Chapter 13 – Arriving Alive

“Is that… a platform?”

Catching my breath at the bustling sign of people, I watched the front.

Hundreds of torches and lamps rising brightly through the fluttering snow… and.

“Everyone, please line up in the order of arrival! Unless you are a diplomat on official duty or possess priority boarding passes, anyone who cuts in line illegally will be denied entry for a day, no matter who they are!”

A bustling crowd gathered in front of the magic engineering lift. From that, I could tell that this place was the lift station for entering and exiting the Immortal Embers.

‘Is it because people gathered from all over for the qualification exam? There are exceptionally many people.’

Despite it being midnight, the coldest time of day, the lift station was packed with people. Because the Immortal Embers was a mega-city linked with hundreds or thousands of other embers, there was bound to be a large volume of cargo and travelers.

Moreover, since today was the day of the qualification exam, which was held only once a year, it was bound to be even more so.

As if to prove it, those who formed the long waiting line for the lift—namely, those who appeared to be applicants—easily exceeded the hundreds.

‘To think all these people here are on-site applicants. And even then, this is not all of them…’

It was a sight that could only make one tongue-tied.

Even on the night of the exam day, such a crowd gathered, so considering the applicants who would have arrived at the embers days before the exam, the scale was unimaginable.

“Applicants who have just arrived, please move to Platform 3! Please understand that the waiting time is inevitably longer due to the congestion of passengers for today’s Magic Engineer Qualification Exam! Platform 3 is at 3 o’clock clockwise.”

Following the instructions of the guide who was busily waving a traffic baton, I quickly moved my steps. Since people were still gathering from all directions, it was certain that the waiting time would jump up if I hesitated even slightly.

Running so fast that my feet nearly caught fire, I stood at the very back of the line for Platform 3. Only after waiting for about an hour did I finally face the lift.

Reflecting the moment I, along with twenty other people, was about to step onto the lift.

“Please present your identification.”

“Yes?”

“Please present your identification card, or any notarized document that can prove your clear identity, affiliation, or credentials. Otherwise, entry into the embers is not permitted.”

The request for identification by the guards standing at the lift entrance was just like an immigration officer asking for a passport.

Indeed, the lift station was serving the role of a sort of checkpoint.

At that, I froze coldly.

‘An ID card… Did such a thing exist?’

It seemed to be something issued only to personnel belonging to embers classified as small-town grade or higher, which clearly did not exist in our embers.

“Do you not have an ID?”

“Well, that is…”

“Sigh… How on earth are these bastards doing their jobs?”

As I hesitated at the unexpected situation, the guard holding a riot baton approached right in front of me with an annoyed expression.

I realized that something had gone wrong and raised my guard, but he merely glared at the guides over my shoulder with a fatigue-laden expression.

Soon, the sighing guard asked.

“Excuse me, but what is the name of your embers?”

“Our embers has no name…”

“Right, then you wouldn’t have an ID. For now, you must be issued a temporary ID for the Magic Engineer Qualification Exam. The guides should have assisted you beforehand, but it seems their handling was insufficient.”

“…”

“You can go to the building visible over there and get a temporary ID issued. Since I’ve memorized your face, do not stand in line again and come straight here; I will assist you with quick boarding. I apologize once again.”

The guard even bowed his head in apology. Despite my messy appearance from traveling all the way here and my humble origin, he could have easily ignored me.

‘Is this the dignity of the first embers? It’s not for nothing that the Immortal Embers earned the title of the first.’

Even the guard, who was likely a low-ranking employee, showed such a polite and respectful attitude. Of course, not all guards would be like this, but this single interaction was enough to understand why the Immortal Embers was named the first embers.

Indeed, strong order and discipline make a city prosper. Having commanded embers hundreds of times as a leader in , I knew its importance better than anyone.

“Thank you.”

“Not at all. It is our oversight. When you go to the issuance office, do not wait and tell them that Guard James sent you, and they will process it without any wait.”

After expressing my gratitude to the guard who remained polite until the end, I headed to the gray building he pointed to, the temporary ID issuance office. Looking closely, it was a building made of concrete, and judging by its considerable thickness, it seemed to be filled with insulation inside.

It was indeed on a different level from our embers, which was dominated by primitive wooden buildings lacking proper cold and wind insulation.

Furthermore, the door was also installed as a glass revolving door rather than a sliding door to minimize heat loss.

“Welcome. What brings you here?”

As I entered the interior in admiration, a guide approached right away.

“I would like to get a temporary ID issued.”

“What is the reason?”

“It is for the Magic Engineer Qualification Exam. I was told that if I say Guard James sent me, they would process it without waiting.”

“Ah, yes. Just fill out the document over there and go straight to Counter 3, and they will assist you with the issuance procedure. Next person!”

I moved along, pushed by the crowd flooding in for various matters.

The document preparation was nothing special. Name, age, occupation, family, reason for issuance, name and location of the affiliated embers… and there was a column for related personnel from the Immortal Embers.

‘It’s better… not to write Heimdall’s name.’

After thinking for a moment, I left the related personnel column blank. Since I was not going to stay in the Immortal Embers for long anyway, there was no need to create any potential trouble.

‘Seeing how he willingly lent me the compass, he doesn’t seem like that much of a petty person…’

Turning back without regret, I submitted the completed document to Counter 3, and after a brief Q&A with the clerk, I was finally able to get the temporary ID issued.

However, the temporary ID handed over by the clerk was a yellow armband, far from the modern 21st-century ID cards I knew.

Out of an instinctive repulsion, I asked the clerk back.

“Is this… an ID?”

“Yes. Visitors from embers below the small-town grade whose identities cannot be verified must wear this ID, the armband, during outdoor activities. It is an unavoidable measure for identity verification.”

“You mean it is mandatory?”

“It may feel unpleasant, but for our embers, it’s an inevitable measure since we are accommodating unidentified individuals inside. It is to weed out reactionaries like terrorists, raiders, and spies, so you must wear it.”

“After all, since security checks are tightened during the exam period, you must present your ID even when purchasing goods or entering buildings,” the clerk added.

“Yes, then.”

Although it was unpleasant, I had no other choice, so I went straight outside.

Certainly, the bright yellow armband wrapped around my left arm was displaying a stark presence.

A stigma on a strange outsider who might be a reactionary. The future I would experience during my stay in the first embers was clear to see.

‘I will face disregard and discrimination wherever I go. In other words, this itself is an identification tag marking me as an inferior human from an inferior embers.’

Until now, I had only met people performing official duties, so I received decent treatment. However, in the future, I would mostly encounter citizens rather than public officials, especially visitors not belonging to the Immortal Embers, so I could not expect the same treatment as now.

I would probably face blatant disregard and contempt.

It was unavoidable. Among these prominent embers, our embers was indeed humble, and to them, we were not worth being kind to.

However, there was no need to care about such trivial things. I had no intention of staying in this city for long anyway, and I had long been used to poor treatment from my extensive experience with .

But above all, because a strong conviction was nestled in my chest that I would give birth to a great embers that would match their level… no, even surpass the Immortal Embers.

‘Just wait. I will build a city that you will have no choice but to look up to.’

I merely walked proudly toward the lift station with confidence.

“Welcome to the Immortal Embers.”

With the welcoming greeting of the guard I faced once again, I was finally able to set foot in the first embers.

“This is the Immortal Embers…!”

Only then could I witness the overwhelming majesty of the Immortal Embers with my own two eyes.

This place was, truly, the first city.

* * *

Woooooo—!

The lift entering the Immortal Embers.

Boarding the convenience of the ice age civilization, which operated on a structure and principle similar to an elevator, I had no choice but to gape in awe.

“…!”

It was not because of the lift that transported us below the city with stability, showing not a single tremor despite the strong wind.

Fwoooosh—!

Unlike our humble embers, it was due to the waves emitted by the Eternal Embers of the Immortal Embers, gently wrapping the entire vast city in warm heat.

“The off-roader was at such a low level, but the magic engineering power is, just what on earth…”

It was truly overwhelming technological power.

Judging by the area of the city visible from above, this embers appeared to have expanded the city by artificially carving into the ice walls.

‘To think there is a magic wave covering this entire massive area…’

Just as Heimdall said that they had only recently entered mechanical magic engineering, there was such a gap between the mechanical magic engineering and pure magic engineering of the Immortal Embers.

Not only that, but this city.

‘The population is massive.’

Even at this hour of deep night, the streets were filled with crowds, and thousands, tens of thousands of buildings shone on the ground like a cluster of stars cast upside down in the night sky.

The vast scale, where the distance from this lift station to the far end could not even be estimated, was enough to bring to mind a nation, not a city.

‘Is it a natural change due to the expansion of the worldview?’

I was certain. Even the largest city I had built in was not even half of half of this place.

Of course, rather than a matter of my skill, it was because the worldview only had a single city.

There, I had even built a grand city by becoming the first user to achieve a six-digit population, the magic number of 100,000 citizens.

However, this world that had become reality was on a scale incomparable to the game, with numerous embers coexisting across the entire continent and a population in direct proportion to that.

The proof was the single city spread before my eyes… no, a complete nation.

‘Which is to say, it is the first embers, the Immortal Embers.’

Judging by the area and the number of constructed buildings, the population of the Immortal Embers was at least over five million. It was so, based on my experience as a leader who had managed cities hundreds of times, albeit in a game.

Otherwise, I could dare to say that this Immortal Embers was a place too massive to be maintained.

‘My goal has risen limitlessly.’

My heart began to pound.

While a small population was not an incomprehensible setting for an apocalyptic backdrop, the scale, where even a population of a mere 100,000 was called a metropolis and left something to be desired in absolute size, had become humongous.

As someone who loved the most and desperately wanted a sequel, I had no choice but to be seized by an excitement that felt like my heart would burst.

Whether I could become the best leader once again and build the best city in this world, which had grown at least twenty times larger… A competitive spirit and a desire to challenge the unknown world welled up.

Could this world draw out the limit of my abilities as a leader?

‘I want to clash with it soon. Even a day earlier…’

Now I understand. The reason why the strongest in novels feel a greater sense of freedom and liberation, transcending the fear of death, when they meet an opponent worthy of unleashing their full power.

But at the same time, fear also washes over me.

Fear of a grand scheme that I have never experienced…

While I was clinging to the glass window overlooking the city view, trembling with the intersecting emotions of fear and expectation for such a future.

“Please alight in the order you boarded. We wish you a comfortable journey in our embers.”

With the polite voice of the guide announcing the arrival, the thick iron door opened.

“Hmm…?”

I was met with a sight that was hard to comprehend there.

“Unidentified individuals, move this way immediately. There will be a secondary inspection only for those wearing yellow armbands!”

Those being dragged like prisoners by high-handed police fully armed with magic guns and body armor.

That was exactly the sight of those wearing yellow armbands, whom they referred to as potential reactionaries, being oppressed.