HACKED 29

With the battle right around the corner, the available manpower I can use is, sadly, four people at most. San Gun, Hwarang, and the two twin swords.

With these four, I have to block the waves of monsters invading the Pantheon, suppress the crazy Incarnations with 100% contamination roaming around somewhere, and protect my own body.

‘Wow! The miracle of the five loaves and two fish! A school bully from the eighties telling me to buy two bags of chips and three bottles of soda with five hundred won and bring back three thousand won in change!’

Since the Incarnations on <IsItPresbyopiaCrap>’s side said they would help with the monsters, I can think with a little less burden on that part… but I still have to split the Incarnations into two groups. Those who will go outside to fight, and those who will protect me.

If possible, let’s keep the latter to a minimum. Even then, it will result in a deployment of roughly three to one.

“I have a question, Mr. Myeong.”

Chirpy raised one hand—no, wing.

“What is it?”

“Is there a need to send someone outside? Could we not just hole up in one room, fortify that room itself, and concentrate all forces… even if ‘all forces’ is just four Incarnations. Anyway, couldn’t we just conduct a siege defense by concentrating everyone?”

It is a valid point.

The master of the Pantheon is the Compiler, and all of the Compiler’s authority comes from the power system. The terminal I carry around is ultimately like a portable remote control for that power system.

If an enemy attacks me and takes the terminal, or further, destroys the power system… this Pantheon will return to the state it was in before I came back. To a primitive state where not even automatic doors or elevators work, let alone complex operating systems.

Therefore, this Pantheon is me, and I am the king of the chess or janggi board. Naturally, if I am caught, it is over.

“I’m embarrassed to say this… but right now, our Pantheon is in a state where there are no resources or supplies. Even if we go outside, there is nothing to protect, so wouldn’t it be better to just stay tucked away in a corner and wait for the other Compiler to sweep the enemies? Is there a reason to deploy forces outside?”

However, in this situation, nothing changes if I just hide away to save my own skin.

“It is because we have nothing, Birdie.”

“Pardon?”

“Aren’t we broke right now? Beggars can’t be choosers. We shut up and farm.”

“Pardon meee?”

“Let’s assume that Presbyopia-whatever slaughters the enemies for us. Items will drop when the mobs die, right? Do we just let them take all of that?”

“…”

“Then what do we gain? A Pantheon that’s already a wasteland with all the gear gone, now covered in blood from monster corpses? Wow, great interior design. I might not be able to tell if this is a Pantheon or a boss raid map.”

“A-Ah, no, noooooo…”

Chirpy, who was trembling all over with a loss for words, finally exploded. He spread his small wings to puff up his body and shouted so loud the whole room echoed.

“To the person who offered to help us, you’re going to shake them down for items?”

“What do you mean, shake down. I’m just picking up things that fell.”

“If you take items from an enemy someone else defeated without permission, what is that if not a shake-down!”

“That person is ‘The Giving Tree’ and ‘The Happy Prince’. He’s an angel who finds true happiness in helping newbies. If I say I’ll take them, he’ll actually be happy. He’d probably feel bad he couldn’t give more.”

“My goodness, a terrible mental victory where not even a speck of conscience can be found! If Jean Valjean had this kind of mindset, Bishop Myriel would have thrown him straight into a jail cell the moment he touched the silverware!”

“Knowing how to use metaphors like that. You’re unexpectedly quite cultured, aren’t you?”

“You aren’t even a newbie in the first place! You’re much stronger than that Compiler! You hit the level cap! You were wearing every title from veteran, rotten water, blue oil, to Rabbit Princess!”

“Uh-huh. You shouldn’t say such things to a cute newbie with small hands and feet.”

“I find you so creepy now, Mr. Myeong!”

Chirpy trembled along with his heartfelt plea. You find me creepy? But what can you do. I told you to endure it with pure spite.

However, there is always someone better than the best.

“Why, he is right about the hands and feet being small. They’re quite small.”

“…”

San Gun suddenly grabbed my hand, lifted it up, and spoke while comparing it to his own. This time, it was my turn to flinch.

Soon, a serious voice without a hint of a joke asked.

“Are you still growing?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m asking if you’ll get bigger than this if I feed you well.”

“I won’t grow…”

“Is that so? Don’t males grow even after they turn twenty.”

“Because I am way past twenty.”

“You look young.”

“My age is a number that converges infinitely closer to thirty than twenty.”

San Gun scanned me up and down like a predator facing unappetizing prey, then started poking my forehead and cheeks with his long fingers. I tried to avoid him while scowling as hard as I could because it felt unpleasant, but it was to no avail.

“Thirty? This? Isn’t thirty an age where a man should have about three kids following him?”

“And by forty-something, he bids farewell to the world?”

“Mhm.”

“That’s an old story… Where exactly is your worldview stuck. Please synchronize your timelines.”

“Small hands and feet, not fully grown, and no chest. Myeong, you’re a total weakling, aren’t you?”

“What does being fully grown have to do with a chest… pardon?”

“To-tal-weak-ling.”

A fierce and large-framed handsome man saying “total weakling” in a low bass voice that sounds like it’s echoing in a cave… the technical term ‘industry reward’ keeps trying to crawl up.

‘Industry reward? That? I’d rather bite my tongue and die.’

I tried hard to scrub my brain, which was about to be stained with something dirty. No-no. Good adults shouldn’t know things like that.

“I suffer so much living with a perverted, beta, total weakling master. Don’t you agree?”

“Yes, yes. I’m sorry for being a perverted, beta, total weakling.”

Let’s just roughly accept everything and move on.

“No, Boss. You shouldn’t accept things like that.”

Hwarang cut in abruptly.

“Especially don’t say things like ‘I’m sorry for being a perverted, beta, total weakling.’ There is actually a demand for that kind of stuff.”

“Where on earth is there a demand for that… and why do you even know that…”

Hwarang kept his body still and only slowly turned his head to look at me.

A face that was so white it looked bluish. Moles scattered across his features. In the center, eyes like an undead just raised by a necromancer, devoid of any light, were directed at me.

To be honest, I was a bit intimidated. My eyes aren’t exactly sparkling and clear either, but this guy’s impression is unspeakably gloomy. I can’t shake the feeling that if I let my guard down even a little, he’ll bring a wooden club from somewhere and whack the back of my head.

“Anyway, if there’s anything delicious, give it to me. I really think I can grow more. Don’t be like that between fully grown adults; you should give way to a growing sprout.”

“Wow… You have a twisted worldview in a different sense. Do you have a conscience?”

Watching an ancestor from about a thousand years ago—though he isn’t a real ancestor who actually existed—mentioning being a ‘growing sprout’ makes me feel apologetic. So apologetic that my low blood pressure is practically cured.

“You don’t know when to butt in and when to stay out, do you?”

San Gun expressed his annoyance openly. Hwarang’s mood was equally low.

“Boss, why do you keep sticking to that senile beast geezer? You’ll smell like an animal. You know you’ll really die this time if you’re pounced on again, right? Is your future dream to become a Changwi?”

“Look at the way this damn brat talks. Do you want the rest of your hair cut off too? Kid, Myeong? I’m telling you, give him a beating.”

“Whatever. Go snatch and eat a rice cake from some lady passing by.”

…This was the problem.

The two of them had a terribly bad relationship. I don’t know why it’s bad. No, is it natural for it to be bad? It might be weirder if they got along.

If I put those two outside side-by-side in this situation… the result is obvious without even looking. There is a high probability that one of them will be gone by the time they return. And then they might keep a straight face while saying the other unfortunately died in the heat of a fierce battle.

Thus, one possibility is excluded for now: sending those two out and leaving the twins as my guards and home base defense force.

The remaining possibility is… leaving Hwarang by my side and sending San Gun and the twin swords out. This isn’t exactly the best option either. Because…

Passive Skill ‘No Retreat in Battle’ : When going out to fight, there must be no retreating. You cannot voluntarily withdraw from a battle you have participated in.

It is because of this skill.

Whether it is ‘No Retreat in Battle’ or ‘Choosing with Discernment in Killing’, Hwarang’s passive skills look more like permanent debuffs than skills if you just read the descriptions. If there are no good points and only bad points, what is this if not a debuff?

However, the Five Secular Commandments consisting of ‘Loyalty to the Sovereign’, ‘Filial Piety to Parents’, ‘Sincerity in Friendship’, ‘No Retreat in Battle’, and ‘Choosing with Discernment in Killing’… This skill, which I used to call the “5-piece set” back when I was a player, shows its true value when all five are activated.

[Activation conditions for Passive Skill ‘Loyalty to the Sovereign’ met!]

[Activation conditions for Passive Skill ‘Filial Piety to Parents’ met!]

[Activation conditions for Passive Skill ‘Sincerity in Friendship’ met!]

[Activation conditions for Passive Skill ‘No Retreat in Battle’ met!]

[Activation conditions for Passive Skill ‘Choosing with Discernment in Killing’ met!]

Hidden Passive Skill ‘Five Secular Commandments’ is activated. While the skill is active, Attack Power +55%, Defense Power +55%, Morale +55%

To put it simply, Hwarang’s stats are maximized when he is in a state of ‘having participated in battle’. To put it even more simply, his trait is not suitable for a state of ‘waiting in one spot not knowing if an enemy will come or not’.

If I were to use him even while accepting this disadvantage, he isn’t completely unusable… but I don’t want to deploy a sniper specialized in guerrilla warfare and hit-and-runs as my mere guard. It is the sad habit of a gamer who lived as an extreme efficiency-seeker.

Then that leaves only one option.

“Me? It’s me after all, isn’t it? Right?”

This option is really…

“I’ll protect you, so stay right next to your hyung-nim. You total-weakling Myeong.”

I really don’t want to choose it…