Chapter 237
Chapter 237
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 238
Chapter Title: Confrontation in the Inner Sanctuary
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Flash!
A pure white light flashed, and the space shifted.
I slowly looked around.
A space where black and white blended like paints.
It was the final point of the Holy Martial Tournament exam, where the fierce battle had just taken place and where an important event would soon unfold: the 'Sanctuary of the Inner Self.'
The Holy Martial Tournament had ended with me and Lee Seo-jun as co-winners, but the dream world was still being maintained.
I stood there in a daze for a moment before snapping out of it.
The words of the Apostle of Observation, 'the future is being accelerated.' They kept echoing in my head, but right now, I needed to put them aside and focus on the plan ahead.
The fact that the dream world was still maintained was proof that 'Werner' was manipulating the Demon of Observation in reality, just as in the original story.
I looked down at the transparent gem in my hand.
［Crystal of the Ego (Relic)］
Description: The ego of the 'Demon of Observation,' a machine invented in Wigen to read spells. Infuse this gem with vast mana, and you can control the Demon of Observation.
This gem was a sort of key that could temporarily control the Demon of Observation.
In the original story, Bert, summoned via a summon stone, had pierced the chest of the Apostle of Observation manifested in the 'Sanctuary of the Inner Self' to obtain it.
But the Demon of Observation had split off part of itself and handed me the Crystal of the Ego as a gift.
It was an item essential to the plan ahead, so this saved me some trouble.
That was when it happened. With a flash! the space distorted, and Lee Seo-jun tumbled in.
"Kim Sun-woo?"
Lee Seo-jun looked at me and spoke.
"Yeah, you're here."
"Yeah. Oh, right. You know about it too, right? That you and I won together. Did you get the blessing properly?"
I nodded slightly.
Lee Seo-jun smirked.
"Good. By the way, co-winners? Never saw that coming. I heard it's an incredibly rare probability."
"Yeah."
I never dreamed it was possible either. Even thinking about it now, it was lucky.
Or was it? Maybe the Demon of Observation rigging it doesn't count as luck?
That's when Lee Seo-jun looked around.
"But the exam's over, and the dream world is still up."
"Probably Jaun did something. They have business here too, so they've locked us out of returning to reality."
"Hmm......"
Lee Seo-jun's expression turned serious. Probably because he'd heard from me about what was coming.
And right on cue, a rift appeared in part of the space, and the protagonist of the next event made their entrance.
"Daria."
It was Daria, arriving late at the final point.
Her eyes were sunken and her complexion dark, likely from overdosing on the enhancer she'd gotten from Jaun.
Daria looked around, then walked over to me.
"......Is this the final point?"
"Yeah. But you okay?"
"What?"
"You look pretty rough."
"Oh, I took a bit too much of the enhancer. So right now, my mana control is off."
She muttered that, then opened her mouth as if remembering something.
"Oh, right. I heard. Co-winners?"
Daria looked back and forth between me and Lee Seo-jun.
"Amazing. I didn't know co-winning was even possible...... First time in Holy Martial Tournament history?"
Probably.
I'd checked past records out of boredom and hadn't found any such case.
That's when Daria turned her gaze to Lee Seo-jun. She stared at him uncomfortably for a moment, then looked back at me.
Her expression asked what we were going to do now, since she didn't know our plan.
Then Lee Seo-jun spoke.
"I heard about your situation from Sun-woo."
"......Really?"
Daria's gaze turned to me. I nodded affirmatively.
Daria scratched her cheek, looking embarrassed for a moment.
Then she noticed the crystal in my hand.
"What's that?"
At Daria's question, Lee Seo-jun also looked at me curiously.
As if in response, I held up the Crystal of the Ego for everyone to see.
"The Crystal of the Ego. Basically, a key that lets you control the Demon of Observation."
"......You can control the Demon of Observation?"
Daria blinked in surprise.
"Yeah. But it's not full control with just this; probably needs a ton of mana or something."
"......Wild. Looks exactly like what Jaun's after."
I nodded.
"Right. No other reason for them to show up here."
I continued.
"Anyway, we've secured what they want, so let me explain the next plan."
Meanwhile, in the 'reality' outside the virtual world, news spread that the Holy Martial Tournament's final winner had been decided.
The public was shocked.
There had been long debates over whether it would be Lee Seo-jun or Kim Sun-woo, but the result shattered all expectations: co-winners.
Yet even though the Holy Martial Tournament exam had ended successfully, the students inside the virtual world hadn't returned to reality.
"What's going on?!"
"We've lost control of the virtual world! It seems the control authority has been taken!"
The 'Wigen Central System Control Room' was once again in emergency mode due to the sudden situation.
Normally, the virtual world should have dismantled the moment the Holy Martial Tournament ended.
That's how it was set up, and that was the standard flow.
But for some reason, the virtual world hadn't dismantled.
Moreover, maintaining the virtual world was managed by Wigen, not the Demon of Observation.
That meant someone among Wigen's researchers was controlling it to prevent dismantling.
"......Someone inside Wigen is controlling the virtual world."
The Chief Technology Officer muttered quietly.
He racked his brain quickly, piecing together the cause.
"Who the hell? Someone with virtual world control authority......"
Faces flashed through the officer's mind. He eliminated them one by one until only one remained.
"......Werner."
"Yes?"
"Where the hell is that bastard Werner?!"
"......Mr. Werner?"
"Find that guy Werner right now!"
......And at the same time, in Jaun's hidden hideout somewhere in the world.
Bert was on the phone with someone, staring at the TV broadcast photos of the co-winners, 'Kim Sun-woo' and 'Lee Seo-jun.'
"Is it safe there?"
-Yeah, they probably won't find us for a while. The virtual world's holding steady too.
Werner's voice came through the receiver.
"Good. How long can you keep it up?"
-About 15 minutes maybe. Can't hold longer than that. Better wrap things up fast.
"15 minutes...... Tight. Daria needs to summon us quick."
-No summon response yet?
"Nah, it's been 10 minutes since the winners were announced, and no reaction. Maybe she hasn't arrived?"
-Really? Want me to track Daria's position?
Bert's face brightened slightly at Werner's words.
"You can do that?"
-I'm controlling part of the virtual world, so yeah. Hang on.
Tap tap tap tap.
The sound of typing came through the receiver.
-Found Daria's position.
"Where?"
-Position is...... Wait, this is weird.
"Weird how? Where's it say?"
-Sanctuary of the Inner Self.
Werner's curt reply came. Bert frowned.
The Sanctuary of the Inner Self was the final point.
"You sure?"
-Yeah, definitely. It's the Sanctuary of the Inner Self.
"......What the hell. She made it to the final point fine, so why isn't she summoning us?"
Bert felt puzzled.
He'd told her to use the summon stone the moment she arrived.
With her brother's life on the line, betrayal was unlikely.
"Got it. We'll hold position."
-Yeah. I'll wait at Wigen.
=r.
The call ended.
Bert looked around, and everyone in the hideout was staring at her.
"Bert, what'd Werner say?"
Jin asked.
"Daria made it to the final point fine."
"What? Then why no summon response yet? Did she ditch her brother? Or maybe Lee Seo-jun or Kim Sun-woo got her......"
That was when it happened.
The magic circle inside the hideout began emitting a blue light.
Jaun's group all stood up at once.
"......Magic circle?"
"Oh? It's a summon response!"
Jin hurriedly grabbed the holy relic with infinite mana, ［Core of Mana］.
He then inserted the Core of Mana into the ［Mana Emitter］.
Whoooong!
The dense mana stored in the Core of Mana poured out through the emitter.
The thick mana quickly filled the hideout and began seeping into the magic circle.
Time passed, and the spells in the magic circle glowed brightly. The mana supply needed to activate the 'spell' was complete.
Whoooong!
"Everyone inside."
At Jin's words, all of Jaun's members gathered over the spell.
And with a blinding light, the space changed.
Flash!
The teleportation happened in the blink of an eye.
Bert and the other six Jaun members slowly looked around.
A space where black and white blended like paints came into view.
"......This the Sanctuary of the Inner Self? Looks bizarre."
"Where's Daria?"
As they turned their heads.
Bert spotted Daria's face staring at them from afar. A surge of relief hit her, and she walked toward her.
But Daria's appearance from a distance was off.
Kim Sun-woo and Lee Seo-jun were standing by her sides like allies.
......As if they'd been waiting for this exact moment.
Kim Sun-woo and Lee Seo-jun calmly regarded Jaun's group, who had appeared before them.
Normally, facing the world's worst terrorist group, Jaun, up close would have tensed them up.
But not now.
［The Hero's Halo effect maintained their composure.］
"Daria, what's going on?"
Bert asked.
Daria glared at her murderously and answered.
"I know everything."
"Know what?"
"That you have no intention of letting me or my brother live. I'm not playing your game."
Bert looked at Daria and smirked.
I thought she was a clueless puppet, but apparently not.
......Or maybe Kim Sun-woo or Lee Seo-jun blabbed.
As she met Daria's gaze, Baek Eun-seong approached.
"Bert, no Inner Ego in sight."
"Not there?"
At Baek Eun-seong's words, Bert scanned the surroundings.
As he said, the 'Inner Ego' that should have been here—the Apostle of Observation—was nowhere.
......Even after the Holy Martial Tournament ended, it should have remained here.
In that moment, Bert realized something was wrong.
Then, by chance, she spotted the transparent gem in Kim Sun-woo's hand.
"That gem......"
Kim Sun-woo held it up.
"This what you want?"
At Kim Sun-woo's words, all of Jaun's members drew up their mana.
The gem's identity was clearly the 'Crystal of the Ego.'
What Jaun sought in this Holy Martial Tournament.
They had to quickly assassinate Kim Sun-woo and recover it.
The moment they lunged at him.
"Don't move!"
Kim Sun-woo shouted loudly.
Jaun's members all halted. They had no choice.
Intense compressed mana in Kim Sun-woo's hand.
It looked like he'd smash the crystal the moment they charged.
"Hey! Do you even know what that is?!"
Baek Eun-seong yelled in panic.
"Shut up. Take one step, and it's gone."
Bert broke into a cold sweat at Kim Sun-woo's words.
"......Kim Sun-woo. What the hell are you doing? Wanna die?"
"You want this? Then do as I say."
"Looks like you're cocky 'cause it's the virtual world and you can respawn. Think we can't kill you?"
Kim Sun-woo smirked at Bert's threat.
"I know. Soon as we return to reality, you'll come for me."
"You get it. So what makes you think you can pull this?"
"I propose a deal."
"A deal?"
Bert frowned at Kim Sun-woo's out-of-left-field remark.
Then she smirked.
"Fine. Hand it over, and we'll let you live outside too. Happy?"
"Not that kind of deal."
"Then what deal? Want a contract? Heh heh."
"Make a Blood Oath."
"......What?"
Everyone, including Bert, scowled.
Blood Oath.
An oath using mana and blood.
An 'absolute promise' that kills you if broken.
It was also the promise Jaun's members had already made for secrecy.
Kim Sun-woo said to Jaun.
"The oath has three conditions."
"What the hell are you......"
"Condition 1. You won't harm us in any way from now on. And you won't touch anyone around me either."