The Ruined World Was Mistaken for a Game

Chapter 244: Because I'm Used to Being the Villain (3)

Translator: Dreamscribe

"Kyaah!"

"This is it!"

"Did you see those Heroes' faces?"

"So exhilarating!"

The crew members relished the reactions pouring into Arsilan Worlds. The more the comments were filled with curses, the more electrifying the thrill.

Yes, this was the thrill of playing the villain!

[Ignis's Evil Karma Value has risen.]

[DeGong's Evil Karma Value has risen.]

[Lulurara's Evil Karma Value has risen.]

.

..

....

Jinwoo could see that the crew members' Evil Karma Values had gone up. There was no particular downside to accumulating Evil Karma. It simply added the Evil Attribute.

Just as receiving worship caused sacred power and Authority to build up, the Evil Karma of Arsilan Saga worked in a similar way.

The hatred, resentment, and anger of others simply gathered and took root as a new form of power. Once Evil Karma Value crossed a certain threshold, it seemed mana or sacred power could be converted and used with the Evil Attribute.

'Hmm, so the more I tick off and torment the Heroes, the more power builds up.'

Strictly speaking, it wasn't actual evil, but the emotions and feelings the Heroes went through were real, and so it accumulated as Evil Karma Value.

Small streams of black aura began to seep from the crew members' bodies.

'For now, let's keep it a secret from the crew.'

Jinwoo nodded to himself as he thought this.

[A massive amount of Evil Karma Points has been acquired!]

Sadly, Jinwoo's Evil Karma Points had shot up explosively!

General Gord's infamy was staggering.

Though he hadn't even shown himself, he radiated an overwhelming presence and was being showered with curses.

The Executioners had committed horrific atrocities, and the one who had ordered them was none other than General Gord.

The enslaved, suffering people had finally been rescued, only to evaporate in an instant. Those who'd remained on the asteroid had been annihilated along with the dimension.

'It'll be good for them.'

The Heroes would encounter many dimensions from now on, and save many people. He hoped this staging would serve as a kind of inoculation.

Of course, they weren't actually all dead.

Just relentlessly piling it on wasn't a game anymore. That was torture. There had to be heart in the sadness. Only then could it be sublimated into enjoyment.

To the Heroes' eyes, the massive vessel carrying the rescued people had seemed to evaporate, but he had added a setting where the immense concentration of energy had collapsed space, and the now-perfected light of Arsilan had guided them to Luzen, where they crash-landed.

If a signal was sent to the Dimension Gate, the coordinates to Luzen could be obtained. The coordinates were embedded in Ludin's book as well, and through various other devices, he'd designed it so that the Heroes would be able to obtain at least one set of coordinates.

'It's about time it was posted.'

Jinwoo checked Arsilan Worlds.

Right on cue, HandGenius's post had gone up.

Title: Guys, I made it to Luzen!

Whew! That beam the mega-ship fired almost killed me.

The energy density was so high it was tearing space apart. Well, I guess it'd have to be to pull off something like dimensional incineration or whatever.

Worth studying.

Right before the ship blew, there was this flash of light, and next thing I knew, we were in a place called Luzen!

[Attached photo: the crash-landed ship]

The vibe around here is seriously off.

There's a military base nearby, so we're hiding for now. Almost died trying to find somewhere to hide.

Somehow we made it.

Emergency!

Total emergency!

Please hurry and rescue us!

We're short on priests, we've got tons of wounded, and we're out of supplies!

[Attached: scan data, video, map]

Uploading the scanned map of the area and the coordinates.

I managed to make a Dimensional Flower, which gave me the dimensional coordinates too.

Anonymous1: You're alive! Thank god!

Anonymous2: I'm coming right now!

Anonymous3: I just cried....

Anonymous4: Just hold on a little longer!

A huge number of comments started pouring in.

When Jinwoo opened his Information Window to check, many Heroes were actually sobbing uncontrollably. Haebyul, who'd been among the first to hear, had wailed until she collapsed onto the floor, weak with relief.

"Kyaah! That's some top-tier scenario work."

"A story like this really hits."

"This is what Arsilan Saga is all about!"

The crew members were impressed.

The Heroes now had a goal: head for Luzen. And it had naturally transitioned into a scenario where they would encounter the Luzenians.

A clean design.

Even though there was still plenty of time before deployment, the crew members refused to take off their Executioner armor.

It had become their most beloved gear.

Jinwoo watched the crew for a moment, then spoke up.

"One of the Executioners needs to die. Who wants to go first?"

Silence fell.

They all just exchanged glances. To die meant being written out of Arsilan Saga Episode 6. No one wanted that. They wanted to enjoy this a little longer.

"Ah, after you die, you'll come back later half-mechanized. With a power-up."

With Jinwoo's added explanation, he used Illusion Magic to show them the new setting.

"Mechanical arm? It can fire off too?"

"A jetpack attached so you can fly through the sky...."

"There's a bomb the size of a small nuke right in the chest of the armor, so you can self-destruct too!"

"The armor separates in three stages? Uwaah! And the final form looks like..., insane."

It was packed with settings that set the boyhood imagination on fire.

Especially the part where the armor shattered to reveal the final form, it was pure electricity down the spine.

WHIP!

Every crew member shot their hand up.

After a fierce squabble, it was decided that Ignis, the strongest of them, would take on the role. Everyone lamented it, but the moment they heard the armor would be upgraded, they immediately accepted.

Jinwoo opened his Information Window and looked toward the crash-landed ship. Several military bases were positioned around it, with a great many soldiers deployed. The Heroes aboard the ship couldn't easily move either, and were stuck hiding.

"It'd be boring if they just sat there hiding...."

Let's make things nail-biting.

Jinwoo quickly assembled a search unit and had them prowl near the hiding spot. He staged it so they looked like they were about to be discovered, yet somehow, by a hair, they weren't.

As the search unit drew near the cave where HandGenius and the Heroes and survivors were hiding, they all tensed up. The cave had been camouflaged.

[Hm? Something feels off here.]

[What?]

[Over here....]

A soldier approached right up to the cave. The soldier behind him raised his weapon and went on alert.

The Heroes held their breath and silently gripped their weapons. Just as the soldier reached out to touch the camouflaged entrance of the cave,

[Boo!]

[Gaaah! Don't scare me like that!]

[Hahaha! You fell for it again.]

[Damn it, I almost shot you.]

The soldier at the cave had startled the one behind him.

As they disappeared giggling and joking with each other, HandGenius and the Heroes exhaled in relief. But it was too soon to relax.

A load of heavy machinery arrived in front of the cave and started construction. They were building a structure.

[Fuck....]

[Bro, we're fucked.]

[...We're trapped for good.]

An utterly maddening situation had unfolded.

HandGenius and the Heroes frantically sent out messages. Incredibly desperate posts began appearing on Arsilan Worlds.

Jinwoo nodded with a satisfied smile.

[A massive amount of Evil Karma Value has been acquired!]

This one was definitely worth some Evil Karma Value.

"Well then, the Heroes should be arriving soon, so...."

Let's go check on Luzen.

Jinwoo stepped out of the Dimensional Transit Ship.

* * *

The Legion Commander of the 99th Legion couldn't contain his fury and slammed his fist down on the desk. The desk shattered into pieces, and cracks ran all the way to the floor.

"The 3rd Division's signal has completely vanished, and Aros Military Base can't even be contacted, let alone approached?"

"W, w-wall. It's like there's a wall blocking the way, nothing gets through! I, I'm sorry!"

"Is 'I'm sorry' all you've got?"

"R, researchers are gathering to discuss countermeasures."

They'd kept trying to fix it on their own without reporting in, and only once things had become serious had the report finally reached the Legion Commander. It wasn't a situation where summary execution would've been out of place.

Half of their entire force was at the military base.

The anti-Dimensional Predator weapon, developed with the Imperial House's unstinting support, was also there.

'If the higher-ups find out....'

He'd be shot on the spot.

Even as a Legion Commander, he was at the very bottom of the rung.

He had believed that if things kept going smoothly, he might even ascend to petty nobility, but now he was looking down the barrel of a firing squad. He shot to his feet, boarded his private vessel, and headed for the Dimensional Portal.

It was the Dimensional Portal connected to the military base's dimension.

Researchers were clustered around the Dimensional Portal, and the staff officers had come out ahead of time as well. When the Legion Commander disembarked, everyone stiffened and saluted.

"What the hell is going on!"

At the Legion Commander's roar, everyone froze in place.

Sparks crackled off the Legion Commander's body, and the surrounding air suddenly grew heavy.

The 99th Legion. The very lowest of the double-digit Legions, but a Legion nonetheless. And he was its commander. He had the power to butcher every single person here.

Of course, compared to the Imperial Army and the Imperial Knights, the 99th Legion was like a child in strength. Even the mighty 1st Legion was no more than a candle before a tidal wave.

"W, we're still researching. An u, unknown phenomenon has occurred, cutting everything off, so...."

"Then fix it, damn it!"

The Legion Commander grabbed the researcher by the helmet. Cracks spread across the helmet, and the researcher screamed. Unlike the soldiers, the researcher wore a gas-mask-like helmet and researcher's attire.

"K, kngh! W, we still can't get through, but there's a m, method to receive signals!"

When the Legion Commander let go, the researcher scrambled over to the Dimensional Portal and began operating the machinery. If they didn't do something, every last researcher might end up disposed of.

"It appears that a massive wall of unknown nature has appeared between the dimensions, blocking passage. We don't know what it's made of, but if we install a signal amplifier and interpret the faint signals...."

If the military base, or Luzen itself, had sent out any kind of signal, it could be decoded.

'P, please....'

They had to figure it out.

At the very least, they had to find out what had happened.

Like pressing one's ear to a great wall to feel the vibrations, they collected the signals and amplified them.

Thankfully, they got a result.

However....

'The signal can't be interpreted?'

The researcher was bewildered.

The signal couldn't be decoded, as if it had been contaminated.

Was it because the signal was too weak?

The researcher mobilized every available resource and amplified the signal to its maximum, concentrating it in a single point. It was amplification on the level of blowing up a single grain of sand to the size of the sun.

The exact contents couldn't be interpreted, but it was clear there were images and sounds.

They'd know once they played it back.

"I, it's done! Luckily, it seems they left a report! M, maybe it was temporarily cut off by some unusual dimensional phenomenon."

The Legion Commander nodded in relief. The only thing that could threaten the 99th Legion was a Dimensional Predator. He'd never heard any report of a Dimensional Predator appearing anywhere near here.

It would be a peculiar dimensional phenomenon just as the researcher said, and there would be no problem.

"Play it."

Regaining his composure, the Legion Commander gave the order with dignified authority.

The researcher pressed a button, and a holographic window materialized before the Legion Commander, playing back the output formed by pushing the amplification to its peak.

"Huh?"

"What...."

It was

"GAAAAHHH!"

"NNGAAAK!"

"KEURRRRGH!"

something that must never, ever be revealed in this world.

"Die! Die! Kill me! He, hehehehehe!"

"Graaah! Kekekekeke! Keeeeek!"

The Outer God of madness.

The Evil God who held all the evil in the world.

The God of Destruction who had toyed with both light and darkness.

The researcher convulsed in raging fits, then lunged at the soldiers. As he rammed his head repeatedly against a soldier, the helmet cracked. There should have been nothing inside the helmet, but his soul began pouring out, transformed into chunks of flesh.

The soldiers who came into contact with the researcher shuddered violently. Blood gushed out from between their armor and helmets, and they exploded. The armor that dropped to the floor fused with the flesh and began to crawl.

"G, guergh! Gwaaaaah!"

"Kek!"

It spread outward like a plague.

Researchers consumed by madness dashed about wildly, engulfing everything, and like an epidemic, the phenomenon began to spread.

The Legion Commander, whose mental fortitude was at least greater than the rest, clutched his head and ran like a madman. It felt as though hundreds of millions of parasites were crawling through his brain.

He saw hallucinations.

Countless tentacles seemed to gush out from the gaps in his armor, rusting it away. Scratching madly at his body with his hands, the Legion Commander ran forward in a frenzy.

"G, guh, guaaah!"

THUD!

Running like that, he finally dropped to his knees on the ground.

Tentacles spilled out from between the slits of his helmet, and blood dripped down. The armor that had shone so brilliantly rusted away in an instant. Blood and rust water mingled and soaked the floor.

It was as if the entire suit of armor was weeping tears of blood.

"Ha, hahahaha! H, He is c, coming! I, I am blessed. Blessed...!"

The Legion Commander of the 99th Legion had completely lost his mind.

"This blessing, to e, everyone...! He, hehehe!"

Had he simply exploded and died, it might have ended as a mere incident.

The Legion Commander had changed.

He had completely fallen.

Because of his half-strong mental fortitude, he had become the most revolting being in the entire history of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire.

And so, slowly, the frontier of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire began to be polluted.

* * *

Jinwoo descended into the city.

The city had been given a new name: 'Holy Land of Evil'. Jinwoo had compromised by having it shortened to 'City of Evil'.

He let out a sigh as he looked at the great temple where the Evil God was worshipped.

At the top of the pyramid-shaped great temple stood an altar for offering sacrifices. Using the sorcery of the Luzenians, water flowed down from the peak of the pyramid, with red dye mixed in to make it look like blood.

'Concept..., let's think of it that way.'

Jinwoo moved to Luna.

Luna was still offering prayers to Jinwoo. Other women were visible as well. Luna had become the Great Priestess, and those other women were the newly appointed Evil Priestesses.

'It feels like this is really getting going, but....'

For the Luzenians, worshipping the Evil God had become their whole purpose in life. He couldn't just cast them aside. As long as they were happy, wasn't that enough?

With that thought, Jinwoo alighted before Luna.

"Evil God!"

"Ohh! Great Evil who rules over all the evils of this world!"

When Jinwoo raised his hand, the praises stopped. He told them that the Heroes would soon arrive in Luzen, and even if they ran into them, they shouldn't be startled and should respond calmly.

"The Evil's minions have finally arrived in Luzen!"

"They're not my minions, but..., hm?"

Jinwoo felt something surging toward him.

It was enormously vast. It felt like a tidal wave. Something black and writhing came cascading down on Jinwoo.

[An unbelievable, tremendous, astonishing act of evil!]

[A massive amount of Evil Karma Value has been acquired.]

[A massive amount of Evil Karma Value has been acquired.]

..

...

....

So many Information Windows like those popped up that they covered his field of view.

"Th, this is...!"

Luna felt a shiver of awe and rapture.

At the same time, changes took place in Luna and the priestesses.

Their skin darkened, and the color of their eyes turned golden. The beautiful red jewels on their foreheads also transformed into black pearls, emitting an eerie, seductive glow.

Their appearance was just like....

"Dark elves?"

They looked like dark elves.

There were elves in Arsilan too who might be called dark elves. But they were really just elves with a healthy skin tone. They were ordinary elves who paid attention to tanning in order to maintain that healthy complexion.

Heroes had occasionally mistaken them for dark elves, but only back in Episode 1.

"Dark elves, dark elves...."

Luna repeated the words Jinwoo had muttered without thinking, over and over. She shot up from her seat and spread her hands. Her hair rippled and billowed like snakes.

"The Evil God has bestowed His blessing upon us. We are no longer Luzenians, but Dark Elves!"

"Ohh! Thank you! Thank you!"

The Luzenians who truly believed in the Evil God all began to transform in the same way. It was the moment true Dark Elves were born in Arsilan Saga.

'This should be fine, right?'

Anyway, they'd become more beautiful and far stronger, so surely it was fine? And they themselves were this happy about it....

'But why did the Evil Karma Value suddenly shoot up?'

It hadn't just risen, it had climbed to an absurd level.

And it was still rising, even now.

'...Did I go too hard on the Heroes?'

Jinwoo started to feel a little contrite.

But it had all been for the Heroes' sake.

Anyway, the Heroes would soon be arriving in Luzen.

Time to show them everything he'd prepared!