Chapter 308. The Stories That Become Bridges (2)
Jin Seyeon looked out the carriage window. The steppes of Central Asia looked different than what she saw on textbooks. Weeds grew to knee-length, trees stood tall reaching towards the sky, and there were even villages formed by small Djinn groups.
“…It feels like I’m in a fantasy world.” Jin Seyeon muttered in a daze.
In response, Jin Sechan also looked out the carriage. But because his eyesight wasn’t as inhumane as the others, he couldn’t see the same scenery as Jin Seyeon. So, he turned his sight back to Yoo Yeonha.
“….”
Yoo Yeonha was staring at the tilionium case she was holding in her arms. She seemed to be deep in thought. Jin Sechan was worried about her but couldn’t bring himself to say anything. In his mind, his only role as her secretary was to watch her from the sidelines.
“Are you okay?” Jin Seyeon asked what he wanted to. Jin Seyeon smiled at Jin Sechan before moving over to the seat next to Yoo Yeonha.
Yoo Yeonha glanced at Jin Seyeon, then said with a nod, “I’m fine.”
“Don’t keep that case too close to your body. It will have bad effects. If you want, it’s not too late to call demon merchants.”
Hearing this, Yoo Yeonha smiled bitterly. The group had already considered calling demon merchants, who would do anything for the right amount of DP.
“…No, demon merchants are demons also. They’ll desire this as well.”
But Yoo Yeonha didn’t trust them. There was no guarantee that demon merchants wouldn’t want something that other demons were desperate to get.
Yoo Yeonha let out a deep sigh and looked at the case holding the [Dimensional Entropy].
“Is that item that important?” Jin Seyeon asked.
Yoo Yeonha nodded her head and replied without a moment of hesitation, “Yes, I know from the Skills I obtained from the Tower of Wish. [Basic Skill - Lv.9 Law of Thoughts], which amplifies the speed and strength of my thinking, and [Special Skill - Lv.9 Appraisal Eyes], which lets me appraise an item in my field of vision.”
Analysis of [Dimensional Entropy] was still happening inside Yoo Yeonha’s head. Essential Dynamics was also the best in the world at extracting magic power from crystals and mana stones.
“This item can save the lives of countless people.”
“….” Jin Seyeon looked at her for a moment, then smiled and said, “I hope so too.”
Yoo Yeonha smiled back at her feebly.
“Hmm….” On the other hand, Kim Hajin, who was watching the two from nearby, couldn’t understand the bond between them. As far as he was aware, there shouldn’t be any connection between the two. Just when did they develop such a sister-like relationship?
“…How did you two get so close?” Kim Hajin asked, unable to hold back his curiosity.
Yoo Yeonha and Jin Seyeon glanced at Kim Hajin, but both leaned against the carriage without saying anything.
“What the…” Kim Hajin pouted and furrowed his brows.
Yoo Yeonha found this side of him cute. “I’ll tell you later.”
“…Tsk.” Kim Hajin nodded unhappily, then in the next moment, his eyes widened. He suddenly began to scan the air with his eyes.
[Where are you? I’m taking the test for the Gate of Glory.]
Chae Nayun had messaged him. Kim Hajin smiled and shook his head.
[I can’t tell you that.]
[What? Why not? …Actually, that’s probably for the best.]
[Huh?]
Chae Nayun gave up surprisingly quickly. Kim Hajin tilted his head.
[I don’t think I’ll be able to talk if you’re in front of me. I’m not ready yet… you know what I mean?]
‘Heh.’ Kim Hajin smirked.
[Yeah, I guess it’s still a bit awkward. So?]
[Right, so… I was thinking we could just talk a couple of times a day with this. So that we can get familiar with talking to each other. We can also play games. Did you know there’s a new version of Gladiator of the Century?]
[No.]
[Download it. It’s popular among Heroes because it helps with image training. They added a bunch of skills, so it’s super popular. Tournaments regularly get over 900,000 viewers….]
As expected of a known gamer, Chae Nayun began to talk about recent news. Kim Hajin just listened to her with a smile on his face, while Jin Seyeon and Yoo Yeonha stared at him like he had gone mad.
[Ah, wait, the heck, I’m paired up with Jin Sahyuk.]
[What? Jin Sahyuk?]
[Yeah, I’m hanging up for now.]
“What are you doing by yourself?” As soon as Chae Nayun cut off the communication, Yoo Yeonha asked. It was then.
“…!” Kim Hajin’s expression stiffened. It wasn’t just him, Jin Seyeon was the same. With their supernatural perception, the two of them had sensed someone’s ‘gaze’.
An outsider was watching them from afar.
“….”
“….”
Kim Hajin and Jin Seyeon exchanged glances silently. Soon, Jin Seyeon’s Mental Transmission rang out inside Kim Hajin’s head.
—We should just let this person keep watching. I don’t know who it is, but I don’t sense any hostility. We should act normal.
Kim Hajin nodded his head.
Jin Seyeon smiled brightly and said, “By the way, everyone’s raising a ‘sponsored character’ with DP, right?”
The DP System was granted to anyone who hunted demonic monsters even once. Those who earned more than 50,000 DP could play something called the ‘minigame’. Sponsoring the people of Lailos was growing in popularity.
“Of course, you’ll be surprised to know who I’m sponsoring.” Yoo Yeonha said proudly.
“Oh, really? Show me.”
With a grin, Yoo Yeonha displayed the information of the individual she was sponsoring. It was a high-rank knight named Gimitos.
“Wow, Gimitos the Berserker! He was yours? The Lailos Community was full of comments praising him.”
“…Lailos what?” Kim Hajin asked in surprise. Though he wasn’t aware, an online community had developed for Lailos sponsors. The site already had more than 200,000 members.
“There’s a post every time Gimitos buys a new armor or weapon. Didn’t he buy the Black Flame Dragon Armor recently?”
“…Well, I don’t want to brag. So, what about you?” Yoo Yeonha shrugged her shoulders and changed the subject.
“I’m raising an archer. Look.”
The Lailosian Jin Seyeon was sponsoring was an intermediate-rank archer named Lekio. Yoo Yeonha and Jin Sechan looked at him with flashing eyes.
“That bow looks like it’s made with emetos ore. Ah, his armor is made with quality leather as well…”
While the three of them talked, Kim Hajin checked up on his retainer, Litrain.
「Litrain became the youngest Master-rank knight, obtaining the title, Starlight Knight.
Even after rising to the position of a knight order commander, she didn’t stop training. The once small ‘Extra Temple’ now had over a thousand visitors per day. Serving under her were dozens of apprentice knights who were drawn by her charisma.
An order of knights called the Starlight Knights was created inside the existing knight order of the kingdom, making Litrain’s influence one of the strongest in the kingdom.
However, Litrain was still worried about one thing. Recently, her disciples and the followers of the Extra Temple were growing suspicious of Extra-nim. They knew that over a year had passed since he last sponsored Litrain…」
Litrain had grown tremendously since the last time Kim Hajin saw her. He had earned over 200,000 DP from her, a third of which he immediately sent back to Litrain.
“Who are you sponsoring, Hajin-ssi? Show us.” Jin Seyeon asked at that moment.
Kim Hajin hesitated for a moment. “…Well, it’s her.”
He displayed Litrain’s information rather casually. But everyone else immediately dropped their jaws.
“Wait, Litrain… she’s famous in the community… My Gimitos….”
Soon, Yoo Yeonha’s jealous voice rang out.
**
On the other hand, Leraje was watching them from a distance. As seeing far was her specialty, she didn’t have any trouble following their movements. She stared at the man named Kim Hajin carefully.
He knew her name, and he didn’t mutter it thoughtlessly. Leraje had the ability to discern what state someone was in based on their voice.
“What are you up to, Duchess?”
At that moment, her henchman, Corte, asked her. Leraje replied simply.
—Bored.
—Being here alone is boring.
—Did you get in touch with those old devils?
“Yes, three devils obtained incarnation bodies. Rank 3 Devil, Prince Vassago, Rank 29 Devil, Count Astaroth, and Rank 62 Devil, Valac.”
Hearing this, Leraje immediately frowned.
—Old Man hasn’t escaped his curse yet?
Old Man. She was referring to Baal.
Corte smiled and shook his head, “No, King Baal has escaped the curse. The Gate of the Demon Realm will soon open, so his descent is not far away.”
—How long will it take?
“Three months and not a day more.”
Three months. It was too long for Leraje. If she became too bored, she might wander around the outside world. Corte wanted to avoid risking her identity as much as possible.
To do this, Corte took out an electronic device he had brought beforehand.
—What’s that?
“It’s called a game console. Humans like to play it to entertain themselves. With this, you will never be bored.”
—…Is that so?
Leraje showed interest. It was a good sign. Corte knelt down and offered the virtual reality gaming console to Leraje.
—How do I use it?
“You just have to wear the helmet and turn the game on by moving your fingers.”
—….
Leraje did as Corte suggested. Her vision turned black for a moment, then a blue screen popped up in front of her. At the same time, a strange sensation of being transported to another world encompassed her.
[I will explain how to use this console. Please do as I say.]
Before she could get used to the sensation, a message popped up in front of her, and Leraje furrowed her brows.
—Who are you to tell me what to do?
[Try moving your fingers.]
—I don’t want to. Introduce yourself first.
[Try moving your fingers.]
—Impudent.
Leraje moved her fingers, her intent being to destroy the impudent being talking to her. But the moment she moved her fingers, the world changed. The blue room she was in transformed into a vast grassland.
Leraje widened her eyes in surprise.
[Here is a list of popular games. Click on the one you want to play.]
[1. Gladiator of the Century]
[2. Reolesk]
[3. Grand Theft Auto]
…
Leraje stared at the messages before clicking on ‘Gladiator of the Century’.
[You already own the game. Accessing ‘Gladiator of the Century’…]
[Welcome to the world of Gladiator of the Century.]
[Please set your ID.]
[Your ID will be your name inside Gladiator of the Century.]
—You’re kind unlike the one before.
Leraje nodded in satisfaction before writing down her ID.
[Lijengy]
Lijengy was purely a typo, but Leraje didn’t catch it in the slightest.
[Welcome, Lijengy.]
—What? Lijengy? You…
Having become Lijengy, Leraje expressed her anger at the machine for calling her the wrong name.
**
[Next up, Essence of the Strait’s rising star, Chae Nayun, and the black horse of the tournament, Jin Sahyuk!]
Seoul’s Hero Plaza.
Chae Nayun and Jin Sahyuk were placed in the same team, and the two of them entered the maze side by side.
“Screw off.”
Of course, Chae Nayun showed no intention of working together with her, bolting off to the opposite direction the moment they entered the maze.
Although running in a random direction wasn’t recommended inside a maze, Chae Nayun’s intuition gave her an undeniable edge. Chae Nayun knew about her supernatural intuition, so she believed she would find the exit before long.
“….”
But Jin Sahyuk had no intention of letting that happen. She activated Reality Manipulation. Her magic power seeped into the maze and changed its structure.
Kiiik— Kiiik—
The change in the maze eliminated the exit altogether. Chae Nayun, who wasn’t unaware of the change, thought of the shifting maze as part of the trial.
“…She really is an idiot.” Jin Sahyuk sneered. Now, Chae Nayun wouldn’t be able to find the exit no matter what she did. All Jin Sahyuk had to do was wait until she grew tired and came back.
Plop—
Jin Sahyuk sat down on the floor and sent Mental Transmissions to Bell to pass time.
**
[Central Asia]
The carriage continued to race through Central Asia as Jin Seyeon, Yoo Yeonha, and Jin Sechan kept their eyes glued to Litrain. They were fully watching her every move, exclaiming every once in a while about her beauty, strength, and kindness.
By the time they fell asleep, they had become avid fans of Litrain.
After sleeping for 3~4 hours, the carriage reached China. The safe zone wasn’t far away, but we kept our guard up.
“…The gaze went away.” Jin Seyeon said.
“Yeah.” I nodded my head.
Clack, clack. The carriage moved peacefully. Then, I turned to Jin Seyeon. She was also looking at me. By the looks of it, she must have also felt the unusual presence approaching us.
“Yeonha-ssi, we should get ready for battle.”
Yoo Yeonha was startled by Jin Seyeon’s words, but she soon took out her whip courageously.
Jin Seyeon said, “We’re surrounded. There’s no way to break through. Rather than being ambushed, we should go out and face them.”
“…I agree.”
It would be annoying if the carriage was destroyed by an ambush.
I opened the carriage door and walked outside. Jin Seyeon, Yoo Yeonha, and Jin Sechan followed suit.
In that instant, hostility and killing intent shot up. Wind carrying demonic energy blew over, and the enemy’s presence drew closer.
“Don’t worry, we’ll win for sure. I’m a hundred percent certain.”
Jin Seyeon took out her bow as she calmed Yoo Yeonha. I also took out my Desert Eagle.
Guoooo—
Suddenly, demonic energy filled the air. A giant storm seemed to brew as a shooting star shot down from the sky.
KWANG—!
The shooting star landed a little ways in front of us. Unsurprisingly, the shooting star was a living being.
“Haha, how are you all doing on this fine day?”
“….”
I knew who he was. The mask covering half of his face made it obvious. It was Destruction.
But Destruction wasn’t the only enemy. Dozens of Djinns appeared from the ground, sky, and land and surrounded us.
“Uhahahaha.” Destruction burst out into laughter. Yoo Yeonha stared at Destruction and clenched her teeth.
“It’s been a while, Yoo Jinwoong’s daughter.”
“…You know him?” Jin Seyeon asked.
“A little bit. He lost to my father back in the day.”
“…Pardon?”
“He went crazy from his inferiority complex and ended up losing half of his face to my father.”
Hearing this, Destruction’s face contorted heavily. Seething in rage, he glared at Yoo Yeonha.
“It seems the daughter is just as trashy as the father…”
Then, he took a step forward with a grin. The Djinns around the area all released their demonic energy and transformed into a devil-like form. Unsurprisingly, Destruction’s subordinates were all skilled with Devil Transformation.
Destruction asked, “Where’s the Dimensional Entropy? Inside the carriage? I’ll let you die peacefully if you hand it over.”
However, Yoo Yeonha shook her head.
Destruction furrowed his brows, “Trust me. If you hand over the Dimensional Entropy, I’ll chop off your heads cleanly and send you mostly intact to the father you love so much. Otherwise—”
“Shut it. Your breath is smelly.”
“….”
Destruction’s expression turned ugly. I transformed the Desert Eagle into its machine gun form.
“Huu….”
Destruction let out a deep sigh. Then, he scratched his head with his long nails, which began to turn black. Without a doubt, this partial change was also Devil Transformation.
“…Looks like I’ll have to go back on my words.”
A giant horn protruded out from his head, and his body began to turn black with demonic energy. Destruction bent his body like a track runner at the starting line, then shot forward like a bullet.
No, that’s what he tried to do.
“Stop.”
A clear, child-like voice rang out from the sky. Shackles of magic power bound Destruction’s body.
It wasn't just Destruction. The entire world seemed to have responded to the voice as Destruction’s subordinates and even the blowing wind froze solid.
“Ku….uk.”
Destruction turned his head desperately to the direction the voice came from.
A ‘small person’ was floating 10 meters above the ground. Her symbolic white hair shone beautifully, and her proud, chic eyes glared at Destruction sharply.
The Hero who defined a generation had arrived.
“…Why did you come so late?”
Jin Seyeon looked up at her and smiled.
“I came as quickly as I could. You told me to come secretly. I’m the chairman of the Temple of Justice, you think it’s easy for me to leave work without anyone knowing?”
Aileen grumbled and hopped down from a puff of cloud she was standing on.
Tadat—
She landed lightly inside the area frozen in time by her single word.
“Looks at all the trash here.” She said with a sneer.
“….”
Yoo Yeonha finally snapped out of her daze and glanced at Jin Seyeon, asking for an explanation.
Jin Seyeon smiled and whispered.
—I told you, we’re going to win for sure. I secretly asked for backup.
“Kuuu…uuuuk….”
Destruction resisted Aileen’s Spirit Speech as hard as he could. He twisted his neck forcefully and muttered with rage.
“You’re… Ai…”
“Shut your mouth.”
Aileen’s words muted Destruction, but his eyes were still glaring at her with killing intent.
Aileen furrowed her brows
“…You’re annoying. Just get crushed!”
A short exclamation rang out in the empty field. And that was enough.
“Uk, uuuuuaak—!”
Destruction’s body folded on itself in a strange way before exploding.
…That was the end.
“….”
“….”
We stared at the scene in a daze. Aileen had gotten far more powerful than when we saw her in the Tower of Wish, or even when we saw her during the fight against Orden.
She was almost at the level of a ‘transcendent’.
Just what happened?
“Pft, impressed? I got an amazing Unique Skill at the Tower of Wish. This is nothing to me now.”
Aileen strutted her chest and looked around. The leader of the Djinns were now dead, but the remaining ones couldn’t move because of Aileen’s Spirit Speech.
Aileen ignored them and approached Jin Seyeon.
“Anyways, why are you here?”
“Yes? Ah… about that.”
Jin Seyeon scratched the back of her neck for a bit, then placed her hand on Yoo Yeonha’s shoulder.
“Let me introduce her first. This is Yoo Yeonha, the Chief Officer of the guild I’m in.”
“…Chief Officer? What do you mean, you’re not in a…”
In an instant, Aileen’s eyes widened.
“Wait, you mean…?”
Yoo Yeonha was the first to realize what Jin Seyeon meant.
“…Ah!”
This was Jin Seyeon’s response to the offer she made a long time ago. Yoo Yeonha looked at Jin Seyeon, then at Aileen, then at me.
“Y…Yes!”
Then, she jumped excitedly.