The City of the Gods (1)
Even on days when snow fell and ice formed, the priest Lepe felt no cold. That was why, despite wearing clothes so threadbare they looked ready to fall apart, he never drew them tighter around himself, and why he never slept. These were abilities he had gained after becoming the vessel of Ouroboros, he explained.
As he walked, he began to encounter barbarians dressed only in crudely stitched leather hides. Naturally, they were startled by the sight of his snake-like eyes and quickly stepped aside to let him pass. After several days, he started seeing others who looked just as strange as he did. And when the ground turned as black as charred wood, he realized he had entered the Land of the Dead—the Black Land.
Then a giant over four meters tall blocked his path.
“Do you know why this place came to be called the Black Land? Do you know why the earth here is black?”
“No one ever told me, so I don’t know.”
“Hah! That makes sense. The god you accepted is not from this place, after all. Then allow me to enlighten you. This land became black in order to cover all the filth of the world with the color of black.”
“So you’re saying the black is blocking all the evil things of the world?”
“Oh-ho, you catch on quickly. That’s right. The wicked things that pollute the world are sealed within this land. And the earth turned black to conceal them. What have you come to bury in this place?”
Lepe wanted to say that the god Ouroboros, who had taken him as a vessel, had come here to ascend to a higher divine rank. He had expected Ouroboros to step forward and speak for him, but the god remained silent. In fact, Lepe could no longer even tell whether the god was still with him.
“I… don’t know what I’m supposed to bury.”
“Kahaha! You don’t even know what you’re supposed to bury, yet you came here anyway? Well, your shameless filth is already more than enough to be hidden in this place. Welcome to the realm of the gods, new deity!”
While traveling toward the capital of Hayden, Lieutenant Polman, Sergeant John Low, and I spent every night—whether camping or staying at an inn—discussing our goal of creating a gate. When we logged out, I joined Elon Busker and Major General Michael to put our heads together over the same objective.
“Didn’t you say there were twelve users? Where are the other two?”
Jinwoo asked the obvious question. Twelve people would naturally have more power than ten.
“Those two are searching for a way to break the seal on God Busker.”
Breaking the seal and opening the gate served the same purpose, but it seemed like a special mission, so Jinwoo let the matter slide.
“Apart from unsealing God Busker, our primary objective is to establish a base near the capital of Hayden. Patrick is using his influence to create a territory with Polman as its lord.”
Polman, who had suddenly become a noble, puffed out his chest with pride.
“Once we have our base, the second goal is to attract the churches of various gods into our territory.”
The plan Elon Busker and Major General Michael had drawn up was simple: since God Busker currently lacked the power to open a gate, they would draw in other gods instead. If a sealed god like Busker could transmigrate twelve humans, then fully awakened gods should be able to bring even more users. Or perhaps the combined power of multiple gods within the territory could open the gate.
“But even if we attract their churches, will those gods actually cooperate with us?”
“From what we’ve gathered, there are countless gods—including ancient ones. That means there must be deities who fear their own extinction due to a lack of worshippers. We’re targeting those gods.”
The strategy was to offer them more followers in exchange for the divine powers they possessed.
“For now, we’ll start by attracting smaller churches and persuading their priests. Long-term, we’ll raise orphans ourselves and train them to become priests capable of communicating with other gods.”
Since users were bound by God Busker’s power, they could not become priests of other gods. The plan was to cultivate new priests from scratch. It was a strategy that looked ten years into the future.
“In the short term, we should also use money to win over any priests who can already communicate with their gods.”
Jinwoo wondered whether priests who truly believed in their gods could really be swayed by money, but the world was full of unpredictable things.
“Polman, I want you to focus on gathering information about those gods and their churches. Also, try making contact with the Tabrun Church again.”
“Is that even possible?”
Polman sounded skeptical about Major General Michael’s order. After all, people had died fighting them. He wasn’t sure normal dialogue would be possible.
“No matter how fanatical the Tabrun Church is, they won’t recklessly attack a noble and lord of the Splain Empire. They haven’t touched Patrick, have they?”
Patrick nodded in agreement. The Tabrun Church definitely knew he was a transmigrator, yet they had left him alone. Major General Michael was suggesting another attempt precisely because of Patrick’s case.
“Understood. Once I receive my territory, I’ll prepare thoroughly so we aren’t overwhelmed by their holy knights and then make contact.”
Changing Group Capsule Replication — Complete
Wang Shuchun of the Chinese PLA Strategic Support Force nodded after receiving the report that they had perfectly copied Changing Group’s capsule.
Thanks to Sergeant Hobbs, who was cooperating under subconscious hypnosis, and the intelligence provided by the agent who had infiltrated the food and beverage team inside the condo, they had managed to produce an identical capsule in just two months.
“Can we definitely reach the new world with this capsule?”
“According to what Sergeant Hobbs discovered and confirmed, yes. The problem is that the god of that world lacks sufficient power and can only transmigrate twelve people.”
“Then even if we build these capsules, there’s a limit on personnel. Doesn’t that mean we can’t go? Do we have to kill them and steal their slots?”
“Sergeant Hobbs says there are many gods in that world. We can use these capsules to meet a different god and form a contract.”
“A different god…”
Wang Shuchun reread the report. It said that in the early days, Changing had accidentally encountered a god in the place they called “Mars” and formed a transmigration contract. The first transmigrator had been killed by orcs, which was a shame. He would have liked to meet that person in person.
Three days later, the moment of the first transmigration arrived.
“Li Chunsheng is a Tsinghua University graduate—an elite who has completed training on exactly what he must do.”
Wang Shuchun signed the document. Li Chunsheng, wearing a uniform made from the Five-Star Red Flag, entered the capsule. Since their internal developer Jin Haliu had stolen all of Changing Group’s software and control programs, there was no difference from the American capsules.
“Connect!”
The clock on the wall began to tick. According to Sergeant Hobbs, creating a character usually took about three hours. Of course, no one knew how long it would take to meet a god and form a contract for the first time.
One hour… two hours… four hours… five hours…
Team leader Wang Shuchun left his post, and the connection continued through the next day. It was only after thirty-two hours that an abnormal signal appeared on the monitor.
“Unfortunately, Li Chunsheng has suffered brain death. It seems his soul has died, just as Sergeant Hobbs warned.”
They couldn’t tell whether he had met a god of the other world or not. They had no idea what had happened. All they knew was that one person had died.
“Next.”
The second agent… the third agent… a total of twenty-nine people died.
Zhang Jiei, who was responsible for both hardware and software, shuddered with guilt every time a young person died inside a capsule.
“This can’t continue. If we must keep going until we succeed, then use elderly people instead of the young.”
Wang Shuchun also felt uneasy about continuously sacrificing the PLA’s elite personnel. He began training people over fifty who were nearing retirement and sending them into the capsules.
When the total reached one hundred and twenty-seven people, someone finally woke up after eight hours.
It was Li Pilchun, a former peasant worker who had joined the experiment as if being sold off for money.
When Wang Shuchun heard that the test subject had woken up normally, he came running.
“I met a being called a god. The ground was black and the land was incredibly desolate.”
“Did you form a contract to go to the other world?”
“Yes, I did. That god already knew that humans from Earth were coming to their location. He also knew what kind of contract we wanted.”
“Ohhh!”
At Li Pilchun’s words, everyone near the capsule cheered. Even though this was an experiment that treated human lives as worthless—typical of China—the researchers had all been carrying a heavy burden.
“It worked. The sacrifice of over a hundred people was not in vain. What is the god’s name?”
“He said his name is Navuun. He is called the Pond God, and he is a deity bound to the Black Land.”
“Navuun? The Pond God? Bound? Does that mean he can’t transmigrate people because he’s tied down?”
“He said that’s not the case. He can perform transmigration, but the limit is four people.”
“Four?”
Wang Shuchun frowned. Changing could send twelve, but they were limited to four.
“Then what did he say we must do to increase that number?”
“God Navuun said that if we release the bonds tying him down, he will regain his strength. Then he can bring more people.”
“Good. Then all four of you will be assigned to the task of freeing God Navuun’s bonds. Ah, what is your class and stat total?”
“Well… I thought I was going to die, so I just rolled the dice randomly and picked whatever. Total stats of thirty-four. My class is Herb Gatherer.”
Li Pilchun bowed his head as if he had committed a mortal sin. But Wang Shuchun said nothing. Since he had successfully contracted with a god, it was enough. Besides, according to Sergeant Hobbs, when a user died, someone could simply take their place.
“Li Pilchun, go back in. Tell God Navuun that we will free the bonds that tie him down.”
“Give the information to Russia.”
“You mean hand over the capsule data exactly as it is? Even the personnel consumption records?”
The subordinate questioned whether they should hand over information that completely disregarded human rights.
“Yes, give them everything exactly as it is. Just as we sacrificed over a hundred people, Russia will also have to throw their people into the grinder.”
“Understood. I will transfer everything.”
“Make it clear that because we have fewer personnel than the United States, we wish to cooperate with the Russians. If we work together, we may be able to sever whatever bonds are holding that god down.”
Wang Shuchun already knew the ultimate goal that the United States and Changing were pursuing with the gate. To open the gate faster than America, there was no answer other than forming an alliance with Russia.
And not long after, Russia also succeeded in their experiment and contacted China saying they had obtained a way to reach the other world. Soon, transmigrators from both China and Russia began moving across various parts of the Entrick Continent.
“This is data obtained from a fixed Russian informant.”
Malcolm, head of Britain’s MI6, could hardly believe the documents obtained from Russia. He struggled with whether he should believe such absurd talk of a “new world.” But once he learned that China had conducted the same experiment and that the United States was behind it, he went directly to the CIA.
However, the CIA refused to disclose any information and claimed ignorance. In the end, the British Prime Minister personally visited the White House, explained the New World Project, and revealed that both Russia and China had connected to the new world. Only then did the White House have no choice but to acknowledge it.
“Mr. President. Will you reveal the existence of the new world to the public?”