Hacked Bears and the Hologram Directive
Allen's gaze toward Shiba carried the unspoken message, 'I explained it thoroughly enough...' He often trimmed his words to the bone, assuming others knew at least this much.
Shiba, used to it by now, simply waited for a response.
"It means they haven't undergone any additional processing. So it feels similar to the automatons mass-produced by the underground dwellers."
To make a precise judgment, he needed more data, so he stuck to the vague term "feels" instead of claiming certainty.
As they ran alongside the water, his eyes naturally scanned the floor—and that's when Allen spotted something. His left eye displayed info on a small fragment.
Type: Synthetic Fiber
Traits: Identical to Hashy's clothing material
Allen paused briefly and picked up a scrap of cloth from where the corridor wall met the floor. His sudden stop drew all eyes, and Hashy's mouth fell open slightly.
"Oh, damn..."
Hashy's reaction confirmed it: this was a trace of his cousin, the one who'd gone ahead and lost contact. As Allen tucked the scrap into his pouch, a massive roar echoed from far down the hall.
It was the all-too-familiar sound of battle. The panther, which had been trailing Allen like a shadow, brushed past his legs and shot forward.
Allen's group picked up the pace as well. Descending the stairs ahead revealed a vast circular hall. From the ceiling's center hung a mysterious white cylinder of unknown purpose.
Three bear-like automatons faced off against the elf party below it. The beasts reared up on their hind legs, menacing the intruders.
Then Hashy's finger pointed to the rearmost bear.
"Do you see the harpoon skewer in its shoulder? That's definitely from my cousin's harpoon gun."
Torn cloth scrap, broken harpoon.
There lay the reason his kin hadn't returned. No guarantee the bears were the end of it, but their presence was undeniable—and Hashy's rage turned toward them.
"Whoa, whoa. Hold back for a sec. Charging in hot-headed just gives the undertaker more work."
Taylor blocked Hashy. The employer was someone to protect.
Each party had a dwarf tagging along as watcher and guarantor. If one died, there'd be an investigation, and the payout would take a massive hit.
"This is why your elders hired us—stay put. An excited ally's just another enemy."
"Ugh..."
Hashy backed off easily enough. By then, Shiba had positioned himself behind, his hands glowing white. Clearly a holy art to calm the nerves.
As Taylor and Shiba exchanged nods, Allen watched the battle from the panther he'd already dispatched.
As the panther closed in, the harpoon-pierced bear twisted sideways. Standing nearly 3 meters tall, it exuded overwhelming pressure.
That was Allen's brief impression; the panther felt no fear whatsoever. It was a ruthless combat machine, moving precisely as its master had designed.
To human eyes, the bear rearing on hind legs might seem threatening, but the panther's algorithms judged it an ideal target.
Giiiing—
The panel between its forelegs split open, ejecting a mana弾 launcher. The barrel aimed at the bear fired without hesitation.
The spinning mana弾 streaked through the air and struck the bear's chest dead-on.
"Allen, a dud?"
"No."
The visual was underwhelming enough for Taylor to ask. The close-combat panther couldn't fire high-power mana弾 without risking self-damage.
Allen had strictly separated roles between panther and crate; what it fired was a debuff mana弾, dubbed "debuff round."
The bear's exterior looked fine, but [Corrosion], [Weakness], and [Slow] effects were spreading slowly from the impact site.
Job done, the panther dropped low and charged. The bear's right forepaw slammed down where its tail had passed.
Sliding to the bear's right, the panther raised its mana claws. It dug into the floor for braking, spun 180 degrees—and faced the bear's hindquarters.
The still-prone bear couldn't match the panther's speed. The mana claws tore through the hind leg's outer shell, severing internal artificial muscles. The exposed fibers curled like grilled squid tentacles.
The bear, trying to lift its upper body, lost balance. It was a machine with combat AI—no pain, just instinct. It splayed its forepaws wide to bulk up, then tried to crush the panther under its back.
The panther reacted, but its rear took a hit from the forepaw. The weight difference sent it skidding far, sparks flying from floor-armor friction.
The bear rolled over, located the panther, and bent its forelegs. Artificial muscles swelled like a beast poised to pounce.
Despite the damaged legs, it leaped high, spreading out starfish-style to smash down.
But its target wasn't the panther—it was another bear. The one about to attack the elves tumbled without reacting to the "ally's" assault.
The traitor bore down in that pose, pinning its victim immobile. Taylor and Shiba turned the trapped one to scrap. The traitor soon followed.
Once the traitor bear fully halted, the spider clinging to its back hopped off and returned to Allen.
Hashy watched it slip into the crate's drawer and asked,
"Hacking, by any chance?"
"Yes. I attached it to the panther's underbelly earlier and had it latch on."
"Stealing control in that short time..."
Hashy wasn't an expert miner, but he vaguely knew hacking was incredibly tough. The effect was spectacular, though—fewer enemies, more allies.
Finishing his words, Allen helped with disassembly. The bears' soul stones were shielded in black-box structures tough enough to resist even mana sword scratches.
"Soul stones are important, sure, but why protect them this thoroughly?"
"If you don't know, how would I?"
Allen shrugged at Taylor's retort and shifted his gaze to the hall's center. The elf party, having downed one bear, was examining something.
Allen hurried over too. At the hall floor's center lay a circular door, fingers interlocked tightly.
The muscular elf who'd been chatting amiably with Taylor now blocked Allen.
"What? We got here first."
His voice dripped greed. Allen ignored him and looked up at the ceiling. Force wouldn't open that door anyway.
Eyeing the white cylinder, Allen summoned the crate. He prodded its surface with the proffered staff, unfolding a blue hologram.
"What're you doing?"
"The mana conduits were deliberately blocked, so I reset it. Touching it connected them—probably what the owner intended."
"I can't make heads or tails of it... You lot, back off. You're blocking the view."
Taylor shooed the elves away. As they retreated, the hologram sharpened into full form.
The central building model matched what Allen had eyed earlier.
"Our current location. And those lines extending outward..."
Following the path-like lines led to three more facilities, positioned at an equilateral triangle's vertices—with their spot at the center.
Each facility's blue faded to white. The central building's glow deepened, and the floor door slid open.
The hologram looped the same scene.
"Activating something at each facility opens the path below."
No one argued Allen's assessment—not even the late-arriving party.
Muscular elf Rollo stepped forward again.
"Perfect—we've got three parties here. One each."
"You know how?"
Rollo jabbed a thumb back. The hologram looped: insert a bear's soul stone into some device.
They'd used video instead of text for non-speakers, implying they anticipated language barriers even among kin.
Allen pulled the staff again and tapped the cylindrical hologram player. Rollo scowled.
"Crazy? You'll take responsibility if it breaks?"
"Gotta check something. Can't just trust the hologram blindly."
Tapping it like knocking on fruit, it finally dropped from the ceiling. Allen extracted the soul stone inside—it served as the central processor, after all.
Rubbing the soul stone summoned a galaxy for Star Letter input. Many had vanished, like into a black hole.
They were disappearing in real-time, hard to read.
"Seed, collapse..."
Allen salvaged just two words. Spotting the Star Letter decoding, Rollo demanded,
"What else? Don't hog it."
"Kkwfchjaeng."
"...??? What the hell? You mocking me?"
"Read the shattered Star Letters as-is. Means I can't translate it."
No more info, door unbreakable no matter what—only one path left: activate the suspicious facilities as the hologram directed.
As Allen emerged outside, text popped in his vision's corner.
External Temperature: -30℃
A whopping 50 degrees colder than inside. Sighs escaped everyone's lips, their breath turning to ice crystals that pattered down.
Ice crystals dangled from Shiba's beard again.
"Weather that makes me long for Mother's embrace."
"Momma's boy?"
"Brother."
Taylor reflected he'd gone too far, hearing Shiba's earnest tone. Joking about God to a devout believer—even if Shiba looked like a monk, his faith ran deep.
But Shiba's face brightened.
"We move by Mother's will, so it's apt. Can't think of a better phrase."
"Glad to hear it."
Taylor brushed it off lightly, but for first-timer Hashy, it sparked worries: had the cold frozen his kin's brains, or was this cult nonsense, not true faith?
End
Each step of the powersuit shoved snow aside, leaving 11-shaped tracks that stretched long. Blizzards soon buried them, but it bought enough time for those behind.
Allen split his thoughts evenly: half on pathfinding, half puzzling this place's nature. Taylor's training let complex ideas crisscross without tangling.
The underground hologram meant performing some task would open the door below.
'Can we trust it?'
If the ruin's designer was visitor-friendly, the bears would've acted the same—but they attacked on sight.
The bears' soul stones were even the keys. Sealed tight or not, what if someone like Breaker's chairman showed up and cleaved it?
'He'd smash the door too—no need for the stone.'
Jake Marshall wasn't here, so pointless speculation. Allen shoved it aside.
'If the right person came—the one the designer wanted—the bears might've obeyed instead.'
The soul stones held undeciphered Star Letters or fog-shrouded parts Allen couldn't observe.
Normally he'd dissect immediately, but as keys, he held off.
His contemplation deepened; he shook his head. No alternatives—follow the hologram.
This type of ruin or barrier demanded obedience to the designer's intent for a way forward. Life and death were two sides of a coin; peril trailed close.
Allen could ponder mid-wasteland thanks to the powersuit. Its alloy shell kept the interior warm and cozy, but outside...
"Ugh..."
Taylor groaned behind. Normally he'd curse a blue streak, but frozen lips held him back.
Knifing winds lacerated skin, bone-chilling cold stalled the march. Visibility-hindering blizzards ravaged the mind