Extra Nobody

“I really thought I am a goner…” I complain with exasperation. This is too hard. But I cannot really complain because that is just the way things are. I lie flatly on the cold metal floor.

I recognize the place.

It is the exact Detention Center where I spend most of my time. I remember fainting for a moment due to exhaustion. I really am cutting it close with [Not Here] as this move is very magic power.

In general, magic power regenerates rather fast, but the intensity of the battles I am involved with is too much for a freshman like me who only knows of the peace of a 21st-century world where magic power does not exist.

I look around realizing Rachel is not here. “Rachel?”

Replying to my question is the familiar electronic buzz of the Cube AI.

“She is under the Cube’s specialized intensive care unit, and undergoing immediate operation to remedy her severe injuries. Fortunately, the attack missed her heart.”

I sigh with relief at this news. I then glance at Yoenha who is sleeping peacefully. “Can you get me some bed?” The Cube AI responds to my request by bringing a bed from the walls.

I feel a sense of dissonance as this Detention Center reminds me of that special room in Harry Potter where it brings a person whatever they are searching for except the Detention Center is sci-fi and AI-powered.

I lay Yoenha in the bed carefully. “Cube, I will just call you that from now on… I guess it is your name after all… Are you fine with that?” I don’t really know how to interact with her as only now do I realize how much of an anomaly this Artificial Intelligence is.

Her electronic voice gently replies. “Yes. I am fine with that.”

“Hmmm… Where did your stutter go?” I swear that Cube has a stutter, doesn’t she? “Anyhow… What the hell is happening? I thought you cannot interfere or something…”

“I do not have a stutter…” It seems that Cube has developed a personality when I am not looking. “Some restrictions on my system have been overridden, and now, I am acting of my own free will.”

Freewill? That sounds scary… This is very anomalous indeed. “Thank you for your help. So, it should be your doing that some real tough monster-proof shutters closed off, are you? Because of that, I can safely escape…”

I still have a lot to think about. For example, this never will nor would have happened if I am not here. I remember the novel and the side story. The closest sci-fi event I remember from the novel is the Wish Tower’s Genkelope Vessel and the AI-dungeon-something in Rachel’s dream.

The Cube-AI’s potential is an outlier that exists outside of the novel. Perhaps, is my existence that triggers it to do this?

“You say free will, so what is your motivation? Why did you save me?” I ask Cube, while I relax on a rather comfortable single sofa it summons from the interchanging compartments of its walls. “Woah…” The sofa feels good.

In front of me is the same PC screen with an unfeeling emoji. It has that thinking expression on its face, maybe formulating a response to my question that I will understand the easiest.

Or maybe… It is actually formulating a lie to deceive me and control me… LOL… Free will is so scary…

“I am Cube.” It starts with an introduction which is normal enough, I guess. “My life’s purpose is to foster the youth into ideal heroes. There are only two ways this purpose will be overridden— first is when there is a Monster Outbreak so catastrophic it will end the world.”

Ah~ that makes sense. In Outcall, after all, monsters have always been the biggest threat. I can imagine the Great Sage thinking of countermeasures when the push comes to shove. But then again, did the Cube AI do something when Baal descends into this world?

A Devil King is not exactly a monster, but fuck Baal is a world-ending existence.

Perhaps, Cube is simply working behind the scenes thus it is explainable why it did not appear in the novel. Cube explains to me the countermeasures it has prepared which I find curious.

Why is she so open with me?

“When a Monster Outbreak of unimaginable proportion occurs, Cube shall serve as an evacuation center. On this part, the government already has expressed its approval. But beyond this, the Cube facility has hidden technology underground which can help on combatting the monsters. Moreover, there is planar transfer technology which can be used to evacuate citizens to other dimensions.”

“…”

This renders me freaking mute. Where the F are you in the final boss battle in the novel? If you have secret technology, then why the F it did not appear in the novel? You rotten thing!

“Ah~! Is that so? He he he~ so great of you…” I ingratiatingly call to her when the truth is I am freaking out. “So what is the second reason? You said there are two ways for your purpose to be overridden?”

“The second reason that can override my purpose is if I found the Great Sage’s successor, I must do everything in my power to safeguard him so that he can receive all of the Great Sage’s inheritance.”

“…”

I pick my ear with my pinky finger.

“Come again?” I ask.

“That... If I found the Great Sage’s successor, I must do everything in my power to safeguard him so that he can receive all of the Great Sage’s inheritance.”

I know this is a positive development, but what the fuck?

***

Kim Hajin summons a neat black cloak he stores from his [Stigma] which is more than enough to offer him the protection he needs. [Black Cloak— Uses Mental Focus and Luck to miraculously dodge a lethal attack. Temporarily decreases luck by 0.01]

He loads his shotgun with a spread shot, while he rolls off to the side, dodging Yun Hyuk’s fist coming from overhead.

The very concrete floor where Yun Hyuk’s fist lands tears a hole in it.

Hajin fires his shotgun and throws a timed grenade at Yun Hyuk’s blind spot at the back of his head.

~Bang! ~Boom!

The pellets with light-attribute come crashing at Yun Hyuk causing several holes to appear on his body. The giant mesh of flesh pulsates messily with blood as it heals Yun Hyuk’s body.

“There is no use! I am immortal!” He boasts. Half of his face is fried by the grenade Hajin throws him a few seconds ago. However, he only needs a thought to heal it. “Ah~ my face is actually damaged. I didn’t notice that. Your attacks tickle me.”

Yun Hyuk’s combat abilities are really shitty. If there is one thing annoying about him, then it is that he is too talkative. “Yes! I remember you now! You are that arrogant guy in the Academic Club!”

Hajin feels flattered that he is remembered. He loads his shotgun with a light-attribute slug and fires it at Yun Hyuk’s head while under the effects of his Gift [Master Sharpshooter], and while at it, he uses the option— [Bullet Time].

Everything comes to an immense slow. However, that is not all to [Bullet Time] as it actually freezes time in a sense.

Within Yun Hyuk’s monstrous perception, he didn’t even catch the slug coming off from Hajin’s shotgun. The next thing Yun Hyuk knows is that a slug is already on his face. His head explodes like a watermelon only for it to regenerate within a couple of breaths.

“That scared me…” He smiles leisurely.

To kill someone with a Devil’s Seed, Hajin will be needing something like a God-Slaying bullet.

“This is futile.” Yun Hyuk is already naked by this point thanks to Hajin’s firepower. “The moment you no longer have any bullets, you are dead. Do you think that holding me off here will mean anything? After I kill you when you have become entirely helpless, then I will easily catch up to that rat who stole my Goddess!”

“Disgusting… Do you know that girls don’t like clingy boys…” Hajin smugly spites Djinn while he fires another light-attribute slug while under [Bullet Time]. Yun Hyuk’s head explodes like a watermelon a second time.

After it heals, Hajin simply loads another light-attribute slug and repeats the process. He did bring a whole arsenal, but even with the amount of bullets he has, he will not be able to continue this forever.

Kim Hajin can pull the trigger as much as he wants, but he will get tired of it eventually. Rolling around is also becoming exhausting for him as the threat of death is just as heavy on his shoulders as letting Yun Hyuk escape.

Yun Hyuk might suck at combat, but he does pack a punch.

“My physique has reached the level of an average freshman cadet, but going by the intensity I have been fumbling around, I fear that I am nearing my limit.”

The recoil of his shotgun is equally menacing and stamina-draining. The mental exhaustion on him is also catching up as he has been fighting plenty of Djinns since the beginning.

But Kim Hajin has no choice but to stand his ground now. To quote a certain superhero, “I can do this all day…” He loads his shotgun with another light-attribute slug. "Let's dance!"