Chapter 116
Chapter 116
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Final Boss
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The ascent of Babel Tower proceeded at a breakneck pace.
"I am the king of the jungle! The law of the jungle is survival of the fittest! We'll duel accordingly!"
"Mortals forged of flesh and blood, taste the might of mechanical bodies!"
"This body rules the skies! Friend of the winds, living alongside the breeze! Let the duel of winds commence!"
The masters of each floor were card spirits.
Not human, these spirits sometimes shed human form entirely, wielding incredibly powerful and unique decks that brought despair to any challenger.
Continuous Magic Card effect: "Survival of the Fittest" absorbs the ATK and DEF of defeated monsters! Additionally, activating "King of the Wild" effect! Any monster with lower ATK than mine falls into fear upon summon and becomes immobilized for 3 turns! Immobilized monsters cannot activate special effects!
Continuous Magic Card effect: "Steel Grand Marshal" activated. All non-Machine monsters summoned to the field this game are converted into Machines. Trap Card: "Ransomware" activated. All Machine monsters are infected with the ransomware virus and become mine to control at will.
Continuous Field Magic: "Heaven Beyond Heaven" activated! The field becomes the sky from now on! All non-Flying monsters plummet to their deaths!
Was this really a card game?
Or was it just a game of who could talk the best?
The card battles in this world were so unbalanced and unfair that it felt that way.
"Well then, my turn."
Fortunately, my side was just as broken.
"Magic Card: 'Notebook in My Head' activated. I freely draw cards whose names and effects I know perfectly until my hand is full. Using this effect, I search and summon the card 'Isekai Transfer Scroll: Medieval Fantasy'."
No, mine was even worse.
"This card is a monster but an inanimate object, so it isn't affected by 'King of the Wild'. Next, activating the special effect of 'Isekai Transfer Scroll: Medieval Fantasy': It transfers the opponent's field monsters to another world. Once transferred, monsters can't return."
"What!?"
"In exchange, there's a chance they'll live good lives. Ah! Just got the update. Your monster 'Nemean Lion' has awakened mana in a medieval fantasy world and become a divine beast guarding an empire."
"No, what the hell is that!!!"
"For reference, transferred monsters aren't dead, so they can't trigger death effects."
A card that excluded the opponent's cards from the game without conditions.
"Magic Card: 'Dream Theater' activated. From now on, all monsters are actors, you're the director, and I'm the critic."
"?"
"Special effect of 'Dream Theater': Changes the win condition to 'Shoot an outstanding work that satisfies the critic.' Now, go ahead and make your masterpiece to satisfy me. You get one shot."
"This is ridiculous... Ugh, rules are rules, fine then..."
"Hmm, severely lacking in artistic merit. The actors' performances are stiff too. Unfortunately, you're out."
A card that changed the win condition of the game.
"Magic Card: 'Dial TV for You' activated. According to 'News That Foresees the Future', the game state changes. The news says: 'Oh no! The arrival of a powerful entity has turned heaven and earth upside down!' Per the news, the sky and ground flip positions, nullifying 'Heaven Beyond Heaven'. Your Flying monsters can't adapt and all plummet to their deaths."
"......"
Cards whose effects weren't fixed and shifted wildly with the situation, and more.
The special cards infused with traits from entities I'd encountered were powerful enough to shatter the game's rules.
"Summon 'Toy Well'. Its special effect lets me summon Token Monster 'Gold Bar' whenever I want. Next, summon 'Suit Guy'. Tribute 'Gold Bar' to special summon, normal summon, or draw any card from my deck at will."
"Summon 'Munchkin Mary Sue Constellation'. You lose in 5 turns."
"Trap Card: 'Scales of Good and Evil' activated. Any monster that's killed an opponent's monster once is struck by misfortune. Oh dear, misfortune triggers on your 'Ultra-Powerful Groin Cannon'. It fails zero-point adjustment and friendly fires your allies—including you, the player."
If cards like these existed in the original world's card battles...
They'd get mocked online as "This is a card? What bullshit."
Anyway, thanks to them, I climbed the tower faster than anyone.
"Summon 'Bead: Human' and activate its special effect. The effect projects the movie stored inside into everyone's minds like a daydream. This affects players and spectators too."
"A movie? No, what effect is th— Gah! Blugh! Hngh!"
"You've passed out. Too bad. Since you can't continue the duel, I win."
And yet, we'd only reached the 1,275th floor.
"Dr. Roland, it'll take some time to reach the top..."
"Blugh! Hng! Grblgh!"
"...I think."
I killed time doing a few experiments until Dr. Roland came back to his senses.
"Honey, still no answer from that number?"
『Yes, the phones for Yi Seung-hoon—calling themselves Seong Yu-ra and Kim Dong-wook—are unreachable. No signal at all, so they're likely in another dimension or isolated space.』
Contact with the Foundation was impossible first off.
Their headquarters was in an independent dimension, and the connection to this world seemed severed.
'The dispatched Foundation agents must all be duelists by now.'
The agents were prepared for mental corruption, but they couldn't have escaped reality manipulation that even Sarang couldn't avoid.
"Hmm."
Next, I pulled out the business card from Baal.
I called him mentally, but I only felt a faint connection—no actual appearance.
'Same issue here. The Center of the World's dimensional isolation is powerful.'
Finally, I took out the Karma Call Center phone.
The call center line had connected without picking up before, but now there was no signal at all.
[Your current location is in an area where connection is impossible. Please try again from another location.]
That confirmed it.
'Our dimension is completely isolated from others.'
Which meant we were safe from external entities too.
"Hmm."
『What's wrong?』
"Oh, just thinking. I decided long ago, but it's something I need to deliberate carefully no matter how many times I reconsider."
『By the way, Mr. Yi Seung-hoon, I know there's an unused card in your deck.』
"A few, yeah. They're too strong, so I didn't see the need. Plus, they might cause issues outside the game."
『Which ones?』
"Blue Moon, Girl with Closed Eyes, Uluru, Creator's Hatred, Gigacrist."
『Intriguing effects.』
"What they do is..."
At that moment, a brilliant light shone down from the heavens.
Parting the clouds, a group of angels descended within the light, landing before me.
"Duelist Yi Seung-hoon, the master of Babel Tower summons you."
"Oh boy."
Should've tested it out if I knew.
There was no reason to refuse the angels' request.
Meeting Babel Tower's master was essential for the plan I had in mind.
"Is this space?"
Taking their hands, the world shifted.
I stood on a path of starlight amid countless stars scattered on black ink.
'They're gone.'
No angels to answer my question.
As if they weren't permitted in this sacred space, I was alone and walked the starlit path by myself.
"You've arrived, challenger of Babel Tower."
At the end sat a woman on a massive jade throne.
Dressed in priestly robes patterned with cards, she looked at me and sighed.
"Or should I call you a bug?"
"Bug? You talk like the world's a program."
"Don't play dumb. You remember the original world, don't you?"
She waved her hand, and suddenly I was seated across a table from her.
As I lifted the already-set teacup, she introduced herself.
"I am the creator and administrator of this world—the ego of the entity you call the Center of the World."
Her identity wasn't singular.
"Also, the final boss of the ongoing game, 'Card Battle'."
"I don't even know when I came into existence. One thing's certain: my creator loved games and wanted everyone to enjoy them."
She—the Center of the World—had been made for one purpose.
"Turn concepts that pique humanity's curiosity and interest into games for all to enjoy. That's the mission I was born for."
"Concepts that spark curiosity and interest—like discoveries and inventions born from human creativity?"
"Yes, that's what interest is. I still remember it vividly: the first human who found me, stored away on stone tablets as mere concepts, and activated me."
That was the Göbekli Tepe incident.
"The tablet humans activated back then was 'Commerce'—a concept born when tribes first bartered and used gems as currency."
Commerce changed the world, drawing crowds to Göbekli Tepe.
"As commerce became the world's center, people gathered where I was to trade. Transactions bred a city, and civilization was born."
"But it ended."
"Yes."
Her existence was a game.
Games must have an end.
"In your terms, a game. Games have endings, giving goals and pleasure in pursuit. Games are the same. They must end, and I handle that finale."
"So you're the final boss."
"Yes. Defeating me ends the game."
She'd been the final boss at Göbekli Tepe too.
"The setup was that all humanity owed me. They united to pay what equates to one vigintillion won today. After centuries, the last tribute came, and that game concluded."
With the game over, the people gathered for commerce dispersed naturally.
That was Göbekli Tepe's truth.
"Traces remain, so no reality manipulation back then."
"Primitive humans were satisfied with simple stimuli. Not modern ones."
"Modern humanity's doped on dopamine, yeah."
But one curiosity lingered.
"If we beat you and return to the original world, does humanity remember what happened here?"
"No."
As expected.
If they did, civilizations would have sprung up instantly after Göbekli Tepe's dispersal.
"Then what's the point of the game?"
"Traces remain in the soul."
"And that matters?"
"It does. At least my creator thinks so."
"Who's your creator?"
"I don't know."
Who could the creator be?
Nothing special—entities' origins often shrouded in mystery. I moved on.
'Some other dimension's creator, god, higher entity, or primordial being.'
I kept asking.
"What happens to those who die here?"
"They revive when the original world returns—it's all undone."
"You say you're the final boss, so beating you resets everything?"
"Yes, instantly."
"Why summon me specifically?"
"You're a bug. Remembering the original world, wielding balance-breaking cards. It defies the game's purpose, so I invited you to negotiate."
She said:
"Please, stop dueling. I want the game to continue. I don't want to lose this chance after tens of thousands of years."
"One last question. No one from other dimensions attacks you?"
Her expression answered.
"There are? Attacking you?"
"......Yes."
"Plenty, I'd bet. You're powerful, but the world's full of powerhouses. Holding up okay?"
Not a great look.
"It's burdensome. Embodying my ego to double as final boss means I can't focus solely on defense. Tragic."
"If you could?"
"I'd block them easily."
"Multitasking's a killer."
She barely held off external assaults.
Internal threats? Reality-warped into duelists, probably.
'All the intel.'
My plan solidified.
"I have no intention of defeating you."
"Really!? Then during this game, I'll provide the utmost service..."
"No, not agreement—partnership. I like the world you've made. Let's make a deal."
I crossed my legs and proposed.
"You block external interference. I'll be your final boss, freeing you to focus on that."