HACKED 30

It is not a matter of stats or attributes. If we were only judging by those, San Gun, the <Mountain Hero>, is more suitable for home base defense than any other Incarnation here.

‘First, tigers are territorial animals, so that is one win; the titles “San Gun” and “Mountain Master” make it two. Plus, he literally has “Guardian Deity” in his traits. That is not just a strike out… it is three wins in a row, game over.’

However, I do not want to deploy that Incarnation as my guard. I just do not want to. Is that not obvious? He is the farm-to-table producer of my piping hot murder trauma.

Furthermore, his status abnormality itself is extremely bothersome. It would be different if it had an intuitive and easy-to-understand name like “Unquenchable Hatred.”

Detailed Description(!): Status Abnormality ‘Lovers’ Suicide’

: The destination of the most ruinous and blind love.

‘The most ruinous and blind love? When did he even see me to the point of loving me.’

It is a status abnormality that sounds terrifying just from the description, but it has specific conditions.

This “Lovers’ Suicide” does not seem to trigger under normal circumstances. In fact, since our first encounter, he has acted normally while accompanying me.

Inferring from this and that, the trigger conditions are likely… “trying to run away from San Gun himself,” or “abandoning the position of his master and trying to leave this Pantheon.”

As long as I do not click that trauma switch, anything else is fine. Look at earlier. Even when I spoke harshly in front of San Gun, told him not to interfere, or even openly mentioned suicide, nothing happened.

Anyway, I decided to ignore San Gun for the time being.

Saying I decided to ignore him makes me sound like quite a bad guy. To be precise, the expression “Since the dimensional merging is more urgent, I decided to leave San Gun alone” would be more accurate.

“Oh, an excellent choice.”

I decided… to ignore him….

“You have realized it now too. That you will die if you are away from me.”

San Gun smiled slowly. The flesh beneath his eyes rose plumply and the corners of his mouth curved broadly; I had already thought he possessed a gorgeous appearance even when expressionless, but now it became several times more spectacular.

I was not… charmed by that look all over again. He is just something that is not even human, something with only a human shell; what does it matter what he looks like? I was simply dumbfounded.

“I might not necessarily die. There is no guarantee… that I will die, you know?”

“Whether you die by the enemy or die by me, dying is ultimately the same, is it not?”

“Do not say crazy things so naturally.”

“So the conclusion is. The master will keep me by his side? Not those other guys, but me.”

“It was only because I had no other options.”

“But, are you confident? Myeong.”

“In what?”

“Ultimately, the one you are fighting is that fellow. The presbyopia-whatever guy. Not the Records Erasure Army.”

With a nonchalant face, San Gun calmly pierced through to the core of the matter.

“Did you know?”

“I could not help but know when you were acting so chillingly.”

“Chirpy… that fellow San Gun calls a scrap of paper probably does not know. Did you not see him scolding me for being a bad person trying to rip off someone who is trying to help out of goodwill?”

Chirpy has now gone to deliver orders to the other Incarnations. Though the “other Incarnations” only consist of Hwarang and the twin greatswords.

That brat… until the very last moment he stepped out the door, he looked at me like I was trash. What can I say, Birdie? The real trash is over there.

“It was strange from the beginning. Of course, an oldbie making a fuss and trying to carry a newbie is not a strange thing in itself.”

But <IsItPresbyopiaCrap> was a bit much. To the point of actually raising the other person’s suspicions.

And besides that, there are several other factors that bother me.

Please survive the merging by preparing for unexpected situations and overcoming crises.

First, the system notification I received when the merging just started.

Inside this short and vague sentence, not even a hair of a nuance suggesting “cooperate with other users” can be seen. The entire content is just a warning to be careful not to die.

Even looking at it from a player’s perspective, <No Lifer> is not the kind of game that requires cooperative play between users to begin with. Parties? Guilds? Group raids? There is no such thing. Naturally, you cannot even exchange friendship points with friends.

When was the time I felt the warmth of other users most strongly while playing this game…. It was probably while clutching my phone all night running a ranking event. It must have been when I was swearing with bloodshot eyes, asking if these other bastards don’t sleep or eat and only play games, wondering if they were crazy for the game because they kept overtaking me. Of course, I was included in those “crazy bastards” too.

Anyway, the only communication possible between users in this game is: first, exchanging messages. Second, pitting your deck against the opponent’s deck through the “Combat Training” function. Furthermore, Combat Training automatically matches users of similar power randomly, so you cannot even choose your opponent.

Well, okay. There is a third option for bored users who crave communication so much. Biting, tearing, and fighting like dogs over trivial matters on the game community boards all day long.

Still, just in case, I watched for a bit. Because “merging” is new update content that I do not know. Because the management might have changed their policy and created a cooperative combat system during the few months I had quit the game.

However, while listening to the explanation from <IsItPresbyopiaCrap>, I became certain.

<IsItPresbyopiaCrap> : There is no separate time limit

<IsItPresbyopiaCrap> : The final winner takes all the remaining resources and space

<IsItPresbyopiaCrap> : You can think of resources as sweeping up the items the enemies dropped

<IsItPresbyopiaCrap> : Space means the Pantheon gets wider by the amount that was merged

‘The bastard spilled it all with his own mouth. This is a battle royale.’

If it were simply a matter of monsters invading my Pantheon, there would be no need to introduce new concepts like dimensional collisions or merging. Since it is just catching the same mobs we always catch, nothing much changes except the location.

Then why go through the trouble of inserting the variable of a collision with another user? Is it not obviously so we can fight each other to the death?

‘And… the part about the final winner monopolizing the remaining resources and space.’

There cannot be multiple “final winners.” Even if all the monsters in the “Abandoned Michuhol-gu Neural Network Implant Research Building Area C-113” are wiped out, <IsItPresbyopiaCrap> and I remain in this dimension. Then the ending is obvious.

“Since it seems I do not know anything about what a merging is, he probably intended to lower my guard by saying he would help, and then wreck me along with those monsters. Not letting even a single bit of damage happen to this Pantheon? Of course. Because he has to swallow it up in the best condition without any damage.”

“Is there not a possibility that he is truly a good person?”

“If that were the case, he could not say he would send his Incarnations so easily.”

“Why?”

“Compilers are very sensitive about their home base. What kind of Incarnations they have, how the facilities are laid out, how the units are composed… it is all strategy and assets. They might reveal basic guides for beginners, but as their level goes up, they never leak the details. They only show off visuals, bragging about how cool and pretty their Incarnations are.”

“…”

“It was not ‘I will protect you so the monsters—the Records Erasure Army—cannot approach this Pantheon,’ but ‘I will dispatch my Incarnations to this Pantheon’? He spoke as if he were being generous, but in the end, it was a unilateral notification. At the very least, he should have made a show of asking for my permission.”

Excluding streamers for whom broadcasting their play live is the content itself, generally, the more someone becomes a heavy user, the internal affairs of their Pantheon become an extremely sensitive issue. It has become a rule to always hide information when uploading screenshots to the internet, and not to ask about matters that are too sensitive even on the Q&A boards.

Well, even so, posts with titles like [I am in a difficult spot because an acquaintance keeps trying to subtly dig for my specs] frequently appear on the incident boards, becoming “hot places” with debates like “The acquaintance is rude” vs “The OP is sensitive.”

At any rate, the point is, if <IsItPresbyopiaCrap> were truly a player who had goodwill toward me… he would not have suddenly blurted out the nonsense that he would lead his own forces to invade someone else’s home base.

“Do you not feel betrayed?”

“Betrayed?”

“The person you thought was on the same side turned out to have ill intent.”

What do you mean betrayed, at this point. I grinned with soulless, fish-like eyes.

“Betrayal… did I not already feel plenty of that when my dearly raised Incarnations tried to kill me? And I felt it a second time when my chest was wrecked by Mr. San Gun, whom I thought was at least somewhat trustworthy?”

“The kid has a longer memory for grudges than I thought.”

“No, I almost actually died physically; is it even a human if they do not have a grudge?”

“My love is heavier than death.”

“Lo… gag.”

“What is wrong? Is my love so heavy you are dizzy?”

“No. It is just disgusting to hear a murder-attempt perpetrator prattle on about love. Could you please shut your mouth.”

San Gun shut his mouth as if it were no trouble and simply shrugged. It was a refreshing attitude, unbefitting of someone with extreme modifiers like “the most ruinous and blind love.”

Yes, that side of him makes one doubtful again. Far from loving me, he does not even seem to like me. Though he does not seem to particularly dislike me either.

Of course, I do not exactly lo… ugh. I really do not even want to mention it, but at any rate… I am not wishing for love or anything like that. If he actually started talking about love and acting all tender, it would go beyond being unpleasant and feel terrifying.

But because he acts so lukewarm about everything, it raises doubts. What exactly does that Incarnation think of me? Is he able to exchange trivial jokes with such a nonchalant face, only to then stab my heart just as nonchalantly?

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“Pardon?”

“It is safe to say there are almost no sane bastards here. Every single one of them is filled with nothing but murderous intent and hatred, making them impossible to control.”

The fact that they are impossible to control. That is the current Pantheon’s biggest weakness and….

“That is why I have to stay still. He said he would let me run auto-battle.”

In the current situation, it is a strength.

If that side had stayed holed up in their home base, I would have had to worry about how to invade with these disobedient lunatics, but since he is personally providing a door-to-door service here… it is a huge win for me.

Boom!

A loud noise was heard from afar. It was not a shock that shook the whole area like the collision earlier. The source of the sound… is it roughly on the floor below?

It seems a battle has started somewhere. I do not know if it is a battle with monsters or with the Incarnations sent by <IsItPresbyopiaCrap>.

“If they’re coming, tell them to come.”

I do not know if the judgment I made is truly right. Perhaps this time, I really might meet my death in this world.

Nevertheless, I smiled. Feeling the thrill that finally made me realize I was truly alive.

“I’m going to take it easy for a bit.”

Welcome. To the spicy-mode Pantheon filled with nothing but uncontrollable crazy people.