Chapter 108
Main Quest (2)
“And…”
Adam continued his explanation.
“That thing on your finger.”
He spoke as he pointed to the holy wounds that the magic spider god placed on my hand.
“You can’t keep that forever, can you? I see it as a ticking timebomb. It’s better if you get rid of it quickly.”
“Erase it? How?”
“The only thing that can erase the traces of a god is the power of other gods.”
“So you want me to connect with a god again? But this time, by choosing another god?”
That was a highly improbable option.
“That’s not what I meant. If you enter the main quest, the gods’ influence will increase, so let’s aim for the opportunity. You can probably make a good dedication to the ones that serve other gods and ask them to erase it.”
“… I feel like a god will call me again if I do that.”
The pitch-black darkness that flowed from the base of Igras-Sho’s severed arm still remained crystal clear in my mind as if it just happened an hour ago.
“Hah.”
Adam snorted.
“If making a connection was that easy, the world would be much more hellish. Just think of that time as terribly bad luck. It is ridiculous for us to contemplate the reasons behind the whims of the gods.”
Adam was confident that it would never happen again, but I couldn’t shake away my uneasiness for some reason.
Even if I finished the tutorial and proceeded with the main quest, I decided to put that proposal on hold at that moment.
“Now, then. The third and last reason why I recommend starting the main quest quickly…”
He extended out his third finger as he continued.
“Although this is quite a bother for me.”
“…?”
“As I’ve already told you, I personally hate the Union bastards. My home dimension is taking a stand of neutrality by refusing to join the Union while also making sure we’re not antagonizing them at the same time.”
“I’m aware.”
“But this is my stand, and it’s the position of my dimension. You people don’t have to follow us.”
“Go on.”
“After finishing the tutorial, the Earth will be eligible to join the Union from then on. I’m asking you to be a member.”
I tilted my head out of curiosity due to his remarks.
“How does that benefit us? You said you weren’t joining either.”
“It’s because we can live on our own without having to join. How much more do you think they’ll interfere with your kind if you don’t sign up?”
“But you recommend for the Earthlings to do that?”
“Yes.”
He explained as he nodded.
“All the Union can do for a tutorial dimension is supervisory aid. The act of sending a few observers is about that level. So far, Earth was roughly under control. I mean, most illegal aliens and even some promiscuous beings couldn’t get past the observers. Thanks to them, this dimension remains relatively fine.”
“But,” he added, his eyes glinting with seriousness.
“This time, an observer died, right? So, that’s why they are sending a few more. However… what if they’re killed by Mercadius as well?”
“Wouldn’t they send a few more units to fill up their ranks again?”
“What if all the members they sent back died too? What if Mercadius is actually a being akin to a demon? Let’s assume the worst. Do you think they will use a lot of firepower in a war where Earth is the stage? Do you think they will do so?”
I frowned.
I could understand what he was trying to say.
“There is a limit to the resources the Union can provide for tutorial dimensions on the outskirts. If the risk seems too high for the workforce and the beings they recruit, they will mercilessly let go of them.”
It meant that they’re going to cut us off.
“But what if the Earth becomes a member of the Union?”
“They can’t turn us away.”
“You’re giving them a reason to give you more support. Of course…. They will make you do a lot of annoying things in return.”
“Registering to the Union isn’t an urgent matter that I should decide about at this instant, and since I don’t have enough information, I’ll have to think about it. That being said, I have a question.”
“Go on.”
I threw out the question that I had in my mind the whole time while I was listening to him.
“Isn’t it just me who Mercadius threatens?”
“…”
“There’s no evidence that he’s targeting anyone else but me in this situation. But why are you fiddling with the cards to advance the civilization of the entire planet? Why do you want us to be protected by the Union actively?”
I realized that Adam was omitting something from his explanations.
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The premise that Mercadius was a threat to the entire human race felt strongly emphasized.
He replied after thinking about it for a short while.
“In fact, there’s something I haven’t said about their race yet. It’s because I’m not 100% sure about that either.”
“What is it?”
“Think of this story as a pan-dimensional superstition or a legend with high accuracy. There is no data to prove the causality fully.”
He was trying to find a way around the story again.
When I stiffened my face, he hesitantly continued.
“There’s a saying that the dimensions visited by Mercadius always ends up being damned.”
When there was no reply, he added a few words to elevate the tension.
“It’s too out of the blue, right?”
After a brief silence, I asked in return.
“What do you mean by damned?”
“It means that every native species of that realm was exterminated.”
Adam shrugged when he saw my expression.
“Yes, I know. Of course, it’s hard to believe. You’ll wonder why this alien is suddenly talking nonsense after a few days off.”
“…”
“It can’t fully be trusted, but it doesn’t mean it can be completely ignored either since it seems like there were quite a few cases. The decision to finish the tutorial also kept this factor in mind. Don’t you think you should prepare as much as you can as well?”
Adam seemed to think that the reason why I looked so stiff at that moment was that I thought his words were nonsensical.
But in reality, I was thinking about something else.
“It would sound like a myth, almost nothing but a fairytale.”
My heart was racing.
‘No, it’s not a nonsensical story at all…!’
I could add a case to the examples Adam spoke.
I didn’t have to go far either because that would be the Earth of my past life!
What would have happened to the Earth after I died in Angelica’s hands at that time?
Undoubtedly, they would have been doomed.
‘But there was almost no direct involvement of the ‘man’ in the process.’
In the end, Angelica was the one who triggered the apocalypse in my previous life.
“Adam, what is the reason for those dimensions’ fall?”
“There are many. Interspecies wars in dimensions, continuous failure to respond to the collapse of dungeons, invasion from another dimension and extermination policies at other levels, etc.”
“There is no evidence that Mercadius had directly intervened.”
“That is why in some respects…. He is regarded as a crow in Western culture. It’s like a sign of bad luck. Of course, it’s too big of a scale just to call it bad luck.”
Since I witnessed such a scene on the verge of the apocalypse myself, I couldn’t dismiss his words as lies or mere superstitions.
I felt dizzy.
‘This is more than just watching and observing things because of my curse!’
I raised another question.
“If we kick him out or get rid of him, will the threat of apocalypse disappear as well?”
“I can’t guarantee it. They’re collecting more cases from my home dimension. I think the Union probably has a lot of information, but…”
He spoke, locking his eyes with mine.
“Even if you don’t believe this information completely, I seriously recommend for you to prepare yourself for possible threats instead of sucking your fingers and neglecting the danger that may come at any moment. Of course, it could be just that we haven’t found a counter-example yet, or that the Earth could be a new example. But you have to leave all the possibilities open.”
He continued to say a few words to persuade me.
But I understood the justification for finishing the tutorial quickly.
Of course, I would have to simultaneously gather the force for the Earth in order for us to be able to handle the main quest.
It seemed like it would get hectic for some time again.
“Then, we should summon the Tower of Choice first.”
*
Summoning the Tower of Choice didn’t simply happen by offering experience points. Rather, it needed a certain screening quest to be Cleared first with a high rating.
In my past life, as dozens of hunters divided and Cleared quests one by one, the condition for summoning was naturally satisfied.
Did it take about ten years from their starting point or something?
‘I can’t afford that right now.’
I had to proceed with haste.
I was looking at the starting point of the quest, as I remembered in my previous life.
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– Quest Name: First Regiment
– Description: Contribute to the establishment of alliances in conjunction with other dimensions in the tutorial’s progress.
– Rewards: From 100K experience points based on contribution.
Among the experience quests, many missions couldn’t be solved by staying put in their home dimensions, and they must continue to be involved with the beings of other worlds.
‘Not to mention the timing’s a bit of a problem, too.’
If I were to think about what kind of dimension was connected to the Earth, the roaches, Ersmann, first came to mind.
‘Rejected.’
Those gross things were a race that regarded humans as food.
Moreover, they had been hit hard by the U.S. recently, so if we suddenly asked for an alliance, it wouldn’t work.
‘Another than the Ersmann would be…’
Cow-headed species, the Botarchs…
‘I’ll have to reject them as well.’
Religion was the problem there.
They had a doctrine where all pagans were viewed as ostracized beings. That was why they couldn’t form any type of solidarity with other dimensions.
Although I had the weakness of the High Priest in my hands, if I had commanded an order that would boldly go against the doctrine, the High Priest would get sacked so hard it would be forced to resist like there was no retreat. Its subordinates wouldn’t follow it as well.
‘It’s a little equivocal.’
There was also a way for me to expand the dungeons and deliberately move on to other dimensions, but…
‘Shall we study some dimensional coordinates?’
I recalled and studied the coordinates of the middle and normal dimensions near the Earth that remained in my memory.
‘Let’s see, a race that can communicate with humans…’
Meanwhile, I found an unexpected connection between different dimensions that we never knew in our previous lives.
‘Ah, did those connect like this?’
The moment I discovered it, I felt like a bright light lit up within me.
An idea came up in my head.
*
The High Priest was heading to its room after a long day.
After the visitation from an unidentified human being, a quiet but brutal and bloody battle took place in the cult serving the Mother Goddess of the Land.
The High Priest thought that the sixth bishop, who was seeking its position, threatened it in collaboration with Seo Jin-Wook. Instead of being swayed like a puppet, it poured political and non-political attacks on the sixth bishop.
He lamented internally.
‘I’m so exhausted.’
It was a series of days where the tension couldn’t be loosened even for a moment.
As the High Priest entered the bedroom, the servant ran and bowed its head.
“Shall I prepare liquor and women?”
Although the High Priest avoided both of those two to keep its mind sober…
“… Yes.”
After a brief hesitation, it gave in to its desires.
‘It indeed has been a long time.’
It felt a subtle natural fire burning in its stomach.
Excessive tension would poison his health. It decided to allow itself a night of relaxation.
The servants moved busily, and the table of drinks unfolded.
Two Botarch women entered the bedroom in lewd costumes.
For hours after that, the High Priest enjoyed the two sins strictly forbidden by their religious order.
“Zzzzz! Huff…”
After a while, the dawn came, allowing the heated bedroom air to cool down gradually.
In the bed where the women and High Priest were intertwined-
Shhh!
One of the two women raised herself quietly.
She then slowly moved toward the High Priest.
It was so drunk that it didn’t react at all.
“…!”
Mana was concentrated in the hands of the Botarch woman.
The moment her finger was heading for the High Priest’s neck…
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Swish!
The woman’s shadow froze on the spot.
“K-eup!”
The other woman whom she thought was undoubtedly unconsciously lying around stabbed her in the back while she was aiming for the High Priest.
She was also pretending to be asleep until that moment, and she attacked the moment the assassin moved.
The assassin trembled as she looked at the blue blade that penetrated her stomach.
“H-how…?”
All women dedicated to the High Priest were thoroughly searched in advance.
Nevertheless, if someone had brought a blade to the bedroom…
One word came up in her mind.
Trap!
“Intruder! It’s an intruder!”
The woman who prevented the assassination shouted.
Slam!
“High Priest, my lord!”
“It’s an intruder!”
The door opened, and the Sacred Knights jumped in and captured the assassin.
Even with a hole in her stomach, the woman remained alive. She looked at the other female who attacked her with an expression of disbelief.
The only beings that could hold a sword in front of the High Priest were the Sacred Knights. The Mother Goddess of the Land blessed the noble prosecutors, after all.
And the woman, holding a dagger and looking down at her with cold eyes, had surely served the High Priest’s night with the assassin yesterday.
The assassin muttered with disbelief.
“The Sacred Knight… How can they share the bed the High Priest…!”
Her face was distorted by horror and hatred.
The High Priest, who woke up from its sleep amid the madness, came down from its blood-stained bed and stared at her, its wrath visible in its eyes. The situation seemed to have blown away even its hangover.
The captured assassin shouted.
“You sinner against God and men! A High Priest, who represents the church, didn’t only touch women… You also chose to defile even the Sacred Knights? Mother Goddess of the Land will punish you! A man like you doesn’t deserve the position of being the High Priest! When other believers find out about this…”
The High Priest snorted.
That day’s event would never leak out of the High Priest’s palace.
“Go and question her. Find out who put that bitch in the palace and torture that bastard as well.”
The assassin was dragged away at the High Priest’s command.
The naked Sacred Knight, who saved its life, greeted him politely and left the scene with the crowd. The High Priest didn’t even look at her, much less thank her for saving its life.
Its mind was being tangled up by differing ideas.
“Damn it, Sixth bishop bastard… He’s beginning to use dirty tricks.”
The servants led the High Priest to another bedroom, but its sleepiness had already fled.
Non-political attacks between it and the six bishops included such frequent assassination attempts.
How did that happen?
The answer to the question thrown inwardly came to the High Priest quickly.
‘If not for that monkey…!’
It gritted its teeth.
“… I didn’t know you were awake. I’m glad I don’t have to wake you up this time.”
It was a voice that it had heard before.
The High Priest felt the hair all over its body stand on end.
It turned around slowly.
“You!”
Seo Jin-Wook was in front of it.
He had appeared again like a ghost in the air-tight room.
“G-guar…!”
“Obviously, even if you call them, your voice won’t reach outside those walls. Don’t waste your breath.”
“Why did you appear again?! I did as you told me then!”
The High Priest had already faithfully followed the order to withdraw its forces from Earth and its connected dungeons.
“I’m satisfied with that. I’m here today for another matter.”
“… Another matter?”
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Seo Jin-Wook said:
“You need to do a job for me.”