The world-devouring dragon

"Why should you care about this kind of thing? What will come will eventually come, just face it calmly."

As for A's worries, F appeared more comfortable and still had a smile on his face.

A, however, did not refute, just remained silent, and finally nodded.

"Right."

The long corridor has no end. There are doors on the left and right. Each door has a sign name, and behind the door are taboo objects.

F followed A, looking at the doors from time to time, looking at the words on the doors such as [Parallel World Jump], [Three Thousand Ways to Become a God], [God of World Destruction], [Immortal Elephant Prison Suppressing Power]... ...and so on, thoughtfully.

"However, among so many forbidden techniques and forbidden things, is there no way to defeat that monster?"

F asked.

"have."

Unexpectedly, A gave a surprising answer.

Opening his eyes, the man with a handsome face stopped, looked at a door next to him, and said.

"There are actually many ways to defeat monsters, and there are even many ways to kill monsters. For example, before you came, we reviewed a forbidden jailbreak technology, a complete fantasy creation."

"This C-level technology can theoretically create thousands of worlds. Everything you think can be realized, and it has abilities that are almost comparable to those of the creator. In the past, prototypes have used this technology in wars and created The multiverse, the endless universes, including the world where monsters died, and where monsters were indeed wiped out at one point.”

"But soon, within tens of thousands of years, the monster woke up from its long sleep again. And this time it was more powerful than before. The majestic monster was furious and swallowed the prototypes together with the created world again. The prototypes In the end, we were lucky enough to survive.”

"Such wars have happened countless times. Monsters cannot be measured by common sense. Just like the thing behind this door..."

A pointed to the door next to him.

On the door, it says [Abstract Concept - Hero].

"Among conceptual things, [Hero] is not a very powerful taboo thing. In the evaluation, it is rated E. It is a civilian technology that can be widely used in the past, just like time travel."

"When we established the Federation, we used this abstract concept extensively to create the Federation. Therefore, young people are a group full of heroic qualities, and each of them has the potential to become a hero."

"But this abstract concept, which is not powerful, has protected the prototype time and time again. It performs better than a lot of advanced skills mastered by the prototype, and strongly supports the crumbling prototypes."

"The monster is unexpectedly vulnerable to the hero. For some reason we don't know, the concept of the hero has great restraint on the monster... It's as if the hero is the monster's only weakness."

"But even heroes have to struggle to support themselves at most. Sometimes they save prototypes from monsters, but more often they end in failure. At most they just buy some time."

As he spoke, A stared at the door with [Hero] written on it, as if reminiscing.

For the old people who have memories of the past, this word brings them respect, because it has saved them from despair time and time again.

With his fearless heart, he accomplished incredible miracles, so he was revered and respected as a [hero] by mortals.

But heroes are perishable.

Unlike eternal monsters, heroes are able to do incredible things for a time, but they will eventually die.

"It is possible to defeat the monster once, it is also possible to kill the monster once, but it is impossible to actually stop the monster..."

In battle after battle, the prototypes finally confirmed this.

He tried countless methods, but still fell into despair.

F also stared at the door and was silent for a moment.

Although he was born after the war, when the prototypes had found a way to defeat the monster once and for all, he did not live through that era of war.

And now, behind that door is the embodiment of the concept of hero. Although I know the admiration for [Hero], I have never been so close.

"It's really amazing."

Looking at the door, F praised.

"It's really amazing..."

A nodded.

As he spoke, he pointed forward.

"Keep walking, there are many incredible things ahead. You are a member of the elders, and all technologies, things, and information preserved by scientific management should be open to you."

…

After walking for an unknown amount of time, I passed through surprising doors one after another, and there was something wonderful behind each door.

A will introduce and explain the things behind each door.

【The universe in the mind】

This is a man whose brain has been replaced by a universe. Although it seems microscopic, it is actually a real universe.

In this universe in his mind, everything a man thinks will become reality, and he can even flip the boundary between reality and his fantasy, replacing the real world with his fantasy.

Considered a D-class taboo, the flow of its timeline has been permanently stagnated.

[Reality Penetrator]

There are many black words deliberately marked on its information section, and only a few words reveal it. It seems that this is something related to the "Fourth Wall"?

The rating is the same as D.

【Infinitely Large and Infinite Tower of Eternity】

There is no end to the tower, each floor has a different world, and there are all kinds of strange phenomena on each floor of the tower.

The evaluation is D-level, but there seems to be an intention to lift the ban to E-level?

And among them, there was even something that surprised F...

【New Human Federation】

Experimental objects of the Institute of Scientific Management, precautionary measures in the face of crisis...

On that door, the words above were written very clearly.

Yes, this New Human Federation is just an experimental object of the Scientific Management Institute.

Behind this door is a holographic image of the Federation, or an item that controls the Federation. Through this holographic image, the entire real Federation can be controlled.

This is why in the federation, there have always been young people, mainly young people, trying to oppose the undercurrent of the Scientific Management Institute, but the old people are indifferent.

Because from the beginning, the entire federation has been absolutely controlled by scientific management.

The rating on this door is C grade.

Although he is a veteran reserve, this is the first time he has truly seen the foundation of scientific management and he is speechless.

However, after looking at these many doors, F realized that he did not see any B-level or even A-level objects.

"B-grade things and A-grade things."

Faced with F's doubts, A turned around and suddenly smiled inexplicably.

"Actually, even I don't know what Class B and Class A are. Because every time I see them, my memory is erased, so I don't remember what they are."

As he spoke, he paused and then said.

"So, I can't explain the next journey to you, because even I won't know what it is after."

"Oh, in this case, doesn't it mean that we are seeing these things for the first time?"

F suddenly became interested and touched his chin.

It was A who was explaining before, and then he let out an exclamation.

Although they were indeed incredible things, he was still slightly unhappy and wanted to know what it would be like to be surprised.

Regarding F's sudden excitement, A seemed to see something and shook his head.

"Well, let's go see those things that scare us."

With a chuckle, A and F continued to move forward in this long corridor filled with taboo objects.

…

The corridor is very long and seems to have no end.

But in some places, there will be some special signs on the floor to remind you which level of forbidden object area you have entered.

After walking for a long time, the two suddenly saw a long road with no doors on both sides, only a huge [B] letter on the floor.

Ahead is the B-level forbidden object area.

"Are you ready, F?"

A's voice was slightly raised, and it seemed that he was not that calm. There was no internal understanding of the [Class B area] within the Office of Science and Technology.

Because mere knowledge is considered a hazard, anyone who enters a Class B area will have their memories wiped clean.

Even if he has been here before, this is still the "first time" for A.

"Of course, I already want to know what's in the B-level area."

F’s smile remains the same.

When they entered the B-level area, the first door they saw made the two of them couldn't help but widen their eyes.

"This is……"

On the door, it clearly says "Fourth Wall".

[Are we illusory? Are we fake? But these are no longer important. Now, we have come to the world of the Creator...]

[Even if we are birds in a cage, we live under the same physical constants as the bird owner; even if we are flowers in a dream, we share the same set of underlying logic with the dreamer. 】

【We have seen you...】

[Class B object...containment status: does not exist]

The fourth wall.

Old people are no stranger to this concept.

Because the archetypes cross the fourth wall and escape the story, thereby avoiding the fate of being eaten by monsters.

Did the archetypes ever dream of containing the fourth wall?

"Containment doesn't exist? What does that mean?"

F asked.

He originally thought that in the Department of Justice, all the people behind the doors must be contained, but that didn't seem to be the case.

A looked at that text, the text left by the prototypes, and thought for a while.

"Not all doors have things behind them. The prototypes have found all kinds of things, but there are some things that the prototypes have not been able to find. It's just that this kind of situation is rare in D and C levels, but... it seems that in the B-level area There may be nothing behind many doors here.”

A lowered his head, as if he had guessed something.

A and F continue to move forward.

In the B-level area, there are many things that are completely beyond the scope of understanding. There is even no name or introduction on the door, and only one door exists alone. It's as if the archetypes were trying to prevent latecomers from knowing these things.

But there are some things that A and F can still understand.

For example, it is written on a door, [Dragon that Devours the World].

On the door, which is painted with an image of an ouroboros, there is information about this forbidden object.

[The monster destined to devour everything will also devour itself, and everything is within it...]

[Class B objects...containment status: everywhere]

Although the words were vague, the two people immediately realized that this was not the monster that made the prototype and the old people anxious?

"It turns out that monsters are only B-level in the eyes of the prototypes?"

F looked at that door for a moment, then walked to the next door.

There are also things like [Creation God], the description left by the prototype is the creator, the source of each world system, who can create the world he wants at will.

No matter what kind of world it is, it can be created.

This includes creating a world with other creators; a world with something more powerful than the creator; or even a world where the creator dies after creating the world.

God of creation.

For these creation gods who do whatever they want, the boundaries between life and death, existence, existence, strength and weakness seem to be blurred.

And below, there is a special row of small text notes [Monsters have been devouring the world, and it seems to have a strong connection with the act of creation itself? Was it also created by a certain creator god? Or……】

There seemed to be something written on the back, but it was deliberately erased.

On some doors, a series of question marks were written.

For example, on a door, under a series of question marks, there is an introduction that even the prototypes are confused about.

【Naya...Nayako? Nyarlathotep? The God of Thousand Faces? Creator? Cthulhu god? Something indescribable? The omniscient and omnipotent one? ...I don’t know, it’s a strange thing, it seems to be everywhere, it has countless incarnations, and we don’t even know what it is? 】

[It seems to leave the story? But has it really left? weird stuff. It's like peeping something in the shadows, and this feeling makes us very uncomfortable...]

[You put your hand into a piece of water. The microorganisms in the water have never seen anything so huge. They can't even see the entirety of one of your fingers. They regard the middle finger closest to them as a god, the most mobile index finger as an evil demon, and the other thumb, the ring finger. They believe in the middle finger and firmly believe that the middle finger will help them fight against the index finger...]

[Latercomers, we don’t know what this thing suspected to be the Cthulhu spirit is, and all speculations about it are just blind people trying to figure out the elephant. As mentioned above, maybe... maybe it and the monster are the same thing? 】

In a series of confusions, only the last small example seemed to reveal something.

In this B-level area, such situations have become very common.

Plenty of containment non-existence, and a confusing, wiped-out introduction.

If in the previous area, the Department of Science and Technology showed the power of having everything under control, then in the B-level area, F could feel a sense of powerlessness.

Even if it is as powerful as the prototype, it still has the powerlessness that it cannot do and does not know.

Before they knew it, the two of them had reached the end of the B-level area.

In front of you, there is another long road with no doors and only the A-level sign on the ground.

"F, do you want to move forward?"

A's expression was solemn.