Beyond the Eternity

I glanced at the Japanese woman walking beside me. Since I wasn\'t pretending to be Soo Jinyoung, she was unfamiliar with me. Perhaps I should introduce myself.

"Hello there," I was the first to break the silence. "My name is Kim Jakga. I\'m the deputy representative of Soo Jinyoung\'s company. It seems we\'ll be working together during this conflict."

Kagura seemed slightly surprised by my sudden introduction, but she quickly composed herself and responded with a calm expression.

"My name is Kagura Narukami. But you can call me Kagura. It\'s nice to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise." I replied with a nod. "You don\'t seem to be from around these parts."

"Is that obvious?"

"Honestly, yes." I smiled slightly. "You have a rather distinct appearance, and the texture of your hair is different from the women here. Plus, it\'s not every day you see someone with such a long ponytail, and your choice of clothing is unusual as well."

Kagura chuckled softly. I couldn\'t help but wonder if my words were funny. After all, I thought my sense of humour was non-existent since I didn\'t interact with people much.

"I suppose you\'re right. Although I wasn\'t born in Seoul, I used to visit often."

"Really? Because of a relative or family?"

She hesitated for a moment before responding.

"It\'s my sister, actually. I come from a mixed household—my father is Korean, and my mother is Japanese. I usually stay with my mother in Japan, but I come to South Korea to visit my father and sister."

"I see. Does your sister look like you? How old is she?"

"Um, while..."

Our conversation continued as we walked toward Sookmyung High School. We talked about various topics, most unrelated to the mission at hand, but I didn\'t mind. It was a rare moment of calm amidst the chaos.

How long had we been talking like this? I wasn\'t sure, but I knew it had been a while. In that time, I learned details that weren\'t even mentioned in the original novel. For instance, Kagura revealed that her sister\'s name was Yukina, who happened to be the younger one between the two.

Kagura also shared additional information, like Yukina\'s age, the school she attended before the tragedy, and much more.

As we continued, Angelica, who had been quietly following behind with the rest of the group, suddenly spoke with a cold voice.

"Kim Jakga."

"Ah, yes?"

Why did her voice suddenly send a shiver down my spine?

"I think I will stop here."

"Sorry?"

Angelica halted, and everyone else followed suit.

"Think about it. The National Museum has probably been raided by now."

"Why do you say that?"

"You mentioned it yourself. The National museum contains several holy relics of historical figures. Wouldn\'t the players target that place first?"

"...!"

My eyes widened. Why didn\'t I realise this sonner?

The 4th Fable wasn\'t just a war between the king candidates; it was also a war between Historical Figures. At this stage, the power of the Historical Spirits would have reached its peak, and the holy relics containing the power of those constellations would be immensely powerful as well.

And since information about those relics had been leaked through the revelations, the players would be aware of this too.

Damnit, what should we do now? It would be too dangerous to bring Angelica and these people with me.

Angelica continued, "I think I know a place where we can obtain some relics but it\'s a bit far from here."

"Wait, are you talking about a Gwangsengmyo Shrine?"

"Yes. I\'ll take the group with me and head there."

Gwangsengmyo Shrine. In that place, the power of a great warrier from ancient history is resting there.

Although he\'s not South Korean, Angelica should be able to obtain a great power if she goes there. And I was also not worried because I had appointed her as the Queen.

"I see. In that case, I wish you luck."

Even though she was the Queen, I couldn\'t shake the feeling of unease. If she entered unknown territory, the worst-case scenario could be disastrous.

Angelica nodded and led the group in a different direction, leaving only Kagura and me.

Now that I thought about it, hadn\'t her voice sounded unusually cold? And this sudden change of plans felt more like a means of escape more than anything else.

Kagura must have sensed the tension because she asked, "What happened? Was she angry?"

"Angry? I don\'t think so. She didn\'t seem angry to me."

It wasn\'t as if the genre of this story had suddenly shifted from fantasy to romance. Just thinking about it was mentally exhausting.

At the very least, I wasn\'t hit on the cheek like a cringe protagonist.

"Sigh... Let\'s continue moving. We are almost there."

* * *

An hour later, we walked until we finally reached the vicinity of the Sookmyung Highschool. There was the sight of green tress and well-maintained gardens. Surprisingly enough, there was no sign of physical violence or any signs of a fight. We were the only ones here? Where was Lee Dokho?

"Hey, Oi! Deputy-nim, Over here!"

I heard a voice and saw Lee Dokho hiding inside an empty building infront of the high-school building.

We moved towards that person and I was the first to open my mouth.

"What\'s the situation here? Why is nobody here?"

"The kings have already entered the high-school building but none of them have come out."

"Which kings and how many of them? Surely, the all king candidates haven\'t entered the building at once."

"Not all the King candidates entered the building. Even so, there are some noticeable ones that I saw. For instance, the <Lovers>, the <Temperance>, the <Star>, the <Moon> and the <Hermit>. Of course, the <World> is already inside his territory but there is no sign of the <Emperor>, the <Empress>, the <Fool> or the <Wheel of Fortune> and the other king candidates as well.

Maybe they are not participating in this hunt."

"It\'s not surprising. The main objective is not that person. What about No. 1999? Any sight of that person?"

"Yes. [No. 1999] was one of the King candidates that entered the school building first. I couldn\'t see his face because he was wearing a black cloak. Even so, it seems he has the [Hermit] under his control."

The Hermit? If he really had the Hermit under his control, then he would have been able to spread rumours about the revelations to the apostles and the players.

Indeed, that person was a rather frightening bastard. Fortunately, it seems Song Jaewon and Soo Jinyoung haven\'t entered the building yet.

"Wait a minute. Something isn\'t right."

Kagura narrowed her eyes as if noticing something strange.

"This place is too quiet. How many hours has passed since they entered that building?"

"Three hours ago."

"They entered three hours ago and none of them have come out?"

"Exactly, it is strange. It\'s possible that they\'ve all been defeated, but that\'s simply impossible. Even if it\'s the <World>, I doubt he won\'t be able to kill all the King candidates quickly. And there\'s something odd about the building itself. I can\'t quite put it into words, but the longer I stare at it, the more unsettling it feels."

I moved my head and shifted towards the Sookmyung Highschool building.

The atmosphere around the building could only be described as peculiar. The central building has clear lines and is rectangular in shape. However, there are several 12 story buildings on each corner of the junction. Additionally, there is a network of elevated pathways which connected to various parts of the campus.

But something was off. The more I stared at the building, the more I felt a lingering sensation in my heart.

Was it fear? Or simple unease? No, it couldn\'t be that simple. It was as if a mysterious force was trying to manipulate my emotions.

[Exclusive skill \'Omniscient Wall\' has activated.]

There was the sensation of something being cleansed from my body and the foreign feeling completely disappeared.

As I thought, It was a supernatural phenomenon after all. The sudden installation of fear into the body just from looking at the school building...

It was the law manipulation of the [World]. To think he was able to grow this much in such a short amount of time. What would happen if he became the master of the Holy Grail and rule over Seoul?

No doubt, he would turn into a demon. It became clear now—no matter what, that person had to be eliminated. But saying it was one thing; doing it was another. Inside the building, there could be countless hidden traps we weren\'t aware of, or perhaps there was nothing at all.

Rhetorically speaking, was it safe to enter a building filled nothing but landmines? Of course not, but there was no other choice. In addition, a special item would pop up if the World was killed.

"In any case, our target is the 5th level of the main school building. There should be a ward there." I said conversationally.

"A ward?"

"That\'s correct. All the players within the school campus must go through all five levels and pass the ward if they want to confront the <World> directly."

"Do we have to enter the building to kill the [World]? We can just destory the building from the outside with the king candidates within."

Kagura gripped the hilt of her two metre nodachi sword and lightning sparked. Was she planning on using the Lightning Flash?

It was the mark of a thunder god so it was capable of destroying the entire campus ten times over if unleashed at its full potential. However, that would be another problem altogether.

I reacted quickly by punching the back of her head and she screamed.

"Ouch! What are you doing?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing, you Idiot. Don\'t you realize there are hostages inside that building? What do you think will happen to them if you recklessly bring down the building with a lightning attack?"

"T-That..."

Her eyes shook as if she received a shock. She was one of the few characters that hasn\'t killed a single living soul apart from monsters. If she killed an innocent bystander, the aftershock will be devastating.

"So that cowardly bastard likes to hide behind little girls, huh?" Kagura gritted her canines like some wild animal ready to pounce.

If she used her stigma, it would have destoryed that building in a normal scenario. However, that person must have already set up a boundary in place so any form of attacks from the outside will be useless. Perhaps hostages were kept for another purpose.

After a while, Kagura\'s rage subsided and her hand lowered from the sword. She grit her teeth and opened her mouth.

"Damnit, Is there any other way apart from entering?"

"No, it seems entering is our only option right now."

We watched the automatic door as if a trap would be spawned. Naturally, walking inside without a plan was no different from entering a building occupied by terrorists.

However, it was because a certain terrorist was residing into his building, that we had to enter.

"Let\'s enter inside. We can\'t waste any more time."

Without saying a single word, we approached the automatic doors and there was no sign of abnormalities as it opened.

The real problem revealed itself when all of us entered inside.

[You have entered the domain of a <Territory Master>]

[A Hidden Fable has been generated.]

+

[Hidden Fable – Hunting the World]

Classification: Hidden

Difficulty: ???

Clear Conditions: ???

Compensation: ???

Failure: ???

+

The horror game was about to begin.