Vol 14 Chapter 4

s.p.a.ce 4: Soul City

s.p.a.cE 4. Soul City

Ku ku ku ku!

“Wah, what is this?”

“Earth and sand is overflowing! Everyone retreat!”

The cry rang out in the darkness. A bunch of shadows stampeded through the hole. They were dirt covered octopuses, one hamster and one man.

“….S-stopped.”

“Pant pant, it is amazing. What happened just then?”

Milan and Tori breathed harshly.

If they had to briefly explained, Milan and Tori stayed with the octopuses while Ark was running around the maze. But all of a sudden, there was an earthquake and the ground started shaking.

However, the shaking only occurred once.

“Let’s see? What could it be?”

“d.a.m.n, there wasn’t any support so a lot of sediment poured down. What happened out of nowhere? It is fortunate that it pa.s.sed quickly but….”

“Can we enter now?”

–Milan-nim! Tori-nim!

While Tori and Milan were gawking at the hole. A small octopus ran forward and shouted.

–H-he is coming! Berami! Berami is entering the pyramid!

“What? That Berami b.a.s.t.a.r.d?”

“Dammit! If that guy discovers it then it will be the end! Cover it!”

–Hurry! Cover the entrance!

After Hakun yelled in a loud voice, the octopuses started to move noisily. They collected long sticks and used tools to camouflage the entrance. While the octopuses were busy, Milan and Tori ran towards Berami in order to buy time.

And they approached Berami with business like smiles.

“Ah Berami-nim, what brings you here?”

“The reason….”

Berami looked around and spoke.

“An earthquake just occurred in the vicinity of the pyramid. What’s going on?”

“Let’s see. I don’t know why the earthquake occurred either. But there is no need to worry. The pyramid is a solid structure that won’t be affected by the earthquake.”

“I want to check it directly so I will look around once.”

“Huh? L-look around?”

“Why, is that going to be a problem?”

“Problem? No. That’s not it…..”

Tori rolled his eyes and used ambiguous language.

He was afraid of this problem. Milan and Tori had proceeded with the octopuses under Ark’s direction. Fortunately, the young octopus guarding the entrance managed to warn them about Berami but they were still anxious.

Ark had been worried. Ark acted separately as soon as he entered the pyramid. Of course there was a reason. Ark had entered the pyramid to search for the Divine Artefact. And the probability was high that only Ark could find the Divine Artefact that Xanax had hidden in the pyramid. That’s why Ark investigated the pyramid alone.

Tori was a quick hamster.

‘The earthquake occurred after Hyung-nim ran in. However he hadn’t found anything yet. The sudden earthquake might even be related to Hyung-nim. Then isn’t it likely Hyung-nim discovered something hidden in there?’

And he could confirm that change with his eyes.

Berami was the problem.

“Where is Ark?!”

Berami asked while looking around. Tori hadn’t thought of the answer so he replied with surprise.

“Huh? Huh? H-Hyung-nim? Hyung-nim….he is busy with something important. That…..”

“Finding valuable relics in the ruins isn’t an easy task. The relics are treasures so they are hidden in the deepest parts of the ruins. A lot of time and effort is required to piece together the clues scattered across the ruins. He needs to concentrate. This is a daunting task for Hyung-nim so I would like to ask Berami-nim to refrain from entering that environment and distracting him. Hyung-nim is concentrating so he shouldn’t be disturbed.”

As expected from a treasure hunter, Milan’s reaction was faster. Tori nodded and quickly supported Milan.

“Yes! That’s right! That…..”

“I know that much.”

Berami interrupted Tori’s words.

“That’s why I accepted Ark’s terms. But it is an emergency right now. Do you know what will happen if an earthquake occurs in a ruin? I’m the owner of these ruins so shouldn’t I look around directly? The Flies alone aren’t enough for me to grasp the situation. Get out of the way.”

Berami didn’t listen to the two of them and entered the pyramid. In the end, Tori and Milan were forced to follow Berami while feeling ‘confused + anxious + on edge.’

Luckily the octopuses had already camouflaged the workshop while Milan and Tori were distracting him. Berami had no interest in the tools in the workshop. The problem was what would happen when Berami entered the main hall.

‘d.a.m.n, Hyung-nim is in the main hall….’

‘Please don’t be doing anything….’

‘It is impossible. We might need to deal with this b.a.s.t.a.r.d.’

Tori and Milan exchanged meaningful glances behind Berami’s back. Berami stopped moving and shouted.

“Eh? This!”

‘d.a.m.n! There is indeed something!’

‘It can’t be helped. Hey, Tori. Be prepared. It will start soon!’

Tori and Milan prepared to throw their bodies towards Berami.

“Why is he on his back like that?”

“Huh?”

Tori and Milan flinched and stopped. They followed Berami’s gaze with a strange expression.

The empty main hall. Ark was lying down in the middle. He wasn’t just lying down. He was in the embarra.s.sing state of lying down without any clothes.

“What on earth is he doing?”

“Well, let’s see. I mean….he is sleeping?”

“Sleeping? Sleeping like that in a place like this?”

“He has a personality that doesn’t like stuffy things….”

“Ha! There really is a variety of things.”

Berami muttered as he bit his lip. And he moved outside like it was troublesome to question it closely anymore. Tori and Milan flew back into the square as soon as they confirmed that Berami left.

Ark was still lying down.

“What? Why is Hyung-nim doing this?”

“d.a.m.n, he has been like this until now. What is he doing?”

“He isn’t dead….I don’t understand. He went to research alone so why is he almost naked?”

“Maybe Hyung-nim is an exhibitionist….”

Tori was looking at Ark when he suddenly raised his head. And he screamed as he saw the Fly flying above.

“T-this! Fly! We’re in trouble!”

“That’s right! Camera!”

Once again, the Flies were only relayed pre-recorded videos to Berami. The Fly that followed Ark showed him investigating the pyramid. But now Ark was lying down in a state of shame.

Berami had confirmed Ark’s condition before leaving. If the Fly didn’t transmit that then their manipulation of the Flies might be noticed!

“There’s no time! Tori!”

“Dammit! That stupid Hyung-nim! He should do something instead of sleeping!”

Tori cursed Ark as he s.n.a.t.c.hed the Fly. He connected his Nymphe to the Fly’s system and registered Ark lying down into the system. The time it took was only 30 seconds!

“Pant pant pant! D-did it go unnoticed?”

“Pant pant pant! We can only hope that it was unnoticed.”

Milan and Tori were gasping for breath after 30 seconds. A group of octopuses then came into the hall and shouted.

–Tori-nim, Milan-nim, it is serious!

–The workshop…

“d.a.m.n! What is it? What is it now?”

Milan and Tori cursed as they got up.

“That d.a.m.n Hyung-nim! Sleeping at a time like this!”

————————————————————————–

“….This place?”

Ark was fl.u.s.tered as he looked around. The ground that stretched out endlessly was covered with sharp rocks.

“Why did I come to a place like this?”

It didn’t make sense. But there was a reason for this result. Ark was confused and started to walk down memory lane.

Ark was able to connect the complicated pa.s.sages in the pyramid to form the Hajaska rune. And through the power of that rune, he was able to see the hidden presence in the main hall.

Anubis holding a scale! It was the same situation as described in books about Ancient Egypt. He didn’t understand Anubis’s words at first but he soon understood after almost being killed by a monster. He went on the scale with all his equipment taken off.

‘….It was the right answer.’

Ark could clearly see that.

A feather was place on the scale. If the heart of the dead was as light as a feather then they were recognized as a good person and moved on to the world of the dead. But that was in the myths.

Ark was thinking that the place where the treasure was hidden would be revealed. However, there was a sudden blast of light and he appeared in this deserted place.

‘I closed my eyes so I didn’t see it properly but I must’ve been moved somewhere the moment the light appeared. In the end….was the pyramid just the gateway to come here? Then the real secret of the pyramid is somewhere here…no, where is this place? Did I see such rock formations on Inquiry? In addition, the celestial bodies...o...b..ting is similar to Inquiry but is slightly different. That red planet seemed a little closer on Inquiry. The planets are the same but their sizes are different. Then another planet nearby….’

“Wait? Perhaps this location is?”

Ark lifted his head as he had a thought. He looked at the 3D galaxy map saved on his Nymphe and exclaimed.

“Oh my G.o.d! There’s no doubt about it. My current location is Ghost Star Rock! Ghost Star Rock. Doesn’t this mean that it was related to Inquiry?”

An incredibly shocking fact! However, his conclusion didn’t change no matter how many times he checked it.

It was the mirage like planet that the Silver Star had tried to land on for 1 hour. Yet Ark managed to unexpectedly arrived on it through the pyramid on Inquiry.

“When looking at the overall situation, doesn’t the pyramid on Inquiry act like a Star Gate to this planet? Yes, this is the method to enter the ghost planet. Then the probability is high that Xanax hid the Divine Artefact on here.  Yes, it is starting to fit now.”

A lot of unanswered questions still remained. He didn’t know why the Ghost Star Rock had the form of a mirage. And if Anubis’s pyramid had a Star Gate to move here then this planet should have a device to return to Inquiry.

However, the only thing that could be seen was a wasteland filled with rocks. He couldn’t see any device to return to Inquiry. And Ark was convinced the Divine Artefact would be hidden here but he couldn’t get a sense of it. But Ark didn’t worry about it too much.

“Heh, this isn’t the first game I’ve played. The process for finding the Divine Artefact will eventually be revealed. Then it isn’t necessary to think about it. First I need to search around for the Divine Artefact. My one worry is about the pyramid….Tori and Milan will be upset if I suddenly disappeared….”

-The relevant NPC is outside the range of communication.

He wanted to communication with Milan and Tori but it didn’t connect as expected. There was no way to get in contact so Milan and Tori would have to handle it until he found the Divine Artefact.

And Ark had already solved the secret of the pyramid. If he got the Divine Artefact then it would be OK even if a bad situation happened.

“Tori and Milan can handle that guy. Right now I have to worry about myself.  I don’t know what type of place this is. I can’t guarantee what will happen. Ah, I’m also in the state where my armour is taken off. Then I should collect some equipment for the moment…eh? What happened to my body?”

Ark only just noticed that his body was in a translucent state. He didn’t know all the facts.

But he grasped what was roughly needed in order to return. If he sat down and thought about it then the remaining problems wouldn’t be settled. All the problems would melt away once he found the Divine Artefact.

Fortunately, the equipment was stored in his backpack without any problems.

-The equipment arrangement has been completed!

Weapons: <equalizer>Armour: <hide>, <baius>, <harkenion>, <belphegor>,