Chapter 1431 - IR 13

The Sleepwalker VI

-Waaaaah!

The area once known as the Gimhae Plain.

This place had fallen into a state resembling Tom and Jerry's cheese block due to the urban development boom.

It was dug here, and dug there. As it was nibbled away here and there, the area that could truly be called a 'plain' had significantly shrunk.

In other words, if urban development stopped, everything would revert to its original state.

When the scales of the 10,000-year war between nature and civilization, environment and humanity, tipped back towards nature, the Gimhae Plain rapidly regained its former glory.

Of course, a significant portion of nature's territory had to be ceded to the anomaly who fought as mercenaries in exchange for victory. As a result, it was hard to tell whether it was truly nature or the void, making the plight of nature not much different from human affairs.

Among these, the Gimhae Plain was an area where civilization was removed swiftly, perhaps too quickly.

-Waaaaah!

About seven years ago, an air raid alarm was suddenly issued from the west of the Gimhae Plain, and a small-scale 'bombing' took place there.

The exact cause and details of the incident were unknown.

It happened at the exact moment I was forcibly summoned to Busan Station and began living as a regressor.

Even the information that a bombing occurred nearby would have been hard to obtain if I were not a regressor. There were testimonies that it was shelling rather than bombing, rumors of a gate suddenly opening, and whispers that a secret government research facility exploded.

It was all a mystery.

-Boom!

Maybe a small gate appeared in the Gimhae Plain, and the bombing occurred to eliminate it.

Perhaps it was someone's desperate decision to save the nation, thinking they couldn't afford to lose Busan after Seoul had been devastated.

Maybe it was because the area was sparsely populated compared to other densely populated cities, making the sacrifice seem acceptable.

Or perhaps it was just a tragic mistake due to an error in command transmission. I considered this possibility the most likely.

But now, there was no way to uncover the truth. With the government and civilian organizations that were supposed to investigate the truth gone, what could be done? Especially when documents and witnesses related to the incident were also impossible to find.

Not only nature but also human history was swallowed by the void.

Nevertheless, one clear fact remained: the Gimhae Plain, where the bombing occurred, could not have been a mere barren plain.

Even in places where there was no way to prove it, people lived.

Let's talk about the epilogue.

[――Mr. Undertaker.]

[Wake up, Mr. Undertaker.]

Blinking, I opened my eyes.

I realized that I had briefly lost consciousness. A momentary blackout. Fortunately, as a regressor, I had experienced fainting countless times. I was not startled by something I had grown accustomed to long ago.

[Have you regained consciousness?]

If I had to guess why I fainted, it was probably because of the lullaby sung by the Meteor Shower that made my eyes close involuntarily.

Unlike other awakeners, I was flying at the forefront. In other words, I was the farthest from Dang Seo-rin's white magic, the 'Antiresonance' song that nullified the lullaby.

"Yes, I'm fine. You don't need to worry, Saintess. How long was I unconscious?"

[Not long. About a second.]

"You noticed I fainted in just one second? That's impressive."

I was genuinely astonished. After all, I hadn't known at the time that the Saintess possessed the 'Time Stop' ability.

During this crucial battle, the Saintess periodically stopped time to observe the battlefield. Her Clairvoyance must have caught the moment I slumped on my broom.

[A problem has arisen, Mr. Undertaker.]

The Saintess skillfully shifted the topic. It wasn't just to avoid my suspicion; there was a genuine urgency in her voice.

A chill ran down my spine. Even without Dang Seo-rin's magic, people's voices resonated with emotions.

"Don't tell me we failed to subjugate the Meteor Shower?"

[No. The subjugation itself is almost certainly a success. But… look over there.]

Even without a clear direction, I instinctively turned my head.

The night sky where the starlight of the Meteor Shower had been.

The strike prepared for years by seven hundred awakeners was indeed sharp. The storm of aura we created had torn the Meteor Shower apart.

Yes.

It was torn apart.

"What…?"

My heart pounded.

The Meteor Shower was certainly defeated. The sphere that emitted a strong, concentrated starlight was no more.

And while there were anomaly that disappeared like smoke upon being defeated, many others left corpses like animals.

I muttered blankly.

"A corpse of starlight…?"

Have you ever seen white phosphorus?

Exactly that scene unfolded before my eyes, no, before our eyes.

Torn starlight.

The fragments of starlight, shredded to pieces, were falling towards the ground.

"Ah."

The chill that surged up my spine pierced my heart, making it throb ominously.

Why didn't I foresee this?

If there was a meteor falling from the sky, destroying it mid-air would be a problem――

Even if the destruction succeeded, the countless fragments of the meteor falling to the ground would still be an issue.

"Shit!"

It was simply unimaginable that an anomaly composed of 100% pure starlight would leave a corpse. A corpse of light? Who could have predicted that?

Therefore, this was another instance of 'you suffer if you don't know.' Damn it.

It was like the final parting gift from the Meteor Shower, shattered by the regressor's ambush, to humanity.

In the 42nd cycle, where we succeeded in subjugating the Meteor Shower for the 'first' time, we had no choice but to fall for this trap card.

"It's over! It's really over! We actually hunted a top-class anomaly!"

"Long live the United Awakeners Alliance of Korea! Long live!"

"Unbelievable… This is the world's first subjugation of a top-class anomaly. We actually did it…?"

"The constellations are invincible! Undertaker is a god!"

Looking around, there were no combatants paying attention to the Meteor Shower's corpse in this aerial battlefield.

They were all just excited about having won a historic battle.

Only the Saintess and I were focused on the strange undulations in the night sky, on the fragments of starlight starting to fall.

'If the fragments fall to the ground like this― no, it's okay. Even if Gyeongsangnam-do becomes a territory of ashes, it's not the worst situation.'

I was not the type of regressor who had faith in myself. Such self-confidence was a luxury only diamond spoon-type regressors, who could save the world in just two or three regressions, could afford.

Naturally, I anticipated the possibility of my plan failing and evacuated as many residents from Gyeongsangnam-do as possible.

"The infrastructure will be destroyed…"

But it was manageable. In this era, the true infrastructure was not capital or material but the awakeners.

Swallowing the bitter taste rising in my mouth, the Saintess spoke in a voice even more urgent than before.

[…Mr. Undertaker. The starlight fragments are spreading wider.]

"What?"

I quickly leaned out and looked down.

Indeed, the starlight fragments were actively defying the concept of vertical fall. As expected of anomaly, who questioned the laws of physics when bored, their anti-intellectual behavior was showing.

[They're not just falling over Busan's airspace. They're expected to easily cover the entire Korean Peninsula.]

"Damn it, this insane setback."

I muttered without realizing it, but strictly speaking, it wasn't exactly a setback.

As already described, if left unchecked, the Meteor Shower would bombard the entire world over seven years. Hawaii, India, China, France, and so on.

In other words… this thing didn't pour out all its power in its first debut. It was more like a stealthy powerhouse. Similar to the World Tree, Udumbara.

We had stabbed such a stealthy powerhouse in the gut, so the ripple effects of its hidden power were bound to be unleashed.

The conclusion was simple.

Even in death, the Meteor Shower's fragments alone could easily annihilate the Korean Peninsula.

'What should I do?'

Countless thoughts crossed my mind.

'Abandon the Korean Peninsula?' 'The seven hundred awakeners are fine. We could abandon the main force and deploy a secondary unit.' 'But what about the nine hundred non-combatants providing backup on the ground?' 'Will they die?' 'Dang Seo-rin is fine, isn't she?' 'What about the Saintess?' 'Can the Alliance of Awakeners maintain the same solidarity without the constellations' trust? Even after the last ethical restraint is removed?' 'Territory of ashes.'

The starlight fragments fell slowly.

My decision-making speed increased.

'Abandon this cycle.' 'But gather as much information as possible.' 'Do the Meteor Shower's fragments also turn the ground into a territory of ashes? Will they disappear silently upon falling? Or will they remain as mysterious, eternal sources of light?' 'Even if I die, I struggle until the end.'

[Mr. Undertaker.]

A voice echoed quietly in my mind.

[Mr. Undertaker, give the order.]

The Saintess, the mastermind behind the constellations, awaited my command as a regressor.

I took out my radio.

"All units, the battle is not over!"

Attention focused on me.

"Everyone, look down! The Meteor Shower's corpse is falling in hundreds and thousands of pieces! Even after subjugation, the fragments persist instead of disappearing!"

The awakeners murmured. They were all highly competent elites, but it would take five to ten minutes for their murmuring to coalesce into clear judgments and refined actions.

The commander was the one who shortened that time to tens of seconds.

'Saintess.'

I hadn't given any prior instructions to the Saintess.

[The Saintess of National Salvation issues an urgent quest!]

But as if reacting to my thoughts, at that moment, a message appeared before all the awakeners.

――――――――――

[Debris of the Destroyed Meteor]

You have successfully subjugated the continental-class anomaly 'Meteor Shower' for the first time in history.

But there is no time to celebrate. The Meteor Shower's fragments are falling.

Prevent the Meteor Carnival.

Good luck.

-Reward: Survival

-Failure: Destruction of the Korean Peninsula

――――――――――

The timing was perfect.

In this moment of uncertainty without any data, the awakeners had no choice but to accept the constellation's testimony as fact.

I shouted.

"We must stop them!"

The night sky rippled.

"There are still nine hundred non-combatants on the ground! As long as they remain, the Korean Peninsula is not finished! Here, we entrust the future to the non-combatants and face death without fear!"

All the awakeners looked at me. I saw black gunpowder ignite in their pupils.

"From the 1st to the 12th squad! Follow your team leader's orders! Don't let a single piece of the anomaly's corpse touch our land!"

[Yes!]

[Understood, Undertaker!]

The radio crackled, transmitting the team leaders' voices.

"Launch! All units, launch! I will lead!"

"Waaah!"

The formation of seven hundred combatants, shaped like a cone, scattered instantly. Like fighters taking off from an aircraft carrier.

The difference was that we were not ascending but descending.

"Aaah―aaah――"

Even Dang Seo-rin, who was at the very back, didn't miss the timing. Although it wasn't in the plan, she responded swiftly.

The seventh melody, Rapid.

The brooms we were riding accelerated instantly. We quickly caught up with the falling fragments of the Meteor Shower.

"Aaah――"

Dang Seo-rin's magic burned brightly, consuming her lifespan. Therefore, she usually didn't sing beyond the fourth melody, and never more than six melodies even in crucial moments.

The seventh melody. That was the boundary line where she stepped into the land of death.

With the speed gained by burning her life, I charged into the line of fire.

"Ugh!"

I swung my sword at one of the fragments torn from the Meteor Shower. Just destroying a single piece caused my whole body to suffer severe pain.

It was expected. I had just squeezed out every bit of my aura and strength to deliver the final blow two minutes ago.

The remaining aura in my body was already depleted. My right hand, unable to withstand the output, had all its skin peeled off, exposing the muscles.

Continuing to fight in such a state was practically suicide.

Barely scraping together the remaining aura, I wrapped it around the blade and attacked the fragment. Part of it turned to ashes upon contact.

But I didn't stop and immediately charged at the next fragment.

I wasn't the only moth drawn to the flame.

[Aaaaargh!]

[11 o'clock direction! The 11 o'clock direction is covered by another team! This bastard is spreading out more and more! We have to destroy it before it spreads!]

[Twelfth squad, annihilated.]

[Die! Die, die! Just die!]

[Thank you, Great Witch! I love you! Long live Samcheon World!]

[Tenth squad, 2 o'clock direction clear.]

I wouldn't say all seven hundred ignored their lives.

Some combatants pretended to fight while prioritizing their survival. Perhaps some even concluded to elevate their guild's position in the ruined Korean Peninsula.

But at least my pen was for recording those who were different.

[3 o'clock direction clear. Tenth squad, annihilated. Six members left. Moving to the 4 o'clock direction.]

[Seventh squad, annihilated. But the 11 o'clock direction is clear. Now moving to join the 10 o'clock squad… Ah. Spotted one remaining fragment. Unable to join.]

[I'll go first, Undertaker. I haven't forgotten what happened in Sejong. I'll always be grateful.]

[Fourth squad, annihilated.]

Stars fell.

Burning the last of their vitality to embrace the remnants of starlight, their bodies turning to ash.

And the night sky began to fade. The dark waves spread by the Meteor Shower lightened from the horizon.

Under the fading night sky, countless ashes fell― alongside the silent descent of brooms that had lost their owners.

[Undertaker.]

[Mr. Undertaker!]

[Undertaker――]

Falling. Falling.

Endless descent.

How much time and noise had passed?

"Undertaker!"

Blink.

When I opened my eyes, I was already falling. The deafening sound of wind struck my ears.

It was not strange to faint in a hellish battlefield, but this time, three things were particularly strange.

First, the world was upside down. I hadn't realized immediately because of the high altitude, but I was falling. The broom was nowhere in sight. My cause of death this cycle seemed likely to be falling.

Second, Dang Seo-rin was in front of me.

Simply saying she was in front of me wasn't enough. Her beloved pointed hat was gone, and she, too, was falling from the sky like me.

And at some point, she was holding me.

"Dang Seo-rin?"

I barely moved my lips. The taste of blood, lead, iron, and ashes mingled in my mouth.

Despite the intense conviction that this was reality, everything felt dreamlike. Like a sleepwalker uncertain if they wanted to keep dreaming.

"What's the situation…?"

Dang Seo-rin smiled brightly. We were falling, and death awaited us at the end of this fall.

Was this a dream?

Her smile grew closer. Closer and closer.

Eventually, her smile was felt not by sight but by touch.

That was the third strange thing.

"I… love humanity!"

Her face, covered in blood, sweat, and ashes, smiled brightly again.

"You… what did you just…?"

"I hate people. They annoy me. Honestly, I hate crowded places. I'm sick of people trying to curry favor with me."

Flap—

The wind continuously battered our bodies. Hugging me tighter against the sky's resistance, Dang Seo-rin spoke.

"I hated everything before the world ended, and I've hated it all since. But still, humanity is amazing!"

"..."

"No one will remember, no. No record will remain. We just saved the world! Right, Undertaker?"

"..."

"And― I hope you don't hate people too much."

"..."

Wind.

"I'm not the type to ask such things. Ah—I should have asked. Why you keep making that face. Where you used to live and what you did. Why you like Café au Lait. Why your eyes look sad. I should have asked a lot, and I could have."

Waves.

"Do you hate me? Undertaker?"

"Not at all."

Immediate reply.

"Not at all.... Absolutely."

"Yeah."

A smile.

My dream. My disease. The reason I chose to dream of life, my sleepwalking's cause.

"And just like me, as much as you like me, just a little more, love humanity."

And…

The sunset.

The night sky disappeared.

The sunset spread.

When the Meteor Shower spread the night sky, the world was just beginning to see the sunset. Our battle took place between the start and end of the day's sunset.

Thus, when the Meteor Shower was defeated and we were falling, the world was still experiencing a grand sunset.

"Ah."

Not a sunset swallowed by the night sky.

A sunset pushing away the night sky.

An inverted sunset that could only happen once in this world, on this earth.

"Ah…."

A red that stretched to the eternal horizon.

"Truly, truly― A beautiful sky―"

This is where the epilogue ends.

From the 43rd cycle, we also devised measures for the corpses, allowing the seven hundred awakeners to safely return to the ground.

There was still much to discuss about the Meteor Shower. Speculations about its origins, experiments on harnessing starlight.

Nevertheless, today's story ends here.

Because that day's sunset was too red, and humanity was simply a being that flew towards the eternally setting horizon.

Boss battle.

Anomaly: Meteor Shower.

Aliases: Meteor Strike, Armageddon, Worry, Nuclear Lunch, Milky Way

Threat Level: Lv.3 Continental-class

Patterns:Phase 1 'Emergence', Phase 2 'Descent', Phase 3 'Mass Sleep', Phase 4 'Impact'.

Estimated casualties: Unknown. Estimated missing: Unknown.

Numerous world destruction records.

Subjugation complete.

-x-X-x-

The Recorder I

These days, I often thought I talked too much about Dang Seo-rin.

Of course, I couldn't tell my story as a regressor without mentioning Dang Seo-rin. However, even the greatest output of the Korean Peninsula, the Great Witch of the railroad, the idol of all people, has a personal life.

Yes, a personal life.

I was not the type to actively dig into someone else's secrets, nor was I the type to interfere with their hobbies.

Even if that 'someone' was a mentally unstable, dual-personality, malicious stuttering keyboard battler.

"Ah. G-Guild leader... G-Good morning...."

Sim Ah-ryeon.

Alias: One of the greatest trolls on SG Net, known as the villain OldManGoryeo.

However, during the 50th cycle, she was praised as the [Healing Angel] for treating ordinary people for free. She even volunteered as an art teacher, school nurse, and librarian for elementary school children.

Fashion style: Prefers brown tops. Especially likes to wear a white doctor's gown over a brown turtleneck. Why? Because she wants to show off that she's an expensive healer.

Even with just this, her character seemed quite amusing, but her awakening skill was even more outlandish.

Ability: Commonly known as Grudge Orb. To put it differently, she drank in all the aggro. The more she was cursed at, the stronger her healing abilities became. Because of this ridiculous ability, Sim Ah-ryeon practically lived on SG Net, attracting all sorts of aggro.

She was practically the Anubis of the Korean Peninsula... but when it came to her personal life, she had some surprisingly wholesome hobbies.

"Yes, good morning. Are you going out somewhere at this hour?"

"I-I thought I'd try painting again after a long time, hehe. You gave me an easel last time, guild leader...."

Sim Ah-ryeon, who was awkwardly laughing, had a canvas and easel tucked under her arm.

Hobby: Painting.

That's right. She was actually an art student. Readers with good memories might recall that when we raided the villain OldManGoryeo's house during the 50th cycle, Sim Ah-ryeon was painting.

And... believe it or not, Sim Ah-ryeon was actually one of the most academically accomplished members of our guild.

Education: Art Department at Yewon School, Seoul Arts High School, and Seoul National University's Design Department—quite the royal road.

Not only that, but she also swept school art exhibitions from a young age and even won awards at various design exhibitions.

She had two minister's awards in elementary and middle school and a president's award in high school. All the aspiring art students born in the same year and preparing for college hated Sim Ah-ryeon. Her talent for attracting aggro was evident from an early age.

Sounds like bullshit? I thought so too, so I snuck into the ruins of her schools and dug through the data. It was true.

How could this be real... Back then, I could only lament amidst the exhibition materials in the middle of a deserted school.

With such a brilliant educational and career background, what Sim Ah-ryeon mainly did was:

-OldManGoryeo: Hm... It seems you've never observed people in real life. Did you draw this with your own body as a reference? Then seriously, I recommend you switch from illustrator to live specimen in a lab.

-OldManGoryeo: Wow, jackpot. If you draw like this in an entrance exam academy, you could get your tuition refunded immediately.

-OldManGoryeo: Seriously, I drew better than this when I was eight, lol.

These kinds of nitpicking comments.

Or she'd draw comics that pissed people off and post them on SG Net.

Right now, Sim Ah-ryeon was smiling innocently in front of me, but just last night, she had once again earned the Triple Crown of curses from SG Net members.

"Where are you going to paint?"

"Ah, the Han River. I thought I'd paint some landscapes while listening to the murmuring water.... The weather is really nice today. Hmm. If I get bored, I might walk around the neighborhood and offer free checkups to any sick elderly people I find...."

"Oh, Lord. Why did you give this child such an ability as Grudge Orb."

"Eh?"

"Nothing.... Anyway, you're going to the riverside in front, right? Give me your bag."

"Eek. Y-You don't have to... Ah. Thank you, guild leader...."

Sim Ah-ryeon followed me timidly, but once we reached the riverside and she set up her easel, her hesitation vanished.

Facing the canvas, she hummed to herself, "Hmm, mmh, hmm," and began to paint with smooth, swift strokes.

"..."

Her hand moved with incredible speed, one of the virtues of a painter being 'speed'. Sim Ah-ryeon's hand was remarkably fast.

It wasn't just her hand that was fast. Having lived as a regressor, my eye for art had grown quite sharp, and Sim Ah-ryeon's painting reached a significant level, even to my discerning eyes.

"Heh... As expected. I'm a genius...."

Her occasional muttering was, well, honestly a bit cringe-worthy.

'Well. It's a much healthier hobby than trolling on the community sites.'

I shrugged.

At least until then, I had no intention of getting involved in Sim Ah-ryeon's hobbies.

The change began in the 95th cycle.

Let me briefly describe the historical flow surrounding us. The first time the Meteor Shower was subdued was in the 42nd cycle.

Unfortunately, due to the law of action and reaction, when the Meteor Shower was defeated, our awakeners also perished.

However, the time of a regressor defies the laws of physics. By the 43rd, 44th, and 45th cycles, the strategies for dealing with the Meteor Shower had become more refined.

By the 95th cycle, it could be said that the strategies were complete.

"Dang Seo-rin, when the Meteor Shower appears, use magic to set up a net below it."

"Huh? A net? Why?"

"Think of it as a meteorite. Destroying the meteorite is one thing, but the debris after destruction is also a problem, isn't it?"

"...Ah."

Listening to my advice, Dang Seo-rin began developing magic. The net magic 'Heavenly Net' solely for dealing with the Meteor Shower was completed. With this, the final desperate move of the Meteor Shower was easily sealed.

And that wasn't all.

The quest list of constellations tempting the awakened of the Korean Peninsula also evolved day by day.

The AAA-grade game 'Growing as an Awakener on the Korean Peninsula,' planned by me and serviced by the Saintess, was an open-world sandbox ultra-real MMORPG. It provided a lot of information about the voids and even offered 'customized growth' automatically.

"Huh. My awakening ability wasn't turning filth into potable water but actual purification?"

"After clearing the dungeon, a build-up guide that optimizes my ability appeared!"

"Damn. The world is shit, but at least there's a sense of growth."

"Quests are invincible, and constellations are gods!"

"Repeat after me! The Meteor Shower is just... a star."

Of course, all these rewards were what I had obtained by struggling as a regressor.

Running an academy and nurturing as many awakeners as possible paid off. I developed their potential and optimized builds.

"Huh? The reward is... an Equivalent Exchange Grimoire? What's this?"

Just look at Dang Seo-rin; the Dang Seo-rin of the 4th cycle and the Dang Seo-rin of the 95th cycle were entirely different.

The magic she barely created over several years in previous cycles was now almost given for free.

"...Unbelievable! Such an outrageous magic exists?"

The effect was tremendous.

Not only S-class individuals like Dang Seo-rin, but even most awakeners were growing rapidly like Bitcoin in the early 2020s, following an upward trend.

As a result, while it might not reach the level of the Ten Legs, the Meteor Shower began to join the ranks of easily defeatable strange phenomena.

Udumbara? That was already included long ago.

-Kyuu҉u҉?҉

-So҉ Hu҉ngr҉y҉?҉

-̶͐ͅT̵̬̊w̶͔͝í̵̲n̴̨̈k̴̫̆ľ̶͖e̶̝͑?̸͒͜

Ah, but alas, the Korean Peninsula's strange trio that drove the early part of my regressor life into despair was now out of service.

Anyway, in all things, benefits come with drawbacks.

As the Saintess's power reached its limit, the probability of the corrupted version, the 'Executioner,' appearing increased. The same went for others.

The awakeners had grown stronger, but they had also become more dangerous. It was safe to say that 'acceleration' was starting.

If this were a character collection gacha mobile game, there would be no problem. Rather, it would be advantageous.

'10th cycle Dang Seo-rin is 2-star, 50th cycle Dang Seo-rin is 3-star, 100th cycle Dang Seo-rin is 4-star! Wow! Multiple Dang Seo-rins!'

'You can sell the same character several times by just changing their outfits?'

'Limited edition pickup rerun! Saintess Alternative version - Executioner appears! Clairvoyance, Telepathy, Time Stop, existing abilities greatly enhanced!'

'If you don't like it... you'll have to draw it, right?'

Etc., testing people's wallets and patience from various angles.

But as you know, this was reality. As a regressor, I had to be mindful of various side effects.

"Um... Guild leader...?"

So, if anyone in reality said such lines, one should be extremely cautious.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Ah-ryeon?"

"I-I don't know if I should say this. Actually, I shouldn't, but... but I thought maybe it might be okay if it's you, guild leader...."

"Mm? What is it? Just tell me."

"T-Then… Lean in a bit."

Sim Ah-ryeon whispered in my ear.

"Um... Guild leader. About the Meteor Shower. Could you maybe, even just a little, subdue it slowly...?"

?

"Why?"

"Because I want to paint it...."

?

"Why?"

"B-Because... it's so cool. Stars that bring about destruction from the sky. Creating waves of darkness. Even a lullaby from the sirens... Honestly, I think it should be preserved forever for future generations in a painting...."

???

If someone claimed that Cthulhu appeared in the sea and said, 'Wow, I must paint it in hyper-realistic detail to ensure as many civilians as possible see it!', they would be treated as a lunatic. My expression at that moment was precisely like witnessing such a lunatic.

"Ah-ryeon, the guild leader is confused right now, but the Meteor Shower is a top-tier anomaly."

"Yes? Ah, yes... According to the library society, it's a continental-class anomaly. It's the most dangerous anomaly observed on the Korean Peninsula. I know that, of course...."

"Yet you want to leisurely paint the Meteor Shower? Are you serious? What if the combat team members die while subduing it?"

"Um... Well, I think sacrifices for the sake of art are inevitable. Last time, I wanted to paint the Ten Legs, but... it's such a pity that the painting was lost. It's an eternal loss for humanity...."

"..."

By the way, the formal identification name for the Ten Legs by the library society is 'crawling baby Cthulhu'. Basically, Sim Ah-ryeon genuinely wanted to paint Cthulhu.

And she actually did.

It was so absurd that I set up a situation for her to paint during the next Ten Legs subjugation.

"Wow, these tentacles! So bizarre, no terrestrial, or even marine, creature has ever evolved to have these in their evolutionary history...! To think such things exist! This is unbelievable! Heh, heh. I must paint, I must paint...."

"..."

I slightly regretted it.

But the surprising fact was... Sim Ah-ryeon's paintings of anomalies posted on SG Net became massively popular.

-Anonymous: (Doodle) Posting a small sketch of the Ten Legs today... ^^

(Image attached)

-This is the Ten Legs that was subjugated last time! I was incredibly lucky to join the subjugation team and got a chance to sketch it! But the team fought so well that I didn't have enough time to sketch... ㅠㅠ

-It's embarrassing, but I hope this helps other awakeners who couldn't join the subjugation get a sense of what the Ten Legs looked like... So I'm posting it here...!

-Postscript: It seems SG Net lowers image quality every time you upload a file, which is always a shameㅠㅠ. Admins, please do your best...!

Hmm.

Yes. I know what you want to say. Unfortunately, this really was a post written by Sim Ah-ryeon (aka villain OldManGoryeo).

She just wrote it anonymously instead of with her official nickname.

Naturally, comments with a completely opposite sentiment to the usual trolling posts of the villain OldManGoryeo flooded in.

-[Baekhwa] SixthGrader: Wow! It's so pretty!! (>_<)!!

-Anonymous: Isn't this too realistic...?

-Anonymous: If you joined the subjugation team, doesn't that mean you're quite high-ranking among the awakeners? Damn. Impressive.

-[Samcheon] WitchJudge: It really looks like the Ten Legs.

└Anonymous: looks like? Really?

└Anonymous: Don't be mean to the talented person.

-dolLHoUse: disgusting

-AhdsLove: Please, talented person, join as a regular member. I always search for your drawings, but it's hard to find themㅠㅠ.

-Anonymous: Really well-drawn.

-Anonymous: I was in the subjugation team, and the Ten Legs really looked like this. The feeling is exactly the same.

└LiteraryGirl: How did you catch such a monster?

└Anonymous: 'Undertaker' and 'Great Witch' did it.

└Anonymous: Just the GOAT.

-Anonymous: But why does the person uploading this drawing always seem so annoying?

└Anonymous: What's annoying about it??

└Anonymous: Don't slander the talented person.

-[Satisfaction] CookingQueen: It's a wonderful drawing. It feels more like an abstract painting than a realistic one, but it still feels like I'm really seeing the Ten Legs. You have a natural talent for depicting anomalies!

Hmm.

I nodded at CookingQueen's comment.

There were quite a few awakeners on SG Net who had participated in the Ten Legs subjugation. If even those people unanimously testified that it looked real, then Sim Ah-ryeon certainly had some talent.

Brushstrokes that made even those who didn't know feel like it was real, and those who knew also felt like it was the real anomaly. The vigor that seemed to leap off the screen. Talent. The aesthetics of anomalies.

"Heh... So many compliments about how well I drew...."

"..."

Then suddenly, an idea struck me like lightning.

It was a flash of inspiration that often came to me as a regressor.

"Ah-ryeon."

"Hehe... Yes? Guild leader?"

"You like drawing anomalies, right?"

"Wh-Why do you ask? Y-you're making me nervous. Why all of a sudden....?"

I put my hand on Sim Ah-ryeon's shoulder.

Sim Ah-ryeon, who was tilting her head in confusion, saw me smiling broadly at her.

"Have you ever thought about becoming a constellation?"

".....?"

-x-X-x-

The Recorder II

I, the Undertaker, never choose people to associate with carelessly, but I am extremely selective when it comes to talent. This means I am thorough in both public and private affairs.

In the context of Koei's Romance of the Three Kingdoms, I wouldn't even consider generals with martial strength of 70 or strategists with intelligence of 70. That's my gaming style.

Through dozens of regressions, I carefully selected and created what I call the "Regression Alliance" — an ultra-secret society that understands I am a regressor and strategizes accordingly.

As for the personnel? Simple. By the 95th regression, it was even simpler.

Me, the Saintess, and Noh Do-hwa. That's it.

Among us, the Saintess manipulated all the awakeners in the Korean Peninsula as a puppet master for the constellations, while Noh Do-hwa extorted every awakener by saying things like, "Oh, you want to use the roads in the apocalypse? Then you'll need to show us some respect." Each could be called the ruler of the peninsula's mind and material, respectively.

Therefore, the executive members of the Regression Alliance at that time, besides me, were basically just those two. Occasionally, Seo Gyu or Yu Ji-won joined as non-permanent members, but that was a rare exception.

Naturally, it was absolutely impossible for someone like Sim Ah-ryeon, with [Martial Strength 4] [Political Power 3] [Charm 16] [Intelligence 77] and only barely A+ level skills, to join our Regression Alliance.

"T-The guild leader… is a regressor?"

But, surprise! There's no such thing as "absolute."

Sim Ah-ryeon, holding the cafe mocha I made for her with both hands, had her mouth open wide in an O shape.

"Yes."

"So, you're saying you're not just someone who was born with an extremely lucky streak, monopolizing all sorts of serendipitous opportunities while others struggled, and even unnecessarily generous, making people envious and miserable with your diamond spoon Awakening Ability?"

"…Yes."

What the hell did she think of me all this time?

Fortunately or unfortunately, Sim Ah-ryeon's shock didn't last long. By the time she had drunk half of her cafe mocha, her expression relaxed as if she had entered a hot spring.

When I asked her why, her answer was absurd.

"Well… uh, honestly, I feel like I understand a lot more now. You figured out the conditions for my ability [Grudge Orb] to activate, didn't you…?"

"Hmm."

"Moreover, thinking that your current position is not just due to innate talent or luck but a result of repeatedly struggling through regressions… it makes me feel a bit more at ease. Though, seeing how hard you've worked is something else…."

"...."

"By the way, guild leader. Can I post this anonymously on SG Net?"

"Do you think you can?"

"It would definitely become a top recommendation post…."

The ghost of this community.

"It's too risky because of Go Yuri."

"Go Yuri? Ah, the Satisfaction Society… Actually, I'm not too fond of that person either. Don't you think their character overlaps with mine? It's like they're imitating me… Though, that part isn't entirely un-cute…."

"...?"

"...?"

Whenever I talked to her, the number of question marks increased exponentially. Was this perhaps Sim Ah-ryeon's hidden awakening ability?

I constantly twisted the question marks in my mind as I continued explaining. SG Net was actually created by Seo Gyu, and the constellations were nothing more than puppets controlled by a single person.

"Hiek. Hieeeek…!"

Sim Ah-ryeon, having witnessed the truth of the world, once again had her sanity points drained. Her hands, holding the cafe mocha cup, trembled.

"Wh-Why are you sharing these secrets with me? It's overwhelming! I didn't want to know this much…!"

"Calm down, Ah-ryeon. What if your bizarre drawings were recognized as 'official illustrations'?"

Sim Ah-ryeon's ears perked up.

"Official…?"

"Yes. I've been posting the strategies I've learned through regressions on SG Net, but starting next cycle, I'm thinking of refining these strategy posts. I plan to use your drawing skills for this purpose."

"How…?"

Like this.

A few days later, I gathered the Saintess and Noh Do-hwa and handed out a small booklet.

The Saintess tilted her head in curiosity.

"Undertaker, what is this?"

"Take your time reading it."

The booklet, produced by a rare printer, contained both text and illustrations.

――――――――――

[Library Society's Encyclopedia of Anomalies]

'Ten Legs'

Aliases: Crawling Baby Cthulhu, Lord of Shadows, Thorny Hell, Lurker

Threat Level: Polis

Contamination Level: None

Habitat: Throughout the Korean Peninsula

Characteristics: It is characterized by tentacles that resemble human fingers. Contrary to its name, 'Ten Legs' actually has hundreds, thousands of tentacles. Not all tentacles are attached to the main body; smaller tentacles grow from the larger ones.

The tentacles continuously grow and break off in real-time. They rapidly extend to tear apart their target or fire off to pierce the target.

In addition to the visible tentacles, dozens of tentacles always burrow underground. Therefore, when fighting Ten Legs, one must never let their guard down, as tentacles can emerge from behind or below at any time. Due to the 'spikes emerging from the ground,' Koreans widely know it by the alias 'Lurker.'

The main body is quite small compared to the tentacles. The main body consists of two hearts, and both hearts must be struck simultaneously to…

――――――――――

The Saintess blinked.

"Library Society's Encyclopedia of Anomalies?"

"That's right. A kind of strategy guide. Starting from the next cycle, I plan to distribute such guides under the name of a new constellation."

"...!"

In other words, a 'constellation that oversees information.'

Until now, the Constellations manipulated by the Saintess had names borrowed from real human history. The 'Saint of Salvation' was Joan of Arc, and the 'Conqueror of the Alps' was Hannibal.

While this method had the intuitive advantage of borrowing originality from history… I thought it was time to flesh out the identities of the constellations a bit more.

"Are you planning to establish a new constellation responsible for information on anomalies and strategies?"

"Yes. While it's not bad for me, a regressor, to monopolize information, it draws too much attention to me. Entities like Go Yuri become unnecessarily interested in me."

Not just Go Yuri; there were countless unknown entities in the world whose identities even I didn't know.

"I will create an encyclopedia board on SG Net and make it seem like a new Constellation manages it. Of course."

I pointed to Sim Ah-ryeon, who was quietly sitting beside me.

"The person who will actually manage that board is this guild member, Sim Ah-ryeon."

"…Indeed."

"It will be more credible for others to accept information distributed under the name of a Constellation rather than information I personally release. Especially if accompanied by such vivid visual materials."

"Huh. So the one posting those anonymous anomaly drawings was her…."

With their attention focused on her, the Saintess and Noh Do-hwa's eyes made Sim Ah-ryeon's shoulders twitch.

"So, you're planning to appoint Sim Ah-ryeon as the co-moderator of SG Net, in addition to Seo Gyu, who has been the main moderator…?"

"Yes, sort of."

"That's quite a significant role. While Seo Gyu hardly participates, Sim Ah-ryeon here is quite infamous in the community. I'm sorry to say this in front of her, but do you think she can handle the position…?"

"It's fine. We'll test it in the next cycle."

"Indeed…"

Noh Do-hwa's laughter echoed softly in the meeting room like a shadow.

"I, too, was tested in 'that manner.' Heh, sometimes even I can't keep up with the Undertaker's sense of time…."

Thus, the next 96th cycle began.

I took Sim Ah-ryeon around the entire country. The purpose? To gather illustrations for the anomaly encyclopedia.

I showed her the continental-level anomaly 'Udumbara' in Onyang, Chungcheongnam-do, and the village-level anomaly 'Trolley Dilemma' on the Donghae Line. I selected anomalies that were difficult for ordinary people to encounter and showed them to her one by one.

"A-Amazing…!"

Every time she encountered a bizarre anomaly, Sim Ah-ryeon busily painted.

For half a year, we collected illustrations.

-The Playground of Constellations!

-The Only Safe Internet Community!

-Welcome to SG Net!

Finally, SG Net was opened.

It was slightly later than usual in other cycles, but it had been prepared so thoroughly that SG Net was almost like a 'renewal.'

"What? Library Society's Encyclopedia of Anomalies…?"

"What's this?"

The full-scale introduction of the 'anomaly encyclopedia,' planned since the last cycle.

Previously, SG Net had only [Freeboard], [Creative Board], [Group Board], [Guild Recruitment Board], and [Chat Room]. Now, there was a prominent [Library Society's Encyclopedia of Anomalies] at the top.

All other boards were displayed in gray, but the encyclopedia was in red. It was eye-catching.

The content was even more eye-catching.

"There's information about monsters…?"

"What?"

"Ten Legs, Gremlins… Udumbara? Trolley? Wow. There were monsters like these?"

With visual materials collected over the past half year and the data accumulated over dozens of cycles, the flood of information began.

[The Librarian of the Great Library manages the encyclopedia.]

Thus, a new Constellation made its debut.

[The Librarian of the Great Library comprehensively oversees information about all things, especially collecting data on anomalies.]

[The Librarian of the Great Library wants you to share information with others. Sharing is the way to praise and honor the Librarian of the Great Library.]

[The deeper your faith in the Librarian of the Great Library, the more information you didn't know will be unlocked.]

As planned by the Saintess, messages were sent to awakeners across the country.

In the monitoring room, Sim Ah-ryeon nervously chewed her nails and fiddled with her smartphone.

"Stop looking at it. You'll wear out the screen."

"B-But… We're fooling so many people so thoroughly. C-can I really do this…?"

"Yes. You'll do great."

"Really?"

"Ah-ryeon, you have a natural talent for this."

"Really?"

From my experience over dozens of cycles, you're a genius at this anonymous masquerade.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before there was a commotion among SG Net members.

-Anonymous: I went to Onyang as the encyclopedia said, and there was a flower tree growing on a corpse, just like in the picture. What should I do?

└LiteraryGirl: What do you mean, what should you do, you idiot? That's a zombie virus! Burn it!

└Anonymous: But it grants immortality?

└Officer: Stay right there. I'm coming to burn the whole inn down with you.

└Anonymous: Gulp.

-CookingQueen: Interesting.

-Anonymous: Hey, I always thought these green bugs were goblins, but they're actually gremlins. When I broke the machine as the encyclopedia said, they just disappeared on their own.

Endless testimonies.

People were reporting that when they went to certain locations described in the encyclopedia, they found anomalies exactly as depicted in the illustrations, and when they followed the strategy, they were really able to defeat them.

Eventually, The Librarian of the Great Library quickly gained recognition among the awakeners.

Even if they didn't want to acknowledge it, there were occasional incidents that forced them to.

-Anonymous: If the constellation truly manages all information, shouldn't it know my personal information too? Hey, Librarian, if you're really a Constellation, guess who I am.

└[The Librarian of the Great Library]: Park Sang-soon. 37 years old. Guild leader of the Blue Sea Guild. Currently accessing from Yeongdo, Busan.

└Anonymous: ?

└LiteraryGirl: ?

└Anonymous: Wow, really? He was the Blue Sea guild leader?

└[Samcheon] WitchJudge: LOL

└[Samcheon] Officer: Is this what represents one of Busan's top guilds? Embarrassing.

Doxxing!

It was revealed that anonymity on SG Net was futile in the face of the 'Librarian of the Great Library.'

Of course, all anonymous non-members accessing SG Net had their identities visible to Seo Gyu, who could use that information to accurately identify them through the Saintess's [Clairvoyance].

But the awakeners, who didn't know this secret, must have found the Librarian of the Great Library terrifying.

After the incident where a non-member's identity was exposed, any criticism or doubt about the Librarian of the Great Library vanished from SG Net.

"G-Guild leader…! This is fun!"

Sim Ah-ryeon also accepted that her soul had 'community spirit' emblazoned across it. Yeah. I figured as much.

Unlike Seo Gyu, who somewhat reluctantly managed SG Net, Sim Ah-ryeon energetically took on the 'constellation's duties.'

Naturally, more awakeners began to follow the Librarian of the Great Library.

-Anonymous: I found a way to defeat gremlins without breaking machines.

-Anonymous: Trolley <<< I've encountered it three times already. If you follow my instructions, you'll never be in danger.

Thanks to this, spreading strategies about anomalies became much easier, and the tendency of awakeners to hoard valuable information also lessened significantly.

'This should continue to work well in future cycles.'

A highly satisfying outcome.

I watched Sim Ah-ryeon busily working on her smartphone with a pleased smile.

Of course, unexpected incidents occurred because of the 'anomaly encyclopedia,' but that story is for another time.

"…Ah, guild leader. There's a problem."

"Hmm? What's the matter?"

"I accidentally posted a comment as [Librarian of the Great Library] instead of [OldManGoryeo]…."

"..."

"I deleted it immediately, but several members saw it. Eek. Real-time posts are flooding in! They even took screenshots! These community ghosts. How did they capture it so quickly in that short moment…? They should live their real lives instead of being on the community… What should we do…?"

"..."

Yeah.

I'll have to remind her to be more careful with comments in the next cycle.

Ah, there's no epilogue.

-x-X-x-

The Designer I

By the way, the group called the "Library Society" has been mentioned several times, but we never really had the opportunity to explain it properly.

The reason why this thought suddenly came to mind is that during the 562nd run, Oh Dok-seo asked this question:

"Hey, mister. How do you join the Library Society?"

"Hmm? Why the Library Society?"

"Why? Because it's cool."

Oh Dok-seo occasionally got fixated on something out of the blue.

From the fashion choices of rappers with caps and jumpers, jeans that looked like they could drip like candle wax at any moment (including three holes), and chewing gum (fake) being chewed in her mouth, it was clear that Oh Dok-seo had a severe case of "Chuunibyou"—a terminal illness for those in middle school.

She prided herself on being a "Literary Girl," sharing common symptoms with other Chuunibyous. That is, she had a peculiar, ecstatic fascination with nouns like "library," "society," and "librarian."

According to a paper from the Korean Psychiatric Association, this disease is, unfortunately, incurable. The only treatment is for the patient to actually enter the university's literature department. How terrifying.

"Since you're a regressor who has gone through hundreds of runs, you must know the key members of the Library Society, right? Isn't that right?"

"Hmm…."

I made a subtle expression.

"Well, I do know them, but…."

"Then introduce me to them! No, before that, tell me what the Library Society is all about. They upload entries in the SG Net's Encyclopedia of Anomalies, but other than that, they're a secret organization shrouded in mystery."

"...Do you really want to know?"

"Huh? What's with that all of a sudden? Stop being stingy and tell me everything you can."

"You'll probably regret it... Well, alright."

If you insist, I must oblige.

- Ch҉҉zz҉, today's music for you all is Mozart....

Next to the table we were sitting at, a wooden vintage radio was playing music.

I took a sip of my Café au Lait, fueling my bright red tongue with engine fuel.

And then, I began to speak to the little Prophet in front of me.

The Library Society.

Also known as The Great Library.

No one knows exactly when it was founded, but it's a very old organization, a secret society at that.

Naturally, its existence is thoroughly hidden from the public. Even if the name of the organization accidentally gets exposed, people are likely to brush it off, thinking, "Hmm? Sounds like a plausible group in reality?" Thus, unlike the Freemasons or the Illuminati, who merely pretend to be secretive but suffer from exposure, they are on a different level.

"Oh... A secret organization, indeed."

Oh Dok-seo's eyes sparkled.

Even she, who usually looked at everything with a cynical, bored expression as her default, seemed to have a sense of romance.

I thought to myself, this is going to be trouble, but continued explaining nonetheless.

The exact location of the society's headquarters is unknown. However, there are rumors that it is in North America.

Branches of the society are spread worldwide. The Korean branch's hideout is somewhere in Cheorwon.

"Cheorwon? Why Cheorwon of all places?"

"To be precise, it's in Geunnam-myeon, Cheorwon, where there are fewer residents. Like any secret society, they prefer to avoid people's attention."

"Oh…."

The Library Society had been aware of the existence of anomalies long before the Gate Incident, possibly hundreds or thousands of years ago.

They collected information on anomalies, wrote strategies and manuals, and secretly trained "Librarians."

Librarians are specialists in combating anomalies. They are professionals who have sworn to dedicate their lives to eradicating or collecting anomalies, even if it means abandoning humanity and morality.

Librarians strictly follow a hierarchical order.

The hierarchy is known to consist of [Knight], [Baron], [Viscount], [Count], [Marquess], and [Duke].

Among them, there is only one Duke. The head of all librarians, the so-called Duke of the Black Library. Nothing is known about this person. It is even uncertain whether they are human or not.

"Wait. Then how do you address librarians with their titles? Like [Baron-level Librarian]?"

"Well, something like that. From the Count level, they also have separate titles. For example, a Count specializing in dealing with false books would be called the 'Count of the False Book Tower'."

"That's so cool...?"

"Additionally, the suffixes of the titles change with the ranks. A Baron's title ends with 'Guan' (關), a Viscount's with 'Ga' (家), a Count's with 'Lou' (樓), and a Marquess's with 'Gak' (閣). For instance, the Marquess in charge of managing forbidden books is known as 'Cheon Hae-gak'."

"That's incredibly cool...?"

Oh Dok-seo's eyes grew more and more dreamy.

According to some stories... in the deepest depths of the Great Library headquarters, there is a kind of prophecy book called the "Black Notebook."

The Black Notebook is said to contain prophecies about the disasters that will befall humanity and the anomalies that will bring about the end of the world, written in very strange languages and characters.

To prevent the apocalypse that will come someday, to preserve humanity, to continue history, the librarians of the Library Society are still working somewhere in secret.

"――And all of this is bullshit."

Blink.

Oh Dok-seo blinked her eyes while holding the espresso I made her with one hand.

"Huh?"

Hmm. That's quite a nice reaction.

I smiled gently.

"Kiddo. The Library Society doesn't exist. Well, if you dig around, you'll find plenty of groups with similar names, but there is no organization that has been secretly working in humanity's shadows for thousands of years to counter the threat of anomalies."

"Huh? Wha-? Why? Why not...?"

"Because."

I slowly stood up.

"I, the Undertaker, am the master of the Great Library, the founder of the Library Society, the one and only Duke, the Duke of the Black Library."

"..."

Why. What's so surprising?

I gave a sly smile to the Chuunibyou bubble gum girl, whose lips were moving like a fish's.

Do you think the fake organizations I've created over a thousand years are just a few?

Playing the mastermind is always fresh and thrilling. I was always prepared to respond, "Ah, that was my plan," "That was also me," and "That, too, was me," no matter what incident occurred as an SSS-class Regressor.

However, no matter how much of a Regressor I was, I couldn't create something from nothing. That was a fact proven by the demon Parmenides in 500 BC.

I also had sources from which I was inspired—or rather, forcibly stimulated—to establish the Library Society.

The original existed elsewhere.

That point of stimulation began in the 46th run, from a radio broadcast presumed to have come from the USA, North America.

Since the collapse of civilization, humanity, which had enjoyed the era of videos, had regressed to the radio age in terms of cultural level.

And I was very familiar with handling radios from the early stages of regression. I even had the experience of setting up a broadcasting station to help Dang Seo-rin with her idol activities.

To boast a little... Legendary radio channels like "Nymphcalypse" and "Ravenclaw Busan Branch," which had countless listeners across the Korean Peninsula and even Japan, wouldn't have been able to take off without my help.

This wasn't just self-praise but an objective fact. Even the channel hosts often made such remarks.

-Oh, do you mean the Benefactor? Wow. Their help was truly invaluable for the establishment and maintenance of our channel! Until five years ago, I didn't even know how to operate a channel!

-The Benefactor, you say? Hmm. I've mentioned it a few times on the broadcast, but they are truly a person to be grateful for. Sometimes, we need rare materials or tools to maintain the channel, and if we ask the Benefactor, they procure them like a ghost.

Here, "Benefactor" referred to me. I had significantly contributed to maintaining the cultural level of East Asia after the apocalypse.

An event where famous radio channels gathered and broadcasted 24-hour relay on Christmas Day—dubbed the "Radio Festival"—was also planned by me.

Always be thankful to me, cultural citizens of East Asia.

For this reason, one wall of my hideout was always lined with radios.

The lineup was splendid. Starting with South Korea's first vacuum tube radio, the Geumseong A-501, followed by Sony's CF-580, CF-3800, Germany's Grundig Party-Boy 210, China's TECSUN PL-680, and more...

Among them was a radio made by the Zenith company called the K731.

You don't need to know what product this is. Just know that it's an antique from the 1950s, made of maple wood, and has a vintage feel.

You know those wooden wardrobes in old people's houses? This wooden radio had the same glossy texture.

-Ch҉҉zz҉, this is… the CP Foundation. The current situation is… ch҈҉҉zz҉.

One winter morning, that antique radio quietly whispered in English.

"Hmm?"

At the time, I was enjoying a cup of Café au Lait, savoring a bit of romance. Not fully awake from my morning daze, I stared at the radio.

'Did I... leave the radio on overnight?'

And here, it becomes clear why I'm not suitable as a protagonist for a horror movie. Because I have the complete memory ability, I never brush things off with, "Eh, it must be my imagination," or "Hmm, my memory is a bit fuzzy," thus never inducing frustration in the audience.

'...I didn't leave it on.'

My eyes snapped open. I immediately turned up the radio's volume. The static noise peculiar to radios blared up.

-Ch҉҉zz҉, Zone 7 has fallen. I repeat. Zone 7 has fallen. We used a nuclear warhead according to the protocol, but it had no effect.

A nuclear warhead?

Trying to suppress the noise and listen to the voice, it seemed the other person was an old man. He spoke typical Californian English.

-Oh, the dragon... The dragon has been released. It's all over now. Ch҉҉zz҉,. Can you see it? The giant shadow of the dragon beyond the mushroom cloud. It's over. The Foundation is doomed. The world is doomed too.

I turned the frequency dial back and forth. But with each move, the static noise echoed, and the old man's voice continued crackling without breaking.

The conclusion was clear.

"...This thing has become an anomaly."

I clicked my tongue.

Contamination.

Since the world started falling apart, various electronic devices getting infected by anomalies was a common occurrence. I called this phenomenon "contamination", "corruption" or "infection."

Especially CCTV, telephones, cell phones (the older, the riskier), computers, GPS navigations, radars, and televisions were dangerous. They were prone to malfunction at a fairly high rate.

In fact, the most lethal blow to human civilization was not physical threats like the Ten Legs but these "contamination" phenomena.

In the early days, the leaders of various countries who tried to combat anomalies with nuclear bombs merged with the almighty mushroom cloud, puzzled, "Uh? Why is the missile heading this way instead of the target?"

Radios were not an exception to contamination.

However, I had performed intense exorcisms on the radios I collected, so I thought they were relatively safe...

-This is Zone 7. I am Martin Russell, the chief director of Zone 7. After confirming the failure of the final barrier protocol in Zone 7, I moved to Bunker 24 and am currently attempting to communicate externally.

"Hmm."

-From the bunker, I can monitor the interior and exterior with CCTV, but many are broken. The remaining cameras are not expected to last long. If a rescue team is organized, please dispatch them promptly so that we can respond internally. Currently, there are six survivors in the zone, including myself. I am alone in Bunker 24, and the remaining five are scattered.

-According to radar, the entities that escaped containment are converging on North America instead of spreading worldwide. Why? What's the reason?

The radio content was quite strange.

Typically, radios infected by anomalies either mimic ghost sounds or launch nonsensical mental attacks.

-All Foundation personnel would already know this... Zone 7 is located on Molokai Island in Hawaii.

-If, by any chance, a civilian hears this communication, ignore it completely. And run as far away as possible from North America. Or enjoy a last supper with your family.

But this anomaly... claiming to be a part of a "Foundation" was genuinely mimicking a person.

It really felt like a human was broadcasting beyond the radio.

It truly seemed like someone was desperately, earnestly transmitting from somewhere in captivity.

Thus, during the 46th run, I couldn't help but be intrigued and wonder.

-Entities are indiscriminately destroying Foundation zones. Ch҉҉zz҉h҉҉zz҉,,. Oh, God! Please have mercy on humanity...

If this were true.

If the old man was really in Bunker 24 or whatever, if the "Foundation" existed, and if the entities that escaped containment were real.

What on earth was happening in North America?

-x-X-x-

The Designer II

'So the headquarters is in Hawaii? Maybe I should casually visit Hawaii.'

I wasn't capable of such a thought back in my 46th run.

In an ordinary web novel, if a regressor has gone through 46 runs, people might react with, "Wow, they must be an expert by now! But if they haven't saved the world by then, they must be pretty incompetent, right?" But in my story, the 46th run was still fresh, like a newbie fully charged with vitamins.

Anyway, in my 46th run, I was like most South Koreans who say they've traveled abroad, having only been to Japan or China at best.

India? The United States? Europe? I only gathered information from rumors; I had never experienced the soil of those places on my shoes.

Ah, Old Man Scho once said he would show me his hometown, but the promise between men seemed unlikely to last over a thousand years. That old geezer.

-This is Zone 7, chhh҉҉zz҉,.. I am Martin Russell, the head of the bunker. Chi҉zz҉, the food stored in the bunker is slowly running out.

-Did the series of projects the Foundation prepared for the world's end not get activated? Or have they been activated, and this place is just the remnants of the world left behind?

-Either way… chi҉zz҉, I will continue to record with the hope that my voice file might be helpful someday. This is Martin Russell, 677 days of survival.

The broadcast continued.

I named this phenomenon the "Foundation Broadcast," or simply the "Broadcast" anomaly.

And I spent a long time figuring out the characteristics of the "Foundation Broadcast" in detail.

1. If there was another listener besides me near the radio, the broadcast would never proceed.

I found this quite interesting, so I had Sim Ah-ryeon and Seo Gyu sit and listen, but the radio remained silent.

In the end, both of them shook their heads, saying, "Sigh, the guild leader/hyung is playing tricks with anomalies again…."

Did I really have so little trust? Why? How come?

I even suggested to the Saintess to use Clairvoyance and listen with me, but even that was calculated as a "listener," and the radio remained dead.

"Um… Mr. Undertaker, as much as you're bored, using an anomaly as a prank is a bit troubling. I'd appreciate it if you could refrain."

"..."

I felt wronged.

2. Even if the run changed, the "Foundation Broadcast" continued, and the "Old Man" always broadcasted from Zone 7 bunker on Molokai Island, Hawaii.

However, this anomaly only appeared on the Zenith K731 radio, an antique I personally collected. Other radios could never catch the "Foundation Broadcast."

Why? I have no clue.

The ecology of anomalies was full of mysteries.

-This is Martin Russell. Uh, hmm. The escaped entities are still predominantly concentrated in North America… Damn it. It's been 1203 days. Did humanity survive? Am I really the last survivor?

The broadcast times were all over the place, but generally from 1 AM to 7 PM. If the broadcaster's claim that he was in Hawaii was true, it would be from 6 AM to midnight Hawaii time.

A reasonable time for someone to be awake.

And this is the most important…

3. The content of the broadcast changed subtly with each run.

In the 46th run, he said an entity called "The Great Dragon" appeared in Zone 7 and destroyed the Foundation, but in the 49th run…

-Oh, God! The moonlight! Ah, the Goddess of Parmenides has finally gone mad! Urgent broadcast. Never, under any circumstances, come into contact with the moonlight! Unless you want to melt like wax!

-Annihilation? Did the entire Foundation really get annihilated? Backup? Oh, my God. My God, why. Why the worst-case scenario…

He wailed, saying that the "moonlight" had exterminated humanity.

With each run, the method of the world's destruction changed slightly.

I sipped my Café au Lait with a bitter smile.

"If this is true, North America must be a hellscape equivalent to the Indian subcontinent."

At the time, I guessed it was probably a lie.

I didn't particularly intend to eliminate the Foundation Broadcast. It wasn't causing harm to humanity other than whispering to my radio.

On the contrary, the Foundation Broadcast became excellent background music for me when I wanted to listen to the radio out of boredom.

As I said, there weren't many things to entertain oneself with in this era. But a radio channel that changes its content with every broadcast? That's golden.

Moreover, the settings the man subtly revealed about the "Foundation" in each run provided me with a lot of inspiration. I learned quite a bit from it.

What I learned was…

"Standardization of information."

Back to the 562nd cycle.

Oh Dok-seo tilted her head with a puzzled expression. The radio next to the table was leisurely playing Mozart's symphony.

"Information… standardization, what?"

"The so-called 'Foundation' set very detailed grades and rules for entities. Hmm. For example, let's say there's a gremlin."

A gremlin is an anomaly that clings to all electronic devices and causes them to malfunction bizarrely.

There was once a rumor in Gyeongsangnam-do that gremlins only infected televisions and radios, leaving cell phones untouched.

Meanwhile, in Gyeongsangbuk-do, there was a warning that cell phones were the most dangerous.

In Gyeonggi-do, there was a public belief that all electronic devices except for CCTV were safe. Can you believe that?

This was the result of the breakdown of information transmission within human society.

"In this situation, sharing information within the Korean Peninsula itself is difficult. When civilization was intact, we could share visual materials and other forms of data through videos or whatever…."

But now, all mass media except for radio had perished. SG Net was the only place left for information sharing, but even it wasn't perfect.

"It's one thing for anomalies to have chaotic traits, but how would you describe how powerful an anomaly is?"

"Uh…"

"S-class? A-class? What's the difference between an S-class anomaly and an A-class anomaly, and how dangerous are they? Combat power 1000? 2000? Let's say it has a combat power of 1200. Does that number intuitively tell you anything?"

"…No."

Exactly.

So, inspired by the radio broadcast's "Foundation," I established a fictional organization called the "Library Society."

The setting was simple. A secret group that had been researching anomalies for a very long time, thus establishing a "standard" method of classification—a professional classification method.

But in reality, it was a database containing the experiences and knowledge of me, the regressor Undertaker.

Having gone through multiple cycles and fought countless anomalies, it was an Akashic Record created from my blood and sweat.

The "standard" defined by the Library Society, that is, the danger threat levels of anomalies, were as follows:

Lv.1: Village-class.

Anomalies that could wipe out a village were given this threat level.

"To be considered a 'dangerous anomaly,' it had to be at least this level. It's a minimum threshold that filters out minor anomalies."

I wrote examples in my notebook and showed them.

As expected of LiteraryGirl, Oh Dok-seo followed my notes with her still-shocked eyes.

"A single goblin isn't worth assigning a danger level to. But 30 goblins? 40 goblins? That's enough to classify them as village-class."

"Aha…?"

"In other words, even if it's the lowest level, once it's classified as village-class, it means it's already judged as 'very dangerous.' Ordinary people should run away, and even awakeners should avoid it unless they're combat specialists. Yes. I'm talking about you, Oh Dok-seo."

"..."

In reality, most awakeners lost their heads fighting village-class anomalies one-on-one.

Even Lee Ha-yul, the Puppeteer, lost an arm fighting a village-class anomaly out of overconfidence in one of the runs.

In my view, the danger level names used by the "Foundation" sounded cool but were likely to make ordinary people think, "So how dangerous is that exactly?"

I prioritized intuitiveness in selecting terms. "It's dangerous enough to wipe out a village = village-class."

"How is it? Simple, right?"

"…Indeed. It's simple."

"From the next danger level onwards, it's not just about individual life-threatening situations."

Lv.2: Polis-class.

Anomalies that, once they appear, would typically devastate an entire city. These are extremely monstrous beings.

"The Ten Legs is a representative example."

The anomalies "Chaos" and "Tami" mentioned during my trip to Mount Hua in China were also polis-class.

Those two alone caused nearly ten million casualties. This is just an estimate, though.

The Ten Legs may seem trivial now, but in the early stages of regression, it wiped out the Korean Peninsula alone. Even at the city level, it was like a wall of lamentation for awakeners.

The primary culprits that regressed the modern nations' progress back to the Iron Age were mostly polis-class anomalies.

"Ordinary people and even awakeners should run away unless they are prepared for battle. Of course, the odds of escaping are quite low."

"Wow… It doesn't feel real since I saw you end it with a one-turn kill…."

"Exactly."

That's why I tried to refrain from soloing the Ten Legs in the extermination battle, leaving it to other awakeners.

"Anyway, next."

Lv.3: Continent-class.

If polis-class anomalies represent despair for individuals, continent-class anomalies signify despair for humanity.

"At this point, the very preservation of the Homo sapiens species is seriously threatened."

"...…"

The world tree Udumbara, which spread a zombie virus across East Asia, lured people with the promise of immortality.

Meteor Shower, which turned the entire world into a gray territory over seven years.

These beings naturally make modern humans exclaim, "This is just bullshit!"

"Hey, wait."

"Hmm?"

"If Meteor Shower is only level 3, is there another level after that?"

I wondered what she was talking about, but then realized that with Oh Dok-seo's [Prophecy], she had only seen about 40 chapters of the serialized work... which, in my terms, contained content up to around the 20th run.

No wonder she didn't know.

I casually moved my pen.

"Yes. Of course, there is."

Lv.4: Ocean-class.

"Oh…."

Oh Dok-seo murmured as she looked at my notebook.

"In the novel I read, you were an intense hot-blooded character fighting Ten Legs in a fierce battle…"

"Ah, I miss those days. I thought I'd save the world within 30 runs back then."

"...What kind of anomalies are at the ocean-class?"

"I can describe them, but you probably won't get a clear picture. Sim Ah-ryeon hasn't drawn any illustrations yet."

Ya-o-yorozu no kami descending upon the Japanese archipelago. "Asura," "Astra," and "Sand of the Ganges" turning the Indian subcontinent into the most dangerous void on Earth.

I often joked about the Korean Peninsula's precarious position, calling it Hell Peninsula, but compared to those places, it was heaven.

Again, I must warn you, never travel abroad in this era.

After listening to my explanation, Oh Dok-seo's face turned pale.

"Do I have to fight those kinds of anomalies too? Me?"

"Don't be too scared. The you of the 561st run, the you of the 560th run, the you of the 559th run, the you of the 557th run all endured well."

"..."

"You'll do well in this run too."

"...Wait a minute. Why did you skip the 558th run? What happened to me then?"

"..."

"Why did you skip it!"

I averted my gaze.

"Well…"

"Hey! I'm not even a combatant; I only have the [Prophecy] ability! Why are you dragging a non-combatant into the battlefield!"

"Whoa, calm down. Calm down. Do you think I'd drag you around without any plan? Oh Dok-seo, you're actually a multi-ability awakener. Once you awaken your second ability, you'll be fine on any battlefield."

"...Really?"

"Absolutely. You'll 100% survive on the battlefield. You just need to complete the training curriculum tailored for Oh Dok-seo, tested and proven over several runs. Trust me."

"...Should I really trust you?"

"Of course."

The training curriculum was grueling enough to make one wish for death, and in the 558th run, Oh Dok-seo did cross the Jordan River during training, but that was a mishap of bad luck and misfortune and won't happen again. Definitely.

"Ugh. How did I end up involved with such a crazy guy... I shouldn't have read that web novel in the first place…."

"Not all anomalies are about overwhelming physical power. We'll start with simple and fun anomalies like the 'Trolley Dilemma' or 'Hero Syndrome,' so don't worry."

"How can an anomaly be simple and fun? You really have a weird sense of humor... So, who was the most unusual anomaly you've ever faced?"

"I'll tell you about that later."

Leaving the despairing Oh Dok-seo aside, I sipped my café au lait. Although the coffee had gone cold while I was talking, the lingering taste on my tongue was still delightful.

―Judging by her expression, it seems I never mentioned that the danger levels of anomalies didn't end at level 4.

Lv.5: Outer God-class.

The final level. These were my true enemies as a regressor. They were the ones who forced me into near-eternal repetitions of runs.

Well, there's no need to explain everything to Oh Dok-seo all at once.

We had plenty of time left.

"Ah."

Oh Dok-seo stood up from her chair.

"Sorry, I need to go to the bathroom for a moment."

"You don't need to announce that."

"Ugh. I drink too much coffee when I'm with you…"

As Oh Dok-seo grumbled and left the room.

The vintage radio made of maple wood, the Zenith K731, which had been quietly playing Mozart's symphony until then, suddenly emitted static.

"This is Zone 7 head, Martin Russell. Damn it. The zombie virus has been confirmed to have landed in California. The nuclear warheads are… What? What the hell is the Foundation doing? Why is the missile direction… Oh, God! No! Stop! Oh, Lord, have mercy on humanity…"

"…..."

In this run, too, I silently prayed for the people of North America who were facing a new apocalypse.

There is an epilogue.

It might seem like the episode ended there in the 562nd run with the conversation between Oh Dok-seo and me.

But there was still a mystery left regarding the "Library Society."

Since I always aimed to be as honest as possible with you all, I must confess about this mystery here.

It was in the 924th cycle. A long, really long time later.

"Hey, hyung."

"Yeah?"

"You might want to come over here and check this out."

Called by our SG Man, Seo Gyu, I approached the computer. He was managing the community.

"What's going on?"

"You know, recently you told us to create a library board, right?"

"Yeah, I did."

"The traffic there has increased drastically… like, really drastically. I thought I should check if you were working on something."

"Um. That was probably Ah-ryeon."

"Sim Ah-ryeon? She did?"

"Yeah. I entrusted her with managing the Library Society board."

Even after hearing my answer, Seo Gyu made a puzzled expression.

"No matter how much of a shut-in spirit Sim Ah-ryeon is, this…?"

"She's not an ordinary spirit."

"Of course. But still, this doesn't make sense? Look at this, hyung."

Seo Gyu showed me the computer screen in detail. As he scrolled up, posts poured out like a torrent.

Like a downpour.

"There were 400 posts today alone. Oh, just now. Did you see that?"

"..."

"They aren't just random posts. Most of them are secret posts, but look, when you use admin privileges to view them… Look!"

I saw it.

――――――――――

[Library Society's Encyclopedia of Anomalies]

"Illustrator"

Alias: Illustrator, Fan Art

Threat Level: None

Contamination Level: Unknown

Habitat: SG Net (Internet Community)

Decryption: All information from the Library Society, except for inevitably lost documents, has been safely transferred to the Library Society's Encyclopedia of Anomalies board on SG Net.

However, at some point, "attached files" started appearing on the documents. These attached files are all "illustrations," that is, image files.

The illustrations depict the forms of anomalies, and through cross-verification by various Librarians, it has been confirmed that the representations are "extremely accurate."

Anomalies not only spread void poison in their physical forms but also through copies, such as photos or videos. These illustrations are extremely dangerous.

Attempts to incinerate the illustrations a total of 501 times by the Burning Department have ultimately failed to delete them. It has been officially recognized that all documents in the Library Society have been contaminated by the "Illustrator."

Below are the recommendations from the Burning Department's Librarian and the orders from the Forbidden Books Department's Librarian.

[Burning Artist V]

Adding a [Show/Hide] feature to all documents' illustrations was the best we could do.

It has been confirmed that documents with illustrations are also unlocked and made available to the public.

Librarians should not open or view the illustrations recklessly. If verification is necessary, formally request approval from the Burning Department.

[Cheon Hae-gak M]

From the Forbidden Books Department: All Librarians' activity logs are recorded, and whether the illustrations are viewed is also stored.

Disclosing the personal information and community activity history of "Viscount Seo Hwa-ga," a member of the Prophecy Department, who illegally viewed the illustrations 41 times.

The disclosed history includes all activities under the Librarian's alias and anonymous activities. The disclosure scope includes login times, post contents, and comments.

Additionally, Viscount Seo Hwa-ga is ordered to live jointly with a Librarian from the Burning Department. Viscount Seo Hwa-ga's LSO procedure is suspended.

――――――――――

Posts with content I had never seen before were clearly visible.

"Burning Artist? V? What's this now?"

The Library Society was undoubtedly just a setting I created hundreds of runs ago for fun.

Terms like Cheon Hae-gak and Black Library were all just my masks, and I certainly hadn't written such posts.

Most importantly.

There was no character named "Burning Artist" in my setting book. V… perhaps for Viscount?

"Is my setting book… self-propagating without me knowing?"

Beside me, Seo Gyu was spitting while he spoke.

"Right? All these posts are properly written. Hyung, no matter how crazy Sim Ah-ryeon is, how could she write posts at this speed?"

I stayed silent. Not because I didn't have anything to say, but because I was too shocked.

"…This is the first time I've seen something like this."

To reiterate, this was the 924th cycle.

Really, truly, new events in my life had become as rare as finding a diamond shard on the banks of the Ganges River.

"Plus, there's a language translation function. See this [Language Selection] button? It looks like it's translated into every language in the world?"

"…Could it be AI or something, constantly generating posts?"

"That's possible, but how? Unless it's an awakener with the [AI Utilization] or [Auto Post Generation] skills, this isn't possible."

"…You're right."

"Moreover, I checked the IPs with admin privileges, and all these IPs are properly registered on SG Net. So if an awakener did this, they'd need the [SG Net ID Generation] ability. Is that even possible?"

"…If there's a skill like [Internet Community Sabotage] that integrates all those abilities, maybe."

"Oh."

"But it's definitely an unusual phenomenon. I'll report this to the Saintess and see if tracking the location is possible. Seo Gyu, keep monitoring. You did well to tell me."

"Yes, hyung."

Before long, the Saintess responded.

[Tracking the location is impossible.]

"What?"

[My Clairvoyance can't identify the awakener of that IP. Mr. Undertaker, do these people even exist?]

"..."

A chill ran down my spine.

Numerous hypotheses crossed my mind. The possibility of a skill that nullifies the Saintess's Clairvoyance, the possibility of an anomaly causing different worldlines to intersect on SG Net, or even the possibility that anomalies themselves could access SG Net…

I looked at the computer monitor. Every time I refreshed the page, new documents were being posted in real-time.

"If so… If these are not real humans, then where are the authors posting hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of posts on that internet site… where do they exist?"

[...]

The Saintess was silent.

…To reiterate.

There were still many unknown mysteries in this world that even I did not know.