Chapter 5
Dream (3)
One death will be ignored.
['Massacre' has been selected!]
[An excellent choice!]
[We shall grant you special blessings befitting a merciless ruler.]
Buff 3: Executioner's VerdictAny target designated as an enemy by the Majesty will have its location revealed anywhere in the world.Escape is impossible.Buff 4: Protection BarrierThe world of Majesty No. 187487, an allied Majesty, will receive basic protection against Divine-Grade Artifacts.Buff 1: Butcher's EfficiencyThe more enemies the Majesty defeats, the greater their overall combat power becomes.
Ju-Heon checked each buff one by one.
"Oh."
Buff 2: IndomitableEven after suffering a fatal wound, you immediately recover to a combat-ready state.
However, one death will be ignored.
Not bad.
No—
To be honest, they were excellent.
"So these are the perks that suit me."
"All artifact entities."
[...Pardon?]
[To reject the Caretaker's position and choose the path of massacre... remarkable.]
[We admire your boldness, so we'll grant you an especially powerful buff. It will greatly aid your future policy of extermination.]
"They touched my child."
"So they die."
Buff 5: BulldozerThe more you are told, 'That's impossible,' the stronger you become.
Silence filled the air.
And then—
Ju-Heon accepted every single buff without hesitation.
[Artifacts are not valid deletion targets!]
[Please choose from among humanity!]
[Now, let us begin the deletion!]
[Please select the targets to erase ♥]
The crimson status window flashed repeatedly, as if screaming that he had gone insane.
Ju-Heon simply smiled.
"I thought I was the one who got to choose what gets erased."
A savage grin spread across his face.
[Th-That's twisting the rules...!]
"You artifacts kidnapped my daughter."
"So you should've been prepared for this."
[!]
"You said it was entirely my choice."
Ju-Heon continued without stopping.
The crimson system window answered in obvious confusion.
It had intended to steer Ju-Heon toward slaughter.
But not this.
[Executing deletion.]
[Bulldozer buff activated.]
[Impossible! The Majesty exists to protect artifacts! You cannot erase them!]
"Why not? You told me to erase whatever I don't like."
[We meant humans!]
"Then you should've written that properly."
"Where exactly did it say that?"
BOOM!!
Across the entire world—
In museums...
Inside ancient tombs...
And even in people's hands...
Artifacts everywhere began screaming in agony.
[Aaaaagh!!!]
[What are you doing?!]
[The Majesty is attacking us!]
The crimson system window descended into complete panic.
[Correction applied.]
Buff 4: Protection BarrierMajesty 187487 and the world of Majesty 187487 will receive basic protection from Divine-Grade Artifacts.
[Error! Error!]
[This method of usage has no precedent!]
[Cease immediately! We will grant you another privilege if you stop!]
Ju-Heon smiled in satisfaction.
As though he had been waiting for exactly those words, he answered,
"Fine."
"I'll change the target."
[Phew... So Majesty 187487 is simply greedy.]
[To think you even secured protection for yourself... You truly are a master negotiator.]
[Then everything is settle—]
"The deletion targets..."
"...are the ones who touched my child."
"Sure."
"I'll change it."
"But add the Majesty himself to the Protection Barrier's coverage."
[Agreed!]
Silence.
[...What?]
"The day our title changed from 'gods' to 'objects.'"
"Remember?"
Ju-Heon smiled coldly.
Within the dimensional rift.
Four Divine-Grade Artifacts faced one another.
It was Enki who spoke first.
"We're going to erase him."
Nüwa slowly raised her fingertips.
Something was engraved upon her palm.
It was unmistakably...
A brand.
The very same brand borne by bound artifacts.
"Because of him..."
"I am no longer the Goddess who rebuilt heaven and earth."
"The hands that once created humanity have been preserved as nothing more than decorative relics."
A handsome man with jet-black hair, Ra, nodded bitterly.
"Thanks to him..."
"I am no longer the God of the Great Flood."
"I've been reduced to nothing more than a Purification-Attribute Artifact."
Ra let out a short, razor-sharp laugh.
"A god is not immortal."
"But there is someone who dared make gods into eternal tools."
At those words, every one of the gods thought of the same person.
Their expressions hardened.
The mischievous-looking male god, Enki, burst into laughter.
"The one who turned us into artifacts."
"That bastard."
Everything had begun with that accursed Creator of Artifacts.
A heavy silence lingered before Nüwa spoke again.
"What?"
"Have you become some kind of alarm clock now?"
"..."
"I was once the creator of mankind."
"But because of the one who transformed us into artifacts..."
"My hands, once used to rebuild heaven and earth, have become nothing more than museum decorations."
Ra shot Enki an exasperated look.
That was the truth.
The day the gods were turned into artifacts by a single human.
The mere memory of that day caused the gaze in their eyes to surge violently enough to destroy countless worlds.
It was proof that they truly possessed that kind of power.
Vishnu quietly raised a hand.
Layers upon layers of multidimensional realities unfolded before them like sheets of glass.
"You've still got it better than I do."
"There was once a time when the sun itself rose and set in my name..."
"Look."
"Among the countless dimensions, that world is the only one where artifacts have successfully been brought under human control."
"The world where Seo Ju-Heon is the Majesty."
Vishnu spoke calmly.
Enki let out a low sigh.
They had sent allies into every worldline in an attempt to free themselves from becoming artifacts.
"Even so, the tide has already turned."
"Just a little longer, and we will once again become rulers."
"Not as mere functions, but by our true names."
"Not as tools that corrupt, but as living existences."
"The thrones the gods once lost..."
"...we will reclaim them."
"Have the other worldlines succeeded?"
At that, Ra rested his chin on his hand.
In response to Enki's question, Nüwa quietly nodded.
"Half have been successfully conquered."
"The other half were simply erased."
"So the only troublesome world is the one where Seo Ju-Heon exists."
"Still..."
"Seo Ju-Heon is the Majesty who even subdued Zeus."
"It would be best if we could recruit him."
"We could seat him among the Caretakers and use him as our hands and feet."
Enki chuckled.
His eyes, however, did not smile.
Having become artifacts themselves, they too were bound by contracts.
They could no longer launch direct assaults with their full divine power.
"For now, we've even offered him the Executor's special privilege."
"Let's wait a little."
"Do you think it'll work?"
"There won't be any problems."
"Parents always break when you threaten their children."
"We've made him fear us and offered him a way out."
"He'll calmly think about the future."
"Just like all the other Majesties..."
"...he'll surrender soon enough."
[Deletion target changed: Those who touched my child.]
[Their location has been revealed by the Authority of Massacre.]
At that moment—
"..."
Crack.
Every god turned to stare at Enki.
Tiny fractures spread across the bodies of the four Supreme Divine Artifacts.
"Surrender?"
"...!"
Enki lazily rested his chin on one hand and smiled.
[Artifact eradication has begun through the Authority of Massacre.]
"..."
"So the little insect actually has some backbone."
He accepted every benefit we offered... then stabbed us in the back.
Still, it didn't matter.
As Majesties themselves, humans were easier to manipulate than anyone.
The gods knew exactly what kings desired.
That was how they had driven countless Majesties into despair and tears.
And then—
[Negotiations with the Majesty have broken down.]
[Initiating the predetermined Extinction Scenario.]
[You will regret this.]
"Negotiations with Seo Ju-Heon have failed."
"Proceed with the scheduled scenario."
Afterward, the ability to directly erase targets disappeared.
However...
Every buff remained.
Ju-Heon couldn't help feeling that choosing Massacre and then betraying the System had been exactly the right decision.
The reason the Divine-Grade Artifacts could neither openly invade nor come to kill him...
...was undoubtedly because of the Protection Barrier granted by the buffs.
In the end...
If I'm going to find my daughter...
I have to find those bastards.
After choosing Massacre and designating the Divine-Grade Artifacts as his targets...
The crimson message window could no longer hide its fury.
Even so, thanks to the Massacre buffs, Ju-Heon managed to pinpoint their location.
[Los Angeles, United States.]
So he threw Gungnir, Odin's spear—the artifact capable of tracking and piercing its target no matter where on Earth it was.
But—
Something had already bothered him from the very beginning.
The 187,487th Majesty.
If he was the 187,487th...
Then there had to have been 187,486 before him.
[Attack impossible.]
[Target does not exist in this world.]
[Dimensional travel is required.]
So either...
All the previous Majesties died, making me the 187,487th...
Or...
There are currently 187,487 Majesties existing simultaneously.
What do you mean, dimensional travel?
You just said they're in Los Angeles.
Don't tell me...
There's another Los Angeles?
Ju-Heon tapped his desk thoughtfully with his fingers.
Which is it?
Just then—
"Majesty... the 187,487th."
[Notification]
[A Majesty from another worldline is attempting to make contact.]
[Do you accept?]
Ju-Heon frowned.
Another worldline?
[Thank you for accepting the meeting.]
[Please select the difficulty of our encounter.]
A parallel world...?
Ju-Heon rose from his seat.
[Easy Mode]
[Medium Mode]
[Hard Mode]
It's worth meeting them.
They might know how to find my daughter.
That alone was enough reason to pursue this opportunity.
This bastard...
Is he messing with me?
He's seriously assigning a difficulty level... just to meet me?
"I accept."
At that moment, however—
A yellow system window appeared.
Ju-Heon was dumbfounded at first, but quickly understood.
So this is a test they're giving me.
A qualification exam... to see whether I'm worthy of saving my daughter.
Fine.
If I have to choose one...
Without a moment's hesitation—
Ju-Heon selected a mode.