HACKED 126

Among the Incarnations, there are those who are deeply interested in the Pantheon’s stats and metrics, and those who are not.

Typical examples of the former are Hwarang and Agent. One of them targeted my terminal every chance he got, like a relative’s child trying to snatch away a gaming console during a holiday, and the other simply hacked the terminal to synchronize it with his watch in real-time. Though their objectives differed, they both shared a profound interest in my terminal.

The latter category consists of Dokkaebi and the twins. Those kids didn’t know, nor did they try to find out, how many resources were in the Pantheon, what percentage the power system was charged to, or what the status of the other Incarnations was. They simply followed orders if I gave them, and ate happily if I gave them something delicious. This simple type is far better than the gloomy bastards who act like they have a thousand snakes coiled inside their bellies.

In the middle are Ja-myeong-go, San Gun, and Gumiho. Ja-myeong-go wants to know about the Pantheon’s status, but he seems to restrain himself, considering it irreverent to look into the terminal or interfere without permission. As expected of the only sensible person in our Pantheon.

As for San Gun and Gumiho… I’m not quite sure which side they fall on. If San Gun grew curious about something, he would openly demand that I show him the terminal, and once his curiosity was satisfied, he would withdraw cleanly. Gumiho was truly ambiguous; at times, he seemed completely indifferent to what happened to Incarnations other than himself, yet at other times, he seemed otherwise.

So, the conclusion is… my statement that “no key fragment appeared in this merger” drew different reactions from each of the Incarnations.

“I was actually intending to report to you regarding that matter.”

Agent replied first, as if he had been waiting. Thorough to a fault, just as expected of a terminal-hacker and my resident stalker.

“Key fragment? A key is a key, what’s a fragment? Who broke the key? What kind of key is it?”

That was Dokkaebi.

“…”

Hwarang narrowed his eyes, looking dissatisfied, while San Gun wore an unreadable expression. Gumiho merely tilted his head silently. His fox ears, usually hidden by his hair and hard to see, pricked up.

“One moment.”

Agent approached me. Standing beside me, he lowered his head slightly and whispered in a low voice while covering his mouth with one hand.

“The first fragment appeared during the first merger, and you acquired the second fragment in the central command room.”

The fact that the second fragment had been hanging around the neck of the fake master he had served with such loyalty—as if he’d give up his very liver and gallbladder for him. It was very like Agent to leave that part out. It meant he was crafty.

“After confirming that no fragment was obtained this time, I formulated a hypothesis of my own.”

‘A hypothesis? What hypothesis? Could it be that the Desire Sensor actually exists in this world, or something like that?’

…There’s no way.

“Keep talking.”

“The ‘fragment of the key to the door leading to reality’… it seems it can likely only be obtained from a ‘true enemy.’ Not a Compiler belonging to the Narrative Compilation Union whom we were forced to fight due to the dimensional merger, but someone fully belonging to the White Paper Legion. Either a member of the Record Erasure Army, or a fake Compiler who infiltrated as a spy.”

“That is the most likely possibility in the current situation.”

If the key fragment was something that could be obtained from every opponent I defeated, then Mr. IsItPresbyopiaCrap should have dropped a fragment when he died. However, no fragment was found on him; it only came from that strange monster that popped out of the Neural Network Transplant Research Wing.

When applying Agent’s hypothesis, the puzzle pieces fit. It is only natural that neither Mr. IsItPresbyopiaCrap nor Mr. DriedAnchovyLowerEnds had a fragment. It was because they were not spies for the White Paper Legion.

“Then is the key fragment an item created by the White Paper Legion?”

“If my hypothesis is true, then that would be the case.”

But besides that, there are more unsolved mysteries.

“Why on earth does that fragment drop only for me? No, before that. The name itself is strange. ‘Fragment of the key to the door leading to reality.’ That implies this world isn’t reality. It’s a name given strictly from my perspective.”

“…”

“If this was truly an object of the White Paper Legion that happened to fall into my hands… it should have had a name like ‘fragment of the key to the door leading to another world’.”

When I first obtained this thing called a key fragment, I was simply thrilled. Blinded by the hope that I might return to reality if I collected all the fragments, I was only preoccupied with how to get the other fragments and how many I needed to collect… I failed to consider the suspicious points.

But thinking it over carefully, there was more than one strange thing.

‘Leading to reality’? To those living here, this place is reality. To them, the 21st-century Korea I lived in is actually the two-dimensional world and the otherworld.

An item that fell into my hands at such a coincidental timing with such a coincidental name. Is this really the lifeline of salvation that will return me to reality? I couldn’t shake that thought.

“It might be due to the Pantheon’s translation system. This Pantheon detects the language and script most familiar to you and automatically translates all speech and text. For someone like me, an Incarnation originating from the same era and nation as you, there would have been no problem communicating even without such a translation system.”

“And?”

“This ‘fragment of the key to the door leading to reality.’ It might not have originally had such a name. I do not know what language is used in the White Paper Legion, so I cannot know the original name. It is possible that through the translation stage, it was paraphrased into the expression most suitable and easiest for you to understand.”

‘It’s not impossible. It could very well be that. The problem is that it might not be.’

The more I thought about it, the more complicated my head became. Hypotheses, conjectures, deductions. Everything was uncertain.

“I should go to the Neural Network Transplant Research Wing.”

I reached a conclusion after much agonizing. Agent listened to my words without much of a reaction.

“There are still points of doubt over there as well. During the first merger, an abnormally huge and powerful monster appeared in that district. It was a guy I’d never seen before, one that shouldn’t appear on that map… wait a minute.”

Come to think of it, Agent had a history of hiding behind that monster to attack his allies. He even scurried away alone once it looked like the monster was going to die.

Regardless of his history of serving the fake master, I’m accepting him now because he says he’ll be loyal to me, but recalling that incident made me feel wary of him all over again. I glared at him with eyes full of suspicion.

“Does that anomaly from back then have anything to do with you?”

“None at all. My encounter with it was purely a coincidence. I simply utilized it impulsively because I thought it would be useful in persuading you at the time.”

Agent answered without hesitation. However, my suspicion still wasn’t cleared.

“Ah, I see. Sorry for doubting… as if. I can’t believe a word you say. Didn’t you perform some Blood Cult ritual while shouting ‘The Heavenly Demon has descended, all demons shall bow down’?”

“…”

Agent looked down at me silently. Somehow, his face seemed to say, ‘What are you even talking about, you otaku?’ Of course, that’s just my one-sided paranoia. I made a rough excuse.

“You know the Government and Martial Arts do not interfere, right? If you do that, it’s a setting collapse.”

“…Have I ever told you a lie even once until now?”

“You haven’t told a lie. It’s just that you sneakily conceal the truth while doing shady things.”

Don’t try to act like a pitiful, persecuted loyal subject, you treacherous courtier. I know your colorful track record, the heavens know, the earth knows, and even Chirpy knows.

“If I ever catch you lying later, you’re going straight to being a fragment. Got it?”

I made the most menacing expression I could and made a gesture of cutting my throat with the side of my hand. Agent bowed his head calmly with a short response.

“When will you be going to the research wing?”

“Now.”

“I will accompany you.”

I immediately informed the other Incarnations of my plan as well.

No one was puzzled. On the contrary, the general atmosphere was that they welcomed my decision. They said they had been curious about that district for a long time but were disappointed they couldn’t go because it was sealed off.

The research wing district is an empty map with no monsters or items. In short, it’s a piece of junk land.

‘What could possibly happen? At most, there might be some toxic substances or creep laid out in the background.’

If, really, really, really unfortunately, there were monsters in that map that hadn’t died yet… well, they would just be small-fry mobs that look like they’d shout “Iä, Iä!” With our current strength, we can handle that much easily.

‘I’ll just take a quick look around and come back.’

…I shouldn’t have thought so hastily.