[716] What Is Gained (5)
* * *
Imperial Capital Aganos.
Uorin, who had rushed back to her room in a flustered hurry, slammed the door and braced both hands on her dressing table.
"Hah! Hah!"
Her heart was still hammering.
'Why is my heart racing?'
It was the first time in eight hundred years that Teraje's heartbeat had surged above normal.
"No! No!"
An empire built from thousands of years of preparation, the finest body forged from the genes of thousands.
And her mind?
A mind beyond humanity ruled all the emotions of this world, and in return no one could touch her feelings.
"I won't give it. No one can win my heart!"
Kando pushed the door open and came in.
"Your Imperial Majesty! What on earth is the matter?"
It was the first time he'd ever seen Uorin so flustered; Kando was nearly terrified.
"We must finish this now. If we miss the timing, we'll lose any means to subdue Shirone."
"...."
Uorin stared into the mirror on her dressing table.
'Will he like it?'
The thought that Shirone would judge her like this made her dizzy and her chest flutter.
"Your Imperial Majesty."
Uorin suddenly turned.
"Kando, am I ugly?"
"Huh?"
Kando frowned at Uorin's flushed, agitated expression.
"Am I pretty? How pretty am I?"
'What on earth is happening?'
Uorin had gathered the world's superior genes to become the most beautiful woman.
'Absolute confidence. A flawless human.'
It was impossible to believe that such a Teraje would doubt her appearance and even ask someone else.
'This is dangerous. No—she's still powerful, still perfect.'
Teraje was Teraje.
Kando could not foresee what a tiny crack in the empire of glory might bring.
* * *
Shirone entered the temple following Panika.
In a circular hall like a small Yor chapel stood a statue presumed to be the god of the codename.
"Ikael?"
The exquisite features, the wide wings of light, the halo floating above its head—clearly an angel's statue.
'Am I mistaken?'
Angels were mostly beautiful, and the statue's fine details were omitted, so it was hard to be certain.
'But why does it feel so familiar?'
It felt as if someone had touched and polished this statue every single day.
Codename No. 1, Dralin, stood beside Shirone and looked up at the statue.
"Our goddess Ataraxia."
Shirone's head snapped around.
"Ataraxia?"
What came to mind was the statue the grave-robber Arius had tried to steal by infiltrating the maternal psyche—the original concept of Ataraxia that Ikael had left directly in Shirone's mind through possession.
'Then why is it here?'
Before Shirone could make sense of it, Dralin continued.
"The codename is a city overseen by the goddess Ataraxia. That's why people from other cities don't have codes. Like you."
Dralin, one of the goddess's most beloved, placed a kindly hand on Shirone's shoulder.
"Don't worry. Once you've entered this city, anyone can be cradled in the goddess's arms. With her grace, one can perform miracles in a human body—longer life, healed illnesses, the knowledge of gods."
Codename No. 9, Gale, scoffed.
"The problem is not everyone can obtain it. Start praying to the goddess now if you want. At least two hundred thousand times, I guess, if you want to live like a human."
Shirone glared at Gale.
"It's not that they're unlucky because their rank is low. They're unlucky because humans like you torment them."
"Hahaha! Talkative, aren't you? Be honest—you're scared. Whatever code you get, you'll be below me anyway."
To be ninth among more than 420,000 people was certainly difficult.
Ikael's presence raised hopes, but without knowing the criteria you couldn't predict ranks.
"How do you get a code?"
"The method is simple. Kneel before the goddess and pray with all your heart. We call this gwoncheong."
In the codename system, where life changes depending on which code you receive, gwoncheong was the most important rite.
Panika leaned in and whispered.
"It's something only rankers know, but you can perform gwoncheong multiple times."
"What? So you can get a different code each time?"
"Yes. That's why rankers gather at the temple. If the middle class came here they'd die."
Shirone understood why Gale had been hostile when he learned Shirone was a Musuin.
"The thing is, ranks among rankers rarely change. The gaps aren't that big. More often, ranks fall."
If your life was already among the top thousand of 420,000, there was no reason to gamble.
'But it's different for the middle class. They're all gathered here to prevent social reversal.'
Shirone would not have set foot here if not for Panika, roughly codename No. 97.
Panika spoke cautiously.
"The orthodox gwoncheong is to kneel and pray. But there's a rumor you can get a higher code by special methods. Some strip off all their clothes; some prostrate with a bow at every step from the temple entrance."
Her voice dropped lower.
"I did gwoncheong after starving for ten days."
Not knowing the exact standards for gwoncheong, one could imagine humans trying everything.
'No. This isn't the same.'
For them, the codename was their entire world, but for Shirone it was just one of the roughly 19,000 Geffin had sealed.
If the original spacetime had been isolated and evolved into a completely different world, this place must be the era when Ikael had once stayed.
'Ikael....'
Shirone knew the terrifying history—trusted by Anke Ra as the archangel who had annihilated the human world.
'What on earth did Geffin think when he sealed that era?'
When Shirone hesitated, Gale prodded.
"Hey, hurry up. Don't try to act like you're the same as those born in the codename just because you're a Musuin!"
The gwoncheong ritual might be superstition, but Gale, who wanted any higher standing, wasn't about to wait forever.
"Gale! You know how important this is. Give her time to prepare."
Panika took Shirone's side, but Shirone didn't really care about gwoncheong.
"I'll start."
Shirone approached the statue of Ikael and extended his hand.
"Hey, you can't—"
Gale stepped forward to forbid the blasphemous supplication, but Dralin shook his head.
"It's fine. The goddess will judge."
Gale, thinking the goddess' wrath would only harm Shirone, stopped arguing.
Shirone looked up and said, "Ikael, stop turning away."
The external artificial brain unit vibrated and translated Shirone's words, but to the people of the codename it sounded like a strange incantation.
"What nonsense is that? And Ikael? To the merciful Goddess Ataraxia—"
Gale was about to intervene again when the statue trembled and the temple shook.
"What—what's happening!"
The rankers, who had never seen such a thing in the codename, looked around anxiously.
"The goddess is—"
Dralin, who had never lost confidence in any situation, gaped dumbly at the statue shedding tears.
"Huuuu!"
As the code began to appear on Shirone's forehead, the rankers surged into the temple.
"What's happening?"
No one could answer. Dralin, Gale, and Panika stared intently at the code, which was being swallowed in misty light.
'Ikael! This—!'
Feeling an uncontrollable amplification of emotion, Shirone gritted his teeth and lifted his head.
"Arghhhh!"
The statue shattered into pieces, and a massive Ataraxia unfurled above the crown of Shirone's head.
'It's expanding without end!'
Nothing passed through a magic circle, but the concept of amplification alone shook the world.
'I see.'
As the code on his forehead came into sharp relief, the secrets of the codename spread at the speed of light.
'This world is—'
While Shirone was lost in thought, the rankers stared wide-eyed at the code engraved on his forehead.
"What is that?"
427,621
The rankers murmured as they checked Shirone's code.
"Isn't that the lowest class? Wait—427,621? Isn't that the last number?"
It was a reaction to gwoncheong that had never happened before, and Dralin, who had been worried, breathed a sigh of relief.
'Of course. Was that the goddess's curse a moment ago?'
"Pfft—!"
Gale burst into laughter.
"Puahahaha! Last place! You're dead last, aren't you?"
Even the rankers, unable to feel any pity at such a dramatic number, struggled to hold back their laughter.
"This is insane. I've never seen such a number in my life. From now on I'll teach you what kind of human you are."
Panika stepped in front of Gale.
"Stop it! Don't pick on someone who's already suffering!"
There was no need to bully the person condemned to the city's most miserable life.
"No, it's different. The fact that the last-place person came to the temple is itself a rebellion against rankers. I'll make an example here."
Pushing Panika aside, Gale shot an apologetic look and moved forward; Dralin stepped back.
'You've startled me enough.'
Mercy was something one could afford only while remaining first.
"Now then, where should I start breaking you?"
As Gale reached for Shirone's collar, the rankers suddenly became flustered and looked around.
"What is this? What's wrong?"
The codes on their foreheads began to glow, and no one, not even Dralin, was exempt.
'It's a code conversion—'
Before the thought finished, a sensation of divine power draining away and an immense headache crashed over them.
"Arghhh! My head! My head!"
The rankers nearby stared in horror at the newly engraved number on Dralin's forehead.
427,622
'No way!'
The chain reaction that began with Dralin reached Gale, whose code converted to 427,630.
"It hurts! My head!"
Rankers toppled in order of higher rank, clutching their heads and screaming.
"No! My power! How could someone else take my power!"
The city's 427,620 codes were all being pushed down one slot with Shirone as the pivot.
That no one could use their divine power meant everyone in the codename had been made equal.
As the screams across the city faded, the temple filled with sobbing.
"No. This has to be a dream."
Those who had been rankers until moments ago were now crying with the numbers of the despised commoners carved on their foreheads.
"Even if it's just a dream—"
When Shirone approached, Gale scrambled backwards on his butt.
"Eek!"
"You mustn't act like that."
Shirone passed by Gale, who trembled in fear, and looked over the place where the statue had been destroyed.
The old Ataraxia lay broken, but another Ataraxia remained.
'This is Ikael's dream.'
The standard for Codename No. 847 that Geffin had sealed was Ikael himself.
"And now—"
The new Ataraxia, Shirone looked over the people collapsed outside the temple and said, "I am the standard."
In Shirone's world, there was no such thing as divine power.