Chapter 1460 – Dark Moon
“Bell Teier….”
I mulled over the name, searching my memories. It didn’t ring a bell. It wasn’t a name I’d ever heard in the original game either.
‘Is it just that she looks like a character I created?’
“You don’t need to think too hard about my name. I’m not even active in Neo London.”
“…Are you perhaps from Hamburg Innovation?”
Hamburg Innovation.
Like Divine France and Neo London, it was a city-state. However, its territory and population were smaller compared to the other city-states. But Hamburg Innovation’s mechanized technology was the best in the world.
There was even a saying that if you wanted to turn your body into a machine, you should go to Hamburg Innovation.
“Oh. You’re sharp? How did you know? It’s impossible to tell just by looking at me.”
“I guessed from those mechanical eyes. It’d be hard to get something like that anywhere but Hamburg Innovation.”
Actually, it was because the starting point of my character ‘Jjapaguri’ was Hamburg Innovation, so I was just testing the waters.
Face, figure, voice, personality. She was a carbon copy of the character I’d set up. And even her origin was the same. She was definitely the ‘Jjapaguri’ I’d created.
It was fascinating.
It was incredibly strange to see my character, whom I had only seen through a monitor, standing in front of me. And even though it was our first time meeting, I felt a sense of familiarity with her.
But I didn’t show it. I turned my body away. She was a character I created. So what changed? I couldn’t say, ‘You’re mine because I created you.’ In this world, she lived her own life.
I threw a coin into the fountain.
“Wait. You didn’t tell me your name. Are you just going to leave like that?”
“…Eugene Meyer.”
“Eugene Meyer. Hmm. I remember it. It’s a nice name.”
“You didn’t input it?”
“I didn’t turn my brain into a machine. I only changed my arms, legs, and eyes into machines. Oh, should I include my heart too? No, that’s… Ha, I don’t know why I’m telling you this when I’ve just met you.”
“……”
The sixth coin splashed into the fountain.
“What did you come here for? Is it work?”
“It’s personal. I got some information that’s been bothering me. I can’t tell you the details. You understand?”
“Yeah.”
It was probably related to her personal story.
The player characters in the original game had different stories depending on their origin and job. Her story was….
‘She’ll figure it out.’
She and I were nothing to each other. I reminded myself of that and threw the last, seventh coin. In the game, throwing seven coins into the fountain would temporarily boost your luck. But nothing appeared in front of my eyes.
“Do you make a lot of money? If you’re going to throw money into a fountain, you could give some to me.”
“I didn’t throw away money. I bought luck.”
“With 70 credits? That’s enough for a meal at a decent restaurant.”
“If I have luck, I might earn more than that.”
“Ha, I don’t believe in that. …Are you perhaps a fortune teller?”
“I’m not a fortune teller, I’m a mage.”
“Suddenly, I have a lot of faith in you. 70 credits… Should I try it too? But does it have to be exactly 70 credits?”
“Whether it’s 1-credit coins or 10-credit coins, you just need seven.”
“Really? That’s good to hear.”
She threw a 1-credit coin into the fountain. I walked past her and out of the village. The sun was starting to set, and the dark moon was beginning to rise.
The village was as quiet as a ghost town. Everyone was probably inside their homes, locking their doors and lying in bed, hoping the day would pass quickly.
[Levitation]
I used magic.
My body floated upwards. I flew towards the fourth largest mountain in the south.
Flying wasn’t entirely comfortable. Black-shelled eagles, agitated by the dark moon, were flying at me like crazy.
[Electric Whip]
I struck down the incoming ones with an electric whip. The crisply roasted black-shelled eagles fell to the ground, becoming food for other animals and monsters.
I probably killed about 30 of them.
I arrived at my destination.
I looked around, gauging my location.
‘I saw a cliff before I came down. I need to go that way.’
Thump!
My heart stopped with a loud thud.
A sudden heart attack.
I grimaced and used mana to force my heart to beat again.
‘Damn it. A heart attack right from the start….’
I glared at the dark moon in the sky.
In each region, different abnormal conditions occurred on the days the dark moon rose. In the outskirts of Neo London, heart attacks, random diseases, and paralysis were the norm. Of course, the abnormal conditions would disappear after a short time, and everything would return to normal. The problem was that you never knew when or where the abnormal conditions would strike again.
After about five minutes, my heart started beating again. I no longer needed to force it with mana. That alone made things much easier.
I found the cliff.
Looking down, I could see a sheer drop. The bottom of the cliff was dark and deep, with no end in sight.
‘I don’t need to go down, so it’s fine.’
I approached the cliff. Suddenly, the flow of mana changed and went wild. In this state, it was hard for even me to use magic. That was why I didn’t fly straight to the cliff.
‘I came to the right place. Now then….’
I looked around. I easily found the faint blue flowers blooming at the edge of the cliff.
In this world, there were plants that only bloomed when the dark moon rose. One of them was the blue flower in front of me, the Blue Distortion.
It was a flower with the ability to distort mana. It could only be harvested when it was in bloom. When it wasn’t blooming, it was no different from ordinary weeds.
I took out a box from my coat. I plucked the petals of the Blue Distortion and put them in the box. This flower, true to its name, had the ability to distort mana.
‘It’s one of the essential materials for repairing a broken mana rod.’
Since it only bloomed during the dark moon, and deep in the mountains at that, it was very expensive. If I sold it on the black market, I could make a good profit.
‘One root isn’t enough.’
I looked towards the cliff.
‘The cliff in front of the triangular rock… That’s the one.’
Hoo.
I shook off my tension with a sigh and headed towards the cliff.
I steeled myself and extended my right foot towards the cliff. My foot didn’t fall down the cliff but landed on an invisible floor.
‘…Thankfully, I succeeded. I guess I don’t need to clear the pre-quest.’
I focused my mind. Ignoring the black moon looking down at me from above and the cool breeze blowing, I walked towards the cliff.
‘7366. 7366. 7366.’
I repeated the numbers as I walked forward. I stopped exactly seven steps in. Looking down, I could see the dark abyss below. If I fell there, I would surely die instantly.
‘Three steps to the right.’
Step, step, step.
‘Six steps to the left. Six steps to the right.’
The moment I took the last step safely, a door appeared in mid-air. Without hesitation, I grabbed the door handle and pushed it open.
It was a 3-pyeong space.
Blue sky, fresh air, moist ground.
There, a cluster of Blue Distortions was in full bloom. There were probably about 100 of them.
‘I succeeded.’
I smiled and squatted down. I harvested the petals of the Blue Distortions one by one.
‘A certain gardener’s secret garden. A secret space that can only be entered after clearing a sub-quest and when the dark moon rises.’
As you can see, you could obtain a large amount of Blue Distortions by coming here. I could come again next time, but the Blue Distortions wouldn’t be there.
After harvesting all the Blue Distortions, I came out of the door. I was still in mid-air. But the flow of mana had returned to normal. That was because I had harvested all the Blue Distortions, which were the cause of the disrupted mana flow.
[Levitation]
I flew through the air and landed on the mountain.
I was caught in a dilemma.
Should I go back right away, or should I risk it and go get something else?
‘Let’s go back. There’s more than one opportunity. First, I’ll go back and repair all the mana rods, and then come back again on the next dark moon.’
There was no need to rush. I put my regrets aside and floated into the air.
KWAANG!
An explosion was heard.
I stopped in mid-air and turned my gaze towards the direction of the explosion. It was the right side of the mountain, where the open space was. The place where the hidden ancient ruins were located.
‘……Telescope.’
I enhanced my vision with magic.
I looked down at the distant place. Bell Teier, whom I had met at the village fountain a few hours ago, was fighting a Droid.
Droids.
Robots that had turned against humans.
The nobles and citizens of Neo London hated Droids with a trauma-level intensity. Neo London had once been on the verge of destruction due to a Droid rebellion. It could even be said that the reason Neo London’s culture was similar to the Victorian era was due to the influence of the Droids.
‘Bell seems to be at a disadvantage.’
I decided to help her. I had something I was curious about. If my guess was right, she should have been somewhere else, not there.
I flew towards Bell, preparing a magic spell.
Fzzzt.
Lightning mana soared into the sky and gathered.
The Droid, with its steel body and steel skin, raised its head and looked at the sky. Two red lenses glowed, capturing me.
In front of it, Bell quickly moved and pulled the trigger of her pistol. The bullets accurately targeted the Droid’s head, but they didn’t do any significant damage.
“Mage detected. Estimated to be level 5. Target priority changed. Eliminate the human.”
The Droid raised its arm towards me. Clank, clank. Its arm transformed into a gun barrel and aimed at me. Energy gathered at the end of the barrel, ready to be fired.
[Thunder Bolt]
A huge bolt of lightning fell on the Droid before it could fire.
The surroundings became as bright as day. The Droid fell to the ground and didn’t move.
‘As expected, electric magic works well against machines.’
I landed on the ground. She was wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and breathing heavily, looking at me intently.
“Was it unnecessary interference?”
“…No, thank you. You saved my life. That Droid’s armor was completely impenetrable to armor-piercing rounds, so I was in trouble.”
I looked behind her.
The ground was a mess due to the battle, but the mechanical door leading underground was still intact.
“Ah, this is an ancient ruin I found by chance. It has nothing to do with the Droids, so don’t worry. No matter how much I tried, that door wouldn’t break. Do you perhaps know how to get in? You’re a mage.”
“I do.”
“…Really? I just asked… Okay. Then help me out. We’ll split whatever we get here in half. I think I can demand at least half since I found this. What do you think?”
“Before we split it, we need to check what’s inside.”
“That’s true.”
I approached the door.
I stood right in front of the door. I stared intently at the mark engraved on the door. It was a pattern that resembled a lotus flower.
“Do you know what that mark is? I searched for it, but nothing came up.”
“It’s the mark of the Transcendentalists.”
“Transcendentalists? What’s that? Are you talking about superhumans?”
“No.”
I said, looking at the door.
“Only transcendence is our ultimate goal.”
Zzzzzzzing.
The door opened.
