Manuke FPS Chapter 176

Published at 6th of February 2022 10:10:53 AM

After beginning my exploration of the dark otherworldly labyrinth, which limited my vision, I finally stepped into a dimly lit room. Inside, I saw several other adventurers had gathered here. There was a transfer circle here that allowed instantaneous teleportation to the lower levels. I saw several adventurers gathered in the corner before they disappeared in a swirl of dazzling light one after another. 

Once all had left, the room was once again filled with silence. 

Transfer circles were installed every 10 levels and this enabled users to transfer back to the top, or down to any of the circles they’ve used before. Being as it was, meant I had to transverse the labyrinth from the first level down as I hadn’t been here before. Thus, I had not registered my biometrics with the lower levels to transfer to them.

As no one was here, I took out a silencer and flashlight for the P90. The sledgehammer I picked for crystal extraction was slung over my shoulder, beside a backpack. If I encountered an enemy, I could easily drop the backpack to enter a combat stance. 

Once I fitted the silencer, I switched to the flashlight. Up until recently, I’ve always preferred to keep the flashlight usage to a minimum as it could give away my position. That was why I’ve been using it on pinpoint capacity. But this may change in the future. During the attack in the capital, where I battled the assassins sent by Cactus, I had finally been shown the limits of VMB’s CQB system. 

Even so – the core of my fighting force would still be VMB’s systems. I don’t think I could train my body any further nor teach myself any swordsmanship or martial arts from this world. My power could only be improved by honing only what I could do. So – I had to do just that, hone myself. 

First order of business was to improve my FPS skills. There was at least one method I could think of. The exploration this time was for this very reason. 

I exited the room with the P90 at the ready. It was another cavern passage. Like other labyrinths, the interior of the passage was around 6-10 meters. Clusters of hexagonal crystals were scattered here and there along the path. The crystals could only be harvested once the labyrinth was cleared however. 

When I tried crushing one with the hammer, the fragments were immediately wrapped in a black mist. The fragments turned to mist immediately. As expected, only the stones the monsters dropped could be taken. 

The map for the labyrinth was simple and while I mapped it, I compared it to the screenshot of the labyrinth map I’d seen back in the capital. Then, I proceeded to the second level. 

I took my time and proceeded with caution. Two dots appeared on my map… Were they monsters? There were four confirmed types of monsters. Quartz snake, quartz spider, fat scorpion, and snakehead labyrinth’s naga. 

With this in mind, I switched my weapon to full auto, dropped the backpack quietly and waited. Normally, I would push to engage them. But the light from the flashlight would warn them of my presence. So, I kept the muzzle down, and waited for them to enter my field of view. It was through the sensor that I heard them move. It did not sound like footsteps. It sounded more like crawling with bits of scraping mixed in. 

I can see it now —

What entered my view was a moving crystal. It was some distance away and it slithered along the ground, so my guess was that it was a quartz snake. With two, it might be a pair of snakes. The 1 meter long snake appeared on my radar about 30 meters away. 

Among the blue crystalline body, a pair of glowing red eyes could be seen… And they were heading for me. 

I raised my gun to enter ADS and aligned the crosshairs with the pair of eyes before I pulled the trigger. The sound of air swishing followed the pull of the trigger — two bursts. It was difficult to hit a narrow body, but three rounds from my two burst shots managed to find their targets as the crystal body shattered.  Yes. Their body actually shattered. No blood. 

So, there were actually these king of monsters too… 

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I was fascinated for a moment by the corpse as black mist began to take it, but I recalled there was another. I could see its body was folded like an S, obviously accumulating force.

Could this be–

I quickly switched to my CZ75 and stood back up. The snake sprung forward as the pistol left its holster as the snake’s maw opened up. VMB’s CQC system kicked in. I left the control of my body to it as it responded to the enemy’s movement. Therefore, it would react quickl to the snake.

The bayonet attachment of the CZ75 was thrusted into its open maw to intercept it. It tore through its mouth until the trigger guard touched a lower fang. It attempted to swallow the gun as something began to ooze from its upper fangs atop the slide. Once I saw that, I swung the snake around and slammed it to the ground and pulled the trigger. 

The recoil pulled the gun free where I then immediately stomped its head a few times. I replaced the gun’s mag as I watched the snake disappear into the black mist. 

By the way, the liquid it oozed should be some sort of paralyzing venom mentioned in the information I got from the museum. There were quite a lot of venomous creatures in the labyrinth. In addition to magic-interfering types, there were also physical timers that could cause serious damage. For a manuke like me, the magic interference types held no effect. But the body types were a different matter. 

It was still unknown how venoms and poisons would affect this body. But it was not like i could just test it since that could prove lethal. I also investigated antidotes, but what was available for the masses were drug-type antidotes. Countermeasures to cure monster venom was a spell called [Cure] magic. 

In other words, body-type poisons and venoms were effective against me as I had no way to purge it. But if it damaged my body, I could still probably heal with a medical kit. A type of recovery tool in the game. There was also no guarantee that the kit could purge any of it. I was rarely hurt but I should still be wary of negative effects attached to attacks. 

On the contrary, I felt such tension indeed needed. I would never improve if I slackened if I thought I could deal with any wound. The same went for an FPS. How did I get so good? That question was often asked. I only had one answer. I learned from my death.

I remembered my losses, understood the causes and effects, and improved. But it was impossible to do that here. Even if this body was from VMB, I had no way of knowing if I had more than one life. The mistakes made with the clowns were something I promises never to let happen again. 

I picked up the dropped stones and delved deeper into the labyrinth. 

Chapter end