Chapter 309 - The Stories That Become Bridges (3)

[Seoul, Korea — Maze at the ‘Hero Plaza’]

After 3 hours, Chae Nayun realized something was wrong. Her intuition told her that this maze had no exit.

But how could that be the case? This test was designed to pick out 200 challengers for the Gate of Glory. Chae Nayun explored the maze for 2 more hours to reaffirm her doubt.

Meanwhile, Jin Sahyuk grew more and more tiresome as she watched Chae Nayun go back and forth. She assumed Chae Nayun would give up soon enough, but clearly, she was wrong. Chae Nayun’s tenacity was beyond her imagination.

“Ehew.”

Jin Sahyuk let out a sigh and got up, about to intervene in Chae Nayun’s wandering.

It was then.

—Sahyuk.

She heard a voice. It flowed into her ears, freezing her brain. Jin Sahyuk widened her eyes and turned her gaze to where the voice had come from.

There, a semi-transparent, fog-like existence glimmered in the air. It was Bell, without a doubt.

“Bell, you bastard—”

Was it because they had been apart for too long? Jin Sahyuk jumped at Bell with a needlessly excessive amount of joy. She stretched her arm and grabbed Bell in his gaseous state by the collar. Bell smiled as he looked down at her grip.

“Where have you been—”

—Shh.

Bell put his finger to his lips.

“Shh? Are you crazy?”

—Hey, keep it down. I’m only here because it looked like you were gonna be eliminated from the tournament.

“Eliminated my ass….”

—You’ve accomplished nothing during the last 6 hours. Don’t you want to enter the Gate of the Demon Realm?

“…Is there a reason why I should enter?” Jin Sahyuk remarked flatly. She was here because she wanted to enter the Gate of the Demon Realm. She just felt the need to revolt because she was pissed at Bell.

Bell smiled, thinking Jin Sahyuk was cute.

—Of course you do. You have to kill me inside the Gate.

“…What?”

Jin Sahyuk’s face stiffened. But Bell looked as comfortable as he always did.

—I know you already heard most of what you needed to know from Kim Hajin.

“….”

Jin Sahyuk remained silent. Bell was finally starting to take form.

Bell reached out towards Jin Sahyuk and put his hand on her shoulder.

“Please continue to work hard. I believe in you, Sahyuk.”

Bell’s voice, now even clearer than before, danced in her ears.

“I’ve repeated the past countless times and finally found you….”

Jin Sahyuk looked at Bell. She couldn’t understand the firm trust and the earnest hope lurking in his eyes.

“…My death.”

Bell put his hand on Jin Sahyuk’s head. He recalled the moment he first met Jin Sahyuk. Back then, she was so small that they couldn’t even see eye to eye even when Bell bent over. But now she was an adult.

“You can do it, right?”

A broad smile spread across Bell’s face.

Staring at the beaming smile, Jin Sahyuk nodded.

“…If that’s what you want, of course I’ll kill you.”

Jin Sahyuk was full of confidence. Death seemed like a befitting gift for the frenemy she’d known for about 20 years.

“The end is finally near~”

“But,” Suddenly Jin Sahyuk gave a wry smile and said, “I have one condition.”

She had one last question, one last thing she needed to know before she killed Bell.

“Do you know what ‘Synchronization’ is?”

**

[East Asia]

Aileen didn’t ask much. She seemed confused as to why we couldn’t use portals or skills but still provided us top-grade protection.

“Are you sure you can leave for this long?”

“I’ll take this as a vacation. I’ve been so busy recently that I was starting to get annoyed, honestly.”

Aileen shrugged at Jin Seyeon’s question.

“And this is the first time I’ve ever been in a carriage. Oh, right, what are you gonna do about the carriage? If you’re gonna throw it away, can I keep it?”

“Huh? Ah, of course. You can keep it, Aileen-ssi.”

“Really?! Wow, thanks!”

Aileen beamed.

“…Kuhum.”

But the smile quickly faded and Aileen looked at me and Yoo Yeonha in her usual expression.

“Anyway, I won’t ask what you did. I’m sure you were careful not to get involved in anything illegal.”

“…Of course.”

Yoo Yeonha nodded and, all of a sudden, pointed outside the window.

“Ah, it’s Pyeongan Island!”

We all sat up straight like meerkats.

As she said, I could see the Korean border in the distance. Yoo Yeonha didn’t care to hide her joy, and I sent a text to Boss with my smartwatch now that the reception was back.

—Boss, I’ve completed the mission.

The reply came quick.

—Good job. Rest well.

At that moment, clunk— The carriage stopped and Sannuri began to throw a tantrum. She was startled by the border guards coming at us with guns and swords in their hands.

“I’ll deal with them.”

Yoo Yeonha was the first to step out of the carriage.

“Who are you?” Asked one of the guards. But when they saw Yoo Yeonha, all of them immediately gave a 90 degree bow and escorted us back to the mainland.

Later— Yoo Yeonha dragged me to ‘Essential Dynamics Non-Divisional Unit’ located in South Pyeongan Province.

The base was larger than most universities. Yoo Yeonha had been preparing this base ever since she first heard of [Dimensional Entropy].

“…This is where we’ll open the Dimensional Entropy.”

Right now, there were only four of us—Jin Seyeon, Jin Sechan, Yoo Yeonha, and me—here inside the enormous base.

“And, this is the ‘Celestial Extractor’— the culmination of magic engineering that will be used to activate Dimensional Entropy.”

Yoo Yeonha walked towards a large machine with the tilionium case in her hands.

At the center of the machine was the ‘energy heart’, a place to lay down a crystal or a magic ore. Circular pieces of machinery were revolving around the heart. The whole picture reminded me of the Solar System.

We stared at the magnificent scenery in awe. Even Yoo Yeonha, the architect, seemed fascinated by the machine.

“…The energy extracted using this machine could be used for bullets, artillery shells, engines, barriers, power… everything. Essence of the Strait will take humanity to the next level. We’ll be able to stand against any and all possible threats from now on.”

The energy was glowing in green.

I stared some more at the miniature Solar System before turning around with a small smile. Yoo Yeonha looked at me, slightly confused.

“Are you leaving?”

“Yeah, I’m busy.”

I had to deliver the last dress to Medea who was waiting for me in the Tower of Wish. I also had to visit Evandel as promised.

“…Sure. Thanks again for your hard work. You can always come back if anything happens-”

“Just remember to send me those shares,” I said and turned my gaze to Jin Seyeon and Jin Sechan, “Then, do you plan on joining the Essence of the Strait, Jin Seyeon-nim?”

Jin Seyeon gave a broad smile.

“Yes, it’s finally time for me to start considering politics.”

“…”

I smiled in silence.

Next up was Jin Sechan, but I didn’t have much to say to him. But when he noticed that I was looking at him, he bowed to me first.

“It was all thanks to you that I survived. Thank you.”

“…N-No. Thank you for your hard work.”

With that, the mission ended for good.

“I’m leaving now. Take care.”

“Yes, see you later.”

I said goodbye to Yoo Yeonha and left the base.

Then, I immediately headed to ‘Evandel’s Forest’ with Spartan who had completely healed.

[♥ Evandel & Hayang’s Cabin ^-^ ★]

One word had been added to the adorable door plate.

I opened the door to the cabin without even knocking.

“Evandel~”

Evandel, who had been playing house with Hayang in the living room, widened her eyes. She looked at me in a daze and suddenly dropped the doll she had in her hand on the floor. And….

“Hajin—!”

…With a radiant smile, she jumped into my arms.

**

11 PM.

I lay in bed with Evandel as I surfed the web.

[The second preliminary round for the Gate of Glory has ended.]

[What lies beyond the Gate of Glory?]

[‘The Road Ahead for Korea’, Chae Joochul’s speech receives a standing ovation….]

The Internet was filled with news regarding the ‘Gate of Glory’. There was excitement but no panic, probably because the Association changed the name of the gate from the ‘Gate of the Demon Realm’ to the ‘Gate of Glory’.

“…Mm?”

All of a sudden, I saw the virtual reality helmet lying on the floor of the room. I had brought it with me because I thought Evandel might take an interest in it.

“Hmm.”

Evandel was asleep and I was bored.

I stretched my arm and grabbed the helmet.

“Scan.”

Scan was a must. I put the helmet on after I checked it had been enhanced by 59%.

Jiing—

The boot-up usually took about 2 minutes, but with the enhancement, it only took 10 seconds. I looked over the list of games.

[Popular Games]

[1. Gladiator of the Century]

[2. Reolesk]

[3. Grand Theft Auto]

…

‘Gladiator of the Century’ certainly caught my eye. Chae Nayun had asked me to play it with her before, so I figured I should get some practice.

[Purchasing ‘Gladiator of the Century’…. Purchase complete.]

[Accessing ‘Gladiator of the Century’….]

[Welcome to the world of ‘Gladiator of the Century’.]

[Please set your ID.]

My username was always a given.

Extra7.

[Your username is ‘Extra7’.]

[Welcome. Would you like to view the tutorial?]

“No.”

I skipped the tutorial.

The first thing I did was look at the [Current Rankings] list. Games were always more fun when you played with someone good.

——————

[Current Rankings]

1 — Fralo 161 matches, 130 wins, 31 losses

2 — BritishSpirit 146 matches, 121 wins, 25 losses

3 — Lijengy 70 matches, 70 wins

4 — Wolf 150 matches, 103 wins, 47 losses

…

——————

“Let’s see….”

First, I sent a goodwill match request to the No.1 player.

[Failed to send a goodwill match request to ‘Fralo’. This user has chosen to decline goodwill match requests from strangers.]

“Ah, right.”

Most rankers chose to decline match requests from players other than their friends. This was the case for other games as well. If they didn’t, newbies would pester them continuously.

‘Should I just play ranked games?’ I thought when I noticed ‘Lijengy’. She was the only ranker who didn’t have the [Automatically Decline Goodwill Match Request] option turned on.

“70 matches and 70 wins….”

She looked strong.

After a moment of hesitation, I sent the request.

[You have sent a goodwill match request to ‘Lijengy’.]

[…‘Lijengy’ has accepted your goodwill match request.]

“Oh?”

The moment Lijengy accepted my request, my body was transferred to an arena.

[Map – Gladiator’s Colosseum]

Dust and the cries of the crowd filled the arena.

My opponent was standing on the other side of the Colosseum.

The sword she was holding was so strangely short that it almost looked like a dagger.

After some thought, I chose a baseball bat as my weapon.

[You have chosen ‘baseball bat’, a beginner’s weapon.]

[3, 2, 1]

[Begin!]

The duel began.

Taat—!

I ran towards ‘Lijengy’ with the baseball bat in my hand. I swung it at her as hard as I could.

Whish—

Lijengy tried to evade my attack, but I relentlessly swung my bat at her.

—Quadruple Baseball Bat Swing!

I shouted.

Whoosh— Whoosh— Whoosh— Whoosh—

My bat moved back and forth 4 times.

And that was the end.

—Kyaaak!

Lijengy died, not being able to withstand my attack.

“…What the.”

It made sense once I thought about it. My console had been enhanced by an astounding 59%, so my character was alone in an accelerated world. I was basically using a speed hack.

“This is bad.”

‘I should probably turn off [Random Consolidation System]. It trivializes the entire game…’

As I was about to turn the game off….

[‘Lijengy’ has requested you for a rematch.]

…I received a match request from Lijengy.

I accepted it, but the result was the same.

—Quintuple Baseball Bat Swing!

—Kyaak!

[K.O.]

[Winner – ‘Extra7’]

Again, the match ended in less than 3 minutes.

But Lijengy was persistent.

[‘Lijengy’ has requested you for a best of three rematch.]

“…Someone’s competitive.”

I accepted her request.

I was transferred to the Colosseum again.

I jumped at her and swung my baseball bat.

Lijengy fell, but she immediately asked for a rematch.

[‘Lijengy’ has requested you for a best of three rematch.]

[‘Lijengy’ has requested you for a best of three rematch.]

[‘Lijengy’ has requested you for a best of five rematch.]

[‘Lijengy’ has requested you for a best of five rematch.]

[‘Lijengy’ has requested you for a best of seven….]

I was still invincible after 50 rounds and Lijengy continued to send me rematch requests.

[‘Lijengy’ has requested you for a best of nine rematch.]

“Let’s not….”

‘Best of nine is just excessive,’ I thought, when I received a text from Jin Sahyuk.

[Kim Hajin, where are you? Let’s meet.]

I declined the rematch request and typed a reply to Jin Sahyuk’s text.

[You have declined Lijengy’s match request.]

[Lijengy has sent you a message.]

“…What’s wrong with her?”

[Why did you decline my request, Extra7?]

[You’re the strongest human I’ve ever met.]

[Accept my request.]

[Don’t decline my request.]

“Is she crazy?”

[Accept my request right this moment. I haven’t lost completely yet.]

[Answer me. Don’t test my patience.]

[Don’t make me wait.]

I took off the helmet without replying.

It was then.

Whish—

I received a ‘signal’ from the Tower of Wish.

It came from [Tomer’s Crystal Ball] that I had put inside my Stigma.

**

[Tower of Wish — 8F Crevon]

After I spent some time with Evandel, I returned to Crevon with Jin Sahyuk who had contacted me yesterday.

“Why did we come here again?” Jin Sahyuk asked me, walking down the hallway of Tomer’s mansion.

“I think Tomer wants to talk to me about something.”

And while I was here, I planned to deliver the finished robe to Medea.

“…Ah, why did you text me yesterday?” I asked back.

Jin Sahyuk leered at me and said, “You said you’d stay by my side for half a year. It hasn’t been half a year yet.”

“…Yeah?”

Startled by the fact that Jin Sahyuk had been keeping track, I quickened my pace and arrived at Tomer’s office.

Tok, Tok—

Tomer answered as soon as I knocked.

—Come in.

I opened the door and went in.

Kiik— With a screeching sound, the wooden door swung open.

Tomer was sitting in a chair, all alone in an office that was more modest than I remembered.

“Welc- Oh? Well, if it isn’t the former Knight Commander!”

“She’s with me. Is that okay?”

“Yeah. Sit down,” Tomer said and pointed at a chair.

I sat down.

“So?”

“So- what?”

“…Why did you call me?”

“Ah.”

Tomer’s face stiffened at my question. She looked at me then Jin Sahyuk and said in a low voice, “I wanted to speak to you about Descent, and also about the prophecy.”

“…Prophecy?”

“Yeah. It comes from the administrator of Crevon….”

Tomer showed me a piece of paper. There were only two sentences written across it.

[An enormous calamity shall descend upon the outside world.]

[The inside and the outside must unite as one in order to overcome this ordeal.]

I widened my eyes. The tip of Tomer’s mouth slanted upward.

“The queen wants to speak to you… about the prophecy.”

“Queen? You mean Araha?”

“…Hey, watch your mouth.”

Tomer frowned.

I smiled bitterly and restructured my question.

“What does Her Majesty wish to speak to me about?”

“The second sentence sounds tricky. The part where it says ‘the inside and the outside must unite as one.’”

The inside and the outside must unite as one. It was a very simple sentence, and an idea naturally crossed my mind.

‘Temporary Descent of everyone from the Tower of Wish to fight against the devil and the Demon Realm Transformation.’

“…Yeah, I get that, but why did the queen pick me? I’m not really famous here.”

“How should I know? But listen to me carefully. Araha is a tyrant.”

“Araha? Are you sure you can call the queen by her name?”

“I’m allowed,” Tomer replied and took out a pen, “Now, listen carefully, because I’m about to tell you the dos and don’ts….”