Koutetsujou

Koutetsujou

"So rookies can get missions in apocalyptic worlds too..."

Hearing the voice echoing by his ear, Xu Yue felt slightly surprised. With his memory, even though he had only watched it once, he still remembered the plot of the anime Koutetsujou.

It was practically Resident Evil set in the steam age, but those infected monsters called Kabane were in an entirely different league from zombies when it came to combat strength.

They possessed formidable individual strength. In terms of physical abilities alone, a single Kabane likely surpassed an ordinary Ninja Academy student. Normal people simply could not handle them, and even the Steam Guns most commonly used in the story were completely ineffective against them.

Still, having no intelligence and only instincts, they were not impossible to deal with.

The story was mainly about the protagonist, a Steam Smith who could not let go of his sister's death and wanted to create a weapon capable of killing Kabane. He eventually made ammunition similar to Armor-piercing Bullets. After being bitten by a Kabane, he unexpectedly became a Kabaneri, possessing a Kabane's physical strength and a human's mind. Later, he met Mumei, the female lead and another Kabaneri.

Then, he and his companions rode the Steam Armored Train, bringing trouble everywhere they went like a plague passing through. Eventually, they encountered the female lead's adoptive brother: a pink-haired man who appeared sunny but was dark within, the son of a general whom even the shogun feared enough to drive away, the story's ultimate villain, Biba.

They then launched an operation to rescue the female lead. After suffering initial setbacks, the protagonist defeated the ultimate villain and rescued her after Biba successfully captured Kongokaku, the shogunate's seat of power, thus reaching the pinnacle of his life...

The plot was simple, a single straight line, but the Mission Space's setting was somewhat troublesome. There were simply too many Kabane, even more than the zombies in zombie films.

All things considered, it was an extremely difficult Mission Space. He had not expected to encounter it among his first three rookie missions.

Honestly, Xu Yue was not particularly satisfied with having this as his second mission.

Though his strength definitely ranked among the very best of the rookies, facing the disaster-level number of Kabane meant certain death if he was surrounded.

Forget elite chunin—even jonin-level fighters would be beaten to death and torn apart without some unique means of survival. They would be exhausted to death regardless.

If it were merely difficult, that would not have been a problem. He had the advantage of knowing the plot.

But Koutetsujou's world happened to have very little worth coveting.

Kabaneri?

Even Mumei, at the very peak of their combat power, was probably only at the level of a genin. In Xu Yue's eyes, they were merely a combination of Kabane physical abilities and human combat techniques.

Moreover, they came with a whole host of side effects. Xu Yue, who possessed a Sage Body, naturally had no interest in such things. Given the powerful rejection of the First Hokage's Cells, it was questionable whether that virus could infect him at all.

There was almost nothing in this mission that he urgently needed to obtain, nor did it offer much potential.

In that case, this mission's primary objective would be farming points and increasing mission difficulty...

"Doctor Xu? Doctor Xu?"

The call at his ear pulled Xu Yue from his thoughts. Looking at the young married woman before him, whose skin was as smooth as congealed cream and whose beauty was poised and dignified, he revealed his trademark sunny smile.

"My apologies, Mrs. Wang. I was distracted for a moment. Are we continuing with the next course of treatment this time?"

"Haha, Doctor Xu must have been lost in thought because he was staring at Mrs. Wang. Next time, I'll get a course of treatment too."

The pawnshop owner, who had begun chatting with Xu Yue, could not help teasing him. Then he swayed back into his shop.

The dignified, beautiful married woman covered her mouth and chuckled.

"Doctor Xu must be thinking of some woman to be so absorbed."

"Not at all. With Mrs. Wang before me, I'm the one who should be captivated."

With Xu Yue's masked social skills, just a couple of casual remarks made Mrs. Wang smile until her eyes narrowed, her face full of charm.

"You certainly know how to talk. I'll have to trouble you again today. I don't know what's been going on lately, but my waist has been aching and my back has been sore..."

As she spoke, she walked into the clinic without ceremony.

Before entering the Mission Space, back when he had been scraping by in the foreign concession, she had been Xu Yue's main patron.

Because of the lack of medicine, Xu Yue's greatest specialty, surgery, could not be fully utilized here. Besides, not just anyone would dare let such a young man operate on them, especially in an era when surgical mortality rates were terrifyingly high.

However, he had also studied Traditional Chinese Medicine as a supplementary field. While it was not as miraculous as people claimed, it possessed unique advantages when it came to conditioning the body and aiding recovery.

He did not dare call himself a miracle doctor who could cure any illness with a single dose of medicine, but routine massage, Cupping Therapy, acupuncture, and the like were no problem at all. His skills were quite good, too.

Entering the small partitioned room, Xu Yue saw the lovely figure lying face-down on the massage bed, her back already exposed after she had undone her clothes. Without hesitation, he applied oil to his hands and began the day's work.

As though he did not care at all about the mission to come, he worked with great earnestness and care...

"Mrs. Wang, the cups will need to remain in place for a while. Please excuse me for a moment."

After placing the last burning fire cup against her smooth back and making her let out a pleasurable moan that invited wild thoughts, Xu Yue politely excused himself.

He washed up in the washroom, slung on the backpack that had been hanging behind the door, and straightened his clothes in the mirror. Then he silently thought,

The time has come!

The next instant, the entire washroom turned gray-white, completely frozen in place. The mirror before him shifted sideways, splitting into forked cracks before shattering entirely. After a dizzying sensation overtook his mind, he lost consciousness...

The cold sensation of the ground gradually brought Xu Yue back to consciousness.

"Mm, do I have to pass out every time I enter?"

He raised his head and swept his unfocused gaze blankly around the area. A strange glint flashed through Xu Yue's eyes.

A group of people was lying inside a train carriage, though this carriage was much taller and larger than a traditional one. Steel-plated armor covered the surroundings, and like the first time he had entered a Mission Space, the carriage existed in a completely isolated, motionless state.

However, the people lying inside seemed to be divided into three groups.

The first group consisted of more than a dozen people sprawled all over the place. The second group was himself and five others lying together here. The final group consisted of three people lying in the corner.

And aside from those lying down, there was even someone like the rookie guide from before!

According to the Space's rules, guides like this only appeared the first time one entered.

Looking down at the dozen or so people sprawled in the middle of the carriage, Xu Yue vaguely understood.

So this was a mixed group with newcomers entering for the first time? Then the three people in the corner were most likely "rookies" on their third mission, since the fourth mission was the promotion mission.

If they were formal Reincarnators who had completed their promotion mission, then like that genin from Naruto, they would not be grouped together unless special methods were used.

"I don't know whether I should call you lucky or unfortunate. This mission can be called a rookie's paradise, but it can also be called a rookie's hell. Whether you Ascend to Heaven in One Step or fall into eternal damnation will depend on your own fortunes."

This rookie guide was not as stingy with his words as the first one had been.

Even though Xu Yue was the only one awake, he leaned casually against the wall and spoke.

The way he looked at Xu Yue seemed somewhat strange.

"This is clearly only your second mission, yet you woke up earlier than those guys on their third mission who are about to leave the rookie ranks. Kid, you've got potential."

But just as Xu Yue was preparing to pry for information, the rookie guide in the black trench coat raised a hand to stop him.

"Though I'm willing to build a good relationship with you, my duty here does not permit me to reveal plot information to people on their second mission. Go play by yourself."

After saying that, he snapped his fingers. A pale red, translucent soundproof barrier enveloped both the guide and the dozen or so people lying in the middle of the floor.

"So there are 'rookies' on their first, second, and third missions. But second- and third-mission rookies no longer receive doubled physical attributes or the 'plausibility' bonus. Since this mission is difficult, are relatively experienced people being brought in to lead them?"

Xu Yue swiftly reached his conclusion.

He then began examining the appearances and equipment of the people lying with him.

There were five people beside him, four men and one woman. Naturally, the beautiful woman was the most eye-catching.

She looked much like those glamorous fallen women from District Wu-03. Dressed sexily and fashionably, she had likely used Reincarnation Points for cosmetic enhancement as well.

Xu Yue truly could not understand what these women were thinking. They had only completed one mission so far, yet they had already spent their limited points on plastic surgery and breast augmentation...

Among the other four men, aside from a muscular man wearing leather armor and carrying a curved blade, the equipment of the other three gave Xu Yue an inexplicable sense of amusement.

They wore khaki cotton jackets with a degree of protective capability, cinched with cotton cords to reduce bulk and minimize interference with movement. They carried square packs on their backs, had several grenades at their waists that could be used as hammers, tightly clutched Hanyang 88 rifles in their arms even while unconscious, Borchardt Pistols tucked into their trousers, and daggers tied around their ankles.

They looked exactly like they were cosplaying revolutionary veterans. If the prompt had not told him this was the world of Koutetsujou, Xu Yue would have almost suspected that he had entered a Railway Guerrillas mission.

"Pfft~ Three more idiots fooled by that damned merchant."

At that moment, the second person besides Xu Yue woke up. She was one of the three "old rookies" in the corner who were entering the Mission Space for the third time and were about to shed their rookie status.

She was a non-mainstream girl with multicolored dyed hair and hip-hop attire, swaying her head as though she had not fully regained consciousness.

Unlike Xu Yue and the others, who all carried backpacks for storage, she did not have one. Instead, a small pouch resembling a coin purse hung from her waist.

True storage equipment was generally beyond the means of rookies. It was probably a specialized storage pouch like a Medical Kit, capable of holding only specific items.

In other words, most of her abilities were likely related to that pouch...

With censorship this strict, Integrity-kun won't court death. Every character has their own role, so don't misunderstand anything~

Also, the contract has arrived and my status has been updated. Everyone can send rewards now. I've already struck a pose, so don't hold back...

I really have to thank the contract editor. Otherwise, this signing might have been rejected again. He argued on my behalf and got it approved. Without his help, the trouble would have been huge~