#207
Prologue of Chaos (2)
The sound of a TV that had been turned on instead of the radio wafted softly.
Crash—!
Items on the table tumbled to the floor with a thud.
“…Damn it! What the hell is happening all of a sudden…!”
I frantically grasped the table with my flailing hands, leaning against it as I grit my teeth.
In no time, the once tidy living room floor had turned into a mess, but there was no time to worry about such trivial things now.
The sudden onslaught of the Abyss’s mental erosion.
Hans, who had become the Undead King, possessed a level of resistance that almost made him immune to mental attacks without even doing anything, but since this erosion was not an external attack, that defense was not helpful at all.
‘Since the moment I locked eyes with that bastard, the Abyss has been resonating from Hans’s heart… from within. This kind of reaction is abnormal for just absorbing shards.’
Of course, even if his mental defenses were rendered useless, it wasn’t too much of a problem.
With the massive karma he invested in growing his mental stats, combined with resources he could draw from other avatars, he possessed an almost transcendent mental power that made it strange for any problems to arise.
As long as I could adequately suppress this rampaging erosion and redirect it to prevent a backflow to the main body, there would be no issues.
After all, it was this godlike trait that even allowed Hans to use the dangerous powers of the Undead King at his own whim, wasn’t it?
“Cough, why now of all times!”
…That would have been normal, anyway.
Although I had an abundance of mental resources, Hans’s inner state was far too precarious and unstable to fully express them now.
‘Damn it, I can’t suppress it. Right after his mental realm was damaged, of all times!’
Various negative elements exploded from within.
The minor negative emotions I had repeatedly blocked were amplifying several times over in an instant, surging up to the limit of the Mind Hub.
‘At this rate, it will backflow…!’
In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through my mind.
Summoning Release?
No, that would just postpone the problem.
Given that a bomb was already residing within Hans, if I were to re-summon him after doing so, the same situation would repeat itself.
And by then, ‘Hans in distress’ would be right next to the unguarded main body.
‘Not being able to properly suppress the energy would result in his location being exposed everywhere! If I’m not going to seal Hans forever, that would be the worst choice.’
No matter how much a barrier was set up in the house, considering the energy that was currently emanating from Hans, this wouldn’t help much.
It was clear that addressing this issue in Auterica…, specifically at the Undying Castle, was the best course of action.
‘But if my mind gets contaminated, that would turn things upside down. I have to prevent that by any means necessary.’
The erosion had already surpassed the limits and was now battering against the boundaries of the Mind Hub.
I halted the movement of all avatars and focused entirely on Hans’s consciousness.
I wrapped the damaged mental realm with Yul Ryeong-ja to prevent additional harm.
I empowered the Clear Mind that was shaking aimlessly like a sailboat caught in a storm.
While controlling Persona, I further strengthened the security of the Mind Hub.
In the process, I realized that some information was included in the incoming erosion, but right now, I didn’t have the luxury to divert my attention to it.
‘This is seriously dangerous. I need some way to break through…’
However, such resistance would only serve to buy time at best.
The situation remained bleak enough to be described as despairing.
Just when I was doing my utmost to find a breakthrough.
‘…Wait, what is that?’
Suddenly, I sensed the orb left behind by Yul Ryeong-ja in Hans’s inner consciousness.
While chaos was raging all around, it remained calm, as if disregarding the surrounding anomalies.
‘Mental ability amplification. I don’t know if this would help in such a situation, but… it’s better than nothing.’
In fact, wasn’t this whole mess caused by that item?
As long as it helped to remedy the situation, I wouldn’t care what it was.
‘Huh? This might be better than I expected?’
However, the item I used, grasping at straws, exhibited a performance beyond my anticipation.
It wasn’t used correctly, so it wasn’t dramatically effective, but at the very least, it was enough to help block the backflow and seal that gap.
‘Sorting out the surging Abyss within Hans can wait. For now, reinforcing the boundaries to stop the backflow is the priority. If I can finish this…!’
After that, a tedious tug-of-war with the Abyss ensued.
How long had it been since I began to counter the erosion?
Honestly, it hadn’t been very long in a practical sense, but since I had been embroiled in such a grueling battle in the mental realm, it felt like quite some time had passed.
Hoo—.
My whole body felt languid, and I was drenched in sweat, feeling sticky.
The very fact that I was experiencing this sensation was proof that I had gained the luxury of turning my consciousness outward.
‘I did it…’
Yes, in the end, I succeeded.
I was able to block the contamination triggered by the Abyss and erected additional barriers at the edges of my consciousness to prevent it from crossing over.
Zing—
However, just before I could relax into that accomplishment.
Bang!
Suddenly, a dizzying ringing filled my head, and I stumbled, crashing gracelessly onto the messy floor.
“Ugh, ugh.”
Was it because of the sudden incident?
While I could certainly halt the contamination flowing back to the main body, there was nothing I could do about the mental shock and fatigue inflicted during that process.
No matter how hard I tried to continue my thoughts, the flow in my head was stuttering and disconnected.
Feeling dazed as if in a dream, I couldn’t concentrate properly, and only fragmented thoughts swirled in my mind.
《As the Unique Skill grows, its possibilities awaken…》
But before those fragments could take any proper shape.
I felt my consciousness drift away, slipping into the darkness.
*
A short time later.
Click—
With the sound of the doorknob turning, a figure entered the messy living room.
After casually surveying the area, he soon spotted the man collapsed on the floor and let out a deep sigh.
“Hah— I didn’t expect this.”
Then, the one who entered the living room, Hugo, laid the unconscious Seong-hyun Han, who looked just like him, on the bed, checking his condition here and there.
‘Being in a safe place and only managing avatars, I never anticipated such a situation. Of course, it’s natural that stressful situations bring about such outcomes.’
Since it was his first time experiencing such a shock to his main body, he was quite flustered.
Fortunately, a close inspection revealed it wasn’t too severe, and it seemed like a few days of rest would have him up and about again quickly…
‘No, this isn’t the problem, is it?’
Suddenly, a cold sweat trickled down his back.
The real problem was just beginning.
‘Hoo, stay calm. First, let’s sort out the situation.’
Not long after being created and still having a weak ‘personality,’ Hugo finished all the cleanup and sat in a massage chair, enveloped in thought.
Everyone has various facets, big and small.
It could change depending on the situation or place, and vary depending on who they were dealing with.
At work, with family, during hobbies, when meeting friends…
In society, someone who is the most just could be a tyrant who gets angry over trivial matters at home, and a heartless murderer could be a loving parent to their child.
It was utterly obvious, so there was no need to classify it into a dual personality or anything; it was simply the natural expression of diverse and complex emotions that all humans possess.
‘And the personalities given to the avatars through Persona stem from the emotions of ‘Seong-hyun Han’.’
Each avatar was a facet of Seong-hyun’s psyche, a projection of his mind.
While they all appeared different, they were undeniably connected to his original self, continuing to share memories even now, while the main body was unconscious.
However, how each expressed their emotions varied according to their individual personalities.
In particular, his first avatar, Hans, was… essentially a garbage bin of all his negative traits.
The sorrow of losing family, resentment towards the world, anger at the perpetrator, despair for the future, etc.
Certainly, if an ordinary person had only those emotions, it could be quite problematic, but for the avatar Hans, the case was different.
‘After all, being undead suited him well, and those negative emotions actually helped in controlling the ‘Heart of the Undead King.’’
Also, since it was possible to objectively regulate that through the Mind Hub, there had not been any significant problems until now.
‘Until now, at least.’
If Seong-hyun, the owner of the Avatar, and the subject of the Mind Hub were intact.
And if Hans were not freshly tainted by the Abyss’s erosion.
“Hahaha… this is quite the pickle.”
Chuckling awkwardly and scratching the back of his head, Hugo gulped and let out a brief, sigh-like statement.
“…We’re screwed.”
That brief sentiment was shared by all avatars, minus Hans.
*
‘Unnecessary worry.’
Hans, who had subdued the swelling Abyss within, muttered inwardly.
It was true that he had toiled away to prevent the backflow, but the mental power that had been predominantly assigned to the entity known as Hans was not to be underestimated.
While additional contamination from the Abyss due to this incident was unavoidable, that had happened before, so it wouldn’t be much different.
‘I am the ruler who has transcended death and the rightful king. I do not dance to anyone’s tune.’
Be they the Abyss or whatever existence lurked behind the giants.
As he contemplated this, he heard Dwell’s panicky voice beside him.
[Your Majesty! Are you alright? I’m sorry! I should have secured that disrespectful giant more firmly. I never expected it to act up toward you in that state!]
Looking around in response to that statement, the surroundings did not seem to have changed much since before.
[I’m fine, just shut up, Dwell. I have things to think about.]
[Oh! A… understood, Your Majesty.]
Hans tossed a cold remark at the nagging Dwell by his side, then turned his gaze back to the giant’s head with the hole in its forehead.
The massive head was gradually crumbling due to the impact of the core being destroyed.
‘Ha! Mission? Duty? What a laugh.’
He chuckled inwardly while staring at it.
Although he had not analyzed all the information obtained this time, he felt he had a rough grasp of the situation.
It seemed that both ‘death’ and ‘madness’ had been designed to act according to someone’s intention.
The giant’s antics just now were likely a procedure to restore the Undead King to his original state, as he wasn’t acting according to that intent.
Had he not been an avatar, he might have indeed gone along with the giant’s intentions.
‘I don’t care what you are. If you stand in the way of this Hannibal Strauss, you’ll be swept aside just like those of the Oath of Reversal.’
From the beginning, there was only one goal for him.
To harvest a massive amount of karma through the ‘living room theater’ and use it to eliminate the Buncheon Society on Earth.
He was moving solely for that purpose.
‘But now, facing it directly, I find the Buncheon Society isn’t so trivial.’
As Hans gazed at the giant’s head, his thoughts logically led in that direction.
From there, a natural conclusion followed.
‘After all, I need more karma.’
It was essential to harvest karma more definitively, not with half-hearted methods like now.
Though he had thought this through several times already, he was no benevolent entity.
The human known as Seong-hyun Han, who had long since gone haywire— was capable of mass slaughter without blinking if the need arose.
‘It’s only natural. How many people have I killed up to now?’
Despite the filtration through the Mind Hub, the fact that he had killed people did not disappear.
However, the sheer number of individuals he had indirectly or directly killed was staggering, yet he had not felt particularly shocked by it.
Wasn’t this precisely the proof that something was fundamentally wrong?
Yet, throughout, he had tried to minimize civilian casualties…
That was merely an excuse for self-justification and self-satisfaction.
Struggling to maintain a tiny shred of his humanity.
‘What a joke.’
However.
Now, those shackles were released.
‘Perhaps I need to improve efficiency.’
The current approach he was taking was utterly inefficient.
The living room theater, great.
The clash between the hero and the demon king, wonderful.
But did the present scenario please him?
‘No, there’s no way!’
What on earth was he doing?
This was not child’s play, sending out tiny minions and making a mockery!
Even the demon king in RPG games didn’t engage in such clumsy offensives, slowly throwing in subordinates to nurture the hero.
Look! The massive forces piled high in the Undying Castle.
An undead army that simply kept piling up without moving.
What an utter waste this was!
Yet still, he was not satisfied with the current strategy.
[Dwell McKane.]
[Yes! Your Undead Majesty! Dwell is here, at your service!]
Had he sensed something unusual in the king’s response?
Dwell, who had been quietly hovering beside him, suddenly prostrated down and cried out.
Hans briefly stared at him as he bowed on the floor and made a brief statement.
[Gather the executives.]
[Yes! I will carry out the command immediately!]
As soon as the king’s command finished, Dwell vanished from his spot, as if realizing the gravity of the situation.
Left alone in the laboratory, Hans cast his gaze back to the giant’s head, which was turning to ash, then slowly directed his attention upwards.
There, nothing but the black stone that constituted the basic interior of the Undying Castle was present.
But he whispered softly as if addressing someone.
[I am Hannibal Strauss.]
Hans… no, the Undead King Hannibal Strauss.
[I shall be the one to bring an end to this world.]
And thus, he began to extend his dark tendrils toward the continent in earnest.
