Chapter 77: Sookmyung Girls' High School (3)
The entire building of Sookmyung Girls' High School has transformed into a hidden world. Simply put, this building has become a hidden stage.
On the stage of a play, there were three main pieces; the actors, the director and the audience. The entirety of <Fate> unfolds as a series of events performed on a giant stage, with the great <Storyteller> bringing the story to life using the actors as puppets for the story.
However, there are very rare occasions where someone else can become the director of a given stage. This case was one of those rare occasions.
[Starting now, all players stats will be reset to Level 10!]
[Starting now, all players skillls will be reset to the starting level!]
[Starting now, all players cannot leave the hidden dungeon until the stage is cleared!]
And In this scenario, the role of director has been transferred to the <Lord>. Sometimes, they would be called <Territory Master> or <Game Masters> depending on the circumstances. However, one truth remained the same— All rules established by the director must be followed by the actors.
To our misfortune, <The World>, who had the potential to become a true king, was the director of this stage and we were just the actors on his stage.
"....!"
"...!"
At the moment we entered the dungeon, we immediately felt the decrease in status. The muscles and strength I gained throughout the beginning of the nightmares trials slowly started to leave my body.
"What's the meaning of this? I can't feel my strength!"
"Calm down, Kagura. Panicking will not solve anything."
"What do you mean stop panicking?!"
Lee Dokho was trying to calm down the panicking Kagura. He was a great guy, to be able to keep his composure in a situation like this where everything was stripped away from us.
I clenched and opened my fists, feeling the difference immediately. The strength that once belonged to [Lv. 30] had diminished to [Lv. 10]. At least my stats hadn't been reset to [Lv. 1].
I could only hope my skills hadn't suffered the same fate.
[All your skills will be reset to the starting level for the fairness of the stage.]
So the restriction process has already started. In the next moment, a bunch of messages appeared infront of me.
[Exclusive skill 'Endless One' does not follow the concept of levels!]
[Exclusive skill 'Endless One' cannot be restricted!]
Huh?
[Exclusive skill 'Omniscient Wall' does not follow the concept of levels!]
[Exclusive skill 'Omniscient Wall' cannot be restricted.]
The absurd messages didn't stop there. There was still more.
[The Exclusive skill 'Dimensional Transmission' is related to the Omniscient Wall!]
[Exclusive skill 'Dimensional Transmission' cannot be restricted!]
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I tilted my head and stared at the messages infront of me. It took me a few moments before I was able to process everything.
So those skills were not restricted because it does not follow the concept of levels? I could understand that but even 'Dimensional Transmission' was not restricted as well? And what's this about It being related to the Omniscient Wall?
Soon enough, my mind wandered towards an unknown direction and I started thinking about unnecessary things.
I already knew the limits and capabilities of the skill <Endless One>, but the <Omniscient Wall> was a different story. Initially, I thought I knew, but after a while, I found myself back at square one, uncertain once again.
Despite that, I managed to learn a few facts about the Omniscient Wall through continuous usage. There are three stages of Omniscence;
The First Stage is <Comprehension>
The Second Stage is <Understanding>
The Third Stage is <Knowledge>
The 'First Stage' enabled me to view the complete chapters of *Song of Nightmares*. The 'Second Stage' allowed me to read the thoughts of characters I fully understood. The 'Third Stage,' however, was more complex. Could it let me explore the stories of different versions of myself or could it do much more?
The possibilities were endless and that was the 'mysteries' of the Omniscient Wall third stage. Now it seems the skill 'Dimensional Transmission' was surrounded by those mysteries.
I thought about checking my status window but decided against it since it would be meaningless.
[The Lord of the Territory has taken notice of your existence.]
The Lord of the Territory, was it? I felt the gaze of someone looking at me from above. He must be at the upper level.
Territory Lords have complete control over their territory and the very laws they establish. It was inevitable that he would notice if someone was not placed under his restrictions.
Perhaps things were about to become even more difficult since that person has noticed an anomaly like me.
With that in mind, I started walking inside the interior of the school building. Kagura and Lee Dokho immediately and noticed followed right behind me.
Much of the glass that built the hall brought in the crimson light. The hall itself was extremely wide and the design was simply luminous. This was my first time walking inside an all girl's high school. In fact, if the world was normal, I would have been afraid to enter this kind of environment. Not because it was too luxurious but I was a socially awkward person.
In any case, I noticed a non-renovated staircase close to the elevator. We would have checked the elevator first but there was a power outage so it would have been meaningless since there is not electricity running through the building. In fact, I doubt anywhere in Seoul right now would have electricity.
We walked for a long time but we didn't find anything unusual or out of place. Was this floor trap free? Our next destination should be the next floor. Or simply, the 5th floor.
"...?!"
That was when my nose picked up a familiar metallic scent mixed with a foul odor. I wanted to open my mouth and alert the group, but Kagura was one step faster.
"Hey, there's something over there."
She pointed her fingers at a certain direction and I shifted my gaze. What I saw there could only be described as abnormal.
Of the four elevators, between the two on the left, there were multiple dead bodies lingering around. Upon closer inspection, I noticed several big holes scattered across their bodies. It seemed as if they were hit by a beam of sorts. A laser? No, a bunch of laser beams. Did the attack fire from all directions at once.
Their wounds were still fresh which meant that they must have died not too long ago. I studied them carefully one by one. Fifty elite warriors, red banners, and a warlord... Wait, aren't these the members of the Lovers group?
I looked among the dead bodies and located the representative of the <Lovers>. I managed to find her but It was only what remained of her corpse. She was no different from the rest. Her body was riddled with holes including a large hole on her forehead and her skin was burned.
Seo Jinah. She was the incarnation of Queen Jinseong, the last reigning queen after Seondeok and Jindeok. Considering that she lacks any fighting abilities and relies heavily on her soldiers, it wasn't surprising that she was defeated. Still, for one of the main king candidates to be overwhelmed like this...
"Deputy-nim, there are more bodies this way."
I looked towards Lee Dokho's direction and saw even more corpses. I immediately recognised some of them.
<Moon>, <Star> and the <Wheel of Fortune>. If the <Lovers> were counted, then four main king candidates were killed. Not just them, there were even people holding the arcane cards from the Minor Arcana category too. What kind of massacre was this?
Simply put, Ollerus Izzard had killed five king candidates that entered the school building and none of them even managed to leave the first floor. The most shocking part was that some of them had powerful constellations backing them up yet they were overwhelmed in such a manner.
Something was wrong. How was that person this powerful?
No matter how I looked at it, the situation was utterly ridiculous. In the original novel, that person's ability to manipulate laws was nowhere near this powerful. Even if he had awakened earlier and gained some strength, the vast difference in power he displayed now was far too great to have been achieved in such a short span of time. Yes, I was definitely missing something here.
I looked around, swinging my head here and there, then I noticed something odd about the corpse of the <Wheel of Fortune>. His blood has already dried up which means he was the first to die among these people.
Ah, I see how it is. The World must have killed the <Wheel of Fortune> first and collected that item to amplify his power to the maximum. Did he receive that information from the revelations as well? That bastard, [No. 1999]...
[Exclusive skill 'Omniscient Wall' has activated.]
My mind was cleansed and I pushed all unnecessary thoughts towards the far corners of my consciousness.
I raised my head and looked at the empty space. If my thoughts were correct then the constellations behind these people should be angry as well.
[Some furious constellations are questioning the difficulty of the domain setting.]
[A few constellations are complaining to the <Administration Busuea>]
[The <Administration Buseau> has decided not to intervene.]
It unfolded just as I imagined. The constellations, enraged by the death of their Incarnations, would report to the [Administration Buseau]. However, their complaints would fall on deaf ears.
This place has now become the domain of a 'Lord', even those people can't intervene directly. The most they can do is create a nightmare scenario and impose restrictions on the Lord's authority.
Honestly, those people were the reason why the Master cannot kill the players in an instant with a single command.
With that in mind, I opened my mouth to address the constellations watching from above the skies.
"Oh, great constellations. Hear the words of this lowly being."
Those words were cringe. But if I didn't say those words, the constellations might not even look this way.
[The constellations are looking at a single player.]
Slowly but surely, multiple gazes turned my way. The stars and constellations started appearing one by one.
[The constellation 'Phoenix Queen of Twilight Heaven' is looking at you.]
[The constellation 'Emperor Heungmu the Noble' is looking at you.]
[The constellation 'Duke of Naval Warfare' is looking at you.]
[The constellation 'Moonlight Sage of Silla' is looking at you.]
[The constellation 'Drunken First Sword' is looking at you.]
[The constellation 'Last Stand of Hwangsanbeol' is looking at you.]
[....]
The constellation messages continued to appear before me. Some of these constellations were historical gods with incredible status while the others were just passing constellations from different planets.
[The constellations asks why you called them out.]
I was nervous but I swallowed back my anxiety and straightened my posture. I couldn't afford look weak infront of the constellations.
"Oh, great constellations. Trying to report to the <Administration Buseau> is meaningless. Once a Territory Master has established his domain, even the Administration Buseau will be forced to watch from the sidelines."
[The constellations says you should get straight to the point.]
"Your Incarnations were killed in a brutal manner and you were forced to watch. You must be angry, isn't that right? What if I tell you there's an easy way to kill the one responsible."
[The constellations wonders if such a thing is possible.]
I smiled. Before I spoke again, I silently activated a skill.
[Exclusive skill – Endless One has activated.]
"Yes. It is possible. In a normal scenario, the 'laws' of the territory masters are absolute. However, the owner of this dungeon is not a complete Lord. If you give me your blessings, I'll make sure to avenge your fallen Incarnations."
[A few constellations are doubtful of your words.]
[The constellations are taking time to think over your words.]
Even though <Endless One> was powerful enough, It was still impossible to fully control the constellations at the moment. However, It's possible to influence their flow of thoughts in the form of suggestion. But there was no guarantee that It would work all the time.
"..."
The constellations were quiet for a long time. What's going on? What's taking them so long?
My brows furrowed. Since they didn't respond, I had no way of knowing if the skill worked, which made my anxiety grow with each passing second.
How much time has passed now? A minute? Five minutes?
[The constellations have reached a decision.]
Finally, the constellations spoke again. It seems they had made up their minds.
[The constellations have decided to trust you just this once.]
[The constellations has bestowed you with their blessings.]
The dead bodies began to glow one by one. Soon after, something came out from the dead bodies and entered us.
[The blessings of the constellations has increased all your stats by 5 points for the next 24 hours.]
Lee Dokho's eyes lit up like a torch.
"Haha! Isn't this a Jacket?"
"It's a good start."
After I finished speaking, the system window appeared infront of me.
[The constellations says you should make sure to fulfill your words.]
I couldn't help but smile at that sentence. Even if they didn't tell me, my goal was going to kill the World from the beginning. If that wasn't the case, I would never have entered this place.
Now then...
I turned my head and looked at the pile of bodies. What am I going to do about them?