Chapter 431 – Return After Long Absence
Min Ye-jin begins to explain the true identity of the dungeon to Seong-il, who questions her own words.
“First of all… The first purpose of the dungeon, of course, is to continuously expose humans to natural psionic energy, and to bloom their latent supernatural powers.”
The purpose of the dungeon’s existence, which even Seong-il knew well. Because of this, he doesn’t say much and just listens to Min Ye-jin’s words.
“The second is to train people who have completed psionic enlightenment according to their ‘level’.”
“…Training?”
“Yes. Hunter rank. Remember?”
“…No way?!”
“Yes. Why do the government and the Hunter Association, who have become agents of the aliens, bother to grade the hunters and dungeons to clear the dungeons?”
“…”
“I don’t know if it was before. Now that I know the truth. You really don’t believe the bullshit that the government implemented a rating system to efficiently distribute manpower and solve the dungeon situation, right?”
“…”
Min Ye-jin’s words made her spine tingle.
“The truth is… Humans themselves who have developed psychic powers are a ‘precious’ resource to the aliens, so they couldn’t handle it carelessly. It would be difficult if precious resources were wasted after training at random.”
“…”
“That’s why it gradually strengthens the hunter’s ability in the form of ‘clearing’ the dungeon calmly according to the grade. To suit their taste.”
“Under…”
“Then, their abilities have been strengthened to a certain level? Then they are infected with the ‘red thread’ and prepare to ‘harvest’.”
“…”
A nefarious purpose beyond imagination. Seongil was at a loss for words and kept his mouth shut. Min Ye-jin continues her explanation of the purpose of the dungeon.
“The second is for ‘management’ purposes.”
“Management…?”
“The purpose is to eliminate anti-molecular and ‘inferior’ seeds.”
“Huh… Inferior?”
The appearance of disgusting words just by hearing them. Seong-il feels sick to his stomach at the appearance of a word that reminds him of the time when he was bullied at school just because he was a non-combatant.
“Yes. Even though they are old enough, they consider ordinary people who have not awakened as ‘garbage’. That’s why they continue to slaughter the elderly by shooting strong psionic shockwaves in the dungeon.”
“…”
“It’s not difficult for the young, lively people to withstand the waves… They say that from middle-aged and older people, when their physical abilities begin to degenerate, their brains start to become overloaded.”
“…”
“The government… No… The traitors claim that the average life expectancy of people cannot exceed 50 because of the medical system that collapsed after the Great War… But in fact, the vast majority of civilians die prematurely is constantly spewing from dungeons. It’s because of the psionic wavelength.”
“…It’s true that medical supplies are in short supply.”
“Surprisingly not. The aliens are supplying the renegades with enough medicine to keep their precious ‘material’ from dying. Of course. Their ultimate goal is to rob our bodies in the first place, but they’ll leave us to die of disease. ?”
“…”
“So, the real reason why the number of deaths soars from those in their 40s and 50s is because of brain tumors caused by exposure to excessive psionic waves emitted from dungeons.
“Fuck…”
The more you listen, the more disgusting the aliens are. The more Seong-il hears the story, the more he feels sick to his stomach and dizzy.
“Disgusting? I understand.”
“Haa… I vaguely guessed it, but hearing it in person is on a different level. By the way, what the hell is a ‘reactionary molecule’?”
“Ah, that’s…”
At Seong-il’s question, Min Ye-jin takes out a map from her arms and shows it to Seong-il, continuing her words.
“Here… Can you see the map of Seoul?”
“Yes? Yes.”
“Looking at it, here in Seoul, the subway system is very developed, and there are not a few people who live by making underground cities based on this. Or living in burrows under collapsed high-rise buildings.”
“…Is it so?”
“Yes. Even if you don’t have to live on the ark, there are not a few people who are trying to stand up against the government or aliens on their own.”
“Hoo…”
“The dungeon is used to continuously radiate psionic stimulation to civilians who are not under government control to awaken their superpowers, and then use the dungeon to pose a threat to their community. It’s leading me to solve it.”
“…For the sake of the harvest.”
“Exactly. Plus, in the midst of that, you can weed out the ‘inferior’ seeds, so it’s a win-win.”
“…”
It’s a really consistent alien’s vicious ploy.
“One last thing.”
“…Are there any more?”
“Yes. The dungeon is also a device to subdue ‘rebels’ like us…”
“…”
“As you’ve heard from Illax, most of the aliens are in dimensional hibernation for mind transplant work. Thanks to that, only a very few who sacrificed themselves for maintenance are currently active on Earth.”
“Hmm…”
“That’s why there’s a shortage of manpower to subdue rebels like Illax. That’s why they use ‘dungeons.’
“Fuck… What a thrifty bastard.”
“Whoa… Right? They’re creative bastards. Really…”
“Ha…”
“For the aliens, a dungeon is a cage that controls the ‘livestock’ of humans, an educational device, and a device that allows you to harvest in one action. Therefore, our top priority is to recover the dungeon’s core and complete the dungeon. It’s to neutralize it. Dungeon cores are quite rare, so they’re surprisingly hard to reproduce. They say they’re precious things that have come down from ancient times.”
“Hmm…”
“In fact, that is the reason why the government spends so much time recovering ‘cores’. To ‘recycle’ them.”
The purpose of the dungeon’s existence is finally understandable. Seong-il feels that the question of why the aliens continue to harass humans with such ineffective psionic weapons is clearly resolved.
“Oh, right. What’s a manager?”
“The college professor who harassed you?”
“Yes. Jo Woo-young, that bastard.”
“…Didn’t I tell you the other day? These are aliens who forcibly transplanted their souls into the bodies of fit people. They didn’t get ‘eternal life’ because of their early body transplants. The aliens call them ‘martyrs’. .Funny bastards…”
“…Why do you have to steal a human body and pretend to be a manager? Can’t you just act as a manager in the transcendental state?”
“Oh, that? I don’t know for sure. But, they say the aliens got a little bit of trouble with their cerebral bodies as they made so many dimensional jumps.”
“Hmm…”
“As this builds up, it has reached a point where it is impossible to survive without absorbing continuous psionic waves. Ji.”
“Ah…”
Seong-il realizes why transcendentalists occasionally appear with huge psionic storms.
‘So when you killed Lee Ah-hyun’s parents, an alien appeared with a psionic storm? No, it must be true that he was able to come because the psionic storm blew.’
Seong-il was lost in thought for a while. Min Ye-jin continues to tell stories about her manager.
“In addition, the manager is also a device that prevents humans from recognizing themselves as ‘livestock’.”
“…”
“If an alien comes to you with its unique appearance and says, ‘You must awaken your superpowers from now on!’ Or ‘You must refine your superpowers according to your level and become stronger’, what would you think?”
“…You must think there’s some ulterior motive.”
“Right? That’s why they put on human skin and play the role of professors in order to make humans believe that ‘psychic powers’ are essential and ‘tools’ that must be polished.”
“Under…”
“It is also a role to check the ‘excellent’ seeds and prepare them for the ‘higher’ existence within the species.”
“…A higher being?”
Random story. If it’s an alien, it’s an alien, but Seong-il looks dumbfounded when he hears that there is another higher being.
“Kuh-kuh… How absurd? The subject of those guys who don’t have much left… Even in that situation, we’re sharing ‘water supply’.”
“…”
“Finding a good body for the ‘priest’ and ‘prophet’ of the fanatics is also one of the managers’ goals.”
“…Perhaps, in the first year, people with multiple abilities are given preferential treatment…”
“Oh, I know that. That’s right. Those ‘prospects’ are prepared for the ‘higher ones’.”
‘Lee Ah-hyun…’
Seong-il realized why Lee Ah-hyun and Choi Hyun-woo were treated so unconventionally.
‘In fact, it was no different from caring for first-class beef cattle…’
Seong-il was envious of the unconventional treatment and respect of promising players. However, realizing the truth, he desperately resists vomiting in disgust.
“Fuck it… Then all the professors at the Korean university I went to…?”
“No. There are usually only 1-3 administrators per university.”
“…Then what about the rest?”
“It’s either. They’re minions, or they’re minions who don’t even know they’re minions.”
“…”
“Usually, the former come from the government. The latter come from the association. By the way, you know what? They thoroughly prefer human resources, despite the risk of betrayal.”
“…What does it mean to prefer human resources?”
“It’s literally. If they really want to, they can use the transcendental science and technology of the past to create AI machines to control humans or force psionics to bloom.”
“…But why are you doing such nonsense?!”
The more you listen to the story, the more confused you are by the aliens. Looking at Seong-il’s expression, Min Ye-jin looks up at the sky with a slightly futile expression and continues the conversation.
“These crazy fanatics don’t trust machines. These lunatics believe the AI will take the opportunity to betray and kill them.”
“…Like their ‘ancestors’ suffered?”
“Yeah. Keuk keuk… That’s why they say that only simple tasks are handled using machines, and other tasks are handled thoroughly by ‘manual work’.”
“…Handwork?”
“Yeah. By using human minions.”
“Under…”
“Anyway… Was it Jo Woo-young? That’s why there is one such madman in every school.”
“…”
As she faces the disgusting truth of reality that she forgot while living in the game world for the past few months, Seong-il feels that her body is draining.
He sighs lightly and starts asking questions while looking at Min Ye-jin.
“…Anyway, entering the school in the ark and clearing the dungeon are two essentials, right?”
“Um… Actually, neither is an obligation unless you leave the ark.”
“What if I don’t leave?”
“I just continue to live here. Doing my pastime. Then, if I’m lucky enough to wake up as an A-class hunter, I’ll be free to leave.”
Min Ye-jin’s words that she would in fact detain herself here. Seong-il looks straight at her and continues her words to her.
“What if I don’t want to do both, but still want to get out?”
“We don’t want to do that either, but we’ll be detaining you by force. I’m sorry, but the truth is, you’re like a ticking time bomb to us.”
“Hmm…”
“As I explained before, the red thread attached to you means that you are a ‘fit person’ with a very high probability, but if you go outside without fully awakening your abilities, and are captured by the government or aliens, you will become an ‘administrator’. If it comes back to us, it’s fear itself.”
“…”
“…So, we want you to get an education and fully develop your abilities. That way you won’t be a ‘fit person’. If you do that, we won’t care what you do in the future. Stay here. Either join us or go outside.”
Surprisingly, the behavior of the guardian of reason is not very coercive. In addition, the emotion also informed that her words were true, so Seong-il could feel that the ark and the resistance group were quite trustworthy.
“I’m surprised.”
“What?”
“If I were a resistance fighter, I wouldn’t have chosen any means, even by violent means.”
“Puhuh…”
“…?”
Min Ye-jin smiled lightly at Seong-il’s words. When Seong-il looked at her with her suspicious expression, Min Ye-jin smiled and continued her answer.
“The meaning of being a suitable person also means that if you raise it well, you can awaken as an S-class unit.”
“!!!”
“That means that if I can form a good relationship with you and welcome you as a colleague, one day an S-class hunter will be added to the team… Can I dare to threaten such a person? Cuckoo…”
“Ah… What…”
“We will never do you any harm, as long as you don’t cross the ‘line’. I promise.”
Seong-il realized that Min Ye-jin’s words were true. When he thinks that the Resistance is quite reliable, she tries to ask a question she has been really curious about.
