Chapter 192

Final Battle (3)

Most of the problems in that world resulted from the end of the mythological era.

At that point in time, all dimensions were one instead of being isolated from each other as they currently were.

But as 'Rom' once told Seo Jin-Wook...

- Space has been split into numerous fragments and scattered.

The sudden war between the gods and the invaders, their defeat without a natural transition, and the world's reconstruction.

It was its connectivity that the invaders and the inhabitants of the void took away from the 'god of space.'

The dimensions cracked in the span of an instant.

It was like forcibly tearing apart and scattering flesh, causing a backlash to occur. It was as if a gale had swept through the cracks of the dimensions and separated them.

The future Empire called the phenomenon the 'dimensional storm.'

The successor who returned to the past once thought:

'If I leave that as it is, it will encroach and eat away at all dimensions again this time.'

He joined hands with the divinity of time. In the early days of exile, the gods maintained deep intelligence and a great memory. In addition, the successor who returned to the past knew that if left untouched, countless dimensions would be caught and swallowed up by the torrent.

Therefore, he succeeded in several generations with the god and established a feat.

They had created a creature with the power to protect the world from Dimensional Storms.

'I will call this sacred beast, who borrowed all of your powers, the dimensional bird.'

Dimension Storms didn't come to all worlds in the same order. The successor, who observed the torrent like a wild beast, sent the dimensional bird to the world in danger.

It wasn't in the form of an egg as it was in the current era.

'If we do that, there's going to be a risk of breaking or loss before hatching. Let's send it after it's been born.'

However, there was a problem with the way the successor sent it. While the successor was in reincarnation... it became impossible to cover all the dimensions that were on the brink of collapse during his hiatus, which was essentially the interval between two lives.

Solutions also existed in his soul. The Empire had predicted that situation when they sent him back to the past.

'Unlike a living organism, we need something that doesn't sleep, is always observing, and cannot die.'

Considering the concept alone, it was practically the same as creating a new deity, but with the help of the diving being, the successor once again delivered a miracle.

Hence, the first Spirit opened its eyes.

'Spirit, I will leave you with the responsibility to keep an eye on and manage a series of processes to build the future empire.'

In order for the creation to avoid death, a constant supply of energy was needed, and the energy that formed the basis of the material world was Mana. Therefore, the successors sculpted the blood and flesh of the Spirit with Mana.

'Thanks to the power lent by the gods, you will have the free will to judge and make decisions on your own, pushing you beyond blindly following and carrying out instructions.'

The successor named the Spirit "Administrator."

*

The Administrator's first job was to observe the flow of Dimensional Storms and send the Dimensional Bird to dangerous places.

Over time, however, more responsibilities were added.

'Administrator, the safety device to prevent spatial disruption of dimensions has been built. The next step is to establish a master builder to support the future Empire. We have to help the mortals who will be the forefathers of that civilization.'

The Empire, which collapsed before the regression, was also built based on the collapse and destruction of countless dimensions and mortals. It's because even in that timeline, there existed dimensions that were destroyed by Dimensional Storms, Red Gate monsters, and other bizarre reasons.

Therefore, species and civilizations that had already been buried before their flower could bloom prior to the Empire's establishment were excluded.

One could dismiss it as a cull. However, the Empire that sent the successor to the past thought otherwise. They had no intention of losing them in vain, even in repeated history.

'The Empire of the future must be more powerful and grow with even more possibilities.'

The method he chose was to save the species that had disappeared in pre-regression history in that cycle.

'Even if many species are born with Mana Hearts, they don't know how to use them. Unlike races such as dragons and devils, many individuals cannot enlighten themselves by nature. We're going to help them.'

The gods warned the successor.

- You, who have memories of the future, after a long exile, our selves and memories are already fading en masse. After this deed, the same support we granted you before will be deemed impossible.

The successor borrowed the power of the gods one last time to build a huge system.

'The Red Gate will begin to open soon. From the beginning, we need to foster the power to respond to the monsters. We also need to be able to endure the great war that will come in the distant future.'

The successor undertook the design and production. On the other hand, the Spirit that didn't need to be reincarnated was supposedly in charge of the operating body. It was a non-material mechanism without a soul that performed the heir's will without disconnection in time... It was supposed to be the agent who would be his limbs.

The successor then absorbed Mana scattered across space and built the engine to maintain the Administrator. Just as Mana was the ingredient that composed the Spirit, it also served as the fuel.

It was also the divine power that made the bones and flesh of the new System. They built the structural foundation with the transcendent powers that remained in them.

What was completed was a nurturing System for the mortals.

Since its creation, the species that met the conditions had received the following message.

- Do you wish to Awaken through a contract with the System?

It contacted the mortals at the dimensions selected by the Administrator, especially those who showed high potential among others and presented them a contract on the premise of Awakening.

The contract wasn't made unless the mortal responded to it with free will. The Administrator couldn't manipulate the heart of the mortal either. That was because there was no god of the mind among the gods that the successor had borrowed power from since that deity had already collapsed before then.

However, it wasn't a big problem, considering most of the mortals agreed to it anyway.

The species Awakened by the signing of the contract went wild. They were the ones who would have supposedly never felt Mana for the rest of their lives.

'W-what is this? I can feel an unknown power!'

The Administrator set several criteria when choosing dimensions.

First of all, it prioritizes the world where the Dimensional Bird was deployed. The more intense the Dimensional Storm, the more likely the Red Gate was to open in there.

Also, no contract was presented to strong species such as the Dragons or the devils and dimensions where their presence was dominant. Instead, they were left to overcome it themselves. It was natural since resources were finite.

Hence, gradually, the dimensions under the System's influence began to expand.

*

The ancient magic species, including Genograche, remembered what happened then.

How the System in the distant past intervened was much different from how it currently did.

The Dimensional Bird settled in the Tower already hatched, and the Tower existed within normal dimensions, not dungeons.

The Tower also served as a training camp for the mortals.

- Cleared the 3rd floor! 'Mana Core' is given as a reward!

- Cleared the 26th floor! 'B-Rank Item' is given as a reward!

- Cleared the 78th floor! 'Experience Points' is given as a reward!

The carrots the System threw at them

The mortals created their own skills, sharpened themselves, cultivated power, and developed civilization by studying items such as the Imperial Heritages thrown by the System. They laid the foundation to take a step further with experience points.

In the meantime, the successor left the operation to the Administrator and focused on achieving the destiny assigned in his life. He concentrated on solving difficulties that couldn't be left to the Administrator and on missions only the successor himself could carry out.

During the repetition of the successor's reincarnation and regression, memories and ego overlapped and accumulated heavily. From then on, some of the memories were buried in the subconscious. There was a limit to the soul of the mortal. He wasn't a god, after all.

Eventually, it became less and less common for the successor to communicate with the Administrator or give direct instructions. The Administrator continued to evolve on its own, increasing autonomy.

An incident occurred while he discovered an abnormality.

*

The Spirit was baffled.

'No, what the hell is wrong with everyone?!'

The mortals began to move against the Administrator's expectations.

'The inhabitants of the void in the future will destroy everything! They are powerful enemies who destroyed even the Empire that has achieved extreme technological advancement. They have to try desperately to stop it! They should develop and improve stronger skills and refine technology based on future civilizations! They should pass on their skills and techniques to their descendants!'

At that time, the Administrator informed the mortals of the reason for the incubation System's existence and goal.

It had a good intention, but as a result, it led to side effects.

'I mean... When does the war start?'

'You don't think it's in our lifetime, do you? I don't think it'll start in our children's generation either.'

'So how distant of a future would that be?'

'The System Administrator nags every day, and I get it's important, but... it's not 'our' problem, is it?'

Everyone recognized that destruction was coming.

However, it's coming from a future way too far.

'What in the world is wrong with them?! It's about your descendants. The future of your race is at stake!'

All the more, since it was already in the early days of the material world, the frequency of Red Gates occurrence was far lower than that of the current era.

The Awakened mortals desperately trained and developed their technology at first, but enthusiasm gradually waned, and the pace of development began to slow down. It would've been easy to knock down the residents of the void after civilization had reached a certain level.

The threat concerning reality had disappeared, and all that remained was the future danger.

The response to the warning was poor. Earth, for example, warning people in the Middle Ages about the dangers of global warming that would transpire hundreds of years in the future would hardly elicit a dramatic response.

All the more that the prophecy of their destruction that they were hearing was far to come.

'Alright, you need more compensation, right? I'm going to increase the amount of Mana Cores awarded when you train in the Tower!'

Mana Cores were already used as an energy source for all races and had been established as a kind of currency. It hoped to use their greed as a source of their drive.

The Administrator's choice seemed right in the beginning.

'Good. Now you're working harder.'

Even lazy species wanted more Cores to maintain various treats, entertainment, and pleasures that they could enjoy in their lives right away. It was natural since the key to enjoying more wealth and higher status in the society was the Cores themselves.

Such a large influx of Cores quickly developed their civilization. But the direction was a little skewed.

'No... What the hell are they doing?'

The mortals didn't always use the Imperial Heritage and Core technology in the direction desired by the Administrator.

As a representative example, the Administrator felt like it was going crazy when they built virtual reality technology that was almost indistinguishable from reality. It then watched as most of the residents spend most of their days immersed in it.

But that was just the beginning. No, that would be considered a moderate deviation.

One of the species used its power in the wrong direction, achieving outstanding results in combat capabilities that drove the Administrator to despair.

'N-no! Stop that!'

Although the dimensions were split and separated, they were free to travel to and from the other worlds by consuming the System's Experience Points. Even the amount needed was much less than it currently was. That was because of the intention to promote exchanges between dimensions.

And the Core in their hearts didn't disappear even after the Awakened who contracted with the System died.

Those two conditions eventually induced some species to exercise violence.

The rest were easy as long as they had decided that it wouldn't matter if they killed other worlds' sentient beings for more wealth.

'Please...! No!'

Species that invaded and slaughtered other worlds, chasing after the Mana Cores their targets had in their hearts, appeared.