episode_0086

It’s not like the devil.

This was the first thought that came to Deltan’s mind the moment he saw Lopalgar’s appearance.

That’s right, the woman wearing a red silk dress and flowing scarlet hair had no trace of the devil’s characteristics.

Even vocalization using vocal cords was like that.

“You’re here.”

“Are you alone?”

Deltan’s eyes scanned the space.

I don’t feel any other demonic energy.

Moreover, things like mana flow or traps were not detected.

“Are you that confident?”

“No way.”

Lopalgar chuckled.

It looked quite relaxed.

“I just don’t invest in meaningless things. Contractor, how could we harm you?”

“I think I understand the topic.”

“Then, what kind of trick are you planning to pull?”

“Should I call it a masterpiece?”

Lopalgar traced his lips with his index finger.

“Would you like to talk for a moment?”

“Should I do that?”

“Even if you don’t want to do it, you have to do it.”

I miss that smiling face.

As the Deltan’s eyebrows rose, Lopalgar continued with a blush on his cheeks.

“No? I’m a contractor. You have a smell that I really like. It is the smell of being obsessed with greed and the desire for achievement and constantly craving something.”

“It doesn’t feel good to hear those words from the devil.”

Just-

Deltan snapped his fingers and the mana moved.

Good luck! Flames soared over Lopalgar’s body.

Ropalgar didn’t even let out a single groan.

However, he said that with his vocal cords being crushed by the flames.

“Umm… I have a quick temper.”

A slight smile was still present.

“Okay, I’ll see you inside then.”

That’s how I lost my body.

At that moment, the interface came to mind.

Deltan’s body was sucked into the spot where her body fell.

*

What caught the eyes of the Delta people who secured their view was a brilliant city worthy of being called a golden city.

All the buildings are made of gold, and decorated all over them are diamonds that Deltans know, as well as various gems such as opals, rubies, and amber, as well as sparkling stones that you can’t even tell what they are.

Even though all these things were confusing the view, there was one building that particularly caught my eye.

It was the golden tower soaring high into the sky.

‘It’s Babel…’ .’

For some reason, this is a familiar naming sense.

In fact, it was even more so if you look at it from the perspective of ‘greed’.

There was no reason to think long.

‘Lopalgar must be in there.’

Usually, the axis of the image world was the most visible and central structure.

Chambler, the demon of dreams, was crouching at the center of space, where gigantic neurons were constantly connected, where the brainstem would be.

Gaias, the reigning demon, sat on the throne at the center of the huge hall.

If we go back to the past, Hermanisis, the king of demons, was in a place where there was only division of objects in the ever-expanding chaos.

It would be the same this time too.

Deltan took a step forward.

‘There are people.’

“You! Why don’t you come here and take a look at some things!”

“You’re a foreigner! Have a nice time!”

“Guest! Come here for a moment! I’ll treat you well!”

If you look at the external characteristics, it was like that.

They had the appearance of Middle Easterners even on the Earth where the Deltans lived.

There are merchants selling goods on the street, residents sitting on the street counting money, and even women selling their bodies in transparent clothes.

It was all contrived and disgusting.

‘If you look at Izzy without it, it’s all an illusion.’

Everyone is smiling.

However, no one acted outside the established framework.

In the eyes of Deltans, this was simply someone’s greed molded into a two-dimensional shape.

I ignored it and walked.

“Hey! Please help!”

A beautiful woman runs out of an alley with her clothes torn and asks for help.

“You! Your eyes are so clear! Will you listen to my story? I am the mayor of this city… .”

People in power show favor to me because I have clear eyes.

“Look at this. Aren’t you interested in ‘medicine’?”

A thin middle-aged man secretly recommends drugs.

Deltan laughed slightly.

“It’s really cliché.”

One thing is definitely sweet.

The ideal that someone dreams of was here.

Also, there was a secret desire here that I had thought about at least once.

Perhaps, the moment a gap appears, this land will change.

The reason why you are bombarded with so many different desires is probably because you are trying to find out what you respond to.

This means that the space itself will be newly decorated in a way that further stimulates the revealed desires.

‘For example… .’

Deltan imagined.

I felt like I was back on Earth and back to my job.

Then, the distinction between landscapes became blurred and the space was reorganized.

‘… like this.’

The changed space was the hospital where Deltans worked on Earth.

I lowered my head and looked at my chest to see that I was wearing a doctor’s gown.

The employee ID card he was wearing had the title ‘Director of Thoracic Surgery’ attached to his name in the district.

“Chief!”

When I turned my head at the sound of calling, I saw a motive.

He was a man who interfered in everything and argued until the day he was brought here from Earth.

“This surgery was also successful! After all, you are the manager!”

Deltan chuckled as the man looked at him with eyes that went beyond admiration to awe.

‘It doesn’t even sound like a horse. really.’

Even if everyone in the world said Deltans were right, this man in front of me would say, ‘You were wrong’ until the end.

In other words, the man’s current attitude alone proves that this is an unspeakable fantasy.

It could be seen as some kind of experiment.

Deltan thought deeply.

Although I may have imagined this scene intentionally, I actually felt good about this situation.

It is absurd to realize that what you imagined will come true right away, but the thought of ‘just a little more’ comes to mind.

‘It must be reading the surface psychology.’

Perhaps, if you are buried here, your deep psychology will be read and you will fall into an abyss that is truly difficult to escape from.

‘So the name of the world of images will be the abyss of all natural colors.’

A rough understanding of the basics has been completed.

Deltan raised his head and looked at what was in front of him.

Although the scenery has changed, there is one thing that has not changed.

A golden tower soaring high into the sky.

‘The distance… .’

As this is the hospital where I worked, I am now starting to get an idea.

‘… 5KM. ‘It’s an hour’s walk.’

If you leave the hospital’s main gate and walk for another 45 minutes, you’ll arrive there.

It is impossible to move quickly using magic or other abilities.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of the world of images, there were some restrictions on behavior outside the rules set by that space, even if you were a Deltan.

Is it disadvantageous?

Deltan, who was continuing his thoughts, shook his head.

‘No problem.’

The rules of space equally apply to Lopalgar, who created the world of images.

To infer from the name of the quest ‘The Most Worthless Treasure’, the goal would be to overcome all temptations leading up to Babel and reach the tower.

“Chief! Would you like a cup of coffee here?”

Meanwhile, the man looked at Deltan with anxious eyes and offered him iced coffee.

The way she looked at me, moaning and begging me to drink it, was like an adolescent girl handing out a letter to her favorite singer.

Deltan took the coffee and looked at it for a moment.

“It’s fresh.”

“Thank you… !”

“But.”

Deltan chuckled.

I opened the lid of the coffee and sprinkled it on the man.

Sigh!

“Ahh!”

“It’s too contrived. That bastard doesn’t act like you. I will secretly put saliva or anti-diarrheal medicine in my coffee and have someone else deliver it to me.”

Of course, I’ve never had it happen to me.

That person was a pathetic person whose jealousy was so ugly that Deltan was always able to maintain tension about his appearance at the hospital.

It’s annoying, but in the end, as helpful as it is, Deltans have always kept men within a certain distance and used them as nourishment.

“Get out of here, you bastard.”

As he said that, the man trembled with a red-faced face, then quickly turned around and stomped into the hospital.

This one looks a little like that guy.

After seeing the man go through the door, Deltan let out a small breath.

The moment I took a step like that.

“Teacher!”

A young boy’s voice was heard.

Stop-

Deltan’s steps stopped.

That is because it is a voice that Deltans cannot forget.

For a moment, there was hesitation in the act of turning my head.

Deltan frowned and gritted his teeth.

“Teacher!”

Hearing the voice again, Deltan slowly turned his head.

There was a white boy sitting in a wheelchair.

He was wearing a patient gown and had IV fluid stuck in his arm.

“… Johnny.”

“Where are you going?”

Deltan looked at the boy in silence.

Johnny Johnson.

A boy with a pretty funny name who is obsessed with hero movies.

This child was scheduled for heart surgery the day after Deltan was sucked into this game.

“Are you going to meet your girlfriend? Or a tinkle?”

Deltan’s fists clenched as Johnny grinned.

‘This… .’

Perhaps regret.

Or the anxiety that I tried so hard to ignore.

Deltan knew right away that this child embodied his own anxiety about reality.

‘It’s annoying… .’

I crumple my expression.

There was nothing to deny.

It’s been five years since I entered the game.

If the time on Earth had passed the same way as here, what would have happened to you?

How is he doing with his work? What will happen to this boy who believed in himself and waited for surgery?

It was natural for anxiety to arise.

Deltan wanted to move on immediately.

I tried to pass by the boy, but I couldn’t.

That’s why I didn’t lose my footing.

It wasn’t because of regret, my body physically didn’t move.

It’s as if there’s glue under the soles of the feet.

‘I guess it means facing each other.’

It’s evil.

Perhaps this too is in the realm of trials.

If you are unable to shake off your regrets and are buried here, you will be trapped here.

You must face it and overcome it to be able to move forward.

Deltan sighed and said.

“… I’m going out to work.”

“The teacher is very busy. Then when are you going to get married?”

“I’m a celibate.”

“My mom said that people who say that get married the fastest.”

“It’s a lie. No, it would be more accurate to call it confirmation bias.”

“Don’t use difficult words.”

“Because there are only people like that around my mother, I am mistakenly thinking that everyone in the world is like that.”

“Are you cursing at my mom?”

“It’s not an insult.”

Johnny made a ‘hmm’ sound, looked at him suspiciously, and then leaned back against the backrest.

“I’ll do something like that.”

The grinning, mischievous smile on his face was exactly the same as the one in Deltan’s memory.

Deltan felt uncomfortable in his stomach.

Johnny stimulated that discomfort even more.

“The surgery is tomorrow. Since you are a doctor who never fails, I will definitely get better, right?”

Deltan clenched his teeth and exhaled, then smiled and said.

“If it doesn’t heal, it’s just a dream.”

“Right? So I thought about it. What should I do first when I am healed? Yes.”

A blush appeared on Johnny’s cheeks.

“The first thing to do is. I’m going to go eat a hamburger with my mom. And I’m going to the park with Ricky! Oh, Ricky… .”

“It’s the shepherd you raise at home. I heard it.”

“You have a good memory. anyway… .”

Johnny continued.

Deltan heard it all one by one.

It was something everyone knew.

The current conversation was with Johnny before work on the day I got sucked into the game.

The story ended after about 10 minutes had passed.

Deltan found Johnny’s trembling fingertips.

“… Is it tomorrow?”

Even this was the same as that day.

Deltan clenched and unclenched his fists, relaxed his body for a moment, and then knelt down.

“No need to worry.”

He placed his hand on Johnny’s head.

He looked me straight in the eye and said.

“I never fail. It has always been that way, and it will always be that way.”

He grinned.

Just like that day.

“You promised. I will fix you and you will give me one of your figurines as a gift.”

“Captain?”

“I don’t like the captain. I like realists more than idealists.”

“Well, I’ll think about it some more.”

“Okay.”

Even as he spoke, Deltan felt a small sense of guilt welling up inside him.

There was still anxiety about the unknown Earth.

My breath comes out shaky.

Deltan swallowed it hard.

“See you tomorrow.”

It was just a promise.

He said he would end everything here, destroy the hall that called him here, and then somehow return to the time he left.

So I will keep this promise.

Johnny smiled brightly.

“… Yes.”

It disappeared like that.

Deltan stared blankly at the spot where Johnny had disappeared for a moment, then stood up.

His expression became sharp.

‘That sucks.’

I felt very bad.

So much so that I want to kill the person who pulled this prank right away.

Fortunately, the leader was not far away.

The Deltans moved.

I walked towards the golden tower.

The moment I left the hospital like that.

“Late.”

I faced Agnes at the entrance of the hospital.