Chapter 72: How to Complete the Mission? Canteen

Chapter 72: Chapter 72: How to Complete the Mission? Canteen

Seraphina Sullivan was unfazed by Dustin Sullivan’s seemingly casual conversation and his attempt to sound her out. In fact, she found it completely expected.

Ever since the last instance, when she’d witnessed Tina Lewis try to take everyone down with her after losing all hope of survival, she’d come to a thorough understanding.

In the Disaster Game, it wasn’t just the bizarre rules and monsters of the instances themselves that were deadly. What one needed to guard against most were one’s own kind: the other "Players."

She had seen plenty of movies and TV shows with similar plots.

For the sake of survival, resources, or even to eliminate potential rivals, betrayal and slaughter were all too common.

Harvey Fletcher’s cold-blooded manipulation of the Native People in the assessment area, sending them to their deaths just to test the Hogmen’s strength, had been a stark warning.

Here, morality and principles were luxuries. To survive, anyone was capable of anything.

No matter how gentle and refined Dustin Sullivan appeared, it couldn’t hide the fact that he was very likely an extremely dangerous individual.

The fact that he had finished the slaughtering task so quickly—even faster than she had, despite her [Butcher] Profession—and now looked so calm and untroubled, spoke volumes.

For now, however, Seraphina Sullivan didn’t want to stir up any trouble.

Her primary tasks right now were survival and intelligence gathering. Getting into conflicts or having in-depth conversations with other Players was fraught with uncertainty.

So, she simply acknowledged Dustin Sullivan with a brief glance and said no more. She swiped her ID card to open the door and slipped inside.

CLICK.

The door clicked shut and locked automatically behind her.

Leaning her back against the cold metal door, Seraphina Sullivan finally let out a sigh of relief as the tension in her nerves eased slightly.

The small room was spartan, containing only a simple metal bed and a small cabinet fixed to the wall. The air was filled with the faint, mixed smell of disinfectant and rust.

But compared to the pervasive, thick stench of blood outside, this place was practically "fresh."

She glanced around her temporary sanctuary and murmured to herself, "’This instance... it’s completely different from the three apocalypse instances I’ve been through before: The Insect Frenzy, Parasite Apocalypse, and Alien Apocalypse...’"

In the previous instances, the enemies were clear: insects, parasitic monsters, or some kind of Aberration.

Here, however, the enemies were intelligent Demons that had established a twisted order and even considered themselves "management."

They inflicted a more oppressive and psychologically torturous kind of fear.

The news she’d gotten from Ash about the world’s dramatic changes, coupled with the mysterious and unfathomably powerful manager, Wessuri...

...all made the background of this instance feel exceptionally grim and complex.

"Sigh," Seraphina Sullivan sighed, rubbing her throbbing temples. ’The road ahead is going to be rough.’

However, when Seraphina Sullivan’s thoughts swept over her Storage Space and she saw the mountain of "spoils"—all sorts of pig offal, bones, trotters, and blood clots—her gloomy mood instantly lifted.

’The process was bloody and disgusting, but these are real, tangible, valuable resources!’

In any apocalyptic environment, food was the ultimate currency, to say nothing of this much high-quality meat.

"Still, even though it’s dangerous," Seraphina’s lips curled into a genuine smile, "this instance has also let me harvest some incredible resources. It wasn’t all for nothing!"

While she rested, Seraphina took some food out of her Space and began to eat.

Only after confirming there were no surveillance devices in the room did Seraphina dare to take out the compressed biscuits and fresh water she had prepared in advance from her Space, eating them in small bites.

She didn’t dare eat anything with a strong smell in here. Who knew how sensitive the Hogmen’s noses were?

The hard biscuit scraped her throat. It tasted awful, but at least it replenished her stamina.

She chewed mechanically, her mind racing as she planned her next move.

’If I can just keep doing slaughtering tasks here, it would be a golden opportunity to gather resources...’ The thought was incredibly tempting.

A hundred pigs a day... even if she only secretly collected a tenth of the scraps, it would add up to an astonishing amount after seven days.

In an apocalyptic environment, this meat—whether for her own consumption or as a bargaining chip—would be invaluable.

But then her gaze swept over the mission list on her system panel, and she sobered up.

[Mission Three: Become a full employee]

[Reward: One Random Potion]

[Mission Four: Slaughter 1,000 creatures]

[Reward: Random Skill Draw]

The rewards for both missions were incredibly tempting.

The system’s potions had extraordinary Effects, and a random Skill could be a complete game-changer.

But, accordingly, the difficulty was also extremely high.

’Become a full employee... How do I do that? Suck up to Wessuri? Or display some kind of special value?’ She knew nothing about the slaughterhouse’s promotion system; the path forward was completely uncertain.

’As for the 1,000-creature slaughter count...’ She frowned. On the first day, working with Ash, she had given it her all just to finish 100. This meant that even if she completed her quota perfectly every day for the next six days, her total would only be 700. She’d still be 300 short of the target.

’There isn’t enough time. I have to increase my efficiency, or... work longer hours?’ But Kieran Hogan had made it clear that they could only rest after completing their daily task. Working overtime probably wouldn’t be that easy.

The mission’s difficulty was far greater than she had anticipated. She had to come up with a more efficient method, which might even involve taking some risks.

As she mulled it over and over, the first day’s exhaustion gradually set in. Seraphina forced herself to sleep to conserve energy for the next day.

...

The next day, a piercing alarm rang out at dawn, followed by Kieran Hogan’s shrill voice blaring from the room’s speaker, hurrying them along.

Seraphina and Ash were once again herded into the same slaughter room as the day before.

The iron door boomed shut, and bright red numbers flickered onto the electronic screen: [Mission Objective: 100].

The familiar stench of blood and the wails of despair once again filled the cramped space.

Seraphina barely hesitated. As the second pig was sent down and Ash was preparing to step forward and bleed it, she acted.

Seraphina’s lips moved slightly, and the familiar [Sweet Fragrance] once again silently permeated the room.

Ash’s eyes instantly went vacant.

The Control was taking hold.

His movements became stiff yet precise, perfectly playing the role of a slaughtering tool.

Seraphina breathed a sigh of relief and immediately began her "multitasking."

With a flash of her knife, she put her [Butcher’s Skill] to work, processing the pigs at a speed far beyond that of a normal person.

At the same time, her mind was highly focused.

She swiftly selected the best "scraps"—thick leaf lard, whole pig stomachs, and heavy marrow bones.

—and precisely deposited them into her Storage Space, maintaining a delicate balance with the parts she threw into the waste disposal unit.

’Get the resources first, worry about the missions later.’

After completing her task for the day, Seraphina took her ID card and prepared to head to the slaughterhouse cafeteria.