Above Your Head

Vol 2. Chapter 78: The Salvation of God (15)

After returning to the Albatross ship by Recall, I moved to the United States by using the Warp function.

"Mehhhh~"

"Kkokk kkokk!!"

I arrived in an area with a huge number of livestocks. Just as promised, the livestocks were fed plenty of water and food. However, there was no one standing by, because this was the promised place where the liverstocks would be gathered after discussions with the United States government.

Poof poof poof poof!! I passed through the crowd of livestocks while touching them. The livestocks disappeared and were transported to the Unique World. My self who was in the Unique World then sent the livestock to a location designated by Genie. The transported livestock would be slaughtered to provide meat, leather, and bones to the Unique World.

"By the way, did you hand out all the Avatar series?"

100 million units of Goblin, 30 million units of Hunter, and 20 million units of Berserker have been completely distributed.

"What's the rate of operation?"

As I questioned while sending the livestock to the Unique World, Genie replied, So far, it has been confirmed to be about 45 percent.

"It's faster than I expected. I am not entirely sure if this quick speed is due to the talent or desperation of everyone else."

We still have 800 million units of Berserker remaining. Is it going to be alright if we don't distribute them out?

"It might be fine if the stage was Level 4 or Level 5, but it's now Level 13. This isn’t a problem that can be solved by recklessly distributing them out." I shook my head. If it was a force that couldn't even clear the stage, it would be meaningless to give the Avatar series to them. If I simply distributed them out to clear the remaining models I had left, an accident would certainly occur.

Jae-seok appeared on the news and revealed that he had spent 60 years on the stage. He calmly talked about his experience in the stage and how he had managed to endure for such a long time. Moreover, he also explained about the name and performance of the Avatar series that he received from me. He even made mention of the process of distribution, which was carried out using Ilsung's infrastructure. The effect was so great that he obtained the reputation of Diamond Rank in a heartbeat.

"What's the highest score in the Great War?"

It's 274,000 points.

"What's the number of people who scored over 100,000?"

74 people.

"It's a long way off..."

We're still short of time. There will be more and more while the stage progresses.

"I don't know if we can proceed with the stage or not. No matter how much you manipulate the Avatar series, the start is Level 13," I muttered. I've released a lot of Avatar series, but the Controllers I've made are more than twice as much. To be exact, 500 million units were released. Even if the unit was not linked to the Avatar series, it would become an account connected to the system of the Albatross ship. It had a function that worked as a virtual reality game machine and, of course, the game they had to play was The Great War.

'For some reason, I've been wanting to hear that name.' The Leonhardt Empire, which was suffering from a lack of fully-fledged pilots, spread pilot training simulations throughout the universe. They also came to scout those who had the qualifications of pilots if they played and scored more than a certain number of points in the game.

For context purposes, if someone were to score more than 100,000 points in The Great War's ranking system, they would obtain the qualifications to be a reserve pilot. If they scored over 500,000 points, they would be treated as an experienced pilot. That meant that they could ride on a Gigas right away. If anyone scored 1,000,000 points, they would be a first-class pilot who could ride on a Gigas that was Human-rank or above. Then, more than 10,000,000 points would allow them to be classified as a pilot with the quality of a Gigant Master, a pilot that could ride on a Star-rank Gigas or above. For reference, I was accused of being a hacker because I scored 1.28 billion points.

Even so, we have quite a few people. Unlike the original Great War, the talent as a pilot, the presence of Ability is disregarded. Only piloting skills are being looked at.

"Because the Avatar series are not Gigas." I nodded. Since they couldn’t even activate the possible Ability that they had, the Ability was excluded from the simulation. All they needed to care about right now was the piloting method of the Gigas.

Poooof! Poooooof! The livestocks kept disappearing. Almost all of them had disappeared while I was distracted by other thoughts.

"By the way, isn't this too huge an amount?" Even if I was a big-eater, the scale of the Unique World had already crossed a certain line. Of course, it had reached a point where I couldn't eat them all even by stuffing my face. Thus, I couldn't believe that we were still bringing in livestocks and not equipment. After all, the amount of livestock had reached a point where an ecosystem was created inside the Unique World.

However, Genie simply stated, It's just to confirm something.

"Confirm?"

That's right. Although the credibility isn't that high, according to the legacy of the Unique World that remained in history...

Special Planet Unique World(Legend++++) ranked up!

Rank B → Rank A

Just then, I felt that the scale of the Unique World had become a stage bigger. The magnetic sand small planet crazily expanded, continuously swelling from the huge amounts of magnetic sand that poured in from the core of the small planet. Buildings classified by sections jolted like a small boat that met a heavy storm. After a while...

"Wow."

Ohhh, it's wide. At this point, even the Albatross ship can probably come in too, right?

"Due to the entry weight limit, not a chance." I got on Ares' shoulders and went around the Unique World. Although Ares was flying at a relatively fast speed, it took a considerable amount of time to make one revolution of the Unique World. It was an enormous expansion. The Unique World, which had almost been fully developed, had become a desolate field of magnetic sand again. It wasn't a joke, but perhaps it was vast enough for one or two countries to be put in here entirely.

It's as expected.

"As expected, you say?"

Yes. According to the legacy, the owners of the ancient Unique World developed the Unique World by bringing many living and non-living things there.

"Is this the normal way to do so?" I tilted my head. Come to think of it, so far, the Unique World had only grown when Ares' soul power had been consumed or when I opened the door and awakened my spiritual power. Needless to say, this was definitely not a normal growth process. Thus, it meant that the Unique World could not grow in a unilateral way.

Presumably, it is not able to develop just by bringing in either non-living things or living things. If it was possible with non-living things, then it would have been ranked the highest.

"But then again..." My voice trailed off. The scale of the lumber, stone, and iron ore that I bought from the gacha machine as I proceeded with the stage was simply outrageous. If there was anything lacking, of course it would be the number of living creatures that I had brought in.

Captain-nim, it's about 6:30 p.m.

"It's a bit strange to procure additional livestocks now… I'd rather take this opportunity to get some water." Now that there was only 30 minutes left until the Level 13 Intermediate-difficulty stage, I transported all the remaining livestocks and approached the nearby river. "Wait for a bit."

Whooooosh! As I immersed myself in the river and connected to the Unique World, the river water began to fill up a huge tank prepared in the Unique World. However, the amount that was brought over exceeded my expectations.

"Ohhh." I widened my eyes as I was surprised by the decreasing water volume that happened in an instant. I knew that the maximum weight limit would increase as the rank of the Unique World rose, but even so, the increase still surpassed my expectations. After a while, I noticed that, by the time the river had completely emptied, the Unique World had reached its weight limit from receiving the water.

"It seems you eat and drink a lot."

"Because I'm still in my growth phase," I replied, completely unsurprised by the sudden voice that rang out. I knew he was hiding from the moment I first came here.

The man who revealed himself had a face I was familiar with, but he was no acquaintance. He was a sturdily-built Westerner who looked old. Carrying a greatsword of his size, he had a higher level as compared to before.

Avengers

Level 15

Evil Hunter, Alex

Clang clang! Instead of retrieving the greatsword that slung across his back, Alex pulled out a pistol from his waist and pointed it at me. Shiver shiverrrr… He trembled with the gun in his hand. I knew for a fact that his shivering had nothing to do with his emotional anguish or hesitation, because he definitely tried to pull the trigger. However, the gun did not go according to his will.

Alex was holding a Justice Weapon, which was known as the weapon of righteousness. With that characteristic within it, the gun could only strike an unjust being. He cried out in disbelief, "H-How are you not an unjust being? You’re a murderer who slaughtered tens of thousands of people. Don't tell me… Justice really thinks of murder as a minor evil?"

I looked at Alex’s expression of denial and stubbornness. After pondering for a moment, I decided to throw caution to the wind and say whatever I wanted. After all, what good would it do to be cautious of what I say after coming this far? I asked, "Alex, are you a vegetarian?"

"…What are you trying to say?"

"Just answer me."

"Of course I like meat," Alex responded with a face of disbelief.

I laughed. "Then, in the eyes of cows and chickens, you must be a murderer who has killed and devoured countless of their kin, right?"

"What a load of madness. What are you saying…? Don’t tell me…?" Alex was momentarily furious before a quick realization hit him. He widened his eyes.

I nodded. "That's right. The answer is Spiritual Divinity." I did not have the Blessing of Justice, so I couldn’t obtain the weapon of righteousness, the Justice Weapon. However, that did not mean that justice had rejected me. It was just the modus operandi of Karma.

'Come to think of it, he had asked me that question even since long before.'

/"But even if so, I still want to ask. Oh wicked being who slaughtered tens of thousands of people."

"Why did you have to do that? You seemed to have enough power without having the need to exterminate them. And why..."

"Why wasn't there a speck of evil karma amassed when you brought about such a massacre?" (Flashback)/

There wasn't a single mark or tattoo on me, nor did my nose get any longer at all. 'Actually, it doesn't really make any sense.' I had already killed more than 10 million people. If evil karma was amassed by killing people, I would naturally always come first in terms of the number of kills. No matter which serial killer it was, even if Hitler came, he would just be a kid in front of me.

However, could a farmer who killed countless bugs by spraying pesticides be considered a wicked person? Could a fisherman who spread their fishing nets while sweating every day be called a slaughterer? No. The standard by which Karma was amassed was not based on ethics, but on the laws and rules. By law, if there was a difference in the Spiritual Divinity of both parties, then Karma would not accumulate or decrease. Humans would not go to hell even if they murdered ants and ate 300 chickens a year.

"S-Such a thing... Don't tell me you're an existence that is beyond a human being?"

"It's called Innate Gods. I'm not some sort of great or amazing existence. I'm just born with the bloodline of a God."

Alex had a look of disbelief. "So that means you're half-human half-God? Like Hercules?"

"You don't have to bring up the Gods of Olympus who have fallen long, long ago."

"...What are you talking about? You're speaking as if Zeus really existed-"

"Never mind." I interrupted the stuttering Alex and asked, "Why are you here? I don't think you're here just to whine about the current state of affairs."

Alex, who was wavering for a moment, said, "I heard you refused the guardian's contact."

"I don't particularly have any need for it." I shrugged. The guardians that Min-kyung elected had previously come to find me, but I obviously rejected them. They came without even telling me the reason they did so. All they said was 'Let's meet', so I found them thoroughly ridiculous.

However, Alex said with a serious look, "The Ark Project was launched in the United States."

"What's that?"

"They're planning to build an ark and go into space. It's top secret information, but... It's been confirmed that if you leave Earth, you'll leave the stage too."

"Ohhooo." As I heard the information that I wasn’t privy to, I whistled. This was quite an interesting piece of information, because it meant that I could possibly allow people on board the Albatross ship to leave Earth in the worst case scenario. 'Of course, even if I wanted to let people board, I can only bring an extremely small fraction of the entire humanity.'

"However, as it is, there are only a handful of people who can be saved by the Ark Project. Even if we gather all the power of science and spiritual abilities, we don't have enough time."

"And so?"

"We need the help of the guardians for the true completion of the Ark Project, and they said they would do so under the condition that you visit them. They said that they don't need anything else. They just need you to come and see them once."

"That's a very convincing reason. It's so convincing that you don't even sense a speck of suspicion, huh?"

"..."

"Moreover, this is just putting it nicely. Doesn’t it just mean that only the higher ups will escape by themselves?"

Alex gritted his teeth at my ridiculing voice. He snapped, "Then, what do you want us to do? Wasn't that great and mighty Great Wizard-nim Level 20?! If the stage progresses up to Level 20 as it is... We would need billions of the Great Wizard-nim, who was said to be able to stand against the entire humanity alone, to even make clearing the stage possible..."

"Eyyyy, he's not Level 20. Just looking at the traces that remained, he's more like a Level 25 to 30 though."

"You! Is it funny to you that mankind is struggling to avoid total destruction?"

I laughed at Alex’s expression of anger. Then, I asked, "Who knows. But will mankind really perish?"

"...What? What does that mean?"

As I looked at Alex wavering, I thought of Juan. When 'I' tried to destroy mankind by dropping a nuclear bomb, he came to stop it. I did not know if he really loved mankind, but it was clear that the destruction of mankind was not what he wished for. The human race had already been weeded out enough. He would surely make a move.

"Don't be so anxious and do as much as you can. I'll do my best too."

"Wait! What the hell are you saying?!"

Pooooof! Before Alex could finish his sentence, I returned to the Albatross ship by invoking Recall. There was only about ten minutes left.

'Come to think of it, I am able to enter the stage without any problems from here. Do I have to move out of the satellite orbit completely to escape from the stage?' As I was having that thought, I finished my meal and pushed the entire residential area of the Albatross ship towards the common middle area that I had made beforehand.

There stood a dark giant. Thuckkk! Along with the injection of vibration, Knight's back opened and the cockpit was revealed. I immediately boarded him and awakened the Lightning Heart.

Wiiiiingggg----!

Initiating the Lightning Heart. System All Green. Dragon Knight, operating now.

With the guidance of Genie, the giant that was on one knee propped himself up. After a few upgrades from its initial form, it was completed as a Beast-rank Gigas with a weight of 7.5 tonnes, and a height of 4.5 meter.

Tanktaaaank! Along with a metallic sound, a small Gigas, which was incomparable to the size of Dragon Knight, jumped up on his shoulder. It was a Beast-rank Gigas weighing 3 kilograms and stretching 18 centimeters long.

'I need to gradually move on to Human-rank. It's hard. I can't believe it's not possible even though I have all the blueprints.' As I was grumbling like that, the Level 13 Intermediate-difficulty test had begun.