Chapter 116
Chapter 116
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: The White Disaster
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Lee Si-woo, feeling a sense of crisis after receiving the survival quest, immediately logged into Barathrum.
He intended to use divination to find a clue about the White Disaster.
“You've returned, my Lord.”
Lee Si-woo asked the Butler, who greeted him first as always.
“It's good to see you, Butler. But how did Bbi-bbi get outside?”
“Bbi-bbi can freely travel between Barathrum and reality using the Gate of Expedition.”
“Huh, then you too, Butler...?”
The Butler shook his head at Lee Si-woo's question, which was laced with a hint of expectation.
“No. My body is bound to Barathrum, so I cannot go anywhere.”
“That's a shame. Hmm, what exactly is Bbi-bbi that it can use the Gate of Expedition?”
“Bbi-bbi is a familiar of the Faceless.”
Lee Si-woo questioned the Butler, who so easily uttered such shocking words in a deadpan tone.
“A familiar of the... Faceless?”
“Yes.”
“Then is Barathrum also of the Faceless...?”
The Butler calmly nodded at Lee Si-woo's meaningful question.
“Yes. Barathrum is the foundation and root of the Faceless.”
“Foundation and root... I don't know exactly what that means, but why is something like that inside me? And why are you only telling me this now?”
“Because he permitted it.”
Lee Si-woo raised an eyebrow and asked.
“...His permission? What do you mean?”
The Butler gave an unexpected answer to Lee Si-woo's question.
“My Lord. Just as everything in this world has a cause and a reason, your possession of Barathrum is no coincidence.”
Feeling uneasy at the Butler's unusual demeanor, Lee Si-woo stared at him intently with chilling eyes.
“If it's not a coincidence, then there must be a story behind it. And you, Butler, know about it.”
“Not only do I know, but my very existence is one of the reasons you possess Barathrum. However, even if you ask for the reason, I cannot answer you now.”
“Cannot answer? Why?”
Perhaps sensing the distrust in Lee Si-woo's eyes?
The Butler replied in a bitter voice.
“Jin. Because he does not wish it.”
Lee Si-woo's face contorted at the Butler's calm confession.
“Jin? Don't tell me... is Jin the mastermind behind all of this?”
“He's closer to the cause than a mastermind... but it wouldn't be wrong to think of him that way. In any case, there is no doubt that he orchestrated all of this.”
“...Do you know his true identity?”
“Jin is your younger brother, my Lord.”
“Yes, my sworn brother. But that's not what I'm asking right now...”
The Butler shook his head and said.
“No, my Lord. Jin is your biological younger brother. To be precise, he was your brother before you were reincarnated as a human... In other words, a blood relative from your past life.”
Lee Si-woo's pupils trembled violently.
“My... past life?”
Lee Si-woo frowned, trying to sort out his thoughts.
‘Jin was my brother in a past life? And I was reincarnated as a human? Does that mean I wasn't human in my past life?’
The Faceless Butler said in a calm voice.
“Yes. So please do not hate him too much. Though... you probably couldn't anyway. Now, my Lord. It would be best for you to hear about this from Jin in due time. After all, even if you ask me more, I, who am bound by him, cannot answer.”
‘Bound... by him...’
Lee Si-woo resolved to find Jin as soon as he left Barathrum. He felt he wouldn't be satisfied until he heard everything from the man himself.
As if wanting to change the subject, the Butler steered the conversation.
“More importantly, you must have entered Barathrum to learn about the White Disaster. Is that correct?”
“...That's right.”
“Do not use divination. It is useless. And do not even think of stopping the White Disaster. Stopping it is impossible with your current capabilities.”
“Do you know what the White Disaster is, Butler?”
“The White Disaster is a disease that brought about the downfall of humans, who were once the sole dominant species of this Main Dimension. That is why it is a disaster. One that no one can stop, and no one can defend against.”
“You speak as if... you've experienced it yourself.”
The Butler did not reply to Lee Si-woo's words.
But sometimes, silence is an affirmation.
At this point, Lee Si-woo could somewhat guess the Butler's true identity.
The Butler had been wearing a faceless mask since their very first meeting.
Could this really be a coincidence?
No, that couldn't be. Everything in this world has a cause and a reason.
It was impossible that his acquisition of Barathrum, and the Butler's presence within it, were mere coincidences.
What's more? The Butler had clearly said it.
That his very existence was one of the reasons Lee Si-woo possessed Barathrum.
Based on all these circumstances, Lee Si-woo deduced the Butler's identity.
‘The Butler is probably... the Faceless. But what I don't understand is why he's inside me along with Barathrum... Dammit, my head hurts. I guess I'll have to meet Jin to find out.’
Setting aside his complex deductions, Lee Si-woo asked the Butler.
“If it can't be stopped? Are you telling me to abandon everything I've built here and run away?”
“Yes. Because that is the surest way for you to survive.”
“But...”
The Butler spoke to the hesitating Lee Si-woo in a firm tone.
“My Lord. Please act wisely. The White Disaster is a cataclysm that even the Faceless could not stop. For you, a mere 3rd-Circle Expert, to stop it? It's utterly impossible. Therefore, take everything you can within the given three days and leave Granada. Wouldn't that allow you to complete the quest easily?”
Was it because the Butler's words—that it was a disaster even the Faceless couldn't stop—strangely resonated with him?
Lee Si-woo scrunched his nose and fell into deep thought.
After a moment of long deliberation, Lee Si-woo opened his mouth.
“...Very well. I will take your advice to heart. But I still have three days... I'll make my decision after that. For now, there's just too much I want to hear from Jin.”
Lee Si-woo's choice was to postpone.
A moment after Lee Si-woo logged out and left Barathrum, a giant set of iron bars appeared next to the lone Butler.
From within the iron bars, which were consumed by black mist, the voice of Agwi emerged.
-Faceless. Why did Jin tell them to distribute the stone statues? And behind Lee Si-woo's back, no less. What in the world is he plotting? There's no way Jin doesn't know what will happen if Lee Si-woo uses even a fraction of your power because of this.
“I wonder. I do not know either. However... thanks to this, I will be able to confirm whether I made the right choice.”
-...Don't tell me you think he'll stay in Granada? Ridiculous. The truly correct choice is to run. Yes, just as you advised him.
“You would think so. Like two sides of a coin, we are always on opposite ends. So... let us wait and see with anticipation. What choice our Lord will make...”
***
After leaving Barathrum, Lee Si-woo immediately looked for Jin, but it was pointless.
Not only did he not answer his phone, but even after mobilizing all his connections to search, it was as if he had vanished into thin air; he was nowhere to be found.
Lee Si-woo, who had so much to ask Jin, was beyond frustrated and grew impatient, but he soon collected himself.
There was no point in being anxious and hasty now, so he had to do what he could at the moment.
‘The Butler left me a subtle hint. The White Disaster... is a disease that even the Faceless couldn't stop.’
If you were to name the most famous disease in Granada right now?
A hundred out of a hundred people would name the new virus, Scelestus.
Moreover, Scelestus was also known as the Winter Disease.
This was because the moment one was infected, all color drained from their body—skin, hair, and eyes all turned white.
‘Turns white. The White Disaster... This couldn't possibly be a coincidence.’
Lee Si-woo, chewing on his lower lip, immediately picked up the phone and called Isabelle.
*Click.*
-What's up? What's the occasion for you to call me first?
“Isabelle. Can you get me a confirmed Scelestus patient right now?”
-A patient with the new virus? Are you crazy? Why the hell would you want one of those, you bastard? You're human too! You could get infected if you're not careful. Don't you know there's no cure for it?
“I don't have time to explain everything right now, so just get one and come to my house. Oh, and bring Allen with you. Got it?”
After saying his piece and hanging up, Lee Si-woo paced anxiously around his living room before calling Jin again.
When the call went to voicemail after ringing for a long time, Lee Si-woo gritted his teeth.
‘Jin, you bastard... Where in the world are you and what are you doing?’
***
Meanwhile, Jin was lazing about, rolling around on a bed in a secluded hotel far from the center of Granada.
A whitish mist billowed up right next to Jin's bed and took human form.
A rough-looking man with a noticeable scar on the bridge of his nose spoke in a polite tone.
“Lord Jin. I have finished distributing the thousand Faceless statues among the humans.”
“Good, well done.”
“But, if I may be so bold... may I ask why you are distributing these statues? I can't seem to fathom the meaning behind this act...”
“Do you know what a god needs to attain divinity?”
“Well. I'm a layman when it comes to gods...”
“Followers. They need followers. Their prayers and gratitude become power for a god. That's why gods put effort into proselytizing. To maintain their capabilities and further enhance their skills.”
“Hmm, so I'm engaged in a kind of missionary work, then.”
“Exactly.”
“But what benefit does this missionary work bring to you, Lord Jin? As a demon, it's impossible for you to serve a god, isn't it?”
Jin grinned and said.
“It's bait.”
“Bait... you say?”
“That's right. Bait. I'm going to use this to catch a big fish. Yes, those ill-mannered little fish who don't know their place and covet the power of gods...”
As Jin muttered in a chilling voice, his white eyes glinted eerily, like a hawk spotting its prey.
***
Isabelle and Allen searched for a virus patient as Lee Si-woo had asked, but it wasn't easy to find one, as the infected were disposed of immediately upon discovery.
So, in the end, all they could acquire was the corpse of a brain-dead person scheduled to be transported to a grave, and Lee Si-woo had no choice but to tell them to bring that.
Standing before the corpse, whose skin and every strand of hair on its body had turned white, Isabelle asked in a worried tone.
“Hey, are you really going to be okay? You could end up like this if you're not careful.”
“I'll be fine. No matter how virulent the virus is, it won't be able to do anything to me.”
If this virus were fatal to him, Jin or the Faceless would have surely given him a heads-up.
But since they hadn't given him any warning or caution, the virus would never be able to harm him, the owner of Barathrum.
Lee Si-woo examined the corpse in detail.
The brain was dead, so all bodily functions had ceased.
Decomposition should have set in, but strangely, the skin's condition was as lustrous and taut as it had been in life.
As if it were still alive.
‘Scelestus is certainly a threatening virus, but not to the extent that the Faceless, who was a god, couldn't stop it. So there must be something more. A symptom we haven't discovered...’
Lee Si-woo examined the corpse's eyes and teeth even more closely.
‘Normally, the higher a virus's fatality rate, the lower its infectivity. That's because the carrier needs to be alive and moving around for it to spread effectively. But this new virus has a high fatality rate, killing the carrier immediately upon infection, yet its infectivity is also high. The source of the infection... isn't the carrier.’
If the source of infection is external, not the carrier.
This could be a type of viral weapon.
‘A weapon? No. Here, it's more likely to be magic. Hmm, a viral magic... Then what would happen if I used the Authority of Ruin on it? Could it possibly be cured?’
Lee Si-woo gathered Barathrum's energy into his index finger and cast the Authority of Ruin.
He touched the corpse with the finger imbued with the Authority of Ruin.
And then, the corpse began to react.
Its eyes shot open, and it started to scream.
“Kyaaaaak—!”
With a single shriek, the corpse shot up and lunged not at Lee Si-woo, who was closest, but at Allen right next to him.
It seemed to know instinctively that Lee Si-woo was a dangerous being.
Allen scoffed as if finding it pathetic and cast a mana shield.
*Swoosh.*
But surprisingly, the corpse's arm passed through the mana shield.
Just like an Ancient's Dimension Weapon.
“You've got to be kidding me...!”
The startled Allen cast a 3rd-Circle spell on the corpse.
[3rd-Circle Elemental Magic: Wind Chains]
A dozen wind chains shot from Allen's hand and enveloped the corpse, but it was useless.
The moment the wind chains touched the corpse's skin, they vanished like a mirage.
The corpse's claw-like hand grabbed a handful of flesh from Allen's side and tore it away.
With a sickening tear.
“Ghhk...!”
No sooner had Allen hit the floor, bleeding from his side, than the blow of a hammer slicing through the air shattered the corpse's head.
Lee Si-woo, who had summoned an Ogre Hammer at some point, had made his move.
*CRACK!*
Lee Si-woo's eyes twitched as he looked down at the corpse, its head smashed, its body convulsing on the floor.
A living corpse that nullified mana shields and was immune to magic.
And on top of that, it infected humans, the most populous race in the Main Dimension.
Just as its name, the White Disaster, suggested. It was a being tantamount to a cataclysm itself.
Lee Si-woo asked in a low voice.
“Isabelle. How many brain-dead people are buried in the plains?”
As if unable to believe what had just happened, Isabelle spoke with pale lips.
“I-I don't know the exact number... but... as far as I know, there are already more brain-dead people buried in Granada than there are healthy living ones...”
Meaning at least hundreds of thousands.
Lee Si-woo let out a hollow laugh.
The Faceless Butler had been right.
No one could stop this.
And no one could defend against it.
So he had to run.
As soon as possible.