I Became an Illegal Cheat User – Chapter 78

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Inside the Mobile Task Force 4 office…

“So your name is Lee Yu-jin?”

“That’s a good name, I wonder who chose it?”

“It must’ve been your dad.”

“No, it could’ve been your mom.”

Just like in front of the elevator…

…Yu-jin was surrounded by the members of Mobile Task Force 4, or more precisely, the 9th Extermination Unit, bombarded with questions.

“Yu-jin, how have you been?”

“How was school? Did anyone bully you?”

“You’ve grown up so well, so well… sniff I could die happy now.”

Male members on his left…

…and female members on his right…

…peppered him with questions from both sides, overwhelming him to the point of exhaustion.

Terra sent him a message.

[Is this what it means to be overwhelmed?]

It was just a simple text message…

…but he could sense her feeling overwhelmed, empathizing with his emotions.

‘…Yes, this is what it means to be overwhelmed.’

[I see.]

[Then I am overwhelmed right now.]

[(ｏ﹃ ｏ)…]

He couldn’t bring himself to smile at the special character drooling.

If Terra, who didn’t have a physical body, was feeling this overwhelmed…

…then he, who did have a physical body, must be feeling it even more intensely.

And what made it even more difficult…

“Come to think of it, did your mom and dad leave any inheritance?”

“Maybe they did? There’s no way you could have lived without a single penny.”

“Yu-jin… you’ve been doing alright, haven’t you?”

…was that they were asking him questions he couldn’t answer.

“Haha… of course I’ve been doing well.”

‘I’m sorry, but I don’t know. Or rather, I might not have been doing well.’

After all, the place he woke up in when he was possessed was a shabby, run-down studio apartment.

And considering he didn’t have much money when he purchased items for the entrance exam, it seemed like he hadn’t inherited anything from his biological parents.

Or maybe the “he” from before had spent it all.

‘Well, whether I didn’t inherit anything or it was all spent, it doesn’t matter to me.’

He was a completely different person now, and he was well-off thanks to the royalties from the recipes he had registered with the Alchemy Workshop.

So he wasn’t curious about his past, nor did he want to know.

As he was thinking this, someone placed their hand on his shoulder and said,

“Hey, stop bothering Yu-jin and go watch the news, or read some articles.”

It was Grey, who had been away for a while on business.

“Come on, Noona, you know we don’t have time for news or articles. We’re too busy hunting down those Fallen bastards.”

Grey clicked her tongue, looking at the male member who had spoken with a disappointed expression.

“Listen, kid, I’ve told you time and time again. Nowadays, it’s faster to find them through information than by searching for them directly.”

She pointed at the large TV in the office and the smartphone in her hand.

“Just browse TV or the internet a little, and you’ll see where Fallen or villains have appeared. So, Deok-bae, stop running around and use your head, okay?”

“Ah… Noona, it’s been ages since I changed my name to Skull. Why are you still calling me Deok-bae?”

“Skull my ass, you look like Hulk. Anyway, everyone, get away from Yu-jin, get away, I said.”

As Grey shooed away the members clinging to Yu-jin…

…a male member who looked younger than Yu-jin approached her.

He was holding a smartphone with a news article open.

“Noona, the articles these days are strange.”

“Strange? How?”

“Look at this.”

Grey looked at the screen of the smartphone the male member was holding.

She frowned after seemingly noticing something.

“…What is this? Why is it so biased?”

“Right? It’s very biased, isn’t it? All the news and articles these days are like this.”

[Indeed, as he said, the content is unusually biased.]

‘What content?’

As Yu-jin asked, messages listing what appeared to be article titles appeared below Terra’s message.

[Hero chasing villain destroys building.]

[Civilians injured in battle between Fallen and Hero.]

[Heroes, are they really protecting citizens?]

‘Wow…’

He was speechless with amazement.

How could it be this biased?

He suppressed the curse that was about to escape his lips and continued to read the listed article titles.

When titles and content related to politics, celebrities, and star superhumans appeared, the male member who had shown Grey the article said,

“As you can see, Noona, most of the news and articles these days are hostile and provocative towards heroes and some superhumans.”

As he said, the news and articles were filled with nothing but hostile and sensational content about heroes.

That didn’t mean there was no news about Fallen, villains, or rift occurrences.

But even that content was filled with negativity, aimed at tarnishing the reputation of individuals, academies, and organizations like the Association.

Of course, there were genuinely positive articles, but…

…they would disappear without a trace after a few days, as if they had never existed.

“So I was thinking… what if there are Fallen worshipers in major institutions? And a lot of them?”

Oh, that’s sharp.

Yu-jin looked at the male member with admiration.

As he said, most major institutions, excluding the Academy and the Association, were practically overrun by Fallen worshipers.

That was why, after the “Duel Season” ended, the Martial God, leading major and minor guilds like Mirinae, Guardian, and Red Light, along with the Hero Association, would launch a full-scale investigation to root out Fallen worshipers.

The government, media, broadcasting companies, etc., where Fallen worshipers were rampant would be devastated and undergo a massive reshuffling.

[So the country will be clean in three months?]

‘No, of course not.’

If that were the case, he would have used the word “completely” instead of “massively” when referring to the reshuffling.

‘Fallen worshipers, those bastards are like cockroaches.’

No matter how many you kill, they just keep popping up somewhere else.

‘So there’s only one way to completely eradicate them.’

To wipe out all the Named, Apostles, and Outer Gods they worshiped.

That was the only way.

“…That makes sense.”

“You’re right, maybe there are cockroaches in major institutions, as the youngest said.”

“Noona, we should report this to the captain.”

Grey, who had been reading the articles with a serious expression, nodded at Skull’s (formerly Deok-bae) suggestion.

“Yeah, we should.”

“Then let’s contact the captain right now…!”

“No, the captain is very busy interrogating a certain trashy bitch right now, so later.”

“Ah… right, she’s in the middle of an interrogation.”

Skull nodded in understanding and stepped back.

“Well, I’ll take Yu-jin to the base for now.”

“Yes, please do.”

“See you later, Yu-jin.”

“…Yes, see you later.”

[Aren’t you going to be bombarded with questions again when you get back?]

‘…Maybe.’

[(⊙﹏⊙)]

Ah, he wanted to go back to his dorm.

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Ding.

[3rd Basement Floor.]

The elevator doors opened revealing a parking lot filled with cars.

“Yu-jin, you have to follow me closely from here on out, okay?”

“Yes, Noona.”

Grey smiled and stepped out of the elevator.

He followed her…

…and…

Bzzzt!

…felt countless gazes on him.

[Master, something is strange about this parking lot.]

[All the cars here possess ‘mana’.]

‘That’s natural. All the cars here are ‘golems’.’

[Golems? You mean those magical constructs like the rock golem and the black knight that Master defeated?]

‘Yeah, that’s right.’

He answered Terra’s question and looked at the nearby cars.

He could feel the golems’ gazes intensifying.

As if they were ready to ‘transform’ if he made even the slightest suspicious move.

He chuckled at their reactions and looked up.

‘There it is, the Beholder.’

The ceiling, which should have been shrouded in darkness was clearly visible due to the ‘Demon Slayer (S)’ effect, “Vision is not obstructed by darkness”.

And within that darkness, a bat-shaped eyeball was hanging upside down, monitoring him like a CCTV camera.

That Beholder was a surveillance golem created by ‘Winry’, the 9th Extermination Unit’s only alchemist and base guardian… no, shut-in.

All the golems in this parking lot were also created by Winry.

[That’s an incredible skill.]

As Terra said, ‘Winry’ was a high-rank alchemist, second only to ‘Midas’, the hope of the meager alchemy world.

But the problem was… Winry was a bit of an eccentric.

[Eccentric? Aren’t all alchemists eccentric?]

‘That’s true, but… Winry is a different kind of eccentric.’

[In what way?]

‘She…’

“Yu-jin, we’re here.”

‘…It’s better to see her for yourself than to explain.’

He postponed answering Terra’s question and looked at where Grey had stopped.

She was standing on a spot marked “P3”.

Her gaze was fixed on a blank wall…

“Yu-jin, watch closely.”

…but as she pressed something on the wall…

Click.

…a locking mechanism disengaged…

…and…

Bzzzt.

…a small opening appeared next to where she had pressed, revealing a ‘Morse Code Transmitter’.

“When the transmitter appears like this, you have to input the Morse code immediately. Otherwise…”

As soon as she finished speaking…

First warning.

…a monotonous mechanical voice came from the transmitter.

“You’ll get a warning like this. And if you receive three warnings, the emergency protocol will be activated, notifying all our squad members and locking down this parking lot.”

Grey quickly inputted a Morse code into the transmitter.

The answer to the Morse code she inputted was “The avenger’s blade never runs dry of blood”.

In Morse code, it was ‘.– .- .-.. –. …. .–. . -.- -.. ..- / -..- . …- ..-. . …- -.- -.. ..-. / — ..- / — . …- -.. …- / ..-. . …- -.- ..- / -.- – .– –. -… . .-.-.-‘.

Input complete.

As soon as she finished inputting the designated Morse code, the monotonous mechanical voice spoke again…

…and…

Bzzzt.

…a slot shaped like a horizontal line ‘ㅡ’ appeared.

Grey took out a dagger from her pocket and inserted the blade into the slot.

This time, instead of the monotonous voice, a soft, youthful voice, seemingly pre-pubescent, came from the slot.

Our grudge…

“With hatred.”

Our hatred…

“With vengeance.”

Our vengeance…

“With death.”

Evil…

“With the blade.”

As Grey finished speaking, she turned the dagger as if unlocking a lock.

A clicking sound, like something unlocking, could be heard…

…and…

Bzzzt!

…the wall to Grey’s right slid open, revealing a metal door.

“Let’s go in, Yu-jin.”

Grey pulled out the dagger and approached the metal door.

The door slid upwards, revealing another elevator.

“Now we just have to take this down.”

As she said, all they had to do was take this elevator down to reach the “9th Extermination Unit” base.

But he had to pretend not to know.

“Isn’t there another procedure besides this?”

He asked a pointless question.

“No, we really just have to take this down.”

Grey pinched his cheek playfully and entered the elevator.

He followed her inside and the metal doors closed as the metal door above descended, reversing the special procedure Grey had performed.

“….”

“….”

An awkward silence filled the elevator.

Hum, hum, hum.

The only sound was the elevator moving.

But that silence was short-lived.

“Yu-jin.”

Grey, who had been silent, called his name in a serious voice.

He turned to look at her.

“Don’t you miss your mom and dad… no, your parents?”

“…”

She was asking about his longing for his parents.

“Well… I’m not sure.”

He really didn’t know what to say.

But Grey seemed to have misinterpreted his words.

“I see…”

Sadness clouded her face as she looked at him.

It seemed like she had misunderstood something.

But he didn’t bother to correct her.

He had no reason to, and no confidence that he could.

“Yu-jin, take this.”

Grey said, taking something out of her pocket.

It was… a faded photograph and a key.

“Noona, what is this…?”

“It’s a photo I took with your parents a long time ago. We’re not supposed to keep things like photos because of the nature of our squad, but… I kept it. To show you.”

He looked at the photo.

In the faded photo a young man and a young woman were smiling brightly, with a ten-year-old Grey standing between them.

He looked at the young woman.

She had shoulder-length hair and was holding a staff… wait.

‘Huh…? Isn’t she… one of the usurpers the principal showed me?’

He then looked at the young man and the young man also resembled the usurper called ‘Chaser’.

‘…What? Does that mean my biological parents are usurpers… Outer Gods?’

No, that couldn’t be…

He felt confusion flooding his mind.

Or rather, it was beyond flooding, it was overflowing.

[Master, are you alright?]

‘Uh… I’m fine, but I’m very confused.’

[How about clearing your mind for a moment?]

[Think about it again when the confusion subsides and you can think calmly.]

He nodded, taking a deep breath at Terra’s advice.

‘I should. There’s no way I’ll find any answers if I keep questioning myself in this state.’

As soon as he thought this, the confusion that had been clouding his mind quickly dissipated.

He let out a sigh and looked at Grey.

He asked about his parents’ names.

Grey told him their names were Lee Sung-jin and Kim Ah-ra.

“Lee Sung-jin… Kim Ah-ra…”

As he engraved their names in his mind…

Ding.

…the elevator doors opened, indicating they had arrived at the base.

“Welcome to the base of the 9th Extermination Unit.”

As Grey welcomed him, he stepped out of the elevator and saw a vast space, countless rooms, and various state-of-the-art equipment and facilities that he had only seen in the game.

“Normally, you wouldn’t be able to see the equipment, but since there’s only one person staying at the facility right now, everything except one room is set to visible mode.”

As she said, the rooms in the base had two modes: ‘visible mode’, where everything was visible, and ‘invisible mode’, where nothing could be seen.

And the room that was invisible was Winry’s room, the shut-in of the base.

She rarely left her room…

“Is that you? The son of Sung-jin oppa and Ah-ra unnie?”

…Wait, why is she outside?

He looked at the short figure approaching him in a trailing white lab coat with a bewildered expression.

That’s right.

The girl with silver hair styled in twintails like Asuka.

No, she wasn’t a girl.

She was a 25-year-old adult woman.

Anyway, this short figure, who only reached his chest, was…

“Nice to meet you, I’m Winry, the mechanic in charge of this base.”

…the eccentric alchemist of the 9th Extermination Unit that he had been about to tell Terra about.

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