Chapter 11

The inside of the container was drier than I expected.

I checked the surroundings first.

‘No people, no CCTV, no lights, almost no vehicle traffic.’

After checking the area several times.

Rustle!

I spread a waterproof tarp across the inside of the container.

I moved the metal crate to the center and gripped the capture pole again.

Grrrrr!

At that moment, a low sound came from inside the crate.

“...”

I swallowed dryly without meaning to.

There hadn’t been this kind of tension in the game.

‘I absolutely can’t let myself get bitten, even by accident.’

I had no intention whatsoever of opening the crate completely.

Instead, I shone the flashlight through the metal bars.

Flash.

Red eyes reflected the light.

Clang! Clang!

The entity started thrashing again.

Bang!

The crate shook violently.

“Damn...”

I instinctively stepped back.

Then, instead of the laptop, I took out a tablet.

It was for field records.

It even had a camera.

All of this preparation was for leaving behind analytical data.

[Experiment Record 001]

Subject: Animal-mediated low-grade precursor entity

Objective: Compare real-world entity behavior patterns with game data

I muttered as I recorded each item one by one.

I was a little scared, but data was more important than fear.

“First, response to light...”

I shone the flashlight toward the wall of the container.

The entity’s gaze followed the light.

Rather than reacting to the light itself, it seemed to follow the direction in which the light moved.

“Responds to moving light source...”

I recorded it immediately.

“Second, response to sound.”

I turned on a small alarm.

A short ‘beep’ once.

Snap!

The entity immediately turned its head.

‘Rapid response to sound...’

I sounded the alarm twice more.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The entity thrashed wildly inside the crate.

“Sound sensitivity... extremely high.”

I bit my lip.

Because its reaction was far more sensitive than that of a low-grade entity in the game.

‘Is reality different after all?’

Third was smell.

I had to be especially careful with this part.

I had absolutely no intention of putting food directly inside.

I put some chicken I had packed beforehand into a small bag.

Then I tied it to the end of a long cord and pushed it near the crate.

Bark! Bark! Bark! Bark!

The entity reacted.

But smell alone wasn’t enough to lure it completely.

Sight, movement, sound, smell.

The priority among them changed depending on the situation.

Just look at it now.

Grrrrrrr!

Forget the chicken, it was glaring at me, the source of the sound, with its eyes rolled wide.

[Responds to smell... low attraction when used alone.]

[Estimated response increase when combined with movement and sound.]

I recorded this as ‘aggro level.’

Anyway, to summarize the new data I obtained today,

‘Light, sound, smell, sight. Just like the hellishly difficult game I made, this insane infected reacts to everything.’

Once I actually wrote it down, a sigh escaped me.

Damn it.

____________

I didn’t continue the experiment for long.

There were actually many more things I wanted to test.

Reaction speed, stamina, field of vision, pain tolerance, and so on.

But,

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

“...”

I could tell instinctively.

‘The longer I drag this out, the more dangerous it gets.’

Because the entity was growing more and more agitated.

‘Getting greedy is how accidents happen.’

Last Protocol was that kind of game.

Just a little more, just one more time, just one more route.

Once players got greedy like that, even veterans ended up dying.

Click!

I immediately closed the tablet.

“That’s enough.”

Just then, the sound coming from inside the crate changed.

Ghk, grrrrk...

“...!”

Instead of a growl, there was a low, strange sound.

Like phlegm was caught deep in its throat.

I stopped moving.

At the same time, I shone the flashlight on it.

“Ah!”

The entity’s body was trembling.

Its red eyes seemed to deepen in color.

A chill ran down my spine.

“Collapse symptoms!”

Immediately afterward, the entity’s body twisted violently.

Bang!

At the same time, the metal crate shook violently.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I immediately backed away.

“Damn it.”

As expected, my judgment hadn’t been wrong.

The destabilization unique to precursor entities.

In the game setting, it was what we called the ‘Collapse Reaction.’

It referred to the phenomenon where a precursor entity failed to remain stable beyond a certain period, its body broke down, and it went berserk.

Bubble, bubble, bubble, bubble.

Soon, reddish mottled bubbles began to swell across the entity’s body.

And not long after,

Bulge!

They swelled up like a frog’s cheeks.

BOOOOOOM!

Then the explosions followed.

“Ugh.”

The smell of rot instantly spread through the area.

The inside of the container became a mess of blood and chunks of flesh in an instant.

Good thing I had already put distance between us...

“That was a good experience...”

Thud!

As the tension left me, I collapsed onto the floor.

At that exact moment.

Ding.

An impossibly clear sound rang out, and new text appeared before my eyes.

[Unofficial precursor entity eliminated.]

[Level increased.]

“...”

I blankly stared at the sentence.

Level up.

“So experience really does accumulate, and levels really do go up.”

The system messages continued.

[Physical ability adjustment applied.]

[Strength +1]

[Agility +1]

[Stamina +1]

[Senses +1]

At that moment, a strange warmth spread through my body.

Did I feel stronger?

It wasn’t anything that dramatic.

It was just that my hands, which had been trembling like crazy until a moment ago, calmed down a little.

My breathing also settled slightly faster.

Even the heaviness in my arms lessened by a tiny amount, just barely enough to notice.

“...It’s real.”

Right after that, I clenched and opened my fist.

Feeling throughout my body what it was like for an in-game level-up to be applied to a real body.

Tremble.

Between the exhaustion and disgust, a small thrill rose inside me.

Then another message appeared.

[Precursor Entity Elimination Reward]

[Checking drop items...]

“A drop!?”

My eyes widened on their own.

Whip!

I quickly scanned the surroundings.

Nothing had actually fallen onto the floor.

There wasn’t a glowing chest dropping out of thin air like in some game either.

Instead, a faint marker floated above the entity’s corpse.

[Recoverable]

[Unstable Neural Core]

[Rarity: Precursor]

[Description: Residue formed from condensed unstable neural responses before stabilization into a proper infected.]

[Use: Crafting / Research / Skill Awakening Material]

“Precursor rarity...!”

I swallowed hard.

This wasn’t an ordinary drop item.

An unofficial precursor entity.

An unstable state before becoming a proper infected.

This was a special material that appeared because of that characteristic.

‘There wasn’t an item like this in the game either.’

At least not in the released version.

But there had been a similar concept in the internal documents.

[Precursor Core]

A system I had once planned to add someday.

An awakening material that could only be obtained from rare precursor entities before the Great Collapse.

But ultimately, I had scrapped it.

Because it felt like I was openly laying out a gimmick for veteran players to discover.

‘I never expected it to be applied to reality like this.’

I carefully recovered the item.

Of course, I didn’t touch it directly with my bare hands.

I used the sealed container, gloves, and tools I had prepared, handling it as carefully as possible.

[Unstable Neural Core × 1 acquired]

At the same time, windows appeared one after another.

[First Precursor Entity Elimination Bonus]

[A skill scroll will be generated.]

“It gives a skill too?”

Immediately afterward, something like an old piece of paper fell to the floor.

It was a sight that made no sense even while I was looking at it.

Inside a real-world container.

Dust, the smell of blood, rusted metal walls.

And in the middle of all that, a semi-transparent scroll appeared like an item from a game.

Slide.

When I carefully reached out with my fingertips, information about the scroll appeared.

[Skill Scroll: Precursor Sense]

[Grade: Rare]

[Category: Detection / Survival]

[Effect]

Faintly detects abnormal biological responses within a certain distance.

Infected, mutated animals, and individuals with high fever reactions produce stronger responses.

Perceived not as an exact location, but as a sense of direction and discomfort.

Detection accuracy increases as the user accumulates experiential data.

[Caution]

May be confused with normal illness, fear, or fatigue responses.

Overconfidence may result in errors in judgment.

“...”

I couldn’t say anything for a while.

‘This is broken.’

It was definitely overpowered.

It wasn’t an exact detector, nor could it definitively identify infected.

But.

‘For early survival, this is an incredibly effective skill.’

The scariest thing in the early stages of Last Protocol, no matter what anyone said, was ‘indistinguishability.’

It would probably be even worse in reality.

Think about it.

Could distinguishing an NPC from a player in a game really be the same as distinguishing between two identical-looking humans in reality?

Are they human, or infected?

Are they sick, or insane?

How could anyone survive without knowing that?

‘It’s not like I’ll live alone forever.’

But this skill at least points me in the right direction.

Discomfort, a sense that something is wrong, an instinctive warning.

Even that much is enough.

“I’ll learn it.”

I didn’t hesitate.

[Would you like to learn Skill Scroll: Precursor Sense?]

“Learn!”

At that moment, something cold reverberated deep inside my head.

More like a sensation than a sound.

More like pressure than a smell.

“...”

My vision blurred for a moment, then returned.

Instinctively, I looked toward one side of the container.

The direction where the entity had been until just a moment ago.

A very faint sense of discomfort still lingered there.

Something unpleasant that I couldn’t see.

“...So this is it.”

This was Precursor Sense.

“Phew...”

I slowly steadied my breathing.

This hunt had been dangerous.

It had been completely insane.

But I had gained just as much from it.

A level-up, stat adjustments, a neural core, and even a skill.

‘If rewards like this keep being given...’

Then simply hiding inside the base wouldn’t be enough.

Prepare, hunt, grow.

To get ready for those hellish mid- and late-game chapters.

“...I can’t just avoid hunting.”

And if, before the end, while everyone else still knows nothing, I can find precursor entities, hunt them carefully, and build up experience and skills?

‘No, it’s not that nobody knows.’

There are the company employees who made the game with me.

And once the omens progress, the veteran players who notice will also begin preparing in their own ways.

Getting ahead of them and claiming the rewards first was now urgent.

Slide.

I put the sealed container into my bag.

Then I cleaned up the inside of the container.

Splash!

I sprayed water, swept the floor, and minimized the traces.

I cleaned the chunks of flesh and blood from the explosive death especially thoroughly.

“Phew.”

Only after spending an hour carefully cleaning the interior was I able to prepare to leave.

But then.

Bzzzt!

It was nearly midnight.

At this late hour, my phone began vibrating violently.

‘There’s no one who would call me at this hour.’

Frowning, I checked my phone.

And then.

“...Huh?”

Soon, I saw a name on the screen that I never would have expected.

「(Company) Accounting Team Assistant Manager Lee Hye-jeong」

“Why is she calling me...?”