The Breakdown IV
At this point, it must be emphasized once again that while a weak point is indeed a way to defeat anomalies, it is never a one-way street but always a two-way street.
"Come to rescue you? Student, what do you mean? I'm also caught here."
I replied this way to the kid in front of me not because I was a nasty sadist, nor because I was the eldest of the Gatchaman.
"What?"
"Do you see my name tag? I'm a guard here, a guard. Geez. When I came to my senses, the school had become very strange."
"Oh... So, you're the guard..."
I felt sorry for the kid, but I had no intention of deviating even 1cm from my guard role-playing.
The reason I could rampage through the 'School Ghost Stories' was firstly due to the experience I accumulated as a regressor, and secondly because of my role as a 'guard.'
As a guard, it wasn't strange for me to wander around the school without issue. That was the job of a guard.
As a guard, it wasn't strange for me to know how to handle strange incidents occurring in the school. That was the skill of a guard.
In other words, the moment my mask as a 'night patrol guard' was broken, I would lose all the advantages I had enjoyed so far.
I had to help the stranded students of the 'School Ghost Stories' within the boundaries of my role-playing.
And for a skilled regressor like me, such restrictions weren't even a penalty.
"Student, why do you look so haggard? Are you eating well? Here, have some of this."
"What? ...Oh, chocolate?"
It wasn't just any ordinary chocolate. It was the world's most powerful dessert. Crunchy chocolate wrapped in beautiful golden foil.
"Really? Can I really eat this?"
"Of course. I'm giving it to you to eat."
A moment later.
"Wow!"
The effect of the crunchy chocolate bar was remarkable.
"We, we didn't do anything. We just woke up in the dorm and came to school, and suddenly, sniff. Suddenly ghosts appeared, and the teachers were all gone. The ghosts chased us... in the classroom, the bathroom, the playground, the cafeteria, the rooftop, everywhere... so many friends died..."
"There, there."
"I, I'm the student council president, sniff. I should be helping the kids, but I was too busy running away. I was scared. I'm sorry..."
Cheon Yo-hwa of the 117th cycle was undoubtedly the same person as the Cheon Yo-hwa of previous cycles, yet completely different.
Her mind was overwhelmed.
Her emotions were intense.
In other words, she lacked experience.
"It's okay. Whether you're the student council president or not, you're all just young students. Surviving alone is already a big deal."
"Sniff..."
To level up to the 'complete Cheon Yo-hwa,' several more years of suffering and patience were needed.
The kid in front of me was destined to lead the group of survivors until the 750 students were reduced to 17.
But there were definitely advantages that an incomplete version had compared to a complete one. That was why I had personally dived into the 'School Ghost Stories.'
"There's plenty of chocolate, so take your time eating. How have you been escaping from the ghosts?"
"Sniff. A strange fairy periodically gave us quests? Some kind of missions. If we completed them, we were guaranteed food and a place to sleep for a short while... Originally, I moved with the other kids, but as soon as the latest quest started, we were forcibly scattered by the fairy..."
"I see."
I responded casually, but my heart was pounding with excitement.
What Cheon Yo-hwa had just said contained the situation I had longed for.
'...As expected. This version of Cheon Yo-hwa still perceives anomalies correctly.'
Not just the ghosts of the 'School Ghost Stories,' but also the fairies of the tutorial.
Originally, the Cheon Yo-hwa of previous cycles couldn't even perceive the fairies. Brainwashing. Or the effects of perception distortion.
But the current Cheon Yo-hwa showed no signs of any abnormality. She was seeing the anomalies as they were.
'Then, there's some trigger that makes her unable to perceive anomalies in the future... What could it be?'
I had to find that out now.
I gave a benevolent smile.
"You've really had a hard time, student. You must be very hungry. Do you want to eat this too?"
"Sniff... Oh, cup noodles!"
"Of course. And there are different flavors too."
"Jajangmyeon flavor and mala flavor!"
"Now, I'll connect the portable battery I carried for power outages to the kettle, and just wait a bit... There, it's done."
"Wow! Wow! Yummy!"
For a while, we enjoyed a moment of happiness.
"Guard ahjussi, I realized something. Life... Life is worth living if you can just eat delicious food..."
Cheon Yo-hwa showed a sage-like expression.
If Siddhartha Gautama had tasted modern factory-made jajangmyeon cup noodles under the Bodhi tree, he might have acknowledged that 'life isn't that painful.'
"Of course. Even in such a world, those who live must continue living. I'm going to look around for other students, so stay healthy."
"Oh."
I turned on my lantern and started to move. Then, Cheon Yo-hwa hesitantly put down the cup noodle container and followed me.
"W-Wait. Guard ahjussi, can't you take me with you?"
"Hm? You, student?"
"Yes! I, um, I was kind of like a leader before we were forcibly separated. There are many good kids, but there are also some who are mentally stressed... um. When they see the supplies you have, they might get bad ideas..."
I inwardly smiled.
It was a welcome suggestion. My goal from the beginning was to accompany Cheon Yo-hwa.
But there was a big difference between offering help and receiving a voluntary decision. I had slyly cast a line, and she had bitten it admirably.
"Are you saying you'll protect me?"
"Haha... Protecting is a bit much. Seeing you earlier, you seem really strong. I can just help you to avoid unnecessary troubles."
Her playful imitation of throwing one-two punches was amusing, and I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Are you following me just because you want to eat more cup noodles?"
"Huh, caught... But, um, in such a situation, I think it's important to move as a group. I'll always walk ahead!"
"Hm."
Walking ahead in a void meant taking the most dangerous role and trusting me with their back. It meant she would be in a position where betrayal was impossible.
"Alright. If the student council president says so, I should believe you. Let's move together for a while."
"Yes! Thank you, ahjussi!"
We walked along the 4th-floor corridor.
Suddenly, the back of Cheon Yo-hwa's head caught my eye.
A gauze bandage stained with dark, crusted blood.
A trace of betrayal. A mental trauma.
"..."
"By the way, guard ahjussi, do you have any news from outside? We know nothing except the sparse information the fairy gives us."
"I don't know exactly either, but the radio in the guard's office sometimes picks up outside news. It's no different here. The country collapsed, the military was wiped out, that's all."
"Ugh... So, there's no rescue team coming for us?"
"There won't be."
"I figured..."
Cheon Yo-hwa's shoulders drooped visibly.
"Although it's unfortunate, you should also prepare for the worst regarding your family outside. The world is very broken."
"Well, I'm not too worried about my family. They were all brainwashed by a cult and did strange things anyway."
"Hmm. A cult."
Step. Step.
Aside from our footsteps and voices, the entire school was eerie.
But there was no time to get bored.
"The flow of time itself is different between this school and the outside."
"What?"
"How long do you think it's been since you were trapped here?"
"Um, let me see... Including the days I missed, at least 390 days..."
"Outside, it hasn't even been three months."
"No way! Really?"
Cheon Yo-hwa's reactions were always exaggerated and varied.
Unlike the necromancer of previous cycles who smiled like a doll.
'She was originally like this.'
It felt novel.
Despite having lived 117 cycles, there were still wells of human experience I hadn't yet explored.
"Ahjussi."
Cheon Yo-hwa lowered her voice.
Human voices were fascinating. Surprisingly, simple vibrations and titles could convey a lot of information. I immediately focused on the front.
Thump, thump, thump, thud.
A ghost was opening a classroom door and coming out from the other end of the corridor. But not with its feet, but with its head.
Not a handstand, but moving its head with thumps. Each time it moved, the ghost's head shattered, spilling blood around.
Thump, thump, thump, thud.
But the shattered skull pieces and blood quickly gathered back into the shape of a head. So, the ghost was repeating death each time its head hit the ground.
"Oh... Thump-thump-thump ghost..."
Cheon Yo-hwa whispered quietly.
"Do you know that ghost?"
"Yes, kind of. I've encountered it a few times. It's slow, so it's easy to escape. But if you let your guard down and get too close, you suddenly get transported to the rooftop and fall into the playground."
"You sound like you've experienced it."
"No, I saw a few kids fall from the rooftop... At least 17 kids died from falling that I saw. So, we call it the thump-thump-thump ghost or just the suicide ghost."
Thump, thump, thump, thud.
The ghost was getting closer, entering the classroom backdoor and exiting the front door.
Defeating the anomaly here was simple. Four exorcism methods immediately came to mind.
But the command I chose was 'wait.'
Cheon Yo-hwa had just joined my party. It was customary to test the newbie's skills.
"Alright. Please wait a moment."
Cheon Yo-hwa didn't refuse this implicit test. A deep breath echoed in the dark corridor.
"... not. af..., sts..."
Murmuring sound.
I enhanced my hearing to listen in.
"...I am not afraid. Cheon Yo-hwa is not afraid of ghosts. Cheon Yo-hwa has strong courage..."
Darkness gathered around Cheon Yo-hwa's outline, tightening.
Thump, like a stretched rubber band snapping back, Cheon Yo-hwa dashed forward.
Her movements were as agile as they had been during our first encounter.
It wasn't the kind of patronizing compliment like 'good movements for an ordinary person.'
Cheon Yo-hwa was no ordinary person. She was an Awakener.
And she had survived 390 days in a tutorial dungeon of unprecedented difficulty.
Cheon Yo-hwa, with 'good movements even for an awakener,' quickly closed in on the ghost.
When she was about 4 meters away, she started to slow down. Then, swish, like a gymnast, she smoothly went into a handstand.
Thump, thump, thwack!
Cheon Yo-hwa's legs spun like windmills. In the upside-down position, her skills were good enough for a breakdancer to recruit her on the spot.
The ghost wobbled under her kicks. After two, three, and four hits, its balance was bound to break.
-Uwooooh...
"Hyahaaa!"
Cheon Yo-hwa grabbed the ghost by the hair and jumped up. The ghost, whose hair was wholly grabbed, had no choice but to be pulled up.
-Oh, oh, oh, oh.
"Hoh."
I almost whistled.
The 'ghost that had to move with its head' was standing upright. Its weak point had been struck.
Whether Cheon Yo-hwa instinctively grasped the exorcism method or stumbled upon it didn't matter. In a fight against anomalies, results mattered.
Thud—
The ghost, whose hair was grabbed by Cheon Yo-hwa, turned into chunks of flesh from the toes up and fell.
In less than 7 seconds, its legs, body, upper torso, and head shattered and scattered across the corridor. The last bits of hair slipped through Cheon Yo-hwa's fingers.
Cheon Yo-hwa shook her hands in disgust.
"Ugh, gross... Anyway, how was that, guard ahjussi? I fight pretty well, right?"
"Not just well. There's a reason you were picked as the leader. I'll rely on you from now on."
"Hehe. Yes!"
The outcome of this battle wasn't just about confirming Cheon Yo-hwa's combat abilities.
Anyway, that kid would eventually become one of the strongest awakeners in Korea, along with Dang Seo-rin. Her potential was already verified.
The real achievement lay elsewhere.
'That kid. She just brainwashed herself.'
The secret to Cheon Yo-hwa's strength.
Right before she charged at the thump-thump-thump ghost, Cheon Yo-hwa had definitely murmured to herself.
-I am not afraid.
-Cheon Yo-hwa is not afraid of ghosts.
-Cheon Yo-hwa has strong courage.
It wasn't merely reciting a prayer to boost her courage.
Because Cheon Yo-hwa's ability was necromancy, more precisely, 'the ability to input the thought processes and behavioral principles of NPCs.'
'She was slowly changing her own thought processes and behavioral principles to be advantageous for survival and combat.'
I entered the classroom where the thump-thump-thump ghost had emerged. I glanced at places where it was hard to notice, like the underside of the teacher's desk, inside the school desks' drawers, and the locker.
死. 死. 死. 死.
Sure enough, there were talismans. Just like the ones found in the restroom. All were curses written in human blood.
The attendance book on the teacher's desk had, coincidentally, the name Cheon Yo-hwa, suggesting this was her classroom.
"..."
"Ahjussi, it seems there's no one around here! Let's try over there! I'm sure some kids hid to escape the thump-thump-thump ghost!"
The sky outside was red. Through the broken windows, white birch trees were bleeding onto the corridor. The entire corridor was blood-red, like it had been pierced and torn apart.
"Alright."
In the middle of such a corridor, I lightly waved back at Cheon Yo-hwa, who was brightly waving her arm at me.
How had that kid come to be unable to perceive anomalies? Why had she attracted the interest of the Infinite Void and become its apostle?
And why were there so many curse talismans in Baekhwa Girls' High School?
I felt the answers were slowly forming in my mind.
-x-X-x-
The Breakdown V
After that, the operation to exterminate the 'School Ghost Stories' proceeded smoothly.
Cheon Yo-hwa and I continued to patrol the school. Whenever we found survivors, we immediately transferred them to the 'safe zone.'
The survivors shed tears of gratitude.
"The ghosts... aren't coming out?"
"We can use the bathroom freely!"
"Thank you, guard oppa!"
"Oh, but there are corpses... Well, we've seen plenty of corpses by now, so it doesn't matter."
"Shit, these cup noodles taste fucking amazing..."
Since the first to third floors were largely declared 'safe zones,' there was plenty of space for the students to stay.
The main concern was providing food and maintaining hygiene for hundreds of survivors... As for hygiene, I had plenty of supplies packed in my trunk, so that was covered.
The real problem was food.
Although my trunk, obtained in the 115th cycle, boasted a capacity comparable to a subspace, it was only as large as an ordinary library. It wasn't the romantic, mansion-sized library often seen in fantasy novels.
Fortunately, Korea had experience overcoming food shortages, having once been one of the poorest countries in the world (though this applied to only 50% of the country). Therefore, we were quite adept at quickly resolving food crises.
"We'll use the cafeteria."
"Ugh."
Cheon Yo-hwa was horrified. She had a natural talent for expressing words like 'dislike' and 'contempt' with just her facial muscles.
"You mean the cafeteria on the first floor? That's... I've only been there once, but there are so many ghosts."
"Of course, there are many. Didn't you know? Ghosts always gather the most in bathrooms, bedrooms, and kitchens."
"No, I didn't know..."
The dominant anomaly haunting the cafeteria at Baekhwa Girls' High was the 'Human Flesh Restaurant.'
1. The cafeteria served meals daily.
2. However, the meat used in the meals was actually mixed with human flesh.
3. Those who ate the human flesh became rapidly addicted and started craving more, eventually turning into cannibals who could only consume human flesh. If they didn't eat human flesh for even a few days, they went insane.
Anomalies related to human flesh often appeared in the void.
Especially in voids where 'massacres' had occurred, these anomalies were highly likely to appear. It was no exception in the 'School Ghost Stories,' where hundreds had already been slaughtered.
The void was a harsher environment than the South Pole. When faced with the dilemma of "Will you starve to death tomorrow, or go insane after one to three months?" even the most seasoned awakeners would weep and resort to cannibalism.
However... the 'School Ghost Stories' were a bit different.
"Student, the school's meals weren't that great, were they?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Dinner was alright, but breakfast and lunch were really bad. It made living in the dorms hard."
"Then what are you worried about? The meals are all served separately on stainless steel trays, right? Even the serving dishes are all separate."
"What?"
"If you only eat the side dishes that are clearly vegetables, you're safe. From now on, breakfast and lunch will be the main meals for the students."
If eating human flesh makes you go insane, then just eat everything else but the human flesh, right?
In most voids, it was hard to circumvent the 'Human Flesh Restaurant' anomaly with such tricks.
Korea was notoriously tough on vegans. The void restaurants in Korea specialized in dishes like spicy pork stir-fry, hot pot, and pork cutlets, targeting animal protein lovers.
Unless there were dishes like aglio e olio, which didn't include meat, or hamburgers where the patties could be easily removed, it was quite difficult to separate meat from the menus of most void restaurants.
However, 'schools' and 'military' were different.
These two institutions, unlike other regions, respected life so much that they were genuinely considerate of vegans.
In my view, the 'Human Flesh Restaurant' anomaly in Baekhwa Girls' High was merely a convenient nutrient source.
"You could use anomalies this way..."
Cheon Yo-hwa was astonished as she received meals from the shadowy cafeteria ghosts.
"If you shed your prejudices, you'll find that many anomalies can be quite useful."
"Ugh, is that so... Oh. Stir-fried anchovies taste good. It's so good it's scary! Guard ahjussi, are you sure this is okay?"
I glanced at Cheon Yo-hwa's profile. The student council president was staring at her meal tray with a complex expression.
Suddenly, I recalled our first meeting, specifically the conversation we had at the school gate in the 5th cycle when I recruited Cheon Yo-hwa.
-Cheon Yo-hwa's abilities are very powerful. Whether it's turning dead bodies into zombies or living people into zombies, I'm not sure.
-...Bodies?
Back then, Cheon Yo-hwa couldn't properly recognize the word 'bodies.' Probably the same for 'human flesh.'
Brainwashing for survival.
If you think about what the 17 survivors had to eat to stay alive for four years, it's a simple issue.
In reality, the Baekhwa Girls' High guild members were all addicted to human flesh, going mad if they didn't consume it at least once every four days.
"...My idea isn't that great. If more time had passed, the students would have reached the same conclusion."
"Ugh. Us?"
"Of course. And this solution isn't permanent. Eat as much as you can while you can. I'll also keep as much long-lasting food as possible."
"...?"
My prediction was spot on.
A week later, the menu in the school cafeteria began to change slightly.
"Huh? Ahjussi. Doesn't it seem like there are more meat dishes?"
"Hmm."
Anomalies lived and moved.
In terms of life's pace, anomalies were much more urgent and desperate than humans.
While humans took thousands or tens of thousands of years to slowly evolve, filtering out mutations in the web of time, anomalies could mutate as a species in just a single day.
As a result.
"Oh no. Two-thirds of the dishes are meat..."
The side dishes on Cheon Yo-hwa's stainless steel tray were exceedingly luxurious.
Chicken drumsticks, beef soup, meatballs, boiled pork. The only non-meat dishes were vegetable curry, white rice, and salad.
In the past, such a meal could have been posted online with the title [The level of high school meals these days, real or fake?] garnering praise and jealousy from the older generation.
"Throw away everything except the vegetable curry, rice, and salad."
"Yes... Sniff, what a waste!"
Cheon Yo-hwa looked teary-eyed as she threw away the side dishes into the waste bin.
"Yesterday, someone couldn't resist the cheese pork cutlet and took a bite. I scolded them harshly, but I understood their feelings..."
"One bite might be fine. But if you keep eating two, three bites, it's over. At least we have curry for now. Soon, there'll be nothing but plain rice."
"Ugh. The nutrition is terrible. It'd be great if we had protein supplements..."
It was clear that the food situation would deteriorate quickly.
But we hadn't been idle during this time.
We increased patrols and searched the entire void, resulting in the rescue of over 150 survivors.
The 'School Ghost Stories' were almost exterminated. The school building, which had oddly expanded to 13 floors, returned to its original four-story structure. The playground and dormitory were also restored.
...But over 500 corpses were found as well.
Compared to the future of previous cycles where only 17 survived, the route of the 117th cycle was significantly better.
Thanks to accurately identifying the victims' locations, future cycles fared even better.
But let's focus on the story of the 117th cycle for now.
"Ahjussi, is the funeral over?"
In the playground, wooden desks and chairs were piled up and burning like a campfire. The wood wasn't the best for a bonfire, so the smoke was thick. But the flames were well-controlled, rising straight into the sky.
It was a decent rope to guide the souls to heaven.
"Yes, it just ended."
"Hehe. Did many of our kids cry again?"
"Crying is good. Just like laughter knows no borders, tears have no nationality."
Cheon Yo-hwa stood next to me with her hands behind her back. The sky over Baekhwa Girls' High School, tainted by the void, was always blood-red.
The red spider lilies surrounding the school buildings were equally red. The only things that escaped the redness were the white birch trees, which formed white iron bars imprisoning the school.
No matter how many anomalies we exterminated, the spider lilies and birch trees never disappeared.
"Yeah. Holding a funeral seems to have eased their minds. You even collected all the ashes. These days, I see kids wearing necklaces with their best friends' ashes inside."
"To give to their families when they meet them?"
"Yes. Even if they can't deliver them, the talisman still has meaning."
"It must be hard for kids your age to care about the dead's feelings. You're commendable."
"Ha ha... Oh, here, take this!"
Cheon Yo-hwa handed me a rice ball. It was white rice with stir-fried anchovies wrapped in seaweed.
The number of 'non-meat side dishes' had drastically decreased. So, some students had formed a cooking team to recreate meals from the cafeteria.
"Thank you."
Of course, this was still a grand feast for me.
By tomorrow, even the stir-fried anchovies would be gone. The day after, the rice would turn into Bolognese pasta.
While we had stored food with relatively long shelf lives, there was a clear limit. At most, it would last four days.
The hourglass of the 'School Ghost Stories' was rapidly building a pyramid in the desert.
Cheon Yo-hwa looked up at the blood-red sky.
"Ahjussi, when can we finally get out of this hell...?"
"Tomorrow."
Cheon Yo-hwa's eyes turned towards me.
"Tell the other students to wait near the school gate, ready to escape at any moment. Yo-hwa, come with me."
"..."
"By tomorrow, we'll cut out the heart of this void."
We searched every corner of the school: dormitory, academic building, old building, playground, auditorium.
Naturally, we slaughtered all the anomalies.
The total number of anomalies exterminated by me and some students was 99. Exactly 99.
It was a near-miraculous achievement, but the blood-red sky of the 'School Ghost Stories' still remained. This meant there were still anomalies hiding somewhere.
And I had a good idea of where this secret hideout was.
"It's underground."
Cheon Yo-hwa blinked.
"Underground? There isn't really a basement in our school... There are some semi-basements used as small storage rooms, but that's it."
Indeed, there were no stairs leading from the first floor to the basement in any building.
Yes, stairs.
As you all might have guessed by now, the premier means of transportation in the void wasn't stairs.
"Yo-hwa, we're going to take the elevator."
"Elevator? Where is there an... Oh. No way?"
It was the 'no way.'
Cheon Yo-hwa and I packed supplies and moved to the old building. Although it was called the old building, it was still used as a club building and wasn't that old.
There was a service elevator installed in the old building.
Dumbwaiter, lift. There were many names for it, but students just called it the service elevator.
It wasn't built for people, but it was still a good 'elevator,' wasn't it?
"Okay, you go in first."
"No. I always thought about what it would be like to go in there whenever I saw it... Ah! Ahjussi, no! It's too small! It's so small! Really small... Oh? Surprisingly spacious..."
"In the void, physical space means little."
Thud, clunk.
After squeezing into the elevator and turning on the flashlight, I saw something surprising: elevator buttons.
[B001] [B005] [B009] [B013]
[B002] [B006] [B010] [B014]
[B003] [B007] [B011] [B015]
[B004] [B008] [B012] [B016]
Twitch—
One wall of the elevator was covered in buttons.
As the flashlight shone on it, Cheon Yo-hwa wriggled behind me.
"B-Basement level 16? Are there 16 floors underground that we haven't explored? No way! That's impossible! Ahjussi, this can't be done in a day or two..."
"Ah, don't worry. In such cases, it's the form, not the numbers, that matter."
"Yes?"
"Look at the buttons. There are four rows vertically and four columns horizontally. This is just a way to represent the number 4."
"Oh..."
"Press one. Anywhere is fine."
"O-Okay. I'll try."
Cheon Yo-hwa extended her finger and pressed the button for the 12th floor.
Clunk! The elevator jolted. Cheon Yo-hwa let out a small scream and grabbed my shoulder. Clunk, clunk...
At that moment, the elevator buttons blinked red.
[死444] [死444] [死444] [死444]
[死444] [死444] [死444] [死444]
[死444] [死444] [死444] [死444]
[死444] [死444] [死444] [死444]
The red light from the buttons filled the entire elevator with a bloody hue.
"..."
Cheon Yo-hwa swallowed hard.
Though it was just regular LED lights, the red light seemed to ooze like a viscous liquid. The red light from the buttons seeped down and stuck to both of us.
Clunk!
The elevator rattled like an old ship docking at a pier.
Then, the door slowly descended, revealing not the false fourth floor above ground, but the 'fourth basement floor,' the true meaning of the 'underworld' in the school ghost stories.
"Come out slowly. And every time I take a step, make sure to take a step. Don't take more or fewer steps."
"O-Okay. This place is..."
Cheon Yo-hwa cautiously stepped out of the elevator, looking around.
There was no need for long observation.
"A hospital...?"
Because every scene was identical and endlessly repeating.
The white hospital corridors and ceilings. There were no patients or doctors, and the hospital beds, eerily clean, lined the corridor. Every bed had a clear IV line hanging like a suspension bridge. The corridor was infinite.
――I had seen this exact scene before, albeit briefly, in the 89th cycle.
'Infinite Void.'
Yes.
The 89th cycle was when I witnessed the Infinite Void.
The prison, school, hospital, swimming pool, movie theater—scenes from the screen chaotically intermingling and overlapping. No, a scene of madness.
'...So this is the main base.'
The main body of the Apostle of the Infinite Void.
It had nested in the fourth basement floor of Baekhwa Girls' High School, in the Infernal Hell.
-x-X-x-
The Breakdown VI
Baekhwa Girls' High.
To be more precise, there were quite a few signs indicating that 'School Ghost Stories' was the nest of the Infinite Void.
First, the school's scenery was a decisive piece of evidence.
Once, in the 89th cycle, my consciousness briefly touched the Fairy King, allowing me to glimpse the Infernal Hell, and the sight was exactly like this.
[The school was an abandoned wooden building. The name Baekhwa (百話) wavered ominously.]
[The sky was blood-red. Broken windows, with white birch trees scratching their pale skin against the shards of glass, peered into the school's corridors. The school was a wreck, pierced through by white spikes.]
No matter how you looked at it, it was just like School Ghost Stories.
Of course, there were differences as well.
For instance, the school name.
Originally, Baekhwa (白花) meant 'white flower.' Although the characters '白' and '百' looked somewhat similar, they were clearly different in Hanja.
However, as I had emphasized before, wordplay, 'playing with words in the world,' was the basis of magic.
My theory was as follows.
In Baekhwa, the 'white' (白) referred to the white birch trees. These white birches were evident throughout the school's corridors, seen through the broken windows of both the new and old buildings.
They embodied the concept of 'white.'
As they transformed into birch trees, the empty spot left by the white (白) was filled by the homonymic white (百).
A simple wordplay.
Then what about the flower (花) in Baekhwa?
This was also simple. Despite exterminating 99 anomalies, only two things in Baekhwa Girls' High School had not returned to their original state.
The birch trees, standing like prison bars. And the red spider lilies blooming everywhere.
These red spider lilies had taken over the meaning of flower (花).
Reality had its words stolen by anomalies, transforming 'white flower' into 'red flower,' and the world was overtaken by the void.
Thus, no matter how many anomalies were exterminated, the name 'Baekhwa' itself... the last magic of the anomaly remained intact.
"That's my interpretation."
"Wow... I never thought of it like that. I always wondered why the birch trees and spider lilies stayed the same while everything else went back to normal..."
Step. Step.
We walked through the empty hospital. The ceiling, pillars, and floor were all bleached white, extending endlessly.
Where we were. When we were.
We kept our consciousness clear, which was becoming blurry from the lack of any fixed coordinates, by continuing our conversation.
"No matter how far we walk, it's the same corridor repeating. Is there no exit...?"
"Just hang on a bit longer."
This was why a duo was important. Even if Cheon Yo-hwa was far inferior to me in combat power, being in a pair in the void was much more advantageous than being alone.
The basic unit that made up a person's world wasn't an atom but rather the duo of 'someone else and myself.'
"Hmm. Oh, right! How do we get rid of the birch trees and spider lilies? Can't we just cut them down?"
"Tried it, they just grow back."
"Ew..."
"They may look like trees and flowers on the outside, but they're actually anomalies. While most anomalies can be exorcised through brute force, some can't be harmed physically. You have to exploit their weak points."
"Weak points..."
In fact, that was why I used school desks as firewood for the funerals instead of birch trees.
Burning the bodies of anomalies for a funeral pyre would be too ominous. The toxic substances from the smoke were far less harmful.
"Hmm. But thinking about it that way... The weak point of the 'Baekhwa' anomaly is still unclear, right? It doesn't move around like other ghosts, we don't know its true nature. Oh, is the weak point hidden in the basement?"
"Close enough."
Step. A lighter step echoed after mine.
Following the instructions when we first entered, Cheon Yo-hwa moved precisely in sync with my steps.
"Stop here."
"Ah, okay."
"We can take ten more free steps. Get comfortable now if you need to. Make sure you take all ten steps."
"...What's the point of this?"
"If we take ten more steps, that will be exactly the 4,444th step."
"..."
I opened my trunk bag. Then I took out candles one by one and set them around.
Before long, a hundred candles stood in a formation like a birch forest. I sat in the middle, with Cheon Yo-hwa across from me.
Snap—
With a snap of my fingers, the hundred candles all lit up with a whoosh. It was an application of aura.
"Ahjussi, this is..."
"Yo-hwa, we're about to perform a ritual."
"..."
"Did you take all ten steps?"
"Yes."
"You asked earlier what the weak point of the 'Baekhwa' anomaly was, right? The ritual we're about to conduct will be that weak point. The ritual is simple. Have you ever shared ghost stories with friends during summer outings?"
"Yes, I have."
"Good. It's the same as that. We're going to talk about all the ghosts we've exorcised so far, you and I, alternating. Every ghost, making up a total of 99. We'll talk about them one by one."
"..."
"Why don't you start?"
"Ah, yes. Um, let's see. A ghost I saw personally, while walking on the fourth floor of the school, I heard a faint knocking sound..."
Quietly.
Her voice flowed gently as she began the ghost story. Flicker, flicker. The hundred flames swayed, and the white hospital lights hummed.
Between the red flames from the ground and the white flames from the ceiling, Cheon Yo-hwa stared blankly at me.
"... That's the end of my story."
"Good."
Snap.
When I snapped my fingers, one candle flickered out. A thin gray smoke rose to the ceiling.
"Ah..."
"Now it's my turn. From my own experience, there's a Hanako ghost in the third stall of the boys' bathroom at Baekhwa. If you spin thirteen times in that stall..."
One. Two. Three. Four.
The candles went out one by one. Each time, a wisp of smoke rose as an offering to the sky, and the dried wicks emitted a black stench. Cheon Yo-hwa's shoulders twitched.
Flicker—
Cheon Yo-hwa realized the anomaly around the fortieth flame.
"Ahjussi, look. The corridor lights..."
"I know. Don't worry."
The hospital corridor lights were going out.
From the far end. One by one. One meter at a time.
There was no exit or window in the infernal basement. The infinite hospital corridor, once the lights went out, was pitch dark.
"Let's continue. It's your turn."
"...Okay."
Flicker.
The darkness exhaled, closing in. From both sides. Each breath matched our own, as if our breaths drew it closer.
"My friend told me this story, about a ghost named Crash, who was just a head with dangling guts..."
Flicker. Flicker. Flicker. Flicker—
We picked up the pace in our storytelling. The darkness quickened in response. Each light going out made Cheon Yo-hwa flinch.
"My story... ends here."
The surroundings had grown cold.
Before the ritual, the hospital corridor had seemed endless. Now, only a narrow strip remained.
"..."
"..."
Flicker—
Only one light remained.
One candle struggled against the encroaching darkness, its flame weakly sputtering.
"Good. Now it's my turn..."
"Ahjussi."
Cheon Yo-hwa suddenly spoke up.
"You're not actually our school's security guard, are you?"
"..."
"It felt odd. I've lived in the dorms, so I know most of the guards' faces. But I'd never seen you before. I was too out of it when we first met, you were in uniform and had a flashlight, so I thought maybe you were new. But none of the others recognized you either. Still, you kept helping us..."
After a moment's thought, I nodded.
"No, I'm not."
"Knew it. So... why did you help us?"
"To eradicate the void here. The School Ghost Stories. The Infernal Hell."
"Infernal Hell..."
"But I'll explain my true identity tomorrow. For now, let's focus on exorcising the anomaly that's been killing you. Can you trust me?"
"..."
Cheon Yo-hwa's orange ponytail bobbed like a candle flame.
"Yes. Of course."
"Good. Now, it's time for the last story. This is a Japanese ghost story. Have you heard of the Hundred Tales?"
"The Hundred Tales?"
The Hundred Tales.
In Japanese, it's called Hyakumonogatari, a collection of yōkai stories.
"To summon this ghost, people gather and light a hundred candles, each telling a ghost story, extinguishing a candle with each tale."
"..."
"Just like we're doing now."
The last candle flickered.
"According to the tale, when all hundred candles go out, the storyteller of the last tale dies."
"Dies..."
"Or a ghost appears. We're already in the underworld. A person in the underworld can't die again, so a ghost has to appear."
"..."
"Here's the interesting part. In the original tale, the ghost is called Aoandon, appearing when a 'blue lantern' is lit."
Flicker.
I pressed the flashlight button. A blue LED light swept through the darkness.
"But the ghost that will appear here isn't Aoandon."
"Then who...?"
"The name of this school is Baekhwa, meaning 'white flower.' But remember I said the name was stolen?"
I pulled out a brush pen and wrote on the white floor of the corridor.
"The void is an empty space. It takes over the original world, making it a void, and then it imprints itself. So the letters of Baekhwa were stolen, and the new letters are..."
百話.
One hundred stories (百) and tales (話).
"..."
"In Japanese, the concept of a story is expressed with two characters, 'monogatari' (物語)."
I continued writing.
"For example, the famous 'Arabian Nights' is called 'Thousand and One Nights' monogatari' (千夜一夜物語) in Japanese. But in Korean, it's simply translated as 'thousand nights' tale' (千夜一夜話). So, the Japanese use two characters for a concept expressed with one character in Korean."
"Then... the ghost story called 'Hundred Tales' in Korean would be..."
"Baekhwa (百話)."
Literally.
The anomaly that consumed Baekhwa Girls' High.
The true name of the entity we've been calling 'School Ghost Stories.'
The alternate identity of the entity I once referred to as the Void.
"The leader of the Hundred Ghosts (百鬼夜行) that controls the other ninety-nine ghosts. The one that took the original name of this school, turning part of the world into a void. Baekhwa (百話) is the final ghost of this infernal hell."
Snap—
The candle died.
The lights went out.
The darkness laughed. The thick smoke smell was the breath of the endless maw of darkness.
Flicker.
Time moved in the darkness. The universe was originally darkness, so it was the original color of time and space's hostile intent.
The hundred extinguished candles grew into a white forest in an instant. A forest of birch trees.
The white skin of the trees caught fire, and the flames bloomed into red spider lilies. The red flames turned into fairy faces, and a hundred fairies laughed. Their laughter went like this:
Flowers (話) bloom into bigger flowers (花), which burn into fire (火). Burn, burn. All things are infinitely equal. So, shall not a hundred stories become a hundred flowers and a hundred flames...?
Coordinates. Time. Space became abstract, and existence twisted.
"Ahjussi—"
"It's alright."
I grabbed Cheon Yo-hwa's hand.
"I'm here."
"..."
Cheon Yo-hwa gripped my hand tightly.
Thus, the coordinates were fixed.
In that moment, the colorful flames of the universe paused, and the fairies stopped laughing. The Milky Way flowed. Hundreds, thousands, millions, billions of eyes stared at us.
I called out its name.
"Infinite Void."
The universe shuddered.
-Unexpected contact.
-A possibility not previously calculated.
-Infinite Void.
-Infernal Hell.
-A correct name.
-An incorrect name.
-Another random variable.
Colors breathed. Starlight danced in a round.
-What are you?
-A massive variable.
-How did you perceive our existence? How did you understand our identity? How did you locate us?
The entity that saw the world as a vast laboratory, creating fairies as terminals and sending them to the tutorial grounds, questioned.
I raised my head.
"Are you alright, Yo-hwa?"
"Yes. A bit dizzy, but surprisingly fine. Actually..."
Cheon Yo-hwa let go of my hand and bent down. The laces of her red and black basketball shoes tightened.
"I feel great. Right now, I could sprint at full speed for forty minutes. Anyway, that weird Milky Way is the culprit behind all this, right? I'll kill it."
"Wonderful. Let's show the combat power of a former school guard."
Boss battle.
Anomaly: Infinite Void
Threat level: Lv.5 Outer God-class.
Begin Subjugation.
-x-X-x-
The Breakdown VII
――How should I write the tale of the battle that took place that day?
I think I've managed this story quite well so far.
But now, as I reflect on the moment when I first exterminated an Outer God-class anomaly, I feel a sudden, renewed difficulty in narrating it.
I always wish to be as truthful as possible with you. If I stammer while singing a poem (詩), it's not to perform tricks for you, but because there are nights in the heavens that can only be expressed through poetic words.
Starlight poured down.
Those stars had the viscosity of water rather than light. Swoosh—the red starlight poured down, speaking with the voice of a waterfall.
Like a sudden tsunami crashing onto the beach, the water-like light surged towards us, ready to drown us.
Cheon Yo-hwa quickly turned towards me. We were still holding hands.
"Ahjussi! Give the order!"
"Never dissolve into your surroundings. That anomaly will try everything to test and experiment on you, eventually turning you into a set object, a lab rat. Various illusions and visions will swallow your life like a tidal wave. Don't get influenced by them; keep yourself grounded."
"Okay!"
Swoosh. The red waterlight quickly rose to our waists. I stared unshaken at the 'Infinite Void'.
The distance between us and the Infinite Void was either just 10 meters, or 100 meters. It could have been 4,444 meters as well.
It was the distance between samsara and nirvana. It was both the Infinite Void and the Infinite. From that extreme horizon, the anomaly's unending laughter echoed.
Kya-hahaha-hahaha-ha-ha-ha—
In ancient India, if 13 kilometers were referred to as a yojana, it was one yojana and also 20,000 yojanas.
In Buddhism, it is said that the hell of sentient beings lies 20,000 yojanas below the surface. In other words, hell was 260,000 kilometers underground.
The diameter of the Earth was 12,700 kilometers. The distance from Earth to the Moon was 385,000 kilometers.
The Moon, from ancient times, was the closest otherworld to Earth.
Hell was located at a distance that was sufficient and overflowing to traverse this world but woefully inadequate to reach another world.
Ka-ha-ha-ha ka-ka-ka-ka—
The middle point between samsara and nirvana. The realm where beings could no longer stay in this world but lacked the energy to reach another world.
Thus, in the land of reincarnation where the wheel just spins idly, only the sound of laughter mocking humans endlessly squeaked and tore.
It was the scorn of the anomaly that isolated humans from the world.
"Yo-hwa. In the realm of that anomaly, both time and space can deceive you. But the fact that 'you are being deceived' will remain unchanged."
"...."
I held Cheon Yo-hwa's hand a little tighter. The distance between us was the smallest unit of distance a human could have.
"...Yes."
"The main culprit, the figure, the existence mocking you the most from the forefront. That is the nail holding the illusion in place. Understand? Everything else is normal, but there will be something uniquely abnormal. If you pull out and eliminate that nail, the illusion will disappear."
"Aah! Oh, I totally get it! It's like scenes I've seen often in comics. Okay. Ahjussi, just leave it to me―"
Blink.
The light surged to our chins, submerging us completely. The sensation of our clasped hands blurred as it was engulfed by the water's undulations.
Clunk, a sound echoed. It was like the noise of an elevator falling or the sound of a worn-out wheel rolling.
Perhaps it was the sound of time.
The world before my eyes changed completely.
Blink.
"――Undertaker. Undertaker, what's wrong?"
The smell of summer was in the air. The leaves, soaked by a recent shower, exuded a scent as rich as green tea.
It was a cedar forest. The cedar roots spread in all directions, and on those stiff legs, the blue hydrangea petals stretched out once more.
Amid the stretching of the green trees and the blue young petals, a mischievous old railway snaked like a serpent.
"Really. Phew. Be careful. If you keep getting distracted like that, you're going to bite your tongue."
On the railway, a miniature train was perched like a toy. It was a three-carriage mini steam engine, the kind you'd see in an amusement park.
Dang Seo-rin, wearing a witch's hat, was grumbling as she rode the train.
"...."
"Ah- Ah- the railway is broken again. The world might have ended, but aren't the KORAIL employees doing their jobs too carelessly?"
Uhtcha, Dang Seo-rin jumped off the locomotive.
She stretched with a long "Uhtaaa-" following the surrounding cedar trees and hydrangeas.
Well, it's been four hours since we boarded the train. I could sit still for 40 hours without any problem, but a frail wizard like Dang Seo-rin must have felt her whole body getting stiff.
"...Try to understand. The KORAIL employees probably all ended up unemployed. The world is too harsh to demand passion pay."
"Kids these days have no tenacity, none. Phew. I'll connect the railway; you check the wheels. The train has been wobbling strangely for a while now."
"Alright. Leave it to me."
"Okay."
I grabbed some tools from the cargo hold and inspected the wheels of our steam locomotive... the 'Hogwarts Express'.
Please don't criticize the train's name. In this crazy plan to travel the world on a mini steam train, my authority was quite insignificant.
The planner of this trip, who loved Harry Potter so much as a child that she wore a witch's hat all year round, twirled her wand.
"Disassemble-Reassemble."
A two-line song casually slipped from Dang Seo-rin's lips.
Clink-clank, clink-clank—
The rails we had just passed separated and floated in the air. Then they moved themselves to the broken part of the railway ahead.
Clack!
The broken railway was instantly repaired. Of course, the railway behind us was now broken, but what of it?
It's hard to believe there are any other crazies in the world besides us who would embark on such a mad journey.
"Done! How are the wheels? Broken?"
"No, just a few loose screws. I tightened them with all my strength, so there shouldn't be any issues for a while."
"That's a relief. Then let's get going again!"
Clatter.
The express train moved. The locomotive let out a loud whistle and vigorously puffed out steam.
By the way, that's not real steam from burning coal. It's just an 'illusion magic' Dang Seo-rin cast.
Not just the steam; the entire express train we rode was imbued with Dang Seo-rin's 'illusion magic' that she spent 30 days meticulously designing.
In this crazy world, we were slightly crazier than others, with Dang Seo-rin being the most uniquely crazy among us.
"We're about to cross into North Korea."
Dang Seo-rin unfolded a map.
A map covered with fingerprints. It was colored with red and yellow markers here and there. The map trembled like a maple leaf from the train's clattering.
"After North Korea, we'll reach Duman River Station, cross over to Hasan Station, and then it's Russia. From there, we just ride the Trans-Siberian Railway all the way up."
"...."
"Ah, I've always had the Trans-Siberian Railway on my bucket list!"
Clatter, clatter.
"It's ironic that I only get to travel after the world has ended. Life is truly mysterious. Anyway, after Moscow, we'll head to Belarus, Poland, Germany..."
"Yeah."
"Yes?"
I murmured softly.
"Yes, this is my dream."
"...."
"To someday travel the world with you, Seo-rin. Riding this strange, uniquely modified train that suits your tastes."
"...? What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
Dang Seo-rin tilted her head while holding the map.
"We're doing it now."
The cedar forest swayed in the wind. I looked up at the sky. Thick steam rose, following the sky's breath.
"One car on the train belongs to you, Dang Seo-rin. It's only natural; you wouldn't give up the first car to anyone else. That one car is also your room. You'd decorate it just like a caravan camper to your heart's content. Skulls, crystal balls, wands, brooms... You might even keep an owl."
"...."
"The second car is my room. It would start off neatly organized, but as the travel days go by, your belongings would slowly invade my space. You're always collecting trinkets, so one car wouldn't be enough for your stuff."
Clatter, clatter.
"The third car is the dining and resting space. The fourth car is storage. I have a magic trunk bag, so there's actually plenty of space. If the railway breaks, you use magic and song to fix it, and if an anomaly attacks, I defeat it. Like that, we can go anywhere, as far as we want. We can travel forever."
"...."
"But not yet."
Clatter.
"Seo-rin. On the night we defeated Ten Legs, when I first revealed that I was a regressor, and when you died. I swore. I would restore this world to its original state before traveling with you."
"...When do you think we can leave?"
"Sorry. Honestly, it's still far off."
I chuckled softly.
"But... I always remember, Seo-rin. And you need to get stronger too."
"Me? Why?"
"Because we're going to cross the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by train. You have to freeze the seawater in real-time to create an ice railway. Even if we reach the beach and find a lonely telephone pole standing in the sand, our journey won't end."
"Oh my God. Are you crazy? Do you know how much mana it would take to keep freezing the sea continuously?"
"Listen. Not just crossing the sea, but we're going to follow the route of the Titanic!"
"Oh my God. Are you crazy? That's a fantastic idea."
We chuckled softly.
"...I see. Undertaker, you have the [Complete Memory] ability. No matter how many illusions, you won't lose the coordinates."
"Yeah."
Dang Seo-rin looked up at the sky.
"Ah- Ah- The promise of a journey we made centuries ago is being postponed again?"
She sighed, dangling her legs outside the train like a locomotive puffing out steam.
"What's a few centuries? It's almost a thousand years now. Seriously, what kind of friend makes a travel promise for a thousand years later and then postpones it again?"
"Sorry. Mostly Old Man Scho's fault."
"Pft. Yeah—haha! That's right. It's that old man's fault. You're a supporter, but it's the damage dealer who ran away alone who's at fault."
Dang Seo-rin laughed heartily.
Then she looked at me.
"I'm probably just an illusion of the anomaly. An AI-like existence created to replicate 'Dang Seo-rin' as closely as possible using your memory. Yet, why do you still treat me as a friend?"
"Don't say something foolish. Life is just a dream. There's no need to dismiss it as a delusion just because you're dreaming within a dream. I'm just grateful that you follow me in any dream."
"...."
My companion was silent for a while.
Then she smiled at me.
"...I'm looking forward to the journey. It makes my heart race."
"Me too."
"I'll be waiting. Even if it takes a thousand years."
Clatter—
The wheels moved.
What is engraved in childhood leaves its mark for life. For Dang Seo-rin, it was magic and the existence of wizards.
Then, the first shape a person sees after being born is a circle, a circle (圓).
The pupil of a person's eye.
The eyes of mother and father. Someone's eyes. Black islands floating in an infinite white sea.
Those islands were not solitary; they were twin islands.
For humans, the most perfect shape was a circle, and a circle (圓形) was always a prototype (原形).
The archetype of a human stared at me.
"――Hah! Ah, ahjussi?"
"Yes. I'm listening."
"Just now... Wow, it's true. Just as it is... It's unbelievable. I just entered elementary school and spent over five years! Wow, really... Wow."
"It took you quite a while."
"Such—such goosebumps. Seriously, is it possible to have such an anomaly? How...?"
I smiled.
"Who was the nail in the illusion?"
"Ah—well, my mother. She passed away when I was in fifth grade. Our family is quite filled with cultists. My mother was the only sane one."
"I see."
Squeezing.
Looking around, it was still a galaxy filled with thousands, millions of colors. Schools, hospitals, prisons, movie theaters, screens, cityscapes intersected ceaselessly.
Ka-ha-ha ka-ka-ka—
The anomaly laughed.
But the universe was definitely a little smaller than before.
The size of a void was the capacity to contain a mind.
"You swam out well. But it's not over yet. Until we reach the core of that anomaly, illusions will infiltrate us with every step we take."
"...."
"Calling it an illusion might not be right. It's practically another life. You could call it a route."
"A route..."
"Replacing your time, your life, your existence with a 'substitute existence'. By doing so, the anomaly steals your place. Just like it turned Baekhwa (白花) into Baekhwa (百話)."
"...If I can't swim out of the route."
"In this reality, you will disappear, replaced by something else wandering around as 'Cheon Yo-hwa'."
"...."
Cheon Yo-hwa nodded.
"...That's something I don't like. Yes. I don't like it."
"I feel the same."
"But still... That anomaly, it still seems so far away. I feel it's closer than before, but still far."
Cheon Yo-hwa stared at the Infinite Void.
"How much further... I mean, how many more routes do we have to swim through? Honestly, having just woken up after spending three years in elementary school, I'm still dazed."
"In this void, distance has no meaning. It's always about the anomaly's own rules, the laws of its existence. And in this case..."
Step.
I took Cheon Yo-hwa's hand and took a step forward. In the world, two footfalls, two black twin islands were engraved.
"Three steps forward."
Four (死).
A spell to turn the anomaly personified as death (死) back into the reality of four steps (四). A strategy.
As it was a ritual for death, I called it a funeral.
I was the Undertaker.
"Let's go, Yo-hwa. It's alright. As long as two people don't let go of each other's hands, they can do anything."
"...Yes! Ah shit, the National Sports Festival finals were way, way harder! Bring it on!"
Blink. Clatter.
The archetype of a person blinked, and the wheel of the universe turned.
The wheel of time moved.
From nirvana to samsara.
Three steps forward.
-x-X-x-
The Breakdown VIII
Step.
The next footstep belonged to Noh Do-hwa.
On an island where a single bridge allowed only one person to pass, Noh Do-hwa set up her workshop. I worked as her assistant.
Noh Do-hwa didn't ask for much in life.
Sunlight. Water. A piece of land. Sand from the beach. Leaves, plenty. Flowers, a few.
A hammer. The number of people she could handle and the volume of wounds she could endure. Hot coffee, regardless of the bean type.
She desired summer, autumn, winter, and spring. Instead of footsteps, she wished the sound of rain falling on the garden stones would wake her.
If she were to die someday, she hoped the old winds of late summer would give her a sky burial, rather than cremation or burial.
Unlike Dang Seo-rin, who always wanted to leave, Noh Do-hwa never wanted visitors from anywhere.
Therefore, she was the person who desired the most from life.
"Assistant..."
"Yes?"
"Pack your bags for a short trip. Ugh. There are so many old folks who can't come to the island, you see..."
"Oh, yes. Understood."
When the winter ended and the last snow melted, Noh Do-hwa left the island. The bridge hadn't been repaired for a long time, so the railings were shaky in places.
The sea playfully blew its breath.
"Be careful, Master. A lot of snow fell this winter, so the bridge is quite damaged. We should repair it when we get back."
"..."
"Master?"
As I tried to turn back after walking ahead on the bridge, Noh Do-hwa lightly placed her palm on my back.
It was a pressure I could ignore if I wanted to.
I didn't ignore it.
I stopped mid-turn.
"Master?"
"I do not..."
"Pardon?"
"Assistant. I do not need ideals. Utopias. Ideal lives. Ideal endings. Ugh. Living every day mortgaged to such things is not my way of accepting the world..."
"..."
"I do not take pride in denying reality. I graduated from such hobbies at twelve. Assistant. You must know. I immensely, immensely dislike leaving debts with anyone..."
Thud.
Noh Do-hwa lightly pushed my back.
It was another gesture I could ignore if I wanted to.
I didn't ignore it.
The shaky railing couldn't support my weight and creaked before breaking.
Just before falling off the bridge, I looked up at Noh Do-hwa. The shadow of the sun concealed her face.
Only a smile, like a shadow, was drawn.
"Go to hell..."
Noh Do-hwa's face rapidly receded.
Splash—I heard the sound of falling into the seawater and couldn't help but think.
Dropping someone on the way from the island to the land, from nirvana to samsara.
That was truly a Noh Do-hwa-like murder.
Blink. Clatter.
The wheel of time moved.
Two steps forward.
Step.
The next footstep belonged to the Saintess.
"..."
"..."
Surprisingly, the two of us sat on the silver moon. We faced each other on chairs carved from stone, with a table in between.
The world held its breath.
The Earth on the other side of the universe was still, and the sun illuminating such an Earth did not move either.
A white world.
The endpoint of time. Or rather, a pause.
A Saintess who fully bloomed her ability to its extreme inevitably reached this terminus―
"Mr. Undertaker."
Not an ocean-class anomaly.
Maybe even another Outer God-class anomaly.
The being who, as an awakened Saintess, bore the name 'Executioner' as an anomaly, opened her lips.
"You know, Mr. Undertaker, you could always face such an end."
"...Eternal rest?"
"Yes. Not the occasional vacation you take as a joke... but truly letting go, thus rest. The world has stopped, and people no longer move. No sins are committed. No misfortunes or tragedies."
Like reciting a small song, the Saintess imbued her voice with telepathy. In other words, the full transmission of a Constellation.
[Of course, no regression either.]
"..."
"All beings become like inanimate objects. They drift as specks of dust in eternal and instantaneous moments. If this world ever stops, why shouldn't it be today?"
"Saintess, you know you can't persuade me."
"..."
The Saintess drank her coffee.
It was coffee laden with sugar and creamer, no different from convenience store products.
As a barista, I had nothing more to offer than a Maxim packet, torn and stirred. Yet the Saintess claimed my stirred coffee tasted different.
I wondered if she knew I secretly added half a spoon of cinnamon powder.
"Why? Do you believe you can escape eternity someday?"
"Of course."
"Do you know? Emit Schopenhauer, who gave up on everything and fled to a world with just him and his lover by the 23rd cycle, was actually the sane one."
"..."
"Even 23 cycles were already too long and painful. Mr. Undertaker, your hope is too strong."
The Saintess voiced.
"This world is hell."
The sound in the void was absent, so her voice and breath were the moan of her transparent aura.
It was the only noise in the universe.
Therefore, it was the universe's only scream.
"The world is hell, yet no one takes responsibility for it. No effort is made to change it, or it's too slow."
[If you can't move time forward, then it must be stopped.]
"Why is there a torture chamber in some basement? Have you ever seen a child not even ten years old die?"
[The child, sold to a 'factory' at a young age, was destined to die from torture on their tenth birthday.]
"Why are the mine slaves born in rock and swamp mines, living their entire short lives in narrow crevices without knowing of a broader world?"
[Why do humans feel relieved that there are more unfortunate people instead of being happy for those happier than themselves?]
"If one excuses such base tendencies as not their decision but something forced by their environment and world."
[Fine.]
"What reason could there possibly be for me to allow time to continue in a world like this?"
"..."
"Hell is said to be 20,000 yojanas below the surface. But that's impossible."
A breath flowed into the universe.
[One layer.]
The starlight of the Constellation flickered.
The shadow of Pythagoras's Earth deviated from harmony, causing a creak.
"Just one layer below the surface of that planet... it's all hell."
"..."
We were silent.
It wasn't because we had nothing to say. It was because our words were predetermined.
I knew a single sentence that could kill the Executioner of time, the Saintess. And like a murderer with a shred of conscience, I slowly drove the knife.
"Help me, Saintess."
"..."
"I want to help others."
"..."
Blood flowed through the universe.
According to Pythagorean tradition, the universe consisted of ten celestial bodies, one of which was invisible to human eyes.
The shadow-Earth.
It always moved in the same direction as Earth, perpetually in darkness as if in a permanent eclipse.
The shadow planet orbited with the other nine celestial bodies, making sounds like heartbeats, like harmony. Hence, Pythagoreans believed the universe was filled with the song of the celestial bodies.
To them, the world was beautiful.
But humans, having heard the universe's song from birth, found it a mere 'background', never truly listening to it.
One layer.
One layer of eyebrows obscured not just hell but also this world's beauty, making it a fatal curse to the Saintess.
"The Infinite Void is..."
The Constellation of shadows, always in the shade and turning its gaze with the people's direction, opened its lips.
"...It descended upon Baekhwa Girls' High School as the Hyakki Yagyo. It exists as the leader of 99 ghosts. In other words, the Infinite Void has divided its existence into 99 pieces."
"..."
"My original ability was merely to stop the world. But as my power grew stronger, I could move around freely in the frozen world. Just like that... Cheon Yo-hwa's ability can surely become stronger."
"What do you mean?"
"Imprinting behavioral principles on humans and controlling them like NPCs. That's Cheon Yo-hwa's awakened ability. But maybe, if she develops it, she could use it on anomalies, not just humans."
"Oh."
My eyes widened.
"Being able to control anomalies at will! Amazing! That's an incredibly powerful ability!"
"...Yes. At least for the anomalies that appeared in Baekhwa Girls' High School, or rather, the School Ghost Stories, she can control them."
The Saintess nodded.
"Cheon Yo-hwa is an apostle of the Infinite Void. She can interfere to some extent with the anomalies the Infinite Void controls. You, Mr. Undertaker, know why she was chosen as the apostle better than I do."
"Indeed..."
A strategy emerged.
The Saintess warned me.
"But Cheon Yo-hwa, who has consumed the Infinite Void's Hyakki Yagyo, will become immensely powerful. She will be no different from an anomaly herself... much like you see me in this illusion."
"..."
"Even with just the Infinite Void, this much. As you subdue anomalies, more anomalies will gather around you, Mr. Undertaker. Dang Seo-rin, Sim Ah-ryeon, eventually. ...It would be nice if we could simply call it fighting poison with poison, but ultimately, you'll just be transplanting the world's poison into yourself. If you give up, the backlash will be incomparable to Schopenhauer's. So, please..."
I held the Saintess's hand.
"I know."
The Saintess looked at me.
"Fall into hell with me."
"..."
Creak—
The previously frozen wheel of the universe creaked. The Sun, Earth, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn clattered as they moved. Ten wheels aligned in a straight line.
Grand Alignment. The most majestic constellation the universe could pronounce.
At that final line, the shadow stood.
"Yes."
The shadow smiled before my eyes.
[To wherever.]
Blink, one layer of life closed its eyes.
Clatter, the ten Constellations played a soundless melody.
Before I knew it, we were holding hands, inverted, diving from the moon's glassy surface to the ground― to hell.
Endless descent.
We tightly embraced each other.
The universe's song was time.
Blink. Clatter—
The wheel of time moved.
From nirvana to samsara. From the closest otherworld to the farthest reality.
One step forward.
"――Ahjussi! Ahjussi!"
I thought about why people are born with two eyes.
It's because the world is always made up of two layers. Hell spread out under the sunlight and beauty hidden in the shadows.
Blindness and clarity. Extremes. Gaps.
Existence as a non-void space.
I slowly opened my eyes.
"Yo-hwa?"
"Yes, ahjussi! Ugh. So... is it really you? I mean, do you remember us wandering through the School Ghost Stories?"
I looked around.
Ding-Dong-Dang-Dong.
A bell rang. This was the School Ghost Story... no, it was Baekhwa Girls' High School. The bell echoed under a blue sky, not a red one.
An infinitely normal school.
There were no grotesque birch forests or red spider lily gardens. It seemed to be lunchtime, and students were gathering in small groups, crossing the playground.
"...Yes, I remember. We were walking the four steps to defeat the Infinite Void. Now, only one step remains."
"Oh! Right! But why are we both in the same illusion this time?"
"It seems this is the fourth step."
Step.
Cheon Yo-hwa's and my footsteps overlapped.
A world where anomalies, voids, and endings had no room to intrude, only peacefulness.
That was our final stop.
-x-X-x-
The Breakdown IX
After patrolling the school once with Cheon Yo-hwa, we reached a conclusion.
"This is... a peaceful world."
A world where humanity had not perished.
The 'Gates' of voids appeared here and there, but they were not as serious as in reality.
As the name suggested, the voids in this place looked like gateways. If left alone, 'monsters' would steadily emerge.
Conversely, if we succeeded in sealing the Gates, we could minimize the damage.
-Last time, a Gate appeared centered around Sadang Station in Seoul, right? It was rush hour, and the crowd was huge, so significant damage was expected.
-This time, the 4th exploration team finally succeeded in clearing the Sadang Station Gate. Most of the missing people were rescued thanks to Dang Seo-rin, the team leader...
-Meanwhile, with 212 deaths, this incident has set a new record for Gate casualties, prompting demands for government accountability...
Newspapers, news, YouTube, and social media were filled with stories about Gates.
Civilization had not collapsed.
Humanity, which had endured typhoons, tsunamis, earthquakes, famines, and plagues since ancient times, had merely added 'Gates' as a new item on the list of disasters.
Humans still called themselves the rulers of all creation.
Some people feared Gates and monsters as signs of the apocalypse, but our perspective, having truly experienced 'the end,' was different.
"...I'm envious. If our world were only at this level."
"The cunning of the Infinite Void is evident in that it didn't show us a completely peaceful world."
"Why?"
"We already have trauma from anomalies. In an excessively peaceful world, we would only be conscious of our abnormality. We would be obsessed with the fear that the world could end at any moment. ...But here, monsters appear just at a manageable level. In this world, you and I can live as 'normal' people."
"Oh... Wow, such detail?"
"Yes. It's an Outer God-class anomaly. It's not to be underestimated."
That was not all.
In a completely peaceful world, where anomalies didn't exist, Cheon Yo-hwa's and my awakened abilities would be no different from strange tumors.
But in a world where monsters existed?
The abilities, knowledge, and instincts we had accumulated would translate directly into accomplishments. Countless guilds would clamor to recruit us with countless handshakes.
"A world where we are not denied but rather infinitely affirmed, where we can climb to the top of the pyramid. And we could believe that our success is due to our own talents, efforts, and free will, not the grace of the Infinite Void. This place is a model garden designed solely for the two of us."
"..."
Cheon Yo-hwa's shoulders slumped.
"...It's scary, the nature of anomalies."
"Yes, it is. But on the flip side, it means we've pushed the Infinite Void to this extent."
Four steps. The distance from nirvana to samsara. Our steps traversing that infinite instant were not in vain.
The Infinite Void was undoubtedly collapsing.
Dang Seo-rin's journey. Noh Do-hwa's seclusion. The Saintess's contemplation. Each route, imbued with eternity, was trampled upon.
The illusions carefully selected by the Infinite Void, no matter how sweet, were denied by our will to return to reality.
"Yo-hwaaa!"
"Let's play basketball!"
Students from the playground looked our way, waving their hands.
Startled, Cheon Yo-hwa held her breath for a moment. After about three seconds, she cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Sorry! I'll skip today—"
Eh, eh—
The cicadas buzzed relentlessly, their wings emerging from the bark of the wisteria trees in summer. The leaves rustled against each other in the wind. On the school playground, the laughter of children and the cries of cicadas echoed.
"Are those your friends?"
"...Yes. Classmates and roommates."
A sigh flowed downward, too weak to reach the desert.
"Both of them died during the first week of the school ghost stories."
Cheon Yo-hwa tapped the ground with the tip of her shoe. Tap, tap. The weight of one person knocked on the Earth.
"Um, ahjussi. Suddenly, I have a thought. Well, I've had it before, but now I really want to ask. Why can't we stay here? I mean, it's not that I want to. I'm just genuinely curious. Isn't there nothing much if we go back?"
"..."
"Every time we go to the bathroom, we have to check for ghosts. We have to pick out every piece of meat to avoid eating human flesh. When we wake up, someone's always missing. From what you've told me, it's not just our school that's ruined, but the whole world. How can you decisively say we must return to reality?"
"Hmm."
"For instance... why don't we just invite everyone else to the Infinite Void? Then this place becomes reality. Or do you think a world that's not real has no value...?"
"No, that's not the reason."
"Then why?"
"My alias is Undertaker."
Cheon Yo-hwa looked at me.
"Just as you have the ability to manipulate targets, I have several abilities too. One of them is Time Seal... which I personally call a funeral."
"A funeral."
"I can make a person relive the happiest day of their life forever."
"..."
"To be precise, it's not even repetition. That person won't realize they're reliving the same day. This ability is why I got the name 'Undertaker.'"
The sound of cicadas from the trees, the bouncing of a basketball in the court, and the long honk of a truck beyond the school wall.
"Yo-hwa. Do you think there's no unhappiness in this world?"
"...No."
"Right. There is. A lot. Just yesterday, 212 people died while sealing a Gate. No matter how optimized the Infinite Void made this setting for us, it's still far from ensuring everyone's happiness."
The traffic light at the school gate flickered.
"The reason I don't entrust my life to the Infinite Void is very simple. It's a matter of comparative advantage. This world is just... not convincing enough to be the final hell."
"..."
If the world is hell, people live to find a level of hell they can accept. Until then, they can defer their lives.
After a long silence, Cheon Yo-hwa nodded.
"...I understand. Ahjussi, you're the final stop where people can always return."
"It turned out that way."
"So the question I need to ask myself is if I want to give up and rest. But... I'm fine. I'm not tired yet."
Our eyes met.
The sunset embraced the desert. Orange was the color of sand mixed with red. Cheon Yo-hwa's hair also held the scent of the desert and the aroma of oranges.
"Tell me what to do, ahjussi."
I followed the strategy the Saintess suggested on the moon.
――Seize control of the Hyakki Yagyo, consisting of 100 ghosts, from the Infinite Void.
If we could implement this strategy, the power of the Infinite Void, descended as the leader of 100 ghosts, would be significantly weakened.
"For this plan, Yo-hwa, you need to brainwash all of the ghosts of the Hyakki Yagyo, one by one."
"Brainwashing anomalies."
"Yes. No matter how long it takes. The ultimate goal is to make the ghosts follow you, not the Infinite Void."
"Yes, I'll try."
I captured and threw the suicide ghost to her. I tied a rope around its neck and hung it from the ceiling to prevent it from banging its head on the floor.
Cheon Yo-hwa secluded herself in the student council room, like closed-door training, living alone with the ghost.
Brainwashing an anomaly.
It had never happened in any of the cycles, but I was confident. Cheon Yo-hwa could do it.
A day, two days, three days, a week passed, but Cheon Yo-hwa couldn't brainwash the ghost.
The smell of decay from the ghost permeated the student council room. Cups of instant noodles, cans, and the trash Cheon Yo-hwa left while being reclusive piled up in a corner.
"It's okay."
Cheon Yo-hwa's eyes glistened like those of a madwoman.
"I think I can do it. It's summer vacation anyway... I want to focus for a while, so you don't need to clean up."
While Korea's only necromancer continued her closed-door training, I briefly traveled around the country.
In Busan, Mayor Jung, a professional traitor, conducted his official duties as usual.
His hidden daughter, the Puppeteer Lee Ha-yul, graduated early and joined a large guild.
Dang Seo-rin led an exploration team with her three younger siblings. I saw Dang Seo-rin's family, whom I had only heard about, from a distance.
At Hongik University, Sim Ah-ryeon, having no friends to eat with, was slurping shoyu ramen (with lots of bean sprouts) alone at a ramen shop.
Noh Do-hwa walked out of the rehabilitation hospital's prosthetics center right on time for her shift to end.
In Yongsan, the Saintess stayed home all day except for her daily evening walks.
A world where humans still called themselves the rulers of all creation, not anomalies.
...Even a certain old man from Germany, visiting Korea for his wife's academic lecture, was still alive.
"Excuse me. Do you know where the auditorium listed here is?"
Old Man Scho.
The elderly man in a casual suit asked me in English in the middle of Seoul National University.
Seeing Old Man Scho's intact head rather than a Dullahan was quite a sight after so long.
I was torn between wanting to punch his bearded chin and just giving him a hearty hug.
"...You can ask in German, sir."
"Oh? Well, I didn't realize a young man like you spoke our language so fluently! Did my English sound too German?"
"I majored in German language and literature, so I have some German friends. I was just heading to that auditorium myself, so follow me."
"Oh, thank you. My wife is giving a lecture here today. Do you know her? Adele Schopenhauer..."
"Wow. I was actually on my way to her lecture."
"Oh! What a coincidence!"
That day, I met Old Man Scho's wife at Seoul National University's cultural center. I had seen her in photos before, but this was the first time I saw her in person.
Seeing Old Man Scho's face, smiling brightly as he hugged his wife after her lecture, was also a first.
So this is what he was like.
It was a good proof that when the Infinite Void created illusions, it didn't just use my personal memories but also its accumulated data about the world.
"By the way, Adele. While I was lost here, a kind young man guided me... Huh? Strange. He was just with me a moment ago―"
Without a word, I left a route there and returned to the school.
No one doubted my presence. Thanks to Cheon Yo-hwa's 'settings,' I was perceived as a long-time guard at Baekhwa Girls' High School.
So when I set foot on the wooden corridor of the old school building, the world flipped without any warning.
"...!"
Airborne. My position was at the top of the old school building.
I immediately spread my aura in all directions. Other awakeners might have been appalled at the waste, but for an infinitely regressing former supporter without combat skills, this was a perfectly rational strategy.
Gray waves surged in the air.
Echolocation. My senses, honed over centuries, specialized in perceiving the contours of objects with aura. Like a dolphin navigating with ultrasound.
In that fall, I sensed something wrong. At that moment, I locked eyes with Cheon Yo-hwa, who happened to be at the window.
Cheon Yo-hwa was smiling.
"――"
Her lips moved.
'Stop.'
The sky flipped again. The floating sensation vanished, and my feet were suddenly on the old school's corridor.
Cheon Yo-hwa smiled before me. She was holding an hourglass with something inside it.
Squirm—
It was a ghost. A tiny ghost, with a rope around its neck, dangled inside the glass.
An hourglass. I was secretly impressed. Could there be a more fitting prison to confine ghosts?
Trapping the world in her grasp. Plunging a barren sandpile into a whirlpool of time, entirely under her control.
The sunset shining through the corridor windows struck the hourglass's glass.
Like showing off or tormenting a new pet, the student council president of the school ghost stories playfully shook the hourglass.
"How is it? Ahjussi."
"The hourglass is impressive. Can I touch it?"
"Ah-hah—yes!"
The first instance of humanity enslaving an anomaly.
By the end of summer vacation, Cheon Yo-hwa had successfully subjugated 43 ghosts in total.