Chapter 38. Winter Season (2)
Chloe lay on a hospital bed.
Her body burned with fever.
Her breathing came and went unevenly, and the blood in her veins seemed to pulse with heat.
Julian steadied his wavering gaze and raised the Rulebook.
“Rejuvenation... activate.”
Chloe’s lips trembled.
Then she suddenly sucked in a breath.
“Haah!”
Julian immediately pressed her down.
“Don’t move.”
She exhaled again.
The burning heat in her body slowly began to subside.
Julian finally let out a breath.
“...It’s temporary.”
“But she’s alive.”
The moment relief spread through the room, a bright voice rang through the air.
[Congratulations!]
[You have nullified Stage 1 infection of the Plague Scenario!]
The voice was cheerful.
Far too cheerful for the atmosphere in the ward.
It was Rulebook.
[What incredible speed!]
[No world has ever responded this quickly before!]
Seol-A frowned in discomfort.
But Rulebook kept going.
[Humans became the apex predators among primates simply because they learned to use tools!]
[As a reward for doing such a wonderful job, I’ll give all of you a prize!]
[Healing Artifact Amplification Buff granted!]
[Healing efficiency increased to 200%!]
Rulebook giggled and disappeared.
Ilya was the first one to swear.
“Fuck...”
“Healing efficiency 200%?”
Another team member punched the wall.
“What good is better healing efficiency when treatment spreads the disease?!”
“They’re blatantly mocking us!”
“They’re pretending to give us hope while telling us to die faster!”
Fear and anger erupted throughout the ward.
Then Julian spoke quietly.
“No.”
Everyone looked at him.
Julian stared at the newly engraved reward inside Rulebook.
[Reward: Healing Efficiency 200%]
[Status: Permanently applied upon clearing the Plague Scenario.]
Julian’s lips twisted.
“Think about it the other way.”
“If we clear this disaster...”
“Healing Artifacts will stay permanently strengthened by 200% afterward.”
“!”
The atmosphere changed.
“In other words...”
Julian’s voice remained calm.
But there was fire underneath it.
“This reward was designed by someone who assumed we would never clear the scenario.”
The others’ eyes began to burn as well.
“That’s hilarious.”
“They created the reward assuming it was impossible?”
Someone clenched a fist.
“Then we just clear it.”
One by one, their expressions changed.
Ilya let out a hollow laugh.
“Fine.”
“If surviving this makes our world stronger...”
He grinned.
“Then this is basically a bonus.”
Seol-A managed a faint smile.
Julian nodded.
“Exactly.”
“We only need to clear it.”
“Then the reward becomes ours.”
At that moment, Rulebook’s teasing voice returned.
[Of course, that alone doesn’t solve the underlying problem.]
[You only suppressed the ‘symptoms’ for now. ♥]
Julian’s gaze turned cold.
Rulebook remained cheerful.
[So let me make you a proposal. ♥]
[Would you like to ask a Majesty from another world to build treatment facilities for you?]
[At least then your citizens would survive.]
Julian frowned.
Another Majesty?
That clearly meant one of the bastards allied with the Divine-Grade Artifacts.
How could they possibly trust them?
So Julian answered:
“That’s for our captain to decide.”
[Fine.]
[I’ll give you some time to think.]
[You probably won’t have time to pay attention to anything else anyway.]
Then the voice disappeared.
Irene reacted first.
Her expression turned cold.
“...Did that last part bother anyone else?”
“What do you mean?”
“The part where it said we wouldn’t have time to focus on anything else.”
Someone answered:
“It was probably mocking us.”
“As if Jooheon will have to abandon whatever he’s doing and come back here—”
Irene shook her head.
“No.”
“The way it said it...”
Her expression hardened.
“It sounded like they’re planning something while we’re busy trying to cure the disease.”
“...!”
Everyone froze.
Julian’s mind started racing.
Ever since Jooheon disappeared...
The invasions by other Majesties had quieted down.
They had assumed it was because Mars, the Majesty of Conquest, had been defeated and the others had become cautious.
But...
What if that isn’t the reason?
Julian closed his eyes.
Stay calm.
What are they actually after?
Then his eyes snapped open.
Zeus!
Julian immediately ordered them to check the durability of Zeus’s Artifact.
Zeus was both the power source of this world...
And the shield protecting it from invasion.
Its condition could be monitored from the meeting room.
The system displayed its durability.
[Artifact Durability: 97 → 71]
Julian’s eyes widened.
Zeus was currently in maintenance mode.
No one was using it.
“Then why is its durability dropping?”
Everything connected at once.
The Ares invasion.
The plague scenario.
The Majesties.
Julian bit his lip and shot to his feet.
“Their real goal is weakening the Chief God-level Artifact!”
Irene immediately understood.
“The disease...”
“It’s bait.”
“While we’re busy stopping the plague, Rulebook and the other Majesties are really targeting this world’s Chief God.”
Everyone went pale.
“They throw the world into chaos with disease first.”
“Then destroy, seal, or weaken the Chief God-level Artifact.”
“And once the shield falls...”
“They invade.”
Irene clenched her hand.
“...The sixth trial isn’t the ‘disaster’ itself.”
Her eyes hardened.
“This is the real trial.”
Those bastards.
Still...
It was fine.
They had noticed early.
If some Artifact was damaging Zeus’s durability, they only needed to destroy that Artifact.
[Rejuvenation Skill activation confirmed.]
[Plague Curse: Stage 1 nullified.]
[User: Julian.]
Jooheon smirked.
“That bastard...”
“He actually used it.”
“I knew he’d figure out how.”
Another message appeared.
[Infection spread successfully contained.]
[However, Zeus Artifact durability has rapidly decreased.]
Jooheon’s expression changed.
“...They’re touching Zeus?”
Majesty Yoo Jaeha crossed his arms.
“The plague must be bait.”
“The real target is your Chief God-level Artifact.”
He shrugged.
