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Chapter 972: Altanus (9)

It was my first time seeing Metel in person, but I was happy to see her.

Whenever I spent time with Max, about eighty percent of his stories were about her.

Of course, I rarely listened because I couldn’t really relate.

All I could remember was that Max wouldn\'t stop saying that she was the kindest among the guardians he had ever interacted with. He also talked about the good memories he shared with her.

Even though I often never really listened to Max\'s words, I was happy to see her.

Perhaps I felt this way because Max talked so much about her.

Of course, I was the only one who felt this way.

In stark contrast, Max’s mother looked a bit nervous, and it was all because I was trying to create a friendly atmosphere between us. She seemed careful even about her words.

She was listening to me, but she was really cautious, and most importantly…

‘She has her guard up.’

A few moments later, she finally talked. “Who… are you?”

‘I can’t tell her that we had a spiritual marriage.’

“My name is Lee Ki-Young,” I introduced myself.

“I wasn’t asking—”

“I\'m a wandering priest aboveground, but here, I’m known as the priest who has received a divine message… but that’s not really important, right? The important thing is that I can help you,” I interrupted her.

“The voice in my head…” Metel said.

“Ah, that could become a problem…" I muttered.

“Who… are you…” she repeated.

If the quests I had given her were the reason behind her confusion, then it would make sense. After all, only gods and goddesses could give out quests using holy power.

The method and type were different, but people could easily be misled into thinking that they had received a divine message or had established some kind of connection with a divine being.

To put it simply, Rift Guardian Metel felt traces of the God of Sacrifice and Revival from me.

“Are you…”

“What? Do I look like a god to you? Do I look like a reincarnation or an avatar of a god? Do you feel like you heard the voice of a transcendent being?” I asked.

“...”

“I understand, but don’t think about anything else for now and just look at what’s in front of you. Things that can’t be understood happen quite often here.

"For example, there’s that rift you’re worried about and there’s Saint Altanus. I also feel the same way. If you think I’m an avatar of God, feel free to think that way. Anyway, I’ll tell you how I know about it,” I told her.

“...”

“It\'s because I can see into the future,” I said.

I wasn’t wrong.

“Your worries will become reality. The rift will open, and monsters will fall from it,” I told her.

“What?”

“The continent will become a literal hell. The incompetent priests and powerful figures on the surface world will not listen to you. I’m sure you’re already aware… but it’s such a ridiculous story.

"Another dimension and a rift… anyone would think that you\'re crazy if you were to talk about that with them," I said.

“...”

“It really doesn’t matter whether they believe you or not. Even I think that it sounds absurd, but one thing I’m sure of is that I can do what you want,” I said.

“Really?” she asked.

“The continent wouldn\'t collapse, and it was all because you and a few guardians had carried out your missions wonderfully. Do you still use the title Rift Guardian?” I asked.

“Rift Guardian…” she mumbled. It seemed that she had never heard of that before.

‘Do I need to tell her everything? Come to think of it…’

The technology to create the Rift Museum wasn\'t from this era.

I visited the library and spent quite some time reading the documents there, but the technology of this era couldn\'t create Max or the museum’s system.

Metel was known as the genius of the century, but technological advancement wasn\'t that easy to bring about. The Goddess’ Mirror and the Goddess’ Hand Mirror needed a system to function, and the system itself had hundreds and thousands of sub-systems that had their own instructions to fulfill so that those two items would function properly.

‘This, too?’

\'This damned continent is doomed without me.\'

I was biting my nails, thinking about my next steps.

And that was when I heard knocking on the door…

“Hold on—”

Before I could finish my sentence, someone entered the room.

“Miss Benigoa?”

Benigoa didn’t even look at me. After barging into the room, she proceeded to clean the room aggressively. She took her anger out on the cushions by hitting them hard and pushing Metel and my feet away while mopping the floor.

‘What’s wrong with her?’

\'Wait, she must be jealous.\'

I observed her for a bit and noticed that it was more like she was furious rather than jealous. In her eyes, she saw the priest—who had spoken sweet words to her—leave the gathering with a woman he met right there and then.

‘I’m sure Benigoa was one of the Atentas in that massive gathering…’

I told her I\'d come looking for her, but I hadn\'t done that yet, so she was probably expecting me to find her soon. Based on her personality, I was sure she thought that fate would lead us to meet at the gathering, or we\'d end up having a rendezvous after the gathering.

However, she saw the priest disappear with Metel, and the sight left her furious. In the end, she followed the priest, which led to where we were right now.

“Ah…”

"Can you move your feet please? I need to clean,” Benigoa said.

‘She really is like a child.’

“Why is the room so dirty? And there\'s actually trash just lying around…” Benigoa mumbled.

‘She isn’t calling me trash, is she?’

“Are you okay, Miss Metel? You didn’t fall for a certain someone who must have already spoken sweet words to you, did you?” Benigoa asked.

‘What’s wrong with you? Can’t you see that we’re having a serious conversation right now?’

As expected, Metel put her guard back up.

“Excuse me… Miss Benigoa?” I said.

“Who’s Benigoa? I’m an Atenta. Looks like you’ve had many Benigoas up there,” Benigoa said.

“...” “It’s a misunderstanding, Miss Benigoa,” I told her.

“I knew you were going to say that, but I’m not stupid, Father. I-I didn’t accept you in the first place, but you really are a… lewd and obscene person,” Benigoa said.

‘That’s a bit harsh… I’m not like that.’

“Liar. You’re a womanizer who\'s good at speaking sweet words,” Benigoa added.

“Excuse me, Miss Benigoa. I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding. I’ve been talking about business with Miss Metel—”

“You’re done, Father,” Benigoa interrupted.

Benigoa seemed to be thinking that she looked cool, but I could see tears in her eyes.

‘She’s hurt.’

She was obviously hurt by the way she was acting. To be honest, there wasn\'t anything between us. We only spoke a few times, and we promised to eat together; that was all. I considered the possibility that perhaps doing all of that was the same thing as proposing in her eyes, but it didn’t seem to be the case.

‘I’m pretty sure she was just imagining all sorts of things by herself.’

Benigoa’s behavior made it difficult for me to determine whether she was naive or stupid.

“I’m… done with you, Father,” Benigoa said. It seemed that she wanted to look cool until the end because she slammed the door shut

However, I did not bother chasing after her.

‘I just need to film a heartbreaking drama with her later.’

Metel was important to me right now.

“That woman… just now…”

“It looks like there was some kind of misunderstanding. You don’t have to worry about what she said,” I told her.

“It’s not that…”

‘Looks like she’s trying to run.’

Before Metel could say anything, I decided to make a move.

I put my hand in my pocket, and Metel grabbed the staff that fell to the ground because of Benigoa\'s aggressive cleaning. However, she stared in bewilderment at what I had taken out of my pocket. It was a Goddess\' Hand Mirror, but Metel had never seen anything like it before.

What happened next was pretty obvious. Instead of operating the Goddess’ Hand Mirror, it’d be easier for her to understand if I just showed her how it was made and how it worked.

I infused my mana into it, and a light spread out from the hand mirror, pervading the entire room.

The room became filled with holograms depicting geometric patterns and strange formulas. I honestly didn’t understand all of this, either.

I knew the main system and how it worked, but the main system was the type to become more and more complicated, the deeper one dove into it.

Metel staggered backward when the holograms appeared, but her bewilderment did not last long. Her jaw dropped to the floor, and she stared wide-eyed at the scene before her.

‘Looks like she has an idea about what these are...’

A large system that becomes the foundation of the Rift Museum and the program that maintained the museum before I entered the dungeon. It’s what turned Metel and the others into Rift Guardians.

‘I can’t hand over the Goddess’ Hand Mirror.’

It wasn\'t that likely, but there was a possibility of her losing the hand mirror, or they could advance faster than my expectations. I decided to provide just the basic clues, as that was probably the reason why the museum’s hardware was so bulky.

If they were to recreate the Goddess’ Hand Mirror using my technology, the hardware would only get bigger.

“You think you can make it?” I asked.

“...”

“I asked if you can make this,” I repeated.

“N-No way…” Metel stuttered.

“There are four things I would like to ask in return for handing over this technology to you,” I requested.

“...”

“First, you must ensure that there aren\'t going to be any information leaks,” I said.

“...”

“I’ll refer to you and the few people who will work with you as Rift Guardians. This technology shall only become available to the guardians. I don’t really remember all their names, but you should recruit Jaime and Sneff. Ah! Additionally, you should have a ranking system; you need to categorize information into ranks,” I suggested.

“...”

“Secondly, create an autonomous dummy that would manage the entire system. It would protect and research information about the rift inside a place called the Rift Museum.

"This is something we can discuss while I’m here. There are many things for us to discuss, such as the overall design and the rates of the lottery system… It’ll be harder than you think, so you’ll have to learn quickly,” I informed her.

“How… d-did you…” Metel stammered.

‘She has no idea what to say.’

Metel looked like someone witnessing civilization for the first time. Actually, that was true, as I had just shown her technology that she couldn\'t have imagined even in her wildest dreams.

“Thirdly, I want you to help me out a bit while I’m here,” I said.

“...”

“I’m kind of lonely… and I need someone to be my hands and feet… this social gathering is like a w-war zone. It\'d be nice to have someone I can talk to without feeling comfortable about it. And lastly…” I trailed off.

“...”

“You have to forget me,” I told her.

Metel stared wide-eyed at me.