Chapter 116
“Waaah! Mommy!”
“W-what the hell?! Where am I?!”
“What are those people wearing? Are they cosplaying?”
“Akasha Message? Is this a dream?”
Countless people looked around in panic, fear, curiosity, or anxiety.
[Selection of language based on the universal knowledge of the race Human, complete.]
[Generating Status Window.]
...
[The caliber of the race Human is below average.]
[Applying corrections accordingly.]
[Generating Destiny Weapon, the unique ability of the race Human.]
...
[Generating Coin System.]
[You are of the race Human in the Mirror World.]
[The Race Stone of the race Human is not under control.]
[You are a free race.]
...
[All life in the Mirror World is bound by duty to head to the center to obtain the Master Stone.]
[Generating World Quest: Path of Life.]
...
[You were Lost to the Mirror World without going through the mandatory quest.]
[Granting 1,000 Karma.]
Normal people would think they were insane if they suddenly received messages they could understand without reading them. They were so confused by the situation that none were in their right minds to interpret the messages.
The spacious streets of the Capital were suddenly filled with people, most aptly referred to as Lambs. Not just in the Capital, but every city reclaimed by humanity was filled with Lost humans all at once.
Normally, only people who had cleared the mandatory quest could enter the Mirror World, which was why most of its residents were young and healthy. However, the Lost-All did not discriminate. The elderly, disabled, sick, and even children were Lost to the Mirror World. No one knew how many of them would die through natural selection.
***
An Asian man in his eighties slammed his fist on a table and shouted, “I can’t believe it! It was true!”
He was the High Ranker, Lee Bong-Seong, third in the human ranking. He was the leader of the Union’s conservative faction and dealt with various matters in the Capital. He was currently in a meeting with the clan leaders of the conservative faction.
“It’s chaos out there! The streets are filled with newbies who know nothing about this world!”
“Sir Bong-Seong! This is a golden opportunity for the conservative faction! If we pick out the useful ones and add them to our—”
“NONSENSE!” Bong-Seong punched the table, reddened with rage, and stared at the clan leaders of the conservative faction in the meeting room. “This is the start of a cataclysm! The existing order may collapse! Think about the benefit of the entire race, not just our faction!”
He recalled the letter he had secretly received from Remy Martin of the pioneering faction a month ago, containing the deciphered prophecy of the Black Saintess Negrita of Exorcist’s Travelogue.
“I thought it was complete nonsense!” he mumbled.
However, the pioneering faction had been right. To borrow their words, the Lost-All had begun, and the lambs had crossed over to the Mirror World. On top of that, this was only the first day; more would come throughout the next six days.
This is a crisis, but also an opportunity! A higher population leads to strength! If we raise the lambs well, the total strength of humanity will skyrocket!
Bong-Seong remembered the various plans Remy had proposed. The pioneering faction had readied various plans as if they had been sure that the Lost-All would happen, and were likely carrying them out by now. The rest of them couldn’t fall behind.
“Send word to all clans affiliated with the Union! Protect the newbies, whom we’ll call Lambs, to the best of your ability! We must educate them so that they can become a human!”
They needed a large-scale expansion of Edu and enough methods to earn Coins and Karma so that the countless lambs did not become escapers.
“Also, prepare to reclaim the unclaimed human cities in the first, second, and third zones!”
Since the population had skyrocketed, it was only natural to expand the number of available cities. The Capital couldn’t handle all the new Lambs; they needed more cities, hunting grounds, and dungeons. Fortunately, humanity had been reserving its strength for the past decade.
The centralized Union’s authority may disperse, but countless humans will die otherwise.
Bong-Seong’s eyes grew calm as he shouted, “If you see any humans thinking of any funny business, tell them that Tortoise Emperor Lee Kang-San is coming!”
***
This was Butuan, a city not far from the Capital, where Shin Jun’s clan, One Tree, had set its roots.
“We’re leaving this place,” Jun, the firm, short-haired young man, announced as he stared at his clansmen with unwavering eyes.
“Huh?”
“W-what?”
“According to Ye-Ji, the Union posted an official announcement on the Network,” Jun continued as he stared at Han Ye-Ji, a girl in a ponytail.
Ye-Ji tapped on her D Weapon, a smartphone, and said, “The Union declared they would go all-in on reclaiming cities. After all, they’ll need more resources to accept more Lambs.”
The clansmen murmured among each other.
“Hah! They’re doing all that for the newbies fumbling around outside right now?”
“Kekek! Like you were any different! I still remember you pissing your pants when you first saw a Black Dog.”
“Hmmm... Indeed, the population has suddenly blown up.”
“But what does that have to do with us leaving Butuan? This place is our base, and he wants to abandon it?”
Park Ho-Geun, an Asian man in his fifties with a burly beard, slammed his hand on the table. “Quiet! Quiet, all of you! The clan leader is talking!”
The clansmen grew quiet once the enhancement captain shouted.
Jun nodded to Ho-Geun and continued, “A tree needs enough nutrition and water to grow stronger branches. It also needs enough sunlight, but this place has so many other trees that there is too much shade.”
There was something about Jun’s words that commanded respect. He had been in the Mirror World for six months; more than enough time to become a full-fledged human.
“The era of mass expansion is coming. Butuan is already overcrowded with competitors. Let’s reclaim a new city and set up our base there,” Jun said.
Brandon, the manipulation captain, raised his hand and asked, “Are you sure we should switch cities, Clan Leader? Butuan is also filled with Lambs. Absorbing them will boost the size of our clan severalfold.”
“The larger the clan, the more mouths to feed, but considering the state of hunting grounds near Butuan, that won’t be sustainable,” Jun answered.
The others nodded. The field hunting grounds near Butuan were already saturated, and clans demanded admission fees for the dungeons they owned. Hence, it wasn’t profitable in the long run.
“I see. Reclaiming a new city to monopolize the hunting grounds and dungeons around it. That way, the Lambs will naturally come to our pasture,” said Maximilian, the transformation captain.
Na Seong-Tae, in a black suit, said, “Hmmm... Ahem. I see.”
“Don’t pretend that you understand, Na Seong-Tae. Everyone here knows you’re stupid,” Yoo Hwa-Yeon remarked.
“What? Is that any way to talk to your oppa?”
“Hmph. Oppa, my ass. You’re just Na Seong-Tae, nothing more.”
“Hah! You address Namgung Min-Jae as oppa!”
“Min-Jae oppa is different. That reminds me, why don’t you address Min-Jae oppa as hyung, then?”
As they bickered, the twelve-year-old Shaya Singh Rai, who had her face buried in her snow leopard Hugh’s white fur, yawned. “Unnie, oppa, please take your love quarrel outside.”
“Kekeke!”
“Ahahaha!”
The adults laughed.
Seong-Tae shouted, “Who’d be in love with this unruly bi—”
Nathaniel, the conjuration captain, clapped his hands together to interrupt Seong-Tae. “Pointless bickering leads to muscle loss. Let’s focus on what the clan leader says. So, where will our new base be?”
The clansmen turned to Jun with shining eyes, all thinking different things.
I’m sure Jun has already found a place.
I’d bet he has it all planned out. Our clan leader is thorough, after all.
Clan One Tree is finally taking off!
Their eyes were filled with trust for Jun. Jun slowly but surely raised the clan, which he made with his Edu classmates, to quickly become one of the major clans in Butuan in just a few months. The time had come for them to break free from the oppression by other clans and seize the opportunity of exponential growth.
Jun took out a piece of paper from his pocket, feeling all the eyes on him. It was a map of the Mirror World, and he pointed at an area southwest of the Capital, between the second and third zones.
“Garapan. It used to be a village on the island of Saipan. It’s currently the home of the Named Uluhatu-rank Chaos, the stag beetle Carrombus. This is our promised land.”
***
“Yahoo! Stop right there!”
“Kekek! It’s a goddamn feast!”
“H-help us!”
“Is anyone there? Someone, please help us!”
Three Black Humans chased dozens of Lambs who had refused to follow the Union’s regulations and ended up on South Earth. It was almost impossible for Lambs to survive in a lawless zone. They screamed everywhere for help, but no one stepped up.
“Heh, I suppose we’ll see stuff like this often from now on.”
“It’ll be a field day for Black Humans.”
“The Union can only regulate so much. They ended up on South Earth of all places... Poor them.”
“Are you going to do the Adjustment quest?”
“Are you crazy? I ain’t got time to wipe newbies’ asses. I’ve got myself to feed.”
“Kekek. That’s true.”
The bystanders only mocked the newbies’ foolishness.
“Hurgh! What the hell is this place?! Why are you doing this to us?!” the Lambs, who were driven into a dead end, sobbed pitifully.
One of the men who was leisurely chasing the Lambs smiled and answered, “It’s nothing personal. I can’t pass up on free Karma.”
“K-Karma? I’ll give you Karma! I-I have a thousand!”
“Don’t need it. We’re also trying to get the Hundred-Man Killer trait. Things will open up for me once I get it!”
“This is the perfect chance for us!”
“Kill them before any competitors catch up to us!”
The three men charged at the Lambs, smiling as if they had already won. Just then, their heads simultaneously flew off their necks and rolled along the ground, still smiling.
“Kyaaah!”
“W-what was that?!”
“W-who’s there?”
“I... don’t see anyone.”
The Lambs looked around, but it only looked like the three men had beheaded themselves.
A well-built, brown-skinned boy with black eyes, wearing a black robe, appeared out of thin air. Blood dripped from the kukri in his hand.
“Eek!”
“P-please...”
The Lambs panicked as their faces were smeared with tears and snot, seeing how easily the boy killed the men.
The boy pointed outside the dead-end alley and said, “Go that way. Don’t even look back and leave the way you came in. Follow the Union’s regulations. Don’t even think about coming back to this trash heap.”
A man stared warily at the boy and quickly ran out of the alley. The other lambs soon followed suit. The boy stared at them silently and wiped the blood off his kukri. He then heard voices from above.
“Whistle! You’re getting better and better, little one!”
“Those newbies are so rude. No gratitude whatsoever to the one who saved them.”
“Forget them. They don’t know any better. What more do you expect from newbies who haven’t even gone through the mandatory quest?”
Five others were wearing black robes like the boy. On their robes was a brooch with the letters CH engraved on it. They were Team 3 of the Cecil Hotel’s Executionary Corps, named the assassination team.
“Oh, you cutie! You could play with them a little bit, but you always end them with one slash,” a woman said as she jumped down from the roof of a building, hugged the boy, and patted his head. The only part of her that one could see was her high heels.
“Let me go, High Heel. I’m not a child.”
“Fufu! Real adults don’t say things like that. You’re not used to killing people yet, are you? It’s okay. This noona will help you.”
A man said from the roof, “Heh! Noona, my ass! More like ajumma.”
“Cutter! You’d better shut up before I bore a hole through your forehead!”
“Who said I’d let you? Stop bothering the youngest, and let’s move. There are a lot more Lambs still on South Earth. Well, Stingray?” the man with the codename Cutter asked the other slender, robed man beside him.
The man with the codename Stingray, holding a kite reel, said, “There’s more in the vicinity over there. They’re about to die.”
“Okay! It’s my turn this time!” Cutter shouted as he jumped, instantly disappearing.
The woman with the codename High Heel mumbled, “Sheesh... I can’t believe even the Executionary Corps was mobilized to help the Lambs. Are we that understaffed?”
Another robed man replied, “It can’t be helped. Too many Lambs were released into the wild at once. Front desk, the guards, and even the janitors were ordered to focus on this.”
He was the smallest of the group and was holding a Halloween pumpkin bag.
“Urgh... Even more Lambs will be Lost, won’t they? Working overtime is bad for the skin,” High Heel remarked.
“The rewards for the Adjustment quest looked pretty generous, so let’s think of it as killing two birds with one stone, High Heel.”
“You’re far too optimistic, Halloween.”
Stingray wound his reel as High Heel and Halloween chatted. The boy listened in silence and jumped up to the roof to face a robed man over two meters tall.
“Do you have something to say to me, Hide?” the man asked.
“Yes, Team Leader. I have no complaints about helping the Lambs, but... the wanted criminals will hide even deeper while we’re busy. Are you sure we shouldn’t track them down?”
The large man laughed and replied, “Haha, it’s fine. GM has said this matter is more important.”
“Pardon? GM?”
“Yes, our GM is more pacifist than you might think.”
GM, short for General Manager, was the boss of the Cecil Hotel and second in the human ranking. One would never think the one in charge of the Cecil Hotel, the den of criminals, was a pacifist.
“You have yet to meet GM, right, Hide?” the man asked.
“Yes, not yet.”
“Makes sense. After all, your D Weapon was so perfect for our team that I practically kidnapped you. Hahaha!” the man laughed as loudly as his large stature. He continued, “You’ll be shocked once you meet GM, Hide. You won’t meet anyone as special as her. Perhaps even more special than Lee Kang-San.”
The boy’s black eyes shone. “I’m looking forward to it.”
However, the boy thought, However special GM is, I doubt she’s more special than hyung-nim. Seong-Hwi hyung-nim... I’d bet he’s doing something more amazing than what I could possibly imagine.
The boy, thinking about Seong-Hwi with shining eyes, was Chaya Singh Rai, who had gotten well-accustomed to the Cecil Hotel’s Executionary Corps.
***
As Chaya expected, Seong-Hwi was standing in the eye of a giant storm—to be more exact, he was dragged into it. The angels were aiming for the Elixir at the order of the Second Lord, the God of Heaven, Creo, and the birdfolk did their bidding. The Demon of Hellfire Taizet was making his move at the order of the Second Fiend, Curiositas.
So many things were happening in the shadows that one wrong move could cause a disaster.
Seong-Hwi came out of his room and headed to the safe house's living room, where his teammates, Kwan Hoi-San, and a bone-skinny man were.
“Now that our wing is here, let’s have a simple strategy meeting on how to escape Pollon Nest,” Onie Yuki remarked.