Chapter 80

What... the hell?

Startled, Mo Yeonhoo stepped back and looked around. Caldi and MekaMeka were rolling across the ground as corpses, and Miu had been thrown down beside them as well.

Did he get knocked incapacitated because the car hit him?

A vehicle like this military truck seemed to be on a whole different level from ordinary mounts.

(CH03) 0momo0: I’ll heal you!!

Mo Yeonhoo was about to run over right away to revive the incapacitated Miu.

If not for that chat.

(CH03) Miu: No, hide

To Mo Yeonhoo, Miu’s words were law. He reflexively used a Stealth item and hid behind a nearby tree. At that moment, a sound scraped at his eardrums.

—Screeech, thud!

The heavy door of the truck that had rammed into them had opened. The user who got out of the vehicle was, as expected, the remaining one of the three he had seen earlier.

(CH03) 0momo0: Oh, that’s the person

(CH03) 0momo0: I guess they came back to save their friends;

The unidentified user immediately loaded the corpses into the vehicle.

(CH03) Miu: Revive items have a cooldown

(CH03) Miu: So I think they came to retrieve the bodies before we could loot them in the meantime

Mo Yeonhoo, watching the scene with bated breath, widened his eyes. The user who had collected their allies was heading toward where Miu lay collapsed.

(CH03) 0momo0: You can’t self-revive..? I’m crying

(CH03) Miu: Cooldown

Recovery items that could get someone out of the incapacitated state could not be used the moment they collapsed, so someone else had to help them.

Maybe I should go revive him after all....

(CH03) Miu: Don’t move

But Miu gave a firm order, as if he had seen right through Mo Yeonhoo’s hesitation. Meanwhile, the unidentified user was staring down at the incapacitated Miu.

(Global) Miu: Who are you? lol

The user did not answer. They merely looked around Miu, checking something. Mo Yeonhoo froze.

They’re looking for me.

If they had been communicating with the dead users, they would know Miu had someone with him.

It was clearly only a game, yet every time the other person’s gaze swept in his direction, a chill ran down his spine. Mo Yeonhoo’s heart was pounding so hard it felt ready to burst.

—Clack.

Then the user moved. With a sharp sound, the back of their arm split open and a weapon emerged. This person also seemed to be a Mechanic, but the problem was the direction of the muzzle.

(Global) Miu: Guess you gave up on being anonymous?

The user aimed at Miu. But they did not move any further. Watching them, Miu snickered mockingly.

(Global) Miu: Why can’t you kill me?

(Global) Miu: Because if you kill me, the log shows up? lol

If a PVP log was left behind, the nickname would be revealed. Just as Miu said, the user seemed reluctant to expose their name and stood still, hesitating.

What’s the point of anonymity when we already know their allies belong to VITA? Is there some reason their nickname absolutely can’t be exposed?

They already knew the other two users’ alliance, so finding out the nickname of this character, who was very likely in the same alliance, was only a matter of time. Then why were they so afraid of their name being revealed?

And if that was the case, they could just leave. Why were they standing there, aiming the muzzle like they were desperate to kill him?

Is there a reason they need to kill Miu even if they have to accept the risk?

As Mo Yeonhoo recalled the backs of the bastards fleeing in a panic earlier, his gaze suddenly stopped in one place. There lay the remains of Animal Love’s core, horribly destroyed.

...Wait.

At that moment, something Miu had said flashed through his mind.

[(CH03) Miu: Why the hell is this ♥♥’s whole inventory

[(CH03) Miu: full of blueprints

Blueprint.

That word lodged itself in his brain and would not leave. As he observed the two people still facing off, Mo Yeonhoo opened the item dictionary.

Blueprint, blueprint....

When he searched, several entries appeared.

Item Dictionary — Search Results: “Blueprint”

📜Gargoyle Statue Blueprint

A blueprint for creating a gargoyle for alliance territory defense. It is released from statue form only under specific conditions.

📜Steel Clockwork Device Blueprint

A basic mechanical engineering device. It forms the foundation for crafting all automated devices.

📜Giant Steam Engine Blueprint

A power source blueprint used in large ships or aerial fortresses.

.

.

I don’t think it’s any of these....

Mo Yeonhoo quickly scrolled down, and his eyes lit up.

Item Dictionary — Search Results: “Blueprint”

📜Core Blueprint

Alliance Management / System Record

This is it.

Description

A diagram recording every design structure and system flow of the alliance’s heart, the “core.” It is created at the same time as the alliance’s founding, and only the alliance leader is granted ownership and management authority over this record item.

Traits

This blueprint cannot be copied or crafted.

An item that could not be copied. If so, how had the VITA alliance members managed to possess so many blueprints?

Caution

This item cannot be destroyed, discarded, or placed in a Box.

However, it can be forcibly acquired by destroying another alliance’s core or by looting it from its owner, the alliance leader.

An acquired blueprint can be transferred to another person only through looting or trade transfer.

No way. Have they been collecting blueprints this whole time by destroying cores or looting alliance leaders? Just now too?

He remembered the scene from a moment ago, where those bastards had pulled something out of the broken core.

5.png

It’s different, though?

But when Mo Yeonhoo scrolled down and checked what the Core Blueprint looked like, he tilted his head.

What I saw wasn’t paper like this... It was more like a shard.

It was absolutely not the same item. Just when Mo Yeonhoo was thinking that was strange, a small line of text written beside the item dictionary caught his eye.

Hidden items are not recorded in the item dictionary.

“...Huh?”

Mo Yeonhoo’s head snapped up.

Come to think of it, back when he was hard at work farming, he had once discovered a strange item in his inventory.

[Brave Worm (Hidden)

A brave worm that leaped out into the world to save its fellow worm. It may be useful somewhere?]

For a worm, it had looked surprisingly cute, which was fascinating. Because it said it might be useful somewhere, he had searched for it, but the worm had not been in the item dictionary. When he asked BBQ, who happened to be nearby, they kindly explained it to him.

[(Alliance) BBQ: Brave Worm?? Sometimes when you’re farming and accidentally hit a worm in the mini-game, it pops up lolol

[(Alliance) BBQ: If you release it in a fertilizer field, it sometimes turns it into golden fertilizer

[(Alliance) 0momo0: But it doesn’t show up in the dictionary..?

[(Alliance) BBQ: Ahahaha games are just like that sometimes lolol

[(Alliance) BBQ: Stuff that drops randomly as hidden items doesn’t have info written for it lolol It’s fun to find them lol

Hidden item.

It felt like a blocked-up problem had suddenly opened.

Could it be that every time a core is destroyed, an item that isn’t recorded in the dictionary drops?

If so, every question was answered. Why they had tried to destroy other alliances’ cores, going so far as to plant spies, and why the dead characters’ inventories had been full of other alliances’ blueprints.

VITA had destroyed countless alliances for a reason beyond simple fun.

It was to obtain hidden items. And they divided up the blueprints they couldn’t get rid of among themselves.

Core Blueprints could not be destroyed or discarded. In the end, someone had to carry that evidence around.

Then the reason they’re targeting Miu is....

📜Core Blueprint

Functions

Analyze internal energy flow and identify vulnerabilitiesRecord the core’s appearance and bloom phase (growth level)Track the core’s real-time location

Because if they loot the Core Blueprint, they can find that alliance core’s location. They’re trying to kill Miu and get our alliance core’s blueprint.

(Global) Miu: What are you doing?

(Global) Miu: Kill me and let’s see your name lol

To destroy <47>’s core and obtain the hidden item.

Mo Yeonhoo’s face went deathly pale as he watched Miu provoke the user in order to break through their anonymity.

Miu still did not know that hidden items came out of cores. The instant the Mechanic, who had lowered their combat stance in response to Miu’s provocation, aimed their gun again—

—Rustle!

Mo Yeonhoo threw himself forward. At the sound of him moving through branches and debris, Miu and the user both looked that way at the same time. He was still in stealth, so they could not see him, but he could not hide sound too.

The user started to shoot toward Mo Yeonhoo’s location, then stopped short. If he happened to die, their anonymous mask would come off.

(CH03) Miu: ????

(CH03) Miu: Why did you come out instead of hiding

Miu was visibly shocked that Mo Yeonhoo had suddenly rushed out, but Yeonhoo had no time to answer.

—Clack!

The instant he lifted the bazooka, Mo Yeonhoo’s stealth broke.

(CH03) Miu: Why that

(CH03) Miu: What are you doing?

(CH03) Miu: Momo

(CH03) Miu: Momo???

Between the flustered Miu and the user staring at him, Mo Yeonhoo swallowed dryly.

I have to save him.

He had to get Miu out of there. He absolutely could not let Miu lose the Core Blueprint!

As confidently as possible, as if he were going to fire a shell right this second, he had to seize the upper hand...!

(Global) 0momo0: D-don’t b-bugde

“Ah, fuck...!”

I was way too nervous!