After Returning, My Abilities are Infinite

Episode 152. I’d say you deserve to die (1)

“Hm…….”

The two Transcendents talking behind me looked very unique. One was made of clear liquid, and the other was made of rocks.

The two looked like spirits from fantasy novels. And naturally, they didn’t explain things to a meddler for free.

After all, sharing your information was just like sharing a second-hand experience.

Here, conversation was different from ordinary people talking. Every word a Transcendent shared was very valuable. This meant that they wouldn’t readily talk at the request of a complete stranger. Which, of course, I was aware of.

“Well, thanks. And… you’re going to share your story, too, right?”

“I’m more than willing to tell my minor stories as long as I can hear any new ones. I prefer stories that aren’t mine.”

“Haha, you look like you’ve just transcended, but you’ve already formed a bad habit. Your stories must be sturdy to advance as a Transcendent.”

“You’re right. But I’m just so curious… Could you tell me quickly?”

“Well, you’re quite hasty, aren’t you?”

Their demands were simple. They asked for drinks that were on sale nearby and my stories. I readily complied.

I didn’t know how much drinks cost here, but I agreed because the Traveler had given me Transcendents’ money to use while wandering about. And I didn’t think it wouldn’t be enough.

And when I took out the gold cash from my pocket, not just the bar owner but also the two Transcendents sitting at the table looked surprised.

It seemed like the Traveler had given me quite a large sum because I had a pocketful of them.

“Have a drink. I can’t leave Utopia because of this taste.”

The Transcendents’ drink was strange. It was a colorless liquid, and if you held it in your mouth, you could feel a faint taste of dirt. Nobody on Earth would have liked this subtle taste. But the Transcendents happily drank it as if it were some amazing drink.

“Looks like you don’t like it. New Transcendents just don’t know how good this is.”

“…What kind of flavor is this?”

“It’s hard to explain. But if you stay here for about 300 years, you’ll know. About then, you just drink it, so you don’t forget what taste is. When your thoughts are too rigid and you’ve accepted death, it becomes impossible to go down to the worlds of mortals. And once you’re stuck here, you end up forgetting the happiness you felt as a mortal. The joys of heavenly flavors, women, and wealth. And to experience those pleasures again, Transcendents crave this drink and eventually become used to it.”

The two Transcendents drank the drinks I bought and let out exclamations. Still wondering about the taste, I looked at them.

“Oh, I was caught up explaining the taste and forgot about telling the story. Okay. Hm… Where should I start?”

“You can start with the manager. I really want to know what happened to him.”

“Oh, right. The guy who pits worlds against worlds and shouts at everyone to bet. You were curious about him at first, weren’t you?”

“Yes, I was.”

The Transcendent turned his glass and put his hand on his chin.

“Hm… I guess he showed up quite a while ago. But he wasn’t the one who started it. According to my memory, the ‘Transcendent high above’ him thought about entertainment for a long time and then started it.”

“High… above?”

“Yes. Apparently, he designed everything and takes care of the big games himself. And the manager arranges the small, insignificant games for Transcendents like us to enjoy.”

World games. Entertainment. The Transcendent mentioned both terms.

Before I even asked anything, the Transcendent used the words I wanted to know about right away.

“The manager’s name is… I’m not sure, but we used to call him the Clown.”

* * *

“Has he made contact yet?”

“No, it looks like he’s devastated. He really looked forward to it for a long time, saying it was an interesting world and that the stakes would be high, you know.”

“How sad.”

Sad. But the Transcendent who said that looked very different. He was smiling from ear to ear, and whenever he took a breath, he giggled with joy.

But the being talking to him didn’t admonish him. He knew it wasn’t intentional. That was the image constructing him and it was who he was.

“Then I’ll just proceed with the simple game I prepared. After I didn’t show myself for a while, there’s been talk that I got caught and ran away. If everyone forgets about me, that wouldn’t be good, would it?”

“…You’re right. Then postpone the world game that our boss high above prepared, and attract attention with yours. We can’t stay still, one way or the other.”

“Okay. I’ll take care of it!”

He replied exaggeratedly. His face was painted white, his mouth was smudged with red lipstick, and his eyes were covered in eyeliner. He looked like a clown in a circus.

“Good. Just do as usual, Clown.”

And his name was no different from his appearance. The Clown laughed out loud and turned around to leave.

“I’m excited for this game. The world with monsters appearing and humans Awakening powers to fight was interesting……. But I’ve prepared a lot of fun stuff, so it’ll be a big crowd!”

He played with worlds, opening a circus and laughing at the deaths of innocent lives. A broken clown that treated mortals as chess pieces and made fun of tragedies. The Clown began to reassume his long-delayed games.

“But it’s quite strange. Our boss put so much effort into that world……. Then, a newborn Transcendent messed everything up. I wonder who he is. Was he extremely lucky? I’d like to see him. Jeong Si-woo……. He doesn’t even have a fancy modifier. If I meet him, I’ll crush him for ruining our fun game so he’ll never get back on his feet again!”

He still had no idea what was about to happen to him.

* * *

“World games… He plays games with worlds.”

I twirled my pencil. Listening to the Transcendents, I realized that what they did was no different from what happened in my world.

They connected a world full of monsters or disasters with an ordinary one. And since a one-sided game wasn’t fun, they bestowed minor powers to the ordinary creatures. Then, they betted on which world would win, watching them die out.

Since it was a clash of two worlds, the process took at least 100 years. But Transcendents had more than enough time, so they welcomed such entertainment.

‘So, they need at least two worlds to pit against each other.’

They said the Transcendent high above or the Clown bought worlds from other Transcendents or invaded and robbed worlds that looked interesting.

So, they had probably been trying to invade my world, as well. The Traveler had also mentioned that someone had been working on forcibly taking away my world.

‘But they failed.’

I completely obstructed his plans. And the voice that threatened me at the very end was most likely the Transcendent high above. The voice was too menacing to belong to a mere clown, and it didn’t suit a clown, either.

‘Well, that isn’t important right now.’

The moment I heard about them, I decided to kill the Clown. No matter how powerful he was, he fit my criteria perfectly. And by torturing him, I would also be able to gather information on the Transcendent high above.

It was killing two birds with one stone. I would be able to completely destroy two Transcendents that were immediate threats to my world.

‘But how do I get in touch with him?’

The two Transcendents had said that he disappeared. It was probably because I blocked his boss’ invasion. He could’ve suffered damage or he could be at a loss for worlds to play bets with. There was no way he had run away because he got caught.

‘I’m familiar with the type.’

Even when the end of the world was near, many idiots enjoyed disgusting pleasures such as gambling or drugs. This was probably similar to that. These world games were drugs and gambling to Transcendents. And with drugs and gambling, the dealers get addicted as well as the users.

‘He would have easily earned the Transcendents’ money or whatever he wanted.’

I didn’t know what they gained from providing these games to Transcendents. But they would have gained it faster and easier than usual. So they would never be able to quit.

There were people who kept selling drugs and ran gambles even though countless people got hurt, and they were put in jail. It wouldn’t be so different here. No living being dislikes ‘quick and easy’ profits.

‘If they experienced it once, they are bound to do it again.’

I was more than used to dealing with guys like that. I handled as many corrupt humans as I handled monsters.

I wandered around -Utopia- and sat at the corner of a table at a bar where talk about world games happened the most often.

Dealers always show up where drug addicts are.

If I stayed here, the world games manager would soon appear.

“Anyway, this tastes horrible no matter what.”

I grumbled, looking at the white liquid in my glass. I’d rather return to Earth and have plenty of delicious food than drink this.

Looking around, I could see that the other Transcendents were drinking the white liquid in bliss, as if they were ingesting some sort of delicacy.

How weird. And just as I was about to force the drink down to avoid looking strange….

“Hm, excuse me. I’ve been keeping all of you waiting, haven’t I─”

Someone flung open the door and entered the bar.

At the same time, all conversation halted and was replaced with a roar. Most Transcendents in the bar welcomed him like a long-awaited guest.

And when I turned my head to look at the entrance, I didn’t need any further explanation.

His face was painted white, and dark eyeliner was drawn around his eyes. There was red lipstick around his mouth, and he was smiling from ear to ear. His gestures were exaggerated, and he walked in a funny way.

His manner and appearance all pointed to one word.

“Your Clown has returned with a new Game. I hope everyone has brought plenty of money to bet?”

The Clown.

The guy I was bent on killing had just shown up in front of me.