How can he speak like a typical villain so seriously?
It was enough to laugh at, but Surha couldnât laugh.
âHey- what do you think a âworldâ is?â
âWhat are you talking about all of a sudden?â
âJust answer me.â
âYou mean the unique world? That is because of..â
âNo-no. Iâm not talking about⊠Never mind.â
Surha shook her head. She could see that Chunghuh did recognize what Surha had asked, but the old man was just pretending that he didnât understand the question. She and Chunghuh were both 4th stage Awakener. There was one fact that all Awakeners realized after reaching the 4th step.
The âworldâ they saw until now was only part of an iceberg.
The being that became a [God] went and found a new way to perceive things. Unlike the 3rd step where you could just realize the âtruthâ of the , 4th step Awakeners were allowed to face the world itself.
Countless information came from all parts of the world.
All this information filled their minds. [Gods] were excited by the flood of information that they had not known until then. They realize that become a [God], and they feel that they are almighty all-knowing. However, they soon feel despair toward the sea of information.
It is because they realize that they can never control the information.
[Gods] then are confused and become corrupt from the influx of information. Some go crazy while some choose to make the decision.
They choose to close their eyes and ears, and refuse to take in the information.
This was called [Seclusion].
It wasnât considered bad since it was necessary to keep the ego. The Gods who fall in [Seclusion] give up on feeling the giant âWorldâ. Instead, they choose to stay within the small world they created and live while growing the world.
This âsmall worldâ that the Gods created were called the following.
-Unique World.
Surha remembered the world full of corpses and the giant eye of Asura. Jaehwanâs unique world.
It was a world that made her feel uneasy every time she thought about it. No other unique world contained such a hideous thing, especially the eye. She looked up to the sky. It was the eye that did not exist in her sky. She knew what that eye was supposed to mean.
âHe can see .â
As far as Surha knew, the only one who could âs presence was only one existence out of the entire . The Master of Rupture. He had told her once before.
-Surha, fight your [Seclusion]. If you succeed, you will see the âtruthâ.
But, Jaehwan was able to see .
It meant he also succeeded in fighting his [Seclusion].
Yoo Surha was curious.
What was the world like after getting out of [Seclusion]? The world that looked directly into the terrifying â was that world still one of many [Unique Worlds] out there? No. Maybe that world isâŠ
It was Chunghuhâs voice that brought her back from her thoughts.
âHey girl, isnât that the place?â
There was an old antique shop at the corner of the street that seemed to specialize in old [Parts] that nobody visited.
âOH! Thatâs it! Itâs there!â
They walked over to the shop right away.
As they opened the door, an old man with a long mustache appeared.
âWhat brings you here?â
âHey- Itâs me. Iâm here for some information.â
âWhat brings you here?â
ââŠItâs me. Didnât you hear?â
âUgh⊠gosh.â Surha sighed and began speaking the following phrase: âSo, we will be the slaves of the freedom, the blade of the rights, and the measurement of the equality.â
With that, the light within the building went out and the windows were covered with blinds.
Slave of the Freedom.
Blade of the Rights.
Measurement of the Equality.
These were the metaphors that symbolized the organization. Of course, there were other names that directed this organization. The Anti-Cultivation Group, or the Worst Terrorist Group in history and such⊠but it was the name that was more famous than all of those nicknames.
[Rupture]
This was the 5th regional office of the worst terrorist group, [Rupture], of the .
The old man who appeared through the darkness was not an ordinary old man. His face and shape had been changed entirely to that of a middle-aged man. It seemed he had the [Setting] to change his physical appearance. Surha ranted, âHey, do we really need to go through this every time?â
âItâs the rule. So, whoâs he?â
âHeâs with me. Heâs not with [Rupture] but⊠heâs kind of [Rupture]? Or an Ex-[Rupture]âŠ? Donât worry about him and just show me the list.â
âHere.â
The man then handed over a 10-inch sized machine. It was the machine that showed information that [Rupture] gathered recently, in order of importance. Surha spoke as she scrolled down on the list.
âHmm⊠whatâs this? There are Lost Ones rampaging at ?â
âThereâs word that the Followers of the Ancient Gods are gathering at the Hatchnold Auction House. I heard that a [Part] of an Ancient God is up for bidding in the auction houseâŠâ
âWhat? Really?â
Surha frowned at the information.
âHah- Machina? Thereâs no way that it can appear at an auction house. It smells fishy⊠but Iâll pass on the information for now. What else?â
âNext is about an Awakener.â
âAwakener?â
Chunghuh and Surhaâs face brightened. It just might be the information they were looking for. The man continued, âThereâs information about an old man with the nickname âPerverted Guruâ making mess in the East. I think he killed a few Vicegerents of middle-grade Gods while leading a pirate group called [Bringer of the Fall]⊠itâs a big issue out there.â
Surha and Chunghuhâs expressions turned weird at the news.
âI heard the Perverted Guru uses a very unusual unique world. What was it called⊠Kangho⊠or was it JoongâŠâ
âIsnât it âMoorimâ?â
âHmph, maybe it was.â
Surha was barely holding back from laughing and Chunghuhâs nose widened as he fought back the urge to laugh.
âAnyway, you should watch out for him too. I heard heâs quite the Awakener. Heâs really interested in beautiful Vicegerents apparently.â
âPerverted Guru⊠yeah- of course. I will for sure,â Surha answered as she glanced and Chunghuh, in which he coughed uncomfortably. âSo- any other news?â
âNope.â
âI seeâŠâ
Surha became disappointed, but thatâs when the machine sounded an alarm, followed by a new message.
âOh, I guess we have a new one. Thereâs a fight happening in the Hatchnold Auction House.â
âThe place with the Machina? What happened?â
âFive Vicegerents of a high-ranking God and 12 mid-ranking Gods have been killed.â
âWhat? Five from the high-rankers?â
Vicegerents of high-ranking Gods werenât easily matched. They were powerful individuals within .
âThatâs close to a war. Did they fight against each other?â
âNo. They were killed by a man.â
âWhat- what kind of mad man does that in aâŠâ
In that moment, Yoo Surha stopped speaking and Chunghuh also looked at Surha. Surha leaned closer to the table and asked.
âD-do you have a video of it?â
ââŠHere.â
Soon, a hologram screen showed a man. The video quality was not good enough to see the face, but two things were certain. One was that the man was naked with only a coat on him, and another was that he was âstabbingâ.
-AAAAARGGH!
Vicegerents were being flown away through the vicious world power storm. As they heard the sound, Chunghuh was making a face as if he had been waiting for that sound in a long time.
Within the chaos of the video, there was a man, bare naked under his coat.
It was certain. It was the mad man. It was the mad man that they were desperately looking for the past two years. Chunghuh and Surha shook in excitement.
The man they were looking for was in the video.
âItâs him, right?â
âYeah. I knew heâd do something like that.â
âOf course.â
Both of them quickly jumped out of the building. Because they were too excited, they did not realize who sent the information to the regional office.
-Master of Rupture
The regional office master narrowed his eyes as he looked at who sent the video.
âSo, itâs the Master who sent this? Hah⊠I guess things arenât going to end quietly this time.â