Chapter 684 – The Ark
“…Your personality has been altered by the red thread.”
“Answer.”
Seong-il feels dizzy at the meticulous tricks of aliens. In addition, I am sure that the only way to save mankind is to implement the ‘Eden’ he planned to solve this damn situation.
“Are the missing people going straight to being captured by aliens and given mind transplants?”
“Well…? It may or may not be true. However, it is highly likely that the missing Hunter is mostly sealed between the dimensional spaces called ‘Void’. That’s for sure.”
As mentioned before, Yoo Chang-jin explains that there is a high possibility that the aliens are thoroughly in dimensional hibernation in order to plan as much safety as possible from the AI’s pursuit.
“Because… They’re likely to wake up from dimensional hibernation all at once and attempt mind transplant surgery once a sufficient number of ‘harvests’ have been secured.”
“…Is the AI’s tracking extreme enough to go that far?”
“I don’t really know that part.”
Instead, Yoo Chang-jin explains his guess to his Seong-il by analogying the case of Ilax, the creator of the Ark and the only ally of mankind.
“I… Never saw Monk Illak so terrified, except when talking about AI.”
Yoo Chang-jin tells us that the coordinates of the ark were once revealed by a traitor. In addition, the ark was seriously damaged by the attack of the alien army aiming for the gap.
“At that time, it was quite hopeless. The Korean ark was really on the brink of destruction. But, despite that, Monk Illak didn’t have much emotional agitation.”
Yoo Chang-jin explains to Seong-il that Illax is a being who showed a resolute appearance even in the face of being caught and tortured for eternity by his own people in a desperate crisis.
“…I will never forget. The day you explained to me the true purpose of our ark and told me about AI. The sight that Monk Illak looked extremely afraid of.”
Surprisingly, Yoo Chang-jin tells me that Ilax couldn’t keep his composure when talking about AI.
“… Monk Illax and the rest of the guardians of reason are like this, but are the aliens really different? They hide their existence like rats, and use a small number of ‘martyrs’ to shove their minds into low-class sacrifices and act as administrators. There’s no good reason to write.”
“…A martyr.”
From a human point of view, a writer like Cho Woo-young is no different from an atrocious devil, but when aliens call him a great and holy victim, Seong-il feels his teeth tremble with disgust.
“Of course… Besides that, there are also physical problems. They have a serious side effect of their bodies collapsing due to too frequent dimension shifts in the city of escape. Because of these complex problems, the aliens hibernate in domes.”
Seong-il, who listened to all of Yoo Chang-jin’s explanations, was able to fully understand how the current situation of mankind was going.
“…Anyway, why don’t you kidnap all the psychics who enter and exit the dungeon? Actually, wouldn’t that be more efficient?”
Seong-il pretends not to know anything and asks Chang-jin Yoo questions in order to figure out in advance any problems that may arise in his future plan.
“Umm… In my heart, we want to do as you say, but…”
Yoo Chang-jin explains that there are quite a few problems in reality. First of all, due to the government’s cunning propaganda, the Under Hunter is imprinted on the hunters as an evil ‘terrorist’ and ‘pseudo’ religious group, so most of them receive a hostile reaction from the rescue target, and also, the Under Hunter’s activities are not openly carried out. Then the ‘Manager’ will appear and tell you to slaughter the Under Hunter.
“The Administrator is really a monster. It’s hard to subdue him even with moderate psionic attacks.”
“…Then wouldn’t it be fine to grab the person to be rescued and escape using the emergency dimension escape without having to bump into the manager?”
“The way you said is the most dangerous.”
Min Ye-jin, who heard Seong-il’s question while keeping her mouth shut, opens her mouth for the first time in a while and denies her Seong-il’s opinion.
“Right now, things like dimension shifting and escape technology aren’t our exclusive possessions. Right now, think about where the Guardians of Reason originate from.”
“Hmm…”
When Min Ye-jin tells her that aliens can, in fact, destroy the dimensional escape weakness used by the guardians of reason, Seong-il feels her heart heavy.
‘…Then wouldn’t I be a problem too?’
Of course, if the alien tries to trace back to the inner plane and succeeds in entering the inner plane, like the apostle of the doll world, the inner plane could have a serious problem, so Seong-il ponders the problem in his mind.
Cheers…!!
As if rebuking him, a tingling sensation passes through Seong-il’s head. In addition, memories with the game master come to mind naturally.
『Widgrasil’s existence alone would be sufficient for dimensional defense, right?』
‘…I have a different mechanism and I have the protection of a powerful dimensional beast called Weed Grasil, so would it be okay?’
Seong-il secretly expects the game master’s answer and asks a non-question question to himself.
However, the game master thoroughly ignores Seong-il’s words, as if trying to hide himself, probably because Yoo Chang-jin in front of him is a sensitive person.
“…Then why did I take the risk to rescue you? What you’re saying doesn’t make sense?”
“Because sometimes there are promising prospects who are worth rescuing despite the risk. Even more so, a promising player with double abilities and clearing soloing like you. Even the infection wasn’t severe yet.”
Min Ye-jin tells us that ‘irregulars’ like Seong-il have a very high chance of becoming suitable candidates, so under-hunters take risks to rescue super-special prospects.
“If a large number of people are active at once, there is a high chance of being backtracked, but if there are 5 or fewer people, even if they use emergency exit in front of the manager, there will be no problem.
‘That’s it.’
It seems that alien civilization’s dimensional traceback technology does not work for a small number of people. Seong-il, who got some useful answers through the question feigned ignorance, is relieved inwardly.
“…Then I’d like to ask you a question about this as well. What happens if you awaken the ability they want without the red thread? A body swap or a powerful super-regeneration ability.”
The former condition had nothing to do with Seong-il, but in the case of the latter, it was to some extent applicable to Seong-il, who had nanomachines, so Seong-il asked with a slightly anxious expression.
“First of all, if you are a sane Hunter, he doesn’t wish for the ability to steal other people’s bodies…”
‘That’s right.’
“The problem is the latter ability, but as I said before, the latter has the ability to constantly remodel the body through the red thread, and the side effects are serious even if the mind is transplanted. But, removing the red thread did not cause gene mutation? .”
Min Ye-jin tells the red thread that unless she has been genetically modified since her days as a low-ranking hunter, for some reason, a mental transplant operation between humans and aliens is close to impossible.
“I don’t know what the principle is, but… They say that once you have a special awakening, the genetic manipulation of the red thread won’t work after that. They say it’s serious. Even if the mind transplant is successful, the mind will collapse.”
‘I’m not worried.’
Seong-il hears Ye-jin Min’s answer and feels a surge of relief from her. Just in case, Seong-il asked if he was reinfected, and upon hearing that question, Min Ye-jin patted him with an expression telling him not to worry.
“Don’t worry about that. Every time you go out on a mission, the bracelet you wear is a device that blocks infection from the red thread. Well… The bracelet isn’t all-purpose, so I keep taking additional measures… I can’t tell you this. It’s confidential…”
“Ah, that’s about it.”
Seong-il did not expect that her Min Ye-jin would share all her secrets, so she expresses her understanding to her.
‘…However, I’ll have to think about how to remove the red thread.’
Like the Guardian of Reason, Seong-il feels that if he does not know how to get rid of the terrible parasite, there will be problems in the Eden he has created.
‘I’ll have to think about this.’
For this reason, Seong-il feels the need for additional defense in order to proceed with his plan. He contemplates whether to obtain a red thread sooner or later and order a follower to analyze it.
“Are you done wondering now?”
“…Roughly? If there’s anything I’m curious about, I’m curious about how the ‘test’ is taken.”
“Oh, that matters.”
Min Ye-jin listens to her story of Seong-il and she calmly explains to him about her test.
She says that after sending those who wish to be promoted to the arena equipped with a special detection device, they send droids and advanced hunters in for sparring.
“… Sparring?”
“Yes. The testing ground absorbs and analyzes the psionic waves that come out during sparring.”
“…How is that possible?”
He wanted to get as much information as possible and provide technology or ideas to the Eden he had created, so Seong-il pretended to be curious and tried to dig up as much information as possible.
“Ah, actually, the principle is simple. The artificial intelligence analyzes the existing information and the psionic waves emitted during the fight.”
Perhaps he wanted to find out Seong-il’s secret somehow, Yoo Chang-jin tries to gain favor with him by explaining the principles of the test site, which he would not normally tell easily.
“Wavelength…?”
“That’s right. There are many types of psychic abilities, but… It’s been quite a long time since psychic abilities were discovered, and a system has finally been established. Almost all abilities have been roughly analyzed.”
“Hmm…”
“Psychic people who use normal abilities easily match the wavelength with the existing data. However, psychic people with unique awakening are different. Scatter it all around.”
‘It was like that…’
It seems to find different contents compared to the existing accumulated data. Surprisingly, it was a very simple and simple principle, so Seong-il could easily understand Yoo Chang-jin’s words.
‘I was worried that some special device would be attached to my body for analysis… But that’s understandable.’
As he grasps the whole situation, Seong-il feels his head getting cold. In addition, he is promoted to an A-class hunter, hears the truth of the ark, and decides whether to remain in a friendly relationship with them or to act as an independent force as planned.
“I understand. I’ll apply for a promotion review right away.”
“Ho… Are you confident? Or have you awakened?”
“Well?”
“Haha! What a bold friend. Well, that’s great! I appreciate you doing crazy things for our organization over the past three months, and I’ll give you a special immediate test as my president.”
Yoo Jun-kyung said all sorts of nice things to Seong-il. When he finishes explaining all the exams, he tries to talk to Seong-il about the psychic test.
“You’ve already shown your special powers dozens of times through dungeon clearing, so it’s highly likely that you’ve fully awakened.”
“…”
“It’s really unusual for a body enhancer to be able to damage psionic monsters.”
Yoo Chang-jin cautiously asks Seong-il for cooperation in psychic research, just as Min Ye-jin and Yoo Jun-kyung did a while ago.
“It’s not possible.”
Seong-il does not bend even a little in front of the head of the Under Hunter Association, who has absolute authority called Yoo Chang-jin.
He expresses his opinion by explaining the same thing he said to Min Ye-jin a while ago to Yoo Chang-jin.
He becomes Class A, hears the true purpose of the Ark, and makes a strong appeal that he will not cooperate with any examination concerning his body until he is given the option of relocating.
“Whoa… I see. Then, if you hear our goal and truly join us, can you help us then?”
“Then, of course, it is possible.”
In fact, Seong-il had no intention of cooperating at all, but he showed it as if he was leaving a minimum margin to prevent the runaway of the Under Hunter.
“Okay! Then come back to this association tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
Yoo Chang-jin briskly pushes through the promotion test, which should have taken several weeks, without even reviewing it.
