HACKED 92

Just a moment ago, his body had been incredibly light and full of vitality, but now it had grown heavy. It wasn’t that a debuff had been cast; it was simply that a buff he already possessed had disappeared, yet the difference in how it felt was significant.

“This much is nothing!”

As if shaking off the sudden, creeping uneasiness, <The Origin of the Amazons> let out a thunderous battle cry. He picked back up the spear he had thrown earlier and drove it straight toward the center of the Dokkaebi’s chest.

“Cough!”

A decisive blow dealt while he was defenseless. The Dokkaebi’s health plummeted toward the bottom in an instant.

[The average health of the unit members has fallen below 20. (Current Han (恨) Stacks: 3)]

If he kept pushing like this, he would be able to pierce through. He braced his entire body firmly.

“Agh!”

However, at that same moment, a flying blade sliced through the arm of <The Origin of the Amazons>. The arm, bulging with tensed muscles and veins, was severed while still clutching the spear.

“……”

San Gun swung his sword in a long arc to shake the blood off the blade. Fresh droplets of blood splattered across his already blood-stained face once more. Combined with a piercing gaze that felt like it could kill a person with a single look, he had become a sight no different from a yaksha that had just crawled out of hell.

“You son of a bitch!”

The fallen <The Origin of the Amazons> went into a frenzy while clutching his severed arm. San Gun gave a playful, mocking smile.

“I am not a dog. Are you such an uneducated barbarian that you cannot even make that much of a distinction?”

“I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you no matter what!”

“I think I’ve heard that about ten thousand times by now. What to do? I’m not dead yet.”

“Aaagh!”

Meanwhile, the Myeong-shooter was carefully observing the battle situation while holding his crossbow. Although the Dokkaebi’s heart had been spared from being pierced because San Gun sliced the enemy’s arm at the last moment, the Dokkaebi’s injury was severe.

‘If I aim for his heart and hit it now, I think I can definitely finish him off.’

It didn’t take long to reach a decision. He silently held his breath and loaded a bolt into the crossbow.

“No! Wh-what should I do…”

And the Model Student, who had been hiding in a nearby mirror, witnessed that scene. He crouched down and hysterically bit his fingernails, unaware that blood was dripping from his fingertips.

‘We’re at too much of a disadvantage. At this rate, Mister Dokkaebi will die. Then that Tiger Mister will be next. But what can I do here? A mere 1-star like me…’

He couldn’t see the enemies’ status windows, but the Model Student had an instinctive sense as an Incarnation. They were at least 3-stars, and there was a high probability they were all 4-stars or higher. It was not a level he could dare to oppose.

Startling the Silver Grass Flower earlier had been a momentary stroke of luck. Since then, there was nothing the Model Student could do. Avoiding attacks by hiding in the world inside the mirror was his limit.

If the Dokkaebi and San Gun died in this battle, how would the Compiler react?

‘He would blame himself, thinking it was all because of him. That they died because of him.’

He hadn’t known him for a long time. It wasn’t that they were particularly close. After all, the Model Student was nothing more than an Incarnation acquired just before the Compiler stepped away—one who had survived without being ground up simply by being lucky.

‘I don’t know. My younger sibling died at a young age. Maybe that’s why.’

But somehow, he felt certain.

‘That child, it was partly because of me that they died.’

The Master—that Compiler whose symbol was the faint light just beginning to shine at early dawn—would carry the deaths of the Incarnations as his own sin. He would be tormented, crushed by that guilt for the rest of his life.

‘What I can do here is…’

He was scared. He was so terrified that his whole body trembled violently. But, nonetheless, the <Sickly Model Student> stood up. And then, he rushed out of the mirror, screaming blindly.

“Aaaaagh!”

It was a sound loud enough to make even the Myeong-shooter, who was aiming his crossbow at the Dokkaebi, flinch for a brief moment.

Active Skill: ‘Kong-Kong-Kong’

: There was a kid who always had to be second in the whole school because he was pushed aside by the one who was first. They say that kid, blinded by jealousy, called the first-place student to the school rooftop one night and pushed them off.

Causes oneself to appear upside down for a certain period of time. Since this appearance is a type of ‘mirror image,’ it is not affected by physical laws such as gravity and inertia. (Maximum duration: 3 seconds)

‘Causes oneself to appear upside down.’

When reading this sentence, most people would easily imagine only a two-dimensional result where the head is at the bottom and the feet are at the top.

However, if you introduce the concept of the z-axis, the cases become a bit more diverse. Two dimensions become three.

For example… what if one undergoes a horizontal flip while very far from the target—that is, a symmetrical movement based on the x-axis?

The Model Student, who tumbled out of the world inside the mirror, moved right in front of the Dokkaebi’s nose thanks to the ‘Kong-Kong-Kong’ skill. Because he was in an upside-down posture as if doing a handstand, he collapsed helplessly as soon as he moved.

Almost simultaneously, the Myeong-shooter fired his crossbow. An unavoidable strike flew toward the Model Student.

The Model Student did not close his eyes until the end. In a way that didn’t fit this desperate situation, the things he had experienced since coming here surfaced one by one.

The black, white, and purple Compiler Teacher who looked like he hadn’t slept for three nights. The eccentric but fun Mister Dokkaebi. Hyung-nim Ja-myeong-go, who seemed to have no emotions but would shed tears at the story of a younger sibling.

And, and also…

Swish!

Thud.

[The average health of the unit members has fallen below 10. (Current Han (恨) Stacks: 4 [Max])]

[‘Han (恨)’ stacks have reached the maximum (4).]

[All unit members can now attack while ignoring all effects such as buffs, debuffs, items, and status ailments.]

˙✧˖°🎮 ⋆｡˚

The S-Class Hunter is currently running like crazy down the hallway.

“Get out of the way! You crazy son of a bitch! Before I plow through all you shitty things. You bastard. I said move! You son of a bitch! What the hell are you doing, you piece of shit. Fuck off, does this bastard want to die right now!”

Bitter curses poured out of his mouth without rest. He looked as if he were possessed by a ghost who had a grudge because they died without being able to swear.

He was truly on the verge of dying from sheer frustration. Just thinking about that ultimate skill of <The Hunter Hunted by Divine Punishment> made him grit his teeth.

Fitting for a skill called an ultimate, it was an extremely powerful and effective area-of-effect skill. Every time the young man, who had transformed into a large white deer, ran forward, hunting dogs were endlessly spawned at his feet.

As long as there was enough space for the deer to roam, the number of hunting dogs could be increased indefinitely. And this map, the library sector, boasted a width that was more than enough.

Sure, it was a pretty good setup for wiping out enemies. Except for one thing.

‘I got caught in it too! I’m being bitten by these stupid bastards as well!’

That goddamn Divine Punishment brat. I knew it from the moment he acted all quiet and played the nice guy by himself in the back.

On the outside, he acted like he was following me, calling me “Boss,” but on the inside, this guy was jealous and envious of me too. That’s why he shat out an ultimate like this without any warning, just to screw me over.

The only way to make that pack of hunting dogs disappear is to kill <The Hunter Hunted by Divine Punishment>. However, the S-Class Hunter is not such an idiot that he would commit a team-kill in this situation.

That is why he is currently running away with his tail tucked, throwing away all face and pride. Hoping that the hunting dogs would deal even a little more damage to the enemies.

‘Those motherfuckers, if they’re gonna die, they should just die alone.’

He shouldn’t have stepped foot on the 5th floor in the first place. Coming here after getting caught up in the nonsensical arguments of his low-intelligence unit members was the mistake.

They say that if you’re the only smart one in a world of idiots, that smart person becomes the abnormal one. Living as a crane among a flock of chickens or a needle in a sack is indeed exhausting.

‘I need to find the way to the upper floor even now…’

He activated a skill while running frantically to avoid the hunting dogs.

Passive Skill: ‘Regressor’s Intuition’

: An old-timer from a destroyed world succeeded in a speedrun.

Based on the numerous raid experiences accumulated so far, derives the ‘shortest path for clearing.’ The ‘shortest path for clearing’ appears in the form of a status window, reflecting the battlefield situation in real-time, and can only be seen by the caster.

A status window that only he could see appeared before his eyes.

[Go straight.]

“…Eh?”

‘Did I read the words wrong?’

“Growl! Woof!”

Just then, a hunting dog that jumped out tried to bite him. As his concentration broke, the status window scattered and disappeared.

“Piss offfff!”

The S-Class Hunter raised his magic sword and cut the hunting dog in two with a single strike. The dog’s body was split in half. However, instead of spilling blood and guts, the creature turned into a lump of pitch-black shadow, melted into the darkness, and vanished.

The S-Class Hunter finished off a few more hunting dogs that were sticking to his side. After finally catching his breath, he activated the skill again. The text in the status window remained the same.

[Go straight.]

The ‘shortest path for clearing’… has changed?