Chapter 245
Chapter 245
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 245
Chapter Title: 79. The Basement of the Apocalyptic Clock (2)
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Mana is the manifestation of will.
An aggressive will taking tangible or intangible form. Depending on its use, it is named magic, skill, blessing, or ability.
Strong will requires a great deal of mana. Yet human will has limits in how it can be channeled. It's improbable to infuse unprecedented will into something as simple as slapping the nape of someone's neck. This is why Yoo Ji-tae's Knifehand Strike (D) remains at D-rank.
After the New Origin.
In 'Blue Belt'—the wizards' tower of Northern Europe and the Silicon Valley of magic engineers—they researched magic and skills and discovered one peculiarity.
As will strengthens, more mana is needed, but at a certain point, it hits a wall. Then, upon strengthening the will further to overcome it, there's a section where magic efficiency explodes upward. That's what they found.
There were six such walls discovered in total. From that, they began grading magic.
From the bottom: E, D, C, B, A. And S-rank upon crossing the final wall...
And exceptionally, the SS-rank authority that only rulers could handle in limited ways...
Then, more dimensional rifts opened. More otherworld items began crossing over. Strangely, humanity from other worlds used the same grading system as us.
Kikril, Katara, Kutra, Kotrin... Though the words differed, they neatly translated to the six walls and seven grades. This became evidence that Earth's research had touched upon the 'fundamentals of mana and magic' to some extent.
But there was one oddity.
In the records of a certain Level 5 artifact discovered in a dimensional rift, written in otherworld script, a grade above Kulyata (SS-rank) was found.
The superhumans of the era were shocked.
Even the witch 'Valentine,' Earth's ruler, had only managed to dip a single toe past the threshold of SS-rank magic. At that time, she had remarked of herself, 'That place is a world too high for me to ascend.'
Yet a grade above SS-rank?
However, no matter how much they researched, humans couldn't even produce clear results on SS-rank. (The sole magic caster, the witch, fled in fear of live experiments.)
In the end, the grade above remained unknown.
Countless magic engineers and wizards writhed in intellectual curiosity.
Even SS-rank authority held power enough to shake the entire Earth.
It was the power stemming from the witch herself that made possible the absurd, nation-inviolable supranational military organization 'International Superhuman Alliance.'
So what on earth would an EX-rank above that entail?
Peck peck! The white bird slammed its head against the foot of the giant mechanical humanoid.
For a sight humanity had wondered about throughout its long history, it looked exactly like a child's prank.
...I always thought that whenever I saw the Apocalyptic Clock.
But looking at the massive mechanical humanoid before me, my thoughts shifted a bit. It possessed the dignity and presence befitting the scale of its authority.
That was normal.
The monsters he had sensed even from afar, the ones that set the world's standards, were all enormous. If anything, the palm-sized white bird known as the Apocalyptic Clock was the anomalous one.
In any case, such authorities held no sway over him.
They merely made him feel mental pressure, inducing fatigue.
About 10 cm above the white bird's back, a sub-space tore open for nearly tens of meters. Then, a massive blade extended out.
Like scissors combining the hour and minute hands of a large clock, they exuded the same presence as the 「Key (EX)」, slowly revealing their enormously huge form.
The blades facing each other were mismatched in length. The name of those giant scissors was 「Blade that Cuts the String」—a tool the Apocalyptic Clock used to halt the flow right before rewinding the world's time.
Soon, the hour-and-minute-hand scissors floated up leisurely, heading toward somewhere on the massive mechanical structure.
At last, the massive presence of the authority vanished.
And before Yoo Ji-tae, a pair of yellow eyes appeared.
Its body was blurry, shrouded in darkness.
It was a black cat.
As far as Yoo Ji-tae knew, EX-rank authorities each had one role and one ability.
Among them, the Apocalyptic Clock's role was to ensure the records of Earth and several other dimensions remained unbroken. Its ability was to manipulate the flow of time in limited ways according to space.
In other words, the power of an EX-rank authority could be considered godlike, as the Clock alone rewound the time of this vast dimensional expanse.
Then what was the 「Key (EX)」's ability?
"Who are you?"
「I am. Key. The opener of doors.」
The black cat's will transmitted directly into his mind.
"Why did you come here?"
「Apocalyptic Clock. Requested of me. To open the basement door.」
The jet-black cat wagged its tail with a tap-tap.
True to its name, it seemed to be something that opened things.
Basement? As he felt puzzled, the white bird spread its wings wide.
He knew about a new room.
At the time he had felt a realization of life toward Bom, Yeoreum, Gaeul, and Winter respectively. The Apocalyptic Clock had mentioned that new possibilities for growth had opened. And it had named them 「rooms」.
However, now was not the time to focus on that.
"Apocalyptic Clock. The basement door can wait. Take me to the rooftop layer of the workshop."
The white bird blinked.
"I need to review the memories of the hatchling dissection experiments from the fourth round onward. For some reason, the memories are hazy and won't come clearly."
"Why pretend not to know? Don't you know my situation too? A big problem arose in the 7th round. The bond with the hatchling has crossed the line. I never wanted this process."
The memory of abusing the Green Dragon hatchling.
Strangely, since it was a memory he hadn't divided by rounds, it had faded now. Like recalling scenes from a drama watched years ago.
Thus, he intended to recall his raw atrocities and sever the affection from Bom.
This was truly, truly important.
One misstep, and the regressor's long efforts might crumble in an instant.
However, the Apocalyptic Clock flapped its wings and flew downward.
It was stubborn.
「Follow. Basement.」
As the jet-black cat followed the white bird downward, Yoo Ji-tae watched them recede before reluctantly moving. Despite his displeasure, he complied.
On the other hand, his curiosity was piqued.
He had lived a life pursuing power.
The direction may have been misguided, but what he sought was always martial might. He wanted to grow stronger.
After the 5th round, he repeated hundreds of regressions to grow stronger. Finally surpassing Earth's strongest—'BM', 'Kaliovan', the 'Witch', 'Oscar Blanc'—he began hunting rulers of nearby dimensions.
There, Yoo Ji-tae killed and absorbed all nearby dimensional rulers: 「Archduke of the Demon World, Baal」, 「Black Dragon, Leviathan」, 「King of the Highest Heavens, Gaum」, 「Immortal, Shin」, 「World Tree Destroyer, Yutan」, and so on.
Thus, his martial power finally reached the limit mortals could achieve.
Even after that, repeating dozens more lives.
He threw his body at everything that could make him stronger.
Yet the Apocalyptic Clock had denied his potential for growth. For that thing to suddenly confirm new growth potential in the 7th round.
He was puzzled by the inconsistency, but also intrigued.
What awaited him below?
If he grew stronger here, what would he become?
Space has no reference points, so no direction exists.
Yet following the Apocalyptic Clock and Key somewhere, Yoo Ji-tae finally realized he had reached a place low enough to call a 'basement'.
There was a familiar door. Identical to the door of Dorm Room 301.
As he sensed the strangeness, he recalled that 'authorities,' beings of mentality, manifested in forms familiar to the observer.
The true Apocalyptic Clock wasn't some white bird.
The Apocalyptic Clock had no body.
This was also something unseen in the workshop before.
As he waited silently, the Key's will flowed into his mind.
「Unlocked. Can open. Door.」
"One thing before entering."
「Refuse.」
The black cat glanced warily, then slowly rose and approached Yoo Ji-tae.
「Question. What.」
"Your authorities said the word 'existence' means mortals."
「Correct. Conscious beings. Within providence. Eventually. Inevitably perish. Organics.」
"Then can what's ahead make me live forever?"
「That. It is not.」
Yoo Ji-tae had one hypothesis.
If he grew stronger than this, he would cease to be an existence.
Thus becoming part of a world-spanning authority like the Apocalyptic Clock.
But it seemed that assumption was wrong.
"I see."
With that reply, Yoo Ji-tae pushed open the door to the 「Apocalyptic Clock's Basement」.
There, eleven obelisk-like pillars stood in an arc. Five of them glowed with light in the center.
At the heart of the fan-shaped enclosure was something like an altar. Above it floated a bizarre lump midway between stone and metal, bobbing up and down gently.
Artificial in shape, with regularity—like stairs stacked together.
It looked like a crystal of some metal or mineral.
What was that thing?
He wanted to ask, but seeing the Apocalyptic Clock and Key peering at the obelisks, they seemed ignorant too.
Asking directly confirmed they didn't know.
Yoo Ji-tae approached the five glowing obelisks. He placed his hand on the one shining the whitest.
At that moment, an illusion unfolded in his mind.
In the illusion.
Yoo Ji-tae was opening the door and entering Room 301.
A very small child with sky-blue eyes and sky-blue hair toddled toward him with a worried expression. It was Winter, before shedding her skin.
Yoo Ji-tae naturally scooped her up. Winter peered into his chest pocket. Seeing the necklace woven from scales into his hair, she cautiously glanced at his face.
Then, with her tiny mouth, she asked,
"...Something, happen?"
If Yoo Ji-tae didn't reply, baby Winter asked again, even more worried.
"...Huh? Happen?"
Only then did Yoo Ji-tae answer.
"No, nothing happened."
And he smiled genuinely.
"Were you okay?"
The illusion ended there.
"......"
When he came to his senses, he was back in the Apocalyptic Clock's basement.
That illusion.
It was when he fought Noah at the ball and returned to the dorm. After wasting months in Noah's dream, mentally fatigued. The first time he felt that fatigue lift upon returning to the dorm.
Yoo Ji-tae frowned and looked around. Besides this obelisk pillar, four others glowed.
He placed his hand on the white obelisk once more.
Right after reliving the memory with Winter.
Pondering why this memory surfaced here, he realized something.
「Curious. What is it.」
In the 7th round.
The first time he felt pure joy.