Arta’ssecretbase.AndthemechanicalbeastArta,appearingthereasthefinalboss.
‘hiscan’tbeacoincidence.’
Myinstincts,sharpenedbynearlytenyearsofplayingDungeon&Stone,toldmeasmuch.here’snowaythetwojusthappentoshareaname.
‘Coulditbethatusing“FinalDay”onthisislandiswhatletsyoumeetthisthing?’
don’tknowyet.Whichmeanshavetofigureitout.
“Raven,usethebarrierspell.”
“Suddenly?You’vebeentellingmenottobecauseofthemanadrain.”
“histime,thinkit’sworthit—evenifitcostsus.needtotalk.”
“otit.”
Uponreceivingtheorder,Raveninstantlydeployedadome-shapedbarrieraroundus.ikeakindofumbrella?
Kwaaaaaang—!
Flash—!
Krrrumble—!
Atranslucentcurtainblockedthemeteorsandlightningcrashingdownfromthesky.kay,wehadthepeaceandquietweneeded—.
[h,interesting.Alanguagesystemthat’ssimilartothecommontongue,yetdifferent…Still,ifsomeoneherespeaksthecommontongue,thatmeansithasn’tbeenentirelylost?Well,itdoesn’treallymattereitherway.]
hat’swhenthemanwatchingusmutteredsomething.
“Activateneuralsync.”
hat’swhenhiswordsstartedtosounddifferent.
“owthen,canyouunderstandme?”
“……!”
“uh?Canyoureallyunderstandhim,Marone…?”
“Yes?Yeah…don’tknowhow,butcanunderstandwhathe’ssaying.knowit’sadifferentlanguage,butsomehow,itjust…makessense.”
nresponsetoMarone,themanaskedcautiously,”Um…isthisyourfirsttimeexperiencingneuralsync?”
“Uh,yes.’veneverheardofanythinglikethis.”
“Phew…kindoffiguredasmuchfromyouroutfits,butitseemsalotoftechhasbeenlost.Don’tbealarmed.Allthat’shappeningisthat’msyncingthewavecircuitemittedbyyourbrainpatternstoletus’understand’eachother.t’snormaltofeeldisorientedatfirst.”
heman,whointroducedhimselfasArta,saidthatmuchbeforeshiftinghisgazebeyondRaven’sbarrier.
Andthen—
“Yes…thisreallyistheFinalDay…sn’titexactlyhowyouimaginedit?!”
estaredwide-eyedatthestormofmeteorsandlightningoutside,hiseyesgleamingwithexcitement.Fromthewayhesuddenlypoppedoutofamysteriousportaltotheweirdthingshekeptsaying,everythingabouthimscreamedsuspicious,butoddlyenough,hedidn’tfeelthreatening.
Maybeitwasbecause—
“ehheh…Withresearchresultslikethese,don’tneedtoworryaboutnextyear’sbudget…!”
hewayhelooked,thewayhetalked,eventhewayhedressed…hiswholepresencewasmoregloomythanmenacing.
“ey,yousaidyournamewasArta,right?”
“Ah?Yes.Sorry,gotalittledistracted.Butmayask—whoareyouall?Andifit’snottoomuchtrouble,couldyouperhapsexplainwhat’sgoingon—”
“We’llbeaskingthequestions.”
“Ah…!Yes!fcourse,ofcourse.Youmustbecuriousyourselves.’llansweranythingcan.Butifmay,couldmakeonerequestaswell?h,nothingmajor,sopleasedon’tbealarmed!”
“…Speak.”
“fanswereverythingyouask,wouldyouletmeaskaquestiontoo?’mhonestlydyingtoknowwhat’sgoingonhere,haha…”
“Fine.promise.”
“hengoahead.Askaway.”
“Whoareyou?”
“Asmentionedearlier,mynameisArta.Currently—orperhapsshouldsayformerly—wasthechiefresearcherattheFirstMagi-echResearchnstituteofthempire.aha,nottobrag,butonlythevicedirectoranddirectoroutrankedme.”
“Researchinstitute…?”
hemomenthesaidthat,somethingclickedinmyheadandfrowned.hemancaughttheshiftinmyexpression.
“h?Areyoufamiliarwithourinstitution?”
otexactly.justhadahunch.
“Wasittheonethatusedmonstersastestsubjectstomakelivingweapons?”
“uh?o,that’snotus.urinstituteisattheveryfrontierofmagi-techadvancement.urresearchmaybeusedtodevelopweapons,butwe’renotaweaponslab.”
mph…ifyousayso.heoneweexploredonBasementevel1hadtheofficialnameofthePanthelionnstitute,notthismagi-techwhatever.
“Anyway,what’sabigshotlikeyoudoinghere?”
“Whatelsewouldaresearcherbedoing?Research,ofcourse.”
“Cutthejokes.Wedon’thavetimeforthat.”
“Ah…true.supposefromyourperspective,timewouldbeapressingconcern.Allowmetoexplainsimply,inawaylaypeoplecanunderstand…heresearchwewereconductinginvolvedobservingthespacetimecontinuumofthefuture.”
“bservingspacetime…?”
“Yes.bservingthefuturetochangethepresent—that’sthecoreofourresearch.”
“…otthepast?”
“aha!Youmustbereferringtotimetravel.Changingthepresentthroughthepastwasdeemedimpossiblelongago.hat’swhywefocusedonthefuture.”
Sotheideaisthattheirresearchsucceededandthisguywasflungintothefuture?
‘Man,thisfantasysettingreallythrowseverythingin,doesn’tit…’
t’sabsurd,butwhatever—atleastgotthegist.
“Bytheway,couldaskaquickquestion?’vebeendyingofcuriositysinceearlier.”
“……”
“Whatyearisitrightnow?”
Ah.Sowe’rethefutureinthissetup.
***
RPstandsfor“RolePlayingame.”
iterally,agamewhereyouactoutarole.Broadlyspeaking,whatwasdoingnowwasn’tthatdifferent.Youfollowthestoryinlinewiththeconcept,theepisodeprogresses,andeventually,itends—withasweetrewardwaitingatthefinishline.hat’swhy…
‘Rightnow’sthepartwhereyougatherthecluestomovethestoryforward.’
hat’swhatfigured.Sokepttalkingtohimforalongwhile,pullinginformationfromhim.Afterall,thiswasn’tagamewhereyoucouldjustmashthespacebarthroughdialogueandhaveeverythingautomaticallyshowupinthequestlog.
“heraofCataclysm…?ncredible…!You’resayingeventhecalendarsystemchanged?”
“heworldwasalreadydestroyedoncebyawitch,andnowonlyasinglecity-stateruledbytheafdoniaroyalfamilyremains…?rulyastonishing…!”
“h,youthinkalreadyknewthestateofthisplace?aha…hat’spartlytrue.Yousee,thecoordinatessetformyjumpwereaimedattheverylastpointintime—literally,theFinalDay!”
“Whywoulddothat,youask?sn’titobvious?wantedtoknowhowtheworldwouldend!”
“uh?Scared?otatall.fmyheartstopsor’mindanger,canreturntomyoriginaltimewheneverwant.Backhome,we’vegotthebestmagi-techengineersstandingby—theycanbringanyoneback,aslongasthey’renotdead.”
“Whymagi-techengineersinsteadofpriests?Wait…areyousayingmagi-techknowledgehasbeenlostinthisworld?”
“Andthen…whatexactlyhappenedtotheworld?fwhatyou’resayingistrue,didn’tthewitchwhotriedtodestroyitalreadydie?”
hroughourconversation,Artalearnedaboutoursideofthings,andwe,inturn,learnedabouthis.Andifhadtosummarize…
“Sotheapocalypsereallydidhappen…havetolearnwhatcausedit—andhowtostopit.ravelersfromthefuture!Willyouhelpme?fyoulendmeyourstrength,’llreturntothepastandfindawaytopreventthistragedy!”
hat’smoreorlessthegistofthequest.Andofcourse,whatreallymattershereis—
“…………Areward?Youwanttoknowwhatcanoffer?You…youdon’twanttostoptheendoftheworld?”
“’mafraidhavenothingtogiveyou…”
mm.Sotherewardmustcomesomeotherway.Maybehe’sthekeytoaccessingatreasureroomwecan’tenterwithouthim.Somethinglikethat.
“wasjoking.ftheworldends,whatgoodisareward?fthere’sevenachancetostopit,’lldowhatevercan.”
“knewyouwerekidding!”
Sothatwrapsuptherewardtalk,framedasajoke.
“et’stalkwhilewemove.”
“Yes,thatwouldbebest.don’thavemuchtimeleft,anyway.”
“otmuchtime?”
“h,didn’tmentionthatyet.canonlystayinthistimeperiodforalimitedduration.Sohavetogatherasmuchinformationaspossiblebeforereturn.”
“Andifyoudon’tmakeitbackintime?”
“Well,don’tthinkthat’llhappen…butifitdoes,thenguess’llmeettheFinalDayrightherewiththerestofyou.”
“see.”
letitslidelikeitwasjustidlecuriosity.couldn’texactlytellhimthetruth,could?hatifnothingusefulorrewardinghappenswhilehe’swithus,’mplanningtomakesurehecan’tgoback.
‘Maybetherealquestonlystartsifheendsupstuckhere.’
twasthekindofhiddenelement’dneverencounteredinthegamebefore—meaninghadtoexhausteverypossibility.
“Raven!Dropthespell!”
Afterthat,Ravenreleasedthebarrierspell,andweresumedourfull-scalesweepoftheisland.Atthesametime—
“Um,Mr.Arta,wasit?”
Raven,whohadn’tbeenabletojointheconversationearlierbecauseshe’dbeenfocusingonthespell,startedtalkingtoArtaherself.
“Mr.Arta?”
“…….”
“Doyou…notwanttotalktome?”
“Ah,no,it’snotthat…’mjustabitshyaroundnewpeople…”
“Youdidn’tseemthatwaywithMr.Yandel.”
“…….”
keptmyearsopenincasesomethingusefulcameoutoftheirexchange,butsofarall’dlearnedwasthatArtawashopelesswithwomen.Andthen—
“’mactuallyinterestedinmagi-techmyself.Wouldyoumindtalkingaboutitwithme?”
“h!You’rethisbeautiful,andyou’reinterestedinmagi-tech?!sthattrue?!”
“…uh?Uh,yes,am…”
“aha!Askmeanything.’lltellyoueverythingyouwanttoknow…!”
Apparently,Artaisweaktobeautifulwomenwholikemagi-tech.
‘…kay,fromnowon,ifneedtosqueezeinfooutofhim,’lljusthaveRavenhandleit.’
listenedforabitlonger,butitturnedintostraight-upalien-soundingmagi-techbabble,soskippedit.Still,itwasagoodthingforRaventoexpandherknowledge,sodidn’tinterrupt—justfocusedonclearingtheisland.
Andthen—
「ver50%ofmonstersintheareahavebeendefeated.」
「heancientbeast’spowerisweakening.」
「ver60%ofmonstersintheareahavebeendefeated.」
「heancientbeast’spowerisweakening.」
「ver70%ofmonstersintheareahavebeendefeated…」
Bythetimewe’dclearedabout70%oftheisland—
“Ahem…S-sorry,butreallyneedtofocusongatheringmoredatafromthistimeperiod.”
“h…”
“D-don’tworry!’lldefinitelyfindawaytosaveyou,MissRaven…!!”
ookedlikeArtahadfinallysnappedoutofitandwasreturningtohismainobjective.
“Mr.Yandel,wasit?Youmentionedthatthesourceoftheapocalypseisabeast…sowhyhaven’tyougonetoitdirectly?”
Seriously?e’saskingthatnow?owweakisthisguytowomen,exactly?Unbelievable.
Still,gavehimananswer.
“Becausekillingthemonstersontheislandweakensthebeast.”
“Ah…see.”
“Findanythinginterestingwhilewelookedaround?”
“Um…notreallyyet.”
Yeah,nokidding.e’dbeentoobusychattingwithRaven.
“h!Butthereisonething!”
“Whatisit?”
“Atthecenteroftheisland,wherethebeastthatcausedtheapocalypseissaidtoreside—there’sastrange,powerfulmanasignalcomingfromthatplace.”
Amanasignal,huh… Coulditbesomehiddenareamissedinthegame?rjusttheboss’slocation?Well,eitherway—we’llfindoutsoonenough.
「ver90%ofmonstersintheareahavebeendefeated.」
「heancientbeast’spowerhasbeennullified.」
ookslikeit’stimeforthebossfight.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter