Chapter 194 (1/2)

Final Battle (5)

Even before the successor released the first Dimensional Bird, the Dimensional Storm was already raging. The whole world couldn’t be protected even after the Administrator took over, owing to the limitations of competence and resources.

Due to that reason, dimensions emerged that were inevitably victimized. Unable to bear it, space broke. It was to the extent that not only the Spirit but also the successor couldn’t know how many dimensions had been fragmented and scattered.

The Administrator paid attention to where the fragmented dimensional debris was headed. They stagnated in the place where dimensions were connected, like dust filling a gap between tiles.

She decided to call the place the ‘middle dimension.’

To create a threat for the mortals, the Administrator decided to meddle with the place where countless pieces of space were randomly intertwined.

‘I’ve already expected this, but it’s a mess. I don’t know where to start. It’s too complicated to handle as it is. We need to divide them into sections.’

It was the birth of “dungeons,” spaces under the System’s management that isolated a portion of the middle dimensions.

Some of the debris deposited there was only a collection of cosmic dust and gas, while others maintained a fairly reasonable ecosystem.

However, amid separation and fluctuation from the original dimensions, civilization collapsed, and most of them were living like primitive beings. That was enough for the Administrator.

– Do you wish to Awaken through a contract with the System?

The Administrator offered contracts to the species that had barely survived in the middle dimension. Most of them accepted, worshipping her as a god.

Many of them were born without Mana Heart, but the Administrator couldn’t care less. She planted Mana Hearts, better known as Mana Cores, in their hearts herself instead.

It had another difference from the contracts for common mortals.

‘Once again, help me.’

‘Gladly.’

The incarnations which were once the god of the mind lent her their power.

As a result, the middle dimension species, in those numerous individuals’ minds, the curse of Mercadius permeated thinly and shallowly. It reached a point that no one could notice its existence.

Perfect brainwashing or manipulation was impossible since it was a weak force, but they could instill only a sole heavy emotion.

Extreme anger toward those designated by the System.

More specifically, it was a ferocious murderous intent toward creatures that lived in normal dimensions beyond the blue Gate.

The Administrator named them “monsters” because they were carried away by emotions that surpassed their instincts and were always in a delirious state.

*

– That’s a big problem. Items don’t come out anymore, even if we Clear the Tower!

– We can’t receive Mana Cores or experience points!

By that time, the Awakened had to adapt to the changed System.

The Administrator thought: The System of throwing carrots through the Tower was so moderate and inefficient since it left them the choice to climb the Tower or not.

Hence, she forced the Awakened had to deal with the dungeons.

There was no such thing as a choice.

– Monsters are suddenly coming out of the blue door!

Uncleared dungeons collapsed and threw up monsters, and they unleashed a killing spree. Awakened beings had to Clear those Gates to protect their world.

Of course, the System didn’t forget the carrots. Though the reason was getting blurry, she remembered that the purpose of everything was to foster the future Empire’s establishment.

– Items are available when we Cleared the dungeons!

– We can get Mana Cores from the hearts of monsters. It doesn’t disappear even after they die!

At that point, the Awakened had become desperate again.

However, not everyone did.

– We must complain to the System Administrator! Let’s communicate through the Union Command, which has the authority to contact her!

Some couldn’t adapt to the changed System. Such was the law of natural selection.

‘What? Get rid of all the Gates? If that’s what you wish.’

In a cold rage, the Administrator took action. She had sealed the Dimensional Bird that resided in a dimension that had made such a claim back in the egg.

‘Don’t you want any more evolution? Would you refuse to advance and move forward from where you are? If you want to degenerate, then I’ll give you a choice. Climb that Tower and break the egg at the top with your hands. All the Gates will then disappear in an instant.’

That was the only way for them to get rid of the Gates.

The moment the Dimensional Bird disappeared, the Dimensional Storm would soon strike and unlink all connections, so it was natural.

Without knowing the future ahead, some species climbed the Tower. By then, it had already been renamed as the ‘Tower of Choice’ in the sense that it had become a place to determine the fate of the world, not a structure for training.

And the fate of the dimension that broke the egg and closed all Gates was obvious. Such a world began to disintegrate in the Dimensional Storm slowly.

They belatedly realized their fate was in despair, but there was no way to escape. It’s already been a long time since they had been disconnected from the System.

Such broken dimensional debris was stacked in the middle dimension and became the material for a new dungeon. The species that once achieved a brilliant civilization lost their glory and became monsters in the end.

‘Even the Union Command opposed me?’

The Administrator was enraged.

‘Alright, I only need one species left. What do you say? Would you like to remain and serve me?’

The race chosen by the Administrator was the Adgons, of course.

The four species, except them, were separated and destroyed by Mercadius from within.

At that point, the successor was forced to step up.

However, that situation wasn’t included in their unconscious destiny since even the future Empire didn’t expect it. They had to hand over their homework to the next life if they found it impossible to overturn the twisted System in the current life.

It was possible since it wasn’t the destiny set by those from the future, in other words, the kind of task that forced the successor to repeat if failed.

However, a clear sense of purpose permeated the deposited memory while the process continued: the goal to recover the twisted System back to normal somehow.

Thus, the successors had tried their best in their respective lives, but they had all so far met death without fixing the System’s “error” and “contradiction.”

And in the current cycle, the successor came up to the stage of peeking at the Administrator’s memory for the first time.

*

I stared at the sight unraveling before my eyes.

‘That’s-!’

The Adgon that flew along the single black path stopped in front of a huge luminous body.

The other party facing him was a large and vivid light that was comparable to a star.

I felt shocked and longing at the same time as it filled my view.

Wait a minute… longing?!

‘This is not my emotion. The successors of the previous generations. The accumulated memories of my past life are slowly permeating.’

Mana waves continued to flow to the Adgon species’ world, following the black passage and the vast light serving as its source. The aggregation was pure Mana itself.

Looking inside, I found multiple glimmers, almost like stars embedded in space.

‘Mana Cores. A myriad of them, even.’

The flow rotated, winding around the center, and inside of that was an engine that operated the System.

It was the power source where a fearsome amount of Mana gathered.

‘The Mana Core of the dead Awakened are summoned hack here. It then sends the Core back into a new monster’s heart. This is the source of everything and the link to the cycle.’