The Ruined World Was Mistaken for a Game-Chapter 59.1: Episode 1 (4)
Translator: Dreamscribe
The festival continued.
In Evanth, Heroes and the people of Arsilan gathered to hold a grand festival. It was a worthy occasion. It was a great day when Erosion was defeated for the first time.
This story would remain in Arsilan forever, and a grand festival commemorating it would be held every year.
“Leon nim!”
“Please take this.”
Just by walking through the streets of Evanth, Jinwoo's arms were filled with gifts. He had no choice but to accept them all with a smile. Fearing he might get buried under the presents, he quietly went into hiding.
Jinwoo wasn’t the only one surrounded by Heroes. Many, including Heina and Tia, chatted joyfully with the Heroes.
“Stop following me!”
“Please curse at me!”
“Kyaak!”
Helby attracted a massive crowd wherever she went.
Though she had a frown on her face, she looked quite pleased. Helby’s popularity was skyrocketing. She might even threaten Leon’s position.
Jinwoo sincerely hoped she would.
Night fell quickly, but the heat of the festivities did not cool down.
In the central plaza of Evanth, various bards played music, and mages brightened the atmosphere with bursts of light. It was quite a unique spectacle.
The mages tried to recreate a fireworks display by shooting fire into the sky. But it didn’t seem to go well.
‘Should I try something new?’
He decided to test a feature introduced this time.
[Emergency Notice]
Please raise your head and look at the sky!
Such a window popped up in front of the Heroes.
“Huh? What’s this?”
"It says to look at the sky?"
“Hmm?”
As all the Heroes looked up to the sky, Jinwoo smiled faintly and snapped his fingers. Then, a massive fireball appeared in the center of Evanth and soared into the sky.
Boom!
The fireball that shot into the air burst out immense flames, resembling a nuclear explosion, and spectacularly lit up the night sky.
“Ooh!”
“Now that’s fireworks!”
Jinwoo opened his hand.
A magic circle formed in the sky, and a massive meteor appeared.
“Huh?”
“T-This is a bit....”
“Gasp.”
The Heroes screamed and flinched.
Even the bards stopped playing. When Jinwoo clenched his fist, the falling meteor shattered into thousands of pieces and turned into beautiful fireworks.
It was an overwhelming scale of fireworks that could never be seen on Earth.
“Waaah!”
“The scale is insane.”
“Now I can’t go to regular fireworks festivals anymore.”
“Is this a gift from the Creator God! Uwah! Were you watching?!”
The atmosphere heated up even more.
Jinwoo looked at the excited Heroes and then stepped away from the spot.
The reclaimed land was even larger than Jinwoo’s territory of Rainsword.
Including the areas untouched by Erosion, it could be called vast.
Though still barren, the ecosystem was being rapidly restored. Already, quite a few Heroes had set out on adventures.
Jinwoo calmed his heart, overflowing with various emotions. He had the duty to protect the reclaimed land. And he would reclaim all of Arsilan.
‘First....’
With the Erosion Core gone, there were no more Erosion monsters left in Arsilan. Normal monsters could be added, but it was unlikely to expect the same explosive growth as before.
A new method was now needed.
It wasn’t just the Heroes who had grown through reclaiming the lost land. Jinwoo’s authority had also increased.
Jinwoo recalled the Erosion Core he had fully subjugated to the Soul Gate. The Erosion Core had been completely destroyed and fully absorbed into the Soul Gate along with its will.
Jinwoo looked at the Soul Gate.
Beneath the Soul Gate, a large sphere could be seen.
[Authority] Magic Core
Authority bound to the Soul Gate.
All authority possessed by the Erosion Core can be transformed and used in the form desired by the Transcendent. The Magic Core operates with the power of pure Magic Power instead of the energy of Erosion.
Jinwoo had fully absorbed the authority held by the Core.
The Erosion Core was capable of replicating what it had absorbed in its original form and could devour everything to create its own space. That authority was transformed to suit Jinwoo, the Archmage, and became bound to him.
Transcendental power that could not be achieved through magic alone could now be exercised through the Core.
‘Shall I give it a try?’
When Jinwoo extended his hand, the Magic Core appeared before his eyes. Inside it, he could still sense the 'will' suffering in agony.
“Oh....”
All the monsters and environments he had seen so far were stored within it. It was packed with everything the Erosion Core had consumed. When Jinwoo snapped his fingers, a list appeared in front of him, neatly arranged like a file directory.
Since the Core had been fully absorbed into him and transformed into the form of magic, it was easy for him to control from the start.
‘So Magic Power is the resource.’
Jinwoo infused Magic Power and summoned a Death Knight from the monster list.
Swoosh!
A Death Knight immediately materialized before him.
When he detached and installed a part of the Magic Core, it connected with the Death Knight. The will became embedded in the small Core and controlled the Death Knight. Even while screaming in pain, it responded well to Jinwoo’s commands.
Jinwoo inserted a Magic Stone into the small Core and then killed the Death Knight.
“This is really good.”
A type of energy flowed out that could help Heroes grow, just like the Erosion energy. It was pure Magic Power transformed through the authority of the Magic Core.
Though each monster had a limit to what could be contained, the denser the Magic Power infused, the stronger the energy became.
“At this level, I could even run a burning event.”
The Newbie Welcome Burning Event was a fundamental rule of online games.
He recalled something Ella had once said.
She said that when one reaches the level of a Transcendent, the thing one most desires manifests in the form of authority.
Ella had become a Transcendent from the most noble Celestial race and eventually became a god. She wished to share nobility and blessings with all, and thus bathed Arsilan in golden light as a blessing.
‘What I wanted, and what I want now.’
Jinwoo had desired the salvation of Arsilan. That desire had taken form as the Soul Gate. And the authority he had gained transformed into magic and began to resemble a game.
He was an Archmage and a game developer.
Jinwoo detached a part of the Magic Core. A blue sphere the size of a fist floated in front of him. When he pulled it with both hands, numerous magic circles emerged and became embedded within it.
Rumble!
With a storm of Magic Power, the sphere became a rippling space. When he tilted his head slightly to peer inside, he saw a fairly spacious area. It was the white space he had seen when he reunited with the souls.
The authority that devoured everything and corrupted it into an Erosion space had now been transformed into the method of an Archmage.
“I didn’t use Spatial Magic because of its clear limitations....”
If the Magic Core supplemented it as an authority, he could freely use Spatial Magic at the level he desired. At this level, even creating a separate dungeon seemed possible.
Since the will still remained within the Magic Core, it was also possible to divide it infinitely and implement autonomously moving monsters. That will would suffer endlessly, but that didn’t matter one bit.
It was an incredibly excellent reward.
There seemed to be a limit on how many could be made, but even so, it was remarkable.
Even the ideas he had only conceptualized until now could be realized! It was fair to say he had obtained a new game engine with various added features.
Fwoosh!
However, due to a lack of Magic Power, it soon disappeared.
Summoning more Heroes than ever before, erecting new Magic Barriers across the reclaimed land, and utilizing the Magic Core, all of these plans required abundant Magic Power.
“Then I better go check.”
Jinwoo looked out over the vast land and teleported on the spot.
The place he arrived at was a massive mountain range on one side of the reclaimed land. In front of the mountain range were the ruins of what appeared to be a city. It had been a city that developed significantly through Magic Stone mining.
He landed at the half-collapsed entrance of the mine.
He felt nervous about how much might be left. Even if only half the original quantity remained from long ago, he would be able to move on to the next stage.
“Master.”
Tiris appeared behind him.
“So you were here after all.”
“Don’t you want to enjoy the festival more?”
Jinwoo looked off into the distance at Evanth, now just a small point of light.
“I’ve enjoyed it enough.”
Tiris showed off a dance she had learned from the Heroes. It was the kind of dance one might see in a nightclub.
“Oh, not bad?”
“It was an interesting dance. I’m considering whether it could be applied to magic.”
For a mage, Tiris had good movement.
“I’m experimenting with the Magic Developers.”
“Ah....”
Indeed, that was how magic had evolved.
Thanks to Tiris, his tension eased. No matter how much Magic Stone remained, he would do his best in the given environment until his soul shattered.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
Jinwoo entered the Magic Stone Mine.
He pierced through the broken entrance with ease and advanced forward. Magic Stones formed deep within the earth. It required much time and an enclosed space for Magic Power to crystallize.
A light could be seen below.
It was a wide space at the end of a narrow path. Jinwoo quickly moved toward it. As he entered the area, a bright space unfolded before him.
It was filled with massive Magic Stones. The Magic Stones that had been tainted by Erosion had been purified and now possessed an even stronger energy.
That purification had certainly been due to....
“Master.”
Tiris pointed to the ground.
There, a Hero's Flower was swaying its petals while emitting a gentle light.
Jinwoo smiled and scanned the surrounding area.
Not only this place, but the surroundings were full of highly pure Magic Stones.
“This... I’ll need to revise my plans.”
If it was this kind of enjoyable revision, it was always welcome.
His confidence swelled.
It was a much happier happy ending than he had imagined.
“Shall I call the Dwarves?”
“No.”
“There’s no quarry expert like a Dwarf, though.”
Jinwoo picked up a fist-sized Magic Stone from the ground. With just this one, he could generate enough Magic Power to sustain hundreds of Heroes.
Jinwoo detached a bit of the Magic Core and installed it in this place. When he placed the Magic Stone inside, a magic circle appeared, and Death Knights began to materialize.
Tiris’s eyes widened.
“That’s truly impressive. Those Death Knights could work tirelessly all day.”
Jinwoo nodded.
Now it felt like he was finally acting like a GM.
"To be able to freely input will too... May I try it?"
“Hmm.”
When Jinwoo waved his hand, a magic circle appeared in front of Tiris. Tiris moved her fingers, skillfully manipulating the magic circle. Then the Death Knights began to tremble and raised their hands over their heads.
Bounce bounce!
They bounced up and down on the ground, then formed hearts with their hands and acted cute.
[For... you... Death... Death Knight Bunny....]
[Lovely... grrk, lovely..., bounce..., aah..., wink...]
The Death Knight's voice resembling the abyss flowed out.
Jinwoo thought of Haebyul Bunny, who had created a dark history. Apparently, it had made a deep impression on Tiris.
“It’s the Death Knight Bunny.”
Snap!
She stood at attention with perfect posture. Then repeated the Death Knight Bunny again.
“It’s even possible to give each one personality and repeat behaviors. This should greatly reduce the burden on the Magic Tower.”
Sexy Death Knight Bunnys, cute Death Knight Bunnys began to appear. The fragmented will embedded in the Death Knights carried out the commands dutifully while suffering in agony.
It was easier to think of them as AI screaming silently.
Jinwoo placed his hand on a large Magic Stone. A magic circle was drawn on the stone, and it was pulled up intact. It was a crystal-shaped Magic Stone, much taller than Jinwoo, filled with Magic Power and shimmering in a sky-like blue hue.
“I’ll take care of setting up the workers.”
Jinwoo nodded and teleported with the Magic Stone. From a sky high enough to touch the clouds, he looked down below. The land was filled with ruins and many spaces that held meaning.
“Shall I start creating?”
He wanted to fill up that empty space.
“Oh? This works too? Hmm... and this?”
As he created things one by one, he gradually became absorbed in it. As both an Archmage and a game developer, he demonstrated incredible concentration.
Content burst forth explosively!
* * *
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Chapter 59.1: Episode 1 (4)
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