HACKED 118

The presence of the Compiler, who used to log in religiously every single day, suddenly cut off. Without any warning.

And then, an ‘Anomaly’ occurred.

The ‘Anomaly’ referred to everything that happened after the Compiler vanished. Because so many changes occurred simultaneously and across multiple points, a term was needed to lump them all together. Thus, the Incarnations of <UserMyeong808> chose the word Anomaly.

One day, the Master was replaced. It was a statement difficult to believe by common sense, but it was truly the case.

The panels in the Central Command Room no longer glowed with the blue light the Incarnations knew so well. Ominous noise and characters broken beyond recognition took its place. It looked exactly as if it were infected by a virus.

And then, a ‘New Master’ appeared. Their attitude was extremely relaxed and arrogant, like an emperor stepping into a conquered territory where the occupation was already complete.

<Mountain Hero> still remembers the moment he first saw the New Master.

The New Master appeared in the Central Command Room suddenly at a certain moment on a certain day. The Incarnation guarding the place at that time was <Mountain Hero>.

He had stubbornly refused to leave that spot ever since the Compiler disappeared. Even when other Incarnations tried to persuade him, saying that the Master wouldn’t return just because he stayed there and that there was no need to be tied to one place like this, he remained immovable.

Therefore, the first Incarnation the New Master encountered was, naturally, <Mountain Hero>.

“Show your respects. I am your Master.”

Every single word was strangely laced with noise. It was like playing back a low-quality recording on an old tape.

The New Master appearing out of nowhere and introducing himself. <Mountain Hero> even doubted whether that person, or that thing, was human.

And for good reason—the New Master had nothing that could be called facial features. The body was human, but there was a gaping, pitch-black hole where the face should be. Would it look like that if one were to grind away a whole face with a massive power drill?

Furthermore, considering the size of a human face, the hole was unnaturally deep. Surely a human face would be the size of a basketball at most, but that hole looked like it could swallow someone’s arm… or perhaps an entire body. It was a physical impossibility.

‘It must be an illusion.’

<Mountain Hero> tried to believe so.

However, that wasn’t the only strange thing about the New Master. Looking into that pitch-black hole that spiraled endlessly inward triggered an instinctive fear and nausea. If he stared for too long, his consciousness grew hazy, and he even saw hallucinations as if noise were flickering before his eyes.

It was an utterly loathsome appearance. He felt a strong revulsion at the thought of having to call such a thing Master.

‘This entity… is the Compiler I knew, <UserMyeong808>?’

Maybe it was. After all, he had never seen the physical body of <UserMyeong808> even once.

He and the Compiler had always communicated only through light and ripples, with the medium of the screen between them. What the Compiler looked like, whether he was a person, or even a living organism to begin with… he knew nothing.

All information was always given unilaterally to the Compiler. Abhorrently so. While the Compiler likely saw through the names, origins, abilities, and statuses of all the Incarnations, <Mountain Hero>, an Incarnation, didn’t even know if he actually existed.

If that person truly was <UserMyeong808>, <Mountain Hero> had to offer his greetings immediately. Was it not the return of the Master who had been absent for a long time?

“……”

However, <Mountain Hero> took a couple of steps back. One hand was gripping the scabbard at his waist tightly. He himself didn’t know if he was trying to draw his sword or, conversely, trying to stop himself from drawing it.

“Seeing as you are here, are you the one who acted as the secretary until most recently?”

The New Master scanned <Mountain Hero> with interest. Since there were no eyes, it was impossible to judge accurately whether he was looking or not, but since the head was turned this way, it would be considered ‘looking’.

“What are you doing, standing still? Show your respects. I told you, I am your Master.”

The more he listened to the New Master’s words, the more his reason grew clouded. Or perhaps it was because he had looked inside that whirlpool-like hole for too long. He felt as if everything the opponent said was right, as if he were nothing more than a possession belonging to the opponent, and as if he should kneel before the Master this instant to prove his loyalty.

<Mountain Hero> attempted to offer a greeting as was ingrained in his body. Even for a greeting, as an Incarnation of San Gun whose status was far higher than that of a mere human, he didn’t need to bow low before the Compiler. It was merely a matter of uttering the lines programmed into his head for ‘when a long-absent user returns’.

“……”

But… something. Something was wrong.

An instinctive suspicion that the entity before his eyes was different from the Compiler, who used to get gloomily pouting strangely often and liked to play jokes while pretending he didn’t. The memory of that day when they conversed haltingly through the ridiculous methods of a poke function and housing items. The ‘You are my favorite’ card he had looked down at for a long time.

These intangible clues gathered together to become a sixth sense. And that sixth sense caught hold of <Mountain Hero>’s reason.

The aura of the confused-looking <Mountain Hero> shifted in an instant. While still holding the scabbard with one hand, he raised his other hand and placed it on the sword hilt.

Click. A heavy sound occurred, just before the blade slipped from the scabbard.

“Get lost.”

A sharply honed fighting spirit, the murderous intent of a predator eyeing its prey, focused on one spot. <Mountain Hero>’s eyes glistened.

“How dare you attempt to falsely claim the title of Master. You fake.”

“Ha, haha, hahahaha! A fake? Me?”

After bursting into laughter while generating noise loud enough to make the ears ache, the opponent suddenly stopped laughing.

“Impressive.”

He didn’t even deny the word fake. A chill ran down <Mountain Hero>’s spine at the ominous intuition.

“To immediately break through the cognitive pollution infused with the essence of technology developed by the White Paper Legion. To think a mere Incarnation could pull this off. Was there a flaw in the research? No, that shouldn’t be possible.”

The opponent chattered away at his own whim. <Mountain Hero> couldn’t understand most of what he said, but he remained still with his teeth clenched.

“Then it seems you are an anomalous entity. That rare thing, an anomalous entity. Good! Very good. The Legion will be pleased as well.”

“……”

“Possessing excellent mental strength and judgment, and loyalty on top of that. I suppose you are worth the Compiler’s favoritism.”

“……”

“O nameless Incarnation, you shall continue to be my right hand. Just as you did before, you only need to assist me from now on.”

He tried to let whatever that thing babbled go in one ear and out the other. However, he couldn’t tolerate it acting shamelessly as if it had been <UserMyeong808> from the very beginning.

“I told you to get lost.”

Clang!

<Mountain Hero> drew his sword with a menacing aura. However, the opponent didn’t budge from his spot.

“If you harm me, your Master, you will lose your ‘Status as an Incarnation’.”

“You are not my Master.”

“Well, I wonder about that.”

“……”

“This Pantheon has already recognized me as its Master. I have completed the seizure of authority over the power systems. No matter how you look at it, I am the legitimate Master of this place. If you harm someone like me, it becomes an act of mutiny, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t care.”

“How could you not care. Isn’t losing your status something you Incarnations hate more than death? When you are nothing more than artificially mass-produced phantoms with zero value if you take away the narrative!”

<Mountain Hero> felt no further need to listen. The sword was swung at a speed invisible to the eye. However…

Clang!

The lunging blade failed to reach the opponent. The attack was repelled as if an invisible barrier had been set up in the air.

“Even after I kindly warned you, you lunged in the end. Utterly foolish.”

The New Master stood his ground confidently, as if he had expected it.

‘Is he carrying an artifact with a shield function? Or is it his own unique ability?’

<Mountain Hero> steadied his posture again, weighing various possibilities.

It was then. The price for attacking the ‘one recognized by the system as the Master’, the rebound, struck him. A punishment-like pain gnawed through the blood vessels of his entire body and constricted his heart.

“Ugh!”

<Mountain Hero> dropped to one knee without realizing it. He barely managed to keep his body from collapsing completely to the floor by planting his sword vertically into the ground to lean on it.

Something hot surged up from within. <Mountain Hero> covered his mouth with one hand. But it was already too late. Something went drip-drop onto the floor, running down his nose and mouth.

“Urgh…”

What he vomited was sticky blood with lumps here and there. Even though it was freshly spilled, the color was strangely black. Furthermore, it gave off the terrible stench characteristic of blood that had oxidized and rotted. It was enough to make him gag even though he had vomited it himself.

If it were simply pain, if it were simply vomiting blood, he could have endured. But the rebound wasn’t just that.

The feeling of his status as an Incarnation being carved away in chunks. A horrific sensation that could only be described as his soul being torn to shreds… invaded his entire body.