Nikke, something’s seriously wrong with this evacuation point! Chapter 43 43: An Exorbitant Price

Charon regained consciousness.

The mont he opened his eyes, he imdiately realized where he was, a place he knew all too well.

His hideout in Zone Zero, where he had survived for five whole years.

The hideout itself was extrely mysterious. At least in Charon's understanding, anything he needed could be purchased here with Zero Coins, food, equipnt, items, firearms, ammunition, everything in a one-stop shop. The only problem was that nothing could be brought into Disguise Mode, which was extrely frustrating.

The dical supplies alone were practically overpowered. No matter the injury or state of weakness, everything could be treated with the appropriate injection. Saying "one shot cures everything" was no exaggeration.

As for boosters like speed, hearing, and resistance injections, they were so cheap he could afford them after just a single run.

Letting out a sigh, he imdiately flipped himself up. He was already dressed in the basic casual outfit provided by the hideout, a T-shirt and long pants, with no tactical gear whatsoever.

The hideout wasn't large. Aside from his living quarters and the dical center housing a dical pod, there was only a nearly empty hall.

The only place that looked like an exit was a massive door resembling a bunker gate. If he stood there for more than ten seconds, a system interface, like an inventory screen, would automatically pop up, displaying the next operation location and mode selection.

Disguise Mode had a cooldown, sothing he had only just learned. Thirty days. Not too long, not too short, but enough for him to grind runs hard.

It really did feel like a ga. It truly did. Perhaps for whatever created this place, it was just a ga. But for Charon, this was everything.

As he had said long ago, he was a man with no past. When he woke up, he was already in Zone Zero. Even the na "Charon" ca from a dog tag he had picked up from soone else. Fortunately, his basic knowledge remained intact, otherwise he wouldn't even be able to function normally, let alone survive here for five years.

Aside from the main door, there were only three places he could go.

The first was the storage room, where he kept valuable items he had scavenged from Zone Zero. Most of them were rely decorative, expensive crafts and collectibles, but a small portion were practical tools looted from bots.

The second was the shop, or more precisely, a vending machine.

Here, he could buy everything available to him: equipnt, ammunition, weapons, attachnts, food, dical supplies, and more.

The first six categories were all normal items that any human could imagine. None of those could save Liliweiss.

But the seventh category, "Others", was what gave Charon confidence that he could save her.

Everything in that category consisted of "anomalous items" that he couldn't even properly describe.

Both their prices and effects were absurd. In five years of saving Zero Coins, he had only ever bought one item from this category, and it had completely drained his funds.

[Na: "Fragnt of Reality"]

[Type: ???]

[Quality: ???]

[Uses: 1/1]

[Effect: ???]

[Note: If you plan to leave here next, take this with you. It won't disappoint.]

He believed it. So he bought it, and used it as material in the body-generation process.

Judging by the result and the item's na, he had a theory: perhaps his ability to use the power of Zone Zero in the outside world was related to this.

But the item had already been consud, and there was no way to analyze it further. Still, everything in this category was filled with bizarre, indescribable objects.

He didn't know what kind of world he would enter next, but whatever Liliweiss needed, he would prepare in advance.

Finally, his gaze settled on the items at the very top, the most expensive ones.

[Na: Panacea]

[Type: Consumable]

[Quality: Red]

[Uses: 1/1]

[Effect: Within two hours after oral consumption, cures all known and unknown diseases and negative conditions affecting the user, physical, physiological, psychological, and even narrative-level debuffs.]

[Note: "Cures all ailnts" is not just a wish.]

Everything looked perfect–

until he looked at the price.

There were many zeros. Far too many. Enough to make his chest tighten.

150,000,000 Zero Coins.

Even for him, this price was absurd. Running missions from morning to night, he could earn at most about one million per day, and that didn't even account for ammunition, equipnt, and unexpected dangers.

Even though he now fully understood how the bots operated, it didn't an he could predict them perfectly. Getting headshot out of nowhere was still entirely possible.

Before entering Disguise Mode, he had already spent all his savings. Now, he had absolutely nothing left.

150 million… yeah…

Next, his gaze shifted to the third place, and the most important one.

The mission board.

While missions weren't necessarily accepted here, they were definitely turned in here. All rewards, including mail from in-instance tasks, were settled here.

But this was his first ti using Disguise Mode, so he had no idea how it worked.

Standing before the mission board, Charon took a deep breath and placed his hand on it.

Strictly speaking, this run counted as a failed extraction. He hadn't left through an extraction point, he had chosen to go down fighting against the Raptures. So by normal standards, the mission shouldn't have been completed.

But when he saw the line again–

[Mission Objective: None]

—he understood.

Disguise Mode had no main objective. Its essence was resource gathering. Even if you gained nothing, it didn't matter.

So this reward wasn't for successful extraction–

it was for simply participating.

After confirming the settlent, a tablet with bullet marks appeared in his hand, the reward item he had seen from the beginning.

Then ca the additional reward from the in-instance mission via mail: 100,000 Zero Coins. Not particularly useful, but better than nothing.

Next, he turned his attention to the tablet and checked its properties.

[Na: Shitin Box]

[Type: Item]

[Quality: Red]

[Uses: Unlimited]

[Effect: ???]

[Note: It cos from a destroyed parallel world. Perhaps within it, you can find proof that they once lived.]

Even though it was riddled with bullet holes, its quality was Red, the sa tier as that 150-million item.

What did that an?

It ant that once Charon figured out how to use it, it would definitely bring him sothing extraordinary.

He tried to power it on, failed.

Bought a charging cable from the vending machine, plugged it in, still failed.

Was it broken because it had been shot?

That was his first thought, but logically it didn't make sense. Damaged items would be labeled as "(Damaged)" in their na. Since this one wasn't, it had to be intact, he just hadn't found the way to activate it yet.

Still, it was a highest-tier Red item, so he stored it in his system inventory, waiting for the right mont to unlock it.

Next, he would rest for a while–

and then it was ti to start grinding again.