An Unknown World (1) and An Unknown World (2)
After dinner, the conversation continued.
Most of the time, Chairman Kwon Dae-ho talked and Hyun argued.
A story about the disaster that will come after 432 years.
It is said that the reason for not announcing the story, which could be taken as a false prophecy, is because it takes a lot of time to prepare for the announcement so that everyone can accept it.
‘If it’s 432 years later, it’ll be a long time after I die.’
Chairman Kwon Dae-ho did not force a sense of duty on Seohyun.
I just say that I have done well so far, and I ask that you continue to do as you are now.
So I thought I was lucky.
I had never thought of something so distant in the future, and I still couldn’t believe it.
Rather, Seohyun’s interest was on the other side.
Bringing Louise to life!
Chairman Kwon Dae-ho announced in advance that it is impossible to create a human-shaped robot with current technology.
“Of course, robots will not include human physiology. Because it is a robot, it cannot taste the food, and there will be no need to sleep.”
Unlike in Assrian, most of the materials that make up Louise’s body will be mechanical devices, not cells.
“With modern technology, nothing more can be created. I don’t know what the future holds.”
“okay.”
Seohyun nodded.
It was to some extent expected.
It is natural that it is impossible to create a being completely identical to a human unless it is a god.
Still, Seohyun did not give up.
The emotions I feel whenever I assimilate with Louise are no different from those of ordinary humans.
I know very well how much he yearns for the real world.
I never wanted to turn away from Louise’s heart.
“It’s okay though.”
While Seohyun responded to Kwon Dae-ho’s words, she urged herself.
Chairman Kwon Dae-ho did not mean to do the job without any conditions.
It’s kind of a deal.
If you want to bring Louise into reality, you have to stabilize Asrian before that.
It was the moment when Seohyun had one more reason to become the king of Assrian.
***
“hyeon. Do you want to make my baby?”
after returning home
Seohyun almost spewed the water she was drinking at Ain’s remark about the bomb.
After barely calming down, he sighed and replied.
I think I know why Ain is saying things like that.
From the moment he heard that there was a way to bring Louise to reality, Ain’s eyes were shaking little by little.
“Is it because of Louise?”
“Yes?”
“don’t worry. Because what you’re imagining doesn’t happen.”
“What are you talking about! i just… !”
Ain, who was taken aback, retorted in a loud voice, as if he had hit the mark.
“You heard that! To beat Hyun’s quest, we have to make a baby right away?!”
“what? That was a joke.”
“But what if it wasn’t a joke?!”
Seohyun pondered for a moment on what to answer.
I now know Ain’s way of speaking.
Whenever she says what she wants to do, she makes excuses that don’t work.
It really doesn’t matter if it’s a joke or not.
“The order is wrong.”
“order?”
Ain suddenly turns around this way.
Her twitching lips opened slowly.
“Huh, after all, marriage comes first… ?”
“hmm… I didn’t mean it that way.”
Seohyun thought for a moment.
Although Ain has just become an adult, she looks much younger than her age.
No, they are too young to imagine marriage in the first place.
He muttered with such thoughts, but as soon as Hyeon finished speaking, Ain suddenly let out a loud voice.
“I don’t think so… ! Is it because of Louise?!”
“No, what are you talking about!”
Seohyun had to make excuses, not just excuses, because of Ain spouting nonsense again.
It was Seohyun who was able to connect to Assrian only after calming down Ain.
[Connect to Assrian!]
Private room again.
Hyun looked back on his meeting with Chairman Kwon Dae-ho.
He knows the conditions of the last chaos quest.
The reason why I didn’t tell you the information was probably to keep the rule of not interfering with the game as an administrator.
‘It really couldn’t have been a joke… Wouldn’t it be?’
Perhaps it was because he had just had an argument with Ain, but useless thoughts were floating around in Hyeon’s head.
The first is the Nether.
The second is the world of eternal life.
And finally, the place of the third world… .
‘Huh, let’s think about it some more.’
Hyeon shook his head and looked at the sentences in the quest window again.
-Go to the next world.
-The second attendant, Nevia, told me that the last piece is very close to you.
I thought of all kinds of places that existed in Asrian.
The ground, the underground, the heavens, the demons, the nether world, the eternal world… .
Except for the ground, all those places were not places that could be said to be very close.
‘Or is it a completely different kind?’
As Hyun continued to ponder, a possibility popped into his head.
The world that exists in Asrian is not just the ones I just thought of.
For example, the arena and the arena were completely independent spaces, far from the worldview of Assrian.
‘Chairman Kwon Dae-ho probably didn’t mention A-in for nothing.’
He said he would definitely give a ‘hint’.
In the end, he said it was a joke, but for a very brief moment, Hyun remembered the meaningful look he gave him and Ain.
The hint is yourself and Ain.
What world is it related to?
‘if… ?’
Hyun, who was reducing the number of cases, eventually reached a possibility.
awakening room.
Level 50, the place where the awakening quest was completed.
It was the only place where he and Ajin were intertwined at the same time.
‘… … .’
But it wasn’t a place I could go back to if I wanted to.
A user who has reached level 50 once must pay one awakening skill point to enter the room of awakening again.
Hyun looked at the status window.
One extra point obtained as a reward for reaching level 300 remained.
Yes, it was a useless point, but it won’t hurt to try it once.
[‘Ain’ has connected to Assrian.」
A moment later, as soon as the message came to mind, Hyun summoned Ain in front of him with a coupling.
A situation where there is no other option anyway.
Hyeon wanted to test the idea he had just come up with right away.
***
a few minutes later.
Hyun and Ain were moving towards the place for the awakening quest.
I thought I would never come again after I got ‘Fairy Tale’.
The candles lighting up the dark hallway disturbed his gaze.
Reminiscing about the past always feels strange.
Going on the Awakening Quest with Ain was even more special among countless memories.
“Hyung, it’s been a while here. I also feel nostalgic.”
Ain seems to have come up with the same idea.
“I feel lucky.”
“what?”
“Hyun got Donghwa with his ultimate. Donghwa can read the other person’s mind, right? I think that was very fortunate.”
Ain said only that and closed his mouth.
Judging by the look on his face, he looked around and looked back at the memories of that time.
Why is it fortunate that Donghwa reads the other person’s mind?
It can be unpleasant to have your heart exposed.
I haven’t assimilated right now, so I couldn’t guess what Ain meant… .
After a while. Ain told me the reason at the right time.
“Thanks to that, I was able to understand Hyun’s thoughts.”
“Hmm?”
“The fact that Hyun was so conscious of me.”
shit. The moment Ain’s mouth rises.
Hyun, too, was quite perplexed this time.
“No, that’s normal! Who wouldn’t be conscious of suddenly entering a gender-changed body?”
I tried to make excuses, but I tried to make excuses.
“Hehe, I wasn’t even an adult back then?”
I stopped what I was about to say to the counter blown by Ain.
It was because he felt that his position would be embarrassing if he made more excuses here.
In the end, I had no choice but to listen to the jokes that Ain laughed and murmured.
“are you okay. Because I’m rather good Even if Hyun had put his thoughts into action, he wouldn’t have resisted.”
“… … .”
“But it’s a bit of a waste. It would have been better if there was a function to change the control priority of assimilation.”
While talking about this and that, Hyun and Ain reached the entrance portal to the room of awakening.
The manager at the entrance was not the old NPC.
Of course. This was the Empire, and the active area at the time of level 50 was the Nation of Darkness.
However, even though the NPC should have met Hyeon and Ain for the first time, as soon as they saw their faces, they looked surprised and then lowered their heads.
Imperial NPCs show the same reaction whenever they see the pattern of the chief priest engraved on Hyeon’s clothes.
“… That is very rare.”
“what?”
“Somehow, your destinies are intertwined.”
“Ah, that.”
At the NPC’s words, Hyun nodded.
Regardless of the user’s growth, the awakening quest always proceeds with the same content.
Even if the level is high, even if you get better equipment, you have no choice but to take the same test with the same specs as before.
Since the two of us have been together before, it means that we have no choice but to be together this time.
“There are some circumstances.”
“I don’t know… Good luck.”
“thank you.”
Hyun returned his greetings to the NPC.
“Let’s go, Ain.”
“… huh!”
Together with Ain, I slowly moved into the portal.
The moment you feel like being sucked into a distorted space.
In an instant, my vision darkened.
Out of sight, the same messages I had seen a long time ago began to appear.
[I found one companion!]
[Get ready, the awakening quests of both beings will be held simultaneously!]
Hyun felt the feeling of going down endlessly into the depths of the warm sea.
A sense of falling asleep that comes with a subtle sense of floating.
I didn’t know it before, but Hyun knows something like this.
It is the same feeling as when praying.
‘Every place is symmetrical.’
The advice I heard from Lutia when I was learning prayer.
As I pondered those words, I thought of various places within Asrian.
The opposite side of the ground is underground. The other side of heaven is the demon world.
In addition, the ground, the underground, the heavens, and the demon world are all tied to ‘this world’ and once again mirrored with the nether world.
And for non-human transcendental beings, there is a place called the ‘Eternal World’ that is symmetrical to the ‘circulatory system’ that combines this world and the nether world.
‘Every place in the Assrian worldview has an opposite side.’
It may not be a story that does not apply to artificial places such as duels or competition halls.
Because those places do not exist within the Assrian worldview, but were created by humans outside.
Except for those places, in the Assrian worldview, all places must be symmetrical.
One question arises here.
Where the hell is the room of awakening, and where is the place that is symmetrical to it?
‘You’ll find out soon.’
Pod! Hyun assimilated with Ain.
It was to start planning for the future.
The Awakening Quest proceeds under the same conditions as before.
After a little more time here, all specifications will be initialized as in the past.
All skills will be gone, and then you won’t be able to use level 10 prayers.
If you don’t want to face such a situation, you must enter a new world before the next message comes to mind.
‘After that, then.’
Hyun slowly cleared his thoughts.
Because in order to cross the world with prayer, I had to lower my consciousness to the limit.
‘… Yes?’
However, Ain did not have to lower his consciousness.
I couldn’t see anything because my eyes were closed, but it didn’t interfere with feeling the state of my body.
‘Are you emerging?’
Suddenly my senses changed.
Instead of feeling like I was sinking, I felt like I was floating.
Hyeon couldn’t explain what was going to happen, so Ain thought something was going wrong.
‘It seems to be getting faster… ?!’
Ain’s feeling was not an illusion.
My body was accelerating so quickly that I could feel the subtle warmth overshadowed.
towards the top!
“Hyun, my body is strange!”
‘… … .’
“Wait, stop it?!”
‘… !’
Hyun opened his eyes at Ain’s cry.
Whoa! The sound of the wind ringing in my ears faced the strings.
The entire black world had turned to pure white.
“Is it really like this?”
“I don’t know either… . Not yet.”
Hyeon suddenly looked up and held his breath.
I can’t see the end of the spiral staircase that fills my vision.
Her own body was in the process of ascending along its central axis at a maddening speed.
‘It’s still getting faster!’
The rate at which the body rises increased over time.
As the speed approached the limit, the spiral staircase looked like countless rings of light.
The moment when the rings of light stretched out in a row.
Tring!
[Final Awakening Quest: Transcendence has been updated!]
An alarm sound that had not been heard for a long time rang in Hyun’s ears.
<Final Awakening Quest: Transcendence>
– Reach the top of this world.
-Someone will be waiting for you there.
Hyun immediately checked the quest window.
Seeing that the quest goal had changed, I was sure that this unknown place was the third world.
‘at las… !’
The rise still shows no signs of stopping.
Even as the surrounding scenery passes by at high speed, new messages continue to emerge.
Hyun ignored the harsh wind and focused on the messages in front of him.
[The transcendence of the soul is to cast off the limitations of the body.]
[You step out of the time axis for a moment and enter a new world!]
‘hour… axis?’
Shortly thereafter, the rate of ascent gradually slowed down, allowing Hyun to regain some composure.
‘Where are you again… .’
Hyun looked around.
A place as white as the sky in the celestial world.
Hundreds of huge, translucent cylindrical passages connected the sky and the ground.
And he was constantly ascending along one of those innumerable aisles.
‘clairvoyance.’
Looking into the distance, Hyun could see that there are ‘humans’ in every aisle.
One person per cylinder.
People who did not know how many were constantly soaring toward the sky like himself.
What are these people really like?
If their goal is to reach the top, can they cooperate? Or should I compete with them?
The moment he thought so, a message began to flow in front of Hyun’s eyes.
<All human beings look up to angels or devils. Even 10 years ago, even 100 years ago, there were people among humans who longed for transcendence.>
Hyun, who was in doubt for a moment, soon realized.
The things you see in this place right now don’t happen simultaneously.
It is a spectacle made up of different events from countless timelines coming together!
<Many souls tried to throw off their bodies for transcendence, but… .>
‘huh… ? That person… .’
Hyeonu opened his mouth involuntarily.
Because a face that existed in memory was caught in the clairvoyant’s field of vision.
An old man who seems benevolent at first glance, but seems to be hiding his ulterior motives.
The identity was none other than the old man who gave Hyun the first Asrian hidden quest.
She was also an NPC who underwent a four-day ritual to become a heavenly person, but was interrupted at a crucial moment and was unable to achieve her will.
Why is that old man here?
Before even thinking about such a question, Hyun saw a shocking sight.
‘ah… ?’
Hyeonu sighed in surprise.
For some reason, the passage of the old man was cut off in the middle, but the moment he crossed the boundary. It was because the old man’s body melted as it was.
Like fog blown away by the wind… .
The sight of human bodies falling apart as liquid was a pretty brutal sight even without blood spattering.
<The souls who passed the position of the Transcendentalist were judged without exception. People who don’t know fractions didn’t know that they didn’t even deserve to be tested.>
Hyun was soon able to grasp one of the rules of this world.
The translucent outer walls of the cylindrical passages are a kind of safety device.
After leaving the passage, the human body disappears without a shape.
However, all the passages were cut off on the way without leading to the sky, so the human bodies contained in them were also melting without a doubt.
‘Is it dangerous here too… ?’
Hyun looked up.
It was also the same that his passage was cut off.
If I cross that boundary, will I melt like everyone else?
At the time when anxiety sprouted in Hyun’s heart, the message continued.
<However, you who are accompanied by an attendant must be qualified.>
Cheer up!
At the same time as the message ended, a new passage began to be created from the cross section of the passage.
Eventually, the existing passage and the new passage continued, and at the critical moment, Hyun and Ain could continue to rise upward without departing from the cylinder.
<In order to create a ‘road’ from the ground to the sky, you and the attendant, you and the attendant, you and the two souls will have to connect together with a single thread.>
‘I lived.’
While Hyun confirmed that he was safe, he grasped the situation again.
The countless passages leading to the sky were all cut off, and now only his own was left.
Suddenly, it was getting dark again.
Hyun thought that this dark space might be the universe above the sky.
However, it is an awkward place to say that it is space.
There was no sun, no stars, no galaxies, nothing at all.
Only the hazy mist that intermittently shone in the air proved that this place was not an empty space.
‘at las… finished.’
There was an end point even in the vertical passage.
After the rise has completely stopped.
Hyun carefully put his foot on the floating platform.
I was worried that it would be dangerous to go out of the aisle, but fortunately, the situation I feared did not happen.
“Where is this again… ?”
A space where small stars shine on a black background.
Ain asked in a slightly raised voice at the place he had never seen before.
“Is it the universe?”
“no.”
Hyun moved his feet slowly.
The first thing I discovered was a staircase made up of ’empty platforms’.
Strangely, the footrest did not fall down even if I stepped on it with all my might.
It’s like a ‘wind barrier’ firmly fixed at a specific coordinate.
“I feel gravity. It will not be the universe we know.”
“then?”
“It must be a place incomparable to anywhere in reality.”
Hyun, who looked at the quest window again, continued as if he was sure.
“maybe… A world where the last fragments of chaos are buried.”
Yes, the nether world, the eternal world, and the third world after that is probably here.
The last world was a more unusual place than Hyun expected.
“Let’s get moving.”
“Where?”
“Wherever.”
So Hyun moved on.
The structure of the stairs was quite complex.
As I went up, soon a fork in the stairs appeared, and the fork in the road split into another fork.
To describe this place in one word, ‘a floating castle made of stairs.’
It was fortunate that there was no fear of getting lost because all we had to do was go upstairs.
I wonder if it’s been about 5 minutes since I climbed the stairs like that?
“Hyun, this is something strange.”
Ain suddenly opened his mouth.
“what?”
“Check your watch.”
“now? It’s 8:23, why?”
“No, not in reality. Time in the game!”
Assrian has slightly different times and dates for each country and city.
Even in the game, there is definitely a time difference.
Therefore, Assrian was providing an interface clock that informs the time of the user’s location for the user’s convenience.
“Um… ?」
As Ain said, the moment I looked at my watch.
A question mark popped up in Hyun’s mind.
For some reason, the numbers in the cells where the digital numbers were displayed were changing wildly.
“What, my watch is broken.”
“right? The prefecture is also strange, right?」
“what? Aren’t I the only one like this?”
“Me too! look!”
A screenshot of Ain sent soon after.
Hyun, who confirmed it, had no choice but to be alert immediately.
Assrian has a reputation for never giving out a single bug.
It is very unlikely that not one, but two interface clocks will fail at the same time.
‘I don’t think the system malfunctioned.’
Hyun paid attention to other possibilities.
According to the message I just passed by, this is a world where the time axis is off.
It was a place where past and present events could happen simultaneously.
In fact, didn’t he see the scene of the past when countless humans died?
Hundreds of people per second who yearn for transcendence and meet a terrible end are unlikely to appear, so it is natural to view the scene as a collection of events that occurred at different times.
‘It’s fun.’
A faint smile was drawn on Hyungwon’s lips.
It is a world without time.
Come to think of it, even among the abilities of chaos, there was one that manipulates time.
The possibility that this world is related to chaos seemed to increase.
***
It resembles the universe, but a completely different world.
Hyun and Ain wandered around the castle on the stairs for a long time.
Despite moving at a fairly fast pace, there is no sign of the end of the stairs appearing.
Are you on the right track?
I thought it would be easy since all I had to do was go up, but I’m sure I’m not lost… ?
Just when doubts appeared in my mind, the destination appeared.
“Ain, stop for a moment.”
“huh… ?」
“Wait, I think I need to get ready.”
The top of the stairs finally starting to come into view.
Both sides of the road to the top were full of statues.
“What preparation… ?」
“Maybe we should fight.”
“Yes… ?」
“These statues don’t seem like ordinary things.”
The string slowly rose toward the top.
It would not be an illusion to feel that the pupils of the statues lined up left and right are moving.
In such a tense atmosphere, I stepped onto the last step.
‘this… .’
The moment he saw the statue in the middle of the top, Hyeon swallowed his saliva without realizing it.
What was placed there was a statue of a ghost that I did not want to see again.
The guy I had seen on Ufia Island and in the dark ruins was smiling creepily towards us.
“ah… ?”
It was at that moment that something completely unexpected happened.
It was because Ain was slowly approaching the statue.
I remember that I used to scream just by looking at it, but now Ain seemed to be unconcerned.
Yeah, like being possessed by a ghost.
No, are you really possessed by a ghost… ?!
With Assrian’s technology that can change the human senses, that might be possible.
「Ain!」
Hyeon quickly shouted to restore Ain’s spirit, but what came back was a totally unexpected answer.
“You don’t have to scream. Because I’m fine”
“what? Then why… ?”
“I don’t know. just… It feels different from before.”
Before I knew it, Ain was approaching right in front of the ghost statue.
Suddenly, red tears began to flow from the corners of his eyes.
“Somehow, I’m not afraid. Rather… .」
Ain quietly stretched out his hand and wiped away the statue’s tears.
“I feel a little pitiful. It seems to be missing something.”
‘What is that… It’s nonsense… .?’
Hyun was so absurd that he couldn’t even say a word.
I just quietly watched what Ain was doing.
Kreuk. Kruck.
When the corner of the mouth of the ghost statue facing Ain twitched, Hyeon felt his hair stand on end.
His cracked voice was so terrible that it stuck in his eardrums.
“… tee.”
“… … .”
“Kshan… to.”
Hyun couldn’t understand what the ghost statue was saying.
No, I had no intention of understanding it in the first place.
It was quite an ordeal just to face his creepy smile.
‘How can Ain feel sorry for this guy? uh… ?!’
But next moment.
Hyun let out a sigh.
I couldn’t help but doubt my eyes whether I was seeing something in vain.
It was because the ghost statue that was right in front of him had disappeared without a trace.
And what appeared was a girl who seemed to be the same age as Ain.
“Long time no see. to xanthi. It took a little time to adjust the time axis.”
The girl with a confident smile held a black and white half-moon scythe in her hand.
“no. Long time no see would be wrong. There will be no concept of time between us.”
‘… … Xantie?’
Meanwhile, Hyun assimilated into Ain and was listening to the girl.
Did you just call Ain Xantie?
to xanthi. It was a name that I couldn’t find even when I searched Interloop right away, let alone Asura.
The moment when Hyun was contemplating the identity of the girl who suddenly appeared.
“Ah, was there a lord too? If you come, tell me sooner.”
The girl stared at me and said.
Hyeon could intuit that she was looking at him, not Ain.
“Shouldn’t it be formally prepared first?”
After a while. A different serious voice came out of the girl’s mouth as she knelt down on one knee.
“Your subordinates are meeting their lord.”
It was the moment when Solitary Road’s subordinates increased from one to two.
