Chapter 126: True History
ㅤWe were thrown into the middle of a grassland this time.
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ㅤThere are many animals in the grassland.
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ㅤMixed among them are demi-humans, or beastmen, who possess some animal characteristics.
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ㅤ”Ah, there are Hawkhead Grizzlies too.”
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ㅤThere were beastmen with the head of a hawk and the body of a bear, just like Bearnov.
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ㅤ”Explorer Schmos was astonished. Oh, is this the form of the primordial humans?!”
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ㅤ”It’s quite a peaceful scene, isn’t it?”
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ㅤSchmos and Arsh said in unison.
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ㅤ”Well then, the black pillar is… there it is, over there.”
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ㅤAs usual, there was a black pillar several kilometers away.
ㅤThe pillar pierced the sky from the ground.
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ㅤAfter a picnic of several kilometers, I touched the pillar again.
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ㅤ『Primordial Paradise. Those who dwell in the Demon World were granted a gentle nature and a peaceful environment, and lived freely.』
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ㅤ”And they all lived happily ever after… that’s not the case, is it?”
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ㅤ『However, that peace did not last long.』
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ㅤI knew it.
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ㅤDark clouds suddenly cover the grassland.
ㅤThe rain that started soon turned into a downpour, and a muddy stream washed through the valley of the terrace.
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ㅤLightning flashed.
ㅤArsh jumped up and covered her ears at the loud thunderclap.
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ㅤ『Those who dwell in the Demon World were divided into many races as a result of interbreeding. They respected each other and coexisted peacefully, but one race appeared that was not like the others.』
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ㅤSoldiers clad in metal armor walk through the downpour.
ㅤTens of thousands of troops.
ㅤThey squint their eyes against the driving rain as they advance across the grassland.
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ㅤ『At the end of their evolution, they lost the gentle nature bestowed upon them by the Demon King and gained cruelty and cunning instead. They gradually expanded their territory.』
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ㅤBuildings made of wood and stone are erected all at once on the grassland.
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ㅤ『They looked down on other races as demi-humans and called the beasts monsters. They accused the Demon King of being their ringleader and demanded that he hand over the power to create the world to them.』
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ㅤ”Hmm, hmm.”
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ㅤ『Of course, the Demon King refused.
ㅤWasn’t it humans who disturbed the peace and invented conflict?
ㅤHumans claim to be the supreme beings created by God. However, there has never been anything like a 『God』 in this world. It is a delusion created by humans to distinguish themselves from other races and beasts and to sanctify themselves.』
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ㅤ”Wait a minute. But there is a God, right?”
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ㅤAt least, there is a God who gave me the difficulty selection and reincarnated me.
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ㅤ『Humans stole the power of reason that the Demon King controlled and attempted to summon God from another world with it.』
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ㅤ”From another world…”
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ㅤ『However, all humans could summon were other humans.
ㅤTheir names were Togo・Shoma, Endo・Hayao, and Minazuki・Luna.
ㅤThey would later be known as the Grandmasters of the Adventurer’s Guild.』
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ㅤ”W-wait a minute! Those names…”
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ㅤ『Apostle of God. You are from the same hometown, are you not?』
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ㅤ”From the sound of their names, it seems so.”
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ㅤThere might be a Japanese-style different world, or it might be a parallel world to the Earth I was on.
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ㅤ”Uh, Minato… what does that mean?”
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ㅤArsh asks me.
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ㅤ”Ah, yeah. I’ll explain later because it’s going to get confusing.
ㅤSo, what’s next?”
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ㅤ『The 『God』 summoned by humans was only human, but through the summoning, the three gained special powers. Powers called Warrior, Thief, and Magician. The three hunted 『monsters』 and stole their power, killed 『beastmen』 and stole their possessions. Thus, the adventurers who gained power finally tried to kill even His Majesty the Demon King.』
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ㅤ”Tried to kill him, meaning they couldn’t defeat the Demon King after all?”
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ㅤ『No, he was defeated. But he was not destroyed. His Majesty the Demon King reincarnated his power into successive 『vessels』, plotting to one day become a sword to destroy the hateful humans. At the same time, he sank us – the Elminarsh・System – to the bottom of the sea, hidden from the eyes of the adventurers.
ㅤThis was a necessary measure to protect the true history from being tampered with by the Grandmasters who stole the Demon King’s power and came to be called God.』
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ㅤ”The Grandmasters tampered with history…?”
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ㅤ『Grandmaster・Togo, Endo, and Minazuki found nothing more to do after defeating His Majesty the Demon King.』
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ㅤ”Uh, so they got bored with nothing to do?”
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ㅤ『The decadent Grandmasters planned to alter the world.
ㅤThey transformed beasts and beastmen into monsters and changed humans into grotesque monsters that could only survive by eating humans.
ㅤAmong the beastmen, the elves and dark elves, who were favored by the Grandmasters, were allowed to survive as beings equivalent to humans.
ㅤThe demons were deprived of their physical bodies and became beings like ghosts dwelling in the Netherworld, demons who tempted and preyed upon humans.
ㅤFurthermore, the Grandmasters scattered fragments of His Majesty the Demon King’s power throughout the world, creating spaces called 『dungeons』 where monsters would be endlessly produced.
ㅤAnd even then, they resurrected the remaining power of His Majesty the Demon King as the 『Demon King』 who would be revived every few hundred years.
ㅤOn top of that, they reincarnated as humans, became adventurers, slaughtered monsters, conquered dungeons, resisted the temptations of the demons and fought back, accumulated power and defeated the 『Demon King』 – they repeated their heroic epic over and over again, trying to escape from their eternal idleness.』
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ㅤ”…The Grandmasters were reincarnators, and after defeating the Demon King, they turned this world itself into a game. And that was just to relieve their boredom.”
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ㅤFor example, Bearnov is undoubtedly a “monster” right now.
ㅤBut Bearnov has high intelligence.
ㅤMoreover, according to the language settings in the options, Bearnov uses “Beastman Language.”
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ㅤ（The Grandmasters’ alteration of the world – before the game-ification, Hawkhead Grizzlies were beastmen, and as one of the many races, they were equal to humans… is that what you’re saying?）
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ㅤThere are other things that come to mind.
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ㅤ（The display of HP bars is also like that. Named monsters always have them, but humans don’t. For example, when I fought Cretias, he didn’t have an HP bar. The bar doesn’t seem to be visible to anyone but me, so this must also be God’s power.）
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ㅤIt also explains the “difficulty selection sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t” issue that I’ve been wondering about.
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ㅤ（The difficulty selection probably works on “monsters” that are set as enemies to be defeated by human adventurers. And also on adventurers who have received the Grandmaster’s Blessing. Knights like Cretias seem to have a Knight’s God, so it’s a different story.）
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ㅤThe fact that the difficulty change works even against adventurers might be because they assumed a system like PK.
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ㅤ”But then who is the God who gave me power?”
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ㅤ『After hundreds of years, the Grandmasters grew tired of the game they had created. Their minds were worn down, and after repeated reincarnations, the three merged into one pillar of 『God.』
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ㅤ”Whoa, they fused.
ㅤWhat about the existence of beings who grant power other than the Grandmasters, like the Knight’s God?”
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ㅤ『They are parts of the 『seeds』 scattered, the 『children』 born, the 『companions』 who were given power, some of whom ascended to a God-like existence during the endless 『adventure』 of the Grandmasters.』
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ㅤ”So all that power can be traced back to the Demon King’s power.
ㅤWait, but then what power does Arsh have? It should have been almost entirely taken by the Grandmasters, right?”
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ㅤ『That girl is the access key. To all the Demon King’s power that exists in this world. The one who holds that key will become the next Demon King. Of course, not the convenient enemy 『Demon King』 created by the Grandmasters. But the true successor to His Majesty the Demon King.』
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ㅤ”…Before we entered here, you said that I was qualified to be the Demon King.
ㅤBut what do you mean?
ㅤAs you’ve guessed, I’m a human who was reincarnated with power given to me by the Grandmaster Fusion God, right?”
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ㅤ『I also found that point suspicious. However, numerous signs indicate that you are the successor.』