“This should be enough.”
Woojin looked at the compact special computer's connector with a satisfied expression.
The metal pins, bent this way and that so badly they had looked impossible to repair, had all returned neatly to their places.
‘It really is a broken ability.’
[Inexplicable]
A power that let him learn any technique with ease.
Exactly as the trait's name said, it truly was inexplicable.
Woojin reached a hand to the back of his neck.
He pulled the cable from his neural interface and connected it to the connector he had just repaired.
At that, Woojin's neural interface put up fluorescent text.
<Security Warning>
<Contact with an unauthorized device has been confirmed.>
<This device may cause instability in the user's system.>
<Do you wish to permit two-way data access?>
The neural interface was a computer that connected the brain to machinery.
On the outside it was a device covering from the hollow at the back of the head down over the upper spine.
On the inside it extended electrodes into the brain and the spinal cord.
The neural interface was a basic for citizens of Lemming City.
In Korean terms it was something like a mobile phone.
These days you couldn't even verify your identity without a phone, could you.
And on top of that, you couldn't use any of the various apps.
In much the same way, the neural interface stood in for a telephone and a computer.
Mount a martial arts/magic implant in the neural interface's socket and you could use martial arts and magic as well.
Of course, the neural interface Jinwoo Martinez had installed was the cheapest basic model.
It had only two implant sockets, one external cable, poor central processing performance, and a narrow data bandwidth.
You could get through daily life with it, but it was disadvantageous in many ways for combat use, and “diving” into the information world was impossible because its performance was too low.
‘I'll have to swap the neural interface for a better one someday too.’
The security program on the neural interface Woojin currently had installed was the most basic kind as well.
Any halfway decent hacker could attempt a neural hack the moment the cable connected and steal every piece of Woojin's personal information.
There was also a possibility that this specially built computer glowing blue contained a virus.
‘But I have my traits.’
[Absolute Mind]
Nothing can corrupt the absoluteness of your mind.
[Incomprehensible]
No one can grasp the true power you possess.
He still didn't know exactly what powers these two traits held.
That they were traits that prevented neural hacking was only Woojin's own guess.
So he was going to check right now.
“Daphne. If a virus infiltrates my neural interface, can you block it?”
<Of course. Even now, the City Public Service AI's cloud antivirus system is protecting you, Officer Woojin.>
“Turn the protection off for a moment. Just three seconds.”
<Are you truly certain that is all right?>
“Yes. There's something I need to check.”
<Understood.>
AIs were convenient in that they didn't dig deeper even when something was a little strange.
<Temporarily disabling the antivirus system.>
After that, Woojin permitted the connection with the special computer.
<Permitting data access.>
“Kuh!”
A sudden pain drilled into his head.
The feeling of an injection needle piercing his brain.
<Warning! Virus intrusion confirmed>
<The virus is accessing personal neural data and attempting to corrupt it.>
Personal neural data was the most critical personal information needed to connect the brain and machinery.
If personal neural data were corrupted, errors would arise in the neural information running from the brain out to the body.
You would try to move your arm and be unable to; you would try to move your leg and your lips would move instead.
Thinking properly became difficult too.
Similar to suffering from a brain disorder, you might say.
A skilled hacker could seize personal neural data completely and turn the target into a puppet.
That was neural hacking.
Connecting an unauthorized device to a neural interface was, originally, an extremely dangerous act.
―Your [Absolute Mind] is not corrupted by mental attacks.
―The virus attempted a neural hack, but your mind is [Incomprehensible] and cannot be manipulated.
In less than a second, Woojin's mind returned to normal.
The stabbing pain in his head vanished in an instant as well.
‘So [Absolute Mind] and [Incomprehensible] really do block neural hacking.’
It was an inexplicable power.
To unconditionally block a virus that had broken through a security program and infiltrated.
But there were aspects that made sense too.
Looking back on today's events, [Absolute Mind] had helped Woojin keep his composure even after seeing shocking things.
[Absolute Mind] wasn't simply a power that blocked viruses.
[Inexplicable], [Incomprehensible], and [Gold-Seeking Eye] might all be hiding some more special power as well.
<Three seconds elapsed. Restarting the antivirus system. Are you all right, Mr. Woojin?>
“I'm fine. I think there's a virus, so would you take care of it?”
<Of course.>
Strangely, Daphne raised no question about the fact that Woojin hadn't succumbed to the virus.
Even for a Daphne who took Woojin's words at face value, it would be normal to verify thoroughly where security was concerned.
This was probably because of the [Incomprehensible] trait.
<All viruses have been deleted.>
“Thanks.”
Woojin tried accessing the special computer's data.
At that, his neural interface put up a warning message.
<Warning. The data of this combat program is incomplete. Installation may cause a critical error in your electro-nervous system.>
“Oh.”
Woojin's eyes went to the words “combat program” at the front rather than to the warning that followed.
The neural interface could stimulate a human's brain and nervous system to make the body move in specific ways.
With the help of a neural program, even an ordinary person could dance like a professional dancer or kick a ball like a soccer player.
The same went for combat programs.
With a combat program, even an ordinary person could fight like a veteran soldier.
And in [Steel Sweeper], “combat program” mostly referred to the martial arts/magic information contained in implants.
Martial arts/magic information was originally secured so that it couldn't be pulled out of an implant, so it seemed someone had hacked it and extracted the data.
After that they had stored the data in the special computer.
“And something like this was rolling around in a garbage bin. Just what is this computer?”
<Judging from an analysis based on the remaining data, this computer appears to have been built for the purpose of creating new martial arts based on existing martial arts.>
“Creating new martial arts based on existing martial arts?”
Woojin's eyes snapped wide at a story he hadn't expected at all.
That setting did appear in the late game.
<I am saying that was the intent. But this device's performance was far too low to create new martial arts, and the data entered into it was too limited. So it failed, and the device appears to have been discarded.>
“That figures.”
Creating new martial arts required a computer of formidable performance and a vast amount of data.
Even with all those conditions met, martial arts creation had a low success rate.
‘I get roughly what happened here.’
Someone had tried to create a new martial art using a specially designed computer.
The result was failure.
So they had erased the special computer's data, planted a virus in it on top of that, and dumped it in a garbage bin.
If Woojin hadn't found it, this computer would have burned at the incinerator and left nothing but ash and fumes.
‘It must have had a fairly good martial art inside. Well, that's exactly why they disposed of it so thoroughly.’
The megacorps managed martial arts information strictly.
They kept information security thorough, and if information did leak they wielded copyright law and patent law to protect it fiercely.
Of course, they didn't shy away from using force either.
The megacorps owned Lemming City's strongest special forces.
Be hunted by bastards like that and death was only a matter of time.
The person who built this special computer had known that well, which was why they had disposed of it so thoroughly.
And that also meant the data entered into the special computer was that valuable.
The [Gold-Seeking Eye] said the same.
Even with corrupted data inside it, the special computer was glowing blue.
Had the data been intact, it might have glowed yellow.
‘But no one would have predicted that I'd be the one to pick it up.’
Woojin's acquisition of the special computer was pure coincidence.
Neither the special computer's maker nor the megacorp could easily have predicted that Woojin had gotten his hands on it.
On top of that, the special computer's data was incomplete and it even had a virus, so they would assume that even if someone did get hold of it, they couldn't extract the martial arts/magic data.
“I should install it.”
<But Officer Woojin, if you install incomplete data, a critical error may occur in your electro-nervous system.>
“It's fine.”
<Then would you like to back up your nervous system data?>
“No.”
However well Daphne was helping him, he had no desire to upload his own nervous system data to a City Public Service AI server.
“You don't need to worry. It'll probably go fine.”
<Understood.>
After soothing the worried Daphne,
Woojin gave the command to his neural interface.
“Install combat program.”
<Installing combat program.>
<Installing……>
The neural interface put up fluorescent text before Woojin's eyes.
A phenomenon produced by the device attached to the back of his head stimulating his brain's visual cortex.
And that wasn't the only thing happening now.
The neural interface was scattering electrical stimulation throughout his brain.
That stimulation excited his neurons and carved unfamiliar information into Woojin's head.
Martial arts. Mana. Qi.
It was knowledge Woojin, who had lived on Earth, had never once encountered.
Martial arts, mana, and qi actually existed in this world?
And yet, on the other hand, it was knowledge he already had.
Because the memories of Jinwoo Martinez, who had lived in this world, remained.
“Hup!”
In that moment Woojin's back sprang up as if convulsing.
Light flashed before his eyes and his arms suddenly began to go numb.
Cold sweat ran down his back.
<Warning. A critical error has occurred. Discontinuing installation is strongly recommended.>
“Hoooo…….”
Woojin took a deep breath and settled himself.
Meddling with the nervous system was no easy matter after all.
If things went wrong and his nervous system got tangled, Woojin could become an imbecile in an instant, or his mind could collapse.
Lemming City did have nerve reset surgery that returned a damaged brain to an ordinary one, but naturally that was something you could only receive if you had a lot of money.
If the combat program installation brought about a fatal result, Woojin would be found as a corpse in the dormitory with no one at all to help him, or be driven out of his sanitation civil servant post and meet his death on the street.
‘But it'll go fine.’
He wasn't just thinking positively for no reason at all.
Woojin had something to fall back on.
[Absolute Mind]
Nothing can corrupt the absoluteness of your mind.
Nothing could corrupt the absoluteness of Woojin's mind.
An inexplicable power that had blocked even a fatal virus.
The errors of a corrupted combat program should be unable to reach Woojin's mind either.
“Hoooo…… I'm fine. Let's continue.”
<Continuing installation of the combat program.>
Woojin's body jolted several times.
Sweat poured down like rain, and his muscles clenched as if cramping, then loosened on their own.
His vision bent like melting jelly, and a sound like nails scraping a chalkboard tormented his eardrums.
“Nnngh…….”
Woojin's face screwed up.
A low groan leaked from his mouth.
Woojin, who had been sitting in a chair, was now writhing and rolling on the floor.
If this could get him martial arts…….
This much pain was well worth enduring!
Then at some point, all that pain suddenly vanished, and a phantom sound like a wooden temple gong being struck came to him.
Strangely, the phantom scent of lotus flowers reached his nose.
His mind settled calmly.
<Combat Program ■■■■ Installation Complete>
<Warning. The combat program's data is incomplete. Prompt deletion is recommended.>
Woojin read the message that rose before his eyes.
He hadn't been aware of it, but in that moment Woojin was sitting with his back straight and his legs folded in a lotus position.
Another text rose before Woojin's eyes.
A status window message that only Woojin in this world possessed and could see.
―You have acquired [Incomplete Diamond Qigong (Level 0)].