NOVEL NEXT Chapter 253
Episode 253. Seven Ancient Gods (7)
[※ This is a confidential document that unauthorized personnel should not access. There is no information pathogen-based seal applied. ※]
[Jörmungandr’s Prison. The Origin of Humanity.]
[Author: Dr. Chae.]
[Jörmungandr’s Prison is a supernatural space located somewhere beneath Seoul, or perhaps its entrance is somewhere beneath Seoul.]
[I heard Dr. Kim engaged in combat here a few times. Recently, due to the danger, we’ve continued exploration using drones.]
[This subspace has a low concentration of reality, and it’s believed that most supernatural phenomena grow stronger here. Here’s a summary of the exploration.]
[First, it seems Jörmungandr can bring abandoned or sunken ships into this space. The exact reason is unclear, but it’s likely related to the legend of Jörmungandr circling the world.]
[The prison’s facilities seem to have been created by humanoid beings. Exploration is still ongoing. Sealed artifacts, dead gods and monsters, machines made with pre-human technology.]
[It would be great if we could decipher the hieroglyphs of the humanoid beings, but it doesn’t seem easy. It doesn’t even resemble human language. I’m not sure if translation is possible.]
[What’s even more peculiar are the beings who created this prison. Dr. Kim revealed that during his exploration, he encountered human-like beings and engaged in combat.]
[This is the problem.]
[These humanoid beings are genetically similar to humans but different. They worshipped their creators and bound other gods, like Jörmungandr, for their own gods.]
[If these humanoid beings were created as slaves for other entities, and humanity itself is just a subspecies or creation of these humanoids…]
[※ This is a confidential document that unauthorized personnel should not access. There is no information pathogen-based seal applied. ※]
[Jörmungandr’s Prison. The Origin of Humanity. Reply.]
[Author: Dr. Kim.]
[What do you want me to do?]
[I’m not trying to scold Dr. Chae, but how should I explain this? I skimmed through the Administrator’s Library, and there are truckloads of beings claiming to be humanity’s creators.]
[This sounds like a repeat of our last conversation.]
[Humans gained reason from the Deity of the Machine Cult, received the fruit of knowledge from the Infinite Library, were slaves to ancient gods, a gift and original sin from the abyss.]
[To go further, every hostile group has its own theory about humanity’s origins. Discussing humanity’s origins in the context of supernatural phenomena is meaningless.]
[It’s all nonsense. Let’s focus more effort on deciphering the hieroglyphs of the humanoid beings.]
I spread my clockwork wings and flew toward the hero. It was too far to tell if it was a mimic or not. For a mimic, it moved quite vividly.
The hero was easy to track.
A strength and a weakness. It’s good that I can easily follow and cover the hero, but it also draws too much enemy attention, making it dangerous.
Bang!
Gunfire. Multiple barrels were aimed at the hero. Of course, it wouldn’t be easy to kill the hero with human weapons.
In situations like this, complacency is a death sentence.
We don’t know anything right now. What’s chasing us, where Jörmungandr is, how the space has changed.
“Hero, do you see that destroyer over there?”
[What’s a destroyer?]
Should I just shoot the hero?
This is so frustrating.
“Just… stay hidden somewhere.”
What’s the point of strength when you can’t even grasp the situation? I shot down the humanoid figures wandering around.
I’ve already taken down ten.
I looked at the fallen bodies through the scope of my gun. The enemies were bleeding red, and their clothes seemed salvaged from nearby warships.
Could they be real people?
“The area is secure. Now, let’s find out where Jörmungandr went.”
I looked around.
There are always people behind these incidents. It could be Jörmungandr, Foundation facilities, or an attack targeting Foundation personnel.
“Let’s move.”
The situation is somewhat under control.
We walked toward the building at the center of Jörmungandr’s subspace. For those who might not remember, it’s a facility built by non-human entities, a pre-human civilization…
A facility to imprison Jörmungandr.
This facility has changed significantly from my memory. Stone structures have collapsed, and fluorescent mushrooms, moss, and insects now decorate the surroundings.
The hero and I stopped at the facility’s entrance. A fluorescent salamander passed beneath our feet.
“Why has it changed so much?”
“I don’t know.”
But I have a couple of guesses.
First, the carcass of a whale. When a whale dies in the ocean, its body sinks to the deep sea.
In the deep sea, where sunlight doesn’t reach, the nutrient-rich whale carcass becomes an oasis.
Deep-sea creatures thrive around the whale carcass, creating an ecosystem. The deep-sea floor, adorned with whale carcasses and hydrothermal vents, becomes a habitat.
Second, Tiamat from Mesopotamian mythology.
The gods killed the great dragon Tiamat and split her body to create the heavens and the earth. A whale, and a situation similar to now.
“It seems Jörmungandr’s blood is creating a new supernatural ecosystem.”
“Is it dead?”
There’s no way to know for sure now.
If Jörmungandr were dead, wouldn’t this subspace disappear? We need to find Jörmungandr’s body quickly.
The ruins have turned into complete wreckage. It seems a large-scale battle took place here. There are animals in the crevices.
“Ugh.”
Jörmungandr groaned.
Finally found. We walked toward Jörmungandr, who was bleeding heavily among the ruins. The serpent god’s blood gushed like a fountain.
I walked to a position where Jörmungandr could see me. The serpent god’s eyes noticed me and looked at me.
“Jörmungandr, what’s going on?”
“Human-like beings have risen again. They’re awakening ancient entities, arming themselves, and fighting me these past few days.”
We fought those beings the last time we were here. Is it different now? I tilted my head, looking at Jörmungandr.
“Aren’t those beings scattered around here?”
I nodded. First, let’s hear what Jörmungandr has to say, then decide how to proceed.
“You should know. This place, built by pre-human entities to imprison me. This supernatural space itself…”
“Yes.”
“Whether they sensed the chaos of the world, noticed my weakness, or have other goals, something beneath the earth, the labyrinth, is moving.”
Beneath the city, a cursed space of caves and underground structures connected like a maze is called the labyrinth. At its lowest level, one can reach the supernatural space where ancient entities are sealed.
That’s how I understand it.
One more thing.
The labyrinth is associated with the underground, but as seen with Jörmungandr’s subspace, it’s not a strictly physical space.
It’s just easier to create a door to the labyrinth’s subspace underground.
“Is that so?”
Now it’s starting to make sense. Near the center of the subspace, there are ships that seem to be restored with alien technology.
Are they preparing to invade the surface?
I thought about it some more.
To summarize. A few humanoid beings from these ruins hid in Jörmungandr’s subspace, and recently, taking advantage of the Foundation’s internal conflict or Jörmungandr’s injury, they’ve started acting?
Reality can be truly bizarre at times.
Well, it’s been like that in other situations too.
Flying saucers born from modern humanity’s belief in aliens, deer-headed gods worshipped by nature cults, what makes sense anymore?
I wish it were Hasti or Dr. Chae here instead of the hero to discuss the situation. I sighed.
If you see an enemy, use the flare gun, but with the hero’s intelligence, aiming it at the enemy, discussing the humanoid beings’ plans is impossible.
It’s fine because he’s cute.
I stood in front of the partially restored abandoned ship and sighed. The organic connections of alien technology, like gray paint.
“Look, Hero. I was curious why they brought this abandoned ship. It seems they wanted to use human power to create weapons.”
The hero tilted his head, then shrugged, realizing the gesture might not convey meaning in armor.
“Let’s think about how to revive Jörmungandr and hunt the humanoid beings.”