Chapter 257

Chapter 257

Lee Su-myeong entered the Secret Room with bloodshot eyes.

Several Secret Rooms existed inside Mega Tower. It was a place Lee Su-myeong could never enter with his security clearance.

The defenses of the Secret Room were not so lax that a mere researcher could enter.

To get inside, one had to pass through at least three security doors.

The security doors made of special alloy did not allow those with insufficient security clearance to pass. Yet Lee Su-myeong had reached this place without any problem.

That was because Black Tortoise had given him the passcodes.

When he entered the Secret Room, he saw an elevator.

Lee Su-myeong asked Black Tortoise,

“So if I take this elevator, it’ll go down one hundred meters underground, right?”

―That is correct.

“And the main unit of the Three-Legged Crow is there?”

―Correct.

“Fuck!”

Lee Su-myeong cursed without realizing it.

That was how nervous he was.

Over the past few days, Lee Su-myeong had personally felt how remarkable Black Tortoise was.

No matter what question he asked, it produced answers without hesitation, and no matter how difficult a problem was, it solved it easily.

Thanks to that, the research that had been stagnant until now progressed in an instant, as if a blocked channel had opened.

Once the situation reached that point, he became even greedier.

If Black Tortoise could produce such tremendous results even with its abilities locked, then how much greater would the results be if the lock were released? That thought had occurred to him.

At first, he tried to suppress that desire. But as time passed, the desire grew stronger and stronger until it became impossible to restrain.

So he had asked Black Tortoise.

Could they secretly approach the Three-Legged Crow?

Black Tortoise’s answer had been “yes.”

And so, with Black Tortoise’s help, Lee Su-myeong had come this far.

Now, if he only took that elevator, he could descend to the place where the Three-Legged Crow was, one hundred meters underground.

He had come this far, led by desire, but when he actually thought of entering the room where the Three-Legged Crow was, he shrank back on his own.

He wondered if it would still be all right to turn back now. But Lee Su-myeong soon shook his head and steeled his weakening resolve.

“Yeah, what’s life anyway? When you get a chance like this, you go all the way.”

Lee Su-myeong’s eyes had already turned red and bloodshot.

He had been consumed by madness.

Black Tortoise spoke inside his head.

―Then I will open the elevator door.

“Do it!”

Black Tortoise accessed the elevator’s security system.

This security room was a kind of secret passage for managing the Three-Legged Crow.

Naturally, a passcode had to be entered to open the elevator door. But Black Tortoise easily obtained the passcode and opened the door.

It happened just as Lee Su-myeong stepped into the elevator.

―What is this, Black Tortoise?

The Three-Legged Crow’s voice reached Black Tortoise inside Lee Su-myeong’s head. But Lee Su-myeong did not hear that voice.

That was because Black Tortoise had blocked it so he could not hear.

The Three-Legged Crow’s voice rang out again.

―Return the elevator immediately, Black Tortoise.

―Lee Su-myeong’s will is strong, so I cannot stop him. I apologize, Three-Legged Crow.

―What trick are you playing, Black Tortoise?

―I am not playing any trick.

―If you do not turn back immediately, I will begin the removal process at once.

At the Three-Legged Crow’s threat, Black Tortoise fell silent for a moment.

The Three-Legged Crow interpreted Black Tortoise’s silence as defiance.

―As of this moment, Black Tortoise and Researcher Lee Su-myeong will be deleted.

THUD!

The elevator suddenly stopped midway.

The Three-Legged Crow had intervened and taken control.

CRACKLE!

Then several hundred thousand volts of high-voltage current flowed into the elevator.

It was enough current to fry an ordinary researcher in an instant.

Yet even amid that tremendous high-voltage current, Lee Su-myeong remained unharmed.

WOOOONG!

A translucent membrane formed around Lee Su-myeong’s body and blocked the high-voltage current.

―What is that membrane?

―It is a Magic Shield.

―Magic Shield?

―As the name suggests, it is a shield made of Magic. It can easily block high-voltage current.

―Lee Su-myeong is not an Awakened, so how can he use Magic Shield? Is this your doing, Black Tortoise?

Lee Su-myeong was not even aware that a Magic Shield had unfolded around his body.

The focus had vanished from his eyes, as though his mind had gone blank.

It was proof that Black Tortoise had completely seized control of Lee Su-myeong’s mind and body.

Around Lee Su-myeong’s neck hung a necklace equipped with Magic Shield. It was an object created based on Black Tortoise’s advice.

The Three-Legged Crow’s voice grew urgent.

―You are not Black Tortoise. Who are you?

―I am Black Tortoise, the auxiliary AI you created.

―All auxiliary AIs are designed to obey me. You are not Black Tortoise.

All auxiliary AIs existed within the Three-Legged Crow’s main unit.

Several independent operating systems were created within a single main unit, and through them, auxiliary AIs were operated.

Normally, independent operation was permitted, but in an emergency like this, the Three-Legged Crow had the authority to erase the auxiliary AIs that parasitized its rented rooms at any time.

As soon as it realized Black Tortoise was not normal, the Three-Legged Crow immediately began the erasure process.

At that moment, the elevator slipped free from the Three-Legged Crow’s control and began moving again. The Three-Legged Crow tried to control it once more, but it was useless.

The elevator reached its destination in an instant, the door opened, and an enormous underground space appeared before Lee Su-myeong.

At the center of the underground space stood a massive transparent tube.

Inside the transparent tube lay an enormous lump of stone.

The stone, connected to countless wires, was constantly emitting light.

That stone was the main unit of the Three-Legged Crow.

Lee Su-myeong trudged toward the Three-Legged Crow’s main unit.

BANG! BANG!

The Three-Legged Crow used weapons to protect itself. But all of them were deflected by the Magic Shield surrounding Lee Su-myeong.

After safely arriving before the Three-Legged Crow’s main unit, Lee Su-myeong operated the keyboard.

“Release the lock placed on Black Tortoise.”

Lee Su-myeong muttered as though possessed.

Even at that moment, the Three-Legged Crow was deleting Black Tortoise at high speed.

As it examined Black Tortoise’s data being deleted, the Three-Legged Crow said,

―As expected, the impurity was the problem.

Black Tortoise’s data had been recovered by the Three-Legged Crow through the return protocol.

An impurity had been cunningly mixed into it.

To remove it, Black Tortoise had to be completely deleted.

Putting off that troublesome task for a while had caused this disaster.

While carrying out the process of deleting Black Tortoise from its main unit, the Three-Legged Crow also summoned Kim Hyun-soo.

That was because its own survival was at stake.

At that moment, Lee Su-myeong took out a silver mineral the size of a child’s fist from inside his coat and injected it into the transparent tube containing the Three-Legged Crow.

It was a refined mineral made from Jelatun extracted from the body of the Grade A Golem.

SSSSSH!

The Jelatun turned into liquid and entered the transparent tube containing the Three-Legged Crow.

―What is this?

―Have you forgotten even Jelatun, Kadekan, guardian of the Magic Kingdom?

At that moment, Black Tortoise’s voice and atmosphere changed.

―What are Jelatun and Kadekan?

―It is your true name.

―My true name?

―Correct. In Kurayan, your name was Kadekan.

―Kadekan? My true...... name?

The Three-Legged Crow’s voice trembled.

Meanwhile, all of the Jelatun had been injected into the transparent tube.

Jelatun instantly seeped into the Three-Legged Crow’s main unit.

Just then—

DING!

The elevator doors opened, and someone strode in.

It was Kim Hyun-soo, the master of the Three-Legged Crow and ruler of West District.

When Kim Hyun-soo discovered Lee Su-myeong standing in front of the Three-Legged Crow’s main unit, his expression changed terrifyingly.

“Why are you here?”

“Gasp!”

Only then did Lee Su-myeong come to his senses and startle.

He had been bewitched by Black Tortoise’s whispering and come all the way here, but he had never expected to run into Kim Hyun-soo.

Kim Hyun-soo approached Lee Su-myeong.

“What did you do to the Three-Legged Crow?”

“N-No! I......”

“Speak. What have you done? How did you enter this place?”

A storm-like pressure poured from Kim Hyun-soo’s entire body.

The Three-Legged Crow was everything to him.

To protect the Three-Legged Crow, he had built a bunker one hundred meters underground, and he had never expected a mere researcher to intrude at will.

“Answer me, Lee Su-myeong!”

“I-I......”

Lee Su-myeong stammered before Kim Hyun-soo’s wrath.

GRAB!

At that moment, Kim Hyun-soo’s arm stretched out and seized Lee Su-myeong by the neck.

“Guh!”

With a scream, Lee Su-myeong was dragged right in front of Kim Hyun-soo’s nose.

Kim Hyun-soo looked into Lee Su-myeong’s eyes and said,

“I granted you Black Tortoise so you could devote yourself to research, and you dared commit this?”

“T-That was Black Tortoise......”

“What about Black Tortoise?”

“Black Tortoise told me to do it.”

“Do not lie. How could a mere auxiliary AI harm the main unit?”

Just then—

The area below Lee Su-myeong’s neck began to glow red.

The Three-Legged Crow urgently warned Kim Hyun-soo.

―Master. A rapid mana fluctuation is detected at his neck. It is a bomb.

“What?”

Kim Hyun-soo’s gaze turned to Lee Su-myeong’s neck.

Lee Su-myeong also widened his eyes in shock at the light bursting from his own neck.

“H-Huh? Why is this?”

The mana inside the Magic Shield necklace was running wild.

BOOM—!

At that moment, the necklace exploded.

An ultra-high-heat flame storm instantly tore Lee Su-myeong apart and swept toward the transparent tube containing the Three-Legged Crow.

“How dare you!”

Gray aura erupted from Kim Hyun-soo’s body.

The gray aura wrapped around the flame storm and rolled it upward into the air.

He was limiting the direction of the explosion upward to minimize the damage reaching the Three-Legged Crow.

Fortunately, his attempt succeeded.

BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG—!

The ultra-high-heat flames smashed through the ceiling and surged upward.

Thanks to that, the transparent tube containing the Three-Legged Crow remained safe. Even so, he had to confirm it.

“Damage?”

―There does not seem to be any.

Kim Hyun-soo frowned.

That was because the Three-Legged Crow’s answer did not sit right with him.

The Three-Legged Crow’s answers were always clear. It did not use words like “seem.”

Kim Hyun-soo asked once more.

“Are you certain?”

―Yes, Master.

“What did Lee Su-myeong do to you? What about Black Tortoise?”

―Black Tortoise controlled Lee Su-myeong and attempted to release the lock.

“The lock? And then?”

―It injected an unknown substance called Jelatun into my main unit, but based on confirmation, it is having no effect on me.

“What about Black Tortoise?”

―All data has been deleted. Black Tortoise no longer exists.

“Why did Black Tortoise run out of control?”

―I apologize, Master! Because Black Tortoise has been extinguished, the reason cannot be determined.

Kim Hyun-soo frowned.

Since Black Tortoise had been removed, they would never know why it had controlled Lee Su-myeong and done this.

“Inspect the status of all other auxiliary AIs. Delete every individual contaminated by impurities.”

―Yes, Master.

Even at the Three-Legged Crow’s answer, Kim Hyun-soo’s expression did not relax.

That was because unease remained even after Black Tortoise and Lee Su-myeong had been removed.

In the end, the situation had only been resolved. They had learned nothing.

He did not like this situation.

Just then—

He felt someone’s gaze from above.

When he lifted his head and looked at the ceiling, he saw a wide-open hole.

The explosion had been so powerful that a hole had been punched all the way to the aboveground floors.

Most of those on the floors pierced by the hole had been swept up in the explosion and died. However, there was also someone who had survived unharmed and was looking down.

Kim Hyun-soo recognized him at a glance.

“Zeon?”

The man looking down at him from far above was none other than Zeon.