Chapter 156
Opening up to Chapter 30 wasn’t difficult. There weren’t many chapters left to begin with, and thanks to the item we conveniently obtained from the labyrinth, it became easy.
That item was…
—
[Spatial Exploration Training Device – Beginner]
In some world, they say this was used to train things like “hunters.”
It doesn’t seem much different from artificially opening an “event”!
It’s a bit crude, though.
But isn’t it better that it’s crude?
At least you don’t have to worry too much about dying!
※ One-time use
—
We got three of these.
Each time we entered, it opened one chapter, so we quickly reached Chapter 30 without much trouble.
For reference, there wasn’t much inside.
Compared to everything we’d endured so far, it was easy. Honestly, even the monsters weren’t the grotesque things we’d faced before… they were more like goblins or kobolds you’d see in typical fantasy, so the psychological burden was lighter too.
And then, Chapter 30.
—
[A passage has opened. It is a world that has encroached upon the narrator’s world.]
[Would you like to check it?]
—
The passage was already open. We might actually be latecomers.
‘Though with multiple parallel lines, maybe it doesn’t matter.’
There’s no way 10,000 people can enter the same world at once. Especially for worlds like “defense-type” ones, if people keep getting added, balancing the difficulty becomes impossible.
So they must have set a maximum number of participants per session.
On the other hand, in a place like Hermadion, even if you enter late, you’re forced to spend a full month there, which puts you at a significant disadvantage.
‘But right now…’
This is closer to simple exploration, so whether you’re early or late probably doesn’t matter much. It’s just a question of being a little faster or slower.
If you arrive after Gilkir has already settled, then it’s pointless anyway.
—
[Underground City: Haegi]
[Mechanical Junkyard: Chekpolik]
[Green Garden: Doyuan]
—
Underground City Haegi, Mechanical Junkyard Chekpolik, Green Garden Doyuan.
If you had to pick the easiest world here, it would be Chekpolik.
Just hearing “mechanical junkyard” should give you the idea. It’s a punk-style world.
There are plenty of engineers there, so if you meet the right master, you can learn quite easily. The masters don’t reject outsiders either. If you show a proper attitude, they’ll teach you more readily than you’d expect. As long as you have perseverance, you can learn anything.
‘If 20,000 people go in, at least 50 of them will persevere.’
If they lack talent, that’s another story.
Still, if even 3 out of those 50 properly learn and can create something, that’s already a success.
Even without Sa Jaeheon, people always managed to learn properly there. In fact, more than just three.
‘At least seven, I think.’
Compared to other worlds where the average is about two or three, that’s quite a lot.
The timeline with the highest number, of course, was when Sa Jaeheon entered. At that time, he personally taught others and produced nearly 45 disciples. Including those who learned from other engineers, it was around 60 or 70 in total.
Back then, he was still somewhat human.
‘So that leaves two choices.’
Underground City Haegi, or Green Garden Doyuan.
In Chekpolik, you learn design.
In Haegi, you learn assembly.
In Doyuan, you learn disassembly.
Design, assembly, disassembly… the full process of building and taking apart a machine.
Since what we’re dealing with is machinery.
‘The difficulty of learning is about the same, but…’
Chekpolik’s engineers have no reservations about sharing their skills. If you ask, they’ll teach. They just want even one person who truly enjoys hammering away at machines in the heat.
Most people don’t like that kind of sweaty, exhausting work. But among them, there are always a few oddballs who genuinely enjoy it, and those people sometimes even settle there.
Chekpolik’s philosophy is basically: if 100 people ask to learn, teach all 100, and hope a few can actually digest it.
On the other hand, Haegi is where you learn assembly. The engineers there are extremely exclusive. Even if you beg, many won’t teach you.
‘A difference in culture, maybe.’
In Chekpolik, all engineers share a common root. The legendary engineer who founded it… Molke.
Molke trained countless disciples during his lifetime, and those disciples each developed their own techniques by assembling and disassembling his methods.
Then those disciples trained more disciples. And those disciples did the same.
If you trace it back, there’s a foundational root, and that root strictly instilled one philosophy into its disciples:
“Share without holding back.”
—
“Skills that are not remembered, skills that are not recorded, are no different from skills that do not exist.
I live and breathe within my techniques, so spreading them to more people… like passing on genes, is proof that I can live longer.
Look at me now. Even 500 years after my death, these words I speak will still be alive.”
—
Molke’s words. And those words truly carried on through generations.
Now, Haegi.
Haegi has no such root. There is a basic foundation, but from that, each individual developed completely different, independent techniques.
‘A world of infinite competition.’
There’s a reason the city extends underground.
Everyone living in Haegi is a “different species,” and those living on the surface heavily oppress them.
For the record, in Haegi, “different species” includes humans. Humans are seen as incompetent and prone to violence when grouped, so they are especially discriminated against.
—
[This is why diversity in the world is important.]
[A world made up of 100% humans often faces disadvantages like this.]
—
In Haegi, humans are treated as an inferior species, targets of hatred and exclusion. And since most people already hoard their techniques, trying to learn as a discriminated species makes it even harder.
That was the problem.
Still, since we know which engineers actually teach, going to them should solve most issues.
‘But Doyuan is the real problem.’
Doyuan is…
Well. If Chekpolik is easy because engineers are everywhere, and Haegi is difficult because engineers exist but hide…
Then Doyuan is a world where most of the “engineers” are already dead, and the “technology” itself has been lost.
***
Each world collapses at different times. Some fall early on, while others only collapse at the very end.
Worlds that collapse early still have a lot left behind. Even if they’re less developed, people still have hope… they still have that spark in their eyes.
But worlds that collapse right at the brink leave behind almost nothing.
—
[Because they gathered everything they had just before dying.]
—
Like a star shining brightest before it dies.
When a world is on the verge of overcoming destruction, just one last hurdle away, it throws everything it has into that final effort.
And so, nothing remains.
Even the engineers draw their swords and charge into battle in that final moment.
If they had won… if they could have won… it would have been great.
‘But if they don’t…’
The world dies.
‘And if some people survive halfway…’
You get something like Doyuan.
A world with no self-recovery, no foundation for rebuilding, even if a new “Titled One” appears… yet the survivors continue to struggle to live, driven by pure instinct.
‘Doyuan has absolutely nothing; you have to start from scratch.’
If I were alone, I would have chosen it. I’m used to starting from nothing, and I’m not the type to be overly discouraged by that.
But from watching Lee Hoin so far, I’ve realized… he’s the type who needs a master. He can learn on his own, but he grows far faster with guidance.
‘If he’s going to improve his swordsmanship, then rather than Chekpolik or Doyuan…’
Haegi is better.
There are many different species there, including large combat-oriented races. There’s definitely something he can learn from them.
And the biggest advantage…
‘Spirits.’
There’s a race there that can handle spirits. That would help Kim Taekjin.
So now the question is one.
Would Sa Jaeheon enter Doyuan?
I thought about it for a long time.
Doyuan is completely unsuitable for “learning.” But if you’re going there to take something, it’s ideal.
There are many hidden elements and plenty of high-grade items.
‘And Sa Jaeheon already knows how to “disassemble,” which is what you learn in Doyuan.’
In recent timelines, this joint event kept choosing Doyuan.
Would it be the same this time?
My head hurts. It hurt even more because I knew Sa Jaeheon would never bother thinking this deeply.
In the end, I turned around and asked,
“Have you all decided where you’re going?”
I should at least hear what the others think.
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