Silbert's luxurious room, located directly below the dean's office in the academy's main building.
A large window.
Standing before it and looking outside, he felt quite a pleasant sensation.
The peacefully spread nightscape and people moving diligently below.
Feeling as though he were proving his own success by looking down upon it from above, Silbert enjoyed standing here after sunset to gaze out the window.
'...Though it's only the beginning.'
In just two years, he had secured his position as a full professor at the academy, an institution representing the empire, and gained great renown.
But all of this was merely preparation for the disaster that would soon befall them.
It was now imminent.
Ziiing—
The vibration from Silbert's inner pocket rang out, shattering his reverie.
A relic from the ancient magitech era.
A mysterious artifact that enabled free communication between its owners.
As Silbert took it out, familiar characters lined up before his eyes.
- User 1: Is it tonight?
- User 3: Silbert, your preparations are perfect, I trust?
Silbert replied to him.
- User 4: I'm ready. This is the best I can do.
- User 3: The Abyss is about to open, yet... that guy still hasn't shown himself to the very end.
- User 1: It's confirmed now. Zhizun Tianmo has lost his power.
This was a question that had been steadily raised since the four rankers, excluding Zhizun Tianmo, had gathered.
Why on earth did Zhizun Tianmo not reveal himself?
The strength of a possessor was proportional to fame.
The four rankers, including Silbert, were so renowned that there was no one who wouldn't know their names.
Yet nowhere in the empire was there a famous person suspected to be Zhizun Tianmo.
- User 3: He was just a gaming addict, nothing more. When reality hit, he turned out to be a guy who couldn't do anything.
- User 4: You never know... He might have his circumstances.
- User 3: Hmph. What circumstances. Silbert, you know how tremendous the differential benefits granted to top-ten rankers are.
- User 4: That's certainly... absurdly overpowered.
Legendary artifacts or legendary weapons.
There were those who received high-tier skills from the start, and benefits that even allowed changing traits existed.
With benefits of that level, it was harder not to grow stronger if you possessed even some prior knowledge.
If those between 2nd and 5th place had it that good, what level of benefits must Zhizun Tianmo, who was 1st, have received?
They had endured and waited with such thoughts, yet no name even remotely similar to Zhizun Tianmo had been heard.
- User 1: Most of those who made a name for themselves over the past two years have been confirmed as possessors. But there was no one who stood out enough to surpass the four of us.
- User 3: It's obvious. He ruined his traits and hid out of fear. To think the benefits of 1st place went to such a guy...
The rankers within the top five were those who had been active until the extreme late game, and thus they knew Zhizun Tianmo's strength and decisiveness better than anyone.
Therefore they had expected and hoped, but what returned was only silence.
No matter how positively they tried to think, the fact that he had failed to achieve any renown for two years was inexplicable.
Except for the possibility that Zhizun Tianmo had hidden out of fear in a world where the game had become reality.
As great as their expectations had been, their disappointment was equally vast.
- User 3: Well, enough of that. Silbert, I heard you recently mobilized even the knight order just to bring back one measly child?
- User 1: I heard as well. You even went through the trouble of calling Eos. Why would you suddenly do such a thing? The losses must have been enormous.
Silbert's eccentric act from a month ago had been quite a famous affair among the powerful.
Silbert, who had been in the midst of a political ascent, had suddenly mobilized all his connections with the imperial family and nobility to rush off somewhere and return.
Moreover, what he had brought back after causing such a commotion was merely one pretty little girl.
Naturally, unpleasant rumors had begun to circulate.
- User 4: She's a child worth the trouble. To the point where one wonders why no one knew of her until now.
He had only laid eyes on Claire for a month, but what she had shown during that time was outstanding enough to render that month meaningless.
She possessed intelligence, talent, and decisiveness, and did not neglect her efforts either.
Moreover.
'The only person who knows Zhizun Tianmo's true identity.'
That alone made Claire's value tremendous.
'Still, I cannot tell them yet.'
If Silbert had not met Claire, he would have thought the same as the other rankers.
That Zhizun Tianmo had lost his power.
- He was strong. As if he had become a god.
At first, he thought that since she was a country girl with limited experience, even one of Zhizun Tianmo's minor skills must have appeared exaggerated to her.
To think she felt him so strong as to be like a god—wasn't that exactly the sort of emotional thing a country girl would say?
But a month had passed since Claire came to the academy.
For someone as sharp as Claire, it was enough time to recognize how vast the world was.
The academy had as many strong individuals as stars.
An honorable faculty and celebrities one could only see in newspapers. And students overflowing with talent.
He subtly asked her again, thinking her evaluation of Zhizun Tianmo would have changed as her horizons broadened, but Claire was firm.
- The people here are definitely incredible too, but comparing them to that person...
To say they couldn't even be compared, no matter what.
Even allowing for some bias in her favor, it was a strange thing to say.
Therefore, Silbert was cautious.
- User 4: For now, I'll look into Zhizun Tianmo separately. Let's talk more about future plans.
- User 3: Hmph! It's useless to look further. There's no one who gained more fame than us in two years, is there?
- User 4: Rather than hiding, might he be among those we've already identified, but we simply missed him...
- User 1: If that's all he could do with the 1st place benefits, it's even more disappointing. That's the kind of guy he was. Give him good abilities and he still can't do anything in reality.
Silbert understood why they were spitting such sharp words.
Because as their expectations had been great, an inexplicable sense of betrayal returned all the stronger.
But he could not tell them what he knew.
If he did, he would have to explain about Claire, and even if careful, information about her could leak.
And more than anything, Zhizun Tianmo himself had not wanted it.
Silbert tried to forcibly steer the conversation in another direction, but—
- User 4: Let's put that aside for now...
There was no longer any need to do so.
「The Abyss has appeared.」
Because the message announcing the Abyss's appearance rose before every possessor's eyes.
「Clear Abyss Floor -1 within the time limit.」
「Upon failure, monsters tainted by evil will be released.」
And soon, the rankers' lively conversation came to an abrupt halt as well.
「The release location encompasses both connected worlds.」
Because they had realized the meaning of the final message.
The message that Abyss monsters would appear in both worlds if the Abyss conquest failed.
One of the two connected worlds was unmistakably this place, the world of Ventiel.
And the other was their homeland, where they had already accomplished much.
It was clearly Earth.
- User 2: Kihkihkihkihkihk! This... is huge!
It was the true beginning of the disaster.
* * *
「The Abyss has appeared.」
About three weeks had passed since that message.
The Abyss.
The decisive culprit behind the destruction of the Ventiel world.
At first, he had thought it was simply one of many pieces of content.
The new space called the Abyss that appeared suddenly, and the even stronger monsters one could see upon entering it.
The system where they would be released if the designated floor was not cleared within the time limit.
There was fun in clearing floor by floor, and it was fresh that stronger monsters would appear in the outside world upon failure.
But that had been the beginning of the true disaster.
The release of Abyss monsters was not such a great problem.
Because the world was filled with strong individuals and players desperate to gain fame.
But the problem was the strange, unknown curse that came with their release.
The terrible Abyss energy.
That unidentified energy gnawed away at the minds of ordinary NPCs, causing them to wither away and eventually die.
Not only that.
It seeped into not just people but plants, animals, and the earth itself, corroding them, so it was only natural that a world which failed to find a solution to the very end would perish.
'For now... don't worry about it.'
It had already been about three weeks since the first Abyss appearance notification.
Hio was still living at the mage's house.
The early Abyss difficulty was relatively easy.
Though the difficulty spiked dramatically at a certain point, for now there was leeway.
「The Abyss has appeared.」
So even when such messages appeared, he could remain calm.
Because the other rankers would handle this much.
'So I need to get stronger as quickly as possible in the meantime.'
Magic was no different from a skill warehouse for Hio.
Even if he filled his endurance, how was he supposed to keep acquiring skill books... Honestly, it had felt somewhat hopeless, but if he could keep learning magic, there was no need to go out of his way searching for skill books.
'Also, if my prediction is right, it won't disappear due to penalties.'
To be exact, even if it disappeared, he could just make it into a skill again.
Hio's thought was: if one day he committed violence and the skill 'Fire' was deleted as a penalty, since he knew its activation principle, wouldn't it register as a skill again if he activated it?
If that were the case, the burden of penalties would be greatly reduced.
'Ugh... but it's not easy.'
They say you see as much as you know.
The more he learned about magic, the more he felt its vast breadth and unfathomable depth.
The meaning contained within a single rune changed depending on which rune it met.
The combinations changed again depending on what attribute was being created.
This alone was so complicated, and he heard that delving into ancient magic was several times more difficult.
"Still, you study diligently now without grumbling."
Berga appeared behind Hio, who was studying with groans.
With a benevolent smile on his face.
"What brings you here, old man? Did you finish a skill book or something?"
Hio asked at Berga's appearance, for he should have been cooped up in his underground laboratory, and Berga grinned.
"I made something along those lines. But more importantly, disciple, you're hungry."
"...Huh? You came up just because you were hungry?"
"Ahem!"
Berga let out an awkward cough.
Hio let out a snicker and rose from his seat.
"Go back down. I'll go to the vegetable patch."
"Uhuhu! Alright, alright."
"Why do you look so happy today? Did you really finish a skill book?"
"Ahem! I'll show you later, disciple."
He often laughed heartily as usual, but today he was strangely smiling often.
'Did he really complete a skill book?'
Of course, having experience with the game, he knew that Berga would eventually complete a skill book.
But he was now a mage's disciple himself.
Just how deep was Berga's magical knowledge that he could create a skill book?
This frail old man suddenly looked incredible.
"Ahem! And after the meal, let's learn a second magic."
"...Huh?"
"It has already been nearly two months since you learned your first magic. I cannot let a talent who can learn simply by watching rot away."
"Really?"
"Uhuhu. Still, you must continue studying. A genius like you might rush too far ahead and end up with shaky foundations."
"Wow! Of course, old man! Don't worry!"
"Uhuhuhu. I told you to call me Master, you rotten disciple. Uhuhu."
"Anyway, go back down! I need to prepare quickly!"
Hio quickly slipped out of the house and ran to the nearby vegetable patch.
He had learned the low-tier magic Fire within a day of becoming a disciple, yet nearly two months had passed without even laying eyes on another magic.
Still, there was fun in learning new knowledge, and he felt his magical foundations being solidified, so he had lived without much complaint.
But apparently, it couldn't compare to the joy of learning new magic.
Judging by how excited he felt.
'Our admirable old man, I should make him some meat soon.'
He should find and hunt at least one small hare.
Since his endurance was nearly zero anyway, and he could also experiment whether magic kept registering as skills.
'Should I just stop by the village?'
That didn't seem like a bad idea.
It was a village he had grown somewhat fond of.
Meat and small provisions should be easily obtainable.
Arriving at the vegetable patch, Hio began pulling out well-grown small fruits and vegetables without hesitation.
'The old man who totters around like he's about to die. I can't feed him this stuff forever.'
Berga had looked happy, as if he had solved a long-standing task.
Berga's smile had likely influenced Hio's rising mood to some extent.
Berga had achieved what he longed for, and today was the day Hio would learn the new magic he had long awaited.
It had been the most perfect day in nearly two months—until.
「Abyss Floor -1 conquest has failed.」
「Monsters tainted by evil are being released in both dimensions.」
—a message that should never have appeared rose before him.
「Logout is commencing.」
A red message filled with ominousness.
Before he could fully comprehend its meaning, Hio's consciousness grew distant.
"...Wha—!"
Leaving behind only brief bewilderment, he vanished from that spot without a trace.