I Became an Illegal Cheat User

Chapter 23

23 – The Hidden Side of the Simulated World (3)

‘…Is this the butterfly effect?’

Drawing “Super Accuracy” from the random cheat options.

Choosing a gun for more convenient and reliable use of the cheat effect.

It was merely an overwhelming victory with that gun.

Why does Yi Seo-yeon have an interest in guns?

Why… has Yi Seo-yeon fully explored her talent in firearms?

Why… has it evolved to the point of being called the ‘Genius of Sword Guns,’ undergoing such a transformation?

‘… We should have achieved victory but not overwhelmingly.’

No… that’s not it.

Because of the overwhelming victory, the ‘additional rewards’ in the event quest were exceptionally sweet.

In the end, I couldn’t find, let alone create, an excuse.

All of it was due to the evolution of Yi Seo-yeon’s talent to the extent of changing its name.

‘… Fine, let’s admit it.’

It was my fault.

“Yi Yujin, I feel like something… my talent has changed.”

So, I must take responsibility.

Gathering my embarrassed feelings, I responded to Yi Seo-yeon’s words.

“Uh, yeah, your talent has changed. More precisely, it evolved.”

“Talents can evolve too?”

Is it because of the establishment of identity?

The surprise emotion, which was always absent from Yi Seo-yeon’s expressionless face, was now clearly visible.

[Yi Seo-yeon’s talent, ‘Genius of Sword Guns (S+),’ seems to suggest that her sense of self has grown.]

“…”

…The expression of talent has become clear as well.

“Uh, evolving talents… isn’t that usually not easy?”

Ordinary talent evolution occurs when reaching the highest level.

Realizing one’s own talent, gaining experiences to become a superhuman and reach the top, and having achieved something, along with the emergence of one’s true desires.

The talent that forms the foundation of a superhuman stands at a crossroads.

Will it maintain its original ability and reach a higher level?

Or will it pioneer a new path, bringing about more diverse changes?

A talent that has made such a decision at the crossroads blossoms and announces its existence to the world.

However, Yi Seo-yeon achieved such a difficult evolution only as a mid-high-level talent.

‘Is this right?’

No matter how much Lee Seo-yeon is touted as the protagonist of the world, it’s an unbelievable situation.

But the unbelievable has already happened, and I must take responsibility for causing such a thing.

However…, upon careful consideration, it doesn’t seem all that bad.

‘Rather, it seems like a good thing.’

Even though ‘The Genius of the Sword’ became ‘The Genius of the Gun,’ handling firearms, an unconventional weapon.

The talent’s grade has been upgraded from ‘S’ to ‘S+.’

In gaming terms, it’s like a novice who just left the beginner’s village wielding a Dragon Staff made from the bones of a dragon that appears in the extreme late stages, instead of a wooden club.

‘The problem is that the Dragon Staff has higher physical damage than magical damage.’

And the one handling the Dragon Staff is not a mage but a swordsman.

But the talent of ‘S+’ grade is so outstanding that it covers such drawbacks….

[Seo-yeon Lee’s talent, “The Genius of the Gun (S+),” asks what its name is.]

… It’s tremendous enough to have its own identity.

“Oh, I see….”

Seo-yeon nodded.

Then, she looked straight into my eyes and asked.

“So, what’s the name of my evolved talent?”

Seo-yeon, she asked the same about her talent.

“…The Genius of the Gun.”

“The Genius of the Gun?”

[Seo-yeon Lee’s talent, “The Genius of the Gun (S+),” is pleased with its name.]

“I like it.”

“….”

Seo-yeon’s lips curved into a satisfied smile as if she was content with the changed name.

“Then, is this feeling that my talent evolved like this?”

Seo-yeon said so and touched the disassembled gun.

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“Now, I think I can quickly disassemble and assemble the gun.”

“….?”

Even though I saw her disassembling and assembling the gun quickly before?

Thinking about it is eerie.

“Watch closely.”

When Lee Seo-yeon lightly touched one of the gun parts with her finger,

[The talent of Lee Seo-yeon, “Genius of Firearms (S+),” is unleashed.]

At the same time, the talent’s expression is shown through the system.

Tock.

Clank.

The gun parts assembled themselves as if they were watching a transformer.

And all of this happened in less than a second.

“…?”

What is this, is it magic?

In the blink of an eye, the gun was assembled.

No, even more astonishing was the automatic assembly that was close to restoration.

Tock.

And when Lee Seo-yeon touched the assembled gun with her finger again,

Chyuryuk.

The gun parts neatly laid themselves out on the leather as if they were rewinding back to before assembly.

“It’s fast, isn’t it?”

“Uh…”

How can I describe this as fast?

‘It’s more like magic than talent.’

Even if the talent related to guns reaches an “S+” level, it’s still like that.

How is it possible for a gun to automatically disassemble and assemble with just a touch of a finger?

‘If that’s the case, it would be tough for anyone wielding a firearm to face Lee Seo-yeon?’

As I thought that,

“Uh… someone wielding a firearm?”

I realized that person wielding a firearm is me.

With trembling eyes, I looked at Lee Seo-yeon, who was repeatedly disassembling and assembling the gun, and I thought,

“Lee Seo-yeon, she… she’s my hard counter, isn’t she?”

It has been a while since I have accepted the evolution of talents.

But the appearance of a hard counter has made my feelings complicated once again.

Lee Seo-yeon, who has no idea about my inner turmoil.

“Yujin, after the practice is over, spar with me.”

[This talent of Yeseo, known as “Genius of the Gun (S+)”, says that she thinks she can imitate it this time.]

She immediately wanted to spar with me.

The genius of the gun, she wanted to imitate my cheat-like talent.

“Will you do it?”

[This talent of Yeseo, known as “Genius of the Gun (S+)”, asks, “Will you do it?”]

No, I don’t want to spar!

…I wanted to refuse, but.

“……Fine.”

Because I had to take responsibility for causing this incident.

I couldn’t refuse.

“Thank you.”

[This talent of Yeseo, known as “Genius of the Gun (S+)”, expresses gratitude.]

Still, as I looked at the smile forming on Yeseo’s lips.

The complicated feeling inside me began to fade away.

“But can cheats be imitated?”

Suddenly, such a thought came to me.

I decided to think about it later, as a message alert rang from my smartwatch.

“Since the instructor seems to have finished arranging the teams, let’s go back.”

In response to my words, Yeseo nodded and placed the leather she had spread on the floor onto her right middle finger, where she had a ring.

Then, the rolled-up leather, just like putting an item in the inventory, was sucked into Yeseo’s ring.

It seems to be a ring with a pocket dimension.

In that case…

“Yeseo, is that a ring with a pocket dimension?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, take this with you.”

I took out some consumable weapons that I had brought from the training ground and handed them to Yeseo.

And as I watched Yeseo reluctantly put the received consumables into the ring with a pocket dimension, I chuckled.

Ah, I can’t help but tease the newbie.

“And since I sent out the team schedule, everyone please check it and gather with your team members.”

Upon hearing Kang Cheol-Soo’s words, I glanced at my smartwatch.

[Team 1]

[Lee Yu-Jin (1)]

[Park Ga-Ram (6)]

[Im Da-Hee (61)]

“So, I’m on the same team as Park Ga-Ram?”

But who is Im Da-Hee?

“If they don’t even exist in my memories, they must be a minor character.”

With that thought in mind, I searched for Park Ga-Ram.

And it didn’t take long for me to find her.

In the midst of the team members starting to gather, Park Ga-Ram, with her purple hair, was fidgeting with her fingers and looking around.

It seemed like she was searching for me, so I hurriedly approached her before we got separated.

As we got closer, Park Ga-Ram’s head turned towards me, and she approached with a sly smile.

“hehehe… Se-, se-, senior, I found you.”

Now that Park Ga-Ram had joined, I just needed to find that Im Da-Hee.

I had no idea who that person was.

So I asked Park Ga-Ram.

“Oh, there she is, coming over.”

Park Ga-Ram raised her hand and pointed in a direction.

As I turned my head in that direction, I could see a woman coming directly towards me.

And I could now recognize who Im Da-Hee was.

Im Da-Hee.

She was the one who had complained to Kang Cheol-Soo yesterday, saying that he should rearrange the tournament brackets.

And now, she became part of the same team as me.

“…Senior, please take care of me.”

“…Uh.”

Maybe because of what happened yesterday, she couldn’t look directly into my eyes while speaking.

“Bar, fool. Yo, you can’t even hit my eyes properly.”

“……”

Im Dahee glanced at her, pouted her lips, and lowered her head in response to Park Garam’s scorn.

Seems like she has a bruised ego from yesterday’s incident.

“I don’t really care about what happened yesterday.”

But she had actually forgotten about it until she saw his face.

“The other participants in the same bracket as me would feel the same.”

So, there’s no need for Im Dahee to have a bruised ego.

Thinking that way, I approached Im Dahee and nudged her shoulder, saying,

“If you’re feeling this way because of what happened yesterday, it’s okay. So, lift up your head.”

After saying that, Im Dahee hesitantly spoke.

“… Really?”

“Yeah, really. So, lift up your head. Why did the person who confidently asked the instructor questions yesterday suddenly become so dejected?”

As I spoke, Im Dahee lifted her head and looked at me with trembling eyes.

But she looked away from my gaze before 2 seconds had even passed.

Seeing Im Dahee’s reaction, I decided to step back for now.

No matter how okay I say I am, it’s useless if she’s not okay.

So, I decided to approach her in a different way.

“Im Dahee, you’ve dealt with electricity, right?”

“… Yeah.”

After the matches ended yesterday, the participants in the same bracket as me went back to the dormitory upon hearing Kang Cheolsu say, “You can go to the dormitory first.”

But I stayed in the stands and watched the matches of the remaining people.

Since the game had become reality, I wanted to see if there were any participants with talents and skills other than the supporting roles.

But were the results just on par with their rankings?

It felt like the world had just given all the good abilities to the supporting roles, and the participants other than the supporting roles could only demonstrate abilities that matched their rankings.

Out of them, Im Dahee, who ranked 61st, had the talent and skill to manifest “spear skills” and “electricity.”

Having observed her matches, she didn’t know how to properly utilize her abilities.

Spear skills and electricity.

They are useful abilities.

No, honestly, they are not only useful but also great abilities.

So, since we’re in the same team.

Im Dahee, I will teach her the proper usage of her abilities.

And also get rid of any self-esteem issues.

“That’s a great ability.”

“…Huh?”

“Electric manifestation, that’s a great ability.”

“Uh, uh… thank you.”

In response to the sudden praise, Im Dahee blushed slightly and bowed her head.

To her, I continued speaking.

“But you’re not good at using that ability.”

“…….”

Following the praise, the criticism turned Im Dahee’s ears red.

But my words were not finished yet.

“So, I hope you follow my instructions well today. If you do, I’ll show you how to use that ability.”

At that, Im Dahee, who had been bowing deeply, raised her head.

“…If I just follow your instructions, can I become stronger too?”

A disappointed appearance and a weak voice.

Eyes that tremble without rest just from looking at each other.

But within her eyes, there was a small spark.

And her voice carried hope.

In response, I smiled and answered.

“Of course, you won’t be able to become stronger unless you do.”

“…I see. I’ll follow your instructions.”

“That’s a good choice.”

In the future, people will call you like this.

Im Dahee, the Brain Spear.

After receiving the promise from Park Garam, who also vowed to follow the instructions alongside Im Dahee.

After about 5 minutes had passed.

“Now that it seems like all the team members have gathered, let’s start the practice!”

Kang Cheolsu approached the domed building.

And he stood in front of the massive door, speaking into his smartwatch.

“1-A team, we are ready. Please open the door.”

Then a woman’s voice sounded from Kang Cheolsu’s smartwatch.

– Understood.

He heard the voice and stepped back.

Kukugugung.

The massive door of the building began to open with a resounding noise.

And after a moment.

Thud.

Beyond the fully opened door, a massive whirlpool the size of the building emerged, emitting a blue light.

It was a rift in the simulation world.

Kang Cheolsu stood in front of such a rift and spoke, looking at us.

“This is the rift of the simulation world. It is a simulated version created to imitate the real rift of the simulation world.”

But he did not think the tension on the children’s faces would easily disappear.

The imposing presence of the rift in front of them was enough to instill fear, no matter how much it was an imitation.

In response to their anxious appearance, Kang Cheolsu tapped his chest as if to reassure them and said,

“There’s no need to be scared. The rift you are seeing now is not real, but fake. And even if it becomes real, don’t you have your instructor? If anything happens, I will immediately go in and rescue you, so don’t worry and focus on the practice.”

The expressions of the children, who were tense until then, relaxed slightly at Kang Cheolsu’s confident words.

“And the monsters inside are only similar in appearance, not real like this rift.”

Nevertheless, Kang Cheolsu added.

“They may lack the characteristic magic energy of monsters, but their strength and abilities remain the same, so keep your guard up.”

As Kang Cheolsu said those words, he looked at me.

“Now, let’s proceed. Team 1, step forward.”

Following Kang Cheolsu’s instructions, I, Park Garam, and Im Dahee stood in front of the rift.

Kang Cheolsu addressed us.

“Just as much as you are in the senior team, don’t worry too much, but if anything happens, immediately press the emergency rescue button on your smartwatch. I will come to rescue you right away.”

His voice contained a hint of worry, contrary to his words.

I smiled, as if to comfort him, indicating that there was no need to worry.

In response, Kang Cheolsu nodded, as if relieved, and operated his smartwatch.

“I’ve transmitted your practice objectives to the smartwatches. Go inside and check them.”

“Yes, understood.”

“Now, proceed inside.”

Upon the instruction to enter, I and my team members squeezed our bodies into the crack.

Just before fully entering, I spoke to Kang Cheol-su.

“I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Sure.”

Nonchalantly acknowledging, Kang Cheol-su nodded.

However, he didn’t know.