VIP Chapter 432: The Goddess’s Conspiracy? (3k)
“Fortunately, you could say, the person ‘blessed’ with being gazed upon by a god.”
Looking at Ya’er’s remarkably bold action of rolling up her sleeves directly on the portrait, and listening to her speak these words in a faint tone, Will truly believed she was a “God-Attuned.”
After all, from what he had seen of people like her, they all had peculiar thought processes.
Or perhaps…
Without such peculiar thought processes, was it impossible to reach the depths of the Dungeon?
“In short, the Dungeon that the witch Ya’er herself pursued her entire life has indeed revealed some interesting things, and most importantly… it discovered this place.”
Ya’er said, looking at the corridor.
Portraits in the corridor stretched densely forward. Looking from the center to both sides made one’s scalp tingle.
Especially after Ya’er performed some actions, revealing that these portraits were “alive,” that the clothes within could move, it became even more horrifying.
“It seems the portraits here have multiplied. Five hundred years can indeed change this world significantly.”
“Ancestor Ya’er, were there few portraits here before? Since I haven’t seen what it looked like five hundred years ago, does that mean… five hundred years ago, you discovered this place?”
“Don’t call me ancestor. Has no one ever told you that calling a beautiful girl two hundred years older is incredibly annoying?”
“I… am… HAPPY! Besides, this is respect for you!”
Liya said, crossing her arms.
Ya’er seemed to never quite acknowledge Liya’s identity as a “witch,” or rather, although Liya was the one more closely connected to Ya’er among those present, Ya’er didn’t seem to care about her.
Compared to Liya, Ya’er cared more about the portraits.
Looking at a particular portrait, she frowned, seemingly not particularly satisfied. However, after watching for a while, she turned and continued towards the end of the corridor with the other three.
“I discovered it by chance, yet it was also inevitable. This place was once a social passage within the Dungeon, and later, the passage was sealed by a more powerful Emperor who suddenly appeared. If I hadn’t discovered it in time, it might never have been opened again.”
As she walked, her gaze drifted over the various portraits.
With her experience and knowledge, it seemed as though a mere glance at a portrait hanging there was enough for her to know the life story of the person depicted and what kind of Dungeon they would create.
“At that time, seeing portraits of the great figures of our era here, combined with the rewards from the cleared Dungeons, I roughly deduced that the Dungeons were crafted by them after their deaths.”
Ya’er stated her deductions very calmly.
After all, the witches that followed had proceeded based on her deductions.
“An adventurer who particularly loved researching Dungeon cuisine in his life, in his Dungeon as an Emperor, there would always be a lot of food dropped.”
“An adventurer who had a passion for weaponry in his life, in his Dungeon as an Emperor, you could obtain the finest swords and spears in this world.”
“An adventurer who was obsessed with seafaring voyages in his life, in his Dungeon as an Emperor, you could find a compass that did not yet exist in the world at that time.”
…
Ya’er spoke slowly.
She was more like an old professor giving a lecture at a Magic Academy—although a systematic and unified Magic Academy did not exist in her time, she possessed that aura now.
This old professor was sharing knowledge accumulated over her lifetime, and even knowledge gained five hundred years after her death.
This research, using her life, her personality, and her existence as experimental subjects, had yielded the results she desired.
Therefore, she recounted it here to her juniors in a proud manner.
“So, understanding that certain special individuals would come here after death. I thought of those unusable books piled in the library, the Ancient Magic texts I could never understand. If someone like me, a bookworm of magic, were here, later generations would likely obtain readable ancient magic tomes.”
After speaking, Ya’er looked at “Ice Array (Attack)” in Will’s hand with some relief.
“You succeeded, didn’t you?”
She didn’t ask if *she* had succeeded, but rather as if asking if the “witches,” and indeed the entire “world,” had succeeded.
“We did. After you, as the BOSS, died countless times, the Witch Association, which believes in you and has made researching and deciphering ancient magic its lifelong pursuit, deciphered countless ancient magic tomes.”
Liya said honestly, crossing her arms.
“Furthermore, these weren’t just the most original forms of magic. After improvement and extraction of certain magical elements, they became the magic that the current human world relies on for survival, and were even included in textbooks.”
She continued to describe to Ya’er.
“That’s good then.” Ya’er turned back, and for the first time, she glanced at Liya with relief after hearing this. “However, something just happened that I don’t know whether to tell you or not. My ‘vessel’ seems to have been destroyed by an Elf Archer, and the Dungeon of ‘The End Ash’ has also collapsed.”
“Ah?”
Will was stunned by Ya’er’s sudden, unrelated statement.
“Wait, if that’s the case, won’t you disappear, Ya’er…”
“No. I’m perfectly fine.”
Ya’er spread her arms and even spun around. She tilted her head.
“Perhaps you brought me out in time, and now I’ve become an unexpected element in the Dungeon? Something unquantifiable, allowing me to stand here?”
She didn’t seem nervous about the possibility of disappearing, her tone was very relaxed.
“Of course, it’s also possible due to the special nature of the corridor itself. It stores quite a few personalities. It’s normal for me, having returned to my original personality, to be standing here now. I think we can first experiment to see if disappearing after leaving here will cause me to vanish.”
She even began to find research directions for the topic of “why I can still exist after the Dungeon’s destruction,” which was worth studying.
Then, she looked at the door leading “outside.”
“Where does this lead to? Shall we try going out first?”
“It’s the Witch’s Lair. We formed a cooperation with a Dungeon, and created a living area for witches in its mezzanine. You could call it the Witch’s Lair.”
“What mezzanine, what cooperation, what living area—that sounds quite interesting. You can tell me more about it if there’s a chance.”
Ya’er scratched her head and was already preparing to open the door for her “experiment.”
Will quickly reached out and grabbed her.
“Just in case, if you go out… you might really cease to exist! Where else would I get more information?!”
Will was terrified of this person.
Although she looked like a harmless, somewhat dull, but mature and intelligent child…
Deep down, she was a complete magic fanatic. No, even calling her a magic fanatic wasn’t enough; a crazed old professor? That was probably the most fitting description.
*She* was the one who suggested the Dungeon was gone!
*She* was the one who suggested she might disappear if she left!
And yet, this person was just going to experiment on her own volition?!
However, Will thought…
It seemed unreasonable to expect much in terms of survival instinct from someone who directly pursued the Dao by dying in a Dungeon.
“What other information do you have? Didn’t I just say it? How the Dungeon Emperors came to be, and how I ended up inside.”
“We already know all of that!”
“…Oh, right. You’re the witches from five hundred years later… descendants. You would naturally know these things. So, what do you want to know?”
Ya’er stopped at the door, like an all-knowing Q&A machine, spreading her hands with an indifferent expression, waiting for Will to ask the next question.
“First, what kind of person can become a ‘personality’ within a Dungeon?”
“That’s right. Will, we discussed this here before. Thousands upon thousands of adventurers died here, but not every one of them became a monster that cycles within the Dungeon…”
“Huh… what, what? What are you all talking about?”
Iaar originally wanted to ask a question, but she realized she was completely…
Unable to contribute.
Because there was so much content she had never known before!
All she could do now was diligently take notes on a piece of paper, hoping she could find time later to study and understand it thoroughly in private.
“I didn’t know that when I died either. I found out later. The answer was just given to you—they are God-Attuned.”
“As expected.”
“God… God-Attuned?!”
Will wasn’t surprised, but Liya was shocked.
Not all the people depicted in the portraits here had publicly revealed their identity as God-Attuned when they were alive, but at least the few Will knew were.
More importantly…
The protagonist of the original work was. The captain of the original Shining Star, who died, also was. From the perspective of a story, a gun hanging on the wall will always fire.
“God-Attuned individuals killed by monsters in the Dungeon unconditionally become monsters of that Dungeon. It’s that simple.”
“B-but… God-Attuned themselves… they unconditionally pursue… pursue the deepest part of the Dungeon throughout their lives. Doesn’t this mean that most of them will inevitably face this outcome?”
Listening to Liya’s words, Ya’er’s face showed an expression of admiration.
“Hmm? Are there any followers of that Goddess here? Although speaking of which, since she does nothing, there seem to be very few people who could be called her followers.”
The three shook their heads, and only then did Ya’er continue—
“From this perspective, God-Attuned individuals are not those who are fortunately gazed upon by the Goddess Reviers. It could even be said that God-Attuned individuals are a breeding farm that supplies the Dungeon with a constant stream of manpower.”
“…”
“?!”
“…?”
The three people showed different expressions upon hearing this statement.
Will began to ponder this “blind spot.”
As Ya’er said, Reviers’s “presence” in this world was too low.
Apart from some healing magic being related to her, and outwardly people praying to her, she hadn’t performed any divine miracles. Even the people at the church found it difficult to explain what she had done for promotional purposes.
Yet, throughout the entire world, across all faiths, legends, and myths, she was the only deity whose name was recorded.
When you thought of her as a harmless, ordinary Goddess, or even the type who, upon appearing, would be forced to endure criticism like “Why aren’t you doing anything?”, she…
Seemed to be secretly orchestrating the world’s logic?
Was this her “conspiracy”? If so, where was she now? And what was she planning?
“Based on the experiences of the past five hundred years, this conclusion is largely correct. How about it? Are you satisfied? Next question?”
She spread her hands very casually, adopting an exceptionally relaxed posture, indicating for the three to continue asking questions.
“Since Will has already asked, it’s my turn next.”
Liya stepped forward directly.
“Witch, what exactly is it? What was your purpose in creating us back then?”
Looking at Liya asking such a question with a serious expression, Ya’er pondered for a moment.
She seemed not to have anticipated this question, so she didn’t have an answer prepared and was thinking.
After a while, she sighed lightly before speaking—
“If I were to tell the truth, witches… are merely life forms I created for a long, drawn-out experiment.”
Then, Ya’er gave this answer, which sounded somewhat melancholic even as she uttered it herself.
