Chapter 123
Chapter 123
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 123
Chapter Title: Old Father's Manga Shop
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Future R came looking for Soma and said,
“There’s one last thing to do.”
“The hero…”
“Grab Kim Jintae and come along. We’ve got a new teammate named Yuri.”
Gonghyeok cut him off indifferently and stood up.
“Kim Jintae’s finally shaken off the last Shadowless, and the final ten are complete. Three hours from now, at noon, the bell will toll and the mission ends.”
He headed toward the place he needed to visit before the mission concluded.
* * *
Nathaniel opened a rift in the sky.
She gently widened the gap with her hand and slipped inside, where a familiar angel awaited.
“Hey, Azazel.”
“Nathaniel. You made it all the way here?”
“Now that I’m about a third-tier angel, I can pull off tricks like this.”
“What’d He say?”
“Don’t even ask. I had to watch my step big time.”
The two best friends exchanged light greetings.
Nathaniel was out on a little excursion, away from Ju Gonghyeok’s embrace.
The space they occupied was a chaotic swirl of murky paint-like currents, impossible to discern up from down, left from right.
“Why’s your lounge so barren? Don’t archangels live in palaces or something?”
“Joking aside, if every layer had its own palace, you’d build half of ’em and the mission would end.”
Azazel blinked once, and the surroundings transformed into a sunlit girl’s room filled with frills and embroidery.
Nathaniel picked up a bear doll and teased her.
“You still make stuff like this? Your tastes are unique.”
“Hell, it’s a hundred times better than your room full of naked pretty boys.”
“Oh, that’s classified. Don’t breathe a word.”
“You have no idea how much grief I went through cleaning up your room on the sly after you vanished. If you don’t wanna be embarrassed, tidy up before you croak next time!”
“Ahaha. Yeah, about that. It’s like, with the resolve to definitely come back alive, I head into battle. That mindset makes the whole dimension aid me… Anyway, time’s passed, but this place is still the same.”
Like a teenager caught with a secret folder of naughty pics, she changed the subject, and Azazel let out a deep sigh.
“I believed you’d come back someday.”
“Azazel, you…”
“I wanted to make a place ready for your return.”
Azazel’s eyes glistened with moisture.
“What, seriously? Pfft!”
“Pwahaha! That one was kinda funny.”
The two angels burst into hearty laughter as they poured black tea.
“How’s it going over there? Last time, you were really struggling.”
“It’s still the worst work environment, but I’m managing. Covered in blood’s become routine.”
“I mean mentally. Seeing that stuff too often hurts the moral core, right?”
Angels had a moral core inside them to preserve their righteousness across eons.
The reason these ancient beings raged and grieved at injustice wasn’t ignorance of the world—it stimulated their values and reason to function properly.
“My keywords are ‘salvation’ and ‘understanding.’ The moral core’s got some flexibility.”
“You sure you’re really okay?”
When pressed again, Nathaniel gave a wry smile.
“Honestly, I had my doubts. We didn’t talk for a while, you know. Even if I try to understand, I didn’t know my limits.”
The incident on the 10th floor where he tried to kill Ha Yeonsi—that had really strained their bond.
‘That day, I learned who he truly was.’
Nathaniel took a sip of her black tea.
“But one thing’s clear. He’s a lonely, solitary soul.”
“Lonely?”
“Yeah. The ultimate loner.”
Azazel pondered for a moment before speaking.
“Nathaniel. He’s not the only lonely one. Everyone exiled to Babel carries loneliness and anxiety inside.”
“True.”
“Is he so full of himself, calling himself a genius, that he’s even more isolated?”
Nathaniel shook her head.
“Nothing like that. Genius? More like a foolhardy idiot.”
She reached out, and a bottle of brandy appeared in her hand.
Usually, a few drops went into black tea, but this was black tea in brandy.
“Like an angel whose moral core is shattered and worn out. Can’t take it anymore, mind’s gone, so he charges ahead alone, step by step, in the direction he thinks is right.”
Azazel stood and began braiding Nathaniel’s tawny hair.
“You’re trying to understand him.”
“Yeah. If he’s lonely and suffering, at least I should stick by his side and keep him company.”
“I’ll cheer you on.”
She finished braiding Nathaniel’s hair into an updo and gently kissed her white forehead.
* * *
With Kim Jintae, Soma, Imir (Yuri)—now a party of four—they descended into the basement of the bell tower.
They entered a hidden corridor, and just like on Babel’s 1st floor, a half-destroyed statue of a god appeared.
Inserting blue coins into the O, d, and a letters engraved with ‘Old Father’ below the statue brought up a message window.
[Consume 3 blue coins to open the cradle?]
[‘Pezelron’s Cradle 20F’ recognizes its first user. Cradle access will be frozen afterward. No other users accepted.]
[Registering [Ju Gonghyeok][Soma Sangai][Kim Jintae][Yuri Granat] as users.]
[20F Cradle opens.]
The statue disassembled into a stone door, and the party entered.
It had been a long time since their visit after the 1st floor.
“Wow, where’s this place? Is it like the 16th floor hidden piece that Legion’s Edgar and Deus’s Christina entered?”
“I’ve been here from the 29th floor.”
“Huh? You too, Imir?”
“Blocked the door, killed some Deus execs.”
“H-ha, right. So, Internal Affairs Officer, what is this place?”
At Yuri’s question mentioning Deus, Kim Jintae, who belonged to them, subtly averted his gaze and changed the subject.
“It’s a manga shop.”
A being like the Great Sage Equal to Heaven or Poseidon in the past—leaders of the ‘rebels’ resisting absorption into Babel.
It was a place created by their chief god, Old Father of Pezelron.
Touching the faintly glowing stone slab in the center unfurled a list.
[Manga Shop (Myriad Goods Store) access granted.]
[20th floor sale prices! Prices rise 5x every 10 floors!]
[Avatar List]
- SS-grade 『Thunder God Thor』 Yellow coin 75.
- SS-grade 『First Hero Uno』 Yellow coin 60.
- S+ grade 『Hanuman』 Green coin 125.
- S+ grade 『Tlaltecuhtli』 Green coin 125.
- S-grade….
[Skill Coinbook List]
- SS-grade Undefiled War Wheel Great Magic Power, Yellow coin 25.
- SS-grade Dark King Numezir’s Diary, Yellow coin 25.
- S+ grade….
Anything decent was way beyond blue coin prices.
Checking assets: 9 green coins from R, 10 yellow from killing the Death King, 1 red from Ra-Djehuty’s SSS upgrade.
Avatars seemed out of reach at a glance, but…
“Generate coin exchanger with Cradle Level 2 privileges.”
[Generating coin converter.]
Clink! Clink!
Light gathered, spawning a casino slot machine-like device. Scales showed exchange rates.
‘On 1st floor, black and purple were 1:250.’
Coin grades followed rainbow order: yellow above was orange, top was red.
Rates on the machine:
Red : Orange 1:100.
Orange : Yellow 1:150.
Thus, 1 red coin became 100 orange coins.
100 orange coins… by precise math of 100 x 150.
Became 15,000 yellow coins.
Jingalingaling——!
Noise like dumping hundreds of thousands of won into an arcade coin changer echoed.
Yellow coins poured out with force enough to smash the machine.
“What the hell is that. Scary…”
Seeing dreamlike yellow coins spill like 100-won pieces, Kim Jintae felt awe turn to terror.
Soma hid his shock at the excess, Yuri exclaimed ‘Wow, impressive’ once and browsed items like it was someone else’s business.
- This guy’s at it again.
Nathaniel, back who-knows-when, rubbed her forehead in headache, and avatars chimed in.
= Whoa~ human buddy’s got skills. Loaded~ Loaded~ After this floor, hit that ‘busty nymph mansion’ and call 100 girls…
“Married man. Shut it.”
Forced back Zeus’s hand sneaking toward the coins.
= Hey, benefactor. Can’t you level me to max? My final ability’s locked, so I can’t use my full power like others…
“Your problem ain’t the final ability, Ancestor—it’s your SS---- grade.
Fact smack hit Ancestor visibly hard.
Pitch-black orb with one eyeball, but probably hurt.
“And you don’t even know how to unlock it.”
= Wait, really? Doesn’t it unlock at max level?
“Usually, yeah. You forgot yours.”
= No way. Lemme try? Please? I’m so wronged. I can do great…
Kicked the protruding Ancestor back inside.
“Everyone, shut up for real. Before I beat you all.”
= You already did… Ow! Ouch!
Somehow, whipping sounds echoed from the avatars’ space.
= Kid always adds one more word and gets punished.
= Agreed.
Senior avatars Je-cheon Dae-seong and Ra-Djehuty were giving a lesson.
“Hm.”
Felt odd weight on shoulder—turned to see materialized Nathaniel’s butt.
She sat on his shoulder, hand on Gonghyeok’s head, and asked.
“So, what now?”
“Well, I’ve rolled the snowball as far as it’ll go.”
Tiny gains snowball, rolled before others even gather snow.
Mountaintop snowball sweeps and devours others down the slope, growing exponentially.
And…
“Game over.”
Current stats across the board at 600, A-grade.
Strength 600[A] Agility 600[A] Endurance 600[A]
Technique 600+100[S] Mind 600-50[A]
Will 600[A] Mana 600[A]
All S-grades need 700 green coins.
S- to whatever takes 1,400 green.
Exchange 12 yellow to green.
1:175 ratio yields 2,100 green coins, gulped like water.
[Strength, Agility, Endurance, Technique, Mind, Will, Mana rise 100 points.]
[Human limit, A-grade surpassed. Entering spiritual being stage.]
[All grades rise to S.]
[Strength, Agility, Endurance, Technique, Mind, Will, Mana rise 100 points.]
[Closer to a being with power.]
[All grades rise to S-.]
Exchanged 43 of 100 orange coins.
6,450 yellow now 6,438 left.
Current around 800; +200 needs 2,100 yellow.
Crunch thousands of yellow coins like chocolates.
[Strength, Agility, Endurance, Technique, Mind, Will, Mana rise 100 points.]
[You appear as a superior spiritual being near godhood.]
[All grades rise to S-.]
[Strength, Agility, Endurance, Technique, Mind, Will, Mana rise 100 points.]
[No oddity if called a god of some dimension.]
[All grades rise to S-.]
Status window again.
Strength 1,000[S-] Agility 1,000[S-] Endurance 1,000[S-]
Technique 1,000+100[S+] Mind 1,000-50[S-]
Will 1,000[S-] Mana 1,000[S-]
Final 57 orange coins for the finishing touch.
[Strength, Agility, Endurance, Technique, Will, Mana rise 1 point, Mind 51 points.]
[Beings of this authority aren’t treated as mere gods. Called kings of gods, or chief gods.]
[All grades rise to S+.]
Strength 1,001[S+] Agility 1,001[S+] Endurance 1,001[S+]
Technique 1,001+100[SS] Mind 1,001-50[S+]
Will 1,001[S+] Mana 1,001[S+]
+1 to all for easy S- to S+ limit break.