HACKED 46

“What?”

It felt as if I had been struck very hard in the head. I retraced my past memories.

From the moment I fell out of nowhere into the basement, encountering Chirpy, getting caught up in various incidents while being chased by Incarnations, to activating the power system. Throughout all those experiences, had I ever felt hunger or thirst… even once….

‘I… don’t think I have.’

I had felt sleepy or tired. When I suffered injuries, whether external or internal, I naturally felt pain. I had even fainted when my stress levels exceeded the limit. But I never once had the thought that I needed to eat something.

For the first few hours, one could argue that I simply forgot about hunger because I was facing a continuous string of extreme situations. But now it was different. Since I fell here… I hadn’t counted exactly, but several days must have passed.

No matter how tense one might be after falling into an unfamiliar place, could a person… especially a weak modern individual who lived a complacent life rolling around in bed for most of the day… be perfectly fine after starving for several days straight?

‘Food aside, what about water? Haven’t I gone without a single sip? There isn’t any food or anything here.’

There is a saying that a person can only survive 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food. Yet, far from dying of dehydration, I didn’t even have the initial symptoms of it. Was this medically or biologically possible?

“That is because you are the Compiler, husband.”

“…I am, the Compiler, but why does that.”

“A Compiler does not simply refer to one who possesses the ability to summon Incarnations. You assimilate with this entire space, and this entire space becomes you… From us Incarnations to the furniture, facilities, and every single fragment that makes up the walls and floors here, everything manifests and is composed to exist through your power.”

“…”

“It might not feel real to you yet… but you will come to realize it gradually. You are a person, but you will change into a state that is not human. By becoming the power source of this Pantheon and the Pantheon itself, you will become the vast will that rules this place.”

At some point, the trace of laughter had completely vanished from the Gumiho’s face. He continued speaking in a low, rapid tone that I had never heard before—one devoid of any flirtatiousness or coquetry. I even forgot to breathe as I listened to his words.

“It was the same when the raid happened earlier. It hurt a lot, didn’t it?”

“…”

“Every time a pillar broke, it must have felt as if your bones were breaking; every time a steel frame snapped, it must have felt as if your internal organs were tearing. When synchronization is complete, if the Pantheon is damaged, the Compiler suffers the exact same blow.”

“That kind of thing… I.”

“You probably didn’t know. Because no one told you. Not the Incarnations you saved, nor even that helper fairy you desperately protected in the basement. Why do you think they didn’t tell you?”

I slowly swallowed hard. Then, I offered the answer I had thought of.

“Is it because if they told me the truth… I might say I won’t be the Compiler, that I don’t want to be here, and that I’ll quit everything?”

“…”

The Gumiho stared intently down into my eyes for a moment. After our gazes had been entwined for who knows how long, he slowly curled his lips into a smile. His eyes, however, remained entirely devoid of laughter.

“That is why I am telling you not to trust anyone, husband. Everyone here has something they want and a hidden agenda. They hide unfavorable details and only speak of what is advantageous, hoping you will move according to their wishes.”

The Gumiho paused there for a moment. It was as if he were observing my reaction. Was he expecting a scene where I would tremble uncontrollably, unable to come to my senses due to shock and a sense of betrayal?

‘I’m sorry, but… I’m not interested.’

This wasn’t an empty remark meant to act tough; I truly wasn’t interested. Not in other people’s inner circumstances.

The fact that I take internal damage when the Pantheon is attacked? I heard that from Chirpy earlier. I wasn’t going to act as if I were falling over in shock a second time at the same information.

Honestly, I was a bit angry earlier. At the fact that Chirpy hadn’t informed me of that beforehand.

But that was… an anger similar to finding out a contract was signed without being notified of important terms and conditions. It wasn’t the kind of anger where I felt hurt, thinking, ‘I didn’t think you were that selfish,’ ‘You betrayed me,’ or ‘I thought you were on my side but you weren’t.’

And after hearing Chirpy’s excuse, my anger had cooled to some extent. Chirpy perceives me as a Compiler who ‘returned after being away for a long time.’ That isn’t incorrect. Back then I was a player of the game, and though I am currently a possessor, the sentiment holds.

Anyway, the fellow thought I would already know most of the basic settings of this world. Therefore, detailed explanations were omitted. The situation was so urgent that there wouldn’t have been time to explain every little thing anyway. This was within a range I could understand.

Humans—no, any living beings—are all selfish. And everyone has a story. Is there not a saying that there is no grave without an excuse? Ah, is that not the right phrase to use here?

I had discerned shortly after arriving here that there had been a series of incidents in this Pantheon. Someone is abnormally obsessed with me, and someone abnormally hates me. Emotions that were not mine poured out toward me—who had been blankly knowing nothing—to an overwhelming degree. Old grudges must have piled up over a very long time, boiling down into a black soot.

However, I have a story of my own as well. It wasn’t just about having my game account hacked and being forced to quit.

Why I ended up holed up at home just playing games while stopping all social activities, why I went beyond distrusting others to loathing them…. I never breathed a single word of such a pathetic past. I have no intention of revealing it in the future either. It is because I don’t want to speak of it, nor is there a need to.

What the Incarnations and Chirpy here want is a ‘Master.’ And what I want is first, ‘a way to survive,’ and second, ‘a way to return to reality.’

We act together and share information as long as our goals align. I don’t bother spouting unnecessary TMI that is merely emotional and unhelpful to achieving my goals. Isn’t that enough?

“If everyone has something they want and a hidden agenda. I suppose it’s the same for you?”

At my words, the Gumiho laughed out loud as if amused. The string of tension that had been pulled taut snapped in an instant.

“Of course. I am madly jealous of that tiger. I am so jealous that I cannot bear it without wanting to kill you.”

“Stop while you’re ahead.”

‘Is this bastard suffering from a disease where thorns grow in his mouth if he doesn’t say he’ll kill me at the end of every sentence?’

I felt I had heard everything I needed to. I prepared to leave without lingering.

“I’m going. Whether you stay well… or not is none of my business. If I find a way to lift your status ailment without casualties, I’ll come back. Should I look for an insect collecting box or something?”

“An insect collecting box?”

“When people received a scenario to kill living beings, some cleared it by killing grasshoppers in an insect collecting box. Wouldn’t it be the same for you? You don’t necessarily have to kill 1,000 sentient beings, do you? If you just wipe out an ant hill somewhere, the count would probably fill up quickly.”

“Scenario? What is that? Is it a status ailment of another Incarnation?”

“What else would it be? It’s a masterpiece.”

Just as I was about to turn away, something touched my waist. It was a long object covered in fluffy, thick fur.

The moment I realized it was one of the Gumiho’s nine tails, goosebumps erupted all over me. If he set his mind to it, he could snap my spine and kill me with just one tail. I shouldn’t have gone so close, trusting only the triple-layered restraints.

“Gasp….”

My body was pulled in sharply. The Gumiho leaned his head toward me. A distance so close his lips almost touched my forehead. With his white eyelashes lowered, he whispered softly.

“I will wait. For however long. Because I am used to waiting. I have waited through all those long days until now, so is there any reason I cannot wait longer in the future?”

“…”

“How cold of you. Next time, give me a kiss before you go.”

Before I could react to those words, the tail wrapped around my waist slid away. I staggered back a few steps. I immediately walked toward the door, almost running.

Under the flashlight beam that wobbled anxiously as it moved away, the Gumiho wore a smiling face until the very end.