Chapter 295

Chapter 295. Rogue (1)

With a bewildered mind, it turned around to see space ripping apart.

Just like when it created an entrance connected to a gate.

The system thought it might have seen it wrong, but unfortunately, it wasn’t a mistake.

It was indeed an entrance connected to a gate.

‘Why is that here?’

Even before the system could fully question it, an item it created with its own authority came to mind.

「Gate Relocation Voucher」

It was an item created when it decided to manage all entrances separately, considering the circumstances of players living in various places.

Since having an entrance fixed in a specific location was quite inconvenient.

Of course, it never intended to allow everyone to remove and install entrances at will.

It was a kind of privilege made for those with truly outstanding achievements.

And the achievements determined by the system could be expressed clearly in numerical terms.

Reputation 1 million.

Not an easy feat to achieve within the structure of the game.

But at this moment, there was precisely one person who had achieved that difficult condition.

The moment it realized that, a familiar figure appeared from the newly connected entrance.

A multitude of gate entrances then sprung up in succession.

At the same time, the person who first passed through the entrance into the gate, his dark brown eyes began to turn golden in an instant.

In response, a strong surge of divinity and sparks.

Sensing it, the Damned System quickly moved, feeling the approaching presence.

「No way!」

To block the causality trying to exclude Hyunwoo, who was using divinity beyond his limits.

* * *

The first time I used the Gate Relocation Voucher was when the VIP shop opened.

Upon using the voucher, I could personally install a small door leading to the gate.

This was a discovery I made when I used the item for experimental purposes.

Back then, I prepared several vouchers, thinking, ‘Just in case.’

It was my method of risk management through a kind of distributed investment.

I was aware of the first gate where Angramoti was involved.

And it was when I was enjoying the double achievement effect from my first entry privilege to the VIP shop.

‘Even after buying the Guardian Sapling and the Divine Sapling of the Hermit Village, I had substantial achievements left.’

I considered that the Gate Relocation Voucher might become a breakthrough someday.

While heading for the third trial, I realized that my contingency plan was indeed necessary.

‘Although I was surprised and angry at the conduct of Gilenios and Palao, I didn’t show exactly.’

Having completed all preparations, I held Kerak’s spear in hand and reflected for a moment.

‘Perhaps this is why Palao chose me.’

Because I was someone who prepared for contingencies and made choices accordingly.

Every choice I made aligned with Palao’s intentions.

Perhaps that’s why I was chosen.

‘So what if it is.’

Since it was a rather unimportant thought now, I quickly dismissed it.

Then, after typing a message on my smartphone, I used the voucher without hesitation.

‘It works, after all.’

Maybe because the existing gate disappeared, it immediately connected to another gate.

Without delay, I passed through the entrance and went inside.

As the system recognized me, frozen, I felt several presences following me.

The directors, who received the voucher through Lily, connected the gates.

Before they could enter inside, I unleashed an abundant amount of divinity.

Under normal circumstances, it was an enormous amount that I should never have used.

The system was the first to react.

「No!」

The urgency of the system’s presence flying toward me was as intense as the speech that directly struck my mind.

It was the Damned System’s struggle to block the causality trying to exclude me, who used power beyond my rights.

‘Just as expected.’

The system’s choice didn’t deviate from my expectations.

Responding to the system’s urgency, I unleashed even more divinity to create a Lightning Spear.

I aimed with a thrusting posture toward the deep, black passage that was undefinable to the naked eye before me.

‘I can’t see it.’

But I felt it. The extraordinary Angramoti, who had been stuck in the gate for years!

The moment I twisted my waist, the system succeeded in inserting itself between me and causality.

Simultaneously, I threw the Lightning Spear imbued with divinity toward the extraordinary presence detectable ahead.

My waist, abdomen, shoulders, arms, and even the thighs pushing off the ground beneath me.

Every part of my body moved solely for the spear throw.

The javelin-throwing stance, which was taught by Shamel once, remained perfect even now, after time had passed.

As the spear left my hand, the Damned System disappeared along with the causality.

‘Got it.’

I managed to momentarily separate the system from this matter.

‘Moving to the next step.’

As a start, Angramoti, who had been stuck in the gate, unable to move, was hit directly by the Lightning Spear.

“—–!”

A horrifying howl echoed, just like when I struck Cackle Line once.

“Whew!”

“Aaah!”

“Ugh, this, this is……!”

While I was throwing the spear, the directors who had entered the gate through the entrance grabbed their ears and collapsed.

Their eardrums were ruptured, just as mine had been in the past.

But there was no time to check on them.

From the opposite side, the presence that had been holding the creature in place began to move.

‘One more shot.’

Now that there’s no Damned System, I should use only as much divinity as I can handle.

As I pushed Angramoti with another spear throw, Gilenios started pulling in the opposite direction.

The system and Gilenios always moved in different directions to thwart each other.

But Gilenios and I moved in the same direction under a common purpose.

This difference was enough to pull out the massive Angramoti hit by the great collision of divinity.

At that precise moment, the eerily sharp screech returned as Karlos’ authority was felt.

Afterward, I felt the massive presence of Angramoti disappear.

There was no reason to delay any longer, so I quickly moved towards the gate.

As I advanced, an invisible force blocked my path.

The moment I intended to push it away, it disappeared.

Instinctively, I knew that this force was the last means of controlling passage.

Hence, I eliminated all forces filling up the problematic gate.

Merely willing it seemed enough, as everything executed just by wishing for it.

As a result, white began spreading from my feet upwards.

Before long, everything visible around me turned from black to white.

‘I guess this means the transit function is reactivated.’

According to Gilenios, while I couldn’t create new functions, accessing existing functions crafted by the Damned System seemed successful.

I was also a being with a certain status.

Thanks to this, I now knew how to allow others to use the gate-connected entrance.

I completely removed all restrictions on using the remaining gate entrances behind me.

Thereafter, upon fully crossing the gate, what awaited me was…

“I, damn, man! I, *gasp*, fuck, thought you betrayed me……!”

Lying on the white floor pale as death, sweating anxiously, was Gilenios.

His state appeared quite pitiable.

However, I looked at him with a cold face and spoke.

“Gemal, headquarter of the Palao temple.”

Gilenios, who was about to retort with a grimace, flinched.

He had indeed promised with his own mouth.

That if I saved him or provided a way to live, he’d lick my boots.

It wasn’t a literal promise to behave in such a degrading manner.

It meant he would obey even if such a humiliating act was demanded.

Hence, before the avenue of survival offered this time, he’d have to keep his word.

Staring at me, Gilenios gulped dryly before painfully reaching out to grab my leg.

He squeezed into a dimensional rift.

It didn’t take seconds to reach the destination through the gravityless rift.

“Whew!”

That one transfer seemed truly taxing on Gilenios to his limits.

I casually dropped a potion in front of him.

It implied that he should drink and recover while I handle matters.

As he fumbled to grasp the bottle, it seemed the intention was sufficiently conveyed.

Leaving Gilenios behind, I proceeded forward.

The path to the headquarters of the Order of Palao, which I had treaded multiple times, now felt strangely unfamiliar.

Nothing familiar existed among the people passing by, the lights illuminating the dark, or the warm air to fend off the cold.

Rather, it was filled with what I didn’t know.

‘Those are cuts, those are traces of armor, and not just the corridor and pillars being damaged, but even all the decorations are gone.’

The scene was reminiscent of a violent intruder wreaking havoc and looting valuables.

‘At least there aren’t any bloodstains, that’s a relief.’

Even the corpses, which suited such a location, weren’t present.

Thankfully, it seemed the order members evacuated on time.

I hoped it was thanks to my advice, perhaps, because I was selfish.

Wanting this advice to earn forgiveness for the unilateral neglect up till now.

‘Well, that’s possible only if everything ends according to my plan though.’

Strolling the cold corridor while suppressing a sigh, I soon reached the destination.

The first sight was Palao’s statue that once guarded this place.

Originally positioned deep inside this shrine, clasping hands in prayer, the statue lay broken on the ground.

The impact of the destruction was significant enough, as its head rolled to the entrance.

I kicked the headless statue piece aside.

Impatiently removing bothersome obstacles.

With a cracking sound, the statue’s head piece detached abruptly from the main body and shattered once more.

Instead of staring at it, I stepped into the shrine.

Eventually, I stopped at a spot where the Order’s homepage orb once floated.

Of course, it was now gone.

Looking down at where the orb once was, I searched my pocket.

What I retrieved was the Karlos Authority Voucher I received after completing Scenario 2, scene 2’s main act.

‘The divinity on the roulette was clearly Karlos’ back then.’

It means Karlos intervened just to hand this over.

‘I cannot understand it at all,’

The more I thought, the more absurd it seemed.

With a frown, I tore the voucher, and a gloomy smoke hovered around me.

Among the misfortunes I deemed terrible, those most potent felt here.

‘That should be it……’

Seizing the black smoke, the debris on the ground started floating midair.

These fragments soon converged to form a shape.

‘Homepage orb.’

Although cracked everywhere and broken on one side compared to what I knew in the past.

Upon touching it, several system windows appeared.

I went through them one by one, reactivating the homepage.

Among the restored functions, even the artificially severed access of players was included.

As evidence, the Order’s homepage icon recreated itself attached to the game interface occupying one side of my view.

In a hurry, I pressed it.

‘Restoring it perfectly wasn’t possible, huh.’

Did it lack divinity to recover all the existing data?

The majority of posts were garbled beyond readable.

But that didn’t matter.

‘What I seek are the functions, not the data.’

Confirming the partial return of the homepage functions, I tested by posting a message.

The result was successful.

「Title: Function Test(13)-Author: K

Content: The network has been restored. Players, please check if you can leave comments and create posts without issue.」

– Jenny: It functions properly.

– Pirana: Same for me.

– Nadia: It works perfectly on this side too.

In quick succession, Palao-affiliated players awaiting in Bihar for the fortnight without a gate began to comment rapidly, marking the success of that post.

Damned System