HACKED 13

― Please access the central command panel to lift the restriction.

I desperately recalled the voice guidance I had heard earlier. For now, that voice was my only way out and my only hint.

The central command panel. It was likely that thing across the room. A mechanical apparatus covered in countless monitors, buttons, sliders, and keypads, looking like the cockpit of a space battleship from a sci-fi movie.

I stopped thinking at that point. I just ran. Stepping through the puddles of blood pooled on the floor. I ignored the stickiness beneath my feet and the sickening stench. I even gave a no-look pass to the corpse aiming for me with a sword in its single arm.

Right now, it was a race against time. Whether that guy tried to kill me or not, if I could just log out first… yeah, or at least, if I could just manage to open the entrance… it would all be over. This was no time to be frozen in fear.

Aside from the command panel clustered on one wall, the Central Command Room didn’t have much furniture or equipment. So, fortunately, I was able to reach the other side without any obstruction. My legs, wobbling from a combination of excessive bleeding, pain, fatigue, and fear, still managed to function for now.

I stood before a massive machine that I couldn’t even cover half of if I stretched my arms out wide. Only then did something occur to me.

“How do I lift the restriction?”

Countless square monitors filled my vision, along with buttons that easily looked to be over 100. Which of these should I mess with to open the door?

‘Lift the restriction on the entrance control.’

‘What is that?’

‘Lift it.’

‘How do I do that?’

A meme that had been popular quite a while ago flashed through my head.

They say that when a person is in an extreme situation, time feels like it’s moving slowly. Something about the principle of reflexes momentarily skyrocketing in a split-second moment between life and death.

A revolving lantern—a life flashback—is similar. They say it’s actually a process of reflecting on all the experiences you’ve had until now to find a memory that might help you survive… believe it or not.

Among the various buttons, one glowing red caught my eye. Having lived a life never far from various audio equipment, I had a hunch. There was a high probability that was the power button.

As soon as I reached out and pressed the red button, a hologram popped up in front of me.

‘He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.’

Welcome, Compiler Mr. Activating the central command panel.

Yeah, I got it. I don’t have the luxury to watch welcome messages, so just bring up the options. It would be even better if you just brought up the logout window immediately.

Please select a management menu.

▷ Command and Control

▷ Incarnations

▷ Hyperdimensional Gate

▷ Training

▷ Research

▷ Data Analysis

▷ Equipment

▷ Resources

…

▷ Settings

The situation itself—a futuristic hologram monitor outputting text as if spitting it out—was unfamiliar. But the content wasn’t. The main menu I saw every time I turned on the <No Lifer> game had been ported over exactly.

“Where was logout… ah, right. Settings. Settings!”

Half a beat late, I touched the ‘Settings’ section. To be precise, I ‘tried to’.

Clang!

Almost simultaneously, a sharp sound rang out. A ear-splitting metallic friction sound.

“Augh!”

A rusted, nicked long sword was embedded right next to my hand. It left a scratch on the panel surface, which had been as sleek as a brand-new electronic device. A disgusting, rotten smell of blood wafted over.

The arrow that flew in front of the elevator earlier had been so instantaneous, small, and fast that it didn’t feel real. Something had flown in at a speed invisible to the eye and caused a wound before my senses could even register it.

But now was different. A murderous weapon was right before my eyes. If that sword had been aimed just a little more to the side, my arm might have been severed in one stroke. Goosebumps broke out all over, and cold sweat ran down my spine. When did he get this close?

Whoosh!

As soon as the sword was pulled out, it swung again. I didn’t even have time to turn around and check my opponent. I curled my upper body down sharply and rolled to the side.

What was this kind of evasion move called in martial arts terms? Was it ‘Lazy Donkey Roll’? Of course, since I am a modern commoner who has no connection to unrealistic things like martial arts, I had simply tumbled away.

“Mister, why are you doing this all of a sudden when we just met? It seems you passed away a long time ago, so why not rest in peace instead of having lingering attachments to the secular world… ah, I mean, first, please calm down…”

I’m not usually such a talkative person, but faced with a life-threatening crisis, words came out like rapid-fire as if I were possessed by a rapper.

If the rapper for the rookie idol group I produced at my previous company had rapped even half as well as I am now, they wouldn’t have flopped so hard. Then I wouldn’t have been fired from my job, and I wouldn’t have been consumed by anger and stress, pouring my severance pay into <No Lifer>…

Clang!

The sword swung again as if telling me not to think of other things. This time, I barely dodged it by practically rolling over and over. The wounds from being stabbed by the Gumiho’s nails and grazed by Hwarang’s arrow were already killing me; if I added sword wounds on top of that, it would be the end. Plus, I’d probably get tetanus as a bonus from the rusted, rotten blade.

I fumbled to get up from the floor and placed my hand anywhere for support. It happened to be on top of a certain button.

Loading the Incarnation list. The default sort order is ‘by Rarity’.

As soon as I barely stood up, I came eye-to-eye with a large hologram screen filling my vision.

After a brief loading period, the screen was divided into dozens of rectangular boxes, horizontally and vertically, like a grid. Images of Incarnations appeared inside them. One in each box, framed as if they were taking an ID photo, facing forward. The in-game possession character list screen was implemented exactly in reality.

Even while running to dodge the blade that could fly in at any moment, the image of the Incarnation at the very top of the list was seen as clearly as if it were engraved on my retina.

<Tiger of the Deep Mountains>

Rarity: ★★★★★

Level: 99

Corruption: 0/100

HP: (Deadly!)/100

Traits: Humanoid, Wild Beast, Legend, Guardian Deity, Predator, Korean Origin, See More… [Tab]

Detailed Description(!): [Tab]

<Nine-Tailed Maegu of Qingqiu>

Rarity: ★★★★★

Level: 99

Corruption: 100/100

HP: 40/100

Traits: Beast-kin, Yokai, Folklore, Shaman, Hermit, Korean Origin, See More… [Tab]

Detailed Description: [Tab]

…

A large build, black clothing. Black hair with amber mixed in here and there like highlights.

Yellow eyes that looked like they would glow brilliantly even in the dark. Pupils characteristic of a feline predator. An expression with the corners of the mouth turned up as if smiling or not, staring straight ahead.

“Ugh…!”

I could only check the screen for a very brief moment. The sword flew again immediately.

The blade rushed toward me, aiming for my life. My mind thought I had to dodge, but my body wouldn’t follow. I lost my balance and sat down as if I had twisted my ankle.

I lifted my head and looked up at the opponent before me, holding the sword with one arm. Even when we were standing and facing off, there was quite a size difference, but since I had collapsed, the eye level felt twice as high.

Glaring yellow eyes were looking down at me. They were the same color as the ones I had just seen on the screen.

‘No way.’

The ‘Tiger of the Deep Mountains’ on the screen and the horrific figure before me were different in every single way. But the moment I saw those eyes—the only things that remained intact while his whole body was soaked in blood and tattered… I had no choice but to admit it. They were the same being.

Tiger of the Deep Mountains. The first 5-star I pulled. The only one fully transcended among the 5-stars. The Incarnation I had spent the most money and effort on, and the one I was most attached to.

But now, that character has ended up in that state…

Furthermore.

‘Corruption 0?’

It was brief, but I definitely saw it. It was 0. Not 100. It wasn’t even 99, 90, or 50…

‘There’s no way it’s 0?’

Even an Incarnation raised delicately—given rest at the right time for fear of status ailments due to corruption, talked to frequently, and restored with full courses—is bound to have a corruption level in the single digits. To level them up, you have to send them into battle, and when they go into battle, corruption accumulates, so it was only natural.

Of course, this also depends on the player’s style. There are people who get so precious about their Incarnations that they make a fuss and use paid recovery items even if only 1 point of corruption accumulates. Of course, that is a wasteful act that means nothing other than flaunting love for one’s favorite character, like downing a 100 HP potion every time you take 1 damage.

So, I didn’t do that. No matter how precious the Incarnation was, I only put them in the recovery facility once the corruption hit at least 20, and I pulled them out even if some corruption remained once I felt they were okay enough. Because I am a person of extreme efficiency.

But how did the number 0 appear? Unless he was just pulled and was still Level 1 with 0 Experience and 0 Corruption, or if he had never been sent to the battlefield.

What’s even more absurd than that.

‘So, what this means is… he’s doing this with a completely sane mind right now.’

And why is his HP ‘Deadly’? He’s literally on the verge of dying if poked. It was much scarier than when I encountered the guys who had gone crazy after hitting 100 Corruption.

There was nothing I could do. A confrontation between one person on the brink of death and another. Of course, in terms of combat power, I’d probably be a hundred million times weaker. Anyway, my heart felt small.

‘It’s a problem if I die by his hand, and it’s a problem if I kill him…’

A character worth about the price of a used car was standing before my eyes, and I couldn’t find the will to attack. Not that I felt I could dodge his attacks anyway. I just closed my eyes tightly without realizing it.

“……”

However, the next attack that I thought would cut me in two did not come, no matter how long I waited.

I peeked open my closed eyes. He was holding the rusted long sword vertically, leaning on it with one arm. As if he had never tried to kill me.

“Master.”

<Tiger of the Deep Mountains> spoke for the first time.

For starters, his voice was normal. Except for it being cracked and hoarse, perhaps due to the horrific injuries that a normal person wouldn’t be able to survive.

Faced with him at such a close distance, I couldn’t help but look at his wretched appearance.

The default outfit of the <Tiger of the Deep Mountains> that I remembered was an Oriental style close to a fusion Hanbok. I had thought it was quite cool, befitting a character of the highest rarity, but now, not only was it thoroughly soaked in blood and filth, it was torn to shreds.

Scraps of cloth that were more ‘draped’ than ‘worn’. The bare skin beneath them was full of all sorts of injuries. Furthermore, the cross-section of the arm that had fallen off was vivid.

“……”

<Tiger of the Deep Mountains> stared down at me. I could see his yellow eyes rolling slowly between his disheveled hair. Then he opened his mouth again as if to say something.

Just what was he going to say? ‘Hand over your neck obediently’? Or, ‘I’ll make you look just like me’? ‘I’ll slit your belly and give you a talent show in the truest sense’? Whatever it was, it was certain to be something very chilling…

“Do you want to see inside here that badly?”

He gave a light chin flick toward the bottom. Following that, his lips, covered in scabs, curved long into a mischievous smile.

“Per―vert.”

…What did I just hear?