPCs were just minor supporting characters.

“It could be Antworms.”

That statement from Allen elicited a look of shock from the duo. They have heard of Antworms, but they never expected them to appear so close to the base.

“Antworms also move in groups like Vulpia, and their habitat would be areas near the mountains. For them to appear here, there must be a reason. The Vulpia attacking the base could be a last ditch effort to escape from the Antworms and find a new den. It just so happened that Base 19 was a suitable target.”

He didn’t mention anything about the gray Vulpia and his encounter with it as well as the pack of black Vulpia. There was no real proof that they could have been after him, so he couldn’t just go and say it. The speculation he just made was the most reasonable he could think of so far. Seeing the two nodding to his words, he let out a sigh of relief.

“So… we’re expecting Antworms?”

Alexia looked at the cave entrance with disgust. Instead of fear, her face had an expression of disgust.

It must be said that Antworms have the strength of a Class IV crystal beast, and this is their strength during their early stages of development. After maturity, they could reach up to Class VI in strength. What classified them as so was their extremely strong defense.

Their appearance was that of a maggot. When hostile, an ant head would appear from the maggot’s tip, and ant legs would also poke out of their body. The maggot appearance was cause by the turning into a soft gelatinous form. Although it may look like a weak defense, this gelatinous layer was very elastic and firm making it impervious to any blunt attacks. Beneath the elastic layer was an extremely tough carapace resistant to slashing attacks. The method to breach their defense was either to rely on an extremely strong piercing attack or to first cut the outer layer with a delicate slicing technique then immediately use a powerful blunt attack to break the carapace inside before the outer layer regenerates and close up.

“Most probably. It was also probably them that salvaged the corpses from the clearing.”

“Watch your step, they could suddenly come out from the ground and rip off your feet.”

Jake teased Alexia and he received a powerful slap on his back before she tried to climb up on Allen’s body. Jake was pale-faced when he said those words, which meant that he was actually fearful of their probably opponent and use the girl with them as a diversion for his fears.

“No need to be tense. Antworms spend most of the day in hibernation. It’s still bright out, so they’re still probably taking a nap inside. We better hurry, though. There could be hundreds inside, and when they all wake up and move as a horde, we’ll easily get overrun.”

Alexia and Jake’s face returned to their normal colors after hearing the first half of Allen’s words, then turned pale once again after imagining the worst case scenario.

“We should hurry then.”

“Yeah. Hurry! Hurry!”

They lightly pushed Allen toward the entrance. He could only smile wryly at the two’s concerted actions.

“We’ll do as planned. I’ll take point, while you two watch my back.”

Allen cautiously entered through the entrance. It was wide enough to let four Vulpia pass side by side with room to spare.

With his left hand on the wall, he used it as a guide as they walked through cave tunnel. They encountered quite a few forks. Allen took the liberty of just choosing the leftmost path. This way, they could easily trace their way back.

As they went further in, Jake seemed to be looking around and have noticed something.

“What’s wrong?”

Allen noticed that Jake realized something based on his expression. Alexia turned to look at Jake with a questioning glance.

“Hmm… The cave’s structure seemed to have changed. Earlier the cave walls were naturally made, but this one seemed to be dug through. And also, earlier we were descending, but now the path is parallel to the ground.

“Wow, how did you notice all that?”

Alexia was surprised with Jake’s attentiveness to such minor details.

“I ride a bike at breakneck speed. It requires sharp eyes and sensitive balance. Otherwise, I would have died from an accident, and that would suck.”

“Oh? I’m seeing you in a better light!”

“Shh! Quiet down!”

Allen warned them as they were about to get heated up with their conversation. He perked his ears to listen to any changes in the surroundings.

“I hear something.”

He slowly treaded forward with his Novo Vulpia in 3rd Form. The dual gunblades were suitable in this closed environment. Alexia and Jake quited down and increased their alertness after his warning. They were quick to adapt.

Scuttling sounds could be heard echoing in the cavern walls, along with some rolling dirt and stones. It was the sound of something digging and burrowing through the ground.

In just a short moment, a horrifying sight entered their view. At the end of the tunnel was a grayish white mass wriggling its way through the compact cavern wall. It’s cross-section was round, and dirt and stones rolled down its body after dropping from the ceiling. It had not yet noticed their presence, and it continued to bury through the tunnel.

“Gueeh!”

Alexia’s aversion to the disgusting creature caused the contents of her stomach to rise up her throat. With a splash, partially digested food mixed with digestive fluids spilled on the ground.

“Damn, girl! Can’t you hold it in?”

Jake scolded her while gently rubbing her back. Despite his crude words, he was still looking after her. Although this sight was heart-warming(?) in a way, it was still a problem.

The white mass had stopped wriggling.

Allen sighed as he pointed the gunblades toward the white mass. Jake and Alexia finally noticed the situation and looked in front.

The white mass shook as if something inside it was moving around. Bulges appeared all over it, then disappeared. The tip facing them started to move strangely, then with a strange sound of splitting flesh, a dark red insect head appeared from the rip that formed on the tip. It was an ant’s head with its huge compound eyes reflecting their multiples of their image. Its antennae moved up and down as if probing the air in front of it. Its large mandibles spread open, revealing a small circular mouth lined with layers of sharp teeth.

“KKKRAAAAAAAA!”

With its saliva spitting everywhere, it screeched at them. The high-pitched scream reverberated in the cavern walls, causing the ground to slightly shake, dust and dirt fall to from the crevices, and the trio’s eardrums to almost break. With popping sounds, sets of sharply jointed spindly legs poked through the sides of the white flesh.

Alexia’s eyes turned white as she fainted. Jake supported her but his face was ghostly pale.

’Sheesh! What was all that training for!’

Alen seriously wanted to hit this two on the head. They were just heavy baggage!

Without hesitation, he started shooting at the Antworm. This was clearly a Class VI Antworm based on its size and toughness. The shots barely did any damage.

“Dammit!”

The Antworm took almost all the space of the tunnel with its huge size, as it was the one who made the tunnel by digging through it with its body. There were no space to maneuver. Assuming the screech it made to be a call toward the other Antworms somewhere in the cave, Alex and the others were in a difficult situation.

“Carry her!”

The two ran back from the direction they came from, with Jake carrying Alexia on his back. They rushed as fast as they could, trying to lead the Antworm outside in the open. They could hear the sound it made as it used those sharp legs to scurry through the tunnel. It was a spine-tingling sound that spelled disaster to anyone who slowed down.

Panting for breath, the two had encountered a few groups of two to three smaller Antworms.

Alex switched to Novo Vulpia’s 4th Form. Half of the blade slid forward and connected to the tip of the other, forming a very long sword, and the two gun barrels connected forming into one long gun barrel which was equipped on the blunt part of the blade. Using the lengthened weapon, Alex managed to push the smaller Antworms out of the way. This also allowed him to recover some of the ammunition energy without having to waste his by reloading. Combining Dash and the recoil of the 4th Form’s Gun Shot, he made daring maneuvers inside the tight cave to push away the approaching smaller Antworms.

Finally, they made it outside, exposed to the afternoon sun after running for their life in the dark cave. Scuttling sounds could be heard as a horde of Antworms rushed out of the cave.

“Do we keep on running?”

As Jake asked the question, Antworms started popping out of the holes in the ground in the surrounding forest. It seemed like they have to fight their way out.

Just then, a cry resounded from the skies as a shadow loomed over them.

There are no cliffs, but hang in there.