Chapter 618:
Chapter 618:
Chapter 618:
"Have you heard about the conditions for becoming part of the light clan?"
Seong Jihan frowned as Id, instead of explaining about the light clan and Ark as requested, countered with a question.
"Stop playing mind games and just spill the information."
"What mind games! This is to check how much you know."
"..."
Seong Jihan stared at Id for a moment, then told him the conditions that came out in the test machine.
White Light 200.
The condition of having only one characteristic and Void below 100.
It was said that one needed to be lazy yet greedy simultaneously.
Hearing Seong Jihan's words, Id nodded."Test machine... It seems the prerequisite condition wasn't mentioned there."
"What's that?"
"To become part of the light clan, one's race must be 'human-related'."
Human-related?
Seong Jihan recalled hearing this when he converted Ariel, previously a Shadow Elf, into a human.
-Do you want to reset the evolution tech tree to return the target to its origin?
-Upon reset, the target player will become human, maintaining existing abilities.
'Surely, it was said that not only Shadow Elves but also demigods had humans as their origin.'
Did this encompass all such races as human-related?
Then,
"Was the origin of the light clan also human, like elves or demigods?"
"That's right. Of course, unlike our weak ancestors, we've approached godhood."
Seong Jihan slowly nodded at those words.
He had wondered why they used terms like Urd, Id, and Yggdrasil.
Was it because their ancestors were human?
"But the treatment of ancestors in the BattleNet is quite poor."
"Ancestor treatment? You wouldn't treat lab monkeys well either, would you?"
So that was how the light clan viewed humans.
Seong Jihan stared at Id.
Hearing that their ancestors were human, the other certainly looked just like a person.
The only difference was that his body flickered with light...
"Didn't you say I'm also part of the light clan?"
"Yes. You are indeed part of the light clan."
"But my body doesn't emit light like yours?"
"That's because you haven't fully modified your body to suit the clan."
Tap. Tap.
As Id tapped his torso,
Flash...!
Light spread from there and his skin rapidly became transparent.
Inside, organs mixed with about half shining metal were revealed.
"Once you replace the internal organs and complete the evolution process, you can move beyond being a newcomer and become a true member of the light clan. However..."
"However?"
"Now that Urd has occupied Ark, I'm not sure if organ replacement is possible. Most of the clan is trapped in time prisons, so the infirmary's functions must be stopped too."
So organ replacement was possible in the infirmary here.
'Well. I don't particularly want to, but I should remember this.'
He didn't want to put those flickering organs of unproven safety into his body.
Thinking this, Seong Jihan suddenly asked Id something that came to mind.
"By the way, why is the light clan's alias 'lazy greedy ones'?"
"...You heard that from the avatar too? He sure told you a lot."
Id frowned, blaming the avatar, then sighed.
"Huu. Well, fine... I promised to talk about Ark too. I might as well explain it together."
"With Ark?"
"Yes. Newcomer, you seem to think blue flames are a characteristic of White Light..."
The burning of the light clocks must have left an impression.
Id thought the Blue Flame was a characteristic of White Light.
As Seong Jihan didn't bother to correct this and let him misunderstand,
"Originally, White Light is designed to use various characteristics as it grows. At 100, you can choose an additional characteristic, and you can keep adding more after that."
"Really?"
"Yes. If things were normal... that is."
Swoosh.
Id looked towards the door with sunken eyes.
"Operating many characteristics simultaneously was originally a basic skill. But there were people who couldn't do this. Those who could only have one characteristic no matter how much their White Light increased... The public criticized them as lazy, having functional disorders."
So.
While other humans could operate multiple characteristics simultaneously,
Those who could only use one characteristic were criticized as 'lazy' or 'disabled'.
Seong Jihan finally understood clearly what laziness meant to the light clan.
"And Ark is a facility created to isolate the 'lazy ones'."
"...This place is an isolation facility?"
"Yes. I don't know why they isolated us. Not long after Ark started operating, Urd took control of this place."
"Hmm..."
Ark was originally a facility to isolate the 'lazy ones'.
Seong Jihan frowned at this unexpected answer, then,
"If this is an isolation facility... then what exactly is BattleNet? What are the servers?"
He asked about the original world he belonged to.
But,
"I think I've paid enough for losing the bet. Well, if you tell me in detail about your abilities... I might answer."
Id raised the corner of his mouth and asked a question from his side in return.
It seemed he has no intention of giving more information.
'But I don't want to tell him about Blue.'
In the vision seen through the Divine Eye, as soon as this guy learned about Blue, he tried to sell him to Urd.
Although he got some information from him, fundamentally, he couldn't be trusted.
As Seong Jihan remained silent for a moment,
"If you don't answer, there's no more information...!"
Flash...!
Id, who had gone to the side of the door, had expanded the light curtain he had put up and entered inside.
Did he expect violence if no answer came from Seong Jihan?
'He's quick-witted.'
Seong Jihan looked at the light curtain where Id was hiding.
Compared to when it only blocked the door, its defense had weakened a bit, but it still didn't look easy to break down.
'Hmm. What should I do...'
Should he try to break it with all his might?
As Seong Jihan was contemplating,
Flash. Flash.
Light was flickering wildly beyond the thinned curtain on the door.
'Have Urd's clocks appeared again?'
As Seong Jihan thought this and looked closely beyond the door,
There, like what he had seen with Sophia, an eye of light was floating in the air, blinking.
'Is that... signaling me to come out?'
This.
Was it the Divine Eye, or was it Id?
It was a situation where he had to choose between the two.
If so,
'Then the Divine Eye is better.'
He couldn't trust that 100% either, but just for helping him avoid Id's trap, it was much more trustworthy than this guy.
'Besides, Id seems to be planning to stay trapped here forever.'
With no way to counter Urd, wasn't he just locking the door and sitting in indefinite protest?
He didn't know if Id was taking this strategy because he had time to spare, but Seong Jihan didn't have that luxury.
If he was going to leave anyway, it was better to make contact with that Divine Eye.
"Hey. I'm going out."
"Going out...? Are you crazy?"
"I have my reasons. Just clear the way."
"Huh. As you wish...! Fine. If you want to leave, reveal your abilities and go!"
Id shouted arrogantly, but,
Swoosh.
Seong Jihan didn't respond and looked around the door, then suddenly thought,
"Wait, I don't have to go through the door. I can just break the wall, right?"
Didn't he already break the wall with his foot earlier when threatening Id?
There was no need to waste strength on the curtain, he could just break the wall.
As Seong Jihan raised his sword,
"Break the wall...? Ah. W-Wait! I'll open the door!"
Id panicked and withdrew the light curtain himself.
If the wall broke, he'd have to cover that area too.
Did he judge it better to open the way willingly?
"You should have done that from the start."
Bang!
As Seong Jihan opened the door and went outside,
Swish...
Id put up the light curtain again to block the passage and clicked his tongue seeing the doorway that had disappeared without a trace.
"Monster... What kind of power does he have?"
Judging by how he kept refusing to reveal his abilities, tt seemed he obtained quite an impressive characteristic.
'Well, no matter how strong he is, he can't beat Urd...'
No matter how strong a newcomer was, how could he face that monster?
As Id was assuming Seong Jihan's death as a given,
Flash...!
A strong light was felt flickering outside the curtain.
Id stood up wondering what it was, then,
'Oh. That's...?'
Seeing the Divine Eye, he wore a surprised expression.
And as that eye moved, guiding Seong Jihan somewhere,
Swish...
He withdrew the curtain and looked in the direction Seong Jihan had disappeared.
Urd's light clocks, placed here and there, seemed to block Seong Jihan's movement, but
Whoosh...!
Every time blue flames flickered, the light clocks helplessly vanished.
And Seong Jihan getting further away.
'...It's safest here.'
Id lay down on the floor inside the curtain.
The newcomer and the Divine Eye guiding him.
The image of them moving freely kept lingering in his mind, but,
'If I go out, I'll be caught in the time prison...'
Reminding himself that outside was hell, Id kept convincing himself to stay in this safe place.
But the more he did so, the more their movements came to mind.
'Forget it. Forget... I'll die if I go out...'
Id tossed and turned on the floor, repeatedly thinking only this thought.
* * *
Meanwhile,
Seong Jihan, who had made contact with the blinking Divine Eye outside the door,
[I'm glad the prophecy was wrong.]
Hearing the woman's voice coming from it, his eyes gleamed.
The prophecy the eye spoke of surely meant the vision of being controlled by Id.
[Follow me. I'll guide you to a place suitable for staying.]
"Who... are you?"
[I'll tell you when we meet in person. This place isn't appropriate.]
Whir...
The eye of light flew off somewhere.
As Seong Jihan followed behind,
[Please take care of the clocks.]
Following the eye's request, he started burning the light clocks placed along the path.
After walking for about 10 minutes,
'I think I've burned about 50 clocks...'
Seong Jihan counted the light clocks he had burned and raised his guard even more.
Even if Urd couldn't pay attention because she had scattered light clocks everywhere, he had destroyed so many in a short time.
He worried that she might come here directly.
But,
[Don't worry about Urd. As long as you don't enter the central server management room, she won't move.]
The Divine Eye, as if reading Seong Jihan's concern,
Informed him that it was okay to keep going.
"Alright. Let's go."
After hearing those words, Seong Jihan sped up.
Even so, only after walking for over 30 minutes,
[We're here.]
He was able to reach the destination.
"This is..."
[It's the place where a being you know well is sealed.]
In front of a huge white door.
[Collection - Hephaestus]
Hephaestus' name was written in red in the middle of the door.
The one who wrote this name must have been the Red Administrator?
'Hey... Do you feel anything?'
At Seong Jihan's question,
[...Yes.]
The Red Administrator, who had been quiet until now, answered in a subdued voice.
[I feel a complete Hell.]