Chapter 194: Demon Train (3)
Chapter 194: Demon Train (3)
Just before crossing through the door, I felt a lingering regret at not being able to finish off that damn thing.
"■■—–■."
Suddenly, Al’shel waved his hand through the air, pouring out sentences I couldn't understand.
"What are you doing?"
"Please wait a moment."
About ten seconds passed after he started waving his hands.
Crackle.
Sparks erupted throughout the dark room, and a blue light filled the space.
"...Seriously, what are you doing?"
"Simple cleanup. I merely finished what you couldn't, Lee Ha-ram."
Hmm?
"I have dealt with the smoke from a moment ago. Now, there will be no regeneration, no resurrection, nothing."
"What's with the sudden change of heart?"
It wasn't like him to do favors.
"Consider it a simple service. You did listen to what I had to say, after all..."
Al’shel trailed off, looking up at the invisible ceiling—into the darkness beyond.
"...I didn't like it."
Unlike his usual self, he sounded uncharacteristically emotional.
* * *
"Al’shel?"
When I threw the question at him.
"Yes."
He replied immediately, his tone strangely pure.
Perhaps it was a reward for me listening to him so submissively.
Taking advantage of that, I asked my next question without hesitation.
"What is this place?"
"There are so many doors! Poyo!"
"...."
Al’shel twisted his tentacles in embarrassment and shifted his gaze here and there.
He was likely at a loss for where to even begin explaining.
Everything before our eyes was far from normal, and the atmosphere was bizarre beyond belief.
It wasn't the kind of bizarre that meant a lack of regularity, like the Otherworld usually was.
Rather, it was so perfectly regular that it invited suspicion.
An endless stretch of red carpet.
A long corridor with no end in sight.
Countless identical doors lined up above, below, to the left, and to the right.
Glancing at the door to the right, I saw characters on the nameplate I had never seen before, yet I could understand their meaning.
Doll Residence-32-58-3453-6744-1
Just in case, I looked at the door beneath my feet.
It was written in the same format.
The only difference was that the '1' at the very end was a '4'.
Then the one above must be '2', and the one to the left '3'.
Intrigued, I checked the doors above and below. As expected, that's what they said.
I considered knocking, but I had a feeling that touching them would lead to something unpleasant. I spent a moment watching the scene with interest, letting the orderliness soothe my mind and body, which had grown weary of the Otherworld’s chaos.
"Do you remember that I, and the person you met, referred to this as the Demon Train?"
Al’shel finally spoke.
"Yeah."
"However, that grotesque mass of insects called it the artificial world, Demiurge."
"Wake me up when it's over. Poyo."
"Did it... say that?"
Honestly, I didn't even remember. I didn't care, either.
For now, since that damn Un-ho had fallen asleep, I just stuffed him into my pocket.
"Yes, well, it doesn't really matter. What I'm about to tell you is simply the past."
As he spoke, Al’shel began walking down the infinite corridor.
"Let's talk while we walk. We can't just stand there forever."
Perhaps because Al’shel was shrouded in a strangely pitiful aura, I complied and walked quietly down the hallway with him.
"It was named Demiurge, but that is only how it was translated because you, Lee Ha-ram, are a being of Earth. Otherworld translations are truly subtle. Do you happen to know the meaning of that word?"
"No clue."
It sounded like some dark, edgy name.
"It's not that grand of a name. It's a bit complicated to explain, but... to summarize, you could call it a False Evil God."
A False Evil God. A fairly interesting topic, but...
"What does that matter? You can slap any name on something."
Take the Thunder God, for instance. She's the god of lightning, but she's far from being a 'god' in the true sense.
"It is a quite important element. There is a reason why this massive entity, now called the Demon Train, was given such a name."
As Al’shel spoke, his skin took on a white hue tinged with a pink gradient.
He slowly reached out an arm and stroked the green-tinted wallpaper. He did it mercifully, as if petting a beloved animal.
"False Evil God. That was a name given to slander them."
His voice held a hint of anger, yet his skin remained white and pink.
Al’shel finished his sentence, pulled his hand away from The Wall, and began walking again. I followed.
the moment I took a step, an incredible acceleration occurred.
The doors blurred past us, and the corridor turned gray from the sheer speed.
And yet, the two of us were simply walking. As if we were using a spatial-folding technique, the entire corridor was being pushed behind us.
"An enormous artificial world created by those who lost their worlds, who escaped and gathered their strength and technology."
Within the world accelerated into ash-gray, Al’shel continued to weave his words.
"A residence for those who lost their worlds, a place of rules drifting through the endless Otherworld."
Slowly, bit by bit, the emotion drained from Al’shel’s voice.
"A Training Ground for those who would plunge their blades into the entities beyond."
In sync with his voice, the speed of the accelerated corridor gradually slowed. Thanks to that, I was able to read the nameplate on one of the doors.
Doll Residence-05-02-2289-9543-3
"A place where countless individuals once tempered themselves."
Doll Residence-02-01-100-34-1
"A refuge of the material world, built with pure technology, independent of the Otherworld."
Humanoid Residence-01-01-23-11-1
"And now, it is a corrupted monster that exists only for its own preservation and the boredom of its passengers."
Humanoid Residence-00-00-9-2-3
Click.
Al’shel turned the handle on that specific door.
Holding the door open like a bellhop, he bowed at the waist and spoke.
"Welcome aboard the final legacy of my race, Lee Ha-ram."
Politely. Truly politely.
Quite unlike him.
* * *
The room he opened for me looked exactly like a room I knew.
To be specific, a certain room in the Korean branch of The Society.
To be even more specific, Al’shel’s office.
It wasn't just the appearance that was identical. As soon as Al’shel entered the room, he moved to start brewing coffee.
Additionally, the sofa I immediately claimed was just as plush as the one I'd wanted to take home.
"Are there snacks too?"
And on top of that, Un-ho had run over to Al’shel’s side to ask that.
Normally, I would have stuffed him into a trash bag, but for this once, I quietly endured it.
Grind. Grrrrind.
Crunch. Munch.
The sound of coffee beans being ground.
The sound of Un-ho sitting at the table, munching on biscuits.
Then came the sound of water boiling and the steady pour of liquid.
"Kwi-huuuuu. Ki-huuu."
The only one speaking in the room was Un-ho, who was now sleeping peacefully with a full stomach.
I wish I could be that thoughtless.
I crossed my legs and waited for the coffee to be served. How much time had passed?
Clink.
Finally, two coffee cups were placed on the table. Before Al’shel could even sit down—
Clink.
I picked up my cup first and took a sip.
Perhaps because I had spent time in the Otherworld and my senses had become hypersensitive to all stimuli, the flavors were intense.
Bitterness, a hint of sweetness, and a faint aftertaste danced on my tongue.
Truly, it was the taste of coffee I hadn't experienced in a long time.
Feeling a bit energized by it, I set the cup back down without finishing it.
Al’shel, sitting across from me, watched me intently. As soon as the cup touched the table, he spoke.
"You have things to ask, don't you?"
"Like what?"
"Like why this room looks exactly like my office on Earth. Or the identity of the Demiurge. Or why we boarded this thing. There are many things, aren't there?"
Judging by how Al’shel was dragging out his words, it seemed he was the one who wanted to talk.
However, I have no hobby of listening to other people's laments. Especially if it's not a conversation directed at me, but a confession meant for anyone who will listen.
Therefore, I spoke up to initiate a dialogue, not just to listen.
"I can take a guess. This lodging probably mimics a place the resident lived in, and the Demiurge is, like you said, an ark to protect people from the Otherworld. As for why we boarded... isn't it because it's safe? Even if it's hard to get in, it might be easy to get out."
Unlike that mosaic woman's place.
"Mostly correct. Then, before we get into the details and future plans, could you please wake Un-ho for a moment?"
"Why wake the sleeping guy?"
Why not just leave him be?
He looks exhausted too.
"I need to check the coordinates to calculate the timing for our disembarkation from the Demon Train. No matter how safe it is, we can't stay on this thing forever."
Fair point.
Convinced by Al’shel’s reasoning, I picked up my coffee cup to wake Un-ho.
"Mumble, mumble."
Un-ho happened to be lying on his back, facing the ceiling, mumbling in his sleep.
"Wake up."
Drip.
I poured a bit of coffee into his slightly open mouth.
"Glug-glug-glug. Gah! What is it?! Did an underwater Otherworld Erosion happen?!"
Un-ho woke up with a reaction that exceeded my expectations.
Of course, he coughed and sprayed the coffee that had entered his mouth everywhere in the process.
What a waste.
Even though I was the one who did it, that thought crossed my mind.
I must have been starved for stimulation without realizing it while being immersed in the Otherworld. To think I'd actually feel it was a waste to lose Al’shel’s coffee.
Well, whatever.
"Sleep well?"
"I'm still sleepy. What was that just now?"
Hmm. Still sleepy, are we? But you can't sleep until you finish your homework.
"Un-ho."
"Yes?"
"You said you could use coordinate magic, right?"
"Of course!"
"Then you can sleep once you successfully cast it."
"...Until I succeed? The success rate is only 1%!"
"Then you just have to do it about a hundred times."
"Ah... about that. Since it's an independent trial, in reality, a hundred—Mmph!"
I flicked a date into the mouth of the octopus who was trying to butt in.
That damn STEM-brained octopus can go jump off a bridge.
"I'll... give it a try... Can I sleep when I'm done?"
"Yeah. Give the results to Al’shel."
"Ugh. Okay."
As soon as he said that, Un-ho raised his arms and began drawing a Magic Circle.
Flash, crackle.
Flash, crackle.
Flash, flash, boom.
...The Magic Circle wasn't just collapsing; it was exploding.
I didn't expect that kind of magic, but I didn't feel like scolding Un-ho, who was faithfully carrying out his task. I turned my gaze back to Al’shel.
"Now then. What was it you wanted to say?"
"Well. First, this Demiur... it's a needlessly long name, so I'll just call it the Demon Train. The Demon Train has a unique function."
"What kind of function?"
"You briefly mentioned it being an ark, but the Demon Train doesn't just serve as an ark. It is also a Training Ground to forge those who would defeat The Enemy."
Hmm.
"And how does it forge them?"
"It's simple. Currency."
Ting.
Along with a sound from somewhere, a long string of characters appeared above Al’shel’s head.
And those characters, like the nameplates on the doors, were unreadable, yet I could understand their meaning.
It was a number so long it couldn't be taken in at a single glance. It was probably 40 to 50 digits long.
"He who does not work, shall not eat. That's a saying on Earth as well. Just like that, to live and survive on the Demon Train, you need currency. And that currency can be obtained through four actions."
As he spoke, Al’shel held up four fingers.
Then he folded the first one.
"First: Trade. Whether it's through violence or actual commerce, anything goes. You simply have currency handed over to you by another party."
Ting.
That sound rang out again, and as Al’shel’s number decreased—
Flash, flash, hum.
"Whoa! I succeeded already... Huh? What's this number?"
Pop.
Unexpectedly, Un-ho, who had been casting magic in a corner of the table, exploded.
Leaving a small number above his head.
...Talk about bad luck.
Holding that thought for a moment, I ignored the catastrophe that had occurred next to me and turned back to Al’shel.
Al’shel seemed slightly taken aback by Un-ho’s misfortune, but he quickly regained his composure and folded another finger.
"Second: Training. Outside the residential areas of the Demon Train, there are countless monsters. You simply have to exterminate them."
"Where do those monsters come from?"
"...Do you remember those trials when you first arrived here?"
"Would I even be human if I didn't?"
I felt my temper rising again.
"The trials weren't originally like that... but regardless. As the Demon Train moves through and swallows the Otherworld, it doesn't just take in Sentient Beings to be tested. It also takes in material resources needed to maintain this massive entity, mindless beasts, and monsters that defy description."
...So it's just a monster that eats everything.
And it uses the passengers to dispose of them as a side benefit.
"Yeah, I get it. Let's move on."
At my words, Al’shel gave a bitter smile and folded a third finger.
"Third: Contribution. Helping to maintain the Demon Train. That black smoke you met in the first room would be an example. Of course, there's also resource production and the like, but that overlaps with the first method. Even those who aren't combat-oriented need a way to make a living, after all."
I had nothing to say to that, so I just nodded.
Al’shel didn't seem particularly interested either, as he folded his last finger.
"And. Finally, the fourth."
For the first time, Al’shel hesitated.
As if he didn't want to bring this up.
A brief moment passed.
It was only about three seconds, but because of the aura surrounding Al’shel, it felt several times longer.
"...Extortion."
He finally spoke.
"By killing others, you can obtain a portion of the target's currency. Unlike the second method, this occurs only between passengers."
"Hmph."
Honestly, I didn't feel much of anything.
Of course, it wasn't that I hadn't thought about it.
It was a well-designed structure, wasn't it?
It wasn't just a place to gather people under the guise of an ark; it was a system that demanded you do something if you wanted to stay.
Just like how you have to work if you want to make a living in Earth's society.
The only difference was that the 'work' here was hunting, something you'd see in a game or fantasy.
In a normal society, there would be support for the marginalized. But Al’shel said this was a legacy created by those octopuses.
Then the fate of those who failed to achieve results was obvious.
They'd be lucky if they weren't killed; they'd likely be tossed out into the Otherworld as a matter of course. Or perhaps the cost of living would increase exponentially if they didn't have a certain amount of income for a period of time.
But for us, was that even a problem?
"So. What was your intention in explaining all that? You're not telling us to go out and earn money, are you?"
Not when there was a veteran like Al’shel sitting right in front of me with an uncountable amount of currency.
"Correct. I have more currency than I know what to do with. So, I would like to ask you for something else."
Whoosh.
The sound of wind brushed past.
I couldn't help but be taken aback by what happened before my eyes.
That Al’shel—voluntarily—bowed his head to me. And it wasn't with any sarcastic intent; it was a gesture overflowing with sincerity.
"...Even if it's only until we leave this place. Won't you help me?"
Al’shel’s skin... turned pure white.
"Originally, I abandoned this legacy. And for an endlessly long time, I was unable to find it again."
Al’shel’s voice continued.
For the first time since I met him, his voice was filled with desperate emotion.
Without any lies.
Without any madness.
Without any excitement.
It was his pure, raw voice.
"I regretted it and tried to find it many times. But I could never find it again. Naturally so. That is the nature of the Otherworld."
He didn't raise his head and kept speaking.
"In such a situation... I have encountered it again. And I have seen how much the small distortion that existed when I left has grown."
At those words, I remembered what Al’shel had said earlier.
That the trials weren't originally like that.
Given they were made by the octopus race, they must have been harsh, but he was saying they weren't this messed up.
"I... want to set this right. So."
Al’shel’s voice trailed off.
"I ask you once more. Even if it's only until we disembark. Please, won't you cooperate with me? If it isn't resolved by the time we leave... I will give up cleanly."