Chapter 211
Chapter 211
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 211
Chapter Title: Pantheon Conference
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The entrance to the Pantheon.
Stepping through the massive doors revealed a towering staircase that split into corridors on either side, each leading to more stairs that branched off again into further corridors... Stacked geometrically into the void like this, they reached up to the ceiling dozens of meters above.
Of course, the gods residing in the Pantheon could teleport anywhere within its halls if they wished, so these architectural flourishes were purely for show.
"...If that were all, climbing these stairs would have been grueling work."
Sairan Muel said.
Hwigyeong narrowed her eyes and surveyed the entrance from top to bottom.
The Pantheon's errand boys were rushing up and down the stairs and corridors in a frenzy—what could they possibly be so busy with?—hauling loads, or superiors barking orders at subordinates. It was utter chaos.
"...It still looks pretty grueling right now."
"Hm."
Sairan faltered for a moment.
"Truth be told, they're not actually that busy."
One Oguri errand boy dashed past Sairan and Hwigyeong, only to trip spectacularly.
He'd been running with his beak wide open, and when he fell, it slammed shut with a loud thwack!, echoing sharply.
Hwigyeong hurried over and helped him up.
"You okay?"
"I'm fine, ma'am! Thank you! Gotta run!"
The Oguri shook himself off, grabbed his load, and bolted away.
"He looked busy."
"That's just... their way. They find fulfillment in bustling through their routines. If they were truly rushed, they'd use dragonfly rides."
"Dragonfly rides?"
"Yes. Dragonfly rides."
Sairan snapped his fingers lightly.
Two dragonflies zipped in from somewhere down the corridor and approached Sairan and Hwigyeong.
They were enormous, unlike any Hwigyeong had seen, with wingspans as wide as her outstretched arms.
The pair flitted to their backs and stuck fast.
Then the dragonflies beat their wings.
Slowly, the two women's feet lifted off the ground, hovering a few centimeters up before steadying.
Sairan felt the frantic flapping against his back.
"Everyone uses them when in a hurry."
"Sairan, hold on. I missed my chance to freak out."
"Plenty of time for that later."
Sairan took Hwigyeong's hand and pulled.
They soared through the air as if wielding wings of their own, slipping into one of the countless corridors.
The Pantheon's ceilings were always high enough that flying posed no issue.
They passed bustling errand boys mid-flight and came to a stop before a door.
The dragonflies, sensing their task complete, set them down and departed.
Sairan glanced at her, and Hwigyeong spoke.
"I get why the errand boys don't use them."
"Why's that?"
"...Too embarrassing."
"Knew you'd love it."
"Not love. Embarrassing. Everyone's staring."
Sairan shrugged and opened the door.
A globe floated in the air.
Four blotches marred its surface—anyone from the modern world would recognize it as a depiction of the planet.
Before it sat a donut-shaped table and chairs, a round table for gazing up at the globe.
Hwigyeong looked around.
"Just us?"
"I figure the others are all too busy... No, wait."
"Ah, too small to spot at first."
Sairan lightly flicked Hwigyeong's chin with his tail.
Hwigyeong glared at him. This lizard was so upright and proper, yet rude to his partner at times.
Sairan said,
"Long time no see... Changryu."
Changryu—Player Jangwan—looked up.
Hwigyeong tensed slightly at the sight.
The lion mask covering his entire head had an intimidating effect on mortals, akin to trolls, rakshasas, or goblins with their fearsome faces.
Moreover, all players possessed a passive skill called 'Presence,' which grew stronger with their Faith level. It influenced every mortal's social interactions with them.
"Sairan. And Hwigyeong? ...Sit wherever."
Hwigyeong sat tensely; Sairan, more at ease.
Jangwan continued,
"...There was a skirmish on the Fourth Continent. Scale doesn't matter much, but it ties into the battle on the Third Continent's eastern coast, so the remaining gods and apostles popped over to check it out."
This spot was what players called the Third Conference Room.
While the First was strictly for players, the Third shared a similar vibe but with different attendees.
It was where capable mortals—whom apostles and players loosely termed 'research staff' for having ascended to the Pantheon—shared insights.
"Yacheon mentioned it. Hwigyeong, your task is the leak issue. Sairan probably filled you in, but gods can tweak causality via mortals' faith, quantified as 'Faith resources.' The problem is they're getting spent unclearly. Even without other gods meddling, if Faith drains, it's leaking somewhere. We've fixed most cases, but some persist..."
Explaining, Jangwan glanced at Hwigyeong and Sairan and shook his head slightly.
"Rambling solo again."
Hwigyeong flustered.
"N-No, it's fine."
"You two rested well?"
Hwigyeong and Sairan exchanged looks.
Seong-un had granted them extended leave after the wedding.
Options limited to the Primordial Lands, Upper World, and Pantheon, but those realms alone held wonders no mortal lifetime could exhaust. Hwigyeong had enjoyed her travels fully.
As Hwigyeong shared travel tales, Jangwan chimed in approvingly.
She'd feared urgent god-wars, but his response eased her.
Wrapping up, Hwigyeong ventured,
"Speaking of, Changryu, you seem a bit like..."
"...?"
"Yacheon, in a way."
"..."
As Jangwan fell silent, Hwigyeong whispered to Sairan,
"Sairan, did I mess up?"
"Hwigyeong, you've been rude since we arrived."
Jangwan waved it off lightly.
"Nah, skip that. Business time."
"Yes."
Jangwan said,
"Heard about the revolutions?"
Sairan replied,
"Not my purview, but I've known for ages. Ah, current continental affairs? Barely anything."
Jangwan nodded.
He briefed on the Second Continent.
The Pantheon had observed many revolutions; only two succeeded.
Then Yacheon revealed one untouched by him—thus unprotected by the Pantheon, yet also safe from the Wrathful One's direct interference. An unmeddled revolution had emerged.
"The third one's key."
Hwigyeong thought,
A fancy game board set up, but one piece moves on its own, holding the board's fate? Feels familiar somehow.
Jangwan said,
"But trouble hit recently."
"Trouble meaning...?"
"A republic formed."
The concept was familiar, so both grasped it easily.
Hwigyeong shook her head lightly, puzzled.
"Isn't the revolution ultimately aiming for a republic? If the end goal's met, why call it bad?"
"Not quite."
Jangwan explained,
"Revolutions inevitably gather factions. Factions build power. Power does what?"
Sairan eyed Hwigyeong; she shook her head.
Jangwan answered,
"Rots."
"Rots...?"
"Yeah. Power corrupts. It's human nature—like resisting unfair pressure is natural, power inevitably decays."
Of course, Jangwan drew from Lost World play, but no need to specify. If it wasn't a game anymore, that experience was truth.
Jangwan continued,
"We wanted revolutions staying fragmented, not coalescing into one force. A vague leadership lingering long-term sustains the revolutionary state. That amps explosive potential. But a nation? Energy shifts inward to solidify foundations—disadvantageous alone."
Hwigyeong got it.
An unmeddled revolution was chaotic energy; its mere existence threatened the United Kingdom.
But named the Collego頓 Independent Republic, that energy would isolate and shrink.
"Natural occurrence? Or...?"
"Closest to unmeddled. Bad luck. But..."
"But?"
"At this stage, who knows. Even if the Wrathful One can't touch directly, his voluntary loyalists abound. They'd act indirectly on his behalf."
Collego頓 lay within the United Kingdom, far from the Empire.
Inevitably influenced.
Hwigyeong said,
"Ah, but..."
"Speak."
"How's this tie to our leak issue?"
Sarcho's clinic office.
Sarcho confirmed the red-masked figure's words in a trembling voice.
"Comrade Dain... with Rubail? Attempting contact?"
"Yes."
The Rubail revolutionaries were the prime pro-Empire faction among the various groups.
No, not just pro-Empire. If anything...
Yacheon's direct revolutionary arm.
Rubail labor camps and surrounding influenced revolutionaries had all apostatized to Yacheon's Pantheon, it was said.
Sarcho shook his head.
"Absurd. Our nation already set the Wrathful One as state religion."
"Did it? Set in stone?"
Sarcho frowned.
As the red mask said, nothing was 'decided.'
The Collego頓 government was building national foundations.
State religion was part of that process.
"But it's as good as decided..."
The ruling Revolution Party, plus opposition like Umi Party and Anti-Revolution Party, rarely agreed on state religion selection.
Not decided, but nothing left to discuss.
"Met assemblymen outside parliament?"
"...No. Been busy."
"Faction splits within the Revolution Party?"
"I see your intent: sow division."
The red mask cut in.
"You're being sidelined."