Chapter 154
Chapter 154
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 154
Chapter Title: Main Player (6)
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[Chantless Magic]
[Author, Yurgan von Hatzfeld.]
I could read it.
In ‘End of Apocalypse’, the way players learned magic was simple.
By reading a magic book.
It wasn’t a mainstream method because the only way to obtain magic books was from magical factions inherently hostile to players, like the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, making them difficult to acquire.
Thinking about it, I could understand why they hated players.
While they had to read, interpret, and practice magic to barely grasp its power, players could use it just by reading a book once.
It was enough to make anyone’s stomach churn with envy.
‘…I can’t use this.’
There was a condition: only those who already possessed a magic trait could learn it.
That meant I would have to spend two trait slots to acquire the power in Yurgan’s grimoire.
Frankly, I didn't think it was worth that much.
It wasn't that I was dismissing the strengths of Chantless Magic, but its relative value was diminished by the existence of many other excellent traits.
Besides, it would be more efficient to summon a captain-class magic-user and learn through ‘Bestowal’.
Though, that did introduce the element of chance in having to summon a captain-class magic-user.
Should I try to get another item like Kairos's Dice?
Lost in thought, I took a necklace out of my inventory.
[‘Odin's Eye’ is analyzing the item ‘Hero's Mettle’.]
An item given to me by the spirit of an unknown hero from another world.
Even after returning to Earth, I couldn't check its information, which had been a persistent problem.
It was time to uncover its identity.
[Hero's Mettle (S)]
A necklace imbued with the conviction of fallen heroes.
Attack power increases in proportion to the danger of the situation. (Max 100%)
"High risk, high return, huh."
An effect where attack power increases as HP decreases.
It wasn't a rare option, but being S-grade, it had the monstrous effect of increasing attack power by up to 100%.
Of course, to get the full 100%, I’d have to be on the verge of death, bleeding profusely, so it was unlikely I’d ever receive the maximum benefit.
"Hoo."
A slight headache crept in, and I took off Odin's Eye.
To think it consumed so much mana after just two uses.
A holy relic was a holy relic, after all.
At this rate, I probably wouldn’t even be able to use the highest-tier items, ‘Divine Artifacts’.
Odin's Eye was just a name; it wasn't actually related to Odin, the chief god of Norse mythology.
If it were the real Odin's eye, sacrificed at the Well of Wisdom in the myths, it wouldn't be shaped like a monocle.
Nevertheless, for some reason, it contained a fraction of that power, which was why it became a holy relic.
I rubbed my temples and looked around.
In the game, there was nothing else to find here.
But now that this was reality, might things be different?
I wasn't expecting much, but surprisingly, there was something.
[What is this?]
Before I could say anything, Besial reacted first.
"How would you not know?"
[I don't know everything. No, but seriously, what is this? Something like this shouldn't exist.]
I turned my gaze from the bewildered Besial and carefully picked up the ‘strange object’.
A single sheet of A5-sized paper.
At first glance, it looked like an ordinary blank piece of paper, but the reality was different.
‘This is.’
A puzzle.
Its mana circuits were tangled like a maze. To read what was written on the paper, one had to hold it and channel mana through the correct path.
Using ‘Extreme Eye’, the maze became clearly visible.
It looked like just getting through it would cost a significant amount of mana.
After taking a few breaths to recover, I focused all my senses on my hand.
I slowly moved my mana, following the path of the maze visible through Extreme Eye.
It was no easy task.
If I hadn't practiced mana control from time to time, and if my current mana stat wasn't high, I wouldn't have been able to solve the puzzle at all.
‘I could use this to train the kids.’
Just as that thought began to take hold.
*Rustle.*
My mana reached the end of the maze, and my eyes gradually widened.
"Ha."
I couldn't believe what I was seeing and let out a small gasp.
On the paper that had been blank.
As if an invisible person were writing with a pen, letters slowly began to appear.
And they were in Korean.
[…We have succeeded in recruiting the Prophet. With this, all conditions to begin the plan have been met.]
The very first line was quite a shock.
The Prophet.
One of the five original EX-grade abilities: Regression, Past Life, Reincarnation, Possession, and Future Sight.
The person who possessed Future Sight.
They were frequently mentioned in the game, so I knew the name, but I had never seen them in person.
Because no matter what I did, I could never meet them.
Even so, I had never accessed a clue related to the Prophet this early.
[The Prophet was still immature. Lacking the power we desired, we provided immense support and spent several years nurturing them until they grew strong enough to start the plan.]
[This apocalypse must be ended. Of all existing dimensions, Earth will be the last to remain. If Earth falls, virtually all dimensions will be annihilated. That, at least, must be prevented.]
[Therefore, we named this project 'End of Apocalypse'.]
“…”
End of Apocalypse.
The name of the game I had poured nearly a year of my life into, the game where I had finally succeeded in defeating the final boss.
And at the same time, the name of the game I believed had merged with reality.
This couldn't be a coincidence.
Feeling my breath quicken, I scanned the text rapidly.
[Through the Prophet, we glimpse the future. A future that will one day inevitably arrive. All we could do was delay its advent as much as possible. In the meantime, we used the Prophet to simulate tens of millions of possible scenarios, recreating as many different situations as we could.]
[And so, we succeeded in containing the future within a game.]
The memo ended there.
It wasn't a long message.
But what it contained was by no means small.
[Why are you staring at a blank page so intently?]
“…What? You can’t see it?”
[Can't see what? Is there something written on it?]
I fell silent.
There wasn't a hint of falsehood in Besial's reaction.
He truly couldn't see this memo.
I wordlessly checked the back of the memo.
A short sentence was scrawled there.
[Do not trust the gods.]
Right after that.
Several system messages captured my attention.
[You have completed the achievement, 'Someone's Memo (1)'.]
[Conditions have been met.]
[The 2nd Awakening of the unique ability, 'Main Player (EX)', will now begin.]
[Main Player (EX)]
1. Solo Quest
2. Watcher Beyond the Screen
3. Playable Character
4. Speciality
5. (Locked)
Was this achievement, like several others, added when reality changed?
Or was it an achievement that belonged to the 1% I had failed to complete?
I couldn't know for sure, but one thing was certain.
The game and reality hadn't merged.
If this memo was to be believed, the game contained the events of the future.
And that future had simply arrived in reality.
‘The set deadline has been reached.’
A phrase I had barely heard in my drowsy state suddenly came to mind.
The ‘people’ who wrote this memo said they had delayed the future's arrival as much as possible.
The date they delayed it to and the day I saw the 00th ending.
The fact that those two coincided was purely a coincidence.
They couldn't have set a vague deadline like ‘until a clearer emerges’, and even if they could, since their goal was to stop the apocalypse, it would have been better to have as many clearers as possible.
[You look like you've just seen a difficult math problem.]
"Shut up."
It wasn't something I could easily believe.
And yet, I had to.
If this was true, it explained too many things.
Most importantly, it existed as an achievement, and as a result, my unique ability had awakened once more.
I rubbed my throbbing forehead and checked the newly unlocked fourth option.
[Speciality (Unique Effect)]
Increases the skill acquisition limit by 5.
This effect applies only to skills.
End of Apocalypse was difficult because various growth limitations played a huge role.
No matter how many times you restarted the game, no matter how much information you had from previous playthroughs, it was designed to not be easily cleared.
The chapter stat limit was a prime example, and the second was the ability acquisition limit.
By fixing the number of traits and skills one could acquire to eight, it made it impossible to become strong beyond a certain point.
In such a state, even if it was limited to skills, an increase of 5 to the limit was a tremendous advantage.
‘In that case, is it more beneficial for me to fill my slots with only traits?’
A total of eight slots for traits and skills. Plus an additional five for skills.
The best-case scenario would be to acquire eight traits, satisfying the original limit of eight total abilities, and then use the effect of Speciality to gain five more skills.
‘But Extreme Eye already takes up one skill slot.’
Seven traits and six skills.
That was the best combination I could achieve in my current state.
I let out a small sigh and stored the paper in my inventory.
The name of the achievement was ‘Someone's Memo (1)’.
That meant there were more of these memos to find.
I had a new objective.
"My strength has been unexpectedly bolstered, so I guess coming all this way was worth it…?"
With this, it should be enough to launch a surprise attack on the stigma mine controlled by Paradise.
I couldn't let Paradise freely mine such a treasure trove of power.
If I couldn't have it, it was better to destroy it.
*Thud, thud.*
I heard the sound of someone approaching via the stairs.
Judging by the footsteps, it was one person.
I had been so focused on the memo that I hadn't paid attention.
Who could it be? The members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn would need more time to wake up.
It was more likely an enemy than an ally.
‘I used too much mana.’
I narrowed my eyes and glared toward the stairs.
I couldn't use Army of Darkness either.
When I tried to draw forth the darkness, it only responded faintly.
I just hoped it wasn't a strong enemy.
“…Kim Se-hyeon?”
Surprisingly, the newcomer was Han Hyeok-jun.
"Ah."
The tension drained out of me in an instant.
At that moment, a fact I had forgotten suddenly came to mind.
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn had a connection, albeit a small one, to ‘the Order’.
Since Han Hyeok-jun dug into anything related to the Order, it wasn't strange for him to show up here.
‘Could the reason they were trying to leave Korea be…?’
Was it because Han Hyeok-jun was on their tail?
That seemed highly plausible.
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn wouldn't want their connection to the Order to be known.
But they couldn't stop Han Hyeok-jun with just the members in the Korean branch, and it would take too long for reinforcements to arrive.
Perhaps, with their own situation deteriorating, they weren't in a position to send reinforcements at all.
"I came here to stop whatever these guys were plotting…"
Han Hyeok-jun slowly looked around.
His gaze stopped on the magic circle I had ruined.
"Looks like it's been taken care of quite neatly."
"You knew about the curse?"
"Found out a while ago. I was working with some players in this area. Seems there was some conflict because these guys secured all the food left in the stadium's warehouse."
…Ah. Right, that did happen.
That bastard Choi Nam-hoon was causing trouble even in death.
Han Hyeok-jun asked, looking puzzled.
"What about you? How did you know to come here?"
I thought for a moment, then voiced a sudden idea.
"I was looking into things related to the Order and Paradise and stumbled upon it."
"The Order?"
Han Hyeok-jun's face hardened menacingly.
He still went crazy whenever the Order was involved.