Chapter 128: Echoes of the Old World

Evan couldn’t understand.

Why was the sword he used here?

‘This was the one I lost in this place.’

He couldn’t recall every detail since it was long ago, but he remembered it was a pretty decent sword he’d used around level 500.

Evan inspected the sword’s info window.

• Grade: error
• Type: @%Short Sword
• Attack Power: 3,000 (-50%)
• Durability: 159/300
• Usage Restriction: %#&*
• Effect: Due to penalty, ^#& the standard for usage restriction has been lowered.
• Etc: A sword abandoned, its traces of age forgotten. ^%& Restored in a damaged state, not fully preserved. Seems to have been %#& by continued %#& %#&^
  *Penalty: Restoration rate 70%, all abilities are reduced by 50% due to incomplete restoration.

“Why is it like this?”

He couldn’t properly check the info window.

It was cloudy, as if covered with noise. This was his first time seeing something like this.

Even in the previous world, he’d handled countless items, but there had never once been an issue related to the system itself.

The system was an objective metric, but it was clear it had been created for Awakeners.

Thanks to the system, he’d been able to understand calamities and grow stronger.

‘Is there a problem in that domain?’

Evan was filled with questions at this unfamiliar sight.

Of course, being able to use the item thanks to its damage wasn’t a bad thing.

But the fact that the system was affected like this wasn’t good.

‘What happened to this sword?’

This was a problem that needed to be looked into.

If it was related to awakening abilities, it would be a serious matter for Evan as well.

Evan examined the sword’s info window and formed a few hypotheses.

‘When was it that I came here back in the previous world?’

He searched through his past memories.

By the standards of the previous world, it had been less than three years since he’d discovered these Ancient Ruins.

He didn’t know how much of a time difference there was between worlds, but it hadn’t been long enough for it to have gotten this worn down.

“It looks like an ancient artifact now…”

Thinking such thoughts, Evan looked at the penalty section of the info window.

Unlike the rest, that information was clear.

‘Not restored to its complete state?’

Did that mean someone tried to restore the item to its original state?

He had no idea who or for what purpose they’d done such a thing.

‘No, if I think about it, I discovered these ruins inside the gate.’

Assuming the world inside the gate was different, a few possibilities came to mind.

A destroyed world comes to an end, but this world was still continuing.

‘What happens after a world is destroyed is the important part.’

He didn’t know what happened after the world Ellecell lived in was destroyed, but the world where Abaddon existed was preserved in the form of a gate.

“They called it the Old World and New World, didn’t they.”

Thinking back to what Abaddon said, he’d called Evan a New World resident.

‘The previous Old World is destroyed, and then it’s restored as a new world. But when it’s restored, it’s not in its complete state.’

This item seemed to prove that.

Some of the information mentioned in the Memory of Ellecell explained this too.

Worlds undergo repeated destruction and restoration.

‘The reason people’s lifespans keep decreasing is probably because the world isn’t being restored to its complete state. Just like this item.’

It seemed he’d found a clue.

But the origin of this sword was still a mystery.

‘A gate disappears once you clear it, doesn’t it?’

He had no leads here yet.

One thing was certain: the gates he’d conquered so far must be connected to this world.

‘Maybe that means I could run into those guys I met in the previous world again.’

Evan’s expression wasn’t good.

If he thought of all the possibilities he’d faced in the previous world, it would be nothing short of a catastrophe.

‘The rest I’ll have to figure out through the Archive or the Mediator.’

Snapping out of his thoughts, Evan put the metal sword into his inventory.

It would be good to use for battle every now and then.

‘Anyway, to use the Sharpshooter Skill, I’ll need a lot of swords.’

He decided to search the Boss Room to see if there was anything else to take from here.

He still hadn’t found a proper Hidden Piece.

What Evan originally wanted to obtain here was a special Birthstone.

It was an item that increased resistance to all debuffs and harmful effects by a whopping 200%.

‘Normally, there should be a Birthstone in the collapsed spot here…’

Instead of a collapsed spot, there was a pedestal with a stone container on top.

Evan slowly walked toward it.

‘This whole space is suspicious. A Hydra, of all things. What was the point of this place existing?’

It felt like he could uncover information here that he hadn’t in the previous world.

An old laboratory.

A musty, damp smell stung the nose.

Bookshelves and alchemy tools sat atop a desk in the small room.

The place hadn’t been cared for in a long time; dust and cobwebs were tangled everywhere.

Belongings were scattered about carelessly.

“Wh-Where are we…?”

“It looks like an alchemist’s laboratory, but something seems off. If this was a place the Order kept hidden in secret, there must be something here…”

Alan and Ayra had sneaked in here while the commotion broke out in the library.

They’d hesitated at first, but driven by the thought there might be important information, they’d worked up the courage to enter.

But the room didn’t seem as closely tied to the Order as they’d expected.

It looked like a typical alchemist’s room.

The problem was that alchemy didn’t have a particularly good relationship with the Order.

Historically, there had been many clashes between the Order and the Lamakria People because of their alchemy.

Yet to find an alchemist’s room at the very heart of the Order was odd.

Alan approached the desk and picked up a dusty flask.

Blackened, hardened marks.

Old bloodstains were visible.

“If the Order had known about this place, they would have taken care of it. It seems even they aren’t aware of it. There’s not even a trace of anyone having been here.”

At Alan’s words, Ayra hugged her arms, trembling.

“I-It’s… a little scary.”

“Well, even so. There doesn’t seem to be anything here.”

Alan kept rummaging through things, looking for any information about the place.

Watching him, Ayra decided to find something she could do as well.

‘If it’s the books here…’

Shelves packed with research books and records came into view.

An ordinary person wouldn’t be able to carry all these out, but she could memorize every book and walk out with them in her head.

Though trembling, Ayra began taking books from the shelf and reading them carefully.

“Looks like there’s nothing much…”

Alan checked drawers and the wardrobe, but found nothing.

While glancing around, he spotted an old box in a corner.

He might have missed it if he hadn’t been looking carefully.

‘A box…?’

Alan carefully approached the box.

Thunk!

He twisted the handle and opened the lid.

Creeeeak!

With the creak of old hinges, the box opened, revealing its contents.

Alan’s eyes widened.

“Th-This is…”

Inside was an old notebook and a potion bottle.

Alan picked up the potion.

‘Looks pretty valuable.’

Inside the clear glass bottle was a sticky, colorful liquid.

Alchemists’ potions were generally traded for high prices.

The price depended on the alchemist’s reputation and the potion’s effects.

Sometimes they were considered rare items, and there were rumors nobles collected them.

There were even military supplies, but those were usually made by royal alchemists for the kingdom.

‘In any case, I should give these to Young Master.’

Alan tucked the potion bottle deep into his inner pocket.

Then he picked up the old notebook.

The cover had an embossed red dragon crest, immediately catching the eye.

Below that were some names.

“Alchemist Mars and Co-Researcher Ellecell’s Journal…”

Alan’s eyes widened.

‘M-Mars… Is that the famous Grand Alchemist?’

Two hundred years ago, he’d been the Grand Alchemist who made a name for himself.

In his lifetime, alchemy had achieved its greatest progress; it was called the golden age of alchemy.

Many Lamakria People learned alchemy from him.

Then, one day, he vanished, disappearing from history.

No one knew where he went, and kingdoms in the continent’s center launched large-scale searches to find him.

That was because everyone coveted the potions and alchemy materials left by the Grand Alchemist.

It was such a famous tale that even Alan knew it well.

At the Adventurers’ Guild, commissions regarding Mars’s legacy were always being mentioned.

‘…Could this really be what Mars left behind?’

But the name Ellecell was new to him.

Perhaps Mars’s disciple, Alan wondered as he opened the notebook.

From the very first page, it was densely filled with writing.

The contents were in the form of a diary.

Alan began to slowly read through it.

• I, Mars, leave this final record here before I depart.
  We have uncovered the truth of the world. However, those who know this secret must risk their lives, regardless of who they are, so we hurried our research.
  In the process, I discovered something. A door that leads to a new world. But only one person can go through.
  I was torn. But I can’t stay in this hellish place any longer. I’m sorry, but I’ve decided to betray Ellecell.

“Betrayal?”

Alan tilted his head.

A crucial clue to the Grand Alchemist Mars’s whereabouts.

It was nothing short of a historic discovery, but the contents were anything but cheerful.

‘The Grand Alchemist betrayed someone…!’

Mars had left somewhere and betrayed someone.

There was a mention of his co-researcher Ellecell and his departure, but Alan would need to look further in the notebook to find out more.

Alan turned the page to read on.

Just then—

“A-Alan! S-something’s wrong here.”

Alan turned to look at Ayra.

Ayra’s face had gone deathly pale, and she was shaking.

“Hm? Is there a problem?”

Alan closed the notebook and put it in his pocket, then walked over to her.

Ayra pointed at the books.

“A-All the research books here… they’re records of human experimentation and forbidden research. And this knowledge isn’t of this world, no, not of humans…”

“What?”

Alan stared, not understanding, but Ayra just kept trembling.