The mentor returned before long.

Dragging along a strange glass box.

There’s something inside that glass box.

“A stage-three fungal creature.”

Shit!

Yun pulled the wheeled glass box closer. It came up to his ribcage in height, and it was broad enough to fit six car tires side by side.

Inside that cubic glass prison...

A mushroom.

It looked like a gigantic inky mushroom, black and melting. Except this mushroom had writhing tendrils sprouting from its cap. The tentacles sprawled across the bottom of the glass box, endlessly twitching. My brows furrowed automatically at the sight.

“What’s stage three?”

The first words I managed.

Yun explained flatly.

“The higher the number, the more dangerous. Stage one—an armed civilian could survive. Stage two—without an Enhanced Body, you could still kill it if specially trained. From stage three upward, you need an Enhanced Body. This one is the kind of stage-three creature you’ll encounter very often outside the Core.”

“How many stages are there?”

“Ten. A lifeform that requires every single trained Badger to be deployed.”

“Things like that exist?”

“They did. None have been sighted since the first war. For reference—creatures closer to human shape tend to be more dangerous. The angel-type creature you faced before would be classified stage six or seven. One skilled Badger could handle it alone.”

That high? I really did come back from the brink of death. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

The memory of that creature stabbing down its blade against the blue sky made me go cold. Ska had stopped it easily, but it looked far more human than this inky mushroom. It even held a weapon.

I drifted in the memory of nearly dying.

“I didn’t realize it was that dangerous, since he blocked it so easily.”

“Who killed it?”

Blinking at the returned question, I answered.

“Aide-de-Camp Ska and Senior Ro. The spider-like thing on the window, I think Ami and Ricardo took care of.”

“They’re all war heroes. Among Badgers, they’re counted in the top ten. Stage-six creatures would be trivial for them.”

So they were top ten.

Given the purpose of this organization, there couldn’t be only a handful of Badgers. Judging from the size of the buildings and grounds here, it was clearly a massive organization.

In other words, they were the elite of the elite.

How did I end up with people that incredible...?

“The two rookies you saw spill out of the Portal with you had no war experience.”

He must mean the pair Ricardo sent home halfway through.

The man had blue eyes, though his face was masked up to the nose, so I never saw it clearly. The woman was short, with a bob dyed yellow and pink two-tone.

“Dao Kal’s been around a while at least. The two-tone brat is still green. Probably not even a year since she shed the ‘youngest’ tag.”

So, my direct seniors.

Now I understood why they kept their mouths shut that day. With three vastly senior veterans present, they couldn’t afford to speak rashly.

I was vaguely recalling those events when the chainsaw roared to life.

“Holy shit, you scared me!”

“Explanations are done. Time to begin.”

Yun’s voice was ominous.

Damn it.

Clutching the rattling chainsaw, I forced a laugh.

Nothing but bad vibes. That inky mushroom wasn’t going to sit there politely. And it wasn’t like I knew how to handle a chainsaw. Even without memories, I knew enough to tell it was foreign to me.

But I couldn’t voice my rebellion.

Yun set his hand on top of the glass box.

“Just looking at it, you know what you need to do.”

“I know what to do, but not how to do it.”

The esteemed senior offered a very helpful addition:

“Just swing the chainsaw.”

“And I definitely won’t die, right?”

He didn’t say I wouldn’t get hurt.

That almost made me laugh. I laughed hollowly and asked,

“Not that it’ll help much, but what’s its attack pattern?”

“Find out firsthand.”

I wanted to know before experiencing it!

Again, my thoughts stayed trapped inside. Yun pressed something on the glass box without even a warning to prepare.

The instant I stepped back, the box unfolded on all sides.

Tendrils writhed outward.

All or nothing.

I raised the chainsaw with the mindset of cooking mushroom stew.

A grotesque scene unfolded before me. As the glass fell open, the creature’s tendrils spread, twitching outward slowly, expanding their range. Each one wasn’t that thick, just tangled like roots.

It didn’t attack right away.

Yun stood with both hands in his pockets, closer to the creature than I was, without moving a muscle.

And still unharmed? Does it not attack first?

I studied Yun and the mushroom carefully.

Then stepped forward.

One step.

Wham!

A dull blow smashed across my face.

Pain seared across my cheek, then down my back and tailbone. My vision shook, ears ringing with impact and crash.

I grimaced and pushed myself up.

That tendril... it had slapped me.

Asbestos dust rained from above.

Grunting, I peeled myself off the wall.

I nearly dropped the chainsaw. Jamming the stalled blade into the floor as a cane, I pulled myself upright.

Yun still hadn’t moved.

Perfectly fine.

“Why only me—”

Wham!

Hit again. This time across the other cheek. My shoulder cracked against the wall hard—sharp pain burst in my right shoulder.

My whole body thrummed with pain.

Why me every time?

When the shock and ache ebbed, I forced my eyes open.

The tendrils writhed in the air, splitting apart, forming massive fists.

If I get up, I’ll get hit again. If I step forward, I’ll get hit.

Then I’ll cut it before it can strike. He must’ve given me the chainsaw because it can be cut.

I scraped together what stamina I could. After some deep breaths, my strength returned. I steeled myself to rise and swing.

Slowly moving my thumb, I pressed the switch.

Vrrrrrr!

The saw whined loud.

I sprang up and swung at the same time.

Slice!

“Yes!”

“Hey.”

Eh? Just as I was about to answer, a blast of wind slammed my face.

I turned my head, but not fast enough.

Thud!

At least I didn’t topple.

I staggered, catching my balance. Blood filled my mouth from some fresh wound. Fighting to clear my sight, I swung again. Slice! The cool sensation of severing something, followed by the sound of a tendril collapsing. The severed piece smacked my foot.

I forced my eyes open and looked.

The creature loomed, tendrils swelling huge in my vision.

Boom!

A direct hit.

This time I rolled. The chainsaw flew from my hands. My skull rang, a groan escaping my mouth.

Brutal.

Lying flat, I rubbed my bruised forehead. This was just stage three. Not five or six, not the ultimate ten. And yet I couldn’t even approach.

Its attack pattern wasn’t complicated. The pillar itself was fixed, unable to move.

There had to be a way.

I lay there, waiting for the pain to subside, thoughts clearing. Then a strange memory fragment popped up.

A controller in my hand. A huge screen in front of me. Grotesque graphics. Cute, bouncy graphics. Loud effects. Repeating patterns...

Repeating patterns.

Slowly, I pushed myself upright.

“Why am I the only one getting hit?”

Yun rolled his eyes without moving his head.

“It attacks anything that moves above a certain height.”

“Ah. No wonder you weren’t moving at all.”

He didn’t so much as twitch, only lifted one eyebrow.

The more I looked, the stranger he seemed. How many people were this still, this expressionless?

I stared at the man, still frozen exactly as he had been when I got smacked, and asked,

“Can I just crawl over and cut it with the chainsaw?”

“No reason you couldn’t. Not like you’d do that in the field, though.”

“Then is there a proper way in the field? How do people usually handle that thing?”

“You get close and punch it.”

Simple, and completely useless.

With tired eyes I watched the writhing creature.

At this point, I’d kill the damn thing out of sheer spite.

I furrowed my brows, racking my brain for a real solution. Sure, I could crawl and kill it, but that would never work in practice.

If I’m going to kill it, I’ll do it the right way.

Take a few more hits, and the pattern will reveal itself. It struck me suddenly—I’d always been the type who, once I started a game, saw it through. Whether rhythm games or RPGs, I never quit until the end.

I swallowed the blood pooling in my mouth.

“Yun.”

“What.”

“Is it okay if this takes some time?”

“As you like.”

His voice carried no feeling.

“If you can’t go on, you can stop anytime. If you want, you can keep at it until dawn.”

“Ah. Surely we won’t be at this until dawn.”

“I’d prefer not.”

“Then I’ll try to finish before you get tired of standing so still.”

That meant taking more beatings, but so be it.

I reached for the dropped chainsaw.

The pain shaking my body had ebbed. Standing would mean more pain, but cowering from it would get me nowhere.

I exhaled deep, preparing to rise.

My mentor stood like a statue.

I’d finish this before that man ever complained about needing the bathroom. With such lofty ambition, I rose holding the chainsaw.

***

Over thirty times I was hit.

On the thirty-second, I grasped the pattern. On the thirty-third, I succeeded in slicing every tendril that swung at me. And on the thirty-fourth attempt, I was advancing toward the mushroom itself.

After hours, the distance closed. The fungal creature loomed. The inky mushroom grew larger, its writhing body reduced to scraps.

With one last step, the black cap came into view.

I raised the chainsaw, its blade smeared with shredded tendrils.

With all my strength, I brought it down.

Shhhhhhhrk!

The cap split in two, and ink poured over me.

It stung!

“What the hell is this?!”

“I told you it’s poisonous.”

For the first time in hours, Yun moved.

He’d been splashed too, but only brushed himself off with that dry face of his.

“If you didn’t want to be drenched, you should have finished it with your fists. Anyway, it’s dead. Good work.”

“It still burns, though.”

The great mushroom sagged in two halves.

After thirty-four tries, I’d killed the creature, but there was no sense of triumph.

Every part the ink touched stung sharply as I stood there, unmoving. My breathing slowed, my senses steadied.

The bisected mushroom dripped ink like a cut fruit. Severed tendrils lay scattered across the training hall. The stopped chainsaw. Scarred walls. Fallen plaster.

A slick, indescribable smell hung in the air.

I stared blankly at the aftermath, then let the chainsaw clatter to the floor.

“Do Enhanced Bodies detox poison?”

When I turned my head with the question, Yun was surveying the room. He met my eyes.

The man had stood for nearly three hours without moving, and he still showed no fatigue. His black, unfathomable eyes fixed on me.

Like a ghost.

“Some poisons, yes. Some, no. Stronger than normal, for sure.”

“This mushroom’s poison—is it detoxed?”

“No.”

What?

“In the field, if you got drenched like this, you’d need an antidote. But this one was neutralized in advance. Do you even know how poisons work?”

I didn’t even know my own face a week ago. Of course I didn’t know how poisons worked.

Maybe my expression gave me away, because Yun snorted faintly.

“Basically, poison kills by being absorbed and reaching the heart. Usually through a vein. Arteries don’t bleed unless you slice half the arm open, so that’s unlikely. Once it hits the heart, it pumps hard, hits the lungs, then spreads through the arteries. That’s why you treat it before then.”

“What if there’s no antidote?”

“Like I said, if you kill it with your fists, it won’t spray. And if you’re drenched without antidote, scrub fast with soapy water to neutralize it.”

And if there’s no soap?

I held back the question. He’d only get annoyed. Besides, I was too tired to chatter. Knowing the ink had been neutralized, my tension collapsed and fatigue swamped me.

I wanted to sit. The sudden, brutal training left me aching all over. My arms, my bruises, my legs.

If the floor wasn’t soaked in ink, I’d have dropped where I stood.

I closed my eyes and let out a long sigh.

“...Anyway, I killed it. Foolishly late, but still.”

“You.”

At Yun’s word, I opened my eyes.

I answered in a weary voice.

“Yes?”

“You must’ve trained before.”

I blinked.

“Me? Do I look like it?”

“Yeah.”

I wanted to know why he thought so. And what he thought of my clumsy battle. If he said I looked like I’d trained, then maybe I hadn’t been completely pathetic.

But Yun added nothing, only turned his body.

“Anyway, I’ve seen enough. Let’s go. You need to wash.”

“What about this mess?”

“A robot will clean it. Don’t worry.”

He swept his gaze over the training room.

“The showers are out the right door—”

“Whaaaa! Brother!”

I jumped.

Whipping my head around, I saw Ami in the doorway, eyes wide. Behind her stood Ricardo and a man I’d never seen before.

Ricardo leaned against the wall, arms folded, smiling like he’d expected this.

The unfamiliar man looked around the training hall with stunned disbelief.

Ami froze for a heartbeat, then charged in.

“What did you do to Hilde?!”

She sprinted to Yun and began hammering him with her fists.

“He’s only been officially assigned for one day! How could you do this to him?!”

So I was right. This man really was a crazy bastard.