A Perfectly Suspicious Masterpiece

=YggON SYSTEM ON=

=YggON SYSTEM OFF=

It was one of the core systems of Rider-On — Road Creation.

"We're not touching the Random Box for a while."

His voice was trembling.

[Master, I concur with your opinion. Something serious and fatal has clearly gone wrong. If it came down to the world ending tomorrow or the UR system developing an error, I would prefer the latter.]

YggON's voice was trembling a little too.

He shut down Rider-On and slipped quietly out of the labyrinth. It seemed best to do absolutely nothing today.

For the sake of world peace.

* * *

"Hello there!"

A woman greeted him with a bright, innocent smile.

Ryu Hwi, on his way back to Jucheongwang after finishing Rider-On, let his expression twist into open disgust.

"Have you perhaps forgotten who I am? It doesn't matter even if you have dementia — as long as your soul is intact, that's all I need. So allow me to introduce myself again. I'm Hecate of S.E.N."

When Hecate of S.E.N — of all people — popped up out of nowhere and struck up a friendly conversation, Ryu Hwi briefly deliberated over how he was supposed to react. Had S.E.N laid some kind of trap?

There existed things even Intuition Lv3 couldn't detect, so vigilance was essential. But he couldn't carelessly raise his Intuition level either, which made the whole situation maddeningly frustrating.

"Don't worry. I was enjoying Rider-On myself today, you see. Super Gemini is fun, but Rider-On is a blast too."

"Let me say this up front — I couldn't care less what you people do in Rider-On."

"Blegh, I'm simply enjoying the game. Unlike the old-generation version, the new-generation version has actual playful charm, so I like it. Well, Mr. Crowley did grumble that all the good parts went to someone else."

Chattering away, Hecate drew closer until she was right beside him. His Intuition didn't react — whether because she bore no hostility or something else entirely. But he had no idea what she was scheming.

"By the way, the atmosphere around you felt rather strange — did something happen? Did you perhaps pull something fun with your UR?"

"……!"

Just as expected, S.E.N was aware of the existence of the UR YggON.

Moreover, they even knew about its function ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— the Random Box.

"There's no need to be alarmed. Our S.E.N always predicted that a UR would appear someday. It's simply finally come to pass. Is the UR beside you right now, perhaps?"

YggON was perched comfortably atop his head.

"Well, never mind the rest…… How about what I mentioned before? Has your partner noticed anything?"

──The experiments conducted at Saint Yggdrasil Hospital were only the barest fraction. If you follow the stem upward, you'll reach somewhere unexpected. That keyword — your closest 'partner' will know it.

After the tournament, he had relayed Hecate's words to Wolya.

Wolya's reaction had been anything but ordinary.

'Not even Latia is the root, is that so…… S.E.N. A keyword……. So somewhere in this cluttered memory of mine, a keyword remains? Very well then. I shall investigate this matter myself, so pay it no mind.'

Since then, Wolya hadn't said another word about it.

Right now she was in the thick of preparing the Super Gemini update and their next project.

"Judging by the look of you, no real progress? Hmmm, then shall we move on to a different topic? You were just wondering whether I was planning to do something to you, weren't you?"

"I'll say it again — whatever you people do to that game……"

"Isn't it you who's 'intervening' in that game?"

"Me? I have no intention of dancing to your tune."

Hecate pouted her lips in mock disappointment.

"Rider-On is remarkably polished. Suspiciously polished, in fact."

"……."

"The very moment Jucheongwang threatens to run away with the market, it appears at an absolutely fantastic time — and not only that, it's the first Human Realm game labyrinth to ever be implemented, yet it exploits that trait perfectly……. It reeks of something suspicious."

"I'll say it one more time. I have no intention of being dragged around by you people."

Ignoring Hecate, he started walking toward Jucheongwang.

With S.E.N's scale and true nature still unknown, he had no desire to entangle himself with Hecate prematurely. The time wasn't right yet. He needed more game labyrinths released — more cards in his hand.

The more game labyrinths there were, the more his own power would grow in equal measure.

"And what if I told you that S.E.N stands behind GA-ES?"

Ryu Hwi stopped dead in his tracks.

"I've met John Doe. That bastard treated the labyrinth's residents as mere NPCs and conducted human experiments on them. And the honored Beings of the Labyrinth are helping someone like that?"

"You certainly know how to hit where it hurts."

Hecate scratched her head.

"But the members of S.E.N are all, without exception, 'free spirits.' You might say each of us enjoys ourselves in wildly different ways? Mr. Crowley absolutely despises GA-ES, but then, not everyone feels the same way."

To delight the soul. S.E.N would stop at nothing to achieve that purpose.

"For example, the way I entertain myself is by strolling through game labyrinths to my heart's content — and playing with you."

"A public nuisance."

"Wouldn't it be fine to show a little temptation now and then? Anyway…… GA-ES does have connections to S.E.N. No matter how hard your resident geniuses struggle, GA-ES will catch up with you before long, you know?"

He couldn't make sense of Hecate at all.

What on earth was she aiming for, bringing all this up?

"Let's erase Rider-On together. You could do it, couldn't you?"

Now he understood her even less.

"Didn't you just say S.E.N is behind GA-ES? What is this, internal division?"

"I told you, didn't I? Everyone enjoys themselves differently. If our methods clash, we crush each other without mercy. That's S.E.N for you."

"Are you all maniacs?"

"Exactly. That's the most accurate way to describe S.E.N."

If he engaged with her any further, he'd get swept up in Hecate's pace.

"Now, that John Doe fellow — he's the kind of human who casually commits 'inhuman' acts. The moment he heard about how to implement a Human Realm labyrinth, he ran experiments using countless test subjects."

Ryu Hwi tried to ignore her and keep walking.

"What?"

"Didn't I say it already? Rider-On's polish is strange. It's the result of fine-tuning — achieved by burning out the SEEDs of a handful of humans for the sake of perfect implementation."

The internal implant SEED was something every human in this world carried in their 'head'. These days, it was practically a part of the brain.

Burning out a SEED was equivalent to destroying a piece of the brain itself.

"A Rider-On built through such a repulsive method…… Are you truly going to sit back and do nothing?"

Hecate extended her hand.

The image overlapped with Wolya, who had once extended her hand and proposed they blow World of Phantasm to pieces together.

"No thanks?"

Ryu Hwi refused outright.

"Even if every ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠word you said is true, all it's done is add one more reason to blow GA-ES apart. I don't move according to your will."

Whatever Hecate was scheming, he had not the slightest intention of following along.

"Don't forget. You're my enemy too, Hecate of S.E.N."

Hecate stared blankly at Ryu Hwi's retreating back.

"You grow more to my liking by the day."

Hecate ran her tongue lightly over her lips.

"So much so that it feels like a waste to leave you beside that 'fiend'……."

Her faintly flushed face laid her feelings bare.

The purpose of S.E.N was 'to delight the soul' — and right now, she was delighting hers to the fullest.

"Oh, that reminds me — didn't they say GA-ES has a woman who made him miserable?"

The information of 'Asea of GA-ES' floated up into Hecate's field of vision.

Thanks to that woman, the current Ryu Hwi existed.

A golden ring rose into Hecate's eyes.

"Shall I offer a small token of gratitude?"

* * *

Rider-On produced Magic Stones simply from riding a bike with gusto, and it was earning rave reviews as a game labyrinth where you could 'have fun while making money'.

Rider-On's new user count was swelling at a terrifying pace. Super Gemini still held the lead, but at this rate it would be overtaken soon.

Once things reached this point, Seven declared the 'Rider-On Tournament', copying exactly what Ryu Hwi had done before him.

"May the fastest rider seize victory! Unleash the full breadth of your skills and claim the championship!"

The community caught fire just as it had for Super Gemini — no, perhaps even hotter. Plenty of people who had been spectating in viewer mode got swept up in the excitement and dove straight into the game labyrinth themselves.

"Two weeks until the tournament! We look forward to your participation!"

While everyone was abuzz with Rider-On—

"WOOOOOOOH!"

Ryu Hwi, paying it not a shred of attention, was throwing himself at Super Gemini.

Playing Super Gemini in the scraps of time he could find, a certain terrifying possibility had occurred to him. If he used the Rider-On bike and Air Road, wouldn't he be able to clear Super Gemini with ease?

Super Gemini's difficulty spiked sharply in the later stages. Even Ryu Hwi had been struggling through the final stages.

So, partly to test out the SSR system and the bike, he'd given it a try — and…—

He went racing along a road forged in midair on his bike, ignoring every last obstacle. His bike was still in a completely stock state, with no customization whatsoever. Yet simply by applying the Air Road, it spewed out a monstrous power that utterly trampled the game's rules. Different in direction from the items and skills he'd accumulated so far, but within a game labyrinth, it was a genre-shattering cheat, plain and simple.

He vaulted over every course that had given him grief until, at long last, he reached the final act.

[Master, isn't this rather shameless? Did you sell off your pride as a gamer?]

"Shut it, YggON. Let me teach you one thing — the most important mindset of a true gamer."

Bug, cheat, whatever — winning was all that mattered. Now that the 'playful charm' of game labyrinths was becoming more prominent, people's thinking would gradually change, but for now, the prevailing attitude was still simply that winning was everything.

He looked up at 'King Drapper', the designated final boss of Super Gemini.

A monster seated upon an enormous throne. A design that fused turtle and dragon — genuinely menacing. If this had been a child, there'd have been tears ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠without question.

'5555, this woman… she forgot the base concept midway through building the labyrinth — that it's supposed to be a game even kids can play.'

The steep difficulty curve in the latter half, and the final boss's overwhelming, oppressive presence — both stood worlds apart from the catchphrase of a game labyrinth that 'anyone, young or old' could enjoy.

Still seated on the bike, he equipped the Shuffle Gun.

"Come at me, King Drapper. Today, I clear Super Gemini."

[Why do you insist on winning while pointlessly mounted on a bike…]

"Kuuuh."

The image in his head was a magnificent one — him blazing along roads conjured out of thin air in every direction, toying with his enemy. But reality was cruel. He realized firsthand just how stupid a notion fighting while riding a bike really was.

[Not magnificent — idiotic. In the end you ditched the bike and brute-forced a victory with Intuition and the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. Utterly disgraceful.]

"Shut up!"

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. The first game labyrinth of Yggdrasil 2.0. He'd planned to cap its demo with something flashy and spectacular — and it had been a complete disaster.

[Weren't you planning to upload the video? Shall I?]

"Don't you dare!"

He'd originally intended to broadcast it live, and switching to a recording on a hunch had been a blessing. If he'd botched that, this disgraceful spectacle would have spread across every community on the planet. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ [Weren't the very idea of fighting while mounted on a bike bizarre to begin with?]

"Zip it, will you? Huh?"

Combat on a bike proved even harder than he'd imagined. How on earth did the heroes of manga and movies ever pull this off? Without customizing it into a form better suited for combat, it would be difficult to make real use of it.

Sighing, he checked his battle rewards and achievements.

=YggON SYSTEM ON=

=YggON SYSTEM OFF=

"?": Ryu Hwi.

[?]: YggON.

Both of them stared blankly at the battle report. No matter how many times they looked, the reward '☆Demon Sword of King Drapper [World Gemini]' refused to disappear.

"That's a Yggdrasil Item, isn't it? Is this real?!"

A Yggdrasil Item. An object that could be Converted into reality and used. What's more, the Demon Sword of King Drapper was the very weapon the final boss King Drapper had wielded.

[Is this truly not an omen of the apocalypse?]

"Calm down, calm down. When this happens, the answer is to pull an SSR ticket! No doubt it's the rebound from everything so far — something completely useless will come out."

[Right. No doubt something unusable, like the World of Phantasm system, will emerge.]

The shock had been so great that he'd even forgotten his resolution to stay away from the Random Box for a while. This was probably the first time in his life he'd ever pulled an SSR ticket hoping for a bad result.

A rainbow shimmered.

"Look at that! Look at it! A duplicate. Hahaha! I knew it!"

He sighed in relief. It didn't seem the world was ending after all. Sure, a 10,000 Exp card had popped out alongside it, but he ignored that.

[Um, um, Master.]

For some reason, YggON rattled and shuddered.

"What is it?"

[This duplicate has unlocked 'SSR Item Combination', you see?]

=YggON SYSTEM ON=

=YggON SYSTEM OFF=

[So it really is showing signs of the apocalypse, isn't it?]

"……."

Now even laughing it off was getting difficult.

* * *

He logged out of Super Gemini and returned to the interior of Jucheongwang. After the string of insane luck he'd been riding lately, he dreaded what kind of rebound might be coming. That was when he noticed, for some reason, a commotion coming from the entrance.

Wondering what was going on, he headed down — and frowned. Seven, the representative of GA-ES, was bellowing something or other, while Ragna and Noir sweated buckets.

"Why are you making a racket in someone else's territory? Does GA-ES have no manners at all?"

"Ryu Hwi!!"

The moment Seven spotted him, he charged over with a vicious scowl and tried to grab him by the collar — but Ryu Hwi caught his arm instead and treated the audience to a textbook hip throw. While Seven was still reeling from the sudden impact, Ryu Hwi twisted his arm and locked it into a submission hold.

"Kghhk?!"

"You were about to resort to violence out of nowhere? Should I call the police on you?"

"Shut up! You son of a…!"

He was even more unhinged than usual — something serious must have happened.

"What did you do to Rider-On and Asea!!"