Detention Center.
I think it is about my 4th try when I got caught. I guess it is too much for me. Damn it. Yes, the professor cannot catch me, but the Cube Artificial Intelligence certainly can.
In a lonely room with four walls and a single chair, I suffer the Detention-Center-Treatment while a computer with an emoji face continues to stare at me in infinite silence. It is unnerving, but I have to stay here for the next three hours until the next class.
Cheating is bad, I get it now. Because of my cheating, I am in a more precarious situation than ever. Because of the cheating, I will receive a demerit and maybe am even in danger of suspension. If that happens, I will be attending my classes less. This means lesser opportunities to increase my grades.
If I want to stay with the main cast, then I can only do my best in the midterms. I must raise my rank exponentially. Among the Cube Cadets of Veritas Class, I am at the lowest rank of #1111. The only reason I am not being ostracized is because of my crazy tics, weak presence, and good bootlicking.
In the ranking exams, nothing of my tricks will work. I can only be honest. If I can win through bootlicking, that will be the best, but this is reality. Life is not all about rainbows and sunshine.
At this moment. I am already forgetting the joyous achievement of creating the badass cinematic for improving Hajin’s image. There are two videos in total— a trailer of about one minute to create hype and the actual Featurette only watchable on our website. It will be a blast! I am that confident with the featurette. Still, there is this slight worry in the back of my mind, so I check on my smartwatch what is happening. Sadly, I will not be able to do just that.
“Sssorry, any electrical devices that connect to the internet have been jammed. You cannot access the internet from the Detention Center. Please behave…” The computer in front of me buzzes in its electronic voice. The emoji transforms into an angry glare.
I wince. This Detention Center is really a prison.
The Cube Artificial Intelligence is a work of the Great Sage, a historical figure who has been helping humanity for a long time since Outcall. This AI is still not getting outpaced yet by new technology speaking of how great the Great Sage actually is.
“Yo~ piece of scrap, I will be sleeping! You don’t have a problem with that, do you?” I try taunting the AI to see if it has any emotion. I am just curious about the AI’s range of expression as in the novel and Manhwa, there really isn’t anything much to read about the Artificial Intelligence that functions on Cube.
The Cube AI emoji doesn’t show a change in emotion but simply answers my query in its same electronic voice. “Yyyes, there is no problem with sleeping. If you need anything else of biological need, I can provide it to you. I can give you a bed, chow, and a toilet.”
I feel the floor shifting and the walls moving. Suddenly, there is a bed, a toilet, and even prison food on my desk. This… is just too ridiculous. Somehow, the room itself reminds me of an actual prison.
This is all good and dandy.
But first, I will need my sleep.
“Miss AI,” Since the electronic voice sound is female, I address it as a Miss. “You can stash the toilet and the chow, I want to sleep.”
I don’t know if I am imagining it, but because of my more respectful address, I feel like Miss AI has become happier. Weird. It must be my imagination.
***
“Starring Kim Hajin, Cube Cadet Year 1.”
Chic texts appear on the screen. The hustle and bustle of Gangwondo Wonju full of foreigners, agents, and hunters alike creates a noise resembling the marketplace. The sight of monster corpses being dragged around creates a dreadful atmosphere as tense background music slowly sets in on the video.
Then a blinking transition sets up on the screen, changing to the wilderness— the very field hunting ground at Gangwondo Wonju. On the top of a cliff, a single figure shows himself carrying a Desert Eagle. He stylishly loads his gun and aims at an Iron Hog quite far away from him.
The camera closes in a midshot revealing the face of the mysterious figure. Black hair, and an ordinary face, yet there is this mysterious charm on him from his stoicism and the way he carries his gun.
He raises his gun, and with it comes the background music’s increasingly speeding upbeat.
The camera changes angle and zooms in on the beast. It is the Iron Hog in its most glorious form. Stout, strong, and covering it is a thick hide of iron.
~Bang!
A crisp noise resounds in the wilderness. The background music comes to a stop. The bang echoes for a second longer creating the illusion of it rippling through the air. There is an artistic touch to the video.
But more than that is the more intrinsic value of… Kim Hajin.
The Iron Hog is a monster that even bullets cannot penetrate. That truth is now dead, killed by a single bullet both in the figurative and literal sense.
Lying dead on the vast prairie is the Iron Hog with a clean single bullet in its head. The camera closes in on the wound dramatically slow.
“The No. 1 Gunner of the World.”
Chic texts appear on the screen once more, and that is the last thing that everyone watching the short trailer sees. It looks like more of an advertisement, but it is not. The last text to appear is not a boast, but eventuality.
***
The internet is going crazy, it is because of a minute-long trailer that is going viral on the internet. At first, it might look like an advertisement, but the last text— The No. 1 Gunner in the World— changes it all.
The claim is provoking. Plenty of Heroes just laugh at it, while a few mercenaries feel threatened. To many, this claim doesn’t mean anything at all. What if he is the best gunner in the world? Can you still beat magic power?
That should be the case, however, the appearance of the dead Iron Hog is evident enough that the claim might not be entirely false. Other gunners cannot do the same that Hajin did.
The thing is that… the surprises do not end with that. Once they see the Video Featurette, they realize that there is more to Hajin. The ability to kill a Black Pelican from miles away is frightening enough, but to kill two Iron Hogs with a single bullet the way Hajin did is beyond monstrous.
When other Cadets are focusing on their studies, Hajin is already making waves around the world with his abilities. This makes him a very special existence. It is illegal for Guilds to contact Cube Cadets before they graduate, but the opposite is not true. It is as if Kim Hajin is telling the Guilds not to forget him with his stunt.
Through the Video Featurette alone, Kim Hajin is able to attract Guilds on his name. The video is certainly attention-seeking.
There is a little problem though. When netizens and people around the world search ‘Gunner’, they do not end up on the website where they can watch the whole Video Featurette, but on various websites selling guns or offering mercenary services.
So, instead of searching ‘Gunner’, they end up searching ‘Kim Hajin’, thus the Gunner website has come to be known as The Hajin Page.
Kim Hajin’s popularity skyrockets to an all-time high. The story of his involvement in the Djinn Museum Terrorism also comes out to light and has been given the emphasis it deserves, and with it, the credit that is long due has finally been recognized.
***
Chae Nayun returns to her dorm, tired. After a light shower, she plays with her smartwatch to decompress. Rest is also necessary for her to get stronger.
Lately, Hajin has been very active on Social Media. In their Cube days in her past life, he makes a post about once a month, but now, it has become once a week. Sometimes, he even makes a post twice or thrice a week.
She clicks on the Gunner trailer and realizes… “Did he become more handsome? I think he did…” It is not simply an illusion as Chae Nayun realizes he has become more pleasing to the eyes.
It is not really good news, as that means, more girls will be interested in Hajin.
That aside, Chae Nayun gives the trailer a heart and watches the Video Featurette on the Gunner website. After watching the video, she has become speechless. “Kim Hajin is also getting stronger at an increasingly alarming rate.”
The sight of two Iron Hogs dying from a single curving bullet sends a chill down Nayun’s spine. To curve bullets are one of Hajin’s future abilities. “Another change…” She thinks.
What Nayun does not know is that Hajin is using an SP-reinforced bullet with empowered accuracy, piercing, and has even a homing function. That bullet is a one-time use for the sake of showing off.
Alas, misunderstandings are a bitch. “Yoenha does have a theory that Hajin might be a regressor, and it wasn’t disapproved yet…” Chae Nayun’s mind keeps on coming back to the now inexistent past. “Is Hajin really a Regressor like Yoenha suggested back in the past timeline?”
“Then,” Nayun has long rejected the notion that Hajin is a regressor as clearly, the regressor is her, but in the corners somewhere in her heart, she has this wishful thinking that Hajin is a regressor too. “Perhaps, can he remember me?”
***
While Chae Nayun is misunderstanding things, Yoo Yoenha is angrily grinding her molars. She is watching Kim Hajin’s Video Featurette and in front of her are the texts— “The Desert Eagle does not have special specs— certified by Essential Armory.”
Shouldn’t Yoenha be happy? It is a free advertisement! But why do they have to say it doesn’t have special specs and even involves Essential Armory's name like this? Are they undermining Essential Armory?
Yes, Yoenha is angry, but the real reason for her anger is somewhere else.
“How in the world I don’t know of this? Why does this website have an exclusive consignment deal with Essential Armory without my knowledge?”
Detention Center.
I think it is about my 4th try when I got caught. I guess it is too much for me. Damn it. Yes, the professor cannot catch me, but the Cube Artificial Intelligence certainly can.
In a lonely room with four walls and a single chair, I suffer the Detention-Center-Treatment while a computer with an emoji face continues to stare at me in infinite silence. It is unnerving, but I have to stay here for the next three hours until the next class.
Cheating is bad, I get it now. Because of my cheating, I am in a more precarious situation than ever. Because of the cheating, I will receive a demerit and maybe am even in danger of suspension. If that happens, I will be attending my classes less. This means lesser opportunities to increase my grades.
If I want to stay with the main cast, then I can only do my best in the midterms. I must raise my rank exponentially. Among the Cube Cadets of Veritas Class, I am at the lowest rank of #1111. The only reason I am not being ostracized is because of my crazy tics, weak presence, and good bootlicking.
In the ranking exams, nothing of my tricks will work. I can only be honest. If I can win through bootlicking, that will be the best, but this is reality. Life is not all about rainbows and sunshine.
At this moment. I am already forgetting the joyous achievement of creating the badass cinematic for improving Hajin’s image. There are two videos in total— a trailer of about one minute to create hype and the actual Featurette only watchable on our website. It will be a blast! I am that confident with the featurette. Still, there is this slight worry in the back of my mind, so I check on my smartwatch what is happening. Sadly, I will not be able to do just that.
“Sssorry, any electrical devices that connect to the internet have been jammed. You cannot access the internet from the Detention Center. Please behave…” The computer in front of me buzzes in its electronic voice. The emoji transforms into an angry glare.
I wince. This Detention Center is really a prison.
The Cube Artificial Intelligence is a work of the Great Sage, a historical figure who has been helping humanity for a long time since Outcall. This AI is still not getting outpaced yet by new technology speaking of how great the Great Sage actually is.
“Yo~ piece of scrap, I will be sleeping! You don’t have a problem with that, do you?” I try taunting the AI to see if it has any emotion. I am just curious about the AI’s range of expression as in the novel and Manhwa, there really isn’t anything much to read about the Artificial Intelligence that functions on Cube.
The Cube AI emoji doesn’t show a change in emotion but simply answers my query in its same electronic voice. “Yyyes, there is no problem with sleeping. If you need anything else of biological need, I can provide it to you. I can give you a bed, chow, and a toilet.”
I feel the floor shifting and the walls moving. Suddenly, there is a bed, a toilet, and even prison food on my desk. This… is just too ridiculous. Somehow, the room itself reminds me of an actual prison.
This is all good and dandy.
But first, I will need my sleep.
“Miss AI,” Since the electronic voice sound is female, I address it as a Miss. “You can stash the toilet and the chow, I want to sleep.”
I don’t know if I am imagining it, but because of my more respectful address, I feel like Miss AI has become happier. Weird. It must be my imagination.
***
“Starring Kim Hajin, Cube Cadet Year 1.”
Chic texts appear on the screen. The hustle and bustle of Gangwondo Wonju full of foreigners, agents, and hunters alike creates a noise resembling the marketplace. The sight of monster corpses being dragged around creates a dreadful atmosphere as tense background music slowly sets in on the video.
Then a blinking transition sets up on the screen, changing to the wilderness— the very field hunting ground at Gangwondo Wonju. On the top of a cliff, a single figure shows himself carrying a Desert Eagle. He stylishly loads his gun and aims at an Iron Hog quite far away from him.
The camera closes in a midshot revealing the face of the mysterious figure. Black hair, and an ordinary face, yet there is this mysterious charm on him from his stoicism and the way he carries his gun.
He raises his gun, and with it comes the background music’s increasingly speeding upbeat.
The camera changes angle and zooms in on the beast. It is the Iron Hog in its most glorious form. Stout, strong, and covering it is a thick hide of iron.
~Bang!
A crisp noise resounds in the wilderness. The background music comes to a stop. The bang echoes for a second longer creating the illusion of it rippling through the air. There is an artistic touch to the video.
But more than that is the more intrinsic value of… Kim Hajin.
The Iron Hog is a monster that even bullets cannot penetrate. That truth is now dead, killed by a single bullet both in the figurative and literal sense.
Lying dead on the vast prairie is the Iron Hog with a clean single bullet in its head. The camera closes in on the wound dramatically slow.
“The No. 1 Gunner of the World.”
Chic texts appear on the screen once more, and that is the last thing that everyone watching the short trailer sees. It looks like more of an advertisement, but it is not. The last text to appear is not a boast, but eventuality.
***
The internet is going crazy, it is because of a minute-long trailer that is going viral on the internet. At first, it might look like an advertisement, but the last text— The No. 1 Gunner in the World— changes it all.
The claim is provoking. Plenty of Heroes just laugh at it, while a few mercenaries feel threatened. To many, this claim doesn’t mean anything at all. What if he is the best gunner in the world? Can you still beat magic power?
That should be the case, however, the appearance of the dead Iron Hog is evident enough that the claim might not be entirely false. Other gunners cannot do the same that Hajin did.
The thing is that… the surprises do not end with that. Once they see the Video Featurette, they realize that there is more to Hajin. The ability to kill a Black Pelican from miles away is frightening enough, but to kill two Iron Hogs with a single bullet the way Hajin did is beyond monstrous.
When other Cadets are focusing on their studies, Hajin is already making waves around the world with his abilities. This makes him a very special existence. It is illegal for Guilds to contact Cube Cadets before they graduate, but the opposite is not true. It is as if Kim Hajin is telling the Guilds not to forget him with his stunt.
Through the Video Featurette alone, Kim Hajin is able to attract Guilds on his name. The video is certainly attention-seeking.
There is a little problem though. When netizens and people around the world search ‘Gunner’, they do not end up on the website where they can watch the whole Video Featurette, but on various websites selling guns or offering mercenary services.
So, instead of searching ‘Gunner’, they end up searching ‘Kim Hajin’, thus the Gunner website has come to be known as The Hajin Page.
Kim Hajin’s popularity skyrockets to an all-time high. The story of his involvement in the Djinn Museum Terrorism also comes out to light and has been given the emphasis it deserves, and with it, the credit that is long due has finally been recognized.
***
Chae Nayun returns to her dorm, tired. After a light shower, she plays with her smartwatch to decompress. Rest is also necessary for her to get stronger.
Lately, Hajin has been very active on Social Media. In their Cube days in her past life, he makes a post about once a month, but now, it has become once a week. Sometimes, he even makes a post twice or thrice a week.
She clicks on the Gunner trailer and realizes… “Did he become more handsome? I think he did…” It is not simply an illusion as Chae Nayun realizes he has become more pleasing to the eyes.
It is not really good news, as that means, more girls will be interested in Hajin.
That aside, Chae Nayun gives the trailer a heart and watches the Video Featurette on the Gunner website. After watching the video, she has become speechless. “Kim Hajin is also getting stronger at an increasingly alarming rate.”
The sight of two Iron Hogs dying from a single curving bullet sends a chill down Nayun’s spine. To curve bullets are one of Hajin’s future abilities. “Another change…” She thinks.
What Nayun does not know is that Hajin is using an SP-reinforced bullet with empowered accuracy, piercing, and has even a homing function. That bullet is a one-time use for the sake of showing off.
Alas, misunderstandings are a bitch. “Yoenha does have a theory that Hajin might be a regressor, and it wasn’t disapproved yet…” Chae Nayun’s mind keeps on coming back to the now inexistent past. “Is Hajin really a Regressor like Yoenha suggested back in the past timeline?”
“Then,” Nayun has long rejected the notion that Hajin is a regressor as clearly, the regressor is her, but in the corners somewhere in her heart, she has this wishful thinking that Hajin is a regressor too. “Perhaps, can he remember me?”
***
While Chae Nayun is misunderstanding things, Yoo Yoenha is angrily grinding her molars. She is watching Kim Hajin’s Video Featurette and in front of her are the texts— “The Desert Eagle does not have special specs— certified by Essential Armory.”
Shouldn’t Yoenha be happy? It is a free advertisement! But why do they have to say it doesn’t have special specs and even involves Essential Armory's name like this? Are they undermining Essential Armory?
Yes, Yoenha is angry, but the real reason for her anger is somewhere else.
“How in the world I don’t know of this? Why does this website have an exclusive consignment deal with Essential Armory without my knowledge?”
