by Yoo Seong
-#@#$## ‘@$$%@$’ @#$$%$%&##%!
!#$!$!@#$:#$&!#&&$!&#&$@!&&#$!#$……….
An unidentified information window emerged from the Nymphe. He was still unable to recognize the symbols and characters.
“Anyway, I can already guess the information.”
Ark could guess the contents of the information window. As soon as the information window appeared, his digging speed started to increase. The information window was related to digging! He had dug the tunnel for a few days using a shovel so he had learnt a skill. Wiping the pipes for a week on R-14 and gaining the Facilities Maintenance skill, collecting metal parts to learn Hacking and now digging…..Ark started to get bad vibes as he looked at all his skills. Anyway, there was no need to say that the digging skill was immediately useful!
“Yes, this is it! Ohhhh!”
Papapapa! Papapapa! Papapapa!
Ark seemed to turn into a mole as he dug the tunnel with tremendous speed. After another few days, a sound was heard.
Kang-!
The end of the shovel seemed to encounter something. It didn’t encounter rocks. The shovel had hit iron! Ark judged that something was there and removed the dirt around it. And a wall made of metal appeared. No, he thought it was a wall but a door actually appeared once the soil was removed. It was a firmly closed rusted, iron door.
“Perhaps this is where the relics are hidden……”
Ark immediately went back to the junkyard to call Tori. Tori’s eyes shone as he saw the iron door and he laughed.
“That’s right! This is great! This door leads to where the relics are hidden!”
“But it is locked?”
“Hihihihi, of course it is locked.”
Tori pulled out a connector and linked his Nymphe to the locking mechanism on the door. After a few moments of manipulating, there was a beep and the locking device was turned off.
“That……?”
“Who do you think taught hacking to you?”
Tori smiled and pushed open the iron door. Ark’s heart pounded as he entered with Tori. The relics were hidden here. Therefore Ark had imagined the ruins of an ancient city underground. However, the iron door connected with a long, cylindrical passage. This was more like a sewage treatment plant than a ruin?
“The relics are hidden here?”
“No, this passage will take us to the location.”
“Then the passage will connect to some ruins?”
“Ruins?”
Tori looked sceptically at Ark. Then his eyes rolled and he burst out laughing.
Wiiiing-!
Suddenly he had the sound of a motor. Tori jumped back with a nervous look and muttered.
“Ark! Those guys!”
“Those guys?”
“You fool, what did I hire you for? I told you. There is a guardian protecting the relics. Do you understand? From now on it is up to you.”
Didn’t he dig the tunnel leading here? He wanted to question it but there was no time. The motor sound approached and a red light appeared. An android type monster was surveying the area with a red ray of light. The lower part of the android had four wheels like a wagon. The red ray touched Ark and Tori and the android started making warning sounds.
–Intruders discovered! Warning! If you don’t surrender now……
Pepeng! Jijijiji!
There was a ringing sound and the android was covered with a type of powder. The android wasn’t able to make noise anymore.
“Hihihihi, how is it? The taste of the Ignition Bullet?”
Tori laughed as he shook a ball like object.
“The Ignition Bullets are useless most of the time. But there is one good use. The powder sprayed contains a special coating that interferes with radio waves. The radio waves are blocked so it can’t request help from other guardians. So rest assured and destroy it.”
‘What? There is such an item?’
Ark eyed the scattered metallic powder. Once again, the Silver Hand had taken advantage of the Nakuma’s radio waves to hunt a lot of them. The Nakuma’s special quality was to send a SOS signal to its colleagues and they amplified that signal several hundred times. So there should be an item to block the SOS signal. In other words, there was an item to allowed users to fight an android 1 on 1.
‘That’s why Tori said it is an important item for beginners……’
He thought it would be good to buy some. Well, that was for after he found the relics.
‘The guardian is an android……’
A confident smile appeared on Ark’s face. During the last fortnight Ark had destroyed a lot of machines. He even came up with a way to overcome his limitations in marksmanship. That was close combat fighting and Close Marksmanship!
“Go, henchman no. 1!”
Tori shouted from behind Ark. The noise was enough to make his motivation fall. However, Ark just pulled out his dagger and revolver and laughed.
“……I will succeed.”
Tu tu tu tu! Tu tu tu tu! Tu tu tu tu!
The Guardian fired its Gatling gun. Sparks appeared everywhere in the underground passage. And the smell of gunpowder stimulated his nose.
“Shield!”
Ark used his shield to block the projectiles and narrowed the distance. And continued with his dagger! The dagger collided with the Guardian’s shield and it shook. All electronic devices in Galaxian were connected with the Nymphe. Therefore his Infrared Scope also wasn’t working so he couldn’t check the level or health of the Guardian and the shield. However, Ark had fought hundreds of Nakuma.
‘It isn’t an opponent I can’t win against!’
Ark was able to determine this after a few attacks. The only difference from the Nakuma was the Guardian’s lower body. It allowed the Guardian to quickly move backwards and forwards.
‘This will be disadvantageous if the battle continues for a long time. I need to quickly finish this!’
Tu tu tu tu! Tu tu tu tu! Tu tu tu tu!
The Guardian moved sideways and rampaged with the Gatling gun. Ark turned and ran to the other side. He stepped on a pipe built into the walls, jumped and landed on the upper body of the Guardian. Sparks continuously flew from the Guardian’s shield as Ark kept attacking.
-Danger! Support! Requesting support! Requesting support!
The Guardian started calling for assistance once the shield was destroyed. However, the radio waves were blocked by the metallic powder spread by the Ignition Bullet!
“Go to hell!”
Tang-! Tang-! Tang-!
Ark relentlessly pulled the trigger and attacked the Guardian with his revolver. Every strong point has a weakness. The Guardian’s legs gave it high manoeuvrability but it had low defense compared to the Nakuma. If he focused the bullets on the wheels then its movements would also be sealed. Victory or defeat was already decided at this point. The Guardian was immobile and just helplessly fired the Gatling gun as Ark ran around it and attacked. Ark stopped the Guardian’s blade with his dagger and fired with the revolver. After many gunshots……
-!#$!%!@!#R! F@$R@F!@R! ER!@##$!
An unidentified message appeared as the Guardian died.
“Ohhh! My no. 1 henchman! I knew you defeated a lot of Nakuma but this was unexpected. Awesome! Hihihi, if you’re that skilled then we can easily obtain the artefacts!”
Tori shouted as the Guardian collapsed. The praise from the hamster didn’t feel that bad.
“Well, it is just this degree.”
Ark’s ego became inflated as he approached the corpse of the Guardian. The Guardian was an android so it also dropped some metal parts. Several metal pieces of good quality could be seen.
‘Surely he won’t try to take this away from me?’
Ark quickly collected the metal parts before Tori could. No, he was about to collect it.
“Eh? W-wait? W-what is this?” This is surely……”
Ark’s face became panicked as he saw a mark inscribed on a metal piece. The mark was a space ship and a b
lue planet. He had seen that mark on R-14……
“……The galactic federation?”
Space 2
Secret of the Relics
“W-why is the mark of the galactic federation……?”
Ark felt like he had been shot in the head. They came through a tunnel that Ark dug until he felt like dying so why was the mark of the federation on an android he defeated? But there was one thing that was clear. Tori definitely knew something! Ark turned his head. Tori noticed his gaze and flinched.
“What? Why? What have I done?”
“……Where are we?”
“I told you. The relics are hidden here.”
“Did you think I wouldn’t know?”
Ark held out the metal with the mark of the federation stamped on it.
“Why is an android from the federation in this place?”
“T-that is……”
Tori anxiously scratched his head. And awkwardly laughed before replying.
“This is the underground facilities of Nephalim’s galactic federation branch.”
“The underground facilities of the galactic federation?”
“That’s right.”
Tori smiled and nodded. Ark started at him with a blank expression before shouting.
“That’s not right! The federation’s underground facility? Weren’t we digging a tunnel to find the relics hidden in Nephalim? So why did we appear in the federation’s underground facility out of nowhere?”
“Because the relics are hidden in the federation’s building.”
“Eh?”
“Our destination is the galactic federation building.”
Tori replied in a casual voice. Ark couldn’t understand what he was saying at first. He dug the tunnel for Tori to look for relics. Yet the galactic federation was the destination? Digging the tunnel to the federation’s underground facility to look for relics…..
Then this guy’s intention……
“Are you planning to rob the galactic federation?”
“To be precise, it is their museum.”
“M-museum?”
“Yes, the History Museum in the galactic federation building. The museum contains an exhibition about the battle between the federation and the Rama in the past. It occurred hundreds of years ago so the exhibition contains old fashioned equipment that mainly don’t work properly. But these items are popular among collectors. It is possible to sell them through the black market for a high price.”
Ark felt his spirit fly to Andromeda at Tori’s words. He knew Tori was a scamming hamster but he never expected this. Who would’ve expected that a NPC would steal from the federation? No, it didn’t matter if the hamster was caught by the federation and punished. The problem was that Ark was an accomplice! He had only played the game for a month and now he was robbing a government facility? It was no different from quitting the game.
‘My last week……’
He spent his last week digging? Anger welled in Ark’s chest as he shouted at Tori.
“I’ll kill this crazy hamster bastard!”
“Hik! W-why are you doing this?”
“Why? Why am I doing this? Do you even need to ask?”
“W-what did I do? I told you from the beginning. I’m looking for relics. Did I lie? The items displayed in the museum are clearly relics. Damn, you should think a little bit. The relics wouldn’t just be buried underneath the city. Isn’t it obvious?”
“T-talking like that…..”
Ark glared and pushed Tori away before turning around.
“That’s it! Dammit, I quit! I’m going to tell the federation right now!”
“Is that wise?”
Tori muttered with an mean smile.
“You haven’t grasped the atmosphere yet. You’re the one who dug the tunnel to this location. And you also smashed the android protecting the facility. Yet you want to turn me in? Ha, do it. But do you expect me to close my mouth and not betray you? I’m going to speak. I’ll speak even if I end up dying. I’ll tell them about you. So go ahead and accuse me.”
“You bastard…..!”
“There’s also the issue of your Nymphe. There is no evidence that I made you do it. Furthermore, your Nymphe has an illegal hacking program which is a felony comparable to theft. Anyway, you’re a criminal. Do you think the federation will believe your words?”
Ark felt like he had been hit in the back of the head after hearing Tori’s words. It had been questionable from the beginning. Ark had been wandering why the hamster offered a sudden proposal. It was because Ark was a ‘reliable’ partner. He was already a criminal because of the illegal hacking!
“This bastard, from the beginning……”
“Of course. I also need a safety device.”
Tori snorted and said.
“Cool off and think again. You’re already a criminal and if you help me rob the museum then you will also benefit. And I didn’t blindly think of this plan. I’ve been investigating the federation’s security system for a long time. 100%! I have confidence that I will 100% succeed. I can enter the galactic federation building unnoticed. If you help me.”
Ark looked shocked. Once again, the same rules in reality were applied to the virtual reality game. One of those rules regarded crime. If a user committed a crime then their criminal value would increase but that was only if they were discovered by a user or NPC. For example, Ark had illegally operated the paid hunting ground on R-14 but he wasn’t noticed by Cheksun so he didn’t become a criminal. That’s why skills like Stealth and Pickpocket existed in games. These skills wouldn’t exist if it was that easy to become a criminal. The only exception was in PK, but in that case the user being killed was the witness. Anyway, if the crime wasn’t discovered then he wouldn’t receive a penalty!
‘If it isn’t discovered…….’
There wouldn’t be any problems. Tori quickly whispered to the shaken Ark.
“Didn’t I tell you? I started this because I have 100% confidence. The only thing to be concerned about is the guards but that won’t be a problem with the Ignition Bullet. And we’ll lock the door and collapse the tunnel after robbing the museum. There is no reason to be discovered. And we can earn relics worth thousands of gold. I assure you.”
‘Thousands of gold!’
In fact, Ark already had no choice. Ark had dug he tunnel from the junkyard. And he just turned the federation’s android in scrap iron.
‘Perhaps the message that appeared after I defeated the Guardian…..’
The message probably stated that his criminal value had increased. In other words, Ark had already become a criminal. Besides, he had already illegally hacked some data and his Nymphe was broken!
He had reluctantly became a criminal. If he went to the galactic federation then he would definitely be clapped in chains. If he helped Tori’s plan then he won’t be trapped in chains. If he joined then he would receive thousands of gold. One side would give profit so there was no need to think about it.
‘But…….’
Ark thought for a moment before nodding.
“Okay. Instead we should change the terms and conditions.”
“Change the terms and conditions?”
“Of course. I accepted because I thought I was digging to find some relics hidden in the ground. So shouldn’t I receive a hazard pay now that there is the risk of becoming a criminal? No, we both have identical risks so isn’t it natural to split it 50-50?”
“W-what? No way! This was originally my plan!”
“If you don’t like it then fine. I’m just going to surrender to the federation.”
“Bah, what are you saying? I told you. The federation won’t believe your words!’
“Probably. But if I surrender then won’t they consider my extenuating circumstances? Unlike you I’m a pioneer. I don’t know what will happen in the future but if I willingly submit then my punishment will be lighter.”
Tori became worried by Ark’s decisive attitude. He rol
led his eyes for a moment before replying.
“O-okay. Then 40%.”
“50%.”
“D-dammit! Then 45%! And there is still the recovery of your Nymphe!”
“50%.”
“Don’t you have any common sense involving deals? If I concede then you should also concede something!”
“50%.”
“No! Absolutely not!”
“Really? Then I’ll see you in jail. Bye. Hey, are there any android guards in the area? Hey!”
“W-wait a minute! W-wait! This bastard! O-okay! Okay! 50%! 50%! Is that enough? That’s enough?”
“Then it is a deal.”
Ark laughed as Tori glared at him. He felt like he had become slightly stupid after entering Galaxian but he was still a legendary gamer. Ark’s speciality was grabbing hold of weaknesses and shaking it
Tori was the same. Ark might’ve already crossed the line but he wouldn’t surrender easily. Ark had no choice but there was something he hadn’t considered. Even if Ark became a prisoner, he was just a beginner pioneer so he didn’t have that much to lose. If he was stuck in prison then he would lose a lot of hours but that was it. However, Tori was different. Although it was a junkyard, Tori still had a company in Nephalim. If a crime was discovered then his property would be seized. In other words, the blow he would receive from being arrested was many times larger than Ark
‘I have to take advantage of this.’
That’s why Tori was forced to give 50% of the share!
‘Tori might think that we’ve grasped each other’s weak points……’
In fact, it might be the same weak point but Tori has a lot more to lose. The larger Tori’s weak point was, the more benefit Ark could get.
‘That damn hamster, he thinks he can keep on tricking me? Now you’re caught. I’ll show him how stupid he is to drag me into this.’
Ark smiled and placed his arm over Tori’s shoulder.
“We’re now riding the same boat so let’s make it good.”
“Sheesh, this guy. What happened to your politeness?”
“What’s wrong with it? Now we’re business partners. Isn’t that right?”