Ch.7979. Limited Deployment in a Small Dimension

Yu Se-ah.

Currently, she’s a top-tier hunter (equivalent to a Grade 0 monster) capable of annihilating an entire legion single-handedly, but to me, she remains more memorable as the default Korean female name for the protagonist’s junior hunter character from the Campaign Story in Part 5.

What makes this particularly strange is that you could customize gender, appearance, name, and even develop a growth build to use as a second avatar…

That appearance was identical to what I had personally customized.

It wasn’t just her looks that were familiar—those weapons and combat patterns were all recognizable to me.

Since the NPC AI was quite primitive back then, I built her with a dual-pistol evasion build, which was considered decent even for NPCs, and it proved to be a fairly good choice.

While NPCs would take friendly fire without question, they were actually better than average players at evading enemy attacks.

Additionally, NPCs had decent recoil control and accuracy with pistols and one-handed firearms, making evasion-based dual-pistol Se-ah rated as a 1.5-tier evasion tank/close-range damage dealer.

Anyway, that’s probably why she now uses dual pistols—specifically, two high-output plasma pistols—according to the build I designed for her… and those dual pistols are exactly as I customized them.

Even the mark emblazoned on the back of her coat is the same player symbol I used to use, and most decisively, that coffin she’s levitating is none other than my weapon.

Its official name: Excessive Firepower Mounted Combat Support Platform.

It links with psychic abilities to remotely deploy and fire mounted weapons, and after numerous upgrades and modifications, the combined firepower of all weapons inside could completely deplete a Grade 1 monster’s HP.

It’s powered by “Moonstone,” a rare metal that can only be harvested from the moon, which is why—when the balance restrictions are lifted within the campaign—you could solo a 36-player dungeon with just that one weapon.

According to my investigation, Se-ah has been carrying that greatsword (I was a greatsword user) since my avatar went missing, so it would be stranger not to recognize the connection.

The world I was possessed by—or rather, abducted into—was none other than the future timeline of Project Monster 5, the game I had played.

Naturally, I was quite shocked when I first realized this, but as I had just become a high-grade monster at the time, I decided not to dwell on it since there was no point in acknowledging it.

…That is, if I hadn’t heard the name Yu Se-ah.

Of course, since she was just an NPC in a game, I felt a slight attachment to her, but it wasn’t like I was in love with her—I’m not a machine enthusiast, much less an AI enthusiast. What mattered was that she, influenced by me, had become a top-tier hunter.

Top-tier hunter. The highest rank achievable by eliminating a Grade 1 monster solo with a human body, or by accomplishing such feats three or more times, or by playing a decisive role in subjugating a Grade 0 monster.

Naturally, in the game’s story, each series (except Part 4) directly demonstrates the power of top-tier hunters.

The Mountain Cutter (nicknamed for slicing mountains in half with a single powerful strike) who first appeared in Part 1 decapitated a high-grade monster with one slash during his debut. In Part 2, the Sleeper (who spends all day sleeping at Hunter Guild Headquarters) used telekinesis to lift an entire skyscraper and ram it into a Grade 0 monster’s rear end.

In Part 3, they brilliantly showcased the “Master of Close Combat” through in-game technique patterns (spamming the overpowered “Technique” skill), while in Part 5, a powerful psychic stopped a massive hurricane created by a monster.

…Let’s make an exception for the “Kill Him Teacher” from Part 4, who, despite being top-tier, was brainwashed by the mastermind and appeared as an enemy.

Anyway, as a top-tier hunter in such a position, if I, not even a Grade 0 monster yet, were to recklessly oppose humans… the outcome would be obvious.

Undoubtedly, she would personally step in as a top-tier hunter, blow away the mountain concealing my hideout, and take my head.

But very fortunately, she had left Korea to confront a massive monster that had appeared in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

It seemed like a plot device to remove the strongest force so the player could shine, but what mattered was that she wasn’t in Korea and wouldn’t return anytime soon.

That’s why I attacked Pyongyang without any concerns, but…

It seems the war with the Pyongyang Hive Mind dragged on longer than expected, and she returned to Korea before the war even ended.

And so, back to the present.

‘…What do I do now?’

I’m in a severely depleted state, forced to face this woman with just this flaming sword in hand.

Objectively speaking, I don’t particularly have the upper hand, nor would dying in this state cause any permanent damage.

Though my main body is possessed, that’s only my consciousness and mind.

My actual main body—the micro-dimension—is still intact, located in a corner of the psychic dimension.

However… losing this vessel now would definitely be a waste.

Having invested enormous resources into its creation, including 600 tons of orichalcum, it’s certainly valuable.

So, I made my decision.

[…Activate.]

I’ll deal with Yu Se-ah right here, while she still knows nothing about this vessel.

※ ※ ※

“A monster… speaking?”

Meanwhile, as I was steeling my resolve, Yu Se-ah appeared quite shocked after hearing the activation command I uttered to engage the vessel’s functions.

In this world, reflecting the developer’s philosophy that monsters should not communicate or speak, the concept of a talking monster was as implausible as ninjas appearing in the middle of Gangnam and massacring every passerby.

Therefore, even someone of her caliber—a top-tier hunter—was momentarily caught off guard by a monster that defied her common sense by speaking—

[Micro-dimension limited manifestation… deploy.]

In that brief, uninterrupted moment, I used my trump card—by psychically converting the vessel’s interior and exterior, I manifested my main body, the micro-dimension that existed within the vessel, into reality.

“…!!!”

Instantly, an area about 8km in radius was isolated, and the physical elements of reality—even the air—were overlaid with the substances from my mental world.

*Crack!*

The only one who remained unaffected by this phenomenon was Yu Se-ah, who protected herself with powerful psychic energy, repelling the encroachment of the micro-dimension.

“W-what is this…?”

Faced with this ability that seemed like it belonged in one of the world’s most popular adult games—clearly alien to the Project Monster world—Yu Se-ah couldn’t hide her astonishment.

The mental landscape I overlaid onto what had been a barren wasteland, ravaged by battle just moments ago, was quite a sight to behold.

Skyscrapers rose endlessly high, with clear blue skies visible between them, allowing light to filter through.

The ground consisted of skyscrapers extending infinitely downward, their bases obscured by fog, making the bottom invisible.

It seemed too human-like to be a monster’s inner landscape, yet too alien to be truly human.

And within this space—

*Woooooong—KWAAAANG!!!!*

Everything moves according to my will alone.

*DUDUDUDUDUDU—!!!!*

*KWAAAANG! KWAAAANG! KWAAAANG!*

*BUBUBUBUBUBUBUBUBUBUBUNG!!!!*

Shadow hands burst through building windows, glass shards from the broken windows, even the buildings themselves bend and twist, all attempting to eliminate Yu Se-ah.

Of course, Yu Se-ah counters by deploying dozens of gun barrels and hundreds of weapons from her coffin, but it’s meaningless.

No matter how much she destroys, the byproducts of that destruction reform and attack her again.

The debris from destroyed buildings takes the form of monsters, using the souls of monsters I’ve killed as their core, and charge at her. The shadow hands she blasts apart merge together to become nightmare creatures that assault her.

Within this space, everything attacks her.

The air, the wind, the flow, even gravity itself. If she weren’t a top-tier hunter and one of the 17 existing S-rank psychic users, she wouldn’t have lasted even a second against such overwhelming interference.

*KUUUUNG! KUUUUNG! KUUUUNG!*

Eventually, Yu Se-ah is forced to fight directly with her two plasma pistols, but even this isn’t quite enough.

It’s like indigestion. The food (Yu Se-ah) that entered the intestines (micro-dimension) is too tough to be broken down by digestive juices (internal attacks) alone, so I need to take digestive medicine (intervene directly) to fully digest (eliminate) it.

I approach Yu Se-ah, hiding among the shadow monsters.

Then, after momentarily increasing the onslaught of shadow creatures and debris monsters, I deploy a shadow monster enhanced with a bit of psychic energy to get close to her—

*Swoosh—CLANG!*

I swung my sword quickly for a surprise attack, but Yu Se-ah easily blocked it by crossing her plasma pistols in an X formation.

Well, I never expected the first attack to succeed anyway.

Since I had planned for a series of strikes from the beginning, I quickly withdrew the flame sword and was about to swing again when—

“…Senior?”

Yu Se-ah looked at me—or more precisely, at the sword I was wielding—and uttered those meaningful words.