Chapter 111 - Episode 16. Metaverse (3)
Chapter 111: Episode 16. Metaverse (3)
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Screams rang out everywhere as passengers began turning into goblins. Just then, a man who had collected ten tokens backed away and warned the other passengers.
“Damn it, stop!”
Those who did not know where the goblins spawned, along with those unsatisfied with the number of goblins, shifted their targets.
Until moments ago, the rankings had shown who had acquired tokens. Now, they served as a convenient indicator of who had become a “goblin.”
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<Token Acquisition Rankings>
1. Rem Ru, 16 [Track / 50 trust]
2. Mil Ros, 14 [Track / 50 trust]
3. Dynas, 13 [Track / 50 trust]
······.
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“Find the ones with more than ten and beat the hell out of them!”
“Wait! Just wait! If you kill me, you’ll become goblins too! Can you handle that?”
The man’s shout set off a tense standoff among the people nearby.
If they collected all the tokens, they would become goblins. Yet if they held out without collecting tokens, they would be eliminated.
[20 minutes remain.]
The passengers exchanged looks.
“Let’s herd them in slowly. There’s no need to rush.”
They only needed to collect ten tokens within twenty minutes to complete the task.
Sensing his death approaching, the goblin man quickly looked around before raising both hands.
“Wait! I’ll give them to you! You just want my tokens, right?”
At almost the same time, the goblin man flung his tokens into the air. While the passengers picked up the tokens scattered across the floor, he quickly slipped away.
Then Jaehwan spotted a familiar head among those gathering them.
“Jaehwan-nim! I’ve almost got them all too!”
Runald had said he was quick on his feet. Apparently, his hands were just as fast.
The problem was that his mouth was too fast as well.
Jaehwan swiftly counted the tokens piled in Runald’s arms.
Eight... now nine.
“Hey. Kid.”
Passengers who had seen Runald picking up tokens began approaching him one by one. Startled, Runald backed toward Jaehwan.
“Hand them over.”
Runald shrank back, shoulders hunched, as the passengers advanced like demons.
At that moment, Jaehwan looked at the building’s glass wall, where he had seen the goblin man earlier.
[Many goblins carrying one or more tokens have appeared!]
Nowhere had it said that collecting ten or more tokens would turn someone into a goblin.
“E-excuse me. Sirs. Ladies.”
Red arrow markers floated above the passengers’ heads.
Every passenger reflected in the glass wall had become a green-skinned monster.
Everyone here was already a goblin.
The task on the first floor was to collect ten tokens by hunting goblins. From the start, the first floor of 〈Metaverse〉 had been designed around conflict between passengers.
Runald, who had been backing away, bumped the back of his head against a hard wall and groaned.
When he turned around, Jaehwan was there.
“Get behind me.”
Runald quickly hid behind him. The passengers wore fierce expressions, but none dared approach.
“Never seen that guy before.”
The passengers on the first floor were Followers of roughly the same ability, barely past the beginner stage. Fear had gotten the better of them.
“Check his ranking. Does he have any tokens?”
“None at all.”
“Hey, which god do you serve?”
Some circled around behind him while others pretended to be friendly as they spoke. There were twelve in total.
Without letting his guard down, Jaehwan moved his hand to Dokbul’s hilt. It was not a bad opportunity to test his true strength in the 《Abyss》.
Then Andersen reacted strangely.
[Something’s coming.]
Jaehwan could feel it through his senses as well.
The sentences spewed out by his 「Doubt」 and 「Understanding」 reached him as people’s screams.
「P-please spare me!」
「Aaaah!」
Someone was approaching, dismembering nearby goblins and people.
This was a stage where gathering more tokens made one a target. Committing such a ruthless slaughter here made no sense.
Still, Jaehwan knew how such an absurd thing could be possible.
An overwhelmingly powerful opponent.
Whether they became a goblin or a target did not matter if they were stronger than everyone else here.
Even more so if those powerful opponents were a group.
“Damn it! Run!”
The passengers who had been lingering uncertainly near Jaehwan scattered at once. They had approached slowly, but fled with remarkable speed.
Even more remarkable were the people who caught and beat down those fleeing passengers one after another.
Each of them had a pipe at their waist.
―See those people wearing the same clothes? Never get involved with them. They are probably Followers of a god who owns a Site, at minimum.
They were the very group Rene had warned them about.
Was it his imagination? Those pipes seemed familiar.
A little later, around fifteen passengers who had finished clearing out the area approached Jaehwan. All of them wore red capes and had pipes at their waists.
“Jaehwan-nim, it’s those people from before.”
Only then did he remember.
They were the people he had met at the Fishing Spot shortly after arriving in the 《Abyss》.
[They are Apostles of the intermediate god Belkain.]
‘Apostles?’
[They are stronger than Followers, but weaker tha Vicegerents. Belkain’s elite. Damn it, of all places to run into them.]
One of the men at the front aimed something at Jaehwan, and it gave off a beep.
[Someone has used a Held Token Scanner.]
So they sold items like that too.
“The kid in the back has nine.”
“What about the one in front?”
“Zero.”
“Clear them out.”
As if there was no need for conversation, three men in front charged at the signal. Black mist seeped from their pipes, then long scythes sprouted from their elbows.
「Belkain’s Scythe」
The scythes looked far sturdier than the ones he had seen at the Fishing Spot. The faint red aura flowing over them also looked dangerous at a glance.
[Can you handle them? Want to borrow my Setting?]
‘No. I don’t need it.’
If stronger opponents had appeared, that was even better.
Jaehwan caught the swiftly flying scythe with Dokbul.
Seeing his reaction, the Apostle murmured with a triumphant smile.
“Fool.”
The defining trait of 「Belkain’s Scythe」 was “reinforcement.”
An Apostle-level Follower could also add the trait of “melting.” In other words, most weapons that collided with his scythe should have...
Crack.
...Melted?
Startled, the Apostle tried to pull his scythe free, but it clung to Jaehwan’s sword and would not come away.
“Let go! Let go!”
As if caught in an iron grip, Belkain’s Scythe was held fast by Dokbul.
Jaehwan gazed at Dokbul.
“I haven’t fed you in far too long.”
Dokbul’s blade split open in an instant. With a sharp tearing sound, half the man’s scythe was ripped away.
“Ugh, aaaaaaah!”
The man whose arm had been torn off by Dokbul staggered back with a horrific scream. Silver light poured endlessly from his arm.
The startled Apostles spoke up.
“What kind of Setting is that?”
“He’s no ordinary guy. Surround him!”
“Don’t let your scythes collide with his!”
Nearly ten people surrounded Jaehwan in an instant. Even under their fierce killing intent, Jaehwan did not so much as blink.
In that brief moment, Belkain’s Followers seemed to exchange information.
“What’s his World Force value?”
[The target’s World Force cannot be measured!]
“Hm?”
[The target’s World Force cannot be measured!]
“Looks like this thing is broken.”
Jaehwan gave a bitter smile. Come to think of it, he had heard something similar in 《Chaos》. Was that line part of the 《Tree of Illusion》’s long history?
“Could his World Force be too low to measure?”
He was starting to find this tiresome when an unexpected voice spoke.
“Don’t jump to conclusions.”
《Chaos》 and the 《Abyss》 really were different after all.
Jaehwan showed no sign of being intimidated by their killing intent, so the man who appeared to be their leader asked him.
“Which god do you serve?”
“I don’t serve one.”
[Hey.]
“We only want the tokens. Hand them over and get lost, and we’ll let you live.”
“No.”
It was an obvious lie. If he gave them the tokens, they would rush him and stab him in the back without hesitation.
Then...
“Vicegerent-nim. I think I know who he is.”
A man in a red hood whispered into their leader’s ear.
“I’m certain. I saw a video of him before. Do you remember the incident at the Fishing Spot, when low-grade Followers got beaten?”
“That naked bastard?”
“Yes.”
The leader slowly removed his cape as he looked Jaehwan over from head to toe.
A leader was a leader for a reason. Dressed in black armor beneath his cape, he had high-quality Parts wrapped all over his body.
“The offer is withdrawn. If you touched our people, you should pay the price.”
[That guy is Belkain’s main Vicegerent. He is on an entirely different level from those random Followers.]
The main Vicegerent of the intermediate god Belkain.
Yet Jaehwan was not looking at him.
He focused his sight on the force looming behind the Vicegerent.
Sizzle.
[The God of Scythes ‘Belkain’ has sensed your gaze.]
‘So that’s a god.’
[The God of Scythes ‘Belkain’ is extremely displeased with you.]
Perhaps his senses had grown dull. He could not accurately gauge how strong the enemy was.
It was probably because of that god’s presence. A Vicegerent was a being who wielded a god’s power on their behalf.
In other words, the real target he needed to cut down was there.
Andersen warned him.
[If he is the main Vicegerent, he can use at least 90% of his god’s power. Avoid clashing with him if you can. The difference in World Force between a low-grade god and an intermediate god is on another level.]
‘What you’re saying doesn’t match what you feel.’
[Uh...]
‘Didn’t you want to see me fight?’
They were the people who had tormented Runald in the Blue Grove Restricted Zone. There was no way Andersen was not angry.
There was something else, too.
She wanted to know Jaehwan’s strength.
How strong was this Awakened One she had chosen? Was the rumor of the “Lord Slayer” true? Had the story been exaggerated?
Could he truly take revenge on this tower in her place?
‘If you want to watch, then watch.’
Just as Andersen had shared her sight with him, Jaehwan shared his sight with her.
Filled with 「Doubt」 and 「Understanding」, that gaze moved past the man.
The intermediate god Belkain behind the Vicegerent.
And the enormous tower 〈Metaverse〉 behind him.
「······A god······ rebukes a beginner’s recklessness······」
「······cheers for Belkain’s Vicegerent······」
Along with the strings of text from 《Little Brother》 rising through the air, Jaehwan’s 「Doubt」 and 「Understanding」 continued stretching toward the upper floors.
As if they were searching for how high he could climb.
[Wait. You.]
Then Belkain’s Vicegerent, whose patience had run out, spoke.
“You have no intention of talking. Then die.”
Belkain’s Apostles charged Jaehwan all at once.
* * *
[You currently possess 10 tokens.]
Rene, who had collected ten tokens early on, looked down from the rooftop of a nearby high-rise.
The men attacking Jaehwan and Runald were a somewhat well-known group in this round as well.
“They are all promotion recipients.”
They were commonly called the Mogi Division. They were retainers of the intermediate god Belkain, who had started clearing the tower from the first floor.
Every one of them wore new-model random-draw Parts. It was obvious they had bought them with trust supplied by the Alliance as part of a promotion.
“They’re the kind of people I hate most.”
[Some gods demand to know whether you do not receive trust support as well.]
“Anyway, I think it’s about time Rene’s rookie rescue team stepped in, right?”
She could have helped much earlier, but she had deliberately waited because of a bet with the gods.
The bet was whether that beginner truly was a beginner.
[The God of Flames ‘Ignis’ says that is the hidden-strength Follower pattern.]
“Sure, Ignis-nim. Make sure you have plenty of wager money ready.”
[The God of Flames ‘Ignis’ says that based on his experience, there is a 99.5% chance that he is a hidden-strength Follower······.]
A hidden-strength Follower was shorthand for a Follower concealing their power.
Still, no matter how she thought about it, that beginner could not be a hidden-strength Follower.
“His spirit weapon is impressive, sure. But you see replica weapons like that now and then these days.”
[Some gods agree with Rene!]
“Look at him. He’s already surrounded and about to die. What hidden-strength Follower? If he is a hidden-strength Follower, then I’m one too.”
[Some gods reprimand you for being especially snide these days.]
“Anyway, rookie rescue team Rene, deploy!”
Rene shouted energetically and put her foot on the rooftop railing.
“Eh?”
Amid the dying screams, Rene’s hair flew wildly around her.
A terrifying beam of light shot toward the sky, accompanied by a pressure so immense that she could barely keep her eyes open.
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