Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

Recalling the encounter with that serpentine-bodied life form, it made the hairs on his body stand. Everything about it was "unnatural", like witnessing the supernatural firsthand.

"The only objective here is to survive, right?" Jeong-Hui reminded him. "We don't need to overstep into anything that might lead to an early grave."

"You're right. Whatever this all is…Don't want any part of it," he agreed, moving along.

Hiking along for some time brought the two assassins to a new region of the peculiar world—

A colossal stretch of land made up of giant, colorful mushrooms that almost seemed to play the role of trees.

"Careful," Finn advised, looking up at one of the oversized mushrooms that loomed over him.

"Mhm," Jeong-Hui quietly mumbled, carefully moving forward.

It felt like the entire world was just a patchwork planet, made up of different regions stitched together. There was no coherency to it, even more so true when looking up at the colossal fungi.

As colorful and "harmless" as it may all look, there wasn't a chance he wanted to even risk touching any of it.

'Alien, magic fungi…Whatever it is, there's no way of knowing the effects it could have,' he thought.

Even the grass felt odd, taking on a blueish-green complexion like that of deep-sea algae. A smell like that of licorice emitted in the stuffy air.

It was difficult to see the abyssal rift above with the crowding mushrooms looming over, leaving him feeling a bit closed in.

As he walked, he could see Jeong-Hui staring hard at some colorful berries that sat on bushes.

"I know you're hungry, but I wouldn't recommend trying those," Finn advised.

The red-haired assassin sighed, "I know that. They just look juicy, that's all."

"Yeah, still…don't," Finn said.

Pushing through the dense forest of mushrooms, he kept moving quietly before—fwoosh. A quick-footed critter quickly passed across his path, only seen for a moment.

"What was that?" Jeong-Hui whispered.

Finn kept still, "I don't know. A rabbit?" He responded.

Both men quietly drew their daggers, remaining still and silent as light rustling was heard. A tall, bulbous mushroom tree of orange folds swayed before—

It dashed out from behind the towering shroom, erupting with dangerous speed.

He immediately tilted his head to the side as the critter's foot narrowly missed, brushing his hair with the wind.

It was a black-furred rabbit, as large as a small human, immediately spinning around and launching more kicks—

["Evolved Gigarabbit"] [Level: 90]

'What the hell?' Finn thought, stepping back as he moved his head to evade its kicks.

Each of the sharp strikes of its feet sounded like bullets firing, and certainly wouldn't feel nice. As he ducked down, it led the aggressive, super-rabbit to launch right for the assassin behind him.

"Hey!—" Jeong-Hui let out as the beastly critter unleashed rapid-fire kicks towards his face.

While the red-haired assassin was forced to dodge, Finn ran up behind the aggressive rabbit, slashing his daggers towards it from both sides.

As his blades attempted to sever its neck, the rabbit's ears contorted like arms, flexing as they blocked the daggers.

"Huh—?" Finn emitted.

Just as his own blades bounced off of its sturdy ears, Jeong-Hui lunged forward, thrusting his dagger forward with an infusion of flashing, azure fire–

Again, the rabbit moved with unseen agility, vanishing before the sharpness nor the heat of the blade could reach it. The impossibly powerful critter was gone without a trace, except for a few mushrooms that swayed as if brushed by strong winds.

"You're kidding me…I have to worry about rabbits now?" Jeong-Hui remarked, glancing around.

"That's…not the first time it's happened to me," Finn admitted.

Placing aside the thought of monstrous rabbits lurking around, both men delved further into the peculiar biome of mushrooms. It only became more plentiful in the density of the mushrooms, ranging from as tall as shrubs to larger than redwood trees, like skyscrapers of fungi sprouting.

"How many people do you think are left?" Jeong-Hui asked while stepping over a mushroom-infested log.

"There were only around sixty the first day…I would like to think it's still that number. The reality is though, I doubt it," Finn answered.

When considering that depressing reality, a rustle in the grass brought him to a stop. A bundle of mushrooms were brushed aside as he watched a figure stumble out, walking with an odd pace.

Jeong-Hui immediately readied his dagger, not wasting a moment to go for a strike, though Finn stopped him.

"Hm?" The red-haired assassin glanced down at the hand in front of his chest.

Finn kept his eyes forward on the unfortunate soul that stumbled from the mushroom forest, "…Sorry. I just…sort of knew this guy."

It was difficult to even tell that the person was human, or at least one was, now just a body piloted by fungi that sprouted from each pore.

[Compromised entity recognized.] Stay tuned to My Virtual Library Empire

[Gilbert | Infected] [Level: 102]

"Heeeeeeey…" A quiet, raspy voice disconnected from a consciousness left the lips of the mushroom-infested body.

It was an unfortunate sight, something that led him with a lump in his throat. Though he only knew the infected man for mere minutes, a part of him felt he failed the person.

'If it was you, I'm sure you would've stuck by his side. I let my emotions at the time push him away. I'm not quite like you even now, Damian…though I try,' he thought.

What was once Gilbert was nothing more than a husk, used as a catalyst for the invasive fungi that wandered closer through the blue grass.

"I'll handle this," Finn said, readying his dagger as he let the lost corpse stumble closer.

Jeong-Hui stepped back, giving way to him as he nodded, "Be careful."

"Right."

Without knowing a single thing about what the parasitic fungi might be capable of, he chose not to give it any chance to show him.

[Chronos Trigger: Skip]

—The act of severing the head of the afflicted body was performed without needing to complete the distance between them. Before anything could be done by the fungal corpse, the head was severed, letting the body fall over limp as the mushrooms in it decayed.

["Gilbert defeated."]

[Experience points: +2,000,000] [8,255,3200/10,000,000]

[Assimilated ability from ["Gilbert"]: "Ethereal Bow"]

"Come on," Finn said, moving along as he stored the regret deep inside of him. "Let's keep going."

Jeong-Hui didn't say anything as he went along, moving deeper into the territory of the fungi.