Chapter 248: Second Apostle
Physically killing a body that a god was controlling with Divine Control was extremely difficult. A simple stab with a sword or a shot from a bow wouldn’t even make them blink, and a cannonball, which could turn a person into mush, would only damage the garments, which would be left untouched by divine power.
Most war weapons were efficient. Bullets didn’t need to be faster than they already were, and guns were at their current size because if they were any larger, they would be inconvenient to carry. To topple something tougher, bigger weapons were necessary, and only a fraction of the forces would carry such weapons.
Tanks and walking armors were no different. Tanks only needed to be sturdy enough to protect their occupants from bullets that could kill a person, and walking armors only needed to be strong enough to face creature creations of the gods.
Of course, these massive entities had evolved to have stronger weapons and harder armor, but they didn’t require destruction beyond a certain level. Even heavy weaponry meant to kill multiple people didn't need to become stronger. Therefore, it was a difficult task to inflict damage on a Divine Control body with these physical weapons.
'However...'
Hegemonia turned and looked at the cannonball the size of an Orc's body heading straight towards her.
'...In the Lost World, weapons that could harm apostles and gods are used.'
Hegemonia recognized the projectile with her accelerated thought permitted by her Divinity level. It was a shell fired from the Empire's super-sized artillery.
'I thought the bombardment had stopped, but have they actually gotten close enough to fire shells this far into the coast in the meantime?'
Hegemonia checked how much time she had left before she would leave this Orc’s body.
'56 seconds.'
That was quite a long time. If possible, just leaving the Orc's body would minimize damage. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be quick enough to make it. While Divinity levels accelerated the thinking capacity of the gods, there was a certain limit to physical ability and force.
'I’ll have to take that shell head-on.'
Hegemonia wasn’t particularly concerned about the shell itself. It could easily penetrate the Orc’s original body, and any tank or walking armor in the Empire or the Union Kingdom would be pierced in one go. After all, those weren’t even the intended target of that artillery in the first place.
It only caused minimal damage to the Union Kingdom's Sky Castle, but given the size, even the largest Fiend-class battleship could be destroyed with a single bombardment.
'But still, it doesn't have the power to kill a Divine Control body.'
Hegemonia was aware that the Werewolf Apostle Aruega had been wounded by shelling from Sung-Woon. It was undoubtedly a dangerous weapon. However, Hegemonia, now a Divine Control body, possessed even stronger physical abilities than the Werewolf Apostle Aruega.
To inflict damage on a Divine Control body, the weapon would also need to possess a similar level of Divinity—there was a clear division between those with Divinity and those without. Only a handful of relics made in the distant past, creations of the gods, the apostles of said gods, weapons used by apostles, and the powerful Hierophany bodies through which the gods would manifest directly had Divinity.
Additionally, Divinity came with levels of hierarchy, making it challenging for beings of lower Divinity to fight with those of higher Divinity. To stand against a god, one needed to possess at least the Divinity of an apostle.
But the puzzling part was something else.
'How did they shoot so accurately?'
Hegemonia knew that Nebula, Sung-Woon, could use his power of wind to correct the trajectory to hit a target. But to do that, a prerequisite condition had to be fulfilled: he had to know in advance where the target of Hegemonia’s Divine Control was.
It took only a few seconds for Hegemonia to use Divine Control on the Orc, and the cannonball, tracing an arc through the air, would have been fired dozens of seconds before.
'Was it just good luck?'
Hegemonia couldn’t think of any other explanation. A chance occurrence, a stroke of luck.
'Is that all...?'
Hegemonia couldn’t imagine anything more than that. Then she stopped thinking about the cannonball.
'Alright, catch the cannonball with both hands and then slam it into the ground. That should reduce it to a level of damage that this Orc's body can absorb. Using the recoil, I could launch into the opposite battlefront. Then the stance would be...'
Continuing with such thoughts, Hegemonia moved, manipulating every involuntary muscle and nerve fiber in the Orc's body to fight the ideal battle she envisioned. However, Hegemonia belatedly detected an odd silhouette, a faint outline on the approaching cannonball.
'...Could it be?'
It was evidence that the cannonball was enveloped with Divinity.
***
The Great Emperor of Heaven's Mandate, Kyle Lak Orazen, had died of illness. At forty-three, it was considered a rather early death.
At the time when the war with the Union Kingdom began and life was becoming increasingly difficult for the citizens of the capital, Orazen, there were many investigations into whether an assassin could have infiltrated the city.
However, the players already knew. Kyle had been born with a weak heart, and even with the advances made in medical technology, a timely diagnosis, let alone treatment, was impossible. The players merely observed from above as the mortals busied themselves, allowing time for Kyle's death to be accepted.
Of course, there were players who thought differently. Wisdom questioned why they didn't take drastic measures to extend Kyle's life.
"Nebula, although it's difficult now, if we had started 40 years ago when Kyle was first found, by now it might have been possible to perform a heart transplant surgery."
"Then we wouldn’t have even been able to dream about unification in the third continent. All Faith points would have had to be invested in technological advancement."
"That's true. But isn’t Kyle too exceptional of an individual? If he had lived, he might have changed the world later on. Just imagine if Kyle had lived another 20 years, no, just 10 more years. We would have seen him defeat the Union Kingdom, don’t you think?"
Sung-Woon calmly agreed with that fact. Wisdom wasn't wrong. Even though Kyle became king with Sung-Woon’s help, with someone with such capability on the throne, one might have thought it was a sure victory in a typical game of The Lost World.
"But that's if we disregard the variables. From my perspective at the time, given Kyle and the circumstances surrounding him, as well as the position of the Empire, it wasn't appropriate to attempt such a gamble. Even if the initial ability is high, how much it can increase is another matter."
Players could see abilities but couldn't know how much a specific individual could grow. Players referred to this as growth potential, and individuals like Lakrak, Hwee-Kyung, and Kyle could be said to have high growth potential. Therefore, if one could control an individual, they would do so with the hope that they had high growth potential. Sung-Woon was on the luckier side.
Wisdom, while acknowledging the reality Sung-Woon faced, shook his head.
"Still, it's unfortunate. Even though he could act as an Apostle, when influencing the earth from the pantheon, the law of causality can’t be ignored. I can’t believe that the legacy of this genius is coming to an end like this."
Sung-Woon asked back puzzled, "Who said it's ending?"
Wisdom’s head began to spin.
"...Hm?"
As Sung-Woon said, Kyle’s death didn’t put an end to the Empire's growth through Kyle. Of course, Wisdom was right that direct involvement was difficult. Even if Kyle displayed tremendous scientific knowledge, remarkable ideas, and talent in various capabilities, when Kylr intervened with the world of living, the law of causality couldn’t be ignored, and Faith points would be consumed.
However, Sung-Woon knew of a different approach.
"Wisdom."
"What is it?"
"Do you think this world isn’t a game?"
"Is that a philosophical question? A simulated universe? Not exactly my field. Not completely unrelated though."
Sung-Woon shook his head.
Wisdom was knowledgeable, and when he spoke his thoughts, he would use the appropriate terminology from the academic circles, which Sung-Woon himself was unaware of.
"I'm not sure about that. But listen to this thought of mine."
"What are you trying to say?"
Sung-Woon said, "What do you think is the decisive factor that separates the world we are in now from The Lost World that was a game?"
"There are too many to say for sure. For one, the flow of time isn't omitted, and every detail can be looked at and controlled..."
"But theoretically, you could make such a game on Earth too, couldn't you?"
"Are you talking about virtual or alternate realities? The multiverse? ...I wouldn't say it's impossible."
"Yet this world doesn't seem to be a game."
"One could see it as a game depending on the perspective...but, well, not me, Nebula. I am convinced that this world is real and all the life here exists without a doubt."
Nebula nodded.
"Returning to the question, in my opinion, there's one decisive factor."
Sung-Woon paused and then said, "If this world were a game, it couldn't be replicated."
"So it’s about a simulated universe. Why do you think that?"
"I believe it's a matter of capacity."
Wisdom's turning head stopped. "That's right, Nebula. Everything exists as data. And even a theoretical quantum computer would have to be incredibly large to incorporate such an immense amount of data. It will depend on the computing power, but it seems right to consider it impossible."
"Therefore, I’m trying to prove something."
"What is it?"
Sung-Woon said, "The fact that this world is, indeed, a game."
"...Hmm. How so?"
"We are gods, and we can create whatever we want. If we need more space, we simply expand it, and if we need basic elemental matters, we can just make it. Hence, this game could indeed be recreated."
"However..."
Sung-Woon pointed at Wisdom's head with his index finger.
"That's exactly it, Wisdom. Capacity. If we simulated the same world and it operated without any issues, sustaining this world, then it's likely that this world is some sort of a game, isn't it? Scientifically, it doesn't make sense to withstand such enormous capacity. It would violate physical laws."
"As you said, it wouldn't be proven as such. But more importantly...the act of creating doesn't happen without consumption. Above all, precious Faith points are expended."
"I know that."
"It seems like an extraordinarily interesting challenge, but I’m puzzled as to how proving this would help us win in this game."
Sung-Woon shook his head.
"It’s actually the opposite. In fact, whether the world is a game or not is an irrelevant issue. What I’m getting at is the advantage we gain when we are able to simulate the world."
"What kind of advantage?"
Sung-Woon hesitated for a moment as if he hadn't expected Wisdom to ask such a question.
"Are you really asking because you don’t know?"
"Hm?"
"Imagine we've run countless games to progress to this point. Then we see what happens next. That's foresight. Or we can practice what we need to do beforehand. That's prediction."
"Ah."
"For example, with enemies on all fronts of the Empire like now, we don't know where someone will appear. Therefore, we need to reinforce our defenses on all fronts. But if we know where someone will appear, we can prepare adequately with a smaller force."
Wisdom slowly said, "To be able to read all possible scenarios…that could happen in the future, is what you’re saying."
"If it's possible, that is."
Wisdom sighed, which wasn’t like him.
"It's not an easy task, Nebula."
"I'm saying this to you knowing you are a programmer."
"Just to clear up any possible misunderstanding, being a programmer doesn't mean I know everything about computers. I only have theoretical knowledge when it comes to hardware."
"Oh, really?"
"And the task you mentioned isn't even my area of expertise."
Sung-Woon said, "We don’t need perfect replication. Ultimately, we would want the level of real reality, but we don’t need to go that far as long as we reach a level that makes it useful. Something like The Lost World we played is sufficient. Even if many elements are omitted, the overall trajectory will be similar. We're not looking for future technologies. Rather, our era's technology would be enough."
Wisdom shook his head. "That too is difficult."
"There are countless scholars."
"Yes, someday computers will be made. But it's still going to take a lot of time."
"What about within 50 years?"
"It's impossible. I would advise that expending Faith points on it wouldn't be productive."
Sung-Woon shrugged and said, "It might be possible."
Sung-Woon pointed through the monitor at Kyle Lak Orazen, who was waking up in the Prairie of Beginnings.
"Because we have a genius."
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