A Name That Resonates in the Soul

A foot slammed down, shaking the earth. A fist drove forward with ferocious power. Light bloomed at the invocation of the two characters meaning Heavenly Demon, wrapping around the fist and transforming it into a single, decisive blow.

"Kuhk?!"

In that instant, four swords crossed in front of Hecate, barring the way. They were the strongest weapons in existence, weapons made solely for Hecate, wielders of her full power within her own world. Blades charged with fire and ice, wind and lightning — four attributes fused into an iron wall of a shield.

It was a humiliation. Whether in reality or inside a game labyrinth, everything within Hecate's world was rendered powerless. Standing against Hecate herself was supposed to be impossible — but none of that applied to a UR.

Block it with the swords first, then counter—

Crack.

'?!'

The four swords couldn't withstand the force. Fissures split across their blades.

"Did you actually think you could block my attack and counter it?"

Ryu Hwi poured even more strength into his fist.

"Here's the bad news — that punch wasn't the end of my attack."

The Shuffle Gun deck.

Ryu Hwi touched the card labeled Meteor Strike among the holographic cards floating above his gauntlet. The light of a meteor descended into his golden fist. Three — two — one…

The meteor's radiance swelled larger and larger, mingling with the golden glow of the Heavenly Demon until the two powers merged into perfect harmony.

"Try blocking this if you can!"

Hecate had been caught in the Heavenly Demon's Domination Stomp, her balance already shattered. There was no longer any means left to defend. The light that had obliterated the four swords swept over Hecate itself.

"Aaaargh!!"

Along with a violent storm of energy, Hecate was hurled far ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into the distance. In that instant, Ryu Hwi activated Warp Gun. He pulled the trigger of the Shuffle Gun, which had morphed its shape in the blink of an eye — and his figure vanished. Space connected to space. Ryu ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hwi appeared directly behind Hecate, who was still being flung away, unable to bleed off her momentum.

"Time to finish this."

The Heaven-shaking force of the Domination Stomp. The light of the Heavenly Demon Fist, channeling that power in its entirety, engulfed Hecate once more. Golden light surged past the horizon of the blue-tinted sky. Unable to endure its force, Hecate's body disintegrated into particles and vanished.

Ragna couldn't close his dropped jaw.

That punch and that ground-shaking impact were probably a skill. But everything else was just an application of that EX weapon, the Shuffle Gun. Same weapon — and yet the difference depending on the user is this extreme?

Used properly, Agos could have been a genuine contender for the championship with that very Shuffle Gun.

Ryu7017…… Is this the power of the man leading this era?

Ragna clenched his fist without realizing it. The back of Ryu Hwi standing there now felt impossibly, despairingly far away.

"Hmm."

Ryu Hwi, who had been quietly staring up at the sky, furrowed his brow.

"Doesn't…… feel like it's over. My Intuition won't stop screaming a danger alert."

"What do you mean by that?"

[What you just defeated was not Hecate herself, but an object created by her Field. Complete domain control — this entire world may very well BE Hecate. Creating objects like that one is trivial; she can spawn as many as she likes.]

The moment YggON finished speaking, a perfectly unscathed Hecate was standing there. Seeing that Ryu Hwi wasn't startled in the slightest, Hecate put on a disappointed expression.

"Not even surprised?"

"This is your domain, isn't it? A cheap trick like that you can pull off as many times as you want."

"Then I trust you understand that your struggles are entirely pointless. You are certainly stronger than the objects I create — but if we keep fighting, I'm the one who wins."

"I guess S.E.N. must be an organization built out of dumber fools than I thought. Or maybe you're all just drunk on your own self-importance."

Ryu Hwi raised his right hand. A small light kindled within it. Compared to the radiance of the Heavenly Demon Fist it was pitifully faint — yet the moment Hecate saw that light, her expression hardened like stone.

"Delete……"

"Thinking about it, this place is basically a 'simplified game labyrinth,' right? Even a game labyrinth collapses once you smash its core. So what about you?"

"That would only matter if you could actually find my core, wouldn't it?"

"And you think I won't?"

It was no bluff. Ryu Hwi had Intuition — the power so broken that even YggON, a UR itself, called it a bug-ridden skill. The instant Crowley had learned Ryu Hwi possessed it, he'd exploded into a frenzied rage.

Ryu Hwi's and Hecate's gazes crossed in the empty air. After a long moment, Hecate let out a sigh and raised both arms in surrender.

"As I am now, I don't seem to have any way of beating you. Hoo… and here I was planning to simply enjoy the tournament. Look what this has come to."

Hecate's appearance shifted into the form she wore as a gamer in Super Gemini.

"But I wouldn't think about finishing me off, if I were you. If I stop holding back, I can drag every other gamer here into it and self-destruct."

"My Delete or your little suicide bomb — which do you think lands first?"

"Feel free to find out. Withdraw gracefully from here, and in return I'll give you a piece of information."

"Information first. If it's actually useful, I'll let it slide."

Faced with Ryu Hwi, who refused to budge even an inch, Hecate threw up her hands as if to say she yielded on every front and sighed.

"Every member of S.E.N. is a 'Being of the Labyrinth.' System Engage is a power possible precisely because we are Beings of the Labyrinth."

"That's it? Not exactly earth-shattering."

"Then how about this? You've probably already heard it from Mr. Crowley, but the human experiments conducted at Saint Yggdrasil Hospital were spearheaded by S.E.N."

Ryu Hwi clenched his teeth without meaning to.

"The experiments performed at that hospital are only the barest fraction. Follow the trunk of it upward, and you'll reach a rather unexpected place. And that keyword — your very close 'partner' knows it."

"Partner?"

For a split second Ryu Hwi thought she meant YggON. But when it came to a 'partner' connected to 'experiments,' there was one more.

"What the hell are you people trying to do?"

"Exactly what the name S.E.N. says. Delight the soul. Nothing more."

Hecate gazed at Ryu Hwi's face for a long, still moment.

"Tell me your name."

"You already know it, don't you?"

"I want to hear it from your own lips. If you do, I promise to withdraw peacefully, without playing any tricks. And I promise never to interfere again until this tournament is over."

Ryu Hwi couldn't begin to guess what was going through Hecate's mind.

"Ryu Hwi."

"Ryu Hwi. Ryu Hwi. Ryu Hwi…… A name that resonates in the soul. It's confirmed, then. To delight my soul, your existence is necessary."

Hecate smiled. Faced with that smile, Ryu Hwi felt a chill he couldn't name crawl down his spine.

"I am Hecate. Please remember that name for a long, long time. It is the name of the being who will devour your soul."

Hecate took the hem of her skirt and offered a slight, graceful bow. The blue world dissolved into particles of light and scattered. The world was being disassembled once more, reassembling itself into its original shape. The Field was collapsing.

[Master, another strange woman has taken an interest in you. Congratulations.]

"Shut up!"

After returning to the world of Super Gemini, Ryu Hwi checked the number of survivors and scratched his head.

"Still not time for the 'boss entity' to show up, huh? Hey."

Ryu Hwi turned to Ragna, who was still standing there in a daze.

"Keep what you just saw a secret. Got it? And take this for now."

Ryu Hwi sent Ragna 'a certain set of data.' Receiving it, Ragna's eyes went wide with shock.

"You got dragged into my mess, so come by the shop later and I'll square it. Later."

Ryu Hwi's figure vanished in an instant. Even after that, Ragna couldn't bring himself to move for a long while. It was hard to tell whether what he'd just witnessed was a dream or reality.

"Found you, Ragna!"

Just then, a familiar voice rang out.

"That damn Pokryeol Daedo, clinging and pestering me right up to the end. Come on, fight me, Ragna! Time I paid back all the debts I owe you!"

Bisque the Mad Dog, having annihilated Pokryeol Daedo, was currently sitting at the #1 record. Four hundred seventeen kills. A truly terrifying number.

Ragna looked at her for a moment, then gave an awkward smile.

"Sorry. I'm withdrawing."

"Right, withdrawing…… wait, hey, hold on. Did you just say you're withdrawing? Why?!"

"Something came up. Well then—"

"No, at least explain—hey! Aaand he's actually gone."

Despite Bisque's protests, Ragna withdrew on the spot and left Super Gemini. Bisque, who had been sharpening her revenge for everything she'd endured over the past month, was left with a hollow expression.

"Ugh, whatever. In that case — everyone, come at me!"

And then she raged harder than ever.

The final stage of the Super Gemini tournament, which had held the entire world's attention, closed its curtain on the spectacular showdown of the boss entity versus one thousand gamers. Reviews that the boss entity had been excessively vicious poured in, but the tournament itself drew to a smooth and resounding close. Prize money was duly paid out to Bisque for her top placing and to the ten gamers who had survived to the end only to be crushed by Ryu Hwi, and the event ended on a warm, celebratory note.

Galvanized by Jucheongwang's success, game development companies began studying Super Gemini exhaustively, striving toward highly polished 'game labyrinths.' Until now, they hadn't even been able to analyze why Yggdrasil refused to accept their source material — but once the cause was known, the rest moved fast. The companies set about fleshing out the skeletons of their previously failed game labyrinths. With Super Gemini's monumental success as the catalyst, game labyrinths opened the curtain on their second renaissance.

"To think the day would come when I'd leave the Entertainment District — my own front yard, practically."

Wolya's grumbling showed no sign of stopping. Today she was inhabiting a prosthetic frame that looked, on the surface, like a woman in a skirt — but was in fact a man, with an uncle's voice to match. A truly bizarre setup. Ryu Hwi quietly kept his distance from her.

"We can't stay holed up in that Entertainment District hotel forever, can we? The old shop's been sitting abandoned since the fire."

He checked the street name and the sign on the new building: Jucheongwang.

District 13. Every single facility here was worlds apart from the districts where Bronze rankers lived. Residency was restricted to Silver and above, but use of the facilities themselves was permitted to anyone of Bronze rank or higher — and thanks to the gorgeous design, the area had become a popular tourist destination.

"Well, I knew we'd have to relocate eventually — Jucheongwang needs to expand its staff, after all. Haaaaah."

Wolya heaved a sigh deep enough to cave in the ground.

"So this is the end of the black-market peddler, is it? It was rather fun, actually…… Hmmmm."

Wolya kept casting glances back in the direction of the Entertainment ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠District, seemingly unable to shake her attachment.

"Stop moping. Today is the true departure of Jucheongwang. If you're that bitter about it, go be the CEO yourself."

"Do you have any idea what I was thinking when I handed that boy the CEO's seat? Hee hee heh."

"Oh, shut up. I'm going in ahead, all right? Some people are coming in for interviews today, so I'm busy."

"Fine, fine."

Before entering the new building, Ryu Hwi stopped and looked back. He could feel someone's gaze on him — but he deliberately ignored it. Today was the day Jucheongwang roared to life in earnest. There was no time to waste on something this pointless. He raised his middle finger toward the direction the gaze was coming from, then walked into the building.

"So he's noticed our presence. That damned Intuition."

On the rooftop of a nearby building, Crowley, who had been watching the new Jucheongwand building, clicked his tongue.

"Hecate, I'm disappointed in you. To think you couldn't even manage to ruin a single tournament properly."

"How annoying."

Beside Crowley sat the blue-haired woman, Hecate. She was using her vision's zoom function to monitor Ryu Hwi's every move.

"I did grant your request — reluctantly. But that request failed to stir my soul. Can you truly expect someone to give their all to a task they don't desire?"

"This is exactly why S.E.N. is hopeless. Haaah……"

"You're a member of S.E.N. yourself, aren't you? Well, don't worry. Next time, I'll do it properly."

To stir the soul. Nothing mattered more to S.E.N.

"So what is your next move?"

"For the time being, we leave him alone. Something rather entertaining is about to happen, after all."

"Entertaining?"

"Once a human begins walking down a path that has already diverged — they rarely know how to stop."

Then 'information' surfaced in Crowley's view. It was a report sent by an 'S.E.N. operative' who had infiltrated a certain guild.

"Those vermin do entertain us in all sorts of ways."

"Really, Mr. Crowley, your loathing for 'that place' borders on the pathological."

The information Crowley was reading was also reflected in Hecate's field of vision.