LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 219
Even though the world is enslaved and Edel, who has accepted tainted mana, is diminished from her original divine status, she hasn’t lost all her power and wisdom.
And because of that Edel, the moment she laid eyes on the lair of the Dimensional Beings, she understood the situation.
That they had devoured the God who created and raised them.
Even when trying to deny this unbelievable phenomenon, the twisted and contorted divinity clinging to their souls made it impossible for Edel to disbelieve.
What they must have originally looked like.
Guessing that was utterly impossible.
Their souls, unsuitably craving divinity, shattered and broke apart, becoming so unstable that their original forms were indistinguishable.
‘So that’s how it is.’
I had only seen relatively intact beings until now, but witnessing these blatant leaks of energy made it clear.
Their gluttonous invasions of other dimensions and the basis for their actions.
‘It’s only natural that the wall made of divinity couldn’t withstand when beings with even a sliver of divinity charge at it in hordes.’
They devoured their own God, so would they leave the Gods of other dimensions untouched?
Any God that fell to the Dimensional Beings before Edel surely became their meal, and the souls beneath them would have fallen into a similar plight.
It didn’t take Edel long to deduce all these facts.
However, there were still many things left undiscovered.
Like their weaknesses or their full power.
So Edel set her course.
Into the filth-ridden lair teeming with disgusting creatures.
* * *
“Hmm.”
Having heard that much, I nodded.
Edel’s tale was quite fascinating.
Perhaps due to her experience, she explained it in such detail that it wasn’t boring at all.
Taking advantage of a momentary pause in the story, I emptied my cup and urged Edel on.
“So, what happened next?”
“Huh? That was the end?”
“…?”
Did I really hear that right?
With suspicion, I looked at Edel’s face, still wearing a calm demeanor.
“I got found out and ran away. Man, I almost died!”
“….”
“They chased me so damn hard. You saw how far they came after me, right?”
“…I did see that.”
“But why do you look so sour?”
“Wonder why?”
How could I happily accept a beautifully wrapped gift box only to find a brick inside?
For reference, what I just said was something I experienced not too long ago.
And it’s not hard to figure out who played that prank on me…
“In the end, nothing has changed.”
They devoured the God who created them? Sure, I get it.
…But so what?
Did anything really change because of that?
“Of course it does.”
Edel replied to my question emphatically.
“When you didn’t know the source, you had no choice but to fall victim to their attacks, but that’s not the case anymore.”
“…Still don’t get it.”
“It’s fine. That’s for us to ponder.”
“Lucky you.”
I knew Edel wasn’t trying to draw lines between us, yet for some reason, a snarky comment slipped from my lips.
“If it was that easy to figure it out, why didn’t you do it sooner? Why wait until now?”
“Well, because I had no means to find out.”
“And suddenly, you have a way?”
“Why are you asking such an obvious question? You brought it here yourself.”
“…I?”
As I pondered over her unexpected comment, something dawned on me.
“Wait, you mean… the Cube?”
“Exactly.”
“But you said you didn’t find anything when you called last time. Were you lying?”
“Why would I lie to you? I didn’t know back then. After talking to you, I found their locations using the divinity left in the Cube. Like someone said, I’m brilliant.”
Knowing full well she didn’t mean it as a compliment, I expected her to return my comment.
But since I couldn’t bring myself to argue with such blatant teasing…
“So, you’re so amazing that you brought the Dimensional Beings all the way here? And yet you couldn’t even handle one weakling and let it into your home, so what’s with the bravado?”
“Hey! There’s no way I could let anything stronger than that in through such a narrow gap! You think I could predict there’d be such a weakling among them?!”
“Shouldn’t a God have thought of that at least?”
“It wasn’t exactly a leisurely moment to think of such things…! Do you think I called you for no reason?”
“Hmph….”
“Man, this is really frustrating.”
In all honesty, despite joking around—
“…Should I just smack something?”
…Besides the jokes, the situation wasn’t looking good at all.
This was the second invasion by Dimensional Beings on Earth.
When it came down to the level of danger, this invasion couldn’t compare to the first.
That one creature earlier was ridiculously large but was something solvable with just a few sword swings.
The first invasion? They split the realms without being noticed.
If you think about it, it’s easy to understand that there was some loss of initiative there.
Yet, the aftermath of that incident was dwarfed by this current invasion.
Back then, the whole process of resolution was chaotic, but due to its location and weather, it hardly caught anyone’s attention.
But now, what’s happening?
‘It just appeared right in the middle of the bustling capital.’
And during the time when there are the most pedestrians, all of this went down in broad daylight.
“What are we going to do now? Are we going to alter memories?”
I wasn’t sure if that was even possible.
Altering the memories of mere witnesses wouldn’t be too difficult, though even if there was a crowd, a God should be able to manipulate memories of that many people without a hitch.
But unlike Silia, Earth was a world where science had advanced significantly.
I had no idea if a God’s power could reach into the vast, deep sea of the internet.
‘By now, it’s probably spread like wildfire.’
There were quite a few people gawking with their phones raised to the sky.
“The specific measures will be decided after discussing with the administrators, but….”
To my question, Edel responded like this.
“Nothing.”
As if it were no big deal.
“Probably nothing will be done.”
Like the wind blows and the water flows.
With an air of it being the most natural thing in the world.
“Are you planning to reveal everything?”
“It’s not about revealing; it’s about being revealed. And this is just my speculation, but….”
Despite the slight smirk on her lips, there was not a hint of relaxation in Edel’s eyes.
“Soon enough, I don’t think there will be a need to hide anything.”
Strangely enough, what Edel said matched precisely with my thoughts as I left the gym.
“Yeah. That makes sense.”
I nodded quietly.
* * *
Just as Kana thought, the events that unfolded in Seoul during the day caused quite a stir.
[Live Seoul Situation]
In the internet world overflowing with all sorts of stimuli.
The title ‘Live Seoul Situation’ might seem a bit lacking to someone trying to catch people’s attention, yet—
Contrary to someone’s thoughts, that post quickly climbed to popularity, surpassing others.
It was only natural.
[?? What’s going on?]
[Something… something’s happening..]
[I woke up as the world’s strongest???]
[My national service isn’t over yet, I’m screwed…]
There were countless posts echoing similar sentiments.
However, what made this post a hot topic was the video attached to it.
From when the sky suddenly darkened to the emergence of a colossal arm and a human scattering radiance.
The entire process and the vivid reactions of those present were captured perfectly, making it a prime talking point.
If that incident had only the video as proof, people might have thought it was CGI, but those who shared the same experience as the author were voicing their thoughts.
Nonetheless, not everyone believed that post.
[Stop with the viral stuff;]
[For real, the viral vibes are super obvious; what’s the intelligence level here? lol]
[With all that noise, did another politician screw up or something??]
[Here’s why the trending post is fake. txt]
The fundamental reason behind the popularity of anonymous author A’s post was that it described something impossible to happen in reality.
In other words, it was hard to believe.
People dream of magic and the extraordinary while simultaneously wishing that their mundane reality wouldn’t shatter.
However, as time went by, the opposing opinions dwindled.
[Breaking news. A bizarre phenomenon is currently occurring over Seoul…]
[Netizens are raising the possibility that the video might have been manipulated, while an expert argues that the likelihood is significantly low…]
[Public anxiety reaches its peak, resulting in shortages of essentials like ramen and toilet paper…]
Not just on the internet, an influx of news and articles related to this was pouring out.
Even if it’s said that the rise of various OTT platforms has diminished TV’s status, the credibility of TV is still not to be overlooked.
People were now discussing not about a battle for truth, but rather ‘is this even possible?’ or ‘what is this phenomenon?’
At that moment, a new post appeared in a community.
[By the way, is it just me or does that feel familiar?]
At first, I thought it was fake…
But it felt like I had seen it somewhere before.
[Comment]
– Stop watching so much anime
┗(Author): I swear, it’s real;
┗(Author): Am I the only one feeling this familiar??
– What feels familiar?
┗(Author): I don’t know either;
┗(Author): Just felt kind of like something I’ve seen somewhere;
– If you’re going to write nonsense, at least write it with some effort.
┗(Author): How is this nonsense?ㅡㅡ
┗Woof woof! Bark bark! Roarrrrr…
– This guy talks by himself and expects sympathy?
With no clear reason or proper explanation, the post unsurprisingly drew a lot of criticism.
The mainstream opinion was that if you wanted to keep a diary, you should do it in a diary.
But before long, public opinion flipped around—if not completely, at least to some extent.
It happened due to a post that replaced the one criticized and deleted.
[Is this what you were talking about when you said it felt familiar?]
For anyone looking at the community, it was a title easy to understand.
The post featured the pink girl familiar to anyone who played Silia Online.