Chapter 156. Rampage
76th day in the labyrinth.
Medical Angel returned.
As usual, Merino was the first to welcome back the returning members.
“Yangyang! Medical Yang, welcome back, nya!”
［Beeep! Beep boop beep!］
After telling Medical it had worked hard, I turned on the broadcast.
【Pururu】─Appearance ping.
【Mysticism】─😃
I asked the assistants how Nokya’s blessing was holding up.
It might have weakened since Medical had returned to the Ancient Labyrinth.
【Mir-Stin】─You mean the blessing?
【Mir-Stin】─I’m with Nokya right now, so I’ll check it out. Coincidentally, we have a live crab in the kitchen.
Some time passed.
Then a message popped up in the chat.
【Mir-Stin】─Seems fine.
【Luna-chan】─Checked it! No problem with the abilities from the blessing! >.<
“Looks like they were together. Anyway, thanks for confirming.”
The power of the blessing appeared to be intact.
Well, in hindsight, it made sense.
The previous guardian who had granted Nokya’s blessing had also left for another dimension.
Unlike permanent blessings that would persist without issue, buffs that temporarily amplified power would weaken or fade if the caster left the dimension.
【Rizenova】─Oh.
【Rizenova】─So the statues erected on our Lumina Planet must have had a power similar to that of the blessing.
【Mysticism】─🤔 Psycho Clown statues?
【Rizenova】─Yes.
【Mir-Stin】─Is there a Psycho Clown statue on Lumina?
【Pururu】─They put one up during the last dispatch.
【Yumi】─I heard they also erected a statue of Geon.
【Mir-Stin】─ㄷㄷㄷ
Afterward.
In celebration of Medical Angel’s return, Merino put her heart and soul into cooking.
“You must’ve worked hard, nyang! Eat plenty! Everyone, eat a lot, nyang!”
［Beeep!］
［Jafaan!］
［Thanks for the food, pii!］
［Kyu-yang!］
So, we all gathered for the meal.
I slowly chewed my food, silently watching the assistants’ conversation floating in midair.
【Yumi】─Elise. When the Dimensional Barrier disappears, not only will Earth’s environment worsen, but the planet’s durability will also weaken—is that true?
【Bubble Bubble】─The likelihood is very high. I’ve heard that worlds without Dimensional Barriers are often unstable.
【Bubble Bubble】─The reason there weren’t proper life forms before the Dimensional Barrier might also have been due to the world’s instability.
【Pururu】─So, Earth could turn into a planet ready to be fried.
【Mir-Stin】─Becoming my uncle’s planet, it seems…
【Mysticism】─🤔
【Bubble Bubble】─Not just Earth, but everything in your dimension will become unstable.
【Luna-chan】─Right. So far, the Dimensional Barrier has been called a protective shield for Earth, but in reality, it has been protecting everything within Earth’s dimension.
【Luna-chan】─In short, Earth is just the center of this dimension.
【Luna-chan】─To make it simpler, Earth is the core of the Dimensional Barrier.
【Luna-chan】─There’s a guardian on Earth, and diverse and intelligent life forms live there.
Nodding, I continued eating, silently bobbing my head.
【Yumi】─Does this mean stable worlds like Elemencia or Lumina are also protected by Dimensional Barriers?
【Luna-chan】─Nope. There’s no Dimensional Barrier in Elemencia.
【Luna-chan】─Kendra, the world Gauntlet sent a monster to recently, probably doesn’t have a Dimensional Barrier either.
【Yumi】─No Dimensional Barrier? Then how does Elemencia survive?
【Luna-chan】─Just because a world doesn’t have a Dimensional Barrier doesn’t mean it’s unstable. It’s just more likely to be unstable without one.
【Luna-chan】─And since Earth’s dimension was unstable before, it’s likely that the world will revert to its original state once the Dimensional Barrier is gone. It won’t happen immediately, though.
【Luna-chan】─One more thing, Elemencia does have something similar to a Dimensional Barrier.
【Pururu】─Stop the chat already. This is low-level nonsense.
【Rizenova】─Yes, speak in person.
【Rizenova】─No, wait. I’m curious too, so go ahead.
【Pururu】─?
【Yumi】─Something similar to a Dimensional Barrier? What is it?
【Mysticism】─🧐
【Luna-chan】─Instead of a Dimensional Barrier, there’s a Dimensional Fog that specializes in preventing the tracking of world coordinates.
【Luna-chan】─Dimensional Fog does have some effects to prevent invasions, but it’s not as powerful as a Dimensional Barrier. That’s why beings from other dimensions frequently drift into Elemencia. They don’t track its coordinates, they just arrive by chance.
【Luna-chan】─Gauntlet was also a being from another dimension.
【Yumi】─I see.
【Yumi】─But wouldn’t it be better to deploy both the Dimensional Fog and the Dimensional Barrier for double protection?
【Luna-chan】─You have to be careful because the two powers might collide and cause trouble. Besides, the Dimensional Fog in Elemencia would swallow any Dimensional Barrier I could deploy.
【Luna-chan】─By the way, the Dimensional Fog that protects Elemencia is more advanced than the Dimensional Barrier I can cast! >.<
【Pururu】─Hmm. So who deployed the Dimensional Fog?
【Luna-chan】─I have no idea. Maybe it’s always been there?
【Luna-chan】─Oh, and! Although the Dimensional Fog has existed for a long time, its power was weak in the past, so monsters from other dimensions used to constantly pour in.
【Luna-chan】─I don’t know why the Dimensional Fog suddenly became stronger!
【Bubble Bubble】─Maybe the Great Sage enhanced the Dimensional Fog.
【Bubble Bubble】─The Great Sage was a transcendent being, after all.
【Mysticism】─😮
Elise’s status window.
I heard not long ago that it was a gift from the Great Sage.
And as for my earlier claim that I’d never met a transcendent being—I take that back.
The Great Sage was, indeed, a transcendent being.
I had anticipated that a transcendent being would be classified as SS or SSS rank, but I hadn’t realized the Great Sage possessed such power, so I misjudged.
For reference, I met the Great Sage after I gained my unique ability, and at that time, the Great Sage was living while hiding their strength.
Of course, I immediately noticed that the Great Sage was SS rank.
【Mysticism】─😐 Everyone has asked a question already.
【Mysticism】─I want to ask a question too! 😠
【Pururu】─You don’t have question privileges.
【Mysticism】─Didn’t you say the Dimensional Barrier also hinders coordinate tracking?
【Luna-chan】─That’s right. Whether it’s Dimensional Fog or a Dimensional Barrier, when such barriers envelop a world, it’s almost impossible to track its coordinates. Especially with barriers and fogs as powerful as those on Earth or Elemencia!
【Mysticism】─Then how did Sage find Earth? 🤔
【Luna-chan】─Even if it’s difficult to track, a skilled Dimensional Magician like me can still pinpoint coordinates! >.<
【Mysticism】─😮 Incredible!
【Rizenova】─If you’re such a skilled Dimensional Magician, why did you lose your memory when you crossed worlds?
【Pururu】─LOL
【Mir-Stin】─Even monkeys fall from trees.
【Yumi】─Hmm.
【Yumi】─I have one more question.
【Pururu】─Geez, so many questions. You should’ve asked yesterday.
【Yumi】─Why do beings from other dimensions try to conquer worlds without Dimensional Barriers?
【Pururu】─Yeah, are they stupid?
【Luna-chan】─There are various reasons.
【Luna-chan】─They might want to devour high-quality souls.
【Luna-chan】─Or they could plan to establish new barriers or fogs after they’ve taken over.
【Luna-chan】─It’s not like the environment would instantly become uninhabitable for life.
【Luna-chan】─It’s possible that some beings from other dimensions temporarily used Earth’s dimension as a base long ago. They might have even left something important behind.
【Luna-chan】─So, the reason some of these beings keep attempting to invade might be their effort to retrieve whatever they left behind.
【Luna-chan】─When Nokya suddenly appeared and the Dimensional Barrier was formed, they could no longer access Earth’s dimension.
【Luna-chan】─There are likely other reasons too.
【Bubble Bubble】─Earth is overflowing with high-quality souls, and since its coordinates were too exposed, many beings probably invaded on a whim.
【Bubble Bubble】─Once the Dimensional Barrier disappears, those types will come rushing in like crazy.
【Luna-chan】─Anyway!
【Luna-
chan】─Considering everything we’ve discussed today, executing the Great Migration Plan will save the most lives.
【Luna-chan】─If the stability of this world weakens, even a few powerful beings from other dimensions causing a small rampage could easily destroy the planet. It’ll hold up at first, but the longer time goes on, the more unstable it will become.
Reading through the chat from the assistants.
I was thinking about the Great Migration Plan and how to use the Sky Ark.
Saint Maria had mentioned that she would only allow non-evildoers onto the Sky Ark by identifying their souls.
I heard that she wouldn’t be checking each soul individually.
It’s nearly impossible for her to examine that many souls one by one. There wouldn’t be enough time while conducting a rescue.
Maria said that from the Sky Ark, she would observe the ground and pick up everyone who wasn’t completely engulfed in pure darkness.
A soul fully tainted by pure darkness had no hope of redemption, she claimed.
Of course, this was based on Maria’s judgment.
After thinking about it for a while.
Since the Sky Ark could also take aboard corpses, I believed it was right to take the bodies of the deceased, as long as they weren’t evildoers.
We could send Medical Angel to revive them later.
Naturally, corpses would be a lower priority for absorption.
Also, since it would take a massive amount of mana to operate the Ark…
I could dispatch the Blood Jellyfish Princess.
Its body was made of mana, and if it drank as much of Jafan’s blood as possible before leaving, there shouldn’t be any issue with running out of mana.
***
After the meal.
While doing some bodyweight exercises to aid digestion, I continued organizing my thoughts.
【Mir-Stin】─Something’s wrong!!!
【Mir-Stin】─1 coin is now 10,500 won!!!
【Pururu】─What the hell happened overnight. FFS.
【Yumi】─Ugh.
【Mysticism】─😱
【Bubble Bubble】─Already?
【Rizenova】─It’s a sign that the world is becoming increasingly unstable.
A message appeared in the chat about the fluctuation in coin prices.
It was sooner than I expected.
But I had anticipated that changes would come soon.
As the world descended into chaos and destruction.
It was only natural for trust in the currency to collapse as society crumbled.
In other words, the value attached to the greed within currency would naturally diminish.
Physical assets like goods or food would become more valuable.
Although there weren’t any major signs of change in Earth’s society yet, the Ancient Labyrinth must have swiftly reflected Earth’s situation by adjusting the exchange rate.
【Luna-chan】─Coin prices will continue to rise.
【Luna-chan】─The greed imbued in the currency circulating on Earth will gradually decrease.
【Pururu】─So now’s the peak.
【Mir-Stin】─I need to sell all my company shares.
【Mir-Stin】─And sell all my real estate. Stocks and coins too.
【Mir-Stin】─I should keep my jewels and gold. I heard they can be used in Elemencia as well.
【Mir-Stin】─Better sell my yacht and private jet soon too.
【Mir-Stin】─Hmm. Will this increase in value?
【Mir-Stin】─Oh?
【Mir-Stin】─I can exchange art, watches, wine, and luxury goods for coins! I don’t even need to convert them to currency!
【Pururu】─Really? Is it because they’re small in size?
【Pururu】─Must be a Diamond-tier privilege.
【Bubble Bubble】─Hasn’t it always been possible to charge coins with greed-infused items? I’ve always charged with treasure.
【Bubble Bubble】─Things like gold.
【Yumi】─You can also charge coins with gold or jewels on Earth. I checked a little while ago.
【Pururu】─Not with luxury goods or art, though.
【Pururu】─So, yeah, it must be a Diamond-tier privilege.
【Mysticism】─🤔 How do you know, Pururu? You don’t own luxury goods or art.
【Pururu】─I have one luxury bag.
【Mysticism】─😮 Pearls on a pig!
【Pururu】─Shut up.
【Pururu】─Anyway, I just tried, and I couldn’t charge with the luxury bag. Looks like it only works for Diamond-tier and up.
【Mir-Stin】─But the value is extremely low.
【Mir-Stin】─I put in a luxury watch worth 200 million won, but I only got 10,000 coins.
【Mir-Stin】─And a 2.5 billion won painting gave me 110,000 coins.
【Mysticism】─🧐 Isn’t that still a lot?
【Mysticism】─Many luxury items are inflated in price anyway. 😠
【Yumi】─But they’re still items infused with significant amounts of greed.
【Pururu】─Yeah, the low valuation probably comes from the influence of the Dimensional Barrier.
【Mir-Stin】─For now, I’ll charge all the items in my house.
【Mir-Stin】─It’s best to get rid of these things now. They’ll be useless once Earth is destroyed.
【Yumi】─It’s true that the greed in those items will disappear the fastest. It’ll also be hard to find buyers, so converting them while the Ancient Labyrinth offers a good price seems like a smart move.
【Mir-Stin】─If I wanted, I could sell some things quickly. But I don’t have time to worry about these items. There’s so much more I need to sell.
【Mir-Stin】─For now, just take the coins.
【Mir-Stin】─Later, I’ll charge everything in my parents’ house too.
With Hwang Mir’s last message.
A flood of coin support suddenly erupted.
『DIAMOND-tier Assistant ‘Mir-Stin’ has donated 10,000 coins!』
『DIAMOND-tier Assistant ‘Mir-Stin’ has donated 10,000 coins!』
【Yumi】─Whoa.
【Mysticism】─😰
『DIAMOND-tier Assistant ‘Mir-Stin’ has donated 10,000 coins!』
『TRINITY-tier Assistant ‘Rizenova’ has donated 10,500 coins!』
『GOLD-tier Assistant ‘Bubble Bubble’ has donated 10,000 coins!』
『Notification』
◇ Assistant Rank Up ◇
● Target: Bubble Bubble (005)
● Change: GOLD → PLATINUM
『DIAMOND-tier Assistant ‘Mir-Stin’ has donated 20,000 coins!』
『TRINITY-tier Assistant ‘Rizenova’ has donated 20,100 coins!』
『DIAMOND-tier Assistant ‘Mir-Stin’ has donated 30,000 coins!』
『TRINITY-tier Assistant ‘Rizenova’ has donated 30,050 coins!』
『DIAMOND-tier Assistant ‘Mir-Stin’ has donated 50,000 coins!』
『TRINITY-tier Assistant ‘Rizenova’ has donated 50,001 coins!』
『PLATINUM-tier Assistant ‘Pururu’ has donated 1 coin!』
『DIAMOND-tier Assistant ‘Mir-Stin’ has donated 50,000 coins!』
『DIAMOND-tier Assistant ‘Mir-Stin’ has donated 50,000 coins!』
『DIAMOND-tier Assistant ‘Mir-Stin’ has donated 50,000 coins!』
·
·
·
『DIAMOND-tier Assistant ‘Mir-Stin’ has donated 50,000 coins!』
『Notification』
◇ Assistant Rank Up ◇
● Target: Mir-Stin (006)
● Change: DIAMOND → TRINITY
【Yumi】─Oh my…
【Mysticism】─Terrifying. 😨
【Pururu】─Dumping everything without hesitation.
【Pururu】─Ta-da! In reality, this was all an elaborate scam to rob Hwang Mir of their money~ Sike.
『TRINITY-tier Assistant ‘Mir-Stin’ has donated 15,000 coins!』
【Mir-Stin】─When I migrate to Elemencia, please grant me a nice position.
『TRINITY-tier Assistant ‘Mir-Stin’ has donated 10,000 coins!』
『TRINITY-tier Assistant ‘Rizenova’ has donated 10,001 coins!』
『TRINITY-tier Assistant ‘Mir-Stin’ has donated 20,000 coins!』
『TRINITY-tier Assistant ‘Mir-Stin’ has donated 20,000 coins!』
Even after that.
Hwang Mir’s coin donations continued for some time.