I Became the 101st Hero – Chapter 113

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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Let’s put the reward on hold for a moment. I heard you were looking for me?

“You’re well aware.”

I had been desperately searching for him. I asked about him every time I entered the trial after hearing of his disappearance. That’s how important he was to me.

“The connections between the heroes and constellations are all severed. You know that, right?”

The connections between heroes and constellations were suddenly severed.

Because of that, heroes like Wilhelm experienced confusion, and others elsewhere might be experiencing the same.

I had been putting off this major problem because I couldn’t do anything about it.

So I had been waiting for the God of Chains to resolve this issue.

As the God of Connections had mentioned before, the God of Chains had been working on a related task, which was why he had been resting until now.

And now that he was back, the most important question I had to ask was this:

“Will this problem continue?”

The constellations hadn’t returned even though he finished his task. But I didn’t know if it was temporary or permanent.

Or perhaps he could resolve the issue even now. And since the answer would definitely influence my future course of action, I needed to know.

For now, it’s more accurate to say it will continue. But don’t worry. The current phenomenon is natural.

“Natural?”

Yes, if you truly want to save this world.

A natural occurrence if I wanted to save this world? It was almost impossible to comprehend that statement with my common sense.

No, perhaps it was more accurate to say Seo Yoo Rang’s common sense.

“According to my calculations, 100 players’ accounts should be disabled. Right?”

Correct.

“Then you’re saying that’s natural?”

Yes, it’s natural.
He continued calmly,

You know it now, don’t you, Allen Blake? That this world and that world aren’t so different. You’re not still mistaking this world for a game world, are you?

“I know that much, but…”

Then are you saying it’s normal for that world to influence this one, but abnormal for this world to influence that one?

I was speechless. Because until now, I had naturally thought the way he described.

‘I still hadn’t escaped the preconceived notion of possession.’

Lately, I had been clearly aware that despite having Seo Yoo Rang’s memories, I was essentially Allen Blake. But even so, I still prioritized the Earth world in a corner of my mind.

Well, that was also part of my intention when I made you mistake yourself for Seo Yoo Rang. People tend to act more proactively when they believe they’ve come from a higher dimension.

My thoughts were in turmoil. It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand what he was saying. But there were still parts I didn’t grasp.

“I understand up to this point. Then what’s so natural about it? Even if there’s no hierarchy between dimensions, isn’t it unnatural for one dimension to influence another?”

At least, that was Earth’s common sense. Until now, Earth hadn’t experienced anything like this, not even enough to question the existence of this world from ‘Hundred Brave.’

But this incident was different.

God of Chains, are you sure about this?

But contrary to his concern, the God of Chains replied calmly,

It’s fine. I won’t reveal my name. Even if he knows the truth, it won’t change much. Rather, it’s a truth he had to learn eventually.

‘A truth I had to learn eventually?’

First, let me tell you this. I manage the dimensions of this world. That doesn’t mean I govern the concept of dimensions, but dimensions are included in the concept I govern.

The god who manages dimensions. It was within the realm of my expectations.

The way other gods treated the God of Chains, and the mention of him working on a related task due to this incident.

But what I didn’t expect was that dimensions weren’t the only concept he governed.

‘Just what is his true nature?’

I was quite curious, but judging by his attitude, it seemed I wouldn’t find out now. Then it was best to listen to him for now.

It was bound to be an important story.

Then shall we return to your question of whether it’s natural for different dimensions to interfere with each other? To answer that… yes, it can never be natural. Whether it’s us influencing that dimension or that dimension influencing us.

“Then why are you forcing it to be maintained?”

Because interference from that side was crucial for us.

‘Interference was crucial?’

Let me ask you this. Would you believe it if I said all the fates in this world were predetermined, flowing towards a single outcome? And what if that outcome is the world’s destruction?

It overlapped with what the 31st Demon Lord had said while dying.

“All causality eventually flows towards the world’s end…”

If you replaced “causality” with “fate” and “the world’s end” with “destruction,” the meanings were quite similar.

But to be honest…

“I don’t really want to believe that.”

The God of Chains answered immediately,

You don’t have to believe it.

It was a rather satisfying answer. But the reason was more important than the answer itself.

At least not anymore. We introduced interference from an external dimension to try and alter that predetermined fate.

As expected.

I had suspected it to some extent, but they had connected two dimensions through the game ‘Hundred Brave’ to save this world, which was destined for destruction.

The players from Earth weren’t bound by the causality of this world.

But there was a problem…

I had also guessed the problem to some extent through our conversation so far.

“Because it wasn’t a natural act?”

Yes. Directly connecting two different dimensions, no matter how much divine power we consumed, was close to madness. So the method we devised was… to copy and fragment the original dimension, creating countless dimensional fragments.

‘Countless dimensional fragments?’

For some reason, it reminded me of the phrase ‘fragments of the Chain.’ But it was difficult for me to grasp his words. Noticing that, he added a further explanation.

Since you also have Seo Yoo Rang’s knowledge, it might be easier to understand if I call them servers instead of dimensions.

“Ah.”

It seems you understand. We minimized the interference, limiting it to one dimension, one individual, per player. And we selected those individuals one by one, individuals with the potential to greatly influence the world on their own.

I finally began to understand the true nature of the game ‘Hundred Brave.’ Why they chose the single-player roguelike genre.

But there was still one unanswered question.

“Then what in the world is the Crossroads Encounter?”

It was a clearly unusual system in the single-player game ‘Hundred Brave.’

The Crossroads Encounter system, which allowed you to meet beings from other dimensional fragments. That couldn’t be explained by his previous explanation.

Do you know when the Crossroads Encounter was added?

As far as I knew…

“Wasn’t it there from the beginning?”

To be precise, it was added during the beta test. It was a bug that occurred unintentionally.

“A bug?”

Dimensional fragments that have reached their end naturally disappear. Or rather, they were supposed to. But that wasn’t the case. Individuals who had grown sufficiently to bring about a significant change in the fate of their dimension remained even after the fragment disappeared, being absorbed into other dimensional fragments.

I finally understood. Why the Crossroads Encounter only allowed you to meet fully developed characters.

It was an unintended byproduct, but it worked out well in the end. It was a way to increase interference from other dimensions. The gap in fate gradually accumulated because of it.

But the next moment, his voice darkened.

But even with all that struggling, fate didn’t change. So we decided to gather our remaining strength for one last struggle.

‘A struggle?’

That was you, Allen Blake.

I was a bit taken aback by the sudden mention of my name. He added an explanation,

A timid country boy with meager potential. That was the limit for directly implanting memories from an external dimension.

Although I felt a bit offended, it was thanks to that that I was able to come this far.

But your potential was too meager. The implanted memories from the external dimension didn’t adapt well to the sudden change in environment. In the end, the Allen Blake repeatedly failed, and we grew increasingly desperate. But then…

Although I couldn’t see clearly due to the shadows, his gaze was fixed on me.

Should I call you the 100th playthrough, or Seo Yoo Rang? Perhaps both are correct. Anyway, you showed a completely different side compared to the Allen Blake from other dimensions.

It was certainly true. The Allen Blake of that time had managed to reach hero candidacy despite repeatedly facing near-death experiences.

While it might seem like a trivial achievement from my current perspective, it was definitely a unique record for the Allen Blake character of that time.

But at the same time, we were able to collect information from other dimensions.

“Information from other dimensions?”

You posted on the community that you would commit suicide if you failed even after 100 playthroughs.

Ah.

The moment we saw that, we had to make a decision. Whether to hold onto you or not.

Then I already knew their decision.

“So you held onto me. Using your blessing as bait.”

Yes, it was quite an elaborate plan. As you know, that plan ultimately succeeded. And the outlook isn’t entirely bleak. Rather, it’s brighter than any other dimension so far. But… it was too bright, and that was the problem.

“Too bright was the problem?”

It was something I didn’t anticipate. The surrounding fragments, abandoning their own fates, started clinging to your dimension.

I finally understood. Why my Crossroads Encounters had been so strange. Why every hero had a constellation despite the low probability.

‘It wasn’t a Crossroads Encounter in the first place.’

Then…

“Is the severing of the players’ connections also because of that?”

That was the most likely reason for the phenomenon. But the God of Chains denied it.

No, that was a problem on that side. Too many users became aware of your existence because of it, exceeding the permissible interference level. That side severed the connection first. But it worked out well.

“Worked out well?”

As I said in the beginning, it was a natural thing that had to happen eventually.

I couldn’t quite understand.

“A natural thing?”

Yes, a natural thing. To return this dimension to its original form.” In the end, it was necessary to completely sever the interference from the external dimension.

“Return this dimension to its original form?”

That meant one thing.

It means I’m entrusting this world to you, Hero Allen Blake. You have now become a being beyond fate. Thanks to that, the connection from that side is no longer necessary.

‘A being beyond fate…’

Knowing that didn’t really change anything. I had been treating this world as a real world, not just a dimensional fragment. So what I had to do wouldn’t change much.

Except for one thing.

“Then the connections between the heroes and constellations are all severed?”

I would have to keep that in mind for my future course of action. The presence or absence of a constellation made a big difference.

But he partially denied it.

No, not all of them.

“Not all of them?”

The connection between you and Seo Yoo Rang still remains, albeit incompletely.

“What?”

For some reason, I couldn’t completely sever that one. I couldn’t finish the task.

What did that mean? But a guess came to mind.

“What if he’s currently projecting himself onto me?”

It was a guess I could make because I also had his memories. If that was truly the case, then perhaps…

“What if severing the connection from him is also considered excessive interference with that world?”

I didn’t think he, who had supposedly come to his senses because of me, would still be obsessively attached to me.

But what if he wasn’t obsessed, but rather supporting me, his past projection and someone similar to himself?

It’s certainly a possibility.

…Even so, according to the God of Chains, the connection would eventually need to be severed for the sake of this world.

And I had just thought of a way to do that.

“Wouldn’t it end naturally if I succeed in saving the world?”

Whatever the case, preventing the destruction of this world was the priority. So what I had to do remained unchanged.

Feeling the weight on my shoulders increase slightly, I said to the God of Chains,

“Then send me back to reality now.”

I shall. But before that…

He held up the fruit.

You should take this.

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