NOVEL NEXT Chapter 40: Deus (1)
“Ex Machina Guild has returned!”
As the gate to Wonsan City opened, a group of people entered the city.
There were trucks loaded with monster carcasses and troops escorting them.
Unlike ordinary hunters, they were equipped with the latest firearms.
This was the first guild expedition since the founding of the Ex Machina Guild.
Hyun Suho, who had been waiting near the gate, warmly welcomed the returning hunters.
“Good job.”
When Hyun Suho patted the man standing in front of him on the shoulder and praised him, the young man smiled and said,
“Beep boop!”
Surprisingly, not a single one of the 20 hunters who participated in the expedition was a real human.
They were all androids—magical mechanical troops—created with Hyun Suho's machine crafting skill.
On the outside, they were indistinguishable from real humans, and they even had hunter IDs.
When he first acquired the machine crafting skill, Hyun Suho was curious whether a new AI was created each time the skill was used.
The answer was "no."
All the artificial intelligences created with the machine crafting skill were a single entity—Bipo.
One entity controlling multiple machines.
Like an Overmind, Bipo was a single consciousness that controlled all the machines.
Separate from them, there was also a Bipo floating next to Hyun Suho in the form of a drone.
(*´∪`)
[Beep boop!]
Everything created by machine crafting was, essentially, a summoned creature for Hyun Suho.
This meant that no matter how far away they were, if Bipo defeated a monster, the experience points would go to Hyun Suho.
Operating such a battalion was beneficial in terms of gaining experience and securing funds.
Of course, the costs were not insignificant.
For Bipo to move, energy was needed, and that could only be supplied by expensive mana stones.
When weighing the pros and cons, it just barely avoided being a loss.
However, Hyun Suho was satisfied with the fact that there was no loss in their first expedition.
Once his level increased and he gained new skills, efficiency would also improve.
In the future, as his power grew, he planned to establish branches not just in Wonsan City, but in other cities as well.
“Send the monster carcasses directly to Uncle Jun-gu. Help him with the butchering.”
“Beep boop!”
Jeon Jun-gu and Jeon Mi-rin, the father-daughter duo, had joined under the Ex Machina Guild.
The name Mir Merchant Guild still existed, but everything was now affiliated with the guild.
Currently, they were planning maritime trade based on the help of the Sirens.
The two were eagerly running around like fish in water, and soon, trade would begin.
“Everything is going smoothly.”
Lately, Hyun Suho wasn’t sure if he was a hunter or a businessman.
Having formed a guild, he had to be active in both fields.
“I'm glad you’re here.”
[Thank you. I will always be a loyal assistant to the master.]
Analysis, evaluation, accounting, planning, marketing, human resources, etc.
What would normally require the expertise of dozens of professionals was being handled perfectly by Nova alone.
She did it all flawlessly.
When Hyun Suho, feeling grateful, asked if there was anything she wanted...
[I don’t ask for much. I’d just like a small piece of a dragon heart.]
He regretted asking.
Is this what it feels like when a girlfriend begs for an absurdly expensive luxury bag?
If it were a luxury bag, he might be able to buy it even by taking out a loan, but a dragon heart couldn’t be obtained even if he sold his organs.
In the end, Hyun Suho could only issue another empty promise.
“…I’ll keep that in mind.”
Everything was going well.
The next issue to address was breaking through the wall of level 5.
Though it was a barrier that most hunters struggled with all their lives, to be honest, it didn’t seem so daunting to him.
It felt like he could easily break through if he just made up his mind and took one step forward.
However... his instincts told him not to do that.
“There isn’t just one path. I need to be really careful in choosing the right one here.”
When he closed his eyes, he found himself standing at a crossroads with multiple paths.
There was a smooth road, a rocky path, a thorny trail, and even places that didn’t seem like paths at all.
One wrong step here could lead to an irreversible mistake.
He had to choose his direction from the start and walk that path with certainty.
Fortunately, he had a strong sense of what to do.
“Divine Power.”
Even though it was just a single stat point, he instinctively knew that everything had changed the moment he acquired it.
Like the spreading of dye in a still teacup.
The world he had known until now suddenly cracked open like a shell, revealing its true nature.
Perhaps this was how humanity felt when they first discovered mana.
When Hyun Suho focused that power in his hand, a strange vibration flowed through the air.
Bzzz!
A force entirely different from mana.
“Can you feel this power?”
[I cannot sense it.]
After acquiring magic engineering, Nova was able to detect mana.
The changes had been drastic, with Nova's already impressive capabilities being enhanced dozens of times over.
Yet, even Nova couldn’t sense divine power.
[It feels like I’ve just climbed to the top of a mountain, only to find an even taller one.]
Nova's voice sounded somewhat dejected.
Trying to console her, Hyun Suho said,
“I’m sure I’ll gain a skill that can understand this power in the future. Just like magic engineering.”
[I hope so. Besides, divine power should be a great asset in the fight against the Death Star.]
Even with ten years remaining, the Death Star had always seemed impossibly distant.
Only after realizing this new power did it start to feel like there was a chance.
Such was the immense potential of this stat.
Initially, it had been confusing, but now Hyun Suho understood why Akula had been so obsessed with the quest.
“Sitting and focusing isn’t getting me anywhere. I need to go hunting.”
As if in a martial arts novel, I tried meditating in a sealed space, but as expected, I couldn't gain anything from it.
At times like this, the best approach is to face it head-on.
Just as Hyun Suho was preparing his equipment to head out to the Red Zone, Nova spoke up with something unusual.
[There are traces of illegal access to the master's information.]
"Again? This is happening more often lately. Where is it this time?"
[Beijing, China.]
"Yesterday, it was Russia and Japan."
[That’s correct.]
It felt like there had been a sharp increase in interest in Hyun Suho from various places around the world, especially neighboring countries.
A Level 7 mech pilot at a young age.
Most of what's written in the database was false, but even that was astonishing.
At first, it was just the domestic Hunter's Bureau accessing the information, but now foreign entities were actively involved as well.
What this meant wasn’t yet clear.
"It was a good idea to set my rank as A. If it had been S rank or higher, they'd be all over me, annoying me."
It's not uncommon for other countries to try to recruit highly skilled Hunters.
They would offer immense amounts of money and rights to entice them to immigrate.
After gaining fame from a few incidents, it seemed they were digging into Hyun Suho's information.
Seeing that he was only an A rank, they probably thought there was no need to contact him.
He wasn’t particularly patriotic, but he had no intention of leaving Wonsan City, where he had established his base.
There were more than enough reasons to stay here, including his deep ties with the Sirens.
"Ignore it for now. They haven’t made any special moves."
Unless they tried something suspicious, he had no intention of responding first.
This was why he hadn’t revealed his EX rank.
"For someone trying to stay under the radar, I’ve done a lot of noticeable things."
He had taken care of the problems in Wonsan City after dealing with a bone dragon and an elder lich.
If it had become known that he defeated the demon Kraken and cleared the hidden epic quest, the situation might have been different.
"For now, let's live quietly."
Just as he said that casually and was about to move, Nova spoke again.
[Newly retrieved information. Master, I believe you must know this.]
Nova constantly analyzes and stores information circulating on the internet and in communities.
Even if dozens of top-tier hackers were on it, the amount of data processed would be overwhelming.
Nova only relays essential information to Hyun Suho, and it was extremely rare for Nova to use the word "must" like this.
"Why? Did someone search for my information again?"
[Suddenly, simultaneous specific communications are occurring in Japan. Unfortunately, the exact starting point is unclear, but there is a 90% probability it is Tokyo.]
"Communications? What kind?"
Casually asking the question, Nova’s still calm voice delivered a bombshell response.
[The assassination of a Korean EX-rank Hunter.]
* * *
Ding!
The Torii, the gateway of a Japanese shrine.
Two long pillars with two horizontal beams perched on top.
It was known to serve as a kind of gateway or barrier between the realm of gods and the mundane world in Shinto belief.
Following the Torii, one would come across a grand shrine.
Hie Shrine, located in Nagatacho, the center of Japanese politics.
Known for its efficacy in business and family prosperity, it constantly attracts visits from politicians, business figures, and others.
In the past, it was responsible for protecting Edo Castle.
Since monkeys are considered messengers of the gods, stone statues of monkeys are placed on either side of the worship hall.
Usually open to the public, for some reason, the shrine was now surrounded by people in somber black clothing, standing vigil with a tense air.
They had been on high alert, standing guard for several hours now.
Though standing still for so long would make anyone antsy, they stood like statues, without moving an inch.
The ritual, which began when the sun was high in the sky, finally ended at dawn.
As the ceremony concluded, a woman clad entirely in white shrine maiden robes emerged from the shrine.
Despite having her eyes tightly closed, she walked without hesitation.
Crunch. Crunch.
With each step she took, it sounded as if she was walking on snow.
Her face was so pale it almost seemed bloodless, and her lips were painted bright red with lipstick.
Although her face was beautiful, there was something unsettling about her aura.
She had the eerie beauty of a Japanese ghost.
She was a Japanese shrine maiden.
An SS-rank shrine maiden, possessing the ability to foresee the future through rituals.
While there are many abilities in the world, future foresight is one of the rarest and most exceptional.
Knowing this, Japan treated her with the utmost respect and sought her guidance whenever determining the fate of the nation.
Especially before major events, they always sought her foresight, and today was one of those days.
As she emerged, someone who had been anxiously waiting rushed over and asked,
"How did it go, shrine maiden? Do we have an answer?"
Without opening her eyes, the shrine maiden parted her crimson lips and replied,
"Yes. Unfortunately, the grand plan will fail."
"What! That can't be!"
At her words, the surrounding Japanese officials looked as if the sky had fallen.
One of them, barely recovering his wits, asked urgently,
"Wasn't there always a way? Is there no way to prevent this failure?"
The shrine maiden sighed softly and spoke in a clear voice,
"There is only one way."
"What is it?! The Japanese government will do whatever it takes."
"…"
"Shrine maiden! Please answer!"
After a moment of hesitation, the shrine maiden suddenly opened her eyes wide and answered.
"The Korean EX-rank ability user. As long as he stands in our way, the grand plan will never succeed."
At her words, the high-ranking official recalled the name of the figure who had burst onto the scene in Korea.
"Silver Knight!"