Chapter 173 : Chapter 173

Chapter 173 - Foreshadowing (1)

Even if I were to talk about the ending with the Guardian, there wasn't much to say.

Both she and I.

Since we were both reasonably sharp, we knew what kind of conversation would come up.

“Give me a ride on the elevator.”

-...

Hmm. But looking at her expression, it seemed that wasn't it.

In the game, that’s what the users called it, so I thought she would naturally understand if I said it like this.

-...What on earth are you talking about?

“Take me to the top floor of the tower. The ‘Gate’ is there, right?”

-...

The Guardian’s expression hardened.

-...To be honest. Until now, no matter what bizarre things you did, I just went along with it. But this time, I have to ask.

“How do I know?”

-Yes.

Well, yeah.

The ‘Gate’ was the very reason the tower existed. If I showed that I knew about it, she would have no choice but to ask like this.

I suppose this was something I should answer well without bluffing.

“I know because it’s me.”

-...

Well.

What was I supposed to do?

I wasn't wrong.

“In the first place, does that matter?”

I replied with a smirk.

“The ‘Platinum Knight’ is over there, isn't he?”

-...Wait a minute. You. Just a moment.

The Guardian said, pressing her forehead as if she were dizzy.

-The information is so absurd I can’t keep up. What did you just say?

“The strongest of the Round Table is sitting over there waiting. The one you were so desperately looking for.”

-...

The Platinum Knight.

Among the final bosses determined by the route, he was one of the most notoriously difficult.

To be precise, he was more like an Easter egg than a final boss.

If you progressed through the game normally, you would never meet him.

But, if you proceeded this way, you were bound to meet him.

“I have sufficiently ‘proven my worth’ before you.”

I calmly put the keywords together.

“So take me to the ‘Gate of Judgment’. So I can get you out of the ‘cage’ you’re trapped in.”

[!System Check!]

[A critical keyword has appeared in the Main Scenario.]

[Once this scenario begins, it cannot be reversed.]

[Verifying conditions...]

-...

The Guardian stared at me blankly, as if she had been punched in the face.

Hmm. What's with her?

Of course, I was still one point short of the Alteration Points, the biggest condition for opening this route, since I hadn't caught the King of Flies yet. Still, I had to lay the groundwork now so I could proceed quickly later...

-...Really now.

“Huh?”

I tilted my head at the Guardian, who was muttering under her deeply drawn hood.

The ‘I’m the superior one’ attitude she usually carried had completely vanished, and her mumbling seemed like she was trying hard to suppress something.

Then she started poking my cheek.

-...This guy. This guy, really. How can he say things that pierce a person’s heart so casually...

“...”

-Hmph. Hmph.

She went from poking my cheek to kneading it like a rice cake.

What was she doing?

-After sweeping so many people off their feet. Was that not enough that you’re doing this to me too?

“What do you mean, sweeping off their feet?”

Considering the existence of this tower and the reason for its continuation, passing through the ‘Gate of Judgment’ on the top floor was synonymous with freeing her.

I just mentioned the keywords, but she seemed unusually happy.

-...You can tell I look happy. But you have no idea why I’m happy? Did you really have your brain scooped out?

“...”

Did she want to fight?

Why the sudden insult?

-Well, that aside. I know very well now that you are a being of a different caliber than other humans. But by my standards, it’s still a bit dangerous to take you to the Gate of Judgment, you know?

That made sense.

I just said I was one point short, didn't I?

“Then let’s talk again after I kill the King of Flies.”

-...

The Guardian glared at me with narrowed eyes.

-Talking about an Apocalypse-class archdemon as if you’re just going to clean up the backyard mountain...

“Cleaning the backyard mountain is harder. That at least takes a long time.”

-...

The Guardian, who had fallen silent with a look of speechlessness, finally opened her mouth again with a sigh.

-Alright. And if you go to the Gate of Judgment and set me free... I’ll make you a promise too.

“Hm?”

This was an event that wasn’t in the original.

As I tilted my head, the Guardian grinned and poked the bridge of my nose.

-Your future, it’s going to be incredibly happy.

“...Happy?”

-Yes. Mostly physically. The women around you probably know what that means.

“...?”

What on earth did that mean?

***

“...Oh, that.”

Seo Ah-in muttered with a stiff expression.

This was her reaction when I asked what the words I heard from the Guardian meant.

“Do you know what it means?”

“...I have no idea.”

“...”

She 100% knew.

It was a characteristic of the Seo family; they were terrible liars.

“Well, let’s worry about that later.”

Right now, there was a mountain of other things to do.

First, I checked the schedule.

As a result of pushing Altair relentlessly with all sorts of simple sugars and desserts, the combat power of Seo Hye-in and Evangeline, who had been the biggest headaches, had also been greatly enhanced.

Seo Ah-in could handle her own just fine, Lee Si-yeong had completed her final enhancements, and Ms. Meirin was scheduled to move in sync with me this time.

‘The time remaining until the event is...’

Right. Just one day.

Then I just needed to check one last thing.

“What’s the equipment status? Have you heard anything?”

“Uh... one moment.”

Seo Ah-in took out her phone and tapped away at it.

Since Seo Ji-an and Seo Jin-seong were handling the overall business, this one was sticking by my side, acting as a simple personal secretary.

“...”

Though she was horribly bad at it.

It made me realize once again what a clumsy person she was.

I didn't know which man would end up with her later, but that guy sure was lucky, so very lucky...

“...For some reason, I feel like Mr. Kim Gyu-sik is engaging in self-harm?”

“Stop talking nonsense. What are the results?”

“All the orders have been placed... but who are you trying to equip with this much stuff?”

“There are people to equip.”

Muttering that, I strode into the center of the hall.

The higher-ups of the Association. The leaders of giant guilds. Humans who could sway the entire world with a single word were exchanging words with tense expressions.

Soon, they all turned to look at me with bewildered faces.

“...I feel like this man has been showing up like this a lot lately.”

I ignored Seo Ah-in’s muttering and met the eyes of the people looking at me one by one as I spoke.

“What meeting are you having right now?”

“...”

“...”

A heavy silence descended.

“...You mean to say you barged in without even knowing that?”

“I don't care. All I know is that you people are the higher-ups with decision-making authority. That’s all that’s important to me.”

Gazes that screamed ‘what is this madman?’ poured down on me again, but it was useless.

It was deflected! Because I'd received it too many times before!

“The complete resurrection of the King of Flies is said to be imminent. We are in a meeting to discuss countermeasures...”

“Evacuate all civilians in the vicinity of the situation and pour in manpower to create an access route.”

“...Pardon?”

“You’re just going to be piggybacking on the results anyway, so take care of the chores.”

I continued with a smirk.

“I’ll take care of everything and come out.”

***

“...That’s quite a masterpiece.”

On the day the event began.

Mr. Kim Kang-in next to me chuckled and swept his hair back.

“A problem the whole world couldn’t solve, you declared you’d handle it single-handedly, so they should just sit back and watch from afar, right? To the world’s entire establishment?”

“That’s about the gist of it, yes?”

“So you're saying you alone are more efficient than the entire world combined, so everyone else should just shut up and sit down, aren't you?”

“...”

Was that how it came across?

“I don't know. It seems the world is finally starting to realize what a madman you are, junior. To commit such an act and be met with a quiet permission instead of a major reaction or backlash.”

“...What do you mean, madman?”

“The fact that you still deny it is what’s more amazing.”

Kim Kang-in said quietly, looking ahead.

“...I don't know what to call someone who plans to break through that alone if not a madman.”

The sky was black.

The ground was rotting away.

A super-luxurious metropolis that would surely withstand even a high-explosive bombardment had completely collapsed due to the black fog billowing from its center.

After the King of Flies' resurrection ritual, a metropolis with a population of millions had turned into such a hellscape in just one week.

The inside was probably teeming with demons summoned during the resurrection ritual.

Each one would be a high-ranking demon boasting immense power.

“...”

That might be so.

But had I ever bluffed about something I couldn't do?

“Well, it’s actually simple.”

“...Simple? Getting inside there?”

“Yes.”

I took out a few items from my pocket.

A wristwatch. The completed Gnosis’s Heart. And the complete Jewel of Ruin I received from Lee Si-yeong.

“Ah, and the most important thing.”

I took out a button from my pocket and pressed it.

“There. Now those demons over there are absolutely screwed.”

“...”

Kim Kang-in looked around silently.

Nothing happened.

Five minutes passed, then ten, and still nothing.

He even started looking at me with a pitying gaze.

“Junior. I’ve called you a madman, a madman, but have you really lost your mind?”

“No.”

I replied with a smirk.

Come to think of it.

I had traveled far and wide and built many connections until now.

The Martial Arts Alliance. The Hunting Alliance. The Dragon. Crawford. Leila. The Round Table. The Spirit Realm. And so on, and so on.

And the reason I went around meeting all those different people was because there was a reason for it.

It was to use them at this very moment.

The button I just pressed was to give them a kind of ‘signal’.

“As for me, senior.”

And if I gathered them all up.

If it was the full power this top-tier veteran had accumulated by burning all his time until now.

An army of demons filling a metropolis?

A world-ending archdemon?

So what?

As I told the Guardian before.

It's an easier task than cleaning the backyard mountain.

“I never fight a battle I can’t win.”

The moment I said that.

The heavens and the earth were engulfed in a brilliant light.

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