Chapter 7
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 7: Deal (3)
As if recalling that time, she spoke while trembling with a deathly pale face.
"What happened inside, or why the Gate Break occurred, was never revealed because all the personnel involved died. However, Lord Nidhogg, who came out of the Gate, was engulfed in rage and burned half the world over several years."
"This guy did?"
"I did?"
On the other hand, Ratatoskr and I reacted as if we had heard utter nonsense.
Considering my actions before crossing over to this world, it is natural for us to react like this.
I spent most of my time sleeping and gnawing on the roots of Yggdrasil, and even if I left Niflheim to go elsewhere, I rarely caused major problems.
But such a me burned half the world?
It's utterly ridiculous.
"I think I know why you did that."
"Even a guess is fine, so let's hear it."
"Lord Nidhogg, who came out of the Gate, was alone without that... um, next to you."
Ah, come to think of it, because she knew my name so naturally, I forgot to introduce Ratatoskr.
Ratatoskr, who only then noticed, also pointed to herself and said.
"I'm Ratatoskr."
"You burned the world alone without Lord Ratatoskr. Perhaps someone among the personnel who entered the Gate targeted Lord Ratatoskr?"
"Ehh?"
At her deduction, my face scrunched up involuntarily and a strange sound popped out.
So I got angry because Ratatoskr suffered a mishap?
What kind of nonsense is that.
If it were really me, I'd probably be happy if something happened to Ratatoskr; I don't think I'd get that angry.
Ratatoskr also denied the deduction, digging out her ear as if she had heard something terrible.
"No matter how I think about it, our relationship isn't quite at that level..."
"But otherwise, I don't know the reason why Lord Nidhogg would be so angry."
Hmm. Since it's the opinion of a regressor, I can't just ignore it.
Did our relationship really develop in those 5 years?
If it did, I'm almost curious to know how on earth we got close.
At that moment, Ratatoskr, whose expression had turned serious, offered an opinion.
"Then you can just go out and check yourself, right?"
"Go out myself? Aren't we trapped here right now?"
Ratatoskr and I are currently isolated inside the Gate by this world's management system.
However, judging by what Ratatoskr is saying now, there seems to be a way.
"Well, the main body is trapped, but it seems possible for a clone to slip out."
"A clone?"
"You know, that thing. That."
"Ah, that?"
Only at Ratatoskr's action of tapping her mouth with a reluctant face did I understand what she was talking about.
In the past, before that world perished.
Right around the time the war between the Aesir gods and the Vanir gods ended.
Odin gathered the spit of the gods from both sides in a jar and molded a being.
The name of the man created by gathering the spit of countless gods was Kvasir.
It is said that he was exceedingly wise and sagacious, and there was no question he could not answer.
Therefore, Kvasir was called the Wise Man of the Nine Lands.
At the time, having heard the story about him through a conversation with Ratatoskr, I conducted an experiment out of curiosity.
Since they molded a person by gathering the spit of gods, wouldn't it be possible to create something with my spit too?
Since the only required material was spit, the experiment was conducted immediately, and the conclusion ended in a half-success.
"It's been a while, so I don't know if it'll work well."
Hk- ptooey!
I gathered spit in my mouth and spat it on the ground.
Then, the spit mixed with black poison fell to the ground, jiggled like a giant jelly, and formed a certain shape.
It was only about the size of a forearm, but it was a tiny dragon with an appearance extremely similar to mine.
If I wanted to, I could make it even larger than a fairly big human, but this should be enough for now.
The woman trembled and was terrified at the sight of the miniature Nidhogg sitting still without any movement.
"The Evil Dragon..."
"Do you know what this is?"
"Yes... Actually, around the time you were burning the world, there were few instances where Lord Nidhogg moved personally. The Evil Dragons sent by Lord Nidhogg handled most of the matters instead, and we couldn't even properly stop them... Of course, the Evil Dragons Lord Nidhogg sent back then were larger than a fair-sized building, but their appearance was definitely no different from this."
"Oho. Is that so."
It seems the me in the future she came from actively used the cloning ability to attack humans.
Well, as long as the main body is safe, clones that can be produced infinitely are certainly efficient.
Life gradually returned to the eyes of the clone, which had been sitting still since its completion.
-Grrrrrrr!!
"Whoops."
Bam!
I lifted a toe and pressed down, suppressing the clone I had gone to the trouble of making just enough so it wouldn't break.
The reason I called the clone a half-success.
That's because the clone is excessively aggressive.
It acts out whenever it has the chance as if hating all living things, and acts hostile toward everything except me, its master, so I had refrained from using it until now, but...
I inserted a portion of my power into the body of the restrained clone.
Then, surprisingly, the struggles of the clone, which had been exuding a fierce aura, stopped almost instantly.
"How is it?"
"It's smoother than last time."
"Is it because you've gotten stronger since then? Or perhaps it's thanks to the essence Hel gave you."
A voice identical to mine popped out of the clone's mouth.
If I explained the reason for the half-failure a moment ago, the remaining half-success is thanks to this.
It was possible for me to share consciousness with the clone I created.
Literally, the completion of Nidhogg mk.2.
When I lifted my foot and released the restraint, Nidhogg mk.2 lightly flew up and landed on the woman's shoulder.
Then, although her body stiffened significantly, I paid it no mind and asked Ratatoskr.
"What do I need to go out and check?"
"Rather than pinpointing something to check, find out how this world operates. Gather as much information as possible. It's even better if it's information that others can't easily access."
"To do that..."
"Yeah. That human needs to expand her influence among other humans."
"I'll be busy for a while."
What other way is there for an Awakened with no connections to expand their influence besides clearing high-level Gates?
It seems I'll have to diligently run Gates with her for a while.
Still, it's not like this clone is weak right now, and since she has the standard Valkyrie equipment, it shouldn't be particularly difficult.
"Then let's coordinate our stories before going out of the Gate."
Both agreed with my opinion, and we shared information and formulated a plan.
Awakened Association Seoul Branch.
That place was currently in an uproar over an unprecedented Gate Mutation incident.
It's not the first time a Gate Mutation has occurred, but the problem lies in the magical energy density detected from that Gate.
Sitting in the branch manager's office and listening to the report, Gu Do-han, the head of the Awakened Association Seoul Branch, rubbed his forehead against a throbbing migraine and asked the Association agent who had come up to report.
"Could you repeat that...?"
"Yes. The results of the Gate magical energy density test show that the magical energy density of the E-rank Gate 'Goblin Forest' has risen to an immeasurable level with our current equipment."
"Phew... So it wasn't a mistake. It would have been better if it was a mistake, though."
"I know you are confused by this unprecedented situation, but we must issue an evacuation order to the surrounding citizens right now."
"Evacuation. Evacuation, huh... How many?"
During a Gate Mutation incident in another country in the past, a twin-headed ogre and a group of ogres appearing to be its subordinates burst out from inside a Gate that had mutated to S-rank, and as a result, an entire city was instantly devastated by the time the situation was subdued.
An S-rank Gate was like that, but the Gate that has appeared in Seoul now shows a magical energy density that vastly exceeds even that S-rank.
Furthermore, the location of the immeasurable Gate is Bundang.
Just how many citizens have to evacuate?
At the branch manager's question, the agent, whose face was severely hardened, forced his mouth open.
"...At least all citizens residing within Gyeonggi-do..."
"Do you think that makes sense?"
At the suggestion that they must abandon the metropolitan area itself, where the majority of South Korea's infrastructure is currently concentrated, the branch manager looked at the agent as if asking if he was serious, but the agent also did not bend his opinion.
"But if we don't, in the event of a Gate Break, civilian casualties will easily exceed millions even at a minimum estimate."
"Why don't you just say we should drop a nuke on Seoul instead... First, issue a summon order to all combat-class Awakened stationed near Seoul. And contact all Guild Masters from large... no, even medium and small Guilds."
"Understood."
Rationally, the branch manager also knows that people must evacuate immediately.
However, the damage that will occur if they abandon and flee Gyeonggi-do itself, let alone Seoul, is uncontrollable, and once an evacuation order is issued, it cannot be reversed.
Therefore, for the first time in his life, the branch manager earnestly prayed to God.
'Please don't let a Gate Break occur...'
Generally, when a Gate Mutation occurs, the probability of that Gate causing a Gate Break is around 75%.
The branch manager earnestly prayed that the 25% probability would hit the mark.
And as time passed, while he was discussing future countermeasures with other Guild Masters who had gathered upon the emergency summon.
Perhaps heaven had answered the branch manager's prayers, an Association agent entered the conference room with hopeful news for him.
"Branch Manager! A survivor has emerged from inside the Gate!"
"Is that true?!"
Shin Su-ah and Nidhogg had come out of the Gate.