La Cucaracha – The Cockroach (1)
Ting!
While walking towards the Randun Central Laboratory, a new chat message popped up in front of Yoo-sung.
[Goddess of Mischief: You’re still alive?]
‘What the hell does that mean? Does she want me dead or what?’
Yoo-sung frowned when he saw the chat message from the Goddess of Mischief.
[Goddess of Mischief: Cheer up! If it weren’t for me, you would have died already.]
That was true. If not for the Stone of Salvation from the Goddess of Mischief, Yoo-sung could have died.
[Goddess of Mischief: Lol, you can’t say anything back since you are faced with facts.]
[Goddess of Mischief: Keep on trying hard. Even though they are not chatting, there are a lot of Gods and Spirits who are paying attention to you. They are bored since the Hunters are either on Earth clearing dungeons or going around in Estelle and Muhuan. If you do well, you might get lots of donations.]
Yoo-sung was receiving quite a lot of attention.
Various Gods and Spirits who created the system watched the Hunters. If there is a Hunter that they like, they will help them or donate items to them. Hunters called this the ‘Hunter Channel’. It was named so because Gods and Spirits could watch different Hunters as if they were changing TV channels.
Although the name was given by the Hunters, the Gods and the Spirits did not express any dissatisfaction towards the name, and the name ‘Hunter Channel’ naturally became a common word among them.
The Gods and the Spirits watch the Hunter Channel to relieve their boredom. However, no matter how delicious the dishes are, if they eat them every day, they are going to get bored of it.
As they were going through their boring life, Yoo-sung appeared. Yoo-sung, who has fallen into a strange dimension due to a support angel’s mistake, was now a hot issue among the Gods and the Spirits.
The dimension Yoo-sung was put into was a parallel universe without any magic or martial arts. With no foundation to get help, the Gods and the Spirits were fully absorbed into how Yoo-sung will get through this difficulty.
For the Gods and the Spirits who were suffering from boring routines, Yoo-sung was like an oasis in the desert.
Even though everyone was silent now, the Gods and the Spirits were watching Yoo-sung.
[Goddess of Mischief: If you get someone to like you, they will give you an exceptional gift or let you meet them in person. You know SSS-class Hunters, right?]
Of course, he knows. How could he not know? They were Hunters like Gang-Inhan on television, and SSS-class Hunters had enormous power. Some SSS-class Hunters liked to stay hidden from the world, but most have shown themselves on various television shows.
It was a world where everyone was memorizing the name of their country’s SSS-class Hunters.
[Goddess of Mischief: They got to where they are because some Gods helped them. Are you jealous?]
‘Of course, I’m jealous.’
Who wouldn’t be? It was normal to envy them.
Supernatural ability!
Huge fortune!
The power that even makes high-ranked people like the President and legislators nervous!!
The high-class Hunters had it all.
And…..
‘I will be able to get revenge on the monster that killed my parents.’
Revenge was also possible.
Yoo-sung watched the news every day to see if the ‘monster’ who killed his parents had been killed or not. He prayed that the Hunters would successfully get revenge on his behalf.
If he becomes a strong Hunter, he would be able to take revenge with his own hands.
[Goddess of Mischief: You could be like that if you get liked by us. So make us happy! Haha!]
‘Yes, I could get strong if I catch the Gods’ attention. But before anything else, I must survive here for a month.’
It was important to get noticed by the Gods, but it was useless if he died. Surviving was the first priority. Once he survived, he could get stronger.
Getting stronger was the next thing after surviving.
After Yoo-sung made up his mind, Eve’s voice was heard.
[We’ve arrived at our destination. This is the Randun Central Laboratory.]
Yoo-sung looked at the Randun Central Laboratory. The appearance of the place was terrible.
People’s bodies could be seen through the thick fences. There were bodies of people in white coats and some in reinforced suits.
The ones wearing white coats were the researchers and the ones wearing reinforced suits were either soldiers or security guards guarding the institute.
The bodies looked as if they had been eaten up by something.
“Do… Do I have to go in here?”
[Yes. The research data is stored in the innermost area of the laboratory.]
As Eve was saying this, she put up a hologram window. The hologram appeared from the terminal on the right wrist of the suit.
The hologram Eve displayed was a map. It was a 3D map of the structure of the institute.
[Here is the main gate of the institute. After passing through the main gate and entering the laboratory, you have to go to its innermost area. I marked the shortest route to get there, so you can follow the route I marked.]
Yoo-sung carefully followed Eve’s guide into the laboratory.
***
‘There were a lot of human bodies outside, but how can it be quiet inside?’
The inside of the research laboratory was quiet. But apart from the silence, the research center inside was a mess.
For whatever reason, machines lie scattered on the floor that might have been used.
It was as if something had stormed through the laboratory.
Yoo-sung’s hands tightened. He put strength on the hand holding the Jackal so he could pull the trigger any time.
Following Eve’s guidance, Yoo-sung suddenly stopped walking.
There was a smell of iron. The terrible smell of iron was coming from somewhere.
Yoo-sung put his body closer to the wall. Then, he peeked around the corner.
Crunch! Crunch!
A researcher’s body was lying under the light. Two giant cockroaches were eating the body.
“Blarrgh!”
As a janitor, he had cleaned out insect-infested homes, but it was disgusting to see cockroaches the size of a medium-sized dog.
If the Mensetag was ugly and scary, those cockroaches were disgusting.
[It’s the Crochets.]
‘The Crochets……’
A Crochet is an evolution made from the mixture of genes from a cockroach and a locust insect. Unlike the general appearance of a cockroach, it has huge legs.
It was really huge. It felt like it could hop with that leg onto his face.
‘Oh, damn it.’
A giant cockroach jumping onto his face. Just imagining it was terrible.
[There are only two Crochets identified, but gunfire could attract more of them, so let’s use a close-range weapon.]
“Then, let’s use the energy sword?”
[Yes. If you attack the Crochets with an energy sword, it won’t make any noise and cleanly cut them down. But there will be fluid splash on the suit, so you will have to handle that.]
“Got it.”
As soon as Yoo-sung answered, the suit stirred as something popped out and wrapped around his head. It was a helmet.
[I’ve activated the helmet inside the suit, just in case. It may be a little uncomfortable, but you should get used to it.]
He thought that the suit didn’t have anything for the head. Turns out, the helmet was situated inside the suit.
A helmet the size of a head wrapped inside the suit. He didn’t know what the principle was, but he thought that the technology was great.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Yoo-sung made a sound by flicking his finger against the wall. The Crochet’s antenna then began to twitch.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
A Crochet moved its legs quickly, circling the dead researcher’s body.
It looked like it was looking for where the sound came from. Then, the Crochet turned in the direction of Yoo-sung.
‘Come on, come on.’
The Crochet moved its big legs and jumped into where Yoo-sung was hiding.
‘Now!’
Buzzz!
Slash!
The Crochet was neatly cut by the energy sword Yoo-sung swung. After killing the first Crochet, Yoo-sung immediately ran to the other Crochet and stomped on it.
Squish!
Green fluid splashed on Yoo-sung’s helmet with the sound of something crushed bursting.
“Ugh!”
It was fortunate that he was wearing a helmet.
Thinking about the fluid that would have splashed on his face, he felt like throwing up.
“Oh, it’s very sticky.”
When Yoo-sung took off his foot from the dead Crochet, the body fluids pressed against the suit stretched out. Yoo-sung rubbed his feet against the wall several times to wipe off the body fluids.
After killing the two Crochets, Yoo-sung looked down at the dead researcher’s body.
The Crochets seemed to be eating the researcher’s face. The face was severely damaged to a point where it was hard to tell how he looked before. The skin covering the face was almost torn off.
[User Han Yoo-sung, find an ID card on the researcher’s body. The laboratory door can only be opened with an ID card.]
Yoo-sung picked up an ID card around the dead researcher’s neck. The researcher’s face on the ID card was a handsome western man. It was a face that would be quite popular with women.
“May you be born in a place without bugs in your next life.”
Yoo-sung looked down and briefly prayed for the dead researcher.
Yoo-sung passed by the researcher’s dead body and continued into the laboratory. The deeper he entered, the more bodies there were.
The body of a security guard, the body of a researcher, and the body of a person who looks like a cleaner.
There were a lot of bodies, but strangely enough, there weren’t any Crochets visible. Except for the Crochets he saw that ripped off the researcher’s face, Yoo-sung could not find the other Crochets.
“I’m nervous for some reason.”
There were so many dead bodies, but there weren’t any that were responsible for these bodies. Yoo-sung felt uneasy.
“Are they going to pop up in a group later?”
In the movie, they used to pop out from the ventilation system.
But that was just a movie. Yoo-sung thought that it would never happen and kept walking…
Dum!
Without hearing the ominous sounds from the vents.