Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Chapter 1640 - 1638: A Headache-Inducing Problem

Lina Inverse!

Seeing her appear, Fang Zheng was instantly overwhelmed. She was his childhood hero, naturally, he had watched her adventures.

But precisely because of this, Fang Zheng felt things would get complicated.

Quite complicated indeed.

Fang Zheng was well-acquainted with the world of Lina Inverse. So, upon seeing Lina, he immediately guessed who his target was.

The coordinate core of the Goddess of Order, in every world it is the God of Creation. In the first world it’s the Star God, in the second world it’s Adam and Lilith, then in this world, it goes without saying.

In the story of Lina Inverse, only one person matches this description.

Rumor has it that a long time ago, in this primordial Sea of Chaos, from endless darkness was born the only pure will. Her power caused transformations in the Sea of Chaos, creating countless worlds.

She is the mother of all things in this world, hence there are gods, demons, and humans... She was revered by the demon clan as the ultimate being, the true king, the mother of all darkness, the ruler of nightmares, created from the will of all void, all chaos. Pure power—Golden Nightmare King.

No wonder the Goddess of Order said this world’s core is polluted by chaos...

Considering the Golden Nightmare Demon King essentially reborn from chaos, if Fang Zheng’s memory is correct, the story of the Golden Nightmare Demon King’s birth is actually one of chaos enveloping the Order Core, then the Order Core reborn in another form.

Thus, the Golden Nightmare Demon King is the reborn Order Core.

As for meeting Her Majesty the Queen, Fang Zheng is not worried. As long as he follows the original plot, he only needs to wait, without needing to take other actions, hence Fang Zheng has no intention of meeting Lina Inverse personally.

It’s not that Fang Zheng dislikes Lina Inverse, but... as the saying goes, admire from afar but do not engage... ahem!

Why put it so pleasantly? Frankly, it’s amusing to watch them bicker from the side, but if you’re dragged into their chaos, it stops being funny!

Lina Inverse is the kind of woman only Takasato can handle, Fang Zheng admits he’s not jelly-headed enough to walk into trouble.

Not to mention, just seeing Lina makes him feel like running away.

After determining the current situation in the world, Fang Zheng also plans his next steps.

Earlier, Fang Zheng did not see Takasato around Lina, indicating they haven’t met yet. In Fang Zheng’s memory, Lina will meet Takasato, Gerugandis, then encounter Red Mage Raizo, and later battle the sealed Demon Lord Shabranigdo within Raizo, where she will first use the spell borrowing Golden Demon King’s power—Heavy Break Slash.

However, that Heavy Break Slash wasn’t completed at the time, but it caught the attention of Phibrizzo the Deathlord, who tricked Lina’s party to Necropolis Celagr and used Lina’s companions as leverage to induce her into fully casting Heavy Break Slash, where Golden Nightmare King first appeared in human form in this world.

Fang Zheng’s plan is to appear at that time and engage with Golden Nightmare King.

But as to what consequences this interaction with Golden Nightmare King might bring, Fang Zheng cannot say.

For Golden Nightmare King is not an easy character to deal with, although she appears holy upon descent in the animation, her nature is almost identical to Lina Inverse’s. Selfish, capricious, arrogant, violent—no wonder many suspect Lina is Golden Nightmare King’s illegitimate daughter!

The two are exactly alike!

Ah... stomachache.

Thinking he has to deal with someone like that, Fang Zheng’s stomach starts to hurt, but he has no choice in the matter, activation and repair of the core are essential. Yet linking Golden Nightmare King with order indeed makes Fang Zheng unsure what might unfold...

Luckily there’s still time, he’ll consider it gradually.

While pondering, Fang Zheng leads the Priestess of the Goddess back to the Adventurers’ Guild.

Upon seeing them return, the guild receptionist sighs in relief.

"Welcome back, you two, how did the mission go?"

"Failed."

"Eh?"

Surprised by this unexpected response, the receptionist widens her eyes. She looks at Fang Zheng, then at the Priestess of the Goddess.

"Failed...?"

"We were a step too late, someone else beat us to it... Lina Inverse, do you know her?"

"Ah... Miss Lina Inverse the Thief Hunter..."

As expected, upon hearing this name, the receptionist shows a moment of realization. Seeing her reaction, Fang Zheng is somewhat curious. In the animation, Lina is always very famous. Everyone seems to know her name, thieves know it, ordinary peasants know it, the upper class appears aware too.

Though the exaggerated comedic style in the animation rarely pays attention to these details.

"She’s an adventurer too, what rank is she?"

Thinking about this, Fang Zheng couldn’t help but ask. In the animation, Lina’s adventurer rank was never mentioned, everyone seemed heedless of it.

"Miss Lina is a Silver Level adventurer."

"Oh... I see."

Hearing this, Fang Zheng is somewhat surprised. Previously he was told by the Priestess of the Goddess about the adventurer rank system, in total there are ten levels, ranked from low to high as White Porcelain, Black Obsidian, Iron, Green Jade, Midori Jade, Red Jade, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and the highest is Platinum.

Initially, Fang Zheng assumed Lina should be a Platinum Level adventurer, hence learning she’s surprisingly just Silver Level gave him pause.

However upon closer reflection, Fang Zheng feels relieved. Previously Lina was famous mainly because she dealt with thieves, from Lina’s moniker "Thief Hunter" one can infer she essentially leveled up to Silver by hunting thieves. Before meeting Takasato, Lina hadn’t defeated any particularly formidable adversaries.

But it’s not surprising, seeing the receptionist mentioning someone leveling up hunting Goblins to Silver Level.

However, once Lina defeats Shabranigdo’s fragment, her rank certainly escalates, plus later she dispatches Phibrizzo the Deathlord... Platinum Level is inevitable.

"So, what are your plans now?"

"Hmm......"

Fang Zheng glanced at the Priestess beside him.

"Do you still want to continue being an adventurer?"

"Huh? Yes, yes I do."

"You should be very aware that becoming an adventurer is quite dangerous, right? You’ve seen the miserable state of adventurers when they fail."

"Yes, but......"

While speaking, the Priestess clenched her hands.

"I, when I was in the Temple, I often saw adventurers coming to seek healing after being injured. I couldn’t just ignore them, so, that’s why I wanted to become an adventurer......"

"Hmm......"

Upon hearing this, Fang Zheng pondered for a moment.

"Then let me train you to become a qualified adventurer."

"Huh?"

"What? You don’t want to?"

"No, no, of course...... I mean...... please guide me, Sir Knight."

While speaking, the Priestess smiled at Fang Zheng.

"However, as a Cleric, you’ll still need to team up, which means you’ll need companions... the first step is to find suitable companions."

Having made a decision, Fang Zheng greeted the receptionist and then guided the Priestess to the side, pointing at the adventurers nearby.

To be honest, the simplest way would be for Fang Zheng to bring Katori and the others directly, but in this world, to become an adventurer, you must fill out those documents. After learning that the core of this world is the Golden Nightmare King, Fang Zheng had to be cautious. He wouldn’t fill out those things himself, so naturally, he wouldn’t let others fill them out.

In comparison, using the native residents of this world is a good choice.

"First, you need to learn to observe and judge. Like those adventurers you invited earlier, none of them know each other well, so it’s understandable they’d get wiped out during instance battles. If you want to take on quests, you have to consider many things first. For example, if the quest is the main task, consider the terrain over there, and the mission objectives."

While speaking, Fang Zheng pointed to the adventurers not far away.

"For instance, if it’s a Goblin-slaying mission like you had before, then in caves or tunnels, finding a dwarf or similar race familiar with caves is a good choice. If we’re going to the forest to eliminate bandits, then obviously elves or Hortians would be more suitable."

"Hmm hmm... I see."

The Priestess listened intently to Fang Zheng’s explanation and nodded.

"Then, the next important task is, go and talk to them, invite them to join your squad."

"Huh? But I’m alone...... shouldn’t I be joining them instead?"

"You can go and talk, don’t worry, I’ll be watching from here."

"Um...... okay."

Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s words, the Priestess nodded, and then Fang Zheng watched as she cautiously walked over to those adventurers and started talking to the White Porcelain Rank adventurers.

Since the Priestess is a beautiful young lady and a Holy Practitioner, most adventurers naturally welcomed her. However, they were not interested in the Priestess’ invitation; instead, they all wanted to invite her to join their team. After making a round, the Priestess finally returned helplessly.

"Sir Knight, it seems no one wants to accept my invitation."

"That’s also normal, after all, adventuring is dangerous, and trust is needed between team members........."

However, before Fang Zheng could finish his words, suddenly a voice came from behind them.

"I heard you need companions?"

"Hmm?"

Fang Zheng and the Priestess turned around, only to see behind them a girl wearing a black Mage hat, draped in a pitch-black cloak, holding a Magic Wand, who appeared to be around the same age as the Priestess. She had short pitch-black hair, fiery red eyes, with her left eye covered by a black cross eye-patch.

"It seems fate has guided this moment, the world has chosen, I have been waiting for people like you to appear!"

The girl raised her hand and let out a bewildering laugh, and seeing this, the Priestess revealed a puzzled expression while Fang Zheng felt his forehead start to ache.

It’s just that this girl’s aura is so much like someone familiar to him.......

"Um...... may I ask who are you......"

Facing the Priestess’ inquiry, the girl suddenly waved her right hand.

"I am Megumin! A bearer of the legacy of the Great Mage, the one who wields the strongest attack magic, Burst Magic!"

Speaking here, the girl extended her hand to cover half of her face, giving a cold laugh.

"So, do you all crave my Forbidden Power, which is so strong it’s shunned by the world? Then be ready to embrace the ultimate Abyss together with me!"

"........."

The Priestess stood frozen, not knowing what to say, while Fang Zheng covered his forehead and sighed helplessly.

This headache......