The World After the Fall

"Ancient Gods?"

Jaehwan casually asked in reply. Mayad smiled and responded, "…Hmm. So, you don't know much about them? I guess it's natural since they are beings from eons ago."

Before [Big Brother] appeared, there were three powerful Gods who were considered to be at the top of [Depth]. They were legendary Gods who had become the most powerful without anyone's help.

No Gods dared to disobey or oppose them. They were called the Ancient Three Divinities.

Godslayer Catastrophe.

Geshtalt the Illusion Breaker.

Daeus the Destroyer of the Odds.

Jaehwan's mouth twitched as he heard those familiar names.

'Catastrophe… so he is famous in [Depth] too.'

He knew this from the [Record of the Depths], but it felt different to hear it from locals. Apparently, it was normal for Catastrophe to be considered a natural disaster.

He was the one who had become the best in [Depth] where powerful beings were aplenty.

Myad continued, "As you know, equipment that has been wielded by a God for a long time will embody the God's [Setting]. This is what we call a [Part].

Jaehwan understood what Myad said.

"So, those are the equipment that the Ancient Gods used to use."

"You are right."

He nodded as he added, "Actually, their equipment is so famous that everyone in [Depth] knows about them."

According to Myad, the Ancient Three Divinities had left behind one equipment each after they were wiped out by [Big Brother]. The equipment was as follows:

The Void Sword of Catastrophe.

The Eye of Geshtalt.

The Daeus's Machina.

Myad then paused a moment before he added, "I heard that the giant robot, Machina, is going to be up on auction today."

Jaehwan then stopped.

'Machina?'

He once spoke about that particular object with the Followers of Daeus, back in the Void Factory. It was a promise he had made to the Overseers, that he would find the Machina, and thus they opened the seal for him in the first place.

-Machina is a treasure to us Followers of Daeus. It is an object with tremendous power. It will be hard to find though. If there's any chance, it would be within the [Great Forest] at the border of the 8th and 4th site, but… there are no Followers who have ever come back alive after venturing into that place.

They had talked about it so much that Jaehwan thought it would be much later that he might come across the Machina. But for it to appear at an auction house? Jaehwan felt that something was suspicious.

"That machine thing. When is it coming up?"

"Oh, you're interested in it too? I guess it's only natural. After all, it is the most powerful of Gigantes in [Depth]…"

"I'm not interested. But I was asked."

Myad seemed interested in that, but he didn't ask Jaehwan what he was asked to do.

"Are you interested in bidding for the machine?"

"…Bid?"

It was an unexpected question. If he could acquire the machine, it would be a good thing as he did promise those Followers to return the Machina to them. Besides, he was sure it would help him greatly in his future ventures if he acquired such a powerful [Part].

[No way. We can't even buy the cheapest [Part] there is with the spirit stones we have. Forget it.]

Andersen quickly added. Jaehwan also agreed with Andersen. Whatever the case, he needed spirit stones, which were the form of currency in [Depth], to join the auction, but Jaehwan didn't have any. Just then, Runald interrupted,

"We should try! I have spirit stones here!"

"…You have spirit stones?"

[Eh… what? He didn't have any before!]

"Don't you remember? When we beat those Followers of Belkain…"

Jaehwan then remembered what happened back in the forest. It meant that Runald's spirit stones were from those Followers. Myad then asked, "You defeated Belkain's Followers?"

"Yeah! He did it in one strike!"

"One? Hm… Belkain is a middle-ranking God, right?"

Myad didn't seem surprised at all. Rather, it was a confirmation of what he knew. Jaehwan received the spirit stones from Runald. Then, Andersen spoke to him.

[No way. I think there's about 30… that will barely get us a middle-grade [Part], at best.]

Andersen was probably correct. It was foolish to even think about purchasing a legendary [Part] with the number of spirit stones that the Followers of a middle-ranking God carried.

[How about… we just… buy middle-grade… parts? Its… really… different to have… one… or not…]

Andersen's voice seemed to be dragging. Jaehwan nodded.

'Okay.'

Andersen's evaluation helped Jaehwan decide. His goal at the moment wasn't to get Machina, but to rescue Yoonhwan. Andersen spoke again.

[Ugh… this place… is strange… is it because… there are too many high-ranking Gods…? I feel… drowsy… Jaehwan, be careful… Machina… don't…]

And as she fell asleep, a thundering voice filled the entire auction house.

-THANK YOU! For visiting our Hatchnold Auction House in [Caspion]!

It came from the center of the auction house, seemingly the voice of the auctioneer. People began to shout 'Reynold! Reynold!' like a chant.

-Haha! I guess some of you know me! I am the Follower of God Hatchnold, the God of Equality and Fairness. Under the name of God Hatchnold, I swear that today's auction will be held 100% fairly and…"

It seemed that the auction for the high-ranking [Part] was going to start. Vicegerents and Followers began to gather in the center of the auction house. They were mostly Vicegerents with high-quality [Parts]. Jaehwan looked at them for a moment and then down at his naked body. And spoke- or tried to.

"If you are lacking in spirit stones, don't worry."

Jaehwan stopped and turned as Myad continued, "You don't need to pay any spirit stones."

"What do you mean?"

"I will pay for you. You just need to bid."

It was a strange offer. Jaehwan couldn't understand what Myad was talking about. Was he trying to borrow Jaehwan's name to bid? However, what he added made Jaehwan even more confused.

"Oh, and if you really do acquire Machina through the auction, it's yours."

"…What are you talking about? What about spirit stones that you lent me then?"

"Lent? No, no. It's more of a… sponsorship."

Jaehwan then understood Myad's offer. It was easy to understand actually, but it just didn't make sense, at all. His offer was the following:

First, Jaehwan would join the auction.

Second, Myad would supply Jaehwan with the needed spirit stones.

Third, if Jaehwan won, he would keep the Machina.

It didn't make sense at all. The offer had no benefits for Myad at all.

"…What do you want?"

"Haha, nothing. I'll just… say that I like you."

It was a very suspicious reason and Jaehwan frowned.

'Andersen. Are you listening?'

However, she did not respond, as if her switch was turned off. Her presence had disappeared from Jaehwan completely. She said she was going to sleep, so she would wake up later, but…

'Ugh, why now.'

Andersen spoke a lot of nonsense, but she was once a high-ranking God. She had more experience in [Depth] than Jaehwan.

"What do you say? You can refuse if you don't like it."

Jaehwan felt some uneasiness as he looked at Myad's smile. From his experience, this kind of situation was usually a trap. But it was too tempting to just refuse just for the possibility of it being a trap. Jaehwan also thought that if things went wrong, he would just destroy everything.

'Myad van Deklan. He's not in the [Record of the Depth]…'

Jaehwan had been going through the [Record of the Depth] in search of information about Myad ever since he met him. But he couldn't find anything at all. Maybe Myad appeared after Mulack wrote the [Record of the Depth].

Anyway, Jaehwan had to decide by only relying on his instincts. To Jaehwan, who acted on information gathered by using [Suspicion] and [Understanding], it was a strange feeling.

It was when the crowd disappeared towards the center of the auction house that Jaehwan decided.