The New Gate

Extinction. Tiera said so.

That the High Human race was extinct.

“…Then, there won’t be any of the human race around?”

“No, humans are still around. You saw the knights a little while ago.”

“Really!?”

Shin had misunderstood about the Human extinction and involuntarily retorted.

“It’s the High Humans that went extinct, not the humans.”

“What’s the difference?”

“It is different. The High Human race consisted of 6 people who formerly ruled the Redmond continent. Even 10,000 humans couldn’t win against them. Their strength was in another dimension.”

“The continent was ruled by 6 people?”

Shin remembered there was place that was ruled by 6 people. He had a feeling that he heard such an episode before.

“Can you explain more in detail?”

“Even though most people know this, all right then. I’ll tell you. In the past, around 500 years ago, there were the High Humans who once ruled the continent. Though they were only 6 people, other races couldn’t do anything to them because of their overwhelming power.”

“…………”

“However, their domination was suddenly ended.”

“Ended?”

“Yes, ended. Not only the High Humans but many other races such as High Elves, High Lords, High Beasts, and High Dwarfs have disappeared. Many influential people like Kings, Elders, Heroes, and Generals disappeared as well. It’s said that it was a sudden disappearance. According to master, numerous influential and strong men disappeared. The day of disappearance happened was called the ‘Dusk of the Majesty’”

“The Dusk of the Majesty…”

“It is said that all High Humans disappeared at that time. And there were only 6 of them.”

Sudden disappearance. Shin had a theory about that.

The phenomenon which caused many people to disappear.

(It’s that day. The day when I defeated ‘Origin’, and everyone logged out. There is no conclusive evidence, but ‘Dusk of the Majesty’ might be the result from that day.)

Kings, Heroes, and Elders would probably be guild masters. Tens of thousands of people were expected to be released from the game. Shin didn’t know the exact number, but there were at least 10 thousand people stuck in the game. It probably looked like a sudden disappearance for the people in this world.

(To think that the 6 High Humans had ruled the continent before that…)

Shin finally understood. 6 of the High Human race. Without a doubt…

(It’s…us…)

When THE NEW GATE was still a good VRMMO and before it turned into a death game, there was a guild which was said to be the strongest in THE NEW GATE.

The guild was named ‘Rokuten’ as it was formed by the 6 High Humans. The small guild defeated major guilds one by one in THE NEW GATE, until its name was known to all players in just one month. They had a reputation of ‘PK’ing players who tried to oppose them. (T/N: I used the romaji name, Rokuten『六天』 not ‘Devas’ in the manga, Rokuten means six heavens/six skies)

Shin was a former member of Rokuten at the beginning. Back then, it was stupid to choose the human race when playing for the first time. Human were despised by other races and Shin had a dark history because of that.

Needless to say, all member were composed of High Humans and had almost maxed stats. Even the weakest member had HP and MP maxed, while the rest of the players averaged around 900 for their stats.

While in competition with every other major guild, the battles that took place looked unbelievable as it was 6 people against thousands of people. At that time, each field was burnt up by an expanding wide-range fire magic. The leader who was surprised got ambushed and it was settled.

Since then, no one dared to provoke the Rokuten guild. Even the ones to hold derision against human had decreased. Not only was the combat power of High Human shown, their unusual magic resistance was also demonstrated. Most magic didn’t have effect on them. Moreover, Poisons, Paralysis, Confusion, Enchanting, Burn, Frostbite, Confusion, Petrifaction, all of them were ineffective against a High Human. Besides, it only took a few second for them to completely cure their bodies.

It was rather fortunate (or unfortunate) that only Shin among the Rokuten got stuck in the death game. At least three months or more could be reduced if another person from Rokuten was there, thought Shin.

“…………”

“What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly silent?”

“No, it’s nothing. Do you mind if we change the topic to the currency?”

Shin felt he would be digging his own grave if he continued to talk about High Humans, so he deliberately changed the topic to the currency, which they talked about before.

“No, it’s alright. Is this the currency you have been using?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, to be able to bring out such valuable item, maybe you being a High Human isn’t a lie after all.”

Apparently Tiera didn’t believe that Shin was a High Human.

While sighing, Tiera took the gold coin and looked at it. She seemed to be confirming whether it was genuine.

And Shin doubted what Tiera’s meant by ‘valuable’.

“Is is valuable? It‘s only 1 G though.”

1 Geyl was equivalent to 1 Yen in the game. If converted, it’s value would be worth 1/1000 Yen in reality. It was the lowest currency in the game. Incidentally, Shin’s Item Box contained one hundred million Geyl. It was a mystery, as why it was displayed ‘G’ as ‘Geyl’ not ‘Gold’ with the gold coin.

“The Geyl gold coin is often abbreviated to G gold coin. However, now it’s hard to obtain. You might not know this, but the Geyl gold coin is a magic item that can amplify magic. It is occasionally found in ruins. When a Geyl gold coin gets exhibited in auctions, it can reach a billion Jul or even more. The Jul is the current commonly used currency on how many J gold coin or how many J silver coin…J means to be used as a method of counting. (T/N: 1 J gold coin = 1,000,000 J and 1 J silver coin = 10,000 J. E.g. If you have 2 J gold coins and 87 J silver coins, you’ll have a total 2,870,000 J)

“So this one is worth 1 billion…”

“A magician would kill to get even one as the price is enormous and most can’t afford it. Though master had shown me one, it is my first time to seeing any other than that. After all, 1 billion is the minimum amount you can get, the price can reach 10 times more than that.”

“For this one Geyl gold coin to be worth that much…by the way, how often it can be found?”

“Rarely, but I can’t say. Even when new ruins were discovered, the chances of finding it were still very low.”

“Is that so? Look like I have to be careful when buying goods.”

Shin thought about converting it to increase his funds, but he canceled it after realizing how valuable it was.

“That’s a wise decision, but you are doing it just now.”

“That’s an awful joke. However, I will be careful next time.”

“Are you going to sell something? I told you I’d buy if you have good materials or items.”

“Well, how about this?”

Shin took out item cards, which he got whilst traveling, from the Item Box. In the game, it was possible to change an item into a card. It was the same in this world, too. The materials turned into cards automatically and could even be stored in the Item Box. Once the item became a card, a picture of the item was drawn on the card. The card could be materialized anytime.

Shin put his item cards on the counter. The item cards varied from Tetra Grizzly, Twinhead Snake, Flame Boar, and their fangs, claws, furs, meats and so forth to raw materials such as sparkling jewels.

In the game, the materials can be sold and processed in various places. The jewel would especially fetch a high price, because it was able to give attributes or additional effects to equipment and weapons, and only if it was done by blacksmiths. Jewels could be found as monsters drop them after being killed, though the drops’ probability are low. The jewels which Shin showed were Grade 7, which was the lowest grade.

“Item cards…”

“Hmm? What is it? Is there something strange?”

“No, if you have an Item Box, this is natural, isn’t it? Though I don’t know if you already know this, so I’ll say it just in case. Because an item card is also expensive to a certain degree, it’s better not to take them out recklessly.”

“It’s troublesome. Should I purposely treat them as the materials?”

“That’s the normal way! You are really weird!”

“Ah, I see… I see. I understand, so please calm down.”

“Mou~, you made me mad again.”

While saying that, Tiera still focused on doing her job. She materialized the item cards and began to appraise them. Even though she was surprised, she still knew how to use the item cards.

“From Tetra Grizzly to Twinhead Snake and Flame Boar. Not only are these materials of ferocious monsters, none of these monsters can be found unless you go deep into the woods. Just what kind of person are you?”

“I just defeated them on my way here. The fight was not so ferocious as you described though.”

“But it takes several knights to kill one monster…well whatever, as long as you defeated them. I’m not that surprise after all that occurred before.”

It seemed that the monsters were unexpectedly dangerous. Shin had thought they were beginner monsters.

“Well, don’t worry about it. Leaving that aside, how are the items?”

“That’s right. The raw materials are still in a good state due to the materialization of the card. The material’s price would be 1 J gold coin and 27 J silver coins, so the total would be 1,270,000 J. The jewel is Grade 7 with a high purity, so the price is 25 J gold coins, so the price is 25,000,000 J. All together would be 26,270,000 J.

“I don’t know whether it’s expensive or cheap due to the conversion of currency…”

“It’s a little less than the original price, but the price of jewels can go up and down depending on the market. This grade and purity is usually worth about 20,000,000 ~ 23,000,000 J.

“Oh, I’m lucky. I gained more than 2,000,000 J.”

“How is it? If you are fine with the price, I’ll buy it.”

“It is my pleasure. I’ll sell it. Thank you. And I’ll give you this as well.”

While saying that, Shin pointed to the Geyl gold coin on the counter.

“…Is this a joke?”

“Why would it be!?”

“Didn’t you hear me speak a while ago!? A Geyl gold coin is worth billions, no one in their right mind would give it freely in this world.”

“Here.”

Shin pointed at himself.

“Are you sure?…I’m not going to return it even if you ask for it.”

“Yup.”

Tiera quickly grab the Geyl gold coin and held it to her chest. Her eyes were sparkling while looking at the Geyl gold coin. At this time, Shin’s eyes were glued at Tiera’s chest, he was like a sad man’s destiny.

“Ah, it’s like dream come true… a G gold coin…”

Tiera’s expression changed completely to a delighted face with enchanting eyes. Shin suddenly felt a strange seductiveness from her, which caused his cheek to turned slightly red. He was then shaking his head to remove the dirty thought.

“Well, I’m glad you like it. Elves should find it useful since you can use ma――”

“Wait a moment!”

“――gic.”

Tiera interrupted Shin’s speech and stood up abruptly. Her expression had a look of someone who saw something unbelievable.

“…What is it?”

“Just now…did you say elf?”

“Ah, I said it…oh? Wasn’t it elf?”

Shin remembered that the facial feature of elves and High Elves were pointed ears, so he wanted to confirm it…Shin was still puzzled, because it may be a race he never seen before.

“I should look like a cat girl with red hair and black eyes.”

“Cat girl with red hair and black eyes?”

Cat people was one of the popular Beast races among female players and a certain group of male players. There were various derivations in Beast races, as for cat people, there are Persian cat, Calico cat and so forth. In addition, players were divided from their animal model, some players had the same face, arms, tail, wings and many more, while some only a portion of their body.

But in Shin’s eyes, Tiera was a beautiful black-haired and golden-eyed elven girl. There was no cat person, red hair, and black eyes.

“I can only see a beautiful elf girl with black hair and golden eyes in front of me.”

“That…”

He tried to emphasize her beauty, but it seemed she didn’t hear it.

“How? Master already cast illusion magic on me.”

“Illusion magic?”

Speaking of illusion magic, it was usually used to confuse or show hallucinations to the other party. It was a magic that had left a strong impression on Shin, because one of the magic’s users was from Rokuten.

“Uuu…to be exposed like this…”

Tiera was looking down and her face looked like the world was coming to an end. Tiera’s sudden depression caused Shin to desperately try to resolve the situation, since he didn’t know much about her and what caused her to be dejected.

“Um…Tiera?”

“Wha…what is it?”

He intended to talk gently, but Tiera was nervous that it was exaggerated.

“I noticed Tiera is an elf only because it is one of my quality features.”

“Qua…quality?”

“Yes. Illusion magic is the magic that shows hallucinations to and confuses the other party. However, it might be not effective towards the guys who have a strong resistance against magic. Therefore, that’s why I see the true form of Tiera.”

“But…even with strong resistance, for the magic that master cast to be broken…”

Even with Shin’s explanation, Tiera still wore the face that showed disbelief. According to Shin’s memory, Schnee, who was the master of Tiera, was a Lv. 255 High Elf. Furthermore, the magic used was surely strong, because High Elves were a magic specialized type. Though the status couldn’t be compared to Shin’s. Even other High Humans virtually could not match Shin’s stats, so no illusion magic could affect him.

Shin sighed after a long pause.

“Saw it”

“Hmm?”

“You, you saw my true form, right?”

“I saw a beautiful elven girl with black hair and golden eyes, did I make a mistake?”

“…………”

No response. Shin became discouraged and demoralized.

“…Aren’t you scared?”

Shin, who was regretting that he said something strange, heard Tiera’s soft voice. Her voice was like a child who was frightened by something.

“Scared of what?”

Shin immediately relaxed his thoughts and talked in a calm manner.

Still, is he frightening her?

When Tiera said in a trembling voice, Shin remembered one of the Rokuten member’s face.

Shin was proud of the login time he wasted for gamer class as he was having fun. But that member was hospitalized because of his excessive playing time.

The story was confessed during the offline meeting among members. Shin had a feeling that it was the same atmosphere at that time, as now with Tiera.

He was scared that the his true self was known.

But there was no one in Rokuten that cared about such things. Shin remembered that the member was very relieved.

Because there was such a situation, Shin was able to listen to Tiera without feeling shaken and changing expression.

“…You don’t know this either, do you?…Black-haired Elves are the symbol of bad luck.”

Tiera spoke while looking down.

“The symbol of bad luck?”

“Yes, Every elf is born with white hair. As they grow up, it turns gold, silver, green or blue-green colored. Can you believe it? My own hair was originally silver-colored.”

Tiera’s face looked like she was punishing herself.

“But now my hair is black. There is never a time when an elf’s hair turns black.”

“Never turns black?”

“Yes, elves with black hair bring misfortune. It happened to me all the time. Strong monsters suddenly attacked my village many times, and I was expelled from my village because of that.”

“…………”

“I was picked up by master after wandering aimlessly. And this store has a strong barrier to prevent the monsters from attacking. So I have not left this store for more than 100 years.”

“100 years?…That’s a long time.”

“Yes, but since I can live without inconveniencing someone, this is good for me.”

It’s impossible to be good, Shin wanted to shout. To be confined in the store for 100 years could never be good. However, he refrained from saying that, because nothing could be changed even if it was said. He clenched his fists in anger.

Although not even a day had yet passed since their meeting, Shin personally could properly comprehend why he was angry at himself.

“…Tiera, I want to confirm something.”

“…Confirm what?”

“Ah, though Tiera’s hair was originally silver-colored, why is it black-colored now?”

Shin had a feeling that it would give him a hint.

“It suddenly became black-colored on a certain day.”

“Suddenly?”

“Yes, suddenly. I woke up in the morning as usual, and it had become black-colored. I was really scared at that time, as I didn’t understand what had happened.”

As Tiera recalled that time, her body was trembling while hugging herself tight. From Tiera’s explanation, Shin was thinking at full steam for relevant information or knowledge.

“Suddenly, hair color changed…Attacked by monsters…The color of the hair…Changing color characteristic…Monsters…Attacked multiple times…Encountered many times…Possibly strong…The characteristic of color change…Vulnerable to monsters…Such a thing!?”

While Shin murmured something, a moment flashed in Shin’s mind. If his memory was correct, a possible condition was met.

“There…there is a way if the conditions are met!!”

“Eh? What is it?”

Shin was shouting while staring at Tiera. Tiera was shaken by Shin’s sudden shout.

Despite that, Shin’s eyes remained fixed on Tiera.

“I wonder why I had forgotten. However with this…hmm? This is strange, why is the status not displayed? It should be automatic.”

The reason Shin keep staring at Tiera was because he wanted to see her status. If Shin’s prediction was correct, then the status should appear.

“Uhm… ‘Skill Window Open’…Analyze…Analyze…ah, here it is. Display player and monster except when turned off. If I turn this on…”

Shin looked at Tiera again after applying the setting. Tiera felt a little uncertain as Shin was glaring into empty space while moving his finger.

“Okay, now I can see the status. Name, level, race…good…and…Ahhhhhh!!”