“......?”
Seeing the alert, Su-ho blinked wide and tilted his head.
Did he read it wrong?
But no matter how many tis he tried again......
[ You cannot use this right now. ]
[ You cannot use this right now. ]
[ You cannot use this right now. ]
[ You cannot use this right now. ]
......
The result was the sa.
“Ah......”
A wave of stress washed over Su-ho for a mont.
‘Don’t tell this is that? A season lock or whatever?’
What Su-ho was thinking of—
Was exactly that.
In the Great Upheaval crafted by the system, there are various restrictions. The lighter ones are things like level or stat limits, and among the rarely seen, finicky restrictions is sothing called a “season lock.”
A season lock ans precisely what it says: if it’s out of season, you can’t use it.
For example, just as so restaurants serve cold noodles only in sumr, items with a season lock can’t be used until a specific season—mid-ga, late-ga, and the like—arrives.
[ You cannot use this right now. ]
He tried again.
Sa result.
This is driving him nuts.
Judging by the look of it, it really was a season lock.
There was no way around it.
Regrettably, Su-ho could only cool his head.
‘Well, if dinsional travel is already happening this early in the Upheaval, that really would be absurd.’
Thinking so, he decided to let it go.
But when it ca ti to actually let it go, he did feel a bit wronged.
I an, they lay out the acquisition conditions plain as day—then when you bust your back, successfully get it, they slap so restriction # Nоvеlight # on it to mock you?
Sure, he admitted he’d been able to acquire it early because he was a regressor.
But did I ask to be sent to the past?
The system’s the one who sent .
Still, there was no filing a complaint with the system, so Su-ho stowed the Stone Fragnt of Takamagahara in his inventory and headed for the exit portal.
*
Before the Imperial Palace.
The Self-Defense Forces guarding the palace watched the Palace Square with faces more tense than ever.
“Do you think he’ll really pull it off?”
“He might.”
“On what basis?”
“Haven’t you heard? This isn’t the first sealed Gate the Sumiyoshi chairman has cleared.”
“Eh? Then where else?”
“You know—that ancient legend.”
“Whoa, there?”
“Yeah. Supposedly he soloed it.”
“Insane—how’s that make any sense?”
“Which is why there’s a chance here too, is what I’m saying.”
“But still, this place......”
The SDF man who was answering looked at the square with worried eyes.
The Ancient Legend Gate was certainly difficult.
But the malignant Gate occupying the Imperial Palace—the Emperor’s residence—was, without question, Japan’s worst, greatest Gate.
‘And he went in alone, at that......’
What’s more, Chairman Yasuda was a pure swordsman who didn’t use any other kind of power.
A healer in the neighboring country might roam alone with a sword and mow down everything, but our swordsman... well......
Just then.
“Huh?”
Soone cried out.
That was the beginning.
“Uh—uh!”
“The Gate line?!”
“Holy—!!”
The Gate line vanished.
The portal began to collapse.
Clear evidence of a successful clear.
Perhaps because of that, at the utterly unexpected outco, everyone’s eyes flew wide and excitent erupted.
“Director... sir!”
“Yes, I see it too! Contact the Vice Minister, now!”
“Sir!”
Happy news like this should be delivered to your superior faster than anyone else.
That’s the basic of office survival.
Soon, Vice Minister Miyamoto, having received the report, spoke with excitent.
— I’ll be there shortly!
This wasn’t sothing to sit at a desk and hear secondhand.
This wasn’t just anywhere—this was the Imperial Palace Gate.
So he had to run over himself, grasp the situation, and give comndation.
He was the practical power at Paranormal Ability, after all.
Hearing the news, other officials began to fuss as well.
“V-vice minister! Should we, uh, call the TV stations first?”
“Wait. Details will be confird by onsite. Get the car ready, now!”
“Sir! Understood!”
Miyamoto moved at a clip.
*
Fortunately, contrary to everyone’s fears, the Imperial Palace Gate was truly cleared.
The living proof of the clear—the figure of Chairman Yasuda—had erged from the square and, wearing a relaxed expression, was sitting in a chair.
‘Their eyes are all sparkling bright.’
Given the place, everyone present was SDF, but they were still just ordinary people.
To them, the Su-ho they were seeing was a celebrity... no, sothing beyond that—the way one might look at a god.
Which was why he began to worry about Hiro.
Having cleared Japan’s worst Gate, the Imperial Palace, Hiro would now beco, beyond dispute, Japan’s greatest Player.
‘For just borrowing his face and na, he’s gotten way too famous.’
Of course, he had a contingency prepared.
Otherwise annoying variables would pop up.
“Chairman Yasuda!”
About then, Miyamoto appeared.
Quite out of character, he ca running, panting, to where Su-ho was, and only then did Su-ho rise from his seat at an easy pace.
“You’re here, Vice Minister.”
“I’ve been told—did you truly clear the Imperial Palace Gate?”
At that, Su-ho pointed toward the overseeing director, and the director brought over a tablet to show the vanished portal inside the square.
“Ahhh...!”
Seeing the signs of disappearance, Miyamoto let out a groan and closed his eyes.
Moved, thrilled... no, emotions beyond that wrapped his whole body.
“Being Japan’s worst Gate, the clear was extrely difficult. Nearly all the worst monsters we know of showed up.”
“When you say ‘the worst monsters’......?”
Before answering, Su-ho glanced around.
Catching that look, Miyamoto imdiately understood and changed the venue.
“This way, please.”
They moved to a field tent.
Once it was just the two of them, Su-ho finally spoke.
“Just in case, I asked for a private audience first.”
“Thank you for the consideration. I was so excited I failed to mind that myself—but you are, as expected, different, Chairman.”
“Not at all. To continue—inside the Imperial Palace Gate, I encountered all Three Great Evil Spirits and all Three Great Vengeful Spirits.”
“The Three Great Evils and the Three Great Vengeful Spirits...!”
“In order: White-Faced, Golden-Furred Nine-Tailed Fox; Shuten-dōji; Ōtakemaru. And then Amakusa Shirō Tokisada, Sugawara no Michizane, Taira no Masakado...... and, lastly, Sutoku Tenno.”
“S—Sutoku Tenno as well......!”
Hearing the list of monsters Su-ho had faced, Miyamoto felt his mind about to blank out.
He had known all there was to know about the Imperial Palace Gate—but this was the first he’d heard regarding the Three Great Vengeful Spirits.
He was so excited that even his ears flushed red.
“S-so? H-how did it go?”
“We fought for a very long ti. I lost count of the brushes with death, and I don’t know how many potions I drank in there. Honestly, when I faced Sutoku Tenno, I truly thought I was going to die, no escape. But......”
“But?”
“At the most desperate mont, I rembered the request you made to , Vice Minister. To please reclaim Japan’s treasures—then Japan would rember , you said. And suddenly I had strength. Sutoku Tenno’s weak points ca into view, and an unknown power moved .”
“......!”
At Su-ho’s words, Miyamoto’s eyes widened.
At the sa ti, his hand trembled faintly and moisture welled in his eyes.
Overwhelming emotion.
Miyamoto felt as if he were face-to-face with a hero sprung from an epic.
No—by the words Su-ho had spoken, he felt as if he had beco a warlord of the Sengoku era.
A warlord of the age, beseeching a hero to slay a monster.
Su-ho continued in a calm tone.
“We fought like mad. Honestly, I don’t know how long I spent in there. It felt like nearly a month, but when I stepped out and checked the date, not even a day had passed.”
“Ahh, so there was such a temporal variable......!”
Only then did Miyamoto really see Su-ho’s face and body—everywhere across his form.
A body full of wounds.
And a face that looked a touch older than when he’d seen it before.
Was it just his imagination?
It wasn’t.
Su-ho had used his disguise skill to make it look that way on purpose.
Then, as he went on with his explanation, Su-ho tucked in his lower lip.
He lowered his head slightly and wore a pained expression.
“Which brings to... first, I wish to apologize to you, Vice Minister.”
“Pardon? What do you an?”
“The three treasures of Japan you asked for...... they were, as I suspected, inside the Gate.”
“Eh? Truly? Then why that look...... don’t tell ?”
“Yes. I succeeded in obtaining all three treasures. But the instant the Three Sacred Treasures beca one......”
As he spoke, Su-ho took out the Stone Fragnt of Takamagahara and showed it to Miyamoto.
“This is......?”
“Vice Minister, are you familiar with Takamagahara?”
“Takamagahara... isn’t that the heavenly world called Kōten’en?!”
“Yes. After I defeated Sutoku Tenno and gathered the Three Sacred Treasures, the system suddenly fused them into one and made this. It’s a travel stone to Takamagahara.”
“......!”
Miyamoto’s eyes widened.
A travel stone to go to that place ntioned only in legends and myths?
Su-ho continued.
“If it’s in line with the system’s intent, Takamagahara will be another Gate. So I couldn’t contain my curiosity and tried to use this—but I was inford it can’t be used yet.”
“Can’t be used yet?”
“Likely because its level is too high, and it hasn’t been released seasonally yet. That’s my guess.”
“What is that...... then we can only go there after so ti has passed?”
“Yes. Given the nature of the place, it seems an even greater battle will unfold there. That is why I apologize. Though I recovered the Three Sacred Treasures, rather than bringing them out, I’ve instead brought back the seed of an even bigger conflict.”
“Not at all! Absolutely not!”
“Sir?”
“You have accomplished sothing monuntal. Not only did you clear a place no one in Japan has ever cleared, you alone have now opened the road to a realm everyone reveres as sacred. Those baubles can be replaced with replicas. They’d long since been reduced to symbolism anyway.”
“Then......”
At Su-ho’s prompt, Miyamoto spoke with a resolute expression.
“Thank you for telling everything frankly. If everything you say is true, then our Paranormal Ability...... no, our Japan will spare no support for your boundless growth henceforth.”
Ambition blazed in Miyamoto’s eyes.
Exactly so.
Truthfully, Miyamoto had not been able to contain his dismay that Kenji, one of Japan’s top-tier Players, was a thug and a lunatic.
But now, before his eyes, a new star—no, a supernova and great hero—had been born. And he was the foremost powerhouse, possessed even of the most important virtue: humility.
Thus, from Miyamoto’s perspective... no, from the perspective of Paranormal Ability and of Japan, Chairman Yasuda was the proud face of the nation and its new possibility.
Accordingly, Miyamoto was smitten with Chairman Yasuda—no, with Su-ho. Smitten hard.
Miyamoto, de facto power-holder of Paranormal Ability’s hierarchy, bowed his head and entreated Chairman Yasuda—Su-ho.
“Please look after Japan from here on, Chairman Yasuda.”
Seeing the crown of his head, Su-ho laughed inwardly.
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