Chapter 510

Boom!

Having finished the extraction of everything necessary from Ren’s memories, Se-Hoon had returned his focus to the full-scale reconstruction of the underground laboratory.

And just like when he rebuilt the upper floors, he demolished the rest of the existing facility. Sparing nothing, Se-Hoon pulled up even the power lines to the ley lines and Heaven’s Well. Literally everything was reforged from the ground up.

In the process, the research facility expanded several times over as countless installations began appearing even on the surface of the sacred mountain.

“Keep that line straight! Can’t you see it’s clearly marked where to plug it in! How are you messing that up?!”

Long wooden poles were being placed at regular intervals, then connected with ropes smeared with talismans. However, there was no magic whatsoever being used during the installation; just pure, straightforward manual labor. It was so bizarre that the sorcerers of the Inoue family tasked with the job couldn’t help but be confused.

Does this really do anything...?

No matter how I look at it, this seems completely useless.

There were strange spell patterns carved into the ropes, sure, but nothing could be felt from them? On top of that, there was still nothing happening even as the setup neared completion? Just why had the new director instructed them to install the poles all over the mountainside manually?

Everyone silently questioned the logic behind it throughout the entire thing, even up to the moment that the final rope was being tie—

Rumble...!

“What is this...?”

The moment the tie was completed, a radiant five-colored barrier spread cleanly across the entire mountain, following the line of poles and ropes. Observing it in awe, the sorcerers’ jaws dropped one by one upon realizing just what the barrier was.

The great barrier... has stabilized to this extent?

What...? How did he even...?

Because the previous barrier had been so powerful, it had to be implemented as a space-corroding type that interacted with the surrounding terrain so that it could be kept running twenty-four-seven. As a trade-off, that meant it came with its own side effects: boundaries would ripple unpredictably and strange anomalies would occur, making it require constant maintenance.

Yet the one before them was so stable that none of that upkeep was necessary...? What Se-Hoon had achieved was the equivalent of completely stilling the waves of the ocean with a single touch—something that should’ve been utterly impossible.

“...Is something big about to begin?”

“No wonder the family head gave him full authority.”

“If this is just the outside... what’s happening

inside

the lab?”

Realizing what the new research director had achieved, the sorcerers all began muttering among themselves. The view of the man previously seen as a monstrous anomaly within the Inoue family had begun to shift.

Pop-

Meanwhile, as the barrier stabilized outside, the researchers within the upper level of the underground lab—the first area that underwent renovation—had all stood up in alarm.

Tiny bubble-like spheres were appearing in midair, pushing the researchers to investigate the phenomenon in a hurry...?

“...Is that a street in New York?”

“This one looks like London...”

“And this one...”

Upon approaching and looking in, the researchers saw landscapes from all over the world in the bubbles. From busy cities to desolate countryside scenes, a wide range of scenery appeared.

It was the lead researchers who, after analyzing the phenomena, identified the cause.

“This phenomenon... I’ve seen something similar in the early drafts of the Ascension Project. They said that if the synchronization rate exceeded a certain threshold, it might project views of various locations.”

A phenomenon that required roughly a ninety-five percent synchronization rate between the world and the facility, theorized to occur only when the Ascension Project was up and and running...?

Wait. Is this... okay?

What if the Heaven’s Well suddenly goes out of control...?

The phenomenon they had only discussed as theory intermittently over the past few decades had materialized—but during the preparation phase. If something went wrong and the synchronized Earth reacted poorly, it wouldn’t be any ordinary explosion but a catastrophe across the

entire planet.

Terrified by the implications, the lead researchers mustered the courage and hurried to report their concerns to the new director.

“I know,” Se-Hoon answered flatly, still coordinating the mid-level systems.

“You do...?”

“If the Heaven’s Well rampages in this state, it’ll resonate with the ley lines and shatter the entire planet. That’s what you came to tell me, isn’t it?”

“...”

The researchers turned pale. They’d been thinking of large earthquakes or tsunamis, not the total annihilation of the planet.

“D-Director Akasha, then shouldn’t we stop the project immediately—?”

“Stop it? Are you serious right now?”

Se-Hoon’s sharp retort shut their mouths. It wasn’t even a flaw that had been discovered. In fact, everything was going so smoothly that it was scary. Yet they wanted to stop? Now?

Sure, a normal institution perhaps would have. However, in the Inoue family, where the Ascension Project was a matter of life and death? What they were suggesting was something that could get them erased without a trace.

“You pathetic cowards.... Did you really think I wouldn’t have a contingency plan for that?”

The researchers’ faces brightened immediately. Of course, yes. Someone capable of actualizing what had been a theory for decades would definitely have prepared countermeasures.

Guess we worried for nothing.

Right. He definitely would have had something in place.

Relief swept over them, and just then, Se-Hoon offered a small smile and shared his plan. “That draft you saw probably said that if the energy source—the Heaven’s Well—became unstable, it could cause a major accident, right?”

“Y-Yes, that’s right!”

“Then I just won’t let it become unstable. Problem solved, no?”

“...Right. Of course, Director.”

“Good. Then we’re done here.”

“...Huh?”

The researchers blinked blankly.

What exactly is “done”?

Seeing their confused expressions, Se-Hoon sighed deeply.

“If something is dangerous when it fails, then just don’t let it fail. Do I really need to explain more?”

Se-Hoon’s stare toward them was as though he were looking at complete idiots, making the researchers exchange awkward glances.

I mean... he’s not wrong, but...

Is that really something he should be saying?

They were talking about a risk that could destroy the entire planet, and his idea of a contingency plan was

just don’t screw it up

? Before anyone could respond to that absurd logic—

Woong-

A massive wave of energy surged up from the lower levels. It was so intense that it felt like not just the lab, but the entire planet, was shaking.

“S-Stop... Is this?!”

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

It seemed, no matter how one sliced it, that the Heaven’s Well was about to go out of control. Fearing the worst, the researchers clenched their eyes shut, ready to die with the lab—

Splatter-

“...Huh?”

Gentle raindrops began falling from above. Startled, the researchers all looked up to see five-colored clouds continually forming in the sky. They stared blankly at the magical sight, feeling the rain. And soon enough, they also began feeling strange changes in their bodies.

“...My water mana just surged.”

“The protection spells on my body seem stronger, too.”

“Has my reaction speed... become faster than before?”

The researchers tried to find a reason. The mysterious phenomenon had enhanced specific physical attributes? But as they scrambled, even more mysterious events started happening all around them.

Sunlight and shadows naturally settled across the mid-level zones. Storms, blizzards, lightning, and all sorts of other weather phenomena manifested in different areas.

“...Is this a threshold phenomenon?”

The researchers slowly turned to Se-Hoon, every single one of them wearing a dazed expression. Just like how the upper floor’s sync with the planet had projected worldly landscapes, the mid-level floor was now mirroring atmospheric phenomena from the sky.

This is utterly insane...

Synchronizing just one level of the lab to its threshold was already a monumental feat. And now

two

?! It was like lighting one bomb and keeping another one beside it—but without either exploding.

With the scale of the miracle dawning on them, all eyes went from each other to Se-Hoon in awe.

“You really are amazing, Director!”

“I finally understand how stupid we were!”

“Thank you for your divine instruction!”

Used to buttering up their superiors under the previous director, the lead researchers showered Se-Hoon with praise.

“Enough noise. Just get back to work.”

They bowed a full ninety degrees, carefully suppressing even the sound of their breathing and footsteps as they retreated.

Once they were gone, Se-Hoon looked up at the ceiling and spoke to the being draped over his shoulder. “What do you think?”

“

What do you think?

Good job, obviously.”

The Seeker kicked her stubby legs as she gazed up at the overlapping “space” layered into the middle level.

“You compressed the entire planet’s spatial coordinates around the lab, then filled the empty gaps with overlaying weather phenomena to skyrocket the sync rate.... If the Emperor of Ascension saw this, he’d die of happiness.”

A feat only someone who had reached the pinnacle of spatial comprehension and control could achieve had just been pulled off by Se-Hoon without even using any power related to Ludwig. Se-Hoon had purely used the spatial magic stored within the power of Omniscience.

“At this level, you could probably learn his Final Revelation too. Why not ask him to teach it next time?”

“His Final Revelation, huh...”

Se-Hoon made a complicated expression. So far, he could use three Final Revelations: Wurgen’s Heavenshrouded Eyes of the Netherworld, Li Kenxie’s Flames of Anatta, and Baek-Yeon’s Heaven-Piercing Vowshot. He also understood the Seeker’s Omniform Sacred Armament well enough through explanation.

In other words, he essentially had a grasp of over half of the seven known Final Revelations.

“It might sound odd coming from me at this point, but... is it really okay to just learn Final Revelations like this?”

Their powers that were universal laws aside, weren’t Final Revelations tied to the personal aspirations of each Perfect One back when they were still human? If his synesthetic mindscape were as stable as it had been before the regression, sure, it might be fine. Now, though? When he had so much internal turbulence lately? Se-Hoon couldn’t help but feel concerned.

“Absolutely not. The Perfect Ones’ synesthetic mindscapes are so warped that even another Perfect One couldn’t handle it—like a kind of contamination.”

“Then why—”

“Because

you

are different.”

The Seeker turned to him with a crooked smile.

“You’re so far gone that trying to define what ‘normal’ is for you is meaningless.”

If Perfect Ones were madmen who’d built their ideals high enough to reach the Golden Ring, Se-Hoon was a monster that accepted those ideals like they were nothing. From the Seeker’s perspective, Se-Hoon’s limits had shattered long, long ago—all the way back to when he first started accumulating the powers of the Perfect Ones.

He really has come a long way...

To think he’d ask such a question while fully aware of his own state. Finding him audacious, the Seeker shook her head in exasperation.

“So what you’re really saying is: ‘You’re already broken, so go ahead and learn it even if it kills you’? Is that right?”

“That’s exactly—wait, no! I didn’t say it like

that

!”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I’ll make sure you stay sealed forever, even if it bores you to death.”

“W-Wait, hold on—!”

Whoosh!

Se-Hoon reverse-summoned the Seeker, who had been playfully clinging to his shoulder, without mercy and stuffed her limp

shikigami

body into his inventory.

Tsk. Just a little leniency and she starts getting cocky.

He’d deal with her later. For now, Se-Hoon turned his attention to the mid-level sector, where the weather phenomena had stabilized.

Time to move.

Retracting the ambient noise fields he had deployed for his conversation, Se-Hoon walked straight toward the newly constructed infirmary on the floor. Passing through, he stepped into the room where the most intensive treatments were being administered.

“...You’re here again.”

Wrapped entirely in bandages, Ren greeted him with an openly irritated look.

“Still looking so sour. Do you hate me that much?”

“Considering how obvious the answer to that question is, I honestly don’t know how to respond.”

Ren sneered, making a pseudo-gentle smile. To anyone who’d known the old Ren, his sharpness would’ve been shocking. Se-Hoon was used to it by now though. After all, ever since the incident, Ren had consistently acted prickly whenever Se-Hoon visited.

Perhaps Ren thought Se-Hoon had already seen everything there was to see.

I guess you could say we’re close enough now that he’s letting his true feelings show.

And just as Se-Hoon had glimpsed Ren’s true nature through his memories, Ren had likely sensed something from Se-Hoon’s demeanor.

Scrape.

Se-Hoon pulled up a chair beside the bed and sat facing Ren.

“...”

“...”

Their eyes met through the distortion of the noise field and Ren’s glasses, beginning an awkward silence between them.

On one side, Se-Hoon just remained silent. On the other, Ren battled to hold back the words he was about to utter. Like that, several minutes passed as the two faced off.

“Sigh...”

In the end, with an exhausted expression, Ren finally broke the silence.

“Where’s Erika?”

“She’s inside, resting. Want to see her?”

Seeing Se-Hoon pointing at his shadow, Ren glanced over but shook his head.

“It’s fine.”

“Alright. Next question?”

Being the first to break the silence was always the hardest, but once that barrier broke, everything became much easier. Encouraged by Se-Hoon’s calm tone, Ren decided to voice the question that had been weighing on him for days.

“What exactly are you planning to achieve here?”

If completing the Ascension Project were all he wanted, he could’ve just left things as they were. Why did he keep coming back to him?

Remaining silent, Se-Hoon thought about what to say while keeping his role as the Seeker’s successor in mind.

“I’m sure I’ve said this before: I’m here to help you all complete the Ascension Project. The only difference is... the

method

I choose to get there.”

“The method...”

“For example, I’m not fond of the one your family has prepared—turning that toy into a

shikigami

and channeling the Heaven’s Well power that way.”

Ren’s face stiffened.

“...Why not?”

“Because it lacks sincerity.”

“What?”

Ignoring Ren, who was visibly thrown off by that answer, Se-Hoon continued without skipping a beat. “Sacrificing someone or offering them up as fuel for power—it's been the same old formula since the ancient days. It’s not just outdated; it shows a lack of ambition.”

“...”

“If sacrificing someone guarantees success, then you should keep that as a backup while searching for a better way. Such a mindset is what one who truly wishes to inherit

her

will should have—the mindset to pursue all knowledge.”

“...”

Ren sucked in his breath. To the man before him, the long-standing ambition of the Inoue family—something they had chased for decades—was merely another “step” in his pursuit of knowledge. It explained why, even though he was confident of success, he still insisted on testing other options. As for why he kept visiting, he was just dragging Ren along with him.

I knew he wasn’t normal, but this is something else entirely.

Ren frowned, feeling an instinctive aversion to the man before him. However, he said nothing. No matter how dangerous the hidden man was, maybe he was the only person capable of achieving what Ren so desperately wanted.

If... If there’s truly a way to complete the project without killing Erika...

Then maybe—even

her

wish—could be fulfilled without contradiction. Feeling the fragile hope taking root in his mind, Ren hesitated only for a brief moment before speaking again. “If the Ascension Project is completed without sacrificing Erika in the process... what will you do next?”

“I’ll collect the data I need and leave. Unlike you people, I don’t need these crude workarounds.”

In other words, replicating the Seeker’s Ultimate Skill wasn’t particularly hard for him—absolute confidence that made Ren clench his fists.

What he resolved to do may be a reckless move that could destroy him, but doing nothing meant letting the family head or the monster before him take control.

If that’s the other choice, I’d rather throw myself in and take the reins.

After days of deliberation, Ren finally made up his mind as he looked Se-Hoon straight in the eyes.

“And do you expect something from me?”

“Not particularly. Just be ready to respond properly when I give an order.”

“...Understood.”

Ren had no idea what he could do in his current state, but details like that would surely be handled by Se-Hoon. Organizing his thoughts neatly, Ren looked around.

“Just so you know... don’t underestimate the family head,” he warned in a low voice.

“Oh? And why is that?”

“He’s known for preparing meticulously for all possible scenarios. So if he hasn’t interfered with your actions yet, that means...”

“...He’s planning to strike at the most critical moment.”

Considering how serious Ren was, it was worth raising the alert level.

Nodding nonchalantly, Se-Hoon replied, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“And also...” Ren closed his mouth, hesitating. Even if they were half-allies now, what he wanted to ask felt a bit too much.

Still... that’s exactly why I have to confirm it.

Glancing at the unmasked parts of Se-Hoon’s disguise, Ren braced himself.

“Are you possibly related to Lee Se—”

CRASH!

A blinding white arrow shattered the ceiling, slamming between the chair and the bed. Taken aback, Ren’s eyes opened widely upon sensing a familiar power embedded in it—one he recognized through the Blessing of Prevision in his eyes.

“This is...”

“

Tsk.

He’s already recovered?”

Se-Hoon rose slowly, casting an annoyed look at the sky.

“I even ripped out his heart and preserved it...! How did he still bounce back?!”

Rumble!

The lab trembled, threatening to collapse, as an overwhelming pressure pressed down from above.

Ignoring Ren, who had grabbed the bed in alarm, Se-Hoon snapped his fingers.

—You’ve got ten seconds.

An image appeared inside a bubble: the intruders who had stormed into the Inoue compound.

—The weirdo leading the Three Dogs or whatever? Drag his ass here. Now.

“...Lee Se-Hoon?”

Looking into the bubble, Ren saw Se-Hoon in the sky.