Chapter 104

“Is the skill called prophecy really real? Even if it exists, what kind of prophecy does MartialGod make?”

Just as Kasim nicknamed GreatMage showed the ability to cast magic continuously for ten days and nights, and Sophia with the nickname made in usa specialized in manufacturing and production capabilities, nicknames revealed users’ abilities and characteristics.

MartialGod was no different.

Using the nickname MartialGod meaning ‘god of martial arts’, and with Kang Changseok’s information clearly stating they had abilities specialized in martial arts, Yuseong hadn’t seriously considered MartialGod’s message.

Of course, given users’ ability to bring various powers from numerous worlds, it wouldn’t be strange to have precognitive abilities, but somehow MartialGod and prophecy just didn’t seem to match.

-Well… This might take a while, so let’s talk in person.

“Where are you now?”

-On the pyramid rooftop.

“I’ll be right there, wait a moment.”

It took less than a minute to go from the lord’s room to the rooftop.

When Yuseong came up to the rooftop through the jewel-decorated corridor, he couldn’t help but be momentarily speechless at the scene before his eyes.

The scene had changed dramatically from just hours ago, with antennas installed throughout the pyramid, countless machines of unknown purpose, and hundreds of drones flying through the air.

‘No, not hours but 20 days ago.’

Yuseong unconsciously swallowed hard at the chilling realization.

Though he had experienced quests with significant time rate differences from Earth before, those were only two or three times different.

Not an enormous difference like 120 times.

Though he had experienced this time ratio once during the [I want to show a face that won’t shame my homeland and comrades] quest, the situation now was completely different from that time when just surviving had been overwhelming.

‘I’ll need to either find a way to adjust the time ratio, or filter out quests with severe time differences unless there are rewards worth enduring the time gap.’

The most fundamental reason for completing quests was ultimately survival on Earth.

When the demerits far outweighed the merits from completing quests, worlds with severe time differences would have to be given up.

Lost in thought at the changed scenery, Yuseong belatedly noticed Sophia staring at him expressionlessly and cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Sorry. The quest ended quickly but I had no idea the time ratio difference would be this extreme.”

“How much was the ratio?”

“120 times.”

Sophia, who had been about to say something, shook her head with a small sigh.

“Usually the difference is only two or three times at most, you really had terrible luck.”

“It would be troublesome if this happens again… Is there no way to check the time ratio before starting a quest?”

“I know they sell something related in the Karma Shop once your Solver rank increases. Until then, well, you have to leave it to luck.”

“Haah… Well, putting that aside, what’s this about prophecy? Other users occasionally leave similar messages too – is this different?”

As the community was a space for users to communicate, various messages were posted including casual chat, simple trades, cooperation requests, and among them were also warnings like telling people to be careful of monsters multiplying or to prepare for rising prices.

Yuseong couldn’t understand what difference there was between other users’ messages and MartialGod’s message that would make Sophia react so strongly.

“Of course it’s different. While other users’ warnings are about things that may or may not happen, MartialGod’s prophecies are about things that will definitely happen.”

“Based on what?”

“You know users were preparing for the monster invasion, right? How do you think that was possible?”

Yuseong let out a small exclamation as if realizing something.

When he first entered the community, users showed no surprise at the monsters’ appearance, instead reacting naturally while using words like ‘plan’.

There was only one reason that was possible.

“MartialGod prophesied the monsters’ appearance.”

“At first no one believed it because it sounded too absurd, but after consecutively predicting various facts correctly, people came to believe the prophecies were real. Stockpiling various supplies to prepare for chaos, developing semiconductors and power generators using mana stones, the timely birth of Contractors – the fact that the world is still somehow turning despite the worldwide monster appearance is all thanks to MartialGod’s prophecies.”

“How is that even possi… No, never mind.”

Yuseong closed his mouth, realizing how foolish his question was.

No one would simply reveal the secrets of their skills, especially something as incredible as precognition.

“After prophesying the monster invasion, MartialGod hadn’t left any prophecies or even warning-like messages. Until exactly 20 days ago, that is.”

A crisis serious enough for MartialGod to directly warn about, when they had remained silent even through new epidemics, various natural disasters, and the fall of nations.

Yuseong could finally understand why Sophia was freaking out.

“You’re saying a crisis equal to or greater than the monster invasion could be coming?”

“That’s what the other users and I think.”

“So what is this crisis?”

“We asked that too, but after that message MartialGod hasn’t posted anything else in the community until now. Most likely they’re either working on an extremely difficult quest, or like Mr. Yuseong, they went into a quest with severe time differences and hasn’t been able to come out yet.”

The crisis was definitely coming but they didn’t know what it was.

Faced with this absurd situation, Yuseong couldn’t help but laugh.

“Don’t laugh. This is really serious.”

“I know it is, but it’s just too funny. Whether it’s natural disasters, powerful monsters, or a new kind of crisis like Dragonia, we need to know something to prepare. If they were going to prophesy anyway, why leave such a vague message instead of being more detailed.”

“What can we do when the person who could answer isn’t here? We should be thankful just knowing a crisis is coming. Ten days from now. Whatever crisis comes, we need to prepare for then.”

Yuseong crossed his arms and fell into deep thought.

Unless it was monsters at the level he faced in America, with his current level, whatever preparations he made would likely be meaningless in the face of a monster invasion or comparable disaster.

What difference would preparing an umbrella or raincoat make against a typhoon strong enough to blow people away?

Among the cards he held, only one could respond to a crisis of this scale.

“How’s the investigation of Dragonia going? Something must have come up after 20 days.”

The corners of Sophia’s mouth, which had maintained a serious expression throughout, turned slightly upward.

“I was actually itching to talk about that.”

“Sounds like you got good results?”

“More than that. Originally we planned to reduce repair time by separating unnecessary areas, right? So to check how much force would be needed to break things, I made a small hole in the city outskirts and caused a small explosion… and found something interesting.”

The tablet Sophia held out showed an image of ground cratered by an explosion.

And in the center, Yuseong’s gaze was captured by a faintly glowing blue object.

“Mithril?”

“There are other rare metals too. I think they were mediums for the city’s functions. Though many have weakened from the extremely long time passed and become worse than ordinary metals, quite a few are still in good condition.”

For the first time since starting the conversation, a smile appeared on Yuseong’s face.

“We can recycle them.”

* * *

In the massive cavity at Dragonia’s deepest point.

The space that should have been filled with silence was full of sounds Yuseong was making.

Repeatedly using Flash Step and Meteor Step, accelerating and leaping with superhuman strength while throwing out punches and kicks, Yuseong suddenly stopped and twisted his foot.

An impact that made the cavity shake.

Crack!

Thorny Vines grew through the cracks spreading from his foot and began wrapping around imaginary enemies.

A combination technique of disrupting balance with footwork and binding legs with Thorny Vine.

A simple but natural combination that would be impossible to avoid without knowing about it in advance.

After piercing vital points of the imaginary enemies bound in the blink of an eye, Yuseong gave new orders to the Thorny Vines.

Not binding but attacking.

The target wasn’t the imaginary enemies but himself.

Swoosh!

With a sharp sound cutting through the air, dozens of Thorny Vines flew toward vital points.

Not just fast, but moving according to Snake Shadow Whip Technique’s principles, they were so elaborate and intricate they were hard to follow with the eyes.

In this life-or-death moment.

The world slowed as Yuseong activated Asura Perception Way and his consciousness accelerated.

He dodges Thorny Vines by hair’s breadth and deflects attacks he can’t avoid.

But he couldn’t keep dodging attacks coming from not just front back left right but all directions forever.

Yuseong, who had been dodging with some margin at first, began getting tangled up and used Cloud Mist to paralyze the Thorny Vines before jumping into the air with all his might.

Boom!

Wrapped in golden and silver airflow, Yuseong’s form smoothly rotated just before hitting the ceiling.

Head down, legs up position.

From that state, Yuseong threw his body again with full force.

BOOM!

A sound incomparably louder than before.

When the thick dust settled, it revealed Yuseong with his fist buried up to his elbow in the solid ground.

Combinations flowing naturally like water and a beautiful finish that drew admiration.

“Now it’s starting to look decent.”

Pulling his arm from the ground and dusting himself off, Yuseong gave a bitter smile thinking of his training over the past ten days.

After talking with Sophia, Yuseong decided to temporarily stop using the goggles and spend time going between Dragonia and Earth.

Though worlds with extreme time ratios like 120 times might be rare, worlds with two or three times ratios weren’t that uncommon, so ten days might pass on Earth while completing quests.

Of course, whether he was on Earth or not probably wouldn’t matter much for overcoming the crisis, but still, how would people think if someone called a hero was nowhere to be seen when crisis struck?

Even if he had to make excuses about injuries later, if he wanted to keep the hero title, he needed to show himself fighting at least briefly at the start of the situation.

The ten days created this way.

While pondering how to use this time, Yuseong decided to organize the abilities he had gained so far and research how to utilize them.

‘Come to think of it, I’ve just been gaining abilities until now, without seriously considering or training how to use them.’

Until now, using skills according to the situation or improvising had been enough, but he couldn’t keep fighting that way forever.

He needed to create his own style by synthesizing the abilities he had built up.