I Wish the World's Secrets Were Revealed a Bit More Gradually, Though...
I Wish the World's Secrets Were Unraveled a Bit More Gradually, Though...
"Grrk!...I won't forget this humiliation, Yoo Hye-eun!"
"Anyone watching would think you've taken a hostage."
"That's right. Actually, this is all because of Rio-nim in the first place."
"Whose side are you on, Yu Bo-ram!"
In the end, the fight concluded with me - a mere Level 5 - and Rio-nim, who despite learning the special ability called Body Enhancement, ultimately shared my Level 5 specs, kneeling before Hye-eun's psychokinesis as a special-grade ability user.
"Then please explain quickly. Why on earth..."
"Wait! I want to talk with just the two of us first. I can't say anything before that!"
"...I understand. But you two, specifically you, Yu Bo-ram-ssi, are under protective custody related to clearing Floor 5, so I can't give you much time. You're not saying you want to cancel the protective custody, are you?"
"Of course not."
I was well aware that the statement about foreign ability users who had secretly infiltrated the apartment complex to monitor me being caught wasn't just meant to scare me - it was actually true.
"I'll give you five minutes. Talk things over during that time."
"Got it~ That should be plenty!"
"Huh? Isn't five minutes too sh...no, wait Rio-nim, wait!"
Bang!-
Even though five minutes seemed far too short, Rio-nim dragged me toward the bedroom as if that was more than enough time, opening a Gate as soon as the door closed.
Vroom-
"Let's go in."
"Are we going to the Tower? Is that okay?"
"Time is passing while we're doing this, and you're worried about that?"
"That's...ugh, alright."
Certainly, no matter how dangerous the Tower might be, there would be no one more dangerous...no, safer than Rio-nim in the Tower where the restrictions promised to Jabisin-nim disappeared.
"Bo-ram, weren't you just having some terribly irreverent thoughts?"
"No? Not at all? Yes, not at all!"
"Hmm...well then."
Perhaps because she was still in a human body and couldn't use mind reading like usual, Rio-nim didn't seem suspicious as she passed through the Gate first. The place I followed her into was an endlessly vast floor.
【2931st Floor: Spacetime Room】
"...? 2931st Floor?"
Habitually checking the Tower exit sign, I was stunned by the impossible number.
"Uhe~ I feel drowsy coming back to my original form~ Ah~ this is a place I found while bored and exploring the Tower~ It's like Floor 4's ultra-ultra premium version~? The time difference here is about 1000 times compared to outside~"
"Huh? No, more importantly, 2931st Floor...?"
"So five minutes here~ no, because you hesitated, about three minutes left~ Anyway, three minutes here is 3000 minutes outside~ meaning about 50 hours, so we can talk leisurely~"
That was surprising enough, but there was something far more important.
"No, that's not it, Rio-nim."
"Hm~ Why~?"
"Wasn't the Tower supposed to end at 500 floors?"
"Eh~? Who said that~?"
"Well, the American Esper Association that first conquered the Tower said..."
"That's not true~? This world's Tower has 10000 floors~?"
"10000 floors? What does that..."
"And this Tower's 500th floor hasn't been cleared~ They're lying, lying~!"
The Tower's final floor was 500th floor.
And the 500th floor was supposed to be a floor that disappeared once someone cleared it, just like Floor 5 that Rio-nim cleared...according to the joint announcement by the American Esper Association and the World Ability Users Association. But Rio-nim was casually stating that all of it was fabricated by both associations.
"Hmm..."
Having learned information that could create even greater repercussions than clearing Floor 5 if revealed outside, I momentarily forgot why I had come to this floor and fell into deep thought, but soon shook my head and brushed off that fact from my mind.
"Uhyah~ Finished thinking~?"
"Yes...I realized there's no meaning in me worrying about it anyway."
It was certainly incredible information, but would anyone believe me if I told them?
I didn't even think I could easily make such statements while under protective custody.
'The whole world is already in an uproar because of me, and I don't intend to cause any more confusion.'
"That's true~ Ah~ Want some P*ringles~?"
"Thank you...anyway, let's talk about Hye-eun first."
"Hm~...about that~ Uah~ I need to release the lethargy first~ It's so frustrating I'm going crazy~"
"Can I help you with...Pfft!"
When she mentioned releasing the lethargy, I thought she might do something lewd again and offered to help, but then spat out the snack I was eating at Rio-nim's action.
Shhk!-
"Rio-nim!?"
Rio-nim pulled out an ominous-looking black knife from subspace and stabbed it straight into her own heart.
"I'm fine. Not dying, not dying~ Phew~ I feel better now."
As she said, she looked completely fine - rather, it seemed the lethargy that only disappeared when sexual desire boiled over had vanished. But seeing that happen suddenly before my eyes, I couldn't help but be shocked.
"Still, please don't do that suddenly in front of me. I thought my heart would drop."
"Hahaha, I'm the one who stabbed my heart, so why would your heart drop? This is..."
According to Rio-nim's following explanation, the most straightforward way to resolve the lethargy was to build up sexual desire, but judging that there might be time for that but the atmosphere wasn't right, Rio-nim chose the second method - releasing it through her own death.
"Let's talk about that later too. First, about Hye-eun..."
"There's so much piling up to talk about later..."
"Well, that can't be helped~ Anyway, I should apologize first, right? Or maybe grant a wish? Nothing too excessive. Honestly, from my perspective, it's a bit unfair, but anyway, she almost suffered serious damage because of me."
"Hm...you mentioned Divine Authority, right? I don't really understand, but wasn't it resolved by you restraining your power a bit so Hye-eun would be safe?"
Previously, Rio-nim had said she would restrain her Divine Authority a bit to protect Hye-eun, who had reached the truth on her own.
"Divine Authority is still Divine Authority even if restrained, right? If she were the same constellation it might be different, but she's at the brink of transcendence - no, with just a trigger, she would immediately become a transcendent, so you could consider her right at the threshold. Anyway, the problem is that Hye-eun became too powerful of an ability user because of what happened right after meeting me."
Another piece of information that made me ponder came out.
"Transcendence, Hye-eun mentioned that earlier as top-secret information too? What is that?"
"Transcendence...ah~ It would be hard to understand with just words, so watch this carefully."
With those words, Rio-nim pulled out a beam projector and screen from subspace.
[Ordinary Person < Ordinary Ability User <(Insurmountable Gap)< Transcendent < Constellation < God < ?]
Rio-nim, who had somehow changed into a neat women's suit and even put on glasses, began explaining while tapping the chart displayed on the screen with a pointer.
"The power balance of this world, I guess? It's roughly like this? Except for exceptions like me. Anyway, simply put, power shot from above is hard to twist."
"Ah, are you talking about resistance? 'Ordinary people find it hard to resist ability users' powers,' something like that?"
This was already a fact with numerous pieces of evidence, so if there was something above ability users, it made sense that ability users could also be subject to it.
"So you mean that applies between different tiers too?"
"Bo-ram is so smart as expected. Right. I'll give you head pats as a reward!"
Praising me and patting my head, Rio-nim operated the screen and modified the chart.
[Ordinary Person < Ordinary Ability User < Yoo Hye-eun <(Insurmountable Gap)< Transcendent < Constellation < God < ?]
"Originally Hye-eun, I mean when I first met her? Back then, she was just designated as special-grade by you guys, but ultimately still an ordinary ability user, so I thought if I just erased some memories and loosened my Divine Authority a bit, 'Perception Disturbance' would handle it. But problems arose here."
"What do you mean?"
"My mistake. I overestimated love too much. And also underestimated it."
"...?"
I couldn't understand at all what this constellation was talking about.
"I thought the problem with Perception Disturbance was a miracle created by Hye-eun's obsession with you. Actually, it wasn't that - it was just a problem caused by Hye-eun being too strong, and then another problem occurred beyond that."
[Ordinary Person < Ordinary Ability User <(Insurmountable Gap)< Yoo Hye-eun < Transcendent < Constellation < God < ?]
With those words, the modified chart showed Hye-eun having crossed the insurmountable gap and approaching transcendence.
"Hye-eun, who had only reached the highest level of ordinary ability users right after I intervened, met you, Bo-ram - the childhood friend she'd been obsessed with her whole life who became a trashy live-in partner - fell into tremendous psychological shock, and her ability awakened dramatically."
"..."
"Don't glare like that~ Anyway, psychokinesis abilities like Hye-eun's 'Psychokinesis' are greatly influenced by mental state, which I knew, but I didn't expect it to be this extreme! Honestly, it's unfair!"
In summary:
Because Rio-nim restrained her Perception Disturbance Divine Authority before Hye-eun approached transcendence, Hye-eun - who approached transcendence at ultra-high speed right after meeting me - was going into overheated state from resisting Rio-nim's Divine Authority.
But one question arose here.
"Wait, there's something I don't understand before that."
At my question, Rio-nim adjusted her glasses and pointed at me with the pointer.
"Yes, ask your question, Bo-ram-yang."
"Perception Disturbance is ultimately a characteristic of my Seyum Jatagong, right? Then doesn't what you just said create a contradiction?"
Even if Rio-nim granted it to me, the Perception Disturbance characteristic was ultimately just a feature of my Seyum Jatagong ability.
Then according to the chart Rio-nim created, if Hye-eun had already surpassed ordinary ability users long ago, shouldn't she have completely resisted the Perception Disturbance effect rather than it changing or causing confusion? Shouldn't it have had no effect at all?
But Rio-nim's answer to this question also came as another shock to me, who was already suffering from information overload.
"That? Why? Of course, since I granted you that ability, that's also my Divine Authority."
"No, what does that..."
"Listen carefully, Bo-ram. There are no such things as your abilities in this world. Excluding you, Bo-ram, all abilities existing on Earth come from Jabisin. At least unless you're a constellation-level being like me, there isn't a single exception to this."
"What is that aga..."
I was speechless at Rio-nim's words that made it sound like game software bought from Steam - they only give you a license, but you actually have no ownership rights.
"Wait, just a moment, really just a moment, Rio-nim..."
The lie by both associations that the Tower - which actually had 10000 floors - ended at 500 floors.
The fact that Hye-eun, who I thought was just a strong ability user, was reaching the realm of transcendence.
Finally, the uncomfortable truth that all abilities of ability users on Earth were actually just borrowed from Jabisin-nim.
'Ah, and Rio-nim stabbing herself in the heart to release the lethargy too...'
"I haven't even mentioned anything about Tyrone yet - are you okay?"
"No, haa~ wait, let's really just rest for a moment, Rio-nim."
"Okay~ Ah, there's no hotel-like place here like Floor 4, so I'll make one again! Let's sleep soundly first!"
"...Yes. Let's do that."
In a state of information overload, I entered the hut that Rio-nim quickly made, decided to put everything down for now and get some sleep.