Mythic Being (4)
“It’s rigged!”
It might have simply been bad luck.
There was something a little suspicious about Kim Hyunsung somehow landing on the pile of trash on the spinning board I’d set up, but statistically, it wasn’t impossible.
Maybe it was nothing more than terrible luck, but I had to stop a mythic-grade existence from popping out, no matter what nonsense I had to spit.
This is insane.
The heir of the Ancient God’s Fragment kept making that dry rattling sound as it tried to emerge.
I wasn’t sure whether the seal was taking longer to break or whether Max had momentarily slowed things down at my alarmingly persuasive voice, but the instant that bastard came out, I was certain this party would be wiped out in less than ten minutes.
“The odds have been manipulated!”
I didn’t even know what I was saying.
My jaw was trembling with a nameless fear I’d never felt before.
Still, it seemed like Manager Max was interested in the nonsense coming out of my mouth.
Of course he would react.
If he truly revered the Crack Guardians, then having this museum insulted would not sit well with him.
-I understand what you’re saying. The odds have not been manipulated. Everyone has a one-in-five-hundred chance.
“From our perspective, there’s no way to know whether that’s true or not, is there?”
The one who spoke was An Gimo.
Nice, An Gimo.
I’d thought he might come in handy in situations like this, but I never imagined he’d mesh with me this quickly.
Good. You bastard.
While he kept the man busy for a little longer, my job was simple.
I need to find a way out.
There was no option to fight a mythic-grade monster.
That option did not exist.
The gap in rank was so absurd that even entertaining the idea of fighting it was impossible. To put it crudely, it was like pointing a slingshot at a tank.
If this party challenged that thing now, it would be the same as throwing eggs at a rock.
Even if I assumed Kim Hyunsung was hiding a few tricks, there was no other way to explain it.
For now, I need to keep the act going.
After finishing his line in that theatrical tone, An Gimo glanced sideways at me. That much was obvious even without looking directly.
So I had no choice but to speak.
“What An Gimo said is correct. You say there’s been no manipulation of the odds, but where is the proof that your words aren’t a lie?”
-Do I have any reason to answer your doubts?
“Of course you do. You called this place a museum, not a dungeon. You called us explorers, not raiders. If this museum were truly a dungeon, then you wouldn’t have any reason to convince us. But if this is not an ordinary dungeon and is instead an arrangement made by the Crack Guardians, then an explanation isn’t optional. It’s an obligation.”
-An obligation, not an option... interesting wording.
“It may sound amusing from the manager’s side, but from the explorers’ side, it’s a very important matter. We didn’t come here to clear a dungeon. We came to experience and explore the museum. Isn’t that right, everyone?”
“Yes. That’s right. Exactly.”
An Gimo was the only one who answered aloud.
Even so, I could already feel public opinion shifting.
Everyone was probably thinking the same thing I was.
I hadn’t spoken first because I was smarter than them. I’d simply been the first to become suspicious.
I suspected the same seed of doubt was already growing quietly in everyone else’s chest.
-I understand your position as well. To me, it simply looks like an attempt to stop the exploration from proceeding any further, but... since you are welcomed guests after such a long time, I suppose an explanation is necessary. I’m not sure how to put this, but... if I quantify the results of the explorers who have visited the museum so far, would that be convincing?
He was sharper than I’d expected.
His expression soured a little.
That wasn’t strange.
The Crack Museum he loved so dearly was on the verge of turning from a museum into a filthy gambling den where rigged odds ran rampant. Of course he’d want to clean it up somehow.
The difference between ah and oh changes everything.
We thought of this place as a dungeon, but he didn’t.
To him, it was a gift and an arrangement made by the Crack Guardians for the humans of the continent, a place to record and preserve the countless histories that had come before.
“I’d also like to know whether those quantified data are proof that you didn’t manipulate them either. And where exactly is your original body? The one guiding us is a dummy, not you yourself. If you truly are a mere manager and not the owner of this museum... ”
This won’t work.
Even as I spoke, I could tell this wasn’t going to work.
At best, it’ll buy us time.
It was already established that he wasn’t the dungeon master.
The system that composed the Crack Museum made it clear that the objective was exploring the museum, not killing Manager Max.
Even if he died, the dungeon wouldn’t be cleared. With the power of ordinary humans, resisting this system was impossible.
If resistance had been possible, players would have smashed most dungeons from the outside before ever beginning the actual clear.
Even the Cursed Shrine where I met Yuliena could simply have been bombarded from the outside with magic and stabilized afterward.
That method was far more reliable than going inside.
In other words, there was only one way to clear a dungeon.
Follow the rules.
If resisting the system was impossible, then there was nothing else to do.
Damn it.
It was only natural that I started thinking I absolutely could not die in a place like this.
Meanwhile, Manager Max was presenting evidence that the results had not been quantified, but his voice no longer reached me.
I didn’t have the spare attention to answer.
What was more agitated than me was Park Deokgu. Snorting through his nose and shouting in a booming voice, he was an absolute sight.
Of course, An Gimo was backing him up in perfect rhythm.
“Where’s the proof this is real, just like my brother said? The whole thing felt strange from the start! The moment we got here, he started talking about displaying our brother and this fellow over there, didn’t he? Isn’t that a little too suspicious for a museum?”
“That’s right!”
“If he’d said that from the beginning, I might’ve understood a little better! I don’t know anything about all this stuff about distorted causality and mana blessings, but how am I supposed to trust a dungeon manager who talks about displaying living people in a museum?”
Good work, you fat bastard.
I’d only thought it in passing, but he really did have the makings of a demagogue. There was something about the tone of his voice that made people nod along without thinking.
-That is the rule. I can’t say I have no desire for rare specimens as a manager, but there was no manipulation of the odds.
“So the fact that you had the desire already settles it, doesn’t it? If you truly had the qualities of a manager, you shouldn’t even have said something like that in the first place! I don’t know what the Crack Guardians are, but if they’re the ones who protected the continent, then a manager they made saying he wants to exhibit the people living on that continent sounds completely wrong!”
-That is a very human way of thinking. The continent isn’t made up of you people. Humans are closer to a cancer on this continent.
I understood what he meant.
I’d heard that sort of thing before on Earth too.
Apparently, what the Crack Guardians protected wasn’t humanity alone. What they had worried over and guarded was probably the continent itself.
“Is that the Crack Guardians’ way of thinking? Then why on earth are you testing humans, and why are you handing out weapons used by humans as rewards? Are you really saying humans are a cancer, or is that just your own opinion?”
-That is the will of the Guardians...
“Then who was this museum made for in the first place? To me, it sounds like you’re a manager unfit for the job. You put a man in charge who doesn’t even know what kind of fruit grows in his own farm, so I imagine even the Crack Guardians must be slapping their foreheads in regret! What proof do we have that a guy like that wouldn’t rig the whole thing?”
Well done.
The comparison had a folksy flavor to it, but it matched the situation perfectly.
I already knew Deokgu turned strangely logical when he got excited, but he was doing even better than I’d expected.
The others seemed to agree, too, because they were gradually raising their voices. Most of them were the women in Park Deokgu’s harem.
“That’s right! No matter how you think about it, this is suspicious. There were only ten rare items, and that was the one that got drawn, too. And a mythic-grade monster? Looking back now, even the fact that a legendary item appeared from the very beginning seems suspicious.”
“Exactly. Good job, Mr. Deokgu!”
An Gimo was just as loud.
“What we don’t trust is not the Crack Museum. It’s you, the manager!”
“That’s right! Exactly! Mr. An Gimo, you really are a learned man. There’s something different about you! That Max bastard looks like a scammer no matter how you look at him... and he can’t even manage things properly! I bet my brother could do a better job if he were the museum manager! Make my brother the museum manager!”
It got a little deranged toward the end, but they were buying us enough time.
It was already a gain just to have a little time to organize my thoughts with Kim Hyunsung and Park Yeonju.
“What do you think we should do, Kiyoung?”
“There’s no option to fight. We have to avoid it no matter what. We need to think of another method. At the moment, negotiating with the museum manager is the most effective option, but I don’t think the authority given to this manager called Max is enough to stop the system.”
“Ah, so you only brought up the issue at first to buy time.”
Park Yeonju nodded as if she had only just understood and continued.
“A direct clash...”
The one who answered was Kim Hyunsung.
“Impossible. It would be entirely separate from dealing with a legendary-grade monster. Of course, if it comes to an unavoidable situation, we may have to consider it, but... I wouldn’t recommend it. Yeonju, you probably understand that as well...”
“Yes. I already know a fight wouldn’t work. But I can’t see another option, so...”
Everyone was wrestling with the same problem I was. They understood that all we could do was search for alternatives.
Negotiating with the manager would be the ideal move, but...
-Whatever you mean or whatever you say, I am still the manager of this museum. My job is nothing more than maintenance and management. Manipulating the odds is outside my authority. Unfortunately, there is no way to stop the option that has already appeared. I’ve been delaying the emergence of the mythic-grade being for a little while, but... that existence will likely reveal itself here very soon.
As expected.
-The seal will be broken in exactly one hour. If the fragment remains unsealed any longer, the Guardians’ seal itself may be broken. So this trial will not be one of fighting, but of endurance.
“That scammer-looking bastard... tsk!”
-I already told you I am not a scammer. I thought you were good people, but it turns out you’re just rude guests. I understand now why your luck is so terrible and why, in the end, you drew a mythic-grade existence. The Crack Guardians did not want people like you taking the relics of this place!
“Listen to this guy, spouting pure nonsense so smoothly it’s almost admirable.”
By then, it was obvious that Manager Max had taken the abuse to heart. His whole body seemed to shake as nearly thirty people rose up at once and spread the condemnation further.
He looked genuinely displeased.
Negotiation...
It had been impossible from the start.
Just as I expected, he too was incapable of acting outside the basic system.
It’s not rigging either.
It was simply disgustingly bad luck.
My fingernails drifted toward my mouth on their own. I’d thought I needed to do something, but seeing that thing slowly coming into view in front of us made it feel like the air itself had been squeezed out of my lungs.
Damn it.
Chains binding a being whose appearance I couldn’t even properly describe, and the shard of an Ancient God staring down at us as though it could see right through us.
It was hard to describe what one feels when faced with a being on an entirely different level.
Jung Hayan had bitten down hard on her lip, and Kim Hyunsung still hadn’t let go of his sword.
Dialugia looked tense as well.
An hour? We can’t even hold out that long.
Everyone probably felt the same thing.
And yet all we could do was lift our weapons and shields, thinking that we had to resist somehow.
It was right then that a ridiculous thought flashed through my head.
Either way, whether we died this way or that way, death was still death.
The seal binding a fragment of the Ancient God is being peeled away.
The moment the message came through, I opened my mouth slightly.
I was sure everyone heard me.
“Battle stations.”
-Good luck.
“I’m going to fully break the seal. Everyone attack the blue chains binding the fragment.”
-Huh?
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