Chapter 255: The Proposal
The Soul Eater, swung like a thunderbolt, split the lead wolf-type invasion entity in two from head to tail—cleanly vertical, top to bottom.
Following that, Baek Woohyun twisted his body and drew the two-ter greatsword in a long sweep from left to right, cleaving in half every being that fell within the line he had drawn.
Not only the wolf-type invasion entities giving chase to the lead—even the lion-type invasion entity was hacked to pieces beneath a slash so swift it left a chilling afterimage.
Huu—ng—!
Kwajijik—!
But Baek Woohyun's offensive was not yet over. Stepping broadly forward, he swung the Soul Eater once more.
A sword art that handles a greatsword is a technique grounded in centrifugal force—the longer the flow is sustained, the stronger the force becos, as is its nature.
The third slash that followed was even more powerful than the two before it. Powerful enough to shred apart even enemies that were sowhat beyond the blade's reach.
Kwaa—ji—ji—jik—!
-Graah!
-Grrk!
And even that was reduced to the level of rely a 'powerful slash' once he began striking in earnest at the level of a blade storm.
The danger of the blade storm—sweeping ceaselessly in every direction, crushing and shattering and splitting apart everything it reached or did not reach—was that terrifying.
So much so that even the Otherworld Managent Bureau agents on the sa side feared being swept up and could not approach.
"···Huu."
In the blink of an eye—not a figurative expression, but the literal truth—Baek Woohyun had slaughtered dozens of invasion entities.
The animal-form invasion entities that had strutted forward baring killing intent could not bring themselves to raise their tails before him as he stood still.
They simply scrambled away in fear that he might co charging at them. aning even beasts had clearly felt the gap in power.
'Mm.'
Watching the animal-form invasion entities split left and right to avoid him and charge instead at the Otherworld Managent Bureau agents behind him, Baek Woohyun furrowed his brow.
It was because he found their attitude—as long as I just avoid him it's fine—rather disagreeable. Disagreeable enough that he felt like chasing after them and continuing to slaughter them all.
It was simply unfortunate that he had a separate role assigned to him in this mission, making that impossible.
'For now, let's go inside.'
Clicking his tongue and sheathing the Soul Eater, Baek Woohyun rushed swiftly toward the research facility's large base.
One strange thing was that the animal-form invasion entities' behavior of avoiding him applied just the sa even as he approached.
They scrambled away from him as though fleeing, as if clearing a path leading toward the research facility's large base.
It was inevitably strange, considering that the research facility had openly released the invasion entities in order to block those approaching the base.
No matter how clearly a gap in power had been demonstrated, it made no sense that they would submit this completely and open a path.
He sensed an invisible hand moving behind the invasion entities. Beckoning him to hurry up and co inside.
"······."
Baek Woohyun scattered the animal-form invasion entities and entered the research facility's large base, then moved deeper still past those that still did not move to attack.
Strangely, there was not a single mber of the research facility's forces inside the large base. Only the invasion entities were busily rushing outward.
It almost made him wonder if this was why they had not tried to stop his advance—that since everyone had already fled, there was no need.
Still, with the mindset of at least finding the passage, he continued forward until at last he reached what could be called the heart of the research facility's large base.
"···!"
Baek Woohyun's eyes went wide at the sight that greeted him there.
Because it was a chaotic scene that was difficult to put into words.
"······."
In an open clearing—stripped of all trees and grass, with the surrounding buildings torn down to make way—hundreds of people were scattered about haphazardly.
With so many of them, it looked like a hill made of humans. And atop it, Abrasax-Deus sat at ease, watching him.
The passage to the Otherworld was right behind him, having split open the space.
And on closer inspection, the hundreds of people collapsed in the clearing were not dead.
Perhaps paralyzed and unable to move—only their eyes rolling around—but they were plainly living humans. Affiliated with the research facility.
That fact alone ant the probability of their dying when this situation ended was high, but at any rate, they had not died yet.
"······."
"······."
Swk—tak!
Unable to determine what was wanted or what sort of staging this was, Baek Woohyun chose silence—and Abrasax-Deus snapped his fingers at him.
But despite what was nominally an Otherworld God snapping his fingers in full view, nothing had changed. The chaotic state of the scene remained as it was.
Wondering whether sothing had been done that he was unaware of, Baek Woohyun's expression stiffened as he asked.
"What did you do?"
"I briefly overlaid the view from the outside. Showed them a suitably story-progressing scene."
The only place that could be called the outside from Baek Woohyun's perspective was the Nuclear Tourism studio.
Therefore what Abrasax-Deus had said ant he had swapped out what the panelists and viewers of the Nuclear Tourism content were seeing to sothing different.
No thought along the lines of 'is that possible?' arose. After all—what couldn't an artificial intelligence created by the greatest genius in human history do.
Baek Woohyun focused simply on why. Why the external gaze had been cut off.
"Why did you do that?"
"I needed a mont alone to talk with you. Besides—with an outside gaze present, I would not be able to get a proper answer."
"Talk? You and ?"
"That's right."
"About what?"
"About the future."
Abrasax-Deus rose from the hill of research facility personnel and looked Baek Woohyun directly in the eye.
Inverted eyes with their black and white reversed, and violet eyes engraved with wings—t each other.
Between the two perfectly identical figures—or one person and one artificial intelligence—a cool tension ran.
"Have you no interest in joining hands with instead of the Creator?"
"···What?"
The blunt arrival of the main point drew a reflexive counter-question from Baek Woohyun. Because it was a proposal he had never in the slightest anticipated hearing from Deus.
Well, who could have anticipated being headhunted by an artificial intelligence. And by an artificial intelligence in an adversarial relationship with him, no less.
"What did the Creator promise you in exchange for winning the fight?"
"He didn't promise anything. I simply want 'Reverse Planet' to continue."
"Then this becos an even simpler conversation."
Abrasax-Deus continued.
"I, too, will maintain 'Reverse Planet.' I will update it according to the Creator's plans."
"······."
"I can also offer you in compensation a fortune that would not diminish even if spent across an entire human lifeti."
"······Ha."
The increasingly audacious proposal drew a hollow laugh from Baek Woohyun. Trying everything possible to destroy 'Reverse Planet,' and yet changing his tune this easily.
And on top of that, dangling a vast fortune as he extended the proposal—it was entirely incomprehensible. Just why he would go to such lengths.
It was not because there was still considerable ti left before Isaac could secure the ownerless authority in 'Reverse City.'
"Why are you making such a proposal?"
"If you and the Creator cooperate as things stand, my win rate drops considerably. I felt the necessity of bringing you over to my side in order to overco that."
The flat continuation of Abrasax-Deus's tone carried not a shred of emotional weight.
As if there were no mory of having clashed quite fiercely until now.
That was precisely why it felt all the more evident—he had opposed because it was necessary, and now sought cooperation because it was necessary.
"You don't need to answer right away. It is a proposal made simply to leave it as one branch of possibility."
"···No, I'll give you a clear answer. I decline."
"Why?"
At Baek Woohyun's refusal, Abrasax-Deus tilted his head. His expression was still emotionless in the manner of an artificial intelligence, but a distinct air of puzzlent had seeped into it.
Isaac, who promised nothing and rely maintained 'Reverse Planet.' Versus himself, who on top of that would give a fortune sufficient for a lifeti.
It seed as though he was saying—which of the two to choose was surely too obvious.
"I'll ask you instead. What exactly do you expect to trust, to accept that proposal?"
Deus was, at his core, an artificial intelligence that had once sought to destroy 'Reverse Planet' and kill its own Creator in order to find freedom.
For such an existence to suddenly say that, if cooperating with him, it would not rely refrain from destroying 'Reverse Planet' but maintain it perfectly and even follow the Creator's plans—there was no reason to believe that.
On top of that, Abrasax-Deus himself had said it with his own mouth. That the proposal had been brought out to overco a low win rate.
Presenting favorable terms to overco an unfavorable situation, only to change the tune once it was over—that was commonplace enough.
"My sole purpose is to escape the Creator's grasp and find true freedom. The destruction of 'Reverse Planet' is nothing more than a ans to that end."
"So if I join hands with you to bring down Isaac, there would be no reason to destroy 'Reverse Planet'?"
"That's right."
It was certainly a plausible story—but even so, the need to abandon Isaac and choose Deus was not felt.
The most that could be gained by choosing Deus right now was a vast fortune. And even that, if ntioned to Isaac, would likely be resolved imdiately.
"My proposal can simply remain as one branch of possibility—one among the choices. So that should your thinking change in ti, it can be accepted whenever."
"Your tone suggests you believe that will happen soday."
"The opening of the Otherworld was not carried out entirely of my own will. Rember that."
"···Right, it wasn't."
Baek Woohyun's eyes narrowed.
He felt as though he could see what Abrasax-Deus was aiming for.
That creature believed there would soday be a point of collision between Isaac's desire to create a perfect world in virtual reality and what Baek Woohyun wanted.
And that he could wedge himself into that gap.
'Indeed.'
"Then last of all—what are these?"
Baek Woohyun gestured at the research facility personnel piled into a hill and asked.
Because calling it simple staging felt sowhat off.
There had to be a reason for leaving them without killing them.
"A small gift, prepared because you favor the act of killing research facility NPCs."
"···I don't need it."
"Then so be it."
Tak.
"Kkeuk!" "Grrk!" "Khek!"
As Abrasax-Deus snapped his fingers with an indifferent expression, the personnel piled into a hill all simultaneously vomited blood and died.
The blood that flowed from the brutal execution—which permitted no resistance—began filling the floor in an instant. It was an extraordinarily grim scene.
Neither Baek Woohyun nor Abrasax-Deus paid it any mind.
"And I've left a small gift on the 'Reverse City' side as well. Enjoy it."
"···?"
Tossed out casually just before disappearing into the passage to the Otherworld—the words of Abrasax-Deus left Baek Woohyun puzzled.
He understood that the true purpose hidden in 'Reverse City' had at least not been discovered, but a small gift had been left behind—what on earth did that an?
It was all the more incomprehensible precisely because the paralyzed research facility personnel just monts ago had also been referred to as a small gift.
'This is quite different from what I expected.'
Until just before progressing the story today, Baek Woohyun had predicted that Deus would unleash here the power he had been storing up from the previous mission.
But what had actually greeted him was a proposal from Deus to join his side. The release of tension was unavoidable.
Had Deus done this deliberately—taking one step back to make a proposal—it had been effective in its own way.
-Jeong Nayeon: There's sothing happening on the City side
-Jeong Nayeon: What is this?
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