Chapter 72 – LV.Five Martial Artist Gaeulbi – [Seven]

Seo Yun stood blankly for a moment. What did that Troll just say?

It was a completely unexpected statement. After pondering the words she had just heard, Seo Yun asked.

“How do you know the gods weren’t created?”

“The meteorite is not omniscient. Even that miracle has its limits. Look at the world spread out beyond there. What do you see?”

Seo Yun looked outside the fortress wall the Troll pointed to.

“Collapsed buildings.”

The Troll also turned his head that way and said.

“Things that look nothing like a medieval fantasy to anyone. The meteorite tries to erase such modern elements. If you’ve already passed through the dimensional gate, you’d know, but all of France’s 21st-century buildings have disappeared. Gutworms swallowed them, and giant behemoths trampled and crushed them. So why did it try to destroy here but stop?”

“Because the Korean Peninsula here isn’t the game’s main stage?”

“Right. Because this land is not the game’s main stage, it fell down the meteorite’s priority list for processing. Modern elements in unimportant regions—though they must be dealt with eventually for world consistency—haven’t been handled yet.”

“Like inviting guests to your house and, if you don’t have the energy to clean all the rooms, tidying up the living room and guest room first while leaving the other rooms dirty…”

“Similarly, there are regions the meteorite left untouched because it lacked the capacity to handle everything. That fact alone proves the meteorite’s limits. Just looking at the meteorite fragments, they don’t grant every wish; the quality and complexity of wishes granted vary depending on their size. Even the meteorite’s main body that fell on the North American continent isn’t infinitely large, so there must be limits to granting wishes…”

“So, you mean it hasn’t been created yet due to resource shortage?”

“Perhaps. Would a meteorite that couldn’t even completely overhaul all man-made structures on the earth’s surface have the capacity left to create divine beings and the spiritual world they inhabit?”

Seo Yun thought for a bit and then said.

“But I met a god.”

“A god?”

“The Goddess of the Hearth told me to do my job. While resurrecting my already dead temple.”

From Seo Yun’s perspective, it was somewhat a confession of a secret, but the Troll answered simply.

“Probably a hallucination shown by the meteorite. From the meteorite’s standpoint, that would be the cheaper way to handle it.”

The conclusion felt too easy and quick to Seo Yun. It was disappointingly so.

Seo Yun closed and opened her eyes, then asked.

“You seem to go beyond mere speculation; you must be confident. Do you have evidence?”

“A few pieces. One of them is a prophecy.”

“A prophecy?”

“A prophecy that two goddesses will be born several years from now. The Prophet Angel from the lamp told me. Whether the meteorite will later create the gods on its own, or whether someone from the mortal realm ascends to the position of god as per my plan, I don’t know. The Prophet Angel didn’t give that detailed a prophecy. But I know those divine beings haven’t been created yet. We’ll talk details later. The spell’s effect is gradually ending.”

With those words, the Troll stood before Oh Haengbok.

Time began to flow again. The Troll asked Oh Haengbok, who had started moving again.

“Doesn’t seem like a dangerous situation. That girl probably called me on your instructions. So, why did you call?”

Oh Haengbok shouted.

“Change the dimensional gate location!”

After that, the Troll and Oh Haengbok continued a conversation that was either negotiation or argument. Oh Haengbok seemed to demand this and that, but Seo Yun couldn’t pay attention to it.

She was engrossed in thinking about the conversation she just had and what she had experienced.

So, what I saw was just a hallucination? How vividly I still remember the fire and the goddess’s voice from that day; that’s utter nonsense…

But soon she reached the conclusion that the vividness of memory wasn’t something reliable.

Seo Yun looked at Oh Haengbok shouting wildly.

“Even if you open a passage, why open it in such a damn place!”

“So you want me to open it somewhere else?”

That Orc, already well aware that the Troll before him was a 24-Level Epic Level powerhouse and a monster who could even stop time, was just shouting uncontrollably, unable to contain his frustration.

“Yes, somewhere with no one around! Isn’t there any?”

That Orc, who was originally said to be a gentleman, had become half-mad and was getting worse lately. It was a change caused by a mere 5-point drop in his game ability score.

Clearly, the human mind, like the body, seems to be something that can be reshaped at will. Just looking at that Orc’s change, one could tell that the human spirit isn’t some great thing located on such a lofty, untouchable plane, but merely something that can be swayed by external factors like hormones and game elements.

Of course, memories could also be manipulated at will.

Still, it was hard to readily believe. It was also impossible to immediately chase the goddess’s voice she heard that day from her mind.

Fulfill your role, Angel

The Hearth Goddess’s voice still echoed in Seo Yun’s mind.

Fulfill your role

The negotiation between the Troll and Oh Haengbok ended after about twenty minutes.

From what Seo Yun overheard, the Troll ultimately didn’t change the dimensional gate location, but seemed to have placated Oh Haengbok by promising some gift later. It was an unexpectedly generous attitude, unbecoming of an Epic Level Mage’s divine power.

“So I guess I just have to keep watching those French bastards like this…”

While Oh Haengbok grumbled, the Troll’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

At a glance, it seemed like he had teleported away from this place, but that wasn’t actually the case.

Seo Yun returned to her tent. And she wasn’t surprised when the Troll’s figure appeared inside it. Through Soul Sight, she had seen that he was still in this village.

It was fortunate. She had many things to ask that Troll.

First, she asked this.

“Were you originally human, by any chance?”

The Troll immediately denied it.

“An NPC, perhaps. If one must refer to a being created by the meteorite as such.”

“But monsters or NPCs don’t talk about games or such things.”

“Of course, the meteorite’s creations tend to have their thoughts controlled by the meteorite. But for some reason, I am not. However, my identity doesn’t seem important. Shall we return to the original topic? Where was I?”

“You were talking about your speculation that gods don’t exist.”

“Then now it’s time to talk about the reasons gods should exist. Do you remember what I said last time?””Did all these calamities arise from the absence of gods?”

The troll nodded.

“First, the absence of the Goddess of Beauty means that someday the Undead will invade—that’s a problem. But even that isn’t the most serious issue.”

“Then what is the most serious one?”

“The fact that because of this, the world of the Immortal Kingdom hasn’t been completed yet is the problem. In other words, the Meteorite’s task remains unfinished. The problem is its obsession with someday completing it.”

The troll pulled out a black stone fragment from its gown. It was recognizable as a Meteor Fragment.

With Seo Yun watching plainly, the troll asked.

“Have you used a Meteor Fragment before?”

“Yes.”

“Then this will be easier to explain. Let’s discuss this under the assumption that the Meteorite’s operating principle is the same as this small Meteor Fragment. After all, the Meteorite itself is ultimately the same kind of object as this fragment.

Suppose I wished for a 50-ounce meat pie from this Meteor Fragment. What if someone ruined the meat pie the fragment created? Whether they cut it so finely it no longer looks like a pie… or crushed it into something like dough…

No matter how that meat pie is altered from its original form, the Meteor Fragment won’t prevent it. Because the wish has already been granted. Whatever modifications are made to that meat pie are no longer the Meteor Fragment’s concern.”

Listening to this, Seo Yun recalled the pork belly she had created with a Meteor Fragment. Indeed, even if she grilled it over fire or dipped it in ssamjang, the Meteor Fragment never punished such actions.

“So, for the Meteorite to continue interfering with the world even after granting a wish is abnormal. Then, why does it keep controlling people’s actions or destroying buildings on the grounds that they don’t fit a medieval fantasy setting?”

The troll fiddled with the Meteor Fragment as it continued.

“From the Meteorite’s perspective, it’s because the wish it must grant hasn’t been fulfilled yet. Because the meat pie hasn’t been made yet.

So, it’s like someone interfering with the dough or beef while the chef who received the order for a meat pie hasn’t finished making it. The chef must prevent anyone from touching the pie dough. What happens to the meat pie after it’s finished and served to the customer isn’t the chef’s concern, but if someone touches the ingredients before the pie is delivered as ordered, the chef will stop them with a kitchen knife.”

Seo Yun listened intently to all this with her mouth shut.

“I’ve been collecting Meteor Fragments and conducting experiments to verify all these inferences. And according to my research…”

The troll seemed to have conducted countless such experiments. Its explanation was truly extensive.

The lengthy explanation continued for dozens of minutes more.

From outside the tent, a girl’s voice was heard.

“Seo Yun? You left this pistol behind.”

It was Gaeulbi’s voice. Damn it.

Seo Yun tried not to widen her eyes and spoke in the calmest voice possible.

“Not now, come back later.”

“No, why?”

“Anyway, later. I’m busy right now.”

After saying that, Seo Yun looked back at the troll. She was nervous looking at that masked face. Had the troll noticed the owner of that voice or not?

It seemed it had. The troll spoke in a voice only Seo Yun could hear.

“No, tell her to come in. I can erase my appearance with a Spell.”

“No, later…”

“Now.”

Seo Yun checked where her Flaming Sword was inside the tent. She had hidden it fearing someone might steal it—should she draw it? Against that monster who could even stop time at will?

“Don’t misunderstand. That just now was a chimpanzee raised in the village.”

“A chimpanzee I know, I suppose.”

“Well…”

“That name would be Gaeulbi.”

Before Seo Yun could stop it, the troll forcefully pulled aside the tent’s entrance. The figure of a girl was revealed.

Gaeulbi, who hadn’t left the spot, was standing there.

She seemed to have sensed something unnatural in Seo Yun’s words just now. Did she think Seo Yun was in some dangerous situation? Perhaps trying to help, she was aiming a pistol this way.

Damn it, a brave and quick-witted action, but right now it was just frustrating.

Gaeulbi looked this way.

“Huh…?”

The girl’s eyes widened.

The troll spoke in its characteristic emotionless voice, but to Seo Yun’s ears, its tone had become remarkably rapid.

“Long time no see, Gaeulbi.”

The hand holding the pistol trembled.

“You?”

“Seeing you, safe, is a relief. Have you been, well, all this time?”

Hearing that voice, Seo Yun was surprised. That troll had always stammered a lot, but she had never seen it stammer as severely as now.

So, clearly, that troll was also shaken, just like Gaeulbi. Why on earth?