Episode 58. Starry Night (10)
“Uncle, those kids… . Surely not?”
“Unfortunately, that’s not true.”
The central control center has been in a lull for a while.
We watched the children carefully as they entered.
‘I couldn’t feel the presence inside the control center, so I asked why it wasn’t there, and they put it somewhere else.’
He must have waited somewhere not too far away. This was a bit disappointing. If I had come by searching the surroundings meticulously like I did at the beginning of the entrance, I would have encountered them beforehand.
It wasn’t just the kids who went inside. The patrols we often encountered on our way here were also with us. In each hand, a handgun of a special design was clutched.
‘It’s probably loaded with bullets designed to penetrate the body of an adult.’
Even if it comes out like that, Nayeon Eom doesn’t have to worry.
Even if she was hit by a bullet like that, she would say, ‘Atta go!’ It ends at the line of caressing the reddened skin. Roughly speaking, it is at the level of being hit by a stretched rubber band. She was that strong.
I am different. It would be dangerous if hit, but he had enough ingenuity to avoid it. The problem is that the guns in their hands were not originally prepared to respond to external enemies.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
It was the sound of the chamber being loaded. It was not us that they aimed their guns at, but the heads of the children standing side by side in front of them.
In other words, that pistol was a riot firearm to respond to the riots of children with nature.
“Whoops. So, who dares to provoke insolently? I’m so sorry I tried to deal fairly with only my skills.”
MacLaine regained his composure. He straightened his clothes and curled up one corner of his mouth.
Nayeon Eom asked him.
“What are you going to do with those kids?”
“girl. Did you know my weakness earlier? I am very aware of my weaknesses. Knowing that, wouldn’t it be common sense to prepare an alternative?”
Saying that, MacLaine returned to the will that had been sitting and waiting for us when we entered earlier.
Whoops.
The moment he sat down on the chair and pressed the switch on the armrest, mana began to resonate throughout the chair.
“Huhhhhh!”
“Mom! uncle! That man is really in a bad mood!”
When Maclean let out a bizarre moan, Eom Na-yeon covered her ears and cried. I already expected that it would sound like that, but when I heard it myself on set, I was naturally frowned upon.
“Huh! It is felt. I can feel my senses widening! This ecstatic feeling… … . A sense of omnipotence that seems like endless intoxication!”
Lines that are not wrong with the original story. I immediately raised my combat readiness.
Fire!
That moment. Magic wave pulse with MacLean as the center. The MMP, which had been shown once by the runaway Pyoyu-rim, spread everywhere.
“Oops!”
“Aww… .”
“Turn it off!”
“Ouch!”
Children and patrols who were exposed to the wave of magic began to twist their bodies. Eom Na-yeon looked around the extension with a surprised face, wondering what the situation was.
“Hoo. You guys can’t reach my thread. Since the girl looks simple and ignorant, I somewhat expected that my delicate thread wouldn’t work, but… … .”
“hey!”
Maclean’s gaze moves from Nayeon Eom, who screams, to me.
“There’s a cute guy. Your feeling of being rejected was different from that of a girl. If the girl feels like she is bouncing my thread at all, you feel like you know the structure and let it go. Hmm. i get it. Are you also of the same race?”
“I feel dirty, so don’t treat me like that.”
“Ahahahaha! fun. This would be as interesting as this! It’s hard to meet people like me. Then, where would you like to enjoy a mirror match?”
Clap! Okay!
Phase 2, which was accelerated by my provocation, begins.
The puppets, which were only able to control five, are all moving in front of us this time. It wasn’t just moving. Everyone was ready to pick up their weapons and fight.
“uncle. That man suddenly seems to have overcome his weakness? Have you ever been acting? Or, is it also because of that chair?”
“that’s right. If the power suddenly got stronger, that chair is probably an artifact.”
“Then why don’t you just make me get up from that chair? Or break it.”
“You can’t break that chair with your own strength. There’s no way I haven’t been prepared. As you said at the beginning, it could be done by making it fall off the chair… … .”
I blurted out the end of my words and looked around again. Even a country capable of rampaging with its natural power cannot deal with 29 dolls at the same time. And Nayeon Eom was no exception.
‘If all those dolls rush in and crush Nayeon Eom, it’s no different from a retirement.’
Our opponents were not only dolls in the front row, but also children in the back row.
“If I get out of here, my uncle will be in danger.”
I glanced at MacLaine and muffled my voice as much as I could.
“Um Nayeon. I will use a special move, so please protect me until then.”
“Oh Hong? special move? What is it?”
“I know when I see it.”
“… … Isn’t that dangerous?”
Eom Na-yeon had a smile on her face and her voice was straight.
I didn’t answer right away. Instead, they checked the number of children entering the central control center.
‘The total number of children in the three institutes is 181. Among them, there are 17 children whose nature has blossomed.’
Adults can intuitively distinguish whether the other person is a normal person or an adult.
The number of children who entered this place is 177 people. Four people were not seen, and all those missing were children whose natures had blossomed.
What happened to those four children? Did he hide it separately or what happened before I came here. As of now, there was no way to know.
“Have you seen a hero use a special move in a relaxed situation? It’s not the time to cover the hot water with cold water.”
“… … .”
Time to face reality again. I said to Um Na-yeon, whose face was becoming more and more worried.
“When faced with a situation like this, it is a time-honored cliché that there is only one solution. You must have seen a lot of hero movies and dramas, don’t you know?”
“Just try copying the cliché where you die from overdoing it after you get everything.”
Who wants to die?
I let out a silly laugh and prepared my mind.
“Whoops. Is the strategy meeting over? It’s difficult if the middle of the play is too long. Shall we move on to the next act soon?”
They say it as if they waited on purpose, but in fact, that is also a bluff.
He must have been secretly working on a connection to control all 29 dolls and children at once.
“I am ready. I’m going to start gathering flags now, so watch over them.”
“huh. I won’t hurt a single hair!”
In the end, it was a confrontation situation where both the other side and our side were busily regrouping.
“Funny! cute guy. I don’t know exactly what kind of ability he intends to use, but I have no intention of waiting until then!”
Twenty-nine mechanical dolls, which had been connected, surrounded us in an instant. right after that.
Giggi Gig!
Attacks from all directions, east, west, north, south, and along with the driving sound of the doll’s joints moving.
““Register drop”!”
The moment when Eom Na-yeon exclaimed loudly. A circular dome-shaped protective shield spread around her. Its range is about 3m or so. It was exactly the curtain of light that enveloped the two of us.
Register drop, one of her signature natures to protect allies.
As it is an omni-directional technology, the protection performance is not that great, and it consumes a lot of mana every time it absorbs a blow. Because of that, I decided not to take too long.
Eom Na-yeon has excellent basic specs and has many great passive natures, but the amount of magical power she possesses is not very large. To put it simply, it’s a character with a low maximum MP, so it won’t last long.
But before that.
“Um Nayeon. Did you set it to natural voice recognition?”
“why? Wouldn’t it be cool to shout out the skill name and activate it?”
Usually, even with voice recognition, he speaks in a low voice. It’s because the opponent can notice and respond before the ability is activated.
“no… . done.”
“what? why don’t you talk You know that makes people even more anxious, right?”
“Don’t tell me you’re cool.”
“Ehehehe.”
I shook my head and took out my pocket watch from my pocket. An artifact received from Seol Chae-hwa. It was Magical Soul Watch.
[Activate ‘Magical Soul Watch’.]
[Set the artifact’s performance to ‘maximum’.]
[warning! When used for a long period of time against opponents who have maintained their performance at peak levels. A large load may be placed on the artifact.]
‘It looks like people will die if they make a mistake, but does that matter?’
It was an expensive item that I couldn’t even dream of repurchasing with my financial resources, but nothing in this world is more expensive than a person’s life.
“You do cute things! Do you think I’ll be alone if I show off that I’m going to use my secret skills from now on!”
Paperweight!
It felt like something was poking a needle through my brain. A feeling I had felt before. Realizing that he was trying to manipulate me, I immediately went to warfare.
‘If there is something coming, there must be something going!’
As if to reciprocate, I inserted the Emotion Implant.
“joy. It’s ridiculous!”
The moment I invoked my innate power, the light on the chair where MacLaine was sitting flickered once. The guy snorted. It was a response based on the same principle as when I raised my natural resistance to combat readiness.
‘It’s not a good choice to engage in a one-on-one mental interference battle with him.’
He’s being assisted by that chair artifact. I also have the artifacts of seolchaehwa, but the comparison between the installation type and the portable artifact itself was an example. The installation type had to be overwhelmingly good in performance.
then.
[Activates ‘Emotion Implant’.]
This time, he showed his nature against me, not against him.
The emotion I want to infuse is anger. and a bit of coolness.
[Activates ‘Emotion Implant’.]
[Activates ‘Emotion Implant’.]
[Activates ‘Emotion Implant’.]
… … .
Your hands start to tremble. Uncontrollable intense emotions exploded from within, wanting to somehow burst out. It felt like I was drinking alcohol with my brain.
‘no. can’t do this That’s not enough. I should be more angry.’
Being able to think calmly like this was proof that the heating was less.
The minimum front line that should never be crossed. Reason to protect that. Only that much is left, and the rest is replaced with anger.
and.
Fain!
Cheez!
My original technique to intentionally control the Halo to increase its power. “Overflow” is activated.
“uncle?! What the hell are you doing behind the scenes, the magic wave bursts out… … . uncle?!”
Eom Na-yeon, who had been watching the front, looked back at me and widened her eyes.
“Where are you looking? Can’t you see straight ahead?”
“no! That’s not it, uncle now… … !”
“Duck bottom. I was told to shut up and look ahead. I need to focus from now on, so don’t talk to me.”
“Could it be that a special move is such a dangerous beast?! Yep!”
I covered her mouth with my own hands.
“Open your mouth again. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Next time, I’ll cover it with my mouth in the same way.”
“… … !”
“If you understand, nod your head once.”
Eom Na-yeon nodded with a tear-stained face.
Paperweight!
I removed my hand from covering my mouth and stared blankly at MacLaine. Even in the middle of it, he was trying to mentally interfere with me by beating the shield hard with a doll.
“Whoa. Now, I’ll teach you to figure out the subject, starting with that kid who keeps messing around. I’m watching your hero in action. Cute sidekick.”
During a brief scuffle with Eom Na-yeon, he succeeded in stabilizing the unstable Halo.
“Cute guy. Did you turn around because you couldn’t accept this hopeless situation? If this happens, even if you just watch it, it will break down on its own? Whoop whoop.”
“okay. Stay still and watch. Dirty Guy. I’ll show you what’s going on.”
[‘Demagog’ is activated.]
[Activates ‘Emotion Implant’.]
[‘Demagog’ is activated.]
Demagogue’s second ability. I arbitrarily set the emotions the other person will feel with my actions, and then pull the trigger to trigger those emotions with the Emotion Implant.
Demagogue again as a link there. Adds the first ability, Emotion Amplification. The target to activate is MacLaine. The intended emotion is extreme fear.
“Cheuk! Cool cool! uh, what is this… … !”
A strong light emanates from the chair he was sitting on. He couldn’t handle the recoil that exploded in the process of canceling his magic power, and he could see him coughing up blood.
I didn’t stop there.
[‘Delusion Practice’ is activated.]
The second ability of Delusion Practice. The power to change perception was activated against the patrols who were aiming their guns at the back of the children’s heads.
‘You guys won’t listen to MacLaine.’
The moment to experience the effect was thankfully provided by MacLaine first.
“That’s all nonsense! If you keep extending your dainty hands to me like that, the test subjects gathered here could get hurt!”
“Try it.”
“Do you think I can’t! One patrolman over there! Anything is fine, so kill one of the test subjects as an example! As a child, not as an adult!”
“you. Have you ever heard of the word jockey run?”
“what… … ?”
The patrolman’s answer came just in time.
“I am not listening to you.”
“uh? Are you rebelling against my words now? Are you crazy?!”
“In the first place, you are not even an executive, but you are the same power in the research institute as us. As a matter of principle, I have no obligation to follow your words.”
“This, how dare you! If you don’t want to obey, just force them to do it and that’s it!!!”
Would I be watching it quietly?
“It can’t be done.”
[Activate ‘Overlord’.]
“Ouuu!”
Again, strong light emanates from the chair. This time, blood began to flow from his nose.
His whole body trembled and his fists were clenched tightly. Judging from the vicious look in his eyes, it was effective, but not enough to neutralize him.
Even in the midst of suffering, he looked at me and pretended to be calm.
“I’ll admit it. As for the quality of magical power itself, it seems that you are stronger. Even with so many offsets, it still has this much power! But are you having a hard time too?”
“… … .”
“Whoops! Halo is so crazy that you can’t hear what I’m saying? This chair keeps replenishing mana! If the quality is not good, it’s enough to compete with the quantity! Whoop whoop! Whoops!”
“okay? Then I’ll just fight with my troops.”
[‘Delusion Practice’ is activated.]
perception change.
As of this time, all rangers present here will consider me their superior.
The moment I raised my hand perpendicular to the sky, all the patrollers in the central control center turned their guns on MacLaine.
“… … Huhu?”
The boy’s mischievous laugh was cut short.
As the supervisor of the rangers, I pointed my raised hand at MacLaine and gave orders.
“everyone. Open fire.”