Chapter 42
Chapter 42
7. Things You Shouldn't Know -1
Heaven Path / First-Realm Ladder Ascension Method / 『Rite of Order (制度禮)』.
Using the purest possible materials, draw a clean circle. The fewer flaws in the circle, the better. Next, place an object symbolizing your superior at the center of the circle.
(Addendum: No need to place anything. If there is nothing, it automatically becomes an offering to the System.)
Afterward, open the Lesser Heaven's Gate. If the Heaven's Gate has not yet been opened in your world, gather those who share your purpose and open it first before proceeding.
(Addendum: No need to open it. We are already connected to the System.)
Then, pile the offerings to be sent up inside the circle. Also, take care that the drawn border of the circle does not become disturbed.
Research historical records that mention your superior and prepare offerings suited to their orientation. Do not offer anything that insults your superior. Provoking your superior's wrath is not good for the ritual.
(Addendum: No need to choose. The System is satisfied with Credits—and even if it isn't Credits, it encompasses all things without discrimination.)
"⋯⋯Ssssssss."
I was drawing a circle on the gleaming, polished gymnasium floor with trembling hands. Very carefully, at that. Because I was performing the 『Rite of Order (制度禮)』 I had learned from the Glass Sword Lord.
If you ask why I'm making such a fuss over drawing a single circle.
Because the amount I have to pay changes depending on how cleanly I draw this circle⋯⋯!
Actually, this is my third time drawing the circle. I tested it to see how much the efficiency would change, and a misshapen circle started by slashing about 80% off the final appraisal value of the offerings. I thought it was a simple condition, but it wasn't.
So I'm drawing the circle meticulously, making sure not a single speck goes astray.
I wish I could borrow the power of machinery, but making a giant compass, connecting it to the ceiling, and operating it seemed slower than doing it by hand, so I'm proceeding manually.
The material for the drawing is ink mixed with gold powder. Since they said to use pure materials, I gathered every bit of gold I had—gold I had and gold I didn't—and ground it up to use. Judging from the last test results, the effect seems to be pretty good.
Sssssk—
I've completed about 80% now. If I add just a little more, it looks like I'll be ready to perform the ritual.
I glanced around quickly. Just in case a wild boar might come in and cause trouble. The ecosystem has long since collapsed since the Gate opened, but because of that, there are more animals coming down to where people live than you'd think. They know that staying in the forest means death.
I'd stationed Hyejin, a flame-type hunter, at the door as a guard and repeatedly impressed upon her not to let anyone in, so at least no person should be coming in⋯⋯
Clank!
At that moment, my friend Kim Minsik—former road manager and the one who manages Seoul's hunters—opened the gymnasium door and strode right in.
"Hey, Noah Won! You've been holed up somewhere all day, out of sight. You said you'd finish up and come right back. What are you doing in this corner, even posting Hyejin as a lookout⋯⋯"
"Close the door! Get out!"
"A magic circle? What are you really doing? Hey, this isn't the time for that—there's been contact from the south, and you need to take a look—"
"I said close the door and get out!"
Afraid that those feet would erase the circle I'd so carefully drawn, I snapped at him, and Minsik made a sour face and backed out just as he was.
Of course, Minsik has tact, so he wouldn't deliberately erase a magic circle that obviously looks important. But what if a moth flew in through the open door and landed on the circle⋯⋯ something like that could happen, couldn't it?
I tidied up the brush I'd been using to draw the circle, closed the lid on the bucket of ink so it wouldn't tip over, and carefully made my way to the entrance. Then I spoke through the door.
"What."
"No, are you summoning a demon or something? What's with all the fuss, not letting anyone in? You trying to summon a succubus?"
"I asked why you came. What's this about contact from the south?"
"A small hot-air balloon flew in from the southern sky. A scout found it and recovered it, and there was a letter inside. According to what's written, the sender is Count Yeon Arang, but it's not certain. Anyone can forge a name."
"Yeon Arang⋯⋯"
One of the two people who staged the coup with me during the Hunter Monarchy era. She was someone who glared at me sharply every time we crossed paths, so we weren't on great terms⋯⋯ but I do acknowledge her ability.
She was capable both as a hunter and as a leader. But compared to her abilities, oddly enough, no one knew her past, so there were serious rumors going around that she was a former NIS black ops agent.
After the death of the King of Seoul—after she led her faction down to the southern part of the Korean Peninsula—there'd been no contact. And now, after all this time, she'd sent a letter via hot-air balloon.
"What's in it?"
"That's the problem. There's nothing in it."
"⋯⋯⋯⋯?"
"The signature and seal are properly stamped on the envelope, but inside there's nothing but blank stationery. I tried holding it up to a flame and sprinkling lemon juice on it in case it was one of those things where the writing appears, but it wasn't. There were no clues on the balloon either."
Minsik, true to his escape-room-café enthusiast nature, had apparently checked every possibility worth considering.
If there'd been a request for help written on it, that would be one thing, but if it's truly blank, there's nothing more we can do. We can't exactly carve a path all the way to the south based on a letter with no content.
Unsettling as it is, we have no choice but to wait for the next contact.
"Noted. Store the letter separately, and just in case, try calling the south. Maybe it's a sign that they've restored their communications network."
"Okay. But even if they do ask for help⋯⋯ aren't we short on breathing room? We're still digesting the territory expansion."
"I'm busting my ass right now trying to make that breathing room, so if there's nothing more urgent, stop interrupting and go. If this circle gets erased by accident, I might turn into a demon."
"⋯⋯You can get even stronger than that? Just how far up can this System thing go?"
I don't know either.
But I'll find out once today's ritual is done. Once the communication line with the Glass Sword Lord starts working, I've prepared a list of questions in advance. The strength of each System rank is near the top of that list.
I'd seen something like a giant sitting on top of a planet, so I knew upper-rank hunters were no joke, but I still don't know specifically what they can do.
After sending Minsik out, I finished drawing the circle. The System let me know whether it was complete.
Ding!
[Rite of Order connected — (Circle precision 96% / Material purity 82% / Transmission efficiency 90%)]
[Credits remaining until next proficiency (E): 0 / 1000]
[Beginning offering value assessment. For goods in kind excluding Credits, a depreciation of -50% will be applied to the final appraisal value.]
From now on, I just need to place the offerings inside the circle. First, I carefully placed the holy water left over from the triangular trade. The System then converted its value into Credits and displayed it.
[Holy water: estimated appraisal value 30 Credits => 13.5 Credits after depreciation]
10% was shaved off from transmission efficiency, and 50% because it was goods in kind, so the appraisal value dropped to less than half. I let out a deep sigh.
Running a decent Stage once nets around 200 Credits. And right now, if I set my mind to it, I can run two a day. If I grinded hard for three days, I could pay it⋯⋯ no, if I'd been able to save up from the Stages I've run so far, it's an amount I could've paid with a snap.
Credits held: - 9,999,983,200 (debt)
But because of the debt, I can't do that, so I have no choice but to fill it however I can.
Jewelry, metal goods, monster byproducts, broken monitors—among the things that might fetch even a little Credit, I steadily piled up the ones that were useless right now inside the circle.
I stacked up the weapons that came out of random boxes in a heap, placed the now-surplus magic power generator on top of a broken refrigerator, and added the staff that Saintess Andersen had given me as a gift⋯⋯
Only after building a small tower that looked like modern art did I fill the quota.
[Total estimated appraisal value 1003 Credits / Will you offer them?]
"Yeah."
Flash—!
With a white flash, the objects inside the circle vanished as if they'd never been there. And at the same time, a notification rang from the Status Window.
[Rite of Order proficiency has risen to E.]
[Credits remaining until next proficiency (D-): 0 / 5000]
[Registration complete.]
"⋯⋯Hm."
By feel, nothing seemed to have changed much. Just a vague sense that the System window's speed had gotten slightly faster.
Anyway, if it was registered, where was it registered?
I was curious how the System would classify this ritual. Since it's a ritual offered to the System itself, I figured it wouldn't fail to recognize it, and I assumed it would probably be appended to Skills.
The 『Rite of Order (制度禮)』 was appended to a place I never expected.
Name: Noah Won
Age: 27
Hunter Rank: D++
Title: Coup Idol, Shield, Rite of Order (E)
Skill List
└ Unidentified Skill 1 (F): B07#@R2e8
-> Download Slot 1:
-> Download Slot 2:
Storage List: 『A01#@47Eb』, 『Flame Goat Gauntlet: Flame Emission』
(Reappraisal required due to an error of unknown cause)
└ Azure Wind Wanderer (D / B)
Progress: 20% (2-star / growth restricted)
‘The significance of the System lies in wandering the wide world, so roam various worlds and feed it various rains and clouds. Then you shall be able to command wind and rain at will.’
(Additionally, progress can be increased by consuming Credits)
└ Quick-Flash Inner Core (快閃內丹) (D/??)
Progress: 100%
Credits held: - 9,999,983,200 (debt)
I sank into thought.
"⋯⋯Why did this get added to my Titles?"
In the first place, this isn't even something like an online game, so what are titles supposed to be used for? Am I supposed to pull them out when introducing myself?
While I was rummaging around to see if anything else had changed, I spotted a menu I hadn't seen before that had been added.
[Gu■ (unlocks at Hunter Rank C)]
Zzt— zzzt—
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
It was a menu whose trailing characters were glitching out for a while, like a bug. Apparently, it's normally only usable after rising to C-rank.
Whether it was a side effect of the early unlock, the menu's text kept trying to form a shape and then scattering—but if I looked closely, I thought I could make it out. If it would just hold its shape a little longer⋯⋯ Yeah.
Guild.
This was a guild menu.
The moment I realized that, a notification came immediately.
[A temporary communication requ■ has been receiv■ from the gu■ 『Lumberjacks』.]
⋯⋯Is this the means to contact the Glass Sword Lord? But a guild, huh. It was a word that made my thoughts complicated. Especially when I thought of the Hunter Alliance, even more so. Because I couldn't get a read on what the System wanted.
Sometimes it seems to demand solo play, and other times it seems to want people to interact and form teams. It's confusing.
Let's wrap up and finish for now. I'm planning to put off contacting the Glass Sword Lord for a few days. Still, I need to at least get the basics of that foreign language called 'Selvikian Common Tongue' down before anything resembling a conversation will be possible.
As I stretched and loosened my stiff muscles, the gymnasium door cracked open and Hyejin's head popped out.
"Noah, are you done? Can I come in?"
"Done. You can come in. Even better if you help me clean up a bit."
"Minsik said you were summoning a succubus. Is that true?"
"Would it be?"
"No way—if you had time to summon something like that, you'd tell him to go haul more rice sacks."
Hyejin came trotting over and peeked around the site. I tidied up the used brush and leftover ink, and thought about how I could preserve that perfect circle I'd drawn with my best effort.
I didn't want to go through this ordeal ever again. If I just blocked off access and hung a curtain properly, it would remain intact, so next time I needed it, I could use it as is⋯⋯
At that moment, the notification sound rang once more.
Ding!
[Lee Hyejin: estimated appraisal value 12000 Credits => 5400 Credits after depreciation]
[Total estimated appraisal value 5400 Credits / Will you offer her?]
It felt like someone had poured coolant over my brain.
I urgently lifted my gaze and saw Hyejin with one foot placed inside the circle. I screamed on spinal reflex.
"──Get out of the circle!!"
"Uh, uh?! I'm not supposed to go in?! I'm sorry⋯⋯"
Crunch—!
With a face drained pale, I activated 『Azure Wind Wanderer』 and tore out a section of the gymnasium floor, circle and all. The moment the circle was damaged, the horrifying question of whether to offer Hyejin vanished as well.
"⋯⋯C-Captain Noah. D-did I make a huge mistake, or⋯⋯ I mean."
Hyejin was frozen stiff in a rigid attention posture, watching my expression. Right, she's alive. She wasn't enveloped in white light and evaporated or anything.
Only then did I let out the breath I'd been holding. I thought my heart was going to drop.
"Hoo⋯⋯"
I'd felt it vaguely all along, but this time I knew for certain. The System didn't care about life and death, and it didn't demand even minimal morality or humanity. Its intent was clear, but beyond that intent, it considered nothing.
The System existed outside the categories of good and evil.
As I rubbed out the remaining remnants of the circle with the sole of my foot, I shuddered to shake off the chill I'd just felt. I'd almost lost a comrade in a way that wasn't even funny, in a way that made no sense.
This System, you crazy bastard.
I let out another sigh of relief and said to Hyejin.
"You almost died just now⋯⋯ so be careful from now on."
"⋯⋯Yes, my apologies, Captain Noah. I'll correct⋯⋯"
Seeing her answer stiffly in that rigid posture, it seemed she'd misunderstood something, so I explained it once more in a looser way. Hyejin probably came in because she figured I was all done. Honestly, who would expect that stepping into a circle someone had drawn on the floor could be a matter of life and death?
"No, I didn't mean it as a metaphor for scolding you. I meant you literally, physically almost died, so be careful."
"Ahh, ah⋯⋯ oh my, that was a close call. I'll be careful, Noah!"
"⋯⋯⋯⋯?"
But somehow she looks even more relieved. She thought she'd upset her superior, but when she hears that she actually almost died a gruesome death, shouldn't she be more horrified?
Thinking that I needed to handle this Rite of Order with more caution, I sent Hyejin back.
A few days later, I got in touch with the Glass Sword Lord.
While talking with the Sword Lord, I vented about what had happened at the gymnasium, and the Sword Lord laughed heartily and said this.
"Hahaha! You seem to be on quite good terms with your subordinate! Think about it—do you think just anyone can be grabbed and offered like that? All you'd have to do is draw a great circle the size of covering a continent and offer them up, wouldn't you?"
"⋯⋯⋯⋯?"
"Normally, the target has to be completely incapacitated before they can be offered! You'd have to beat them half to death, maybe. So originally, the appraisal itself shouldn't even appear⋯⋯ You're well-loved, Noah Won!"
So, in other words.
It was an accident caused by loyalty that was too deep.