How to Survive Restructuring-Chapter 15

[Translator - Night]

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Chapter 15: Performance Pressure (5)

A student without form.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freewebnσvel.cøm.

A swarm of burning zombies.

Friends screaming, their spirits broken.

Even the members of Team 3, who were on the brink of being erased, paused momentarily amidst the ruthless slaughter.

And then…

[Performance tally completed.]

[The team selected for the 2nd round of restructuring is Team 3. Proceeding with restructuring.]

“There were no zombies! None left, I swear!”

“It’s us? No way, right?!”

“No, no, please! Don’t!”

They could feel the flicker of death creeping over their bodies.

“That murderer…!”

“A curse…!”

The broken curses of those disappearing poured onto the homeless man.

Of course, he didn’t care, and neither did the system, it seemed.

[To all survivors in the Seoul Station area, here is an additional notice.]

[A special reward will be given to the top-performing team.]

The emotionless voice of the system discussing "outstanding performance" sent shivers down people’s spines, steeped in the horrors of performance-oriented cruelty.

“This is insane…”

“What’s this about special rewards now? That wasn’t mentioned before!”

Some people trembled in fear, while others voiced complaints about the sudden added incentives.

Among them were a few, including Yeji Lee from the Accounting Team.

[The 2nd-round special reward is 2 points, and for the 3rd round, it will be 3 points.]

It’s worth complaining about.

Giving extra rewards to already high-performing teams only widens the gap between Task Forces.

‘And the top team this round is…’

For some reason, a sensation of heat rose within my body.

Whether it was due to the tension or the terrifying blaze burning in the distance, I couldn’t tell.

What was certain was that I wasn’t the only one feeling this intense heat here.

Everyone’s fearful gazes turned toward a single point.

[The top team for the 2nd round is…]

“Heuh-heuh-heuh…”

[Team 5.]

[Eliminate enemies and prove your outstanding performance!]

* * *

“Sk-skill enhancement!”

Flames ignited in the man’s palm as soon as those words were spoken.

Red and yellow flames, with a blue hue flickering at their center.

“That fire… its temperature has risen.”

“And its size seems bigger too.”

Once wavering in his palm, the flame grew to the size of a person’s head.

The larger the flame, the easier it becomes to ignite things without direct contact.

“This is definitely an attack-focused ability.”

“Don’t worry too much. If we stick to the plan, it’ll be fine.”

Jieun, who had been nervously fiddling with her fingers, looked up.

“I’m worried because of Eunho’s plan.”

“...”

[Round 3 begins.]

‘Sorry, Jieun.’

I felt a bit sorry for her concern, but there was no other choice.

This was the most efficient method.

“Everyone, back to your positions!”

“H-Hyung! Are you sure this is the only way?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Please!”

The only way for everyone to survive.

And…

‘The way to take that guy down.’

[Eliminate the enemy and achieve your objective within the time limit!]

“Ugh…”

As soon as the mission started, the sluggish zombies charged en masse.

Starting with two of them—just to test the waters.

So, though it might feel a bit sorry to do this…

“Eeek!”

Instead of dodging or attacking, I pulled Jaehyuk into their path.

Clang!

The sound of zombies crashing into Jaehyuk’s armor echoed loudly.

“Ugh…”

I extracted two silver bugs from the zombies that had collided with him and threw them to Jieun.

Then one more, two more, three more…

I sped up, extracting more bugs instead of wasting time killing them.

“Jieun! Here!”

“Yes!”

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Jieun’s dagger moved quickly, slicing the incoming bugs into halves, quarters, and smaller pieces before passing them to the foul-mouthed guy.

“All done slicing!”

“Got it!”

Whoosh!

Armed with a spray-type insecticide in his left hand and a lighter in his right, the foul-mouthed guy sprayed fire with gusto.

“Die, you filthy bugs!”

Each person performed their assigned tasks mechanically and swiftly, maximizing output through a meticulous division of labor.

If this were a real Task Force in a company, the office walls might display a slogan like “Division of Labor is the Way to Survival!”—a strategy driven purely by efficiency.

But the core of this strategy was…

[‘Split Needle Beetle defeated!]

“It worked! Our performance really went up!”

▶ Performance Status: Round 3

Team 1: 2 / 100p

The plan was to "cut up" the Split Needle Beetle to kill it.

Killing a whole Split Needle Beetle earned 5 points.

If you halved it, you got 3 points.

If you quartered it, you earned 2 additional points.

"Quartering it gives 8 points instead of 5. Cutting it up is way more efficient."

"It won’t split any further! This is the limit!"

"Good. Then let’s finish this in one go!"

— Bang!

"Jieun!"

"Yes! Here, burn it!"

— Fsssss!

[You have defeated a quartered Split Needle Beetle!]

[You have defeated a quartered Split Needle Beetle!]

[You have defeated a quartered Split Needle Beetle!]

[You have defeated a quartered Split Needle Beetle!]

...

The constant notification sounds were almost dizzying, and as the performance tracker started to stutter, the frenzy of activity slowed.

Plenty of time.

The goal was already achieved.

Now, all that remained was…

"Kid! Come here with your dad!"

Extending a hand, I motioned toward a father and his child running over.

Instead of going to them myself, I called them over for a reason.

"Jaehyuk, Jieun, keep it up a little longer."

This was to keep the system of division of labor running smoothly.

Jaehyuk would block, I would extract, Jieun would cut, and the kid’s dad would burn.

In other words, we just needed to rotate the task of the loud-mouthed one.

"And as for you..."

"Fine, I’ll just watch the kid, damn it."

"…Could you kindly shut your mouth?"

* * *

"Young man! You saved us!"

"Thank you so much, sir... truly, thank you..."

"Thank you very much!"

They were calling me “sir” now.

The kid’s dad bowed deeply and repeatedly, pouring out gratitude.

His child, Yura, also gave a formal bow.

"It’s all thanks to everyone doing their part."

Once the overwhelming atmosphere settled, the loudmouth rubbed his face and muttered.

"But damn, are you a genius or what? Or are you in cahoots with the system?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I get that bringing insecticide was just good preparation, but how’d you figure out cutting the bugs would earn more points?"

Jieun answered for me.

"You clearly don’t know, but Eunho is a genius."

"What?"

The emphasis of her response was slightly off, but it still landed.

"Seriously though, how did you figure it out?"

"Oh, the Round 1 results looked weird."

"Round 1 results?"

Jaehyuk tilted his head, glancing at Jieun, who shrugged as if she had no clue.

"We were the only team that ended up with 101 points."

"Oh! So it was because you halved them at the start?"

"Yeah. So I tried cutting them further, to find the sweet spot for maximum efficiency."

At my explanation, Jaehyuk smacked his knee, and the others nodded in understanding.

[You have defeated a halved Split Needle Beetle!]

Had I not been the one to first experiment with cutting them in half…

Had someone else found and killed a whole bug first, I never would’ve figured it out.

"Guess I got lucky."

"You call that luck?"

"That’s what being a genius means, Eunho,"

Jieun said, and Jaehyuk nodded along.

"Lucky or genius, whatever."

We got first place, earned our rewards, and now it was time to move on.

The prickling... no, burning sensation on the back of my neck didn’t help.

"It’s dangerous. Please stay here and wait."

"Hyung! Are you sure you’ll be okay?"

Even if I wasn’t, what choice did I have?

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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The guy was already closing the distance, clenching and unclenching his fists as he approached.

"Jieun, Jaehyuk. If I neutralize him first..."

— Crack!

Before I could finish explaining the plan, a small figure lunged forward.

Long hair mostly covered by a gray vest.

"You bastard! I’ll kill you!"

"Yoon Sola!!!"

— Thud!

The high school girl who had rushed down the stairs earlier to save her friend.

Had she sent her friend off already?

Now, she returned, face hard with fury.

But—

"Stop!!!"

It was her remaining friend who stopped her, blocking her path as she charged with a small blade.

"You can’t! Please...!"

"Why not?! Aren’t you angry? That bastard burned Soyoung to death!"

"I know! I know, but if you go, you’ll..."

So this was revenge for their dead friend.

But no matter how enraged she was, the size difference was just too great.

"Both of you... die."

As expected.

A man suddenly appeared, clamping his hands over two people’s mouths and gripping them tightly.

"Why don’t you burn together… Hah-hah-hah."

“Mmph! Mmmph…!”

Huff.

I took a short breath.

And then—

"Flare—"

"Accelerate!"

There was a scenario planned.

The one that gave me the best chance of victory.

But I dashed forward without thinking when I saw the kids struggling in the man’s grasp.

‘Plans can be remade.’

— Tap-tap!

I sprinted like it was a short-distance race, stopping right in front of the man and prying his fingers off the kids.

The smaller student was freed, and next was the one with long hair—

“Yaaaaaaaargh—!”

— Fwoosh!

The moment I saved the two and turned away—

Flames burst from the man’s palm, catching my elbow and spreading.

“Argh…!”

The scorching heat made it feel like every cell was melting, forcing a scream out of me that I quickly swallowed back down.

Clenching my teeth tightly, I barely managed to run and put the students down.

Tick-tock.

Time returned to its normal flow.

“Aaaah! Eunho!”

— Smack! Smack! Smack!

Jieun quickly took off her jacket and smothered the flames on my arm.

“Hyuuung! Your arm!”

“Ugh…”

It felt less like my skin was burning and more like the bone itself was melting away.

“That bastard… hurt our hyung…!”

“Eunho! Do you have any mission rewards left? Use them to heal, quickly!”

“Move aside!”

Jieun’s frantic words were interrupted by the long-haired girl, who approached us.

Rubbing her chin, likely sore from being grabbed by the man earlier, she ignored Jieun completely and stared at me intently.

Her gaze was pure, unfiltered rage.

It sent a chill down my spine.

“I’ll heal you, so kill that bastard.”

“Heal me?”

Wait.

Now that I think about it, this girl… when she rushed in to save her burning friend earlier…

‘She got bitten on the ankle by a zombie, didn’t she?’

I quickly looked down to see her completely unscathed ankle.

Now that I think about it, even when she charged at the homeless guy, she wasn’t limping.

“Your ankle… it’s fine.”

“You can kill him, right?”

Her determined eyes left no room for doubt.

She meant it.

“Please.”

The girl nodded silently and knelt beside me.

She placed her hand over my charred, crumbling arm and whispered softly.

“Heal.”

[You are being healed by the influence of the Healer ‘Yoon Sola.’]

[Burn recovery rate: 90%.]

“Hyung! Your wound…!”

My skin, once darkened and collapsing, regenerated from within.

Before long, it looked no different than the surrounding areas, save for a faint reddish hue and lingering warmth.

“It should’ve been 100%…”

The girl bit her lip as she spoke.

Was she upset that she couldn’t fully heal me, despite her bold words?

Or was she worried I wouldn’t fulfill her request?

“My skill level is still too low…”

“This is plenty.”

“But…”

“I’ll have you finish it later. You can, right?”

She nodded, and as she did, I pushed myself up, ignoring the shocked stares around me.

As soon as I stood, my eyes met those of the man who had attacked us.

Step. Step. Step.

I approached him, maintaining eye contact.

The man with disheveled hair parted his dry lips to speak.

“You… have a skill too…”

“You’re left-handed, right?”

Flinch.

While he’d used both hands to snap the necks of zombies and people alike, I’d noticed the fire only came from his left hand.

A show-off like him wouldn’t have hidden his powers if he’d had them from the start.

His eyebrows rose in irritation through the mess of tangled hair and beard.

“W-what?”

“Your skill—you only use your left hand.”

“So what if I do—”

“Petrification.”

— Crack!

The plan was simple.

The mission reward points I earned during the third loop?

I’d poured all three into enhancing my right hand.

‘Whether it’s fire or water, it’s still just a human hand.’

And this hand of mine?

It could punch through walls.

— Crunch!

“Flare—”

“Accelerate.”

“Yaaaaaaaargh!”

Tap-tap.

The man’s face twisted noticeably as he frantically tried to activate his flame skill, but he was too late.

My petrified right hand already had his flaming fist tightly gripped, the fire only heating the surface.

“If it hurts this much, you’re not gonna like what’s coming.”

Beyond the man’s shoulder, the long-haired girl was staring daggers at me, her eyes almost shooting lasers.

“Our client is watching.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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