Survival in the game world begins with Biochemical 2

Chapter 861 Atreus and Cerberus Gam
On the other side of Helheim, Atreus and Slud are searching for fragments of the mask.

"ha--!!"

Slud charged forward, wielding an iron bar. Although she was not yet fully grown, her strength was not to be underestimated.

Atreus provided support from the rear, his bow and arrows were extremely accurate, while Ingrid wielded her sword, unleashing streaks of sword energy to aid their battle.

Atreus has extensive experience fighting Spectres, while Slud, though lacking in this area, is still quite formidable in combat.

With their combined efforts, the undead warriors and ghost walkers who had come to obstruct them were all easily wiped out.

After arriving at a new, open area, Slud looked around and, to make sure there were no other enemies, asked Atreus, "Which way should we go next?"

Atreus took out the mask and used it to determine the direction: "Let's go in this direction."

Slud could also see that the mask's reaction was becoming stronger and more obvious, and she was somewhat excited: "We're about to find it, right? Once I complete this mission and go back, I can finally become a Valkyrie."

Atreus in this world has no experience fighting Valkyries, but he has seen them before, so he can understand Slud's thoughts.

“So you really do want to become a Valkyrie… That’s fine too,” Atreus said. “After all, you’re Odin’s granddaughter, he probably won’t do anything to you.”

Slud looked at him: "If you're going to repeat to me the conspiracy theory that my grandfather corrupted the Valkyries, then you can shut up. Otherwise, I might just give you a good whack."

During their journey, Atreus chatted with Slud for a bit. Hearing that Slud's dream was to become a Valkyrie, Atreus shared what she knew about the current Valkyries.

He didn't reveal everything either. He remained completely silent about everything on the island of Valhalla, only talking about what he had heard from Mimir about the Valkyries' experiences.

Needless to say, Slud did not believe him.

In the past, Artes would have chosen to argue his case, since what he said was true.

But now his personality and way of thinking have been somewhat influenced by Li You, and he knows that arguing with Slud at this time is pointless. He can't convince her, so he simply shuts up and doesn't say anything.

"The mask's reaction is getting more and more intense... It's just ahead!"

The two children hurried toward the location indicated by the mask, and then, just after passing through the passage ahead, they saw a huge hellhound bound to the open ground, its size comparable to the dragon Razerel.

The two of them held their breath instantly.

"This is……?"

—Just as the two were observing the hellhound, on the other side of the building, V, concealed, was also watching them.

For Li You, who was familiar with the game's plot, he knew that the two children would only return empty-handed, because the remaining mask fragments were not here at all.

The inscription, written in the frozen wind, refers not to Helheim, but to another country.

In the game, Atreus and Slud not only failed to find the mask fragments on their trip, but also released the imprisoned hellhound, Gam, due to Atreus's misjudgment.

Gam is a terrifying giant wolf capable of tearing rifts in the Nine Realms. According to Norse mythology, Tyr sacrificed one of his arms to successfully restrain it.

Unfortunately, Atreus and Slud didn't recognize the giant wolf. The two, who were searching for the mask, believed it was behind the room guarded by Gam, and Atreus, moved by compassion, released it.

The result is self-evident: Gam was ungrateful and tore through space to escape on his own, while Atreus and his companion found nothing behind him.

Atreus's misjudgment sparked conflict among his companions, and the release of Gam also brought new threats to the Nine Realms.

It was only at this point that Atreus realized his mistake and expressed that he no longer wanted to stay in Asgard and wanted to go back to his father.

Odin released him, and Kratos, along with Atreus, subdued Gam. Atreus also infused Gam with the soul of Fenrir, the dire wolf who died in the prologue of the fifth generation, which was attached to his dagger, turning Gam into the real Fenrir.

In this part of the story, Kratos and his son reconcile and confide in each other.

However, in Li You's opinion, this plot was really long, tedious, and forced. Atreus's arrogance, carelessness, and lack of responsibility made Li You very dissatisfied.

What he was most dissatisfied with was that Kratos taught Atreus so much in the fourth game, so why did the kid selectively forget it in the fifth game?

Does past growth equate to no growth at all? Does each generation have to start all over again? Will they return still young at heart?

What kind of superhero movie protagonist creation method is this...?

In short, Li You, who was familiar with the game's storyline, knew Atreus and his companion's goal, so of course he wouldn't stand idly by. He went to cause trouble for Heimdall himself, while sending V over here to keep an eye on Atreus.

Garm the hellhound is a big problem, especially since Atreus has never kept the dire wolf named Fenrir; that happened later. Therefore, this time it cannot follow the trajectory of Norse mythology and allow Fenrir to be born as Atreus's child.

Therefore, firstly, we must stop them from releasing Gam; secondly, Li You should also have V observe Atreus.

Previously, Li You had been thinking about whether he could arrange for Atreus to become an inside agent in Asgard, but he hadn't made up his mind.

Besides concerns about Atreus's safety and Kratos's reaction, one of the reasons he hadn't made a decision was that he didn't know if Atreus was up to the task.

So this is a test. If Atreus is still reckless enough to directly liberate Gam, then V will have to stop him and take him back to Kratos for re-education.

If Atreus doesn't do anything foolish, then we can consider whether or not to let him go undercover.

At this moment, V looked at the two children, ready to intervene at any time.

Below, Atreus and Slud were looking at the sleeping giant wolf with astonishment in their eyes.

Atreus could communicate with animals, so even though Gam was asleep, he could hear the wolf's longing for freedom.

It was clearly visible that Gam was bound to the ground by two extremely thick iron chains, making it difficult for him to even turn over.

Atreus felt compassion; he did not want to see any living beings bound and deprived of their freedom.

At the same time, the broken mask in his hand continued to emit light, reminding him that the mask fragments should be just ahead.

So naturally, Atreus had a similar guess to that in the original game.

Could the remaining fragment of the mask be inside the room blocked by the giant wolf?

From an objective standpoint, Atreus's mistake is indeed understandable, since the mask was a reminder that the target was right in front of him.

Not only him, but Slud also had a similar guess: "Could the mask be in front of us? What do we do then, chase this guy away?"

Atreus instinctively wanted to say, "Let's set him free," but before he could finish speaking, he remembered the story his father had told him about the frog that jumped into the well, and the legend of the dragon warrior who rang the ancient dragon's bell without verifying the facts, which Li You had given him. In the end, he paused.

He remained silent for a moment, then thought for a moment before saying, "Let's look around first."

While Gam was asleep, the two searched the surrounding area but found no useful clues.

Just as the two were exchanging glances, contemplating whether to release the giant wolf before them, the hellhound Gam, perhaps tired from sleeping, groggily rolled over, revealing the third chain that had been pinning him down.

Atreus was astonished: "There's a third chain? What is the origin of this wolf? Why is it chained here, and why are there three such terrifying chains?"

Perhaps because he hadn't been forcibly made less intelligent, he realized this time. Could this wolf, chained to the depths of Helheim by three such thick magical chains, truly pose no threat?
During the journey in the fourth game, Atreus did indeed help Kratos release many bound creatures, such as the dragon formed from the three-headed dwarf, the Valkyrie from the original game, and the giant whale from the fifth game. Even if the father and son in this world didn't experience as many things, they were indeed the ones who released the three bound dragons, so Atreus does have some ingrained habits in his thinking.

However, he now clearly recognizes that all their past attempts were based on the premise that Kratos was present and that they could handle any unexpected events.

With Kratos absent, he and Slud alone might not be able to keep things under control should an unexpected situation arise.

"Hey, look!"

As Atreus pondered whether or not to release the giant wolf, Slud, who had overheard his words and was observing his surroundings, also noticed something.

"Look at these chain bases, there are words engraved on them!"

Atreus came to the high place where Slud was standing and took a closer look. He found that each of the three chain bases was engraved with a part of the runes.

He pieced the runes together to identify them, then read them aloud: "Ga...Gam? Cerberus Gam!?"

Atreus was also taken aback when the name was read aloud.

The giant wolf before them was none other than the hellhound Gam!
At that moment, Atreus was incredibly glad he hadn't acted rashly; he had heard the legends about Gam and knew just how dangerous it was.

Slud realized what had happened and was quite shaken: "This is the same Gam who bit off Tyr's arm? Good thing we didn't wake him up..."

Slud glanced at Atreus and said, "Your judgment is quite accurate, not bad."

Atreus seemed a little embarrassed.

However, even after learning that the giant wolf in front of them was Gam, the two still did not intend to give up their mission to find the mask.

They searched the area carefully and cautiously and finally found a way to get past Gam and into the room behind it—Gam was huge and had a lot of fur. It seemed to be blocking the entrance, but you could just squeeze through by hugging the wall.

Compared to the fifth generation, Atreus and Slud are both younger and more slender, which is why they can slip past Gam behind them without disturbing him.

“Let’s go take a look first,” Atreus said decisively.

After squeezing through the gap, to their surprise, Gam found not a room with stored items behind him, but a dead end. The road broke off beneath their feet, and ahead lay only the cold, flowing River Styx.

"Is it... a dead end?"

Both were surprised, and when Atreus took out the mask, he found that it was no longer responding at all.

"How could this be?"

The two children looked at each other in bewilderment.

“…There’s no other way, let’s leave here for now. Gam is still too dangerous.” Atreus composed himself and said, “Maybe we missed some hidden path before, let’s go find it.”

Slud nodded: "That's the only way."

They carefully squeezed through the gap again, keeping far out of Gam's reach, and continued their search.

Meanwhile, on the rooftop of a nearby building, V, who had been watching the two from beginning to end, smiled.

"Looks like we can give this to the kid."

……

This is the deepest part of Helheim at this moment.

"Snapped--!!"

With a sharp crack, Heimdall was sent flying like a rag, crashing heavily from the top of the frozen building to the ground below.

With a loud thud, he was embedded deep into the frozen ground, unable to climb out for a while.

Li You, meanwhile, hovered in mid-air, his posture casual, his expression a half-smile, holding a beautifully decorated magic pouch in his hand.

That was the pocket Heimdall used to store his belongings.

Li You took the bag in front of him and looked at it. There was indeed some kind of restriction on it, but he just reached out and touched it to break the spell and open the bag.

His consciousness probed into the magic pocket and immediately located the ore radiating an extremely cold aura, drawing it out.

Li You briefly sensed the aura of the ore, and then a look of joy appeared in his eyes.

Although he originally just wanted to give it a try, the ore actually turned out to be just what he needed.

Previously, Brock had offered to build armor for Li You using the blueprints provided by Kratos, and Li You was indeed very interested in the abilities of those two sets of armor.

However, just like other weapons and equipment, at Li You's current level, the weapons and equipment that were originally useful need to be further enhanced in order to be of any help to him.

Therefore, even the Zeus Armor and the Ares Armor were not very satisfactory to Li You.

However, Brock had already seen this out, so he took the opportunity to suggest that he wanted to try to incorporate the characteristics of many different armors into these two sets of armor to create a true set of armor for Li You that could be called a god-level armor.

Li You was naturally very interested in Brock's idea and had no reason to refuse.

Then Brock gave him a standard side quest.

“To forge armor of this caliber, I’m lacking far too many materials,” Brock grumbled. “Bring out all the precious raw materials you have. Also, I need you to find some materials with special properties before I can even begin.”

Li You chuckled, but did not refuse.

The peculiar ore in front of him was one of the raw materials he had discovered that met Brock's requirements.

Li You then decided to put it into his backpack with satisfaction.

"--etc!"

Just then, a discordant voice came from below.

Li You looked down and saw Heimdall crawling out of the deep pit with a bright red handprint on his face.

"...You think you can just take what the Father of Gods wants? You'll have to step over my dead body!"

Li You laughed: "Even if you hadn't said anything, I was already planning to do it. Why the rush?"

Heimdall didn't hear what he said at all, because he had been repeatedly humiliated and was now somewhat insane.

The incredibly prominent handprint on his face, imbued with an aura of divine power, made Heimdall feel Li You's disdain and mockery even without needing to urinate or look in a mirror.

So at this moment, he gripped the hilt of Hofde's sword tightly, let out a loud shout, and leaped up, charging towards Li You!
"Aaaaaahh ...

(End of this chapter)