NOVEL NEXT chapter 3
2. Unleashing the Calamities – (2)
「Magnitude 7.2 Earthquake Devastates the Capital Region. Casualties Estimated to be at Least One Hundred Thousand.」
「Tower Rising from the National Assembly Building, Result of Earthquake?」
「National Disaster Emergency Declared Across All of South Korean Territory.」
「Unidentified Messages, What Are They?」
Overnight, the world had become a farcical comedy.
Whether you went on the internet, turned on the TV, or even scrolled through the comments on X-Tube, everyone was only talking about Disaster Order.
The rifts that had appeared worldwide, and the unidentified message still floating before my eyes.
[WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF DISASTER ORDER.]
[SURVIVE THE DISASTER ORDER’S CALAMITIES AND DOMINATE THEM.]
[BECOME THE RULER OF DISASTER.]
[Y / N]
I pulled back the curtains of the window.
In the corner of my vision, a black tower so high its end was nowhere to be seen.
Around the unknown tower that had pierced through and emerged from the ceiling of the National Assembly Building in Yeouido, broadcast helicopters buzzed.
[The North Sea Storm, Mirienne, dreams of defying fate. The tower rises.]
The message certainly said so.
“Mirienne. That’s a game character.”
The North Sea Storm, Mirienne.
After thousands of syntheses, the second 5-star character I acquired.
I didn’t remember exactly what Mirienne’s backstory was, but wasn’t she a sorceress who massacred thousands upon thousands of people to reach the end of the sky?
The other three 5-star characters, according to their settings, each possessed a notoriety worthy of being called a disaster.
Like this, the great disasters from the game had appeared in reality, causing enormous damage.
The thing I could guess at, of course, was what had happened in the early hours of yesterday.
[A Disaster is unleashed. Their power is immense, enough to destroy another world. This decision cannot be reversed!]
“…Could it be, they crossed over to our world because I fired them?”
It was an absurd hypothesis, but the reality unfolding before my eyes spoke volumes.
Disaster Order had become reality, and the catalyst was that I had fired them all yesterday.
The unleashed disasters were coming to destroy another world, that is, my world.
“…Is it my fault?”
No, it’s not.
I didn’t feel guilty.
Even if the system message was real, there was no way I could have known.
*Ting!*
[BECOME THE RULER OF DISASTER.]
[Y / N]
Moreover, this notification window, which had been floating in front of my eyes for more than half a day, seemed to be a message delivered to the entire global population, not just me.
“Hey, isn’t this… Awakening?”
“Awakening what, you weeaboo?”
“You know, like… that stuff in web novels. Becoming a Hunter, leveling up. This is a status window, isn’t it?”
“Anyone try clicking ‘Accept’?”
“I did. It brought up like, a game screen.”
“Oh shit, am I gonna be an S-Rank Hunter? Everyone’s screwed now, hahaha!”
=
Looking at online forums, a similar sentiment was forming.
Some guys were getting a little excited.
It wasn’t unreasonable to be hyped, with a surreal development straight out of a novel unfolding before their eyes.
But the majority was gripped by anxiety. An unknown terror had invaded Earth. Countless deaths were occurring worldwide. And any one of them could be next.
“…Disaster Order.”
I savored the game’s name.
Wait, game?
Suddenly, something flashed through my mind. I frantically pulled up the app store and typed ‘Disaster Order’ into the search bar.
But…
“It’s gone.”
There was nothing.
Zero search results.
I tried searching for mentions on online forums, but there wasn’t a single hit.
If the game had become reality, had the game itself vanished from the world? But then, how did *I* remember that it was a game?
“This is driving me crazy.”
My head felt like it was spinning.
Moreover, the notification window at the edge of my vision swayed before me as if urging a choice.
[Become the Overlord of Calamity.]
[Y / N]
If I clicked ‘Accept’ here, I would undoubtedly become a Player.
The game’s basic premise was simple.
The Player character, called the Overlord, draws Calamities from other worlds through rifts to develop their base and collect new Calamities. The system notification urging me to become the Overlord of Calamity must be referring to that.
“…I have to, don’t I.”
Whatever it was, the choice was singular.
To gain the power to dominate the disasters.
Flicking on the TV, already there were talking heads blathering about Awakened Associations, the need for new laws, guilds and whatnot.
But none of that mattered.
Those fools had no idea just how terrifying these disasters of Disaster Order truly were.
As if in reply, a notification window printed a fresh phrase.
[In the world of Disaster Order, calamity will assail you.]
[Become a Dominator, survive the disasters, and conquer them.]
[This is your story.]
[Will you become a Dominator of disaster?]
[Y / N]
“Yeah. I have to survive.”
Who wouldn’t, really? But I wasn’t ready to kick the bucket just yet.
Nor would I become a mere victim of disaster.
To avoid that, I had to become a Dominator.
Like my character in the game, a Dominator commanding countless calamities.
With a trembling hand, I raised it and pressed the accept button. A new notification appeared.
[Please set your nickname.]
[ … ]
“…Ha.”
Even this was the same as the game.
At this point, I even wondered if it was all one big hidden camera prank.
I was about to type in the three characters of my name, but shook my head.
If reality had become this garbage game called Disaster Order anyway, I figured I might as well use the nickname I’d used in the game.
[Actor]
I typed in the familiar two characters.
[Welcome, Dominator Actor. We welcome you as the newest Dominator of Disaster Order.]
[Time remaining until the next Rift Eruption: 161h]
Rift Eruption.
I knew about those – I’d experienced them often enough in the game.
A cataclysm is unleashed from the rifts every few days. The core of the game is to subjugate these cataclysms, using them as materials to synthesize even greater disasters.
The time remaining until the next eruption: 161 hours?
“Roughly a week, give or take.”
Whatever the case, I had to do what I could, now.
If all this was truly akin to the game, I first needed to enhance my player character, cultivate the ability to harvest lesser cataclysms.
Time was of the essence.
And so, as I hurriedly manipulated the system window, a chilling premonition washed over me.
Simultaneously, notification windows exploded onto the screen.
*Ding-ding-ding!*
[5★ Miriene, Tempest of the Northern Seas, is watching you.]
[5★ Asteria, the Star-Devouring Queen, is watching you.]
[5★ Karne, Mother of Ill Omens, is watching you.]
[5★ Selene, the Scorched Saint, is watching you.]
[And 293 others.]
[Achievement Unlocked: Beloved by Cataclysms]
[Reward: 1,000 Exp]
“Huh…?”
For a moment, I couldn’t grasp the meaning of the windows before my eyes.
Then, it hit me.
My nickname was the same as the one I used in the game: ‘Actor.’
Inevitably, the last images I’d seen of them in the game flashed back: their faintly mournful expressions right before the server shutdown.
If the cataclysms that had arrived in this world retained their memories from the game…
And if they recognized my nickname – the name of their former master…
“…Looks like I’m properly screwed.”
No answer came.
*
Once, there was a girl revered as a saint.
She yearned for tales of the divine, dedicating herself to faith.
The gods bestowed power upon the girl. She spared no effort in its use, employing it to save all who suffered.
The girl loved the world. And the world, in turn, loved the girl.
Yet, in the year of her coming of age, that faith was shattered without remorse.
“Burn her! Burn the witch!”
The girl who had been closest to God was betrayed by the very wickedness of the humans she sought to protect.
Drenched in boiling oil, hung upon an evil god’s altar to be made a spectacle of, she ultimately howled her apostasy and became a fire demon.
She held too tightly to this life to accept death with docility.
As much as she clung, so too did she resent.
Her resentment swiftly engulfed the entire continent.
“Ah, an apostle of the evil god! The Scorch Saint!”
The words someone shrieked just before their death became the epithet that defined her.
The Scorch Saint thus brought a kingdom to ruin in a single dawn. Seven days and nights later, she had set the continent ablaze.
Only ash remained where the girl had passed. Not a single living thing survived.
Her fire was impartial.
Neither those who revered the divine, nor those who blasphemed, could escape her flames.
This held true even for her own flesh. Only when her body was charred black, her skin festering with burns, her whole form a monstrous landscape of blisters, did the Scorch Saint cease her divine punishment.
“…Ah.”
On that last day of the week, as if God had abandoned all, so too did the Saint abandon the world. For a demon who had burned everything to cinders, there was no longer a place to stand.
…Or so she thought.
Until a supernatural vortex appeared above her head.
[Entering the Rift.]
And so, the Scorch Saint found a new abode.
It was a refuge, a sanctuary for the ostracized.
Soul and body weary, no longer stirred by anything, the Saint Selene finally came face to face with the master of the Rift.
“Are you the owner of this space?”
No emotion registered from the master. Yet Selene understood that this being was of a plane infinitely higher, equivalent to the God she once served.
“Kill me if you wish. I am an enemy by birth, a vile human. My body is marred with burns, lacking even the appeal to be violated.”
Selene resigned herself.
Nowhere would a woman scorched by fire be welcomed.
No salvation could come to a demon who had used the power given by God to slay the faithful.
But the master was different.
[The Rift Master ‘Actor’ gifts the 5★ Scorch Saint Selene with a 4☆ Elixir.]
[The Rift Lord has gifted the 5★ Scorched Saint Selene with a 5★ Emberbrand Wedgeblade.]
[The Rift Lord ‘Actor’ has gifted the 5★ Scorched Saint Selene with….]
[….]
“This is….”
[The Rift Lord ‘Actor’ commands the 5★ Scorched Saint Selene to embark on the ‘Frostprison of Agony’ Expedition.]
[Notification: The ‘Frostprison of Agony’’s attributes are compatible with the 5★ Scorched Saint Selene’s attributes.]
The Lord was emotionless, yet still offered Selene a new haven with warmth.
He provided potions to heal her burns and quicken the regrowth of her skin.
He gifted her a greatsword, light and sturdy enough to be wielded even with her charred and festering hands.
The Lord commanded her to incinerate other worlds for the sake of his domain.
And that was the one thing Selene did best.
Within her heart, a new pillar of faith took root.
Unlike the silent gods, this was a sweet and dangerous fruit; belief that brought its own reward.
“To the Lord, I pledge my eternal loyalty.”
The Scorched Saint Selene’s new home.
This was the Fallen Paradise.