NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 5
“Waaaah…!”
Left, then right. For a moment, he scraped his head against the wall, then back to the left.
The pattern of violently smashing his head into the wall and charging forward.
I grabbed Mr. James’ arm.
“Ugh!”
At the crossroads, we sharply turned left where a crash against a not-so-far wall echoed.
And if that were the end of it, it would have been good.
“Die, di-die?”
The sound of a skull hitting the wall once, then twice.
Backpedaling, I aimed the gun down the corridor.
“AAAAAAAAAAH!!!”
– Clang.
With the sound of steel sheets falling, a staggering fiery figure appeared before my eyes.
A horrifying face – too grotesque to resemble a gorilla – with fire-wracked teeth gnashing together in disarray.
– Boom. Boom.
I frantically pumped and pulled the trigger.
Still, the hulking figure that filled the corridor showed no signs of falling.
“Die, die!!!”
– Click.
With the sound of the bolt being pulled, the corridor filled with a bright orange glow.
The hot brass casings spilled out from the rifle and scattered on the floor.
“Gurgh, scratch, GAAAAHHH!!!”
Even as his eyes burst and his teeth shattered by bullets, the creature continued its reach.
Even with one arm raised to shield its face.
The other repeatedly smashed against the ground.
But, in doing so, the leg injured earlier became visible from the front.
“The leg!”
The empty magazine clattered to the ground, replaced by a fresh one.
The sound of steel striking steel echoed as I slammed the bolt catch.
“UAAAAAH!!!”
The bullets pierced flesh and bone.
As the last strands of flesh tore apart, the hulking figure screamed and finally collapsed on the floor.
– BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM.
The steel balls crushed the flesh, and the still-smoking rifle continued vomiting bullets.
The trembling giant hands finally fell.
Even as the protruding tongue bit into its own teeth.
– Toodada…
The casings rained down.
The sickening smell of blood filled the air.
And the heavy scent of gunpowder.
Until the ape-like face became nothing more than a bloodied mass.
“Huh, huhuh, huhuh.”
“…Huff, huff.”
In the darkness, the heated rifle barrel glowed brightly.
Smoke rose from the shotgun’s barrel and chamber.
“Cough, cough!”
In the game, it was just a matter of clicking the mouse, but the monstrous figure now lying prostrate on the floor, still burning, was something else entirely.
“…How many of these monsters are there…?”
“There are worse ones than this.”
Slumping to the floor, gasping for breath, James’ muttering turned to an even more despondent look.
I couldn’t afford to panic.
Noise and light always attract unwelcome attention.
I lit a cigarette and handed one to James.
After lighting my own, I leaned the lighter toward James’ trembling hand.
“Huuuuu…”
“Huff.”
The first cigarette I ever smoked was just hot, but now it’s become familiar.
The faint sweetness lingering on the tip of my tongue.
And the thick white mist that calms the frenzied heart and mind.
“I thought you were protecting your daughter.”
“…Sarah. Yeah, that’s right. Sarah—”
“Is there something wrong?”
Spitting out his cigarette, James instantly stood up.
“She had another allergic reaction. She’s struggling to breathe, though she’s in a lot of pain…”
“Ah, damn it.”
“Did you find any new medicine? Was there a medical room along the way?”
“I didn’t find a medical room. But…”
The dead troopers from the Reitan Church would surely have medical supplies.
Unsurprisingly, members of the Reitan Church, with their high regeneration capability, don’t wear armor. Instead, they often carry bullets and gun attachments gathered from military installations during patrols. It’s not uncommon to find tradable drugs and precious metals in their possession.
“Follow me.”
The bodies had become indistinguishable bloody masses.
The men whose heads had been crushed by the hammerhead, those whose necks had been broken as they were tossed aside…
“Ugh, damn…”
In the game, their deaths were depicted as bloodied but intact, with special executions showing some unique variations. Now, however, the broken bones and twisted heads made me dizzy.
“Huuu…”
At least the cigarette helped me keep my composure. Without the buffs, I could have easily thrown up given the low mental toughness.
Fumbling through a blood-soaked inner pocket, I touched warm liquid. It felt like the eyes might start moving any second.
“Uuuuh…”
Eventually, rummaging through the corpses, I found it:
“Ah.”
An orange-tipped syringe.
But…
“Did you find something?”
“I found a stimulant.”
“…We’ve already used one, no, more than once.”
“A second dose?”
“I administered one about ten or twenty minutes ago when the reaction immediately reappeared. Despite that, she had another seizure.”
Overusing stimulants weakens their effects. Using it a third time could lead to drug abuse, and when combined with a compromised state, it could very well result in death.
“Damn, even this—”
“Wait. Is there nothing else?”
“If anything, just these strange piles of drugs.”
They were the ‘drug cluster’ items from the game. When combined with other syringes, they could be used for health regeneration, pain relief, and stopping bleeding. Combined with the stimulant, they could create an antidote.
If I combined them…
“Time is running out, give that here…”
“No, wait.”
Emptying the bag, a crude crafting kit hit the ground with a dull thud.
Yet…
When I last saw this, the button was definitely locked.
– Slide.
“Alright, really, it works.”
Was it because I handled the bag roughly, or was it because this is a game world, unlocking when the conditions were met?
“Damn it, my daughter is sick!”
“I know we can’t give her stimulants.”
“What are you planning to do with those unknown drugs—”
Frankly, his reaction is justified. Taking unknown substances carries the risk of terrible side effects.
“Hold on, what are you doing to the stimulant…!”
“Calm down. I want to save Sarah just as much as you do.”
But this is Concrete Under.
Ultimately, a game.
And in my hand, I now have the crafting kit.
“…Antidote.”
The ingredients: two handfuls of pills and one stimulant.
As soon as I thought about it, faint diagrams appeared on the crafting kit’s black cloth.
Just as in the game, placing the items on the combination pattern—
– Clik, clik.
My hands instinctively crushed the pills into powder onto the cloth.
The small bowl and rod that I hadn’t seen moments ago suddenly appeared, and I was breaking the pills apart.
“….”
Carefully, I retrieved the tweezers and peeled off the tip of the syringe.
Carefully, carefully… ensuring the spring wouldn’t trigger the syringe by accident.
I removed the drug container, poured the powder inside.
Finally, reassembling it in reverse order of the disassembly.
“Use this on your daughter.”
“….”
“It’s an antidote.”
“But…”
“Hurry. If something goes wrong, feel free to shoot me.”
Folding the crafting kit and pressing the button to secure it closed.
I grabbed my bag, stood up.
James’ face was still tense.
“Otherwise, let me administer it to her in front of Curtis.”
“…You’ve mixed medicine into the stimulant, and you claim it’s an antidote…”
Honestly speaking, it’s worst-case scenario in real terms. But does it make sense to quickly make a shotgun with scraps of metal and gun parts?
“The shortness of breath brought you to me. It’s been at least five minutes since the monster died.”
I rose with my shotgun in hand.
“It doesn’t matter whether you use another stimulant or none at all on a daughter who’s already had two doses. Without detoxification, Sarah will die either way from this level of allergic reaction.”
“…”
“At least, we can try this antidote I made.”
In the end, James clenched his teeth.
Checking the rifle’s ammunition, he adjusted the bolt.
It didn’t appear to be on safety.
“Let’s go.”
We ran through the long corridor, leaving behind the motionless corpses and detached helmets. The light streaming out of a nearby room was accompanied by faint mutterings.
“Oh, my poor granddaughter, Sarah…”
I immediately crossed the threshold, heading straight to Sarah, whose face was deathly pale.
“?!?”
Without giving Curtis any chance to react, I jabbed the antidote directly into Sarah’s thigh.
If this world follows the game’s rules thoroughly, even if this is an unorthodox combination of powdered drugs and stimulants, it should work.
“Ughk, ugh…”
The leg injected with the drug began shaking violently.
The wound grew visibly redder and more swollen.
“What have you done to my granddaughter!?”
“Guhk!”
The rifle was pressed against my temple.
“I swear, if anything happens to Sarah…”
A cold barrel pressed against my jaw, sapping away the heat.
– Click.
The shotgun’s pump action lowered.
The steel ball bearings were ready to shatter my jaw at any moment.
True enough, James hadn’t adjusted the safety.
One pull of the trigger, and my brains would scatter.
But…
– Phfft, phoo!
Yellow pus erupted from the wound, and the swelling visibly subsided.
Sarah, who was convulsing a moment ago, took a deep breath and peacefully relaxed her body.
“Sarah?”
Just a moment ago, there were choking sounds. Now, only clear, calm breaths remained.
“Squeeze out the remaining poison from the wound.”
I slightly backed my head away from the barrels that had been shoved in my face.
The triggers weren’t pulled.
The pump lowered, and the bolt clicked as it moved beside me.
“We need to move locations. The poison is out, but if the wound gets infected, that’s the worst-case scenario.”
Struggling to steady my trembling breath, I picked up the hanging lamp.
Curtis lowered his rifle but was shaking as he gently held Sarah’s hand.
James couldn’t bring himself to meet my eyes, just lowering his head.
“There should be a clean room nearby, if we search. Let’s use the closest one as our temporary base.”
As I slowly prepared to lift the unconscious Sarah, Curtis silently helped by placing her arm and leg over my shoulder and hand.
James stepped outside the door, waiting for me to exit.
“Uh, about what happened earlier…”
“Let’s discuss it later.”
Starting with one injury, we needed a clean room.
We also had to find several clean gauze pads to prevent infection and maintain high hygiene.
As a Crafter, my charm lies less in what I promise and more in what I can deliver.
“Alright, hurry. Lead the way. She needs to be laid down in a medical room quickly.”
This confirmed it once and for all.
This is Concrete Under.
The game I’ve played for over 2,000 hours.
Now past the tutorial, the first thing I must do is to construct a base.