HACKED 85

“Keugh!”

A painful groan burst from the young man. A single arrow with black feathers was embedded deeply in his neck.

Because the arrow was plugging the blood vessel, the blood did not spray out immediately. However, the spot where the arrow struck was, of all places, right where the artery was located. It was dangerous even if he didn’t pull the arrow out, and dangerous if he did. It was truly the worst possible situation.

“Ugh.”

The S-rank Hunter quickly threw himself behind a bookshelf to hide. But the young man could not do the same. He stumbled and slumped down where he stood.

“Ah… ahh…”

The young man fumbled with trembling hands, touching the shaft of the arrow lodged in his neck. A piercing pain, as if his brain were being burned, flared up.

He instinctively felt the fact that the moment he pulled this arrow out, his life would be in jeopardy. It would take less than a minute for his breath to stop from excessive bleeding.

‘I knew that an enemy could ambush us… I knew, and yet I couldn’t avoid it.’

He had been aware of the sniper’s existence all along. It was that sniper who had greeted them by firing an arrow as soon as they entered this place, so there was no way he could forget.

Even while the twins and the S-rank Hunter were entangled in a chaotic brawl, and even while he himself had drawn a blade instead of a bow to join that fray, he had been devoting a part of his consciousness to guarding against the sniper. Then why did this happen?

The sniper had not made a single attack except for that first shot aimed at a preemptive strike. Even while watching the allied twins being torn apart to the point of being nearly near-death, the sniper had neglected them rather than helping.

Then, the moment the twins activated their skill, that very brief moment when the entire space was swept into a storm and the S-rank Hunter and the young man were flustered… they fired exactly one shot.

The arrow fired in that manner flew through the whirling wind of blades on a miraculous trajectory and hit the young man. It was a skill truly worthy of being called a Divine Bow.

‘Aren’t we being too complacent? Everything could end in an instant due to a single moment’s mistake.’

The ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ he had mindlessly recited earlier came to mind.

Yes. It was a mistake. A mistake where his concentration had simply wavered for a fraction of a second. That led to the result called defeat.

‘Defeat? No, not yet.’

It wasn’t over yet. Because…

‘I have one last card remaining.’

The young man opened his mouth. Fresh blood surged up violently from deep inside his throat. He muttered while blood dripped from his mouth.

“O God of the Moon and the Hunt, O Protector of Purity and Nature, please withdraw your anger. I offer this body in atonement.”

Ultimate Skill: ‘The Hunter Who Became the Prey’

: Go, and if you can say you have seen Artemis’s body, then say it!

The ultimate skill of <The Hunter Hunted by Divine Punishment> was activated.

It was an Ultimate Skill, neither a passive nor an active skill. Literally, it is the most powerful skill among the skills possessed by that Incarnation.

However, it is also a skill that is not used unless it is a truly critical situation. This is because an Incarnation who uses an ultimate skill automatically falls into a groggy state, that is, a state of being unable to battle. Every stat hits rock bottom and health becomes deadly. They cannot perform any action, including attack or defense.

To summarize, this ultimate skill is a skill used only when one is prepared for death, or right in front of death’s doorstep.

Therefore, for the young man, now was the only chance to use the ultimate skill.

[<The Hunter Hunted by Divine Punishment> temporarily loses the ‘Hunter’ trait.]

[The activation condition for the formation bonus, ‘All unit members possessing the Hunter trait,’ has not been met.]

[The formation bonus ‘Hunter’s Pride’ is deactivated.]

Flash!

The young man’s entire body was enveloped in a holy light. Soon, in the place where the light faded, a large stag with majestic antlers stood instead of the handsome curly-haired youth equipped with a bow and dagger.

The deer had pure white fur that glowed faintly and had a clever, gentle appearance befitting a herbivore. However, the deer’s eyes were wavering with deep sorrow and rage.

The stag let out a cry filled with grief and ran forward. From the shadows beneath the deer’s four hooves, black figures flickered and rose. Hungry and angry predators… they were hounds.

There wasn’t just one or two of them. The shadows split continuously, increasing the number of hounds twofold, fourfold, and eightfold. Hounds that appeared to be hundreds in number filled the library corridor.

“Grrrrr!”

The beasts with glowing red eyes each bared their fangs and growled. They lunged at anyone regardless of friend or foe. The interior of the library instantly became a scene of absolute carnage.

“These sons of bitches are attacking me too! What kind of skill is this?”

The S-rank Hunter cut down the hounds lunging at him with his magic sword while venting his annoyance. But no matter how many he cut, there was no end. The hounds were neither exhausted nor afraid.

The same went for the twins. Their coordination became useless in front of the hounds surging from all directions. If they slashed one, two others bit into their backs and legs. Their condition, which was already a wreck, worsened by the minute.

Hwarang also could no longer snipe. He drew his sword and desperately fended off the hounds lunging at him.

The stag fled tenaciously even while being bitten by the hounds’ fangs and scratched by their claws. As the deer dodged here and there to buy time, the number of hounds increased even more.

The sounds of beasts howling and the sounds of blood and flesh splashing filled the wide library interior. It was truly a chaotic battle.

At that moment, a new presence appeared on the battlefield that had become a living hell.

“Ahahaha… Hahahaha!”

It was the sound of laughter, joyful like a child who had been gifted a toy. Madness was mixed in between the innocence that did not suit the situation. Just hearing it made one’s spine go cold.

From the deepest darkness of the library, nine blue Fox Fires rose slowly.

Active Skill: ‘Fox Fire’

: I was crossing the winding mountain pass in the middle of the night, and in the distance, blue flames were dancing.

The owner of the laughter, the gumiho, slowly licked his lips and surveyed the battlefield. His vision, eroded by the killing impulse, appeared entirely bright red.

The white stag, the hounds, the twins, Hwarang, and even the S-rank Hunter. Everything reflected in his eyes was merely prey.

“If I kill a lot and eat them… Husband will praise me.”

The gumiho, wearing an ecstatic smile, reached out his hand and ripped apart the torso of the nearest hound.

˙✧˖°🎮 ⋆｡˚

Setting the lock for the Library District entrance. Are you sure?

[Yes / No]

I touched ‘Yes’. The arm I had wound tightly with bandages as a makeshift measure after being attacked by the gumiho throbbed with a dull pain.

The place where I am is a position far away from the Library District. However, I used the Compiler’s authority to lock the door remotely. A power system is quite convenient at times like this.

Now the Library District has become an entirely sealed room. No one can enter, and naturally, no one can leave.

“Please go in quickly.”

The man wearing a suit next to me hurried me. This man is, needless to say, <Nameless Star>.

“The Master’s body is uncomfortable right now. Though it is an urgent situation, it is not right to push a sick person.”

Ja-myeong-go, standing behind me, countered in a gentle voice. I sighed inwardly. How did I end up bringing this combination all the way here?

Where is this place? It is in front of the 10th-floor central command room.

Why did I come here? It is to successfully wrap up this fraud.

“Do I really have to go in.”

“Didn’t I tell you? My skill is limited only to cognitive manipulation.”

<Nameless Star>’s skill, ‘State Secret’. The explanation seen on the status window is as follows.

Active Skill: ‘State Secret’

: In the constitutions of modern liberal democratic states, it is a principle to disclose state actions and information of state agencies to the citizens based on the citizens’ right to know, but the exception to this principle is the state secret.

Manipulates the perception of targets within a specific range. Can conceal the ‘actual reality’ perceived by the target or forcibly inject a ‘falsified reality’.

“This skill cannot actually swap something or deceive physical senses. It simply injects plausible false information, namely ‘falsified reality’, into the target’s mind. Therefore, the drawback is also clear. The moment the target realizes a flaw in the logic and harbors strong suspicion, the skill is immediately nullified.”

It is the exact opposite of the Dokkaebi’s ability. Because that fellow’s ability can distort existing ‘senses’ but cannot touch the realm of ‘perception’.

“So, the panel in the central command room must be set to power-saving mode to kill the presence of the power system. We are minimizing the disparity between actual reality and falsified reality. Only then will the enemies not easily realize the flaw in the logic.”

‘I don’t want to go along with that bastard’s words… but this is the only way right now.’

By the way, did this power system have a power-saving mode too? It has all sorts of functions.

I placed my hand on the command room panel while thinking trivial thoughts.

Would you like to unlock the central command room entrance?

[Yes / No]

The door to the central command room, which had been locked for a long time since I came out with San Gun, opened.