Machine God with EX-rank talent (Deus ex machina)

"We should sort out the situation before proceeding."

[That’s a very good decision, Master.]

Dokgo Jeong, the owner of this body, had initially thought about recklessly going outside, but that was too dangerous a choice.

This attack was thoroughly planned.

Even though they set fire to the massive estate, the authorities still hadn’t arrived. It must be because they were involved from the start.

This wasn’t just about brute force; it was evidence that they held considerable power.

Despite all the effort put into this operation, a flaw had emerged.

That flaw was the disappearance of the youngest son, Dokgo Jeong.

It was unclear what exactly they were after, but given the magnitude of this incident, they wouldn’t want to leave any witnesses behind.

That’s why they massacred all the servants.

They would have easily figured out that they missed Dokgo Jeong by comparing the corpses.

Given their persistence, it was naturally something they would do.

"They’ll likely chase me down to kill me."

In situations like this, large families prepare one or two escape routes in advance.

The enemies would know that, so they were probably already scouring the area, searching for Dokgo Jeong.

"They must have left someone behind to watch this place too."

Dokgo Jeong was a martial arts prodigy who had reached first-class level at the age of 15.

That’s why, when the enemies attacked, he didn’t flee but fought back, killing many of them instead.

However, his limits were clear.

Among the attackers, there were several who had reached the pinnacle of martial arts.

Even if just one or two of them pursued, it would be hard to survive.

The same went for Hyun Suho, who was controlling Dokgo Jeong's body.

"What’s the situation outside?"

Although the secret door wasn’t open yet, with Nova's abilities, he could grasp the situation outside to some extent.

As expected, Nova provided a rough update.

[It’s quiet. No one is coming near the estate.]

"As I thought..."

Although Nova said there was no movement, Hyun Suho was even more convinced of his thoughts.

It was more suspicious that no one was searching after the massive estate was turned into a wasteland.

A lot of people had died.

It would have been natural for the authorities to arrive and investigate the incident.

Even if that didn’t happen, thieves should have come to plunder the once-wealthy family's warehouse.

Yet, the fact that no one had come...

"They must be lying in ambush."

Surely, martial artists were hiding near the estate.

They must be considering the possibility that Dokgo Jeong was hiding somewhere on the estate.

"But no matter how much power they have, they won’t be able to keep the Dokgo family’s downfall a secret for long."

This was a family that had even received official recognition.

If such a family were wiped out in an instant, an investigation would be inevitable.

Even with massive bribes, there would be a limit to how much they could delay things.

"For now, I need to hold out here as long as possible."

There was still some food left in this secret place.

Taking water into account, he could probably last another five days.

"I might as well train during that time."

This is Earth, but in a world on a different timeline.

People had already realized the existence of mana and knew how to harness it.

It took the form of internal energy.

They drew in energy from the outside, accumulated it in their dantian, and then used it.

High-level martial artists were strong enough to overpower hunters.

In the past, dimensional gates had opened to this world a few times.

Some, impressed by this power, had tried to study internal energy, but in the end, they all failed.

This was because any special knowledge obtained from the dimensional gates disappeared.

Trying to research from scratch without any knowledge wasn’t going to work.

Some had even died from going into qigong deviation while forcing their internal energy to flow.

Moreover, the system, status window, and skills given to hunters were so efficient that there was no need to seek out other methods.

But right now, Hyun Suho had no choice but to use internal energy.

"The Dokgo Sword Technique, huh..."

The possession system was truly fascinating.

He had both Dokgo Jeong's and Hyun Suho's memories and could fully utilize both sets of knowledge.

Dokgo Jeong, born into a martial arts family, had started wielding a sword as soon as he could hold a spoon.

Despite being only 15 years old, he had lived as a swordsman for over a decade.

All the martial arts he had mastered were passed on to Hyun Suho.

Hyun Suho instinctively swung the sword.

Swish!

The Dokgo Sword Technique was a swordsmanship composed of twelve forms.

It was an excellent technique, capable of responding to all situations, smoothly transitioning between attack and defense.

Hyun Suho had also copied and used the Sword Technique of the Nacheonryeo (Demoness).

It was excellent enough to match that of a ranker. Compared to the Dokgo Sword Technique, it might even be better, but it certainly wasn’t inferior.

However, the swordsmanship emphasized the flexibility unique to women, so it didn’t quite suit Hyun Suho.

"The Dokgo Sword Technique seems to suit me better."

Sword techniques need to be accompanied by the circulation of internal energy.

The Dokgo family also had their own internal energy cultivation method.

Although it wasn’t as great as the divine arts used by the Nine Great Clans, it was still an excellent martial art that reached first-class level.

"Nova, you can take knowledge from this world with you, right? Wouldn’t you be able to use this internal energy cultivation method when we return to our original world?"

Mana itself wouldn’t change just because the world was different, so as long as you knew how to utilize it, you could probably make use of it.

However, Nova was skeptical.

[It would be pointless. If you indiscriminately increase the types of stats, you could end up with a messed-up character.]

The most important thing now was divine power.

He could obtain related skills when he leveled up by mastering the divine power stat.

If he accidentally acquired skills related to internal energy, it could actually be a disadvantage.

"Is that so? What a pity."

[But you can still use the swordsmanship itself.]

"Right! That’s true! Even just being able to use the swordsmanship is something."

[In terms of martial arts, this world is much more advanced. There are many martial arts comparable to the Sword Technique of the Demoness.]

“Right? If the Dokgo Swordsmanship is this impressive, I wonder how strong the swordsmanship used by the Nine Clans might be.”

As he thought about it, a good idea came to mind.

“You can figure out martial arts just by watching the movements, right? You did that with the Nacheonryeo before. Do you think you could do it this time as well?”

[Of course. Now that I can detect the flow of mana, I should be able to discern the flow of internal energy as well.]

“Wow! Maybe you can figure out the Nine Clans’ techniques too.”

Normally, you can't bring special knowledge from the Dimensional Gate back to the real world, but Nova could ignore that penalty and bring the knowledge back.

So if he could just obtain some outstanding martial arts here, it would undoubtedly be a huge help.

“I don’t have to be obsessed with divine power alone.”

He still vividly remembered the Nacheonryeo, who fought on equal terms with an 8th-level Bone Dragon, even though she was only a B-rank.

Even now, having obtained divine power, he doubted he could beat her in a head-on fight.

Lakshmi also said that divine power was just another stat.

If he wanted to become as strong as Death Star, he would need to get stronger in various ways.

[That’s assuming we can survive here, of course.]

“That’s a given. I will definitely survive.”

The secret space was cramped, but there was enough room to swing a sword.

In that space, Hyun Suho grabbed the sword and performed the Dokgo Swordsmanship that Dokgo Jeong had mastered.

Whip! Whip! Whip!

As expected, the martial arts were executed effortlessly.

He was so skilled that he could reproduce the movements with his eyes closed.

The movements flowed smoothly, even connecting seamlessly with the footwork.

Even Hyun Suho couldn’t help but be impressed by the martial arts, but Nova was even more meticulous.

[Five areas were found to be different from the movements described in the martial arts manual. I will correct these areas and update them to your mind, Master.]

No matter how much of a genius one might be, it’s hard to fully master martial arts at the age of 15.

It seemed that some bad habits had remained in Dokgo Jeong’s movements.

Nova combined the original manual from Dokgo Jeong’s memories with the movements of his father and brothers to update even more perfect movements in Hyun Suho’s brain.

When he performed the movements again...

Whirl!

“Huh?!”

The movements were so much smoother that even Hyun Suho was surprised.

“Just a few small corrections made the martial arts feel completely different.”

There weren’t any major changes.

Just bending the knees by about 2cm more and tilting the arm angle by about 5 degrees.

Even with just those adjustments, the martial arts became significantly stronger.

[That’s the power of big data.]

“Amazing!”

Only about five minutes had passed since entering the Dimensional Gate, and just with Nova’s brief help, he had become significantly stronger.

This alone would have greatly increased his chances of clearing the gate.

“Great! This Dimensional Gate is going to be a tremendous opportunity for me.”

The dungeon clear rewards weren’t everything.

The martial arts knowledge he could gain here would also be a huge help to Hyun Suho.

Realizing this, he felt that every moment was precious.

Hyun Suho cleared his mind of all distractions and focused solely on training with the sword.

Time began to pass quickly.

* * *

Creak!

The secret door in the corner of the warehouse opened, revealing Dokgo Jeong—or rather, Hyun Suho in Dokgo Jeong’s body.

It had been exactly five days since Hyun Suho had possessed Dokgo Jeong’s body.

He wanted to stay longer, but the food had run out.

If he met enemies while hungry, he might not be able to fight properly.

He judged that it was better to come out while in optimal condition.

“Finally outside?”

He looked around, but all he saw was blackened ashes.

Black ashes.

Some of them had once been buildings where he had lived his whole life, and some had been the warriors of the Dokgo family, who were like blood relatives.

All of it had crumbled to ashes along with the Dokgo family, which had endured for decades.

At that moment, Dokgo Jeong’s memories and emotions clearly flooded into Hyun Suho.

“Horrible.”

Nothing is eternal, they say, but the Dokgo family wasn’t supposed to fall like this.

The power that once ruled the world, the wealth that once overflowed the storerooms, and the strength that made barbarians tremble—all of it had scattered like a mirage.

Hyun Suho suppressed the emotions that threatened to explode and took a closer look around the manor.

The once-grand family had been reduced to ashes, with only uncollected corpses scattered about.

Among them, he recognized a few familiar faces.

“Brother, Baek Dae-joo…”

The two who had tried to hide Dokgo Jeong in a safe place, reassuring him until the end.

They too had become charred bodies, the victims of the attackers.

“Damn it!”

It was strange.

To Hyun Suho, the two were complete strangers.

But with Dokgo Jeong’s memories fully embedded, this disaster didn’t feel like someone else’s tragedy.

Then Nova issued a warning.

[The emotional graph is spiking too rapidly, Master. You need to calm yourself.]

“…I know.”

He barely held back the tears that threatened to spill, but the fury that made his fists tremble remained.

He was desperate to find the attackers and kill them.

Ironically, that opportunity came soon enough.

According to Nova, five people who had been waiting in the area had moved outside.

After ten days, it seemed that the search had been abandoned, and those who had been waiting had left for elsewhere.

But some remained.

Three masked men appeared from somewhere.

“So, you were still hiding here after all?”

“I told you, didn’t I? The youngest would be too scared to go far.”

“Damn it! You’re telling me we suffered for ten days because of this little rat? Don’t think you’ll die easily.”

The masked men were still wearing the black clothes from the attack, with the bloodstains still burnt into them.

Some of that blood might belong to his brother.

Thinking about it made Hyun Suho’s rage surge again.

“Damn you all!”

Hyun Suho had been preparing for this moment while practicing martial arts for the past five days.

Three enemies were within his expected range.

He began to move according to his plan.