HACKED 73

“Wasn’t it that we couldn’t go anywhere right now because the ‘Hyper-Dimensional Gate’ on our side had malfunctioned?”

Chirpy expressed his doubt with a look of incomprehension.

“I know. I know we can’t go, but I’m saying let’s assume for a moment that we could.”

“In a situation where every second counts, why bother making such an assumption…”

This guy, with his airheaded face, manages to say everything he wants to say. Eventually, I changed the subject to match his level.

“Incarnations from the opposing side have invaded our Pantheon right this second. The moment they set foot in here, they’ll move toward the Nexus.”

“What is the Nexus again?”

“That’s what I call the places that play a core role in the Pantheon, like the Central Command Room or the Librarian’s Office.”

“I think this is my first time hearing that. Was there ever such a term?”

“There is. I just made it up.”

“Oh boy, Mr. Myeong…”

The victory condition for a dimensional merging is to become the ‘last winner.’ To do that, the easiest and fastest way is to wreck the power system itself.

It’s simple if you think about AOS games. Surprisingly, in AOS games, combat is not the main goal. The player’s goal is always to destroy or occupy the enemy’s structures. Combat with the enemy is just the friction that occurs during that process.

“What I’m curious about is how the Incarnations deployed to enemy territory find the Nexus. Our Pantheon is 10 stories tall, but somewhere out there, there might be 30-story or 50-story ones… and there are places like the Library Area that aren’t many stories tall but are extremely wide horizontally. Out of all that, how do they find where the power source is? They wouldn’t just ignorantly rummage through every single door they find.”

“Mr. Myeong. Let me tell you first, the last merging was the first time for me too. Since communication is completely impossible, I can’t get information from headquarters either. All my answers are purely speculation.”

“It’s fine. I’m in the same boat, only able to speculate. Still, two heads are better than one.”

“The energy that operates the Pantheon’s facilities and keeps the Incarnations alive is called ‘power.’ We call it power for convenience, but in fact, this power is closer to a spiritual energy.”

“You mean the stuff called internal energy in some places and mana in others depending on the genre.”

Variations include spiritual power, divine power, aura, stand, psionic energy, chakra, and so on. Since subculture creations eventually all return to the same root, you can just pick and choose whatever suits your taste.

“I suspect that the Incarnations can feel the flow of power through a spiritual sense. If they find the place where the flow of energy begins, the place where the energy is the largest and strongest… wouldn’t that be the Nexus you’re talking about, Mr. Myeong?”

“As I thought.”

The Incarnations from <IsItPresbyopiaCrap> didn’t know the structure of our Pantheon at all. Yet, they headed for the upper floors as if their lives depended on it. As if they knew the fact that the Central Command Room was on the 10th floor.

The follow-up units deployed after the first unit was wiped out all showed the same behavioral pattern. Even so, they couldn’t get past the 5th floor at most.

‘It feels like I’ve become the final boss of a tower-climbing story. Usually, the 1st floor is the easiest, and stronger enemies appear as you go up… but we had the Gumiho on the 1st floor. I’m sorry for making them meet the final boss right at the start. No, actually, I’m not sorry.’

There could be a counterargument that they just happened to go up while running away in a hurry to avoid the Gumiho… but if that were the case, at least one person should have fled to the basement. The fact that all those many Incarnations headed only upward without a single exception is evidence that they were certain.

“What kind of sensation is ‘feeling the flow of power’ exactly?”

“Well, I’m not too sure about that either.”

Chirpy and I hit the limit of our imagination. The abstract and surreal concept of the flow of energy is difficult to understand. It’s not like the doctrine of some pseudo-religion.

“That thing, it’s a bit hard to explain… hmm. Ah, right. I think it’s similar to the sensation of ‘feeling a gaze.’”

Taking advantage of our collective silence, a man’s voice naturally took over the conversation.

“There are times when you intuitively know if someone is staring at you, right? Should I say the body reacts first before the eyes confirm it… A ticklish feeling on the part where the gaze lands. I don’t know about the others, but that’s how it is for me at least.”

“Aha! So it feels like that from the perspective of the Incarnations. Thank you for the explanation.”

“To summarize, it’s in the realm of the sixth sense? I roughly get it.”

Chirpy was impressed. I nodded my head as well.

‘But… wait a second.’

Belatedly, a chill ran down my spine.

There had been only Chirpy and me in this room the whole time. Since we started the conversation, the door hasn’t opened or closed once.

‘Then whose voice is that?’

I turned my head with a creak. Like a character in a horror movie who looks back even while knowing a murderer or a ghost might be there.

Pale hair close to ash blonde, light blue eyes. A man with exotic features and a very large build was crouching on the floor next to me. It seemed like he was huddling his body in his own way, but because he was such a giant, it wasn’t particularly effective.

“Are all your curiosities resolved?”

He gave a broad grin. It was a smile that reminded me of a large dog with golden fur.

“Then Mister Kim, let’s have a wrestling match.”

Over that innocent face that seemed to lack even a speck of ill intent, the status ailment description appeared as an overlay.

Status Ailment: ‘I don’t listen to orders from anyone weaker than me’

: Constantly demands wrestling matches from the Compiler. Will not follow any instructions until the Compiler defeats him in a match. This status ailment completely disappears the moment he admits defeat himself.

‘His forearms are as thick as my thighs? If I get hit once, my spine will break immediately? This isn’t an exaggeration, I’ll actually die.’

Do you know why there are ‘weight class’ rules in combat sports? It’s to prevent mishaps exactly like this one.

‘To win against a guy like this in wrestling. Just tell me to have a rap battle instead. I’d have a better chance at that…’

Instead of me, who had frozen solid, Chirpy let out a massive scream.

“Aaaaah!”

Thanks to the Incarnations who came immediately after hearing Chirpy’s scream, I was fortunately able to avoid the unpleasant ending of dying while wrestling.

˙✧˖°🎮 ⋆｡˚

The Yeo Myeong Fainting Incident. It was an incident where Yeo Myeong, whose mental state is about the level of oil blotting paper, fainted with his eyes open because the Dokkaebi suddenly popped out.

“Mister Dokkaebi, you’ve startled me before too. And you did it again?”

The Model Student poured out a scolding in a firm manner with both hands on her waist.

“No, I was just happy to see him.”

“Teacher is a human, unlike us. Humans can die if their hearts stop from a great shock. Even if they don’t die, it has a bad effect on their health.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Since these were the words of a child not even half his size, and a weak 1-star Incarnation at that, he could have ignored them… but the Dokkaebi sat quietly, hunching his large frame, and listened to those words.

“I didn’t know Mister Kim would be this surprised.”

“Does it make sense that you didn’t know? Look at Teacher’s state over there. He’s become a panda doll soaked in bleach.”

The Model Student spoke passionately while pointing toward me. I was just staying still when I got struck by a bolt from the blue. It was absurd.

‘Panda? Just like before, why does she keep consuming such an outdated character interpretation?’

But I was too exhausted to refute those words. So I just nodded my head feebly.

“Sure, thank you…”

“That’s right. Mister Kim!”

The Dokkaebi turned toward me abruptly. His blue eyes twinkled.

“When are we wrestling?”

‘Do you really need to spar with an opponent who is about 20cm shorter and looks like they weigh about 40kg less than you.’

I ground my teeth inwardly and interrogated him.

“Before that, tell me how you got into this room. What kind of trick did you use? The door was closed the whole time.”

“I tricked you slightly. I acted like I hadn’t come in even though I had. It’s nothing special.”

I had forgotten because he only showed a side that seemed to have put all his stats into strength, but a Dokkaebi is originally a master of deception and pranks. If a Dokkaebi uses magic or illusion, Chirpy and I, who have almost no mental resistance, have no choice but to be tricked without even knowing we’re being tricked.

It was my mistake. Since the second dimensional merging started, I had been focusing on the merging opponent and paid relatively less attention to the interior. The enemy isn’t just over there, but in our home base as well.

It was a relief that the Dokkaebi didn’t seem to have any intention of harming me right away. If it hadn’t been that way… for example, if it were <Nameless Star> or the Gumiho. Chirpy and I might be stepping over the threshold of the afterlife together right about now.

“Then after that?”

The Dokkaebi raised his hand and pointed to one side.

“I was transformed into that chair over there…”

“…”

“No one said anything, so I thought it was okay to do that.”

“Of course no one said anything! Because they didn’t know you were there in the first place!”

“Ah, is that so?”

Only my insides burned at the opponent’s bright reaction. I opened my mouth to rebuke the Dokkaebi, but then a certain idea occurred to me.

“Hey. Then by any chance, could you… make it so that when enemies invade, they mistakenly think the Central Command Room is somewhere else?”