Chapter 65
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Collapse (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Lobby, 10th floor, 20th floor.
I'd smashed every desk in all three locations.
From now on, there would be no checkout extensions, which meant the room heating would shut off. The doors wouldn't lock, letting hallucinogenic gas seep inside, turning guests against each other as they mistook one another for monsters.
A hotel doomed to destruction...
Meanwhile, I settled comfortably in the first-floor lobby. The temperature had plummeted past minus 30 degrees, but the "heater" enchantment on my undergarments, amplified by Perion, kept me tolerably warm.
Here in the lobby, I did what I had to do.
Simple enough: mercifully send off the ones who dragged themselves down like sick beasts, drained of stamina and mana from exhaustion or combat.
[03 : 00 : 00]
Time passed just like that, until exactly three hours remained.
The survivor count appeared.
[17]
A tiny number.
No surprise there. In this bone-chilling cold that froze limbs solid, ghosts rampaged freely while Soliet Arkne brawled above.
Most wouldn't last.
...Kwaaaaaa—
Right on cue, another scream echoed down the stairs.
Time to work.
I gripped my axe and rose from the sofa.
"—Aaaahhh."
I grabbed a guy fleeing as if chased by something. I tried slamming him to the floor, but he yanked my arm first.
My arm nearly popped out of its socket.
"Asset! Brua ga!"
The gas-masked figure spat some alien tongue. Seeing his face, I faltered slightly. He seemed to recognize me through my mask too.
"Ah! You! Si-si, Sion! Sion, it's you, right?!"
Rae Hilton clung to my arm, eyes welling up as she shouted.
I modulated my voice.
"Not Sion."
"It is! It totally is!"
"Who are you?"
"Stop joking around! Sion, save me! I bought you food back then, remember? Hamburgers! Kyaak! Sion, behind you! Behind you!"
Rae kept pointing behind me. I turned. A rather frightening female ghost loomed there.
"Gh-ghost! There's a ghost! Ghost!"
Looked like she'd touched a casino chip or something.
I nodded low to her.
"I'll save you. Calm down and let go."
Rae's face lit up.
"R-really?"
"Yeah."
"Hungry?"
"Starving!"
I pulled a milk kit from my pocket.
"Hands out."
Rae extended both hands. Pretending to hand over the milk kit, I swung my axe at her wrist—precisely the smartwatch.
"Ack!"
She screamed despite it not hurting.
"You, you..."
Realization dawned, her doe eyes widening in shock.
I said,
"Trust me. This is how I save you."
"You bastard, you aaaaaagh—"
Rae let out a shriek as she was forcibly returned.
I checked the smartwatch again.
[3]
Down to three survivors already.
Excluding Soliet and me, it had to be him, naturally.
—Thud.
Footsteps descended. The scent of mana from Mana Body tickled my nose.
From past experience, I knew who it was without looking.
Final boss, Gerkken Kal Dun.
Even in this cold, he scanned the lobby with a composed face.
"Your handiwork, huh?"
I played innocent.
"Wasn't me."
Gerkken replied dryly.
"It's a way to win, but not efficient. Life's a marathon."
"You drunk?"
What weird talk all of a sudden.
Gerkken cleared his throat awkwardly.
"...You need to consider political factors too."
"Politics?"
Makes sense—he'd become a congressman in the future. Avoiding scandals, speaking less: all part of it.
The best way to avoid making enemies isn't just sweet talk; it's staying silent.
"You could become a public enemy. College Board drags on. This is just the first quarter."
"That's why the gas mask. No one'll know."
"Rumors spread eventually. Numbers matter. Deductions complete, words fly fast."
"You won't spread them."
"..."
Gerkken shut his mouth.
His politics were straightforward.
Speak as little as possible, but when you do, stick to the truth.
Seek trust, but don't cling to it blindly.
Break it only for an overriding, absolute gain.
Like when he betrayed Theia Esil.
Not judging—just saying he wouldn't make enemies over something light like College Board.
"Gerkken's right."
A voice flowed from behind him in a flash.
Soliet.
"Your method is wrong, Sion Askal."
She scolded me, then karate-chopped Gerkken's temple.
Thud—!
Gerkken's eyes lost focus, staggering before collapsing.
"Huh."
"Oof."
Gerkken went down in one hit. Slightly shocking.
Final boss one-shotted.
"Didn't see my betrayal coming, huh? Heh."
Soliet smirked, amused. She always enjoyed these twists back in the game days.
Mischievous type. Loved trapping others.
Crack—!
Soliet smashed Gerkken's smartwatch.
"What now?"
[2]
Just us two left.
Ah, not quite alone. Ghosts swarmed around—hundreds, maybe.
I clapped silently.
Clap clap.
The ghosts turned to me.
"Fool the cameras for me."
I tossed them chips. They'd know camera spots, being supernatural and mana-based. They'd trick them somehow.
After ten or so chips, the horde vanished.
"...Let's go."
I nodded to Soliet.
"Yes."
We walked out of the lobby side by side. Biting cold pierced my skin like needles.
Soliet, unfazed.
Arkne family was like that—thrived in winter, wilted in summer.
I emptied my remaining casino chips onto the ground. Soliet stared and spoke.
"Explanation time."
"These chips are mana stones."
I piled them up where the SZX-9500 Mana Optics Microscope had shown the mana circuit nexus.
"Using them as a medium to amplify the mana core."
The alpha and omega sustaining this massive artificial mana ritual: the mana core itself. At the barrier's heart—the ceiling—pulsing with thousands of souls.
"Amplify?"
"Yeah. My Spectrum."
"...Can you reveal Spectrum?"
Spectrum was typically personal intel, especially for prospects. Leaks could lead to value assessments or full breakdowns exposing weaknesses.
"Secret for six-stars like you. Not me."
I placed my hand on the chips.
"Amplify the mana core itself with these stones, and the souls inside will shatter their own bonds."
"...Amplify the 'inside' to break the 'shell' themselves?"
"Exactly. Collapse will spew byproducts."
All the cancerous mana would rampage. Ghosts of the dead exploding, freed from binds, wailing ancient pain and hate.
"Torment."
"Torment would be lucky."
Permanent insanity, or instant suicide likely.
"I'll watch."
Soliet bristled with resolve.
"Fine. Let's do it."
"Yes."
I laid my hand on the chip pile.
Deep breath, then channeled Perion. Chips glowed like briquettes, liquefied, seeping into the mana circuits linked to the core.
"...Step back."
Soliet and I retreated a couple paces.
We gazed up together.
Perion climbed the vast circuits from the mana space's base, branching spiderweb-like to the center, the ceiling's midst...
Boom-!
The ground shook violently. Countless circuits blazed white.
Beautiful sight.
"Oh."
I murmured in awe; Soliet's eyes widened.
Briefly.
Crackcraaaack—.
An ominous sound like shattering glass echoed.
Then, far more wretched screams erupted.
─────!
Innumerable inhuman shrieks beyond words.
Men, women, elderly, children—all unjustly slain here, voicing that day's anguish. A tsunami overwhelming the world.
Cold sweat beaded on Soliet's brow.
Not her type to endure easily.
"You okay?"
"And you...?"
"Special constitution."
One of few upsides to my cancer resistance. My leukemia and brain tumor weren't ordinary—demonic afflictions.
Chemotherapy equated to anti-demon therapy, granting high resistance to demonic things.
"Collapse starts soon. It'll get worse."
This was indirect. Full shatter would unleash byproducts directly into our bodies.
I craved it; she'd crumble.
"I'll endure. My family bears fault, great or small."
"Huh. Alright?"
I lightly swung my mana tongs—a casual flick. It pin-point struck Soliet's wrist beside me.
Crack-!
Something shattered.
Her smartwatch, wrecked.
"Huh?"
Soliet blankly lifted her wrist, then twisted her face realizing my betrayal.
"...You crazy son of a—"
Mid-mutter, she was forced back. I chuckled softly, head tilting up. Crimson skies swirled with gritty winds.
Aaaaaaagh──────!
Clearer screams tore through my ears. Human faces ballooned cloud-like.
They bled.
Maws agape in agony. Inside those mouths, more faces—bleeding, shrieking.
A wail.
Regret, despair, grudge, hate, sorrow, attachment, disappointment, frustration trembled within.
Why us like this?
Why die this way?
Why you live, we die?
Haaaaaaa─────.
Bearing their emotions, I prepared abdominal breathing.
Shards would soon flow from the crumbling core. Mere scraps, but gold for me and Notebook.
Craaaack─────!
Core shell split; countless souls flooded out, balloon-like, whipping wildly.
I spread my arms wide. Hands, feet, tongues clung to me. Eerie whispers, dark voices filled my ears.
Nothing.
Eyes closed, I opened Notebook.
[101 / 105... 110... 118... 127... 135]
Notebook's capacity swelled in real time.
Not just that—my pure dantian, mana volume itself, expanded. Each breath drew core remnants inside.
Repeating abdominal breaths, I opened my eyes. Gazed at the still-screaming sky.
Kwaaaaaa────!
They were freed.
Dying too.
End of torment? Or my greed's second massacre...?
Tap.
Something touched my shoulder. I flinched, turning.
"...?"
A half-destroyed familiar face. He extended a hand. I stared blankly. A casino chip in his palm.
Humans and ghosts couldn't touch, but a mana stone medium might bridge it.
"Ah... sure."
I grasped his hand—actually the stone. He shook it up and down.
I looked at his face—or lack. His tilted head felt like a smile.
He vanished, leaving the chip in my hand.
Rumbleeeee—!
The core shell fully shattered. Mana space collapse began.
I stood still, watching.
───Rooooaaar...
Barrier crumbling.
Theme park dream collapsing.
Souls swimming amid it.
Finally, the chip in my hand.
"The rest... I'll interpret my way."
Pretty harmonious, memorable sequence to me.