HACKED 37

From a distance, it looked like nothing more than a giant ball. It also resembled a heap of trash.

However, as the distance closed, its detailed appearance became visible. Countless human body parts—rotting, festering, and raw torsos—were tangled together haphazardly. Wherever it passed, secretions and toxic fluids trickled behind.

The massive lump approaching from afar drew closer and closer. A foul stench wafted out.

San Gun pulled me back sharply as I stood there dazed and staring. The mass, which had brushed past me by a hair’s breadth with only a few meters to spare, collided with a dead end.

Thump!

[Warning!]

[An impact has been detected in the power system.]

[The power system has been damaged.]

Power system activation progress… 83%

“Argh!”

A pain I could never get used to, no matter how many times I experienced it, struck my stomach.

“Mister Myeong! Please, escape quickly. O-oh no, the power system!”

A panicked Chirpy trembled violently. Looking back, cracks had formed in the corridor walls and even on the elevator doors next to them.

What would have happened if I had collided with that thing? I don’t know for sure, but it’s certain I would have ended up in a worse state than being hit by a dump truck.

“No.”

“Mister Myeong?”

A mutter mixed with panting leaked through the hand covering my mouth.

“No, there wasn’t… anything like that on that original map….”

Abandoned Michuhol-gu Neural Network Transplant Research Building Area C-113. It is, literally, an abandoned and closed laboratory map. The appearing monsters are victims of human experiments mutated by being covered in hazardous substances and radiation, and several scientists who were swept up and infected as those experimental subjects ran wild.

Since the setting is mutation through human experimentation, the appearance of the monsters is quite grotesque. Even so, it’s only about the level of a zombie. Human forms with dull skin tones and signs of infection all over their bodies.

Since it was an early map, the boss wasn’t much either. It was a research director who had become a mad scientist; his skills dealing poison-type damage over time were a bit annoying, but his defense was weak. You could catch him quickly if you pressed down with damage.

So, I mean, there was absolutely… nothing like that… that monster which was far, far beyond the category of human.

I am certain. How many times have I run that map? I must have cleared it hundreds of times to level up low-level Incarnations.

‘Did I misread the map name?’

No. There is no way I mistook a name I had seen several times in the terminal’s notification window. Besides, I even cross-checked it with <IsItPresbyopiaCrap>.

‘Or… do the appearing monsters change even on the same map during a dimensional merge?’

Well. I don’t think that’s it either. Because there was a message like this among the ones <IsItPresbyopiaCrap> sent.

<IsItPresbyopiaCrap> : This is a place where mutated scientists and experimental subject mobs appear

<IsItPresbyopiaCrap> : It’s not that hard as long as you watch out for poison damage and radiation haha

‘If he knew that thing appeared, he wouldn’t have said it’s “not that hard.”’

There is no reason for <IsItPresbyopiaCrap> to lie to me about this. It means there is no merit for him in specifically hiding the fact that a powerful monster appears.

If anything, he would have lied the opposite way. Since <IsItPresbyopiaCrap> would benefit the more I got scared and relied on him.

Then… what is that thing in front of my eyes?

“Scrap of a book. Take Myeong and stay back.”

“Mo, Mountain Hero…”

“Keep the Master from getting anywhere near me!”

The desperate voices sounded far away, as if a layer of curtain had been placed over my ears.

Active Skill ‘Changgwi (倀鬼) : Gulgak (屈閣)’

: Once a tiger eats a person….

Taunts the target of the cast. If the taunt is successful, the target enters a type of hallucinatory state, ignores all previous behavioral instructions, and moves toward the caster.

An aura as unpleasant as the one wafting from that monster, evoking loathing and fear, suddenly covered my whole body.

A chill set in. I felt as if the heavy air was grabbing my feet, and I could hear the sounds of grass insects or the wind in the mountains that shouldn’t be heard here.

‘That fucking giant cat bastard…. He fired off a wide-area skill again without any warning.’

I ground my teeth silently. I felt a sense of déjà vu from when the <Ho-hwan> skill was activated.

<Mountain Hero> was originally that kind of Incarnation. From his origins, good and evil coexisted. He was a guardian deity protecting the national territory from wicked things, while at the same time, he was an evil ghost and a harmful beast that ate innocent people and brought harm to villages.

He wasn’t a character with a particularly loyal setting toward the player—that is, the Compiler—either. Depending on the Incarnation, there are those who devotedly serve the player while constantly calling them by titles like ‘Liege,’ ‘Master,’ or ‘My Lord.’ In contrast, San Gun had a very high-handed attitude from the moment I first obtained him.

Even back then, I habitually hammered the skip button, so I don’t remember well…. What did he say? It was something like, ‘Since you prayed so desperately, I have descended for once,’ or ‘I became your Incarnation by forming a contract based on mutual necessity, but don’t mistake that for you being my superior.’ I didn’t care since it didn’t matter as long as he did his part in battle.

This is the reason why I categorize San Gun as an ally but cannot fully trust him. That damn status ailment is part of it too.

Back to the skill.

San Gun’s <Changgwi> skill consists of three stages as a set. Just as Hwarang’s <Five Commandments for Secular Life> could only be activated by satisfying the conditions of all five passive skills, San Gun’s <Changgwi> had an order, so it had to be used in the sequence of stage 1, stage 2, and then stage 3. You could think of it as a type of combo move.

‘The problem is… if stage 1 is like this, the stages after will be even worse.’

If I keep hanging around here stupidly and get caught within the casting radius? I’ll die. I’ll really die. Unlike <Ho-hwan>, which only gives a debuff, <Changgwi> is a skill that truly has lethal force.

“Mister Myeong, please escape quickly! It is dangerous here.”

Chirpy desperately pulled at my sleeve. I obviously know this situation is dangerous too. I have eyes and a mind; how could I not know?

However, I had a reason why I couldn’t just run off alone.

“What about him?”

The brat who was covered in blood and had collapsed unconscious wouldn’t leave my mind. It was for no other reason than performing my command that he ended up like this.

“Are you speaking of Mister Hwarang? Th-that is…”

“Are we just going to leave a guy who has lost consciousness and collapsed like this?”

“But, Mister Myeong! Right now, every second counts. At this rate, we will all be swept up! You at least must evacuate…”

If it were the me from right after I fell here? I would have run away without looking back, regardless of whether Hwarang died or San Gun used a vicious skill. In fact, I have a track record of bolting while the Gumiho and the Goblin were fighting.

“Shut up, and if you’re not going to be helpful, just stay quiet.”

“No, Mister Myeong. What are you doing… I said you can’t!”

But now…. Ah, damn it. I really don’t know. What the hell am I doing? Can I even survive and return to reality while acting this indecisively?

It’s definitely not because I have a personal liking for Hwarang or because I feel some meager sense of justice to save him. Whether it’s Chirpy, the Incarnations, or other Compilers, I still dislike everything that has an ego and a personality.

This fellow is just… because he is one of my few allies here. I don’t know how many more dangerous situations will strike in the future, so I have to keep even one usable force… Fuck, yeah. I know it all sounds like pathetic excuses.

‘Isn’t this exactly that? The cliché of dying after meddling unnecessarily because of main character syndrome.’

I struggled to support the collapsed Hwarang. It was not easy at all because his build was similar to mine. Furthermore, he was fully armed. The guards on his forearms, the sword at his waist, and the quiver strapped with leather thongs pressed against my skin.

After several clumsy attempts, I succeeded in half-standing on trembling legs while holding onto him. During that short time, I recited every curse word I knew in my head. I think the military PT drills were less difficult than this.

“Screeeech!”

Splatter!

An ear-splitting, bizarre scream. Simultaneously, a mass like a lump of mucus flew toward us. If I had been even slightly later in raising my body, Hwarang and I would have inevitably been hit directly.

“Argh! A-a-are you alright? That’s why I said several times that you should escape immediately…! Gasp.”

Chirpy’s words were cut off midway. The black eyes of the creature, who had been shrieking and flapping its wings, were fixed behind me, wide open.

‘Why is he so surprised? Like he saw something he shouldn’t have….’

My question was answered not long after. Because the pale arms of a man wearing traditional white clothes with long sleeves wrapped around me from behind.

“Something dirty has gotten on you, husband.”