Chapter 190
Think, let’s think. Just running breathlessly wouldn’t solve anything.
Come to think of it… didn’t they See Through walls and shoot? Then couldn’t they notice people on the upper floor or underground and shoot them too?
I reflexively looked down at the concrete tile beneath my feet. It didn’t look thick enough to block multiple bullets.
Even if it could block them, the enemies' figuring out my or Angela’s location was a problem in itself.
I felt like there had been a similar situation, right?
The Patrol Robot, the artificial intelligence!
“Hey! No, excuse me, Artificial Intelligence Hyung-nim? It’s a really urgent situation right now, you know? Just for this once, please don’t nitpick and just help me. Those bastards on the underground - you can access whatever it is, whether it’s x-ray goggles or a Modified Eye Implant, right?”
[It is possible, Test Subject.]
“Then make it so they can’t see me and Angela, even if just for a moment! I’m begging you like this! Please save me. Yeah? If I die, the Research Institute will be completely ruined and - “
[Understood.]
Huh?
In this urgent situation, I was racking my uncooperative brain to squeeze out some persuasive logic, but unexpectedly, the approval came far too easily.
Wait, isn’t it going to say something about restrictions due to AI Regulations 1.141e like usual? Readily accepting it actually makes it somewhat unsettling.
[I have processed it. Please note that it will not last long. Ah, and…]
And?
[Seeing you politely use honorifics to this System Assistant is quite satisfying. Please continue to do so in the future. For reference, Hyung-nim is the incorrect title. 'Noo-nim' is correct.]
“…”
For a moment, corporate Strike Team or whatever, my mind went blank. I was completely speechless.
An artificial intelligence that has been out in the outside world for just over a month now - what did it just say? Noo-nim?
Was it originally this kind of character?
I was seriously feeling a sense of crisis, wondering if the In-Head AI had been infected by the FAIV Virus.
[Test Subject? I do not believe this is the time to stand still. Did I not say it would not last long?]
My suspicion deepened at the sight of its throwing out advice kindly unlike its usual self, but the System Assistant was right.
Whether it was the FAIV Virus or the evolution of the Artificial Intelligence, it didn’t matter. As long as it was helpful, that was enough.
It was a Hair-trigger Moment. There was no time to waste on useless worries.
What do I do now? No, this was also a useless worry. I wasn’t an expert, and racking my brain wasn’t going to make a brilliant method pop out.
Let’s recall successful experiences.
How did the protagonists get behind enemies in an Assassination Game?
Godfather of that genre, the player uses a Third-Person Perspective.
Taking advantage of the fact that the field of view isn’t limited to first-person and is wide, they exquisitely weave through the enemies' blind spots to carry out an assassination.
Even if it was a first-person game, the method of assassination play wasn’t vastly different in the end.
In those cases, the protagonist has special abilities. Using x-ray vision through walls is basic, and they might use hacking from a distance or extraordinary abilities like blink or possession…
In the end, the commonality was information.
Whether it was the wide view of a Third-Person Perspective or the special abilities of a first-Person Game, the core was getting behind them and launching a Surprise Attack with an information superiority that the opponent lacked but I possessed.
What I needed right now was also information.
I was in a state of knowing absolutely nothing about what the enemies were doing, and I couldn’t do anything like this.
There was only one way to obtain it. It was my turn to use a special move too.
“Right, thanks for letting me know. Turn on the switch!”
Simultaneous with my shout, a click that I hadn’t heard in a while echoed in my mind.
The world expansion of my perception still felt overwhelming even after experiencing it multiple times.
Rather, the more I got used to it, the more I felt overwhelmed by its true nature.
A flood of information that couldn’t be fully processed by the calculation capacity of an incredibly frail human.
Dozens of pairs of eyes were watching the situation beneath the messy graffiti on the peeling railing, with every single hair on the multi-stranded legs of the bugs swarming as numerously as people crawling through the amateur pipe and garbage passageway.
The dark shapes of dust particles were reflecting in the flickering lights, and the countless noises were surging back as if searing my expanded senses with fire.
It’s too much. I put in too much power. Let’s reduce the range. Stay calm, just like I practiced.
It would be perfect if I narrowed it down to just about two floors below the floor I’m standing on, right?
I took a deep breath and focused my concentration.
The microchip in my head hummed. I felt the help of the System Assistant, which I wouldn’t have noticed normally.
I naturally felt it. Eight people were advancing on the underground with their muzzles aimed forward and backward. The one in the lead was even wearing an enhanced exoskeleton.
On their epaulets hung the logo of Dysis Waste, the trash corporation.
Their location was almost directly beneath my feet.
Because I hadn’t moved very far, they were in a state of extreme proximity to the Shaolin Monk and Hina.
I needed to put the brakes on them soon. How?
With information about all sorts of surrounding objects and phenomena thoroughly pouring in, ideas also gushed out wildly like a spring.
Out of thousands of methodologies, I chose the most certain one.
First, I would use a colleague. The colleague was the most powerful weapon.
To experience the sensation of playing a turn-based combat game where you stop time and manipulate multiple colleagues, let’s give it a try.
Angela’s location? She had already taken a wide detour up from the underground and occupied the rear of the Dysis Waste Soldiers. She was fast as expected.
However, because the enemies were guarding even their backs thoroughly, she couldn’t approach very closely. She could shoot from a distance, but… due to their bulletproof vests, it wouldn’t be efficient.
Someone needed to draw their attention. Who? I. But I, alone, wasn’t enough.
I needed to mobilize another colleague as well.
I sent a message to Angela through the Cyberwatch.
[Angela, start running in 5 seconds. I will help, so let’s go with close-quarters combat.]
Without looking for a reply, I immediately sent a consecutive message to the Shaolin Monk.
[Please step forward and draw their attention. It would be even better if you could attack.]
I felt Angela tilting her head, and the Shaolin Monk abandoning his cover behind the wall and raising his body.
I could see the Shaolin Monk reciting a buddhist scripture phrase and putting his golden-dyed torso forward.
He extends his palm toward the chest of the exoskeleton-enhanced soldier firing an assault rifle wildly, pushing him far away…
It was something that hadn’t happened yet. But it was also something highly likely to occur in a few seconds. With such a precise prediction, couldn’t I trust it?
The reality before my eyes and the soon-to-arrive future overlapped, blurring my focus. The migraine I had forgotten for a while crushed my head, and bloody water flowed from my nose.
Even so, I didn’t let go of the thread of concentration.
Rolling my eyes busily, I scanned the arrival point of the enhanced soldier, who had been pushed far back by the Shaolin Monk and had only barely regained his balance after knocking over his colleagues.
Around here, could I attack by piercing the floor with my pistol? It seemed difficult. If so…
Okay. I knew what I had to do.
After pulling the gun slide of the pistol, I grabbed the railing to the side and stood.
It was about time.
[Firm as the earth, it does not anger. Towering like Mount Tai, it is immovable!]
Along with the sound of buddhist scriptures, golden light surged from the Underground.
[The mind is like a bead placed on the palm… Tathagata Vajra Palm!]
Now!
At the same time the Shaolin Monk pushed the enhanced soldier away using immense power with a thud, I took a deep breath and boldly threw my body over the railing.
The thrill of my stomach tightening as my body plummeted downward!
Simultaneous with falling from a dizzying height, I twisted my body and aimed the pistol in midair.
Normally, my arm would be trembling terribly, but with the suit’s stabilization, my aiming was clear. Furthermore…
'Now!'
Activated to its limit, the microchip vibrated.
In the illusion of time slowing down, I observed the corporate private soldiers in a defenseless state, tumbling after being pushed by the enhanced soldier.
Two had fallen.
Bang-!
I aimed at someone’s head and fired.
A deafening noise; the gun slide pushed back and returned, and the casing bounced out. The recoil was clearly transmitted to my muscles.
As soon as I confirmed the bullet flying, I used all my strength to twist my aim to the side.
The other one was lying down, exquisitely hidden among the other people. Instead, I shot the agent stumbling right next to him. Carefully, I shot the head again this time.
Bang - !
I had no leeway now. In a slowed world forcing the muzzle to turn and firing bullets aiming only at the enemies wasn’t an entirely easy task.
I felt that the microchip had reached its limit. I also had to consider the fact that I was still falling in midair. If I drained all my strength here, I might just fall to my death.
Still, just one more shot.
The target to aim for was set. The bastard wearing the enhanced exoskeleton was the target.
The exoskeleton covered his entire body, so it was hard to inflict a fatal wound no matter where I shot.
Instead, I aimed for the joint area connecting the frame, the cylinder connection device that looked vulnerable at a glance. I was targeting the external skeleton itself rather than the person inside.
It was a minute spot that would be hard to aim for with a pistol even for a marksman, but if I alone could spend a tiresomely long time, it was entirely possible.
Bang-!
As I pulled the trigger, the thread of concentration unraveled and the switch turned off. With a click, the world, which had sped up again, crashed over me with a tremendous speed.
“Keugh - !”
A bizarre scream and the noise of a head bursting, bullets fired in surprise at something suddenly falling. The enhanced exoskeleton momentarily malfunctioning and twisting…
Without even the time to pay attention to those things, I dropped the pistol and barely grabbed the edge of the railing tightly with both hands. The brakes were put on my falling body, and my muscles screamed.
I almost fell straight down!
“Guaaagh-!”
A scream was heard from above my head.