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- If you’re still alive, go to where the thunder sleeps within five days.
The message echoed across the world, and it was in a language that the majority of Overminds couldn’t comprehend.
However, every Player instantly understood the message.
“Specter is calling us.”
“To go to…”
“The Wailing Mountains.”
The Players scattered throughout the world looked up at the clear skies and started moving with one destination in mind.
***
The massive throne room felt cold and empty. It was so quiet that it was hard to believe that there were over a hundred people in the throne room.
“...”
The emperor was sitting with his legs crossed and his chin in his hand. His face was expressionless. He looked more arrogant than regal.
However, the haughty air about him made everyone hold their breath as if he was a valuable artifact that they couldn’t afford to touch.
“The place where the thunder sleeps. Have you found where it is?”
His vassals did not dare to lift their heads because they still hadn’t found it.
“Dungeon Master.”
“Y-Yes, Your Majesty,” replied Bart in a shaky voice.
He was the Dungeon Master of the empire.
“What did he say?”
“W-Well…”
Bart started trembling like a leaf as he held the piece of paper in his hands.
When the emperor’s cold eyes landed on him, his shaking intensified.
Prince Digor stepped up to him and snatched the paper.
“You’re all idiots, morons, dummies, and even dumber than that nerd. Do you really think that the thunder can sleep? You sterile bastards…” He read off of it with a flat voice. The paper was covered with insults and nothing else. Prince Digor shrugged. "I knew he was no ordinary man. It seems that he can withstand heavy torture.”
“...” The emperor quietly closed his eyes. When he did, the dungeon master’s skin peeled, and his body parts were slowly shredded into minute pieces.
“Ahhh! Your Majesty! P-Please…! Please, just give me another—Ahhhhh!”
Bart couldn’t obtain any useful information even though it had already been two weeks.
In addition, he dared to disturb the emperor’s peace.
That was why he deserved to die…
“Tsk…” Prince Digor pursed his lips as he looked down at the bloodstained floor. “Uh, we don’t have many people left. You should have been a bit more merciful.”
He knew that this would happen, though. The little shit who called himself Seo Jun-Ho had destroyed the one and only Radio Tower, after all. It was a move to provoke the emperor and shock the citizens.
‘It’s already been two days, but we still haven’t even cracked the code.’
Everyone heard him that day.
Therefore, everyone knew how the monster had destroyed the Radio Tower.
‘It was a big hit to his pride.’
That was why the emperor was in such a horrible mood.
“Kodone.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” the Archmage replied with a bow.
“Do you not know anything either?”
“...Forgive me.”
“How is Ceylonso’s progress?”
“The general is still searching, but the monster didn’t leave any traces, so he is at an impasse.”
They couldn’t find even the shadow of the man who had declared war on the empire.
Was this the limit of the Overminds?
“Go home, everyone,” the emperor ordered, deeply disappointed.
His vassals trickled out of the throne room.
He sat there for a long time, all alone.
All of a sudden, he spoke. “I can smell you, little rat. Get out before I rip you apart.”
“...I’m surprised.”
There shouldn’t have been anyone else in the throne room, but a voice responded.
“Are you Seo Jun-Ho?”
“Haha. Of course not.” The disguise lifted, revealing a man dressed in a purple suit. He bowed elegantly at the hip and greeted the emperor. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Isaac Dvor.”
“...” The emperor fixed his cold eyes on him. “Do you know where the thunder sleeps?”
Isaac reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He folded it into the shape of a bird, and it flew toward the emperor. “I do not know what you call it here, but there is a place in our world called the Wailing Mountains.”
“And why are you telling me this?”
“An enemy of an enemy is a friend. Please just think of it like that.”
“...” The emperor studied him for a moment. “I find it difficult to trust someone with a deceptive appearance.”
“Haha. Please forgive me. I don’t have enough nerve to approach you with my real body.” Isaac’s figure flickered as if it were a hologram that was running out of battery. “Until next time.”
“...”
All alone, the emperor sat there for a long time, studying the map.
Eventually, he summoned his vassals.
“Send a message to Ceylonso.”
A few hours later, the imperial general headed north to search for Seo Jun-Ho.
***
This place was Frontier, but it wasn’t Frontier at the same time. Therefore, a few landmarks here had the same names as the landmarks on the 2nd Floor’s Frontier, while the others had different names.
“That is why I thought it would be difficult to gather the Players, but you came up with such a clever solution,” said the Frost Queen from next to Seo Jun-Ho.
Every Player knew where the thunder slept.
They knew where the Thunder God’s grave was located.
“...It just came to me…” Seo Jun-Ho muttered.
It would come and go in a flash, but just when one was about to forget it, it would come back.
It was the nature of thunder.
“But is it all right?” the Frost Queen asked.
“What is?”
“If the imperial forces figured it out, it would give them an opportunity to round everyone up.”
Indeed, Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t exclude that possibility.
He had no idea how many Players were still out there.
“...That’s why I said within five days. Once that time passes, we’ll start moving right away.” If someone arrived after five days, he had no other choice but to leave them behind—even if they were his own friend.
“Hm. I see.” The Frost Queen nodded and looked around. “This path is very nostalgic.”
“Yeah.”
They were all too familiar with this road, as they had come and gone through it countless times. However, their feelings about the road differed from each other.
“I remember how my ice golem sprinted up through this path, cradling you in its arms.”
“...I don’t remember that.”
“Do not lie to me. I know you remember.”
“Oh, wait, I do. Was that the time you cried and begged for Geon-Woo hyung to save me?
“...I do not recall that.”
They joked around as they climbed up the mountain.
Eventually, a familiar clearing came into sight.
“...”
Seo Jun-Ho knew that the Thunder God wouldn’t be there, but for some reason, he hoped that he would be there. He closed his eyes and hoped that he would hear that good-natured accent any moment now.
“It really is a different world from Frontier.”
His master’s hut wasn’t there.
However, the giant boulder was still in the same place.
“He would always sit there.”
He stewed in his memories for a moment, but then he grinned.
Magic shot out from his foot and spread out.
“You’ve seen who I am. Why don’t you come out now?
When his words fell, the invisibility spell was lifted, and familiar faces came into sight.
“Come on, what is this? How could a host arrive later than the guests he had invited?”
“...Because you used Teleport and got here faster than me.”
Skaya Killiland was standing in front of him with a few dozen Players.
***
“But is this really all right?” Isaac Dvor asked.
The Heavenly Demon looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “What?”
“I am referring to Specter. If I recall correctly, you mentioned that you wished to kill him yourself.”
“Of course I do. And that will happen.”
“...Even though we had informed the emperor of the Wailing Mountains?”
The Heavenly Demon chuckled softly. “His opponent is Specter.”
It sounded a bit strange for him to say it, but he believed in Specter. That was why he had handed over the information without any qualms. “That man will not fall at the hands of the likes of them.”
“Of course, he is stronger than most Overminds, but the ones at the top are at a different scale,” Isaac said. Especially the emperor. He couldn’t help but shiver at the memory. “He is a frightening being.”
“Are you afraid?” The Heavenly Demon asked.
Isaac bowed. “...Please forget what I said.”
“Even if you are, it only benefits me. Do not forget that.”
“Yes, my liege.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” another voice interjected.
There were two others with them.
One was Valencia Citrin, and the other was a mysterious demon.
“When can I go back?”
“Soon enough,” the Heavenly Demon said tersely. He had brought along the mysterious demon after a personal request to the Archduke.
“I don’t know why you dragged me out here, but I’m only gonna help you once,” he said.
“Once is enough.”
“...You’ve forgotten yourself.” The Viscount of the Underworld, Fahm Vert, growled. “You should be grateful to the Archduke. You should keep in mind the number of times he saved you.”
“I will do that.”
“Sigh.” Fahm shook his head and stared at the mountain in the distance. “So, what exactly are you planning? And why do you need me?”
“...Hm. How shall I put this.”
The corner of his lip curled up in a rare display of emotion.
“To taunt Specter. I will leave it at that.”
***
While the Players headed for the Wailing Mountains, the Player Associations on Earth were holding a global conference.
“We must send more people.”
“How many times must we say this? We can’t just send valuable high-ranked Players without knowing what’s going on up there.”
The air in the conference room was hot, and the tension was palpable.
It had already been a few days since the conference started, but it was still ongoing.
“The name of the 7th Floor changed from Maze of Exiles to Frontier-23. Something definitely went wrong up there.”
“Oh, please, who doesn’t know that? The problem is we have no idea about what’s going on upstairs.”
“And that’s why we need to send more people…!”
“Let me be frank with you. What will you do if we send more elite Players, but they end up landing somewhere else?”
“Frontier-23 is probably a completely separate place from the Maze of Exiles. We must wait for the System announcement.”
“And just how long will we wait, exactly? And what about the advance party that’s already up there? They’re elite Players, too, are they not? The 5 Heroes and the majority of the Heavens are there! We have to be bolder about this!”
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A few days ago, the 7th Floor’s name suddenly changed from Maze of Exiles to Frontier-23. The change was so sudden that they ended up arguing over the pros and cons of sending more Players.
“We cannot send more Players until we figure out why the name suddenly changed to Frontier-23.”
“That’s preposterous. The advance party definitely needs our help.”
“If they needed help, or if they decided that they couldn’t find anything, they would have already come down by now! Isn’t that the fundamental rule of reconnaissance?”
“And I’m talking about the possibility that they can’t come down!”
The debate kept going around and around until it returned to the beginning.
“...Then what about this?” Shim Deok-Gu muttered. He had been silently listening until now.
The Association Presidents from all over the world looked at him, seemingly a bit embarrassed.
‘I can’t believe that young lad is Mr. Shim himself.’
‘I’m jealous…’
‘Did that little bastard actually get hair loss treatment by himself? Where is his loyalty to his fellow baldies?’
To say that Shim Deok-Gu had been rejuvenated would be an understatement.
President Shim Deok-Gu had returned to his youth, and everyone was talking about it.
“Well, what exactly are you suggesting?”
“We should send a second advance party. However, it will be a small group made up of only those who will voluntarily apply for it.”
“Hm… A second scouting party…”
“And we’ll only send volunteers…”
“Even if something goes wrong, I suppose we won’t be held liable.”
Actually, this was a big issue when they sent the first advance party.
Many people complained that they were left out.
“Hm. But don’t you think we’d still need a cutoff?”
“We should start brainstorming the criteria.”
“And we’ll make it an open recruitment so people won’t complain about Player Associations being too exclusionary.”
With that, the applicants wouldn’t be able to complain even if they weren’t selected.
Opinions were tossed back and forth, and a guideline was designed in the blink of an eye.
***
“...”
A man stared at the windows in front of him with tranquil eyes.
Ironically, his regret was stronger than the joy of being liberated.
[Congratulations! You have cleared the 4th Floor at the Seo Jun-Ho difficulty!]
[Player Baek Geon-Woo’s score has been calculated.]
[Clear time: 60 years, 5 months, 21 days, 2 hours, 12 seconds.]
[Number of common cockroaches killed: 7,562,910.]
[Number of special entities killed: 34,321.]
…
[Achievement unlocked: 1,094 deaths]
[Achievement unlocked: Defeating Floor Master ‘Erebo’ solo.]
[Achievement unlocked: Most number of deaths.]
[Achievement unlocked: Laggard.]
[Achievement unlocked: Peak of Persistence.]
[Achievement unlocked: Perfectionist.]
…
[Your total score rating is EX.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
…
[All stats increased by 120.]