Chapter 199 - Episode 27. Mad God (1)
Chapter 199: Episode 27. Mad God (1)
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“If I enter the Great Forest again, I will no longer be human... no, not even a god.”
Buddha, Sixth Seat of the Seven Divine Thrones
* * *
At the heart of the Eighth Site, 〈Caspion〉, stood its capital, 〈Highseeker〉. The capital had changed hands several times through repeated Holy Wars, and it was now occupied by the figures who had led the Hachenold Catastrophe to victory.
“It is noisy inside. Did someone arrive?”
Kasim stood before the central office of 〈Highseeker〉’s grand palace, head tilted at the commotion coming from within.
The central office was where Highseeker’s highest authority had withdrawn from public view.
Yet shouting had been echoing from inside for some time. Something also shattered with a loud crash.
It was impossible. Who would dare raise their voice and throw furniture at 〈Caspion〉’s ruler and the master of 「Rupture」?
“Ah, Fourth Division Commander-nim, you have arrived.”
An administrator waiting outside the office hurried over and bowed to Kasim. The administrator looked quite anxious, likely having been keeping watch on the situation from outside.
“Is something happening?”
“Well, the Second Division Commander-nim has arrived.”
“The Second Division Commander? Seolha came?”
“Yes.”
Another loud crash rang out inside the office.
Kasim did not seem particularly concerned.
“Seolha can be like that.”
“Yes.”
It was easy enough to understand why the administrator was looking at Kasim with such hopeful eyes.
A Commander and a Division Commander were arguing in there. More precisely, the Division Commander was likely the only one yelling. A lowly administrator could not possibly step in.
Kasim looked down at the briefing documents in hand and sighed. There was no point waiting outside forever. Kasim had to go in eventually.
This will get noisy for a while.
The moment Kasim lightly turned the doorknob, Yu Seolha’s booming voice rang out.
“Then you should have just held him! You were trying to kill him?”
“There was a need.”
“What were you thinking? You were the one who first tried to recruit him!”
Kasim slowly let go of the doorknob.
Before Kasim’s hand had even fully left it, the door flew open with force.
Yu Seolha stormed out like a runaway train, electricity crackling from the ends of her hair. She must have been furious, because her Innate Setting, 「Thunder Chain」, had activated unconsciously.
Kasim stared blankly at the doorknob that had been torn off with a crash, then awkwardly raised a hand at Yu Seolha.
“Huh? Kasim?”
Yu Seolha, who had been breathing heavily, stared at Kasim with wide eyes.
* * *
Kasim let out a light sigh and asked, “What are you trying to accomplish by opposing the Commander? Are you going to hold a 「Rupture War」 and settle it?”
Instead of answering, Yu Seolha sucked down the orangeade on the tea table through a straw. Only after draining half of it did she speak.
“A Rupture War? There is no way I could win as I am now. How am I supposed to beat that monster when he even has the Three Divine Artifacts now?”
“Fair enough.”
The law of 「Rupture」 was might.
Whenever opinions clashed over a particular issue, Rupture could settle the dispute through a 「Rupture War」.
“Damn it. If only he did not have Deus Ex Machina.”
“Could you win if the Commander did not use it?”
“I would have to try to know.”
“Ha ha. There is a massive gap between your World Force and the Commander’s. How can you say that?”
Yu Seolha pouted at Kasim’s words.
Awakened Ones had transcended the System, but they had not fully escaped numbers. Their World Force was still a limited resource.
Yu Seolha’s publicly known World Force was a little over three billion.
The Commander’s World Force, on the other hand, neared or even exceeded ten billion even without Deus Ex Machina.
Yu Seolha drank the rest of her orangeade in irritation, then let out a small burp.
“By the way, who are those two behind you?”
“Ah.”
Kasim turned around in the direction Yu Seolha pointed.
A man and a woman stood there at attention with tense expressions.
“They are new recruits. I am taking them around and training them.”
“The Tyrant Kasim becoming a babysitter. Interesting.”
“Do not tease me.”
When Kasim gestured toward the recruits with a nod, the pair walked forward and bowed politely. Both had striking appearances. The man wore a neat, handsome smile, while the woman had a captivatingly blank expression.
The man spoke first.
“Hello, Division Commander-nim. My name is Kim Yoonhwan. I have recently joined 「Rupture」.”
“Kim Yoonhwan?”
“Yes.”
Yu Seolha studied his face.
“Could it be... no, forget it.”
After staring at Kim Yoonhwan for a moment, Yu Seolha turned to the woman.
“Hello. I am Han Seoyul.”
“Mm.”
Yu Seolha gave a light nod.
“You are pretty. Life must have been rather tiring for you.”
“No.”
Yu Seolha sensed the cold killing intent in Han Seoyul’s eyes and smiled.
“But with eyes like those, you will do fine on your own.”
“Thank you.”
“What are you thanking me for? You do not need to make a good impression on me. We might meet as enemies next time.”
“Pardon?”
Han Seoyul looked bewildered, and Kasim gave a bitter smile.
“What is this, Seolha? Are you already trying to intimidate the new recruits?”
“It is not like that.”
“Huh? Then what is it?”
There was no trace of playfulness on Yu Seolha’s face.
Kasim studied her carefully, expression slowly hardening.
“Do not tell me... no, right?”
“...”
“Stop joking. Tell me it is not true.”
“You are thinking correctly.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah. The next time we meet, you might be my enemy too.”
Kasim looked at Yu Seolha with an even more serious gaze. They had been comrades-in-arms for over a hundred years. They could tell what the other was thinking just by looking into their eyes.
“Are you leaving 「Rupture」 again?”
“I am just going out for a while.”
“Because of the guy the Commander let get away?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“There are plenty of men here too.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Why are you defending him so much? Over someone like that...”
“I saw his Unique World.”
I saw the Unique World.
If anyone other than Yu Seolha had said that, it would have meant exactly what it sounded like.
But when Yu Seolha said she had “seen” something, the meaning was different.
“Do not tell me you used 「World Appraisal」?”
「World Appraisal」.
Yu Seolha’s innate Setting, which could predict a world’s future potential.
When Yu Seolha said she had “seen” a world, it meant she had attempted an appraisal.
Kasim spoke faster.
“He lost to the Commander. There could not have been new potential in that world.”
“A defeated world is not always wrong.”
“What did you see that makes you say that?”
“To be exact, I did not see anything. The appraisal itself did not work.”
A world that could not even be appraised.
Had Yu Seolha ever used those words to describe an Unique World before?
“Even if his world holds greater potential, there is no reason for you to leave Rupture just because...”
“Kasim, do you know what happened to Eunsae?”
Kasim flinched and evaded the question.
“I do not know what you mean.”
“The Awakened One Enhancement Project. You knew about it too, right? Did you only hide it from me?”
Kasim’s lips tightened.
The Awakened One Enhancement Project.
It was an experiment conducted in absolute secrecy even within 「Rupture」, carried out without the knowledge of certain Division Commanders.
An experiment intended to maximize a child’s potential for growth and create a Unique World of infinite scale.
“Seolha, listen. That was...”
“What was Rupture’s banner? We gathered to create a world without cultivation.”
“...”
“So how are we any different from those damned Cultivators if we conduct experiments like that?”
Only then did Kasim seem to understand Yu Seolha’s anger.
Yu Seolha looked quietly up at the empty air and asked, “Do you still believe the Commander dreams of the same world as you?”
Kasim had trusted Maiad in the past and still trusted Maiad now. Even if the Commander had carried out something like the Awakened One Enhancement Project, Kasim did not doubt there was a greater purpose behind it.
Even so, Kasim found it difficult to answer Yu Seolha’s question.
“There is a ‘star’ in the Commander’s world. He is the only man who can see 《Big Brother》, the source of this world’s disaster. He is the only Awakened One in this world who can challenge the source of cultivation. If I do not trust him, who should I trust?”
“What if there is someone else who can see 《Big Brother》?”
“There cannot be...”
Kasim stopped speaking midway through the thought.
“Do not tell me that guy can too?”
“That is what I think.”
“That is impossible. Only Awakened Ones who have overcome 「Alienation」 can see 《Big Brother》. He was absurdly weak for someone who has overcome Alienation. You must have seen something wrong...”
Kasim did not know the reason for this agitation, or why the words were suddenly coming faster in a rambling rush.
Kasim only knew there was something worth defending, without even knowing what it was.
“Kasim. I am not saying you are wrong.”
Only after meeting Yu Seolha’s cold eyes did Kasim fall silent.
“Then...”
“I simply wanted to believe in something else. Whether that world is right or wrong, I only want to choose a world where I can stand proud.”
“...”
“So keep living in your world, just as you are now.”
Yu Seolha rose from her seat and walked away with steady steps. Her gait was stubborn and certain, like someone walking toward the god she believed in.
How much time passed?
“Division Commander Kasim?”
Yoonhwan’s voice from behind finally brought Kasim back to reality.
Yu Seolha had already vanished from sight.
Kasim glanced down at the briefing papers still held in hand.
A title was written there.
『Lone World』.
* * *
A day had passed since Jaehwan and his Allies arrived at the Longevity Clan’s base.
The Longevity Clan’s village was built on reclaimed land, protected by trees taller and sturdier than those in other parts of the Great Forest. Oddly, a gigantic hot spring sat at its center.
Thanks to the hot spring, which constantly sent out warm steam, the Longevity Clan spent their days bathing after hunts or relaxing in the small bungalows before the spring.
Jaehwan’s Allies had also been assigned a small guest bungalow.
“Why am I the only one who has to do this?”
A naked Karavan grumbled while wearing yellow back-scrubbing mitts.
His whole body had become red and swollen. He had already scrubbed the backs of more than a hundred tribe members today alone.
Jaehwan looked at him with pity and explained.
“They said you are not a guest. You are a ‘criminal.’”
“What crime did I commit?”
“I was not curious enough to ask.”
Karavan scrubbed the back of a Longevity Clan warrior who had just emerged from the hot spring and let out a scream-like shout.
“These bastards have backs that are too broad! Some of them come twice or three times a day.”
“...”
“Why are they soaking in the hot spring all day long?”
“...”
“If only I could use 「Crimson Flame Tribulation」...!”
[Nas. Sorel. Hatan.]
“Ha ha, that feels good, right? Shall I scrub here too?”
Karavan forced a servile smile and diligently scrubbed the Longevity Clan warrior’s back.
[Nas. Sorel. Hatan.]
“Yes! This spot itches?”
For reference, the Longevity Clan’s words that reached Jaehwan’s mind meant this.
Your hands are hot. It feels good.
After finishing yet another back, Karavan panted for breath.
It was strange. Karavan was stronger than even high-grade gods of the 《Abyss》 without borrowing Ignis’s power. A little scrubbing should not have exhausted him.
“This is strange. I lose strength instantly here. Just breathing in the hot spring steam makes it feel like my body is melting.”
“It must have a training effect.”
“Then why are those bastards completely fine?”
The Longevity Clan did not look tired at all as they scrubbed one another’s backs and enjoyed the hot spring.
Their World Pressure was unusual too. At first glance, they seemed weaker than low-grade gods. Yet at certain moments, they carried an oppressive force like the Seven Divine Thrones. It felt as if even the measure of World Force had softened under the hot spring’s warmth.
“Hurry up and ask these bastards about the ‘Mad God.’ Once we know that, we are done!”
Karavan’s eyes welled up resentfully as he watched Longevity Clan members line up to have their backs scrubbed after somehow hearing the news.
“Damn it...”
The Calamity Flame burning over Karavan’s hands made them look less like 「Flame Fists」 and more like 「Flame Scrubbers」.
Still, as life often went, when one person’s life rushed toward tragedy, another person’s life rushed toward sweet comedy.
“Jaehwan-nim, this is the paradise I have always wanted.”
Runald cried out in rapture. Looking at the beautiful women of the Longevity Clan soaking in the hot spring, his eyes glistened with emotion.
“Andersen-nim was right. She said there was a naked paradise somewhere in the world...”
Their bodies were submerged in the water, so their outlines could not be clearly seen. Even so, every one of them seemed to have an extraordinary figure.
“It is right here! Right now!”
Perhaps sensing Runald’s heated gaze, one beautiful Longevity Clan woman sent him a heart-stopping smile.
Runald looked as though he would start bleeding from the nose at any moment.
A short while later, the woman from the Longevity Clan who had exchanged meaningful looks with Runald rose from the hot spring.
Her figure was truly remarkable.
Jaehwan silently looked at the woman’s body and recalled something said by a great person from World 294.
Life is a comedy when seen from afar, but a tragedy when seen up close.
One step, then another.
The woman Runald admired began to approach.
“W-What... why is that there?!”
Runald’s tragedy had begun.
“W-Why? Why do you have that...?!”
Runald trembled, completely shocked.
The beautiful woman, who had already come right up to him, smiled sweetly and spoke to Runald.
[Nas. Arkama.]
Terrified, Runald clung to Jaehwan.
“Jaehwan-nim? What did that person just say?”
“She said she is glad to meet you.”
Jaehwan lied.
Because it actually meant this.
You are very cute.
Runald, who knew nothing, asked, “Really?”
“Yes.”
“Then why is she getting closer and closer?”
Runald was caught by the beautiful women.
“Aaaaaah! Jaehwan-nim! We need to get out of here right now!”
Jaehwan did not intend to stay here long either.
But he could not leave before achieving his purpose.
Over the last day, Jaehwan had asked the ‘Longevity Clan’ several questions.
“Let me meet your leader.”
[Ra. Mir. Tus.]
Everything has its time.
“Who are you? Why are you here?”
[Ouroboros.]
We are Gestalt.
We are not Gestalt.
Oddly, the words reached him as two meanings at once.
Those who were Gestalt and not Gestalt at the same time.
Jaehwan could not understand what that meant.
No matter how many times he asked, only cryptic answers returned.
Even the 『Record of the Abyss』 did not provide an answer. The only thing Jaehwan could do was wait.
Waiting.
Come to think of it, Jaehwan had never waited through such vague, uncertain time before. He had repeated his training for thousands of years, always chased by time. He struggled to perform more Stabs faster, in less time.
If someone asked why he had lived that way, the answer was already decided.
To live. To survive.
But had that truly been the whole reason?
Jaehwan rose and picked up a branch from the ground.
Once he had learned to perform Stabs through mental images, he no longer needed this kind of training. Still, Jaehwan sometimes held a sword and practiced Stabbing.
It was as natural as breathing. By now, he had spent more of his life performing Stabs than not performing them.
The branch slowly moved toward a single point in the air.
Yet there was nothing there. He did not know what he was aiming at, or what he should be aiming at.
Even so, Jaehwan stabbed.
As if something that only he could see existed there.
Stabbing, stabbing, then stabbing again.
Each repeated Stab left a thin trail in the afternoon air. As the trails accumulated, disordered memories floated through Jaehwan’s mind.
Those who had left him. Those who had liked him. Those who had protected his world in his place.
Jaehwan thought of Andersen.
A god who shared his world and affirmed it.
What kind of god was Andersen? Why had she made that choice? What had she wanted to prove?
Through that proof, how had she hoped she herself would change?
Some answers felt as though he knew them. Others felt as though he never could.
Between what he seemed to know and what he could not know, Jaehwan continued to stab. Even if those Stabs gathered no answers, even if they only cut through empty air.
He still stabbed.
Remembering. Leaving trails in the air even while knowing they would vanish.
It was the only thing Jaehwan could do now.
After he had performed about a thousand stabs, someone spoke to him.
[Nas. Hirmu. Shuryukan.]
That is an interesting form of training.
It was the warrior who had brought Jaehwan’s Allies here. Without giving Jaehwan time to answer, the warrior continued.
[Aikamu.]
But it is useless.
Jaehwan gazed at La-Hamad with indifferent eyes.
How had the Longevity Clan become so strong?
On the surface, they were only a primitive tribe that walked around without clothes. Yet they carried World Pressure that seemed capable of easily toying with even the highest-grade gods. It was truly strange.
Jaehwan continued Stabbing in silence. Only after the sun high in the sky had fully set did he finally complete ten thousand Stabs.
Night had fallen.
Runald, who had spent a pleasant time with the women, was fast asleep. Karavan had exhausted all his strength scrubbing backs all day and lay sprawled out as well.
[Nas. Angkar?]
Finished?
Surprisingly, the Longevity Clan warrior who had spoken to Jaehwan earlier was still there. The warrior had patiently sat and watched Jaehwan complete every Stab.
There were quite a few more spectators now as well.
Feeling a little burdened by the Longevity Clan’s gazes, Jaehwan put down the branch.
“I am finished.”
The warrior rose, standing five or six spans taller than Jaehwan. It was like a heavy mountain rising to its feet.
La-Hamad spoke in a deep voice befitting that massive body.
[Ra. Angkar. Dou.]
Come. The leader is waiting for you.
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