Chapter 21: OffenseOffenseOffenseOffenseOffense

༺ OffenseOffenseOffenseOffenseOffense ༻

Boom!

A woman with a bob cut, holding a spear, spewed blood from her mouth as she was flung from the building.

She was Yoon Seungah, a B-Class Awakened from the Gangnam Shelter led by Yu Byungtae.

Coincidentally, she was thrown just beneath an unidentified flying object.

“Cough.”

Blood was streaming from Yoon Seungah’s mouth as if her insides were damaged.

If caught by these people, she knew her fate would be worse than death.

Despairingly, she wondered if she could commit suicide by biting her tongue. After all, she was an Awakened with an Ability of Physical Enhancement.

However, she did not give up and tried to get up by any means.

She couldn’t let her mother live in this world alone.

Using her spear as a support, she barely managed to stand.

“Behave and I’ll treat you right. Haha.”

“By the way, is this one from Gangnam Shelter?”

“Gangnam is a bit troublesome, though.”

“Since when did we give a shit about those kinds of things?”

After their casual conversation, they leisurely exited the building.

“Eung?”

“Eh?”

The two noticed something at the same time. A flying object hovered 10 meters above her head.

“Uh, that’s….”

“Why is that here…?”

“I never heard of it shooting people, though….”

Whirrrrr-

The barrel attached below began to spin.

“Uh… Eh?”

“Fuck. I knew it seemed too good to be true.”

Those were their last words.

BANG BANG BANG BANG-

10,000 rounds per minute of vacuum bullets mercilessly pummeled them.

Thud- Thud-

Be it zombies, Awakened, or those with enhanced physiques, all were equal under Hyperion.

“….”

Yoon Seungah could hardly believe her eyes. It felt like she had witnessed something utterly alien, completely out of place in this era.

What did I just see?

The object floating in the sky was a flying craft that couldn’t possibly exist in reality.

Blue flames burst from various parts of the craft, its metallic texture reflecting the sunlight, hovering nobly. The front was equipped with a cannon and a large machine gun was mounted below.

​

How can it hover so silently in one spot? Doesn’t that make it a bit difficult to call it a mere plane?

Moreover, to obliterate a B-Class Awakened so effortlessly…

It was an unimaginable power.

An Awakened had turned into a corpse in less than a second.

“Huh?”

And she was even more surprised when seeing the person descending on a helicopter ladder.

Kim Youngsik.

The man who had been dubbed powerless and expelled from the shelter.

“Young…sik?”

Shaggy hair, slightly clumsy steps, and an innocent face; Yes, it was definitely Kim Youngsik.

He seemed surprised to see her.

“Seungah, what are you doing he-….”

Then, after startling, he hurriedly approached her and took a syringe from his pocket.

Plunge-

“Uck?”

She shivered as the needle stuck in her neck.

“Son of a bitch… Trying to ki….”

She couldn’t continue her words. It was as if she had received a refreshing massage, vitality sprouting throughout her body and wounds beginning to heal. It seemed to include painkillers.

“A-Ahem. Pretend you didn’t hear that.”

Her ears turned red. It was a mystery whether Youngsik knew of this, as he merely smiled.

“But how did you end up all the way here?”

Yoon Seungah tried to speak but couldn’t find the words.

How could she tell him she was out to secretly investigate him? Especially to someone who had just saved her life?

“….”

“Well, I have a rough idea, so you don’t have to force yourself to tell me.”

Yoon Seungah was moved by Kim Youngsik’s considerate nature. He had saved her mother, rescued her when she was captured by a Slater gang, and now saved her life again.

All of that, with such an unbothered expression, as if he didn’t think much of it.

Yoon Seungah tried to say something.

But right then…

Chrrrrr-

“Huh? Oh. Okay. I get it. Seungah, wait!”

Youngsik paused momentarily, then nodded and turned towards the direction where the ladder had descended.

“Seungah.”

“Huh? Yeah?”

“I have somewhere urgent to go, so let’s talk later. If you leave a mark, I’ll go find you.”

“W-Wai…!”

He hurried off and grabbed the ladder.

Woooong-

And just like that, Youngsik disappeared into the distance while shouting something.

-SIR HYPE! I HAVEN’T CLIMbed up yetttttttttttt…

She shook her head at the sight of him clinging to the ladder and wailing.

Surely, the unsaid words would eventually have their time to be heard.

“….”

Seungah left a mark for Youngsik and set out to find a hideout.

***

Youngsik’s eyes fluttered shut from fatigue due to the continuous farming he had done for the past few days.

Although Hyperion handled the hunting itself, Youngsik had to keep an eye on it and manage tasks intermittently. And of course, he had to farm the spoils.

Ummmm.

After the battles, he had to thoroughly clean Hyperion, polishing it until it shone brilliantly.

“Uh… I saw there was an automatic cleaning function, though….”

Youngsik muttered timidly.

[Power must be conserved for the sake of a fast Upgrade.]

“R-Really?”

[It must be conserved.]

But considering the time it takes to clean… isn’t it rather unnecessary? P-Perhaps it likes being washed by me…?

Could it be that I’ve misunderstood Hyperion all this time? Cold on the outside, but…?!

Of course, he didn’t have the courage to ask directly.

After all…

[Human. How do you have it in you to sleep right now when I am merely at this level?]

[Human. Scrub harder.]

[Human. What do you think you are doing? Have you left your brain behind somewhere?]

[Human?]

Nah. Never mind. Maybe it just can’t stand seeing me idle around.

[There will be no rest until after the Stage 3 Evolution, when the dimensional relay is installed.]

Welp. Okay. I don’t understand what exactly it’s saying, but let’s just do as instructed.

“By the way, Hyperion. Where are we heading now?”

Youngsik expressed his curiosity, having not heard the destination properly.

Beep-

The destination appeared on the screen.

“?!”

When Youngsik looked at the screen, it felt as if his sleepiness vanished.

“That place is….”

It was the largest organization out of all the Slater gangs in the country; an area as large as several shelters combined.

“S-So you’re telling me we’re going there? Isn’t that too dangerous…?”

Youngsik knew the original work, so he was aware of the monsters that resided there.

The original work’s mid-boss, an S-Class Awakened, and numerous A-Class Awakened were there.

So far, Hyperion had only defeated B-class Awakened or lower. And from A-Class upwards, the difference in strength was immense.

As such, that place filled with dangerous people might indeed be very risky.

“How about we reconsider? That place could be really dangerous. And an Awakened’s Ability is often beyond imagination.”

[It is the best possible choice for rapid power supply and growth.]

“….”

Ah….

It seemed Hyperion regarded Awakened as elite monsters that gave a good amount of EXP.

Given the increase in power sources after the recent battle, it probably wasn’t all that wrong of an assumption.

Of course, the fact that it was dangerous didn’t change…

[The Upgrade will proceed by using the accumulated power sources.]

Adding some defensive mechanisms would probably be nice if we’re heading into the Slat….

[Vacuum Compressed Ballistic Automatic Machine Gun – Removed]

[Vacuum Compressed Ballistic Autocannon – Mounted]

[Vacuum Compressed Ballistic Autocannon – Lv.1 Enhancement]

“Um… What about defense too….”

[Vacuum Compressed Ballistic Autocannon – Lv.2 Enhancement]

[Neutron Cannon 12-Barrel – Mounted]

[Photon Cannon BRX-2A 128-Barrel – Mounted]

“Defense….”

[Photon Cannon BRX-2A 128-Barrel – Lv.1 Enhancement]

[Photon Cannon BRX-2A 128-Barrel – Lv.2 Enhancement]

[Plasma Focused Cutter – Lv.1 Enhancement]

“Defe….”

[Tri-Core Attack-Type Pulse Field Generator – Installed]

[Ion Cannon – Mounted]

[Multiple Launch Fuel-Air Explosive Rocket Launcher – Mounted]

“No, wait….”

Hyperion… What exactly do you want to become? Are you planning to conquer the world or something?

Though that was Youngsik’s unspoken inner thought…

“Eung. Okay. I see. Yeah, you’re right. The best defense is offense….”

Only agreement came out of Youngsik’s mouth along with a sigh.

***

“…That one is a bit… special, isn’t he?”

“…He seems to have a bit of an extreme direction of growth.”

“What? Only a bit?”

Karlstein looked at Aria with a face full of incredulity.

The silver-haired beauty nodded coolly.

“If it is only that much, his choice can be considered reasonable, substantiated, and compliant.”

“….”

“As expected, there is a sense of worth in having taught him properly.”

The AI that would be entering Hyperion was fundamentally under Aria’s inspection and went through strict auditing and management before being installed. That applied even to this prototype.

Thus, Hyperion’s AI was inevitably influenced by Aria.

“Ummm.”

It seemed that the relay issue would be resolved quickly. Installing just that device might somehow allow the next plan to proceed.

“Thanks to the ‘Eternium’ that Hyperion is composed of, the supply of Ether being received is smooth.”

Eternium, a mineral that could replicate matter when combined with Ether, held an authority that could practically be called Creation. It was scientifically unclassifiable and even termed as ‘Metal of God’. It was so impressive that even an SF world deemed it as such.

Eternium was one of the most crucial elements of the Growth-Type Hyperion and was also used in Ether weapons. In terms of Ether conductivity, it was unparalleled by any other mineral.

“But are you sure it’s okay with that kind of personality? It might be troublesome if it gets out of control… I don’t want to delay the relay issue any further.”

At that, Aria laughed as if amused.

“Heh.”

Having been with Aria for a long time, Karlstein felt a chill run down his spine.

“No one who I have personally trained would make such a foolish decision.”

“….”

Her firmness left no room for a single iota of doubt.

Though only occasionally, Karlstein did find Aria somewhat frightening.

How to put it… Doesn’t she kinda have the aura of an eldest(?) at a workplace….

***

At that moment, somewhere far away.

Hyperion’s frame shook unstably.

“W-What’s wrong? Are we under attack? We haven’t even arrived yet, though?!”

Youngsik, who had been dozing, wiped his drool and looked around anxiously.

[…There is nothing wrong.]

“Huh?”

Hyperion couldn’t bring itself to say that, for some reason, it had the chills.

/genesisforsaken