“Ah, ugh, ah…”
Ikar’s mouth opened.
An incomprehensible groan escaped from her lips.
A being closer to an object than a person.
There was no reason, no emotion to be found in the girl standing before me.
“When Ikar’s lifespan ends, the harvesters will arrive in earnest. This world will collapse in an instant. Fields? Missions? Those petty struggles mean nothing. Even if you turn the world back thousands, millions of times, the result will not change. Do you understand, Pria?”
The prince looked at Pria.
His golden eyes had sunken deeply.
“We will all die.”
“…”
“Even if we gather strength in Townia, collect all kinds of mystical treasures, and perform countless miracles, we cannot win. This mission was rigged from the start.”
Pria’s gaze wavered.
Her parted lips could only let out the sound of a faint sigh.
“If ending it all by dying was an option, it would be a relief. Tel is insane. She will cling to maintaining Möbius with all her heart and soul until the very moment everything vanishes. Do you know what that means?”
Anger flashed in the prince’s eyes.
“It means that even death will not be the end. We will be endlessly revived in this world, endlessly spinning on a wheel, dying and dying again—just as I once did.”
“That’s impossible…”
“You are no different, Han. Why do you think you’re here when you were supposed to be on Earth?”
Phryos turned to me.
I closed my eyes. The events of my promotion to Rank 2 flashed through my mind.
Tel, dressed in a suit, speaking with a relaxed voice.
‘The goal of the game is to save the world.’
It wasn’t a lie.
But it was an impossibility from the start.
Because the universe was already broken.
“I was able to learn the truth of the ‘Seven Star Project’ from Lantia and Schutenberg.”
“The Seven Star Project?”
“This game had four transcendent heroes.”
Phryos muttered.
“A fusion between the higher-dimensional beings called ‘Masters’ and the lower-dimensional heroes to create an exceptionally superior entity.”
The fusion of Master and Hero.
That was the core of the Seven Star promotion.
Phryos spoke no more. He simply watched me with a gentle smile.
‘Was that supposed to be a hint?’
I crossed my arms.
I decided to think again from the beginning.
Why had I, a gamer on Earth, fallen into this world?
‘To clear the Tower?’
Nonsense.
If left alone, Niflheimr could have cleared the 90th floor.
My raid team had been smoothly progressing up to the 87th floor.
Well, it was an unfinished game, impossible to clear anyway.
‘The fusion of Master and Hero, huh.’
During the fusion process, the hero gains the power to transcend their limits.
In other words, they become another god, gaining the ability to surpass the rules.
That was how the four Seven Stars were created.
‘But from the developers’ perspective, this is insane.’
El Cid had proven that perfectly.
El Cid, the number one ranker, rampaged across the entire server, destroying countless accounts and breaking the server’s boundaries.
In the end, Möbius had to launch an emergency event to eliminate him.
‘The Seven Star fusion creates an uncontrollable catastrophe.’
Moreover, if the news about players becoming vegetative on Earth leaked to the media, Pick Me Up! would not escape ruin. It was a considerable risk. And yet, if they were willing to take such risks and draw upon extra-dimensional power…
“Ah.”
I turned to the side.
Ikar was looking at me with transparent eyes.
“I see.”
I finally understood.
The prince’s smile deepened.
‘A server replacement, huh.’
If the server computer’s lifespan had run out, then it would need to be replaced with a better one.
In that case, I…
“I must be one of the candidates.”
There were still a few unanswered questions, but—
I could roughly deduce Tel’s goal.
She planned to fuse me and Seris to create a Seven Star.
“To use as fuel for the next server.”
I smirked.
“It seems like everyone else failed except me.”
“That’s correct.”
Even El Cid’s ‘vessel’ had shattered while climbing the 90th floor.
If he had been perfect as a Seven Star, he would have broken through the World Raid head-on.
There wouldn’t have been a need to entrust me with the task.
A sigh escaped me.
Of course, I couldn’t guarantee this was 100% accurate.
But my instincts told me it was true.
If my guess was correct, I could understand why Seris had been so furious with me.
If I had become a Seven Star unknowingly and been dragged to Server 1…
“Ugh, ah, ah.”
A living biological battery.
Burning away my life force to keep this crazy world alive for a little longer.
“I understand.”
After being dragged here, consuming ‘offerings’ in the form of monsters, growing stronger, becoming complete as a Seven Star…
And under the belief of saving the world, being sent to Server 1.
“Those executives didn’t want to sacrifice themselves, but they still wanted the game to keep running. So they made a substitute god?”
I chuckled.
“They’re complete bastards.”
Betrayal upon betrayal upon betrayal.
Alpha Zero and Sigel never told me these conditions.
They only repeated that they were offering me a choice.
‘Is this what you call a choice?’
A hollow laugh escaped me.
They had withheld all unfavorable information and deceived me with the pretense of a fair contract.
Boom!
The ground shook violently.
When I turned around, a circular flame was blazing in the distance.
From within the fire, a brilliant light shone.
「Han Israt.」
A familiar voice echoed.
An intelligent, feminine voice.
It was Sigel, Alpha Zero’s lieutenant.
「Do not be deceived by his words.」
“…”
「You have a choice. If you wish to return to Earth, we will do our utmost to help you.」
“Help?”
I muttered.
“How will you help? The moment I clear the 90th floor, will I be sent straight back?”
「There is an order to things.」
“And that order is?”
「That is still…」
“You can’t tell me, huh.”
Ridiculous.
「You… have… a choice…」
“If you’re going to offer a choice, tell me everything. You know what we call people like you on Earth?”
「…」
“Scammers.”
I'm currently Translating the following novels: Pick Me Up! | A Frontline Soldier Awakened as a Gamer In The War! | The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player. If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!