WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ The World After the Fall ◈

Chapter 167: Episode 23. Driver (1)

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“I thought the 《Abyss》 was about to be destroyed then.”

From an interview with Martis, God of the Grasslands and Alliance Leader of ‘Today’.

* * *

At that moment, everyone on the Ninth Floor felt the hairs on the backs of their necks stand up.

Rene, Runald, Martis, Manri Shintong. It was not just them. The gods of the 〈Metaverse〉 watching the same scene through the broadcast, even the gods watching from outside 〈Metaverse〉. Every god watching Rene’s stream felt the same thing.

It was an ancient fear.

Before the Twelve Great Lords and Seven Divine Thrones appeared and became the strongest beings of the 《Phantasmal Tree》, Ancient Gods ruled this 《Phantasmal Tree》.

Among those Ancient Gods, there were three said to be the strongest.

[How?]

The Ancient Three Gods.

One of the three kings who had ruled the 《Abyss》 long ago.

The world called that ruler calamity, the Sole King Catastrophe.

[Catastrophe. How dare you crawl your way up here! Do you know where you are?]

Chronos shouted, pretending to remain calm.

As if to insist that the age of Ancient Gods had ended, Chronos borrowed the Leader’s body and began raising his World Power.

The Seven Divine Thrones truly were the Seven Divine Thrones.

One of the seven strongest gods in the current 《Abyss》 was speaking.

[Your era has now...]

[Chronos.]

At the one word that flowed from Jaehwan’s lips, every sound in the area vanished.

Chronos’s lips moved as though startled. The world flickered like a broken light bulb. The flickering grew faster and faster, until grotesque beings emerged from the darkness.

Forgotten Ones.

As sound returned, the horrifying roars of the Forgotten Ones filled the Ninth Floor.

A wave of Forgotten Ones filled the world. Catastrophe stood at its center. Gods and Vicegerents howled as they vomited silver onto the ground, and silver soon began trickling from the Leader’s nose as well.

A violent storm began raging above the Ninth Floor.

Chronos’s desperate voice rang out as though resisting the storm.

[You! You broke your promise with us! You...]

Jaehwan looked at the drones in the air.

At once, every 《Little Brother》 channel in the area shut off with a pop. Black lightning began striking wildly throughout the Ninth Floor. Horrified screams followed.

A short while later, when the thick smoke cleared, the Leader was kneeling on the ground and staring blankly up at Jaehwan. The presence of Chronos, which had seized his entire body, had scattered somewhere.

The Leader looked up at Jaehwan with eyes full of disbelief, then collapsed unconscious.

Jaehwan silently looked down at him and frowned.

What had happened was clear. Catastrophe, manifested within his soul, had expelled Chronos’s presence from 〈Metaverse〉.

“I never gave permission for a Link. Who told you to descend on your own?”

Catastrophe’s presence rapidly weakened, and the surrounding scenery instantly returned to normal.

[You still speak arrogantly, human Awakened One.]

“Since you came out on your own this time, I will not deduct one use of the Void Sword.”

Jaehwan spoke as he recalled the contract he had made with Catastrophe in 《Chaos》.

Originally, Catastrophe had agreed to lend Jaehwan that power three times. One had been used to massacre the Lords in 《Chaos》, leaving two uses.

Jaehwan was now boldly refusing to acknowledge that one of those two uses should be deducted.

Surprisingly, Catastrophe did not seem to care much.

[Do as you please. More importantly, you have done well to come this far. I thought you would naturally be cast aside at the entrance of the 《Abyss》.]

“Why did you suddenly appear and interfere?”

A faint laugh, like something scratching through the air, could be heard.

[I will not help you like this next time. If you truly intend to target 《Big Brother》, you should be able to deal with brats like the Seven Divine Thrones on your own.]

At Catastrophe’s calm words, Jaehwan was about to retort before closing his mouth again.

In truth, simply enduring the power of the manifested Catastrophe was already difficult.

Catastrophe was surely in 《Chaos》, the Trunk, not the 《Abyss》, a Branch. Yet Jaehwan felt as though Catastrophe stood atop a tree infinitely taller than his own.

Jaehwan bit down hard on his lower lip.

[Climb with everything you have, little Awakened One.]

The moment Catastrophe’s power vanished, a brutal backlash crashed into him.

Holding back a groan, Jaehwan vomited a mouthful of silver. His left hand, gripping the Void Sword, was burning black. Soul contamination had occurred because of Catastrophe’s authority, 「Forgetting」.

Jaehwan raised his World Power to suppress the contamination, then used 「Forgotten One Severing」 as a temporary measure to keep it from spreading further.

Even so, this was clearly different from the first time Catastrophe had descended. Jaehwan himself had grown far stronger than before.

Karlton, Runald, and the other Allies came running from afar.

After checking Jaehwan’s wounds, Runald hurriedly pulled medicine from his clothes and applied it to the injuries.

“I’m fine.”

“But...”

Runald was flustered.

Jaehwan understood how he felt. Runald had already lost a god once. He might act strong in front of others, but he must have worried about Jaehwan more than anyone.

“I won’t die from something like this.”

Only after hearing that did Runald sink to the ground, tightly clasping his trembling hands.

“I really, really thought something terrible had happened...”

Something terrible had happened. Jaehwan had been in danger when Chronos manifested in the Leader’s soul.

When he turned his head, the Allies were blankly looking down at the fallen Leader.

The Leader. Eoduksi, God of Ashes.

The strongest member of the Alliance and ruler of the Metaverse.

He had fallen.

The Allies blinked for a long time, their faces still unable to grasp reality.

“You really did it.”

An emotion Martis could not hide rose to his face.

Everyone who saw his expression understood.

He was truly here at this moment.

More than anyone else, he was sharing Jaehwan’s victory in this very place.

The high-grade god was crying. Though he wiped away his tears as if embarrassed, though he knew such emotions did not suit a god, Martis twisted his lips and wept.

The other Allies wore similar expressions. They had climbed the Tower for different reasons. Yet they had joined forces and finally reached this place. There was no way to describe how overwhelming it felt, so the gods had to borrow human emotions and the expressions of Dolls.

Still, the gods were not ashamed. The one who had brought them here was human too.

The Alliance had fallen, and they had won.

〈Metaverse〉 had lost its master.

“Congratulations, God Slayer. You are the strongest in 〈Metaverse〉. It is truly an honor for this old man to be here with you.”

As though that had been a signal, the nearby Allies each added a word.

“Congratulations, Citadel Lord.”

“You really have become the strongest beginner. Even the title of ‘Seven Stars’ feels somewhat lacking now.”

“Shouldn’t Jaehwan-nim join the Seven Heavens now?”

Jaehwan had only just become one of the Seven Stars, yet he had defeated the Leader, whose power rivaled the Seven Heavens.

Who could call him the last star of the Seven Stars now?

Perhaps the Seven Heavens of the 《Abyss》 would have to be called the Eight Heavens from now on.

“You knew the Sole King too?”

Jaehwan nodded at Manri Shintong’s question.

“When I heard about the 「Lord Massacre」, I wondered if it might be so. But to think it was true... I am afraid even to imagine what storms will descend upon the road you walk.”

The Allies’ faces darkened at those words.

The Sole King Catastrophe’s descent into the Abyss.

It might have been even more shocking than the final floor of 〈Metaverse〉 opening for the first time in six hundred years.

The calamity imprisoned in 《Chaos》 had moved. This could no longer remain an event limited to the scale of 〈Metaverse〉.

The Seven Divine Thrones and Twelve Great Lords would soon begin moving in earnest.

Jaehwan spoke as though dismissing their worries.

“We can deal with the small concerns later.”

Worrying now would not solve anything anyway. Whether they were the Seven Divine Thrones or the Twelve Great Lords, they were enemies he would have to overcome someday. Perhaps this was for the best.

Rene, who had stepped in at just the right time, added a word.

“More importantly, all the broadcasting equipment is broken, so I can’t open a channel. It would be huge if I could open one right now!”

The Allies around her burst into hearty laughter.

Jaehwan picked up the Cube that had rolled out from the Leader’s clothes.

The Cube vibrated intermittently. Judging by the World Power he could sense, Yu Seolha seemed to be trapped inside. He had wondered where Yu Seolha was, but it appeared the Commander had been held in the Cube.

As he stared at the Cube, Jin Eunsae spoke.

“Um, if it’s all right with you, could I take custody of the Leader? It was originally my mission.”

Jaehwan silently looked at Jin Eunsae before answering.

“I don’t mind, but talk with him first.”

The Leader was a traitor to 「Rift」.

Jin Eunsae might need to learn why the Leader had betrayed 「Rift」.

Jin Eunsae looked up at Jaehwan with complicated eyes, then nodded.

“Are you going to meet the Driver now?”

“Wait, we still haven’t received the Task.”

Come to think of it, the Allies had focused so much on defeating the Leader that they had not even learned what the Ninth Floor Task was.

Defeating the Leader had been one of their goals, but it was neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for reaching the Tenth Floor.

That was when a message arrived.

[The Ninth Floor Task has been issued.]

“Ah, finally...”

Rene, her face brightening, opened the Task first.

Then...

“What does this mean?”

+

Task: Enter the Tenth Floor. However, only one passenger may ascend to the Tenth Floor.

Reward: A private meeting with the Driver.

+

The other Allies, who checked the Task details afterward, also stiffened.

They had come all this way, but only one person could ascend?

Manri Shintong was the first to speak. As though there was nothing to consider, he said to Jaehwan, “Of course you should go up. If it weren’t for you, we would not have even seen the entrance to the Ninth Floor.”

Karlton and Martis added their voices next.

“I will only climb this far as well. If it were not for you, Citadel Lord, I would never have entered 〈Metaverse〉.”

“Seeing the Ninth Floor alone is enough for me.”

Jin Eunsae and Runald gave light nods as well.

Andersen, who had remained silent, spoke too.

“I feel the same.”

Andersen’s voice had not yet calmed from its heightened emotions. Perhaps she was still shaken from witnessing the Leader’s defeat, Chronos’s manifestation, and Catastrophe’s descent from closer than anyone else.

Rene did not answer, but she soon seemed to accept it.

That was when the fallen Leader spoke.

“You are fools.”

The startled Allies drew their weapons and guarded against the Leader.

The Leader’s lips twitched as though he found that sight amusing, then he spoke to Jaehwan.

“I told you it would be useless. You need to kill me.”

Martis asked in Jaehwan’s place.

“What do you mean?”

The Leader answered as he struggled to breathe.

“Long ago... There was an inscription at the entrance of the Metaverse. ‘The reason gods cannot ascend to the end of the world is simple. They are too heavy.’ It means exactly what it says. You are too heavy.”

Before the Leader could even finish speaking, another message appeared in the air.

[The passenger ascending to the Tenth Floor must kill every passenger remaining on the Ninth Floor.]

[Kill every other passenger and make the bus lighter.]

“What? What the...”

Martis let out a cry of shock, and the other Allies’ eyes widened. They had not misheard.

[Only the one person who survives until the end can obtain a ticket to the Tenth Floor.]

This was the Ninth Floor’s true Task.

The Leader spoke to the Allies.

“Did you really think a fairy-tale world existed, where everyone joined forces to defeat their enemy and humans and gods cooperated for one another?”

It was the voice of someone who had already experienced all of this once.

The Leader looked at his former Companions, preserved on the Ninth Floor.

“No such world exists. This Tower was not made for that purpose.”

Only then did the Allies look around at the capsules displayed throughout the Ninth Floor.

This was the Tower’s final Task they had wanted so desperately to reach.

As though speaking of a world’s coming destruction, the Leader finished speaking to Jaehwan.

“One who wishes to see the end of the world must discard everything they have gained.”

Footnotes:

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