Chapter 44: Trial Mission

  [Mai Activated: Trial]

  [As a mage traversing various dimensions, you must possess keen observation and judgment to excel in this role. In any given world, there exists an item of highest value. Seek and acquire what you believe is the most valuable item in this world. pleting the quest will grant a random reward (reward varies based on task evaluation). Failing the task will result in all attributes being decreased by one level.]

  This quest is indeed challenging.

  Reading the quest description floating before him, Alex frowned. On the surface, it seemed very flexible—just acquire what he deemed the most valuable item in this world to plete the quest. But upon deeper sideration, it was clear that this task was far from simple.

  There were two key difficulties:

  First, the item must have high value. Sed, he had to be able to obtain it.

  If Alex sidered valuable items, there were plenty in this world—satellites, nuclear warheads, fusioors, powered exoskeletons.

  However, even if he knew where they were, obtaining them was another matter. Sure, he might be able to hijack a luxury car or a pne, but he suspected that simply grabbing these items wouldn't yield a high task evaluation.

  The quest was explicitly testing his abilities as a dimensional mage.

  This narrowed down his target signifitly.

  For Alex, the most valuable thing in this world was the alien boss. Acc to the movie, the boss had the power to manipute time!

  The protagonist gaihe ability to reset time repeatedly by being exposed to the alien boss's blood, ultimately allowing him to achieve victory. When he died alongside the boss, he eve back to the very beginning of the movie.

  Time manipution is a rare and precious ability!

  Anything involving the manipution of time is exceedingly rare and valuable. The most tempting part for Alex was that, if the movie was accurate, this boss had no bat abilities—it relied on summoning minions aing time. If this were true, taking down the boss would be much easier for Alex.

  The only problem was that the aliens had occupied all of Europe, and Alex alone couldn't cross the occupied territory to capture the boss.

  However, for Alex, this problem wasn't insurmountable.

  But before addressing that, he decided to enjoy some modern food!

  Alex didn't have this world's currency, but luckily, the three thugs he entered earlier had generously funded him. He found a fast-food restaurant and indulged in a hearty meal.

  As he ehe familiar fvors, tears welled up in his eyes. Even though fast food wasn't healthy, it reminded him of home.

  Now, what should be his move?

  As he ate his burger, Alex watched the TV in the fast-food restaurant, pting his pn.

  His grasp of the timeline in the movie War for Tomorrow was a bit fuzzy. He remembered that the protagonist, Jack Miller, trained for only a few days before heading to the front lines. However, the subsequent timeline became unclear with all the resets.

  Ier part of the movie, when Jad the female protagonist went to see the general, the general mentiohat Jack had previously been a deserter but had returned as a war hero.

  This implied that Jack had won multiple battles on the beach against the aliens, making it hard to estimate the timeline since a sitle could take a long time to clude.

  Moreover, Jack had to return to London after each battle, plig the timeline further. The movie focused solely on Jack's stas, leaving no clear indication of the actual time progression.

  Another issue troubling Alex was whether Jack's resets would affect him. If they did, Alex would fa uable future after Jack's death.

  However, if he wasn't affected by the resets, it might be advantageous. stas might be thrilling for the person experieng them but not for those caught in the loop.

  If the resets did affect him, that would pose a signifit problem.

  Alex had always found a certain aspect of the movie fusing. The protagonists believed that the alien boss used time manipution to reset and gain victory.

  However, Alex doubted this. The aliens appeared far strohan humans, and the battles weren't particurly strategic.

  The alien boss didn't seem to have mutelligence. In the movie, the only strategy shown was the ambush on the beach, which seemed more like a rea any intelligent pyer would have:

  "Oh, they're attag from the beach? Let me reset and prepare there." It felt like a standard rea from any pyer with average intelligence.

  Another issue was how to capture the alien boss.

  Alex didn't pn to follow the protagonist, as Jack relied on his reset ability to take risks. Jack could die and revive, but for Alex, it would be dangerous. The best strategy would be to and an army, solving most problems.

  As for where to get an army... Alex g his soul stone.

  With aliens already here, adding a swarm of Zerg should be no problem.

  Alex wasn't in London but in a small town on the border. Since all of Europe was occupied by aliens, reag London was impossible.

  However, Alex wasn't too ed. The aliens seemed strong but cked an air force, which puzzled Alex.

  While the movie showed the aliens had anti-air capabilities, the absence of an air force was odd. Still, this wasn't Alex's —the weaker the enemy, the easier his task.

  After a satisfying meal, Alex found an opportunity to leave the town. Positioned behind the front lines, security wasn't too tight, making it easy for Alex to slip away.

  "Now, let's see what this soul stone do."

  Standing in a dense forest, Alex took a deep breath. He had sed his [Arthas] equipment for [Luna].

  As soon as he equipped the [Luna] soul stohe world seemed to ge. Strange knowledge filled his mind—powers he had never used before. The sery took on a dark red hue with blurred edges, and he could see moving shadows at various distances.

  Alex closed his eyes and reopehem, rest the world to normal.

  "This isn't quite like the game..."

  Flexing his fingers, Alex frowned. He reached out to a distant bush and made a grasping motion.

  "—!!"

  With a low hum, a deer floated from the bush, struggling to break free, but the psioniergy held it firmly.

  Alex made a gesture, and the deer floated towards him. He extended his right hand, and a green substaned, which he pced on the deer.

  "—!!—!!"

  The deer thrashed wildly as blood vessels burst from beh its skin, spreading across its body. When the veins reached the deer's head, it exploded with a "bang," leaving a twitg corpse.

  "Damn!"

  The sudden explosion startled Alex, making him step back. The psioniergy dissipated, and the deer's body fell to the ground. Soon, something wriggled ihe corpse, and a parasite burst out.

  Seeing the parasite crawling at his feet, Alex eechless. He had wondered how Luna would create a Zerg army without any Zerg, but he hadn't expected this method.

  Is this even possible?

  Watg the parasite hop around, Alex didn't know what to say. It looked more cute than terrifying. As Alex tried to unicate with the parasite, a gunshot suddenly rang out behind him.

  "Bang!"

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