The Horde’s combat power was overwhelming.
The plasma cutter of the gorilla, which had been tearing police officers in half, aimed for the lips of a Horde Operator but was blocked by a magical barrier.
The gorilla’s strong arm, which had been ripping cars in half, was cut off at three fingers by the hand of an Operator, who appeared to be a tank.
The gorilla ramped up the output of its magic tattoos to the maximum, but a silence field enveloped it, rendering it powerless.
The Horde, an elite unit from the police special operations division, was each an unstoppable disaster.
If the Horde had arrived, the situation was already as good as resolved.
Amon dropped his weapon and slumped down.
The surviving police officers also lowered their weapons, just like Amon.
Even though the gorilla was still intact, they were reassured because they knew just how overwhelming the Horde’s combat power was.
According to Amon’s description, the Horde were “veteran achievement hunters.”
They had to maintain a 0% casualty rate and a 0% property damage rate after their arrival, not out of any particular sense of duty, but for the simple reason that their bonus depended on it.
As a result, their suppression operations were highly obsessive.
They deployed force fields as if to say they wouldn’t allow even a stray bullet to hit a civilian, and they always had a barrier magician ready to handle potential suicide bombers.
There was even a telepath on standby to read thoughts in case of any hidden traps.
It was perfection itself.
‘To get through the Horde, you’d probably need the personal bodyguards of a mega-corporation CEO or the head of the top security department… or maybe that long thing…’
As that thought crossed his mind, Amon’s brain started working.
Old habits die hard.
The gamer in him began estimating the odds.
He imagined his combat power if he had that long thing.
Back then, he wiped out a Horde battalion and simultaneously faced two mega-corporations.
And the ending he finally achieved? A bad ending.
An ending called “the great catastrophe.”
‘Obviously, I’m not doing that long thing in this lifetime.’
Based on the Horde’s combat patterns he had learned during that run, Amon considered what he could do now.
‘First, I have to take down the Netwalker.’
In the Horde’s rear was a hacker who linked their minds together like a hive mind.
The hacker not only connected their minds but also hacked into CCTVs to cover blind spots, opened locked doors, and even froze the enemy’s communications and transmissions.
They wielded overwhelming power from behind the scenes.
As long as the Netwalker was alive, it would be too tricky for Amon to deal with the Horde.
Fortunately, he knew how to neutralize the Netwalker.
First, he needed to destroy the special router on the plane to weaken the communication signal, then secure a terminal and attempt a counter-hack.
Although Amon lacked counter-hacking skills, he did know the security codes for the police department.
Once he isolated the Netwalker with admin privileges, the hacker would be unable to influence the battlefield.
‘That would throw the almighty Horde into disarray.’
With their shared consciousness suddenly severed, they couldn’t help but be confused.
During that moment, Amon would infiltrate the air vehicle.
It was close enough to jump to from a nearby building window.
If the sniper’s manual hadn’t changed, there should be a barrier magician with them.
If he could ambush the two while they were panicking from the loss of communication…
‘Yeah, sure. Get real, Amon.’
He’d get wrecked.
The Horde wasn’t full of idiots, and there was no way their rear guards were so weak that the current Amon could take them down.
Snipers, after all, weren’t weak in close combat either.
Their bodies, trained for sniping, could turn mediocre opponents into mincemeat in a fight.
As for the barrier magician?
Amon would likely die before he could even react to a single punch from the barrier magician.
That was the insurmountable difference between Amon and the Horde.
‘Conclusion: I can’t win.’
There was no way.
No matter how skilled a veteran player, there were limits to their control.
If he had a sufficiently developed character and enough preparation time, maybe, but the current Amon stood no chance against the Horde.
As he thought about this, Amon’s vision blurred slightly.
Simultaneously, a tingling sensation crawled in the back of his mind.
A sensation he had never experienced before.
But somehow, he had a feeling he knew the cause.
‘Right. There’s a telepath, isn’t there?’
Only then did Amon remember the telepath.
Sure enough, he heard a “ding-dong!” sound in his head, as if confirming he was correct.
Amon’s reaction to the telepath’s “service” was: “Shit.”
A curse.
But it wasn’t directed at the telepath for reading his mind.
It was directed at himself.
Cold sweat trickled down Amon’s back.
‘Stupid gamer brain!’
‘What kind of luxury was he indulging in, calculating his chances against the Horde right in front of them when they were already on high alert?’
‘And with a telepath among them! What must they think of him now?’
‘Why didn’t I just run around waving a gun at a counterterrorism scene, Amon?!’
A million thoughts flooded Amon’s mind.
Should he beg for forgiveness?
Would they even accept an apology?
Since they were mind readers, they should know his apology would be sincere, right?
But was it even possible to be punished for just thinking about something? Even if it was only in his head…
Oh, right. This is cyberpunk, isn’t it?
‘Wait a second.’
‘Did they just read my thoughts?’
‘How much did they read?’
‘Did they see my past-life memories, too?’
‘No way! Are they reading my thoughts right now?’
‘But my past-life knowledge includes Pentagon secrets!’
Oh, I’m screwed…
Amon clenched his eyes shut.
He tried desperately to control the flood of thoughts, but it was impossible.
It was like being told not to think of a pink elephant—human beings just couldn’t stop thinking once the idea popped into their heads.
‘I hate telepaths for this.’
Depending on the telepath’s skill, their ability to read uncontrollable thoughts was the ultimate weapon in an era where information was power.
Though various countermeasures existed, Amon had never taken any precautions against this.
‘I’m doomed…’
The world’s secrets would soon be laid bare because of something so ridiculous.
Amon preemptively apologized to the goddess for the global chaos that was about to unfold.
Like a death-row inmate waiting for execution, he awaited the Horde’s judgment.
Whether it was the CIA, the police department, or the Pentagon, someone would drag him off soon.
One of the Operators, having finished analyzing the gorilla’s corpse, approached Amon and the inspector.
With a low voice mixed with mechanical undertones, he introduced himself.
“Greetings. I’m the team leader of HOD Team 14. While I would like to express my gratitude for your cooperation, I cannot reveal my real name due to regulations. I hope you understand.”
“Yes.”
Amon forced himself to nod, trying to hide his anxiety deep in his chest.
The low voice echoed in his ears.
“An interesting strategy. Destroy the router, neutralize the Netwalker, and then target the sniper on the vehicle. A really good approach.”
‘Damn it.’
“We just received your ‘damn it’ comment from our telepath.”
‘Oh, Lord.’
“You must be a devout believer if you’re calling out to God in this situation.”
‘I’m sorry. I just can’t control my past-life knowledge.’
“Well, thoughts aren’t something you can control in the first place.”
‘They must’ve read all the top-secret U.S. government files in my head… I’m so screwed.’
“What exactly are you screwed about?”
A question mark popped up over Amon’s head after hearing the team leader’s last words.
Something felt off.
Out of curiosity, Amon thought about various things.
From his thoughts in this world to his past-life knowledge.
He even imagined the terrible bad endings in this world, just in case the team leader didn’t react, and also thought about the confidential documents from the police department that the Horde belonged to.
He even considered the most horrifying information-warfare tactical nuke, ‘HAL-KAS.’
Cough!
The tactical nuke was so powerful, even Amon, who envisioned it, felt the impact.
But the team leader in front of him didn’t so much as flinch—he just blinked.
Based on that reaction, Amon was sure.
‘They can’t read past-life knowledge.’
It seemed that thoughts related to his past life were naturally edited or censored, making them unreadable.
Since the tactical nuke knowledge came from a message board in his previous life, they couldn’t read it, which explained the lack of reaction.
When he thought about it, it made sense.
‘The goddess is omnipotent, after all.’
Surely, she wouldn’t have sent him to the mortal realm without preparing for this.
There was no way a mere human telepath could break through the divine protection granted by the goddess.
Only then did Amon relax and recall his memories from his past life.
‘Hallelujah. I always worship you, oh great goddess.’
Amon began to worship the goddess in his thoughts.
The team leader, who had been reading Amon’s mind and editing his memories, could only feel disgust as Amon suddenly started praising the goddess for no apparent reason.
Seriously, the team leader thought Amon’s mental state might be more dangerous than the dead gorilla.
The team leader took a step back from Amon, a bit uneasy.
Meanwhile, Amon was once again reminded of his current situation.
‘Right. My past life is my past life, but the Horde is still the Horde.’
The fact that he had been calculating a strategy to kill the Horde hadn’t changed.
Once again, cold sweat soaked Amon’s back.
He rolled his eyes, carefully selecting his words, wondering if a sincere apology might lead to forgiveness.
While the team leader watched Amon struggle, he suddenly-
“Pfft!”
The team leader couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer.
Amon, still unsure of what was happening, was confused when the team leader patted him on the shoulder and spoke.
“You know, we see kids like you all the time on the field. Teenagers always do this. When they watch us work, they think about how they’d fight, how they’d handle things if it were them. Even mercenaries do it. Heck, even the police officer standing behind you has the same thoughts.”
The team leader chuckled, amused.
“Don’t worry about it. That was just a little teasing. I’m not going to mistake your curiosity for bloodlust or ambition.”