HACKED 60

I finished the rough farming as I circled around here and there through the library. Surprisingly, there were quite a few usable things.

I even found decent everyday clothes, not those bizarre robes. I had been worried sick that I might be forced to wear those robes if there were no other clothes. I was truly glad that I wouldn’t have to become a cosplay enthusiast.

Chirpy flew around me happily, clutching a jar of candy he had found somewhere. For a scrap of paper, he sure seems to like candy. Well, as long as you’re happy, that’s fine. Eat a lot.

“Myeong, are you going to visit the dimension next door too?”

“The dimension next door?”

“The dimension where the Damnatio Memoriae Corps came from. I remember the area name being ‘Neural Network Transplant Research Building’.”

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, there was one more dimension integrated through this battle. I should head over there at least once too.

“Do I have to go through a registration process there for the first visit, too?”

“Yes. Since that place has no power system or command and control functions, just registering at the entrance will be the end of it.”

“Is there any penalty for me if I don’t go right away?”

“No. That place is in an empty state anyway.”

“Then I’ll go later.”

I don’t think I need to look around there right now.

First of all, there is not a single useful item there, including resources. Even if there were things, what would they be? Irradiated researchers’ corpses? Radioactive waste? Unless the two Pantheons become so full that we run out of space, for now… well, I’m busy enough just moving the items I discovered here back to the home base.

“Where is this place again?”

While walking down the hallway, I stopped in front of a certain door. It was the most luxurious place I had seen in this library so far. It was a structure where wooden doors engraved with antique patterns opened to both sides, and the door leaves themselves were so large… the area of the studio apartment I used to live in might be smaller than this door.

Letters were embossed on the signpost in front of the door. It was probably content telling me what kind of space this was. However, I could not read a single character on that sign.

It wasn’t just the sign. It was the same for the countless typeset characters throughout this library. They were characters that did not resemble any language I knew.

“I can’t even tell what this place does because the notation is all like this.”

“You’re right… Ah, Myeong. I see a panel over there!”

Next to the magnificent door that looked like a king’s audience chamber, a familiar panel was attached. Seeing it again, it really doesn’t suit the interior.

Would you like to unlock the door to the Library Director’s Office?

[Yes / No]

“Ah. Library Director’s Office.”

As I touched the panel, a sentence I could finally read popped up. The mystery was solved. The inscription on that sign was written as ‘Library Director’s Office’.

“The books and signs are all in characters I can’t read, so why does the panel come out in Korean?”

Chirpy tilted his head and answered nonchalantly.

“The power system panel detects the language the Compiler uses most comfortably and automatically converts and outputs all text into that language. The signs can’t be swapped out every time, so they stay in the language the former Compiler used.”

“You’re saying this is the script that human used?”

“Yes. That is correct. I don’t know why you’re suddenly asking something so obvious, though.”

“But he spoke in Korean. You heard us having a perfectly fine conversation, too.”

“Because the power system automatically translates not just reading, but hearing as well.”

“Fine. Let’s say the words that bastard said to me were translated in real-time and heard in Korean. Then what is this script? I’ve never seen characters like this. It’s not at the level of a foreign language I just don’t know well. Characters that look like this don’t exist in the world.”

Of course, I could be wrong. I’m not some linguist, and I don’t know every language used by a very small number of ethnic minorities or dead languages that went extinct long ago.

But at least as far as I knew, such a script did not exist on Earth. Cuneiform, oracle bone script, runes… it didn’t resemble any of them.

“In that case, he was probably someone from another world. A different timeline in a completely different universe.”

I went blank at Chirpy’s words. Why is talk of universes and timelines coming up here? Is the atmosphere suddenly Sci-Fi?

That presbyopia-whatever guy did say some strange things. Artificial eye replacement surgery, brain firmware upgrades, and such. But back then, I just thought he was playing out a severe concept.

“Another universe? Another timeline? Setting aside whether that’s even possible… wouldn’t that be a setting collapse?”

“A setting collapse?”

What is the setting of <No Lifer>? It’s a near-future fictional Earth. Yes. Although ‘fictional’ is attached, it is ‘Earth’ regardless.

All Incarnations in this game originated from legends, myths, literature, and history that we are familiar with. The very incident that made <No Lifer> famous on the internet was the disaster that happened when someone equipped Japanese-origin gear onto a Korean-origin Incarnation. There are Incarnations derived from lighter media like games, manga, urban legends, and memes, but they are likewise based on reality.

But, can a Compiler from another world… to use Chirpy’s words, a ‘different timeline in a completely different universe’, rule over those Incarnations? Without even knowing what narratives they originated from?

The other day, while scrolling through the terminal’s notification history, I saw the list of Incarnations who had invaded our side and died. I couldn’t recognize all of them, but I could figure out the motifs for a few.

For example… <Knight on a Swan-Drawn Boat>, who was one of the members of the 1st Unit of this Pantheon. This Incarnation’s true name is probably ‘Lohengrin’. The original source is a medieval epic titled ‘The Swan Knight’, but it is also famous as an opera created by Richard Wagner. It’s not extremely famous in Korea, but many people know it in the West, especially in Europe.

But if the Compiler is a being from a completely different world, in short, an alien… there’s no way he’d know about the Swan Knight or Lohengrin. The fundamental premise contained in the title of Compiler would be denied.

“In the first place, why did the Narrative Compilation Union wage war against the White Paper Legion? It was to protect the narratives. Is there a reason to fight to protect the narratives of another world that have nothing to do with you and that you don’t even know? What merit is there?”

“Pardon? That’s because, obviously… the contract was made under those conditions in the first place.”

“…I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“I also find it difficult to understand your words, Myeong…”

An irregular monster seen for the first time. A dimensional crack. A person whose head suddenly exploded and died. An item that says it’s in the inventory but isn’t there in reality. A script that doesn’t exist on Earth. Other universes, other timelines.

Every single thing is unknown. Things that the beings in this game know as common sense feel extremely strange and foreign to me. Conversely, they have no idea about the things I consider common sense.

Am I crazy? Or is this place itself crazy?

Maybe it’s both. Or maybe it’s neither.

“Sigh…”

A loathsome migraine flared up. I frowned and pressed hard on one of my temples. But far from subsiding, the headache grew worse.

There aren’t even painkillers here, damn it.

It went beyond being bothersome to being irritating. I even pressed down with the bottom of my palm as if thumping my head.

“Stop that. It won’t get better that way.”

San Gun grabbed my arm and pulled it down. Only belatedly did I realize I was repeating an action close to self-harm.

“Why are you so serious every single day? Hmm? Is it because you live carrying all the world’s worries and anxieties that the shadows under your eyes won’t go away?”

At his words, everyone’s eyes focused on me. The pain hadn’t vanished yet, but I tried my best to act normal.

“An appearance attack here? Great Hero, where on earth has the morality of the Jianghu gone? The Murim Alliance will beat the ground and lament in grief.”

“There he goes again, off in his own strange world.”

“Anyway, don’t talk to me. I’m in the middle of being lost in thought.”

“Fine, Myeong lost in thought. Can we go in now?”

Come to think of it, I had been standing in front of the Library Director’s Office door for a long time. Because I hadn’t unlocked the door yet, the others were in a state where they couldn’t enter either. Hwarang, who had been watching me, crossed his arms and sneered.

“Thought is good. It’s good, but how long are you going to keep us standing here? Until we turn into Mangbuseok?”

“Can’t you wait a bit since your boss says he’s agonizing? Will you die from standing in the hallway for a bit? Will your legs break? No, right?”

“Wow…”

Hwarang looked at me with fed-up eyes.

“A truly hopeless, unscrupulous boss.”

“What, you brat? If you were really my employee, I would have fired you instantly.”

“Then I would have reported you immediately. For unfair dismissal.”

“Do you want to get deeply entangled with me legally? Is that why?”

“……”

He did not answer. But his eyes were saying many things.

That guy, now he’s swearing with his eyes.

I let out a small sigh and touched the panel.

Would you like to unlock the door to the Library Director’s Office?

[Yes / No]

‘Yes’.

Click. The sound of the lock releasing came from inside the wooden door. I opened the door and went in.

The inside of the Library Director’s Office was flashy. It was flashy, but there wasn’t much to it. Along the walls, expensive-looking solid wood bookshelves stood in a row, packed with thick volumes. But what of it? Books written in unreadable script are nothing more than recyclable waste.

Among them, there was exactly one thing that caught my eye. What was it?

“…Even just at a glance, there is a very suspiciously looking bookshelf here.”