Episode 22 – The Otherworld was detached from the physical world but not completely excluded. It was a place interconnected with the physical world through the medium of dreams.
If dividing it into images, it was like the sequence of Otherworld – Dream – Reality, as if a wedge were embedded. The side that pierces was the Otherworld.
It’s easy to go from reality to dreams. All you need is to light a special candle and sleep. However, not just anyone could enter the Otherworld from a dream.
Among some who studied mysticism, individuals with exceptional spirituality could reach from reality to dreams through special rituals. Only cult leaders from some sects or high-ranking mages could manage that much.
“We’re ready.”
Charles laid out and observed the materials he had gathered from the auction in his secret library. He had bought additional materials using the commission received from Evrén Linden.
While the Otherworld is generally characterized as not belonging to this world, it actually had multiple layers.
Where Charles was heading was a middle layer. Quite a lot of materials were required for that, so he had consumed a significant amount of what he had bought from the Oracle auction.
“Hmm, where’s the book again?”
-The ritual magic book? It’s in the third drawer on the left.
-Sometimes I think you’re like my mother, Pagi.
-Ha, stop talking nonsense!
Hearing Paginarecor’s sarcasm, Charles laughed. It felt like having a friend who would just chatter nonsense. It didn’t feel so bad.
He opened the drawer. Inside was the ritual magic book he had noted earlier, detailing a method to enter the Otherworld through dreams. He discovered it while organizing the items in the secret library.
“Hmm. I need to apply an extract of Spring Star Flower on a consecrated ritual dagger to stab a lamb’s parchment inscribed with the prepared declaration.”
On the parchment was a simplified version of the original ritual declaration. To descend to the Otherworld from the dream required the use of 77 steps, and it was like incorporating all 77 steps into a single parchment.
Mumbling to himself, Charles gathered the ritual materials and prepared for the ritual magic. He purified his body and erased odors by applying the prepared incense.
While muttering, Charles completed his preparation for the ritual magic. He was ready to stab the dagger through the split letters inscribed on the parchment.
“Hoo, alright. I’m ready to go.”
Up to this point, the materials of the secret world were needed, but the most crucial material for this ritual magic was the caster’s ‘passion.’
It required the passion of a being with great spirituality as a kind of entry ticket. Though he would be left exhausted for a while after returning from the Otherworld in the dream, the emotions would soon recover.
Chanting the prepared incantation, Charles kindled a great passion within himself. Then, in an instant, he stabbed the dagger into the parchment.
As the dagger pierced the paper, he felt as if reality was splitting and escaping. Passing through that mist, Charles found himself in a deep, narrow cave.
He felt something surging like a torrent within him. Sensing an ample amount of internal energy, it seemed he could wander around for a while.
-Pagi?
He looked at his waist. Paginarecor was not there. Unauthorized beings could not enter the dream Otherworld. Thus, in the game, cult leaders would enter here to exclusively ‘farm’.
The damp cave was arranged like a hideout. Charles walked out from there. His senses made the unfamiliar path feel like a familiar street.
As soon as he exited the cave, he felt the fresh breeze. The unique air of the plateau was palpable. In the distance below the horizon, he saw a vast canyon, and because the weather was clear, he could even see the plains far away at the bottom of the canyon.
‘Ulg Plateau.’
Watching the grand vista, he felt a strange sensation. This was where Charles aimed to reach.
Even in the ‘Cult Leader Simulator’, recreated in a roguelike manner in a new world each time, he had ventured into the Otherworld. Though it had different names and backgrounds each time, every place had its characteristics.
The [Plateau] had a drop table of ‘relics, summons, and powers’.
The [Plain] had a drop table of ‘companions, weapons, food’.
The [River] had a drop table of ‘weapons, food, spells’.
The [Lake] had a drop table of ‘blessings, relics, weapons’, among others. There were numerous locations like volcanoes, polar regions, the moon, forests, each with a different drop table matched to its terrain.
While deeply thinking about the game’s settings, Charles soon felt his vision blur. Mist was gathering. What should have been high in the sky was rushing in as mist from far beyond the horizon.
He felt the fierce throb of passion in his heart.
‘I can feel it. Something’s about to happen.’
This was an ‘Encounter’. In gaming terminology, this was called an event. He remembered that each passion stack triggered one event.
Now that the game had become reality, the outcome was highly uncertain.
From beyond the mist, he heard drumbeats. Thump. Thump. Thump.
It sounded as if tearing through his ears, mingled with a roaring scream. The first thing he saw in the mist was the shadow of a dragon head.
Thinking a dragon-type being might appear, a highly tense Charles realized the dragon head was merely a sculpture. It was a massive ship. It looked like a North Viking ship, but the issue was that it was moving on land.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Looking closely, a species with four arms, like ants, were walking bipedally. They carried the ship on their shoulders, lifting and holding it up with their arms.
Behind the dragon head on the ship was a king wearing a golden mask. He was wrapped in a large cape and speaking to the ants beside him.
‘The Ant Species of Iscarvann…….’
Charles had some knowledge about that species. Known as the ants of Iscarvann, these creatures carrying the ship could easily annihilate a rural village if they appeared on land.
While a person with regular spirituality or someone with a rifle might manage at some risk, it was usually best not to engage with the ants of Iscarvann.
Additionally, a foreboding sense made him refrain from approaching them, only observing from a distance. He had a feeling that this encounter event would not end well.
He opted to retreat, moving away from the massive ant king’s ship in the mist, finding a forest.
The trees, resembling mushrooms, bore slime-like jelly instead of leaves upon closer inspection. In the peculiar forest community, Charles discovered a gigantic tree.
Even from a great distance, it rose high into the sky. Unlike the surrounding trees, its canopy was desolate, neither appearing as suffering from winter’s chill nor seemingly dead.
It gave a strong impression as if something had drained its vitality. Charles moved, sensing he had encountered a second event.
Atop the tree, likely thousands of years old, appeared a nest-like formation. It felt as if some fateful calling was guiding him towards it.
Driven by curiosity, when he climbed up, it wasn’t a bird’s nest but a city that emerged. Remarkable, a city atop a nest.
‘This is… the shaman city of the Ulg Plateau.’
An ancient city once inhabited by the shaman tribe. Approaching closer, it was filled with ruins that seemed only ghosts would dwell.
The shaman tribe had perished long ago for some unknown reason, though remnants of their legacy still lingered.
Charles thought he might find something akin to the powers he longed for in this place, so he decided to stay in the village.
With thick dark clouds still dominating the sky, Charles searched inside the buildings, hoping to find something special. Then, he saw writings on the walls.
‘That’s not Ancient Hermes.’
It didn’t seem like Rhem either. While engrossed in an unknown language, he felt a presence behind him. Though not hostile, its sudden appearance was an issue. Turning in surprise, he saw something.
It had wings instead of arms and walked bipedally, wearing a bizarre mask adorned with bird feathers.
“A lost bird has arrived.”
He held a staff in his hand. Bearing a staff shaped similar to an ancient Egyptian Ankh, the being did not seem hostile.
“Who are you?”
“I am a dissipating afterimage.”
His body emitted spirituality yet had no physical substance. He was a state of being with only a remaining soul, no body.
“A lost bird. I know what you desire.”
“……”
Charles remained silent, having learned nothing about his counterpart. However, the shaman knew Charles very well.
“You seek divination?”
“How do you know……?”
“I, too, divined. Even knowing our meeting through divination.”
Charles peered into the shaman’s eyes from behind the mask. Not a human’s. The clear rectangular pupils revealed he was of a different species.
If his words were true, he was an extraordinary diviner, potentially specializing his entire spirituality towards divination. He seemingly could foresee or prophesy nearly all futures, leading Charles to speak.
“Can you teach divination? I will grant your wish.”
“Our divine tree needs light. Bring us the light. Then, I shall teach you.”
“Light?”
“Behold the jar crafted from arrogance and hubris.”
When the shaman extended his staff, a peculiar jar emerged beneath the central table of the building. The jar, with a concave mouth below the opening, was quite large.
This was a Canopic jar. In ancient Egypt, to make mummies, they would thoroughly dry out the body, removing the remaining ‘malignant toxins’ while extracting the organs, placing them in canopic jars.
In this world, the Canopic jar held similar significance. The shaman continued.
Charles thought it was oddly similar to Pandora’s Box, wondering what was desired.
“Our race crafted this Canopic jar. Seeking to create an elixir for eternal life, placing their sins inside, conducting a ritual to forge ‘light’.”
“And?”
“The ritual succeeded, creating ‘light’ within the jar, but a problem arose. We couldn’t retrieve it. Inside, there are a thousand darknesses and a single light.”
“……”
“One can reach into this jar only once. Extract the light from the jar. Doing so, you will get what you desire. Fail to retrieve the light, and you shall take the extracted darkness.”
If he reached in and didn’t pull out the ‘light,’ it wouldn’t end well, encountering the darkness instead.
However, Charles felt oddly confident he could do it.
“A draw, huh? I’m up for it.”
I’ve rarely failed draws in gacha games. Charles mumbled, without giving anyone time to stop him, reaching into the Canopic jar.
Squelch.
“Ugh, what is this?”
The inside was filled with an unpleasant, visceral texture, like real intestines. Disregarding it for a likely misjudgment, he carefully selected.
Feeling around, Charles soon sensed something. Amid the squelchy texture, a faint glittering sensation.
While most people couldn’t distinguish a winning lottery ticket by touch alone, Charles was not most people. Following where his spirituality guided, he pulled something out.
“This is it.”
As he withdrew his hand from the Canopic jar, Charles held a light. Precisely, a round, glittering orb surrounded by light. It was about the size of a fist, resembling an egg.
