Chapter 116 – 116. The Collapsed Sanctuary of Raythena

“Huh. “It’s cold.”

I walked the streets at night and came to near the Nakdong River. The air is quite cold. I think it’s the coldest day of my life.

“Whoa.”

Considering that we are receiving 5 tons of water, it seems like it will take a long time. It seems like it will take a while, but I feel like it would be a huge waste of time to keep waiting for this.

Moreover, I feel like I have to go halfway into the river, but it’s crazy to go into the river in this weather.

“Come out.”

I called out a maid who was cleaning the 4th floor of the Warlord’s Workshop.

“Did you call me?”

“Uh, fill up the water here.”

“Yes…”

Now I won’t have to go into the cold river. Since it is strong, it will be able to withstand the weight of the tank.

A compressed water tank reduces the weight of 1 ton by up to 10 kilograms.

“Then now… “

There is a lot of work to be done. You can go into the base labyrinth and talk to your companions, or you can go back to the house where the van is and open the reward box you received after trading the spirit and body of the gangsters during the day.

‘If I go back to the base now, I want to rest, so let’s finish everything we can do outside and go in.’

Just looking at Saeyeon, Ayun, and Hyuna makes me want to just lie down and sleep. So, I have to work quickly before I become lazy.

Therefore, I have to go into the collapsed Sanctuary of Raythena, which I kept putting off.

In fact, I may have been subconsciously refusing to keep going because the level of difficulty was high. But now I really need to go in and check out the inside, and find out the identity of the statue that the awakened people I killed back then said.

-Wooow…

A green gate has been created.

I went inside, holding my long sword tightly.

******

When I came inside, I couldn’t see an inch in front of me.

Truly complete darkness.

A darkness so thick that it was difficult to see greeted me.

-Click.

I quickly turned on the flashlight.

“Hmm.. Is it a cave?”

Inside the gate was a damp cave. It feels even darker because it is made of pitch black rocks.

After looking around for a moment, I activated presence detection and pulled out the freed demon annihilator’s long sword. In an instant, physical capabilities doubled and the detection range expanded further.

“W-what…”

A huge number of figures were detected beneath my feet. I think it’s probably downstairs, but what on earth is down here?

‘Bug?’

The presence felt exactly like insects. It looks like hundreds of them are gathered together, tangled together and twisting their bodies.

“Fuck..”

It’s creepy. I felt like I never wanted to go down here. But first, we have to go in to find the statue of the goddess whose face has disappeared, which those idiotic awakened guys told us about last time.

They say some kind of blessing will be granted if you give them the corpse of an animal. I really need to find out what that is.

“Oh.”

I went in along a straight line and soon found myself in a fairly large space.

“This is a statue of a goddess.”

A statue of the goddess with her head half smashed stood in the exact center of the room. There was nothing else. There wasn’t even a path leading downstairs.

Even though I can clearly feel the energy of a ridiculously large swarm of insects below, I can’t see any way down. It’s as if it was forcibly blocked or intentionally sealed to prevent entry.

[You are a new visitor.]

“Ouch!”

As she was checking her room to see if there was any way to come down for a moment, the goddess statue spoke to her. To be exact, it was closer to the feeling of something sending mental waves through the goddess statue.

It feels similar to when using the squad command skill. A feeling as if the mind is slightly connected. It seemed like it would take some time to get used to it.

[Don’t be surprised. I have no power to harm you.]

“Uh.. Yes.”

She said that no being, whether a goddess or not, had the power to harm me. Is that really the case? Are there bugs infesting down here? If you just release those bugs, they will be able to kill me in no time.

‘This guy.. Isn’t he an evil ancient god or something..’

I thought so to myself.

Then the goddess statue smiled and denied my thoughts.

[It’s not like that. I am just a sealed book. It prevents the poisonous insects of the abyss that are full below from crawling up.]

“Aha. No, wait a minute. “Are you reading my thoughts?”

[Right?]

A statue of a goddess who casually affirms. She was reading my thoughts. This is a bit difficult. There is nothing worse than having your true feelings revealed to others.

[It’s natural to read your thoughts. I can’t get out of here, and I can’t even move. The visitor may have nefarious intentions. So I have no choice but to read.]

“Ah. Hmm.”

She was right.

It was common for everyone. I was also on guard against the statue of a goddess who suddenly spoke to me and could even read my thoughts, and the statue of the goddess was also on guard against an unidentified visitor.

First of all, there was no sign that they were going to harm me right away. So I decided to ask some questions I was curious about. Because I felt like I knew something.

“I understand for now. However, it seems to me that you might know something… Can you explain?”

[What do you mean by explanation?]

“The reason the world has come to this point… And your existence. And about the bugs in the basement of this labyrinth. Oh, and please tell me why you asked me to bring the animal’s body. I heard you said you needed a body..”

I have a lot of questions. However, I am not sure whether this statue of the goddess can answer everything for me or not. She couldn’t even believe it, much less cover it up. She just wanted to get some information, whatever it was.

The statue chose her words. I quietly waited for the goddess statue’s answer.

[First of all, I have to answer the first question. I think this might give a rough answer to other questions, but…]

“…”

I was a little nervous. Because I can now hear why the world was destroyed overnight.

[There is no other reason why your planet was suddenly destroyed. This is because of flying debris from another world line, not our world line.]

“Yes..? Ah.”

Her words suddenly reminded me of the words I heard at Volv’s store last week.

‘World line.. Parallel universe.’

Volv, the owner of the dimensional store, clearly told me that if I looked at her face for too long, I felt like my mind would collapse. There are several world lines.

It is said that there is a world where the Pantheon and the Ten Demon Battle are mixed, there is a world where the tower rises and is destroyed if it is not conquered, and there is also a world where the class awakens and fights against demons .

“So, are you saying that we perished not because of problems in our world, but because of problems in other worlds?”

[That’s right… I can see it. Cause does not exist on our world line. The flying stone created a ripple effect, and as a result, this world entered the path of destruction.]

My head started pounding at the goddess statue’s words. I was angry that the root cause was not ours. In the end, aren’t we being harmed by the malicious intent of others who we don’t even know exist?

“What kind of guy did this?”

[Well. I don’t know much about it up to that point. However, someone from another world line dumped all the things they deemed unnecessary on their own world line. It could be said that it fell into this world for some reason.]

“Fuck..”

[I understand that you are angry. It would be unfair. Because of someone’s senseless actions, 10 billion people will die.]

I kept wiping my face as I heard the goddess statue’s words.

Since the cause-giver did not exist in this world, it was impossible to catch and kill him, nor could he be visited and questioned. There is no way.

[No. Mr. Kang In-ho. There is a way.]

At that time, the goddess statue told me in a confident voice that there was a way.

Also, something was added to the face of the goddess statue that was broken.

It is the shape of a woman with a benevolent smile.

It seemed like an unidentified being talking to me.

“What a method..”

[We tried in many ways. After the extinction of the main gods and the collapse of the pantheon, I put in a lot of effort.]

“Uh.. So.?”

[There is something called a fixed labyrinth. It is a place that can be said to be the core of a disaster that has occurred on Earth, and if we can destroy the pagan symbols erected here, we will be able to return the Earth to its original state to some extent.]〈 Br〉

“What are the symbols of paganism?”

[Fragments of a disaster thrown into our world. Because we had to prevent something bigger. I couldn’t pay attention to such small fragments. So, I would like to ask you one thing.]

“You want me to destroy that symbol?”

[Yes. If you do that, your home planet will be able to be saved.]

“The Earth is livable… Is this it?”

[That’s right. Are you saving your hometown with your own hands? Wouldn’t it be okay to think of it as contributing to the local economy? I wouldn’t dare ask for more than that.]

A statue of a goddess telling us to contribute to the local economy.

“Can’t I ask someone else to do that?”

[I’m already asking other people to do this as well. I am asking everyone who finds a statue of the goddess Raythena that can communicate with me to destroy the pagan symbols.]

“Are you saying this labyrinth is not one?”

[Yes. Not one. Raythena’s sanctuary was divided into small pieces and scattered throughout the Earth. You are the 21st human being to come into contact with me.]

It is said that about 20 people have already encountered the goddess statue faster than me and have received a request to destroy the pagan symbol.

Then there is no need for me to do it…

[You are among those I have encountered so far. These are the humans with the highest chance of success. You have skill theft… And you already have a lot of S-class skills.]

“That’s true, but..”

[Mr. Inho… We are short on manpower. Help me. We will also prepare compensation that is not unpleasant. It’s all done for the good of humanity, but I’d be a little disappointed if they didn’t help me. We are also volunteering now..]

An earnest request from an unidentified divine being.

If we join forces with her and destroy her pagan symbols, we can save the Earth.

I was a little worried. I think it’s too dangerous to listen to it willingly.

However, on the other hand, I thought that if I cooperate with such a being and get the beans, I could become the owner of a true new world.

Above all, I think they are also volunteering right now, so I think it would be too out of the blue for me to refuse.

If I categorically refuse here, wouldn’t it be a bit like going to a developing country to volunteer, and there was a shortage of workers, so I asked a local kid to help me, and being told, ‘I don’t like it’ or ‘Why me?’

I felt like I would be disillusioned with real humanity.

“I will help you right away. Still… If it’s too dangerous, I’ll be afraid. Because I have to live too.”

[That level of mindset is enough. Just save the earth as if it’s a pastime you have time to do. Everyone has their own life, so you can’t force it. Hehe.]

Of course, if it’s too dangerous, I’ll step out.

You can think of it as accepting requests and working whenever you have enough time.

They say they will give me a reward, so I’ll just finish everything I have to do and work quietly when I have nothing else to do.