The Mortal Evolution

Monsters! Monsters are coming!

"Everyone, prepare yourself! Take your weapons!"

"Encountering Monsters on the very first day... Talk about bad luck."

"Squad Leader Jin, don't you think these Monsters are a bit slow?"

"You're right! I also noticed that!"

"Wait... No! Those aren't Monsters! Those are Monster Corpses!"

"Use your Binoculars and look. It's those 6 people who still haven't returned. They are carrying Monster Corpses."

"What?"

"Then, what are you looking for? Hurry up! Help them! They must be at their limits."

"Yes, sir!"

Hao-Yun's group was already exhausted, so it took them much more time to drag those heavy Monster Corpses along with them. When they noticed some of the people were coming their way, they felt quite happy and relieved.

"Everyone, look! Our comrades are coming this way. We don't have to drag these carcasses anymore."

"You're right, Leader."

From a few meters away, the other Squad Members called out the group:

"Hey! Are you alright!"

"We are fine! But we can't pull these carcasses anymore!"

"Don't worry, we'll do the rest of the pulling!"

"Did you hear that, Everyone? Leave the carcasses here, they'll do the rest."

"Haah! Finally, I can rest a bit."

Hao-Yun and the group leave the 5 Monster Corpses there and return to the camp.

Everyone was excited to hear their story, but they could also see their condition. So, at first, Squad Leader Jin let them rest, refresh themselves, eat something, and then ask:

"Can we talk now?"

"Yeah, we've recovered quite a bit."

"Great, then explain what happened briefly."

One by one, they each tell their part of the story honestly, how Hao-Yun was made their leader, how they decided to go north, and how, on their return, they were attacked.

"Hmm... Your short expedition taught us 3 good things about this planet."

"First, we can't go too far without enough strength on this planet."

"Second, we have to be careful of grounds all the time."

"Third, the Monsters are strangely weak."

"On the first day, I think your achievements exceed the whole squad's."

"I commend your deeds, and I will make sure to report it back as it is."

"For now, let us leave these corpses to our Researchers and have them find more things about them."

That Night, Hao-Yun walked out of camp's range, took a look at his System panel, and sighed.

"Sigh, only 24 days have left, and I barely made any progress."

"I have to find a way to fasten things up."

"The sky of this strange planet looks different... but... It's not that bad."

"I hope Joo-na is doing well."

"Maybe, that's what they call homesickness..."

"Wait, isn't this my first day here? Am I that emotionally weak person?"

The Night passes in a blink of time. The Next day, Squad Leader Jin once again gathered everyone in a formation. Calls out Hao-Yun and his group to come out in front.

"Hao-Yun, Min-jun, Ji-hoon, Hyun-woo, Tae-hyun, Joon-seo. Yesterday, thanks to your findings, we were able to discover some very important things about this planet and the Monsters."

"Researchers, can you explain it to everyone..."

"Yes... Squad Leader Jin, so, basically, what we have discovered is that this planet, which we have named Orbis-9, has 20% more gravitational pull than Earth, which is causing us to feel tired. If not for completing the System's task, I don't think we could have walked here like this."

"The tiredness everyone is feeling will be diminished after they complete 1 or 2 more Tasks."

"Coming to another main point, our team has researched these Monsters' Corpses and found that they are malnourished."

"What? Can Monsters also be malnourished?"

"Yes, they can, Mr. Hao-Yun."

"These Monsters seemed to have eaten nothing for quite a long time, which caused their body to weaken a lot."

"If they were in their prime state, I estimate even a missile would barely be able to injure them."

"That strong! So, isn't it a good thing for us that they are malnourished?"

"Yes, you're right, Mr. Hao-Yun, since we know these Monsters are malnourished, it saves us a lot of time to prepare for countermeasures."

"But, there's still a problem. We don't know if all Monsters residing in Orbis-9 are also malnourished or not."

"So, we would just have to find more monsters, right?"

"Yes, but... You have to be careful. If even one of these Monsters is not in their weakened state, they could kill all of you with their single attack."

"Thanks for the advice, Mr. Researcher."

The Researcher's Explanation caused an uproar among the Squad. The Members were excited to find Monsters and kill them to gain the same reputation and fame as Hao-Yun and his group. But, Squad leader Jin, planned something else for them.

"Everyone! Now, your first priority is to complete your Task and get stronger. That way, you won't get tired on this planet and have enough energy to find caves or mineable sites."

"Those who don't get tired can continue their exploration, but don't go too far from our camp."

"Is that clear?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Yes! Yes! Yes! This is my chance!"

"Let's find some good extractable stones and minerals and move to the next planet."

With that, Hao-Yun parted his ways with Min-jun and others and went to explore the area on his own. But once again, he noticed nothing that could be valuable or usable.

"Let's go a bit farther", he thought.

He doubled the distance from 10km to 20km, yet found nothing. However, the disappointment didn't let him return. He had no choice but to go a bit far, because this is his only chance; he can't fall back now.

After walking nearly 25km, Hao-Yun finally noticed some strange changes. There were more things, like strangely shaped rocks and trees.

"What a weird-shaped rock! If I take it back and give it to Joo-na, will she be happy?"

"Eeuuu... It's so squishy... Is it still a rock? Did I mistakenly pick up some Monster's poop?"

"No-No... From my experience, I can tell it's a rock... I should be... Probably..."

Hao-Yun threw that squishy rock and decided to go a bit farther.

He walked 5 more kilometers and was surprised to see what was in front of him. A forest-looking area, but the color was blue and white.

"It must be a forest, right? Another world version of it!"

"But I don't think it's a good idea to enter it alone."

"Let's go back and report it."

Once again, Hao-Yun, on his way back, takes another look at those squishy stones. He wasn't able to forget their soft and squishy texture.

"It doesn't hurt to take one back, right? Maybe it's really just a stone."

"Ah, right! Let's try it another way."

"Why didn't I think of this before? System, you are the best verification method, yet I forgot you, how silly of me."

Hao-Yun picked up one of the stones, tried giving it to the System.

"It doesn't hurt me to check it, right? If it's a stone, I can take it back, if it's a poop, just throw it and wash hands 10 times."

"Ahhh... Here goes nothing."

KZZZKH...

[Detected Host has found one of the precious Gems of the Dimensional Nexus World]

[Gem Found: Echoite]

[Current Progress: 1/100]