The Analyst Who Sees Colors
Thomas Miller.
The man who would one day polish his unique ability, Analysis, until his name became synonymous with the world’s greatest talent developer. Or rather, the man who would become that.
His ability to accurately gauge an opponent’s capabilities was second to none. When it came to pure information analysis, he stood several steps above even my Thousand Eyes.
Of course, that alone wouldn’t have earned him the title of the finest player development specialist.
What truly set him apart was his ability to read each player’s strengths and weaknesses with surgical precision and then provide the optimal training guidelines.
“You’re currently working as an analyst in the United States, correct?”
I suppressed my surprise and spoke in a calm tone.
“You knew about me?”
“How could I not? Thomas Miller is quite the famous name.”
It was a lie, of course.
In the United States, he only became well-known as a commentator after the first Great Erosion. While guilds recognized his name, he wasn’t yet at the level where ordinary people paid him any attention.
It would be several more years before Thomas Miller earned true fame as a developer. Only then would he become a celebrity even random passersby would recognize.
That future hadn’t arrived yet.
“Hahaha, thank you.”
Thomas Miller laughed heartily. Even a polite compliment earned such a warm reaction. Quite the generous uncle.
“Analyst Miller.”
“Please, just call me Thomas, Mr. Yu.”
“Very well, Thomas. Why don’t we sit down first?”
We sat across from each other with a table between us.
“I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it?”
“I’d like to confirm your strength with my own eyes, Mr. Yu.”
In this era, checking someone’s abilities without consent was considered rude. If you were going to do it right in front of them, you needed their permission.
“Go ahead.”
His pupils moved rapidly up and down, scanning me. He was using his Analysis.
Should I mess with him a little?
I tightly contained my mana and internal energy within my body. Then I coated my entire frame with divine power, completely blocking any external leakage of my presence.
Thomas Miller’s pupils trembled.
“Having trouble seeing?”
“Hehe, so you already knew.”
“Your eyes are just that sharp, Analyst Thomas.”
“Despite the compliment, I must admit it’s difficult to read your abilities, Mr. Yu.”
“How much were you able to discern?”
“The number of skills and a rough estimate of your stats.”
Wow. Even after I used divine power to block information leakage, that was all he got?
Impressive.
“As expected of the man I’ve heard about.”
“You flatter me. I never imagined you would be able to partially nullify my ability, Mr. Yu.”
Thomas Miller smiled brightly.
“Have some coffee.”
“Thanks, Jiyoung.”
“Thank you for your hospitality, my lady.”
She even served our guest without being asked. How thoughtful.
I downed the coffee in one go. I wasn’t the type to savor flavors slowly anyway.
After crunching the ice between my teeth, I stared directly at Thomas Miller.
“Analyst, why don’t you tell me what brought you here?”
“Just as I heard. They said you had a straightforward personality.”
“I’ve never liked beating around the bush.”
“Thank you for indulging my rude request despite this being our first meeting. It was rather important to me.”
“Is this about Analysis?”
“Yes. If you’ll permit it, Mr. Yu, I would like to join the Yeokcheon Guild.”
I blinked twice.
Thomas Miller wanted to join my guild of his own accord?
My first thought was…
“Why?”
“A fair question. I did show up rather suddenly.”
“If Analyst Thomas joins us, we would be the ones grateful.”
“When I observe players, I see colors.”
Thomas Miller stared at me intently. Even though he wasn’t using his ability, his gaze felt like it was trying to peer straight into my soul. A fierce passion burned in his eyes.
“Regardless of the scale of their power, the more efficiently someone handles their strength, the deeper and richer their color becomes.”
“And what color do I appear as to you, Analyst?”
“Five colors. And each one is so vivid it could dye the entire world.”
Five, huh.
Mana, dark mana, Polar Night, internal energy, and divine power.
He must be referring to the five types of energy I wield.
“The first time I saw you, Mr. Yu, was during your Silver rank promotion match.”
“Ah, that did cause quite a stir.”
“It truly did. The moment I laid eyes on you, I was enchanted.”
Thomas’s eyes sparkled. It was a little unsettling to see a man in his mid-forties look at me with such intensity.
“I apologize for the comparison, but even Ellen Taylor, America’s number one ranker, doesn’t shine as brilliantly as you do.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“To stand beside a player destined to become the greatest and analyze him—that is why I wish to join the Yeokcheon Guild.”
Thomas Miller finished his words with a solemn expression.
Even at this point in time, his insight was incredible. He had managed to roughly grasp the nature of my power system just from watching the broadcast.
Outstanding discernment and analytical ability.
In my previous life, he had become famous as a development specialist. On top of that, he excelled at organizational management and database organization.
The perfect person to entrust with managing the Yeokcheon Guild had just walked into my arms of his own free will.
I extended my right hand.
“Then I look forward to working with you.”
“You’ll accept me?”
“There’s no reason to refuse someone like Analyst Thomas.”
“T-Thank you! I will give it my absolute best!”
Oh, you certainly will.
I’m going to work you so hard you won’t even have time to breathe.
I looked at Thomas and gave him a wide grin.
Four months had passed since the first Great Erosion.
The world had fallen into chaos due to the Gates that appeared everywhere, but thanks to the efforts of players, stability was quickly restored.
They couldn’t prevent every Gate Break that occurred in remote areas, so some nations lost portions of their territory. Still, such cases were extremely rare.
The entire world was gradually shaking off the shock of the first Great Erosion and adapting to a new order.
On a day in May when the sunlight was beginning to grow warmer—
The first synchronization between the Tower and the world has been completed successfully.
The 10 Great Demonic Realms have been generated in remote, hazardous regions.
Selection criteria are areas where Gate Breaks occurred most frequently across dimensions or regions with particularly strong elemental resonance.
Rumble—!
Anomalous phenomena were observed simultaneously across the globe.
The temperatures in Antarctica and the Arctic plummeted below negative eighty degrees Celsius.
At Mount St. Helens in Washington State, boiling lava erupted into the sky and rained fire upon the earth.
Along the upper reaches of the Tunguska River that cut through central Siberia, a purple energy flickered and began corroding its surroundings.
Countless other abnormalities appeared in various locations.
These simultaneous abnormal weather events caused cold waves from the poles to freeze nearby seas solid. Fishing boats caught in the extreme cold were frozen entirely—an occurrence that barely registered as noteworthy anymore.
In Washington State, where the volcanic eruption occurred, the aftershocks triggered large and small earthquakes, causing secondary and tertiary damage.
“The Player Association will respond aggressively to the recent series of disasters.”
“The Gold Moon Guild has decided to suspend Tower raids until the situation stabilizes…”
Players rolled up their sleeves to combat these natural catastrophes. Nations that had avoided disaster sent both human and material resources to aid the affected countries.
Even so, the damage was catastrophic.
While Antarctica and the Arctic had always been difficult to access, the areas around Tunguska and Mount St. Helens were different.
A two-hundred-kilometer radius had been transformed into volcanic zones or otherworldly terrain. Residents living nearby were forced to abandon their homes.
The situation was especially severe for Mount St. Helens, since Seattle lay right on the edge of the affected zone.
“No! I’m not taking a single step from here!”
“Sir, the lava is closing in! You have to evacuate now!”
“Where would I go without my hometown? If I die, I’ll die right here.”
The evacuation process was far from smooth. The resulting human and material losses were so extensive they couldn’t even be properly tallied.
For several days, the bizarre climate battered the entire world before gradually subsiding.
But then—
The 10 Great Demonic Realms have settled into place.
Demonic Realms are identical in nature to Gate Breaks.
To restore these regions to their original state, the core of each Demonic Realm must be destroyed.
The epicenters of the abnormal weather had transformed into a fusion of reality and the otherworld.
Beyond the blue wormholes lay another realm—just like Gates.
In volcanic zones, lava-based creatures soared through the skies and left footprints across the ground.
In regions of extreme cold, blue-skinned giants built walls of ice to mark their territory.
“It’s not temporary?”
“All of these phenomena are the aftermath of Gate Breaks?”
“Then we have to clear them to restore everything.”
Analysts worked to assess the combat strength of the monsters appearing in the 10 Great Demonic Realms.
America, in particular, had lost one of its major cities—Seattle—so they approached the analysis of the Demonic Realms with deadly seriousness.
“My god. The weakest ones are Diamond rank?”
“We can’t even get close, let alone destroy the core.”
“And the terrain penalties? Even without the monsters, it’s a nightmare.”
“It’s permanent.”
The results were shocking.
Only teams composed of national rankers or players of equivalent strength could even attempt internal exploration.
The magical waves emanating from the center of each realm were so powerful that even satellites couldn’t peer inside.
“What if we used nuclear weapons?”
“Useless. Weapons that don’t contain mana lose most of their effectiveness.”
Even humanity’s strongest weapon—nuclear missiles—couldn’t affect the Demonic Realms.
The boss monsters guarding the cores survived nuclear explosions without a scratch.
The one silver lining was that the realms weren’t spreading.
Countries around the world began deliberating how to respond to the 10 Great Demonic Realms.
Nom—
A piece of cake slid into Nyx’s mouth.
“Delicious! So very delicious!”
“You’re awfully relaxed. The whole world is in chaos, you know.”
“Gods do not interfere in the lives of mortals, partner.”
“Didn’t Zeus once flood the entire human race because they displeased him?”
“That child was simply immature.”
Nyx quickly disowned Zeus.
I scratched the back of my head.
Still, the appearance of the 10 Great Demonic Realms had come earlier than in my previous life. The first Great Erosion had also occurred three months ahead of schedule, so this must be the resulting backlash.
Tsk.
A bitter smile tugged at my lips.
“Why do you wear such a gloomy expression?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Hehe, others may not know, but this one does.”
Sharp as ever.
In my previous life, the 10 Great Demonic Realms had caused severe damage when they appeared, but not to this extent. The overall level of players had been slightly higher back then.
Even though it was only a few months’ difference, the scale of damage was noticeably greater.
This was the butterfly effect caused by me turning the gears of history faster than before. In this case, it had worked against us.
“This is not your responsibility. Why do you grieve?”
“I told you, it’s not that.”
“Then cast aside your worries.”
“Fine.”
I can never win against this goddess.
I shook off my thoughts and picked up a piece of cake.
What had already happened had happened. If the 10 Great Demonic Realms had appeared earlier than expected, then I should make use of that fact, shouldn’t I?
Come to think of it…
“Tunguska, was it?”
“Where is that?”
“One of the regions that turned into a Demonic Realm this time.”
It was famous as one of the most dangerous among the 10 Great Demonic Realms.
If it was that place…
“I might be able to obtain it.”
“Stop dawdling and speak plainly. Why do you always circle around the point?”
“The essence related to the void.”
I recalled the memories from my previous life.