Chapter 265: #I Became a Genius Apocalypse Academy Pilot (4)

I was stuck in pitch-black darkness, such that I couldn't even see my hands.

Clank clank!

From somewhere, a divine hammering sound echoed as if breaking the dawn, leading a path in the darkness. Like a newborn puppy looking for milk, I instinctively followed the sound.

Soon, I saw it.

Kwaaaa!

Clang! Cang! Clang!

A brazier spewing out fiery sparks like an active volcano, and a person striking a heated piece of metal with a gigantic hammer.

He had hair so long that it piled on the ground like a heap of snow. He’d been hammering away for so long, he was covered in green moss. Although we’d never met before, I just knew who he was—the same god from Kang Woo’s memories.

“Guardian of Fire and... Smithing?”

Clang! Cang! Clang!

Without taking a break from hammering, the ancient god parted his cracked, dry lips.

-Young God, you’ve inherited the Sword of Causality from my disciple. Now, after countless cycles of reincarnation, the opportunity has finally come.

His voice struck my heart like the clanking of metal.

-The purpose behind the Trial of Steel and Fire is to forge your own divine weapon. Just as the Eternal Seekers obtained their divine sword and spears, you too, must obtain it to alter your fate of destruction.

Obtain my own divine weapon?

I recalled all the Top-tier gods I had met so far: Infinite Abundance and her golden sickle, War of Carnage and Madness and his sword. After losing Demon Lord, I desperately needed a new weapon. However, something in his words felt unsettling.

Eternal Seeker(s)? And here I thought he was referring to Il-Ho from my previous life, but there were more of them...? Above all, Il-Ho hadn’t climbed the Tower of Warriors, so there was no way an Eternal Seeker would exist in this life!

The ancient god went on.

-Still, everything comes at a price. To gain great power, one must pay an equal price.

Sss—

His gaze, brimming with endless frustration and despair, pierced through me.

-Young God, are you ready to pay?

***

“100101! Wake up already!”

“

Ugh

,” I groaned, opening my eyes at the shaking.

Was that a bad dream? Or a premonition? Even as I clutched my forehead, I could still hear the echo of his hammering.

Just then, luscious, glossy red hair brushed against my cheek, and the scent of freesia filled my nose.

“Are you awake?”

A beautiful pair of moist, deer-like eyes looked back at me, smiling coyly. Pale skin was visible through the disheveled shirt, looking extremely seductive. I mustn’t be fooled. He was an XY chromosome owner—a man.

“Get away or I’ll kill you.”

“

Geez~

You’re so mean.”

Stop with that creepy noise, man!

I pushed away the whiny Eight and got out of my bed. I wasn’t in the same old dormitory I was familiar with. It was at least ten times larger, with luxurious facilities reminiscent of a high-end hotel suite.

I heard that I was put here because of that brat Sam-Shin, who went out in my stead. Apparently, the hole he made in the floor during training hadn’t finished repairing either. Not only that, I found out I had become an elite genius, carrying the hopes of the Human Union despite originally being a failing G-rank cadet.

Should I be happy about this, or should I say I’m doomed?

At the very least, I should be grateful for getting out of that dormitory. However, I wasn’t sure if this was the best place to do anything discreetly.

Gosh, Sam-Shin, that brat. Learn to control yourself.

“I knew you could do it someday, 100101! Although it was temporary, you went from G-rank to S-rank at once! This is unprecedented in the history of the academy! As expected of my partner!” Eight chatted away excitedly beside me.

I put on my crisply ironed cadet uniform and said, “It’s not 100101. My name is Yu Il-Shin, Eight.”

“Eight? Are you talking to me?”

“Yeah. Your name is such a mouthful, so let’s go with Eight. If you feel like it's too plain, I can add a surname in front.”

For example Bong, or Yong[1]. All of them sounded like surnames fitting for nobles.

“A name given by my partner... I’ll treasure it.” Eight tearfully stared at me with flushed cheeks.

He was as gorgeous as an actress. I truly felt that he was born with the wrong gender. While his reaction was kind of over the top, having a name was special in a world where identity was reduced to a series of numbers. After all, only those who’d accumulated expertise or achievements like Uncle Instructor could be bestowed names by the late President Zenard or the all-powerful AI.

Anyway, I’d love to meet the AI someday. Since Sam-Shin had attained S-rank, I guess there’d come a day for us to meet.

“Stop overreacting and let’s go have breakfast.”

“Ok!” Eight nodded vigorously, and we headed to the cafeteria together.

“Wow, 100... no, Il-Shin! I’m so lucky today, I got a protein capsule!”

“Oh, really...” I let out a sigh as I looked down at my tray.

On it were a few colorful pills and an index finger-sized organic stick. When I was busy rushing for deadlines, I used to wish I could eat such things. However, now that it had turned to reality, I really missed a bowl of hot soup with kimchi on the side.

“

Hehe,

what a feast~”

Seeing Eight chew on the pills so happily gave me a pang of sympathy. Thus, as I chewed on the tasteless stick, I vowed to improve their diet before I leave this world.

The other cadets in the distance looked at me as if they were watching monkeys at the zoo.

“Is that 100101? I heard his qualities rivaled that of President Zernard’s?”

“No way. He looks so weak. There must be a mistake! Wasn’t he a G-rank until recently?”

“52444. Is it true? Didn’t you go up against 100101?”

The blue-haired boy, 52444, turned away, only to meet my eyes. He went pale and bowed his head.

Gosh, Sam-Shin. You went too far, and now he couldn’t even look me in the eye.

“Eight. Do you know how to charge Soul Energy?”

I recalled late President Zenard’s armor, Lazenca, which I’d found in the hangar. I couldn’t start it up as there was insufficient Soul Energy.

“Soul Energy? I'm not sure.” Eight turned to me while chewing his capsules, with a look of,

This is news to me

.

“Huh? Y-you don’t know?”

That’s a surprise. Although, the word soul definitely doesn’t suit this dystopian sci-fi world, where they have capsules for breakfast...

Maybe I should just give it a try first?

In case any problems arose, I left Lazenca in the hangar. I’d have to find another opportunity to ride it someday. I just had strong gut feelings that Lazenca was necessary to clear the trial.

There's something about the dream with Guardian of Fire and Smithing too.

-..you, too, must obtain it to change your fate of destruction.

Could Lazenca be the divine weapon I had to obtain for myself in this trial?

Anyway, there are quite a number of useful people here.

Unlike 52444, the other cadets weren’t that wary of me. As expected of the academy’s elites, quite a number of them regarded me with competitiveness in their eyes.

“Il-Shin, what's wrong?”

“I just thought that you're quite useful too.”

Even Eight's information seemed unusual.

-----

[82825]

A male human born through genetic engineering. Around for 17 years.

Special note: A Fire-type Unique Talent holder with potential for transcendence.

-----

In other words, he was an S-rank on par with Baek Yu-Hyun.

“Eight, can you repeat this after me?

I believe in Yu Il-Shin.

”

After all, the more followers, the better. I should gather as many potential S-rank followers as I could, starting with him.

“Huh? How should I say it? I believe in Yu Il-Shin?”

“Say it again, but with more conviction and sincerity.”

Whack!

“There you are, 100101!”

Suddenly, a thick arm grabbed my shoulder.

I turned around to see Uncle Instructor, grinning like a maniac.

“Rejoice! The all-powerful AI wishes to meet you!”

That just led to an eruption of chaos in the cafeteria.

“The all-powerful AI wants to meet with an academy trainee without any achievements to his belt?”

“Impossible!”

“Wow, amazing! You’re indeed my partner!”

Somehow, it felt like a president had invited a military academy cadet to the Blue House in our country. I was slightly taken aback. Although I’d intended to meet the AI, I didn’t expect it to happen so soon.

“Your abilities are highly regarded by the higher-ups! If you do get promoted, don’t forget about me!

Hahaha!

”

Looking back on Sam-Shin’s memories, it seemed like they were clinging onto me because I was just

that

promising. Still, this was quite a surprising turn of events.

“Where should I go?” I stood up.

Surely, meeting this all-powerful AI would be better than eating such a tasteless breakfast. I could probably find a way to activate Lazenca along the way.

“Alright, follow....”

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Ruuumble—baaam!

Just then, the base rocked violently, as if hit by an earthquake. At the same time, the lights turned red, and a piercing siren blared.

[Warning! Warning! Multiple alien fleets detected! Prepare for battle! Civilians and cadets, evacuate to the shelters immediately!]

Everyone in the cafeteria turned pale.

Ding!

[Blind Eyes of God is seeking the truth.]

My skill activated, and the cause behind this sudden change appeared before my eyes. Like eggs floating in space, they were heading toward the Human Union, where we were all located.

Swoosh!

Like cancer cells, those massive, writhing creatures zipped through space, revealing themselves one by one.

I was horrified. “W-what’s that?!”

However, what startled me was not the aliens’ sudden attack.

[Birth of the Machine God STAGE 1: Alien Army’s Surprise Attack has begun.]

An ominous message reminiscent of a video game appeared before me.

1. Over here, the author mentions the surnames 봉(鳳), and 용(龍). ☜