#169

Isn’t this a total balance break?

How are you even supposed to win against that?

‘No, wait, I’m on the Church of Order’s side right now.’

It’s only natural that the Church of Order is ridiculously strong.

In fact, the ones who should be appalled are the ones who launched a terror attack on the Capital Church before The ‘Stars’ even opened.

It’s like some guy named Robert living in Texas decided to start a new religion in his garage and then attacked the Pentagon nine months later.

The fact that the entire Capital Church is currently paralyzed is actually what’s ignoring the balance.

‘The Archbishop Unit’s Sanctuary Declaration was always terrifying.’

“…Can you keep going up? If your legs aren’t moving, I will help you.”

“No, I’m fine.”

I couldn’t afford to hinder Athanas’s mobility.

I kept my gaze fixed in the direction we were heading.

“Thank you for your concern.”

‘My low mental strength is holding me back in so many ways.’

Athanas must have noticed that I couldn’t handle the sight of the corpses.

Because I made him show unnecessary consideration, time was being wasted.

‘He should have just ignored it, thinking I’d get used to it as I looked…’

It hit me that Athanas is still young.

Seeing how he couldn’t firmly cut away the things that weren’t a priority to focus on what was more important.

‘You can just leave behind someone whose mental state has momentarily collapsed.’

It’s not like you die just because you fall behind.

While I was happy with Athanas’s immature kindness, it was also a bit frustrating.

If he had just told me to stay here until I felt better, I could have just sat down.

But if he intends to take me along regardless, I have no choice but to move my legs.

I gripped the railing tightly.

‘Don’t look down.’

Thump.

Let’s not imagine what that sound is.

Don’t look down.

Don’t think about it.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

‘…They say the brain cannot recognize negative words.’

Look ahead.

Look at Athanas’s back.

Focus on the sound of Athanas stepping on the stairs.

And while doing that, count how many stairs there are.

‘Reminds me of when I played the game.’

Watching Athanas from behind felt a bit like a third-person perspective.

It would have been perfect if the angle were slightly looking down from above.

‘I wonder if I’ll feel like I’m playing a game when I go down the stairs later.’

Of course, as I head down, the ‘floor’ will get closer and closer.

Well, I’ll overcome it somehow.

Humans are creatures of adaptation.

Now, even when I hear that thump, my whole body doesn’t freeze.

I’ve gotten used to it in that short span of time.

‘Since Athanas looks back every time I stop…’

If I think of the nausea, the racing heart, and the shortness of breath as reactions to climbing the stairs, it’s bearable.

‘Is my heart rate around 150 right now?’

A level of 80% of maximum heart rate falls under high-intensity aerobic exercise.

I think I heard that you need to do high-intensity aerobics to improve cardiopulmonary function.

‘Come to think of it, I rarely pushed my physical limits to the edge when I was working.’

Because if I got muscle pain, it would interfere with the next day’s schedule.

I wonder if my stamina would have increased if I had done interval running every day during my serf days…

‘I should have exercised more.’

When I finally managed to climb all 600 stairs.

Athanas frowned slightly upon seeing a thick rope lying sprawled on the floor.

“…The rope has been cut.”

I closed my eyes tight.

‘You want me to go up further from here?’

There are two ways to ring the bell of a bell tower.

The first is to pull the rope connected to the bell.

Since ringing the bell right next to it can deafen you, the longer the bell tower, the longer the rope is let down.

In small bell towers, you can just pull the rope from the first floor without needing to climb the stairs.

And the second is…

‘To climb up to where the bell is and strike it directly.’

As I tilted my head back, I saw the bell hanging high above.

‘…It looks like I have to climb about 150 more stairs.’

The problem is that the path upward from here is much more treacherous.

Since it’s a path used only for maintenance.

‘In the game, that route was completely blocked, so we had to climb up the outer wall from this point.’

Because a save was needed before the boss fight started, Athanas had to try to sleep with his foot barely hooked on a protruding brick.

Athanas, sleeping stuck to the wall without any safety equipment, became a meme and earned the nickname ‘Wild Goat’…

‘…I should be able to use the internal passage this time, right?’

In the game, you move along walls or roofs, but doing that in reality would lead to a ‘death by slipping’ ending.

‘Or, if I tie a rope around Callister’s waist and send him up, then have him connect the line…’

While I was staring at the ceiling and pondering how to get up, a heavy friction sound suddenly echoed.

Turning around, I saw a secret door that wasn’t there before had opened.

“…How did you open that?”

“It seems to have reacted to the Sacred Relic.”

‘Really?’

The Astrolabe truly is an important Sacred Relic.

But shouldn’t such a relic have been returned before going to the remote village?

It seems like there’s a lot of room for misuse.

‘Antonio gave something that important to me…’

“It would be better if I go up here alone.”

“Great! Then it’ll just be me and Fabio! We should have a very pleasant time together.”

“Callister, don’t answer Athanas.”

“…I will return shortly.”

Athanas grabbed the ladder and began to climb.

Watching his back, something suddenly occurred to me.

‘Can I do that when coming down?’

The thing where you grab the side of the ladder and slide down.

That’s the gold standard for coming down quickly.

Athanas soon passed to the upper floor and disappeared from sight.

Curious, I touched the ladder.

‘What’s with this finish?’

If I did that without wearing gauntlets, my palms would be completely peeled off.

Athanas, who grabbed this with bare hands and came down in the game, was seriously…

‘…Well, it’s probably just game logic.’

“Fabio.”

Turning my head, Callister was standing there, blocking the door.

“Are you planning to go up?”

“…No?”

“Then you’re trapped. Right? Since I’m blocking the only exit.”

‘He actually thinks he’s blocking it right now?’

He’s full of holes.

But if I force my way out, that’s exactly what Callister wants.

Since I’m the one who reached him first.

‘This isn’t a child’s game.’

“Move.”

“I’ll move if you listen to me.”

“I said move.”

“Fabio, you must listen to me.”

“Stop it.”

“Fabio, Athanas is…”

Just as I was about to scream at him to please shut up because it was an order.

Dong—.

The bell rang.

An overwhelming, massive vibration swallowed all other sounds.

‘Ugh…’

It felt like my whole body, my head, was vibrating.

I covered my ears with both hands.

Dong—.

But the sound didn’t diminish in the slightest.

The strength left my legs, and I collapsed onto the floor.

I could feel the entire bell tower vibrating minutely.

Cold sweat dripped onto the floor.

Dong—.

‘I feel like I’m going to throw up.’

My stomach churned.

Loud noises have always been my weakness.

Even with earplugs, my stomach always turned after shooting practice…

Dong—.

‘This is going to happen twelve times?’

I feel like I’m dying already.

I can’t stand this.

No, I shouldn’t be enduring this.

This will definitely cause permanent hearing loss.

Noise over 120 decibels can cause hearing loss with a single exposure.

So.

‘Down…’

I have to go down.

I struggled to stand up, staggering.

Dong—.

‘Fuck.’

My posture collapsed, and I almost slammed my head into the floor.

Now I started to resent Athanas.

Come to think of it, Athanas could have gone up alone.

Why did he make me suffer this pain?

Dong—.

I just gave up and struggled only to breathe while slumped on the floor.

Perhaps because of the vibration, even taking a deep breath was difficult.

‘If I just hold on a little longer…’

Athanas.

Dong—.

A little?

How much is ‘a little’?

Which number is this?

How many more…

[SYSTEM: Athanas I Love You sends you a message.]

>>Fabio!

>>Can you answer now?

‘Reyes?’

What’s going on?

Why now of all times…

Dong—.

‘Aagh!’

My thoughts couldn’t continue for long.

It felt like my head was shattering.

I could no longer tell how many times the bell had rung.

Dong—.

I think I know why they jumped.

Because they have ears.

Because if you have ears, you can hear it.

Dong—.

Go back, go back, go back, go back, go back…

‘So noisy…’

Stop buzzing.

Dong—.

Where the hell am I supposed to go back to?

Where?

It’s not like I’m staying here because I want to.

I also…

Dong—.

If there’s nowhere to go back to.

‘If there isn’t?’

I couldn’t hear the words that followed.

Because I couldn’t breathe, I kept holding my breath.

How long had I been like that?

‘Is it… over?’

I no longer felt the vibration.

The moment I took my hands off my ears and braced myself against the floor to stand up.

‘Fuck.’

Liquid had pooled on the floor, and I almost slipped.

Barely regaining my balance, I narrowed my eyes and glared at the floor.

What is spilled here?

Oil?

‘No, this smell is…’

My vision is bright red.

My head was spinning too much.

It was hard to keep my eyes open, as if I had a concussion.

It feels like stars are twinkling all over the world.

As I closed my eyes again, the system window flashed before me.

[SYSTEM: Athanas-I-Love-You has sent you a scheduled message.]

>>Fabio!

>>I have a gift!

>>Come to the 4th basement floor of the Main Hall.

>>Since it’s a gift, you can do whatever you want with it, Fabio♥

>>I won’t be reachable for a while!

>>Bye! Bye, bye!

‘What… is this?’

Reyes?

No.

That’s not the name.

There was some other name…

“Fabio.”

A cold hand touched my forehead.

“Fabio, can you hear me?”

‘Callister.’

I know that thing’s name.

Because I called it Callister, it is Callister.

Callister.

My Callister.

When he calls my ‘name’, I must answer.

Because that is the contract.

“…Where is Athanas?”

“Is that the first thing you ask?”

‘If not, then what?’

“First, do something about that Halo.”

“…Halo?”

There’s no way such a thing exists.

It’s not like a light-emitting body is attached to the back of a person’s head…

“Ah, it’s gone.”

I heard a sigh of relief.

At the same time.

[SYSTEM: Due to the effect of ‘Heaven Above, Earth Below, I Alone Reign Supreme’, ‘Gaze of Order’ is nullified.]

As I blinked, the system window disappeared.

‘…It’s quiet.’

Only after the tinnitus vanished did I realize that my head had been filled with noise.

As if by magic, breathing became easy.

‘Gaze…?’

I processed the content of the system window that had appeared a moment ago a beat late.

‘Gaze?’

That pressure… was a ‘Gaze’?