Half-awake and half-asleep, Yujin thought about many things.
Upgrading his degree, finding a job.
Losing the job, taking a small loan to learn programming.
Job hunting again, unemployment again.
Year after year of ups and downs, approaching his thirties with nothing to show for it.
He still remembered the system popup he saw late at night when writing his novel to improve his life.
[Do you want to truly live? Do you want to understand the meaning of life?]
"Warning! Warning!"
"Warning! Warning!"
The harsh sounds gave Yujin a pounding headache!
The moment he woke up, he clasped his hands together, ready to respond to the sudden situation!
"All crew members, upon hearing the alarm, proceed immediately to the outer cargo bay. Repeat, all crew members, upon hearing the alarm, proceed immediately to the outer cargo bay!"
The urgent announcement confused Yujin a little.
He gently pushed open the cabin door in front of him, tensed his body, and sat up.
After sitting up, Yujin looked around and found that the inside of the cabin was far more complicated and chaotic than he had imagined.
The cabin was filled with people who had just awakened from stasis, their expressions dazed, eyes filled with fear and unease at the unknown surroundings.
Most of these people were strangers to Yujin.
They wore identical white uniforms, clearly other crew members of the spaceship.
On the walls of the cabin, rows of transparent nutrient tanks were neatly arranged, each holding a human figure immersed inside.
The figures in the room had missing limbs, clearly stripped of their ability to move by human hands. Their presence made the entire chamber feel even more eerie and terrifying.
The shadows floating in the nutrient liquid hung silently, like forgotten test subjects. Their eyes were hollow and lifeless, as if they had lost all awareness of the outside world.
Yujin felt a chill run down his spine. He realized these were likely the human-animal hybrids created by the three monsters from the breeding team!
He hadn't expected that in the world of Alien: Covenant, these breeding pigs would end up like this.
It was reasonable, yet deeply tragic.
He stood up, carefully avoiding the crew members who were beginning to awaken. Some of them were already becoming aware of their situation, fear and unease flashing across their faces.
The emergency alarm echoed throughout the chamber, and the red lights reflected off the nutrient tanks, casting a strange glow that made the scene feel even more urgent.
"Not in the same cabin?" Yujin looked around but couldn't find the three monsters' figures, and he felt a bit relieved.
After all, facing three breeding veterans who had survived at least four horror movies, his chances were basically zero.
He had planned to use a substitute technique to escape right after waking up, but now there was no need to run.
No matter how big the spaceship was, it only had a few dozen small rooms.
Besides, he didn't need to worry about the three from the breeding team attacking him.
Raising his wrist, Yujin checked the information displayed on the Reincarnation Watch.
[Time: Year 2104
[Location: Covenant
[You are one of the 35 crew members aboard the Covenant. Your mission is to transport 6,000 colonists to a habitable planet for colonization.]
[Each crew member's life was worth 100 reward points. Clearing the mission would grant extra rewards based on how many crew survived. If a crew member died, their points would be deducted. Returning to the plaza with insufficient points would erase that unit.
[The must-do objectives were clear: enter the Origae–6, witness the birth of the first alien, and protect the female lead, Daniels.]
Originally, the movie had fifteen crew members. Now, there were thirty-five.
This meant the horror game's difficulty had skyrocketed—it was now an intense twenty-player raid.
Meanwhile, the three members of the breeding team, who were also crew, coldly watched the newly awakened recruits in another cabin.
Da Qiang spat on the floor. "Damn it! This time we gotta clear a horror game with this bunch of trash? Is there any way to just cut them down first?"
"Brother Qiang, don't get mad," Er Niu gritted his teeth. "We're all crew members. We can't just attack these newbies in front of the heroine. Besides, the mission is complicated. Thirty-five people means 3,500 points. My werewolf bloodline can even earn me another skill!"
"You only care about the points! Have you even thought about how tough a twenty-player raid is? Damn it!" Da Qiang slammed his fist on the seat.
"Why the hell did fixing Kayako's curse cost me 700 points? Breaking an arm or leg was only 10!"
"Brother Qiang, that's 3,500 points total! Plus those three tasks, maybe we can even kill a couple of aliens. We'll definitely make a killing after this horror game!" Er Niu licked his lips.
"If one person can bring back 3,000 points from twenty meatbags, how much will each of us get? Ha ha ha!"
Cold and aloof, the deadly Scorpion, Meng Yao, who hadn't spoken for a long time, finally moved.
Her sharp knife scored a deep white mark on the glass of the transparent protective chamber. Impatiently, she cursed, "Pig brains!"
"What? Why you cursing me again?" Er Niu looked a bit defiant but didn't dare say more.
"How hard is a twenty-player raid?" Meng Yao vented, scraping the glass, the harsh sound grating on everyone's nerves.
She lifted her head and glanced at the strong, tattooed man who had just woken beside her. A murderous glint flashed in her eyes.
"We have to find a way to keep these newbies on the Origae-6. Otherwise, they'll just become vessels for the Main God to hatch Xenomorphs!"
"Exactly!" Da Qiang praised. "You're the wise one in our team—quick thinking as always!"
He gave Meng Yao's black stockings a sly look, then quickly averted his eyes. "Then let's just ditch these newbies on the Origae-6!"
Erniu looked confused. "Why throw them away? They're all 'money'!"
Mengyao was very annoyed. "I'm telling you, you've got a pig brain. You are a pig brain!"
She pinched the blade between her fingers.
"High returns come with high risks. Do you think it's easy to keep so many people alive through the whole run? Last time the Curse nearly wiped us out! Only four of the human pigs were left! There are too many team members now! We can't keep breeding them!"
Erniu kept asking, "Then what reason are we supposed to use?"
"Damn it! Who cares about reasons!" Daqiang stood up angrily. "I'm pointing this Saiga at them. Let's see who dares to get on the ship!"
His loud voice woke up the other newcomers who hadn't yet stirred.
The two rooms for the reincarnator team were next to each other, and soon the newcomers gathered together.
"One, two, three."
The tedious job of counting was given to Erniu.
Because of the mission, Erniu couldn't be too harsh on the newcomers. He had to hold back his temper and keep the discipline in order.
"Eleven, twelve."
When Erniu reached the last person, he paused briefly at the man smiling at him.
But he didn't react much and just turned back after finishing the count.
"Thirteen." Erniu finished counting and reported to Mengyao.
Mengyao was busy talking with the female lead, Daniels, and hadn't been paying attention to the team. She waved carelessly to show she understood.
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