The Burning Jewel
«Oh, finally got through! Ryu Hwi, can you hear me? Ryu Hwi!»
5555's voice crackled through the connection.
«The signal kept dropping and it just barely caught. What on earth is going on over there…….»
"Someone using GA-ES bugs has shown up. I'm sending you the data now—analyze it."
Ryu Hwi got straight to business, laying out his demands without preamble.
«You work me to the bone the second we connect. Well, fine. Now that the signal's stable it should hold. I've received GA-ES bug data before, so this shouldn't take long to analyze. More importantly, the situation on Floor 50 is…….»
"Hurry up."
«Ugh, fine! I said I'd do it, didn't I! But the more data the better. If I analyze it alongside the bug data I got last time, I can piece together a rough picture.»
"Then I'll get you all the data you could want."
It wasn't as if GA-ES were the only ones using their bugs.
Ryu Hwi's prediction proved correct.
Countless gamers had borrowed the power of bugs to clear dungeons. It was proof that the corruption had spread beyond Linzea to ordinary gamers as well.
Every time he found a gamer using bugs, he cut them down.
Each time, the weapon in his hand was corroded by the bug, but he didn't care.
The mere fact that they were wielding GA-ES bugs set his blood boiling.
The end of the Iron Blood flashed through his mind.
GA-ES's bugs had surely been forged through those kinds of experiments, repeated again and again.
Human experimentation.
Just recalling those two words nearly made him lose his composure.
Ryu Hwi forced himself to stay cold and kept streaming the collected bug data to 5555.
"I can't believe something like this is spreading through World of Phantasm……. What is GA-ES after?"
«You think they're trying to break the game with the bugs? There have actually been cases where game labyrinths got so bug-ridden they were shut down.»
A plausible theory.
[Spreading bugs alone won't bring down a game labyrinth. They must have a next move prepared.]
YggON added a remark to Wolya's explanation.
"Then we have no time to waste."
Ryu Hwi accelerated faster than ever before.
The Reverse Waterfall.
"What's going on here?"
The party led by Noir had been progressing smoothly through the Reverse Waterfall region—until, partway through, an invisible wall stopped them no matter what they did.
They assumed some kind of gimmick must exist and searched high and low, but no path forward was anywhere to be found.
"This doesn't make any sense!"
Noir and her party members were forced to accept the unthinkable: the Reverse Waterfall beyond this point simply didn't exist.
It looked perfectly intact, but underneath it was unimplemented.
The gamers were stunned.
The same phenomenon was reported all across Floor 50, and gamers connected to GA-ES began using bugs to force paths through.
Among them was Pokryeol Daedo, hailed as the next great ace of Linzea Guild.
The moment he judged the area too difficult to clear normally, he reached for a bug without hesitation.
He felt no resistance whatsoever about using it. Anything usable gets used—that was all.
That was the basic creed of the modern gamer, and one of the reasons people went wild over Ryu7017's bug-tier exploits.
"So this is what it felt like for Ryu7017?"
Black energy erupted from Pokryeol Daedo's body, swallowing his armor and greatsword whole.
And unsatisfied with that, it began to corrode his flesh and mind as well.
The black aura wrapped around him like armor blazed white-hot, and the eyes glinting through the slits of his helm burned bloodshot red.
His appearance, completely consumed by the dark energy, called to mind a knight risen from death itself.
This was a power that plainly transcended the existing system.
Once you'd tasted it, going back to fighting like an idiot within the 'rules' was no longer an option.
Pokryeol Daedo's blood-red eyes kept darting around as if searching for the next prey. He looked less like a gamer than a monster pure and simple.
Floor 50 was being steadily consumed by the bugs.
It began where no one was watching.
The moment a bug touched the unfinished, nonexistent space, it started devouring the void.
GA-ES had planted their seeds long ago.
Now those seeds were straining to bloom into black flowers.
Asea watched the scene from somewhere on Floor 50. Her long-cherished goal was only steps away from fruition.
When things that had no business existing in World of Phantasm began to appear, she smiled.
Wait for me, Cynthia. There's not much left now.
Soon it would all be over!
I can end everything. Everything…….
So she believed, with absolute certainty.
But there was a fatal flaw in her calculations.
«Data analysis complete! Give me a sec—I'm building a debugging tool!»
There was another being here who, in his own way, was just as unreasonable a bug as any of them.
«Here are the analysis results. GA-ES's bugs use fragments from other game labyrinths.»
5555 reported her findings.
"Fragments from other game labyrinths?"
«Yeah. They seem to be refining fragments of other labyrinths that leaked into World of Phantasm and using them like tools.»
"So the data from different labyrinths collides and deletes each other?"
GA-ES's bugs corroded whatever they touched.
That was why Ryu Hwi had been forced to pull out a fresh weapon every time he faced a bug-wielding gamer.
«No, they forcibly trigger a bug to overload the data. It looks destroyed, but it's only temporary damage—given time, it'll recover on its own.»
Unlike Ryu Hwi's Delete, it seemed it wasn't permanent destruction.
Still, a power capable of paralyzing data, even briefly, was formidable.
«I'm building a debugging tool and installing the MOD remotely. Should take about ten minutes.»
"Remotely? You can even do that?"
«It's my first time trying it, but there's nothing to do but try. How's the situation over there? I can't get a clear read on your field of view.»
Ryu Hwi scanned his surroundings.
Countless gamers lay pierced through by all manner of weapons. A grisly tableau, the moans and wails never ceasing.
"The situation here?"
Every last one of them, of course, was a gamer who had attacked him wielding bugs.
Scattered around them lay piles of inexplicable machine zombies.
Monsters he'd never once seen in World of Phantasm.
One look at the mechanical components composing their bodies told him they belonged to no known world setting.
"Nothing to report."
He cut the connection and sighed.
"So this is where it ends."
Something transparent blocked the way, refusing to let him advance any farther down the path.
The moment he tried to move forward, his data began to break apart.
Because the space was unfinished.
Worse, bizarre 'bugs' had sprung up on top of that, leaving him well and truly stuck.
He used his Intuition skill to survey the area, but no viable path forward registered.
The Burning Gem region was only implemented up to this point.
[The four cores supporting Floor 50 should still exist. It's only the routes leading to them that are unimplemented.]
"And how do I get to them?"
[If you remove the unfinished zone—commonly called the null zone—you can cross over to the other side. But since there's no telling where a space forcibly removed and reconnected might lead, a precise analysis is required.]
As it happened, he already had a means of crossing the null zone.
"Delete would do it, I suppose."
With Delete, even the null zone could be erased. YggON had confirmed as much.
[The bug contamination is so severe right now that stability is compromised. As things stand, even if you use Delete, the odds of a proper space forming on the other side are low.]
So for now, all he could do was wait patiently.
«Done!»
"You said ten minutes?"
Barely three minutes had passed.
«Well, it came together faster than I expected……. Okay, installing now.»
Installing a MOD in real time, inside the game labyrinth itself.
Riding the backdoor linked to Ryu Hwi, 5555 received data in real time while writing the MOD, then whipped up a remote installer on the spot and pushed the installation through.
Alone, Ryu Hwi wouldn't have managed it—but with YggON at his side, it was hardly a difficult job.
«Once the MOD is active, you shouldn't be directly affected by the bugs anymore.»
As a test, he probed the null zone with Intuition.
Unlike mere moments ago, when the bug contamination had been so severe the skill barely functioned, now he could feel exactly where he needed to delete.
"Around here, huh?"
He placed his hand where Intuition pointed and activated Delete.
Moments later, a hole opened in the empty air, revealing a path across the null zone and into the next space.
[Intuition. Nerf, please.]
Solving with raw instinct what should demand meticulous calculation and hours of analysis. YggON was utterly dumbfounded.
Without a moment's hesitation, Ryu Hwi hurled himself through the hole.
Behind him, the gamers' screams of agony rang out, but he paid them no mind. He hadn't blocked their logout, after all—they'd escape soon enough.
Crossing the impassable space, Ryu Hwi arrived and took in the sight with his own two eyes.
Beneath a vast expanse of blue sky, a crimson-burning crystal loomed. The flames enveloping it spread in every direction, staining even the earth red.
The very summit of the Burning Gem.
That blazing crystal was the core of this place.
"Even the top floor is in this state, huh."
It was a fairly majestic vista, and yet Ryu Hwi exhaled a disappointed sigh.
In one corner sat an enormous knight statue, abandoned mid-construction.
"Don't tell me that's the boss."
[It is. Unfinished, as you can see.]
"Haa……."
He couldn't hold back the sighs.
[The clear condition is presumably defeating the boss. In other words, there is no way to clear this place.]
"This game labyrinth, honestly……. Fine. I never expected much to begin with."
Ryu Hwi approached the crystal wreathed in flame.
The crystal floated serenely at the center of the vast summit, its form swallowed by roaring fire—a genuinely menacing sight.
Those flames rejected all who approached and guarded the crystal. Forcing it out was supposed to be impossible but…….
"YggON, thoughts?"
[In short: it's possible. Doing so will collapse the balance of Floor 50 itself, and other gamers will be caught up in it. Shall I proceed?]
What Ryu Hwi was about to do would affect the entire Tower of the Demon God.
The gamers still remaining on Floor 50 would feel it too.
"Like I care. It's already a mess thanks to GA-ES's bugs anyway."
Pay it no mind. Ryu Hwi reached out and gripped the burning crystal with his bare hand.
"Delete."
"How are things going in the waterfall region?"
"Bug corrosion at 37%. Progress is faster than projected."
The GA-ES Guild Master wore a satisfied expression as he listened to the report.
"Three percent to go. Once we hold around 40%, everything after that goes our way. And all of it thanks to Bug Control."
The GA-ES Guild Master chattered away, garrulous as ever.
For a man leading an entire guild, his manner was remarkably casual.
The gear he wore was the sort of light armor a gamer might put on during their first hours in World of Phantasm.
Nothing about him looked like the head of a guild.
"Asea, this is all thanks to you. The Bug Control you brought us is what made this opportunity possible."
"I didn't bring you anything."
Asea made no effort to hide her discomfort.
"You're the one who introduced John Doe, aren't you?"
"Yes, that's right. I was fully prepared to use whatever could be used."
Asea gazed out over the scenery of Floor 50.
The landscape of a trash world, irritating beyond all measure. And that landscape was slowly breaking apart, eaten away by bugs.
Asea sneered. By her own will, and no one else's, she was bringing this world down.
This was only the beginning.
Beyond it, she would become the 'heaven' that ruled this world and set everything right.
Not the greed-soaked, repulsive heaven of today—but the original, pristine blue.
"Bug corrosion at 39%!"
Bug Control.
The bugs it could manipulate were limited, but the mere fact that it could tamper with a game labyrinth's data made it an absurd, game-breaking technique.
Asea had joined hands with 'the worst piece of trash' to obtain it.
She had no regrets. It was far too late for hesitation now.
She had trampled countless people underfoot to reach her goal.
And at last, the moment of harvest had arrived.
Once bug corrosion hit 40%, the functions of Floor 50 would be all but paralyzed. From that point on, everything would belong to GA-ES, the only ones who could control the bugs.
The Tower of the Demon God, the very heart of World of Phantasm, would fall into GA-ES's grasp.
Which meant they could do whatever they pleased with World of Phantasm itself.
Rule it—or bring it crashing down. Either was possible.
Gabriel, I don't know why you forcibly transferred the gamers to Floor 50, but you're going to regret it.
It was nearly time.
Asea waited quietly for that moment.
"Four—!"
The gamer monitoring the progress was on the very verge of shouting the target achieved—
WHUUUUMM!!
The GA-ES gamers looked around in bewilderment at the sudden thunder.
But that was only the beginning.
A violent quake, so intense they could barely stay on their feet. A colossal earthquake shook the entire tower to its foundations.
Every gamer without exception was thrown to the ground, unable to rise, flattened like squashed frogs.
"Ghk—what's happening?! Is it the bugs?!"
"Did we pass 40% and break the balance?!"
The GA-ES gamers shouted in panic.
Asea, too, assumed it was a backlash triggered by the bugs.
"It's not the bugs."
But the GA-ES Guild Master saw it differently.
"This isn't a bug. Something more—something far more fatal has happened!"