Chapter 33
CHAPTER 33
The City of Dionysus (3)
“Yeah.”
“You look like you'd sell well.”
“Kind of like a slightly twisted hero collectible.”
Ju-Heon frowned.
The underground chamber doors opened, and someone emerged from the darkness.
“Calling people products isn't exactly polite.”
“You crazy lady.”
“Crazy lady, huh...”
Dionysus Cynthia smiled.
Then she snapped her fingers.
Snap.
Light.
Click... Click...
Slow footsteps echoed through the chamber.
She wore a crimson overcoat embroidered with golden grapevines.
A mad smile rested upon her lips.
Her beautiful golden eyes shimmered with emptiness and insanity.
Her gaze slowly swept over Ju-Heon from head to toe, as though appraising merchandise.
“Well then.”
“Shall we begin today's show?”
‘Turn the Outsider into a Product.’
She flicked a finger toward the air.
A gigantic holographic screen appeared overhead.
Across it unfolded scenes of Seo Ju-Heon, Julian, and their past, playing like a movie.
“This program is...”
‘The Memory Auction.’
“We'll find the memory scene that sells for the highest price.”
Ju-Heon immediately understood.
That enormous device...
It was the city's large-scale memory extractor.
In other words—
The power source sustaining the entire city.
By extracting the memories of people drowned in madness...
Their emotions were burned away inside those memories.
The resulting energy powered every system throughout the city.
Ju-Heon's expression darkened.
“You're auctioning off memories?”
“I wonder how much your memories are worth.”
“And what exactly determines that?”
“Market economics~♡”
“We don't possess overwhelmingly powerful relics.”
“So instead, we extract our citizens' emotions.”
“We use them as fuel to keep the city running.”
“I wonder how much energy you two can produce.”
As Cynthia lightly snapped her fingers...
The fountain built into the wall surged.
A city of wine.
The canals flowing through its streets.
The fountains filling its plazas.
At first glance, it looked like ordinary wine.
But it wasn't.
She pointed toward the wall.
Connected to it was the enormous supply network feeding the city's flowing "wine."
[Dionysus' Goblet] (SS-Rank / Bound Relic)
[Lethe's Fountain of Oblivion] (SS-Rank / Bound Relic)
- Used as the city's power source.
A collaboration between Dionysus and the Relic of Oblivion.
Not as destructive as Zeus...
Yet still undeniably Divine-Class relics.
Ju-Heon's eyes narrowed.
Stay away from those.
“So those two are this city's Core relics.”
This city was created by combining multiple relics.
Just then—
“This way!”
Everything visible around them had been created from relics.
If that was true...
Then the water flowing throughout the city...
And the madness infecting its citizens...
Both came from the Relic of Oblivion.
Yu Jae-ha created another relic in his hand.
A shaft of light formed.
Moments later—
It became...
An umbrella.
So that's how it worked.
People lost their memories...
Then descended into madness.
[Creating Defensive Relic]
[Noah's Ark (Umbrella Version)] (1/1)
- Can withstand any disaster.
The instant they opened the umbrella...
A protective barrier spread outward, enveloping both of them.
But...
It was already too late.
A single droplet splashed through.
That tiny drop landed upon Ju-Heon's and Yu Jae-ha's shoulders.
His comrades...
The ones who had fought beside him while raiding relics against impossible odds.
Himself...
Laughing inside collapsing ruins, covered in dust and debris.
Then...
Chairman Kwon's betrayal.
The trap.
The day he alone survived.
To survive.
To take revenge.
Then—
The memories exploded.
Scenes.
Emotions.
Fragments of time burst loose all at once.
At that exact moment—
As though the evaluation had finished—
A notification sounded.
Beep.
“…!”
Ju-Heon flinched.
What surfaced in his mind...
Were the days he had laughed together with the Tomb Raider Team.
[$0.01]
Low-Grade Emotion: "Old Loyalty and Revenge"
“…Hah.”
Then...
It was Yu Jae-ha's turn.
Ju-Heon's lips trembled.
Everything Yu Jae-ha had lived through...
The deaths of his teammates.
The betrayal of the Chairman he had trusted like a father.
His vow of revenge.
“You...”
“You son of a bitch...!”
He gagged.
His bloodshot eyes burned with hatred as he ground his teeth.
Apparently...
He had just witnessed everything that had happened in his own world.
Watching the scene, Cynthia burst into laughter.
One cent.
After leisurely watching the memories projected across the hologram...
Majesty Cynthia slowly applauded.
“So cheap.”
“Who gets sentimental over feelings like that nowadays?”
“In the Age of Relics...”
“Those emotions are hopelessly outdated.”
She looked toward Yu Jae-ha.
“You weren't much better.”
“You're covered in scars...”
“But your emotions are such a mess they don't even qualify for a proper rating.”
“What?”
“You know what actually has value?”
“For example...”
“Memories of heartbreak are common and cheap.”
“They're mostly used for lighting.”
“Memories of success contain high dopamine levels...”
“So they're excellent power sources.”
“Or works of art.”
“Sometimes even premium fuel reserved for VIP facilities.”
Then Cynthia looked back at Ju-Heon.
She clapped once.
[$0.05]
Low-Grade Emotion: "Helpless Loss"
“And among all the memories you possess...”
“This...”
“Is the most valuable one.”
“Pfft...”
“So this is the most valuable memory of your life?”
Cynthia raised a bottle and curled her lips in mockery.
The space around them distorted.
Another memory unfolded.
It was the dream Ju-Heon had seen not long ago.
The memory of his daughter.
“A helpless father's... worthless little memory?”
“Hahahahaha!”
“This is priceless!”
“The memory of his daughter disappearing is the most valuable thing he has!”
“And it's only worth... five cents!”
“Ah... I can't disappear...”
“Remember me.”
“You have to remember me.”
“So you can protect me when I'm born...”
The laughter vanished from Cynthia's face.
Her eyes turned cold.
As the memory faded away...
A transparent price tag floated above the bottle.
“Worthless.”
Yet now...
She finally seemed to understand Ju-Heon's actions.
Walking toward him, she said,
“Well...”
“At least now I understand why you came to the Majesties' city with so much hatred.”
“You.”
“You've been marked by the Divine-Class Relics.”
“!”
“And you knew that?”
“But that's your own fault.”
“That's the price you pay for making enemies of relics.”
The city's power facilities slowly awakened.
The relic driving this place—
The River Lethe.
Named after the River of Oblivion from Greek mythology.
Anyone touched by its waters lost every memory they possessed.
It was the cruelest energy source the Majesty could have chosen.
But where did those forgotten memories go?
They did not simply disappear.
Like rivers...
They flowed together.
Mixed.
Accumulated.
Until they were transformed into an entirely new source of power.
And that...
Was the energy that sustained this city.
Majesty Cynthia took the memories she had harvested...
And fed them into the city's power generator.
Then—
Bloop.
“River Lethe.”
“Activate.”
Apparently even Cup Ramen Yu Jae-ha had been splashed by a droplet.
A tiny memory bubble floated into the air.
Seeing it, Cynthia let out a scoff.
“Huh.”
“So even that thing has memories.”
“Well...”
“Better than nothing.”
“If they're relic memories, they'll work perfectly as raw material.”
“Throw it in.”
CRAAAAACK!!
Water exploded in every direction.
The floor was instantly flooded.
Then—
Silence.
A relic shattered.
“…What?”
“What just happened?!”
“Why did it break?!”
Yawning lazily, Cynthia waved a hand.
A glass bottle materialized out of thin air.
She casually tossed it into the power facility.
Looking utterly bewildered, she reached inside the machinery and pulled out the bottle that had caused the malfunction.
But...
The surface of the reservoir rippled strangely.
“What kind of memory could possibly break—”
“Huh?”
The scene emerging from the bottle was—
Cracks spread across [Lethe's Waterfall].
“Captain!”
“Please stop tormenting me already!”
“AAAAAH!”
“You expect me to restore this in three minutes?!”
“Are you even human?!”
“I've already spent a month pulling all-nighters...”
“Please!”
“Just let me live!”
“This is...”
“Torture!”
Those are memories of pain.
You're never supposed to feed those into it!
Painful memories damaged relics.
Yet...
That only made this even harder to understand.
Silence filled the room.
[$9,999,999,999]
“…A mere human memory...”
“Can actually inflict pain on a relic?”
“No... wait...!”
“Urgh!”
Cynthia stared in utter disbelief.
The fountain collapsed.
Water overflowed everywhere.
At that moment—
Ju-Heon burst into laughter.
“Hahahaha!”
“You've got to be kidding!”
“Well...”
“I guess it really was that painful.”
A memory capable of destroying an entire power facility...
It was valuable enough to warrant serious research.
At the very same instant—
Ju-Heon disappeared.
He seized Cynthia by the collar.
Her eyes widened.
“…What exactly do you think you're doing?!”
Ju-Heon reached out.
The moment he removed the bottle's lid...
A holographic screen projected memories into the air.
Ju-Heon smiled leisurely.
“It's only fair.”
“You've been peeking into our memories.”
“So let's take a look at yours.”
He shoved Cynthia into the waterfall.
Splash!
Water erupted.
Fragments of emotion floated into the air.
Her memories...
And the value of those emotions...
Began to be appraised.
Cheers erupted from the holographic screen.
Cynthia stood atop a crowd, waving to them.
Yet hidden behind that smile...
Was an unmistakable emptiness.
The next scene appeared.
Another Majesty spoke to her.
“There's not much time.”
“If you want to protect this city...”
“You'll have to accept the terms.”
A bottle slowly rose from the center of the fountain.
Cynthia closed her eyes.
Behind her stood thousands of citizens...
Drinking wine.
Laughing happily.
She slowly nodded.
“We're too weak.”
“We have no choice...”
“But to negotiate with him.”
The next moment—
She signed the contract.
Once every month, the bodies of the city's people will be delivered to Majesty Bitrain.
The memory ended there.
Ju-Heon looked away from the hologram...
And stared directly at Cynthia.
It was absurd.
So...
Because you lacked the strength to protect your city...
You sold people instead?
“What a load of absolute bullshit.”