Chapter 14

Chapter 14. Transcendent (2)

"Shin Si-woo, the truth is, there are three Transcendents in the Republic of Korea."

The world had shifted to an entirely different level from when I'd been an ordinary citizen, a staffer at the Awakened Management Bureau.

I kept hearing bizarre things.

'I thought the Patriot was the only Transcendent?'

If he was excluding me— having just become a Transcendent— then including me, this small country had four Transcendents.

"Does that include me?"

"You make it three."

I nodded.

Then asked.

"So could you please tell me where we're going? It's obviously some secret location connected to the Presidential Office."

"I'm taking you to meet the Republic of Korea's second Transcendent."

Senior Prosecutor Kang led me through a hidden passage in the Presidential Office.

Walking along, we descended underground.

The atmosphere shifted dramatically.

I could tell immediately.

'A bunker.'

Going a little deeper, a concealed bunker beneath the Blue House appeared.

Being the president's shelter, it was lined on all sides with walls that emitted an ethereal glow.

A bunker coated in [Mystery].

The hardest known substance in existence.

It even had the capability to block abstract or formless powers that emerged from Gates.

"We've arrived."

We stood before the bunker's door.

In front of it, Seol-a noona's father asked.

"You know about the Saintess of Fate, right?"

I tilted my head.

A moniker I hadn't heard in a long time.

'I do know, but......'

The Saintess of Fate, Im Ji-a.

I even knew her name.

She was something of an arch-nemesis.

'She's the one who made me think I'd Awaken from [Raise a Sword] when I was young.'

She had Awakened while playing [Death Tarot Game] on her smartphone.

A tarot game where you truly wagered your life.

Despite the name 'tarot,' it was similar to gambling.

Lose a round and a part of your body vanishes; win and you gain power over 'fate.'

Facts she'd revealed in an interview.

'A game where you must win before your very existence disappears.'

The Saintess of Fate, Im Ji-a, had played that obsessively from adolescence and Awakened.

The severity of her trial was reportedly staggering.

In the final game before her Awakening, she'd apparently endured and won with her eyes, nose, mouth, ears, arms, and legs all gone.

'She pressed the smartphone with her tongue, they said.'

As a result, she'd Awakened as a Transcendent with the ability [Tarot of Fate].

Regrettably, the severity of her trial had left her mental state far from intact.

'She gambled with the national budget, got caught, and was executed by the Patriot.'

Just in case, I asked.

"Are you talking about that gambling addict saintess who half-bankrupted the country gambling and got sentenced to death by the Patriot?"

"......Yes."

"She's alive?"

"She is."

People I'd thought dead kept turning up alive.

First the cult leader, now the 'Saintess of Fate.'

"We've been protecting her in secret. It'd be good if you met her and heard what she has to say."

All I wanted was to raise my swords, yet somehow troublesome matters kept piling on.......

No sooner had I thought that than—.

SLIDE—.

The door concealed by [Mystery] opened.

I felt a slight unease and observed the interior.

I witnessed a truly astonishing sight.

"Check."

Sunken eyes.

Deep dark circles and an emaciated frame.

And yet, draped in an immaculate, sacred white vestment, the woman sat before a casino table.

'So this is the reality of a Transcendent, famously the most unhinged even among natural Awakened......'

Across from her was no one.

The casino table was equally empty.

And yet.......

"Raise."

The saintess was conversing with someone.

No— she was gambling against someone.

Complete with the motion of dealing cards into the air.

At first, I assumed she'd gone mad and was playing an imaginary card game by herself.

But then.......

'An existence that cannot be seen, felt, or detected.'

SPLURCH!

The saintess's arm vanished.

"Ah, SHIT! Hey, you keep bluffing like a cheater? Next round, go!!!"

She flailed her remaining arm wildly through the air.

It looked like she was shuffling cards.

"Check."

"Raise!"

"Raise!"

"Call!"

SPLURCH!

"Ah, SHIT! I tried a bluff of my own, how do you keep seeing through it?"

Visitors had arrived and she hadn't even glanced our way, completely absorbed in her gambling.

I was about to step forward to make my presence known.

But then.......

TAP—.

Senior Prosecutor Kang, who'd said he was 'secretly protecting' the saintess, seemed to care for her a great deal.

He stopped me.

Then raised a finger to his lips.

The message: watch quietly.

'Who's her opponent?'

I observed the saintess.

Arms, legs, eyes, and so on.

She seemed to be terrible at gambling— she kept losing pieces of herself.

"You're going all-in here?"

I studied the space more closely.

"Ah, shit. If I go all-in too, it's my head on the line this time...... Screw it, whatever! ALL IN!!!"

More precisely, I was trying to perceive the unidentified [Trial]-like entity the saintess was playing against.

No color, no scent, no presence.

Yet something was registering.

'I don't know what it is, but I feel like I could kill it.'

When I'd first grasped the [Baby Sword], a distant enlightenment had washed over me.

And through using Reinhardt and Iris, I'd partially internalized that enlightenment.

On top of that, [Lord of Blood] had evolved all my abilities to a level surpassing human limits.

That's why, even without perceiving it directly, I was certain I could kill it.

While watching the saintess—.

"Huh? You go all-in and then fold HERE??? Are you insane? Hey! HEY! Where are you going!!!"

I didn't know what happened, but it seemed the saintess had won.

Her vanished body parts were restored, and three golden cards materialized on the empty casino table.

Only then did the saintess look at us.

"You've come."

A haggard woman seated at a casino table.

Sunken eyes, a roughly chopped bob cut.

Her face was pale from doing nothing but playing cards in an underground bunker.

Yet, as though none of that had ever happened, she smiled at me with the serene grace of a noble saintess and spoke.

"In the end, Mr. Shin Si-woo, you will stand in a position to keep the Patriot in check. No— you will come to overwhelm him."

She'd said that to me out of nowhere.

Apparently trying to assert authority as a self-styled prophet.

Me, Shin Si-woo.

I'm not that easy.

"On what basis should I trust that prophecy?"

The Saintess of Fate, Im Ji-a.

Having survived the Patriot, she clearly had something going for her.

She said a single sentence, and all my doubts vanished.

"————."

I'd believe her.

She was a genuine prophet.

* * *

From the moment she'd earned my trust as a prophet, the saintess's attitude became markedly friendly.

"Why don't you draw a card?"

The saintess pointed to the three golden cards on the table.

"Didn't you win these from gambling?"

"Mm. I won them thanks to you, Mr. Si-woo, so don't worry and just draw. If I leave them, I'll end up wagering and losing them anyway......"

I couldn't be certain she'd won thanks to me, but at least the claim that she'd gamble them away if left alone was believable.

I quickly approached and picked up a card from the table.

FLUTTER—.

The card floated into the air.

'She really is a prophet.'

Looking at the illustration on the card, my faith in the Saintess of Fate, Im Ji-a, deepened further.

And for good reason—.

[An illustration of a bearded dwarf beating a crimson demon to death.]

Weren't those clearly symbols of my swords?

[4th Sword, Muratan] was a dwarf.

And a sword that had never been revealed to the world until now.

The saintess's ability was remarkable, but the actual reading's result wasn't entirely satisfying.

'Does it mean Muratan will attack Iris?'

The demons were Iris's subjects.

The dwarf was Muratan himself.

My swords existed within the world of the sword, each in their own separated domain.

'Are they going to wage war in there?'

Just as my mind was tangling itself into knots, the saintess began her interpretation of the [reading].

However, this saintess could only prophesy— her discernment was abysmal.

"A symbol of cooperation and harmony. A very auspicious omen!"

It was a gory illustration of a vicious-looking dwarf beating a sinister demon to a bloody pulp, so grotesque it was unsettling to even look at.

Calling it a portent of continental destruction would have been more convincing.......

"This?"

I asked in disbelief.

The saintess smirked.

"This is a reading I interpret at the cost of my own existence. Before long, the harmony between those depicted on the card will grant you, Mr. Si-woo, even greater power."

Greater power.

Now that was an enticing phrase.

But the completed swords already possessed transcendent abilities that left all others in the dust.

I couldn't imagine getting stronger than that, but.......

'I guess it really is about interpretation over the dream itself.'

Honestly, I still couldn't understand what was harmonious or cooperative about it.

But I felt pretty good about it.

"You seem pleased. Would you like to draw another?"

As the saying goes, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

I was half-skeptical of the reading, yet the interpretation didn't sit badly with me.

So I drew another card while I was at it.

FLUTTER—.

[An illustration of a 2m50cm-tall Black man with pigtails, parting the sea and approaching.]

This was.......

"Jesus?"

The Jesus we all knew.

That Jesus was a real person.

"The EX-rank Awakened in America, Jesus. He's coming to find you, Mr. Si-woo. Judging by the angle of the parted sea...... he'll arrive in roughly three to seven days."

Why was Jesus showing up?

Out of nowhere, an EX-rank Awakened was coming for me.

Having personally wielded my swords, I could say with certainty: the Patriot was a matchup I could handle.

But Jesus was different.

"Is it even okay for him to leave the American mainland?"

"He's judged you to be worth it."

Just as I was privately satisfied with the saintess's [reading], I was forced to hear something alarming once more.

"That Jesus is coming to destroy you."

Whatever the case, the saintess's interpretations were thoroughly perplexing.

Why would Jesus, the cornerstone of the world's largest faith, want to kill me— the person who'd just saved Korea?

"Could it be because I symbolically desecrated his parting of the Red Sea?"

Jesus was also a Transcendent.

And a mentally disturbed individual who'd endured an incredibly harsh trial.

My guess was quite reasonable.

"......That sword and those demons. Even if the result saved the world, they are difficult to overlook—."

Her words made my head tilt involuntarily.

"—They are supremely beautiful and great things. Jesus must surely covet them!"

My head promptly straightened.

The saintess clearly had genuine insight when it came to interpretation.

The problem was.......

"Can the government handle the Jesus problem?"

I asked Senior Prosecutor Kang, who'd been standing silently behind me.

Naturally, he shook his head.

"Jesus is literally a god in America. Impossible. If he decides to do something, that becomes the mandate."

I hadn't even been Awakened for a week.

And yet I found myself in the incredibly difficult position of having to check the Patriot and contend with Jesus.

"Why don't you draw the last card as well?"

At this point, there was no reason not to.

'Oh?'

When I drew the third and final card—

I found a definitive answer for how to handle the Jesus problem.

'In the end, the answer always lies with my swords.'

[Communication Ability] was open.

Reinhardt had naturally been aware of the entire process.

And so—.

【This humble servant shall make the attempt!!!】

* * *

President Lee Seok-hyeon had used the martial law window to buy time to persuade Shin Si-woo.

The objective of checking the Patriot must never be exposed.

That's why he'd maintained martial law even after the Red Sea vanished.

"Please, make the right decision for this country!!!"

Under the Patriot Special Act, large-scale evacuation shelters protected by [Mystery] had been constructed in every city.

These were large enough to house the entire population, and every last Mystery used in their construction had been personally procured from Gates and donated by the Patriot.

'A man who loves this country to an almost terrifying degree.'

While the president was lost in anxious thought, his face wracked with worry—.

"Ooh, Kang Mu-jin! How did it go?"

Senior Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin returned.

He delivered the news the president had been hoping for.

"He says he'll do it!"

The president broke into an immensely satisfied smile.

Then said.

"You'll be able to enter politics soon too. Why not just run in the general election and become the next president?"

Kang Mu-jin should have entered the political arena long ago, and yet.......

"Why would the Righteous Prosecutor go into politics? That's strange. You're not having second thoughts, are you?"

The Patriot had vetoed it, leaving Kang Mu-jin perpetually stuck as a Senior Prosecutor.

"Honestly, I'd like to retire."

"Heh heh, think that's possible?"

Retirement was equally out of the question.

"I clear ten Gates a day and still only get one day off a week. Why's the Righteous Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin asking for leave? I'm offended!"

The Patriot, being a Transcendent, didn't need sleep.

Moreover, since his Constellations handled the work for him, he himself operated at a rather leisurely pace.

"I'd like to stop working seven days a week."

"Let's table that discussion for now......"

The president also worked seven days a week.

Because the Patriot believed that those who represented the nation should work the hardest.

The president, Kang Mu-jin— no, every clean politician who labored for this country couldn't rest.

"First, let's lift the martial law and follow up immediately with the Transcendent appointment ceremony."

And so, the president issued his statement.

<Effective immediately, martial law is lifted.>

Martial law was lifted.

All citizens returned to their places.

In the world of twelve years ago, a single bout of martial law would have sent the country reeling.

But in the current world, where Gates erupted and bizarre phenomena plagued daily life, even this had simply become routine.

<Breaking news: Mr. Shin Si-woo has been confirmed as the Republic of Korea's second SSS-rank Hunter and Transcendent. An appointment ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow evening at the Blue House.......>

The public showed curiosity about Shin Si-woo's official debut.

Shin Si-woo, who'd become an SSS-rank Transcendent within days of Awakening.

—Holy shit, so he's still getting stronger?

—He summoned monsters that ate the entire Red Sea, so his level and caliber must've shot way up.

The Republic of Korea's second Transcendent.

He used somewhat frightening powers, sure, but he was a savior who'd dealt with the Red Sea and repelled a massive catastrophe.

—What's he gonna do with the Mystery he got from clearing the Red Sea?

—Since it's his first appointment ceremony, he'll probably donate it to the country like the Patriot, right?

The Mystery the Patriot had donated was 300 grams.

In ingot form, no less.

That alone was on par with Korea's national defense budget.

And Shin Si-woo had been awarded a 1-kilogram Mystery ingot.

* * *

While browsing WorldNet, I learned something unbelievable.

"A 1kg ingot is that rare?"

Mystery ingot, 1kg.

The [Mystery] stone fragment from the first Gate I'd cleared had been worth 100 million won.

By weight, that was roughly 10 grams.

So I'd assumed 1kg would be about 100 billion won.

"Ingots are purer, so they're more expensive?"

I looked up articles about various Transcendents and punched numbers into a calculator.

Converting to Korean won—.

"About 100 trillion."

A figure that warranted discussion at the national budget level.

Yet for some reason—.

—Shin Si-woo will probably donate it all, right? Mystery is the most helpful thing for ordinary citizens.

The whole world assumed I'd donate the [Mystery], drawing parallels to the Patriot.

"Why would I?"

[Mystery] was a truly divine substance.

It had bestowed the blessing of [Portals] upon humanity, who had lost the skies.

It had purified corroded seawater and revived the fishing industry.

Furthermore, it had enabled the creation of mentally sound 'Induced Awakened' among the masses of unhinged natural Awakened— a miraculous substance.

[Mystery 1kg Ingot]

I'd already decided exactly what to use it for.

If this worked out, I'd gain something incredible.

'Absolutely non-negotiable.'