novelraw Chapter 133
Chapter 133
Chapter 133: MacGuffin (3)
TICK- TOCK-
As I stepped into the clock tower, the sound of mechanical gears meshing came from above.
The inside was simpler than I expected.
With a round outer wall, a circular structure was placed on the central floor.
It looked like a manhole, but it was a completely closed structure without handles or gaps.
Stairs unfolded next to it.
A spiral staircase continued all the way to the top floor.
Standing in the center circle and looking up, I saw a bell hanging at the top.
‘It’s the same.’
Exactly the same scene I saw in the game.
That meant it could be used.
I gently touched the hedgehog quill in my hand to the disk below.
The quill dug beneath it without resistance, as if parting water.
“As expected.”
A fascinating structure.
But that's exactly where it ends.
The quill passed through smoothly, but when my hand touched it, I felt solid ground.
It seemed to be saying I couldn't enter.
The principle of this phenomenon was simple.
Because hedgehogs are part of the MacGuffin world.
So quills work, but I don't.
‘There is one way to breakthrough this.’
There is always a loophole in the rules.
I climbed the stairs in a breath and stood at the top.
Below the spiral stairs, the black disk on the floor was visible.
And that disk was exactly the hidden backdoor.
A hidden route to directly face MacGuffin's main body in a special way.
“Phew…….”
Took a slight deep breath.
I threw my body toward the center without hesitation.
Strong wind slapped my skin.
My whole body cut through the air, heading precisely for the destination at the very bottom.
Staring at the target, I stretched the hedgehog quill straight forward.
There is only one chance; if I fail, my body will break just like that, and I will be forcibly logged out.
With speed and weight fully loaded, I finally touched the floor.
CRUNCH-!
The quill dug roughly into the black circle.
For a moment, a sensation of something taut resisting brushed my fingertips.
RIP-!
A sound of something tearing sharply rang out.
A minute hole was carved at the spot where the quill dug in.
Through that gap, my body was sucked in along with it.
Immense pressure crushed my entire body.
Literally, my body was being crammed into a minute hole.
A bizarre sensation like becoming fluid.
But unexpectedly, it wasn't unfamiliar.
I had already experienced it when I was broken once and reconstructed as a guardian.
It's absurd that I already have experience of my body melting.
Anyway, I fastened the first button properly.
The moment the pressure crushing my whole body continued.
POP-!
As if a cork was pulled, the world opened up, and I fell straight inside.
FLUFF-
My body landed right on top of something fluffy.
My vision spun round and round.
The feeling of my stomach churning didn't go away.
As I blinked with a frowned brow, focus gradually returned.
Before I knew it, I was sitting on a comfortable sofa.
Soft jazz-style music tickled my ears.
Familiar sounds were heard from the surroundings.
“Squeak! Squeeeak!”
“Squeak squeak squeak!”
It was the cry of hedgehogs.
In the direction the sound came from, hedgehogs were sitting around a table playing poker.
Hedgehogs were visible in other places too.
Most were quietly drinking beverages.
It was a bar.
A bar with a counter.
The moment I got up from the sofa, a sense of heterogeneity rushed in. My body balance was slightly off somewhere.
Looking down at my hands with my head bowed, I saw the answer immediately.
A smooth belly, round hands, and even tiny feet.
A hedgehog.
I had become a hedgehog.
It wasn't something to be surprised about.
Because this place is originally like this.
MacGuffin had customized my appearance at will.
Changing the appearance to ensure those entering here mix with other hedgehogs and aren't distinguished.
It was a sort of security system.
“Kuhaha! Stupid bastard!”
Surrounding voices were gradually recognized clearly.
Until just now, it was just the sound of hedgehogs squeaking.
Rough words popped out from among the hedgehogs playing poker.
“Damn it, play one more round.”
“Playing more is fine, but don't you have to get more allowance from your mom? While you're at it, suck some more milk before coming back.”
“Shut your mouth and just deal the cards.”
Every single voice was gruff.
‘…….’
When I couldn't understand the words, it was just cute crying sounds.
To think the actual conversation going back and forth was like that.
I swallowed the red pill.
Shaking my head from side to side, I walked towards the bar with my staggering short legs.
The chairs placed at the bar were high.
The surrounding customers were all hedgehogs the size of four-year-old children, but the table and chair specifications were all sizes humans would use.
‘Ugh, even sitting is hard.’
Whining, I crawled up onto the chair.
After barely standing on the chair, I put both front paws on the table.
Scanning the surroundings briefly, another hedgehog was sitting at a seat far away at the bar.
In front of him, a bartender attending to him was standing.
A red-haired female bartender.
Smooth white shirt and black vest, a black ribbon on the neck, and even gloves were neat.
She was the only existence in this room taking the form of a human.
The hedgehog said something to the bartender.
He was moving his mouth, but strangely, no sound came out.
Unlike the gruff voices of other hedgehogs continuing to be heard.
‘It’s a person.’
A fake hedgehog distinguished from hedgehog NPCs.
It must be a case similar to mine.
[Yu Jaseong]
[Anxiety, Nervousness]
As expected.
When reflected in the Eye of Deception, a name appeared.
‘Wait, Yu Jaseong?’
It's a familiar name.
I think I saw it a few times in the news too.
‘Don't tell me.’
I wasn't sure.
It could just be the same name.
As far as I know, he's a huge figure.
This space is not a general area.
A secret place directly operated by MacGuffin's main body.
Originally, it was a place where only a few permitted big shots, and VIPs who paid astronomical prices to raise their rank, could enter.
In other words, it's a realm I can't even dream of looking at with my guest rank.
Only I entered temporarily through an expedient method.
‘And conversely, it’s also a space where I can raise my rank drastically.’
Among MacGuffin World's functions, there are many that cannot be used unless the rank supports it.
I have to unlock functions here now to use them at the right timing.
Now that I'm in this space, it was an opportunity.
Because intruding through a backdoor like today happens only once.
The hedgehog named Yu Jaseong held out a coin towards the bartender.
The bartender naturally received the shining coin.
Then, cocktail making began.
Outwardly, it was exactly the same as a regular bar, but there was no sound.
Neither the sound of the shaker shaking nor the sound of ice rolling could be heard.
Only the movements continued smoothly.
The bartender presented a glass filled with alcohol with skillful dexterity.
Yu Jaseong picked up the glass and gulped it down without hesitation.
“…….”
After swallowing the alcohol in one go, he stared blankly into the air for a long time.
After muttering something, he took out one more coin and handed it to the bartender.
And right after that, he disassembled into pixels and disappeared as if evaporating.
‘Gaining information and logging out.’
The cocktail the bartender makes was information itself.
It flows directly into the brain in the form of alcohol and settles as if one originally knew it.
I witnessed that process right in front of my eyes.
The spot where the hedgehog named Yu Jaseong, a name anyone would likely know, disappeared.
As I was looking there, the bartender turned her head towards me.
“An uninvited guest has arrived too?”
It was a soft voice.
So overly polite that it felt rather alien.
The bartender approached me and smiled with her eyes.
‘MacGuffin.’
A bartender kind enough to be inhumane.
She was exactly the existence moving this virtual reality world, MacGuffin.
“I definitely locked all the doors, how fascinating.”
MacGuffin's eyes scanned me quickly.
Right now, I am in the shape of a hedgehog, but MacGuffin sees beyond that.
Probably with just one scan, she figured out who I am in an instant.
In MacGuffin's eyes right now, I am an illegal intruder and simultaneously an interesting observation subject.
If I get caught being actually a trivial guy, I'll be kicked out.
Conversely, if I can attract more interest, I can make MacGuffin my ally.
“The illusion of being thorough is the most dangerous.”
Start provocatively.
First, I needed to define myself differently.
From an intruder who entered at will to a troubleshooter who found a system error.
At the confident answer, MacGuffin touched her chin and looked at me intently.
“Do people call this being bold? Mr. Ryu Jinwoo.”
Calling my name, MacGuffin started reciting information about me.
“A freshman at Zero Academy, yet already active in many incidents. Family relations are a bit peculiar. There are traces of being overwritten. Very sophisticated.”
“…….”
Probably talking about my uncle. To think she would bring that part up first.
The uncle who was originally there was changed to another uncle by Bremen's manipulation.
Indeed, it's a point MacGuffin would find strange.
Since it would be a case where existing data was overwritten with new data.
“The data flow is subtly unnatural. Very subtly. Then why was it changed. You, as expected, don't seem like an ordinary person.”
I should consider that MacGuffin knows almost all superficial data about me.
Whether it's true or not, even floating rumors, sweeping everything.
Because MacGuffin can view all information floating around as data in this world.
Unless there is a thorough security device for data, everything becomes her prey.
‘Still, she doesn't know everything.’
She knows my uncle changed, but doesn't know the reason.
She cannot know the relationship between the villain side Bremen and me.
Because there is nothing digitized.
It was fortunate.
It means at least until now, there's no chance of the link with the villain side being discovered.
If MacGuffin doesn't know, no one else knows.
I can be sure of this much.
Even after that, MacGuffin constantly listed information about me.
Incidents I experienced, articles I wrote, my tracks so far, and even human relationships.
Even parts about me that I didn't know popped out in between.
It was my tracks before I possessed this body.
‘……I should check later if I get a chance.’
Self-exploration is pushed back a bit because I have a mountain of things to do right now, but I am curious.
What kind of guy the human Ryu Jinwoo was before I possessed him.
“There are many interesting keywords. A very rare smell comes from the data log.”
She curled up the corners of her mouth.
It was a positive signal.
“Shall we talk a bit more?”
With this, for now, the document screening is passed.
If there was no value in conversation, I would have already been kicked out of here.
Classified as a bad user, might have even been banned from the MacGuffin World server itself.
But I seized the opportunity.
An opportunity to lead the situation as I wish.
And also an opportunity to gain more than I want.
“Before that, there’s something I need to check briefly……”
In other words, it was the timing to start talking in earnest.