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＜ 18. Archbishop Gregory (2) ＞
‘ How can you talk to me ?’
’ It is through the hole made in the layer of the world, as I said before. As expected, the manager’s monitoring became intense, so I couldn’t bear to speak to them anywhere else. However, the temple is one of the few intact areas of mine. This is where you can escape from the supervisor’s surveillance .’
‘… that’s right. Excuse me, but do you know who the author is ?’
The priest was ready to hug Andrea right away. A huge old man who was excited with a mixture of delight and surprise. While Andrea smiled awkwardly and took a step back, Callices’ answer came back .
‘ The most faithful helper of the apostles, and the leader who led the country to ruin. I also have a deep connection with you. It’s because I’m the one who gave you the name Andrea .’
‘···!’
Hearing those words, unfamiliar memories flooded Andrea’s mind. A gigantic cave where not even a handful of sunlight pours in, the whitewashed refugees of a ruined country who are tired of living in silence, and a priest who held his hand and taught him about the world .
The priest in my memory looked similar to the one standing in front of me now .
Andrea called the priest’s name in a bewildered voice .
“… Archbishop Gregory ?”
“ Yes, Andrea! There’s no way you won’t recognize me !”
Gregory came over to Andrea and gave her a hug. The force was so strong that it took my breath away. A hug that would have broken ribs if it had been like this before entering the dungeon. Andrea sighed and barely escaped the priest’s arms .
I couldn’t even guess what the hell was going on. Suddenly, memories that I don’t even know who belonged to them flowed in, and they settled in my head as if they were original memories. Andrea hurriedly asked Khalisis .
‘ What the hell happened to this, Callices? The past when I said that I was taught the name Andrea by the Archbishop and that I grew up with the refugees of Calisis, but I must have been lying .’
‘ I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you earlier. Since this explanation is going to be long, would you like to distance yourself from Gregory and his friends for a while ?’
Andrea asked the others for their understanding and moved to a corner of the cave like a horse. The group and Gregory’s puzzled gaze followed, but there was no time to explain .
Finally out of sight of the others, Khalisis’s voice began to be heard again .
‘ When you tell your colleagues about your past, don’t your words come out so easily that you wonder if what you’re saying is correct ?’
Andrea narrows her eyebrows. Callisis was right. It felt like an outline of what had happened .
‘ Did Calisis borrow my tongue ?’
‘… Half right, half wrong. In order to explain, I should first tell you about your special situation .’
‘···.’
’ As previously mentioned, the Administrators value an interesting background and a clear mission when looking for challengers that people from the outside world can manipulate. It was only an exception when I chose you. Ordinary people pass through the past and become their present selves, but what the Administrator wanted was a person without a past .’
‘… What do you mean by that ?’
‘ Let me explain in an easy-to-understand way. He wanted an empty drawing paper with no past. You can fill it yourself .’
Hearing that, Andrea recalled the conversation she had with Arpan earlier. Horses, horses, horses. Arpan’s comment that those in a ‘special position’ different from others should be careful what they say .
According to Khalisis and Arpan. Andrea told her colleagues about the past and confirmed her own past that did not exist .
Then, a thought flashed through my mind. Jung Hyun realized that he had been possessed by the character ‘Andrea’ for the first time in a while and thought about it .
Except for the fact that
‘ Andrea’ was a slave, nothing about her class or past was empty. The saying that existence took precedence without a past could be interpreted as saying that the character was created first without setting the background .
‘ Why did only ‘Andrea’ do that ?’
‘··· It was the manager’s will. He wanted you to complete the challenger through this journey. And that’s… one of the reasons you came to this world .’
Shock like being hit in the head with a hammer. Hearing the unexpected truth, Andrea was speechless .
‘··· Why? Instead of that, wouldn’t it have been enough to just choose someone with a moderately relevant past as a challenger ?’
’ The manager said they want a living, breathing challenger, where a being from the outside world writes the story himself. The beings from this world create only routine challengers
He said he couldn’t …’
‘ Damn it, for just that reason ?’
‘···.’
Excited, Andrea involuntarily spat out curse words. But right after that, he belatedly remembered who he was talking to .
‘··· I’m sorry. Forgive any rude words or actions. I wasn’t talking to Khalicis .’
‘ No. Anybody would. I can fully understand your anger and despair as I have been watching your journey closely .’
‘ Thank you for your understanding .’
‘ Can I continue explaining ?’
‘ Of course .’
‘… Yet before you were selected, the Administrator ordered me to create a human without a past. However, I decided to cheat the manager. The past of the current life doesn’t exist, but I chose a body where the past of the previous life exists. I colluded with my first apostle… and made you, the second apostle .’
‘···!’
‘ As you may have already noticed, your body originally belonged to my first apostle. Even though I removed all the power I had built up and completely destroyed my body, I left that potential intact. It was also thanks to him that you were able to grow at such a rapid pace .’
Andrea nodded slowly. The question of why he was able to grow so quickly was solved. However, many questions remain unanswered .
‘ Even so, isn’t it enough power to defeat the manager ?’
‘ Your power is to endure this harsh dungeon, not to defeat the manager. The method to defeat the manager… you will find out soon, so there is no need to be impatient .’
‘···.’
Andrea’s face hardened. This was a serious matter that would decide his fate. He expressed his wish to know more several times, but he could feel Khalisis’ firm will to say nothing more about this .
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Needless to say, Andrea had to turn the subject to another question .
‘ By the way… how was my past created in the end? Please also tell me what it means to be half right and half wrong .’
You can’t miss it It means that my will worked for you to associate the past related to me, but I did not interfere with the details. Fortunately, you know a lot about this world, so you naturally came up with a narrative that could melt into this world. It wasn’t difficult to manipulate the past accordingly .’
‘… Did the world change according to what I said ?’
‘ If it couldn’t be like that in the first place, there wouldn’t be a human being who emptied the past. Even though I can only use my power in this world, I am a god in name and form. Changing the past is not that difficult .’
It was not something that could be easily understood, so it was a headache, but after a little time to calm down, Andrea was able to figure out roughly what had happened .
The manager who wanted a hidden character with an empty background setting, Khalisis who tricked the manager and offered the body of the first apostle, and himself who became possessed by it, and the world changed and filled the past by telling the background setting .
My mind was complicated. However, it became clear what to do. The culprit behind all of this, the person who brought him into this world. I had to go up the dungeon and beat the ‘manager’ .
But suddenly, a fundamental question that burrows into the brain. How the hell was the admin able to drag people into the game? And is there really any way to return to the real world ?
Andrea took a break and talked to Callisis .
‘ Callices, let me ask you one last question. If I succeed in killing the administrator… will I be able to return to the world I used to live in ?’
Unlike before, when he answered immediately, Khalisis remained silent for a long time. The more the answer is delayed, the more inflated the anxiety. Andrea licked her dry lips nervously. The moment my heart beats violently and my blood runs dry .
Finally, Khalisis’ answer came .
*
“ No, did Andrea really do that ?”
“ Yes, you really went into the body of a monster to increase your curse cards. Then he deliberately dipped his foot in the gastric juice inside it. I treated the leg that was only bone .”
“… that’s true .”
“ If we had climbed the dungeon without Andrea-sama, I’m sure we would have died dozens more times…. Bravery and wisdom that does not give in to any formidable enemy, a heart that considers one’s comrades carefully… You are better than anyone I’ve ever seen
“ Heh heh, I can’t believe it. In my memory, Andrea was an extremely weak young man …”
Hearing Emilia’s words, Gregory could not hide his surprise and stroked his beard .
reception room of the temple. The party and Gregory were sitting at a round table, drinking tea and having a conversation. When Andrea did not return after a long time, Gregory escorted them inside .
After briefly introducing each other, the topic of conversation shifted to Andrea. It was a natural procedure since their common denominator was Andrea .
“ Then did the archbishop take care of Andrea while leading the refugees of Khalisis ?”
A question from Marco, who had been sitting comfortably in a chair after taking off his armor for the first time in a while. Gregory nodded graciously .
“ It was. However, Andrea had been asleep for a long time due to some circumstances, so the time we were able to spend together was not that long .”
Marco tilted his head .
“ What kind of circumstances …?”
Gregory looked at Marco with an ambiguous smile instead of an answer. Silence that embroiders the air. Sensing that it would be hard to hear an answer, Marco scratched his head and changed the topic .
“ It looks like you must have suffered a lot while leading the refugees of Calisis. Isn’t the persecution from neighboring countries severe ?”
“ It’s okay. I didn’t even think it was difficult because I had endured for so long. However, I still feel sorry for the children who had to learn the sorrow of being a citizen of a ruined country before they could walk .”
Gregory’s eyes darkened deeply. It was an impression that only looked benevolent, but if you look closely, it was full of worn-out remorse and dull fatigue. Marco had a heavy expression on his face and lowered his head .
But then, Trisha, who had been listening silently, intervened in the conversation .
“ By the way, Archbishop, Andrea said that the person who taught him a name was the Archbishop. Why did you give him that name? In the first place, ‘Andrea’ was a common name in Helios in the past… Anyway, it is still passed down as one of the names of ‘the thief who stole the country’ in parts of Helios, right ?”
It was the ‘thief who stole the country’ that destroyed
‘ Kallisis’, but why did the leader of the refugees name the culprit who destroyed the country ?
In fact, when Marco asked this question to Andrea before, Trisha made an excuse, but she couldn’t help thinking that it was a very strange naming. Of course, I thought it would be a question that could never be solved because it was a long way from meeting the person who gave it the name, but I couldn’t know the world .
However, Gregory’s attitude toward the question was strange. Gregory shook his head, let out a deep sigh, and finally shook his hand as if it was a huge misunderstanding .
“ Since we lived in hiding, the truth is still not revealed to the public. You all know that Khalisis was destroyed because of the ‘thief who stole the country’, right ?”
A group of people shaking their heads. Gregory continued in a determined voice. The corners of his eyes, reminiscent of the past, were somehow wet with melancholy .
“ The truth is just the opposite. ‘The thief who stole the country’… As for the name I remember… Ian .”
“…”
“ Ian was a hero who gave everything to prevent the destruction of Khalisis .”
＜ 18. Archbishop Gregory (2) ＞ End