Chapter 121 - Episode 18. God Without a Vicegerent (3)
Chapter 121: Episode 18. God Without a Vicegerent (3)
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Ethan began to speak.
“First of all, it is certain that your friend was moved from the Caspion detention center. It was the only official transaction that took place in the detention center at the time, and since it was a 〈Metaverse〉 case, unless something unusual happened, your friend was likely transferred to this tower.”
Jaehwan had expected that much. What mattered was from here on.
“Is he still alive?”
“Just because someone became a Doll does not mean they are necessarily dead. The Dolls on the upper floors are sometimes turned into Dolls while leaving their souls intact. There are plenty of people on the upper floors with the refined hobby of liking ‘living Dolls.’ The synchronization rate is higher that way too.”
“I asked if he was alive.”
“To give you the conclusion first.”
Ethan turned off the screen and answered.
“It seems your friend has not become a Doll yet. I looked through the list of souls that went through Dollification over the past month, and your friend’s name was not there.”
Jaehwan nodded as if he understood. In any case, this let him breathe a little easier, and it confirmed there was still a chance.
Andersen asked hesitantly.
[But will you be okay?]
‘With what.’
[That friend of yours probably will not remember you.]
Probably not. Yoonhwan would have forgotten his memories from the 《Tower of Nightmares》.
‘It does not matter.’
He had never lived to be remembered by someone. Maybe that had once been true, but it no longer was.
Someone suddenly took his right hand. When he turned, Runald was standing there, looking at him as if pitying him. They said Followers could feel their god’s emotions.
“You and your Follower are very close. Are you leaving right away?”
“There is something I need to do before I go.”
“What is it?”
“I am going to destroy this place. That is the assignment on Floor 6.”
Ethan stared blankly for a moment, then called out to Andersen.
“Andersen.”
“...”
“Hurry and take him out of here. You know better than anyone what the Alliance is like.”
“...”
“Andersen?”
“Andersen can only speak when I allow it.”
“Ah, I see. Because she is not a Vicegerent.”
After thinking it over, Ethan searched through some belongings and pulled something out. It was a baby crow model with a small wind-up key attached to its back.
“It is a Part I made as a test not long ago. I did not put it in the store because it did not seem like anyone would buy it. I will give it to you.”
“What is this?”
“Bring this Part into your Worldview. Then Andersen will not have to borrow your body.”
Jaehwan took the crow from Ethan. The information on the Part rose into view.
+
<Item Information>
Name: Moya Moya Crow
grade: Undetermined
Description: A crow Doll made by the God Without a Vicegerent, ‘Ethan Cart.’
Additional Setting: 「Cuteness」
+
“Strange name.”
Jaehwan stared at the crow suspiciously for a long moment, then turned the key. The crow, filled with his World Force, tilted its head and flew up onto Jaehwan’s head. Then.
[The link is being established.]
Along with the message, a voice flowed out from the crow’s beak.
“Wow! I can finally talk!”
Ethan smiled quietly and raised a hand.
“It has been a long time, Andersen.”
“Ethan.”
At last, the two gods from 500 years ago were meeting again.
* * *
Andersen briefly filled Ethan in on what had happened in the meantime.
“Well, you probably know already, but I nearly vanished. When I woke up from the seal, my World Force was almost gone, all my Followers had died inside the tower... I met that guy right when I was almost dead, and that is how I survived.”
Runald made a V with his fingers.
Andersen kept talking.
From scraping by with Runald for two years, to finding Jaehwan at the new Fishing Spot, to running around with Jaehwan and causing trouble all over the place, and finally making it into 〈Metaverse〉.
After talking for quite a while, Andersen muttered, sounding embarrassed.
“Come to think of it, a lot of strange things have happened since I met Jaehwan.”
“That is enough adventure talk. More importantly, why did the Harvester that came to my village end up like that?”
“Ah, that was me. It messed with my Followers.”
“You are out of your mind.”
“That sounds fresh coming from you.”
“Leave the village. If you stay here, you will die.”
“That will not help even if I leave. One of their lackeys already made it back alive, and I told it to pass along that this body had returned, so they should brace themselves.”
Ethan parted the lips slightly.
“Have you really gone mad.”
“Anyway, that is how it turned out, so you should at least know. And I am going to carry out the assignment, so help me out. This assignment cannot be canceled either.”
Andersen said that while looking at the newly updated assignment screen.
+
<Metaverse Floor 6 - ver.3.12>
Assignment: Destroy the ‘world.’
Time Limit: 14 days
Reward: Floor 7 admission ticket, 10,000 trust ???
* This assignment cannot be canceled.
+
Ethan asked, sounding dumbfounded.
“Your shamelessness is exactly the same as it was 500 years ago. You want me to help destroy this world? Are you seriously saying that?”
At the trace of anger in Ethan’s voice, Andersen brazenly asked back.
“How long are you planning to stay trapped in this world?”
“...”
“I know why you cannot leave this world. And I am grateful that you watched over my dead Vicegerent and Followers so they would not be disgraced. But you know it too. You cannot stay in 500 years ago forever.”
Ethan said nothing.
“Are you really okay with that?”
“It is not too late yet. The Alliance will not track you down anyway, as long as you do not touch 〈Metaverse〉. Give up the assignment and escape from the tower. I will tell you where the Exit Bell is.”
“I said I am not getting off. If I were going to get off here, why would I have come looking for you?”
Andersen spoke while glancing sideways at Jaehwan, who was in a corner training Stab with Runald.
“I am going to climb the tower. I need to help find that guy’s friend, and then...”
“You mean to take revenge.”
“Yes.”
“You have not forgotten how we were defeated, I assume.”
“Of course I remember. I thought back on that day hundreds of times, thousands of times.”
“Then you know well enough. You cannot win. Even if the two of us were together, even if every one of our Companions from 500 years ago came back alive, it would not be enough. No one in this 〈Metaverse〉 can defeat ‘that one’ from the ‘Alliance.’”
It was obvious who Ethan meant.
The strongest among the Metaverse Six Gods. The head of the Alliance’s ‘Oblivion.’
After that god appeared, the seat of the strongest in the Metaverse had never changed even once.
“To face that one is the same as making one of the Seven Divine Thrones your enemy.”
The Seven Divine Thrones. A name feared by every god in the Abyss.
“I do not care.”
“You mean that?”
The Moya Moya Crow looked up at the sky.
As if there were something Andersen was searching for beyond that distant ceiling.
“Rachel and my Followers are definitely dead, right? There is no way to turn a Doll back into a living being again?”
“Not as far as I know.”
After a brief pause, Ethan continued.
“But...”
“If it is 〈Metaverse〉, it might be possible. Right?”
Ethan’s eyes wavered.
“If it is the ‘Driver’ that moves this tower.”
In the Metaverse Passenger Rules, there was a category everyone knew about, but because everyone also knew it was impossible, it had become little more than a dead letter.
<Passenger Rules>, Article 7.
“A passenger who reaches the final floor may make one wish to the ‘Driver,’ the owner of the Metaverse.”
“Andersen.”
“All the deaths here happened inside this place. A paradise for damned gods, a false zone that is neither real nor virtual. If 〈Metaverse〉 can interfere in everything that happened in this zone.”
“You are thinking even the dead might be brought back to life.”
Andersen nodded.
Ethan let out a quiet groan. It was an unrealistic plan, but it was not complete nonsense either.
“This is different from 500 years ago. Right now, you have neither Followers nor Companions by your side.”
“I do have a Companion. And you are here too, Ethan.”
“I.”
Ethan’s lips opened slightly, then closed. The words Ethan swallowed never made it out, circling inside the mouth before sinking back down into Ethan’s world.
Andersen fluttered the wings and gently rose into the air, then looked at Jaehwan and Runald. Andersen’s fairy-tale Worldview shimmered faintly around their feet.
Even after going through such a horrific history, Andersen still looked at the world the same way. A heart that affirmed this world, and never lost that unrealistic faith that something would still change.
Ethan wanted to ask.
How Andersen could still look at the world with eyes like that. How Andersen could keep living while giving meaning to things like that.
“You do not need to be so scared. It might not turn out to be much after all.”
In the distance, Runald could be heard shouting, “Shoo shoo shoo shook, World Stab,” while Jaehwan narrowed his eyes.
“There is even someone who dreams of a world far more absurd than ours.”
* * *
The next day, Ethan gathered Andersen, Jaehwan, and Runald together and declared,
“I will help you.”
“That is more like it!”
Andersen cawed happily and flew high into the sky.
But Ethan’s expression was not all that bright.
“It is not because I wanted to. Circumstances simply left no other choice, so do not misunderstand for no reason.”
Ethan opened the screen and showed the others a message.
[〈Metaverse〉 ver.3.12 is hereby declared the property of the ‘Alliance’ as of this moment. Resident passengers are advised to withdraw from the map within 5 days.]
“What the hell is this. They are saying they are going to tear the map down.”
“That is what happened.”
“The Alliance bastards are still acting like thugs.”
“Even after you laid a hand on an Alliance member, they are giving notice before they act, so by old standards that already makes them relatively civilized.”
“What are you going to do?”
Ethan glanced lightly back toward the village. It seemed the villagers already knew what the notice said, because they were more flustered than usual.
“I think the time has finally come. From the start, once I confirmed you were alive, I planned to leave this world and take the Dolls with me.”
“Then you are coming up with us, right?”
Ethan slowly nodded.
“But we cannot clash with the Alliance right now. If we face the Alliance now, we will lose without fail. So before the Alliance arrives, we have to clear the assignment and go up to Floor 7. Then we have a chance.”
“Sounds like you have a plan?”
“There are still gods on Floor 7 who remember you. If we want to fight the Alliance, we must borrow their power.”
The one who cut them off was Jaehwan.
“We can talk about that later. Right now, getting to Floor 7 comes first.”
At Jaehwan’s words, Ethan nodded as well.
“I agree.”
“Then do we just start smashing things now?”
Jaehwan’s sword pointed toward the village.
This time, the assignment on Floor 6 was ‘the destruction of the world.’
As long as this world was not destroyed, they could not go to the next floor.
But Ethan shook the head.
“What exactly do you think ‘destruction’ is?”
“Destruction is...”
“I am not asking for a dictionary definition. Do you think getting rid of a single village would destroy this world?”
“Then I just have to destroy this entire world.”
“And how long do you think that will take?”
Without a word, Jaehwan began charging Stab.
Ethan spoke as if trying to stop him.
“If you are thinking of piercing the ceiling again, it would be better to stop. I am not the only one who can block your Stab. And from these upper floors onward, the structure between floors is stronger, so it cannot be destroyed so easily...”
Jaehwan’s Dokbul unleashed a Stab toward the sky.
With a rumbling roar, thunder crashed.
“It can’t...”
Accompanied by fierce sparks striking overhead, something began to split apart with a cracking sound.
“...be.”
And then the next moment.
[〈Metaverse〉’s restoration ability restores the damaged structure between floors.]
The sky repaired itself in an instant.
Ethan let out a light sigh and said,
“See. I told you it would not work.”
Jaehwan frowned.
Ethan added,
“I know you are strong, but it is difficult to destroy a world with Stab alone. It would be hard even with a much stronger attack. This world was never made to be cleared that way in the first place.”
“Then is there another method?”
“This world was destroyed once before, 500 years ago.”
As Ethan said that, Ethan pointed toward the center of the ruins.
A massive dormant volcano at the center of the map.
It was the volcano that had greeted them on the day they first came over to Floor 6.
“At that time, a meteorite fell into that volcano, and that is how everything began.”
Simply put, if they could make that volcano erupt, they could destroy this world.
“But it has been dormant for so long that making it erupt again will not be easy. At the very least, unless you drop an entire mass of powerful World Force straight into the crater...”
In other words, they needed powerful energy, enough to set off the volcano.
Jaehwan measured his own World Force.
Even at a glance, the volcano was enormous. A few Stabs were not going to bring a dead volcano back to life.
If that was the case, then the answer was.
Rumble.
That was when thunder crashed through the air. Ominous sparks curled across the sky, and unfamiliar Doors appeared in the place where Jaehwan had repeatedly unleashed Stab earlier.
There was not just one or two Doors. Five, ten, twenty...
In an instant, the Vicegerents who crossed through the Doors were looking down at the aboveground while giving off enormous World Pressure.
Jaehwan was seeing them for the first time, but immediately realized who they were.
“How are they here already...”
Even Ethan’s voice, usually calm, was tinged with shock.
Jaehwan, gauging the enemies’ strength through Doubt, said,
“You said it was a meteorite 500 years ago, right.”
At some point, Jaehwan had already gripped Dokbul and quietly aimed at the sky.
“This time, starting by dropping those bastards should work just fine.”
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