Threshold

What the threshold was—he had been thinking about it for a very long time.

From the first time he had heard the Nameless One mention it in Paradise, to now, hearing it again from the King of Absurdity...

The word had appeared again and again. Clearly, it contained some extremely important meaning.

"The threshold...

"Then we'll stick to the old rules. I'll tell you a story."

The smile on Joker's face faded completely, and the jingling of the bells stilled with it.

"A very, very old story—so old even I can't remember who first told it to me~"

Hector cleared his throat.

"Once upon a time, on a mountaintop at the end of the world, there stood an eternal mansion."

"The mansion was tall, magnificent, resplendent. Any mortal who so much as glanced at it would be dazzled and entranced."

"But this mansion had a strange rule..."

Joker tilted his head mischievously, and the bells rang softly again.

"In front of the main gate was a threshold, very, very high."

"How high was it?"

"When ordinary people stood before the threshold and looked up, they couldn't see the top."

"And carved into the threshold was a line of golden words."

Hector imitated a solemn tone.

"'Those who wish to enter this door must offer their greatest treasure, and only then shall they obtain eternal glory.'"

"The master of the mansion was an old fellow who never showed his face, but he had sent a gatekeeper to stand at the entrance."

"The gatekeeper was a bald, skinny old man, always smiling, and he said the same thing to every visitor:"

He mimicked the old man's voice.

"'My dear guest, so long as you cross this threshold, everything you could ever want awaits inside—eternal life, endless wealth, supreme power...'"

"'All it takes