[Day 21]
“…Has it already been three weeks?”
The date on the scanner’s screen, positioned in the upper right corner.
Since it was calculated from the day the scanner had first been made, the date on the scanner was the same as the number of days I had spent living in the deep sea.
When I looked at the ceiling of the submersible, Jui was floating there, asleep.
She looked so comfortable, without a single worry, that I was honestly envious.
I turned my head and looked toward the manufacturing machine. Beneath it, white objects were piled high.
Looking closer, they were bundles of mana-emission rifles.
Rifles made after killing countless Cyclopes over the course of a day.
They were preparations for entering the central area in earnest.
When I turned my head elsewhere, I saw a bottle still shining even in the deep sea.
The holy water. It was now filled almost to the brim.
When I lowered my gaze, I saw the weapon at my waist.
The new weapon I had obtained this time: magic bullets and a handgun. Thankfully, the magazines could be made from titanium, so several were hanging there.
I hesitated. Would it really be all right to head to the center now?
Shouldn’t I prepare a little more?
But the hesitation was brief.
Instinctively, I felt that there would be nothing threatening in the center. And…
Now is the time to enter the center.
Eosollujeun’s mechanical arm… nodded.
“…It bothers me.”
For some reason, the situation around me seemed to be urging me toward the center.
But refusing… didn’t really seem to leave me with any other path.
There was a control facility in the central area, so if I could somehow get inside that facility, I should be able to control every installation.
So rather than taking some other detour, it would be better—far better—to go straight ahead.
Having finished all my deliberation, I rose from my seat.
It seemed the preparations were already complete.
Among the piled-up rifles, I took three and slung them across my back.
It was a relief that the manufacturing machine could produce fiber as well.
It was fortunate that the leftover muscle tissue from the Cyclopes could be reprocessed into fiber.
No resources were going to waste.
And so, just before I crossed the hatch and headed for the center.
Whirr.
“…Hm?”
Eosollujeun grabbed my ankle. The cool touch of a mechanical hand climbed up my leg.
Wondering what was going on, I tried to step away for the moment.
Thud.
Whirr.
Thud. Thud.
Whirrr.
Every time I moved away, it followed close behind.
…No way.
“You want to come with me?”
At that, Eosollujeun nodded its mechanical hand.
…Honestly, I was a little flustered. It had never followed me before, so I had assumed it wouldn’t follow me this time either.
At first, I thought about refusing.
But I had received a lot of help from it up until now, and if it sensed danger, it seemed like it would be able to avoid it on its own.
If anything, it would be helpful. It didn’t seem like it would become a burden.
“All right. If it’s dangerous, you can avoid it, right?”
Whirr.
Eosollujeun moved its hand energetically, as if to say of course it could.
Seeing that, I was able to feel a little more at ease as well.
Walking once more over the countless footprints stamped into the sandy floor,
I opened the familiar blue gallery window.
Then countless people began entering. Though, as always, the comments were only from fixed handles.
[Deep Sea Escape Log, Day 21. Entering the Central Area.]
ㄴTruth Scholar: You’re going to the central area today, right?
ㄴDraw-Sword Saint: Finally, you’re going in properly.
ㄴKkukkku: It’s been a while since I came by, and you’re already going in?
Maybe it was because of the title, but the fixed handles were already expectant.
Until now, I had put it off because I valued my life, but with my current combat strength, it seemed entirely possible.
“Yes. Today, I’m going in.”
There was no more hesitation.
Since I had already decided to do it, I walked toward the center of the city.
As I walked, listening to the motor sounds of Eosollujeun following behind me,
Chirik.
A Cyclops appeared.
Normally, I would have drawn my sword and taken it down.
Clack.
But this time, since I intended to push through quickly, I immediately raised the rifle.
Mana flowed into the rifle, and in an instant, heat flared up.
Whirrr!! Boom!
The Cyclops turned into a lump of meat in an instant.
Without feeling anything in particular, I walked forward.
The sight of a Cyclops, which had been capable of killing me on the first day, disappearing in an instant was rather satisfying.
But I only passed by quickly.
After continuing to walk, I reached the boundary.
The place where I stood was the area with the weapons factory and the food factory. Across a fairly long road, the area before my eyes was where the biological fighters appeared.
On my way here, I had discarded one rifle that had become unusable from overheating, and I took the second rifle from my back.
From this point on, it seemed I would need to stay alert.
As I crossed the road, my heart began to pound.
With tension, with anticipation, with fear. My heart pounded.
“…I’m going in quickly.”
Muttering to myself for no reason, I tightened my grip on the rifle.
And after I had entered for a short while.
A learned instinct rang through my entire body.
Reflexively, I raised my head, and there, I saw black pupils.
████
-Target locked
Three aircraft. The rifle could handle that much.
I immediately aimed the rifle, placing the front sight between the black pupils.
I poured mana into it. Then came the firing.
Whirrr!! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Spheres of condensed energy that emitted tremendous heat flew precisely toward the fighters.
And they were shot down. Flesh hidden behind their hard shells burst out.
Boom!! Boom!
However—
…Tick.
“Haa…”
One aircraft was leisurely floating in the air, moving mana.
Without even having time to think, I threw myself aside.
Boom! Boom!
A chain of explosions erupted from the spot where I had thrown myself.
Since the rifle had already begun melting from the barrel, I immediately threw it in the direction of the fighter.
An orange burst of light exploded in midair, partially obscuring my vision.
Not missing that instant, I twisted my body at once.
Clunk.
The familiar sensation of the handle came to my hand.
As the smoke gradually cleared, the shape of the fighter began to form in my vision.
Mana flowed into the sword, and the blade heated up.
Pain from the condensed mana climbed through my grip.
From the stance I had practiced thousands of times, the sword flowed out as naturally as water.
Bearing a light bright enough to blind. Faster than ever before.
Heizen Style, First Form. Variation.
Sword Aura—Flash Twin Severance.
Slice.
The smoke cleared for an instant, revealing the fighter in the air.
It still looked completely unharmed, but… the sword aura had struck true.
Thud.
The fighter, falling powerlessly, was split in half.
The shell that had looked so sturdy was nothing more than heavy debris before sword aura, offering no help at all.
I had shot down the biological fighters in the area, but the situation was still not over.
Because quite a bit of mana had spread, naturally—
Chirik. Chirik. Chirik. Chirik.
A group of Cyclopes had no choice but to look at me.
Even for the current me, if that many Cyclopes rushed in, openings would inevitably appear.
However.
“I’ll sweep them away cleanly.”
I had equipment.
Humans really did need to use tools.
I immediately pulled out the handgun hanging at my waist,
and aimed the sight at the Cyclops in the lead.
Flowing naturally, like water.
Fire.
Whirrr! Bang!!
The magic bullet advanced in a perfectly straight line, steady as a firm tree.
It struck the one in the lead, and at the same time, the magic activated.
Craaaack!!
A crushing spell spread from the front.
Even through the magic, slashes continued flying toward me, but…
Thoom!
After easily evading with the auxiliary device, I fired again.
And so, a tidal wave of blood began from the front.
Evade. Fire. Evade. Fire.
When I had used a total of five bullets,
not a single Cyclops remained standing.
***
After that, I was able to enter the center fairly easily.
For some reason, not a single biological fighter appeared. As for the Cyclopes, perhaps because of the slaughter from moments before, I only saw them occasionally.
And so, I entered the central area.
In the central area… there was only one building in sight.
ㄴTruth Scholar: Wow… At this size, it seems about as large as a Magic Tower.
ㄴDraw-Sword Saint: It would be quite high to run up.
ㄴKkukkku: Ancient buildings really are on an incredible level.
The center where all roads converged.
The building standing within the circular road boasted an overwhelming height, as if it might touch the green curtain.
And in the central city, there were no Cyclopes.
No biological fighters were visible either, so this place was truly quiet.
Thud. Thud.
Perhaps because it was empty, close to a void, the sound of my footsteps rang especially loudly.
The distance was not that long, so I was finally able to reach the building.
A massive door large enough for many people to come and go.
It had automatic doors, manual doors, and even revolving doors attached.
When I tore my gaze away from those doors and raised my head, I saw a signboard.
The building’s signboard, written in elegant cursive.
%!██@#█!#!█
-N023 Sector Control Facility
My intuition grasped the intent behind the unreadable letters.
And with tension rising immediately, I slowly pushed the door open and entered.
A facility like this was bound to have security, so there was a high chance I would encounter something like security robots, or something even stronger.
And as I entered, the first sight I saw was—
ㄴTruth Scholar: This is… censorship?
ㄴDraw-Sword Saint: …It doesn’t seem like something pleasant to look at.
The information desk that first came into view.
Inside it was.
Something similar to a human, but clearly different.
Something whose arms were deformed, and whose eyes were covered in lumps of flesh.