HACKED 58

I turned around. The Incarnations who had followed me were also staring intently this way.

Had they grown curious because I hadn’t budged from my spot even after everyone had seen enough? It seemed I had been lost in thought for too long.

“Is it okay to just go in? I heard I have to register something for the first time.”

“You mean the power system registration. This place will still be recognizing the former Compiler as its owner. You can think of it as a procedure to transfer the authority over to you, Myeong.”

So, to use a metaphor… it is like moving into a new house with a door that opens via fingerprint recognition, and I have to erase the previous tenant’s fingerprint and register my own.

“You see that panel over there? I think you just need to place your hand on the panel and let it recognize your aura. Just like you did when you first came here.”

A black square panel was embedded in a wooden signpost placed at the library entrance. In this space that felt like a sage’s laboratory in a fantasy novel, this panel was almost the only heterogeneous object.

I approached and placed my hand on it. Soon, the panel was dyed in blue light, and text was output onto it.

The presence of a new Compiler has been detected. Commencing the power system update procedure.

‘The constant yearning for things far away torments me. I desire to sail into forbidden waters.’

Pleased to meet you, Compiler. Activating the Pantheon where you will write a new story.

Power system activation progress… 100%

Unlike my own, which started from 1%, the activation progress here was 100% from the beginning. Had that “IsItPresbyopiaCrap” guy kept it fully charged? Apparently, this value is inherited even when the Compiler changes. It was a great relief to me that this wasn’t ‘Re: Starting Pantheon Life from Zero.’

Power system activation has been completed.

Transferring command and control authority for all sectors from <IsItPresbyopiaCrap> to <UserMyeong808>.

Flash!

A light so bright I couldn’t properly open my eyes burst forth.

The next thing I perceived was the wind. A wind that shouldn’t be blowing in this interior where all the windows were closed.

The banners hanging on the walls, and the tapestries and flags decorating various parts of the library, fluttered once. As they did, the pattern of an open book embroidered with gold thread on a vivid burgundy background, which had been engraved there, was erased.

Could that phenomenon be dismissed simply with the word ‘erased’? It felt as if every single particle was scattering and being absorbed into the air.

As soon as the last remaining particles scattered and vanished, new colors took their place. It was a desaturated light blue, and a silver that was close to white. Colors that were incomparably light and faint compared to the previous red and gold.

Blue-gray particles gathered to form the background, and a pattern was engraved upon it with silver particles. A scenery where the sun peeked out just a tiny bit above the vast, sprawling horizon. It was a pattern symbolizing the dawn sky just before the day breaks, still faint for a sunrise.

“…Ah.”

That pattern earlier symbolized that presbyopia-whatever guy, and this pattern now is mine. It was strange and fascinating. Only the colors and designs engraved on the fabric had changed, yet I was overwhelmed by the sight.

However, I wasn’t given a chance to express my current impression. This was because Chirpy suddenly threw himself into my arms, with tears and snot streaming down.

“Myeong!”

“Huh? Why, why?”

“This scenery… This scenery that feels like the Compiler is declaring to the entire Pantheon that I have returned, that I am here! How moving it is! I never get tired of it no matter how many times I see it.”

“Have you seen it before?”

“Of course! Didn’t we see it when you just returned, Myeong? It is not easy to find in our Pantheon because there are far fewer banners than here, but I saw it clearly!”

“When I just returned?”

“Sob, the emotion of that moment… it is still vivid. When the power system activation was completed and your aura spread to every corner of the Pantheon. Light finally dwelled in the space that had been only desolate. Your pattern appeared all at once on the empty banners… Eh, do you not remember?”

“I was lying down groaning like a patient on an IV back then? Because I ground up my own body to charge the power system?”

“Ah.”

“And immediately after that, I was murdered by Mr. San Gun over there.”

“Aah.”

Chirpy winced as if he had received an electric shock. His eyes moved busily between me and somewhere over my shoulder.

“Hmm? Me?”

“……”

“Do you have a problem with me killing Myeong because I love him so much?”

San Gun, who was suddenly pointed out as the murderer, had an attitude that was beyond calm—it was brazen. It was enough to make even me momentarily speechless.

‘Do you have a problem,’ he says. Just how crazy do you have to be to say something like that so casually?

While I was standing there dazed, San Gun strode closer. Then, he grabbed and shook one of Chirpy’s wings with his thumb and index index finger.

“Heeek!”

“Should I tear you to shreds and kill you too, you little scrap of paper?”

“Agh, aaaargh! I was wrong! Mountain Hero, I made a slip of the tongue! Please just spare my life…”

“Mister, seriously. Don’t bully an innocent kid. Act your age.”

I hugged the trembling Chirpy with one arm and roughly hid him in my chest. That must have offended him again, as San Gun opened his golden eyes wide.

“Try hugging me like that too. Then I would have become a saint a long time ago.”

“You are much bigger than me. Your frame is the size of a door, how am I supposed to hug you?”

“You hugged me just fine last time.”

“When did I?”

“You wrapped your arms around my neck and clung to me, telling me to stop then telling me to do it more… Your legs were squeezing my waist so tight, too. You cried quite cutely, didn’t you?”

“……”

In broad daylight, in a place where other people are present, what on earth is this embarrassing talk? I immediately turned serious. Of course, he didn’t budge.

“Wow, look at that glare. I’m scared, Myeong.”

“San Gun, you are truly, truly, truly the worst.”

I muttered through gritted teeth. San Gun only smirked and didn’t reply. Since not even 1 damage is dealt no matter what attack I use, even the will to fight disappears. In times like this, ignoring him is the only answer.

I walked into the interior of the library, holding Chirpy with one arm, leaving the dawn sky pattern spread out in all directions behind me.

˙✧˖°🎮 ⋆｡˚

<IsItPresbyopiaCrap>’s Pantheon… Ah, it’s my second Pantheon now. Anyway, this Pantheon was as packed inside as it appeared on the outside. I had been disappointed because the resources obtained as a victory reward were fewer than expected, but seeing it in person, there were many materials that weren’t counted as resources. Though the problem is that most of those materials are luxury goods or items of personal preference for the Compiler.

“There are over 100 robes. Did he hold a solo cosplay fashion show or something?”

“It seems so. If they were just in the form of fabric instead, we could have at least taken them and processed them into the forms we wanted. I don’t think clothes like these will be of much use even if we take them.”

“How many bottles of wine is this? Cheese, chocolate, ham, and dried fruit… He even prepared snacks meticulously. This guy knows his food.”

In this vast space, his self-consciousness is plastered all over these numerous objects. But on the contrary, traces of the Incarnations he led were hard to find.

To waste resources in such a luxurious way when they wouldn’t even be enough if used only for recovering and growing Incarnations. What on earth did that guy want to do? Did he want to take this library as his territory and play king?

Still, it wasn’t just useless items. Bedding like sheets and pillowcases… these are definitely useful. If push comes to shove, I can just cut them up and make bandages. High-proof alcohol like vodka or whiskey can be used for disinfection.

“Ah, this.”

In a warehouse where various odds and ends were piled up, I found a banner that was familiar yet strange.

[♡♡ Congratulations! No Lifer 2nd Anniversary ♡♡]

It’s the No Lifer 2nd Anniversary banner that I couldn’t receive because my account was hacked. The overall design was almost the same as the 1st Anniversary banner. Was the only difference that one heart was added to each side and the number had changed? Those <Boundary Laboratory> bastards, look at how lazy the design is.

But a true gamer doesn’t care about things like design.

“I definitely have to take this.”

I tucked the banner away precious. I thought I would never be able to get it since it was an item distributed exclusively during the 2nd Anniversary period, but here I am obtaining it like this. Can I finally fill the empty slot in the housing item encyclopedia? I’m excited.

“What are you going to do with that? You shoved the other one away last time and didn’t even spare it a glance.”

Here it is… the innocent yet cruel question of a normal person directed at an otaku.

A painful memory was revived by San Gun’s words. The memory of when I said it was a shame I had the 1st Anniversary banner but not the 2nd, and he unhesitatingly picked up a pen and drew scribbly lines through the number ‘1’.

“There is meaning just in possessing it.”

“What is the point of owning it if you’re going to neglect it without using it once?”

He countered indifferently. He wasn’t entirely wrong. However, the gamer’s ego that stakes its life on achievement-hunting revolted against him.

“Of course it has meaning! Even if I don’t actually use it, I can display it for viewing…”

“How are you going to display something this big?”

“The size doesn’t matter. I can just fold it so only the central text is visible.”

“Then couldn’t you just cut that part out and take it?”

“……”

It was a remark devoid of any consideration that drove a nail into the hearts of all otakus worldwide. I quietly wiped my dry face.