HACKED 108

The ‘You Are My Favorite’ card.

<Mountain Hero> remembered it too. It was something he had once received from the Compiler—if one could even call it receiving when it was tossed haphazardly from the void.

At that time, he had harbored doubts about the existence of the Compiler, who could be neither seen nor touched. He alone could not accept what all the other Incarnations naturally took for granted.

In the midst of that, that day arrived. The very day the Compiler stayed in the Pantheon all night, contrary to his usual connection patterns.

That day, the Compiler was very different from other times in many ways. Far from simply pouring out unilateral instructions and leaving, he reacted sensitively to <Mountain Hero>’s every move and paid close attention to each of his answers. He even attempted two-way communication using the clumsy but ingenious means of housing items.

The strange conversation shared with the Compiler that day became a sort of turning point for <Mountain Hero>.

At one time, he had even wondered if the Compiler was an artificial intelligence or a system. However, he came to realize that the Compiler was a living being with a name, a personality, and a physical substance.

He also found out that the Compiler lived a different life when not connected to the Pantheon. He learned that the Compiler was interested in his Incarnations and wanted to know more… and even that out of all those many Incarnations, the Compiler liked <Mountain Hero> the most, enough to call him his “favorite.”

<Mountain Hero>’s attachment mixed with hatred and his tenacious curiosity toward the Compiler were not a one-way street. That was enough.

…He once thought that was enough.

“I did. What about it?”

<Mountain Hero> spoke while feigning as stoic an expression as possible. Yeo Myeong answered half a beat late.

“I remember now.”

Did that mean he had forgotten until now? <Mountain Hero> himself had never forgotten it for a single moment.

An emotion sharpened to a point brushed past his heart. Others would usually call this emotion “disappointment” or “feeling hurt,” but <Mountain Hero>, who was still clumsy with human emotions, did not know this. He only vaguely perceived that he felt unpleasant.

‘Well, I suppose.’

But he soon understood. It was understandable that he might forget.

Yeo Myeong was unique to him in every aspect. He was the only Compiler and the only Master. He was the creator who allowed him to exist in this world, the first being he saw since birth, and the subject for whom he first felt various emotions.

But it would be different for Yeo Myeong. He already had many Incarnations lined up. <Mountain Hero> was neither the first nor the last.

5-star? There were others besides <Mountain Hero>. Favorite? Saying he liked him as number one meant, in the end, that there were also number two, three, and four. Thus, no matter what he did, he could never become “unique” to Yeo Myeong.

“At th… at time, that night…. I took sleeping pills… but the medicine didn’t work well… no, it did work, but… not enough to fall asleep. In the end, I stayed up all night.”

Yeo Myeong continued speaking slowly. Because his condition was at its worst, his manner of speaking and his voice were very different from usual.

“When I take that medicine, I don’t remember the things I did the day before very well…. So, I was unsure if it was something that actually happened or not. Just now… I remembered.”

Whether he knew it himself or not, Yeo Myeong usually spoke clearly without dropping a single syllable. His pronunciation was so accurate and without fluff that when one heard the orders he gave, it felt like they were being pierced directly into the mind rather than the ears.

Furthermore, his natural tone was a languid bass that felt slightly drained of strength, making it very pleasant to hear. To the point that one might unintentionally think they would like to hear him sing at least once.

He had said it before. That he had anthropophobia and social anxiety. But for someone like that, he neither avoids facing others nor is he clumsy with words.

His contradictions do not end there.

Yeo Myeong was accustomed to hostility. Conversely, he acted as if he were allergic to goodwill, finding it awkward. Even though all the Incarnations of this Pantheon were pouring distorted affection upon him in different forms.

Just what on earth had happened? What kind of life had he lived? How did he come to think that way? <Mountain Hero> was curious, but he could not ask.

‘I’m sure you have your reasons. But I’m not curious.’

‘…….’

‘I have my reasons too. But you didn’t ask.’

‘…….’

‘Let’s not ask or tell each other.’

Because he had said that.

‘Would he answer even if I asked now.’

<Mountain Hero> questioned himself. The answer came quickly. His Master probably would not answer.

‘What would I even do once I knew.’

Right now, even <Mountain Hero> himself could not clearly define his feelings for him.

Sometimes he hated Yeo Myeong enough to want to kill him. Even now, as he sat by the bedside having volunteered to be his nurse.

At other times, it was awkward. It was still often unfamiliar that the abstract being who used to communicate only through light and waves was this young man before his eyes.

And sometimes, he was terribly lovely. If <Mountain Hero> had put everything he wanted to do to Yeo Myeong into action, Yeo Myeong would probably not have a single spot on his body that was intact from head to toe by now. In every sense of the word.

It was hard enough just pretending to be a “sane Incarnation” while hiding the murderous intent and affection that surged up at all hours. In such a state, what would be the point of prying into the other person’s circumstances?

Yeo Myeong sighed and then slowly opened his eyes.

His eyes, fringed with long eyelashes, fluttered, and soon his pupils—which had a grayish tint rare for an Asian—were revealed. Although he still looked drained of energy, his pupils were focused clearly. It seemed he had finally regained full consciousness.

It was a beautiful appearance no matter when one saw it. Enough that there would be no sense of dissonance even if he were placed among the Incarnations, who were all beauties. Didn’t even <Sickly Model Student> mistake Yeo Myeong for a fellow Incarnation upon first seeing him?

But now, the feeling of pity was stronger than the impression of beauty.

The whites of his eyes were all bloodshot, making him look wretched. Was that all? The areas under his eyes were beyond blue and were pitch black, and his gaunt cheeks had no blood in them at all, so his fine veins were visible.

‘That’s enough, so close your eyes as they are and rest more. Please.’

These words rose to the tip of his tongue before he barely managed to keep them in.

To be honest, it wasn’t a situation where he could afford to rest as much as he wanted. Right outside this door, there was a mountain of work for Yeo Myeong to handle.

Even so, to <Mountain Hero>, Yeo Myeong’s well-being was more important than anything. However, his Master, who knew how to take care of everyone else but not himself, was unnecessarily quick-witted only in these matters.

“Ah, right…. It’s a mess right now, isn’t it.”

It was a phrase where so much was omitted that it was difficult to understand at first glance.

“It’s a mess.”

However, <Mountain Hero> nodded nonchalantly. He was slowly getting used to Yeo Myeong’s way of speaking, which cut out the fluff and spoke only of the main point.

“Are the Incarnations recovering? I need to go over to that Pantheon once to renew ownership. What happened to <Valkyrie Leading to Death>? Where is my terminal…”

<Mountain Hero>’s patience was not very long. Holding back what he wanted to say only worked exactly once. His inner thoughts burst out without filtering.

“Forget the terminal or whatever and just shut up. What do you have so much to say for, when you’re a patient who can’t even get up from your seat.”

“…….”

“You just cursed at me in your head, didn’t you?”

“…No.”

The answer was strangely slow. It was written on Yeo Myeong’s face like this:

‘Shit. How did he know?’

My Master Baby is damn hard to understand, but he’s also a guy who is quite easy to read in times like this. <Mountain Hero> almost laughed in spite of himself.

Of course, even if he told him to stop talking about work, he wasn’t a Master who would listen obediently.

“Mister San Gun was also hurt a lot, wasn’t he. I thought your stamina was less than 10… uh, but why do you look so fine.”

“Since there were some resources left that you had put in the recovery room before, I made good use of them. After scraping them all together and using them, I recovered about half, even if it’s not full health.”

The light in Yeo Myeong’s eyes, which wasn’t there to begin with, rapidly disappeared by the second.

“With whose permission?”

“With mine, of course.”

“The other Incarnations must also have severe injuries, so what were you thinking, using it all for yourself, Mister San Gun?”

“Myeong. Think about it. Aren’t I your favorite. You should set everything aside and recover me first.”

“No, why are you being so confident about this?”

Yeo Myeong looked up as if he found it absurd. Even so, with his drooping eyes and dark circles, it wasn’t intimidating at all.

“Who earned those resources?”

Since it had come to this, <Mountain Hero> decided to be openly childish. But Yeo Myeong was not an easy opponent.

“I did.”

“By whose ability?”

“By mine.”

After a moment of silence, <Mountain Hero> brought out his final card.

“…Whose am I.”

“Don’t try your cheap tricks. Later, move the resources that are with Ms. Malchi and fill it back up. Don’t work the other Incarnations like dogs; you must do it all yourself, Mister San Gun.”

Of course, it didn’t work at all.

He was a precious 5-star body, yet he was now destined to act as a handyman, a role he wasn’t born for. But well, what did a bit of heavy lifting matter? His Master told him to do it. San Gun nodded indifferently.

Only then did Yeo Myeong relax the tension in his eyes.

“How do you plan to recover the remaining half?”

“Just as you said, after moving the resources and filling the recovery room, I’ll have to do it with that.”

“Even if you’ve recovered halfway, you still have so many injuries. Are you going to do manual labor while commuting that long distance several times? The wounds that have barely healed will all burst open again.”

“Then what do you want me to do? Is there another way?”

Yeo Myeong lowered his gaze slightly. His pupils rolled slowly as if he were thinking about something.

After how much time had passed, he looked up. Their eyes met again.

“Mister San Gun.”

Yeo Myeong spoke in a whisper with that characteristically languid voice.

“Do you want to have sex?”