Before long, I could only hear the sound of our own footsteps, and bleak, cold air filled the empty city where everyone had escaped. The body odors and voices of people had also disappeared.
“I won’t be able to live in a place like this alone forever. What’s the point of owning a building if you are all by yourself? This is creepy. It’s scarier than darkness.”
Seong-Il shuddered as if he had gotten gooseb.u.mps.
“By the way, can’t we just destroy the light pillar? We even turned the Baclan King into a nice steak, so there is nothing we can’t do. Don’t you think so?”
In conclusion, it was possible, but also impossible as there were multiple layers of trap in the red zone. In the past, I hadn’t known the rules of the world, but now I knew more than anyone else. The capabilities granted to Awakened, the structures that established the System, and the stages set up in a new dimension like here in the city were the results of the distribution of the limited power by the System.
Destroying the traps surrounding the red zone was similar. The System wanted us to prove whether or not we were qualified enough to advance to the next trap although it could just get rid of the traps by itself. It wanted us to faithfully fulfill the Spirits’ requests. Yes, it wanted us to finish the quests.
“Can’t we just break them down?” Seong-Il asked again.
Of course, it was natural that he would have asked such a question as he didn’t know anything, but I wasn’t supposed to as I was the past life returner, explorer, obstructer, and challenger! Blindly following the System’s orders was something that a slave would do. I needed to go after the truth behind it.
***
As I mentioned earlier, I was ignorant to the rules of the world in my past life. However, I could find the puzzles that gave me a glimpse of the truth after going back in time. The ‘Grand Ritual’ that we witnessed on Balcan’s mainland was an example of one of those clues. The System had sent us the below information about the event.
[About the Grand Ritual of the Baclan Corps (Explorer Reward)
The Baclan Corps hopes that Doom Arukuda will solve their problems. But don’t worry. Your hometown is safe.]
The System was referring to the fact that the Baclans wanted to invade Earth, but what did ‘problems’ mean? As the Stage of Advent progressed, time and s.p.a.ce on Earth stopped. Because of that, the attacks from not only the Baclans but also the other followers of the Seven Demon Kings had ceased. Therefore, that would be the issue the Baclan Corps had wanted to resolve through the ceremony, and similar rituals would be carried out in other legions. Basically, they wanted to continue invading Earth despite the frozen time and s.p.a.ce!
However, the System appeared to be doing a good job defending our planet as the message also stated ‘your hometown is safe.’ That was why Earth was safe during the Stage of Advent. The Seven Demon Kings were trying to use various rituals to attack, but the System was blocking them in some supernatural way that went beyond the fact that time and s.p.a.ce had stopped on Earth. The System and the Seven Demon Kings all had their own reasons for their actions!
That was why these two questions popped up in my mind. First of all, was the Stage of Advent just the training place for the Awakened? Second, where was this place, and what was the purpose of the light pillar located here?
I was aware that there were civilizations that had disappeared after being invaded and conquered by the Seven Demon Kings and their subordinates. Act One, Stage One was held on the Kciphos’ territory. Technically, it wasn’t their mainland, but they were stationed there. When the waves. .h.i.t, furry Kciphos rushed in from beyond the boundaries. They were summoned from a so-called nest.
Act One, Stage Two was held in a spire, which led to the Shrine of the Dead. The goal there was to remove the undead that were in the midst of rituals and to eliminate the faceless statues that represented their G.o.ds. Well, I ended up getting trapped in the entire Land of the Dead as the System had intervened maliciously. In the Final Stage of Act One, the furry corps poured into our stage from the gates.
Did that summary make sense so far?
As of now, all the Awakened around the world had experienced the same thing. Basically, the System wasn’t a self-made, independent ent.i.ty, and there was a reason to its madness. It simply started the Stage of Advent by dropping us at the base of the Kciphos, which was a relatively weak monster group. It allowed the Awakened to experience actual fighting against easy opponents in Stage One, and it made us block the rituals a.s.sociated with Doom Entegasto in Stage Two. Then, it made us defend ourselves from the Kciphos, who were outraged as we had taken over their land. The primary mission in Act Two was also blocking the rituals of the Seven Demon Kings.
According to this version that I had now come up with, the Awakened were not trainees, and the Stage of Advent couldn’t be called a ‘training ground.’ In fact, perhaps we had been deployed to the battlefield as soldiers from the very beginning. If that was true, then what the world’s most powerful people wished for in the past was already going on in the stage. We were counterattacking on the enemy’s land.
***
I said, “We can reach the light only after completing the quests.”
Seong-Il immediately responded, “Then what else do we have to think about? Let’s get it done quickly.”
I responded, “That’s a good thought, but…”
“But?”
I explained, “There’s no need to rush. No one can be faster than us.”
Besides, all the quests in this city were now in my hands. The hidden rewards in Act Two, Stage One could only be obtained at the end, so I just needed to slowly complete each quest before the light pillar reached a dangerous stage. It was like taking a long playthrough in a game. In addition, I had to induce more night raids.
Around that time, Lee Tae-Han had finished maintaining his city and began to move.
[Guild: Ilsung Corps’ Lee Tae-Han attack squad is challenging the trap (First Floor of District 3).]
“Wow, he's a guy with initiative and drive. Our phone store owner is super fast. But don’t you have to check? There’s a lot of stuff on the mayor’s window menu,” Seong-Il commented.
Mayor…
In the past, Lee Tae-Han was just a low-leveled soldier in a watchtower. He couldn’t even imagine completing the trap quest. He had barely finished a few night raid quests, so his responsibility was sounding the alarm when attackers from other guilds or monsters showed up while he was on guard at the outer wall of the watchtower. He had fought against other guild members during the day and monsters at night. He was called up sometimes when his guild was about to invade other guild cities, but he was usually stationed at the tower. All he did was sleep, eat and s.h.i.+t there. I couldn’t stop laughing at the fact that he was now engulfing the whole city.
Seong-Il was staring into s.p.a.ce while a few more guild messages appeared. He was busy looking at the mayor’s menu window and explanatory messages, which only he could see.
“We don’t need it.” I looked at him.
He murmured, “There’s also a construction menu. It says that the score will acc.u.mulate as soon as the quest is completed within our city, and we can create and strengthen the defense facilities such as the outer wall… This must be why the phone store owner is marching on.”
I nodded. “That’s right. When the sun goes down, darkness will come and monsters will pour out.”
He grinned. “As expected, you know everything, Odin.”
“...”
“The defense system would be troublesome then. What shall we do now?” Seong-Il asked amiably.
I responded, “We should take the quest first.”
We moved toward the Spirit by the side of the road. We could easily find other Spirits elsewhere, but their quests were all the same anyway.
[Bored Child (Species)
He is bored because there is no one to play with.
Cla.s.s: ?]
[Why did they all leave? (๑´╹‸╹`๑)... This is such an amazing city.]
“Should we go somewhere else?” I asked sardonically.
[Oh! Welcome. My name is Luah-le, and I’m a.s.signed to the city (No Entry) under the direction of the Guide.]
The same message must have been delivered to Seong-Il. This was the first time that a spirit had revealed its name, so his eyes shone with curiosity instead of being wary of it. He said while bringing his face closer to the spirit, “Luale?”
[No, it’s Luah-le. Not Luale.]
“Luale?” he asked again.
The Spirit huffed, [No, Loo-Ah-Le. Make sure you p.r.o.nounce it correctly.]
“Ugh, you should name yourself in Korean. Just do Young-Hee. Young-Hee from Cheol-Soo and Yeong-Hee[1], okay?”
[No. My name is Luah-le.]
Seong-Il wasn’t tactless. From the moment he put his face against the Spirit, he must have guessed that the Spirit no longer held absolute power like the Guide. It was the same as it was in the past as I had never seen the quest Spirits turn into a red color.
Anyway, the Spirit turned to me as if it didn't want to deal with Seong-Il. It emitted blue lights while flapping its tiny wings, but it was no different from a firefly. I bobbed my head up and down, and it continued.
[Okay. I’ll explain the actual stage. There are seven traps protecting the light pillar, and inside each trap, there are monsters and…]
I curtly interrupted, “Skip the explanation and go straight to the quest.”
[Quests are divided into tasks carried out within the traps, and tasks carried out during night raids. Those held inside the trap zone…]
I interrupted again, “Skip that, too. Bring all the quests you can offer.”
[You are so impatient. The quests available at the moment are as follows: twelve in the traps area and nine during the night raids. It’s good that you are motivated by all twenty-one quests, but you have to listen to my explanation and start the ones that meet your level. Do you get it? Some of them are at such a high level, so they are incredibly hard. However, there are only two Awakened in this city, so the quest that I recommend is …]
“I don’t know why you guys are so talkative. We two are the attack squads and corps here.”
Seong-Il was the one who interrupted the Spirit this time.
“Can’t you see that the other ‘Young-Hees’ would love to talk to us? Stop acting like you’re better than us, and let’s start right away.”
[Fine, but you should give up when it becomes too rough. I, Luah-le, do want you here too. Okay?]
[The quest ‘Simple and Honest Warriors’ has begun.]
Starting with that message, the list of quests quickly filled my window.
[Quest in progress
Birth of Doom Man(1): Level 483 / Level 561
Potential Threat: 317 *Meets completion conditions
Simple and Honest Warriors: 0 / 500
Real and Fake: 0 /1
The Power of the Corps: 0 / 1
Exploration of Trap (First floor of District 8): Not achieved yet
Baclan Arena’s Warrior: 0 / 10
…
23. Queen, My Queen: 0 / 200]
“Odin…”
Seong-Il’s voice trembled faintly from the side. We were looking at the same thing.
[Queen, My Queen (Quest)
The Baclans are about to have their first queen for the next term. Those who crowned her as the queen have already taken control of the army and are also active as night raiders.
Mission: Exterminate 200 followers of the queen.
Reward: XP and a platinum box]
I said while putting my hand on Seong-Il’s shoulder, “Nothing has been confirmed yet. We will figure it out one by one. Until then…”
“Until then?” he asked.
“It’s time to level up, Kwon Seong-Il.”
1. Two names that often appear in Korean textbooks. ☜