Above Your Head-Vol 2. Chapter 105: The Salvation of God (42)

Vol 2. Chapter 105: The Salvation of God (42)

His death was just the beginning.

"Magic Tower Lord-nim... I can't believe he's already gone. I still have a lot to learn from him though..."

"You had a pretty hard time on the stage. It was rather peaceful at the last minute..." 

The Tower Lord of the Supreme Magic Tower,  Shin In-hwa, closed his eyes while receiving the mourning of countless wizards. Soon after, the Sky Magic Tower Lord also closed his eyes. The Soul Magic Tower Lord also lich-ified himself in the face of death.

"But can he still challenge the stage after he becomes a Lich?"

"That's something no one knows..."

Funerals began all over the place. In fact, unlike the Tower Lord of the Three Great Magic Tower who was no different from being completely annihilated, none of the Sect Leaders of the Five Great Military Factions had died yet. This was due to the difference in life expectancy according to the level of spiritual ability trained. 

Which spiritual power should one train in to obtain the longest life span? The answer was Life Energy, which had the power to evolve the body as desired by the practitioners. 'And there's no one in the world who wishes to be short-lived.' Among the Life Energy practitioners who already mastered a silent method of training, there were cases where some lived for more than 300 years. 

'The next was Aura, followed by martial arts, and then Chakra. Well, it’s in that kind of order. Generally, training methods that strengthen the body help with longevity.' In that sense, magic was not a very helpful ability for longevity. Without additional measures such as Lich-ification, it was a training method that made it difficult for its practitioners to live past 200 years. 

It's not good. 

"It's very bad..." I muttered.

As a matter of fact, the funerals had been going on all along. There were many elderly people who came into the Unique World, after all. The problem, a serious one, was that the high level people were starting to die and the average level of Earth fell. Moreover, there was another problem known as the Level Limit. 

Kwareukkkkkkk!! The ground reverberated loudly. As I shifted my eyes towards the display to confirm it, I saw the sight of Black Tortoise standing in front of thousands of Death Knights. The ground tremored when the snake, wrapped around Black Tortoise's arms, was released and it buried its head in the ground. 

Booom!!!!! A huge shock wave spread across the ground. Some of the Death Knights jumped and avoided contact with the ground to dodge the shock wave, but those who failed were hit with a massive impact.

"I didn't even teach him, but he's growing towards that direction in the end, huh." I raised an eyebrow. Duke Howard, the founding contributor of the Leonhardt Empire who died at my hands, was nicknamed Earthshaker because he could cause an earthquake with only one stomp. Of course, I wouldn't dare compare Jae-seok's talent with his right now, but it could at least be said that they grew towards the same direction.

Ilsung

Level 17

Black Tortoise, Bae Jae-seok

"Ah, he's not level 18 even after this much. Huh."

No matter how much of a special creation it is, anything more than that would be difficult with a Beast-rank Gigas. To be honest, at this standard, its strength can already surpass most Human-rank Gigas. Although it is a problem that the performance mainly relies on the strength of the pilot... If it's Bae Jae-seok, then he's a pretty great pilot.

As Genie had said, Jae-seok was now a good enough pilot. He had built up great proficiency as he had already spent decades clearing the stage while riding on a Gigas. It was no exaggeration to say that his ability to use his Life Energy to his heart's content, even after boarding a Gigas, was close to that of his glory days.

'However.' I acknowledged that now Jae-seok was in prime, he could no longer grow from this point onwards. 'And it's not just Jae-seok.'

Level Limit, in other words, referred to the limits of talent. The average level of Earth, which had been rising like crazy, had begun to gradually stagnate. No matter how much one were to train themselves, eat spiritual medicines, and gain enlightenment, they would eventually reach a point where they could no longer grow.

Some stopped growing at Level 10, and some at Level 15. They would be faced with a wall of talent that couldn't be overcome no matter how much they killed. It was a slightly different feeling from the walls one would encounter when training their spiritual abilities, since this was a real wall that couldn't be overcomed even if one were to train in a perfect environment until they died of old age… 

Just as the Supreme Magic Tower Lord failed to surpass the 8th-Class state, the limits of talent that could not be exceeded without a very special enlightenment or chance even if one were to struggle forever stood in the way of people. In other words, the reality was that even if the Unique World kept maintaining as it was now, the players would just die of old age aside from failing to grow stronger. However, it wasn't as if there was only despair in the Unique World.

This concludes the Iron Academy's 5th Graduation Ceremony!

"Waaaaahhhhhh!!!"

"I graduated!!"

"Uacckkkk! I couldn't make it to the top 1,000 after all. For starters, I need to raise my capabilities with the Tool-rank Gigas so that I can receive a Beast-rank Gigas..."

As much as there were dying people, there were also people who were being born. As the Unique World basically overflowed with Gigas, they easily encountered the Gigas since childhood, dreamt of becoming a Gigas pilot, and trained their skills in an appropriate direction for the sake of controlling Gigas'. 

In the 20th year, there were currently over a million combat teams in action in the stage. The Unique World's population had also surpassed 400 million. 

Among the wizards in the Unique World, the Enchant school of skills which became the mainstream group, went beyond learning just the spells that continuously poured out of the marble of the Magic Imperial Princess. It now reached the level of being able to create the kind of enchantments they wanted. 

The level of production workers had also increased significantly, and were led by those who idolized me, the person who could be said to be the ruler of the Unique World. Surprisingly, there were even people in the group who imitated my characteristics.

Then, just like that, in the 25th year, the Unique World's population had surpassed 1 billion. The population had grown more than when the test first began. And although it was slightly late, those staying in the Cradle of Justice entered the stage after meeting me and coming into the Unique World.

"Wow, I held off while setting the flow of time 10,000 times slower. The stage is still going on, huh."

"Oh my God, look at that. It's so cool..."

"Hey there!!! Newbies, come on in after eating bread and drinking water!!" 

"The quota! Miss Genie will reprimand you if you miss it!"

Just like that... 30 years went by and the first Highest-difficulty stage was over.

- Congratulations! The stage has been cleared perfectly! Rewards are given based on contribution.

- Your ranking is 1st-place.

"Phew." Before I knew it, I was sitting in Gwanghwamun Square. 

"Uwaaahh?! What the? Why are there so few people here?"

"Don't tell me, did the stage fail??? Is it because it's the Highest level of difficulty?"

"No, then shouldn't there at least be corpses around? Why isn't there anything?"

I could hear the commotion coming from the bewildered players who stood around the square. They were people who obtained a Justice Weapon and accessed the Cradle of Justice, but they were not at the level where they could put up a fight. Therefore, they set the flow of time to the slowest and just waited for the stage to be over. 

"I thought there would be people like that, but there are more than I thought. Even if they slowed the flow of time, if they checked from time to time, there'd be no way they wouldn't know the existence of the Unique World."

Gwanghwamun Square, which was packed at the start of the stage, was now incredibly quiet. It almost felt completely empty, but that was only natural. In fact, it was not only Gwanghwamun Square since most of the world's human population had entered my Unique World. And when I found out about that fact, I suddenly became curious. "But Ares, you said you saw the Project End a few times right?" 

That's right, though it’s in a slightly different form from this.

"Then, since we're on this topic..." Instead of putting people down in the empty Gwanghwamun Square, I asked, "What would happen if I let people stay in the Unique World just like this and run away from Earth?"

***

Kwareukkkkkkk! Thunder boomed in the cloudless sky, and a handsome man of fine height appeared. With his unusually yellow and green hair hanging down to his waist, he wore clothes made of finely polished animal leather and unidentifiable metal. I could slightly see unknown patterns hidden inside the leather clothes that clung to his body. 

"I ended up coming here in person. I'm already busy as it is." The name of the man floating still as if unaffected by the influence of gravity was Milleon the Windless. He was an Emperor-class great hero who possessed the nickname All Master, well-renowned throughout the entire Great Universe. He was an extremely strong being who could even split a planet in half with a stroke of his sword if he wanted. 

However, even with that power... As soon as he descended to the ground, he felt goosebumps all over his body. He commented, "...This. I'm late." Having survived in the era of The Great War, he knew about the existence of Project End. In actual fact, he had even seen several civilizations destroyed by it, so it was only natural. 

Wiiiiiinggg!! High-ranking magic was manifested without a single hand gesture, and he downloaded information from all over the world. He then muttered in surprise, "Project End... Horror Concept... MMORPG? Oh my, this, is this done in the form of a game?"

There were almost no civilizations who managed to survive after taking on Project End in its pure state, because the method of constantly amplifying and materializing the fear of the relevant civilization literally had the destructive power that matched the reputation of Doomsday Weapon. Therefore, civilizations during The Great War studied all sorts of ways to survive, and the most successful of them was to add concepts.

Milleon had witnessed quite a few concepts, and he knew that the most common was the book. Adventure novels, love novels, fairy tales, even manhwas and webtoons. Videos also existed, embodying the world of movies and dramas.

And the whole process was terrible, because Project End existed for the purpose of the end. Therefore, no matter what direction was taken, the concept of Horror could not be removed. Even if the concept was set to a romance novel, it would become a Horror Romance Novel. However, if the concept was simply added as such, there was a chance of survival. Even if the concept was Clear, there were cases where 30 percent of the corresponding civilization survived. Although there was a problem in which all relevant civilizations suffered from PTSD as they struggled to survive in the world of fear, they survived one way or another. 

However, right now, at this place… The Game concept chosen by Earth-34 was different. 

"It's dangerous."

There were also quite a few civilizations that added the Game concept to the Project End. At first glance, it was a very good way to look at it since it was possible to strengthen civilization itself with the inexplicable power of the Unnamed that ignored all the laws of the Great Universe. 

After all, weren't the basics of a game to level up in the end? However, the Game concept was too dangerous. It was also a precarious concept to be referred to as high-risk high-return. That was the case even if they were to Clear the Project End and overcome it.

"Most people die in the process of clearing it."

Milleon had seen the scene where the game concept of the Project End was cleared before. It was a destroyed civilization in which all living things died. And, the one person who mourned over its destruction, was a single transcendent. 

The update of the game concept of the Project End was too fast. No matter how advanced the spiritual study of the corresponding civilization was, it was impossible for the entire human race to keep up to the pace of the updates. Only an extremely small number of people who were brilliant and distinguished, possessed great destiny and devilish telent, and above all, had the potential to transcend, could overcome the concept. 

"Moreover, it was difficult to even escape the game concept."

If every single being of the corresponding civilization ran away from the planet where the Project End was located, and the Project End's Clear failed to be completed, the Project End would evolve into the Evil Influence of an Incomplete End. It would then chase after the escapees of the corresponding civilization. They would catch and devour them for the purpose of completing the Project End. 

The problem was that the civilization that carried out the game concept obtained stats and skills by playing the game, and those stats and skills became a kind of Marker. With the power and authority equivalent to that of an Untouchable, the Evil Influence of an Incomplete End would go after the Marker until the end of the universe. Survival was impossible unless the escapees escaped to the realm of an Untouchable with a good temper (though it was uncertain if such an existence existed). 

"Let's see... Aigoooo. There are only 2.5 billion people left on Earth, isn't there?" Million's expression turned serious, because he knew for a fact that the population of Earth-34 was about 6 to 7 billion. It was just like the other Earths. 

"If so, their level is about Level 5? No, is it about Level 8? I would have to take part in the Project End eventually if I want to save the adoption son brat." As he muttered like that and accepted the world's information, his expression suddenly went blank. "Huh?" An unbelievable piece of information was flowing into his head. "Huuuuuhhhh???"

- Stage will be open!

- Level 15. Difficulty is set to Low.

- A new participant has been confirmed. The Level will be changed!

- Level 1. Difficulty is set to Low.

- The stage from Level 1 Low-difficulty to Level 15 Low-difficulty will proceed in succession!

It was a transfer of new participants in the middle of the stage, and not a process that only applied for Milleon. Rather, it was a process that all those who were born in the Unique World and went to Earth experienced. However, as they were new participants, they couldn't make additional clears or cancel someone's death just because they cleared the stage in their respective timelines. They could only proceed with their own stage until they caught up to the Level 15 stage. But it was not the transfer process that mattered to Milleon.

"No, what is this... Level 15? They're at Level 15? Even though there are 2.5 billion people alive?"

"Kyaaaaaak!!" A Level 1 Low-rank monster, Zombie Kid, screamed as it saw Milleon and charged at him right away. Milleon looked at it with a look of disbelief. "Kyaaaa---!!!" With a single glance from him, the body burned to the ground and disintegrated. No matter how much the stats were restricted, undeads of that level were existences who were nothing but dust in front of the All Master. 

"No, no, what on earth..." Then, Milleon mumbled with a blank expression on his face in front of the corpse that disintegrated. "2.5 billion humans, that means that on average... Does it mean that they all proceeded with the Level 15 stage??"