HACKED 10

“It will be useless!”

“If it broke because I was away for a long time, isn’t it fine now since I’ve returned? I don’t know what you mean by running on ‘energy,’ but anyway, all I have to do is make the electricity and everything else come back, right.”

“That isn’t a problem to be thought of so simply…”

“Whether it works or not, I have to at least try going there. There might be a much easier and simpler way, so should I really be doing cardio that isn’t even in my destiny with this body right now? Huh? If something goes wrong, I could die. A person who died while climbing stairs while bleeding profusely… that’s at the level of receiving a * Darwin Award.”

“Even so…”

“Hey, Chirpy.”

“…….”

“I am the master. I will take responsibility for whatever result comes out, so for now, lead the way.”

“…….”

Chirpy was silent for a while. Wondering why he was being like this, I looked down to see him staring at me blankly with a dazed expression.

“What are you doing, I told you to lead the way. Are you counting down to when I die?”

“No, no. It’s just… I just…”

The fellow stuttered in a choked-up voice. What’s this, all of a sudden?

“Until now, we have been abandoned here for far too long. I thought no one would ever visit this place again… Hearing Myeong-nim say ‘master’… it finally feels real that you have returned…”

Tears began to well up and pop in the fellow’s black, round eyes. Seeing that, I momentarily hesitated.

It was only a few months ago at most that I quit <No Lifer>. It was a time that passes quickly if you are busy working or find another hobby and get distracted—not extremely short, but not long either.

But just now, such a thought occurred to me. In this game, much more time than that might have passed.

Based on the way this fellow treats me, and the Gumiho earlier… didn’t they act as if a person they thought was dead had come back to life after hundreds of years?

A player’s life does not change significantly just because they quit one game. It’s just that the habit of logging into the game disappears, and they do something else during that time. Once they find something else more fun to kill time with, they easily forget the game they quit.

But what happens to the world inside a game that is neglected after the player leaves? It was a subject I had naturally never thought about, but it suddenly came to mind now.

The master of this world who does not return. Access records that are not updated. Naturally, resources and currency do not accumulate, and the characters’ parameters remain stopped at the time of the last login. Even injured characters stay exactly in their injured state…

How would it feel for a world that ran only for one person to stop entirely, and to be trapped there without free will, rotting forever. I cannot even dare to imagine it.

I cut off the deepening thoughts and intentionally hurried Chirpy.

“Right, right. I get it. But your master is about to die right now, so quickly show me the way.”

“The elevator is straight ahead from here, then turn left… Sniffle. Honk.”

I ended up witnessing it. The sight of Chirpy sobbing and stealthily blowing his nose on my clothes.

But I didn’t particularly say anything. I wasn’t in the state of mind to do so, and I wondered if there would be any difference even if this fellow’s secretions were added when I was already stained with blood and dirt. Above all, going to the command room was urgent right now.

When I turned the corner as instructed, there was an elevator. The door was so large that I thought a heavy truck or a tank could enter. It was closer to a freight elevator than one for passengers. Naturally, since these parts were not implemented in the game, it was fascinating.

The fellow’s words about the electricity being cut off were true. The electric display board that should have shown the floor numbers was pitch black and turned off. The up and down buttons also did not light up.

“This really went out.”

“That is why I told you. The electricity was cut off a long time ago…”

“Ha, this is driving me crazy.”

It felt as if even the shred of hope I had was being shattered into pieces. I really have to climb ten floors of stairs raw? While being wary of enemies who might chase me at any time, in a state where I’m dripping blood from my chest and neck?

Filled with resentment, I repeatedly pressed the up button like crazy. Of course, there was naturally no way the turned-off elevator would suddenly turn on just because I did that.

Naturally… there was… no…?

In the short moment of pressing and releasing the button, a blue light flashed on the button and then went out. Seeing that, both I and Chirpy made a stupid sound at the same time.

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

“Your hand. Please place your hand on it. Not the button, but above it!”

Above the up and down buttons, there was a panel that was black and powered down. It was something I hadn’t even looked at until now. I placed my palm there as instructed.

Ding.

A faint but cheerful sound occurred. A tingling shiver brushed my fingertips.

Hummmm…

A small vibration was felt from deep inside the elevator door. It was like a large mechanical device that had been asleep for a long time was waking up very slowly from a long hibernation… The sound of an engine stretching and pulleys, gears, and parts gradually engaging.

The panel where I placed my hand also slowly began to glow with a blue light. Simultaneously, phrases were output on the screen as if being typed one letter at a time.

‘Remember, that history which is not remembered repeats itself.’

Welcome back, Compiler. We are restarting the Pantheon where all your stories dwell.

Power system activation progress… 1%

“…This actually works.”

“I, I suppose so.”

“I’ll let myself slide, but why are you surprised too?”

“That is because, naturally, I have never experienced the special situation where ‘the Compiler suddenly disappears and is absent for a very long time, then suddenly returns’…”

I want to nitpick something, but since he’s right, I have nothing to say.

Power system activation progress… 2%

Because I kept my hand on it, the number went up. But… this value…

“It’s slow.”

The way it goes up is terribly slow. It felt like it took a little over a minute to go from 1% to 2%. By simple calculation alone, I have to wait about two hours until 100%?

“It is because it’s breathing energy into this entire giant space, after all. It has also been far too long since it was discharged.”

Well, even turning on a desktop computer takes booting time. Some audio equipment is so sensitive that you can’t use it immediately after turning it on; you even have to give it warm-up time.

Without taking my hand off the panel, I stayed wary of my surroundings. Because there was no telling when the bastards fighting on the floor below would come running up.

Power system activation progress… 4%

Power system activation progress… 5%

When the progress reached 5%, I felt something wrong with my body. The dizziness one might feel when riding in a car climbing a mountain path quickly, and a headache.

“Ugh…”

I muffled my mouth with one hand and hunched my body. The world was spinning.

Why? Because of the bleeding? Even so, for my body to deteriorate this much in five minutes? Or…

“You must stop now, Myeong-nim. I misjudged. It was premature to touch the power system. Please take your hand off quickly!”

Chirpy, who flew over in a flurry, hugged my hand with both arms.

“Why? You told me to put it there earlier.”

“Did I not tell you. Our power system runs on Myeong-nim’s energy… This panel acts as a terminal that receives Myeong-nim’s energy and converts it into power.”

“Ah, so through here, my energy or whatever is being sucked out?”

“It seems Myeong-nim’s condition is worse than expected. You won’t be able to hold out until it reaches 100%.”

“I have to operate the elevator to get to the top floor anyway. This is the only way. And I can still endure it.”

“I’m telling you, you’ll really collapse before you even set foot in the elevator!”

Whiz.

What stopped our conversation was a small sound. A small sound that could never be ignored, making one’s spine feel a chill instinctively.

“Myeong-nim!”

I felt Chirpy’s shout as if I were hearing it from far, far away. His small hands squeezed out all their strength to push my upper body away.

My movements could not keep up with my senses and thoughts. By the time I perceived that I had been pushed away by Chirpy, something had already brushed past my cheek forcefully.

“…….”

One beat late, a pain like being seared by fire rushed in. Stepping back two paces, I reflexively placed my hand on my cheek.

My hand was beyond damp—it was slippery. Something was streaming down my knuckles and the back of my hand. Without understanding what the cause of this pain was, I looked down.

“Gasp… Mye, Myeong, nim, quickly, fl… ee…”

Chirpy was slumped on the floor at my feet. While weakly fluttering his wings made of book pages.

And piercing exactly through the center of those wings… was a single arrow.

Perhaps because he is a fairy-like being, blood did not flow from Chirpy. But from the spot where the arrow was embedded, something like light dust was scattering away.

I knew instinctively. That that was the foundation making up his life.

And also what the current situation was.

It’s a sniper.