Chapter 424
Chapter 424: Ascension Ritual (5)
The control room of the golden altar.
The jaws of the angel administrators looking at the massive mana monitor had dropped to the floor.
"Chief Administrator…… the number of survivors from the 1st trial is over 30,000……."
"My eyes haven't gone bad. I'm looking right at it."
The Archangel rubbed his forehead and growled low.
"Has there ever been such an absurd farce in the history of the Ascension Ritual?"
"No. Not even once. The most that ever survived the 1st round was…… at best around 500 people."
The administrator answered while wiping his cold sweat.
"Sometimes out-of-standard prodigies who twist the causality of the dimension enter, but…… those arrogant bastards only aimed for the win and charged ahead first, they never played bus driver dragging tens of thousands of people behind them like that unknown guy."
"Furthermore, what is with those other four abnormally strong people? Why are they just following right behind that farmer and clearing his path? And what on earth is that pigeon dozing on his shoulder?"
The Archangel's brow furrowed deeply.
Originally, this Ascension Ritual is a sieve to ruthlessly filter out the dregs of the universe and select only the true seeds of divinity.
Yet because of that single farmer, the 30,000 surplus individuals who should have long been weeded out and ground up at the 150th floor all survived.
It meant the examiner had utterly failed in adjusting the difficulty and completely lost any discriminatory power.
It was the worst possible situation that could be faced as a system administrator.
'I thought it couldn't be true, but…… I never imagined that guy would sweep up every single survivor.'
The Archangel nervously bit his fingernail.
It's common for an overwhelming powerhouse to break through by smashing the obstacles in front of them.
He could even understand taking in a few helpers that suited their taste and leading them.
However, running an ascension express bus with 30,000 people dangling behind like luggage was a bizarre move never seen before in the tens of thousands of years of the ritual's history.
'No, how does this make sense.'
The Archangel's stomach twisted with injustice.
If the 500th-floor named boss was introduced early at the 150th floor, tens of thousands of people should have naturally screamed and died off.
Even if the farmer caught the boss, it made no sense for 30,000 people to survive intact.
If he reported this situation to the higher-ups as it is, the response would be obvious.
'The Chief Administrator is so incompetent he can't even properly adjust the difficulty once. Strike that guy's neck right now.'
The higher-ups don't care about the process. The moment he presents a result sheet that has lost discriminatory power, all the responsibility will fall squarely on him.
'The conclusion is simple. Before the report goes to the higher-ups, I just have to clean up those 30,000 pieces of trash myself on my end.'
Was this simply a private retaliation to save his own neck?
The Archangel shook his head inwardly.
No. That is what the Ascension Ritual is in the first place.
A stage where the survival rate is atrociously low, but in exchange, one seizes absolute rewards. The challengers also participated risking their lives fully aware of those cruel rules.
But if an out-of-standard variable like that farmer appeared and disrupted the ecosystem?
It was only right for the system to respond with a variable as well to balance things out. Strictly speaking, those surpluses didn't come up by taking the test with their own abilities, did they.
The administrator, who had been reading the room next to him, also carefully opened his mouth.
"F-furthermore, isn't the Ascension Ritual a place where only those with qualifications gain status. If such surpluses reach the next stage through a free ride, the value of the ritual itself collapses."
"Of course."
The Archangel's savage gaze turned toward the intermediate base on the monitor screen.
"If there is someone who disrupted the essence of the ritual, it is our job to hold that person responsible. Whether the farmer himself collapses or those surpluses are weeded out. Recovering the lost balance while simultaneously…… taking the opportunity to figure out that farmer guy's true disposition."
"By disposition, you mean……."
"Anyone can easily step forward with overwhelming force and slice a few monsters on others' behalf. But will that petty altruism be maintained even when it directly links to his own painful loss?"
A cruel and cunning smile spread across the Archangel's lips.
Originally, the intermediate base is a kind of oasis-like space created for survivors who barely passed the 1st trial to heal their wounds, prepare for the next trial, and do some light shopping with the points they gathered.
However, if he slightly twisted the administrator's authority, that place would transform into a living hell more terrible than the blood-splattering trial stage.
"Administrator."
"Y-yes! Chief Administrator!"
The Archangel gave instructions, grinding his teeth.
"Raise the prices in the intermediate base immediately. But leave the prices of secret treasures or elixirs that aid rapid growth as they are, and murderously raise the prices of only basic necessities like water and food rations."
"Ah……!"
"And fully seal the challengers' inventories. All use of food and potions they brought from their respective planets is forbidden. Make it so they can only buy items in the intermediate base through bartering with the Ascension Points they earned with their own hands in the 1st trial."
Astonishment appeared on the administrator's face.
"What a truly brilliant method! As expected of you, Chief Administrator!"
"Hehe. To save that trash, the farmer will have to pour out his precious points like blood."
The Archangel rested his chin on his hand and sneered fishily.
"If he saves those precious points, he can buy top-grade items that will drastically raise his own status. Yet, will he give up his own growth to spoon-feed expensive water and bread into the mouths of those worthless surpluses one by one?"
"……Indeed, you are going to strip away his shallow hypocrisy."
"Reducing the number of participants, and exposing that guy's true colors. Isn't it killing two birds with one stone. Let's see clearly just how altruistic and noble of a savior you are."
Ttiring—!
A massive system message floated in the empty air.
[Welcome to the intermediate base, the Hall of Rest.]
[Please rest and prepare here until the next 2nd trial is ready.]
[Warning! For a fair trial, challengers' external consumables and food are fully sealed.]
[All accommodation, food and beverage, and recovery items within the base can only be purchased through bartering using Ascension Points acquired in the 1st trial.]
[The transit period is a total of one week.]
As soon as they read the message, urgent shouts burst out from all over.
"My inventory won't open!"
"My potions…… I can't take out my potions!"
Challengers who had squeezed out mana to their limits and suffered wounds shouted, turning pale.
But the truly terrible warning was something else.
[Special Rule Applied: Regardless of race characteristics, all challengers must consume water and food every 12 hours.]
[Failure to consume will result in forced thirst and starvation penalties, leading to immediate death.]
"Wh-what? We die if we don't eat every 12 hours?"
"Are you kidding me?! My race originally lives fine for half a year without water, but you're going to forcefully apply a penalty and kill me? What kind of bullshit is this!"
The challengers bulged their veins at the coercive rule.
However, they truly fell into the abyss of despair right after approaching the golden vending machines placed all over the square and checking the price tags.
"Wh-what kind of insane prices are these……!"
Turning his head at the commotion, Kim Minwoo also leisurely brought up the shop window in the empty air.
[1 Bottle of Bottled Water: 2,000 Points]
[1 Hard Rye Bread: 2,000 Points]
The points gathered by the top-tier masters who crawled up killing mobs with all their might were at best 10,000 points.
The lower-tier freeloaders who only rode the bus all the way up hadn't even gathered 2,000 to 3,000 points.
In other words, it meant that even the masters would have their entire fortunes wiped out if they bought a bottle of water and a piece of bread, and everyone would starve to death together in a day or two.
"Was the intermediate base originally like this?! From the records of previous participants I saw, it clearly said this was a normal resting space!"
"I heard we had to buy food or water, but there was no mention of basic necessities' prices being this vicious!"
"How on earth are we supposed to hold out for a week here!"
At that time, someone opened another category in the shop window and let out a hollow laugh as if they had lost their mind.
"Ha haha……. Look at this."
Where his trembling fingertip pointed.
In a corner of the vending machine, weapons and elixirs that aid challengers' growth were displayed.
[Elixir of Enlightenment (Lower) — Permanent random stat increase: 2,500 Points]
[Hero-Rank Skill Enhancement Stone: 2,200 Points]
[Combat God's Battle Sense (Passive Skill Book): 3,000 Points]
Seeing that, the challengers' lips trembled pareureu.
"For the price of two bottles of water…… we can buy useful treasures like that?"
"Nonsense. Then are you saying we should leave those secret treasures alone and burn our entire fortunes on a piece of bread just to live?!"
Anyone could see it was the system's blatant and malicious tyranny pushing them to all dry up and die together.
Blood vessels stood out in the eyes of the challengers who were panting to survive.
"A-are there any ways to earn points? Like an arena or manual labor quests!"
To survive, the challengers turned the marble village upside down searching thoroughly.
However, 30 minutes later, not a single ounce of vitality remained in their expressions as they gathered back in the square.
"There's none……! There are no mobs, no quests, nothing in the intermediate base!"
There was not a single place to supply points.
Perfectly surrounded by enemies on all sides.
The 30,000 challengers slumped onto the marble floor and tore at their hair, falling into bone-deep despair.
On the other hand, right in the middle of that pandemonium, only Kim Minwoo was stroking his chin and making a bizarre smile alone.
'They said this process originally wasn't here…….'
Was a penalty given because they came up having saved too many?
It seemed to be the case.
Monopolizing the 500th-floor named boss (Zargas).
And the amount gathered by sweeping away the gatekeepers of hundreds of floors like a weed whacker after that.
An astronomical number was shining brilliantly on his status window.
'Originally, the more hellish and painful reality is, the more desperately one clings to religion.'
In fact, the majority of those 30,000 who knelt and swore to join the Death Cult in the 1st trial were believers in name only who spouted sweet talk just to keep their immediate lives intact.
Bastards who would have been reading the room and calculating the angle to quit anytime if they safely passed the 1st trial.
However, the system very kindly pushed them back into a crisis situation of extremes where they would dry up and die if they didn't get a sip of water right away.
In this hell of a perfect dilemma, what if he alone sweeps up the basic necessities with his overwhelming capital power and bestows the bread of salvation upon them?
'Ha. Missionary work is becoming too much of a free ride.'
So he actually liked it even better.