The Fog Over R'lyeh
"What? You want to use a satellite?"
"There's a reason for it."
You really have a talent for surprising people.
"Oh. Thank you for the compliment."
That wasn't a compliment!
I pulled the receiver slightly away from my ear.
Why was this man losing it again? It sounded like he'd swallowed a train whistle whole—his voice boomed like a foghorn.
It was nothing new, but seeing William Rockefeller lose his composure made the reality of my regression hit me all over again. To think I'd witness this man—who'd been ice-cold and unflappable in my previous life—lose his temper. So even he had quite the fiery personality in his younger days.
I don't think it's a matter of youth. Isn't there another cause?
I have no idea what he's talking about. It's not my fault. Definitely not.
Fine. Let's hear why you need the satellite.
"I need to observe R'lyeh."
R, what?
I couldn't show this man the Necronomicon. The distance was too great, and unlike John Doe, William would definitely covet an outer god artifact. He would try to research it, seeking ways to harness that power for himself.
Therefore, I had to approach from a different angle.
"You know about me getting sniped on the 66th floor, right?"
Hmm. I've heard the story.
"My business partner nearly died, yet you're being awfully calm about it."
From what I've seen, even if you were thrown into hell, you'd come back smiling.
Was that... a compliment?
"I felt a similar energy while aboard a passenger plane headed for the United States."
From the coordinates you mentioned earlier?
"When I tracked it with my senses, it pointed to that general area."
I knew how insane it sounded. But when your gut screams at you, what else can you do? To breach that iron wall of a man, I had to speak from intuition rather than logic.
You're asking me to expend the Rockefeller family's connections over one uncertain feeling?
"I'll cover the lobbying costs myself."
It'll cost hundreds of millions.
"I have plenty of money."
......
My account balance alone sat in the ten-billion range. After clearing high-grade gates from Algeria to Germany and across Europe, the money had poured in.
After defeating Arme Rouge—the entity responsible for France's Great Collapse—I had collected and sold all their equipment. A large portion flowed into the guild's shared funds, but my personal account overflowed as well. I had no time to spend it all. Most of my spare cash went toward purchasing fossils, yet even sums in the billions posed no real burden.
Besides...
"It's not an amount that would make Mr. Rockefeller tremble, is it?"
Who said I was trembling?
"Oh. My mistake."
Operating a satellite privately isn't merely a matter of money.
"It's not for military purposes. Is taking pictures of the ocean really that big an ask?"
Whatever the reason, it means I still have to complain about it.
"It's a rather serious matter."
William fell silent for a moment.
If you're that insistent, I'll use my influence.
What? Why the sudden attitude shift? The same man who had been griping about lobbying costs and money suddenly agreed in earnest, leaving me momentarily speechless.
It won't take long.
"You're not going to ask for the reason?"
It's not just anyone—it's you saying there's a reason. I have to trust that.
Wow. William Rockefeller showing unconditional trust? It felt burdensome coming from a man who supposedly had gold flowing through his veins instead of blood. With my goal achieved and nothing more to say, I simply spoke with firm resolve.
"I'm counting on you."
Beneath the Babel Tower.
Inside the pillar built from Ymir's Spine lay the dwelling place of the Old Gods.
"We failed."
The God of Magic, Lureen, muttered in a flat voice.
"Don't worry. We didn't prepare only one thing."
The casual reply carried a prickly edge, like hidden thorns.
The sun god Hyperion, his divine radiance lost, slowly approached.
"I respect the attitude of pursuing perfection in all things. But you won't be able to endure it, will you?"
A rough hand settled on Lureen's shoulder. The moment it brushed her robe, some unseen force repelled it sideways.
"That's unpleasant."
"I didn't even touch you."
"The attempt itself is impure and repulsive."
"Hahaha. Don't be so harsh. It's not as if Hyperion has done that only once or twice."
A majestic voice rumbled from above their heads. A giant exceeding one hundred meters gazed down at the pair.
Utgarda-Loki.
King of the giant kingdom Jotunheim.
A powerhouse who had reached the pinnacle in both magic and martial arts. A fallen constellation who shared his name with Asgard's trickster Loki.
"If you tolerate that, there will be no end to it."
"Aww, Lureen. Don't be like that. We're all trying to get along..."
"Try crossing the line one more time."
A ferocious killing intent surged from Lureen's entire body. As the God of Magic who had overseen the core design of the tower, her influence was absolute.
"Uhm. Sorry."
Hyperion immediately backed down.
Why was she so sensitive? Read the room before butting in.
Though the two gods represented the Titans and Jotunheim, they still had to yield before Lureen, representative of the Nemed divine race and the one responsible for the tower's core design.
Lureen bit down hard on her fingernail with her upper teeth. A perfectionist who only felt at ease when everything was clearly visible, she found the current situation deeply displeasing.
"The Outer Knight might not have been in perfect condition."
"Yu Jinho didn't touch even a single token thanks to Loki's intervention."
"A mere mortal who connected to the tower only two years ago defeated an Outer Knight?"
"One from a lower dimension, no less."
"He's merely one mortal. Aren't you paying him too much mind?"
"Even a small variable can ruin a grand undertaking."
At Lureen's razor-sharp reply, Hyperion shut his mouth once more.
I knew he was no ordinary person since the tutorial. Ares, the maniac of Olympus, taking interest in him was almost cute. Yet the First Demon God of the Myriad Demon War, Baal, had intervened. He had smashed through trials whose difficulty Zeus and Odin had deliberately raised, advancing with unstoppable force. The harder the mission, the greater the rewards and the stronger he became.
In the Diamond promotion match, he had consecutively defeated five holy dragons. He had even broken straight through the hidden sniping piece prepared on the 66th floor.
He's too large a variable. That mortal.
They had even revealed a hidden piece they had been saving by having Loki instigate it, yet it had only aroused suspicion among the constellations who had assisted in constructing the tower.
"Don't worry too much. Those beings have half-guessed our intentions yet still refrain from interfering."
Hyperion smiled brightly. His words held truth. Thousands of years had passed since the Babel Tower's erection. Dozens of worlds had already fallen in the dimensional competition. The tower had devoured them, accumulating vast dimensional power and magical energy. Although much of it had to be distributed as player rewards, they had successfully gathered most of the World Soul and dimensional power that had been their original goal.
The usurpers seated in the heavens had noticed. Yet those lofty constellations were so enthralled by the spectacle within the tower that they half-tolerated the Old Gods' actions.
"Hmm. Now that I mention it, the trace of Mistilteinn has also been severed."
"Mistilteinn?"
"A mortal entered the tower's basement. I handed him the demonic sword."
Mistilteinn. A demonic blade that destroys divinity. In exchange for granting its wielder immense power, it corrupted the mind with evil, transforming the user into a monster that pursued nothing but destruction.
Lureen narrowed her eyes slightly.
"When did that happen?"
"It wasn't long ago."
Utgarda-Loki rested his chin on his fist and slowly retraced his memories.
"After giving him the sword and sending him back, the connection severed. I assumed it was due to the dimensional barrier."
He hadn't thought much of it. Once Mistilteinn accumulated enough slaughter, its presence would strengthen. Once filled with power, it should have become detectable again. It had happened several times before.
"By now it should have sent a signal, yet nothing."
There were two possibilities: the wielder's willpower had reached transcendent levels, or Mistilteinn had been destroyed.
"That person—is he from Earth?"
"Without a doubt."
"Another variable has appeared after Yu Jinho."
Unaware that the owner of Mistilteinn and the tower's supernova were the same individual, Lureen replied quietly.
"Don't worry too much. It's not like we only played one move."
Hyperion spoke again in a cheerful voice.
"Hehe. Who would have guessed there would be a singularity on Earth?"
The domain of an outer god sleeping in the Pacific. Top-grade information delivered by Loki. The Outer Knight sniping had been merely the first stage. The true objective was to sow chaos using the singularity beneath the sea.
"It's all possible thanks to our Lureen, isn't it?"
"I am not your friend."
Despite Lureen's clear attempt to draw a line, Hyperion continued without pause.
"It's a compliment. I'm not teasing."
"Please refrain from using expressions like 'our.'"
At the level of the first Great Erosion, direct interference with the world remained impossible. The most they could do was open gates—dimensional fissures. Lureen had interfered with the gate creation process, opening a crack that overlapped with the coordinates Loki provided.
They could not drag the sleeping city from the deep. However, they could summon a portion of R'lyeh through the distorted dimensional fissure and exert external influence. It was an irregular miracle possible only because Lureen understood the very structure of dimensions.
"I never wanted to peer into the abyss."
Entities from outer space were monsters that shattered the boundary between reality and dreams, devouring even the mind. Merely observing R'lyeh—where such power was concentrated—had shaken Lureen's very existence. As a fallen constellation whose name had been stolen and cast to the ground, the damage to her soul had been even greater.
"Thanks to Lureen's hard work, Earth will soon become a complete mess."
"It is the final puzzle piece needed to create our utopia. Such dedication will surely be rewarded."
At the words of the two fallen constellations, Lureen's expression softened somewhat.
"I suppose you're right?"
This time, not even Yu Jinho would be able to resolve it. How could he possibly hunt down every outer god follower sprouting like weeds? He wouldn't even detect the cause. What could he possibly do?
Several photographs arrived via guild mail. The satellite images showed the sea completely shrouded in thick fog.
"Goddammit."
Such vulgar language.
Please pretend you didn't hear that. It was a situation where no amount of cursing felt sufficient.
Your prediction seems to have been correct, so why are you so angry?
"There was still a part of me hoping it wouldn't be."
The phenomenon of the sea where R'lyeh slept being enveloped in dense fog, like a steam sauna. It was identical to what had occurred in my previous life.
"It's the presence of an outer god influencing reality."
To resolve it, you'll have to head to that sea.
"That's the problem."
Not only had I been sniped by an Outer Knight on the 66th floor—the underwater theme park had opened ahead of schedule. Connecting the two incidents made the truth crystal clear.
"The Old Gods are targeting Earth. Or me."
Is there any chance it's a coincidence?
"None."
Who was the root cause of the butterfly effect? Me—the regressor. Tracing it backward, this was clearly a scheme aimed at me, the inflection point.
That's quite a leap in logic.
"I know. But I'm convinced this is the correct answer."
So the Old Gods have their eyes on me? Fine. Do everything you can. But will that be enough to break me?
First we must resolve the anomalous phenomenon occurring in that sea.
"I need to organize an R'lyeh raid team."