Chapter 170 - Episode 23. Driver (4)
Chapter 170: Episode 23. Driver (4)
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At Jaehwan’s bold command, Andersen said,
“Will that really open the Door?”
The Door opened.
“It opened.”
It opened cleanly, without any traps. Perhaps whoever was inside thought Jaehwan would just break it again if they refused to open it.
Jaehwan and the Allies exchanged glances before stepping inside. The interior was filled with dreamlike mist. Jaehwan took a few more steps.
His senses gradually began to feel blocked.
When he suddenly looked back, the Allies were gone.
By the time he looked forward again, a dark laboratory stretched out before him.
‘An illusion.’
The hazy energy hanging in the air proved it.
An elderly dream demon stood at the center of the laboratory.
「A single floor... Break through time...」
Apparently unable to recognize Jaehwan, the dream demon muttered while operating a hologram in midair.
The holographic screen displayed a blueprint of the Metaverse and three figures that looked like cartoon characters.
「...is impossible, but... if it could be done...」
Jaehwan wondered if that dream demon might be Neil Crash, the Master who had created this tower.
「Big Brother...」
Big Brother?
The moment Jaehwan stepped closer, intrigued, the dream demon turned toward him in surprise.
At that instant, the screen flickered with interference, as if it had become covered in static.
When Jaehwan blinked again, the dream demon had vanished without a trace. In its place was a vast plain, with three shadows standing at its center.
Jaehwan realized those shadows resembled the figures drawn in the dream demon’s hologram.
He turned his gaze toward one of them.
The first was a handsome man with long jet-black hair, a sharp jawline, and cold, dark eyes that looked down upon the world.
Jaehwan thought he knew who it was.
‘Catastrophe?’
He did not look exactly like the Catastrophe Jaehwan had seen, but the atmosphere he exuded and the dangerous World Force that recalled the Deadmans undoubtedly belonged to Catastrophe. Perhaps this was what Catastrophe had looked like before being sealed.
The 「Void Sword」 in his left hand was decisive proof.
Catastrophe was speaking with someone. The other figure was a ‘robot’ whose shadow was the largest among the three.
A robot?
It bore an odd resemblance to the Factory Masters Jaehwan had met in the Strange Factory.
The Factory Masters had said they were Lost Ones of an Ancient God. They had also asked him to find their missing Three Divine Artifacts.
Jaehwan recalled the name of the god they had served.
‘Deus Ex Machina.’
Only then did he understand who the three figures were.
They were the Three Ancient Gods.
The three kings said to have ruled the 《Abyss》 before the Seven Divine Thrones appeared.
But why had this illusion of the Three Ancient Gods suddenly appeared before him? Was it a trick by Neil Crash, the Creator dream demon? Or by the Driver?
Either way, it was not a bad thing. Opportunities to witness the Three Ancient Gods were rare.
Jaehwan turned toward the final Ancient God.
The last of the Three Gods had a massive body. Strangely, the god was naked.
The Naked God was singing with sad eyes.
It was a melody Jaehwan seemed to have heard before. The voice was endlessly wistful and lonely.
As he listened blankly, the Naked God turned toward Jaehwan. The god’s eyes widened as though he could see him, then he opened his mouth.
[■■■... Deus ■■■?]
At that moment, the snake mark engraved on Jaehwan’s left arm began shining white.
A moment later, the Naked God tilted his head.
[■■■ ■■■ Catastrophe ■■■ ■■■?]
This time, his left hand, the one that had wielded the Void Sword, began to ache.
The naked man looked slightly surprised as he watched Jaehwan.
“What are you even saying?”
At Jaehwan’s words, the Naked God slowly rose and began walking toward him. Jaehwan instinctively stepped back, but the god’s enormous hand seized his shoulder.
Then he heard words he could not understand.
[Ouroboros.]
With that final word, the Three Ancient Gods scattered like mist.
When Jaehwan blinked again, he was standing blankly in a spacious drawing room. It resembled a luxury penthouse, with its ceiling completely open to the sky.
“Oh, you finally made it.”
“Jaehwan-nim, why did you take so long?”
The Allies, who had been looking around the drawing room, approached him. It seemed they had arrived first.
Yet the Leader’s expression was strange when he saw Jaehwan. The Leader rushed over in a single stride, grabbed Jaehwan by the shoulders, and shouted,
“Mmph! Mmph!”
Jaehwan frowned and glared at him.
The Leader mumbled something with desperate eyes, but the gag was still in his mouth, so Jaehwan could not hear him.
“Mmph! Mmph!”
With no other choice, Jaehwan activated 「Understanding」.
Only then could he hear the Leader’s words.
「What did you see?」
“The dream demon who made the tower.”
The Leader seemed slightly relieved at Jaehwan’s answer.
「I see. Did you see Neil Crash?」
“And some strange people.”
“Strange people?”
A shadow of suspicion crossed the Leader’s eyes. His gaze fixed on the glowing snake mark on Jaehwan’s left arm.
「Did you meet the Three Gods?」
When Jaehwan nodded, the Leader’s lips trembled.
「How... How did you...」
“You have never seen them?”
The Leader looked away as though he did not want to admit it.
Just as Runald and Karlton were about to ask what the commotion was about, someone emerged through the inner door of the drawing room.
[You are loud. Is everyone here?]
Every syllable of the voice dripped with deep weariness. A blond man dressed like a philosopher from ancient Greece stood there. He scratched his messy hair, looked over the Allies, and grinned.
[I thought you would be here soon, but you took so long that I nodded off for a while.]
His defenseless appearance kept the Allies from realizing who he was for a moment.
Jaehwan asked,
“Are you the Driver?”
[That’s right.]
Only then did the Allies straighten up in alarm.
The Driver.
That weary-faced young man was the Driver currently running this 〈Metaverse〉.
The Leader shouted furiously at his appearance.
“Mmph! Mmph mmph!”
[Oops, I forgot to take your gag off. Sorry about that, Leader. You were making such a racket, you see. Still, it suits you, so keep it on a little longer.]
Enraged, the Leader converted all his remaining World Force into grip strength and tore the gag off by force.
Wiping the blood from his mouth, the Leader spoke to the man in a threatening voice.
“Gainak. I have climbed back up, so keep your promise!”
A small stir ran through the Allies at the unexpected name.
Gainak.
A few high-grade gods, including Manri Shintong, seemed to already know the title behind that name. Manri Shintong asked,
“Gainak? Are you truly the ‘Lord of Sloth’?”
Lord of Sloth.
Runald and Karlton’s eyes widened at those words.
The Driver’s true identity was a Lord?
Yet Jaehwan could not sense any trace of the System from the Driver. That meant the Driver was no longer under the System’s protection.
Jaehwan said,
“Samyeong Garam once told me about you.”
[Samyeong Garam?]
“When I reached the Abyss, they told me to find you. They said you could help me.”
Those had been the final words of Dark Fragrance Lord Samyeong Garam, left for Jaehwan after he opened Creation. Samyeong Garam knew Jaehwan was headed for the summit of the 《Tree of Illusion》 and said Gainak could aid him on his journey.
It was impossible to know whether the dead Samyeong Garam’s judgment had been correct, but the Driver did look troubled for a moment upon hearing that name.
[Samyeong Garam. Samyeong Garam... Right. There was someone like that.]
Then, as though a memory had surfaced, he smiled faintly.
[I have not heard about that one in a very long time. How have they been lately?]
“Dead.”
The Lord of Sloth showed no sign of being shaken.
[I see.]
He did not look curious about who had killed Samyeong Garam or why.
Jaehwan added one more sentence.
“I killed them.”
[Oh?]
The Lord of Sloth still looked indifferent, as though unable to understand why Jaehwan had bothered to add that.
Instead, the Lord of Sloth walked over to the window and pulled up the blinds. Brilliant light poured in, revealing the scene of 〈Caspion〉.
This world was inside 〈Metaverse〉. Yet the view outside the window was the landscape of the 《Abyss》.
[That one probably always thought it might end this way. They were a seed of the System, yet they had far too many doubts. They should have either comfortably stopped thinking like the other Lords, or broken free of the System and come outside. Instead, they could choose neither.]
Listening to his dry voice, Jaehwan thought about Samyeong Garam.
If what Samyeong Garam had said was true, it had been at least eight hundred years since they had last seen the Lord of Sloth.
The Lord of Sloth stretched hard, looking stiff, then led the Allies to the table in the drawing room.
[Anyway, you are lucky. Congratulations on making it to the end.]
He counted the Allies as if he were counting lottery winners, then smiled.
[Though there are a few too many of you.]
“Is that a problem?”
[Not exactly, but I have to filter out illegal passengers first. The passengers inside the Cube do not count.]
Jaehwan thought of Yu Seolha, who would be inside the Cube in his possession. It certainly would not make sense for her to receive a reward after climbing to the Tenth Floor through the Cube. It seemed that kind of trick would not work.
[And the crow over there is the same.]
Andersen, who was sitting on Jaehwan’s shoulder, flinched.
[You seem to have climbed up without paying for a ticket at all, so you cannot make a wish.]
“If I pay trust now...”
[No. It is hard to recognize that crow as ‘one god.’ It is also difficult to say the crow cleared the Tasks through her own strength. It looks like she somehow received recognition on the Ninth Floor, but... well, even if I do not spell it out, she knows better than anyone.]
Andersen was, in practice, closer to a Part belonging to Jaehwan’s Worldview than a participant in her own right. Without Jaehwan, she could not even use her power.
Still, Jaehwan could not simply let it pass when he had received Andersen’s help.
Before he could speak, Andersen nodded.
“That is true. I am not qualified.”
Jaehwan turned toward Andersen.
She shook her head as though telling him not to say anything.
“I expected this already. Making it this far is enough for me. I feel a little sorry for Rachel, but... I will find another way somehow. Do not worry. Thanks to you, I recovered Rachel’s body. There must be a way to bring her back.”
“You...”
“Thanks to you, I got my revenge too. If I become greedier now, Rachel will scold me.”
After five hundred years, Andersen had achieved her revenge. The history she had lived through had safely come to an end, and this was the end of her journey.
But could she really say that was enough?
As the Allies fell into solemn silence, the Lord of Sloth lightly clapped, as if trying to change the mood.
[All right, let us set the crow aside. I will grant the wishes of the other eight. Go ahead and say anything. I will grant anything within my power.]
Runald stepped forward first.
“Please revive Rachel Young, Andersen-nim’s former Vicegerent.”
“Runald?”
Andersen cried out in shock.
This was none other than a wish ticket from 〈Metaverse〉. A reward that had returned for the first time in six hundred years. Runald had given that reward to Andersen.
Yet Runald did not seem to mind at all.
Andersen opened and closed her beak several times toward Runald, then bowed her head with her beak tightly shut.
Jaehwan lifted Andersen from his shoulder and placed her in Runald’s cupped hands.
“I am really all right, my god.”
“But...”
Runald looked at the god he had once served, now cradled in his hands. Such a small, precious warmth.
He had survived in the 《Abyss》 because of that small warmth.
Only now was it finally time to return the warmth he had received.
“This was my only wish from the beginning.”
Footnotes:
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