Chapter 747 – Room 302, The Cursed Room – ‘Brave New World’ (21)
—
User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 40
Current Location: Room 302, The Cursed Room – ‘Brave New World’
Sage’s Advice: 0
—
– Han Kain
The bloodbath had just wrapped up in the open plains.
I was the only living thing left around.
With fewer than four angels slaughtered, the ground was drenched in blood—at least half of which vaporized thanks to the lightning-wielding guardian.
Let’s get real; for the angels, hostages meant nada.
The guardians didn’t give a rat’s tail whether low-tier angels died or not—they just fought onward.
I mean, they’d resurrect in a few months anyway, so no need to feel guilty about it, right?
Their sense of ethics vastly differs from that of us mere mortals.
“Phew…”
At the start of the fight, I genuinely thought I’d bite the dust.
I figured Elena, Jinchul, and I would perish here while Ahri made her escape.
Having taken down three guardians, I can safely say that it was “less painful than expected.”
I’m not saying six-winged angels are weak or anything.
It’s just that, compared to other strong foes, their balance of abilities was off-kilter.
Take Is from Room 301 for instance, or the previous wisdom, Ediana.
Those two were nearly flawless, possessing no significant weaknesses in mind or body.
Their physical strength and mental defenses were close to unbreakable.
On the flip side, the guardians had their quirks.
They could easily surpass the duke in their specialized fields, but faced stark vulnerabilities in others.
Skilled in magic enough to restrict the Book of Incarnations, but I could literally slice Serilda apart in seconds once I got close.
James? Sure, he could whip up a tornado with a flap of his wings, but once I let the Book loose, he couldn’t withstand for even a full minute.
Overall, it seems each guardian just didn’t measure up to the duke.
… I had this nagging feeling that the last trump card gifted by the esteemed figure on the third floor wasn’t up to snuff.
It hit me with a strong conviction.
There has to be more.
It’s not merely a hunch.
If the six-winged guardians were the final opponents, then the escape trigger should activate as soon as they go down.
The fact I wasn’t getting that escape notice means there’s still an enemy lurking!
“…”
Taking a deep breath, I pondered the third sentence.
I had gained power before climbing to the third floor, but this was my first real chance to properly use it against an enemy.
The last showdown with Aleph?
That wasn’t really a fight—it was more like ‘persuasion.’
Drawing souls without regard for color.
Against lower-tier beings, that alone could knock them out instantly.
Through that, I could amass boundless chaos, potentially raising my rank over time.
A seemingly infinite supply of power, and the very process was a destructive spell in its own right.
In the long run, it would lead me to the realms of the great ones.
You could summarize it like that.
Extreme divine authority; but using it revealed gaps in my approach.
In battles against powerful beings capable of withstanding the soul-drawing force, issues cropped up.
I had no clear methods to project the energy I’d acquired.
The third sentence quite literally tells me, “Ignore color and collect souls to increase your rank”—but it completely lacks a section on “what to do with that collected energy.”
Metaphorically speaking, the third sentence is basically a guide on “how to become a god,” rather than “how to use divine power.”
From a slightly different perspective, it highlights the characteristics stemming from the environment of the unborn ones, the creators of the Book of Incarnations.
The unborn ones, as their name suggests, couldn’t escape the confines of their corporeal existence—the nebula dragon.
In a sense, they were far worse off than I am now.
The unborn one had never once amassed “a ton of souls” throughout their lifetime.
They struggled to gather a minuscule number of souls while dragging their feet and squeezing out every bit of energy just to invest it in their own growth.
It’s pointless to ask someone who struggled to save 1,000 bucks over their lifetime why they haven’t figured out how to utilize 1 billion efficiently.
…
And with that line of thinking, I had no choice but to lean on the sacred sun once again as I began fighting the guardians.
Sucking up the massive amounts of souls with the third sentence, I then utilized those souls through the sacred sun.
If you think of it this way, it seems like these two legacies perfectly complement each other, but the output power I could wield compared to the amount of energy accumulated was dismally low.
The chaos amassed with the third sentence rivals the coming of the great ones, but the sacred sun’s output barely measures up.
“…”
Regardless, I believe this battle was productive.
I was able to pinpoint gaps in the system just by dumping all accumulated resources to the extreme.
How can I amplify the output of the projected power?
Once I let that question settle in, a flood of possibilities emerged.
First, surpass the unborn ones and create a fourth sentence.
That’s the most fundamental and perfect solution.
At the same time, the most unrealistic one.
Sure, I might achieve that someday, but it’s absolutely not something I can pull off in a short timeframe.
Second, find a solution with another legacy.
I genuinely believe I’ve almost mastered the Book of Incarnations.
Even the unborn one of the past likely struggled to use the third sentence like I do now.
Couldn’t the sacred sun have a similar directionality?
…
While pondering such leisurely thoughts, my moment of calm was shattered.
“Hm?”
Out of nowhere, someone appeared.
She was a girl with cute brown hair, one that looked oddly familiar.
It wasn’t like I’d seen her multiple times, but I did have a vague recollection of having seen her once.
I felt an intense sense of alertness just as I summoned my two legacies!
A clear voice resonated.
“How did you fall from heaven? The shining star, the son of dawn, reduced to dust? How could one who crushed nations be thrown to the ground?”
What the—
“You have thought about it in your heart.”
Before I could take a breath, I began to fall.
— Thud!
In an instant, my entire body smashed to the ground, and I couldn’t even twitch a finger.
“I shall rise to the heavens. I will establish my throne among the great stars and prepare my seat upon the mountain where the gods gather in the north. I will ascend above the clouds and become like the most high.”
I felt no physical force.
It wasn’t like someone was pinning me down; no pressure at all.
“But you have fallen to the underworld, to the very bottom of the abyss.”
If I had to express it, it was a fateful drop.
Like a wretched worm staring up at the clouds from the lowest pit, powerless to resist its condemned fate only to fall again.
Shortly after, I sensed a gaze looking down upon me.
“You have been broken. Your scepter of arrogance and staff of corruption have shattered mercilessly. Do you realize your position now?”
That gaze held both pity and sorrow, and the look of sympathy only added more pain to my predicament.
…
It felt similar to a power I had once drawn upon with the nebula dragon’s help.
One that even the unborn one had no ability to resist.
But this opponent feels exceedingly unyielding.
Ahri, can you escape this situation?
—
– Kim Ahri
Commencing the exploration of ‘Brave New World’ under the assumed blessing of the guardian angel.
— Tap!
Each step I took echoed clearly in the corridor.
Firstly, it wasn’t due to my winged boots not having the same soft feel as sneakers, but also because the school’s interior was weirdly intact.
“….”
How long has it been since the world has fallen apart?
We couldn’t really gauge that, but some words from the girl I met earlier hinted at something.
“It’s been 50 years, and I still haven’t been born. What gives? Did my dad lie to me?”
So, it’s definitely more than 50 years.
In other words, this school has remained clean for over 50 years despite not being maintained at all.
That’s pretty unnatural.
The entire school feels like a massive part of a calamity of chaos.
Could that be the reason?
Ever since a while ago, I’ve felt a creeping chill as if someone was watching me.
“…”
Let me take a look around and think it through slowly.
According to Sanghyun, the Brave New World is a hybrid created from the chaos disaster and the Administration Bureau’s technology.
Such occurrences aren’t particularly rare.
Having worked as an agent, I’ve seen plenty of these.
From the viewpoint of the Administration Bureau, it differs slightly from Sanghyun’s perspective.
The boundary between chaos disasters and scientific technology isn’t all that clear-cut, you know?
Many people still see magic as just an undeciphered aspect of science.
Enough with the chit-chat; let’s make a guess about the nature of this beautiful new world.
In making guesses, the key is to narrow down the possibilities.
You have to prune countless branches until only the possible outcomes remain.
Which branches to prune, and which to keep?
The most crucial criterion is ‘the creator’s intent.’
Let’s not forget: the Brave New World is a model garden created by the Administration Bureau.
The plan A that was laid out by the Bureau in room 302 was to entrust humanity’s fate to the son of dawn.
There were those who were skeptical about that, and their plan B is the Brave New World.
It’s entirely natural to implement two contradictory plans at once.
Even a simple investor doesn’t put all their eggs in one basket—so it’s only natural for the Bureau level to consider both when they’re right and when they’re wrong.
The creator’s intent.
The purpose of the Bureau contained within the Brave New World.
To preserve humanity unaffected by the son of dawn.
Finding a few necessary conditions for that.
It has to be a place completely disconnected from reality.
Even if the great one were to create an earth-shattering event in reality, it shouldn’t be influenced.
Moreover, it shouldn’t be something the son of dawn can destroy.
“…”
That might be a tad difficult.
Can an ant, no matter how well-built, prevent a bulldozer from advancing?
In either science or magic, the great one would likely far exceed a human.
What if I were to imagine being the pioneer of the 302 bureau?
Not that I’m implying it’s easy, but I used to hold a similar status.
How can one create a sanctuary that even the great one cannot tear down?
“….”
There’s no point in grappling with the son of dawn.
He’s a being no one could ever overpower.
The goal should be to make him give up voluntarily.
How is that even possible? Well, it can be done.
Besides, the son of dawn is a god who loves humanity.
Though his method may be twisted, he sees humans as cute as golden retrievers.
So, then…
“Phew…”
The son of dawn’s reason for not crushing the Brave New World by force.
It’s not due to lack of strength.
It’s not due to lack of technology.
The reason lies in that too many lives would be lost if he did.
That’s right.
The Administration Bureau took humanity’s purity and made humans hostages for that goal.
“…”
Once again, I felt that ominous gaze.
As if countless starving wolves were staring at me with greedy eyes.
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