Chapter 20: I take Refuge (Namu) (3)

[Rolling World’s Milestone.]

Following the sound of a notification, there was a message.

[Results: ★★★★]

‘What?’

Chi-Woo’s gaze naturally fell to the ground. There were four stars on the top face of the die.

‘Is this the World’s milestone?’ Chi-Woo looked at the die like someone had punched him in the face. However, that wasn’t the end. Several messages popped up afterward.

[Consuming inherent ability, [Blessed] Luck (100 -> 96).]

[The flow of the World is silent.]

[Meaningless failure; nothing happened.]

[Would you like to roll the die one more time?]

“What?” Chi-Woo spoke out loud in disbelief.

“Hm? Is there something going on?” asked Zelit.

“Ah, no. Just,” Chi-Woo answered sloppily and looked in the air again. He had rolled the die just once, but not only did it use up some of the holy power Laguel gave him, it also failed. However, the failure also meant that there was a chance of success. He didn’t know what was going on, but Chi-Woo thought he had to try once more. He gingerly cast the die.

[Rolling the World’s Milestone.]

After rolling a couple of times, the die stopped, and there were five stars on its top face this time.

[Result: ★★★★★]

[Consuming inherent ability, [Blessed] Luck (96 -> 91).]

[The flow of the World slightly diverts.]

[Small success. An incident occurs.]

[Broken relationship will reconnect again. Ru Amuh, who has been wandering among the dead, recalls his most recent encounter and invigorates his will to live. (Extending Ru Amuh’s life by one more day.)]

‘So he was still alive…’ If the message was true, his speculation had been right. After reading the messages several times, Chi-Woo looked at his die and blinked. Then he quickly turned on his hologram and clicked on User Information.

[Blessed] Luck

-… it is linked to a special ability, [Weakened] Deus Ex Machina, for a pre-defined purpose.

-…Depending on your actions, it distorts the cause and even the result of a decided future.

‘I guess this is what they meant by them being linked.’

When he rolled the die called the ‘World’s Milestone’, it consumed some of his [Blessed] Luck and activated a [Weakened] Deus Ex Machina. As a result, Ru Amuh’s future changed even though he was meant to die. More specifically, there was a chance for the change to take place now; Chi-Woo focused on one of the lines in the information: ‘Depending on your actions.’ Even though Ru Amuh’s life had been extended, if they left him as is, he would die the next day.

Chi-Woo felt conflicted. It was confirmed now that there was a possibility of rescuing and saving Ru Amuh, but he still hadn’t solved the fundamental problem of ‘How?’.

‘Damn it. Is this what they meant by [Weakened]?’ Although the [Weakened] Deus ex Machina was indeed helpful, its effectiveness would depend on how Chi-Woo acted. And that wasn’t all; he also had to think of the reason ‘Why?’ Even though he had received directions from Ru Amuh during his escape, Chi-Woo had already paid back his debts to him. He didn’t want to take additional risks if it wasn’t necessary.

‘However, it seems like there’s something more. Otherwise, a message like this wouldn’t have popped up. But why Ru Amuh of all people?’ Chi-Woo didn’t feel too great. It felt like someone was pushing him from behind, telling him to go save Ru Amuh. ‘But it might not be so…hopeless, either.’ Chi-Woo glanced at his inherent skills and noticed a shadow cast over him.

“Is there a problem?” Zelit sat next to Chi-Woo and asked. “You seem to be lost in thought for quite a while.” Now that he thought about it, Chi-Woo recalled how Zelit had accompanied Ru Hiana to find Ru Amuh without knowing them well.

“I was thinking about Mr. Ru Amuh.”

“Oh? As I suspected, you’re concerned about him, aren’t you?”

“A bit.”

“I agree with you though. We don’t know if Ru Amuh is alive or dead, and the risk is great.”

They heard a small noise coming from before them, but Chi-Woo disregarded it and asked, “Mr. Zelit. Why were you trying to look for Ru Amuh again?”

“Hm?”

“Did you know him before?”

“No, I didn’t. I’ve only heard of his name.”

“Then why?”

Zelit tilted his head. After organizing his thoughts, he answered, “I suppose I could say that I wanted to… bet on his potential.”

“His potential?”

“Yes. It’s my opinion, but I don’t think we would be able to save Liber.” Surprised by these words, Chi-Woo stared at Zelit. Zelit simply continued, “After all, didn’t Laguel state it too? The Celestial Realm wasn’t sending recruits to save Liber, but to normalize the World so that it would be savable.” In other words, all the heroes who had come to Liber until now were simply biological resources for future heroes who would save the planet. “It’s the same for us. Even though we are heroes, most of us are fitted for planet-scale events or stellar-system-scale at most. But you know what Liber’s danger level is.”

“It’s on a galaxy-scale.”

“And they are discussing changing its danger rating to galaxy-scale Doom.” Zelit continued, “At most I’ve resolved a stellar-system-scale Disaster. At that time, moreover, I had felt my limits, and I knew anything greater than a stellar-system event would be beyond me. But do you know what’s interesting?” Zelit narrowed his eyes at Chi-Woo. “The danger level rises in a steep curve starting from the star-cluster-scale.”

“Really?”

“It can’t be helped. A stellar system contains perhaps a dozen planets, but a star cluster has at least a thousand suns that planets orbit around.”

“Well, that must be why there were hardly any events that were at a star-cluster level.”

“Unlike galaxy-scale events, which have never occurred, there were star-cluster events in the past. In fact, one happened just recently.” Zelit scratched his nose. “And it was Ru Amuh who resolved it.”

Chi-Woo became lost in thought. He understood what Zelit was saying, but it didn’t fully click for him. It was probably because he had lived as an ordinary person that he couldn’t really wrap his head around the enormity of this information.

“Of course, I know Choi Chi-Hyun is on Liber,” said Zelit. “There’s no reason to doubt a person like that, but since he arrived here alone, six more groups of recruits have been sent.”

Chi-Woo was losing track of how many times he had heard his brother’s name. He just nodded and listened.

“You ought to think that something has gone wrong after they gathered recruits for the seventh time. I personally think the Celestial Realm wanted to find someone who could replace Choi Chi-Hyun in the worst-case scenario.”

That slightly changed the course of Chi-Woo thoughts. Even if he met his brother, things might not go as planned. For example, his brother could refuse to leave until he turned the World back to normal. Chi-Woo needed to prepare a countermeasure for such a scenario, and Zelit’s words sounded reasonable.

“Ru Amuh is a hero who has come to the Celestial Realm only recently. That also means that he’s a hero who managed to resolve a star-cluster-scale event from the get-go,” Zelit continued. “He’s proven himself worthy by overcoming an event that most heroes in the Celestial Realm couldn’t even hope to tackle. That’s why I was placing my hopes on him. However, this is how things end up. As expected, a galaxy…” Zelit was saying regretfully when—

Clang!

Zelit and Chi-Woo looked towards the same direction simultaneously.

“Ah! Geez, my butt!” Chi-Woo and Zelit saw Eval Sebaru sitting gracelessly on the ground, while Ru Hiana huffed angrily.

Zelit quickly stood up. “What’s the matter?”

“Don’t just stand over there talking! Stop her!” Eval Sevaru shouted.

“Don’t,” Ru Hiana huffed, her eyes red. “Leave me alone. I’m going to quietly leave.” Her tone was full of venom as she turned around and moved out without hesitation.

“Hey! Wait—” Zelit tried to grab her, but she fiercely shook off his hand.

Chi-Woo clenched his teeth while looking at Ru Hiana’s back. He glanced at the messages on his hologram and recalled Zelit’s words. Then he remembered his mentor, who had helped him while asking nothing in return, and he heard in his mind the last thing his teacher at the church had said to him.

“Please wait.” In the end, Chi-Woo called out to Ru Hiana.

Ru Hiana was about to leave, but immediately stopped at Chi-Woo’s words. She then stiffly whirled around. “…Why?” Her spirit had dampened somewhat. She had seemed ready to explode at any moment, but now, she looked as if she was trying her best to suppress a cry.

Ru Hiana probably knew how reckless she was being. They didn’t even know if Ru Amuh was alive, and even if he was, there wasn’t a way to save him. Death would be her only end if she just left like this. However, if she was going to do it, if she had to go…

Chi-Woo released the breath he had been holding. “You said before that…” Staring straight at Ru Hiana, who looked half crazy, he continued, “You would do anything.”

Ru Hiana’s pupils shook.

“No matter how crazy it was.”

Ru Hiana quickly schooled her expression and nodded in earnest. “Yes. I can do it. I'm going to do it.”

“Are you sure? Do you mean it?”

“Of course. Definitely.”

“You’re replying too fast, but…” After checking that her resolve was firm, Chi-Woo was now leaning towards helping her. “I’m saying this again. Ms. Ru Hiana, you’re the one who said you were going to do this.” He needed confirmation before putting his decision into action. “We might not be able to save Mr. Ru Amuh, and you can also die. No, you’ll definitely die. Would that still be fine with you?”

“It’s fine. I’ll never regret my decision or resent you,” Ru Hiana responded in a fierce voice. “I’m going to die anyway. I’ll do anything for Ruahu. You can use me or do whatever you want.”

“…I understand.” Chi-Woo finally made his decision and stood up. “Ms. Ru Hiana, from now on, you must absolutely follow my words until we save Mr. Ru Amuh. Unconditionally.”

Ru Hiana seemed pumped up as she quickly asked, “What do I have to do first?”

“Please wait.”

“What?”

“There’s an order to these things. Please wait for now.”

A look of suspicion flashed through Ru Hiana’s eyes. “Perhaps you—”

“Don’t worry. We’ll be going today or tomorrow at the latest,” Chi-Woo cut her off.

Sensing Ru Hiana’s lingering hesitance, Chi-Woo’s eyes narrowed. “Ms. Ru Hiana, didn’t you just tell me that you’re willing to do whatever I said?”

Ru Hiana flinched. She seemed to ponder about this, and then she turned around like she had no choice.

“What are you planning to do?” Zelit asked with curiosity. “Do you have another plan?”

“We have to check something first.”

“In order to do that, didn’t you say that you needed the statue?” Eval Sevaru interjected. “Are you going to steal it or something?” He got up from his seat and dusted his butt.

‘He should really shut his mouth.’ Chi-Woo realized that the guards left in the tent had become wary and insulted Eval Sevaru in his mind. Eval Sevaru’s remarks were unhelpful when they needed as much support from the natives as possible.

“I’m not going to steal it.”

“Then what?”

“The guard captain wasn’t wrong. She said that all the lives in the camp were dependent on that statue. How could they possibly leave it to a stranger they saw for the first time?” However, there was still a way to borrow the statue; he just needed to follow what the captain said.

To summarize, in order to make sure his plan worked, Chi-Woo needed the statue. And in order to borrow the statue, he needed to earn the trust of the natives. And to earn their trust, he needed to prove himself to them by action.

“I need to show them.”

“What?”

“That I’m someone they can trust and entrust the statue to.”

Zelit still looked puzzled. Even though he didn’t say his thoughts out loud, he looked like he was thinking ‘so what are you going to do?’

However, Chi-Woo was thinking about something different. He had two options. The first was to roll the 7-sided die. Even though it was a simple method, it wasn’t his first choice because there were too many uncertain factors. The line between success and failure was but a step apart. If he wasn’t careful, the situation could take a turn for the worse.

‘And it’s not like I can roll it infinitely.’ Considering the future, Chi-Woo needed to save the divinity he had been gifted with as much as possible. Chi-Woo had to borrow the statue with his own ability. Judging by the current situation, the conditions had already been met.

‘I’m not sure if it’ll work but…’

—Kaeeeeeeeahhhhyaaa!

He heard a piercing scream at just the right time.

“Would you be able to guide me?” Chi-Woo put his bag over his shoulder and asked a guard near him.

Surprised, the guard was slow to respond, “….Yes?”

“I want to check the situation and offer help if it’s within my ability.”

Since it was an unexpected request, the guard could not easily reply. He turned around to the other guards in concern.

“Ah, just go. Do you even need to get permission?” Eval Sevaru muttered.

Chi-Woo sharply replied, “Please shut up if you’re going to help.” Chi-Woo could understand the guards’ hesitation. They couldn’t easily reveal the internal affairs of the camp to an outsider, especially if they didn’t have the authority to do so. Thus, they needed to go through the formal process. Chi-Woo needed to respect the native’s ways for even the smallest matters so that he could earn their trust.

While the guards fumbled, the sound outside grew louder. It seemed like they couldn’t stop the commotion, and Chi-Woo heard another scream.

“Perhaps,” Chi-Woo said to the guards who were not sure what to do. “Have you heard of the term ‘Golden Hour’?” Chi-Woo was not sure if the meaning behind his words would be conveyed properly.

“…I’ll go and ask.” The guard who was biting his lips quickly went out of the tent.

Chi-Woo was able to hear the results soon after. While Eval Sevaru complained that Chi-Woo had told him to shut up, the guard came back.

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

“Please help us,” the guard asked Chi-Woo with his head bowed.

Chi-Woo immediately moved. This place was where beings like jukgwis had been causing chaos, and someone was having seizures. Even though he would have to see with his own eyes to be sure, Chi-Woo could get the basic picture of what was happening if he was right about there being a connection between these two incidents. He had already crossed the mountain of no return. Chi-Woo wasn’t going to hesitate since he had decided to carry on with his plan, and if he was going to do a good job, he needed to get off on the right foot first.

‘Let’s do it. I need to do it.’ Chi-Woo breathed deeply and went out of the tent. Then Eval Sevaru, who looked at him with displeasure, Zelit, who looked at him in a daze, and Ru Hiana, who looked at him with nervous eyes, all followed behind Chi-Woo.