ACJ 07

Chapter 7

The moment the covenant was sealed, Lee Cheoeum moved straight toward the rift zone.

A branch apostle stepped into her path, eyes sharp with suspicion.

“Who are you? This area is under clearance—no entry for outsiders.”

With her face hidden by the dark visor of her helmet, Cheoeum looked even more suspicious. She jerked her chin toward Hayan.

“Ask him.”

Hayan quickly improvised.

“She’s someone the branch leader authorized.”

Yes, he shamelessly dropped his boss’s name. If not now, then when?

“…I-I see.”

The apostle stepped aside at lightning speed, and Cheoeum slipped past the barricade.

Hayan stared at her swaying ponytail, unable to hold back the question gnawing at him.

“Why… why are you helping me?”

Just for a thesis interview?

That excuse was flimsy. Both of them knew it. The danger Cheoeum had to endure was far too great for such a trivial condition.

I didn’t bring you here with faith or trust. It was desperation. I dragged you into this deadly place. So how can you act without hesitation…?

Cheoeum turned her head slightly.

Truth is, it’s for my counseling log.

Of course, she couldn’t say that aloud.

To Hayan, she probably looked completely insane. A college student braving an S-class rift for the sake of an interview? That was the kind of thing that would land her in a National Intelligence Agency research file.

She had no duty to dispel his misunderstanding. And yet—

“…One life is worth more than the world.”

With that dry murmur, Cheoeum dashed into the rift.

The fifth of the biblical plagues to reappear in this world was pestilence.

At first, people expected a physical disease—like the Black Death that once terrorized Europe, or smallpox, worshiped as a god of plagues. After all, the first four had been physical phenomena: blood, frogs, lice, and flies.

But on June 6, 2019—

the day of the catastrophe—pestilence appeared in a form no one could have predicted.

[Trial ‘The Tomb of 185,000’ is overflowing.]
[You have stepped into the rift!]
[Warning!]
[Warning!]
[Warning!]
[Status abnormality ‘Ruin of Pride’ has been activated.]

[Status Abnormality – Ruin of Pride]
Your self-esteem turns to fear.
To love me is to not know me.
Ends when the rift is cleared or if you move far enough away.
+

It was a mental-type calamity.

Starting with the fifth plague, these mental-type disasters quickly rose to become apostles’ greatest threat.

Physical attacks could be dodged or countered.

But attacks on the mind?

Can you armor your brain with steel? Can you wield a sword with your heart?

There are no floodgates for trauma. No exits for nightmares.

And in this era, where everyone carried invisible wounds and no one had escaped losing family…

Humanity’s weak point was its fragile mind.

[Han Nansae of Ganabi still unconscious…]
[The Korean apostle world’s status continues to fall… is this the end?]
[Ganabi officials only repeat: ‘Doing our utmost for her recovery.’]

One of Korea’s four S-class apostles was still in a coma from such an attack. Mental-type calamities had become the ultimate boss of disasters.

And yet—

as the saying goes, even if the sky falls, a hole to crawl through exists.

[‘Resisting Spirit’ has activated.]

[Resisting Spirit]
Fear not.
+

[‘Resisting Spirit’ negates ‘Ruin of Pride.’]

There was a way to armor the brain.

Lee Cheoeum had the power to resist mental assaults.

Her mind clear, she scanned the chaotic rift.

“Ugh… aaah…”

“D-don’t retreat! Fight back!”

The scene was bedlam.

Apostles, seized by terror, trembled uncontrollably. Their shaking hands rendered their lethal weapons useless.

Blood and dust covered the ground, yet the sky above shone with radiant light.

Wuuuuum—

Hundreds of statues floated in the air. Their marble-white bodies gleamed brilliantly, reflecting the midday sun.

Advancing in formation, they looked like priests in a sacred procession, like holy warriors marching to a crusade. Awe-inspiring—

Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!

“Aaaaagh!”

—but they loosed volleys of arrows at the apostles. Hardly worthy of reverence.

So they prioritize attacking those who struck them first.

They would only target Cheoeum after all the apostles fell.

Not being a target didn’t mean she was safe, though. With so many bodies and stray arrows, she could still be crushed or pierced at any moment.

But the crowd also works to my advantage.

Using the fighting apostles as shields, Cheoeum moved forward slowly.

She slipped through sparsely crowded pockets and ducked under protective barriers whenever arrow storms rained down.

Step by step, she reached the heart of the rift.

[You have entered the Domain of the Ruler!]

Scarlet papers, like foreclosure notices, floated before her face as a warning.

…Rustle.

The suffocating pressure made her choke, so she popped a candy into her mouth.

Above, a mass shrouded in dozens of golden wings floated in the air, radiating divine light.

[You encounter the Ruler, ‘Pride Adjudicator.’]

[Pride Adjudicator]
The angel who struck down 185,000 to punish the Prideful Reaper.
As long as pride exists in your heart, you cannot escape its grasp.
+

That was the ruler of this rift.

There were two ways to clear a trial:

Kill the ruler, or fulfill the clearance condition.

Usually, either worked. But sometimes, only one path was possible.

One: when the condition was the ruler’s death.

Two: when the ruler was beyond killing.

Cheoeum knew instantly this was the second case.

How could anyone kill that…?

It was beyond human scale.

Shhhhk.

The adjudicator’s countless wings parted slightly.

An incomprehensible, incomputable form… something she could only call a mouth.

Aaaaaa—!

[‘Pride Adjudicator’ activates ‘Reverence.’]

A newborn’s frail wail roared like thunder in every mind.

“Guuhhh… Gaaaaaghhh!”

Apostles collapsed like autumn leaves.

Their eyes rolled white, blood streamed from their noses, guttural noises spilling out—the fate of those who glimpsed what should never be comprehended.

Shhhk-shhhhk!

Half the fallen were pierced by the statues’ arrows.

Whoosh—

“Ahhh…”

The other half were sucked into the adjudicator’s gaping mouth.

The mouth shut, wings shivering faintly.

Craaaash—

Moments later, it opened again—and the apostles tumbled out.

“Damn! They’re coming!”

Eyes glazed, minds broken, they turned on their own comrades with blades and claws.

Cheoeum spotted one figure at the front.

“….”

Ash-gray hair. A gentle face eerily identical to Hayan’s. But her savage strikes betrayed no gentleness.

“Ha… Hayang? Why—?!”

“Please, wake up!”

It was Hayan’s younger sister, Hayang.

Ferocious indeed.

Cheoeum ducked behind a crumbling ruin and raised her hand toward the air.

Ssshhk—

<Mind Map>

The fluttering pages of her Toledoth stopped at one.

The counseling log was like a quest. Its benefits resembled quest rewards.

But this—this was her true skill.

[Mind Map]
Lead thoughts to branch upon branch, until they arrive at a different conclusion.
+

The power to connect someone’s thoughts into plausible chains, steering them toward another end.

With this, Lee Cheoeum would break the spell binding Hayang’s mind.