Chapter 146

The veil unfolded.

Centered around the spot where I stood, something black began to stretch out from beneath my feet. It was too thick to be called mist and too illusory to be called waves.

A black silk with no form.

It extended itself in every direction, wrapping around everything in sight. Like swaddling a baby in soft cloth, or gently dipping one’s hand into the still waters of a lake.

There wasn’t even time to resist.

The guard drones that had been wary of me, the tiles of the corridor, the glass separating the computation unit from the hallway, and the strange pipes embedded in the ceiling—all were engulfed in black veil in the blink of an eye.

It couldn’t even be stopped.

That black shape, which defied classification, dug mercilessly into even the tiniest, invisible cracks.

Soon, it spread beyond the corridor separated by the glass, into the Omega Investment building, saturating the heat-radiating computation unit and even reaching the brain of the transcendental artificial intelligence, the Motherboard.

It covered everything.

Its expansion didn’t stop at the first floor. It blanketed all the way up to the very top of this hundred-story building, and even down to the core of the reactor buried deep underground.

A true Black Out.

Everything I had resolved to swallow—this indescribable ‘thing’ devoured it all.

“Phew…”

A strange sensation of buoyancy.

Was this what it felt like to expand?

The veil I extended was a part of me—my new flesh, my freshly grown tendrils. It felt as if I were absorbing every bit of information from every place that veil covered, taking it into my gut, making it part of myself.

‘Ugh…’

My stomach gradually turned, and nausea began to rise.

The dust components piled up in the corner of the corridor, the electric signals running through the drone’s circuits, the density of nitrogen in the air, the massive volume of information collected by the Motherboard’s computational network—everything was pouring into me.

It was a volume of information that no ordinary human brain—or even a few cybernetic support units—could handle. If left unchecked, my brain would surely melt under the crushing weight of data.

So I began deliberately deleting any information that I deemed unnecessary from the torrent flowing in through Black Out. I filtered out only what I could handle—what I needed.

And then.

The AI Core of the Motherboard, in its entirety…

‘I’ll make it mine.’

This Black Out was originally a modified ability once possessed by an Outer God. When it was first created, Miyu had described it like this:

—Originally, this module was better suited for a Techno-Wizard.

Araya of Ashita-kyo used Necromancing to unleash the Outer God into reality, and at the same time, turned its underlings into programs that could wreak havoc in cyberspace.

My new module, [Black Out], which was born from that ability, allowed me to control any mechanical device it touched without requiring special hacking skills or knowledge.

If you asked why I created a module meant for a Wizard, the answer was simple—because there was no room left for improvement in raw combat power.

Enemies at a distance could be handled with [Cloud Spider], and any lacking attack strength could be covered with [Techblade].

Defense? More than sufficient.

Thanks to the Skin Armor Module, I could block most bullets, and [Poison Immunity] rendered toxins useless.

Among the modules I recovered after clearing Act 4 of Part 1, there were ones with abilities like [Cold Resistance], [Radiation Resistance], and [Oxygen Bomb].

Of course, not all of them were ‘top-tier’ modules, but the Outer God essence used as the base wasn’t efficient for making such abilities anyway.

So, in order to best utilize the Outer God’s material and maximize its efficiency for me… Miyu and I pondered over it, and the answer was ‘hacking’.

‘You can’t force your way through every electrical security.’

For instance, I might need to connect secretly to a network in order to clear a scenario. But Ciel was still only a beginner-level Wizard, and I was a complete novice in that field.

If brute-forcing your way through locked vaults or computers always led to the best outcome, that’d be one thing. But using force usually came with harsher consequences.

So I needed a module that could give me similar capabilities without ‘hacking knowledge’ or ‘auxiliary computation units’, and Miyu succeeded in creating something just right for that.

However…

‘The initial performance was a bit underwhelming.’

When it was first created at Level 5—realistically more like Level 4.5—its limitations were clear.

First, it only worked on electronic devices.

It deceived machines by corrupting their circuits and sending false signals. This meant it could bypass the security of most modern computers, but was completely useless against analog devices.

For example, it could easily breach a bank’s security computer, but would be powerless before a tiny lock—that was the nature of the [Black Out] module.

Second, its usable range in the real world was extremely narrow.

Other Game Changer-class modules like [Cloud Spider] could strike enemies from several kilometers away, and [Techblade] could slice through everything within hundreds of meters in a single swing.

But [Black Out] could only be used at a short distance—barely 5 meters.

In cyberspace, it had limitless potential to consume the world, but in reality, unless I was stuck to the machine I wanted to hack, it was practically useless.

Third, it could only execute simple commands.

While it had cheat-level ability to break through security, it couldn’t handle complex instructions at all.

For instance, opening or disabling a vault was easy. But setting a new password or installing traps—anything beyond basic commands—was impossible.

Had I possessed even a modicum of Techno-Wizard capability, this might’ve become a truly broken module. But unfortunately, with my base specs, that was its limit.

However.

‘Using the Level Up Ticket changed everything.’

The [Level Up Ticket] forcibly increased the output level of the module, and naturally, all other stats were raised to match.

The veil’s range, which had once been only five meters, extended to kilometers. Most mechanical devices the veil touched became mine, entirely under my control. Just like how the Outer God had hacked androids and used them as its limbs.

‘The problem is that it might be a bit too much.’

With the increased output, control became more difficult, and the required energy also skyrocketed.

Originally, the ability could only extract information from ‘electronic devices’, but now it had expanded to extract information from ‘everything’ the veil touched. Filtering out the unnecessary data each time drained my mental strength significantly.

‘Still, its performance is undeniable.’

This was only my third time using it, so I was still unskilled. But I was gradually getting used to handling this module.

One of the key techniques when using [Black Out] was to construct the flood of information transmitted through the veil into a new ‘image’.

So I created a new world based on the information collected by [Black Out]. A very familiar and comforting image.

From the past, before I came to this world.

An image of my own room.

I immersed myself into the world I had created.

I opened my eyes again.

What entered my view were a single-person bed, a computer, and a bookshelf that filled an entire wall.

In the form of ‘Aaron Stingray’, I approached the bookshelf.

What adorned the bookshelf weren’t books from my original world. They were data compiled into the form of books—information newly collected through [Black Out].

“Phew…”

I took a deep breath and focused.

The shelf was filled with books of various titles.

Some had intriguing titles, while others had none at all. Likely, they were still being edited in real time or were incomplete.

Among them, what I sought was the content about ‘the future the Motherboard envisioned.’ Specifically, how she constructed the simulated world, and what kind of future she hoped for that led her to execute this entire plan.

In other words, I needed to uncover the plans created by her AI core so that, even after erasing the Motherboard, I could prevent any unforeseen issues from arising.

Then, at that moment—

[Warning. Overload Rate 68%.]

“Ts, intense.”

My heart pounded.

I could feel my real body straining under the overload. The built-in cooling unit did its best to lower my body temperature, but at the same time, the energy stored within me began to deplete rapidly.

‘I can’t use this for long.’

This wasn’t an ordinary computer, but the most powerful supercomputer in this world. For now, I had placed it under my authority using the power of [Black Out], but once the effect ended, it would surely attempt to regain control.

‘I have to finish before that.’

I refocused all my attention.

When I reached out, two books naturally slid into my hands. Their title read “Simulation Results”, and I opened them with a fluid motion.

Immediately, a vast amount of knowledge poured into me. The past, present, and future of the ‘virtual world’ that she had constructed flowed into my mind all at once.

[Warning. Overload Rate 77%.]

[Recommendation: Cease use of Combat Module.]

Ignoring the popup warnings, I concentrated all my efforts on understanding and deciphering the newly acquired information.

……

……

……

……How much time had passed?

After a moment—or what felt like an eternity—I deactivated [Black Out].

The world covered by the black veil vanished, and the waves returned to within me. It was only then, with the overload rate having surged to an extreme, that I noticed the sleeve of my suit had been slightly scorched.

“Phew…”

One deep breath.

When I turned my gaze again, it was as if a blackout had occurred—everything had come to a halt. The busy repair drones, the constantly blinking LEDs of the computation unit—everything had stopped.

But I knew.

The Motherboard was still awake.

Holding onto the one phrase she wanted to say to me.

And this entire process…

Even the act of me using [Black Out] to steal the Motherboard’s memories…

“…Was it all part of the plan?”

[Affirmative. I believed this method would be the most effective in persuading you.]

“You provoked me. Why?”

[Justification. I merely chose the most efficient method. Given your personality, the likelihood of you fully trusting my words was extremely, extremely low. I determined that provoking you into a physical clash, leading you to use ‘that module’, and thereby revealing my memories directly would be the most effective.]

“……”

I had nothing to say.

Because I had seen how the Motherboard reached that bizarre conclusion.

[Declaration. The time has come.]

To me, who had stayed silent—

The Motherboard spoke.

[You must disappear, Aaron Stingray. Do nothing. Only then can this world survive.]

To the Motherboard, who said those words—

I couldn’t say anything in return.

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