NOVEL NEXT Chapter 43: Walking Out
Floating above the stage for the Final Boss was a giant transparent screen with equally gigantic words written across it. It resembled the holographic screens they were used to seeing every day. As Primers, they had seen this screen hundreds of times.
"This… this is the Contribution?" Bach muttered, his eyes widening as he took in the sight. This was his first time seeing the Contribution they had been talking about.
At the very top of the giant screen, the words Contribution Panel were highlighted. Below them, a list of names was displayed, each followed by a percentage on the right.
Carina Powell - 37%
Herm David - 22%
Fermin Luoie - 19%
Dave Kharo - 9%
Lance Nette - 9%
River Cruz - 1.1%…..
The list continued, but no one paid attention to the names beyond the top five. As expected, the first five were all from the New One group—the same people who had bullied them into receiving only a meager percentage.
"This is nasty," Trey muttered from the side, shaking his head with a sigh. "Their group alone took almost 90% of the Contribution for defeating the Final Boss. Maybe this is their way of repaying us—with scraps."
"You think they could've killed that thing on their own?" Bach asked, turning to Trey with curiosity.
"They could have, but they chose not to," Trey replied, glancing at the Primers, who looked utterly dejected. "A group this strong rarely joins us normal Primers. Usually, the company backing them has its own Fissures for training. They don't need to enter public Fissures—they could get stronger on their own without all this trouble."
"So they came here just to bully us?" Bach raised an eyebrow.
"Who knows." Trey shrugged before turning to Kael, who was staring at the giant screen. "What do you think?"
"Only the strong can afford to be arrogant. They're weak. And no one dares to step forward to fight for what they want. Cowards with sh*tty abilities… They deserve what they don't fight for." Kael's eyes never left the transparent screen.
The thing he had always ignored before had suddenly caught his attention. A hundred years ago, if he still had the strength to destroy a planet with a single punch, he wouldn't have even spared this screen a glance. But now, things were different. Kael was weak, and things like this intrigued him.
Fissures were one of the great mysteries that even the strongest beings in the universe failed to understand. Even the Exo Primevals hadn't been able to complete their research on these space cracks. Like many other powerful individuals, they had been too preoccupied with fighting the Anthi-Orgs to focus on solving the mystery.
The White Prime and the other Exo Primevals had always wondered: Why is there a Contribution Panel after defeating the Final Boss? It was one of the many questions that had never been answered. Why is there a Final Boss? Where do the Fissures come from?
All of these questions remained unanswered, buried beneath layers of mystery.
Lower-tier planets—lacking the means to strengthen themselves—poured all their resources into studying Fissures. But even then, their power wasn't enough to uncover the truth. The only thing they could do was benefit from the Fissures by using them to make their people stronger.
If there were no Anthi-Orgs, we would be fighting the Fissures instead… Kael thought.
He stared at the giant transparent screen for a moment longer before silently walking toward the edge of the platform.
Trey didn't stop him. His attention was on the Primers, whose tense argument was starting to escalate once more.
"What can a Contribution even do? Clearly, this New One can take that corpse even if there's no Contribution Panel," Bach stated the obvious. The New One group was so strong that no Primers on the scene dared to fight them directly. Only death awaited them.
"I don't know either." Trey shook his head. "Even this giant screen is confusing. No one knows why there's a Contribution Panel at all. But whoever created it didn't do it for nothing. Behemechs are treasures, especially strong ones like this Final Boss. It can fetch a high price, and its body can be used to create weapons and medicine—even Elixirs, if the right materials are present. They can be used in any field, which is why so many people seek them out. And only those with the highest Contributions can claim the Behemech's body parts."
"Treasure…" Bach muttered, nodding from time to time as he absorbed the young man's explanation. "Only where there is danger will there be wealth and power."
"Right." Trey smiled.
As they talked, the space at the center of the platform started churning. Within seconds, a portal materialized, its smoke-like appearance giving off an ethereal, unreal, and unpredictable aura.
"It's time to go," Trey said.
"Let me fetch him." Bach turned and walked toward Kael, who stood at the edge of the platform.
"It's time to go," the Miner said.
"Hmm." Kael nodded but didn't move an inch, his eyes sweeping over the chaotic space beyond the platform. The mirror-like dimension floated, unaffected by all the turmoil in the world.
Seeing this, Bach didn't say a word. He simply stood beside him, waiting.
Kael reminisced about everything he knew regarding Fissures. Back then, they had been his playground. He could come and go as he pleased—well, as long as he didn't do something foolish like stepping into this broken space inside the Final Boss Portal.
Even as the strongest human being, even with his White Prime, there was no guarantee he would survive if he entered this mirror-like dimension.
They had tried once before, and it hadn't ended well. They had nearly lost their lives—if not for Pink's teleportation ability.
Machine and flesh—a combination capable of wreaking havoc. And the Contribution Panel… it looked exactly like the holographic screens he had always seen, even back then, before he became the White Prime.
But because of the Anthi-Orgs, the Fissures had been neglected.
Were they connected? Or was it just a coincidence?
As Kael's mind raced, piecing together every bit of knowledge he had about the Fissures, a tap on his right shoulder pulled him back to reality.
"It's time to go, Kael," Bach said with a smile, pointing at the Primers stepping into the Portal.
"Oh, I see." Kael nodded. "Did they end their fight?"
"It wasn't a fight—it was one-sided bullying," Bach chuckled.
"They're tyrants," Trey muttered, shaking his head. "I hope I don't run into those people in another Fissure. They're annoying."
"Even if you do, what could you do with your strength?" Kael asked.
Trey felt like a dagger had been stabbed straight into his heart.
"He just called you weak," Bach remarked.
"I know, Old Man!"
As the Miner and Trey began to bicker, Kael glanced at them with a small smile.
Soon, it was finally their turn to enter the Portal.