Haroon v6c5

《The Messenger of Meeyos》

CAUTION: This chapter contains disturbing descriptions on child abuse.

The three-day journey over Alamiz mountain was over. The rain poured down less starting the previous night, making the sky clear on the final day. Alamiz was a very dangerous place, especially with two people who weren’t even capable of protecting themselves. Through the heavy rain that kept wyverns and monsters reside in their place, and through the places that paths cannot form, Haroon found paths small enough for them to take. It took some time but they were left unharmed. If it wasn’t for Avan and Shany’s poor stamina, it would have taken only two days. There were a few places the land was weakened due to rain where Shany or Avan slipped or even rolled off, only to be saved by the rope they connected their waists together in advance.

One noteworthy moment was the cliff climbing. Even Myo took a wrong step and fell from the tail, but Haroon bore the whole group’s weight with his waist while climbing up the cliff just with his fingers. Even Myo couldn’t hide her impression from her face when she was great at not showing her emotions. Haroon looked slander, but his pure strength was beyond the point she could imagine, even as a high ranker.

On the second night when they spent a night in a cave, a pack of starved wandering wolves intruded the cave, and Haroon managed to get them without leaving the cave just with his throwing knives and daggers. When the group exited the cave the next morning, they were surprised to see a mountain of corpses of over 50 wolves near the entrance.

If it wasn’t for Haroon’s amazing abilities, they wouldn’t have made it through Alamiz Mountain, not just with Myo. That was the one common fact that the three agreed on, as they spent 3 days with Haroon.

Anyhow, they were now past the threats. The view of a vast plain came into their eyes.

“Wow! It’s like there is no end to this place!”

Shany exclaimed. The plain continued to the point they could see with their eyes, except for a few small mountains here and there, making the observers feel refreshed. Inners – who were caged in narrow Barriers for their whole life – couldn’t not be surprised and excited to see such a scene. The first impression of the vast Jorlen County was vastness, abundance, and relaxing. The wheat filled the golden Jorlen plains, and the soft wind that descended down from the northern slope of Huk'ran mountains stroked the bent ripe wheat; they were pleased to see such a scene. As golden wheat of the vast plains sway to the wind like a wave, farmers were preparing for the harvest and the soldiers were dispatched here and there to stop the monsters from invading.

Haroon’s face was covered with long hair, but Avan read the emotion from his eyes. However, he never imagined Haroon would have never been to Jorlen Plain. Instead, he thought the feeling of seeing such a vast plain would be always refreshing.

“It’s such a scene, isn’t it?”

“Indeed.”

Haroon replied, without taking his eyes off the plain.

“Dad, Jorlen Plain is amazing. It’s so wide like a sea.”

Shany intervened; she’s been trying to get close to Haroon after learning who he is.

“Hahaha. It is indeed an amazing place. Jorlen Plain is one of the top four granaries of the Empire, and some even claim that wheat produced here feeds half of the whole empire. Technically this place is County, but it’s practically it’s under the direct control of the empire.”

Avan was very bright with the information of the Terron Empire, even though he was a user. Haroon was impressed by Avan having such knowledge, although it may be obvious for him because he is a merchant.

“What do you mean by ‘practically?’ County and direct control simply don’t go together,” Shany asked.

“Count Jorlen has been a key position of the Northern Army for over 200 years as a lone supplier of military provisions and other supplies. So Count Jorlen is recognized as a neutral military force, while not being under the senate and not participating in the Golden Battle.”

Such vast and fertile land would have attracted nobles’ greed. A mere count would have enough manpower to protect the land. One of the previous generations of Count Jorlen chose to become the military force that represents the natural force since the establishment of the empire, making the other nobles abandon their greed over the land. The land had low mountains and two rivers with rich water levels, making the land fertile; Count Jorlen was protecting the family with food as their weapon instead of increasing the manpower.

Roads were well-paved to directions and they were wide enough for two carriages to pass side by side; it still took two full days to pass through Jorlen Plain. Haroon’s group joined a community of merchants and paid the appropriate fee to take the carriage together with the leader of the community.

Unlike the other regions, villages with peaceful atmospheres lay around the plains which were very convenient for travelers. On the second day of the journey on the plain, they arrived at Barrum by late evening, a village of serfs. Though the main residents were serfs, the village was large enough to have streets filled with accommodations, inns, and stores for travelers. Avan later explained that there are more than five times more villages of serfs than the villages of commoners. As Count Jorlen has been in charge of the Northern Army for generations, they sent prisoners they got from the battles with the nomadic tribes of the north as serfs.

The four took the same accommodation as the merchants. They were only two hours away from the castle, but by then it would be too late and the gate would be closed so they decided to spend a night in that village.

The name of the inn they were staying at was called ‘Wheat Hut,’ and they had separate places for accommodations and food. The restaurant was unexpectedly full of people even though the exterior of the building looked not good, but it was a good sign as it meant the food is great; the atmosphere was very noisy, and it was the perfect atmosphere for the merchants and mercenaries. The merchants unpacked their stuff in their rooms, and they were guided by the staff to the inn to the remaining tables; the restaurant was practically full. There was a constant flow of mercenaries to the second floor, presumably because the rooms on the second floor were booked by the prostitutes for businesses.

“Haha! This is what I signed up for when I decided to become a merc.”

“Yeah. This is hundo times better than working like ants talking and acting weird for fancy food!”

A group of mercenaries had their armor off, revealing their big muscles and enjoying their bear with their friends. The inn was full of merchants and the mercenaries guiding them; the merchants were here to buy the harvests for it was the harvesting season. Haroon and Avan’s group took a table and drank on the remaining bit of the journey they had.

“So Captain Haroon, when will we leave the castle after we get there?”

Haroon thought the way Shany emptied half of her mug of beer and wiped the foam on her lips with her sleeve was cute. After hearing their side of the story, they weren’t as alienating as before.

They were nobles. They were the son and the granddaughter of Jiseong Hyun, a senator of the Senates of Ko-1 Union; Avan was soon inheriting his father’s social status. President of Necomwall Ko-1 Branch tipped him about the ancient dungeon at the silent land. He did not disclose why he was heading there, but he said he must go there. Haroon was curious why nobles (especially those from the highest positions) would want to enter the ancient dungeon, but he had no justification to ask about it when Avan was not mentioning it. He knew he will find out when they make it to the silent land. Avan apparently learned about Haroon’s presence from Necomwall, too. He assumed Magrum and Chornn would have mentioned his name; the GMs he agreed to meet at the castle of Jorlen County.

“I first need to meet some people there. I need a thorough information gathering on the place and the path to there, and we can use some preparation as well.”

What Haroon told Shany made Avan feel relieved. Although it was him who agreed on a fortune as the contracting fee, he could trust the man gathering information and making necessary preparation before his work. That was the same process of business his father and his grandfather taught him.

“What worries me is that everyone will learn about the dungeon on the broadcast after we leave the castle. I’ve only heard the stories about the dungeon, but I know there will be a tragedy, and it will be a way worse than the one back in Huk’ran Mountains”

That’s what Haroon thought, too. Haroon couldn’t tell why Avan would even care about it, though. What concerned him was his acquaintances were still near the silent land. Briella, Devron, and even Jinsoo wouldn’t have made it out of the place.

‘I hope Briella and Devron are doing fine …….’

As history shows, the forces that accumulated power for decades for the Golden Battle uses such treasures, mines, or dungeons as the detonator for the skirmish. For this Golden Battle, the first battle was Huk’ran Mountains, and the new full-scale battlefield will fold out on the Silent Land. And if the influence of the dungeon is huge enough, the Golden Battle could end at the Silent Land.

Haroon wasn’t really a drink enjoyer, so he finished his meal early and came out for a stroll. The other three were going to return to the real world for some time.

It was a mere village, but this village had a lot of traffic so its rain road was well lighted with magic lamps and torches. But the residential area was submerged in deep darkness unlike the main road and the inn in the back alley. Although serfs here had an easier life than the serfs in the other regions, they still had to work their backbones out to barely get enough food; they didn’t come out of their houses after the time the darkness curtains down.

‘This is weird. I can’t believe there is absolutely no one in the street.’

What Haroon didn’t know was that feeble serfs frequently got raped or violated by the mercenaries or travelers, just for living in a village with a lot of traffic; no one came out of their houses when it was dark anymore.

Haroon could see their shabby houses under the moonlight. The houses differed in size, but they were more like huts built with dirt and had wheat straw as the roof. Under those roofs there must be pity souls who inherited their social class through generations, taking the only permitted rest after the exhausting day. Although it wasn’t as bad as getting all rights limited, Haroon had low life too, and it wasn’t comfortable to see their houses that were like of livestocks’.

“This is fucked!”

Haroon couldn’t hold in the curses.

It didn’t make sense how the social classes were inherited by blood, not capabilities. But he also knew that an outlander couldn’t put a change to the few-thousand-years-old class society of Beyond, but he couldn’t help being angry about it.

The purpose of this stroll was to consider the flow of mana and move them on command. But seeing the shabby houses of the serfs reminded his situation, and after that, he couldn’t get himself focused.

‘I’m going back.’

And something happened when he almost turned around to head back.

He saw two people carrying a sack of something coming towards him. He didn’t know why, but he hid. He found something dark about them.

‘Who are they? Are they serfs?’

He hid behind a wall of a hut and observed closely at those two passing by him.

‘They are men, mercenaries.’

Wide and firm shoulders, imposing figures, and knives at their waist were shouting that they were mercenaries. They hurried their way with the sack in a hand. Suddenly the sack wiggled. The mercenary in the front stopped, annoyed, and punched the sack with the other hand. Suppressed moan leaked out of the sack and then the sack stopped wiggling.

“Quiet, you chick! Just stop fighting like you’re dead, ‘cuz we are giving you a new life today! My boss fancies you so you will have a few Gold after tonight.”

“Hehehe! That’s not the end, though. You will just have to take thirteen energetic men, and that’ll be it. If you don’t die from enjoying it too much, I’m sure they will give you Ten-Silver coins each. That is good for you, and you are good for us, so act like you deserve it.”

Haroon made a grimace in disgust. It was clear enough what was going on.

“Huh, don’t you have sound breasts with that immature face?”

The mercenary’s eyes glared with lust kneading around the serf’s breasts over the sack under the moonlight.

“I can’t believe you are thirteen with these firm breasts and butts; you are natural at this. You know what? You had this coming since you are a serf anyway, by someone else other than us or your lord’s family. But don’t worry, because a shot with myan flower powder, I know you will have a great time.”

Haroon shut his eyes. She was only thirteen. His eyes burn with fury over the mercenaries being dirty pigs on a little girl.

‘Myan flower powder? That’s a nasty drug. I can’t just let these animals just walk away.’

Mercenaries are known to risk their lives, but they were just giving up being human if they were even using drugs. Looking for prostitutes was not something the public questioned morale with, but grouping up to kidnap and rape someone was forbidden by the Empire Law or any other jurisdiction. And seeing how they are using the forbidden drug, they were most likely criminals rather than mercenaries. Haroon put his hand on his weapon belt. But then he lowered his hand again when he heard something unexpected.

“Huhuhu! And if you show those voyeuristic outlanders how much you are enjoying it, those rich boys would love to pay us more.”

“With that money those outlanders paid us for tonight, we don’t have to take any risky job for a while. It sound like the boss wants to change the business to this, it sounded like. I heard there are already dozens of groups doing this business in the castle, and they are raking mountains of money every night. If we do this right, we can enjoy as much as we want while earning more than enough money for our whole life.”

“Haa! What a mad fuckers! Can you imagine just watching someone having sex until you shoot your eyes out while drolling all over your body when you can just do it yourself?”

“Hahaha! Well, those outlanders cannot have sex with us because of oracle or whatnot so I guess they need something to satisfy them somehow.”

It felt like something exploded in his body. Fury flew out as red flame from his eyes.

He didn’t remember when but his eyes turned red whenever he grew murderous intention. His mana was fluctuating. Some were already being imbued to his sword through his hand that he was holding it.

‘Okay! Calm down. You need to get to the bottom of this, Haroon.’

He barely managed to suppress his erupting murderous intention down. He tailed the mercenaries who were back on walking. Messenger Walking allowed him to shadow them without making any sound, like an assassin.

The mercenaries stopped at a small building located at the outskirt of the village. The building was more of a temporary building, built crudely with a few logs and leather, and it was surrounded by a few bonfires. The mercenaries talked to the other mercenary on the watch.

“Good work today.”

“That was hardly a ‘work.’ Her daddy and mommy and little ones did fight back, but they hardly needed some punches.”

“Well, what can serfs do, report us? Even if they do we can always give a little appreciation to the village managers. You know this business works. That’s how those ones in the castles do.”

“Where are the sponsors?”

“Those pervs are already here. You should have seen how excited their sneaky eyes looked! Hahaha.”

“Welp, we’re going in. Come in soon. It’s awesome to hug little ladies. You won’t be the first, but I can guarantee you it’ll still be special to tame it.”

“Alright. We’ll be in soon.”

The mercenaries with the sack entered the building, and the mercenaries on the watch entered the building too, leaving only the bonfires to keep it.

‘No one in this building is worth alive.’

Just in case, he wore the armor that he got from killing the lump orc tribal chief. He was wearing armor on top of another, but it wasn’t too bad to move around. It actually felt a lot better, thanks to the set bonuses of two armor sets. He didn’t know that shivering blue sparks were arcing between the three pointy horns on the lump orc helmet, and also that his eyes turned crimson red.

Haroon slowly approached the building. He lifted the door made with plaited wheat straw and found dozens of men inside. There were a few bonfires lit inside, and there was an improvised wide bed and a naked girl at the center of the room.

“Look at her hot body! How does a serf have this?”

“I know what will be having fun today!”

“Can people doing it first be less rough today? I don’t want to do it with a dead chick like the last time.”

Tears rolled down Haroon’s face.

The girl the bonfire revealed looked barely ten. She was small for having poor quality food, and she had a weak body that didn’t look like that of thirteen that he heard earlier. Her face was tanned from hard labor but her body was white; she wasn’t able to take the lustful eyes of men, desperately crouching and trying to hide her body with her hands and legs.

When he saw her, she reminded him of Bell and that upset him.

One of the mercenaries mixed something with an alcoholic drink while a few men held her limbs and her face. She struggled desperately in vain. The rim of the bottle touched the girl’s lips that wasn’t even letting her scream for being overwhelmed with fear.

“S-Somebody help!”

She turned her mouth as the last struggle. The drink flew down her neck.

“You fucking bitch!”

A mercenary slapped her cheek hard spitting out strong words; he was covered only for the crotch. He seemed to be the boss of the mercenaries.

“Fuck yeah! I like when chicks fight back; it makes the show.”

“She doesn’t even smell bad. Do it already!”

More than a dozen of men were in the middle and the outlanders cheered and shouted seeing the mess. Haroon quivered in fury for a moment before he spawned Naia. His eyes were burning red like that of devils.

“Shoot Ice Arrow to everyone in the building except the girl. Actually, I won’t make it too easy for them. Change that to Water Spike. I want them just barely alive.”

Naia’s eyes burned with murderous intention as well; she had the same emotion as him for the special contract she had with Haroon. Hundreds of Water Spikes appeared out of thin air and shot at men in a flash.

“GAaah! What was that?!”

“AAAAAH!”

“GAH! WHO’S THERE?”

The building was filled with screams and shouts. Everyone in the building, except the serf girl, got penetrated by Water Spikes, screaming and moaning in pain. Some of them were strong enough to get it back together, trying to pull out their weapons and stand up.

Haroon summoned the earth spirit this time.

“I want those animals buried up to their necks.”

“Huhu, this is going to be fun.”

Lifey smiled and shook the ground. The ground cracked open under the mercenaries and users’ feet. Then it tied them up, only leaving their heads above the ground.

While all of this mess was going on, the girl was crouching as hard as she could, terrified, covering her ears with her hands and trembling in fear.

Haroon had a helmet on that only revealed his eyes, and the three pointy horns and the red light on his eyes made him like a devil. The mouth and nose cover on the helmet shifted his voice grimmer as well.

“W-Who are you?”

“Nngh! How dare you attack us Comets?”

The mercenaries and the users moaned and shouted in anger. But when Haroon revealed himself near the bed looked into each of their eyes, glaring with the red light that resembled flames, their face went pale in panic. Just looking into his eyes transfixed them. The murderous intention fuming out of his body felt like it was tearing their flesh out.

“Huhuh, I’m the Messenger of Meeyos! I clean the worthless beings off the world for the seriousness of their sins.”

The dark force flew out from Haroon wearing the lump orc armor. Sunk in the fear, their heart shook like candlelight against the wind.

“P-Please spare us.”

The mercenary captain trembled. He was barely managing against Haroon’s murderous energy.

“Those outlanders made me do it and I had no other choice!”

He rolled his eyes for a moment and spoke up with an excuse. When Haroon heard this, he looked back at the users with a terrifying look that was hard to endure.

“T-That is not true.”

“They said they’ll show us a good show! That’s why we’re here!”

“You are dead if the Comets learn about this! Let us go while you can! We are recognized by the oracle, you know?! You are committing profanity if you kill us!”

Those users with enough level to fight back the fear either made excuses or even threaten him mentioning the god.

Haroon made a creepy smile. He got an entertaining idea.

Come to think of it, the commoners and serfs seemed to bear awe for the outlanders as they were here by the oracle. That’s why they had to just live with it, even if they were treated unfairly. Of course, the users were just treating them like NPCs just like the other games. Haroon thought he needed to change that phenomenon. The gods of Beyond must be AI computers, and that meant they won’t be controlling the actions of the outlanders. Though he couldn’t do much, he thought he needed to put a beginning on that change, letting out a creepy smile.

“I, the Messenger of Death, the will of Meeyos, the authority of the darkness heard the terrified and despairing voice of poor little servant. I could not leave and watch thou worms make my innocent servants fall in the abyss of pain and despair. I sentence death to those who violate the commandment of Meeyos!”

Haroon had no idea who Meeyos was, but he heard the name. He heard it from the prayer the little daughter of a serf made as she trembles in fear.

-O Meeyos, please hear this little Daemon crying out! Please save me from this hell!

She repeated this over, and over, and over, crying in tears while her immature body was revealed as her clothes were torn off.

“Thou souls shall not escape the deepest place of Meeyos, where the darkness, fire, and brimstone blaze, for eternity!”

-Lifey, drive Soil Spear in their bodies. Make them greet death, as slow as possible.

-Huhuhu. As you wish

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

“AAAAAAAAAAH!”

“HELP, HELP!”

“PLEASE, ANYONE, HELP!”

Horrible moans burst out of their mouths. As the spears made out of soils pry through the flesh, their faces were distorted in pain.

“Those who sinned shall have their mouths shut!”

As the low but mysteriously rhythmic curse came out of Haroon’s mouth, the ground shook once again and pulled their bodies down to their mouths. No more screams came out of their mouths. They were just barely able to breathe through their noses.

The mercenaries and the users couldn’t even faint, and they were slowly losing blood to the Spear of Earth that penetrated their bodies; their eyes were leaking blood. The pain was too great, and as they were not allowed to scream, the capillary vessels around their eyes were bursting for straining their muscles too hard.

-Lifey, can you make them not dead but not really alive?

-For a few days, yes.

-Never mind, let’s just kill them.

He wanted them to suffer for days, but that sounded too cruel so he changed his mind. He looked at each mercenary who had their faces distorted in pain.

“I speak in the might of Meeyos: thou shall go to the hell of fire and brimstone, for eternity. They might have lower class, but they are children of Meeyos, just like thou; thou sinners cruelly mistreated them so thou may sin no more.”

Their eyes shook violently. Their bloody tears full of regret and despair, and their eyes were rolling in fear, but Haroon’s stare was couldn’t be more cold-hearted.

“Go!”

The rest of their heads were sucked down to the ground with that command. The land devoured them without leaving any scream behind.

The users’ eyes shook seeing such a horrible scene. Haroon looked back at the terrified users.

“Thou outlanders have sinned in this other world, and thou shall not evade death for disobeying the contract with all gods of this world. Even thy reincarnation would not be for thee if thou shall commit thy wretched and filthy sin again in this world. Mark my words, O outlanders! For thou are the visitors of this world, ‘tis not thy playground to satisfy thee for thy wretched desires.”

Their distorted eyes were turned white with fear even in pain. Reincarnation not being permitted meant they won’t be able to revive or even use other accounts – this wasn’t just a threat.

The heads of the users slowly sunk down below the ground. Those who got their eyes and foreheads covered faded away. There were a few items lying around on the spot they disappeared. Haroon took them and paused on seeing one item. It was a hairband camera. It must have everything recorded. If someone recognizes him with this footage, things will get hectic for him.

After taking every item he put up a kindled firewood. He threw it at a wall, and the fire soon spread to the wood and wheat straw. Haroon walked into the darkness, with the fainted girl in his arms.

That night he paid a visit to three villages and the castle. He roamed all night with the scary lump orc armor.

When Haroon was back at the inn, his armor was soaked wet with blood. When he took off his blood, his steam went off and reminded him of the horrible massacre he caused overnight.

“How did this all happen? I know they deserved it, but I still killed hundreds of people; why do I feel so comfortable about it? I was acting and feeling like a totally different person as if something haunted me for a night.”

Strangely enough, he couldn’t vividly remember what happened, though he knew he did something he wouldn’t do as his normal self. But he didn’t regret what he did over the night. What he didn’t understand was how cruel, violent, and powerful the methods he used to correct wicked people were; some of the NPCs were even knights.

Haroon summoned Naia to clean the armor and calm his heart down.

‘Maybe I was too enraged because she reminded me of Bell. Maybe I went berserk or something.’

That was his best guess.

---

Since the messenger of Meeyos, the Goddess of earth appeared at Jorlen Castle to correct the animals that kidnapped the daughters of serfs and commoners to make them prostitutes and outlanders who satisfied their lust with voyeurism, there was a change in the Terron Empire that the nobles couldn’t easily notice

Over seven million outlanders flew to this world. They could only stay for a certain period unlike the people of the Terron Empire, but they all could influence the empire.

Starting with the swordsman, the job that most users take, merchants, producers like craftsmen, and magicians being the least, the huge influx of the outlanders to the empire shook the whole empire.

First of all, outlanders were consumers and made the trading more lively; commoners were turning away from primary industries like farming to commerce.

In a short period of six months, commoners in professional fields like blacksmiths or leathersmiths earned a huge fortune thanks to the outlanders. They used the profits as the capital for mass productions, and the continuous influx of the outlanders brought them more fortune.

Centered around the geographical points the users access the world with, many independent farmers and commoners opened their eyes to the new value called ‘money.’ Trading before the outlanders were mostly spot trading, and most of the margin went to the nobles or some huge merchants – things were different now.

Some good forges popular for users earned more money than the lord of the jurisdiction. It was the same for the merchants as well. As the commoners get richer, the merchants gained more profit, and even if they don’t conspire with the nobles they could make profits.

The world was moving on from a farming-centered society to a trading-centered society. The commoners opened their eyes to the market economy and they were changed. Escaping from the unconditional submission to the lords, they grew the desire to achieve self-fulfillment.

But they couldn’t deal with the force the nobles own. Rebelling against their lords was yet an unthinkable thing for the knights and armies they owned. They had the social class that the god gave.

But things were changed now.

They found out they also had a god that looks after them. This god was Meeyos, the god widely worshiped by the serfs and commoners. Although there are no huge and fancy temples for Meeyos the Goddess of Earth, like for the God of War or the God of White that the nobles worship, Meeyos was the god the commoners and serfs believed in for surviving on the fruits of the land. And the god they worship finally sent a messenger. This messenger may be a terrifying one like a devil, but he was a messenger that was only for them, and he mercilessly buried the real devils into the ground. The story of this messenger was spread by the commoners and serfs at a lightning speed. The emperor and the nobles may be the people the gods sent, and now also had a god that looks after them.

Those who started accumulating capitals and opened eyes to defy the unconditional authorities of the nobles slowly started to find the change without making any noise.

Tragic war came back every few decades and it brought conscription, terror, and massacre. The temples that the nobles worshipped never looked after the families and neighbors of the dead and disabled, and those who died from hunger and disease. The last thousand years were pain, the repeating lamentation and wail. The Golden Battle meant nothing more than that for the commoners and serfs. Those who think the Golden Battle put an end to the civil war were only the Royal Family and the Senate. The other owners of this land were finally raising their own owner spirits. Those who were leading this movement were the commoners with professions, merchants, and mercenaries who formed the guilds. They were the ones who were influenced by the outlanders who came from comparably more flexible and developed civilizations.

---

An unknown location of the District S, Ko-1 Union

Hyeryun made it to a small building that was two stories high with one basement level named Land Cadastre Office early in the morning. LCO was originally a small governmental office that assigns lot numbers to the land, records and analyzes them, but after the formation of barrier, it was reduced to a boring office that records newly constructed buildings, the change of aging buildings, and the streets.

Hyeryun entered the room labeled ‘Changing Room.’ She pushed the power button behind the neck of the robot that will replace her role. The robot had the exact same figure like her, and it entered the office as it mimics her walking habits.

‘I can’t stop being thinking how alike it is with me.’

Smiling bitterly, Hyeryun pressed a corner of the huge painting hung on the side of the changing room. The wall slid open without making any sound, revealing the elevator that led to the basement. She pressed the button labeled B114. She had no idea what departments were on the other floors, but the 114th basement floor and the other 10 floors were the laboratories for the teams researching the current hottest video game, ‘Beyond.’

The whole building was owned by Necomwall, and the rumors told her that the basement of over 20 buildings concealed as governmental offices were all the research centers of Necomwall. Of course, those offices would have hidden elevators as well.

‘Huh, did something happen today?’

Hyeryun had her eyes shut to endure the dizziness and discomfort she always gets from riding that elevator. When the elevator doors opened and she opened her eyes again, she saw her fellow researchers having conversations in the hallways. It was her first day back to work after her 7-day vacation, and she sensed something uneasy from the way they were talking to each other. But as always, the researchers were used to their way of keeping their voices low so she couldn’t pick up any information from them even when she was walking past them.

There were four teams of researchers working on the floor she was working on, and the team she was in was using the innermost section of the floor. At the section gate, her identity was confirmed via iris scan and DNA scan, just as how she passed the main gate. She got her coffee from the vending machine near the gate and then she headed straight to the lounge. She felt the need to see Darang, whose specialty was in chatting, to learn about what happened in the seven days she was away. But it was thirty minutes before the work time, so there weren’t many researchers who came to work.

“Hyeryun! Welcome back.”

“Dr. Hwang.”

She greeted back warmly for white-headed Dr. Hwang who was warmly welcoming her with a huge smile. Dr. Hwang majored in artificial intelligence, and he was a great scholar who devoted his life to recovering the AI computers built in the Ages of Doom; he retired three years ago. But he joined Necomwall’s Beyond Team in secret last year, and he was the senior researcher of the team.

“Have you heard the news?” Dr. Hwang asked.

“About what?”

So something did happen, Hyeryun thought. She was about to ask him about the strange air in the company, anyways.

“So even you had no idea,” he added.

Hyeryun only blinked her huge and clear eyes in confusion.

“There was a very extraordinary but massive homicide in Beyond yesterday. It was such a severe event that the general emergency meeting was called for all GMs.”

As the GMs had no control or authority to monitor the game, the GMs had to play the game themselves to collect information. As far as she knew, there was no general emergency meeting called in history. So this event sounded serious, but she couldn’t understand why.

“Homicide that called the emergency meeting? But things like that happen in Beyond all the time, doesn’t it?”

Hyeryun asked, disappointed.

“Sure they do. Homicides happen all the time between the NPCs or even between the users. PK between the users and NPCs is frequent these days, too. But this one is different. This one is committed by a hierophany of a self-designated ‘Representative’ of so-called ‘gods’ in Beyond.”

“What? Are you serious?”

Hyeryun’s eyes sparkled with excitement; her major research area was the gods of the world of Beyond.

“Yes, they say a being that claims to be ‘the messenger of Meeyos’ appeared somewhere in the Terron Empire.”

“But Meeyos is the goddess of the earth.”

There was no temple built for Meeyos, but she was the goddess of earth, abundance, and affection. What was unusual about this goddess is that she is in charge of the hell of the afterlife. But priest with Meeyos’ divine power has never appeared in the history of Beyond.

“That’s what the GM team told me too. Let me give you the outline: the messenger of the goddess appeared and massacred the beyond residents who kidnapped serf or commoner girls, raped and abused them, and also the users who satisfied their perverted lusts seeing them doing it. This messenger used the power of the earth and buried the ‘sinners’ alive into the ground. In a single night, four hundred users that enjoyed such thing and about a thousand of the Beyond residents involved in it were buried alive deep in the ground at a castle county and nearby area.”

“…….”

Hyeryun almost lost the grip of her coffee in surprise.

“Apparently among the victims, there were some bribed knights who protected the business, mercenaries deeply involved in the business, or hidden strong figures. There were three high-ranking users as well.”

“So are you saying this murderer is really the messenger of the goddess?”

Hyeryun was in disbelief.

“As far as we know, no one can massacre that many skilled people that easily, especially when there are also knights. Of course, swordmasters or 8-circle archmages could match the number in a single night, but not buried alive in the dirt. They are just skilled differently”

“So you are saying this could really be the messenger.”

“With the information we have so far, I think it’s possible. The description the killed users gave matches with the appearance of the messenger of the goddess known from the legends. Three horns on head, blue sparks arcing between them, burning eyes of terror, and its ability to bury them alive under the ground with just voice without chanting; it all suggest that there is a high chance this could actually be a messenger known to bring sinners to the hell deep inside the underground world.”

Dr. Hwang was excited, but Hyeryun couldn’t take his words that easily.

Oracle is an actual thing in Beyond, but there was a high chance that this was all fake. There were a lot of religion-based frauds back in the history of humanity before the Age of Doom. And there were some beings in Beyond that could do this work. They were the elves, known to be the race of the forest.

“But this is something that earth elemental magicians can do. Of course, I can’t be sure because I haven’t witnessed it myself, but it sounds like something advanced or top-class elementalists can do. We are talking about a world magical races like elves live in.”

Dr. Hwang nodded in agreement.

“It is indeed a possibility. But as far as we know, elementalist with such capability has not appeared in the history of Beyond. Elves might be able to achieve that level, but they have never got involved in human history so that’s another piece of evidence.”

“Well, I suppose you are right. High elves are known to be capable of such level of elemental magic, and they never leave their residence.”

This event could be the answer for the matter she and her fellow researchers has been digging on, and it held such an important meaning.

The dozens of researchers, including Hyeryun, were conducting secret research in Beyond Team of Necomwall. Their task was to find out if the world they call Beyond is virtual reality or actually another reality. This was something that the humans completely excluded from the developmental stage of the game, and the research was finally attempted as the incomprehensible facts were brought up to the surface by the users.

The development was a collective work of hundreds of supercomputers buried under the desert led by Mothercom, but it was still hard to believe that the behaviors of the NPCs, continuous history, and unexpectedness of the events that occur all the time were the result of computations.

The unstandardized behavior of NPCs, their intelligence, and their cultural level were never inferior to humans. The variety and depth of cultural heritage, books, and relics they had were far too great to be accepted as an artificial reality. There were so many research materials like the different legends about the gods, discussion records about the existence of gods, and even papers about the divine power. Virtual reality was so realistic even researchers with deep game development experience were impressed. That’s why Beyond is so wild for the users, as it feels like they really are in a fantasy world, but Necomwall, the global company built on top of the support of most of the unions on Earth, questioned such detail.

“So this could mean that NPCs could actually be humans on another dimension or another planet just like we thought, right? That means Beyond is not a virtual world, but actually another world that exists somewhere!”

“That’s what the research results so far and this event tells us, isn’t it?”

Hyeryun panicked for a moment. It felt her mind was going blank. She always doubted this theory, but there was other evidence that this theory could be real and that made her mind go blank.

“For now, let’s take a serious discussion about this event once all researchers come to work. We will talk with the team in charge of the weather, and the celestial elements. We will get some kind of lead when we collect the research results of other teams.”

“Okay. But why is the company that developed the very game so concerned about this?”

Dr. Hwang was perplexed by her question. Even he didn’t know the reason behind this research although he was in charge of it. There were a lot of things he didn’t understand about the intention of the company assigning such research for his team.