Above Your Head

Vol 2. Chapter 90: The Salvation of God (27)

Finally, the number of humans who entered the Unique World reached a whopping number of 90,000. It was a huge number, especially when considering that this was already a reduced number. After all, I had put a bunch of stuff into the Unique World. Just like how the size of the Unique World grew exponentially after each rank-up, the mass that could be put into the Unique World also increased.

We have confirmed that the soul circuit is operating normally. The Soul Energy Generator has also started to work properly, so you won't get in trouble for using Ares-nim's soul energy.

I would bear with it if you use it moderately! If you use it moderately, you hear me! In the first place, you're too immersed in your own Unique World!

How could you be so miserly when it gushes out so much? If you can produce similar soul power as me with that small body, isn't it okay to give some to me?

As I listened to the conversation between the two control personas who became close after spending a long time together in the Unique World, I saw the only city that existed in the Unique World, Center. There were a lot of people from the outside world gathering here. Of course, it was not all of them, but only the children.

I enforced two conditions on accepting people into the Unique World.

1. The only thing that can cross over to an alternate dimension is the physical body. Therefore, in the Unique World, neither the authority nor wealth of the real world is recognized here.

2. The Unique World does not recognize the laws and morals of the real world. The Unique World operates under its own laws and rules and you will be punished for violating them.

They were two very simple conditions, but they were also very difficult to accept. The people essentially had to dispose of everything they had to the other party despite crossing over to an unidentified dimension with a naked body.

If people had gathered under these conditions a few months ago, everyone would have questioned or stopped paying attention. Only those who had a great sense of exploration, or had no lingering feelings for the world, would have gathered then. However, the current situation was completely different.

"The number of volunteers left is about 487,000 people, and it continues to increase. The sequence is being managed by us, the Lee Family, but we have notified everyone that it can be changed whenever you want, Dae-ha-nim."

"The response is better than I expected."

"It's because these times have changed now. Moreover, many of the VIPs who were involved in the Ark Project are volunteering too. Some people call this the Noah Project. They refer to the Unique World as Eden."

"If they expect too much, they will be disappointed." I checked the time while saying so. It was 6 p.m., an hour before the Level 14 test started.

"Way to go, everyone!!! We! We can do it!!!"

"Have strength!! I look forward to your kind cooperation!!"

"Please, please. I hope you all can achieve a Perfect Clear this time again..."

Gwanghwamun Square was full of people who gathered in groups to cheer or pray for each other. There were people who were stuffing their faces, people who fed them, people who talked, kissed, or whispered love to each other. They were people who somehow mustered all their spirit to raise each other's strength and motivation...but not everyone was like that.

"…But it's impossible to use the strategy even at the Lower-difficulty stage. Even Iron Mask-nim can't help us."

"A lot of people are going to die again."

"Damn it. If I had raised my Justice Weapon to Gold-rank, I could have tried to aim for a clear on my own power. Should I have also joined the hunt for the wicked?"

"That's murder, too! Even if this world has turned into one without criminal law, does it make sense for you to feel regret at not being able to kill someone?"

"Then, what do you want me to do?! Damn it, do you think I'm only living for myself?! Do you know how many people are relying on me?!"

"Ugh, now that the situation has turned out like this, we have no choice but to have faith in the Berserkers distributed to us. If we raise our Justice Weapons and support them with the True Command, then somehow..."

Earth and the human race were changing. Perhaps it was repeating what mankind had always done; adaption. That's right. Mankind was adapting to the new environment. As Dostoyevsky said, 'Man is a creature that can get accustomed to anything'. Likewise, they were adapting to this extreme situation. That was also the case for the outsiders who entered the Unique World.

"What do we have to do?"

Not everyone will be given a job right now. To be exact, not many of you can do anything significant right now. You need to receive appropriate education for that to be possible.

About 50,000 out of the 90,000 people who entered the Unique World (40,000 were children) gathered together in one location and listened to Genie's guidance.

'It's a surprisingly different picture from what I had expected.' I thought people who came in here would be confused or opposed to the new environment and rules.

'Why should I do such a thing?'

'Who the hell are you?! It sounds like an AI. Does it make sense for an AI to give us orders?! Bring out Iron Mask!'

'Do you know who I am?!'

…and so on. I came up with this picture not just because of prejudice or cliche, but because of the basic conditions of the people who came here. Because they were…

'Because they were wicked people.' They had levels that were significantly below the average of mankind. They were also those who did not have access to the Cradle of Justice and could not see my strategy guide. If they received Justice Points as a gift, it would be possible to erase their bad Karma and get an Iron-rank Justice Weapon to access the Cradle of Justice. However, that was only possible for those who only had a few bad Karma amassed. Those whose bad Karma had exceeded a certain line… This was something they couldn't even dream of.

Generally, the function of gifting Justice Points itself was an inefficient function. The recipient could only use it once and that would be the end of it. However, it would take quite some time for the gifter to recover the Justice Points gifted. Even if someone wanted to sacrifice themselves at the risk of receiving penalties, the limits were clear. This was because the giftable Justice Points were fixed at 1 percent of the total Justice Points the gifter had.

Of course, there are also jobs available right now.

"What is it?"

Child care teachers, construction workers, and the like.

"Child care teachers are a given, but why construction workers? There seems to be a lot of heavy machinery in this world."

But still, there are processes that require humans. Those of you who came in first will already know, but the Unique World has expanded and there is plenty of space to explore and cultivate. We also need residential facilities in preparation for those who come in the future. Applications can be made through the devices distributed separately, and we will hire people who pass the first screening after interviewing them.

The Albatross ship was a Terra-class battleship with more than 100,000 crew members residing in it. Genie, who was used to dealing with people, led people around in a flash. Everyone who comes here is provided with basic food, clothing, and shelter. But as you can see, the resources of the Unique World are limited, so if you want more than that, you have to use the universal currency, Gallats. Gallats can be acquired by completing a given task, education, and the like, or earned through the remunerations from a mission or task.

"Universal currency."

"Universal currency..."

"Oh my God, I've been glancing around and I've been feeling it, but really..."

The people were making a commotion. However, that did not mean that they were going on a rampage or throwing tantrums. They took a deep breath as if they were determined and continued with their questions, "Is contact with the external world possible?"

Of course, it's also a clause that's been announced beforehand. There are a lot of people contacting us at this very moment too, so there's no need to worry.

"Ah! Thank you!"

However, please be aware that it can often be cut off or restricted as the thing that acts as a repeater is Captain-nim's physical body.

The crowd dispersed after the announcement ended. They either went to the houses prepared for them or they sat in a park built in the city and talked to each other.

"Have you seen the device? If you calculate it as Korean won, 1 Gallats is roughly 11,000 won. There's no other units in Gallats, but the amounts less than that are divided into 0.1 Gallats and 0.01 Gallats."

"The competition is fierce for the child care teacher job. Still, they are hiring a lot for construction workers, so we can most likely be hired somehow."

"Rather than looking for a job immediately, we need to know more about this place and the system in place. Not only do we have to complete the education, we have to study everything we can."

I saw people who were good at controlling the devices despite having just received it. I watched them sharing their opinions.

"Ahhh… but even so, I like it for now. Compared to the time when I felt the fear of death on every stage..."

"It feels like a total dictatorship, but... If it's Iron Mask-nim, he won't be so vicious."

"Yeah, we have no other way but to pray for it to be that way."

I also saw people drooping and sighing all over the place. I was bewildered at the scene that came from the inside of the building in the middle of Center. "No, isn't this going too smoothly?" Honestly, I was worried about the uproar, and I didn't expect them to behave so calmly.

That's no surprise.

"Unsurprising, you say? They're wicked villains though?"

They're wicked people who survived.

There were countless wicked beings in the world. A murderer who killed others for pleasure or for wealth would be a wicked being, and a gangster or a thug who beat and bullied others would be a wicked being too. A wicked being might appear among those small and medium-sized business owners who ignored the labor laws and worked their employees to the bone, and those who used the internet all day and left malicious comments that ruined the mood of others could also be a wicked being.

"Did a lot of the wicked beings die?"

How else do you think there would be this much of an increase in the number of Justice weapon users?

"…Now that I'm hearing it, that's true." I nodded. The number of people who accessed the Cradle of Justice at Level 13 Intermediate-difficulty stage and High-difficulty stage were realms apart. When I cleared the Level 13 High-difficulty stage, the number of players who sent their admiration to me numbered around 2 billion! But upon careful thought, anyone would realize that it was weird. How could there be more than 2 billion people holders of Justice Weapon when the remaining human population was less than 4 billion? Since when was humanity so 'balanced' in righteousness?

"They're punishing the wicked beings."

That's right. As soon as the principle of obtaining Justice Points was figured out, a majority of death row convicts around the entire world were killed. Then, violent criminal offenders were targeted, and after that it was the petty criminals. It would have been easy to tell them apart. No matter how hard one tried to cover it, the stigma engraved on the skin couldn't be hidden away.

"That wasn't the end of it, right."

Yes, after all the criminals were exhausted, even the wicked beings who were engaged in social activities were killed. It was because although they weren't subjected to the punishments of the law, there were plenty of people who amassed a great amount of bad Karma.

Maybe that was why the wicked beings gathered to kill the owners of the Justice Weapon. They must've made the decision to kill before they were killed instead. Eventually, the wicked beings were exterminated by the owners of the Justice Weapons with global capabilities.

"Juan, you brat... I thought humanity was a race filled with hope," I groaned. It was kind of weird to refer to this as righteousness. Anyone with common sense, not necessarily a human rights activist, would think so too. Especially if there were people who armed their sons or daughters with weapons to kill the wicked beings that overpowered them, then all the more so that anyone would think so too. But the moment Juan defined it as Justice, humans had no choice but to take advantage of it. It was for the sake of surviving and adapting.

Although those who have come here are wicked beings, they have the connections and power to protect themselves.

Take a look at the judges and prosecutors. Most of the members of the Republic of Korea had escaped here, so the judicial system threatened to collapse. There were many righteous people among the prosecutors who were righteous enough to obtain a powerful weapon of righteousness, but there were even more people who had amassed bad Karma to the point where they couldn't raise their faces.

Take a look at journalists. The situation was so severe that it was incomparable to the prosecution's side. In fact, there was no need to explain anymore when a malicious article would be defined… Even malicious comments on the internet would become a wicked act depending on the situation.

That wasn't all. Look at the companies that used to fool around with the prices of medicines, drugs, and the like. Look at the financiers who used to hunt for business and the like. Think about the world-renowned charity organization that used to embezzle the donations used to help the needy.

What about the Chaebols? What about the politicians? Those people had amassed a lot of bad Karma, but many of them had survived the large-scale hunt for the wicked beings. Because apart from being wicked, they were people who possessed great capabilities. Moreover, even if they had power and forces, those who did not have any sense and couldn't grasp the atmosphere were all in the midst of dying.

"In other words, the people who came here."

Yes. Even if they were wicked beings, they were talented people who have been sifted out.

While having such a conversation, a woman approached Genie, who was standing in the square. She asked, "Hey, I'm sorry, but can I know more about Iron Mask-nim?"

Genie answered immediately, Captain-nim was an ordinary high school student born in South Korea.

"Was he really an ordinary high school student? And not like an alien or something?"

Genie, to be exact, her Metal Body which was always standing by in Center's square, replied, Yes, he was an ordinary high school student on Earth. But one day, he faced the pilot training simulation created and distributed by the Leonhardt Empire, a cosmic organization. He recorded 1.28 billion points, which was an unprecedented score in the entire history of the Leonhardt Empire... As a result, he participated in the war... Then, he met the Empire's Imperial Princess, Celestia… She started to recite the information as if she had been waiting for this moment. Before I knew it, hundreds of people gathered around her to listen to the story.

"Ahh, no, Genie! You can't do the guidance like that! Why do you sound like you're reciting the biography of a legend?"

Upon hearing my baffled voice, Genie asked, Well, did I say anything wrong?

"..." As she said so, it was also true that I had nothing else to say to refute her. Anyway, Genie continued the stories about me… I was so embarrassed just from listening in by the side.

"Wow!"

"Amazing!"

There was a sudden cheer coming out of nowhere. It must have been the climax of the story. Now that I looked at it, there was even a data screen popped up next to Genie. I ended up turning a blind eye. I couldn't help but let out a sigh, "Aigooo."

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