HACKED 127

Second floor of the Pantheon, in front of the passage leading to the Research Wing district.

To digress for a moment, there are other Incarnations in this Pantheon besides the ones staying by my side right now. These are Incarnations who exist only on the terminal’s Incarnation list and whom I have never seen in person, those I’ve failed to recruit to our side even if I did see them, or those who are in a state where recruitment is impossible.

Specifically, it goes like this.

First. The case where they appear on the Incarnation list, but I have never actually seen them. This is likely the most common case.

The height of this Pantheon is a staggering ten stories above ground, and there are basement levels as well. Furthermore, each individual floor is wide enough to rival the headquarters of a major corporation. If there weren’t elevators, I might have collapsed from exhaustion just moving between floors.

On the other hand, our current strength—even if I scrape everyone together counting the Incarnations, myself, and Chirpy by head—doesn’t even reach ten people. With this small number, we are busy enough preparing for mergers, recovering from injuries and pollution, and farming resources; we don’t have the leisure to wander around until our feet fall off looking for Incarnations whose locations are unknown.

In a situation like this, even if they aren’t intentionally hiding, it’s possible for our paths never to cross. Therefore, if an Incarnation decides to hide on purpose, finding them is close to impossible. This is the reason why even a mere 1-star like Model Student was able to live in seclusion without being caught by me or the other Incarnations. Even at this very moment, an unknown number of them are probably tucked away in various corners of the Pantheon.

Second. The case of failing to recruit them.

The past Agent was exactly this case. His spy-type skills, which I had used so effectively when he was on my side, were nothing but irritating when experienced from a hostile position.

Third. The case of being in a state where recruitment is impossible.

These are cases where I’ve judged them unusable because the pollution level or status abnormalities are too severe, they are unconscious, or they are already in a state no different from being dead… and so on.

As for why I’m suddenly laying out such a tedious explanation…

‘I didn’t expect two of those first-case types to be right here.’

The Research Wing district, which had been left neglected and unvisited for a long time since the merger. In front of it were two Incarnations I’d never seen before. I don’t know if they were caught off guard because it was a place no one visits, or if they were also curious about the Research Wing district.

“Grrrrr…”

The moment I approached the entrance, there was a sound of a beast growling savagely, like a guard dog baring its throat at an intruder. In front of the firmly closed door of the Research Wing district, I saw the shape of a four-legged beast crouched down.

‘An animal? I have beast-human type Incarnations, but I don’t have any Incarnations in pure animal form.’

I blinked once. Then, the appearance of the beast that had been visible for a split second vanished without a trace.

‘Was it a hallucination?’

In its place was a child sitting huddled with their back rounded. Should I call them a child, or a teenager? It was someone who looked to be in their mid-teens.

The child must have sensed my presence, as they whipped their head around. I instinctively flinched at the child’s heterogeneous appearance.

“Uh…”

A horn with a metallic luster sprouted from the middle of the forehead, poking through the bangs. Hair that was crumbly and stiff like a beast’s mane. Sharp, pointed teeth were visible between the lips.

The child had red paint on their eyes and lips. I don’t mean they were wearing pretty makeup. It was just roughly smeared on with something, dye or whatever. The way the red color bled haphazardly around the eyes and mouth looked, in a way, like bloodstains.

It was my first time seeing the actual person rather than an in-game illustration, so it was unfamiliar, but I know who it is now. I swiped down the Incarnation list on the terminal. Eventually, the scroll stopped at one spot.

<The Royal Tomb’s Sole Guardian Beast>

Rarity: ★★★☆☆

Level: 99

Pollution: 84/100

Health: 30/100

Traits: Beast-human type, Burial Goods, History, Existence, Cultural Asset, Korean origin, See more… [Tab]

A beast-shaped statue that guards the front of a tomb. It is an existence called a ‘Jinmyosu.’ They say it protects the tomb from intruders and leads the souls of the dead to the heavens. It was one of the Incarnations I had given up on finding after wandering around and seeing no sign of it, but it was right here.

“You must not enter.”

The child spoke solemnly. It was a girl’s voice, but perhaps because of the metallic rasp mixed in, it also sounded like a boy whose voice had just started to crack.

“Why?”

I asked back. Then, <The Royal Tomb’s Sole Guardian Beast>, the Jinmyosu, covered its eyes with one hand and hung its head low. And it began to laugh with a strange sound.

“Heh heh heh, that is because deep, deep darkness slumbers within there.”

‘What’s with that bizarre way of talking?’

I don’t think it was like that in the game. …Or was it? Since I made it a habit to skip every single line of dialogue, I’m not sure.

“If you enter carelessly, you shall come face to face with the abyss, Compiler. Heh heh heh, ha ha ha ha!”

“I’m sorry, but is this a roleplay right now?”

“I am the one who guards the tomb. ‘The Tomb Keeper.’ Heh heh…”

Until now, I had thought that among my Incarnations, the one with the strongest case of puberty was definitely Hwarang. But I think I need to correct that thought now. The one truly in the middle of the storm and stress period was right here.

Is this what they mean when they say you have no confidence in winning because you can’t communicate? Utterly dazed, I asked the others.

“What’s up with that kid? Is it a status abnormality or something?”

The answer came from an unexpected source. It was another unfamiliar Incarnation standing beside the Jinmyosu.

“This is truly most regrettable!”

That Incarnation shoved his face toward me while blurting out a booming apology.

“Agh!”

I was startled a bit more severely than before. He was wearing a large mask that covered his entire face, and the appearance of that mask was truly terrifying.

Shaggy, dull-colored fur like a mop covered the entire mask. In the middle were two hollow eyeballs with no clear focus, and the teeth beneath them were all different in size and arrangement.

If you were to take a child’s random doodles in a sketchbook and realize them in 3D, would it feel like this? To sum it up as a whole, it was a look that stopped just short of crossing from the Uncanny Valley to Great Delight Mountain. It meant he looked scary enough to appear in one’s dreams.

“Oh boy, look at me! My apologies!”

He swept his sleeve over the top of his mask. Then, the mask changed in an instant. This mask was black overall. Attached to the top of the head was a felt hat… it looked exactly like a patrolman from the Joseon Dynasty.

“It is not a status abnormality; that fellow is just like that originally! To put it shortly, it’s eighth-grader syndrome; to put it a bit longer, they’re slightly out of it! Shall we say they’re like gimbap left out at room temperature for exactly two days? Yes, that is it!”

‘And what kind of character is this?’

It doesn’t seem like the Jinmyosu is the only one who’s out of it. You’re plenty out of it too, aren’t you? I felt dizzy at this feast of ‘real’ eccentrics as thick as the broth of an original gukbap restaurant that’s been simmered for three nights and four days.

Let’s see, let’s see. What does it say on the list?

<Gasan Ogwangdae>

Rarity: ★★★☆☆

Level: 99

Pollution: 73/100

Health: 45/100

Traits: Humanoid, Clown, Play, Shamanism, Trickster, Korean origin, See more… [Tab]

‘I guessed as much from the mask, but it was <Gasan Ogwangdae>…’

Incarnations with the ‘Trickster’ trait, like Dokkaebi or this fellow, are tricky to use. Just as much as Agent with the ‘Spy’ trait. Since they have many skills that apply indirect restrictions rather than dealing direct damage to the enemy, if you’re not careful, it ends up being like firing your ultimate into thin air. They are definitely not for beginners.

The Clown was an Incarnation I had pulled early on, but I stopped using him at some point. Since I have Dokkaebi, who is a superior upgrade in every aspect. Still, now that every single person is precious, I was just glad to see him.

I heard the Incarnations muttering behind me.

“Bullshit, absolute bullshit,” Hwarang complained, pressing down his irritation.

“Still, they are right in front of us, so watch your language,” Ja-myeong-go tried to restrain him.

“I was wondering where those guys had gone lately, and they were here? It’s been a while!” Dokkaebi said happily.

“When are we going in? I’m dying of boredom.”

San Gun kept thumping his forehead against my shoulder from behind. Every time he bumped me, I swayed back and forth like a leaf. I think this is a habit… but from the receiving end, it’s heavy and burdensome enough to drive me crazy.

I feel like my head will go weird too if I stay among these crazy concept-freaks. Pulling myself together, I asked the most important question first.

“So, why were the two of you here?”