The Genius Mecha Pilot Wants to Survive - Chapter 04

Giant Mud (1)

“Dodge!!!”

I shouted and engaged the boosters. Organic mud sprayed and scattered behind the wheels.

Massive flames erupted from the Giant Mud’s eyes. I could feel intense heat behind my back.

Thankfully, unlike Squad Leader Onyxia, I didn’t end up getting hit after telling others to dodge.

But I couldn’t stop just because I dodged once. The Giant Mud’s head turned, and the flames moved with it.

I started running without even being able to look back. The boosters stopped, but I kept running with a kung-kwang (thudding) sound.

Looking at the radar, the signals of several allied Titans had gone out.

Kuuuuuu….

Only after the pillar of fire ended did I look back. Amidst the haze and smoke, I saw several Titans stopped, their external armor melted away.

“All units, attack!”

I shouted loudly over the radio and gripped the controls with all my might. Pressing harder wouldn’t make it shoot harder, but I couldn’t help but put force into it.

The Titans spewed fire from both hands and shoulders. Massive firepower was concentrated. The Giant Mud howled in pain. Its mud-like hide rippled. Sparks flew, and flesh scattered.

However, it wasn’t fatal damage.

Long protrusions sprouted from various places on the Giant Mud’s skin. Energy gathered at the tips of the wriggling protrusions, and it fired lasers in all directions.

Allied units were wiped out by the area-of-effect attack. The fortunate thing was that Titans didn’t fall easily to such dispersed attacks.

However, damage was accumulating little by little, and it was fatal for the infantry.

‘What should I do?’

Stay calm. Stay calm. The machine shook as a laser grazed it. I held onto my fear-trembling heart and thought. Stay calm.

Perhaps because it was a moment of crisis, two ideas popped into my head in an instant.

The low-tier strategy is to dodge around and take it down with control. But honestly, I doubt it’s possible. There’s no guarantee the other troops will dodge well, and if I slip up once, I’m dead.

Of course, it’s not like I haven’t done it in the game. I’ve even succeeded in taking it down by circling around alone.

But unlike the game, reality didn’t have infinite ammo or energy. So, rejected for now.

The high-tier strategy is to take down the Queen. Either way, the Kilug are finished if you take down the Queen.

Of course, in a nest where a high-tier unit like a Giant Mud appears, there are usually intermediate entities. Entities that relay orders and command in the middle. Even if the Queen, the supreme command unit, is down, these guys command directly.

But this place wasn’t spawned via a normal tech tree. Maybe because it’s a “rush build,” I haven’t seen a single intermediate command entity.

In other words, if I just take down the Queen, the Giant Mud becomes a “Mud Festival.”

Yeah, the answer is Plan B.

While performing evasive maneuvers, I slowly changed direction and then dashed straight toward the Queen.

Amidst the countless Titans doing a circle dance, it’d be hard for it to see me. And if I plant lead bullets into the Queen’s head like this, I win. I’m not joking; I’d really become a hero of the battlefield.

Ku-gung.

No chance. A giant mud tentacle immediately blocked the path. A purple barrier was erected in an instant.

One of only two ultra-giant species of the Kilug. While the other one is more overwhelming in breakthrough power and defense, this is the Giant Mud’s strength.

An all-weather, near-universal transformation. It can be said to be the very essence of the Kilug race that survives through evolution.

Kugugugu. Then, the giant tentacle scraped the ground and flew at me. As the long tentacle swung horizontally, there was no way to dodge.

Unfortunately, 3rd-generation Titans didn’t have flight capabilities. Jumping was possible, but it was just a hop. Jumping over that massive tentacle was impossible.

I braced for impact. I crossed the Titan’s two arms in an X shape. I did the same with my own hands. I felt like it would hurt more if I got hit somewhere while shaking while holding the levers for no reason.

Then, the collision.

It felt like I was on a roller coaster going backward, like I was going to break through the seatbelt and fly forward. To be precise, the Titan got hit and flew backward.

It spun around and around as if it had entered a 360-degree continuous course.

I don’t know how many times I spun; only after rolling did the Titan collapse to the ground.

The bad part was that I was dizzy, and the fortunate part was that it wasn’t enough to make me vomit.

I want to lie down and rest for a bit, but on the battlefield, a stop means a permanent stop.

I tried my best not to crash, but the limbs couldn’t be helped. My arms and legs felt sore everywhere, but I ignored it and grabbed the levers. When I moved them around, the Titan’s limbs struggled with a kkirik (creaking) sound.

Thankfully, it moved well. However, the Titan’s left arm response seemed a bit slow.

‘It’s fine, it’s not my arm.’

I quickly got up and checked the war situation. If it were one-on-one, I would have died while lying down, but from the Giant Mud’s perspective, I was just one of many Titans.

It’s focusing on crushing the Titans that are circling and attacking it one by one.

Meanwhile, it’s slowly moving backward, moving to a position better suited to protecting the Queen.

The melee intensified, and if I went around from a bit further away, I might be able to sneak near the Queen. But I saw it from afar. Near the Queen’s throne, there were a few more troops remaining, like knights.

‘They aren’t real knights, though….’

I’ll be able to see the real Knight species in about a month. If I survive until then, that is.

But in the current situation, even those troops were a wall. Perhaps they noticed that on the radio, too; a voice rang out answering that it was impossible to the command to strike the Queen first.

It’s impossible to somehow go around and strike the Queen with a small number of troops. A large force capable of breaking through there gets filtered out by the Giant Mud, so it’s impossible.

‘This won’t work….’

Decapitating the Queen is a no-go, no matter how I look at it.

As expected, I’ll just have to take it down. I looked at the Giant Mud, thinking about Plan A again.

There is a famous course clip uploaded on the internet. It’s a video of taking down a Giant Mud with a Titan.

A Giant Mud can obviously be taken down if there’s enough quantity, and even one-on-one, it’s possible for veterans if there’s enough ammo.

But the reason that clip is famous is because it takes down the Giant Mud with a melee attack.

If you mix the melee attack keyword into the Titan’s booster, a charge attack is possible, but naturally, it’s a straight-line attack on the ground.

It’s a technique where you charge using the booster and stab with the Rust Blade, a wrist sword attached separately to the right hand.

Naturally, you can’t take down a Giant Mud with that, no matter how many times you stab it. That’s because the Giant Mud’s weak point is up there.

That’s why that video became a hot topic. A jump charge attack into the air using a hill when it was aggroed by other troops. At that moment, the Giant Mud turned its head, and [the player] pierced the core.

‘It was really cool.’

It was like a scene from a movie, so I tried it too.

And unfortunately, I never succeeded. I could do the mid-air charge just fine, but the timing of the aggro and the head turn was crucial.

In a one-on-one, you die the moment you float in the air. 3rd-generation Titans without flight capabilities are defenseless. Even that sturdy defense is meaningless in front of a Giant Mud.

Then is it enough if there’s just a lot of quantity? That’s not it either. When the aggro is pulled away and I do a jump charge, it has to look at me by luck.

In that actual clip, the luck of the aggro ping-pong with other Titans was good.

When I tried it, the luck wasn’t there.

‘I have to hope luck follows this time.’

I might have been unlucky from the moment I possessed this game, but… I had to do what I could for now.

I look around the battlefield. A jump attack requires terrain like a hill.

The required terrain is a hill with a high angle like a jump ramp. Or, even if it’s not a high angle, a cliff high enough to stomp on the Giant Mud’s head.

‘…I’m screwed.’

The feeling I felt after looking around was despair. Far from a cliff, I couldn’t even see a hill. Among the things in my field of vision, the only things with enough height to compete with the Giant Mud were the Giant Mud and the Kilug’s building.

What’s more desperate is that the Giant Mud is showing off a new pattern.

Two giant tentacles sprouted from the Giant Mud. Small tentacles grew from there. In a way, it looked like giant tree branches. I mean a tree without a single leaf. Maybe that’s why, on the tree that looked gaunt, glowing leaves started to appear one by one. Only then did I realize what a lush tree it was.

‘This is fucked up.’

A so-called bullet hell pattern. To exaggerate a bit, it’s a pattern where energy bullets pour down like rain.

As infantry, you had to run to cover no matter what. In the case of a Titan, you just have to trust your durability, endure it with your body, and quickly run out of the range. While getting hit a few times, that is.

‘Do I have enough HP to take a few more hits?’

The problem is that my Titan is already half-ragged from coming this far. Roughly the distance to get out of range. If I calculate the number of hits per distance… it was bearable to some extent.

One thing is concerning. This is reality, not a game. In a game, even if you take damage, there are no restrictions on movement until your HP hits 0. Reality is different. If damage that would take away 20% of your HP is concentrated on your arm, that arm is gone. If you get hit wrong and it hits the engine or joint gears, mobility is lost. So, breaking through in this situation is uneasy.

‘No, let’s not act cocky anyway.’

Rather than attempting a reckless play that might be possible for no reason. It was better to play it safe.

While putting my hand on the booster and turning the lever to find the nearest outer edge.

‘Ah….’

Only then did I discover one problem. The point is that I don’t have enough energy to use the booster.

One time was certain. If we’re talking about simple minimum-time boosters, it’s enough energy for two or three times. Like, just pressing the booster button and charging for a moment. If I press it hard when I use it once, and aim for maximum speed in one booster…

It was energy I couldn’t use twice.

Should I use it once here? Then I’ll definitely survive. Because that’s the best way to break the bullet hell pattern.

But can I really get over the hill for the jump attack with just one short booster? Can I generate the speed to fly?

Things started to get complicated, and the tree branches started glowing everywhere.

‘Damn it…!’

Whether it was a curse at this situation, or a curse at my stupid self who couldn’t make any judgment and ended up being forced to make one. To be precise, I didn’t know either.

I just looked at the sky, hurriedly wiped the sweat covering both my hands on my thighs, and quickly gripped the levers again.

Kwa-gwang! At that moment, a laser fell right in front of me. The start of the bullet hell pattern.

I lift my left hand above my head. It’s too late now. If I try to waddle out of the range to escape the bullet hell, it’s 100% total destruction.

What’s the remaining method? Look up, and see the rain of falling bullets.

No, that’s not rain. It’s just a fucking annoying bombardment.

Don’t look at the attacks. Look at the gaps. It’s wide open, isn’t it?

One step to the left. Two steps forward. Half a step back. Diagonally forward. Back again. To the side. Forward.

I move minutely while watching the falling bombardment. The lingering traces of purple energy dizzy my vision, and the beam that fell right next to me scatters and scrapes my armor.

For attacks that are hard to dodge just by walking, I twist the machine to dodge as much as possible. The armor is turning red-hot, but it’s a part that doesn’t matter.

Kwa-gwa-gwang. I finally got hit once. On the shield. The left arm’s armor, which finally exhausted its durability, collapses. When I move a little, it creaks even more.

‘Yeah, it’s not my arm.’ It was an arm that was already creaking anyway. It didn’t matter if it creaked more.

The right arm is more important.

I look at the sky and quickly turn the levers. Where to dodge now, where to move forward.

Kuuuuuu. When the rain finally stopped, thankfully, my Titan was moving just fine.

‘Yeah, it’s not bombardment. It’s rain.’

I praise myself inside for dodging the rain.

Perhaps because dopamine was flowing in my brain as I praised myself, a way to do a jump attack suddenly came to mind.

Where my field of vision reached… I saw the Kilug’s production building, which had made the Giant Mud and was resting as if dead.

Its side was a beautiful upward-sloping curve.