Leos's Disciples
Interrunner, the largest community site in the Peren Empire. Because it did not share servers with the Empire, its security was exceptional, letting people talk freely without watching for imperial eyes. That made it the community the populace used more than any other.
The operators had nearly been caught by the Empire several times, but they always slipped away. In turn the Empire forbade the app entirely, yet the citizens still found ways around the surveillance net and logged into Interrunner to trade information or simply chatter about nothing at all.
On that secure community site there existed both large galleries and small ones.
Galleries for cooking or weapon-crafting were popular and thrived; subjects ordinary people rarely touched, like crop cultivation, drew far fewer visitors.
Galleries that were easy to join and filled with posts every day were called large; those that received few posts were called small. In slang they were simply “big-gall” and “small-gall.”
The Leos Gallery was a small gallery among small galleries—one where new posts almost never appeared. To reach the site-wide popular-posts list a thread had to gather the most recommendations of any gallery on Interrunner. That a gallery which normally received almost no views could still place a post by Leos at number one in both total views and recommendations across the entire site was nothing short of extraordinary.
“Leos, you’re sitting at number one on the popular list right now…?”
Herisia spoke as though she could not believe it. Leos answered with a look that asked what she was talking about.
“Popular list? What are you on about.”
“Don’t you check the Leos Gallery on Interrunner all the time? You really don’t know the popular-posts board?”
“First I’ve heard of it.”
“You never visit any other galleries?”
“I’ve only gone into the ones that have my name on them a few times. No reason I’d know the whole structure, and no need to. I only found the place by accident while checking a search aggregator.”
Herisia shook her head with a face that said she should have expected that.
Well, of course. A man who barely looks at his Distance would hardly be an expert on Interrunner.
She gave him a rough explanation of the galleries that existed on the site and how the whole system was built.
“So you get it now, right? All those galleries live under one single site. And out of every gallery, the post that people read the most and hit recommend on the most is the one that lands on the popular list!”
“…”
“And you’re number one among them, Leos! Number one!”
“And?”
When he looked at her as if to ask what he was supposed to do about it, Herisia answered in a flustered rush.
“Just getting onto the popular list awards you points you can spend on the site. They’re way more useful than you’d think. You can post site-wide notices like an admin, create any gallery you want… people say you can use them for all sorts of things.”
“Useless.”
With that single word Leos stepped outside to scout. He had already sealed every Red Gate within a one-kilometer radius, but that did nothing to stop new ones from forming later, so constant patrols were necessary.
As the man wandered the perimeter, Herisia trotted after him, still talking.
“Listen! Leos! Those points are way more useful than you think. They used to be completely worthless, but a while ago a shop appeared, and long-distance item transfer became possible. You can send things and receive them!”
Leos turned to her with genuine interest.
“You can send and receive objects from a distance with nothing but points?”
“Yes. The operator seems to be using some kind of spatial-transfer artifact or his own magic—I’m not sure if it’s an ability or what—but there are a few verified cases of people actually exchanging goods.”
That was interesting. They were sitting dead-center in the Red Gate vortex. If the days of survival stretched longer they would need far more food than they had stockpiled, and waiting until they ran out would be too late.
Food was only the start. Weapons and every other daily necessity were better in abundance. A means of remote barter would let them respond flexibly no matter what crisis arrived. For the first time Leos asked a serious question.
“How do I use the points?”
“They should be under My Info… just a second.”
Herisia snatched his Distance and began tapping. A moment later her mouth fell open.
Current Accumulated Points: 1,750
“Whoa… what kind of point total is…?”
Even while she stared, the number kept climbing in real time. Points were calculated from views, comments, recommendations and a dozen other factors; Leos’s every metric was crushing the current popular posts, so the system was almost certainly applying a heavy bonus.
“Show me the transfer function. How it works.”
“Just open the Interrunner Shop.”
Leos tapped the Distance and entered the shop. A previously hidden window sprang to life.
Among the endless list, the admin-meeting request stood out. One hundred million points—an absurd figure. Pay it and you could meet the operator in person.
“Wow… I forgot that one was even there. But don’t even think about requesting a face-to-face with the admin. He’s been refusing every information request, so the Empire’s going crazy trying to catch him. Get tangled up in that and you’re finished.”
Leos said nothing and carefully examined each function. In an apocalypse, leaning on an unknown power was foolish—yet if a method of survival existed, every option had to be used.
He selected Send Item. A caution window appeared.
Scan the object you wish to send with your Distance. Base size limit: the sum of length, width and height must not exceed 3 m, and mass must not exceed 10 kg. Exceeding the base limit consumes additional points. Living people or creatures cannot be transferred, but dead bodies may be sent.
Leos tapped the notice, confirmed, and a bright light rippled across the Distance screen before a green scanning beam swept the surroundings.
After scanning, enter the unique Distance ID of the intended recipient. The item will be delivered to that target. Base range limit: 300 km. Exceeding the range consumes additional points.
“Herisia. Give me your Distance ID, then go inside the cave.”
“Wait, Leos—you’re going to use it right now? You can’t! Do you know how hard it is to gather points? Save them for when you really need—”
“I don’t trust things like this until I’ve seen them with my own eyes.”
“…Well, I haven’t actually watched anyone use the function either. Verification posts exist, but only a handful, and the feature only appeared after the Red Gates started opening…”
“I see. Go into the cave for now. Tell Bendict to film you.”
“Film me? Why?”
“I need to know exactly how long the transfer takes and what form the object arrives in.”
“Wow… you analyze even this stuff that thoroughly? You almost sound like you’re in the same department as me…”
“I’ve always lived this way. I fought in places where you don’t survive unless you’re this meticulous.”
“…”
Herisia had been grinning and teasing him, but at those words her expression darkened.
“It must have been really hard… You probably reached your current level by analyzing every monster trait the same way… Anyway! We can talk later—I’ll go in right now!”
She hurried into the cave. Leos deliberately scanned a rock the size of a human head.
Send this item? 200 points will be deducted.
Projected remaining points after payment: 1,500
It was a steep cost, yet Leos pressed send without hesitation. An unknown power was worse than no power at all.
“Kyaaaaaah!”
A scream erupted from the cave. Leos sprinted toward it at once.
“Herisia! What’s wrong!”
At his shout, Bendict, who had been standing beside her, held the rock in both hands and shouted back.
“Hyung-nim! Herisia tried to catch the package with her hands and nearly got crushed! This thing… it has to be broken, right? That crazy admin must have swapped the item you sent for a rock! Who the hell sends a stupid boulder!”
“I sent the rock. There was nothing else nearby worth sending.”
“Brilliant foresight, Hyung-nim. Even if the object vanished mid-transfer, a rock costs us nothing. This humble Bendict is moved by your outstanding judgment—”
“You’re giving me a headache. Shut up for a minute.”
“Yes, sir!”
Ignoring him, Leos walked over, took Bendict’s Distance, and reviewed the recording.
A brilliant light had shimmered on the screen; then, exactly like a 3-D printer laying down layers, the object’s shape had been drawn in an instant and the rock had simply appeared.
What kind of absurd ability is this…? Even when I was still active there was never so much as a rumor of anyone with this kind of power, let alone solid information.
The function had been introduced only after the Red Gate vortex appeared. Some connection was possible.
Leos set the thought aside and checked his points again.
2,152
The total kept climbing. With this many points he could accomplish far more than he had imagined.
Leos’s former disciples.
Sirna, Enas, Belin, Kozarik and the rest had gathered and begun to move together. Among them Darek spoke to Belin.
“Belin, you look rough. Still thinking about the old days? We always cleared gates with that bastard. I never liked him from the start—always hogging every scrap of credit.”
Enas frowned and cut him off.
“Darek. Shut your mouth. We said we wouldn’t talk about him.”
“What? He’s probably already dead in prison anyway. The place he was locked up is the dead center of the Red Gate vortex. No matter how good he was, how’s one man supposed to survive alone?”
Darek seemed to remember something, then twisted his face.
“Enas, you’re not still saying we should listen to that guy’s side of the story, are you? You spouted that crap on the first day. The way you snap every time his name comes up, it looks like you still think that way.”
“I already said I don’t…”
“Good. You better not. Belin hurt herself until she cried and suffered right in front of us—if anyone still thinks that was a lie, they’re genuinely brain-dead.”
“I know… I know, so just shut up already.”
Enas left after that. Darek shook his head and muttered.
“Still acting like an idiot. Don’t worry, Belin. That guy’s dead, and even without him gate-clearing is nothing for us.”
“…”
When Belin remained silent, Darek pointed at a distant Red Gate.
“You saw me when we worked together, right? How good I am at killing monsters. Honestly, if Leos hadn’t monopolized every mutant, I would’ve racked up just as many kills as him.”
He swung his massive spear and grinned.
“Look forward to it. I’m going to film myself wiping out the Red Gate mutants and show the world. We’ll prove how great we are—how solid the Gatekeepers still are even without that bastard Leos.”
The man strode toward the Red Gate, certain he could slaughter every monster inside.
Herisia looked at Leos with puzzled eyes.
“Leos, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”
The man who had been staring at his Distance turned a cold gaze on the surroundings and muttered.
“We’re moving. We need a place inside the safe zone that can hide our bodies and presence better than this cave.”
“Hyung-nim, why the sudden change? At least tell us the reason.”
“Secondary chain reaction.”
“…What?”
“The Red Gates’ secondary chain reaction is about to begin.”