Emperor! Can You See Stats!?

Chapter 190: A World Beyond Reality

Rumble!

A white lightning bolt struck the massive door.

Crash!

Wooden splinters fell to the ground as the main gate of the Demon Sect was shattered to pieces.

“…”

However, the experts of the Blood Demon Sect were all staring at the broken door with stunned expressions. 

Even Nuada, who had thrown the spear to destroy the door, was wide-eyed.

After a moment of silence, his groan escaped.

“Nobody’s here?”

The Demon Sect had withdrawn cleanly without leaving a single ant behind. 

There were many buildings as grand as the palace of the Eastern Continent, but not a single person was in sight.

“Master… what is this?”

“Could it be a trap?”

“It’s unsettling. We came all this way and it’s empty.”

As suspicious glances crossed each other, there was one person who remained silent.

“Grandmaster?”

“…”

‘As expected…’

Eurius was lost in thought for a moment. 

It was not unexpected.

The mysterious message from the leader of the Demon Sect.

And the empty Demon Sect headquarters.

He came to a conclusion.

‘He tricked me. He had something to do with me from the start.’

The others might not know, but the battle with the Blood Demon Sect was not that important to this leader of the Demon Sect. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have given up his base so easily.

‘Leader, huh?’

What Eurius had heard about the Demon Sect was as follows. 

First of all, in addition to the publicly known hierarchy, there were three real powers called the Three Great Families.

The first one was Beigong Family, who were proficient in both magic and martial arts.

Sura Mazun, the first expert of the Demon Sect that he had killed, was the leader of this Beigong Family. 

The others who appeared after him also mostly died by Eurius’s hand.

The second one was Sagon Family, who guarded the Heavenly Horse Pavilion.

They were mostly pure warriors who belonged to the elite of the Demon Sect.

Even in Eurius’s eyes, they were different from the other hastily assembled experts in that they used the power of artifacts very skillfully. 

It was not something that could be done without a lot of practice to create an earthen wall and a long tunnel using earth in an instant.

And the third family was somewhat peculiar.

The last family was none other than [Lee Family].

They were the family that had been in charge of the leader of the Demon Sect for generations. 

Their characteristic was!

‘Blonde hair and golden eyes, right?’

That’s right! The reason why Eurius was mistaken in the Eastern Continent was because of them.

The experts of Lee Family did not appear in the martial world often, but they attracted people’s attention with their unusual appearance.

The leader of the Demon Sect had never shown his face to his followers either, but since he was a member of Lee Family, it was certain that he had blonde hair and golden eyes.

Eurius couldn’t help but feel suspicious. That leader guy tried to kidnap Leonhardt. And from his note, it seemed like he knew something about him too.

“…”

Hum!

“Huh?”

Eurius turned his gaze to his waist. 

It seemed like Yellow Dragon had sent him a signal after a long time. 

The sword had left his waist and floated in midair.

‘What is it?’

[Follow me. It’s related to the quest.]

‘Quest?’

Shoo!

Yellow Dragon flew at a fairly fast speed between buildings. 

He acted as a kind of guide for him, just like in Black Tortoise Cave.

[I feel a faint aura from this side.]

He passed through the eerie buildings and stopped at a building that had a peculiar style by Eastern Continent standards. Eurius also felt curious about it.

“Is this a temple?”

Unlike the buildings with the distinctive tiled roofs of the Eastern Continent, only that place had stone pillars lined up in a row. It looked like the architectural style of the temples of the Holy Kingdom.

Eurius didn’t know, but that place was the residence of the Pope and the place of revelation.

Crash!

Ding!

[You have discovered the ‘Temple of the Forgotten God’.]

As soon as he broke the entrance blocked by a stone gate, he heard the system’s notification. 

Eurius tilted his head.

‘It seems to be related to the quest, but why did they leave this place behind?’

He looked calm, because he had a similar experience in the desert.

The Demon Cult was a group with the same roots as the Church. 

It was not strange that they had a temple for the same god. 

In fact, he was disappointed.

‘Hey… I thought I would find some clues about the player, but it was just a quest?’

But as soon as he entered the temple.

“…!?”

Eurius widened his eyes. 

He was so dumbfounded that he could hardly speak.

“What is this?”

There was something he never dreamed of being in such a place. 

It was inside the temple.

That was!

“Scharnos the Great?”

The identity of the object that Eurius saw and was shocked by was a statue. 

No, it would be more correct to call it an idol.

Ding!

[You have discovered the sacred relic ‘Idol of the Forgotten God’.]

[Destroy the idol. Your achievement will increase.]

“…”

Eurius was so absurd that he fell into a state of panic for a moment.

‘Wasn’t it their intention to get rid of the Demon Cult and the Church, including the Emperor Scharnos and other players?’

But in the temple of the Church, which he thought was an enemy, there was a statue of the Emperor Scharnos. 

How should he interpret this?

‘What on earth is going on here?’

But before he could turn his head to Hwangryong, another notification appeared in his sight.

Ding!

[Do you want to view ‘Memory 3’?]

***

The first thing Eurius heard was a woman’s sharp voice.

“That’s the capsule for the seventh generation that you’re going to enter this time.”

“Huh… It’s huge.”

The Emperor Scharnos scratched his nape as he listened to the explanation of the capsule. 

Normally, even if it was a state-of-the-art capsule for accessing virtual reality, it would not exceed the size of a single bed.

But the capsule he was going in as a tester was enormous. 

He asked with a disgusted expression as he looked at the wires and equipment that filled up the spacious room.

“But are you sure it’s safe? It looks like a spaceship from an SF movie.”

“Of course. As you know, K Foundation’s capsules are famous for being the most stable in the world. And…”

The woman continued with a confident voice.

“More than half of that new capsule’s size is actually user protection devices. It has perfect protection for both your mind and body. Even if you want to kill yourself, it’s impossible for anything to happen inside.”

“Hmm…”

Even after hearing that, The Emperor Scharnos didn’t look very pleased.

Zzzz… Zzzz…

After seeing this far, the video moved on to the next scene with noise.

***

The next thing Eurius saw was letters filling up the screen.

[Initiating first user authentication. XXX…]

[Checking your body. Pulse… Heart rate normal…]

Eurius realized where this place was after seeing letters filling up screen.

‘Ah! So this is the procedure to enter the virtual space?’

Then it was clear whose perspective this was.

[Authentication completed.]

Flash!

The view flickered in an instant and moved to the next screen.

***

“Huh?”

Emperor Scharnos opened his eyes wide and looked around. 

The first thing that entered his eyes was the clear blue sky.

“Judging by the blue sky, this is definitely not reality.”

He muttered a meaningless remark and got up. 

A moment later, other senses also slowly returned.

Whoosh!

He felt the wind tickling his nose and exclaimed without realizing it.

“She was right. This place is better than reality.”

The Earth of 2XXX was so covered with toxic gas that it was hard to go outside without carrying an oxygen mask at all times. But he had heard that it was impossible to perfectly recreate the sensations of the Earth when it was clean with the current technology.

But the sensations he felt now were so vivid that it seemed like another reality.

“Phew…”

He enjoyed the fresh air for a moment and then tilted his head.

“But didn’t she say she would send me a message right away when I logged in?”

He scanned the air, but no sign appeared.

“Tsk! She acts so smart, but does she not even know that I have logged in?”

Emperor Scharnos grumbled and lay down on the grass again. 

He had nothing to do unless someone gave him instructions from outside. 

He had joined as a tester, not to play the game. But he missed something because he lay down.

“Waaaaah!”

“Huh?”

He heard a scream from afar and quickly got up.

‘What is this?’

“For the kingdom!”

“Crush the enemy!”

Two groups were clashing not far away. 

Their battle was fierce, wearing costumes that reminded him of the medieval times.

Clang!

Slash!

“Ugh! Gross!”

He had a very high player aptitude, so he had almost superhuman physical abilities in virtual reality. 

He was quite far away, but he could see everything clearly, such as the blood and guts splattering everywhere and the corpses with their entrails sticking out.

He felt nauseous for a moment and turned his head.

“No, even if they make it similar to reality, they should at least blur it a bit.”

He turned his eyes and tried to move away from there.

“Hehehe!”

“…!?”

Then! 

A person wearing armor and wielding a spear came rushing towards him like a gust of wind on a horse.

“Wow! Judging by the outfit, is he a knight?”

Emperor Scharnos turned his steps and stared at the knight who looked like an NPC with sparkling eyes.

‘Wow, he’s amazing… This is. The previous virtual reality games couldn’t even compare.’

He liked novels and movies where knights of the medieval times were active, not just games. 

The armor that reflected the sunlight! 

The muscular horse that breathed heavily! 

The blood stains here and there added to the realism.

But unlike his admiring eyes, the knight had a cold expression and pointed his spear at him.

Shing!

“…!?”

“Who are you? You have a suspicious outfit.”

“Me?”

Emperor Scharnos was embarrassed for a moment. 

He couldn’t say that he was just a passing player to an NPC.

“Haha…”

The knight’s eyes narrowed as he disliked the attitude of the man in front of him.

‘How dare you smirk at me?’

“Anyone suspicious will be executed on the spot!”

Whoosh!

The spear flew through the air and pierced the chest of the man in an instant.

“Huh?”

Thud!

The man was stunned for a moment and then felt a hole in his chest. 

He saw his own blood splattering in his sight! And then…

“Aaaargh!”

He rolled on the ground and screamed in pain. 

The spear had gone through his body, and the pain was unbearable.

But even as he writhed in agony, he had another thought in his mind.

‘Crazy! It’s exactly like reality, but does it also have the same pain sensation?’

“Grrr…”

He barely endured the pain and tried to open his inventory. 

This kind of RPG game usually gives some healing potions.

‘Potion… or at least some herbs?’

His hand groped in the air frantically. But nothing came to his grasp.

“XX! Why is this happening?”

The man cursed and touched not only the air but also his whole body. But soon he realized a shocking fact.

“…!?”

He forgot his pain for a moment and muttered with a dumbfounded expression.

“Message… system… inventory… nothing opens?”

The scene changed to a kingdom.

In the center of it, there was a huge white palace. 

****

In its depths, a secret meeting was taking place.

“Sir Galeus seems to have successfully contacted the Godly One.”

A certain old man whispered softly.

“Hmm…”

“I never thought I would see the legendary Godly One in my life.”

The ones who answered him were also two old men with hoarse voices. 

Three old men wearing splendid robes and crowns!

They were none other than the popes of the Three Great Churches. 

They were the representatives of the Holy Kingdom, the spiritual pillar of the Western Continent.

“If you are tired, I can use the power of healing on you. Just say the word.”

An old man with a white beard reaching his chest and a warm face opened his mouth. He was the pope of Medit, the god of healing.

“Thank you. It’s been a long time since I used this power, so I’m definitely tired.”

The one who answered him was an old man with a sharp face. He had a peculiar feature: one of his eyes emitted a white glow. He was the pope of Odin, the god of wisdom.

“Tsk! The Eastern Continent is far away indeed. It’s the first time I see you sweat so much, Odin’s first disciple.”

The one who clicked his tongue was an old man with an unbecoming muscular physique. 

He had squinty eyes and was wearing a helmet. 

He was the pope of Mars, the god of war.

Fwoosh!

Odin’s pope’s one eye kept emitting light. 

His pupil was shaking as he stared at the air, watching something far away.

Sigh…

And then, at some point, the light slowly faded.

“Huff…”

When the light went out completely, Odin’s pope leaned back on his chair with a tired expression.

“Hehe… You look exhausted.”

“You must have seen something far away with your clairvoyance.”

The other popes smiled kindly and praised him.

“Heh… It’s my duty, so I have to accept this hardship. You two are too generous with your compliments.”

Odin’s pope wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued.

“Sir Galeus said he would return quickly. He was worried about the gap in our forces.”

“Hmph… He must be talking about Heimdall’s wardens.”

[They have been quite active lately.]

The other popes frowned at those words. They thought of the beings that they hated to even mention.

The Kalihaara Kingdom, which ruled over the western desert of the continent.

And the cult of the evil god Heimdall, who actually controlled their tribes!

They were the archenemies of the Holy Kingdom, who had fought against them for two hundred years. 

The divine powers bestowed by the three sects’ gods were great, but the evil god was still a god.

They did not know how much effort the Holy Kingdom had put into stopping them from secretly turning the continent upside down. The three popes felt sick just thinking about them.

“…”

But today was different. 

They remembered the divine mandate that came down a while ago.

[Find the player who has reappeared in this world. Bring him to me.]

When they heard the divine mandate that came down to the three sects at the same time, they had to do their best to investigate the person who was suspected to be a player.

It had been a long time since such a divine mandate had come down to the Holy Kingdom. 

And a player!

A smile of satisfaction formed on their lips as they thought about it.

“If the God of Prophecy comes, we can end this tiresome war, right? Hehe…”

“Of course. Perhaps the gods also found it hard to tolerate the evil god’s tyranny any longer.”

The atmosphere around them became harmonious in an instant. 

It was a thrilling thing to think about.

But their mood was shattered by a sudden sound.

Ding!

“Huh!”

“What is this?”

“Oh… O God!”

The three popes jumped up and straightened their robes with solemn expressions. 

Was this not a sign of a ‘divine mandate’? 

They had occasionally received such messages after they became popes.

“…”

They bowed their heads and shouted in unison.

“Speak, your servants are listening.”

At the same time, letters began to appear in front of their eyes. 

It was the same phenomenon as the ‘stat window’ that had happened to Eurius.

“What is this?”

“There are much more letters than usual.”

The popes looked at the letters on the notification window with sparkling eyes. 

Their expressions changed as they read them.

“…”

“Huh…”

“How can this be!”

They sighed. 

The content of the divine mandate that came down this time was quite unexpected.

“…”

They soon finished reading it and gathered their heads. 

They were confused for a moment, but they quickly came to a conclusion.

“Do we need to worry about it?”

“That’s right. We just have to follow it. The divine mandate is absolute!”

Paaah!

A light flashed in Odin Pope’s eyes. 

He was going to use his divine power.

“I will then deliver the divine mandate to Galeus again.”

His ability, Clairvoyance, allowed him to see faraway places as if they were in front of him and send messages to anyone related to the Holy Kingdom.

“Then I will head to Scharnos Empire. I need to prepare the fastest carriage.”

Medit Pope, who had a white beard reaching his chest, walked outside.

“I will get ready for the Paladin Order!”

The last old man with sharp eyes got up energetically.

The divine mandate was an absolute command for them. But what kind of command made them move at the same time?

***

“…”

[New World]

Emperor Scharnos was trembling as he held the contract.

It was a suspicious project, no matter how he thought about it.

“Ugh…”

He groaned as he pondered for a while. 

Then he opened his mouth.

“Please explain this in more detail. I can’t understand anything from this.”

As he said, the contract was too complicated for him, an ordinary person. 

He could vaguely understand that he had to enter a capsule and do something, but the rest was nonsense.

“Hmm… Well, since we’re going to board the same ship anyway, I’ll tell you about it.”

Dr. Dimiana took a sip of her tea as if her throat was dry. 

Then she began to speak.

“As I mentioned briefly before, this project is actually a supranational project. It’s not just about the K Foundation and virtual reality technology.”

Her tone was different from before. It was serious.

“A supranational project?”

“Yes. It’s a mega project involving several countries besides the Korean government. Europe, America, you name it.”

Project New World!

According to her explanation, the goal of this experiment was to create a perfect virtual reality world, not just a simple server.

In the era they lived in, many aspects of life were already eroded by virtual reality.

“As I told you before, we can meet in virtual space by entering a capsule anytime and anywhere. Meetings, work, etc. We rely on virtual reality for many things.”

“Hmm…”

Emperor Scharnos nodded his head. That was common sense. But the next words were quite absurd.

“And there are still many people who suffer from diseases, hunger, poverty gap, and other problems in the world.”

“…!?”

Emperor Scharnos stared at Dr. Dimiana blankly. 

This was not a UNICEF ad. 

Why did she suddenly bring up the poverty gap? But she continued calmly.

“So many developed countries have focused on the potential of virtual reality. Simply put, they want to make virtual reality another real reality.”

At this point, Emperor Scharnos burst into a snort. 

No matter how advanced the 2X century was, this sounded like something from a cult religion.

“Come on, are you serious?”

“It’s still in the testing phase, but we think it’s possible.”

She was so adamant that Emperor Scharnos had nothing to say. But it was hard to believe. He chuckled and joked.

“Hey… Don’t tell me you’re going to teleport me into a virtual world inside a capsule or something?”

She surprisingly smiled.

“You got half of it right. Not your body, though.”

“…!?”

Emperor Scharnos was about to say something with a dumbfounded expression.

“What do you mean…”

“That’s my job.”

That’s when Lee Cheongmun intervened. 

As he said before, he was one of those who were called psychics or superhumans. 

They could draw out ether, the power of their souls, and use force, a strange ability.

The first stage of learning to sense force!

The second stage of activating force in your body and gaining superhuman strength!

The third stage of influencing other objects with force!

The fourth stage where your ability’s ‘personality’ is revealed depending on your soul’s nature!

Generally, those who surpassed the fourth stage were classified as high-level superhumans and treated as major forces of each country. 

The standard of dividing people into nobles and commoners in Eurius’s world originated from here.

And he was the only one in this world who reached the sixth stage, the ultimate stage of superhumans.

“As you may have experienced using virtual reality games, your abilities diverge depending on your personality after you pass the fourth stage.”

Pop!