Chapter 183 : The First Territory
Chapter 183: The First Territory
Standing before Edgar was a beautiful woman who seemed completely out of place in this Land of Death.
She wore elegant, old-fashioned attire.
Her long brown hair flowed down her back.
And she gazed at him with eyes full of curiosity.
Before even greeting her, Edgar spoke first.
“For the sake of a proper conversation, would you please withdraw the ‘death’ you've scattered around me?”
“…….”
“I ask this of you. Nothing will progress if things continue like this.”
As Edgar spoke, his lips turned blue.
Blood once again trickled from his mouth.
His heartbeat slowed, and his vision swam.
'Death' was coming for him once more.
But then—
Whoosh.
The woman waved her hand, and color immediately returned to Edgar's face.
Just as he had requested, she had temporarily withdrawn death.
Letting out a long breath, Edgar said,
“Haa... Thank you.”
“You're quite fascinating. You don't appear to be a complete monster.”
“You don't know who I am? That shouldn't be possible.”
“……?”
“Surely the high-ranking monsters of your territory were also registered as voters for the Popularity Poll Quest. Didn't you hear about me from them?”
The woman tilted her head.
The moment Edgar saw that reaction, realization struck him like lightning.
-Something's wrong!
Was the woman before him really the First MVP?
If she was, then why didn't she know who he was?
If she wasn't, then why was she here?
Edgar's thoughts spun in circles.
At that moment, the woman spoke.
“What is your name?”
That single question settled everything.
In a trembling voice, Edgar replied,
“You're asking for my name? Fine, I can understand not recognizing my face. The Mini Bulletin Board wouldn't have appeared before an MVP who wasn't a voter, and you wouldn't have been able to verify my Altered Appearance.”
“…….”
“But asking my name makes absolutely no sense. Weren't you deciding whether to have your side vote for me or Mason?”
“I honestly have no idea what you're talking about.”
The woman smiled sweetly before continuing.
“I don't understand... but honestly, none of that really matters.”
“…….”
“You seem to possess a rather unusual constitution that prevents you from dying by ordinary means. That's why I came here personally.”
“What are you talking—”
“Please become my flesh and blood.”
The moment those words ended—
Edgar lost consciousness.
Just moments earlier, Kaid had frantically shaken me awake.
“Mason! Wake up! Wake up!”
“Hey. Couldn't you just wake me up with your own ability? Aren't you a Dream Demon?”
“R-Right. I am a Dream Demon!”
“…….”
Kaid used his ability to wake me.
The rest of my companions woke up as well.
As I rubbed my eyes, Louis handed me the Receiver.
“Listen.”
“Something unusual happen?”
“I heard someone else's voice. Not Edgar's. Not Odline's.”
I hurriedly accepted the Receiver and placed it against my ear.
Immediately, I heard their conversation from the other side.
-For the sake of a proper conversation, would you please withdraw the ‘death’ you've scattered around me?
-…….
-I ask this of you. Nothing will progress if things continue like this.
If Edgar had asked her to withdraw death...
Then had he really met the First MVP?
What exactly did that person want from Edgar or me?
…….
…….
-You're quite fascinating. You don't appear to be a complete monster.
-You don't know who I am? That shouldn't be possible.
…….
…….
-What is your name?
What?
Why was she asking Edgar's name?
Edgar had already brought up the Popularity Poll Quest.
That alone should've been enough.
'If the MVP had really been waiting for us!'
A bolt of realization struck my mind.
I hurriedly tried to say something to my companions, but the sounds coming through the Receiver hadn't ended yet.
…….
…….
-Please become my flesh and blood.
After those words, only strange noises followed.
I couldn't imagine what was happening just from the sounds alone.
Creak. Creak.
Lurch. Thud. Thud.
Kaaaah.
Sssaaa.
'What is this? What's happening over there?'
Up until now, every time Edgar died, all I'd heard were sounds like coughing and vomiting blood.
But this...
This was fundamentally different.
It wasn't just death.
Something decisive was happening beyond that river.
'She said she wanted him to become her flesh and blood. Is she eating him like Beat did?'
Holding my breath, I waited for the next sound.
But nothing else came through.
After waiting a little longer, I removed the Receiver from my ear.
Everyone was looking at me with grim expressions.
I spoke.
“We misunderstood everything from the very beginning.”
“What do you mean?”
“Magireta told us the First Territory was the Land of Death. That alone was already the hint.”
Why hadn't I realized it sooner?
The First Territory was the Land of Death.
Which meant...
“There weren't any high-ranking monsters in the First Territory to begin with. No... there weren't even any ordinary monsters.”
“……!”
“They'd all died long ago. A very long time ago. Killed by the First MVP.”
“W-What?”
“We focused too much on the fact that monsters entering the First Territory never returned.”
But Kaid had also said something else.
He'd said no monsters ever came out of the First Territory either.
I'd simply assumed it was an isolated place.
That wasn't it.
“It wasn't that the monsters couldn't leave the First Territory. There simply weren't any monsters left to leave. They were already dead.”
“B-But that doesn't make sense.”
Armelia was so flustered that she even waved her arms as she continued.
“The total voter turnout has actually stopped at 70 percent. Every voter in the Second through Fourth Territories has already voted.”
“…….”
“If there are no voters remaining in the First Territory, then where is the missing 30 percent?”
I had no answer.
Could it really be that the total voter turnout simply ended at 70 percent?
No.
There was no way Magireta would've created such an absurd rule.
The missing 30 percent of voters definitely existed.
They just weren't in the First Territory.
Nor would they be in the Second, Third, or Fourth Territories.
The Second Territory had finished voting thanks to Drod's cooperation, while the Third and Fourth Territories had finished because of Odline's coercion.
Then where...
Huh?
“Wait.”
I let out a long sigh.
Then I muttered to myself,
“The monsters that used to be dragons live in the Second Territory. Those that used to be Celestials live in the Third.”
“…….”
“And those that used to be elves live in the Fourth Territory. Then... which territory do the humans belong to?”
Berseum tilted his head.
“The humans?”
“As you already know, we're the final Cohort of the Human Era. Which means there were countless human games before ours.”
“…….”
“And we already know that people who die naturally—not just those eliminated from the game—also become monsters in Hell. In that case...”
Where would all those countless humans who had lived and died throughout history reside in Hell?
There was someone beside me who could answer that.
I turned to Louis.
“Louis. When you were living in Hell as a monster, which territory were you in?”
“The Fourth Territory. Helena's territory.”
“…….”
“That's why I knew Helena's name. Arcane even introduced me to her.”
As she said that, Louis wore a bitter expression.
Reading the mood, Karin spoke up.
“Then does that mean everyone who used to be human stays in the Fourth Territory?”
“Then the Fourth Territory would have an overwhelmingly larger monster population. Both elves and humans would be living there together.”
“…….”
“If it were Magireta, she'd probably scatter the former humans, now monsters, randomly throughout Hell.”
She would've distributed them evenly across the First through Fourth Territories.
Louis had simply happened to end up in the Fourth Territory.
That much made sense.
There was no problem with that.
But—
“What happens when the Human Era comes to an end?”
“…….”
“Just like the dragons, Celestials, and elves, shouldn't humans also receive a territory of their own?”
“T-They should... but our era hasn't ended yet.”
“But we're the final Cohort.”
The end of the Human Era was now just around the corner.
From Magireta's perspective, it was an unchangeable future.
'So she would've prepared in advance. She must've created a territory for the former humans.'
Right.
Now I remembered.
When was it?
Probably on the first day of the Sudden Quest Annihilation.
Back then, I'd checked the last page of the Future Diary.
Using the Observer Perspective function, the 'Mason' I saw there and our companions had each made a wish to Magireta.
Magireta had said she couldn't grant all of them.
Left with no other choice, Armelia made this wish.
-“T-Then at the very least, stop making this the final Cohort. That's my wish.”
What had Magireta replied?
-“Wrong. I can't grant that wish either. I've already prepared a territory in Hell for you 'former' humans. Ever since this Cohort began.”
-…….
-“All that's left is to appoint an MVP from among you humans and place them there. Assuming an MVP appears, that is.”
Ending my recollection, I spoke.
“Magireta had already created the Fifth Territory in Hell. Ever since this Cohort began.”
“……!”
“Louis simply didn't know because she's a participant of the current Cohort. When she lived in Hell, the Fifth Territory didn't exist yet. At that time, the former human monsters were still scattered across the various territories.”
But once this Cohort began, the Fifth Territory was created.
Magireta herself had clearly stated that in the Future Diary.
There was no room for doubt.
I simply hadn't considered that the former human monsters had already migrated there.
I concluded,
“The hidden 30 percent wasn't in the First Territory.”
“It was in the Fifth Territory.”
I first organized the current situation.
“As I said before, a revote must never happen. Before voting ends, the total voter turnout has to exceed 80 percent.”
“So we're short by 10 percent.”
“Yes. In the end, we have to persuade the monsters in the Fifth Territory who have postponed their votes. To do that...”
“We'll have to go to the Fifth Territory.”
I nodded.
“But we don't even know where the Fifth Territory is located in Hell.”
“Should I summon the spirits? We can just search for it from the sky.”
“Can you tell which territory is which just by looking down from the sky?”
“……No.”
“Exactly. In the end, if we want to reach the Fifth Territory for certain, there's only one option.”
I rubbed the Teleportation Bead between my fingers.
“But to do that, we need to know the names of the monsters living in the Fifth Territory.”
Berseum hurriedly interrupted.
“T-Then let's go find my son.”
His name was Might, wasn't it?
He should've become a monster in Hell after being eliminated in the previous game.
But...
I spoke carefully.
“You remember the activation condition of the Teleportation Bead, don't you?”
“Yes. It only works if 'the target recognizes that name as their own.'”
“This is difficult for me to say, but...”
Berseum was a wise man.
Closing his eyes quietly, he finished my sentence.
“If my son has lost his reason and become an ordinary monster, then teleportation would be impossible.”
Exactly.
Edgar still recognized himself as Edgar.
That's why we could track him with the Teleportation Bead.
Karin recognized herself as Karin.
That's why we could find her the same way.
But would Might, now a monster in Hell, still recognize himself as Might?
No...
Before that, would he even possess any reason at all?
Armelia spoke comfortingly.
“Still, we can at least try, can't we, Sir Berseum?”
“No. If we try and it fails, then that alone would prove my son has lost his reason and become an ordinary monster. I'm not yet prepared to accept that reality.”
“……I understand.”
The atmosphere became somewhat heavy.
Deliberately speaking as lightly as possible, I said,
“Anyway, one thing is certain. The Fifth Territory definitely exists. And the missing 30 percent of voters are definitely there.”
“…….”
“However, there's still one thing we don't know.”
-Why are the voters of the Fifth Territory delaying their votes?