The Birth of Neo Hyung-seok
My plan was to turn Min Hyung-seok, the previous labyrinth explorer, into a puppet corpse and peek into its memories to gather intel on the labyrinth. I shared this with my jo-ryeokja allies.
"Do you guys think this goes against ethics?" I asked cautiously, wondering if they saw it as wrong.
Honestly, I didn't think much of it. Reviving a soulless hunk of meat and reading the memories trapped in its flesh didn't strike me as unethical. Maybe it was my brutal grinding in Elemen西亚 that hardened me. My values differed a bit from people raised in peaceful Earth.
Still, I wanted to avoid anything that might furrow their brows if possible. Especially if Rise, my coin sponsor, opposed it—I was ready to scrap the plan outright. Couldn't lose my funding source...
They'd restored their original nicknames by then, chiming in one by one to answer.
Good—Rise wasn't against it.
Elris was predictably gung-ho, as expected.
Mishi supported me blindly, as always.
Pruru seemed as indifferent as me. Finally, Ha Yumi.
"Yeah. It's true."
I nodded slightly in affirmation. The moment Ha Yumi heard what the previous explorer was like, she flipped.
Once she learned the guy tried to kill me, Ha Yumi tossed ethics to the dogs. Well, everyone's values shift like that eventually.
Iris returned from scouting Cave 1, bringing Min Hyung-seok's corpse along with the others. I handed them to the Necro Puppeteer.
"Handle the synthesis yourselves. And keep the memories from what used to be Min Hyung-seok as intact as possible."
[Hmm. Main ingredient's too weak. Need lots of extras to make it strong.]
[Yo-ho-ho! Master! How about adding this too?]
[Don't ask me—ask the Gauntlet.]
[Yo-ho-ho! Master's master! Can we add this too?!]
"You guys handle it."
The Necro Puppeteer and Curse Devil Gentleman kept mashing other corpses into "what used to be Min Hyung-seok." This too. That too. Turning it into a total mishmash.
Worried they were overdoing it... but unavoidable. Min Hyung-seok's corpse was garbage-tier. Not just for memory-reading—they wanted combat viability too, so blending max corpses made sense for one decent unit. One weak core like that would've birthed pure waste. Needed tons of strong fillers to compensate.
Watching the synthesis with interest, then...
Seo Dan-bi mentioned the previous explorer's name. Must've been a shock realizing that corpse was him. She'd just learned today. Thought I'd told her before, but nope—never named him. Just said "classmate... acquaintance."
Fun fact: Min Hyung-seok was her classmate too. Same school, not close. Delinquent him vs. quiet her—no overlap, oil and water.
Spotted a weird chat midway. Betrayed by wife?
"Min Hyung-seok got betrayed by his wife?"
"Wrong woman, I guess... Didn't even know he was married."
"I know her? Who?"
"What's stopping you."
"Huh? When?"
"......"
I got what Pruru meant. The girl I once liked. Min Hyung-seok dated her. And from the convo flow... high chance she was his wife.
But that doesn't add up.
What betrayal? She was too kind for that. If anything, he'd betray her.
"...Dan-bi, tell me the details later. Kinda curious now."
"Fine. Ancient history anyway."
As I chatted with the jo-ryeokja...
[Done.]
[Yo-ho-ho! Amazing!]
Synthesis complete before I knew it.
Actual Threat Level:S-grade
Current (Nerfed) Threat Level:B-grade
Notes: Previous explorer. Our new friend.
Finished the codex entry to celebrate Necro Puppeteer's puppet, Neo Hyung-seok's birth.
"Spare the praise. I've always named monsters well."
Neo Hyung-seok clocked in at S-grade, as listed. Core was unrecyclable trash, but elite corpse fillers boosted it high. Total rebirth—shedding the old shell.
Min Hyung-seok's wandering soul might even feel proud. Before questioning Neo Hyung-seok, I ordered it to sandbag for Melody Fox first. She'd been growling nonstop—deep grudges.
[Kyuuu!!!]
Melody Fox back-kicked Neo Hyung-seok.
[Kyuaa!!!]
Front paw smash.
[Kyuuuerr!]
Body slam.
[Kyuup!]
Headbutt.
[Kyuaa! Kyuaa! Kyuaa!]
Pummeling wildly. Thud! Thud! Thud! Full-body beatdown.
Impressively, damage was stacking. Not S-grade for nothing. Unlike the weak-cored Hedgehog Summoner God, this buff specialist held true S-grade power even nerfed.
Melody Fox knew. The silent punching bag held Min Hyung-seok's memories, but wasn't him. Had ego, no soul—just shell.
Still, grudges too deep to swallow, hence the frenzy. Knowing it wasn't truly him kept the one-sided thrashing short.
[Kyuuhoo, kyuuhoo...]
Melody Fox halted, panting hard.
[Hmph!]
Snorted, whipped head away, climbed Arachne's back for nap. Probably beat it again after waking.
Anyway, Melody Fox's beatdown time over—my questioning turn.
"Neo Hyung-seok."
[Yes!]
"Come front and center. Drop and give me push-ups."
[...Yes!]
Gonna grind it a bit more before questions. Something about it just rubs me wrong.