Chapter 173
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 173
Chapter Title: The History of the Astria Continent
Step, step.
A dark, long corridor stretched on.
The passage was so narrow that it would be uncomfortable for two or three people to pass through together. But since Chris was alone, her movements weren't restricted. Was this passage designed for only one person to enter at a time?
Magical torches, glowing faintly from the surrounding walls, served as weak guides.
"To think there was a secret place like this inside the imperial palace."
Chris clicked her tongue in amazement as she walked down the passage.
As expected of a world with magic, the ravages of a thousand years were almost nowhere to be seen in this narrow corridor.
Before long, a metal door came into view at the end of the passage.
Clank.
It opened easily at Chris's touch.
"Oh-ho."
Chris let out a sound of admiration as she surveyed the scene inside the room.
The place Chris had arrived at was a small study.
It was a surprisingly proper study, complete with a table and chair arranged for reading or writing. There were also a few ornaments that offered a glimpse into the owner's classic tastes.
Bookshelves lined the walls on the left and right. Various books were tucked into them. Mana stones were embedded here and there around them. They appeared to be mana stones enchanted with semi-permanent magic to protect the books from things like moisture and fire.
"Books are easily damaged, after all."
Chris nodded.
Even on Earth, many ancient texts had been damaged. While Earth now had various methods to preserve books for a long time, this world of magic must have preserved its ancient knowledge in its own way.
In this magical world of the Astria Continent, there were many things that seemed wondrous even to a modern person living in an age of highly advanced science. Like the magic lamps that lit up the capital at night, reminiscent of Earth's streetlights.
Opposite the way Chris had entered, there was another door. Unlike the iron door she had come through, it was a stone door inscribed with a strange pattern.
"Hmph."
She tried pushing it. It didn't budge.
Chris nodded. She had a rough understanding of this place's purpose.
"A study that doubles as an emergency escape route, I see."
She had heard that imperial palaces in fantasy worlds often had secret passages that only royalty could open. Of course, this probably wasn't the only secret passage, and this place seemed to serve other purposes as well.
What was the Alpharion Emperor's motive for showing Chris a place reserved for royalty? Even considering her position as the Godmother's guardian, this was incredible treatment. Or did it mean that the Hero, 'Rain', was that significant a figure to this empire? So much so that she was called the Godmother.
Or perhaps, was it to have Chris learn a great deal and face the threats to this world with a sense of duty? Preferably as an official member of the Alpharion Empire. If they could draw Chris in, Rain would follow.
After briefly pondering the emperor's intentions, Chris soon began pulling books from the shelves one by one.
"...'A Study on Dimensions', 'The Rise and Fall of the Supreme God's Faith', 'The Mindset of Divine Beings', 'Another World'."
They were mostly books on theology or macro-level dimensions.
Were these books written a thousand years ago?
Why did the owner of this study collect such books?
"...'The Hero from Another World'."
Chris's hand, which had been scanning the titles, stopped at one.
As if possessed, Chris pulled it out and turned the page.
[This book is the story of a hero summoned from another world. Among the many legends and prophecies in our world, the most puzzling is why an outsider, ‘not one of us,’ had to be called the savior. Despite having countless warriors, mages, and wise sages, why did we have to bring someone from a strange other world to fight for us?]
The book, which began that way, contained various hypotheses about why a person from another world was given the Holy Sword to fight.
[There is a hierarchy in status. Then, is there also a hierarchy in the soul itself? Does the difference in the soul's caliber determine the capacity of the vessel that accepts God's power? If so, it is plausible to assume that the world we live in is itself a lower dimension.]
After staring at the book for a while, Chris shook her head and put it back on the shelf.
"This isn't Rain's story."
It seemed that even before Rain's era, a hero had been summoned to fight against the demonic threat that had befallen this world.
As long as this world had continued to exist, all those threats must have been defeated, but.
[The War of the Angels]
[The Advent of the Demon that Decreed the End]
Looking through other books, Chris gradually began to understand the flow of this world's history.
At some point in this world's history, there was a war among angels.
And an unusually massive demon, so great as to be called the 'End', had descended.
Were the two events related?
Thus flowed the history of the Astria Continent.
And the existence named 'Rain' connected the continent's history with its reality.
Rain's existence was making it impossible to dismiss this world as just a game.
"I always thought it was too perfect."
This game was uncannily elaborate.
It was on a different level from the clumsy VR MMORPGs of the past.
Did they say it was created by bringing over an actual, existing dimension? Indeed, the world of 'Astria Online' was perfect, as if the continent itself and every single individual had been copied exactly.
After spending time with Rain and meeting the strange being named 'Han Yeo-reum', Chris had decided to somewhat accept the fact that this game was a projection of a real world.
She gradually became engrossed in the history of this world.
Chris suddenly came to her senses.
A considerable amount of time must have passed.
In modern society, the significance of paper books had faded considerably. Chris wasn't one for this kind of reading, but perhaps it was because she had become deeply immersed in the fascinating worldview. She continued to read, losing all track of time.
This was a secret, windowless room. It was impossible to judge the time by the sunlight filtering in from outside.
Of course, there was a way to check the time through the in-game interface, but Chris had time to spare today. There was no need to check the passage of time. Still, at least half a day must have gone by.
"I think I get the gist of it."
The history of the Astria Continent.
Since the distant past, they had been consistently invaded by beings from another world, known as demons.
And about fifteen hundred years ago, there was a war among the angels who protected the world. This war was likely the starting point of the world's weakening. She surmised that all the angels who served the Supreme God had died in that war.
Was it an aftereffect of that? A thousand years ago, with an unprecedentedly powerful demonic invasion, the world finally stood at the brink of ruin.
The flow of history that Chris had deduced from various books ended there. Of course, since they had defeated even that demon, the world must have been able to survive until now, a thousand years later.
And the hero who ended that war a thousand years ago was.
"Rain."
The books here were records from a thousand years ago, so she couldn't learn about the history that followed. Well, it probably passed without any major incidents.
Chris had learned a lot, but she couldn't find what she was most curious about.
According to the emperor, there should be records about Rain and her companions.
Chris stood up from her chair and looked over the bookshelves again.
Of course, all these books were written in the common script of the Astria Continent, but this world was currently a game. She could read them without difficulty thanks to the translation hologram feature that appeared above the text.
"Seeing things like this, I can't help but feel it's a game."
Muttering to herself while scanning the shelves, Chris's gaze fell on a book tucked away in a remote corner.
"Huh?"
It had no title.
In fact, there were many untitled books here. Not just scholarly books on theology, but also many unofficial historical records written by unknown authors.
A book just like those, nothing special.
She had been about to pass it by, thinking it would be similar.
"But it feels strange."
Chris's class was Yin-Yang Master.
In Korean terms, a shaman. In a way, you could see it as an Eastern priest.
Of course, since it was a class that channeled spirits or local deities, it had a very different feel from a priest who served a single god.
"Besides, there isn't even a priest class in Astria Online right now."
For a fantasy world setting, the absence of priests was unusual, but it turned out to be historically accurate.
In past records, there were priests, just like in other fantasy settings. But in the game's current time period, their sacred power could only be seen in holy relics and the like.
Anyway, the instincts of 'Chris the Yin-Yang Master' detected a strange feeling from that book.
Was it a book enchanted with elaborate magic? If Beimerung, the Mage, had been here, she might have found it right away using her Mana Scan skill.
That had to be it.
The book containing the records Chris was looking for. And a book enchanted with strange magic.
*Flip.*
When Chris opened the book, a translation hologram in Korean appeared above the squiggly script of the Astria Continent, which was neither English nor Korean.
[...I am the first emperor of the Alpharion Empire, Bernhard von Alpharion.]
"This is...!"
Chris knew instinctively.
This was the record she had been searching for.
[It might be better for this record to remain buried. That in itself would be a fine thing, nothing to be ashamed of. Still, if one of my descendants should discover this record, feel free to read it as the secret diary of a meddlesome first emperor.]
A long-winded introduction followed. And at the end of that preamble...
[...in this book, I leave a record of the process by which a despairing humanity rose again. And a record of humanity's saviors, the Hero and her party.]
One of the people who fought for humanity alongside Rain in the past, the first emperor of the Alpharion Empire.
'Bernhard von Alpharion'.
This book was his journal.
A record of Rain's past.