Chapter 115
Chapter 115
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: The Administrator Possesses the Dead Jiangshi
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“We’ll come clean first. If all six of us don’t agree, things could get messy.”
“This case is a bit different. We might end up spilling blood if we’re not careful.”
“But if what he says is true, that won’t happen. We’ve all been dying to escape this place.”
The administrators exchanged words with grave expressions.
Geon-woo listened closely, quietly awaiting their verdict.
“Chaos mana is like a kind of shadow.”
Once they’d reached some consensus, the twelve-o’clock manager drew Geon-woo’s attention and began to speak.
“A shadow?”
“Or the flip side, maybe.”
“The exterior and interior?”
“Think of it in roughly those terms. Chaos mana is the backlash against all forms of energy acting on this world.”
“That’s complicated.”
“If that’s too hard, just think of it as residue. It’s not exactly the same, but it’s still a reaction to the use of power.”
“Fine. Say that’s the case—what’s your point?”
“The System determined that if the flip-side energy exceeds a certain level, the world’s very existence could be at risk. So it found a way to expend it. That’s where chaos mana comes in.”
“So chaos mana itself isn’t flip-side energy?”
“It’s the flip-side energy pulled into this side.”
“So, to consume the energy building up on the world’s flip side, it drags it over here as chaos mana?”
“Exactly. And for that, the System prepared a mechanism.”
“Down there?”
Geon-woo pointed at the ground beneath his feet once more.
“Yeah.”
“Then if we extract it...”
“Impossible. Neither we nor you have the ability to reach the world’s flip side.”
“So we’re back to square one. No solution, just like before.”
“No. The System prepared for contingencies.”
“Contingencies?”
“Errors, damage, destruction—any emergency that disrupts the device converting flip-side energy into chaos mana and pulling it here.”
“And it prepared for that how...?”
“We have it. Modules that can create a new device.”
“You six each hold one?”
“That’s right.”
“You’re going to give it to me? You think the System will just sit by and watch?”
The System wasn’t some entity—it was the vast laws and order sustaining the world.
It wouldn’t let the chaos mana generator wander freely.
“There’s value in trying. Creating a new device wouldn’t cause issues anyway. Reducing flip-side energy by turning it into chaos mana is something even the System wants.”
“Besides, even if you had the device, the chaos mana it generates wouldn’t be that much. Nothing on the scale of this grand mana vein.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Is the device flawed in output?”
Geon-woo asked, though he thought it didn’t make sense.
This was a backup for when the grand mana vein’s chaos mana producer failed.
It had to match the output.
“It’s not an output problem—it’s capacity. No point generating tons of chaos mana if the vessel holding it is tiny.”
“And if you recklessly vent chaos mana into the world, this side and the flip side would collide head-on.”
“So the device only produces as much chaos mana as it can contain.”
“Then it needs storage space on the level of what’s down there?”
Geon-woo stomped the floor for emphasis.
“But that’s impossible. You can’t replicate a space spanning this world and the flip side.”
The twelve-o’clock manager shook his head, and Geon-woo had to concede the point.
“If it’s a vessel issue in the end...”
Geon-woo glanced at the bio-armor implant jiangshi.
He frowned.
“Hmm. I’ll need to think of a way to expand the vessel’s size.”
“Alright, back to the main topic.”
Clap, clap!
As Geon-woo pondered vessels for chaos mana, the six-o’clock manager clapped to liven the mood.
Geon-woo shot him a sidelong glare.
“We’ve revealed we have a device module for generating chaos mana. Now it’s your turn—tell us concretely how you can free us from the mana vein.”
The six-o’clock manager showed his intent to gauge Geon-woo’s hand.
The other five felt the same.
They all eyed him, signaling it was his move.
“As I said earlier, the grand mana vein’s inhabitants are all energy beings. Made of chaos mana. You six included.”
“So? How does that become the key to leaving the mana vein? We can’t leave because we’re chaos mana beings.”
The twelve-o’clock manager looked skeptical, unable to believe their weakness could turn into freedom.
“Look at this.”
Geon-woo produced a dead jiangshi before the twelve-o’clock manager.
It was one not linked to a soul terminal, created as a bio-armor implant.
“Hmm?”
“It doesn’t dissipate in chaos mana?”
The administrators noted that the dead jiangshi showed no canceling reaction to the chaos mana.
“As you see, this is the same as that one. The difference? No soul, and it’s dead as a living being.”
Geon-woo explained the jiangshi’s state.
Then.
“Can I try first?”
The ten-o’clock manager raised a hand toward Geon-woo.
“You’ve figured out the possibility I had in mind.”
Geon-woo glanced at him and broke into a wide smile.
Almost simultaneously, the other managers’ eyes lit up.
They’d grasped it too.
“We just possess that vessel.”
“The issue is synchronization rate?”
“Whatever, as long as it contains chaos mana internally and doesn’t clash with external energies...”
“We could roam freely outside the mana vein.”
“It’s... possible. This could work!”
The administrators grew excited bit by bit.
Geon-woo simply watched the change in them.
But he didn’t permit the ten-o’clock manager to possess the dead jiangshi.
He’d only shown the potential, pondering the next trade step.
“You all get it by now—energy beings like you using this as a vessel makes leaving the mana vein feasible.”
“Of course, it wouldn’t last forever. Using chaos mana outside would weaken us over time, maybe even lead to dissipation.”
The six-o’clock manager immediately pointed out the issue with possessing the jiangshi.
“That’s a personal choice.”
“Choice, huh. No power use means we could stay outside indefinitely. Otherwise, periodic returns to the mana vein for chaos mana recharge.”
“But that’s no big deal. Free entry and exit alone would satisfy me.”
“Agreed. No need to abandon the mana vein forever. Better to keep it as our domain while expanding external activities.”
“Better affiliation than wandering. It’s just about not being imprisoned.”
“I want to test its performance first. Can it truly accommodate us as we are?”
“Fair. Even if imperfect, it needs to hold up. No point exiting just to scrape by pathetically.”
The administrators wanted to leave the mana vein retaining their power—ideally intact.
Geon-woo didn’t know how much the jiangshi could handle.
“If you want, anyone can test it. But first, anyone attempting possession must entrust me with their chaos mana generator module.”
“Hmm.”
“That’s...”
The administrators looked troubled at Geon-woo’s words.
“Aren’t the modules useless unless all are gathered? Even with five, missing one makes it pointless, right?”
“That’s true, but...”
“The modules are like symbols of our authority.”
“No, I don’t mind. I’ll check if it works as my vessel.”
Amid the hesitation, the four-o’clock manager stepped forward.
He promptly summoned something onto his palm.
A black block of condensed, materialized chaos mana.
“That’s the device module?”
Geon-woo asked.
“Yes.”
“It’s made of chaos mana.”
“Highly stable, but it destabilizes on contact with other energies. So I’ll test the vessel’s safety with this first.”
Geon-woo had worried about the module being chaos mana-based, but the four-o’clock manager directed it toward the dead jiangshi.
The black block floated smoothly through the air, hovering before the jiangshi.
Geon-woo paused briefly, then maneuvered the jiangshi to cup its palms before its chest.
“Good. If this module contacts it unharmed, it proves the vessel’s safety to that degree. Any objections?”
The four-o’clock manager asked the others.
“Perfect method.”
“Nothing better. The device is especially sensitive to other energies. Ideal test.”
“Do it. I’m eager for the results.”
The other administrators agreed to the experiment.
The four-o’clock manager glanced at Geon-woo, then slowly placed the module on the jiangshi’s palm.
Thud!
The jiangshi gripped the black block on its palm.
“Ooh, no change.”
“No repulsion at all. It’s a perfect chaos mana vessel.”
“But does it stay intact amid this world’s normal energies? Or just safe from chaos mana?”
The result was unbelievable even to their eyes.
The dead jiangshi, utterly unresponsive to chaos mana, was enough to excite them.
Though a sliver of doubt lingered: was it only effective against chaos mana?
“No need for baseless doubts. I’ve used this summon since early in my abilities, up to full power. If it only worked inside the mana vein, there’d be no point making it.”
Geon-woo dismissed suspicions of the dead jiangshi with firm resolve.
“True. No reason to trick us with it. We’ll check how it fares outside anyway.”
The twelve-o’clock manager shook off his doubts that way.
He turned to the four-o’clock manager.
“Why not possess it directly now and test the vessel’s performance?”
“That’s exactly what I planned. I’ll do it now.”
Answering the twelve-o’clock manager, the four-o’clock manager looked to Geon-woo.
“Fine. I’ve received the module—possession test approved.”
Geon-woo extended a hand, drawing the module from the jiangshi’s grasp, and nodded to the four-o’clock manager.
“Huuuuh. It’s been ages since I’ve had a body. Here goes...”
With Geon-woo’s permission, the four-o’clock manager took a deep breath and moved toward the dead jiangshi.
From his seated position, he floated into the air, approached while straightening up, then vanished into the jiangshi’s body.
“Hmm?”
“Hoh?”
“That easy?”
“It entered. Now what?”
“......”
The remaining five administrators gazed intently at the dead jiangshi containing the four-o’clock manager.