How to Survive Restructuring

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 93: Iro (3)

The Mad Genius Researcher.

The one known as Iro, was born with nothing, raised on the streets, and climbed to the top purely on his skills.

Though his obsessive focus on brains, cortices, and organs often stirred controversy, his abilities were undeniable.

He was someone who could turn any wild imagination into reality, as long as he had data and a hypothesis.

A person who could revive the dead, kill the living, or leave someone neither alive nor dead.

Such was the nature of this man.

[That bastard…]

And it was because he had been the first to be handed "failure" by Lee Eunho that he couldn't let his guard down.

[What's his stamina?! Give me a briefing!]

Iro made no mistakes.

He questioned, then questioned again.

[Predict the win rate too!]

♩─ ♪♬───!

The multicolored barrier grew larger and larger.

Iro couldn’t take his eyes off Lee Eunho, who stood alone inside it.

【Checking the remaining stamina of subject 'Lee Eunho.'】

【32.6%】

His stamina was only about 30%.

Given that he had played some mysterious instrument and even generated a barrier, it was a discouraging figure.

Of course, to Iro, it was an extremely hopeful indicator.

【Predicting the outcome.】

【LOADING……】

Gulp!

Iro swallowed dryly, waiting for the results to appear.

【Victory - 51%】

【Defeat - 49%】

The system predicted his victory by a very narrow margin.

However—

【25.1%】

【20.9%】

【14.2%】

……

[Gwoooaaaarrrk-!]

As the chimera continued its relentless assault, Lee Eunho’s stamina kept dropping.

Down to 10%, without much resistance—it was almost too easy.

And then—

【Prediction values have been updated.】

【Victory - 99%】

【Defeat - 1%】

In response, the win rate skyrocketed to 99%.

Victory was all but assured unless the 1% miracle occurred.

1%.

An insignificant margin of error.

Especially considering the upward trend of his victory rate, it was a truly reassuring figure.

But Iro…

[1%?]

He froze.

[...That can’t be right.]

Lee Eunho?

The Lee Eunho?

He was winning this easily?

Such doubts began to surface.

Doubts born not from perfectly verified data but from experience and intuition.

[What is he planning?!]

The opponent was Lee Eunho.

Letting his guard down was not an option.

Moreover, that calm, composed expression on his face.

How could that be the face of someone who had a 99% chance of losing?

Tap!

Lee Eunho dashed across the ruins.

Not like prey, but like the ruler of the jungle, unstoppable and unhesitant.

Using the remains of a toppled tower as a springboard, he leaped high.

Wielding a pitch-black glowing longsword like a whip, he slashed through anything in his path.

Slice!

Countless attacking arms were cut like paper.

"Petrification!"

Crackle!

Thanks to the electricity he had charged, sparks flew from the staff he held, which he then snapped with his bare hands.

Clang!

Multiple saw-blades clinging to his calves were crushed entirely.@@novelbin@@

"Ah."

Their eyes met.

"So, you were hiding there."

A sense of despair overtook him.

It felt like all the strength was draining from his body.

Anyone who heard this would laugh it off.

That Iro, the Iro, second to none but above all others, was trembling like this before a mere subject—it would sound absurd even as a joke.

The ruler of the ruins.

The most feared existence on this sky island.

It was no longer his creation.

Size, mass, strength, or weapons—none of these could counteract "momentum."

And he had lost it completely.

"Let’s finish this. All at once."

[W-what are you doing?! You can’t stop a single subject?!]

[Gwooooaaaarrrrkk-!]

【5.3%】

【3.8%】

【1.1%】

As Lee Eunho’s stamina dropped below 1%—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sound of his fiercely beating heart filled his ears, accompanied by a suffocating tension.

[S…!]

Iro almost pulled out a card he wasn’t supposed to.

But—flinch!

[W-what was I doing…!]

He barely regained his composure.

The end was near.

No matter how ferociously the bastard charged at him, as though ready to devour or tear him apart, the data was clear.

Victory was within reach.

Undeniably so.

[H-how much longer?!]

【Checking the remaining stamina of subject 'Lee Eunho.'】

【0.1%】

And Lee Eunho, as if he neither knew nor cared, said:

"Accelerate."

Whoosh!

With the sound of a hollow, cutting wind, he advanced.

Before anyone realized it, he had reached the height of the chimera’s heart, which stood several times his own size.

Before long, the soles of its shoes brushed past above my head.

And then.

【WARNING!】

【The remaining health of the target 'Lee Eunho' has changed!】

The unbelievable message from the system.

【10.0%】

[His health... has recovered?]

The creature’s sword was deeply embedded in the chimera’s heart, its dark blade leaving no trace.

And yet, the overwhelming aura it emitted was palpable.

Flinch!

The researcher’s limbs tingled from the sensation.

[!!]

I’m going to die.

I’m going to die for sure.

I can’t win.

Never.

Overcome by an intense instinct, I evaded the approaching figure, slipping away from the chimera’s armor.

Thud!

I jumped down.

A human who wouldn’t be surprised to die at any moment.

But avoiding the human who came charging as if determined to rip the heavens apart.

At that moment.

"Counter!"

Lee Eunho’s cry echoed through the world.

Woooooooom—!

The floating island absorbed it with its entire being, and the heavens responded.

Fwaaaaaaaaah—!

An enormous explosion erupted from the figure.

The force, as if space itself was tearing apart, sent his body flying.

【WARNING!】

【WARNING!】

【WARNING!】

Boom! Crashhhhh—!

The massive structure shattered.

Collapsed.

Crumbled.

Ruuuuumbleeeee!

And so, he fled.

He fled like a dog.

[Please, please, please, please, please, please, please...!]

Then, instead of the already ruined chimera.

[Activate! Quickly!!]

He summoned it.

The only hope that could save him.

The divine weapon modified by the director’s order.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

He pulled it out.

A choice anyone witnessing it would have tried to stop, even by knocking him unconscious.

A shocking decision that completely denied the entirety of his life.

Instead of waiting for a tomorrow that might never come, he decided to live for today.

【ACTIVATE!】

【Activating 'Restored Brahmastra.'】

【Select your target!】

[The target is him! Lee Eunho!]

Swiiiiiish—!

[Kill him!]

Once activated, the legendary arrow pursued its target relentlessly until it pierced through them.

Though discovered in a worn-down state after enduring countless ages, it was restored to its original form under the director’s orders.

A sacred relic so precious, no human could even dare touch it.

[I don’t know what tricks you’ve pulled... but this is the end!]

And just as expected.

Thunk!

The arrow pierced Lee Eunho’s abdomen like it was nothing more than a piece of meat and came out through his back.

【4.4%】

His mouth opened as if gasping for breath.

Blood gushed out, pooling on the ground.

Bright red pieces of flesh clung to the spearhead and fell away in chunks.

[This, this is it! Your data... I’ll take good care of it...!]

The figure flinched.

And then.

【1.6%】

【0.4%】

Like a flickering candle about to go out, he staggered.

Thud!

He collapsed.

"…It hurts, I’ll admit."

[W-What?]

With an unbelievably calm expression.

"This... looks good, doesn’t it?"

[?!]

Even in such a dire situation, he casually muttered incomprehensible words...

"Thanks... I’ll make good use of it."

He smiled.

[What do you mean, make use of—]

Taking advantage of the owner’s momentary distraction, he stole the sacred relic embedded in his body.

【0.0%】

Lee Eunho fell.

* * *

My hyung fell.

"Why... Why...!"

Choi Jaehyuk was enraged.

Right in front of the monster’s heart, his hyung had been struck down by a single arrow he couldn’t dodge.

He couldn’t even avoid one measly, slender arrow!

"You bastard!!"

And so, he ran.

Ignoring the shattered monster, he chased after the figure who was fleeing desperately.

[Get, get away from me!]

The figure threw something.

Boom—!

Something hit his left shoulder and exploded.

"What did you do to my hyunggg!!"

The figure threw something else.

Fwoom!

Something hit his side and exploded.

[Get away!]

No, maybe it was his side that had exploded this time.

The dangling pieces of flesh annoyed him.

But Jaehyuk kept closing in.

To the devil who deserves to be chewed up and spat out.

Slash! Thrust! Boom!

And finally—

Having circled nearly the entire Sky Island, battered and blood-soaked—

"I’ll kill you!!"

[Let go of me, you dirty hands… How dare you?!]

"How dare you harm my hyung…!"

They caught him.

Crunch!

What did you do?

Why did you do it?

...I didn’t even think to ask.

A being that wasn’t human.

I should be wary.

...But I didn’t feel any fear like that.

[Aaaaahhhhhh!]

Iro’s scream echoed throughout the Sky Island.

And hearing that sound, Jieun staggered forward on trembling legs.

Rumble-rumble-rumble!

The shattered remains of the armor.

The wreckage buried the man she was pursuing, but Jieun kept walking.

Thud! Boom!

The debris crashing down around her head didn’t spare her, yet she didn’t avoid it.

"I must… find Eunho…."

The fragments of the explosion floated above her head.

Like drifting debris in space.

Not that any of it mattered to Jieun.

"...!"

Jieun closed and reopened her eyes.

Then moved forward.

Step.

Toward the place her intuition pointed.

The hill of remnants, made entirely of torn flesh and broken weapons, bearing the marks of fierce battle.

[...It’s here!]

[...The limits of one’s… aspirations, the pinnacle… of observation, ...]

The system kept reciting something.

[Activating the ‘Sense’ skill (Lv. 1)!]

But Jieun didn’t hear it.

At that moment—

[‘Sense’ (Lv. 1) activated!]

[Updating the location of subject ‘Lee Eunho’!]

An unknown message appeared, and a beam of light poured down where Eunho lay.

Shiiiiiiing!

Within the radiant glow, a flower bloomed.

* * *

Lee Eunho had fallen.

She’d seen it with her own two eyes.

Right in front of her.

A massive hole in his abdomen after pulling out the metal rod that had pierced his stomach.

Blood spilling in torrents.

His health plummeting to 0%.

And yet!

Why?!

Why did a corpse—a corpse that should have stayed still as she opened the skull, removed the soft brain, dismembered the body, and collected every drop of spilled blood into bottles—

Why did it bloom with flowers?!

And not just any flowers… flowers she knew all too well!

"What, what is that?!"

Startled, Jaehyuk let go of Iro’s neck.

Iro gasped for air, coughing, yet mumbled to himself.

[Dabu-sal-i Flower…?]

The Dabu-sal-i Flower.

Also called the Flower of the Afterlife, a precious and rare bloom.

Its petals, resembling layers of delicate pink paper, enveloped Lee Eunho’s body.

And from there, radiant beams of light poured out in all directions.

[Why… is that here?]

Then, a memory flashed through his mind.

When he’d temporarily taken on the role of administrator, sending a golem in anger—the memory of that time.

【WARNING!】

【Unauthorized prototype detected! Initiating forced retrieval procedures as per protocol.】

The "core" he’d placed inside the golem at the time.

He’d failed to return the diamond shard from the abandoned mountains and suffered forced retrieval.

[At the time… Eunho absorbed it, and I compensated with points…]

【Loss processing complete!】

【Automatically compensated with points.】

That damn Lee Eunho had saved an enormous number of soldiers outside the standard parameters, leaving him short on points for compensation.

Could it be?

Could it really be?

【Insufficient point balance.】

【Would you like to substitute the mission reward with an appropriate item?】

Yes.

He remembered being asked.

If he wanted to substitute the mission reward with an item.

...And what had he answered back then?

[Ugh, do whatever you want!]

[This…!]

Iro clutched his scruffy hair with his remaining hand.

[W-wait! What I had in my lab was a seed! It didn’t bloom no matter what I did, and I was experimenting to figure out the conditions… Why now, of all times?!]

Then he scratched his arm.

Rip! Rip!

Scratching and scratching.

But no matter how much he regretted, or how much he harmed or berated himself, one fact didn’t change.

【WARNING!】

【Detected a major change in the critical configuration of subject ‘Lee Eunho’!】

...

【Update complete!】

...

【New privilege—Resurrection】

【Recalculating victory probabilities!】

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]