Successful Sneak

Dawei crouched just beneath the sewer exit, unsure of what exactly lay beyond. He'd been hoping for a quiet glimpse—a peek at the unknown. But reality, as always in Mercenary World, had other plans.

Screams. Shouting. The hiss of acid melting metal.

And then—

"WASTE!"

A bellowing roar thundered through the sewers, bouncing off the stone like the wrath of an angry god.

"A bunch of useless scrap! I didn't create you just to RUIN MY WORK!"

Dawei flinched instinctively. The voice was savage, inhuman—but unmistakably intelligent. The rage of someone—or something—at the end of its patience.

"Is this the scientist's lab?"

He didn't need confirmation. The unhinged rant, the sulfur-scorched air, the screeching failures scuttling through steam—it all screamed mad genius workshop.

And if he'd stumbled this close…Jackpot.

"Six hundred years! Six centuries and still not one viable result. If the materials aren't prepped when I return, I swear—I will DISMANTLE every last one of you!"

The voice faded, replaced by hurried footsteps growing fainter with distance.

Dawei's mind raced.

"If that's the mad scientist… and if this is his lab… then whatever's lying around here…"

Developed.God-tier loot potential.High risk. Insane reward.

He had to see it.

Peeking his head above the exit, Dawei barely had time to register the steam-filled room before—

SPLASH.

WHAM.

A surge of chemical runoff slammed into him.

He didn't even have time to curse before the current sucked him back into the sewer like dirty laundry.

System Prompt:You have been affected by unknown waste material.Movement Speed: -4 (Permanent)HP -1Defense: -10 (Permanent)

"What the—!?" Dawei yelled as his feet skidded, slamming into a wall.

Panic.

Pain.

His feet felt like lead. His limbs—sluggish, as if moving through concrete. His defense stat tanked. His body, once fine-tuned for reflexive flinches and quick dashes, now felt like a broken marionette.

"Is this a joke?! Movement speed NEGATIVE?!"

He felt slower than a snail dragging a cart full of regrets. Even his HP bar blinked red.

System Prompt:Happiness -2HP -1

Dawei groaned. "I'm going to die in a toilet."

No—worse—he was going to be flushed in a scientific toilet, the first player in Mercenary World to die via experimental runoff.

He closed his eyes, accepting his fate.

But then… the tide turned.

Literally.

System Prompt:Unknown substance recalibrating biological integrity...HP Regen: +8Max HP: +11Attack Speed: +2 (Permanent)

"…Wait, what?"

Suddenly, his health ticked up.

Happiness -2+1 HP-1 HP+4 HP

His stats pinged like a casino machine. Dawei lay still in the slime, blinking through his system feed as the game recalculated his life in real time.

It was chaos.But it was working.

His blood loss slowed. His HP bar hovered in the safe zone. His body adjusted, healed, even began to optimize.

"Is this—compensation? For almost drowning in vampire sewer acid?!"

The whole situation felt absurd. One second, he was a crippled, cursed rat. The next, he was a regenerating anomaly with elite-tier attack speed.

"World's slowest glass cannon," he muttered. "I can't move, but when I swing, I'll swing first."

And somehow… he was grateful.

When the water finally calmed and the last of the chemical flood receded, Dawei crawled out of the runoff like a soggy lizard. His dignity stayed behind, along with a few of his stats. But he was alive. Mostly.

And that counted for something.

He peeked again.

This time, the scene came into full view:

A massive subterranean lab, flickering with eerie green and purple lights.Bubbling tubes. Grinding gears. Glowing cores.

Machines lined the walls like torture devices designed by clockwork demons.Glass vats pulsed with crimson ichor. Crates of strange organs were arranged like medical exhibits. The air smelled of burnt oil, blood, and ozone.

Dozens of humanoid figures scurried back and forth, clanking in unison. They moved like workers. Or drones. Their bodies a fusion of rusted metal and gray, semi-organic tissue.

Dawei tapped on one with his interface.

[Mechanical Puppet No. 13]

HP: ???

DEF: ???

RACE: Semi-Mechanical Lifeform

SKILLS: Scientific Research / Data Harvesting

PROFILE: A semi-sentient construct created by Master Zhu Gutra. Designed for experimentation support. Operates without higher thought. Obedient, tireless... and expendable.

"Semi-finished lives," Dawei whispered."He's not just a scientist. He's building a race."

He leaned further, just barely avoiding a tripwire laser grid humming near a crate.

This place… wasn't a dungeon.

It was a production line.