Chapter 259
Chapter 259
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 260
Chapter Title: The Secret Laboratory
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Ten minutes after entering the barbed wire perimeter.
We kept walking through the wasteland, but there were still no signs of the Seonhyeon family.
No buildings, no people. The ground was completely dried up, turned into barren wilderness.
Yoo Ahyeon also sensed something off. She looked around and tilted her head.
"It's completely empty. Did the Association clear everything out?"
"Who knows. Weren't you with the Seoul Special Task Force? Don't you know anything?"
At my question, Yoo Ahyeon scanned the surroundings again.
"Of course not. The Seonhyeon family's experiment site was exposed before I joined."
I nodded, then by sheer chance, I faintly sensed a mystical energy emanating from the ground.
It was different from mana, somewhat alien.
In other words...
It felt similar to the mystical energy I'd encountered in the past.
It wasn't certain, but thanks to my past experiences facing that mystical energy, I could detect this faint trace.
"I think I know where to go."
"Huh? How?"
"Just follow me for now."
"W-Wait a second!"
With that, I followed the faint mystical energy pulsing from the ground.
Sure enough, tracking the mystical energy led me right.
After walking another ten minutes or so, I spotted a gray, cube-shaped building.
It reeked of experiments having taken place there, obvious at a glance.
"What the... It's real..."
Yoo Ahyeon stared at the building in a daze, muttering to herself. Then she glanced at me.
"How did you know there was a building here?"
"I felt an alien energy and followed it."
"Alien energy? I didn't sense anything."
"It's a bit different from mana. You probably wouldn't be able to feel it, which is normal."
At my words, Yoo Ahyeon gave me a look like she wanted to ask, 'Then how can you feel it?' But she just nodded without saying anything.
Yoo Ahyeon and I approached the building's door.
Another locking spell was on it.
For me, with my outsider perks, it was simple enough to dispel, so I released the formula right away.
Whirr!
Click!
As the door opened, Yoo Ahyeon looked at me with an expression of utter bewilderment.
"...It's still amazing no matter how many times I see it. Our guild's spell dispelling expert can't even compare. Is it one of your traits?"
"Not a trait."
"Then, a rare clan ability?"
I shook my head vaguely at Yoo Ahyeon's question and stepped inside the building.
"Come on."
[You have achieved 'Entry to the Secret Lab'.]
[Causality increases by 1.]
Causality had risen. The achievement name was 'Secret Lab'.
That meant this was indeed where the Seonhyeon family's experiments had taken place.
Stepping inside, a dark, long corridor came into view. Rooms lined both sides.
With the power cut, no lights were on, making it hard to see ahead.
But I had 'Evolution and Adaptation', so my vision—
Fwoosh!
Then, hot flames ignited in the air behind me.
Yoo Ahyeon had lit up the surroundings with magic.
"It's cleaner than I expected."
"Yeah, looks like the Association cleaned it up thoroughly."
Yoo Ahyeon nodded in agreement.
We walked down the corridor, checking each visible room one by one.
Unfortunately, most were empty rooms with nothing inside.
Any clues or traces had apparently been cleared out already.
I even thought about giving up for a moment, but since we'd come this far, I wanted at least some small lead.
If I could just figure out what kind of experiments had been done here...
While scanning around with that in mind, I luckily spotted a hidden formula on the floor of one room.
"..."
"Did you find something?"
Yoo Ahyeon came over and asked. I crouched down to examine the formula on the floor.
"There's a hidden formula on the floor."
"A formula? I don't see anything."
"It was concealed with a special device."
"...How the hell do you even know that?"
Yoo Ahyeon muttered under her breath so I couldn't hear.
Ignoring her, I radiated mana and infused it into the floor. The hidden magic circle glowed and revealed itself.
At the same time, I felt Yoo Ahyeon's surprise from beside me.
I examined the formula.
"Hmm."
Its structure was a bit unusual.
Unlike a simple barrier spell, it wasn't meant to be dispelled—it required a separate 'key' to unlock.
In other words, this formula needed to recognize a specific device to fully activate.
"...What's wrong? Can't you unlock it?"
Yoo Ahyeon asked first when I stayed silent.
"It needs a key."
"A key?"
"Yeah, it's designed to respond only to a specific device."
"A key..."
Yoo Ahyeon's expression turned serious.
As I pondered a solution, something suddenly came to mind.
...No way.
I pulled out the 'photo of Kim Changhyeon as a child' I'd brought with me.
The Mystery had mentioned it before.
This photo had a hidden device.
Could that hidden device be the key to this locked door?
It was plausible enough.
I'd confirmed the photo itself had no device. But if the barrier was designed to recognize the photo, all the pieces fit perfectly.
As I took out the photo, Yoo Ahyeon, who recognized it, stared at me intently.
"Huh? That photo..."
Instead of answering, I immediately held it up to the magic circle.
A strong light began to spread.
Whooooom—!
Flash!
With a burst of intense light, the floor started to open.
At the same time, a hidden dark staircase revealed itself.
My guess had been right.
The device hidden in this photo.
It was the key to the Seonhyeon family's secret passage. Yoo Ahyeon stared at the passageway in a daze, muttering,
"I can't even count how many times you've surprised me."
"Let's go in."
With that, I descended the stairs.
The eerie atmosphere made me a bit tense. Given the place, I was on guard for monsters too.
Not that I was scared. Behind me was the top flame sorceress known as the 'Witch of Fire'.
After about three minutes, we reached the bottom and found a hidden passage.
[You have achieved 'Starting Point of the New World'.]
[Causality increases by 2.0.]
Causality acquired again. This time, a hefty 2 points.
Not even from beating a villain, yet such a massive gain.
Just entering granted this much.
What secret was hidden in this place?
The achievement name was ominous too.
Starting Point of the New World...
What did it mean?
[Intruder detected.]
[Activating system.]
[Using emergency power.]
Flash!
A voice echoed from somewhere, and bright light filled the passage.
Then, I spotted something in the distance.
—Guhk, guhk! Kkh!
It was slumped on the floor, emitting grotesque wails.
Its form resembled a human. It had a head, torso, arms, and legs. But the details made it hard to call it 'human'.
Its face had melted beyond recognition, and parts of its body had turned into black slime.
It felt like seeing again the fish monster from the underwater ruins I'd visited during winter break, the 'Temple Tainted by Mystery'.
Yoo Ahyeon, seeing such a grotesque monster for the first time, furrowed her brow, conjured a fireball, and prepared for battle.
But I raised a hand to stop her.
"Wait. I need to check something."
"Be careful. It might attack first."
"Yeah, I will."
It no longer looked 'human', but traces of humanity remained here and there.
It wore a pure white lab coat, and its face had glasses.
If it was originally human, maybe we could communicate.
—Who... are... you?
As I approached, a voice came, along with faint mystical energy.
"I'm here investigating the experiments conducted in this place."
—In... vest... igate...? Guhk!
The grotesque figure rolled its eyes. The black slime on its right arm writhed.
It was gross, but I ignored it and asked what I wanted to know.
"Were you originally human?"
—I... am... hu... man.
As expected, it was human.
It looked like it could barely breathe—how was it even alive?
And this lab had been discovered by the Association 13 years ago, so...
Had this thing been trapped here for 13 years?
"How did you end up like this?"
—Pun... ishment... caught Mystery Plague.
"Punishment?"
I paused at its words. Punishment? What did it mean?
"Explain so I can understand."
—We... tampered... with... set laws. So... by world's laws... punished.
...Tampered with the world's laws?
The world's laws.
According to what the Demon of Observation said during the Seongmuje, it was the absolute power hidden in this world.
Humans had tried to tamper with it?
At the same time, doubts resurfaced about Kim Changhyeon's actions at the moment Lee Seojun died in my previous life, seen through 'Dimensional Observation'.
"...What are the world's laws?"
Yoo Ahyeon, who didn't know, muttered with a grave face.
Ignoring her, I asked it.
"Explain in detail."
—The... world's... laws are...
"No, not that. Tell me why and how you tried to tamper with the world's laws."
At my question, the grotesque figure looked surprised for a moment.
—You... know... what world's laws... are? Guhk!
"More or less."
—Is that... so... inter... esting. We... used Mystery. Mys... tery is weak... but guhk! has power... resisting world's laws.
"Why tamper with them?"
—Ob... viously... to escape... guhk! pre... des... tined fate.
Predestined fate. My investigations showed Jin Cheonwoo was deeply involved in this experiment.
And in the original story, Jin Cheonwoo's constant talk of surpassing human limits to become a 'god' sounded more and more like a desire for 'freedom' the deeper I dug into him.
So, was this experiment Jin Cheonwoo's attempt to obtain 'freedom'?
...What the hell is this world?
I took out the photo of young Kim Changhyeon from my pocket.
"Do you know this child?"
—...That child... our... guhk! exper... iment subject.
"What experiment was done?"
—If you want... an... swers... there's a con... di... tion. Guhk!
A condition?
Let's hear what it is first.
"Fine, what's the condition?"
—Kill... me...
Tears streamed down the grotesque figure's cheeks.
—Pain... ful time... no more... limit...
"Alright, if that's what you want, I'll put you out of your misery painlessly."
Pleased with my answer, it smiled faintly.
—Thank... you.
"Now, explain."
—That... child... is survivor... of rare Meteor Clan... and through our... exper... iment guhk! artificially infused... with Mystery... hu... man.
"...Hold on, Meteor Clan?"
Yoo Ahyeon stepped forward to ask. It was a name I'd never heard, so I turned to her.
Yoo Ahyeon looked at me and said,
"One of the rare clans Jin Cheonwoo tried to exterminate."
"How do you know that?"
"...Well, our Yoo Clan was destroyed by Jin Cheonwoo too. We've long investigated the specific clans and families he targeted."
I see. I hadn't known that.
"If the Meteor Clan is a rare clan, what's their trait?"
"High affinity for mystical energy."
"Affinity for mystical energy?"
"Yeah, they're a clan that can draw out more of mystical energy's potential. Rumor has it one of their ancestors was a being of mystery."
I stroked my chin. Thinking about how intricately these events were tangled gave me a headache.
So Kim Changhyeon was from a rare clan, and the Seonhyeon family adopted him?
And that Kim Changhyeon was the child Jin Cheonwoo brought in?
—We... on that child... 25 rare clan members... and guhk! Mystery as sacrifice... performed all kinds... of experiments.
This was the moment the secret behind Jin Cheonwoo's rare clan massacre plan unraveled.
I'd thought it was just greed for their 'treasures' until now. Who'd have guessed such a secret.
"So, what were you trying to turn Kim Changhyeon into?"
At my question, the grotesque figure chuckled through sobs.
—Kuhuh... heh... to receive... Jin Cheonwoo's will... his apostle.
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