Chapter 303
I definitely saw it.
[If…]
It had disappeared in a flash, but it was clearly a notification message. I came down from the girl’s stomach, then her hand groped around my chest.
She murmured, “What’s going on?”
She was hallucinating.
I responded apathetically, “Shut up.”
However, the girl was still busy stimulating my sexually sensitive area. I kicked her off of me, and only then did she stop touching me. The girl began to search for a bowl full of monster blood instead of me.
This was the problem with cheap whores. Although consuming monster blood caused terribly negative hallucinations, there were many who were addicted to it as it occasionally showed them scenes of the outside world. It was okay up to that point, but the problem was that they turned into monsters during intercourse if they consumed more than the recommended dose. This girl wasn’t too addicted, but…
“...”
What was that message? I had seen bolded messages before, but this was the first time a message had winked in and out before I could read it properly. It was also the first time I was seeing a sentence that wasn’t properly organized. The System was never like that. I wondered if I had inadvertently swallowed some monster's blood while I was sucking on the girl’s nipple. That was a possibility, and if it was true, I really had some rotten luck.
I snarled, “Stop it. You are going to drink something stronger soon.”
I kicked the girl’s bowl away from her before coming out of the tent. I was the first one out. Those who had been forced to be in my party were still relieving their stress with the girls. The street was filled with screams that sounded worse than the Maruka Clan’s cries, which made goosebumps rise all over me.
At that moment, I smelled fresh blood. Those who had just finished the battle were returning and entering the street. The impatient ones raided the tents and pulled out naked men who were still having fun. These people were one of the main attack squads on the main stage. The fact that they had returned alive meant that we were safe from the Maruka clan, at least for today. Of course, that was only true if the System didn’t decide to give us an unexpected quest or if no hostile enemy camps attacked.
Anyway, it was time to move. Thanks to my Chaser trait, I had been receiving a lot of attention, almost too much, from the leadership, but this didn’t mean I was guaranteed to survive. Avoiding them was the best option I had for now.
I got up to move, but then I heard someone calling me from behind in a sing-song tone, “Where are you going, Money?”
This guy had been acting more like a jerk ever since he figured out I hated that name. Nothing would have benefited him no matter how much he provoked me, but he was an idiot.
Blood rushed toward my temples for a moment, but it was not because of him. It was because I felt like it was pathetic that I’d be stuck in the same group as these assholes until the Final Stage. I was afraid that I would end up dying alongside them.
Since the very start, the Stage of Advent had been dominated by outside rules. The gap between the rich and the poor was only getting bigger. After slipping into Act One, Stage Two, I became a defeated soldier again. The loser who had barely escaped from Wall Street was a loser here too.
I winked to remind him that the main soldiers had returned. Then, he stiffened and began to follow me. However, this idiot was still busy rummaging through the dead bodies left on the street. There was nothing left to find. All he wanted was a piece of jerky, but all that came out was moldy flesh. His hands soon became covered in trash and moldering remains.
He asked while rubbing the flesh of the unknown Awakened from his breastplate, “Let me ask you one thing. It’s definitely not God’s name. Why does everyone call you Money?”
Maybe he was targeting me too. However, I had already made my own calculations and decisions. This guy wasn’t the only one with the trait Chaser. I had that trait as well. Even if the System decided not to give us an Assassination quest next, I knew that this guy would be my next prey during the next mission. Well, it was quite likely that he would die before that. Therefore, there was no need to be impatient or show hostility towards him. I needed his cooperation to get to the next camp alive.
“Are you deaf?” he asked.
He was going to die anyway, so I ignored his sarcasm.
[If you encounter the incarnation of Doom Dejire…]
I didn’t even blink this time, but the notification message popped up for one second and then disappeared.
The incarnation of Doom Dejire?
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Even negative hallucinations couldn’t create something that didn’t exist. After all, hallucinations were based on a person’s own memories. My father could appear as a ghoul and try to eat me, but a hypothetical younger brother couldn’t do the same as I was an only child and didn’t have any siblings.
I had never heard of the name ‘The Incarnation of Doom Dejire,’ before. The title was too compelling to forget. It was ‘incarnation!’
I snarled quietly, “I want to dig out your fucking eyes.”
The notification message appeared again even while he was talking.
[Be careful.]
Be careful if you encounter the incarnation of Doom Dejire…?
I got it now. This wasn’t a message from the System. I had a strong hunch that there was another presence sending this communication as it was written quite informally, which differed a lot from the System.
Fucking Guide… But that doesn’t make sense.
The Guide was an evil spirit that could only be seen in Camp One. It was clearly quite busy dealing with the elites, so why would it spend time trying to warn a loser like me? It was difficult to determine who or what this messenger was. I personally wished that it was a sign of a hidden quest.
At that moment, I heard a sharp shriek that was loud enough to slit my throat with its sound waves.
“Money! Jong-Soo! The commander wants to see you both.”
The time finally had come. Even if the girls were cheap, I knew what was coming for us as soon as we were given time with them. I had no choice but to grasp the amulet in my pocket.
Father. Please protect me again this time.
***
There was a rumor saying that some had already been upgraded to B-class. It wasn’t a false rumor because it was true from what I put together. Kang Woo-Seong, the commander of the corps, was a strong B-Class Awakened. He was certainly different from what I could barely feel at a distance. His charisma silently pressured the people around him, and that applied to even those who didn’t have the Chaser trait. However, he also currently had the same vibe as those who had been seriously injured.
He soon gave us permission to finish our greeting. When I looked up, I could see small tentacles wriggling everywhere on him. The healers behind him were busy removing them. It meant this battle had been so fierce that even he had gotten seriously wounded.
It was my turn, and I would soon be sent to the swamp of hell. I would be used as a Chaser, not a useless E-class Awakened.
Fuck. Fuck. Fucking hell!
There was no way out for me.
“Have you all said hi to each other?”
The voice was from one of the commander’s people. He was my immediate superior’s boss, and all the crappy tasks I had to undertake had come from this man’s hands. I felt a swift surge of anger, but I had to suppress it here.
“Yes,” four people chorused in unison at the same time, and the message popped again.
[It may send you, the Challenger…]
The message appeared vaguely, then vanished instantly. I carefully looked around just in case the Guide was floating around. However, I couldn’t spot a blue or red luminous body anywhere. ‘Challenger’ was a title I had never heard of before. An ominous feeling overwhelmed me. Whether it was a hallucination or a real message from the Guide, this could have been my place to die. These guys were actually pushing me to death instead of just being wary of me.
The others were busy drooling while having fun with girls, but I had grasped the true intentions of these people. We would be sent to Camp One. The last tracks of the attack squads and parties who had gone missing in other areas were all found there. It was definitely Camp One. Also, the reason why we, Camp Twelve, who lacked the manpower to invade Camp One, were constantly being sent there might be related to the privileges given to the center stage by the blue Guide. However, I didn’t know any of the details.
“Good. Be happy. You guys finally have a chance to repay the Buddha. If you successfully complete the mission, then the Buddha will call you in and incorporate you into the corps that is under his direct control. You will receive equipment and insignia that you couldn’t even dream of. If you want, your safety can even be guaranteed until the end of the Final Stage.”
He was trying to bait us with honeyed words. However, even an idiot wouldn’t believe that they could keep us truly safe.
“What is the mission?” one of the idiots asked.
However, I didn’t care about the commander’s reply as all my attention was drawn to the message that showed up again.
[To the past where you are bound to die.]
It may send you, the Challenger, to the past where you are bound to die…? What the fuck is this?
***
Traits could be divided into two groups: high ranks and lower ranks. Also, the fact that I could be sent back to the past where I was bound to die proved that the incarnation of Doom Dejire had the ability to handle time. I couldn’t believe that a monster with such a transcendent ability existed in this world. Oh well, technically, anything could be possible. Perhaps ‘Doom Dejire’ was another name for the System.
I unintentionally looked straight at the commander. I thought that someone who had lived in a different area than us, like the commander, would have been able to explain this mysterious phenomenon. I wanted someone to give me an explanation as to what the faint message was and what the name meant.
I had a hunch that it was a warning message. However, it wasn’t possible that I was the only one receiving it. If I assumed that it was not a hallucination, then it was something that should have been also sent to those who monopolized the secrets surrounding the Stage of Advent. For example: the king of our camp, the Japanese Sakyamuni Buddha and his subordinates, and those who ruled the world under the name of God such as Osiris, Odin, Hera, Kali, and Shiva.
Then, I made eye contact with the commander, and I hurriedly looked away. However, I could no longer avoid the scary gaze staring at me. When he stood up, I was frightened out of my wits. He was looking down at me, and I could see his exposed abdomen. The tentacles that also bloomed in his gut were spreading his wound open like a doctor’s scalpel.
He opened his mouth. Fortunately, he wasn’t pissed that I had looked directly at him without permission.
“The mission is… simple. Find out where the Guide is. The location should be accurate.”
I lowered my head, but my party members inadvertently raised their heads. However, it was natural for them to do so. Walking on the swamp of hell laid out by the Maruka clan, reaching Camp One by avoiding the butchers of other camps, and even entering the territory of Camp One all meant that this was a death sentence.
Nevertheless, the leaders of our camp must have given this impossible mission because there was probably a privilege they could obtain from Camp One by doing this. Disobedience meant death. Therefore, the best-case scenario for us was to arrive at the next camp where Odin controlled things and die there.
Any camp was bound to kill a traitor, but there were things I had prepared for this day. I had to share my camp’s secrets little by little as time went by so that they couldn’t kill me until the end of the Final Stage.
That was why I had been snooping around the house of prostitution after selling everything I had other than the minimum number of items and insignia I needed. In addition, I had been collecting poisonous fluids from Adult Grafs. My immediate superior, his boss, and even the commander weren’t aware of how much I actually knew.
Fucking morons.
There were many things I couldn’t hide no matter how much I tried during the fierce battles. There were also witnesses, and they revealed secrets as they had sex with the girls or drank the monsters’ blood with them. Even if it was a bluff and worthless story for someone, they became an important piece to complete a puzzle when they were combined together. The problem was how to get through the hell swamp with these idiots slowing me down…
Everyone was quiet because we knew what would happen if we told them that the mission was basically a suicide mission or if we requested them to add more personnel. Even if it was clear that we would die, we had to carry it out as soon as we received the order,
[Everyone…]
The moment when the faint message appeared, we all came out of the command barrack. We were silent because we knew our looming fates.
One of the idiots ordered as his eyes flashed with murderous intention, “Gather up.”
He was speaking very quietly. He clearly wanted to run away after taking all the stuff from the injured who had returned from the battle because we had no choice but to die in the end. In fact, I was actually going to suggest doing that too. However, it was impossible to blindly break into the barracks of the injured as the healers were there. We would be going to our deaths even faster if we did that. After all, the healers treating the main attack squad had superior capabilities compared to us.
Instead, I took out a bottle containing poisonous fluid from Adult Grafs. Then, everyone started to smile silently as they winked at the streets where the house of prostitution was located. They even laughed quietly under their breath. No other explanation was necessary as everyone had grasped the idea.
The poisonous fluid wasn’t intended for the wounded or the healers. It was for the prostitutes. The girls were complacent, but from the leadership’s point of view, they were high-quality resources like the main attack force. Therefore, they wouldn’t just sit and watch them die.
Our opportunity would come when the main force’s healers were temporarily absent from the barracks. And then the real plan would start after we ran away from the residence. The terrifying sight beyond the wooden fence continued to grab my attention. There were an endless number of heads and limbs sticking out of the mud like weeds in the vast swamp of the Maruka Clan. I wondered if it would be possible to survive there with these members. I felt like we would end up becoming a few of those weeds soon.
[Has a moment like that. Hehe.]
Brrr-
I trembled suddenly, and many thoughts came rushing into my mind along with all kinds of messages popping up.
***
[Be careful if you encounter the incarnation of Doom Dejire. It may send you, the Challenger, to the past where you are bound to die. Everyone has a moment like that. Hehe.]
That message was now arranged in a proper way, and it stayed up even when I opened and closed my eyes repeatedly. Then, more messages poured in at once.
[Explorer has been activated.]
[You have detected seven gates.]
[Category: Gate 1
Class: B
Species that appears: Baclan Corps (General Commander: Lee Soo-Ah, the Chief Priest of Doom Arukuda)
Place of Appearance: Mary Corps’ Army Post
Time of Appearance: 2 hours 30 minutes from now]
[Category: Gate 2
Class: B
Species that appears: Barba Corps (General Commander: Necromancer Shalimar, the Master of the Book of Death 1)
Place of Appearance: Osiris Corps’ Army Post
Time of Appearance: 2 hours 30 minutes from now]
[The quest ‘Charge! Doom Dejire’ has started.]
…
[The quest ‘Great Minds Think Alike with the Guide’ has started.]
[You have obtained the quest item, Power Extractor.]
[You have obtained the quest item, Essence Extractor.]
[Gate 5 is open.]
[Species that appears: Declan Corps (General Commander: Chouborow, the Chief Priest of Doom Caso)
Place of Appearance: The guild leader Odin’s campsite]
[Guild: The commander Osiris has used the insignia ‘Light Pillar.’]
…
[Guild: The commander King of Hell has used the insignia ‘Light Pillar.’]
[* Inventory]
[Adonis' Sacred Pitch has been removed.]
[You have entered Odin’s Absolute Battlefield.]
[Warning: You are creating a crack in Doom Dejire’s power.]
[You have defeated Chouborow, the Chief Priest.]
[The trait Passion (Level 7) has been activated.]
[You have leveled up.]
…
[You have leveled up.]
[Level: 559]
[The Birth of Doom Man(1): 559 / 561]
[Warning: You lack Power Resistance.]
[Ra’s Blessing (Ra’s Sun Cape) has been activated.]
[Warning: Adonis’ Sacred Pitch has been destroyed.]
There were bound to be a lot of messages because I had met the Guide Lumah-le, fought against the Declan Corps after the Seven Demon Kings tore the sky apart, and faced the incarnation of Doom Dejire. It had been hiding in the Declan Corps and had appeared in front of me out of the blue. The messages that were supposed to pop up at those moments were now pouring in at once.
However, the message saying that Doom Dejire would send me to the past where I would die was not talking about the time. It was similar because it had thrown me into one of the life-or-death crises I had experienced before. Yes, everything earlier was a part of a memory that had happened a long time ago. I was now in the mental world.