Lord: Sequence Master

"It seems I have no choice but to go out," Rosen said as he stood up and walked toward the window in the mysterious study.

Gently pulling back the curtains, he looked through the window at the real-world basement outside. He had entered the mysterious study through a hidden door in the basement wall, so if he wanted to leave, he would have to exit the same way.

Several days had passed since his disappearance, and the villa had been thoroughly searched inside and out by people sent by Rosen's lovers. Over the past few days, through the study's window, Rosen had noticed people entering the basement more than once, looking for any trace of him.

However, after finding nothing for several days, the intensity of their search efforts had significantly decreased.

Of course, it was possible they had shifted from open searches to covert surveillance, but for now, that wasn't Rosen's main concern.

His primary issue was how to deliver the 148,320 keys. Although the static images, imbued with spiritual energy, would merge into a person the moment they came into contact with one, there still needed to be some form of interaction between the ordinary person and the static picture.

But how could Rosen distribute 148,320 keys by hand on the streets? It would take forever.

He would need extraordinary methods to distribute them quickly.

Five days later, Rosen opened the door to the mysterious study and returned to the basement.

His first move was to head to the corner of the room, where he rhythmically tapped with a knife strapped to his leg.

With a soft click, a hole appeared in the corner of the basement as if by magic.

Rosen's ancestors had been powerful knights, advancing all the way to Sequence 6 before becoming hereditary nobles and securing their family's legacy. The hidden passageway in the basement not only led to the family's treasure vault but also connected to a secret path into the city's sewer system.

The treasure vault had long been emptied of its valuables, leaving only a collection of inherited books.

Rosen entered the hidden passage, and the hole in the basement sealed itself, vanishing as though it had never existed.

He quickly traversed several dozen meters of tunnel before arriving at a small room about ten square meters in size. Here, he gathered all the books into his bag. When he last saw these books, he had not yet awakened his spiritual abilities, so there was a chance that some of them contained information visible only to someone with spiritual awareness.

Even if that wasn't the case, selling the books could still fetch a decent price.

After making sure there were no loose ends using his spiritual vision, Rosen continued through the tunnel until he finally emerged through a hidden wall into the city's sewer system.

He donned the mask he had prepared beforehand and, following his memory of the routes he used as a young boy, navigated the sewers with a flashlight. Soon, he reached the outskirts of Redstone City, where he located a manhole cover, climbed out, and left the sewers. Before emerging, Rosen had re-entered the mysterious study to change his clothes; otherwise, the stench of the sewers would have made him easily noticeable.

It was the dead of night, and the streets of the outer city were almost completely deserted.

Rosen found a secluded alley and pulled out a one-foot-long drawing board from inside his large coat. On it was a sketch of an agricultural drone—an original spiritual artwork that had taken him five days and ten units of spiritual energy to complete.

As he activated the spiritual energy within the artwork, the drone, modified according to his design, materialized from the drawing.

Rosen attached a box of static images to the drone and, using spiritual energy instead of a remote control, sent it into the sky. Under his guidance, the drone swiftly flew across the outer city, scattering the static images from above.

Spiritual energy, an expression of the soul and consciousness, gave the static images an irresistible allure to ordinary people. Anyone who happened to pick one up would instantly be bound to it, granting them access to the virtual Spiritual Realm.

Of course, wide-scale distribution like this meant some images would go unnoticed or fall into the hands of people who wouldn't use them. Additionally, it was likely that members of the city's extraordinary Sequences would detect the unusual spiritual energy and investigate. If it weren't for the mysterious study's ability to conceal any investigations into the virtual realm, Rosen wouldn't have dared to act so recklessly.

The unfortunate truth was that, at most, only a few thousand people would successfully bind to the virtual realm from this round of distribution.

However, Rosen had neither wealth nor power at the moment, and this was the fastest way to distribute the keys. While the initial phase might cause a stir in Redstone City, the virtual realm wouldn't harm anyone. Once people realized it could stimulate their latent spiritual energy safely, the unclaimed static images would become highly coveted.

Even if someone investigated further, they would likely suspect an artist of Sequence 6 or higher. It was unlikely anyone would suspect a fresh Sequence 9 artist like Rosen. Still, to be cautious, Rosen knew he would have to stop making a living by selling paintings.

Higher-ranking professionals could easily identify whether two paintings were created by the same artist. Even subtle, unconscious habits in his drawing style could be detected by those with heightened sensory abilities.

This didn't mean Rosen's paintings would have to remain hidden forever. No one understood an artist's work better than the artist themselves. As Rosen's Sequence level increased, it would become easier for him to mask those subtle details in his work.

Twelve minutes later, the agricultural drone silently disappeared into the night.

Through experimentation, Rosen had discovered that one unit of spiritual energy allowed a spiritual artwork to materialize for twelve seconds. With ten units of energy, the object could last for twelve minutes—exactly matching the limits of his Sequence 9 spiritual energy.

If this direct correlation held true, it meant that as he advanced, his spiritual artworks would last an extra second or minute at each level.

While this might not seem like a long time, in battle, it could easily mislead an opponent. If an enemy calculated that his artwork would disappear after eleven minutes but it remained for an additional minute, that unexpected advantage could change the tide of battle—possibly determining life or death.

As the drone spread keys for twelve minutes, Rosen didn't remain idle.

Although the artist Sequence didn't enhance physical strength, Rosen's body was several times stronger than the average person, thanks to the awakening of his bloodline and the cleansing effects of spiritual energy. Sneaking into a house, knocking out the owner, and leaving some silver coins behind before taking food and water was no challenge for him.

He only took non-spiritual items, compensating with silver coins for their low value.

Under these conditions, there was no reason for anyone to raise an alarm unless they were particularly foolish.

Even if news got out, Rosen was already far from the city center and back inside the mysterious study by then.

With a stockpile of food and water, he wouldn't have to worry about hunger for at least two weeks.

Returning to the mysterious study, Rosen relaxed after an intense night and prepared to take a bath.

The luxurious study had its own private bathroom, and after thoroughly washing away the sewer stench, Rosen reclined in a massage chair worth tens of thousands and allowed himself to unwind. He wasn't planning to sleep, though. Instead, he opened the Main God computer to monitor the Saw 1 virtual realm.

Though most people were asleep at this hour, there were always a few night owls.

Through the interface, Rosen saw a list of names on the left side of the screen—these were the unfortunate souls who had wandered the streets, attracted by the spiritual energy of the keys, and picked one up. After falling asleep at home, their spiritual consciousness had been pulled into the virtual realm of Saw.

While the virtual realm could stimulate latent spiritual energy—something that would be a blessing for those seeking extraordinary power—it was a curse for those with no such ambitions. These unfortunate individuals would find themselves dragged, night after night, into a world of fear and pain, enduring endless torment within the realm of Saw.

(Chapter End)