How to Survive Restructuring

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 77: Treasure (2)

【ERROR!】

【Command execution impossible!】

[Aaargh!!]

The researcher, already towering high enough for his disheveled hair to touch the ceiling, clutched at his head in frustration.

This was driving him insane.

He was on the verge of exploding with rage.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

He banged his head against the desk.

Not that it would produce any answers, but doing nothing felt like his head might actually burst.

[Kill! I said kill them!]

His roar echoed across the vast laboratory, as large as a sports field.

The sound, loud enough to make veins bulge in his neck, was wasted energy.

The skeletal soldiers who were supposed to heed his orders didn't hear him.

【ERROR!】

【Command execution impossible!】

[You—You worthless creatures! Even grinding you into dust wouldn't be enough!]

He had run the simulation nearly a hundred times, tweaking every possible parameter.

And yet, they still refused to obey.

[What do you mean it's impossible?! Rip out their hearts! Stab them with swords or tear them limb from limb—just do it!]

This made no sense.

Granted, most of the skeletal soldiers were missing at least one limb as punishment for disobedience.

But their target couldn’t even resist, much less retaliate—bound and completely immobile.

"Kill him? …That's not possible!"

"It’s… impossible…!"

The target in question.

The man named Lee Eunho.

He was the very one these skeletal soldiers had sworn allegiance to from the moment of their creation.

[Start over!]

That man now lay in the middle of the laboratory.

Bound tightly, so much so that a mere flick of a finger could tear his limbs apart in all directions.

【Target locked.】

【Environment set.】

【Initiating test.】

【TRIAL NUMBER: 99】

Of course, it wasn’t the real Lee Eunho, but a mere shell simulated for testing.

【LOADING…】

A shell, yes, but sufficient to observe the soldiers’ abnormal behavior.

At first, he thought it might be some trick or loophole, one that he could uncover by adjusting parameters and analyzing the changes.

【Restarting simulation.】

So he planned to collect and analyze the data with each new simulation.

Clatter!

But these idiotic skeletons wouldn’t lay a finger on the target, choosing instead to carve away their own bones.

"Urgh…!"

"I… can’t… do it…!"

[Why?! Why can’t you kill him?! And more importantly, how are you even giving a response that isn’t in your programming?! There’s no refusal option!]

"Leader…!"

[What the hell! Why is that bastard your leader?!]

His entire body trembled with rage, a deep desire to run over and tear them apart.

He wanted to smash their skulls, extract the soft brains within, and demand answers.

What kind of trickery was this?

What kind of data was embedded in their empty skulls to make them act this way?

[Show me the error report!]

So, instead of interrogating Lee Eunho, he questioned the system.

【ERROR CODE: 81】

【Reason: Insufficient loyalty】

It spat out the same ridiculous reason as it had for all ninety-nine previous simulations.

[What kind of bug is this that it won’t get fixed?!]

Iro, the genius researcher.

In his entire life, he had never encountered a problem he couldn’t solve.

But look at him now.

Insufficient loyalty?

[No matter how much I tweak the numbers or kill and revive them, nothing resets. The only option left is…]

He paused.

Muttering under his breath with wide, wild eyes, he stopped moving.

Because.

[…There’s nothing.]

He realized there were no more options left.

[Nothing?]

He couldn’t believe it.

This was impossible.

The skeletal soldiers were entirely his creations.

From their finger bones to the cores that powered each joint, every part had been touched by his hands.

Every line of code, every conditional statement, had come from his mind.

And yet, a situation had arisen where they wouldn’t obey their creator’s orders due to "insufficient loyalty."

[This is my code, my assembly! How could they pledge loyalty to some random bastard instead of me, their creator?!]

His furious soliloquy grew louder and more impassioned.

[All the other soldiers worked just fine! Why is it only the ones who’ve met that bastard who won’t follow commands?!]

Everyone had called his work a miracle.

A miracle that created intelligent beings from the bones of the dead.

A miracle that, with just a few bones, could raise an army of skeletal soldiers.

An achievement so extraordinary that the unthinking laborers on the field could never hope to replicate it.

He had planned to use this miracle to rapidly expand the Centre's domain.

But it turned out to be a defective failure, incapable of resolving even a single bug.

[Ha… Ha-ha. What a joke.]

His dry, hollow laughter echoed despondently.

The sound soon vanished.

[If this reaches the Director's ears...]

The researcher’s gaze darkened.

Cold fury forged by 99 failures.

Rip-!

Iro tore apart the data he had checked over and over to the very end.

And then—

[Open that guy's channel.]

[Attempting to connect to Subject 'Lee Eunho's channel.]

He pulled up the screen.

To observe the guy running around on actual Earth instead of this fabricated lab.

[Connection failed!]

[The requested channel is not active.]

Even that was not permitted, but it wasn’t a significant obstacle.

Click!

[Searching for bypass routes.]

Hacking into "eyes" was child's play for him.

[Found!]

[Opening a temporary channel.]

Flash!

The screen lit up, filling the pristine white wall.

There he was.

"......!"

The face crafted through countless simulations.

But the energy, presence, and aura emanating from his entire being were incomparable to the fake—this was the real Lee Eunho.

[He’s alive and well.]

While he was suffering this much because of him.

Iro clenched his neck in anger just from seeing the guy's face.

Crack-crack-crack!

Then let go unconsciously at the impossible sight.

[W-What...]

Iro was speechless in shock.

[He… tore apart the arena?]

Thousands of words and phrases boiling in his stomach, all beginning and ending with "crazy," couldn’t escape his throat.

Like a dumb skeleton, his jaw simply hung open.

[This can't be...]

His throat dried, and his insides burned.

In that state, he witnessed the artificial sky splitting, shattering, and collapsing under the guy’s sword.

[The barrier… it didn’t activate? It should’ve triggered a counterattack the moment an assault was detected. How is he still alive?]

He barely parted his parched lips.

[No, even if the barrier didn’t activate due to a glitch, this makes no sense. How did he destroy the arena with a single sword? That’s impossible!]

Why does everything blur the line between the impossible and possible when it involves that guy?

He’s like a walking glitch.

[Haah...]

Iro took a deep breath, rubbing his dry face with trembling hands.

A long sigh from the depths of his gut.

[Looks like...]

This won’t do.

He couldn’t stand it anymore.

No matter what anyone said, Iro felt he needed to capture that subject alive and bring him before his eyes to feel at peace.

Rip out all that fluttering hair.

Split that round skull cleanly with a sharp saw.

And finally, press his lips to the exposed brain...

[I’ll have to ask him myself.]

Step. Step. Step.

The researcher’s heart burned as his strides quickened.

* * *

Wheez, wheez.

My nasal passages burned with every inhale, and my upper lip felt scorched with every exhale.

My whole body was on fire.

It was as if I’d unleashed a flame emission skill using my own body instead of my sword, the Flaming Skybreaker Sword.

"How did he get in here?"

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

"When that thing poured down from the sky yesterday, there was a brief opening. He must’ve come in then."

"What? Is that even possible?"

My vision blurred, likely from the fever.

Amid the haze, I noticed figures surrounding him, murmuring among themselves.

‘At least ten people… minimum.’

Most voices were female, with an occasional male voice mixed in.

Maybe one or two at most.

The group seemed young, likely no older than their early 20s.

"Who found him?"

"Jiyoon. She spotted him while standing guard."

‘Standing guard?’

They seemed to be a fairly organized group.

Even we never posted guards unless X and her people showed up.

"Shouldn’t we figure out where he came from?"

"Could it be the Sinch—"

"Shh!"

On top of that, they were well-trained.

Even with a feverish captive teetering between life and death before them, they remained cautious of revealing internal information.

"Ah... sorry."

"Don’t let your guard down just in case. He could be a spy sent by them to locate our position."

‘Hm?’

So they were trying to locate someone or something.

I wasn’t sure what, but it sounded like they were hiding something valuable.

I pricked up my ears, thinking they might have hidden something interesting, but a woman quickly changed the subject.

"Suspicious things aside... what use is something this weak?"

"Exactly! Just a few splashes of water, and it’s like this?"

"Must be a weakling. Tsk."

They thought my staggering state was due to the cold water they dumped on me.

In reality, it was the fatigue from taking consecutive lightning strikes to break through the arena.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

[Target 'Lee Eunho' has reached their limit due to accumulated damage.]

[Status abnormality: 'Exhaustion' activated!]

My whole body burned, and I even had chills, but it didn’t matter.

Because—

[Due to the influence of your Stamina stat, the duration of the status abnormality ‘Fatigue’ is reduced.]

[Remaining duration: 1 hour 47 minutes]

It was a problem that would resolve itself after time.

I just had to hold on for 1 hour and 47 minutes.

Unless these people were strong enough to stop me while I was in accelerated mode, that is...

─ Boom!

First, let’s assess the situation.

"They're here!"

"Open the door!"

I was just as curious about who these people were.

I also needed to figure out where they’d hidden my Skybreaker—the sword that should’ve been in my hand.

Click!

At that moment, the sound of a door opening echoed, and the people gathered like they were watching a zoo monkey parted like the Red Sea.

Through the gap, three people walked in.

A woman with cat-like features, purple-dyed streaks in her wavy, long hair, and straight bangs.

Beside her, another woman with a bun hairstyle and round glasses.

And lastly, a tall but gaunt man.

"Is this the one?"

"Yes, unnie!"

"If it weren’t for Jiyoon, we might’ve been in big trouble. Good job."

The purple-haired woman in the center asked, and someone answered cheerfully.

"So now..."

"Oh, the next group has already switched out!"

The woman nodded in relief.

"Huh? But what's with his condition?"

"Ah, well... we splashed water on him a few times to snap him out of it, but he’s still out of it..."

The purple-haired woman tilted her head, then casually touched my forehead.

"Ow! Hot!"

Such a careless woman.

What would she do if I attacked her in this moment?

Although, with her fingers wrapped in bandages, she only grazed me.

Smack-!

"Are you insane?! What if he has some kind of disease? How can you just touch him?!"

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

The man beside her grabbed her shoulder and shouted.

But the woman just gave a sly smile and turned to me instead.

"You. Are you sick?"

"No."

"He says he’s not."

She relayed my words verbatim.

"And you believe that?! No, forget it—step back! What if he attacks you?"

"If he was that strong, he’d have taken us all down already. Stop overreacting."

Hmm.

Not overreacting at all, though.

It’d take 5 seconds to undo the knot tying my hands with the petrified rope, 10 seconds to draw a dagger and stab the woman in front of me, and another 15 seconds to free my legs and escape.

All of that would fit neatly within the 30 seconds my acceleration skill lasts.

But what I’m more curious about is...

"We brought him in thinking he might be useful for something, but he looks too feeble. What should we do?"

"Why are you asking me? Just get rid of him. If he’s suspicious, we’ll take care of it..."

"Wait a sec—guys, hold on."

‘They’ve known each other for a long time.’

Even without lengthy explanations, they seemed to understand each other perfectly.

Their trust seemed solid.

The blonde I met at Noksapyeong had a similar relationship with his friend, but it wasn’t this large a group.

If they were originally one group and had survived together from the start of the restructuring until now—

‘They must have some kind of special ability.’

They looked like ordinary college students from the outside, but...

They must have something.

An overwhelming ability or item compared to others.

As I observed their back-and-forth with calm eyes, the purple-haired woman, seemingly deep in thought, fidgeted with her bangs and asked.

"They said you were alone. How did you get in?"

Her slightly upturned eyes and round, vivid pupils, as if she wore circle lenses, stared straight at me.

"Why? Am I not allowed to come in alone?"

"You’ve seen it. Without one of us pulling you up, it’s absolutely impossible."

The woman emphasized "absolutely" while crossing her fingers into an X.

They must have either laid traps or built some kind of barrier or wall.

One or the other.

"Unless you flew in, that is."

[Due to the influence of your Stamina stat, the duration of the status abnormality ‘Fatigue’ is reduced.]

[Remaining duration: 1 hour 20 minutes]

I had 1 hour and 20 minutes left.

There was no reason to force myself to fight these people now.

‘I don’t feel like explaining the additional mission or the status abnormality.’

I just needed to recover within the next 1 hour and 20 minutes, reclaim my sword, and escape.

For now—

"Flying? What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Why is it nonsense? I can do it too."

"That’s because you—ah, forget it. Let’s just get rid of him, okay?"

Maybe I should stall for a bit.

"That’s right."

The purple-haired woman looked at me curiously.

So I said it again.

Calmly, and truthfully.

"That’s right. I flew in."

"!!"

Some of them started murmuring.

"What the hell is he talking about now?!"

The man who’d been visibly annoyed shouted again.

"Really? You actually flew?"

The purple-haired cat-like woman’s eyes sparkled.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]