Chapter 125
Chapter 125
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: Return (2)
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Seoran had installed numerous safety measures in the Shiksan Daebung.
She hadn’t anticipated that it would develop its own ego.
She had only prepared for the possibility of someone trying to steal control.
A mad scientist completes a flawless giant robot.
The protagonist seizes control through a series of coincidences.
The villain is defeated by the very creation he made.
It was a classic cliché.
Seoran had no desire to play the role of the mad scientist.
That was why she had prepared countermeasures from the design stage onward.
The safety measures could be broadly classified into two types.
Software safeguards and hardware safeguards.
First, the software safeguards activated whenever someone attempted to control the puppet core.
The safeguards demanded user authentication from the intruder.
It was a method very familiar to Earthlings.
Please enter your password.
Incorrect password.
Remaining attempts: two.
For the record, guessing it was impossible.
The password was over 100 characters long.
If it was entered wrong three or more times, the puppet core access terminal would lock, and the Self-Eye Effect legion would storm the control room.
Even correctly entering the password wasn’t the end of it.
Iris recognition, voice recognition, fingerprint recognition, and more followed.
Unless they brought Seoran’s entire body, there was no way to complete the authentication successfully.
Failing the authentication almost certainly meant death.
Anyone capable of surviving a life-or-death battle against a million owls had no reason to attempt a takeover.
They could just destroy the Shiksan Daebung from the start.
However, the situation changed when the puppet core spontaneously developed its own ego.
To put it in metaphorical terms, this was an internal seizure of control.
The software safeguards, designed solely for external takeovers, failed to function properly.
Second, the hardware safeguards were a bit unusual.
These safeguards simply didn’t activate under normal circumstances.
They only operated covertly when key facilities—like the puppet factory, hangar, seed storage, propulsion engines, and attitude control organs—were in use.
The covert nature was the most crucial aspect.
The hardware safeguards didn’t proactively demand anything from the user.
They merely started a timer and waited silently.
If no encrypted signal was received within the time limit, they initiated security protocols.
The security protocol involved physically severing the circuits.
The method was simple.
Fuse-like components were detonated simultaneously.
This fundamentally blocked commands from the puppet core.
Key facilities disconnected from the puppet core immediately began independent response procedures.
They sealed off entire zones using barriers.
And they remained silent until reconnection.
To repair the severed circuits, one had to locate spare parts and insert them into the proper positions.
Of course, only Seoran possessed the spare parts—or knew the correct replacement locations.
It was an impregnable security system crafted by the world’s foremost puppet master, infused with malicious intent.
So Seoran wasn’t worried.
Even if it flew off, it was still within the Buddha’s palm.
Its flight functions would have shut down soon enough.
All the crashing Shiksan Daebung could decide was whether to land headfirst or butt-first.
It seemed it had chosen the latter.
*****
The Shiksan Daebung was sticking its head out above the ground.
It appeared to have embedded itself into the earth upon crashing.
The giant owl-eyed creature gazed up at the water’s surface with pitiful eyes.
Seeing it like that, Seoran felt a slight lift in her mood.
It wasn’t due to any ill will toward the Shiksan Daebung or some fractured personality.
If anything, it was a form of intellectual exhilaration.
The sense of accomplishment from solving a math problem or puzzle.
The pleasure of a logic-based prediction proving exactly right.
The euphoria of someone falling perfectly into her trap.
In Seoran’s mind, boy and girl Seorans were dancing a lively folk dance to a jaunty rhythm.
It was the dance of joy.
Damcheong looked at the Shiksan Daebung with pitying eyes.
“How pitiful.”
Seoran snapped out of it.
“Instead of standing around, let’s hurry and pull it out.”
“Indeed.”
The rescue operation itself was over quickly.
With a gesture from Damcheong, the seawater parted around the Shiksan Daebung and receded outward.
Then Seoran activated the Great Mountain Shaking Earth Lift Art to shatter the ground and hoist the Shiksan Daebung free.
The giant owl-eyed creature regained its freedom after just a few days.
The Shiksan Daebung wobbled away from the hole.
It then plopped down in the middle of the sea.
Gentle waves tickled its chest.
Damcheong gazed at the Shiksan Daebung and remarked.
“It somehow looks dejected.”
“Maybe it’s shocked from falling into the water for the first time in its life?”
“That could be...”
The Shiksan Daebung was noticeably listless.
Just in case, Seoran checked its spiritual power reserves.
They were ample, so lack of power wasn’t the issue.
It seemed purely a matter of mood.
The two observed the Shiksan Daebung’s expression closely.
It looked sad, or perhaps weary.
Either way, it showed no intention of moving for a while.
Seoran said.
“For now, let’s go inside and check. We should assess the flooding damage too.”
“You’re worried about the seed storage and library.”
“The safeguards did activate, but better safe than sorry.”
Seoran and Damcheong entered through the slackened beak.
The interior was mostly intact.
Thanks to the timely activation of the zone isolation protocols.
Only the residential areas and corridors had minor flooding, which Damcheong dried up in moments.
Seoran slipped into a hidden secret passage in a corridor corner.
After navigating the labyrinthine structure, she reached a certain device.
Replacing the damaged internal components with spares restored the severed circuits.
Seoran crawled back out and said.
“For now, I’ve only repaired the propulsion engines. Let’s take the Shiksan Daebung back to the Black Bamboo Sect.”
“I wonder if it’ll follow...”
“We’ll just have to coax and soothe it.”
Seoran and Damcheong emerged outside.
The Shiksan Daebung still wore a wrinkled frown.
It evoked pity in any who saw it.
Damcheong clapped his hands and called to the giant owl-eyed creature.
“Come on, let’s head home!”
Seoran chimed in from the side with baby talk.
“Big Daebung, time to hop up! Hop!”
“Let’s go!”
“Our Daebung is such a good boy, so good!”
The Shiksan Daebung glanced sideways before turning its body.
Seoran and Damcheong shouted endlessly at the giant owl-eyed creature’s plump rear.
But no matter how they coaxed and soothed, it remained unmoved.
Damcheong asked.
“It’s not even reacting now. What should we do? It’s like it’s plugged its ears and is ignoring us...”
“It’s listening, I’m sure. If it really hated it, it would’ve swum off somewhere else. Shall we try shock therapy?”
“For example?”
Seoran shouted loudly.
“We’re leaving—you stay here and live alone!”
The Shiksan Daebung turned its head this way.
Its eyes held a hint of anxiety.
It was working.
Damcheong’s expression brightened.
“As expected, it’s effective.”
“Let’s pretend we’re really leaving.”
“Understood.”
Damcheong raised the Five-Colored Cloud’s altitude slightly.
The Shiksan Daebung fidgeted before suddenly standing up.
It then gazed up at Seoran and Damcheong with pleading eyes.
The Five-Colored Cloud slowly headed westward.
The Shiksan Daebung hurriedly chased after it.
But it showed no sign of flying.
Damcheong felt puzzled.
“I don’t know why it’s walking instead of using its wings.”
“Maybe it’s gotten scared of flying?”
“Scared?”
Seoran watched the waddling Shiksan Daebung and replied.
“People who’ve been bitten by a dog get scared of even small ones afterward. Isn’t it something like that?”
“You mean its traumatic first flight crash has made it fear the skies?”
“What else could explain it?”
Seoran and Damcheong simultaneously looked down as if by prior agreement.
The giant owl-eyed creature was scrambling after them in a panic.
It seemed worried they might leave it behind.
Yet it still refused to spread its wings.
Seoran’s guess appeared correct.
*****
After much hardship, Seoran, Damcheong, and the Shiksan Daebung managed to return to the Black Bamboo Sect.
Their mode of transport was the massive Five-Colored Cloud.
They’d had a tough time persuading it to board.
Jang Seonhwa, upon hearing the story, exclaimed in admiration.
“That’s truly astonishing. Avoiding something due to a bad experience, fretting over being left alone... It’s just like a living creature. As expected of Teacher! The pinnacle of puppetry!”
“I’m still far from the pinnacle. In the Shiksan Daebung’s case, it was pure coincidence. Not only is it irreproducible, I can’t even fathom the principle.”
“No, have some confidence! Teacher succeeded in Foundation Establishment at just sixteen—a genius among geniuses! I, Jang Seonhwa, reached Foundation Establishment last year and admire you all the more!”
Last summer, Jang Seonhwa had achieved Foundation Establishment.
At twenty years old, she was considered a prodigy.
Her goal was, naturally, to become a puppet master.
Three-Eyed Miao chimed in from the side.
“Senior Sister Jang is absolutely right! I recognized your greatness the moment I first saw you!”
Three-Eyed Miao’s luck had been good lately.
She’d long forgotten the barren depths of the Great Forest.
She was eating so well that she might start rolling soon.
A maid entered to announce a guest’s arrival.
The Ho Hye-mun household had grown idle with winter break.
“Long time no see.”
“Did you manage while I was away?”
“Hmm, I can’t even politely say it was peaceful.”
The Ho Hye-mun household had been plagued by marriage proposals lately.
They wouldn’t give up, even though she had no intention of marrying yet.
The most awkward part was their relationship.
Yi Agum couldn’t hide her shock.
“Your disciple? From ten years ago?”
“Yes, I don’t know what she sees in a woman twice her age...”
“Wow...”
Yi Agum was the biggest victim of confession attacks.
But even she found this confession awkward.
Taught ten years ago? The disciple couldn’t be older than twenty now—over thirty years younger than Ho Hye-mun.
Conversations continued in all directions afterward.
Seoran, Damcheong, Jang Seonhwa, Ho Hye-mun, and Yi Agum spent a cozy year-end amid falling snowflakes.
The Shiksan Daebung stood outside the walls, peering down into the mansion’s courtyard.
Then Damcheong suddenly said.
“Speaking of which, there’s been no word from Geum Yeongyeong. Does anyone know anything?”
Seoran replied.
“No idea.”
Another year ended, and spring returned.
*****
At the entrance to the Myriad Illness Sect’s dharma artifact workshop.
Workshop Master Seol Susa said.
“You’re free now.”
Geum Yeongyeong murmured while gazing at the sky.
“Nice weather...”
It was her liberation after twelve years.