NOVEL NEXT The Strategist VII
It was inevitable that a nuclear bomb could only be countered by another nuclear bomb. And the nations armed with nuclear weapons kept their own in check. Nuclear war appeared only in fictional apocalyptic scenarios, where the world had already ended.
The same held true for the Outer Gods. It was extremely rare for anomalies of Outer God-class to collide directly with each other. After all, unless someone was a lover of desolate tragedies, there was no reason to jump into a fate of mutual destruction.
- Kya ha ha ha ha ha
However, this world was indeed an apocalyptic world where the world had ended, and this place was the temple of the Outer God who dominated all creative works.
Thus, the Infinite Void descended. Outer God against Outer God. It became a guillotine match among nuclear-armed nations.
- Kya ha ha ha ha ha ha
Each time Cheon Yo-hwa's lips moved, a chilling laugh echoed from all around. The low-quality noise world spread by the Admin of the Infinite Metagame was being devoured back by the Infinite Void, released from the Time Seal of the hourglass.
The two Outer Gods began to clash for dominance over the world.
[The Admin of the Infinite Metagame announces that a critical bug has been discovered in this server.]
The Admin seemed flustered by the unexpected situation. It was as if a rival company's CEO had taken the mic at a casual user meeting and declared, “Your company’s game is doomed for these reasons.” Such behavior lacked any business ethics.
Flap, flap.
The Admin's true form, a blue butterfly, fluttered desperately. It flew around, quickly realizing that hundreds of magical girls loyal to it were present here.
“What, what is this? What's going on...?”
“Isn't the event starting already?”
The magical girls were confused. To them, it was as if chaos had suddenly erupted. The blue butterfly decided to use them.
[The Admin of the Infinite Metagame declares the monsters summoned here as targets to be exterminated.]
[The boss monster’s name is Infinite Void, an enemy that descended by taking over the body of Baekhwa Girls' High School's student council president, Cheon Yo-hwa.]
[The Infinite Void aims to destroy the world. Stop the Infinite Void.]
[A huge reward will be given to the users who succeed in subjugating this boss monster.]
[Temporary buffs are provided to characters participating in the raid.]
Whoosh—
The light spread from the blue butterfly and enveloped the magical girls. It was an easily recognizable buff effect.
The magical girls shouted.
“See, I told you! It's an event!”
“That's the monster over there!”
With the game admin clearly identifying it as a monster, the magical girls' confusion noticeably decreased.
“Attack! Everyone, attack!”
“But, it's Cheon Yo-hwa――”
“Idiot! The monster took over her body!”
Roar.
Some of the magical girls formed a formation, while others rushed chaotically towards Cheon Yo-hwa. They were a ragtag group, but they were still awakeners buffed by an Outer God. They enjoyed a level-up effect incomparable to before.
Despite hundreds of such humans rushing in waves, Cheon Yo-hwa's lips merely curved into a relaxed smile.
“Ahah.”
-Ah hah.
The mocking sound flowed from Cheon Yo-hwa's lips and the Infinite Void’s realm simultaneously.
Click.
Cheon Yo-hwa lightly clicked her tongue. Click, click, click. The same sound was endlessly reflected in the surroundings already stained by the Infinite Void’s realm.
“Ugh?”
“What?”
Thud, thud.
The magical girls who heard the tongue-click fell one by one, starting from the front. Some even fell headlong with the momentum of their rush. One of the Infinite Void's powers, 'Showing a Dream of a Happy Future,' effortlessly ensnared the magical girls.
Not only humans but also the Tutorial Fairies were the same.
“Ugh—”
“This, this sinister aura belongs to the Fairy King?”
“It's irresistible…….”
“Ugh, who could have guessed that a hero who decapitated the king would be immediately followed by a tyrant, the greatest war hero?”
“Revolution is a series of absurdities…….”
Thud, thud.
The Fairies’ eyes rolled back as they powerlessly crashed to the ground. The 'Tutorial Fairy' also had the attribute of a creative work. They were more akin to anomalies closer to the Infinite Metagame. It was better to retire them here before entering the real battle.
The awakeners and fairies lying on the ground did not rise again. With one counterattack, the group of magical girls and fairies was instantly neutralized.
‘Seeing it up close, it looks like this.’
A happy dream. I had only experienced that power directly, but it was rare to observe it live from the side of the Infinite Void. I walked leisurely to Cheon Yo-hwa's side. “Are you alright? If an Outer God devours your mind, it's all over. Yo-hwa, you must keep holding the reins.”
“Ahaha. I'm still holding on, ahjussi.”
Cheon Yo-hwa looked up at me at an oblique angle.
“Or should I call you, sunbae?”
“…….”
“Just kidding! But my mind and the Outer God's mind are mixing rapidly. Um, it feels like barely keeping my eyes open while drowning in ink. Anyway, we should finish this as soon as possible.”
“That’s the plan.”
Oh Dok-seo staggered towards us.
“Ugh. I succeeded, right…?”
“For now. You can say we've cleared the most crucial first stage. Good job, Dok-seo.”
“I really thought I was going to die sitting in that meditation posture….”
In the hotel's back garden, the only ones standing with both feet firmly on the ground were now Cheon Yo-hwa, me, and Oh Dok-seo. The Saintess was waiting inside the hotel with the writers. Other awakeners were unnecessary.
Now that we had achieved the goal of summoning the Admin of the Infinite Metagame into reality, we had no further business with the magical girls.
Flutter.
The blue butterfly looked down at us. Around the butterfly, the low-quality noise of the Infinite Metagame and the colors of the Infinite Void continued to clash alternately.
[The Admin of the Infinite Metagame determines the current anomaly as a malicious hacking attack.]
[The Admin of the Infinite Metagame antagonizes the malicious users who cause extreme harm to the game server's operation.]
It treated us as mere viruses. That was the strategy chosen by the Outer God.
As everyone knew, the Admin of the Infinite Metagame defined this world as a game and itself as the administrator. The administrator naturally had overwhelming authority over the users. However, it couldn't directly interfere with users operating ordinary accounts. That would be beyond the administrator’s role.
Thus, although it had watched us secretly operating to subdue the Infinite Metagame, it hadn't been able to impose significant sanctions. But if it defined us as entities disturbing the game environment in an 'unfair manner,' the story changed. It could wield its administrative hammer without restraint.
The Infinite Void was akin to a virus shaking the game to its core. To counter this, the Infinite Metagame had to muster all its original power.
[The final boss of the stage has finally appeared. It has been exactly 40 days, 11 hours, and 36 minutes since the speedrun began.]
In response, our party also defined the current situation in our own way. We might be malicious users? Perhaps. But in a ‘speedrun,’ exploiting the game's loopholes and bugs was fair play. This was entirely legitimate gameplay.
[If we can defeat that blue butterfly, our speedrun will be a success.]
The Saintess's broadcast was suppressed as the Admin continued to generate noise.
[The Admin of the Infinite Metagame points out that the Infinite Void was originally a designated boss monster. Sealing and summoning the monster into a neutral area to release it is an act that causes serious harm to other players.]
[The Outer God continues to mutter something. It’s a desperate struggle. Let's ignore it.]
Human voices and the voices of Outer Gods alternated in our minds.
[The Admin of the Infinite Metagame claims it does not harm humans significantly. Rather, its game server offers rapid growth to humans.]
[Ah, now it’s trying to negotiate. This is a new pattern, but Outer Gods generally avoid direct combat unless it's truly decisive. They can devour the world by just being still.]
[The Admin of the Infinite Metagame offers valuable items to the characters 'Oh Dok-seo' and 'Cheon Yo-hwa'.]
[Of course, we press the refuse button here.]
[The Admin of the Infinite Metagame informs that a few people cannot overwhelm it.]
I looked at Cheon Yo-hwa.
“Yo-hwa, release it.”
“Yes, sunbae!”
Rattle.
Cheon Yo-hwa eagerly opened the trunk she had prepared. Inside the bag, constructed with subspace, were 99 hourglass glass bottles.
“Baekhwa Girls' High School! Gather around!”
Clang!
Cheon Yo-hwa overturned the trunk and shattered all the glass bottles with her aura. Ninety-nine ghosts were released. If the 'human Cheon Yo-hwa' was the student council president of Baekhwa Girls' High School, the 'Outer God Cheon Yo-hwa' was the student council president of Baekhwa (百話 - Hundred Tales) Girls' High School. At the leader's call, the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, Hyakki Yagyo appeared.
- Hee, hee, hee, hee.
- Do you want red toilet paper? Or blue toilet paper?
- Koong... koong... koong......
Ghosts of the underworld, Hanako ghosts, Kongkong ghosts, school broadcast ghosts, etc. Their visuals were somewhat bizarre, but this was also an 'assemble.' The tide of battle quickly turned.
[…….]
[The Admin of the Infinite Metagame concludes that further negotiation is pointless.]
[Eliminate them.]
And so, for the first time in 593 cycles, I finally witnessed the combat power of the Admin of the Infinite Metagame fully unleashed.
How would it attack? As I prepared myself, the inorganic voice of the Outer God seeped into my mind.
[The Admin of the Infinite Metagame points out that the Infinite Void was originally an enemy but later became an ally.]
[It activates the cliché of 'an enemy who was strong becomes weak as soon as they join the ally’s side'.]
“What?”
Bzzzzzt—!
The moment the Outer God finished speaking, the low-quality noise domain expanded to the horizon. It happened in a flash. Just a second ago, the Infinite Void's vivid realm was fighting back, but the Infinite Metagame's realm engulfed the world without hesitation.
Under the sky covered with noise in an instant, the ghosts of Baekhwa Girls' High School began to distort.
Bzzzt Bzzzt—
The ghosts, which had manifested in reality, had their visual quality increasingly deteriorate. From AAA game graphics to VR game graphics, to 32-bit, to 16-bit.
“Eh. Huh? Uh, sunbae, what do we do…?”
Cheon Yo-hwa panicked beside me. For some reason, Cheon Yo-hwa's face suddenly reminded me strongly of 'Vegeta.'
“Uh, I suddenly feel very weak……?”
“…….”
Indeed.
At that moment, I realized what the true power of the Admin of the Infinite Metagame was.
Cliché manipulation.
The ability to bring out any cliché from creative works at will. The power to manipulate 'the world itself' using those clichés. That was the power of the Outer God.
Footnotes:
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