Chapter 216

Chapter 216. The Kidnapper and the Swindler (1)

“Always carry this with you.”

It was a necklace with a round pendant hanging on a thin gold chain.

“The 7 Great Gods promised that they cannot harm those who possess each other’s holy relics.”

Even gods did not always get along. In fact, there had been wars between Orders worshipping different gods in Biharin.

It had gotten so intense that they began to emphasize harmony by erecting the World Tree.

“Wasn’t it said to have started about 130 years ago?”

And before that, the fighting and killing had been going on for about 2,000 years.

Only after understanding the long history of animosity could they grasp the reason for the competition, checks, and backstabbing under the guise of harmony.

In such a background, possessing a divine relic meant being safe from all gods. Of course, it couldn’t be handed out recklessly to just anyone.

It seemed it could only be delivered through an apostle.

“Our apostles represent the will of the gods,” he said, carrying a nuance that the will of the apostles was the will of the gods.

“There was a separate reason for giving holy relics to the apostles.”

I had thought of it as symbolic, something like a medal, but it turned out to be an indirect means to protect those the gods wanted to guard.

“It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing.”

I accepted the divine relic that Gretman extended towards me, understanding the reason for needing protection from threats from other gods.

There was no way I would transfer the divinity I had absorbed through much hardship over to them.

The divine relic in the form of a necklace brimmed with Palao’s divinity. At that level, it was akin to advertising to the world that I possessed a divine relic.

“But once a cloth is already wet, pouring more water won’t change much.”

Since divinity was already housed within my body, it wouldn’t matter whether I had this or not. The divinity it emitted would be the same. I tucked the divine relic inside my clothes.

Only then did Gretman turn and speak, “Follow closely. It’s dangerous for you to wander alone, so I’ll escort you to the barrier.”

As I was preparing to follow him, for the first time, I took in my surroundings.

“… This is quite a sight in another sense.”

The ground was in the sky, and the sky was on the ground. All the grass was shredded, and the stagnant water had rotted.

It was a wasteland where even ordinary, weak lifeforms born from a mere 10 of mana couldn’t survive.

Following the path Gretman had paved, I asked a question.

“What is this place?”

“It’s a place where dimensional fissures are tangled. Starting from where forms are shattered and origins are untraceable, it will sequentially vanish. The end has already begun.”

The word ‘vanish’ made me shiver involuntarily.

“There’s no need to worry too much,” he responded, interpreting my reaction.

“It hasn’t yet merged with your world. Only a passage has opened.”

Gretman glanced backward and added another sentence.

‘It hasn’t merged with our world, huh…’

I pondered if this indicated that the place had merged with Rice Cake’s world.

“What is this place’s geographical location? I mean in terms of the continent’s defense.”

“It’s the west. Based on our world, it’s a place they came from and are heading to.”

Already devoured from the west to the east where Earth resided. Understanding Gretman’s explanation, I scanned my surroundings again.

What I was seeing now contained the past, present, and future. The past of an unknown dimension where Rice Cake had come from, the present of Biharin fighting against monsters, and the future of Earth if the hole wasn’t blocked.

I somehow felt that Gretman was intentionally showing me this scene.

* * *

It took a whole day to leave the place where the dimensional fissures were present. During that time, the system remained dysfunctional. It wasn’t until later that I regained access to the community, the shop, and all other system functions.

About half a day more after running on intact land, I could finally utilize them again.

“This should be far enough. Now, it’s time for me to go.”

Gretman left me one final piece of advice, reminding me not to forget what he had said earlier. As soon as he departed, hundreds of messages flooded in.

「You have received a chat message from Codename Kj.」

「You have received a chat message from Codename Bunny Girl.」

「You have received a chat message from Codename Ethan Rembrandt.」

「You have received a chat message from Codename Kirish.」

「You have received a chat message from Codename Pudding.」

「You have received a chat message from Codename Lily.」

The dysfunctional system was evidently back online. However, I had to postpone checking the mountain of accumulated chats.

As soon as the messages flooded in, I felt numerous things clinging to me. My body stiffened due to the sudden event. Despite my bewilderment, understanding what I was experiencing wasn’t too difficult.

‘The gaze Gilenios spoke of…’

It seemed the possession of divinity allowed me to feel it. Divine beings with divinity and authority were watching me.

After Gretman left, many gazes focused on me. One gaze swiftly scanned me and then departed as if it had no further interest.

Another gaze, neither near nor far, watched me silently. The last one felt like it was licking me.

My cheek twitched at the unpleasant sensation.

‘Is this Agnotia?’

I understood why Gilenios used vulgar terms in frustration. I felt like swearing just the same.

‘Was Gretman blocking it?’

Gilenios mentioned spaces to avoid Agnotia’s gaze, so that could be it.

The difference in their activity patterns likely had something to do with the level of ‘elevation’ I recently learned about.

– Maintaining this space prevents me from moving. I’m not yet highly ranked yet.

– Time accumulation leads to accumulated records, which become the level of one’s existence.

Reflecting on the words of Gilenios and Gretman, I clicked my tongue.

“Tch.”

Although I could now sense the gods’ gaze, I still didn’t know how to shake it off. The thought of carrying this sticky presence with me made me grimace.

And, conveniently, “Hmm?”

The two gazes that had been watching me withdrew slightly. In their place, another gaze abruptly approached me.

Chop chop chop.

The newly arrived gaze began exploring my body. Surprisingly, the sensation of being kneaded and touched so freely wasn’t as unpleasant as I thought it would be. Unlike Agnotia’s gaze, it felt warm and tender, albeit jittery.

I didn’t have to think hard about who this was.

There were few entities among the divine beings who would be this friendly to me.

‘… It must be the system.’

Admitting it was something I disliked, yet the system’s gaze and divinity were cozy. Was it because it was the divinity of the material world I belonged to?

Or was it because this entity cared for me in many ways?

‘I figure it’s the latter, but I’d rather think not.’

I still despised the system.

Just because the entity I disliked cared for me didn’t fill me with joy.

But that didn’t mean it was useless. Agnotia’s unpleasant gaze had backed off as soon as the system arrived.

‘Guess it can’t misbehave with this guy around.’

Thank goodness for small mercies.

“Let’s talk when I get back to base; stay close for now.”

I opted to maintain the status quo, not wanting Agnotia to lick me like a lollipop.

As though responding to my words, I felt a sensation as if I was being hugged tightly.

I jumped up in shock.

“What the hell! Are you crazy?! What are you doing, so creepily?!”

I didn’t mean to get a bear hug, just stand nearby!

At my outburst, it felt like the system backed off, maintaining a slight distance. After rubbing my body vigorously, I accessed the community.

This time it worked perfectly.

I started by checking messages from the party members in order of urgency.

– Kj: Hyung, what’s going on? Where are you? Come quickly, really, hurry!

– Pudding: Awh, all the messages were stuck. Are you okay?

Clearly, notifications had popped up on the other side too. There was no need to explicitly inquire about what had been happening, as Yang Taeho had summed up recent events in the chat.

‘Reports of infection through Kerak have surfaced, an incident with Cratoll in Biharin, a slight skirmish with the Clan Leader of Hamas…’

There had been other incidents and accidents too. Although there wasn’t any joyful news, none of the events were beyond recovery.

Yet, after informing them of my return, I sprinted full force. I planned to reach the nearest temple to use the portal.

The nearest place from where Gretman left me was Somol’s castle. I ran non-stop for almost three hours.

Even in my Gold rank body, I was breathless and sweating profusely from the effort.

Thanks to that, I managed to enter Somol’s castle before sunset. Using the portal installed in the Order of Palao’s temple, I quickly returned to Habon.

Though faces familiar to me acknowledged my presence, I left only a promise to meet later and rushed forth. Finally, upon reaching the base and flinging the door open,

“Hyung!”

Kim Yul, seemingly aware of my presence, was coming down from the second floor. I reached out to him. Specifically, to Rice Cake, who was nestled in his arms.

As soon as I received Rice Cake from Kim Yul, I poured attribute mana into it.

As if it had been waiting just for this moment, Rice Cake started absorbing the mana at an incredible speed.

Kim Yul, echoing what he had said in the chat, repeated himself with a few changes.

“It suddenly got worse the other evening. Started wasting away right before my eyes. I thought it’d die on me! Tried force-feeding potions, but nothing worked…”

The reason Kim Yul had rushed my return was all because of this creature.

Even without his hurried insistence, I would have rushed back. The last time connected, Rice Cake’s condition had looked dire.

The images in my head were all hazy, and the sounds I heard were buzzing. It was as if it was barely hanging onto consciousness.

Its sense of balance was so skewed, it often seemed as if up was down and vice versa.

Then the connection snapped as it rested in Kim Yul’s arms.

Among the messages Kim Yul sent hours ago, was a warning of Rice Cake’s critical condition.

This prompted my hasty return.

‘According to the records, about eight days had passed in reality.’

Of those, the attribute mana stored in Rice Cake’s stomach had run out on the afternoon of day six.

It’s unreasonable to say that it became this frail just in two days.

But what if it wasn’t just two days?

‘I spent at least several tens of days in that space.’

It indicates that the passage of time was different between the trial space and the outside.

Meanwhile, Rice Cake had remained mentally connected to me while I battled with illusions.

‘If it too was affected by the time flowing in that space…’

It would have been starving not for two days, but for ten or perhaps even more days.

Given Kim Yul’s account of it wasting away live, that theory made sense. With a hardened expression, I channeled more mana. Rice Cake absorbed it greedily, like a sponge.

Yet, it barely moved. Anxious, thinking it might be ill, I waited impatiently, thankfully soon hearing,

“Wheeenn…”

It seemed to regain some strength, starting to wiggle a bit.

Only then did I release a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

* * *

‘It was the same when I first found it, there’s no doubt about it having abilities like telepathy.’

With mixed feelings, I looked down at Rice Cake, who was sleeping curled up on my lap. Having absorbed close to 30,000 mana in one go, she had grown quite plump.

Its once scruffy white fur was now sleek and glossy. Events defying my usual understanding, but applying my common sense to an otherworldly lifeform itself was laughable.

I sighed lightly and pressed my aching temples as I reflected.

‘I only thought of it as a bothersome creature…’

Who would have thought I’d be indebted to this creature?

Without that tiny creature showing me the scenes from the base.

‘I might have gone insane.’

Although I am fairly calm now, the memory of the trial’s progression is vivid.

I can objectively perceive the emotions I felt back then.

Feeling pressure when figures from all the social relationships—family, friends, acquaintances, and others built throughout my life—sought to kill me.

It wasn’t a situation a normal person could withstand through sheer willpower.

The sensation of being rejected by everything that constituteds one’s identity.

‘It’s a very effective way of breaking down the ego.’

The phrase “humans are social animals” isn’t just for show, after all.

Whatever the case may be, without Rice Cake, I wouldn’t have emerged from the trial as intact as I am now.

‘Indeed ironic.’

I didn’t foresee such circumstances or bring this thing along with any expectation for help.

The fact is, though, that I received help.

So what can I do? I should take care of it as best as I can.

I gently petted Rice Cake’s head and rested my own against the chair.

“System.”

And then called upon the system, which was still lingering around me.

Damned System

TL’s Corner:

Rice Cake with the mental support.