HACKED 74

“Make it so the Central Command Room is… somewhere else? What do you mean?”

“You said Incarnations can tell where the center of power is. I’m asking if you can’t distort that with your abilities.”

“Hmm…”

The Dokkaebi propped his chin on his hand and fell into thought. He sat cross-legged on the bare floor, leaving the perfectly good sofa empty. It irritates me that even so, our eye levels aren’t that different.

“Hms…”

By K-gamer standards, enough time passed to make one want to curse. The Dokkaebi finally opened his mouth.

“I think only half of it is possible.”

“Only half?”

“My ability only affects the senses… Look.”

The Dokkaebi snapped his index and middle fingers together. The next moment, a beautiful woman with a large build and a refreshing impression stood before me.

Snap!

The woman snapped her fingers again. This time, a bush clover broom appeared. It was an extremely ordinary broom, except for the fact that it stood upright alone in the middle of an empty room.

“See?”

The Dokkaebi had returned to his original form before I knew it.

“I can manipulate objects or scenery, not just my own appearance. Making someone think they went left at a fork when they actually went right, or making someone think they’re eating delicacies when they’re actually chewing on weeds.”

“It’s like a folktale.”

“My ability is to deceive the ‘senses.’ Sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste. I can make the words ‘Central Command Room’ on a sign that says ‘10F → Central Command Room’ look like ‘Storage Room,’ or make ‘10’ look like a different number. However, if they already know the Central Command Room is on the 10th floor, it’s impossible to make them ‘think’ it’s somewhere other than the 10th floor. Because that’s in the realm of ‘perception.’”

Is it the difference between sensation and perception? I feel like I understand the difference, but I also don’t.

Most skills in <No Lifer> are like this. The skill description itself is only three or four sentences at most, but there are so many implications that you can’t fully grasp it just by reading. It’s only after you send an Incarnation into actual combat and use the skill that you pull your hair out, thinking, ‘So that was what it meant?’

“Then, for now, will you help me in the way you can?”

“Why should I?”

The Dokkaebi countered with that same innocent expression. For a moment, I was speechless.

“Mister Kim won’t even wrestle with me. So why should I listen to what you say?”

‘I wondered if it might be possible if it were in the form of a ‘request’ rather than a ‘command.’ It didn’t work at all.’

Then again, it’s a miracle that he has behaved so obediently and shown no aggression until now. He has a contamination level of 100 and a negative status ailment on top of it.

Not long after, the Dokkaebi brushed himself off and stood up. His attitude suggested he had no more business here if I wasn’t going to give him a wrestling match.

“Do you want to eat something before you go? It’s not Korean food, though.”

I made one last offer. However, the Dokkaebi shook his head without a trace of lingering regret.

“No, I’m good. Call me if you get some buckwheat jelly. Not acorn jelly, buckwheat jelly. Got it, Mister Kim?”

“…Do you even know that my last name isn’t Kim?”

“Not acorn jelly! Buckwheat jelly!”

He left after saying only what he wanted to say until the very end. After confirming the door was closed, I slid down onto the sofa.

‘So draining…’

An irresponsibly bright and clear my-pace type like the Dokkaebi was the kind of person I found most difficult to deal with. Just a brief conversation sucked the energy right out of me.

I’d rather talk one-on-one with Hwarang. His way of speaking is a bit mean, but since he’s also an introvert, he shuts his mouth immediately once the business is over. A calm and rational type like Ja-myeong-go is the best, needless to say.

And San Gun… let’s not even talk about it.

“Myeong.”

San Gun tapped my cheek. I didn’t even have the energy to react, so I stayed still. Then, he lay down beside me and suddenly rammed his head into my shoulder.

“Ack.”

I was pushed feebly toward the edge of the sofa. I almost rolled onto the floor.

“What are you doing?”

I was about to respond without much thought when the words I heard from Chirpy suddenly came to mind.

‘When they murder their master. And not just an attempt, but perhaps only when they’ve actually succeeded in killing them completely.’

I have actually almost died because of him. Yet, strangely, I didn’t feel a particular sense of crisis. I’ve even reached the point of thinking I’ll be fine as long as I don’t trigger his status ailment switch, so that says it all.

That was the problem. Was it okay to live like this, with my brain turned off, next to a psycho attempted murderer who could turn on me at any moment? My mind became complicated.

“I’m tired, so don’t talk to me.”

I turned my back to him and lay on my side. It was my own small, timid resistance.

“So what are you doing? What are you thinking. Hmm? I’m asking what you’re thinking about.”

However, that resistance was neutralized when San Gun wrapped one arm around my waist and pulled me close. He repeatedly bumped his head against my back. Each time, it knocked the breath out of me.

If a real cat were head-butting me, it might be cute. But when a robust man about 190cm tall does this, it isn’t cute at all. I really wish he would at least release this arm.

“I’m, thinking, of, a, way, to, survive.”

My voice trembled in sync with the rhythm of his head-butts. Why do I sound like a goat? I shut my mouth and tried to focus on my thoughts.

Since I couldn’t gauge the opponent’s strength, I had to make the best preparations I could. But our combat power was absolutely lacking.

‘It would be nice to have a few more 5-star Incarnations.’

Right now, the only 5-stars I have are San Gun and Gumiho—just two. Even considering that the 5-star drop rate in <No Lifer> is notoriously lower than in other games, it’s too few.

It’s not that I only had two 5-stars from the beginning. It wasn’t a double-digit number, but I had enough that I had to count them with both hands. It’s just that after my account was hacked and I possessed a body in the game world, they had all vanished. Let’s see, if I add up all the money I spent on them…

‘The security deposit for a studio apartment in the capital area just flew away.’

My proud 5-star Incarnations. Even though you disappeared without leaving a single line in the logs, I alone will not forget you. Even if I wanted to forget, I couldn’t. Because the amount of money I spent on you flickers before my eyes.

<IsItPresbyopiaCrap> didn’t have a single 5-star Incarnation. That’s why, even though our side was significantly outnumbered and lacked a strategy, we could roughly crush them with raw damage.

But what if this opponent, <DriedPollackKimchiStew>, has 5-stars? Or what if their number of Incarnations is overwhelmingly high? There is no chance of winning in a head-on collision.

That’s why I thought of the trick to lure the enemies elsewhere using the Dokkaebi’s illusions. But that trick is also dismissed since I couldn’t get the cooperation of the party involved.

Beep!

Suddenly, a sharp warning sound rang out from the terminal in my hand.

[Warning!] An intruder has been detected at the entrance.

My hand, which had been shaking wildly while enduring San Gun’s pestering, accidentally touched the screen. Then, the text on the screen changed.

Intruder Information (Only partial info displayed due to insufficient Alert System level)

Formation Bonus: ‘Hunter’s Pride’ : The fastest step will fall into the trap first, and the loudest roar will be silenced first.

Triggered when all squad members possess the ‘Hunter’ trait. When facing enemies with Demon/Specter/Ghost/Monster/Beast traits, a weight is added to all stats. An additional weight is granted when ambushing enemies for a preemptive strike. The effect of this formation bonus increases as the number of squad members increases. (Current squad members: 6 [Max])

The moment I checked the formation bonus, my mind went cold. San Gun, who had been behind me, also went quiet at some point. He must have seen the terminal screen over my shoulder too.

Let’s take a moment to look back at the traits of my Incarnations.

<Mountain Hero> has the ‘Beast’ trait. <The Nine-Tailed Maegu of Cheonggu> is a ‘Specter,’ and <The Bloodless Dokkaebi> has the ‘Ghost’ trait. Even though she isn’t much help in combat, the <Sickly Model Student> is also a ‘Ghost.’

So, in short, that squad…

‘…We’re screwed?’

They were our perfect counter.

˙✧˖°🎮 ⋆｡˚

Here is an Incarnation with a very long name. The formal name is <S-Class Genius Regressor Hunter of the Ruined World Who Monopolizes Everything Alone>, but he is usually called the S-Class Hunter for short. Befitting the S-Class title, his rarity is also 5-star.

He is optimized for ‘monopolizing’ play ‘alone.’ He is also an Incarnation who, far from raising the morale of other squad members when he joins a squad, actually lowers it. However, he was placed in the main squad for this battle to maximize the formation bonus ‘Hunter’s Pride.’

Among his skills, the representative ones are as follows:

Active Skill: ‘Protagonist’s Privilege’ : I’ll suck all the honey alone in this life. When used during battle, the caster takes all experience points and items that the squad members should have acquired as rewards for that battle. Squad members gain nothing.

Active Skill: ‘Hidden Strength Meta’ : Hiding power to survive in a dying game. Enemies cannot easily perceive the caster, and the probability of evading enemy attacks increases. Enemy attacks or debuffs directed at the caster are forcibly transferred to the nearest ally with a low probability.

Overall, these are skills where he alone gains profit through the sacrifice of his comrades. However, he does have a skill that is helpful to everyone.

Passive Skill: ‘Regressor’s Intuition’ : A veteran of the ruined world tells the story of a successful speedrun. Based on the numerous raid experiences accumulated so far, derives the ‘shortest path to clear.’ The ‘shortest path to clear’ reflects the battlefield situation in real-time and appears in the form of a status window, which only the caster can see.

An OP (Overpowered) skill that is almost on the level of a cheat code. This is the reason why he is a 5-star despite being an Incarnation with many flaws. It is also the reason why, no matter how selfish <S-Class Hunter> is or how terrible his reputation among his comrades is, he cannot be excluded from the main force.

“Stop for a moment.”

The S-Class Hunter raised his hand to signal. The Incarnations organized in the same squad as him stopped, even while making disgruntled expressions. A translucent rectangular window appeared before his eyes.

[Move to the upper floor.]