Chapter 358. The Conquest Bible (5)
59 Players were gathered in a hologram conference room.
“We are gathered here today because of yesterday’s events,” announced a harsh voice. The eyes of the other Players darkened. The ‘yesterday’s events’ referred to the incident known as the ‘13 minutes in the middle of the night,’ and it was still a hot topic.
“I didn’t know that Specter had such a talent for business.”
“It really does seem like he deserves the t.i.tle of the world’s greatest.”
“Are you siding with him right now?”
“Come on now. I’m just saying.”
“Everyone be quiet.” In an instant, Tenmei Yugo grabbed hold of the meeting that was about to fall apart. “Did anyone here obtain a copy of the Guide?”
Everyone was silent. However, one person hesitantly raised their hand.
“I-I bought it out of curiosity because 50,000 PP isn’t that much for me.”
“Hm.” Tenmei Yugo looked pleased. He nodded. “It is good that we have at least one person who managed to secure a copy.”
“Then, the reason we’re all gathered here today…”
“Indeed. We will make a copy of the Guide and distribute it to all Players a.s.sociated with Climb.”
“Ooh!”
All the Guild Masters nodded. However, one person—the owner of the Guide—seemed irked.
“It appears that Cube’s Master does not want this.”
“It’s not that… But there was a warning.”
“A warning?”
“When I bought the Guide, there was a warning that said not to make illegal copies or to share it with others.”
“Pfft… Ahahaha!”
“Kekeke.”
The other Guild Masters couldn’t hold back their laughter.
“Would you look at that? I bet Cube’s Master is the type to make hand signals when walking down a pedestrian crossing.”
“He’s a pure-hearted role model.”
Brigg, Cube’s Guild Master, turned red from the others’ mocking. He pulled out two pamphlets. “I didn’t say that I wouldn’t do it; I’m just saying that there was a warning.”
“Is that the Seo Jun-Ho Difficulty Guide.”
“Yes...”
Tenmei Yugo gestured him forward. “Make a copy and bring it here.”
“Yes, sir.”
Brigg made a hologram doc.u.ment and started copying down the contents of the two pamphlets. He created two more Guides. And as the others watched, they started smiling.
‘With only two books, we can share all the information with thousands of players.’
‘As I thought, it was a good idea to join Climb.’
‘We’re lucky.’
Officially, there were 57 Guilds in Climb. But in reality, Labyrinth and Sky Soul were also part of it, which meant that they had a great deal of power. There were more than three thousand Players affiliated with Climb. As a rough estimate, Seo Jun-Ho would make a loss of around nine million PP.
“Hm?” Just then, Tenmei Yugo’s eyes furrowed when he opened the new copy of the Guide. His obstinate eyes fixed on Brigg. “Is this a joke?”
“Pardon? What do you…”
Tenmei Yugo tossed him the Guide. There was nothing written inside in either the first or second volume.
When Brigg saw that, his face grew white. “I-I can’t believe I made such a mistake…I will do it again.”
He immediately grabbed the original copy, and his eyes went wide. “W-what? That wasn’t a mistake! My copy’s empty too!”
Brigg showed the blank Guide to prove it. They had once been densely packed with letters, but now, there were only blank white pages.
He then grew frustrated. “What did I say?! You can’t copy or share it illegally…!”
“Ahem.” Tenmei Yugo avoided Brigg’s eyes. He no longer had anything to say.
“That cunning boy. I supposed he has learned tricks like this as time pa.s.sed.”
He never expected that Seo Jun-Ho would include a mechanic that would erase both the original and the copy if someone attempted to reproduce the original. On top of that, they couldn’t even blame Seo Jun-Ho. After all, they had basically shot themselves in the foot by doing something the original author clearly told them not to do.
“Ugh, and I can’t even buy another copy anymore…” Brigg seemed like he was about to cry after he lost his Guide.
“Um, what should we do now?” asked the other Guild Masters.
“Hm.” Tenmei Yugo thought for a moment. “We will all go our own ways and look for a way to obtain the Guide.”
“Yes, let’s do that. Even though it says that reproduction is illegal, it should be fine if someone memorizes it and writes it down on paper.”
With that, Tenmei Yugo’s hologram disappeared. The others Guild Masters took it as their cue to leave, and they disappeared as if fleeing. In the end, there were only two people left in the conference room.
“...”
Brigg was just about to disconnect, but he felt a sense of pressure when Shoot stared straight at him. “I, um, is there anything else you’d like to say to me?”
An emoticon popped up on the Labyrinth Guild Master’s LED helmet.
[ʕ•́-ก̀ʔ]
It was heartfelt encouragement.
***
A white-haired man was watching the lava flow like a river.
Someone approached him, and they gave off an aura of satisfaction.
“Hey, Sky Horse. What are you looking at?”
“...My name is not Sky Horse[1]. It is written with the characters for ‘demon’ and ‘sky’ to mean ‘sky of demons’.”
“Such a lofty name should be given to the likes of the Archduke. A little greenhorn like you has no right to use it.”
The Heavenly Demon couldn’t refute those words, even if he wanted to. He smiled bitterly, and the demon asked him once more.
“I asked you what you’re looking at.”
“I am watching the lava.”
“Hm, what’s so interesting about that? I find it boring,” the demon said flatly.
Once the Heavenly Demon turned, he got a full view of the demon. The demon had horns on his head and a tail protruding from his rear. A High demon like him had two horns.
“Will we be fighting again today?”
“No. Today I’ve come to relay the Archduke’s orders.” The demon’s tail flicked back and forth. “He said that we will have to start moving soon.”
The Heavenly Demon’s eyes glinted. “Does that mean the 4th Floor has already been cleared?”
“Yeah. Apparently, that so-called Specter cleared it.”
The Heavenly Demon chuckled. “I knew he would. He is special.”
“As special as you?”
“Who knows?” The Heavenly Demon only gave a vague answer before he changed the subject. “So the Archduke wishes us to prepare according to ‘that’ plan?”
“Yes. But we need more time because you lot destroyed the door before it could be finished.”
“I’m sorry...”
“Forget it. What’s done is done, and we will be done soon enough.” The demon turned as he spoke, “Once the Door Between Worlds opens, the Calamity will begin. However, the Players are progressing through the Floors too quickly.”
“I will slow them down,” the Heavenly Demon said. The demon’s lip curled. It was the answer he wanted to hear. “I will be able to slow the Players down with a few of my subordinates.”
“Would it be possible for only a few of you?” the demon questioned.
“You know how skilled they are.”
“Mm.” The demon merely nodded. He neither agreed nor disagreed. “Then I’ll leave it to you all. But make sure you don’t mess up.”
“I will heed your words.”
Once the demon disappeared, the Heavenly Demon casually snapped his fingers, instantly summoning the seven other executives.
“You summoned us.”
The Heavenly Demon looked at each person before him. It had already been more than five months since they came to the Underworld. And they had only been doing one thing since they arrived.
‘Fighting.’
They killed and killed all over again. And there was only one thing they could gain from it.
‘Power.’
They drank the blood of the demons they killed and honed their strength. As such, the Heavenly Demon’s status had grown to the extent that Common demons couldn’t afford to disrespect him.
“We have to start moving soon,” he said. He then closed his eyes and smiled as if he was imagining something pleasant. “I will a.s.sign your duties.”
To prepare for the upcoming era of darkness, they had to interrupt the Players’ progress. “Nazad Hallow.”
“...” The elderly man’s eyes glinted under his robes as he looked up at the Heavenly Demon.
“Destabilize the Players.”
The elderly man shivered. Was it fear? No, everyone here knew that he wasn’t capable of such a feeling.
“I like it,” Nazad Hallow said. He couldn’t hide his joy as he turned. “I will enjoy myself.”
“I look forward to it,” said the Heavenly Demon. His words were genuine.
‘Nazad Hallow has the most power out of all the executives.’
Isaac Dvor and Valencia Citrin were strong, but they couldn’t even dare to compare themselves to Nazad’s influence. After all, he had a whole army at his disposal.
‘Though, he is too proud…’
Nazad Hallow was the only fiend the Heavenly Demon respected somewhat. The only reason the arrogant Heavenly Demon was letting things slide was that Nazad’s power was truly amazing.
“Charbork, Butcher, Shadow. You will also initiate each of your duties.”
“Your wish is my command.”
“I will not disappoint you.”
The Heavenly Demon watched the executives disappear like the wind and turned back to the river of lava once more. He meditated once again while staring at the endless current.
‘Soon, we will have a rematch.’
The thought of Seo Jun-Ho alone made his left arm ache. There was no reason he should feel any pain because he had completely recovered, but the feeling never left him. He gave a hollow laugh as always and gently pressed on his arm.
‘I’m looking forward to it.’
***
“Ugh, what a waste. The System suspended sales?” Shim Deok-Gu said. He had summoned Seo Jun-Ho and the Frost Queen early in the morning.
“Isn’t it so unfair? I worked so hard to write it that I did not even eat a cake for a day,” she complained.
“Um. Anyway, we have actually received a certain request from many publications,” Shim Deok-Gu said.
After just listening all this while, Seo Jun-Ho finally spoke, “What? They want us to hand over the Guide?”
“Yeah. And if you don’t want to sell it, do you really think you’d be able to distribute it just to the members of the Korean Player a.s.sociation?”
Seo Jun-Ho thought for a moment. Gray and Reiji had only been concerned about the large amount of PP he possessed. If it weren’t for that, they wouldn’t have stopped him from handing out the Guide.
“It doesn’t matter to me. I trust that you’ll take care of the whole process.”
Shim Deok-Gu’s face brightened. “Okay. I’ll partner with a trustworthy company and try it out.”
He then sorted through his doc.u.ments. “Now that I think about it, I suppose that the ones who bought your Guide are already going through the Seo Jun-Ho difficulty right now.”
“Probably. But…” Seo Jun-Ho’s face grew hazy. “I think not many will succeed.”
“Huh? The difficulty is adjusted to match each Player, and they even have the Guide. Why not?”
“Even if they know how to do it, you can’t clear it with an ordinary level of determination or mental strength,” he explained.
“Huh. If you put it that way, I guess only Rankers who are around the level of the Nine Heavens would be able to clear it.”
Seo Jun-Ho shrugged. If they weren’t a Heaven, or as strong as one…
“If someone is just that committed[2] for whatever reason, I suppose they could do it.”
***
No one was allowed to sell, copy, or share the Seo Jun-Ho Difficulty Guide anymore. As such, less than a thousand copies existed in the world. And those who were lucky enough to obtain it immediately went to the 4th Floor to attempt the Seo Jun-Ho difficulty.
“...”
Like this man...
The vending machine spat something out with a clatter. He carefully opened the book.
[OO’s Diary]
The diary would let him regress 365 times. It was an item he could only dream of obtaining until now.
“Regressions…” The man tightly gripped the diary in his hand.
He desperately wanted the ability to regress.
“...”
He shook the thoughts out of his mind and continued on his journey. The 4th Floor only truly began once he obtained the diary.
The c.o.c.kroaches flowed out endlessly, and no matter what he tried, Erebo’s clone wouldn’t die.
‘This is insanely difficult.’
Even if he followed the Guide and chose all the correct routes, all he did was follow behind Seo Jun-Ho’s footsteps.
He died over and over again.
‘...He really is amazing.’
The more he regressed, the greater his respect for Specter became.
At the same time, he felt a bitter sense of sympathy.
‘Seventeen years, was it?’
The man wondered how Seo Jun-Ho felt while he was trapped in this endless prison of time for that long. If he failed, there were no consequences. He could go back to Earth and attempt to clear this difficult level once again.
However, that hadn’t been the case for Seo Jun-Ho. He had to have been scared. He might have even cried, but in the end, he prevailed through this h.e.l.l.
‘You were walking down such a painful path all this while.’
The man closed his eyes. He had only ever known Seo Jun-Ho as a happy person because he was always smiling. He could have never guessed that behind that smile, Seo Jun-Ho was suffering from a pain that gnawed away at his blood, flesh, and soul.
“...”
He finally understood his master’s words. He had told him that Seo Jun-Ho was the loneliest and saddest person in the world.
‘He told me to stand by Jun-Ho’s side and give him strength.’
The man felt ashamed. Despite many years of constant failure, Seo Jun-Ho kept trying.
In contrast, what had he been doing this whole time?
He despaired. He raged. And he despaired again at his incompetence. All he had done so far was run away. He was scared, and he felt like the pressure would crush him. It was all because he thought that an ordinary man like him could never replace his master.
‘But you’ve taught me this...’
Finally, he understood that heroes weren’t born out of sheer luck—they were created through hard work and perseverance.
He slowly opened his eyes.
“I’ll keep trying until I succeed. If I can’t do it in a few years, I’ll keep going for a few decades.” It was all so that he could stand proudly by Seo Jun-Ho’s side as a fellow disciple[3]. And for his master, whom he knew was watching over him from the heavens.
“What is your name, predator?” Erebo asked.
He gathered his thunder energy.
“Baek Geon-Woo. My name is Baek Geon-Woo.”
Bzzzzt!
As the thunder scattered the clouds, the sky seemed to be laughing in a refreshing way that penetrated his very soul.
1. The hanja characters for ‘horse’ and ‘demon’ sound the same, so the meaning isn’t always interpreted correctly unless there’s an explanation. ☜
2. The meaning is actually closer to desperate, but it has a different connotation. ☜
3. The specific term here is a Buddhist term referring to the student that came before the subject, suggesting that he is supposed to have some level of seniority over Jun-Ho. ☜