Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
Majesty from Another World (6)
"It's because it's made for multiple people. Getting even this was a pain."
Ju-Heon had said he would bring back his daughter and his subordinate.
Yeah, he had.
...
After climbing for some time, the systemized Mini Rulebook supplied new information.
"Damn it! He acted so high and mighty just because he had a dimensional travel relic!"
Thirty minutes later, Ju-Heon was still climbing the Jack and the Beanstalk relic, grumbling.
[Information on the Next Worldline]
[Majesty Threat Level: S]
[Caution 1: This world constantly inflicts the 'Madness' debuff. Prepare an appropriate countermeasure relic.]
[Caution 2: A Majester identical to you rules over this worldline.]
"No matter how long I climb, it doesn't feel like I'm getting any closer!"
Majester Yu Jae-ha let out a long sigh.
Ju-Heon's footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
Caution No. 1 bothered him...
But it was the second warning that caught his attention.
"...What?"
One of Ju-Heon's eyebrows arched.
"The moment you meet him, he'll try to cut your head off. He firmly believes there's only room for one Seo Ju-Heon in this world."
"A Majesty exactly like me?"
"You call that an explanation?"
Does he mean another me from a parallel world?
Majesty Yu Jae-ha chuckled.
"Oh? Looks like you hit the jackpot. I told you before I'd met another version of you."
So that's what he meant by that ant bastard.
Majesty Yu Jae-ha added with an icy grin, clearly looking forward to the spectacle.
"Well, meeting another version of yourself might let you awaken."
"What?"
"Majesties only gain their unique Authority after awakening."
"Like your Creation Authority?"
"Exactly. There are two ways to awaken. One is gradual training through theory. It's slow but safe. The other is meeting another version of yourself. It's much faster... but dangerous. You know the old tale that says if you meet your doppelgänger, you'll die? Same principle."
At those words, Ju-Heon's eyes gleamed with the cold light of a hunter.
Without another word, he grabbed the vine and began smoothly sliding upward as if riding a rope.
Yu Jae-ha stared blankly before grinding his teeth.
"Fine. This time we'll settle once and for all which one of us is the real Seo Ju-Heon."
"Quit talking and climb. At least you'll build some muscle."
Ju-Heon snorted.
"Who said I was climbing with my own strength?"
The next instant—
Boom!
His Rope of Binding lashed out like lightning and wrapped itself around the massive vine.
Using its pull, Ju-Heon shot upward.
"You cheating lunatic...!"
Looking down from above, Ju-Heon casually called out,
"Hey, Cup Noodles. What's taking you so long?"
"...!"
"This is why you'll never level up. Just look at how slow you're climbing."
Majesty Yu Jae-ha shouted in frustration,
"I'm not Cup Noodles!"
"Too slow."
The Blessing of the Cup / The Curse of the Cup
At last, they reached the end of the sky.
A brilliant light exploded around them.
[This world possesses both a and a .]
[The higher your Madness Gauge, the better you can handle relics.]
[However, if your Sanity Gauge reaches 0, you will become an NPC.]
[Warning.]
When Ju-Heon opened his eyes, the scent of sand filled the air.
At the same time, another system window appeared.
[You have entered a new world.]
[World Name: The Cup of Dionysus]
[Status: City of Madness]
A Madness Gauge... and a Sanity Gauge?
Just as he was wondering what that meant, an entirely different landscape unfolded before him.
Towering skyscrapers pierced the heavens.
"Dubai...?"
No.
It resembled Dubai, yet it wasn't.
If anything, it looked more like Las Vegas at the height of the night.
The entire city glittered with neon lights worthy of the title City of Festivals.
Purple wine stains spread across the surfaces of enormous glass skyscrapers.
At the city's center stood a colossal golden wine goblet-shaped temple, tilted toward the heavens.
An endless torrent of crimson and violet liquid poured from the cup, filling waterways that ran throughout the entire city.
Crowds stood atop skyscraper rooftops, raising wine glasses into the air with jubilant cheers.
Meanwhile, every electronic billboard flashed the same message over and over.
[Drink! Rejoice! Entrust yourself to the relics!]
Ju-Heon frowned.
The city was breathing.
Yet at the same time...
It was dead.
Everyone had become intoxicated by the Cup of Dionysus, transformed into slaves of relics.
"...What is this place?"
"...Damn."
The streets bustled like an endless carnival.
People of every race danced and laughed while holding wine glasses like NPCs.
Even children lay collapsed in drunken stupors, only to stagger back to their feet and continue dancing.
The pungent smell of alcohol stung Ju-Heon's nose.
And for good reason.
The liquid flowing down the walls of the skyscrapers wasn't ordinary wine.
[Contains narcotic substances.]
"Drugs?"
No.
It was madness.
Every street overflowed with staggering drunks, hysterical laughter mixed with screams, and fountains that endlessly poured wine.
The entire city resembled one gigantic banquet.
The citizens, goblets in hand, knew nothing of it.
They laughed merrily while splashing overflowing wine onto one another.
Anyone touched by the wine had their eyes roll back.
They staggered, collapsed as though dancing...
Then rose once more, surrendering themselves to relics with manic devotion.
What awful taste...
Majesty Yu Jae-ha merely shrugged.
Judging by his reaction, he had wandered through countless worlds while fleeing from relics.
Just as expected—
"...This isn't a city for humans."
Ju-Heon spoke coldly.
The skyscrapers of glass and steel blazed with golden lights that pierced the heavens.
But what filled them wasn't joy.
It was insanity.
"So?"
Yu Jae-ha shrugged.
"I'd call it efficient."
"What?"
"If you make people stupid enough, they won't interfere with whatever plans the Majesty wants to carry out."
"Heh."
[Wow. Compared to this, our Captain's grave robbing is practically adorable. Are all Majesters this selfish?]
[Buff 3: Executioner's Sentence]
- Any target designated as an enemy by the Majesty will have their location revealed no matter where they are in the world. They cannot escape.
"Pipe down, Cup Noodles."
The moment Ju-Heon's eyes flashed, the Slayer buff activated.
Holding Cup Noodles Yu Jae-ha in one hand, Ju-Heon's gaze turned icy.
[Target location acquired.]
"So, where's the Rulebook?"
"It's probably with the Majesty."
"There."
The Majesty...
Ju-Heon let out a sigh.
The problem wasn't the Majesty himself.
It was where he was.
In the center of the city stood a single skyscraper that dwarfed every other building around it.
Like a crystal tower rising from solid bedrock, it dominated the skyline.
It was the heart of the city...
...and at the same time, the source of its poison.
Yu Jae-ha looked surprised.
"Oh? You can actually pinpoint the location. So you chose Slaughter, huh? Or was that just a lucky guess?"
"What did you choose?"
"How rude. Why would I tell you that?"
"So it was really Obedience? Looks like you tried acting like a good little boy for once."
"...Shut up."
"More importantly, I've been wondering. You licked the relics' boots by choosing Obedience, so why did your world still get destroyed? Isn't that an awful return on investment?"
Yu Jae-ha tried to laugh it off.
But Ju-Heon didn't miss the fleeting change in his expression.
For one rare moment, murderous intent leaked from Yu Jae-ha.
The usual carefree fool disappeared, replaced by eyes filled with crushing defeat and burning hatred.
"Ah... so it really was Obedience."
"...!"
Yu Jae-ha's face twisted viciously.
Ju-Heon laughed.
He had only been fishing.
Instead, he'd hooked a whale.
"...That's not what's important. What's your Madness Gauge and Sanity Gauge?"
"Huh?"
The world's governing system?
"How am I supposed to know that?"
"Look at your wrists."
"Oh."
Ju-Heon stared blankly.
Then veins bulged across his forehead.
"What the hell? I haven't even done anything yet, so why's my Sanity Gauge already this low?"
Glowing numbers had appeared on both of his wrists.
The number on his left arm was red.
The one on his right arm was blue.
Watching him complain, Majesty Yu Jae-ha burst into laughter.
Apparently...
Blue represented the Sanity Gauge.
Red represented the Madness Gauge.
At least, that's what Ju-Heon assumed.
And he was right.
"I'm at ninety. Seriously, I've always thought you acted like a complete lunatic. Just what kind of life do you have to live for your default value to be like that?"
"..."
[Sanity Gauge: 50/100]
Now that's just annoying.
Majesty Yu Jae-ha looked at Ju-Heon as if he were staring at some dangerous beast.
"Be careful. Your Sanity Gauge constantly drops in this city. The moment it reaches zero, you become an NPC."
"What's an NPC?"
"You become another cog in this world's machinery. No free will. You'll only do what the Majesty or the government orders. You'll only live where they tell you to live. Your entire life becomes one dedicated to serving the Majesty."
He continued.
"If it gets even worse, you won't even be able to say whatever you want. You'll literally only speak your assigned lines. You become a real NPC."
"Anyway, in this world, the higher your Madness Gauge, the better you can use relics. But the more madness you accumulate, the more Sanity you lose. Once your Sanity hits zero, you're an NPC. That's why maintaining the balance is everything."
Majesty Yu Jae-ha glanced at his own wrist.
[Madness Gauge: 2/100]
"...This is the worst."
"Most Majesties deliberately turn their citizens into that because it makes ruling them much easier."
He pointed at himself.
"Look at me. In this world, high-level relic users usually maintain a Madness Gauge of around seventy. You need at least thirty or forty just to use an F-rank relic."
"But do you have any idea how difficult it is to build Madness without losing your Sanity? I could never find the balance, so I escaped. That's how difficult it—"
What kind of monsters are these people...?
Then Majesty Yu Jae-ha looked at Ju-Heon's right wrist.
He abruptly fell silent.
No wonder.
Yu Jae-ha looked utterly dumbfounded.
[Madness Gauge: 99/100]
"...Your Sanity is fifty, but your Madness starts at ninety-nine?"
"What the hell are you?"
How can someone be this rational... while also being completely insane...?
He grabbed Ju-Heon's arm to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
The look in his eyes contained equal parts horror and disgust.
"Hah... My Sanity always dropped faster than my Madness, so I gave up on using this world's relics and escaped a long time ago..."
"...Just how insane are you?!"
This bastard started out like this...?
Ju-Heon merely shrugged.
Meanwhile, Majesty Yu Jae-ha looked at him with genuine admiration.
"Pretty arrogant for someone like Yu Jae-ha."
"Hah..."
At that level... doesn't that mean he can already use Divine-grade relics in this world?
I'm honestly afraid to find out who's stronger—him... or this world's Majesty.