Transcendent Gene
Chapter 215: Simulated Riftworld [1]

Chapter 215: Simulated Riftworld [1]

’Okay.’

After several minutes of scouting the vicinity, Gio felt like he had a better understanding of his circumstances.

’There actually aren’t many monsters around here. With how much sound they’re making, I thought they’d be everywhere, but that’s not the case at all.’

Instead, with some investigation, he found that the monsters he was hearing were far below him on the mountain.

Their cries and howls echoed off of its structure, making them seem closer than they truly were. However, it was undeniable that no matter how much Gio ran around on the cliff where he spawned, he found nothing.

’That can only mean one thing.’

Monsters at the highest level were intelligent, but it took time for them to develop intelligence. The monsters that existed in these kinds of Riftworlds were mostly the unintelligent kind, making their patterns more easily understandable.

’Unintelligent monsters are just like beasts in a lot of ways. Even humans used to be like that before we evolved. We call them all monsters, but it’s really the difference between a monkey and a human.’

They may have shared the same genealogy in many ways, but they were intrinsically different.

’There are no monsters this high up the mountain.’

Gio felt the lightheadedness as his ears and nose clogged up from the altitude.

’Either they couldn’t find a way to get this high...’

It was possible, but there were no birds in the sky either.

’...or there’s something strong enough to claim the entire peak as its territory.’

A "Lord." In other words, a monster similar to Yhia.

’Dangerous, but not to that extent. Since this is a simulated Riftworld, they’ve definitely lowered the strength of the monsters here to our level.’

That didn’t mean the battle would be easy. It was enough if victory was a possibility.

’And that’s if targeting that monster is even the clear condition of this Riftworld.’

There were two ways to clear a Riftworld and avoid its corruption.

The first was to kill every single living being inside, leaving only resources for humans to gather.

And the second was to find the specific clear condition of the Riftworld and achieve it. If the condition doesn’t involve the death of the "Boss Monster," then the attack squad didn’t ever have to challenge it.

’Unfortunately, this is for schooling purposes, not clearing purposes.’

Therefore, the easy solution of killing everything was not an option.

’Anyway, the clear condition won’t be anything too drastic. The best thing to do is investigate even more.’

Though he’d never been inside a Riftworld, Gio had commanded operations from the outside several times.

"Finding" a clear condition wasn’t actually a matter of looking for clues and putting them together the way one expected.

Actually, the clear condition would be outlined on a blue holographic window and displayed to everyone in the Riftworld the moment it was discovered.

The process of discovery was also interesting. It was like hunting a treasure map. After one clue was found, it would lead to the next, and the next until one was able to perfectly understand the world around them.

And once they had, they only needed to state the clear condition out loud. If they were correct, the realm would recognize it and create the window.

It was oddly game-like, confusing Sequencers for a long time before they were forced to accept that it was just a part of the change that appeared with the Gehenna Tree.

In reality, there wasn’t a way to find out "why" such things happened at all.

’Well...’

Gio raced through the world, his eyes scanning it fiercely. The flora was scarce around him, but it still existed. The few trees were tall and seemed to have stood for thousands of years despite the cold and treacherous climate around them.

The rushing winds were also something to note. For a bit, Gio thought he was going to be torn away and thrown off the side of the mountain, but his body was surprisingly good at breaking their speed.

’It’s also because this is a simulated environment.’

The real Riftworld probably had winds strong enough to rip him to shreds at a touch. However, with the weakening of everything else, the wind was weakened too. Gio was able to block it with his bodily strength and energy alone.

’They would always describe the first clue the same way. It should be a black stele somewhere in this Riftworld with an unknown text on its surface.’

The mountain peak was huge. Even after half an hour, Gio felt like he hadn’t made much progress at all. The stele he searched for was nowhere near him.

As he continued to make his way across its side, he kept his eyes and ears peeled.

Eventually, he was bound to find something.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sounds of combat pierced his ears from the distance. He didn’t need to think before rushing towards them.

The snow blindness made it harder to see it until he was close, but he would recognize the flashes of gold he saw anywhere.

He’d faced them himself several times.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Large balls of golden flame forced themselves through the air and slammed into a large ape-like monster that was twice the height of its opponent.

It roared, crossing its arms in front of its chest to block the flames. They burned its fur and skin, filling the air with a putrid smell that was soon destroyed by the cold.

Judging from the state of that monster, the battle had been ongoing for some time. In fact, at this point, it was nearing its end.

’Shiro is good. I’d never heard his name before, and with his personality, there’s no way he’d let himself go unknown.’

Even now, Gio didn’t have any thoughts of approaching and interrupting the fight. He didn’t need to.

Boom!

The ape slammed its fists into the ground, throwing rocks and debris everywhere. However, Shiro avoided the impact by jumping high into the air, swinging his arm out to create a cascade of golden flames that rained down.

ROAR-!

It spun like a helicopter, its arms turning into blades that could cut anything. However, they could not touch the cascade of flames. They hit all across its body, burning through its eyes and into its skull.

Shiro latched himself around its neck, forcefully pulling it to the side.

The ape’s bones were too dense for him to snap its neck easily, but from his current position, he had more than just an advantage.

He put his hands on its mouth and pried it open, revealing its massive fangs.

Voom!

Those fangs were soon clouded by golden flames. They poured over its mouth and down its throat. It roared according to its base instinct, allowing the inferno into both its stomach and its lungs.

Gio arrived just in time to perfectly witness the scene of it combusting from the inside and melting into nothingness. Its tough skin was left untouched as nothing more than a sack with nothing inside.

Shiro landed on the ground and wiped the sweat from his brow, looking back at the presence he started to feel a bit ago.

"Gio?" He said with a grin on his face.

"I knew we would spawn near each other. What did I tell you?"

Gio shrugged.

"I can be wrong sometimes, too. Putting that aside, how’d you manage to get yourself into a fight this early? I haven’t even seen a single monster yet."

"Ah, that...?"

Shiro’s grin widened as he rushed over to the ape’s corpse and pushed it to the side.

He clawed into the snow and pulled it to the side, revealing the top of something that looked like obsidian or black marble.

"I saw something over here, and when I came to find out what it was, that guy showed up to fight me. Now that he’s dead, I can finally look at this thing and see if it was worth the effort."

As he uncovered it, Gio almost had the urge to laugh.

The same stele he’d been searching for appeared in front of Shiro instead. It was being revealed in front of his eyes as if the Riftworld itself was mocking him.

But none of that mattered. At the end of the day, Shiro found the stele and uncovered it.

The unknown text on its surface was revealed, and when they came in contact with the energy of the two young Sequencers, they floated up in the air and changed, becoming something they could comprehend.

’Good.’

It was a minimal example, but it was still an example of why Gio chose to recruit help after returning to the past instead of doing everything alone.

Something he could do alone in a week could be accomplished in a day with the help of trusted allies.

Though Shiro was not quite at that level yet, this matter was also not something that required much trust.

Together, they comprehended the clue Shiro found.

And together, they would approach the rest of the Riftworld as well.