Chapter 87: Infiltration, Sabotage, and a “Little Gift”

Enhancement-type Awakeners fundamentally possessed reinforced bodies.

And that enhanced physique—brace yourself—allowed them to roam through space with nothing but their bare bodies.

Decompression sickness, extreme temperatures, cosmic radiation, fluid boiling, pressure differentials—none of it mattered.

It was a mysterious kind of reinforcement that completely negated those hazards. That was one of the reasons I chose the Enhancement path.

The idea of traveling through space with my bare body? Too tempting to resist.

Of course, it didn’t solve the oxygen problem, so I couldn’t wander through space indefinitely.

However, Enhancement-type Awakeners had significantly superior lung capacity compared to ordinary people, so short bursts of combat weren’t an issue.

I rapidly approached the massive battleship.

Then—Ziiiing—its gunports opened, and a plasma beam shot straight at me.

Normally, a plasma beam should travel at the speed of light, but in this world, things seemed a bit different.

It was much, much slower than that.

Just a few times the speed of sound, at best.

Clearly, the developers tweaked it a little because actual light-speed plasma would’ve been way too OP.

I used the miniature thrusters strapped to my wrists and ankles to dodge the plasma beam at just the right moment.

Ziiing—another beam followed immediately, as if anticipating my movement, but I dodged that too with ease, closing in on the massive ship.

It made sense. This world was filled with Awakeners, so it wasn’t surprising that defenses against enemies attempting bare-body infiltrations were top-tier.

Wait—this was a common strategy?

What kind of setting was this world built on?

Kwaaaang!

The mysterious allied force, which had been on the receiving end of attacks this whole time, suddenly fired a simultaneous laser pulse barrage.

Though all their shots were effortlessly stopped by the battleship’s energy shield, it did slightly ease the pressure on me.

Very slightly.

Most people wouldn’t even notice the shift, let alone take advantage of it—but who was I?

A super developer.

To me, that level of defense drop was practically an opening.

I cranked my miniature thrusters to max power.

Plasma beams rained down on me like a storm.

But in the end, it wasn’t a real storm.

There were gaps between the attacks.

Using those openings, I rapidly closed the distance to the ship.

And then—

Mechas burst out of the hatches to intercept me.

Oh, they actually use those things?

When were we ever supposed to use them?

The bipedal mechas pulled out beam rifles from their backs and aimed them at me.

With no other choice, I drew my sword.

But the sword I just unsheathed wasn’t a high-temperature plasma blade, nor a laser saber, nor a nano-molecular sword.

Not a gravity sword, quantum-phase blade, dark matter cutter, bio-organic sword, spacetime slicer—none of that.

It was just an ordinary sword made of ceramic-reinforced alloy.

That was the sword I had just drawn.

However—the power surrounding the blade was anything but ordinary.

See? I told you, Enhancement-types are all about the romance.

And the cost-performance ratio was even better than a bowl of gukbap.

What? Gukbap isn’t the best value pick anymore?

I know.

The beams from the mechas flew at me at speeds close to the speed of sound.

What does that mean?

It means they were traveling at about the same speed as a standard ranged attack in Eternal World.

The speed was just right.

I’ll take a nice bite.

I swung my sword—

And the beams were sliced cleanly in half.

It was like cutting a bullet mid-air with a blade.

The enemy mechas visibly flinched, clearly not expecting me to split their beams.

Taking advantage of that brief hesitation, I closed in and smashed the cockpit of a mecha.

“—!”

The pilot, suddenly exposed to open space, writhed in agony.

Funny how I could clearly hear explosions in space, yet voice sounds worked like in real life.

That’s what makes a good game—selectively picking the fun elements.

I kicked the pilot away and grabbed hold of the cockpit controls, pushing the thrusters to max.

My target?

Another mecha that had been attacking me.

Kwaaaang!

My high-speed projectile-mecha crashed into the enemy mecha, causing a fiery explosion.

Chasing after the now-pilotless machine, I hesitated slightly.

I was planning to stab it if it dodged—but it got obliterated in one hit, ruining my plan.

Wait, you couldn’t dodge that?

These mechas have terrible mobility.

Or maybe that pilot just sucked.

Either way, they clearly hadn’t anticipated someone taking down two mechas barehanded—because those were the only ones deployed from the massive battleship.

That made things easier.

I closed in on the battleship.

With my Awakener-infused sword, I sliced through its energy shield and reached the outer hull.

Then, I attached a breach bomb.

With a small explosion, a hole opened in the ship’s exterior.

As I stepped inside—

Eeeng—

A blaring alarm sounded, signaling an intruder.

I sheathed my sword and checked my oxygen gauge.

Seeing it gradually rise, I confirmed that my infiltration was successful.

“It’s a carry.”

[Han Yurim! Han Yurim! Han Yurim! Han Yurim! Han Yurim! Han Yurim! Han Yurim! Han Yurim! Han Yurim! Han Yurim!]

[Please let me play this game too. Please let me play this game too. Please let me play this game too. Please let me play this game too. Please let me play this game too.]

Damn, even though I haven’t played it myself, I know what I just did was insane.

If you try to copy that, you’ll end up like those Thierry wannabes. LOL.

I moved quickly.

The fact that CCTV cameras were blatantly installed in various places suggested that this futuristic world wasn’t equipped with some god-tier security system.

Just like how in-game plasma beams weren’t actually light-speed but just a few times the speed of sound—this was another aspect that the developers had probably nerfed for balance.

After all, if stealth games had enemies with map hacks, the game wouldn’t be playable.

Avoiding the cameras, I entered a nearby storage room and shut the door.

Immediately—Thud, thud, thud!

The sound of multiple footsteps approaching.

And then—

Creeeak.

The storage room door opened.

“Anyone in here?”

“No, sir.”

I had been clinging to the ceiling like Spider-Man.

Only when the search team left did I drop down to the floor.

So—

“What do I do now?”

[User has donated 10,000 won.]

• You idiot. Why did you come here without a plan?!

“If you see a massive battleship, isn’t it common sense to try infiltrating it?”

[User  has donated 10,000 won.]

• Bunnyrun! Cancel her ‘Common Sense Alteration’ hypnosis now!

I crossed my arms.

What could I even do in here?

…Nothing, really.

Maybe I should just head back?

And then—

Creeeak.

The door opened.

It was too sudden and too discreet to react in time.

I froze as I locked eyes with the person who opened the door.

She was a woman of similar height and build to me. The moment I saw her dazed expression, I realized why she was here.

No way.

Even with an intruder inside, was she seriously about to sneak into a corner for a nap?

What a useless fool.

“Huh?”

“Our pet doesn’t bite.”

I covered the woman’s mouth, dragged her aside, and stripped her down to her underwear.

Then, I changed into the uniform I had taken from her.

I checked my reflection in the storage room’s mirror.

The chest area was a bit loose, but the fit was close enough. It wouldn’t look unnatural.

The basics of infiltration games—successful disguise, complete.

Now, time for a little exploration.

I stepped out of the storage room and walked around the ship confidently.

I needed to learn the ship’s layout. That would make sabotage easier later.

That’s the crew quarters.
That’s the break room.
That’s the dining hall.
That’s the medical bay.
Ah, and that’s the hangar connecting to the outside.

I made mental notes.

Hmm.

So, where’s the armory?

“What’s your unit and name?”

A sudden voice made me whip around.

Standing there was a man—one who, if I had to compare, looked ridiculously like a supporting actor playing a serial killer in The Butcher.

The man, resembling Kim ○-ho, spoke.

“I asked you a question. What’s your unit and name?”

“Sir, yes, sir! New recruit, maintenance crew! Chloe reporting!”

I parroted the greeting I had overheard in the storage room.

That should keep me from getting caught—

“…What the hell kind of freak are you?”

Click.

The man, who looked like Kim In○, drew his gun and aimed it at me.

I was taken aback.

I had done everything perfectly—so why was I caught?

I shouted in protest.

“Pointing a gun at me all of a sudden?! This is workplace harassment!”

“You’ve got some nerve, huh? Hey, dumbass. If you were really a new recruit, would there be anyone on this ship who didn’t know that? Especially when you look exactly like the captain?”

“Oh, come on. That’s the most ridiculous accusation I’ve ever heard.”

So the reason I got caught was because the captain of this spaceship looked just like me?

Damn you, developers. Why’d you have to steal my face?

“Surrender quietly.”

In a flash, I closed the distance and snapped the man’s neck.

Then, I gathered up his weapons.

Clearly, simple disguise tactics weren’t going to cut it for this infiltration mission.

I’d have to use a different approach.

First, I used the skill points I had accumulated so far to enhance my awakened abilities.

Now, my body could regenerate at super speed.

With that taken care of, I needed to decide what to do next.

Hmm…

I had no idea.

I’d just follow my instincts. Things would work out somehow.

Paepae maneuvered along the ship’s orbital path, observing the massive warship’s movements.

The colossal vessel that had nearly wiped out the mysterious alliance had gone eerily quiet.

That silence allowed Han Yurim’s team to monitor the situation without much interference.

Paepae furrowed their brow.

“So, does anyone actually know what Han Yurim is doing over there?”

“No idea!”

“…Should we try getting closer?”

At Chae Narin’s suggestion, Paepae hesitated for a moment before responding.

“Just a little?”

“Just a little.”

“Yeah. It’s a game, anyway. Even if we die, we can just restart. Alright, let’s move in—”

A sudden shock cut Paepae off mid-sentence.

They turned toward the source of the impact.

And then, they saw it.

The massive warship, cleanly split in half.

Paepae muttered under their breath.

“…What the hell is Han Yurim doing?”

“What?”

“When did you get here?”

Paepae jumped in surprise at Han Yurim’s sudden appearance.

Unfazed by the reaction, Han Yurim drew her sword and showed it off.

“It’s a nano-molecular blade. Pretty, isn’t it?”

“Where’d you even get that?”

“As loot.”

After sheathing her sword, Han Yurim pulled out something absurdly out of place for this setting—a USB drive.

“Oh, and I grabbed some map data while I was at it. Looks like there’s some kind of human empire out there. Wanna check it out?”

“What exactly did you do over there?”

“I left a little gift.”

“What kind of gift?”

“They really seemed to love it when I set their black hole engine into overdrive.”

“…What the hell did you do?!”