Chapter 115 - Episode 17. 500 Years of Destruction (2)
Chapter 115: Episode 17. 500 Years of Destruction (2)
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[How long is Runald going to sulk?]
“...”
[Hey!]
All the way down the long corridor beyond the Waystation, Runald walked with his lips stuck out like a duck’s bill.
[Is this because you did not buy that Demon King thing or whatever?]
“We could have been rich too! If only we had accepted those two million trust! Who does Andersen-nim think she is...!”
[That was money you could not take! Rotten money!]
Though Andersen knew Runald could not hear her, she retorted to every word.
“Do you know how many things we need to spend money on in the Metaverse? We have to keep paying admission fees, buy Skins, buy Parts!”
[So you are sulking because you could not buy your Part.]
“It was not like I particularly wanted it!”
They should not have been able to converse, yet they were. Jaehwan had just begun to wonder what was going on when the corridor abruptly ended, opening into a new place.
[You have entered ‘Bus Stop 6-3’.]
“Another stop?”
This stop was somewhat different from the previous ones.
“There are so many doors.”
Hundreds of doors filled the station. Some were made of metal, while others were old wood. One thing was certain, the auras leaking from beyond each door were all different.
[The Task for ‘Metaverse Floor 6’ has arrived!]
+
<Metaverse Floor 6>
Task: Choose ‘three doors’ on the sixth floor and complete the sub-Tasks.
Reward: Entry to the seventh floor and 500 trust.
+
Runald muttered as though he understood.
“I think we have to choose three of those doors and clear them.”
The doors ahead bore signs marked High, Medium, and Low, like nameplates. They seemed to indicate the difficulty of the sub-Tasks.
[Ahem, the time for me to shine has finally come. This place is-]
“We do not have time. Let’s move quickly.”
[Huh? Wait!]
Jaehwan quickly examined the doors in front of him. Most had no time limit, but some did.
+
World Name: Star Stream Collaboration Event Map 3, ‘Emergency Defense Battle’.
Difficulty: Medium
Details: Survive for eight hours.
―Star Stream Scenario collaboration map released
―Acquire ‘coins’ and exchange them for ‘trust crystals’!
―The very Scenario where that ‘Demon King of Salvation’ once became famous!
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[This is not somewhere I remember. A collaboration? Is it some event they run these days?]
“We’ll take this one. It has the shortest clear time.”
[Hey! Wait! Do you even know what this is?]
Without hesitation, Jaehwan opened the door. Runald quickly followed him inside.
Then, exactly eight hours later.
Runald stumbled out, his entire body in tatters.
“Pant, pant! I really thought I was going to die!”
Runald wheezed as he cradled an armful of golden coins. Jaehwan, who came out after him, was covered in dust as well. He brushed the monster blood from Dokbul and spoke as if nothing had happened.
“That was nothing.”
[Spoken by a half-naked man.]
“Either way, we cleared it.”
Jaehwan lightly pressed a button on his clothes, restoring his combat suit.
‘Emergency Defense Battle’ was a sub-Task where they hunted monsters pouring into a subway station for eight hours. Apparently, the 〈Star Stream〉 had Tasks like this as well.
[You have cleared ‘Emergency Defense Battle’.]
[You have acquired 300,000 coins as a reward.]
Jaehwan then chose another collaboration map.
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World Name: Star Stream Collaboration Event Map 8, ‘Greatest Sacrifice’.
Difficulty: Extreme
Details: Defeat the Scenario ‘Greatest Sacrifice’.
―Star Stream Scenario collaboration map released
―Acquire ‘coins’ and exchange them for ‘trust crystals’!
―An extreme difficulty even the famous ‘Demon King of Salvation’ struggled with!
―Warning! The Task may end too quickly.
+
“Let’s go.”
[No, wait! We do not even know what it is about!]
It did not matter. Jaehwan entered again, and Runald followed. Naturally, Andersen followed too.
Eight hours later, Runald burst out once more.
“I really, really thought I was going to die!”
Dark circles hung beneath Runald’s eyes as he staggered around and made a fuss. He seemed to have gained quite a few Parts from the Task, because he now wore a combat suit similar to Jaehwan’s.
Jaehwan came out next.
“They called it extreme difficulty, but it was nothing after all.”
[Spoken by a naked man this time.]
Jaehwan pressed the release button on his chest and quickly restored his clothes.
As Runald counted the newly gathered coins one by one, he muttered, “But Jaehwan-nim, was that really how we were supposed to clear it?”
“There was no other way. I was the ‘strongest.’”
The map they had cleared, ‘Greatest Sacrifice,’ was one where they participated alongside other passengers. Its Task was simple.
―Survive the oncoming monsters.
The problem was that the monsters grew stronger over time, and simply holding out would not end the Task.
The Clear Conditions were as follows.
One ‘strongest passenger’ had to die, or half the passengers undertaking the Task had to die.
So Jaehwan made a choice.
―Destroy the ‘world’ where this Task took place.
The problem was that others made their choice even faster than he did.
―That guy is the ‘strongest’! If we kill him, it is over!
―Kill that man!
The passengers rushed at Jaehwan, targeting him. Half of them were promptly killed by Jaehwan’s Stab.
“Thanks to that, it really did end quickly.”
That had not been his intention, but it happened anyway. Jaehwan had no idea how that ‘Demon King of Salvation’ or whatever had cleared this...
[The God of Illusory Flames, ‘Vulcanos,’ pours immense rage upon you!]
[The God of Passion, ‘Heka,’ hates you!]
[The God of Sleep, ‘Daimer,’ curses you!]
······.
[The God of Flames, ‘Ignis,’ likes your boldness.]
The gods who had joined the event map through other sixth-floor stops poured tremendous hatred toward Jaehwan. They were all contract gods of the Vicegerents who had become wandering souls beneath Jaehwan’s Stab.
[You have cleared ‘Greatest Sacrifice’!]
[You have acquired 300,000 coins as a reward.]
[The coins you acquired can be exchanged for trust crystals.]
[Would you like to exchange them?]
“I will exchange them.”
After clearing two maps in a row in less than a day, Jaehwan had gathered a fair number of trust crystals.
“We are a little rich now! We can update our admission tickets as much as we want!”
The exchange rate between coins and trust was terrible, but they still gained more than ten thousand trust in an instant.
[The God of Flames, ‘Ignis,’ is curious about the next Task you will choose.]
It seemed they had gained a regular viewer god before they knew it.
Andersen, who had been watching the gods’ messages closely, muttered.
[That Ignis could not be the Ignis I know, right?]
“Do you know that god?”
[Sort of. There is probably no being in the Abyss who does not know that god. But it is obviously an impostor. Ignis would never watch a broadcast like this.]
After grumbling for a while, Andersen’s voice suddenly grew distant. Her broadcast channel seemed unstable.
“I am not receiving messages well.”
[It is because my 《Little Brother》 account level is too low.]
“That woman called Rene was different.”
[Then why do you not travel with her?]
Jaehwan did not answer for a moment. He focused his mental image within his Unique World, and it was as though he could see a little girl crouching in the corner.
She seemed to be sulking because he would not listen to her.
“This time, choose the door you want.”
[What? Really?]
“Yes.”
[You have completed a total of two sub-Tasks.]
[Please choose your final Task.]
With that message, all the doors open ahead began to close and disappear. Some were doors Jaehwan had been considering, but it seemed they could not casually choose their final sub-Task.
“All the event maps are closing, but the doors in the back are still open!”
As if to help with their choice again, simple descriptions were posted above the doors. This time, though, the descriptions were somewhat different.
[〈Metaverse〉 ver.1.54]
[〈Metaverse〉 ver.5.46]
[〈Metaverse〉 ver.7.31]
If Jaehwan remembered correctly, the version of 〈Metaverse〉 he was currently in was 9.61.
[Just as I thought! I knew things like this would still be here.]
Looking closely, each version had a description.
[〈Metaverse〉 ver.7.48]
―A stage for those who want the classic version!
It seemed all these doors led to the 〈Metaverse〉 from previous rounds.
[It is a feature of the sixth floor. 〈Metaverse〉 gets massive updates every quarter, and sometimes maps from past versions disappear altogether. Old-version maps are moved here to the sixth floor.]
In other words, this place was a museum of past 〈Metaverse〉 versions.
Still, something felt strange as they looked around.
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[〈Metaverse〉 ver.8.01]
―Classic returns. Back to the Metaverse once more.
[〈Metaverse〉 ver.9.11]
―A recreation of the true classic stage. Feel the scent of the past.
[〈Metaverse〉 ver.9.23]
―The real classic version is open. Back into the embrace of the old Metaverse.
+
Runald, who had been carefully reading the descriptions, asked, “They all say they are classics.”
[That is how they attract a lot of passengers.]
“Why?”
[The early Metaverse was a fair world. If you worked hard, you received rewards equal to your effort. At least, more people believed that then than they do now.]
“Wow, Andersen-nim. I can hear you even though you are not in a God-Descent state!”
[I think this guy’s World Force increased a little after clearing the first floor. I can talk for a moment, but-]
With a sputtering sound, Andersen’s voice disappeared again.
“I cannot hear you again.”
[Damn it.]
Jaehwan looked over the old-version doors with Runald one by one. Beneath the signs were brief reviews from passengers who had participated in each version.
―Driver, get back to basics.
―Are you kidding? You call this classic?
―You said there would be no gacha draws you said there would be no gacha draws you said there would be no gacha draws
―How much am I supposed to spend, you lunatics?
All sorts of terrible reviews followed.
Runald shouted as though he had figured it out.
“Let’s read the reviews and enter somewhere with good ratings!”
[Everyone thinks that innocently at first.]
Runald searched for about ten minutes before finding the version with the best reviews. Or rather, before trying to.
“There is not a single version with more than two points...”
After pondering for a moment, Runald clapped his hands as though he had realized something.
“Wait. If they all claim to be ‘classic,’ that means there must be an first version that was the real classic!”
[Oh-ho.]
“Then we can just enter the very first version!”
Not long after, Runald found that ‘first version.’
[〈Metaverse〉 ver.1.00]
―Entry is currently unavailable due to internal repairs.
After seeing the endless signs that read ‘under internal repairs,’ Runald suddenly spread both arms like he had lost his mind and shouted, “Metaverse!”
“The gods must find a pathetic tower like this amusing.”
[It was not like this five hundred years ago. There were some paid systems, but it still had dreams and adventure. You could grow alongside your Companions and feel like you might really reach the end of this world.]
“Did you come here because you wanted to play a game like that?”
[No. I hate games. If I had to put it that way, I came here for a reason similar to yours.]
“A similar reason?”
[I came here to save my friend too.]
Just as Jaehwan was about to ask whether gods could have friends, Andersen’s gaze stopped before a certain door. Jaehwan sensed it, and his steps stopped as well.
[Let’s go here.]
The door Andersen chose was covered in old dust. It was a door that hardly had any recent ratings, as though no one had visited it for a very long time.
[〈Metaverse〉 ver.3.12]
Runald scrolled down and read the old ratings for the map.
―A crazy bastard lives here
―Never enter the village
“Jaehwan-nim, this place does not even have one point.”
“That does not matter.”
“Right. The harder it is, the more rewards we will get for clearing it, right?”
Jaehwan nodded and took hold of the doorknob.
[You have selected 〈Metaverse〉 ver.3.12.]
A cold chill lingered at the tip of his nose. When the door opened, white snow was falling from the sky.
Excited at the sight, Runald waved his hand toward the sky. Jaehwan parted the light snowfall and slowly surveyed his surroundings.
A gray sky. A desolate landscape with half-destroyed houses scattered about and enormous craters in the ground. Only traces of hardened ash remained on the distant volcano, and no sign of life could be felt anywhere in the ruined area.
[I never thought I would come back here...]
“Do you know this place?”
Andersen did not answer.
Whenever Andersen swallowed her words, her emotions would reach Jaehwan with greater weight. They were emotions Jaehwan already knew well, but the texture and warmth buried within them were quite different from what he knew.
“I see.”
This was the 〈Metaverse〉 where Andersen had lived five hundred years ago. The place that had taken everything from her.
While Andersen briefly lost herself in memory, Jaehwan lightly surveyed the ruins. Then his gaze stopped at one place.
Near the door they had come through, a rift of immeasurable depth split the ruined ground.
Jaehwan silently looked into the wound in the earth. Others might not know, but Jaehwan could not fail to recognize what it was.
It was the trace left by his Stab.
The Stab he had fired from the first floor seemed to have pierced through this ‘world.’
Jaehwan reflexively looked up at the sky.
There was no rift.
So that was it.
There was a being here who had stopped his Stab.
Footnotes:
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