The Ruined World Was Mistaken for a Game

Chapter 229: Open the Door (6)

Translator: Dreamscribe

The borders of Arsilan and their surrounding areas had already seen the Erosion's energy fade thin. The border was expanding as if devouring the Erosion, and its speed was only accelerating.

Arsilan, now strengthened, was scattering its immense influence far enough to sprout new growth even in the lands of Erosion. It had begun converting even the Erosion itself into nourishment.

Jinwoo moved to where the Erosion's energy was thickest. After crossing a sea stained black and arriving at a large island, he detected Lesser Entities of Erosion.

'Quite a lot of them.'

These were the ones that had carved up this vast Arsilan and shared the feast amongst themselves.

Each had claimed its own domain, holing up inside to digest Arsilan. But ever since the Barrier had been raised over all of Arsilan, they could no longer digest anything.

Thanks to Arsilan's now healthy and fortified energy, everything about Arsilan that had once felt soft as bread was now hard as steel. And it had even begun carrying a poison that was tearing apart their insides.

There were thirty-one Lesser Entities in total.

Some were more powerful than the Erosion he had faced during Episode 1, while others fell short. At this level, he could handle them all on his own with room to spare.

'There's a Higher Entity far off in the distance.'

Far from here, he could sense a Higher Entity that was vastly inferior to the Lord of Despair. It didn't even measure up to the Lord of Greed. It felt like one that had barely scraped its way into the Higher Entity classification.

'So they split Arsilan three ways.'

The Lord of Greed had held the Empire, the Lord of Despair had held Levannas, which was made from Arsilan, and the remaining region belonged to that distant Higher Entity.

The Lesser Entities had occupied the border zones between those three territories and whatever scraps were left over.

Jinwoo smirked.

There had been a time when he couldn't overcome even a single Lesser Entity and suffered for a hundred years. Now he understood why that Lesser Entity had tried so desperately to devour what remained of Arsilan. It had been a chance to massively expand its domain.

Jinwoo's gaze turned cold.

There were surely still souls of Arsilan's people trapped by those creatures.

Jinwoo approached the place where they had gathered.

They had built a twisted temple and huddled inside it. The sounds of bickering echoed from within.

The very concept of language used by Erosion was fundamentally different from that of mortals. It was a language that not even the people of Arsilan or Transcendent Beings could comprehend. But since Jinwoo had absorbed two Higher Entities of Erosion, it posed no problem for him.

"It seems even the King lacks the capacity to take us along when he escapes."

"After all the tribute we offered...!"

"To think we'd be trapped in such an inferior dimension, left to wait for the day we starve to death...."

The words they uttered were so profoundly alien that they could barely be expressed in human language, so Jinwoo interpreted them to fit Earth and Arsilan's frameworks.

The inside of the temple was extremely noisy.

Erosion beings of every shape and form offered numerous opinions on how to break through the current situation, but there appeared to be no solution. It seemed that only Higher Entities, those called Kings or Lords, were capable of slipping through Arsilan's Barrier. The Authorities possessed by Lesser Entities couldn't even scratch the Barrier.

Jinwoo listened to their conversation and gathered information. He had also tried to extract information from the Erosion beings he had absorbed, but as if bound by some kind of prohibition, they refused to speak even through their agony.

This was precisely why Jinwoo wanted to make the Heroes grow even stronger. It meant there existed a being capable of placing prohibitions on Higher Entities of Erosion.

'I have a rough idea of what their invasions are for.'

They were in such a rush that words were pouring out freely, making it easy to collect information.

After invading a dimension, Erosion beings would endlessly torture the souls, reshaping them into a form easy to absorb, and then absorb them. They would then devour the entire domain they had claimed to either elevate their rank of existence or strengthen their Authority.

They were like a swarm of locusts, composed of a few Higher Entities and a multitude of Lesser Entities.

However, they couldn't make use of what they had devoured and digested here. They needed to return to their homeland beyond the Abyss and spend time there to fully make it their own.

'I see.'

Jinwoo nodded.

The Erosion beings trapped in Arsilan wanted to abandon Arsilan and return home. The Higher Entity they called King appeared to be making thorough preparations to breach the Barrier. It didn't look like it had the capacity to bring the other Lesser Entities along.

"C-couldn't we win if we all joined forces?"

"Someone who was on the verge of surpassing the King to become an Emperor was defeated. Beyond the Barrier, there's a moon floating up there, radiating a sickening light."

"Did you not see them? Those countless monstrous beings."

"...Monsters..., no, they were demons."

"They must be demons from a hellish dimension."

"Surely they come from a place darker than the Abyss, hotter than any flame, colder than any ice. How else could they...."

Every Erosion being in Arsilan had watched the battle against the Lord of Despair. It had taken place in outer space, so they couldn't help but witness it.

The Erosion beings had become aware of the Heroes' existence and were horrified by their strength. The madness the Heroes possessed had left them trembling with fear.

Amid the grave atmosphere, conflicting opinions clashed and heated arguments erupted, but no answer was reached.

Jinwoo watched the mood for a while, then stepped inside at just the right moment.

Jinwoo unleashed an overwhelming presence.

His staggering mana transformed into Erosion energy and seized control of the surroundings. It was a dreadful aura, as if the Lord of Despair and the Lord of Greed had been combined into one.

They flinched!

When Jinwoo appeared, the Lesser Entities were immediately on guard.

"Wh-what?!"

"An E-Emperor class...."

He could understand the Erosion's hierarchy as something akin to a system of noble ranks. Jinwoo walked slowly toward them. He looked at the Lesser Entity sitting in the largest chair.

Its entire body was composed of black crystal.

It looked like a mass of True Magic Stones of extraordinarily high purity. Its body appeared to have been formed by compressing top-grade True Magic Stones to the extreme.

SWOOSH!

When Jinwoo extended his hand, the Lesser Entity was sucked into his grasp.

"Guh...!"

CRUNCH!

As he tightened his grip, cracks spider-webbed across its neck. The creature thrashed desperately and forced its mouth open.

"P-please forgive the d-disrespect! Y-your arrival was so s-sudden that we had no t-time to show proper courtesy..., guh!"

He squeezed as if about to crush its neck, then hurled it aside.

CRASH!

Its body flew across the room and slammed into a pillar.

The pillar shattered into pieces that rained down on it, and the creature scrambled out in a panic before dropping to its knees.

THUD!

At that, every Lesser Entity inside fell to their knees and pressed their heads to the ground. The gap between a Higher Entity and a Lesser Entity was truly enormous. In terms of rank, it felt like the difference between a king and a noble, but in reality, it was the difference between royalty and commoners.

Jinwoo settled leisurely into the chair.

Silence descended. The Lesser Entities exchanged nervous glances before the one possessing the strongest Authority approached Jinwoo and pressed its head to the floor.

"D-did you cross the Abyss to come here?"

"I did. Two of your kind were taken down."

"That's...."

The Lesser Entities had nothing they could say.

He lacked sufficient information to carry the conversation further, but Jinwoo didn't care. Whatever he said, they would interpret it on their own.

"So I'll be claiming this place."

The moment he declared it, every head bowed deeper still.

When Jinwoo snapped his fingers, the Lesser Entity that had been speaking to him was lifted into the air.

"Ugh, aagh, AAARGH!"

Its body was pulled in every direction.

It began to be torn apart, so thoroughly that even its soul was laid bare.

"So you lot are no longer needed."

Jinwoo showed them what it looked like to crush insignificant insects under a fingertip.

"Ugh, AAARGH! I-if you would send us beyond the Barrier..., to our homeland, we will offer you everything we have!"

"Why should I listen to you?"

"I-if you simply destroy us as we are, you will not be able to fully claim the souls we hold, so please consider this h-humble counsel born of our wish to offer you even one more!"

For an Erosion being, it had quite a silver tongue.

It seemed the Lesser Entity had, in its own way, been scheming for survival.

When Jinwoo feigned deliberation and remained silent, the Lesser Entities began pleading even more desperately.

"We'll give you not only what we've gathered here, but portions of our Authority as well!"

"I-if you would just let us maintain our existence, we will serve you for eternity."

"W-we have abandoned any ambition of becoming Kings. We will live as servants forever."

The Lesser Entities had a rough idea of what fate awaited any Erosion being swallowed by Arsilan. They could hear the horrifying screams emanating from the Soul Moon. That was why they were so desperate.

"Very well."

When Jinwoo consented, the Lesser Entities slammed their heads against the floor in gratitude. He watched them for a moment, then extended his hand.

"Hand over everything."

The Lesser Entities frantically tore open their own bodies and pried apart their souls, pulling out everything they had devoured from Arsilan. It had taken the form of orbs. Along with the energy the Lesser Entities had possessed, he could feel the souls of Arsilan within them.

The orbs the creatures had surrendered streamed toward Jinwoo's hand.

The moment they felt the Sacred Power flowing from Jinwoo's hand, the souls of Arsilan found peace and rejoiced. Jinwoo placed the orbs into Subspace and rose from the chair.

When he swept his hand through the air, the temple crumbled and vanished. At the same time, the black storm clouds that had blanketed the sky dissolved, revealing the Barrier rippling with brilliant, multicolored light.

"I'll send you beyond the Barrier, then to your homeland."

"Thank you!"

The Lesser Entities cheered and gazed up at the Barrier.

Of course, Jinwoo had no idea where the Erosion's homeland was. He could travel between Earth and Arsilan through the Soul Moon, but he couldn't reach other dimensions. Tearing open a rift between dimensions was possible, but traveling to another dimension was a different matter entirely. Without coordinates, the odds of falling into the Abyss and being buried in eternal darkness were high.

So Jinwoo couldn't send them home. Even if he had the coordinates, he had no intention of doing so.

'Where you're going is...'

Into the games made by Earth's developers.

He had already thought of ways to put them to use.

Now then, time to put on a convincing show to fool them.

The reason he was going to such lengths was simple: it was more fun this way.

Jinwoo extended his hand toward the Barrier. An enormous surge of Erosion energy burst forth and formed a colossal blade. He launched the blade at the Barrier.

KRAKAKAKOOM!

The Barrier and the blade collided, unleashing a shockwave. It blew away everything in the sky as the two forces locked in a struggle.

It was nothing but theatrics, yet the Lesser Entities were completely fooled.

They watched with bated breath, praying with every fiber of their being that the Barrier would break.

CRACK!

When the Barrier split and a gap opened, the Lesser Entities cheered and scrambled to fly toward it. For beings called Erosion, they looked like nothing more than feeble flies. Having surrendered all their energy to Jinwoo, they appeared utterly drained.

Once they barely made it outside the Barrier, Jinwoo stepped up onto it and gazed down at beautiful Arsilan.

The Lesser Entities now refused to even look at Arsilan, as if the mere sight disgusted them.

"Hmm."

When Jinwoo turned his gaze to silently stare at the Lesser Entities, they tensed and trembled. If he changed his mind and suddenly broke his promise, they had no way to resist. All they could do was hope for mercy.

"Why so tense? Aren't you happy to be going home?"

"H-happy! Hahaha!"

"Hahahahahaha!"

"Bwahaha!"

"Wow! So happy!"

Jinwoo was impressed by the Lesser Entities' reactions.

Truly splendid reactions.

"But I'm sad to part ways with you."

"Sob...."

"I'm sad too."

"Bwaaaaaah!"

"My soul feels like it's going to shatter from sadness!"

Perhaps because they were Immortals whose souls themselves served as neural circuitry, their reaction speed was incredibly sharp. He almost wanted to keep them around and have them react to things all day long.

Regrettably, it was time to say goodbye.

Jinwoo watched a few more reactions, then smirked and extended his hand. A rift split open in space, and a door of grotesque design materialized. He had dressed it up convincingly with Illusion Magic, so they harbored no suspicion. No, they simply had no room for suspicion. The Lesser Entities glanced around, clearly eager to enter as quickly as possible.

When Jinwoo gestured, the Lesser Entities formed an orderly line. Before stepping through the door, each one bowed deeply to Jinwoo. Very polite fellows, they were.

SWOOSH!

Once they had all entered, Jinwoo closed the rift.

What awaited them now was not their homeland, but hell.

Jinwoo wore a satisfied smile as he descended onto the Barrier. The moment his feet touched it, the Barrier rippled beautifully. The Erosion disguise he had layered over his body dissolved and vanished.

"......"

Jinwoo retrieved all the orbs he had taken from them out of Subspace. He held the orbs floating above his hand out toward the Soul Moon. Countless particles of light flowed from the orbs and stretched from the Barrier to the Soul Moon, forming something like a river of stars.

Above that river of stars, the souls of Arsilan appeared as hazy silhouettes.

He could see a little girl smiling, holding her mother's hand.

He could see knights who had removed their helmets and were gazing out at Arsilan, and soldiers on their knees in prayer. Jinwoo wanted to offer them words of comfort, but the words wouldn't come easily.

What words could possibly console that pain, that sorrow, that grief?

[Our Lord God.]

[Thank you for allowing us to find rest in Arsilan's embrace.]

[So please, don't cry.]

The souls knelt before Jinwoo and bowed their heads. It almost looked as if they were the ones comforting him. Jinwoo smiled brightly and nodded.

[Let us go.]

[To Arsilan.]

[To our home....]

The souls blended into the river of stars and traveled toward the Soul Moon. The sight of the river of stars undulating could be seen even from Arsilan.

The Heroes still in Arsilan who hadn't traveled to other dimensions, along with the Arsilan natives and the Demon Race, all stopped what they were doing, lifted their heads, and gazed up at the sky.

"A river of stars?"

"It's broad daylight, but there's a river of stars up there."

"Whoa!"

"Now He's putting on a fireworks show from space."

"Wow! What kind of event is this?"

That day, a gentle rain fell across all of Arsilan, as pleasant as spring rain. The rain wrapped around them like a close friend's embrace, and the people of Arsilan opened their eyes wide, looked at one another, and burst into laughter.

Jinwoo gazed down at Arsilan for a long while as surging vitality began to spread across its surface.

"Arsilan, for you."

This time, it was Arsilan that was caring for us.

Arsilan, now one with the souls, bestowed a blessing upon everyone.

The Blessing of Spring Rain.

The rain that fell from the sky struck Arsilan and produced a clear, ringing sound. It was as if it sang of a new beginning, of a future filled with hope.

* * *

The Lesser Entities that had crossed through the rift stared blankly at their surroundings. It was a place so blindingly white it hurt to look at. Even to the Lesser Entities, it was beautiful enough to covet.

[Wh-where on earth is this....]

[Could it be?]

[The....]

The Soul Moon!

The Lesser Entities recognized where they were and panicked. They rose into the air and tried to flee in a frenzy, but it was already too late.

SWOOSH! SHIK-SHIK-SHIK!

The smooth floor rippled, and swords, spears, blades, skewers, needles, and throwing weapons erupted from it, hacking the Lesser Entities to shreds.

[GYAAAARGH!]

[AAARGH! AAAAAAGH!]

[GAAAH!]

Chains plunged into the Lesser Entities and ripped away their Authorities. The Authorities they had built up over eons vanished in an instant. The sense of loss and agony was immeasurably vast.

[N-no!]

[G-give it back! Give it back!]

The Lesser Entities thrashed and reached toward their Authorities being absorbed into the Soul Moon, but there was nothing they could do.

At that moment, Jinwoo appeared before them.

"Fancy meeting you again."

Jinwoo materialized in the Soul Moon and gave a casual wave to the Lesser Entities writhing in ceaseless agony in midair.

[N-no way....]

[H-how?]

Only now did the Lesser Entities realize they had been deceived.

"I'll put those Authorities to good use."

There were quite a few useful ones among them.

Adding them to the Lord God Engine would probably delight the developers. He would have them announce it as the official release of the Lord God Engine.

"Now then...."

Shall we kick off an event?

When Jinwoo snapped his fingers, countless fist-sized beetles made of gold appeared before him. They were Golden Beetles, each adorned with a dazzling jewel on its head.

Jinwoo split apart the Lesser Entities' egos and sealed them inside the multitude of Golden Beetles.

BRRRRR!

The Golden Beetles' legs quivered and shook as they began to move. The Lesser Entities couldn't accept the reality of being imprisoned in mere insects.

"Die hard for Arsilan's sake."

Jinwoo sent the Golden Beetles down into Arsilan and various games.

[The Creator God has been moved by your effort and dedication.]

[The 'Creator God's Surprise Attack!' event begins now!]

[A] Creator God's Golden Beetle

A gift from the Creator God, carrying various prize draw tickets.

Hit it and Arsilan Gold drops out.

Catch the Golden Beetles, symbols of prosperity, and claim the various prizes the Creator God has prepared!

*Prize list: Alusion Grand Mansion, [A] Item Selection Box, [A~C] Weapon Box, [A~C] Armor Box, [A~C] Arsilan Gold Box....

[Golden Beetles will appear at random across Arsilan and various dimensions. They might be hiding, so look carefully!]

The moment the Information Window announcing the surprise event appeared, Arsilan erupted in cheers.

The drizzling rain began to sway as if dancing, pointing in the direction of the Golden Beetles.

"Oh, the rain...."

"Is that a hint?"

"Let's follow it!"

Heroes, Arsilan natives, and the Demon Race.

Everyone in Arsilan was swept up in madness and greed as they set out to hunt for the Golden Beetles.