Athanasia: My Hacker System-Chapter 67: The Red Cluster of Codes

[-2] [-1] [-1] [-4]

John adjusted his stance, his eyes narrowing as he analysed the combat data in real-time. He turned his head to monitor the team’s progress, and a surge of satisfaction washed over him.

His plan was holding up. The old goblin sword he had gifted Ricky was performing far beyond the capabilities of the sword the latter had been using before.

Ricky lunged, his movements still somewhat stiff from the attribute suppression, but the blade in his hand made up for the lack of trust he had in himself. He drove the point of the short sword into the Fog Seeker’s flank.

A bright [-2] popped into existence above the creature’s head. Almost instantly, the bleeding effect kicked in. Every passing second, a steady [-1] trailed behind it, a constant erosion of the creature’s life force.

Then, with a desperate roar of effort, Ricky pivoted and delivered a heavy overhead strike. The blade hummed as it sliced through the skinless body. [-4] A critical hit. The monster let out a final, gurgling, agony-filled roar before its legs gave out. It crashed into the dirt, its form flickering before turning into a heavy, static corpse.

"This sword... It’s way better than mine," Ricky admitted, his chest heaving as he stared at the goblin blade with a mix of awe and possessiveness. He ran a thumb over the flat of the steel, feeling its sharpness, feeling more trust.

On the other side, Luke hadn’t delayed either. Using the club John had provided earlier, he and Cissel had managed to kill their assigned monster a few seconds faster than Ricky and Cissel. The synergy was starting to return, fueled by the superior stats of John’s items.

"We are way better than before," Elena said, her voice trembling slightly but carrying a new thread of hope. She reached into her belt, pulled out one of the small bottles John had distributed, and uncorked it. She took only a tiny sip, the green liquid staining her lips.

[+1]

A single green digit floated above her head, signalling a point of HP recovery. John watched the number fade; his furrowed brows eased as the mental pressure got lifted. He heaved a deep sigh, a mix of relief and lingering anxiety.

"You took way less time than I expected," John commented, his mind already spinning through new variables and potential outcomes. "But it’s still not enough. I can’t simply leave you here and venture alone into the fog to find the source of that noise. If a larger wave hits while I’m gone, even these potions won’t be enough to save you."

"And this time, we had more of them," Cissel noted, her voice grim. She gestured with her chin toward the carnage surrounding them. Seventeen corpses now littered the initially small area, their grey shapes beginning to pile up.

"If more are coming, we shouldn’t just stand in the open. Shall we use these bodies? We could stack them, create a barricade to limit their movement and force them into a bottleneck."

The suggestion hung in the air, casting a heavy silence over the group. Everyone turned their gaze toward John. He was no longer just their friend and Class President; he was their leader, the mastermind behind their survival. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

John looked at the corpses, then at the surrounding world of black fog. He wasn’t sure if the monster remains would act as solid cover for them, but they had to try something.

"Let’s map out the area before the next batch arrives," John decided. "If we can funnel them, we can control the damage output."

He scanned the perimeter with his special vision, looking for the telltale shimmer of approaching threats. For the moment, the fog world was void of monsters—or at least, until the new wave would gather up thanks to the sound devices echoing in the distance. On top of that, the Fog Seekers seemed to arrive in growing in numbers in waves.

"What are you doing?!" Cissel and Elena took charge of the perimeter, scouting the best angles for a defence, while Ricky, Luke, and John began the gruesome task of dragging the heavy corpses into the designated spots the two girls pointed at.

As John approached the first large Fog Seeker to move it, his special vision caught something that made him freeze.

Usually, the living monsters were a chaotic mess of grey code, with special codes within them. He had categorised them into two main groups: a faint red cluster located near the belly and a vibrant green cluster at the base of the neck.

He had assumed the green code governed their agility, and the red governed their aggression. However, as he looked down at the corpse at his feet, he realised his hypothesis was flawed.

The green code—the one at the neck—was gone, likely extinguished when the creature died. That meant it might work as their life force, a finding he couldn’t have any theory about. But the red cluster in the belly was still there. It wasn’t just there; it was shimmering with a faint, rhythmic redness that seemed independent of the creature’s death.

’I’ve missed this in the heat of the fight,’ John thought to himself, his heart hammering faster. ’I need to dissect this one and see what’s special about this cluster of codes.;

He knew there was no room for hesitation. In every game he had ever played, there were always hidden mechanics—hacks or special drops that allowed a player to overcome impossible missions, dungeons, and bosses.

John knelt by the belly of the beast. He moved his sword, the metal gleaming coldly. Without a word of explanation, he began to cut into the monster’s torso. The rest of the group stopped mid-motion, watching him with wide, bewildered eyes. To them, it looked like he was performing some dark, desperate ritual.

"John? What are you doing?" Luke whispered again, but John didn’t answer.

He reached into the opening he had carved, his hand disappearing into the innards of the creature. His fingers closed around something solid—something that felt like it was vibrating.

"What is that?!" Ricky gasped.