Leave The Monster Alone

The bar seemed to be rising at an alarming rate which did not give any confidence to Mark at all. He was not happy with the bullshit he was faced with but he had learned to adapt to such things by now.

He looked at his surroundings and found himself actually outside and near to the older building instead of the one he had been in. had he really run this far? He could not actually remember making such a journey in such a short time.

He also had no idea who had attacked him a while back but he could easily rule out who it had not been. Not that it helped with a base this big and with so many people.

Mark did not want to go back to the base right now since he could not be sure if it was safe or not. So, he decided on visiting the lower dorms and supervising their checking procedure.

It would be foolish to think that the checkers were being gentle with the people of the base but at least they would not be outright mistreated. But it was more for his own peace of mind than their own.

Perhaps it is a poor decision on his part to take such a big risk. With more people around, the number of people who could be affected by lack of control was a lot. But he was not thinking clearly right now which made it seem like a good idea.

Also, he had a feeling he was needed there.

As he neared, he could hear the sound of fighting coming from inside which proved his gut feeling right. People were fighting and it seemed bad enough to cause noses that reached so far out. 

He needed to stop them before they attracted monitors with that noise. He could already make out a few small ones beginning to move toward their direction. 

They would not be a problem for Mark or any of the trained fighters but most people inside were civilians who had no prior training. They would be annihilated should even one of these monsters reach inside.

The petrol was non-present in these parts, most people choosing not to care about this place. The rest were likely inside, trying to break the fight most likely.

Mark shot a few of those monsters, the ones nearest to the base becoming a priority now. That did nothing to curb the increasing number of monsters in the area which would become a problem in a few minutes if the noise did not stop.

Mark needed to get help and he needed it fast before everyone here died at these monsters' hands.

The fastest way to do so would be to physically break the fight. 

The best thing about these monsters was their slow speed and sluggish nature. Since the area around the base was considered as the beginner's zone, it had the lowest level monsters. They did not even drop any loot and could be handled by most inexperienced soldiers.

That was why, if you have little training, you could survive.

Mark easily outran them, killing the nearest ones and blocking the way by breaking small trees to block the path.

He did not wait for them to catch up before he entered the zone and ran past the receptionist. He did not care much for their greeting or surprise when he had lives to save.

Once the hall came into his vision, the reason for the noise became evident. A young man stood there, clutching a gun to his chest as he was seemingly cornered by the sweepers. It felt like looking at a child being bullied.

The man was obviously distressed, not wanting to part from his weapon but the officer opposite him did not seem like he would give him a choice. 

But the noise came from the sidelines where vicious brawls that broke out in support of that person. People were not happy with one of their own being made to give up something important. 

It caused a lot of shouts and other less than polite terms to be thrown around. 

No one seemed willing to listen to anyone else and that was the clear problem. It did not matter who was right and who was at fault since everyone had already picked aside.

From experience, Mark knew shouting would not accomplish anything of significance. En had faced such problems so many times and as his best friend, Mark had been there enough times to be familiar.

He needed to make an impact to attract their attention.

And the best way to do so would be to take a page out of En's book. He did not want to but being petty would not help either.

He took out his loudest gun and shot in a dead corner.

It produced a sharp noise that attracted everyone's attention. Those who could not hear the shot over the noise followed the gaze of others and looked over at him too. 

Soon, the whole happened to focus their attention on him which was what he had been aiming for from the start.

"Every available soldier is needed outside. It's an emergency" that produced the response he had been hoping for and most armed people actually ran out with a tense face.

The rest looked at him as if he was their saviour which was unnerving. He had no intention of siding with them either so it was better to not count on him at all.

"T-thank you. It's a memento from my home" the person clutching the gun spoke out, his voice trembling but carrying gratitude nonetheless.

"I don't care about you personally but the noise was putting this base in danger. If you want to keep it then get it registered already" the person looked crestfallen at his verdict, the hope dashing from his eyes.

"R-Right" If Mark gave an inch to one person then they would take a mile in return. They would think they were actually close to him and form expectations for him.

They would just be more hurt that way.

It was better he dashed their hopes right now and he could see people realising it right at that moment. Mark was not actually helped or in their court at all but rather, in a neutral party of his own.

It caused many grateful gazes to turn hostile toward him and he had not even done anything at all. Currently, it was clear to see how a rebellion could begin in such a situation and circumstances.

It was small things that were building up over time and they were left to fester. Even if Mark wanted to help, he had no real way to achieve that in his current situation. 

It was clear that these people had already made their mind about him anyway and nothing he said would change it at this point. Once people form an opinion about something then it is next to impossible to change it anytime soon.

"I'll supervise the rest of the check for today. I hope you don't mind" they clearly did mind, it was clear from their expression. The people looked sceptical at his approach and some even shrunk back into the safety of their quilts. 

They clearly had meagre belongings with them and without a system to store them, they could not keep their things safe. It was clear to see why they were so protective of their things and Mark would actually like them to retain their things.

The silence followed and the tick from the system occupied the empty space inside his mind for the time being.

The soldiers took their time clearing the outside which gave Mark enough time inside. He could have gone to help them but he decided not to in favour of keeping an eye inside the base.

And it was clear to him that the rebellion would come in a few days now, not months later as they had been expecting. He would need to warn Liam about this since another big event was about to come up.

The battle for the crop fields or the food accusation mission was the next major event that took place. 

With so many mouths to feed, food was always in short supply so fertile land needed to be recovered right before winter. If the rebellion happened before that accusation then it would spell major disaster since the workforce would deplete.

In the original storyline, many people chose the base team when the base fell to the rebels and they relocated to another base with fertile land.

The base rebels were never heard from again until much later, somehow having survived and now having farmable lands of their own. It had been seen as a miracle recovery in the game lore and could not be explained in the first instalment.

Even his system had no information in the regular events that transpired. 

When the soldiers came back, the investigation began anew and as he accompanied them, his eyes met with flashing electric blue ones.

Unknown to Mark, it was the beginning of a fateful encounter that would change the course of the future.