Echoes of the Reverse Planet

Chapter 105: New Talent

“It may sound like an excuse, but—”

Kim Hana let out a deep sigh in the middle of her words.

“No, it is an excuse,” she acknowledged cleanly before explaining why they were late.

Originally, she, Lee Yujin, and the agents had received information that the Hunting Dogs would target Baek Woohyun today and immediately deployed.

That timing was right after Baek Woohyun entered the Reverse World, so unless there was a problem, there was no way they could be late.

However, as could be seen from their tardiness, a problem naturally occurred.

The issue was that the support and auxiliary team employee who had brought Baek Woohyun here had falsely reported which Reverse World he had gone to.

They had given completely wrong information, causing them to make a wasted trip and arrive late.

Even this was only because a report came up from the security company side saying they had seen him, allowing them to turn back midway and arrive now—otherwise, they would have been wandering around somewhere.

“…That’s what happened. The employee in question submitted their resignation immediately.”

“……”

Even at the news that Jeong Jihun, the talkative support and auxiliary team employee, had essentially tried to kill him, Baek Woohyun’s expression remained indifferent.

It was just someone whose face he’d seen once anyway, so there was no need to feel particularly betrayed.

He simply reaffirmed the fact that the Corporate Alliance’s pawns were still scattered throughout the Otherworld Management Bureau.

‘Kim Hana and Lee Yujin probably know that something is going on, at least.’

That much was clear from how they hadn’t directly warned him about the Hunting Dogs in front of the conference room, but had instead gone to the trouble of sending a long text message separately.

Well, with them moving this openly, there was no way it could go unnoticed. With false information followed by immediate resignation and all.

Though they probably didn’t know it was the Corporate Alliance specifically. They likely only vaguely suspected that several companies were secretly operating research facilities through back channels.

“Phew— I’m really sorry, junior.”

“To think we’d be late after even sending a text. This makes me unqualified to be called a senior…!”

“No, it’s fine. It wasn’t particularly dangerous anyway, and it’s not the seniors’ fault.”

Baek Woohyun offered words of comfort to the self-reproaching Kim Hana and Lee Yujin. It wasn’t just to be considerate of them—it was what he genuinely thought.

The Hunting Dogs’ attack had essentially ended without inflicting a single wound on him, and the delay was due to Jeong Jihun’s lie.

However, despite his considerate comfort, the two didn’t seem to think it was okay.

“……”

“……”

Kim Hana and Lee Yujin, who had been looking at each other’s faces for a moment, nodded simultaneously.

It was an action that suggested they had decided something.

“Since this happened because of our carelessness, the compensation must be proper.”

“So, we’ll grant you one favor later, anything at all. Tell us anytime you need it.”

—Huh

—What

—Did they just say anything

—Heheheh

“Hey! No dirty talk!”

“This isn’t that kind of room, everyone!”

—This isn’t that kind of room~

—Crazy bastards lololol

—They’re going wild at the mention of granting wishes lololol

—You guys are so transparent, love it

***

“…Understood.”

Though he answered for now, Baek Woohyun didn’t particularly think he would need Kim Hana and Lee Yujin’s help.

What would he need to ask them for? As time passed, he would only grow stronger, and then the things he’d have to give up due to lack of power would decrease.

The only thing worth considering was perhaps receiving help when digging into Reverse Planet’s secrets?

Of course, even that was uncertain. In the first place, when he didn’t even know what secrets were hidden, what use would those two people’s help be?

“Then! Let’s start by cleaning up here!”

The scene cleanup began with Kim Hana’s encouragement.

Though it was a situation where as many as five people had died, the agents cleaning up the scene maintained utterly calm attitudes.

Not only were they familiar with death to begin with, but those who came here were people who operated in places even closer to death than ordinary agents.

They had even been mobilized to raid research facilities in the past.

Additionally, the fact that the opponents were trash called Hunting Dogs contributed to their composure.

It wasn’t as if someone had suddenly gone crazy and killed civilians—the opponents were Awakeners who had rushed at them trying to kill them, and for money at that.

Several of the agents here had actually fought Hunting Dogs in Reverse Worlds before, and had even killed them, so there was no reason to criticize Baek Woohyun.

“Damn corporate bastards.”

“These guys are the problem too. Do they love money that much?”

Before long, after the scene cleanup was finished, Baek Woohyun hitched a ride in the car Kim Hana and Lee Yujin had come in and returned to the Otherworld Management Bureau.

It was a farce that occurred because Jeong Jihun had taken the car with him when he fled. He had no choice if he wanted to return to the Otherworld Management Bureau either.

Upon his return, system messages about mission completion, level-ups, supernatural ability score acquisition, and more floated up before Baek Woohyun’s eyes in succession.

“We’ll head out first, junior. Phew— Jeong Jihun, was it? That bastard.”

“Don’t use bad words, Hana! And junior! Don’t forget your promise!”

Kim Hana, grinding her teeth, and Lee Yujin, who emphasized anything with suspicious emphasis, left after saying goodbye.

Given the nature of the incident, their shoulders drooped as they departed.

This too was probably a scene that vaguely conveyed how much the Otherworld Management Bureau suffered from chronic manpower shortages.

“……”

Left alone in front of the Otherworld Management Bureau headquarters entrance, Baek Woohyun stood still, lost in thought.

The suddenly granted Solo Operation Authority, the Hunting Dogs’ recruitment attempt revealing the research facility and corporations’ intentions, and even the drug called TL-01 that didn’t exist in that side.

The information obtained during the short mission tangled complexly in his head. Added to that were the experiences gained from playing Reverse Planet until now.

Eventually, when even the experience of the Fully Responsive AI that Jeong Nayeon had mentioned and his solo encounter with Manmulsang came together, one interesting conclusion emerged.

‘Perhaps the story unfolding now…’

The conclusion was that it might be changing fluidly according to Baek Woohyun’s own choices.

“……”

If there were people who knew even a little about virtual reality games, they would dismiss Baek Woohyun’s speculation as nonsense.

It wasn’t that the story changed according to choices—but that it changed with a single word or action. That was impossible even in solo games.

Naturally, there was no way it could be possible in an online game like Reverse Planet. Baek Woohyun also knew this well, having enjoyed virtual reality games in the past.

That was also why he hadn’t actively intervened in PVE stories until now, only performing given missions.

Since it would progress according to the predetermined story anyway, there was no reason to actively step forward.

He had thought that if he progressed step by step, information unknown to that side would naturally emerge.

But what if.

If he could change the story going forward with his choices.

‘It becomes possible to dig into Reverse Planet’s secrets more properly than now.’

That was reason enough to verify.

No, for the future’s sake, he had to verify it.

The problem was where to dig in, but this was practically already decided.

‘The corporations.’

There was a perfect target with the most elements to interfere with, and even if he did interfere, no explanation was needed for why he did such a thing.

Especially with the appearance of a drug called TL-01 that he’d never heard of or seen, there was no better place to raid than the corporations.

It was also necessary to apply the brakes to the Corporate Alliance that was starting to run wild.

Of course, raiding corporations in his current state would be foolish.

Even more so if, as he thought, every word he spoke and action he took affected the subsequent story.

If a close-combat specialized Awakener raided corporations at this point, it was obvious who would be blamed as the culprit.

‘Even if I hide it somehow, it’ll become troublesome.’

The solution to this was very simple.

To avoid being identified as the culprit because of his supernatural ability build, he just needed to use a completely different, new supernatural ability build from the one he’d used until now.

If he raided corporations showing a completely different appearance from the close-combat specialized supernatural ability-using Otherworld Management Bureau agent, they wouldn’t be able to identify who he was.

This wasn’t mere speculation but experience.

A similar situation had occurred in that side as well.

Before he was called Annihilation, when he first emerged with a new supernatural ability, the research facility didn’t recognize him and trembled in fear that another monster had appeared.

“……”

Once his mind was made up, there was no need to hesitate.

Baek Woohyun immediately moved to the personal training room and opened the system window to start adjusting his supernatural ability build.

Just as he remembered the build he used when active as Superhuman, the build he used when active as Annihilation also remained intact in his head.

Since Reverse Planet and that side were fundamentally perfectly identical, implementing that build was also not particularly difficult.

—Huh? Why suddenly change the build

—Looking at what he’s selecting, it’s not close-combat??

—Does this person also use ranged builds well

—I’ve never seen them use one

“Nayeon. Does Hackphysical also use ranged supernatural ability builds well? I’ve never seen it myself, so I can’t say…”

“I’ve also never seen Woohyun use a ranged supernatural ability build.”

“Mm, so it’s completely uncharted territory.”

“Still, with that physical ability, wouldn’t he use it well? He gave good advice during Superstar N too.”

“There is that possibility, but—”

‘Amyoamyo’ donated 1000 won!

[Plus right now it’s no-correction mode; is ranged supernatural ability possible with no correction?]

—Ah right, Hackphysical is progressing so naturally I forgot

—If it’s not close-combat but ranged, it’ll be really hardcore

—I have trouble even using one skill

—So why is he changing his supernatural ability build anyway??

‘And if I equip gear on top of this.’

Baek Woohyun equipped the bracelet and other gear collected from the Hunting Dogs’ corpses that had been useless for the Superhuman build and stored in Shadow Storage.

With various effects like supernatural ability skill power increase, cooldown reduction, and Core Element effect increase finally applied, a dramatic change occurred.

Transparent energy began explosively surging and flowing out from his entire body.

Wooong—!

“…!”

It was a phenomenon created by the incomplete build combined with six pieces of amplification gear including bracelet, necklace, and rings, plus no correction mode layered on top.

It meant that the supernatural ability build’s power had suddenly become nearly twice as strong due to the gear, and the uncontrolled energy flowed outward.

If there had been correction, it would have been automatically controlled, but that wasn’t the case.

“Sseup, phew—”

However, that was only for a very brief moment.

As Baek Woohyun briefly regulated his breathing, the surging energy instantly subsided.

For someone who already had experience freely handling even greater power than this, there was no way controlling a supernatural ability that hadn’t even approached Transcendence would be difficult.

If he had struggled with just this much, he wouldn’t have been called Annihilation.

Kkwak.

“……”

Baek Woohyun looked down at his tightly clenched fist, his eyes glowing ash-gray.

Intensely and brightly, ignoring even the cast shadows.