Into the Creations-Chapter 61: [] Code: XTK [8]

As I entered the 190th floor, I tensed up.

'He's not here.'

The special agent was gone. No, I couldn't see him. The special agent's mission was to guard the main system room. A highly trained special agent wouldn't abandon his post and leave without reason.

'...Damn. Not being able to see him is more troublesome than I thought.'

I thought about the Illusiter again.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

The Illusiter only hides the user's appearance. It doesn't hide mass, sound, or body temperature. If there's a thermal camera, you'll be caught immediately. Also, if you move too roughly, the space around you will distort visibly.

'I prepared thermal goggles just in case.'

But I didn't use them. I was confident.

When I asked Jin Se-young in reality how to deal with an invisible enemy, she said that even if you can't see them, you can still sense them if you focus.

'And she even sparred with me while wearing a blindfold.'

The result was my defeat. Even though she was completely blindfolded, Jin Se-young could perfectly predict my movements.

'Should I take out the thermal goggles now? ...No. I can do this.'

I widened my eyes and focused my mind. I didn't close my eyes unnecessarily.

'If he shoots, there'll be sound, so to finish me off quietly, he'll probably approach slowly and swing his knife.'

I visualized him in my mind. Since the emergency stairs are behind me, he'll likely approach silently from the front.

'Mass doesn't disappear. Since it's unlikely he's a full-body cyborg, he'll probably exhale too.'

I focused.

And as a result, I felt something. It was to my right, within my field of vision. It was gradually approaching me.

A presence.

The closer it got, the clearer the form of the presence became.

'He's holding a dagger in his right hand, reverse grip.'

I could feel it getting closer.

Finally, I realized. This was what Jin Se-young meant by sensing energy.

'I thought sensing energy was like using mana like a bat's sonar.... So it's like this.'

It's hard to explain in words. You just have to feel it.

'The range I can sense is... about 1 meter? A bit disappointing.'

I moved before he did.

[Acceleration activated. Duration: 10 minutes.] 

'Yeongcheon Style, Shuguang.'

As I activated the acceleration skill, I used the fastest combat technique I could. My blade became a streak of light, slicing through his body.

He reacted, but my blade was faster than his movements. From his right shoulder to his side. I cleanly cut through to his heart. Even if his body was mechanical, it wouldn't be strong enough to withstand a plasma blade.

His body crumpled to the ground. His lower body was visible, but his upper body wasn't. Even in death, the Illusiter was still active.

'...Impressive. He didn't even scream, let alone leave any last words.'

The Illusiter was something only recognized special agents could use. The special agent in front of me was undoubtedly elite.

'If he had fought me head-on, it might've been different.'

I crouched down. I groped around the invisible upper body of the special agent and removed the Illusiter wrapped around his left arm. As soon as I did, the special agent's corpse became visible. He was dead, his eyes wide open and his mouth tightly shut.

'Got it. The Illusiter!'

The Illusioner looked like an ordinary black strap. Words appeared on its surface.

I pulled both ends of the Illusiter, and it stretched like a rubber band.

'It can stretch up to 70 cm, apparently.'

When I let go of one end, it slowly shrank back. I wrapped the Illusiter around my left arm, just like the special agent had. My body instantly turned invisible. When I picked up the blade I had placed on the ground, it also turned invisible.

'I can't see my own body either.'

I already knew this. And considering the Illusiter's effects, it was worth it. The problem was that I had to carefully calculate the Illusiter's activation time.

'Great! Just two more Illusiter, and I'll return to reality immediately!'

As I was about to head to the emergency stairs, I paused and looked at the main system room. If I went in and killed all the technicians, the chaos would last a bit longer, right?

I swung my blade at the door of the main system room.

Clang!

The blade bounced off. The door was scratched, but I couldn't cut through it. As expected of the main system room of City Hall. It was protected by a material that even a plasma blade couldn't cut.

'...Can't do it.'

The walls were probably made of the same material. I shook off my hesitation and ran toward the emergency stairs.

Sway, sway~

As I moved roughly, the distortion in space became visible.

'This isn't good.'

When I slowed down my movements, the distortion lessened.

'...What if I use Ki Eunbo?'

Surprisingly, most of the distortion disappeared. Even though I was moving at almost running speed.

'The Illusiter. It synergizes so well with the Yeongcheon Style.'

I couldn't stop smiling. I suppressed my emotions and descended the stairs. I ran into special police officers along the way, but they couldn't see me. I passed by them. There was no need to waste energy killing them.

151st floor. Before entering the party venue, I put on the thermal goggles. It seemed easier to move around comfortably.

150th floor.

I didn't enter the party venue immediately and instead peeked inside through the door crack.

The venue was a mess. Tables and food were scattered on the floor. People had gathered in one spot, using their smartwatches to light up the area.

'...Three special agents. This isn't going to work.'

Three visible special agents were guarding Seoul Mayor Won Cheon-su.

'They probably have thermal vision implants. The moment I try to sneak up, they'll shoot me.'

I turned away. The party venue wasn't as chaotic as I had thought. And since Son Jeong-hu wasn't here, it seemed he had already achieved his goal.

'I'll have to give up on getting three Illusiters.'

The conditions weren't right. I couldn't take them on alone.

'There's a jewelry store on the 36th floor. Should I stop by?'

I was tempted for a moment but decided against it. My goal was the Illusiter. I needed to secure one more as a backup.

As I was descending the stairs to the 60th floor, I saw Yoo Han-soo lying unconscious on the ground.

'Looks like he fought Son Jeong-hu, just like in the original webtoon.'

Yoo Han-soo and Son Jeong-hu would clash several more times after this. It had nothing to do with me.

My target was the 1st floor.

Special agent Park Shinhan was there.

I found out while hacking the main system. The special police were fake. Park Shinhan's real identity was a special agent.

When I reached the 1st floor, I frowned. All the special police officers were dead. I looked around just in case and saw two people standing calmly near the main entrance. Hyunji and Yoo Geun-tae. Park Shinhan's corpse was at their feet.

I grimaced, quietly deactivated the Illusiter, and put it and the thermal goggles into my inventory. Then, I approached them with a calm demeanor.

"What are you doing here? The escape route seems secure, so why aren't you running?"

I spoke naturally, and Yoo Geun-tae turned to me with a grin. He proudly held up the Illusiter in his hand.

"Taker! Look at this! It's the Illusiter! I thought this guy was just a regular special police officer, but turns out he was a special agent! We hit the jackpot today!"

"Old man, the Illusiter is mine!"

"No, Hyunji! We caught him together, right? Let's just sell this on the black market! It'll fetch billions! You know the Illusiter has its limitations too!"

"Hmm... True. Nowadays, everyone has thermal vision implants. Getting money for it isn't a bad idea."

They were noisy.

Looking down, Park Shinhan's corpse was in pieces.

"Is it really the Illusiter? Let me see!"

I quickly approached them.

"Here, here. Just take a look. It's a precious item, so... huh?"

I swung my blade. In one swift motion, I decapitated Hyunji. Her head fell to the ground, and her body collapsed.

"T-Taker?! You crazy bastard!"

Yoo Geun-tae, who had instantly grasped the situation, backed away from me with his hands raised. But I was faster. I sliced off his mechanical arms and plunged my blade into his chest.

"Gah! Y-You betrayed us?!"

"My original goal was the Illusiter. Rest in peace, old man."

I slashed downward. Blood and guts spilled out. I stored the second Illusiter in my inventory.

Everything was going smoothly, according to plan.

"Great! Mission accomplished! Hahahaha!"

I felt amazing. I spread my arms and ran out of the entrance.

"Kahahahaha!"

I laughed like a madman.

Now that I was an invisible man, I could pull off all sorts of stunts. It's a bit scary to use in reality, where monstrous hunters are everywhere, but in other games like Vampire Detective, it's a different story.

"First, the women's bathhouse! I'll uncover its secrets with my own eyes...."

Bang!

A bullet from behind pierced my heart.

My body collapsed to the ground. The excruciating pain in my chest left me speechless.

I'm going to die. That thought filled me with rage.

Who was it? Who shot me?

Desperately, I turned my head to look behind me.

The culprit was Woola. She had sniped me from the 30th-floor window. The cold-faced sniper walked away from the window with a ruthless expression.

'Fuck! I'm so pissed! Complete Recovery!'

My pierced heart and chest instantly healed. The pain in my chest disappeared as if it had never been there.

Woola's mistake was not aiming for my head. If she had destroyed my brain, I wouldn't have been able to use Complete Recovery and would've died instantly.

'You fucking bitch. You knew I was a normal human, so you aimed for my heart. That way, I'd die regretting my betrayal.'

Woola was a cruel woman in the original story too. Even though she could go for headshots, she deliberately aimed for the heart if her target was a normal human.

She'd mutter something about giving them a moment to regret their death, but to me, she was just a middle-school edgelord.

'I'll kill you! You bitch! You dare snipe me from behind?!'

I was a selfish hypocrite. It was fine for me to backstab others, but I couldn't stand being backstabbed myself.

With my blade in hand, I ran back into Seoul City Hall.

I was furious.

'Wait! Thinking about it, fuck! Son Jeong-hu must've told Woola to keep an eye on me!'

It was clear from the fact that he told me to take Woola to dinner earlier. And the reason Woola sniped and killed me wasn't because I betrayed them.

Woola was on the 30th floor. That means she couldn't have seen my betrayal on the 1st floor.

Woola killed me because she wanted to kill me.

Crack!

I gritted my teeth so hard that my gums bled as I changed direction and headed down to the basement.

Basement floor 22.

I headed to the hidden passage in the bathroom that led to the non-existent basement floor 23, which wasn't even on the blueprints.

In the original story, this place appears in the final act.

The final boss of the original story isn't Son Jeong-hu but Seoul Mayor Won Cheon-su. He had the ambition to completely dominate Korea under his rule.

A massive door blocked my path. It was made of the same material as the door to the main system room.

'This door is designed to be opened manually to prevent hacking.'

Since I knew the original story, I knew how to open the door.

I pressed the button on the bottom right of the iron door. A clanking sound echoed. Then, I pressed the hidden button about 3 meters to the left.

I pressed four hidden buttons in sequence and then pushed the door with all my might.

The door creaked open. I ran through the passage and reached my destination.

"It's fucking huge!"

In front of me was a white sphere over 10 meters in size. The sphere emitted a red light.

'The Eklus Fusion Reactor. The starting point of Project: Heart of Korea.'

Mayor Won Cheon-su had the ambition to dominate Korea's energy using the Eklus Fusion Reactor. In this world, energy was more important than anything else, and the Eklus Fusion Reactor was an absurd device capable of supplying energy to the entire country and more.

At this point, 'Project: Heart of Korea' was a secret known only to Mayor Won Cheon-su.

'It's in the original story! At this stage, it's not yet complete and is extremely vulnerable to any outside interference!'

What would happen if I cut it?

The answer was in the original story.

The Eklus Fusion Reactor would explode. Not just any explosion, but one powerful enough to turn Seoul and half of South Korea into dust.

I approached the fusion reactor and raised my blade high.

"Let's all die together, you fucking bastards!!!"

I was beyond reason.

The most effective way to kill Son Jeong-hu and Woola at the same time was this. No, in my enraged state, this was the only method I could think of.

"Game over!!!"

I shouted as I swung my blade. With this, I'll safely return to reality...

...Huh?

An immense wave of heat and light engulfed me.

[You have died.]

[The game has ended.]

[You have seen the ending of Code: XTK.]

[You can no longer select the world of Code: XTK.]

[The ending is saved and can be rewatched anytime.]

[You have earned 12 points as an ending bonus.]

[You have met special conditions.]

[You have achieved the ending achievement, 'Anger Management Issues.']

[You have obtained an Emotion Regulator.]

[You have earned 66 points.]

[Experience calculation has begun.]

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased...]

***

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