Infinite Job Transfers Starting from Mechanic Chapter 1: Ruins Star, Radiation Sickness
"Here are your daily medications, along with the firearms that must be fixed and retrieved this week, and furthermore..."
In Shelter No. 73 on the Ruins Star, an administration clerk loaded a stack of battered firearms onto the cart, pulled out a vial containing amber fluid, passed it to Su Yu, paused briefly, and issued a warning.
"Because of the Night Slayer Team's latest expansion efforts, the sanctuary lacks enough Antiradiation Potions. This marks your third dose, and it's the final one available. Best of luck."
Su Yu scrubbed his face hard, accepted the potion from the clerk, forced a grin, and replied: "Thanks, I'll take that blessing."
Saying so, he grabbed the cart and the potion, heading back to his workshop.
"Unlike other transmigrators, my life as a transmigrator feels truly disastrous..."
Once the repair area was organized, Su Yu gazed at the Antiradiation Potion he held and let out a wry laugh to himself.
To be precise, he didn't originate from this world; he was a transmigrator hailing from Blue Star.
Upon his arrival, he encountered a post-apocalyptic wasteland far more brutal than his native Blue Star by orders of magnitude.
[Ruins Star].
During the Human Empire's Great Expedition era, this planet served as a frontier outpost at the Galaxy's edge, offering navigation assistance and limited logistical support to human fleets navigating the Star Sea.
Yet in the Empire's forty-thousandth year of Galactic dominance,
the Great Expedition's grandeur had faded into historical oblivion, shattered by internal conflicts and invasions from alien species; the era of Galactic rule ended, transforming the once-elegant outpost [Azure] into merely another desolate Ruins Star amid the void.
Inhabitants of this Ruins Star descend from Great Expedition survivors. With lost technology and scarce resources, escape from the planet remains impossible for them.
Their destiny involves brief existences battling radiation and debris for survival.
Fortunately, a touch of fortune and the perks of his transmigrated physique,
despite his body reverting to around eleven or twelve years old upon crossing,
allowed him entry as a Shelter No. 73 resident and novice mechanic, thanks to minimal radiation impact and superior learning skills relative to locals.
Merely one year prior, the shelter's sole elder eager to teach Su Yu mechanical repairs succumbed to radiation sickness.
Shortly thereafter, poor Su Yu fell ill with the same affliction.
Su Yu examined his right arm, noting the extensive dark purple discoloration in the muscle from radiation damage, coupled with periodic fatigue.
Over time, this decay would extend across the whole arm, necessitating amputation.
In contrast to numerous fatal radiation cases that kill on contact, Su Yu's condition ranked as somewhat gentle.
Yet for an apprentice mechanic like Su Yu, with just over two years under his belt, arm loss would bar him from repair tasks entirely.
The Shelter tolerates no loafers.
Lacking mechanic status and alternative skills, any role Su Yu assumed would multiply in peril. Given his deteriorating health, he might end up as wasteland remains within a couple of years.
His sole lifeline lay in the Antiradiation Potion before him.
Among scant perks for shelter dwellers,
radiation victims qualify for weekly doses over three weeks. Post-three doses, recovery odds hover at ten percent based on sickness variant.
Additionally, twenty to thirty percent likelihood exists for stalling the disease's advance.
Given Su Yu's milder radiation symptoms,
his recovery probability could exceed ten percent.
"Should the worst happen, it ought to at least postpone the radiation disease, correct?"
Su Yu clenched his jaw.
Recent Night Slayer Team expansions inflated shelter material contribution costs.
Antiradiation Potions rose by twenty percent in price.
Still, extra time meant he could earn merits fixing firearms for the hunting squads, trading them for fresh potions.
Nevertheless,
following his daily labors,
Su Yu retrieved the newly issued Antiradiation Potion, uncorked it, and splashed its contents straight onto the decaying spot on his right arm!
As a modest outpost, Shelter No. 73 offers no premium Antiradiation Potions, which harm the body severely anyway. Swallowing or bathing the wound won't work; this rough application stands as the optimal approach.
"Ssss——!"
Akin to dousing hot coals with icy water, vapor surged from the rotting flesh on Su Yu's arm, intense agony making him grit his teeth, forehead veins popping, as he collapsed to the floor!
Though not his initial encounter with this potion, the torment remained nearly unbearable for Su Yu.
Only after thirty minutes did the sharp pain begin to subside.
Su Yu clothed himself, fetched a basic Nutrition Meal from the worn cupboard, consumed the bland, calorie-only plant paste, then hastily extinguished the lights, lay down, and dozed off.
The Antiradiation Potion requires an entire night to activate, with results unveiling come morning.
Harboring hopes for the morrow, Su Yu slipped into slumber.
Yet come dawn the following day,
as Su Yu rushed excitedly to the half-broken mirror, lifted his sleeve, the view that met him silenced even the ever-positive Su Yu!
The direst result.
No betterment appeared in the dead tissue of Su Yu's right arm, nor any slowdown.
The decay, previously covering one-fifth of the limb, inched closer to his wrist during the night.
Continuing thus,
within three months at latest, Su Yu's right arm muscles would fully die off.
Based on the arm's growing feebleness, mechanic work might cease in just one or two months for Su Yu.
"Is it from fixing so many firearms that my luck here became that of a jinxed marksman? Guns don't have souls, though!"
Frustration nearly brought tears to Su Yu's eyes.
Yet right then,
Su Yu spotted an unfamiliar element in the mirror ahead.
Wait.
Incorrect.
Nothing materialized on the mirror itself, but within Su Yu's sight, as he concentrated, a pale blue holographic interface slowly materialized!