Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11
The Great Catastrophe (2)
Characters began falling like snow.
A single ray of light bloomed within the absolute stillness.
Standing at its center...
...was Seo Ju-Heon.
The book trembled violently in fury.
Majesty Yu Jae-ha was left speechless.
It was the first time he had ever seen someone evade the catastrophes in such a way.
Yet the impregnable golden tower had truly collapsed.
[…I don't understand!]
[You've lost your records, your language, and your tools...]
[So why are insignificant humans still enduring...?]
[Why?]
There are countless worldlines where people became incapable of using relics because of those curses...
The book's voice grew increasingly distorted, as though it were about to tear apart.
Then—
Fwoooooosh!
[Fine. I'll admit it.]
[The Majesty of this world is rather extraordinary.]
[I can understand why they wanted to recruit you.]
[And you still have hope.]
The fragments of language...
The memories...
The letters that had vanished from people's minds...
Everything began returning.
Then the book's tone changed completely.
[Which is precisely why... I'm going to destroy that hope now.]
Its cold voice echoed through the heavens.
Flash!
The sky split apart like a bolt of lightning.
Brilliant white characters filled the air.
Then...
The Eight Trigrams Chariot began radiating light.
The flow of the universe itself reversed.
A status window appeared before everyone's eyes.
The Eight Trigrams (Bagua).
Qian (Heaven).
Kun (Earth).
Kan (Water).
Li (Fire).
Zhen (Thunder).
Gen (Mountain).
Xun (Wind).
Dui (Lake).
[The Curse of Fuxi has been activated.]
[Fourth Curse – The Denial of Hope.]
[There is no one coming to save you.]
[This world can no longer possess hope.]
[Those whose future has been blocked can no longer evolve.]
A gigantic Eight Trigrams Chariot rose into the sky.
It was a curse connected to Fuxi of Chinese mythology.
Fuxi was the one who had taught humanity writing...
...and revealed the Eight Trigrams.
Through them, mankind had learned to glimpse hope in the future.
But this time...
Everything was different.
Ju-Heon tilted his head.
"Hope?"
"That's an awfully abstract curse."
Nothing seemed to have changed.
But Majesty Yu Jae-ha's face turned pale.
Even now, only Ilya's Time Stop relic was preventing disaster.
If time resumed—
Airplanes around the world would immediately fall from the sky.
Countless large-scale disasters were waiting to happen.
The moment Time Stop ended...
The world would descend into chaos.
As if confirming his thoughts, Yu Jae-ha spoke.
"No."
"This one is genuinely dangerous..."
"Why?"
"Look carefully."
"How has the world changed?"
"What do you mean?"
"Every form of communication has been severed."
"Languages no longer work."
"Every tool humanity created has become unusable."
"In short..."
"The world has become one where only relics can be used."
"And in a world where relics are the only usable power..."
"What do you think 'hope' is?"
Ju-Heon answered matter-of-factly.
"The communications network is gone."
"Smartphones, electricity, weapons..."
"Every human tool has stopped functioning."
"The world is on the verge of becoming an apocalypse where only relics remain."
Majesty Yu Jae-ha looked directly at him.
"It's you."
"If there's no Majesty..."
"...no one can use relics."
"A Majesty grants people the authority to wield relics."
"So you're the world's hope."
"So what? It's still just a damned book."
As if responding, the floating Rulebook burst into laughter.
[Exactly right!]
[At this moment, the hope of this world... is you, Majesty.]
[Which means...]
[If you die, no one in this relic-dependent world will be able to do anything.]
[The road to extinction will be complete.]
[Therefore...]
[Beginning now, I shall erase the one who embodies hope.]
I can't tell exactly what it is...
But it's probably another type of relic.
If that's all it is, I'll simply dominate—
But then—
[You're finished.]
What...?
At the same instant...
A gigantic black hand burst out of the book.
It was an enormous arm stained with ink.
The hand that had once written history...
...now reached out to erase hope itself.
Something black seized Ju-Heon's arm.
His body froze.
Ju-Heon gave a hollow laugh.
"...?!"
[The protagonist of hope will be eliminated to complete humanity's extinction scenario.]
[Extracting the Heart of Majesty.]
[Without a Majesty, this world will never again be able to use relics.]
The Rulebook laughed quietly.
Then it reached forward.
Ju-Heon's chest split open.
CRUNCH!!
SPLAT!
[Rulebook System Notification]
[The disappearance of the Majesty has been confirmed.]
"Ju-Heon!"
"Captain!!"
The book began glowing with golden light.
A crimson heart slowly floated into the air...
Its light steadily fading.
[Excellent.]
[Wonderful.]
[Whew... Even if only one curse worked, that's enough.]
[Recovering the Heart of Hope.]
[This world has lost its Majesty.]
The Rulebook wriggled playfully.
But the team members rushed toward Ju-Heon, whose chest now gaped open.
"Captain!!!"
"Bring the healing relic!"
"Where's Chloe?!"
The Rulebook chuckled happily.
[That's right. ♥]
[Complete the mission and you'll receive a reward.]
[Fail... and additional penalties will be added.]
Only then did the team realize...
The catastrophe...
...had only just begun.
[I've already extracted his heart. He can't survive.]
[Now that the Majesty is gone... do you really think you can protect this worldline?]
"What is this, some kind of disaster survival game...?!"
At Ilya's muttered complaint, the Rulebook giggled.
Protect it? What are you talking about—
[Then does that make me the Game Master? I like that.]
[And all of you are my NPCs— GAAAH!!!]
[Did you think the catastrophes were already over?]
[From now on, trials will periodically descend upon World 187487—]
As if enraged, the Rope Relic wrapped itself tightly around the book and repeatedly slammed it into the ground.
[W-What are you doing?! What are you doing?!]
[F-Fine! I'll give you three special rewards!]
The screaming book began stammering.
But the team couldn't have cared less.
[A-Anyway! If you stop even one of the four catastrophes, you'll receive special rewards.]
[This world is incredible! You stopped three catastrophes, so you've earned two special rewards...!]
"...Seo Ju-Heon..."
"...This has to be a lie..."
"Captain!!"
The Rope Relic slammed the book even harder.
[Then your rewards will be distributed. I look forward to the next story!]
[What nonsense are you talking about?!]
The book screamed.
Then...
It disappeared.
Silence filled the air.
Ilya clenched his fists.
He possessed the power to stop time...
But this was different.
His authority couldn't undo something that had already happened.
Seol-ah could no longer hold back her tears.
Julian adjusted his glasses and quietly turned his head away.
It was obvious he didn't want anyone to see his expression.
Their hope...
No—
Humanity's hope itself...
...had disappeared.
Then—
"What the hell are you doing, you idiot?!"
The Rope Relic curled up beside Ju-Heon and repeatedly smacked his face.
Thump!
[Master.]
[Master.]
[Master.]
At the familiar voice, every member of the team looked up simultaneously.
Then they all cried out in shock.
Standing before them...
...was a perfectly healthy Ju-Heon.
No one could speak.
The hand of the dead Ju-Heon lying on the ground remained ice-cold.
The gaping hole in his chest had not healed.
"S-Seo Ju-Heon...?"
"W-What the hell...?"
"What do you mean 'what'?"
"You idiot."
"Is that really you?"
"You're not a ghost?"
"Are you messing with us?"
Julian's eyes widened in utter confusion.
"...Then if you're alive..."
"...what's that?"
At that moment...
The corpse lying on the ground twitched.
Its appearance began to distort, peeling away as though shedding its skin.
Every member of the team stared in astonishment.
It became...
Yu Jae-ha.
The Rope Relic hurried over, asking whether its master was alright.
But Ju-Heon ignored it.
Instead, he grabbed Majesty Yu Jae-ha by the collar.
Just before the Rulebook attacked him...
Majesty Yu Jae-ha had seized Ju-Heon's arm and trapped him inside a strange space.
It had been the power of a Wrapping Cloth Relic.
When Ju-Heon tore his way back out...
...this was the result.
Majesty Yu Jae-ha had secretly spirited Ju-Heon away...
...then transformed Yu Jae-ha's own appearance into Ju-Heon's.
The disguise had been so perfect that even Divine-grade relics failed to notice.
Sure enough...
Majesty Yu Jae-ha casually shrugged.
"Forgery."
"That's my Majesty Awakening ability."
"Don't worry."
"They'll all think you're dead."
Ju-Heon's eyes turned icy.
"You bastard..."
"You touched Yu Jae-ha of this world..."
"...my subordinate."
"So what?"
"You wanted to save one person..."
"...so you sacrificed my subordinate instead?"
This is supposed to be Yu Jae-ha?
Don't give me that bullshit—
Just then...
Yu Jae-ha sighed and pulled something out.
[AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!]
"Relax."
"He's not dead."
"Not yet."
"...What?"
"His soul is right here."
The instant-cup noodles screamed.
What Yu Jae-ha pulled out of the Wrapping Cloth Relic...
...was an ordinary cup of instant ramen.
It looked rather old.
Its red lid carried the familiar warning:
Caution: Contents Are Hot.
Ju-Heon stared blankly at it.
[Hey, you insane bastard!! How could you stuff me inside something like this?!]
[I'm a human being! Not leftover food!!]
Ju-Heon's hands trembled as he accepted the cup ramen.
"...Are you kidding me?"
"...What the hell is this...?"
"I told you."
"His soul is still alive."
"Just don't pour hot water into it."
"He might actually get cooked."
Majesty Yu Jae-ha smiled faintly.
Ju-Heon pinched the bridge of his nose.
That's your concern right now?!
"...Is that really the problem here?!"
"...!"
"You actually turned my subordinate into this?!"
As Ju-Heon exploded in anger, Yu Jae-ha looked strangely moved.
[Captain...]
"If you were going to turn him into cup noodles..."
"...why make him the bland original flavor?!"
"Spicy is the only proper choice!"
Yu Jae-ha let out a miserable wail.