Chapter 474: Begin again (4)

Support Ex-Rank

Saturday, after sunset.

After confirming that no one was inside the student council hall, I went inside.

On the way to the basement of the hall, Sung Siwan and I talked easily, but Gye Idam kept his mouth shut.

It was just like him.

He knew all this time that I was in this world but he kept his mouth shut, and now that he’s caught, he’s keeping silent in fear of being criticized.

‘If this Gye Bastard ruins the atmosphere because he won’t speak, I’m gonna punish him.’

However, the atmosphere remained cool thanks to Sung Siwan’s great communication skills.

He sometimes talked to Gye Idam so he wasn’t completely left out of the conversation.

I don’t know why this great sunbae got attached to that Gye Bastard.

“Oh, we’re here.”

We arrived in a room covered with otherworld ores.

Sung Siwan stood in front of the old simulator.

“Do you know the biggest difference between new and old simulators?”

“Is it the display?”

Old otherworld simulators have LCD screens, while the new ones use holograms.

All models are made using otherworld ores.

Sung Siwan nodded.

“The difference between LCD and hologram is huge too. But that’s not the fundamental difference.”

A fundamental difference.

An answer immediately came to mind.

“Performance.”

“Correct. Old otherworld simulators simply cannot perform the gimmicks of SSR-rank otherworlds. When we used this back then, only enemies came out of the tower.”

This otherworld simulator can emulate up to SSR-rank otherworlds.

However, because of limitations, it cannot emulate time distortion, spacial compression, disregard of the laws of physics, and the missions given to players in SSR-rank otherworlds.

Therefore, I heard that in the case of old models, only the form of the otherworld and the power of enemies equivalent to SSR-rank can be emulated.

That’s why when I last ran this olf simulator, I easily got to the boss room without performing complicated gimmicks.

While the three of us talked, the old simulator finally finished loading the scenario.

“Alright, let’s start with the attack!”

Sung Siwan pressed the ‘Start Simulation’ button and our visibility was impeded.

The black otherworld ores changed into dozens of colors and emitted such an intense light that it was difficult to keep our eyes open.

Fwaaat!

When the light subsided and we could open our eyes again, we were already in an otherworld produced by the simulator.

SSR— Rank, descending tower-type simulation.

We have to deal with floor master enemies, and the environment changes with each floor that we descend to.

Fog, cold weather, swamps, heat zones.

Those are the environments we would have to deal with.

‘We could use gimmicks to reverse the environment on each floor, or we can lure a floor master enemy to another floor… but it’s an old simulator so we wouldn’t have to do that.’

The old simulator is limited in how it can mimic environments, plus it cannot implement space distortion.

On top of that, Sung Siwan and I can easily deal with most enemies regardless of what environment or disadvantage we’d encounter.

Since I’ve been here once before, I thought we could easily get to the boss's room, but it doesn’t seem like so.

“I set it up using the same settings as last time, but it’s very different. I see there’s a reason why you asked to do this, Euishin.”

It’s the same level of rarity, but the number of enemies and their power are different from last time.

Last time, as soon as Sung Siwan hit the vital point of an enemy, they disappear within one shot.

‘Maybe it’s because of the items I have with me.’

Otherworld simulators scans in advance players’ weapons and consumable items.

The item card that I have in my hand is Imoogi’s Exorcism.

Before I came to the Jiikhoe Hall, I took out the item card and put it in my pocket.

Perhaps the otherworld simulator detected it.

“I’ll cover you.”

The best way to support Sung Siwan, who specialized in close-range attacks, is to cover him from a distance.

I could use a bow and arrow or a gun— No, Gye Bastard already uses one so I won’t use that.

Just the thought of using the same weapon at the same time as that jerk made me feel very unhappy.

I decided to settle with a rod.

An enemy alert rang in my head as soon as I took out an SR-rank item, Rod of Pyrokinetic Flames.

I immediately dodged, and I heard the sound of something scratching the floor.

Long marks of an enemy’s claws were engraved on the spot where I stood just a second ago.

“Hiya!”

Hit!

Before the enemy could take another swipe, I heard a shout followed by a hit.

The enemy was crushed in one hit, unable to withstand the power of Sung Siwan’s energy wave-enveloped fist.

Sung Siwan smiled.

“Wow, Idam’s really at a disadvantage. I don’t think magic would work well here. How many seconds do you need to cast a spell?”

Sung Siwan deserves to be praised.

It’s great that he encourages his party members and says that he’d buy time for the Gye Bastard to cast his spell.

On the other hand, the bastard took his gun a few beats late.

We continued dealing with enemies, and because of Sung Siwan and I, Gye Idam rarely had the chance to beat one.

“I feel a presence different from last time. I don’t think it’s an enemy though…”

Seeing there weren’t enemies detected by the system, it was clear that there was no enemy beyond the door that we stood in front of.

Instead of an enemy, I’m sure it’s something prepared by the former head of the Players’ Association.

“Let’s go in and see.”

“Alright.”

As soon as Sung Siwan laid his hands on the door, a mechanical sound rang out.

Wooooong…!

[Only humans can pass through this door.]

Gye Idam read the phrase that appeared on the door.

I wonder if that inhuman bastard can go through this door then.

I held my tongue and stared over the door that emitted light.

Beyond the light, I think there was a man.

When the door opened completely, the light gradually died down and the face finally became clearly visible.

We all stared in his direction, and the other two spoke in shock when they recognized the man.

“…Gukeon hyung?”

“Lawmaker Sung Gukeon?”

The adult male who was looking at us looked very much like Sung Gukeon.

Adorned with a suit and a big impression on his face, it was Sung Gukeon that we see on the news.

However, looking at him carefully, there were a few subtle differences.

And how could he come all the way here?

Considering those two things, I came to a conclusion.

“No, that’s not Sung Gukeon sunbaenim. It’s an AI based on a different person.”

Gye Idam still looked suspicious, wondering if it really wasn’t Sung Gukeon.

Does this idiot even know PMH’s playable characters?

I don’t think he was able to play the game properly since he was so busy leaving malicious comments.

While I looked at Gye Idam’s pathetic face, Sung Siwan recognized the identity of the IA.

“…Grandpa? It’s when Grandpa was young!”

It took Sung Siwan quite a while to recognize his grandfather and the former Players’ Association head.

The former head, through the AI, looked much younger than what we saw in the video inside the boss room from last time.

‘Why’d he program it to make him look this young?’

The AI heard what Sung Siwan said, and it seemed to be calculating information from that.

[Grandpa… I see my grandchild is here. I didn’t have a grandchild when I was alive though.]

The smiling face of the AI really looked like Sung Gukeon.

If Sung Gukeon had been right beside him, it would’ve been very difficult to tell who was who.

[Welcome, my juniors.]

Sung Siwan was stunned and unable to speak further, while the AI recited pre-programmed lines without being immersed in sentiment.

With every information that we feed it, it only calculates and gives an appropriate response.

[Seeing that you are here, you must have a specific item in hand and have already cleared the boss room.]

Gye Idam glanced at me.

I glared at him, making him turn his eyes away.

[I don’t know if you gained the trust of Kyungbok, or if you were good enough to take it away from him but… it doesn’t matter either way. Either way, it means that you are a good enough player.]

“…Kyungbok? Do you mean Professor Hong Kyungbok?”

[Yes.]

The former head of the association nodded at Sung Siwan’s words.

Sung Siwan looked at me with a face that seemed to have a lot of questions.

He seems curious as to what item I got from Hong Kyungbok and how I got it.

He pushed his curiosity aside and asked the AI something else.

“Gukeon hyung said there is a royal lineage aiming for the Korean Peninsula. And he said the invasion would begin in Eungwang High where intelligence is the highest.”

[…]

“Is this preparation related to that, Grandpa?”

A secret association of Eungwang High which people of royal lineage and their descendants are not allowed to join.

And this place can only be accessed by clearing a high rarity otherworld.

The AI can only be activated once Imoogi’s Exorcism is in possession.

On top of that, Sung Siwan’s mention of the invasion made it clear why the former head of the Players’ Association did such a thing.

‘He’s waiting for a strong and reliable player to come here. To stop the invasion of the royal lineage.’

The former head responded to the deal by writing a contract linking the royal lineage and his spirit.

He couldn’t leave clues that were easy to find, so he had no choice but to move carefully.

As a result, he successfully deceived people of royal lineage, but in PMH, he failed to deliver clues to other players.

‘But it’s different now.’

I thought I could get clues left by the former head on my own.

However, he seemed to be more cautious than I expected.

[I can’t tell you yet. It’s not enough that you got here. I don’t know what will happen to the player who possesses this clue.]

Getting here isn’t enough?

There won’t be many players who can get here, so what more is he asking of?

Inside the boss room, the former head of the Players’ Association laughed belligerently as he looked at us.

[Let’s fight one on one. Knock me down and I’ll tell you the answer.]

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