Chapter 337 THOSE WHO ARE PREPARING (1)

We now begin the final arc, the Great Summons Arc. That means we only have 23 episodes left before the series ends and the side stories begin.

Do you really think that such a thing is possible?

The man had a bitter smile at the womans question.

He answered in a low voice.

***

The eighth door of the Ninth Heavens Nine Doors.

Having opened the eighth door, Jude felt a significant change.

His body that was reconstructed when he opened the sixth door was now being broken and formed again.

Judes body became light as it was reformed by being united with his soul.

Beyond simply being functionally superior, it went past the level of a body containing a soul, achieving a true harmony of body and soul.

Ninth Heavens Nine Doors.

One had to reach their limits in order to transcend.

And Jude realized now. Opening the eighth door made him soon reach the limit.

Jude slowly opened his eyes.

He looked up the sky in a world that was all black.

Countless stars looked back at Jude like the night sky.

And one person.

A woman stood under the starlight.

An ancient progenitor whom he had called a female sage until now.

She had opened the ninth door and went beyond the limits, so she reached the realm of transcendence. That woman silently looked at Jude.

Suddenly, she spoke with a big smile.

You are-

That was it. He could not properly hear the rest.

It was the aftermath of opening the eighth door and completely reorganizing the body and soul.

But he knew one thing.

The difference between one who had reached the limit and one who went beyond the limits and achieved true transcendence.

It was like the horizon.

Through his confrontation with First Sword and the memories of the other Jude, he could tell the moment he reached the horizon.

Reaching the horizon was only the beginning.

It was impossible to realize a perfect swordsmanship unless he crossed the horizon.

The ninth door of the Ninth Heavens Nine Doors.

A world beyond the horizon.

-exists.

The female sage had a gentle smile.

Jude also smiled at her.

Someday again.

On a not so distant day.

The starlight shone down.

Jude closed his eyes amidst the sea of stars.

***

Jude!

Cordelia.

As soon as he opened his eyes and spoke, he immediately felt Cordelias warmth.

He was lying on Cordelias arms, or to be more exact, on her thighs.

There was a dark night sky with a bright moon and countless stars.

Are you okay?

Jude nodded at Cordelias question.

He clearly realized what changes had taken place in his own body.

His senses were further developed.

Despite not currently opening the eighth door, he could perceive everything around him much more clearly than before.

Were you able to open the eighth door?

Cordelia asked cautiously, and Jude nodded again this time.

Thats right, I have opened the eighth door.

Oh yeah!

As soon as Jude replied, Cordelia exclaimed and raised her hands in joy.

Seeing that bright appearance, Jude unconsciously asked.

Do you like it that much?

I like it! Is that bad? I cant stop my shoulders from shaking in excitement.

Jude had a blank expression for a moment at her bright smile, but soon smiled the same way.

His numerous memories entangled and mixed, but Cordelia was still Cordelia.

Jude.

Yes, Cordelia.

I remember a lot of things.

Their memories were not perfect.

The memories they remembered were fragmented and broken.

Nevertheless, they knew of some things.

This isnt the first time, right?

Yes, a few tries had already been done.

Even Jude could not tell exactly how many tries had happened.

Because like Cordelia, Judes memories were not perfect.

But I probably know the most.

Jude was the one who always fought to the end.

The other Jude who reached the sword horizon was the first to hear the full details of the reckless plan laid out by the young goddess Atalia.

Explain.

Keep it short, concise, and easy to understand.

At Cordelias request, Jude narrowed his brows and spoke in a cautious tone.

Uh, well we once talked about a classic simulation RPG, right?

SRW?

Yes, that. Super Robot Wars.

A turn-based game wherein many robots appeared and fought.

A game for older males with the players ages ranging in the late 20s to 40s.

He used to think, Oh, hes a real man. Hes definitely a male. when he read Yellow Storm talking excitedly about it in their previous lives. But she was actually a woman who was in her teens.

Anyway, why are you talking about that?

Thats what you want to ask now, right? The difference between the method chosen by Atalia and the so-called regression.

Cordelia immediately nodded at Judes point.

As expected of my Jude. You know what Im thinking.

Thank you for the compliment.

The two had some idle talk before Jude continued his explanation.

Its the difference between Annihilation Play and Reset Marathon.

Eh? Uh Ah!

Annihilation Play and Reset Marathon.

If you were annihilated in the game of Super Robot Wars, you could restart from the beginning with the experience and funds you had obtained before that battle where you got annihilated.

In Annihilation Play, you deliberately got annihilated in order to collect experience and funds, but in Reset Marathon, you repeatedly saved and loaded the saved point until you get the desired result.

Like how you repeated the same situation over and over until you got an attack with a 10% hit rate.

Both were similar in that they repeated the same situation, but there was a significant difference between the two.

First of all in Annihilation Play, the total number of turns increases.

If one played for 10 turns, got annihilated, started again, and cleared it in 10 turns, a total of 20 turns would be recorded.

On the other hand, since Reset Marathon was to return to the 10

th

turn after 10 turns, the total number of turns used was still 10 turns no matter how many times you tried.

Thats right. Annihilation Play is about conforming to the flow of time while Reset Marathon is about going against time.

At Judes words, Cordelia nodded for a moment but frowned again and asked.

But isnt the latter better?

The latter seemed to be much simpler.

Yes, but its a lot harder. Cordelia, in the manhwa and novels you recommended, regression was very easily done but in fact, regression is a huge thing. Because you have to turn back the time of the entire universe.

That was impossible.

If Atalia was almighty enough to do such a thing, she would not need to have repeated it in the first place.

Uh why is everyone whos not the protagonist going back to the past too? Usually, its only the protagonist who regresses.

Theyre still going to the past so its impossible since theyre going against time. Because even a god cannot resist the unyielding flow of time. And if you dont want to go against time, you can move to the past of a parallel world, but it really is a parallel world. The world left by the protagonist will be left in a ruined state. Even if the protagonist saves the parallel world, it is the parallel world that was saved. Its not the world the protagonist left.

Of course, this was the situation if parallel worlds existed.

In the end, its a matter of ability. If it can be done or not. With Atalias powers, turning back time is impossible. But it is barely possible to copy and paste in compliance to the flow of time. The scope is not the entire universe, but limited to three worlds Pleiades, Heaven, and Hell.

Isnt the latter one very difficult?

It is difficult. Its possible because Pleiades is an old world. This world has accumulated a lot of power. Unlike the gods of Heaven or Hell that is, the archangels and overlords who shared the power with each other, its possible because Atalia exists alone.

At Judes words, Cordelias lips squirmed and she organized her thoughts.

Then shouldnt it be enough for the all-powerful Atalia to kick out all the beings who appeared in the Great Summons?

Thats impossible. Because Atalia is a young goddess now. Atalias copy and paste method happens at least 10 years from now so its the last part of

Legend of Heroes 3

. Every time Atalia uses the copy and paste method, her records are initialized too so shes virtually powerless now. Besides, Im sure you know that that a skilled wizard doesnt necessarily mean a strong wizard?

Ah I see. To compare it roughly, Atalia is like a utility wizard. Shes not a combat wizard.

Its similar.

Having said all that, Jude took a deep breath and faced Cordelia again.

As I have said its impossible for her to turn back time. But besides that, there is a difference between Atalias method and regression. Do you know what it is?

Yes, I know. Its the difference between Annihilation Play and Reset Marathon.

Thats right. Thats it.

Regression was literally a reversal.

Therefore, everything that happened before the reversal became something that never happened.

But that was not Atalias method.

Even if she copied and pasted it, the things in between did not disappear.

She didnt necessarily aim for it but thanks to her, we could remember the past like this. We were also able to get stronger faster.

She had repeatedly overwritten the record on the same soul.

Memories accumulated in the soul every time she repeated her copy and paste method.

They did not fully inherit the experience and funds like in Annihilation Play, but they inherited a few of it.

And one more thing.

A critical difference.

Or rather, an advantage they got because of Atalias method.

I dont remember it.

His memories blurred.

But it was clear that there was something.

However, it was at that time.

Then Jude. What happened to us?

Cordelias face was filled with indescribable anxiety.

What Cordelia meant by us.

Before they became Jude and Cordelia the Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee in their past lives.

I dont remember that part clearly either. But I think I can guess what happened.

It was something that he was not that sure of unless he directly hears it from Atalia, so it was a speculation as he himself had said.

The disadvantage of Atalias method is that the memories are not fully transmitted, right? Therefore, she ends up throwing the dice repeatedly and its impossible to know and prepare for whats going to happen or prevent unfortunate events like we did this time.

Cordelia nodded at his words.

The fact that Atalia had to repeat the copy and paste method several times was proof of that.

I think thats why she used an expedient. Instead of copying and pasting it right away, she postponed it for a while and sent our souls to another world.

On Earth?

I dont know if she chose it on purpose but anyway, she sent us to another world, had us learn what would happen to Pleiades, and brought us back. Its like adding a bit of data to the data that would be copied and pasted.

So the memories of Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee were added like that.

Then did Atalia create

Legend of Heroes

?

She didnt make it herself but she probably sent a record. Someone must have unconsciously received it and turned it into a game. If the recipient wasnt a game developer, it could have appeared as a manhwa, novel or something like that.

Hmm that doesnt answer