Chapter 219
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 219
Chapter Title: Game, Experiment, Truth - 3
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"...What? A bug? What does that mean?"
Lee Hyun-wook felt his mind go blank.
"Hmm, if not a bug, should I call it a mutation?"
She scratched her chin in thought before continuing.
"As you already know, this experiment targets Earths across multiple dimensions, right? Think of it as having multiple flasks. At the end of each experiment, we administrators take a particularly meaningful sample... that is, a portion of the data a Player has accumulated, and transfer it to a Player in another dimension. You, in your past life, were one of those samples."
This was something he could somewhat understand, having heard it from Gordon Price before.
After one experiment ended, the data obtained was transferred to another, and the remaining byproducts were recycled as monsters and the like.
In other words, the current Lee Hyun-wook had also been updated through countless experiments.
"However, during that sample application process, memories are naturally deleted, amounting to little more than a potential update. But strangely, in your case… an unknown bug caused your memories to be transferred in their entirety."
It was an incident caused by a mere system error...
That was the reason for Lee Hyun-wook's regression.
"And you know what? The administrators discovered that critical bug pretty late. Hmm, it was probably around the time you went over to Africa and started smashing everything..."
"Anyway, at the time, we were so surprised by your unbelievable performance that we belatedly ran a detailed analysis of your nervous system, and what do you know? Your 'Mana Embodiment' had developed exponentially."
She chuckled as if something was funny.
"It was even close to the experimental results we were hoping for. Haha—original inventions are often born from unexpected mistakes, and evolution begins with mutations, but who would have ever predicted something like that would happen in this massive experiment? It's quite amusing, haha—"
In other words, Lee Hyun-wook's regression held no special meaning.
It wasn't born of anyone's intention or assistance.
It was simply a 'variable'... caused by a random 'glitch'.
"Hmm, does knowing the whole truth sting a little?"
"...On the contrary, it makes me sick to my stomach."
"Haha—yes, I knew you'd say that."
This time, Lee Hyun-wook took a step forward.
"Alright, I get that this is all a fucked-up situation. So... why are you explaining all this to me?"
That was the core of the current situation.
Even if this woman was part of an alien species of administrators who saw humanity as lab rats, there could be dissenters among them.
For instance, just as humans once discriminated against other races based on skin color but eventually awakened to the concept of human rights and even began to consider animal rights...
If that were the case, this woman could be humanity's last lifeline.
But was that too much to hope for?
The smile she wore was still twisted somehow.
"Well, that's because… I'm trying to smuggle you, a successful specimen, out of this foolish and incompetent laboratory. This is a good thing for you, so you should be excited."
In other words, this woman wasn't driven by some noble cause; she was nothing more than an industrial spy...
'I probably shouldn't get my hopes up.'
Lee Hyun-wook felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
"Now, if you're done with your questions... let's see, we have about ten minutes left, so shall I say my piece?"
She abruptly extended a hand to Lee Hyun-wook.
"Take my hand, and let's achieve my goals together and become a member of a new society... no, let's become true gods together."
Lee Hyun-wook stared down at her hand, lost in thought.
'Everything hangs on this moment. I have to choose carefully.'
Now, he had to prioritize 'survival' over 'victory'.
And not just his own survival, but that of his comrades, and by extension, the very existence of humanity. As always, he had nurtured the dream of humanity's victory over his personal feelings of revenge, and that destiny was still in effect.
'In other words, I have to find a way for everyone to live.'
But did such a way even exist?
He turned his head and looked at the Players surrounding them.
Kim Se-hee, Park Jun-mo, Seo Eun-ha, Woo Seong-mun, Emilia Müller, and others… they looked back at him with expressions full of shock and worry.
'She only needs me.'
He couldn't just abandon them and blindly take her hand.
"...In that case, what happens to them? To the rest of humanity?"
At his question, her expression shifted slightly.
And Lee Hyun-wook caught that minute change.
Through countless battles and psychological warfare, he had learned to see through such non-verbal cues.
What it contained was… nothing less than 'annoyance'.
"Well… I'll save them all, so don't you worry."
And just like that, he knew she wasn't telling the truth.
When Lee Hyun-wook remained silent, she spoke again.
"If you help us, I can't promise all of humanity, but I can certainly help a few of your friends continue to live comfortable lives. It's not difficult, so don't be hasty."
But Lee Hyun-wook shook his head.
"Frankly, I don't believe you. You said system control will be lifted in ten minutes, right? It seems we have to escape from here within that time. Am I correct?"
"Yes, you are."
"If the administrators find out about this situation then, they could kill us all as punishment. Can you prevent that?"
"Um, well, it's possible, I suppose..."
But in that moment, her eyes darted away from Lee Hyun-wook's, staring into empty space. He could clearly sense the hidden meaning in that subtle gesture, a common habit of intelligent beings.
"...You're lying."
Yes, it was the subtle behavior of someone telling a lie.
"—What?"
At that moment, overt hostility began to creep into her eyes.
"Um… look, I think you're getting the wrong idea, Mr. Lee Hyun-wook..."
She took a step closer, looking up at him.
"I'm trying to smuggle you out because I need you, not because I'm desperate for your help and cooperation to the point of negotiating with you... so please don't get the wrong idea and act all high and mighty."
"......."
"And the only reason I'm being so kind as to answer all your questions is simply because… it would be much more convenient if you came with us of your own free will."
"......."
"You're basically a sealed container for a completed sample. If I break it, the contents might get a little damaged, but I can just gather them up, re-analyze them, and reproduce it. It'll be a bit of a hassle, but that's all."
Lee Hyun-wook let out a sigh.
"...So in the end, you're all the same kind of trash."
"What?"
"I don't know where your species crawled out from, but one thing is certain: you're all trash that's not worth dealing with."
With this woman's appearance, Lee Hyun-wook had harbored a strange sense of anticipation. Since a twist had occurred, he thought an unexpected glimmer of hope might have arrived.
But in the end, he was just being swept up in another desire of the alien species that toyed with humanity... a situation where he was bound to be played with like a toy before an overwhelmingly massive power.
'If I blindly follow her now, I'll just be used up and discarded like a disposable tool.'
And while that happened, his comrades here... would all be killed or recycled into monsters.
'Yes, that's what will happen.'
From just a short conversation with this woman, Lee Hyun-wook could foresee such a future.
He had fought countless enemies on countless battlefields for a long time, and he had learned to discern not only the blades hidden in his enemies' grasp but also the wicked schemes veiled behind their expressions.
This woman could never be an ally.
However, turning her into an enemy didn't mean he could win...
'...In that case, it's better to not give that wicked species what they want. That's the best I can do.'
The grand picture he had so coolly drawn until now had always started from a place of possibility.
But in a checkmate situation like this, where he would lose no matter what move he made, he thought it was better to just flip the board.
In other words, mutual destruction.
That was the best option.
Lee Hyun-wook looked at her hand, still extended for a handshake, and finally shook his head. He glared at her and slowly opened his mouth.
"...You people must never become gods."
At that, her hand dropped.
"Ha… Don't be so emotional. This isn't like you. You need to look at the bigger picture, just like you've always done!"
Lee Hyun-wook let out a smirk.
"Hey, you said the reason I was born was a bug, right?"
He said, lifting his head.
"If that's the case, it means you can't fully understand or control mana yet. And maybe… you now know even less about it than I do."
He slowly closed his eyes as he spoke.
"What? Dammit, there's no time, so speak plainly! Otherwise, I'll just smash your head and take the fragmented data!"
"...As a researcher, would it please you if I were to rapidly grasp the true power of mana?"
He slowly turned his head, sensing the 'mana' scattered all around him, one particle at a time.
"Huh?"
A moment ago, after the system's 'limit on Player potential' was lifted, Lee Hyun-wook had been experiencing rapid growth.
As a result, he could now sense not only the mana inherent in all objects besides metal, but also the 'red shackles' binding that mana—what seemed to be the 'System' itself.
And crucially, he sensed a thread of mana connected to the head of this administrator—Nicole. It stretched far into the sky, leading to some kind of massive object.
It wasn't visible to the eye, but it was made of metal.
'…A flying vessel.'
In that moment, Failnaught flew from Lee Hyun-wook's hip.
"Gahk!"
It plunged into Nicole's neck.
"You crazy son of a bitch—this is an 'avatar'! You can't kill me!"
But Lee Hyun-wook exerted his control over metal toward the empty air. With a great *thud—*, an invisible something connected to Nicole began to descend toward the ground... There, the true body of the being called Nicole must exist.
"Huh?"
Startled, she muttered something into the air. Her voice was concealed by something akin to a silence spell, but strangely, Lee Hyun-wook could hear it.
- He's gone off the deep end! Dammit, restore the System right now and raise security to maximum—!
And though the language she spoke was not of Earth, Lee Hyun-wook didn't understand it linguistically; rather, he seemed to interfere with the mana intertwined with her nervous system and read her intent.
In other words, he was beginning to awaken a form of mind control.
'It's because my potential has been unlocked.'
And all the administrators had unanimously called Lee Hyun-wook the most successful specimen, while Nicole had even said he was close to being a god.
In other words, without the shackles of the System, his ability to handle 'mana' was superior to any administrator's—
'They don't know what I'm seeing.'
Lee Hyun-wook immediately lifted the Mogeuleys scattered all around and shot them toward the sky at super-high speed.
*Thwung— Thwung—*
They were incomparably faster than any display of metal control he had shown before, as if fired from a Gauss rifle.
*BOOM—! BOOM—!*
The Mogeuleys began to slam into something floating in the air... and soon, it came into view.
*Rumble—*
A circular flying vessel, as massive as Laputa, began to plummet toward the ground.
But was his power still incomplete?
"You damn rat, how dare you bite your master?"
The moment Nicole, the administrator, shrieked and reached her hand toward Lee Hyun-wook—
*Vwooom—*
- [!] 'Emergency Control' initiated by Administrator master authority!
* In the current environment, only 'Administrators' can control mana.
As that <Global Announcement> appeared in the sky, sparks flew from around the heads of Lee Hyun-wook and all the other Players.
*Bzzzzzt—*
"Gah!"
"Ugh!"
They had been about to follow Lee Hyun-wook and attack the administrator, but they lost their abilities and collapsed to the ground in immense pain.
It was the same for Lee Hyun-wook.
"Gah!"
In his eyes, he could see countless red shackles clinging to the blue particles of mana. It looked just like a virus invading and infecting the body's cells.
In other words, the System had activated and begun to control the mana.
And...
*Pop—! Pop—!*
"Ah, no!"
With a single gesture, the woman made the Players' heads pop like balloons.
Her hand turned toward Lee Hyun-wook.
Lee Hyun-wook froze as if a gun were pointed at him.
"...You should have listened when I gave you the chance. Now I have no choice but to crack open your head and go through the trouble of collecting the scattered data."
But Lee Hyun-wook didn't give up. He strained his entire body, expanding his senses, desperately trying to break the shackles called the System that had been placed on his mana.
Sensing that strange vibration, she sneered.
"Hah, it's useless… Did you think we'd conduct our experiments so carelessly? Hah—this is an experiment to create a god. You can't even imagine the effort we put into the failsafes—Gah!"
In that instant, something struck her lower body, sending her small frame spinning through the air before crashing into the dirt.
A single Mogeuley had hit her like a truck. It then continued on and struck the falling circular vessel in the distance.
Next, Lee Hyun-wook raised his left hand and aimed at it.
*Krrrrk—!*
The surface of the vessel began to tear apart, revealing its interior.
Since her real body was inside, Nicole's expression turned grim.
"Gah— How… the Sy-System's control..."
Somehow, Lee Hyun-wook had regained a portion of his power.
'Yes, it's working.'
He could now overcome even the power of the System.
If he could just unlock a little more of his potential, he could truly shatter the System and find freedom.
"Grrrrrrr—"
He pushed all his senses to their absolute limit, struggling to move the mana.
But just then, Nicole, her lower body severed, crawled forward with a groan and reached a hand toward Lee Hyun-wook.
"T-too late, you little rat! Didn't I tell you I had my ways?"
She clenched the hand she had extended toward Lee Hyun-wook.
"Gah, inputting master command: Forced Deletion—!"
With a *pop—*, his entire body shattered into pieces, and his vision went dark.