Cipher appeared inside the safe zone.
He looked around him. "That’s weird," he thought. There was a strange feeling around him that he hadn’t felt before. He wondered if it was because it was the first time he had gone into a gate solo.
He walked over and pushed open the safety room door. He then sidestepped, easily avoiding the strike of a charging robot. He observed the room - it seemed nothing had changed here. At that moment, all the robots in the room noticed him and charged towards him.
He launched himself into the air, breaking through the ceiling. He didn’t stop there and continued going up until he broke out of the building.
He didn’t kill the robots as he had come to look for the Saintess. If there really was a Saintess, then it could be seen that the robots belonged to her, so killing them would destroy any chance at negotiations.
He looked around him. He had also done this to cause some commotion and see if the creature underground would attack him. He then held his chin in thought. Now that he thought about it, after causing all that commotion, if the creature attacked, how would he know if it was because it remembered the events before the loop or if it just attacked because of the commotion?
[It most likely remembers...somewhat...] the Heavenly Demon said.
"You think so?" he asked.
[That’s right. The system ranks match the Jianghu ranks. C-rank is third-rate, B-rank is second-rate, A-rank is first-rate, and S-rank is Grandmaster. Following that, we can estimate that SS-rank is Origin and SSS-rank is Soul Formation - which is when the soul is formed. If someone has formed their soul, then they should be able to perceive the time loops. That being said, Soul Formation is just an entry realm and is relatively weak, meaning they won’t remember much of the loop. And looking at that creature, it seems to be some sort of insect hivemind space monster, so it’s probably lacking on the side of intelligence, meaning it probably forgets instantly after remembering.]
Inside the spiritual sea, Cipher asked, "But doesn’t that mean it’s dying?"
"That’s right. With just Soul Formation level strength, one can’t survive that many loops. And without even the intelligence to take advantage of the loops, then you’re pretty much done for," she said. "Since every time you enter a gate it loops, I’d recommend you enter the gate and leave a few hundred times and it’ll probably die on its own."
He looked at her with a shocked expression. He hadn’t even thought of that. As expected of the Heavenly Demon. This method could even be used against strong people in other worlds.
Still... "Would you be fine with people using this method in the Murim gate?" Cipher asked.
The Heavenly Demon remained silent.
"There are still people inside the gates. Doing this also harms them," he said.
"Is that so. I didn’t think you were such a noble person," she said.
"To be honest... I wouldn’t have minded doing this. But this doesn’t solve our current problem. There are important people in these gates - people like you or the Saintess. If they die because of this, I’ll be shutting off the path to saving my world," he said.
He looked directly at the Heavenly Demon. He wondered if she was testing him. Well, these were his genuine thoughts anyway.
She shrugged. "I was just saying it in passing. Don’t think anything of it," she said.
...
Cipher looked around him, wondering which direction to begin searching.
After observing his surroundings, it seemed robots were much more dense towards the east. He decided to move that way. He didn’t go down though, and maintained his high altitude. This was mostly a safety precaution against the creature.
He knew it could protrude its tentacles through the ground, so staying high ensured he would notice it before it was too late. He also stayed away from buildings for the same reason - after all, the creature could hide the tentacles through the buildings and catch him off guard.
He flew through the apocalyptic world, the ruined cityscape stretching endlessly beneath him.
Crumbling skyscrapers stood like broken teeth against the gray sky, their windows shattered and walls cracked. The streets below were flooded with robots - countless metal bodies moving in organized patterns, their mechanical forms reflecting the pale light dully.
As he moved east, he noticed that they were getting more and more dense.
The robots also began noticing him. One by one, they turned their sensors upward, and then they started flying up toward him. The ranks of the robots were increasing as he went this way, so it seemed his decision was right. He maneuvered around the swarming robots, easily avoiding them as they converged on his position. Their movements became more coordinated, more aggressive.
He then realized that this was getting nowhere and decided to raise his altitude.
He flew higher and higher until he reached far enough that the robots couldn’t reach him - they weren’t built for such flight. Their forms grew smaller below him as they struggled to ascend, eventually giving up and falling back down.
He understood that it was also dangerous for him, but it was also the easiest way to avoid aggroing the robots. He also had Mana Dominion, so he could circulate his mana to maintain himself. He had learned the circulation method from the Heavenly Demon.
Apparently, beings with high amounts of qi didn’t require any sustenance and could just circulate their mana, taking care of their needs for things like water, food, or even oxygen.
As he circulated the mana, he felt it was genuinely working.
"How did you learn this stuff?" he asked.
[What are you talking about? This is the base requirement to become a Grandmaster,] she said.
"Ah, I see. Of course"
He wondered if he’d get the skill by doing this. If he merged that skill to his Mana Dominion, would he become the Mana God?
At that moment, he felt something shift within him and a ticklish sensation washed over his body, almost causing him to fall. And he might have if he was consciously maintaining his flight. Thankfully, it was handled by Flight Mode cheat, so he would never fall unless he turned it off. The ticklish sensation continued even more intensely, forcing him to stop mid-air.
A notification then appeared before him.
[Congratulations! Species: Human has evolved into Species: Majin]
"What?"