Chapter 108 - Episode 15. God and Believers (4)
Chapter 108: Episode 15. God and Believers (4)
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Jaehwan was about to ask who in the world would miss something like that when strange letters became legible at the center of 〈Metaverse〉.
「Lo...rd... Pro...duct... Big...」
「...ab...out... con...tained」
He remembered seeing a similar mass of letters in the Tower of Nightmares once operated by Beastrein.
A sharp ache ran through Jaehwan's head, and several sentences surfaced in his mind. They were not his memories.
They were Mulack's memories. A passage from the 『Record of the Abyss』.
「Long ago, there was a tower built to reach the end of the Tree of Illusion. A tower made by an old dream demon to challenge the end of the world.」
Instinctively, Jaehwan realized that tower was the 〈Metaverse〉 before him.
Mulack was not the only one who had wished to climb to the peak of that distant 《Tree of Illusion》 nine hundred years ago. Just as Jaehwan had created the Tower of Awakening in Chaos, someone in the Abyss had attempted something similar.
“Who runs this tower?”
[If the Driver hasn't changed yet, it is probably that bastard Sloth.]
Sloth?
A group appeared behind him. They were the Followers dressed like medieval knights he had seen earlier.
“Move.”
The one who spoke was a man clad head to toe in red full plate armor. There was something strangely familiar about the red aura flowing through his visor.
Their eyes met. The man hesitated, then stared at Dokbul in Jaehwan's hand before asking with bright eyes, “That is a fine sword. Have you ever killed a dragon?”
“Long ago.”
“I see.”
The man studied Jaehwan with interest for a while before turning toward the tower. The group behind him followed, giving Jaehwan a wide berth.
Startled voices rose from the crowd gathered near the tower.
“They are the Dragon Knights of the Red Tower. Drake's Followers!”
Drake. They were probably people with a Worldview related to dragons.
There were many other participants as well. Some were people Jaehwan had seen on the streets of the Abyss earlier.
“Spartacus's Followers came too.”
“I heard an Awakened One is competing this year. Is that true?”
“Those people will use the High Pass, so they will start from at least the fifth floor. The newcomers making their debut this year will have it rough.”
“Come on, it’s not like we’re aiming for the rankings. We should earn some trust and get out.”
Where had all these people come from?
Jaehwan did not know whether they truly missed the days when they had been Products. One thing was certain, though.
They were going to challenge the tower once more.
[This is my final warning. If you go in there, I will not help you anymore. No, I can't help you.]
“How much do you know about that tower?”
[It is where trashy gods live.]
“Is that all?”
[I have been there once before.]
Andersen hesitated before adding,
[And I lost everything there.]
Her voice trembled as though even thinking about it made her sick. A commotion broke out near the outer edge of the tower.
“Alright, Fishing Spot souls, this way.”
At a glance, they looked like the line of detainees he had seen earlier. It seemed the man from the auction house entrance had been right. Jaehwan immediately approached them.
[I am warning you, don't waste your strength. It will end exactly like before.]
“What will happen to them? Will they become the gods' Followers?”
[That would be better. They will probably become the gods' Dolls.]
“Dolls?”
[Shells for the gods. Vicegerents who have lost their souls. Every Doll in that tower has their sense of self erased and becomes a tool of the gods.]
“Why would they do that? Wasn't the gods' goal to gather as many Followers as possible?”
[Because 〈Metaverse〉 is a tower where gods who hate Followers more than anyone in the Abyss live.]
Jaehwan fell silent.
The tail of the line vanished before his eyes, and the tower's doors closed. His hand moved toward his sword hilt again.
[You will die if you go in there! Even you...]
“Tell me how to save my friend.”
After a brief pause, Andersen spoke.
[If you officially participate in the Metaverse event, you might meet him if you are lucky. The Doll Auction begins from the seventh floor, so if you can reach it, you could save him. No, I told you, that is like a dream! No matter how strong you are, do you have any idea how dangerous that place is...]
Yoonhwan was in there.
His friend, who had given his life to clear the 《Tower of Nightmares》, was being dragged into a tower all over again. All so he could become the gods' toy.
“Jaehwan, the regular entrance is over there.”
Perhaps Runald had already sensed something from Jaehwan's mood. Runald clutched Jaehwan's sleeve with a grim expression.
[Hey, Runald! You!]
Andersen shouted furiously, but Runald could not hear her.
“But will this be alright? I begged to go several times before, but Andersen-nim always stopped me.”
Even though Runald could not hear Andersen, he sounded as though he were answering her.
Jaehwan quietly looked down at Runald.
“You can wait outside if you are scared.”
“No. I want to go with you! I thought it was a place I would have to visit someday.”
“Why?”
“Because... it has something to do with Andersen.”
Ignoring Andersen's continued protests, Jaehwan approached the ticket booths. Souls were already standing in short lines at each one.
Jaehwan chose booth number six. The clerk gave him a bored once-over.
“Admission is fifty trust per day. I can give you a week for two hundred fifty.”
The clerk sounded like they were selling tickets to an amusement park.
Jaehwan thought for a moment, then asked Runald, “What is trust?”
“It is the currency of the Abyss. It is like a crystallized form of the Followers' so-called faith...”
“Do we have any?”
“Well, we do, but Andersen-nim will probably...”
[No. Absolutely not. Do you think I will give it to you?]
Jaehwan quietly focused his mind. A small wallet appeared in his head.
It was not his wallet.
Without hesitation, Jaehwan opened it. When he spread his hand, two small crystal fragments lay in his palm.
“This is all of it.”
[My money! Aah, my money! You thieving bastard!]
“It is about two hundred trust.”
Jaehwan handed over the crystals without hesitation.
“Two people, for two days.”
“Two days? Are you serious?”
“I don’t have much money.”
“Hm. Do not regret it later. You read the warning properly, right?”
The clerk pointed to the warning above the ticket booth.
Caution! If you fail to renew your ticket after the admission period expires, you will become a Doll of 〈Metaverse〉. Be sure to renew your ticket before it expires.
A Doll. Was that what Andersen had meant earlier?
[Scared? You can quit right now if you are. Do you know what horrible things happen to Dolls...]
It’s a nightmare tower. I expected a penalty like this.
[Well, look at you. It seems you came from quite the impressive nightmare tower.]
The tower Jaehwan had graduated from was also a Master’s Tower, so it certainly had been impressive. Still, he had no desire to mention it.
“Enter over there.”
There were two entrances in the direction the clerk indicated.
Normal Pass
High Pass
“Oh, and do not go through the High Pass. You will get struck by lightning and die.”
Most participants dressed as shabbily as Jaehwan entered through the Normal Pass.
A small number of participants with flashy equipment entered through the High Pass. Among them was the man in full plate armor who had nearly picked a fight with Jaehwan earlier. The man seemed to glance at Jaehwan before disappearing through the door.
Still, the man in full plate armor was not what caught Jaehwan's attention.
That kid?
There was a boy with a familiar appearance. A snapback worn backward, headphones pulled low, and a jacket like a baseball varsity jacket.
There was no mistake. Jaehwan had definitely seen him before.
Before Jaehwan could approach, though, the boy disappeared into the crowd entering through the High Pass.
[Jealous? Too bad. This is a game where people with lots of money and Followers have the advantage. Everyone entering through the High Pass will start from the fifth floor.]
‘Is starting on a higher floor better?’
[They can quickly monopolize the hunting grounds and Hidden Items in this round of the Metaverse.]
Jaehwan stared at the High Pass entrance for a moment.
[Do you get it now? You have to compete with people like that. And that is not all. Do you know how vicious and horrible the people already living inside the tower are...]
“I am going in.”
Andersen fell silent at those words, spoken without the slightest hesitation.
[Are you serious?]
“Yes.”
Jaehwan could feel Andersen's deep agitation and anger.
“You want it too, don't you?”
[W-what nonsense are you talking about? Why would I go back there...]
She had once been a Cultivator, one who operated a nightmare tower like that. He did not know why, but she truly hated that tower.
If that was true...
“You said you lost everything in that tower.”
Andersen would help with this.
“Then you can take it all back this time.”
* * *
At the same time, Adel Richmond, director of the 〈World Force Suppression Bureau〉, arrived at the entrance to the 〈Caspion detention center〉 with a battalion sent by high-grade gods from various regions.
“Are you sure this is the place?”
“Yes. There was a World Force reaction here.”
While Adel remeasured the World Force reaction near the detention center, members who had been called out by the alarm grumbled behind the director.
“Disaster Level 8? How could that be real?”
“It has to be a malfunction. Measuring devices break sometimes.”
“Our director is too sensitive.”
Adel frowned and looked up. The members quickly looked away in different directions.
The director cursed inwardly but did not show it. It would be better if they were right and the measuring device had malfunctioned.
But then...
Beep.
The World Force reaction was still there.
“S-so it was real.”
The member holding the measuring device trembled.
It was faint, but there were clearly traces of a combat Setting having manifested nearby. The strange part was that, despite the amount of World Force being enough to trigger a Level 8 disaster alert, there was not a single physical trace left on the surrounding terrain.
“Director, no matter how hard we look, there does not seem to have been a fight. We asked around for witnesses, but no one saw anything even resembling one.”
It was impossible.
A month ago, when high-grade gods had fought through their Vicegerents, an entire small district of 〈Caspion〉 had been swept away. Yet a Level 8 disaster had left no trace?
The members gathering information eventually returned with something they had learned.
It came from a guard who had been stationed at the detention center entrance. A low-grade Follower of Vanguard, the God of Protection.
“Well, there was one naked pervert who caused a small commotion.”
“A commotion? Did anyone die?”
“No. He only grabbed his sword hilt.”
His sword hilt?
“You idiot, when did our director ask about something like that?”
“B-but we were told to report anything unusual...”
“Even so, no one told you to report something that stupid...”
“What time was it?”
“Excuse me?”
The director's expression had stiffened.
“I asked what time it happened.”
“Please wait a moment. The time...”
The Follower pressed a hand to their temple with a gloomy expression. It seemed they had activated Vanguard's Setting, 「Action Cam」.
A moment later, the Follower gave the time.
“What? That makes no sense.”
A member who heard the time muttered in disbelief.
The time reported by Vanguard's Follower exactly matched the moment the 〈World Force Suppression Bureau〉’s Followers had collapsed.
It was logically impossible. A Level 8 disaster alert had gone off because someone grabbed a sword hilt?
“It doesn’t make sense.”
But what if someone existed who could produce that much World Force simply by gripping a sword hilt?
It was a chilling thought, but not an impossible one. The 《Abyss》 sometimes held monsters who existed beyond all standards.
For example, that little Awakened One who had slipped past high-grade gods' Followers a month ago and vanished.
“Can you show me the footage?”
“Here it is.”
The footage did show a naked man gripping a sword hilt.
“Why is the image quality so poor?”
“I do not know.”
“Video interference?”
The footage looked heavily pixelated.
To cause interference of this degree, the person involved would have to be a retainer of at least a highest-grade god. Perhaps highest-grade gods, or, in the worst case, a retainer of the Seven Divine Thrones, had secretly visited 〈Caspion〉.
If someone that strong had entered, there should have been an issue at the checkpoints first.
“Director, we brought them.”
Adel soon summoned the station chiefs who had handled checkpoint shifts over the past few days. Nothing stood out.
Just as the director was about to give up, one statement from the station chief in charge of Gate 84 caught Adel's attention.
“Well, there was one strange Vicegerent... but they were a beginner, and the god was low-grade...”
“Report it.”
“They were peculiar. Their Worldview had everyone naked. It reminded me of the old days, so I gave them a lecture...”
“...What did you say?”
“Pardon?”
“What did you just say?”
“Um... which part?”
“The part about a naked Worldview.”
“Ah. There was one Vicegerent and one Follower, and both were naked. Honestly, using such a vulgar Worldview in this day and age...”
Not simply naked, but a Worldview based on it?
“No way...”
A naked Vicegerent.
Director Adel Richmond knew of one god in the 《Abyss》 with that Worldview.
“Was the name of the god they served Andersen?”
“Oh, yes. That is right. How did you know?”
Adel gave a bitter smile at the clueless look on the station chief's face.
A great deal of time had passed. Did young people these days not even know Naked Andersen?
More importantly, if that Vicegerent of Andersen had truly returned here, it was no ordinary problem.
“Where was Andersen's Vicegerent last spotted?”
“At the entrance to the 〈Metaverse〉.”
The Metaverse.
Only then did Adel understand how this would unfold.
“A real disaster may soon strike Caspion.”
Footnotes:
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