389. Illusion Barrier Trial (1)

I found Lina in the director’s office, arms crossed and wearing a sullen expression.

“…I hear you’ve been up to all sorts of shenanigans.”

“Shenanigans?”

I tilted my head, puzzled.

“Ha, being the shared lover of all your party members? The world is surely coming to an end. A dark age, I tell you. A dark age.”

What was this about?

*Hadn’t we already talked this through?*

Besides, it was Lina herself who warned me about advancing my relationships with my party members, which is why it happened.

I couldn’t understand why Lina, who should have been well aware, would suddenly bring this up and start being so petulant.

As I stared at her expectantly, Lina abruptly turned her head away, spitting out the words in a curt voice.

“So, what brings you here this time? Spit it out and be gone.”

“Must I always have a reason to visit the director?”

“Isn’t that the case?”

Saying that left me speechless.

I cleared my throat and got down to business.

“Erm, I’d like to request a trial.”

“…A trial? What kind of trial are you talking about?”

“The Illusion Barrier Trial.”

“…!”

The Illusion Barrier Trial.

It was an end-game content where players who had completed all the main story quests in Velvetthra would hunt endlessly spawning monsters within an illusion, competing for ranking.

It featured monsters from the Gate Era that Lina had faced in the past, a trial that would cause even seasoned veterans to falter after just a few minutes.

*It was a wallet war for the die-hards.*

Those who caught the most monsters, and the highest-grade monsters, would get their names on the board and brag.

It was the kind of content that lacked any semblance of originality, a trope seen in every RPG.

To bring that end-game content forward before the main story was complete…

This was the last element I considered to strengthen my party before the final battle.

Silence filled the room. Lina’s eyebrows twitched before she sighed deeply.

“Haaah…”

“…I won’t ask how you know about it. However, you must realize. It requires a considerable price to be paid in Causality. Perhaps everything you’ve built up so far wouldn’t be enough.”

End-game content was end-game content for a reason.

Recreating the monsters Lina faced in the past would likely require a substantial sacrifice.

It wasn’t released after the final battle was over for no reason.

Hadn’t I thought that far ahead?

“Well, I don’t think so?”

“…What?”

“The monsters that will be created for the Illusion Barrier Trial aren’t the ones Director Lina faced.”

“Then?”

“Make the opponents in the illusion out of only the monsters we’ve already faced. Since we’re building the illusion from our own experiences, not the Director’s, wouldn’t that minimize the causal debt?”

Lina, the Director, widened her eyes, as if she hadn’t considered such a proposition.

She stared intently at the pristine white spider nestled within a glass jar on her desk, and said, “Indeed, Irine’s core is here too… If we used it… we could even manifest demons.”

*Oh*, so that’s how Irine could be used?

I was planning to ask her to make it into a elixir before the final battle.

If we could build an illusionary barrier trial using Irine, that would be much more beneficial.

Lina tapped the desk with her finger, lost in thought. “However, summoning the monsters we’ve already defeated… I’m not sure that would be of much help to you.”

“It would, Director. It would be very helpful.”

I subtly licked my lips. “We’ve always fought past monsters together as a full party, but in the illusionary barrier trial, we’ll each have to face those past monsters alone.”

“…Each?”

“Yes, we need to be able to handle those monsters on our own to face the ones that are yet to come.”

That’s right.

Until now, we’d hunted monsters and demons as a party.

But that wasn’t enough.

At least Sofia, who’s combat ability is somewhat lacking, and Senior Ga-eul, should be able to easily take down a demon on their own.

‘That way, minimal safety will be ensured.’

In other words, the reason I requested this Illusionary Barrier trial to be for one person is that.

Lina gave a hollow laugh.

“I see. Certainly, that method would lessen the causal debt. However, there’s still a problem. To create a robust illusion and reflect what you achieve within it onto your physical bodies in reality requires a considerable price.”

Ah.

There was that inherent flaw.

After all, if all the fighting and struggling in the illusion ended up being just ‘a dream,’ it wouldn’t be cost-effective.

Of course, the experience of fighting alone would be valuable enough, but…

It would take time to internalize that into our bodies.

‘Damn, this is troublesome… The debt I owe Lina, I was planning to use in the final battle…’

As I fell silent, lost in thought, Lina offered a solution.

“Bring that child here.”

“That child?”

“The one who manipulates shadows and dreams. If she helps construct the illusionary barrier, we can significantly reduce the price.”

Ichika.

She was the key to this illusionary barrier trial.

* * *

After contacting Ichika separately and sending her to Lina, I met Shin Se-hee at the Utopia hideout.

‘We’ve really used this place for a long time.’

I was so surprised when Shin Se-hee suddenly gave it to me as a gift.

“…So, for the time being, the entire party will be in intensive training. And no one knows when we’ll return.”

“I’m aiming to be back before anything big kicks off. If not, they’ll have to drag me back.”

Shin Se-hee bit her lip, a slight furrow in her brow.

She understood, then, why I was telling her all this.

“So, the fact you’re telling me this separately… that means I’m not going in, am I…?”

Shin Se-hee wouldn’t be participating in this illusory barrier trial.

She had work to do outside.

“Yeah, sorry. But there’s something crucial you need to handle out here. Something only you can do.”

“…Something only I can do.”

“Right. The final battle, we don’t know exactly when it will happen, but there’s still some time. In the meantime, I need you to mobilize Utopia’s sub-parties, clear out gates worldwide, build shelters, and organize evacuation drills with the Hunters.”

A rather unreasonable request.

But it couldn’t be helped.

Velvet Sura’s final stand was slated to be quite horrific, truly.

Every gate across the globe would erupt.

Monsters would pour out.

So, the crux of the final battle was taking down those demonic fiends before too many people died.

Which is why it was necessary to prevent as many casualties as possible in advance.

After my explanation, Shin Se-hee sighed deeply.

“Doing something like that will likely create quite a stir, not just with the guilds and parties, but within the entire Hunter community. It will sound suspiciously like Utopia is monopolizing the gates.”

“It would, wouldn’t it…”

“Moreover, building shelters across the world won’t be easy. There’s the matter of each nation’s vested interests, you know? Even with leveraging the politicians’ weaknesses.”

“Still, it has to be done.”

Wasn’t this what we’d built our reputation for?

“And the construction costs… Hmmm, Utopia’s capital… We could handle it, but it would be nearly all gone.”

‘…Is it really within our financial reach to do that?’

Even with Magitech engineering, setting up shelters worldwide was no simple task.

I was thinking it would be impossible, I was about to tell her to just do as much as she could.

‘Just how much capital *does* Utopia have…?’

I’d completely entrusted that aspect to Shin Se-hee, so I honestly wasn’t sure myself.

She turned her head, picked up her tablet, and started jotting something down.

Her red eyes gleamed, she began to calculate, fast.

“First, we need to select shelter locations. Considering population density, gate occurrence frequency, terrain advantages…”

Shin Se-hee’s fingers danced across the tablet screen. She displayed a genius-level ability to analyze data and calculate optimal locations.

“For each continent, we’ll establish five major shelters, and auxiliary shelters for smaller cities…”

After tapping away at complex formulas and charts for a while, Shin Se-hee let out another sigh.

“This is certainly not going to be easy. And it’s also something only I can manage.”

“I’m counting on you.”

“…This job is going to come at a premium, you know.”

“Thank you.”

*Chu.*

I pulled her close, brushed my lips against her cheek, and smiled.

Sehee pouted, shooting a sidelong glance at me for trying to slip into a little too much physical affection.

‘Isn’t this enough?’

But the words tumbling from her lips were honest.

“…One more time.”

The prim expression on Sehee’s face was just too adorable.

“As much as you want. I’ll do it as many times as you like.”

*Chuk.* *Chuk.* *Chuk.* *Chuk.* *Chuk.*

“Ahem, ahem! L-leave it to me.”

Easy peasy.