D.I.O

Chapter 218

“Time will allow users to develop naturally. Above all, DIO has a well-organized curriculum that develops talented people by combining optimum study paths and training. And as that pattern continues over time….”

“Then… transcendents may be mass-produced.”

Of course, nothing was guaranteed. The mental realization necessary to transcend couldn’t be manufactured; there was no guarantee that DIO’s service would produce a transcendent.

However, there was a precedent for a development training system like DIO’s. The many transcendents created by that system and those who knew of it couldn’t ignore DIO’s existence.

Hence, with the relatively high probability of creating a transcendent being, DIO received the attention of various forces from every dimension.

“The Legion and Grotesque attacking Earth are such forces. They initially scoffed and looked down on DIO, but they soon felt a sense of crisis after seeing the outcome, which was beyond their wildest expectations. This is why they’re taking action.”

The main reasons the Legion and Grotesque made such a quick judgment and took immediate action was because of the three Irregulars, including Merlin.

The Irregulars had become incredibly powerful in a relatively short period, even being able to dispatch the two Numbered existences that the Grotesque had sent from their world. Those defeats put significant pressure on the other forces in the universe.

“Then, are you here as an angel from the Spirit World?”

“I’m not representing the entire Spirit World but a realm within it, the Celesti. The Celesti realm has a deep relationship with the Elohim. Usually, the Spirit World and Fantasy World’s forces are not too interested in external affairs.”

After saying this, Manbo took out a small dagger that easily fit in the palm of his hand. An auspicious energy emanated from the dagger, which was engraved with the word ‘Dream.’

“This is my precious treasure, the Dream Celestial Dagger. If you fall asleep with this equipped, you can sneak into the world of DIO.”

“Is it some kind of hacking tool?”

At Yongno’s words, Manbo smiled and nodded.

“Similar. None of your activity will be transmitted to DIO’s higher-ups and developers. You can move around and do what you like in-game without worrying about being seen by them, even if you use your housing or inventory space. However, since there won’t be any record of you logging in, you’ll be in danger if other users see you and spread rumors. As such, when you’re moving around DIO, choose places with little to no foot traffic.

Yongno suddenly remembered the time he saw Manbo on the rocky island below the Noise Belt. Back then, Yongno could access the area because he had developed his swimming ability beyond anyone’s imagination, but that area should have been inaccessible to all users.

“Is this what you used when I saw you on that rocky island… in the past?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Just like what I did back then.”

Manbo nodded and handed the Dream Celestial Dagger to Yongno, and soon, Lea started speaking.

“Wait. Don’t forget - you need to help me build my spiritual pathway. I did a whole bunch of this guy’s dirty work to obtain this opportunity.”

“Ah, sure, there’s nothing difficult about that. I prepared in advance anyway.”

With this said, Yongno took out a magic stone. Yet, unlike ordinary magic stones that shone with bright primary colors, this particular one had a silver gleam like steel.

“The attribute I used was gold.”

“Yes, of course. By the way, how much initial spiritual power will I have?”

“About ten spiritual points based on DIO’s stats. However, if you absorb it slowly over time, your spiritual points will rise to 30, and if you develop your abilities after that, your spiritual points will continue to increase. Although, compared to your in-game character, it doesn’t compare.”

If Yongno handed the magic stone to an ordinary person so they could create a spiritual pathway, they would have taken an enormous amount of time to adapt to the spiritual power. Yet, this didn’t apply to Cruze, who already possessed advanced spiritual abilities in DIO.

As he watched Lea take the magic stone and swallow it without a second’s hesitation, Manbo fell into thought.

‘I thought it would take him a while to help her develop a spiritual pathway, but he gave something right away. No matter how fast he can produce those magic stones, it probably would have taken him at least 15 days to make one… did he create some in advance to give to the other Irregulars?’

However, contrary to Manbo’s conjectures, Yongno had already produced several magic stones.

Eunhye had already started to develop her spiritual pathways and power, although she was still in the early stages. Moreover, Yongno had not only made a magic stone for Lea in advance but also for Arthur.

Manbo and the other beings in Celesti believed Yongno created an artificial spiritual pathway that somehow converted reality’s mana into something usable for humans, but the truth was different. Yongno could obtain usable mana through his invention, Pathway to Hell. Pathway to Hell was such a novel concept that the entire universe would be up in arms and thrown into chaos if they knew of its existence.

Pathway to Hell was not a concept that relied on drawing in mana from one’s surroundings. Instead, like burning oil to generate heat, it [produced] mana by burning Karma, and that Karma was then converted into usable energy. Through this process, it was possible to create enormous amounts of energy and thus mana, even on Earth, which didn’t possess spiritual pathways.

However, there was a drawback. Only one soul could be imprisoned in the Pathway to Hell furnace at a time, but this drawback didn’t matter in Yongno’s case. After all, he had the evil spirit that appeared from another dimension, which Yongno captured and imprisoned within Pathway to Hell.

The evil spirit’s Karma was unimaginably boundless. It was to the extent that Yongno thought the evil spirit must have abused, corrupted, and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people during its lifetime. Rather than not having enough converted energy, Yongno found it challenging to find containers to store the outputted energy.

“Ah, come to think of it, do you think Arthur, Seyoung hyung, will join us?”

At Yongno’s question, Manbo shook his head.

“I do wish for him to join our side, but unfortunately, he has completely gone over to the Noblesse. If we contact him now, the Noblesse will learn of our existence.”

“Well, I guess he wouldn’t have any complaints toward the Noblesse. He’s such a good person that he’ll stick with one side….”

Seyoung was loyal to Korea and had no hesitation in serving others less fortunate than himself. He was truly a great, selfless man who was loved by the whole nation as a messenger of justice. He was like a fictional hero straight out of a fairy tale.

To Seyoung, the Noblesse were his great benefactors; they had healed his terminally ill mother and allowed her to continue living. Unless he recognized the Noblesse as an [enemy], he would not betray them. He always treated others with respect, even those he didn’t know, so there was no way Seyoung would turn his back on the Noblesse.

Suddenly, Manbo frowned.

“Hmm… I’ve stayed too long. It’s time for me to leave.”

“It’s time? What-”

Poof!

The moment Yongno blurted out his question, Manbo disappeared. Manbo left no trace of his existence. The whole scene felt as though a CG image from a low-budget movie was forcibly copied, pasted, and deleted.

“Don’t be so surprised. That guy always does that when he exceeds his sleep time.”

“Sleep time?”

“I’m not sure exactly. He’s akin to some kind of vegetable-like being. He told me he must maintain his sleep schedule to stay on Earth.”

There were many unexplained gaps in Lea’s words as she squinted and busily focused on controlling the slowly sprouting spiritual pathway within her body, but Yongno immediately grasped the meaning of her words.

‘Right. He reached the transcendent level and can now cross over to the world of the Celesti…. Yet, according to the decision-makers within Celesti, they want him to stay on Earth, where DIO is housed. As a result, he needs to maintain a vegetative state to stay on Earth.’

However, Yongno didn’t believe that Manbo was doing all this because he wanted to.

After transcending and gaining the ability to evolve his body, Mambo was forced to maintain a vegetative state to hide his existence on Earth. Like this, Manbo’s life was even worse than a typical human’s. All of this was due to the command or request of those in power at Celesti.

‘I guess the power structure in the Celesti isn’t that different from Earth’s. Even if he is the ultimate existence among humans, after going over to the Celesti, he would probably rank as the youngest among the transcendent immortals in power.’

Smiling, Yongno drank his remaining coffee. This business transaction was now over; he had no reason to stay any longer.

Most importantly, since Yongno’s movements were constantly being monitored, he had to go home before those who watched his location felt something off.

[Yongno.]

[What’s up?]

At that moment, Yongno replied to the spirit speech that rang in his head. The one who spoke to him was Eunhye, who had awakened her spiritual pathway and power after consuming one of Yongno’s magic stones.

[The Noblesse has summoned all Master level users of Level 13 or higher. It looks like they’re trying to gather everyone for a mission… the base reward is 5,000 gem points, and it can go up to 150,000 gem points depending on one’s activity and achievements.]

Yongno hesitated after hearing Eunhye’s words. An enormous amount of gem points were being offered for this single mission.

In general, the average number of gem points that a Level 10 Master level user received after completing a mission was about ten to 50.

Moreover, the level of difficulty of these missions wasn’t easy. If a user didn’t participate with a firm mindset, they could easily fail. Additionally, since only a limited number of missions offered gem points, players could not collect them through continuous hard work or grinding.

Due to this, the number of Level 10 Masters who manifested was minuscule. This was mainly because of the difficulty in collecting the required 10,000 gem points necessary to manifest.

[… Hmm, it sounds suspicious. What mission are they trying to make us do?]

[I don’t know, but it seems like all Master level users over Level 13 are planning to participate. Unlike other missions, there is no limit to the number of participants this time. I heard that the mission starts in ten minutes.]

Yongno fell into thought. Though he felt reluctant, Yongno desperately needed the gem points.

It took 10,000 gem points to manifest once, and Yongno needed a whopping 250,000 gem points to resurrect Miho.

‘Miho.’

Yongno frowned. Whenever he thought about Miho, his mind became complicated.

He wanted to see Miho again, but he wanted to avoid being the Noblesse’s pawn.

If one thought about this scenario rationally, the correct answer was not to take the bait that the Noblesse was putting out, but emotionally, Yongno couldn’t stay away.

“Phew…”

Yongno sighed deeply. Still, he didn’t remain in that state for long.

[Alright, I’ll be there soon.]josei