The research facility was fortified to such an extent that calling it Impenetrable would not have been an overstatement.
As Taeseong walked down the fancy white hallway, gates slammed down in front and behind him, sealing off his path.
Boom!
“Quick response.”
Taeseong found himself trapped in an enclosed space, cut off from all sides by the heavy gates.
A sharp hissing sound followed, and a deadly poisonous gas was released into the air.
“A biochemical weapon.”
It was an extreme toxin, one that not even a gas mask could fully purify. Originally developed for war, its lethality was so overwhelming that it had been outright banned by international wartime conventions.
But when Taeseong swung his sword, the gate before him was sliced apart like tofu, and in the same motion, he ignited a spark that detonated the toxic gas.
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted with such intensity that the walls themselves began to melt.
Yet from the thick smoke, Taeseong emerged unscathed, his footsteps steady.
[Intruder detected! Prioritizing target for elimination!]
[Intruder detected! Prioritizing target for elimination!]
[Intruder detected! Prioritizing target for elimination!]
A chorus of mechanical voices rang out.
Taeseong, intrigued, observed the combat androids now blocking his path.
Hundreds of them filled the corridor.
They bore a striking resemblance to humans, but they were not living beings.
“To think such advanced androids existed… Fascinating.”
During his time as a soldier, Taeseong had encountered military drones and combat androids before, but he recalled that none had ever achieved the level of efficiency needed for actual battlefield deployment.
However, the androids before him radiated a presence far beyond anything he had seen.
Their primary weapon was a plasma blade, an energy-dense weapon of immense lethality. As he observed their intimidating display, Taeseong couldn’t help but admire their craftsmanship.
“If androids of this caliber were mass-produced, countless soldiers’ lives could be spared.”
Tat-tat-tat!
Kicking off the ground, Taeseong dashed forward, dashing across the walls as he plunged into the center of the android swarm.
[Exterminate! Exterminate!]
[Prioritize target elimination!]
Programmed solely for slaughter, the machines lunged at him with perfect precision, swinging their plasma blades.
“As expected of killing machines, they aim straight for the vitals.”
They moved as if sharing a single mind, far surpassing even the most highly trained soldiers.
Unlike humans, these machines did not experience fear.
A soldier, no matter how seasoned, would inevitably feel terror upon witnessing a comrade’s head explode beside them.
But these androids did not falter.
Even as their own were cut down, their limbs crushed, their heads severed, they continued to pursue their single objective—eliminating their target.
Mindless killing machines.
That was their sole identity.
—
Even as the relentless assault raged on, Taeseong charged forward, unstoppable.
There was no doubt that these machines were formidable weapons, but the gap in power was absolute.
With each swing of Sisan Hyulhae, his blade sent out shockwaves of cutting force, shredding everything in its path.
He was a force of carnage, a demon in battle.
[Adjusting Delta’s combat level to red-tier threat.]
[Switching to self-destruction mode.]
The androids, collapsing like autumn leaves, abruptly altered their strategy.
Recognizing that they were incapable of eliminating the target through conventional means, they opted for mutual destruction—by detonating their own power cores.
[3… 2… 1…]
BOOOOM!
Hundreds of androids simultaneously self-destructed.
Even a single one could annihilate an entire area.
The resulting chain explosion was cataclysmic.
The facility’s reinforced walls, constructed of special materials, collapsed under the sheer force.
As the smoke and debris settled, Taeseong rose from the wreckage, casually dusting himself off.
“That one actually stung a little.”
His body was covered in scorch marks, but within moments, he was fully healed.
[……]
[……]
Without hesitation, Taeseong surged forward once more.
No matter how many waves of lethal androids they threw at him, nothing could stop him.
Had these machines been human, they would have long since abandoned the fight and fled in terror.
“This time… they’re not even human.”
He had likely reached the central area of the facility by now.
Taeseong came to a stop, taking in the grotesque beings blocking his path.
A chuckle escaped him.
Before him stood a procession of unnatural creatures—freakish merging of flesh.
A man stitched together from various corpses, his body an abomination of mismatched limbs.
A towering figure with three faces and six arms.
It was as if he had stumbled upon a deranged circus of chimeric monstrosities.
[Grrr…]
[Kill… Must… Obey… Master’s orders…]
[Dad… Mom… I miss you…]
A wave of disgust washed over Taeseong.
These were not beings born of their own will.
They had been artificially created by someone for a specific purpose.
That was the root of the revulsion he felt.
“Don’t live as puppets.”
Taeseong stepped forward.
A wave of freezing energy radiated from his body, spreading in an instant.
CRACK!
Before the chimeras could react, they were frozen solid—transformed into ice sculptures.
Given their grotesque forms, it resembled some kind of twisted Halloween festival held in a frozen kingdom.
As Taeseong walked past them, the frozen statues shattered into fine ice particles, fluttering to the ground like snowflakes.
“Ilhwan, come out, come out, wherever you are.”
He had been muttering those words the entire time he advanced.
He was certain that his target was watching him.
—
Just as Taeseong predicted, at the far end of the research facility, inside the control room, Park Ilhwan was watching everything unfold.
Driven to a frenzy, he screamed.
“Shit! Shit! SHIT! What the fuck is that crazy bastard?!”
“FUCK! What the hell is that monster?! How the hell is he still alive?! Why won’t he just die?! He’s classified as Delta-tier, goddammit!”
Even though he was witnessing it with his own eyes, he couldn’t comprehend it.
Taeseong’s sheer combat prowess had far exceeded any conceivable limits.
His overwhelming power instilled a primal fear in Ilhwan—someone who had never once felt intimidated before.
“FUCKING HELL! WHY WON’T HE JUST DIE?!”
Every trap in the facility.
Every combat android, engineered for the sole purpose of killing.
Every chimera, painstakingly created for Ilhwan’s personal use.
And even an army of mercenaries.
The entirety vanished in vain.
‘Does this even make sense? How can this be real? How is a mere Delta-grade administrator that strong? Is Delta just a cover? Then Gamma? No, could it be even higher? Beta-grade? Are all of the Beta-grade administrators from the Tree this powerful?’
Whatever the case, Lee Taeseong’s strength defied common sense.
Even after an explosion capable of wiping out an entire village, he remained unscathed. When he wielded his ominous, blood-soaked sword, walls made of ultra-high alloy were sliced apart like tofu.
And on top of that, he seemed to have awakened two different abilities, freely wielding both ice and fire.
“Shit. I can’t accept this. That bastard thinks he can look down on me just because he has some measly power? Saying, ‘Ilhwan, come out, come out, wherever you are’—what, is he mocking me?”
Muttering to himself, Park Ilhwan tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling before bursting into wild laughter.
“Keuhaha! Lee Taeseong, you fucking bastard. A worthless piece of shit like you? You think you can stand against me? Do you even know who I am? I’m the second son of Ilseong Group! Do you really think a worm like you can take me down?!”
Taking a deep breath, Park Ilhwan then spoke toward empty space.
“Abidos.”
As if pulling back a curtain, a man appeared from thin air.
His massive frame was scarred by a grotesque disfigurement, as if half his face had melted away. His right arm and right eye were not flesh but artificial replacements, crafted with advanced technology far beyond what was currently available.
Using light refraction, he had rendered himself invisible, wearing a cloak that manipulated nanoscale distortions to make his entire body vanish from sight.
“You called?”
“Take the job.”
“Ninety-two more to go.”
Abidos, the hunting dog.
He was a Transcender, a fixer from a dimension similar to Earth. Against his will, he had been forcibly transported to this world. In order to return to his own, he made a contract with Park Ilhwan.
The terms were simple.
Abidos would act as Park Ilhwan’s hunting dog, fulfilling one hundred requests. In return, Park Ilhwan would use all his resources to find a way to send him back.
If, after completing one hundred tasks, a way home was still not found…
Abidos would kill Park Ilhwan.
That was their agreement.
“Eliminate Administrator Lee Taeseong. Bring his corpse before me.”
Abidos gave a slight nod.
Just then—
Boom!
The doors to the control room were violently torn off their hinges. Lee Taeseong had arrived.
“Found you, Ilhwan.”
Step. Step.
His blood-red eyes locked onto Park Ilhwan.
For a moment, terror seized him, but he forced himself to suppress it. Instead, he clapped his hands together and shouted confidently.
“Yeah. Fuck. Taeseong, I’ll admit it. You’re goddamn strong. I recognize that. Truly impressive.”
“……”
“But you know what? No matter how much you struggle, you’ll never catch me. Do you know why? Because, my dear trash, you were born a fucking loser. That’s just the way it is. Filthy beggars like you always overreach, thinking you have a chance, but in the end, you all get crushed. That’s how the world works.”
Taeseong, his eyes blazing, slowly advanced.
“That’s why your parents died the way they did.”
Bang!
With a sonic boom, Lee Taeseong’s figure vanished.
Simply pushing off the ground created a deafening shockwave.
Extreme high-speed movement.
He reappeared behind Park Ilhwan, swinging his sword, Sisan Hyulhae.
Clang!
Abidos intercepted the strike with his artificial arm, sending a powerful shockwave rippling through the room.
‘Fast reaction.’
The moment was so fleeting that Park Ilhwan hadn’t even realized his throat had nearly been sliced open. But Abidos had managed to track Taeseong’s movement and block him in time.
“What are you? You seem different from the others.”
“I’m a fixer.”
“A fixer? I’m an administrator.”
A monstrous aura of bloodlust surged from Sisan Hyulhae.
It condensed into the blade, distorting the very air around it.
In a flash, Taeseong thrust forward and swung.
“My job is to deal with scum like you.”
Abidos upper body was cleaved in two.
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