Chapter 33. City of Dionysus (3)
Thunk.
The basement door opened.
Someone stepped out of the darkness.
Click. Click.
Slow, measured footsteps.
She wore a crimson coat embroidered with golden grapevines.
A smile tinged with madness rested on her lips.
She was beautiful.
Her golden eyes shimmered with emptiness and insanity.
They swept over Jooheon from head to toe as though appraising merchandise.
“Yes.”
She smiled.
“You look like you’d sell well.”
“Maybe as some slightly twisted hero-type product?”
Jooheon frowned.
“It’s rude to call a person a product, crazy lady.”
“Crazy lady...”
Dionysus Cynthia laughed.
Then snapped her fingers.
“Shall we begin?”
Her smile widened.
“Today’s show is...”
“‘Turn the Outsider into Merchandise!’”
She swept one finger through the air.
A gigantic holographic screen appeared overhead.
Images of Seo Jooheon and Julian appeared on it.
Their pasts began playing like a movie.
“This show is called the ‘Memory Auction.’”
“We’ll find the scenes from your lives that can fetch the highest price.”
Jooheon’s expression hardened.
“You’re auctioning memories?”
Cynthia smiled.
“I wonder how much yours will sell for.”
“And what decides their value?”
“Market logic~♡”
She pointed toward the wall.
A massive supply system there was connected to the wine channels flowing throughout the city.
It was, in fact, a gigantic memory-extraction device.
The city’s power source.
Memories were extracted from people soaked in Madness.
The emotions contained within those memories were then burned as fuel.
That energy powered every system in the city.
“We don’t possess Artifacts with overwhelming raw power.”
“So instead, we extract emotions from the citizens and use them as fuel to run the city.”
Cynthia looked at them with amusement.
“I wonder how much power the two of you will produce?”
She flicked her finger.
The fountain built into the wall surged.
A city made of alcohol.
The canals running through the streets.
The fountains filling the plazas.
They looked ordinary at first glance.
But that liquid wasn’t simply wine.
[Dionysus’s Cup (SS-Grade / Bound Artifact)]
[Lethe’s Fountain of Forgetfulness (SS-Grade / Bound Artifact)]
Used as the city’s primary power source.
Jooheon’s eyes narrowed.
“So those two were the core Artifacts running this city.”
This city was created by combining multiple Artifacts under Majesty’s control.
Everything visible here had been built with Artifacts.
Then if this flowing liquid...
And the citizens’ descent into Madness...
Also involved an Artifact of Forgetfulness—
So that’s the structure.
They lost their memories.
Then drowned in Madness.
A collaboration between Dionysus and an Artifact of Forgetfulness.
It didn’t have Zeus-level destructive power.
But these were unquestionably Divine-Grade Artifacts.
I need to avoid it.
Then—
“This way!”
Jaeha created an Artifact in his hand.
A long handle made of light appeared.
It formed into...
A large umbrella.
[Defensive Artifact Created.]
[Noah’s Ark - Umbrella Version] [1/1]
Can endure any disaster.
The moment Jaeha opened it, a protective barrier spread across the umbrella’s width and covered them both.
But he was slightly too late.
A single droplet splashed out.
It landed on Jooheon’s shoulder.
And Jaeha’s.
Then...
Their memories exploded outward.
Scenes.
Emotions.
Fragments of time.
“...!”
Jooheon flinched.
He saw the days he had spent laughing with his tomb-raiding team.
His companions digging for Artifacts while fighting disease and death.
Himself grinning through blood inside collapsing ruins.
Then...
Chairman Kwon’s betrayal.
The trap.
The scene where Jooheon alone survived.
To live.
To take revenge.
Then—
Beep.
A sound rang out as if the appraisal had finished.
[$0.01]
Low-Grade Emotion: ‘Outdated Loyalty and Vengeance’
“...Ha.”
Jooheon’s lips twitched.
That was his entire life.
The deaths of his teammates.
The betrayal of the man he had trusted like a father.
His vow of revenge.
One cent.
Majesty Cynthia watched the memory on the holographic screen.
Then slowly clapped.
“Cheap.”
She smiled.
“Who gets obsessed with emotions like that these days?”
“Loyalty and revenge?”
“In the Age of Artifacts?”
She laughed.
“Completely outdated.”
Then it was Majesty Yoo Jaeha’s turn.
“You fucking... bastard...!”
He gagged.
His eyes were bloodshot as he clenched his teeth.
Apparently, he had just watched something from his own world.
Cynthia burst into laughter.
“You’re not worth much either.”
“You have plenty of scars, but your emotions are too filthy to earn a good grade.”
“What?”
“You want to know what sells?”
She smiled brightly.
“For example, memories of heartbreak are cheap and common.”
“So we use those for lighting.”
“Memories of success tend to have higher dopamine levels, so they work better as fuel or artwork.”
“They can even be used to power exclusive VIP devices.”
Then Cynthia looked back toward Jooheon and clapped her hands.
“And the most valuable memory you have is...”
The space warped.
