Chapter 105

Chapter 105. Abandoned Zone

“Honestly, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed about what happened this time.”

We were inside the passage leading to the abandoned zone, connected to the crumbling outer wall of the black market.

Standing in front of a huge sealed door, I stared blankly at it before casually speaking.

Several layers of doors had been installed because they were worried that Void Beasts might come through the passage and invade the black market.

But because of that, just getting into the abandoned zone took forever, and all kinds of random thoughts began floating through my head.

“What are you disappointed about?”

“I don’t know. It just feels like everything starts with something and ends with Madness. Do you know what a deus ex machina is? Basically, no matter what I do, it eventually ends with Madness solving everything.”

“You used it efficiently.”

“Still, if possible, I wanted to feel a little more heart-pounding tension.”

It wasn’t as though there had been no tension at all.

I had activated my Domain Skill even before entering the penthouse, and because the Administrator had been far stronger than I imagined, there had been a real possibility that the chains wouldn’t hold and would snap.

If that happened, I could have lost everything and been kicked out.

Near the end, the duration of my Domain Skill had almost run out as well.

If the Administrator had decided to pull the chain one more time while thinking, Ah, screw it, the chain would probably have snapped, and I would have lost the bet.

I had secretly been sweating bullets.

But the Administrator, infected by Madness, probably hadn’t noticed something like that.

And that was what had led to our current situation.

“Come to think of it, the Administrator eventually escaped the influence of Madness at the end.”

“Maybe people with a certain amount of power naturally recover on their own? Madness isn’t an incurable disease.”

“That’s right. Unless someone keeps staying beside Ingwang-nim like I do, the Madness should leave their body within about a month at most.”

Madness wasn’t an incurable disease.

However, once someone had been infected once, they would become infected more easily the second time.

Then even more easily the third time.

Then the next.

Eventually, they would become a host capable of spreading Madness all on their own.

That was how the mouse soldiers were now.

The badgers from my tester days had been the same.

The goblins that joined a little later had still been relatively normal back then, but who knew how they were doing now?

Kuuung!

Creeeeak!

“This is the final door. If you walk for around ten minutes from here, you will arrive at the abandoned zone.”

“Thanks, Ninja Cyborg!”

“…I am merely following orders.”

The Ninja Cyborg opened the thick iron door leading to the abandoned zone, handed me the key, and disappeared as if he didn’t want to stay here any longer.

A ninja and a cyborg.

Maybe he was secretly an alien too.

Or a psychic.

Or even a pirate.

You don’t have to hide it anymore.

I’m ready to accept everything now, so just tell me the truth.

“…Anyway. If something like this happens again, I want to try handling it without using the power of Madness.”

“That is a good idea. An object that can solve everything instantly will only make a person lazy.”

“Right? Good! If we get another chance, let’s do it that way!”

We passed through the final door and slowly walked down the passage.

It must have seen quite a few incidents over the years.

None of the lamps hanging high above were intact.

The walls and floor were covered with the uncollected corpses of adventurers and creatures that looked like Void Beasts, along with blood and a terrible stench.

They said people only came here once in a while to check on things.

And just as I’d heard, this place clearly hadn’t been maintained at all.

If we went a little farther, would we finally see the Void Beasts I had only heard about?

“Jjikjjik.”

“Yes! Master!”

In that case, it would probably be better to bring out all the mouse soldiers from now on.

Until I found a proper manager, I decided to leave the management of the mice to Jjikjjik.

“From now on, you’re the commander of the mice. You were basically already doing that, but let’s make it official this time.”

“Thank you!”

“Take the kids and use them however you want.”

“Yes!”

I watched Jjikjjik begin sorting the mice freely according to my instructions, then leaned against the wall of the passage for a moment.

Since I had already used my Domain Skill once, it would be better to rest for a while so that I could deal with any unpredictable situations beyond the passage.

…Also, after seeing something as immersion-breaking as a Ninja Cyborg, I needed some time to properly immerse myself in World Gate again.

“Do you think this might have been an area they originally planned to release in a later update?”

“Like the Underground Kingdom?”

“Yeah, like the Underground Kingdom. Maybe that’s why they made it an abandoned zone that even the black market couldn’t touch. It could have been designed as a high-level hunting ground for players who returned after leveling up a lot.”

Unlike the Underground Kingdom, they had let me enter rather easily, so part of me thought there might not actually be much here.

Still, considering that even the Administrator, who could tear apart the outer wall of the black market with his bare hands, had been unable to deal with this place, my guess didn’t seem impossible.

Even if everyone here joined forces, we might not be able to defeat a single Void Beast.

Or maybe there were so many Void Beasts that we would simply be overwhelmed by their numbers.

If that happened, Madness would be useful since it worked well against large numbers.

But Hayang wasn’t here right now.

And Madness was absurdly powerful, unpredictable, and felt too much like a decisive hidden card.

Using it every time made me feel strange.

It was like wanting to do a veteran no-armor run, only for your character to be so overpowered that every boss and monster died in one hit.

There was no tension.

…If I keep thinking about the same thing over and over, I guess I really hated how that turned out.

No matter how many times I thought about how my conversation with the Administrator ended, I still didn’t like it.

This wasn’t something I should simply think about once and forget like usual.

I needed to seriously consider it.

When Hayang gets here, I’ll start using it actively again.

Now I had one more reason to break through the Maze Forest.

Having a clear purpose somehow made me feel more energetic.

“Master. I have finished sorting the mice. Perhaps the mice meant for reproduction should be kept separately inside your shadow.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure. Good work.”

“And Master, the mouse soldiers who survived the final battle against the tree are currently undergoing unusual changes. I believe you should take a look.”

Right.

I had already noticed signs of that.

Perfect timing.

I should properly inspect them.

Maybe they would achieve a new evolution like Jjikjjik had.

I looked over the mice, who were difficult to tell apart.

This one, that one, they all looked like the same creepy creature.

I really didn’t want to stare at them for long.

“You?”

“Squeak!”

Squeak, squeak.

Ten mice rapidly crawled forward in front of me.

I knew these were the ones who survived the battle against the tree, but couldn’t they just walk normally?

Why were they crawling out in such a creepy way?

You guys can walk on two legs.

If they evolved, even if they didn’t become like Jjikjjik, I hoped they at least evolved into something that walked normally.

They were way too creepy right now.

“I recognize every single one of you.”

“!!!”

If they evolved and became smarter, they probably wouldn’t be moved by such an obvious lie anymore, right?

That would actually be a little disappointing.

Still, as long as they didn’t develop the same strange loyalty as Jjikjjik, I would be satisfied.

Jjikjjik was great in most ways, but deep down, he seemed to have this belief that he was superior to everyone else.

It felt like he was using me to satisfy that sense of superiority.

And the problem was that he wasn’t lying to me or flattering me without meaning it.

Everything came sincerely from the bottom of his heart, so I couldn’t even criticize him for it.

Honestly, he had been cuter back when he was just a mouse that couldn’t speak.

[Ten Mouse Soldiers overflowing with vitality are on the verge of evolution! The assistance of a Transcendent Being is required for their evolution!]

“Huh? Jayeon?”

“These are the creatures that consumed the life force scattered by the tree during the battle, along with the final traces of life left behind by their dead comrades. They certainly carry an energy similar to mine.”

“Ohhh, I see. I understand now.”

“But Father, will these creatures truly be useful? Even if lowly, disgusting things like these evolve, I doubt they will be of much help to you.”

“Why? Do you have to give them something to evolve them?”

“I have to share some of my life force with them. I can recover it, so that is not a problem, but… is it really wise to waste power on something unnecessary?”

“Now, now. You shouldn’t decide the future so easily, Daughter. You never know what will happen in this world.”

Jjikjjik.

Jayeon.

Even Modak.

If I had thought the same way Jayeon did, none of them would even exist in this world.

I hope all of you remember that your very existence was created because of my Madness.

“…I understand. If Father says so.”

[The life force of the Mouse Soldiers blossoms through the power of a Transcendent Being! A Racial Evolution Quest has begun!]

Ohhh.

A Racial Evolution Quest?

Was this similar to the quest I did when I became a Half-Demon?

…Then would these mice have to build up karma somewhere too?

Hmm…

I hope these guys don’t care much about that sort of thing.

If they had personalities like mine, I might end up with ten more things like Levy.

One Levy was already exhausting enough.

Having another would only give me a headache without offering any benefits.

[Evolution Quest: ‘Upon Hundreds of Lives’ — Their bodies contain souls far too massive and numerous for their current vessels to contain! A process is required to expand the capacity of their souls!]

[Void Beast Hearts 0/10]

[Information regarding Void Beast Hearts is severely lacking! Research into Void Beast Hearts is required!]

This text…

I had seen something similar when researching the bamboo.

…What if I messed something up and everything exploded and collapsed like last time?

The bamboo forest had been ruined so badly that I had even heard something like a crystallized, melting rock giant was wandering around there now.

If another massive explosion, or something equally ridiculous, happened this time, I really didn’t think I could deal with it.

“Anyway, hunting Void Beasts is mandatory. All right! Jjikjjik! We need these ten to evolve, so command them carefully and make sure they don’t die! Let’s go!”

“Yes! I will obey your command!”

Our preparations were finished.

My Domain Skill would also be ready again after waiting a little longer.

It was finally time to enter the abandoned zone properly.

Please let there be a lot of Void Beasts, but let each individual one be weak enough to serve as good food for the mice.

[You have arrived at Abandoned Zone ‘E-1’! You possess Administrator Authority over this zone!]

[Those who lack resistance to the cries of Void Beasts will experience auditory hallucinations!]

[Some will experience visual hallucinations due to the heavy atmosphere of the long-abandoned zone and the darkness where they cannot see even an inch ahead!]

The instant we entered the abandoned zone, all kinds of status effects were applied.

The mouse soldiers without resistance fell into panic almost immediately.

Even Village Chief experienced confusion for a moment.

It seemed ordinary resistance wouldn’t be enough to endure this place.

I could use my pseudo Lion’s Roar to bring everyone back to their senses, but if I kept doing that, they might never be able to survive here without me.

“Jjikjjik, can you remove their status effects?”

“Yes. However, the duration is short. If I focus on removing the status effects, I do not believe I will be able to participate in battle.”

“…All right. Do that. For now, focus on recovering them from status effects and commanding them. But don’t recover them too quickly. Give them some time. They need to adapt to this place.”

Eventually, the ones that couldn’t adapt would die.

The ones that adapted would survive and continue passing those traits down.

Wasn’t that basically how wolves, once wild predators, became dogs and joined human families?

I had used a little bit of that principle when I first created the mouse soldiers too.

Unlike back then, we now had Void Beasts prepared as food.

So these mice should be mentally more stable than the previous ones, right?

“Let’s go deeper.”

Thanks to having Administrator Authority, I could understand the geography of this place.

If I had to describe it, it felt like a ruined city.

The kind of apocalypse where people infected with a zombie virus wandered around in hordes and human society had collapsed.

Actually, maybe there were still people living here.

Maybe someone had gotten lucky, found a safe zone, and was surviving inside it.

“This place looks very similar to the black market.”

“Who knows? Maybe this whole place used to be a normal city where people lived, then something happened and it ended up like this. The black market might simply be the city created by the survivors who barely managed to escape.”

“Oh, that is quite a convincing theory. Perhaps clues about that remain somewhere in this place.”

“Tell the kids to search for that kind of thing.”

“Hoho. Understood.”

Splat.

A thick liquid dripped from the ceiling.

It landed on the cold, sticky asphalt, then flowed into a crack.

And then—

It appeared.

Having adapted to a life in this place, where the only light came from the lamps we carried, its eyes had completely degenerated.

Its body was translucent and yellowish.

Metal plates had been attached to its body, while limp, tentacle-like appendages swung around like arms and legs.

It looked strangely like an evolved slime.

Maybe it was like a slime that had developed a mouth and tried to imitate the silhouette of a human.

“…Can we eat that?”

“Don’t say something disgusting.”

“…Jellyfish salad!”

“Shut up! Don’t make me imagine it!”

If we were starving badly enough, we would probably eat it.

For now, I wanted to see whether the mice could fight that Void Beast on their own.

I could also see a purple heart beating in the center of its translucent body.

If we could remove that heart cleanly, we could begin researching it.

Splat.

Splat.

Splat.

One.

Two.

Three.

More and more began appearing.

They crawled out from the narrow gaps between collapsed buildings.

They emerged from the domed ceiling where no light reached.

Endlessly.

One unfinished-human-shaped slime after another continued appearing without stopping.

They were probably being drawn toward the sounds we made.

I see…

If creatures like this silently slipped out of the darkness, most people would be caught off guard.

And if they endlessly emerged from everywhere like this, the place would be completely unsuitable for anyone to live in.

Even filling this entire zone with combatants probably wouldn’t be enough to make things easy.

“For now, let’s see what they can do.”

From what I could see, their flow wasn’t terribly twisted or complicated.

It was actually very simple and direct, almost as if they would collapse the moment I touched them.

But I was the only one who could use flow.

So first, let’s see how effective ordinary fists are against them.

And more importantly—

Let’s find out whether they’re edible.

That was the most important question.

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