HACKED 75

“It says to go to the upper floor? Let’s go up for now.”

The S-Class Hunter, having read the status window, announced to his comrades.

“I’m the only one who can see the status window, so listen to me carefully. Don’t go fooling around. If we just follow this shortest path, we win no matter what. Even if we wanted to lose, we couldn’t.”

The S-Class Hunter asserted with absolute confidence. He expected his squad members to look at him with eyes full of respect and gratitude. However, their reaction was cold.

“We can tell by instinct that the power source is somewhere above. So where exactly on the upper floor is it? Do you have coordinates or something?”

“I don’t know about coordinates. Do I look like a navigation system to you?”

“Navi? What is that?”

“How should I know.”

Two old men dressed in the commoner attire of medieval East Asia exchanged indifferent conversation. One looked somewhat like a soldier, while the other was armed but looked closer to a peasant.

Incarnations are each injected with modern knowledge when they descend. This is to ensure they don’t wander aimlessly because they don’t understand the meaning of terms like ‘Gate’, ‘Level’, or ‘Skill’. However, that knowledge was primarily focused on basic terms absolutely necessary for carrying out missions, so they did not know everything.

“You can’t even understand this? This is exactly why I hate running raids with these old-fashioned types.”

To the S-Class Hunter, these people were no different from antiques displayed in a museum. They were hopelessly behind the times and stupid to boot. He reached the point where he couldn’t understand why their rarity was as high as 4-stars.

“If you don’t know, find out now. With that fancy skill of yours.”

A woman with a rough impression barked. The woman was equipped with a bow and spear, and a thick rope was wound around one of her hands. <The Origin of the Amazon>. That was her name. As the name suggested, she was an Incarnation seasoned in hunting, tracking, and war.

“You’re a hunter too, so you should know. Once you set foot in the hunting grounds, the more time you waste, the higher the chance of failure. We invade the heart of the enemy immediately, cut off their breath, and get out.”

“Who are you to step forward and give orders? I’m the raid leader.”

“I’m doing it because it’s frustrating watching you dither.”

The woman glared. The S-Class Hunter flinched. His pride was wounded by the fact that he had been intimidated, even for a moment.

“When did I say I wasn’t going? I’m just trying to give a briefing as the raid leader, so what’s your problem?”

“A male brat with nothing but a big mouth despite having no spirit… where did you learn such bad manners?”

“Are you quite finished?”

“If someone like you were in our tribe, you wouldn’t have even passed the rite of passage and would have been a half-wit for life. A guy like a mangy pony.”

“Has this barbarian actually gone mad!”

“Stop screeching. Be quiet! You damn fledgling!”

‘A mangy pony? A damn fledgling? How dare she, how dare she to me…’

The S-Class Hunter stood in place, trembling. It was so insulting that he couldn’t even come up with a proper rebuttal. On the other hand, there was also a part of him that didn’t know how to react.

Through the ‘Protagonist’s Privilege’ skill, he could absorb all the experience points of other squad members. Using this skill on high-rarity Incarnations resulted in nothing but blocking their growth. Considering overall efficiency, it was actually a loss.

But what if he composed the rest of the squad with low-rarity Incarnations not worth growing, except for the S-Class Hunter, and repeated the battles? What if he monopolized 6 people’s worth of experience points every time like that? In short, it was an infinite 6x Experience Point event.

If the low-rarity Incarnations died or fell under status ailments during battle, it didn’t matter. Unlike the precious 5-star S-Class Hunter, those kinds of guys were so abundant they were practically rotting, and they could be replaced at any time. It was a structure where he took zero loss and only gain.

Therefore, the S-Class Hunter was always in the role of a leader commanding Incarnations with lower rarity than himself. Only he was a valuable being, and the rest were merely consumables for his sake. He had never received this kind of treatment.

“Calm down, Sir Raid Leader. And you, Lady Amazon, keep your temper down as well.”

A middle-aged man dressed in leather and rough cloth laughed hoarsely and held them back. At those words, <The Origin of the Amazon> frowned.

“I am not an Amazon, I am a Sarmatian.”

“Oh, my apologies. I’m a fellow who only lived in a rural corner of Switzerland, so I don’t know the ways of the outside world well. It’s good to be full of vigor, but do not cause internal strife even on the battlefield.”

“I shall endure it only until the battle is over. A mission is a mission.”

It felt like continuing to be angry in this situation would only make him look ridiculous. The S-Class Hunter swallowed his curses and turned away reluctantly.

‘Incompetent parasites who only want things…’

He was a protagonist from birth. Other comrades, even his master, were ultimately nothing more than extras to make him stand out. It was only right that an extra who dared to pick a fight with the protagonist should be given ‘true education’ and be showered with ‘sweet revenge’. Because that was the protagonist’s mission.

“Follow me quickly from now on. You guys would have just been stupidly shoveling air without me anyway, wouldn’t you? Consider yourselves lucky to have come under me. I’ll show you what a hard carry is.”

If a modern-origin Incarnation had been present, they would have likely thought, ‘That guy’s social skills are truly trashed.’

But fortunately or unfortunately, this squad consisted entirely of ancient-origin Incarnations, except for the S-Class Hunter. From Greek and Roman mythology to the early Joseon Dynasty, their eras and cultures were diverse. They moved their feet while thinking, ‘Kids these days…’

A beautiful young man with curly hair, who had been watching them quietly from the very back, clicked his tongue.

“Isn’t this too complacent. Everything could end in ruin due to a single moment’s mistake.”

˙✧˖°🎮 ⋆｡˚

Hunters are specialists in individual survival. They are accustomed to waiting for prey for a long time while keeping silent and still alone, and even if they go hunting in a group, they each scatter to their assigned areas and do their jobs.

This is even more so when they tame animals for hunting. The activity range of hunting dogs and hunting hawks is extremely wide. A single well-trained hawk can scout an entire mountain. In such a situation, the presence of others is merely a hindrance.

Those who, far from feeling reassured by a comrade’s presence, feel unpleasant, thinking a competitor has invaded their territory. Those who gathered by biting the bullet just for the formation bonus. Plus, an S-Class Hunter who is a total group-project villain is mixed in. Naturally, the atmosphere couldn’t be good.

However, the search results so far were surprisingly not bad. Firstly, it was because they were strong enough to chew through most discord, and secondly, it was because there was nothing—enemies or otherwise.

“To have come this deep without encountering anyone. It is like a giant tomb.”

The old man armed with archaic armor and a wooden bow muttered. He did not lower his guard and constantly scanned the surroundings.

The surroundings were all white, and overall it was a desolate space. However, pipes and wires installed at regular intervals caught the eye.

“The power system seems to be operating normally. If so, there must be a Compiler who infused energy here, and there must be Incarnations who live by receiving this energy.”

The low humming vibration unique to giant machinery was felt. A power source located somewhere on the upper floor would be supplying energy to the entire building even now. Like blood pumped from the heart spreading through the blood vessels of the whole body.

“We are currently… let’s see, we’ve reached about the 5th floor?”

<The Origin of the Amazon> counted the floors, folding her fingers one by one.

“Yes. We’ve come exactly halfway.”

The young man with curly hair replied. He was a handsome man who looked like an ancient Greek statue come to life. Contrary to his appearance, he had the chilling name <The Hunter Who Was Hunted by Divine Punishment>.

“Mister Hunter. Do we still have to go up further?”

“Yes, I told you so. Don’t you trust me? Seriously, how many times do I have to say…”

It was while the S-Class Hunter was replying irritably. A faint sense of incongruity flashed through his mind.

‘Hmm?’

The incongruity soon vanished. No enemy appeared, nor was he hit by any skill or debuff. However, the reaction of the squad members was different.

Clank! Ching!

With the sound of metal, various weapons were simultaneously aimed toward a single point in the air.

“It wasn’t the upper floor, but right over there.”

The old man spoke in a low voice while fitting an arrow to the string of his wooden bow. The others also nodded.

“What is it? Why are the rest of you acting like this again?”

“Listen, young man. Since you are the leader, we have done as instructed until now. But it seems you are wrong this time.”

“What?”

The S-Class Hunter was dumbfounded. Since everyone was so serious, he even retraced his steps, wondering if he had mistaken something. It was a very rare occurrence for him, who never thought he was wrong.

But nothing had changed. the power of this building was flowing down from above. The ‘shortest route for clear’ provided by the status window was also the same.

[Move to the upper floor.]

“It’s right there on the status window. It says we have to go to the upper floor to win with maximum efficiency. So what is this nonsense all of a sudden?”

“Is that status window not something only you can see.”

“That’s why I’ve been reciting it for you exactly as it is.”

“How would we know if something else is actually written there?”

“Are you implying that I’m lying right now? Are you in your right mind? Why would I do such a thing? Even nonsense should have limits.”

<The Origin of the Amazon>, who had pulled out a javelin and was checking its blade, glared at him through gritted teeth.

“Honestly, the possibility isn’t zero. I heard that last time too, you promised to protect your squad members, but they all died and you returned alone.”

The S-Class Hunter felt it was unfair. That was because those bastards were too weak. What was he supposed to do when they all died with ridiculous ease after he passed on a few enemy attacks using the ‘Hidden Strength Meta’ skill?

“If someone heard you, they’d think I killed them or something. I didn’t do anything!”

“How do we know if you’re trying to sacrifice us to the enemy and slip away alone this time too?”

“No, fuck! I said I’m not! You’re just 3-stars and 4-stars, what do you know. If you want to succeed in the raid, just listen to what I say, you idiots!”

Unable to contain his frustration, the S-Class Hunter screamed.

But the squad members had already made up their minds. After glancing at him with cold eyes, they turned and ran without regret. Toward the place where their own intuition pointed.

[5F]

[→ Library Area]