Chapter 1436 - IR 18

The Breakdown X

Cheon Yo-hwa's ghost monster collection progressed quickly. By the end of summer vacation, her collection rate was already approaching 80%.

Victory was already assured.

The only problem was that every time a ghost was imprisoned in an hourglass (used as a substitute for a monster ball), the world seemed to become a bit more distorted.

"What? The world is shrinking?"

"Yes. It's easier to show you directly."

I took Cheon Yo-hwa on a flight.

It was a modified Savioa S-21, the seaplane flown by Porco Rosso, now with a backseat. Originally a Japanese anomaly, I brought it over whenever I felt bored.

"Wow, double wings! So cool!"

"You know a thing or two."

"Hehe. Yes! My mom taught me to lavish praise if someone proudly shows off something that's actually quite mediocre!"

"...?"

The aircraft flew over Jeju Island and reached the East China Sea. Cheon Yo-hwa, who had been chattering excitedly, suddenly pointed at the horizon and exclaimed.

"Ahjussi! What is that?"

Where she pointed, a giant wall of fog loomed.

It was a fog so dense it could have been from the movie "The Mist." It covered the sea and sky entirely along the horizon.

"That is the boundary of the world."

"B-Boundary?"

"I realized it not long ago. My guess is that every time you take control of a ghost from the Infinite Void, the world itself shrinks a little."

"Hieeek…"

"Let's get closer."

Tr-tr-trr! The engine hiccuped.

My aircraft approached the 'fog wall.'

"Wow. You can't see anything..."

"I already tried entering it, but you can't go through. It feels like hitting an invisible wall. A few days ago, we could go farther, but since you sealed another ghost, the range has shrunk to here."

"Wow. But how does trade work? You order international deliveries all the time, but the news hasn't mentioned anything."

"That's the interesting part. Look."

Sss—

A massive ship's bow emerged from the fog. It was a container ship, gliding smoothly out of the fog wall's edge.

"Eeeek?"

"See? Everything in this world, except for us, functions without any issues. It's just within the 'fog wall's' confines."

"Uh, I'm a little confused... So, this world inside the fog wall is the only one that actually exists, but it's made to look like the outside is functioning normally?"

"Probably."

The aircraft skimmed the fog wall.

"This world is similar to the illusion created by the Infinite Void."

The ghosts of the Hyakumonogatari that Cheon Yo-hwa was sealing weren't just separate anomalies. They were fragments of the Infinite Void.

Taking them from the Infinite Void was like taking parts of its existence.

"For a human, it's like taking away memories; for a computer, it's like stealing data. My interpretation is that the resources the Infinite Void uses to create this world are gradually depleting. Now, only the area around the Korean Peninsula remains."

"I see..."

"It also proves that everything in this world is just shadows imitating true existence."

"..."

Cheon Yo-hwa became quieter. Seeing such an anomaly was naturally overwhelming for people.

"...Let's go back, ahjussi. It's cold."

"Wait a bit. There's one more thing to show you. You'll regret not seeing it."

"...?"

"Now."

I pointed to the sky.

The sun was setting. The sun descending in the west was likely not real, but an illusionary sphere visible only in this confined world. As the false sun tried to cross the fog wall, the sky and sea turned entirely red, stained by the sunset.

A short gasp came from the backseat.

"...It's beautiful."

The sunset, instead of a few scattered clouds, used the entire boundary of the world as its mirror. It was magnificent. The fog wall drank in the blood shed by the dying sun.

The western world was entirely sunset.

And within five minutes, the sun completely sank beyond the fog wall. The sunset disappeared as well.

Those who witnessed the sun's quiet suicide were left with a lingering feeling, like a vapor trail.

"Why does such a sunset occur? The fog wall isn't real fog, just an object."

"Who knows? Even in this illusory world, the sunset on the fog wall is particularly unreal. But it's beautiful, isn't it?"

"...Yes, very."

"One illusion is merely a dream but dreaming within a dream is something we humans find beautiful."

"..."

The engine roared. Cheon Yo-hwa remained silent on the way back to Baekhwa Girls' High School, lost in thought.

She only spoke once we returned to the dormitory.

"...Thank you, ahjussi. I think I know which ghost I need to capture last."

It was summer.

The cicadas in the trees fell and died. Anonymous birds and insects picked up their corpses scattered on the ground. In the slow, dying summer, the world was a crime scene of mass murder.

It was autumn.

Over the corpses that died in the summer, maple trees shed their blood-red leaves like shrouds. We promised to call this season autumn, this grand funeral.

And then.

"Delivery—"

I went to the school gate to receive the delivery food in a plastic bag.

The delivery man, who had probably priced his day's work, adjusted his sky-blue helmet and got on his motorcycle.

Brrrr—

The engine purred as the motorcycle slid onto the road outside the gate. And disappeared.

Beyond the fog wall.

"..."

The world was now the size of the school grounds.

Wherever I looked, the sky was wrapped in white fog. In the morning, the teachers' cars slipped out of the fog wall, and in the evening, they vanished back into it.

A day later, the distance from here to there, from samsara to nirvana, was the size of the school playground.

The end of space. The stilling of time. There should be nothing there. All things appeared and disappeared silently on the surface of the water, splashing about.

For a moment, the water droplets splashed by a child's hand were the weight of existence. In each splash, the sunset of the world was embedded.

I stood silently for a while, staring out the student council room window, looking at the white glass wall separating me from nirvana.

"How many are left now?"

"Two."

It was winter.

Snow fell for the first time. Since this world was created in summer, this snow was the first snow.

Thud, the snowflakes hit the window. The quietest knock. Looking out, the view was already entirely white with snow fog.

The world's area was now the size of a 10-pyeong studio apartment.

The universe's size had shrunk to the student council room, where two people barely breathed.

-...

-Groan... groan... groan...

-Oooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.

Clatter. Occasionally, the sound of ghosts thrashing came faintly from the shelves. The remaining space of the world, covered in fog, was confined within 98 hourglasses.

The last remaining ghost.

Cheon Yo-hwa stared at it.

"You must obey me."

-Sorry, but that kind of brainwashing doesn't work on me.

The same voice as Cheon Yo-hwa's.

The voice came from the full-length mirror opposite her. In the mirror sat a being with the same hairstyle and school uniform as Cheon Yo-hwa, sitting properly in a chair.

-You know. No matter how much you try to brainwash me, it ends up as you ordering yourself to obey.

A doppelgänger.

An anomaly that could only live as someone's shadow. That was the last fragment of the Infinite Void left by Cheon Yo-hwa.

"Why are you me? You're just a ghost trapped in a mirror. I'm outside. You can't move around, but I'm free."

-Ah. Nowadays, do people call moving around in a 10-pyeong world freedom? Sorry. I didn't realize. I thought the freest place on Earth was a prison.

"Are you stupid? A 10-pyeong room in prison would be a luxury hotel."

-Ah, right. Enjoy your 5-star hotel stay. So jealous.

"I don't like you."

-I don't like you either. We're the same after all.

Cheon Yo-hwa sighed. Maybe it was time to intervene.

"Take a break and have some coffee."

"Oh! Did you make it yourself, ahjussi, instead of ordering it? Wow. Thank you."

"You're welcome. It's my little hobby."

Among my many hobbies, being a barista was my favorite.

Nothing was more satisfying than perfectly capturing someone's taste and bombarding them with caffeine.

After many trials, it was clear that Cheon Yo-hwa's tongue struck a balance between the 'coffee should be bitter' camp and the 'coffee should be sweet' camp.

Espresso? Is this coffee? It's herbal medicine. Macchiato? It's sugar water.

Cheon Yo-hwa declared the great unification of left and right camps and founded a new party.

Naturally, she was doomed to be criticized by both sides, but like all third-party advocates, she brimmed with baseless confidence. The party's name was 'Double Espresso Cream Latte.'

Ice cream-like cream. Thinly sliced chocolate on top. Chocolate with at least 70% and less than 90% cacao. She mixed the cream while drinking, so a straw or spoon was necessary. Done.

"It's delicious..."

Cheon Yo-hwa smiled with the world's happiest expression.

"When coffee is made well, it feels so fulfilling... Ahjussi, can you make this for me every morning? Lately, if I don't have your coffee, my head feels foggy by lunchtime."

"Thanks for the high praise. I'd love to, but it's not easy."

"Why?"

"Here, civilization is intact, so it's easy to get beans, cream, and chocolate. Once we return to reality, I can only make it occasionally."

"Hing. Another reason I don't want to go back to reality..."

-Hey. How good is it? Can I have a cup too, ahjussi?

"Shut up."

Cheon Yo-hwa snarled.

The room's temperature dropped a notch.

"Before I really kill you."

-...

Clatter, clatter, clatter.

The 98 hourglasses on the shelf shook slightly. In the center of the table, the stainless electric kettle boiled water, trembling.

Hooo. Cheon Yo-hwa blew on the coffee-warmed breath, quietly restoring the room's temperature.

"Thank you, ahjussi."

"Hm? Making coffee is my hobby..."

"Not just the coffee. Everything."

"..."

"I know you have many secrets. But one thing is certain. No matter what happens to our school, you could have ignored it and left us alone."

Snowstorm raged.

"I sometimes imagine what would have happened without you. With time to spare, I often indulge in such hypotheticals."

"I see."

"I've been afraid of ghosts since I was young."

From the white fog, white snow emerged and struck the white window. After striking, the snowflakes were swept by the wind and disappeared beyond the fog. They existed because they were white, and they disappeared because they were white.

Existence was a white flower (白花).

"My father is like the leader of a cult. Actually, he is a leader."

"..."

"Did you know? Our house is really big. There's a facility like a church in the basement. Hundreds of people gather there monthly, chanting strange incantations... My family name is Yeongyang Cheon, but my father insisted I use the character Cheon (天) for 'heaven' both at home and school. Weird, right?"

"..."

"Ahjussi, you saw those strange talismans at our school, right?"

"Yes. I saw them."

"This school is run by our family. The chairman is a relative, but it's practically my father's. Most of the kids here are from the cult."

"..."

"So when the sky turned red and ghosts appeared, I just... somehow accepted it. Ah, it's divine punishment."

Snow stuck to the window, blooming into snow flowers repeatedly.

Existence was a white flower (白花).

"But I couldn't let the kids die."

"..."

"This is probably my family's fault. I don't know how it happened, having half-run away, but still... I'm the student council president. They called me 'lady' in the cult. I have to take responsibility."

In a 10-pyeong room enveloped in the scent of white flowers, Cheon Yo-hwa's story flowed.

-x-X-x-

The Breakdown XI

Cheon Yo-hwa.

天寥化.

――A long time ago, when I first saw the characters of her name, I might have sensed an omen.

Heaven (天). Lonely (寥). To become (化).

Simply put, it means 'to become lonely.'

It's a rather strange name to give to a beloved child, isn't it?

But '寥' (Yo) doesn't just mean 'lonely.' It also means 'empty,' 'void sky,' 'quiet.'

Have you ever seen writers use the word 'serene' instead of just 'quiet' in passages where merely saying 'quiet' would suffice?

The '寥' in 'Yo-hwa' (寂寥, serene) is the character in this child's name. If interpreted as 'to become serene' rather than 'to become lonely,' it doesn't seem too strange.

Yes. If only interpreted that way.

Attention.

From here on, this is a secret I haven't even told Cheon Yo-hwa, information known only to me in this world—a postscript-like TMI.

It's purely my personal conjecture, so you may take it with a grain of salt. I'm merely sharing pieces I've gathered from various cycles.

First piece.

Everyone probably knows that I traveled to China with the Sword Marquess during the 108th cycle.

While the Sword Marquess was busy planting red flowers on Mount Hua, I wandered around the vicinity.

If I transcribe what I described at that time, it would go as follows.

――――――――――

The range of my anomaly hunts gradually expanded. It extended not only to Shaanxi but also to Henan.

'Tutorial dungeons' occurred globally, not just on the Korean Peninsula, but an epic-level dungeon happened to appear in Yingyang Town in Henan.

Adding to the chaos were Taoist cult terrorists, making it seem like the end of the world.

――――――――――

In Henan, there is a place called Dengfeng, famous for being the location of the Shaolin Temple.

A bit further west lies Yingyang Town.

Yeongyang Cheon Clan.

The ancestral home of Cheon Yo-hwa's family.

Second piece.

The Yeongyang Cheon Clan of Korea originated from a Ming Dynasty general who was dispatched to Korea during the Imjin War.

The general not only brought himself but also his family, who naturalized in Korea.

Most of their descendants perfectly adapted to local life without issues, but according to my hypothesis, a very small portion of the family continued to maintain their 'traditional faith.'

The traditional faith of China is Taoism.

Laozi, the founder of Taoism, hailed from Huainan Province and was a native of Luyi County. Laozi is said to have worked in Luoyang, Henan, and authored the Tao Te Ching at Hangu Pass in Henan.

Yingyang Town, the hometown of the Cheon family, lies on the route between Luyi County and Hangu Pass.

The birthplace of Taoism. A region long under the influence of the faith.

However, at some point, the faith of Cheon Yo-hwa's lineage, who had moved to the Korean Peninsula, became corrupted.

Whether it was always like that or changed later, I do not know. There are no records.

They built a grand mansion in Sejong City with an area of 14,990 square meters. Hidden underground were religious facilities. They established Baekhwa Girls' High School and enrolled the children of their faith.

Cheon Yo-hwa's father, the high priest of this cult, changed his daughter's surname from Cheon (千) to Cheon (天). To this family, their roots had already lost all meaning.

They called upon their own god.

Who they wanted to descend, I had no way of knowing. It might have been a mere scam by a cunning cult leader.

But in the end-times void, magic was not an illusion but a reality. Especially the magic performed by hundreds of people offering hundreds of children.

Some existence on the other side of the void heard their prayers and responded.

Thus, the Infinite Void arrived.

Third piece.

Serene and silent.

The Tao Te Ching contains such a phrase.

Before humans distinguished all things, before the forms and names of all things were created, before heaven and earth were clearly divided, the world existed.

Laozi called such a world 'serene.'

The next phrase goes something like this.

'I do not know its name.'

That serene world, the serenity of that world, was something that existed before all things took shape, and thus 'has no name.'

Now.

Let's reexamine the name of the student council president before us, Cheon Yo-hwa.

Interpreting it purely based on its superficial meaning, it translates to 'to become serene,' which could be taken to mean, 'Oh, her parents hoped she would become a recluse when she grew up.'

However, the parents, especially her father, were high priests of a corrupted Taoist cult. They couldn't have been ignorant of one of the most famous phrases from the Tao Te Ching.

Therefore, if you interpret the name Cheon Yo-hwa (天寥化) knowing the root of '寥,' it becomes quite bizarre.

To become lonely.

To become serene.

The heaven. To become empty.

To lose its name.

Anonymous. Nameless. The serene sky with no form or name. Abandoning oneself and one's true name, returning to a world where nothing is distinguished.

A play on words with her name.

…What a wicked curse it was.

Cheon Yo-hwa. An ominous resonance. Not a name to give a beloved child.

It was a name more fitting for a living offering to an evil god.

The more sinister truth is that the curse succeeded.

Far beyond the expectations of the one who cast it.

An Outer God-class anomaly full of forms yet formless. The Infinite Void and Hyakki Yagyo, the Night Parade of One Hundred Ghosts (百鬼夜行). Baekhwa (百話).

…Or, Cheon Yo-hwa (天寥化).

She was the living offering, and Baekhwa Girls' High School was the altar. Baekhwa Girls' High School was the offering for her, and she was the altar for the god.

This is the answer I have deduced thus far.

Why the Outer God-class anomaly, the Infinite Void, had no choice but to descend upon Baekhwa Girls' High—a regressor's annotation.

However.

The conclusion of this story was not mine.

"Thank you, ahjussi."

Cheon Yo-hwa said.

"I wouldn't have been able to overcome it alone. Even if I had won, I would have undoubtedly lost myself."

Still, you saved 16 of your friends. Always. From the 1st cycle to the 117th, continuously.

Cheon Yo-hwa said.

"Even though it was an illusion, thank you for letting me meet my mother again. I was able to say the words I couldn't before. The flight was fun. Thank you for showing me the sunset. The coffee you made was delicious."

The only necromancer on the Korean Peninsula. The student council president of Baekhwa Girls' High School. She started playing basketball out of rebellion against her family but genuinely came to enjoy it. When she escapes the prison of void, she wouldn't even remember her original name and past. From the 1st cycle to the 117th, she had never once been called by her name. The living offering and altar of this Infinite Hell.

And someone who likes a slightly bitter, slightly sweet cream latte.

Cheon Yo-hwa said.

"――So, I can't hand myself over to an anomaly like you."

-...

"You are not me. You don't know the vapor trails I passed through. You don't know the name of the sunset I saw. You don't know the feel of the coffee I like. You don't know me. I've gone, am going, and will go beyond what you know."

-...

"I am Cheon Yo-hwa (千謠話)[1]. I will sing a thousand stories. Do you think I'll be satisfied with just a hundred stories? I will live ten times your volume, size, and color. Because—I am not alone. There are people who helped me. There are people I will help. So―― you, go back to your narrow glass sky. Cheon Yo-hwa (天寥化)."

Blink. Clunk.

A snowstorm raged. There was no window. The table, the electric kettle on it, and the coffee cup were all engulfed in white snow.

The wheel of time turned.

From nirvana to samsara.

Zero steps left.

-Ah.

The Outer God, the Infinite Void, Baekhwa.

In the white world, Cheon Yo-hwa smiled. Though her lips didn't move, the snowstorm shattered with sound.

-Oh, how beautiful this is―

The snowstorm rushed toward me like a tidal wave.

The moment I felt certain this was its final struggle, I drew my cane sword.

A longsword forged in a dwarven forge that no longer existed. Do-hwa.

A single stroke.

My ink-black wave split the Infinite Void's white snowstorm.

For the Infinite Void, which had gathered almost all the data of the world, this 'sword' was an unexpected irregular.

Because Do-hwa was a piece crafted for me by the workshop master in a different cycle.

A masterpiece made by the greatest blacksmith in the otherworld, taught by the greatest blacksmith in Samhan. Already a weapon like an anomaly in itself.

Even though it was my strongest weapon, I had not used Do-hwa in this cycle. Not even once. I kept it sheathed for this moment alone.

-――――

The snowstorm split and split again.

The being once called the Infinite Void couldn't finish its sentence and was imprisoned in a glass prison.

The world's whiteness turned entirely into a snowstorm. The snowstorm transformed into white grains of sand.

The sand of the desert swirled and swirled, eventually settling into Cheon Yo-hwa's palm.

An hourglass.

The world of glass walls filled only with white sand was held in Cheon Yo-hwa's hand. The transparent barrier glimmered. A wheel made of two glass compartments.

The Infinite Void was confined within time.

"Ah."

Cheon Yo-hwa looked up.

There was no fog. There was no red sky of the school ghost stories. No thorn-like birch forest, no shadow-laden peony flower hill.

The sky was red.

Not the red of anomalies but the red of reality. The color emitted by the sun hitting the earth's cornea. Sunset. Proof that this world was still alive and bleeding.

In the middle of the playground, Cheon Yo-hwa looked up at the sky, surrounded by 98 scattered hourglasses like petals. That was Cheon Yo-hwa's Hyakki Yagyo. Her Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts.

(Congratu) Seo.,; University 2 Admitted! (lations)

Flap.

A tattered banner fluttered at the school gate. Beneath the flag that once honored civilization, the echo of the wind resounded.

"Yo-hwa!"

"Security guard ahjussi!"

The students of Baekhwa Girls' High. The children saw us and waved. Their gestures splashed in the sunset.

It seemed quite a distant scene.

But it was not as far as the distance from nirvana to samsara.

"…Ahjussi."

I looked at Cheon Yo-hwa's profile. The sunset light brushed through her auburn hair.

"Come to think of it, I forgot to ask."

"Ask anything."

"Why did you come to save us?"

That was probably the final moment.

The moment I could decisively brainwash Cheon Yo-hwa, who awakened with the ability to brainwash others. The moment she received a name. The moment to determine the direction of her life.

It was absurd, but if I said, 'I received an oracle to help you,' Cheon Yo-hwa would have become a fervent believer. If I said, 'The state won't abandon you,' she would have become the ultimate patriot.

She was ready to accept any answer and prepared to accept any direction.

I thought for a second, then returned the answers I had long thought of.

"Because you are useful to me."

"...."

"The Infinite Void was an anomaly I couldn't defeat alone. I needed the help of a human selected as the shaman of the Infinite Void. The reason you could command the Hyakki Yagyo was that 'Cheon Yo-hwa' was somewhat identified with the Infinite Void. Recruiting you to subdue the Infinite Void was the best strategy given to me, in fact, the only strategy."

"…I see."

Cheon Yo-hwa's expression lightened somewhat. She probably accepted my answer as a 'setting' for her life path.

"Yes, then――"

"And I was curious about how the worst tutorial dungeon in the history of the Korean Peninsula was created."

"...?"

"I also wanted to thoroughly track the real nature of the fairies I had been dealing with for so long. I wanted to test if I could truly defeat an Outer God-class anomaly. Oh, and I was purely curious about what kind of person a crazy person who had completed self-brainwashing at Baekhwa Girls' High School originally was."

"Um, ahjussi? What are you talking about…?"

"Yo-hwa."

I smiled.

"Finding reasons to live is good. That alone is already great. But I hope you live with as many reasons as possible, not just one."

"...."

"If a single drop of rain can make a person decide to die, a single line of music can give them a reason to live. When helping someone, try to create several reasons instead of just one. Gain. Goal. Curiosity. Self-examination. Simple amusement. Curiosity. Those thousand reasons can be reasons to kill someone and at the same time reasons to keep you alive."

That was exactly what Cheon Yo-hwa had declared to the Infinite Void.

Even if it is the truth, a person always needs someone else to tell them the same thing, but in a different way, to be convinced of their own words.

Click.

I opened the trunk and took out the neatly stored file.

"That's…"

"A gift. You can consider it a dungeon clear reward. Originally, the tutorial fairy would take care of it, but I got rid of the person in charge here. Here."

Words were written in neat handwriting on high-quality paper rarely seen in this era. It was my handwriting.

I took out a brush pen, added a few words, and handed it to Cheon Yo-hwa.

――――――――――

[Graduation Certificate]

Name: Cheon Yo-hwa (千謠話)

This person has completed the full three-year high school curriculum and demonstrated outstanding academic ability, hereby awarded this graduation certificate.

――――――――――

"...."

Cheon Yo-hwa accepted the diploma with both hands and looked down at it. Her shadow standing still sank into the playground floor.

The name section, left blank until just now, gleamed like a bright shadow.

"Congratulations on your graduation, Yo-hwa."

Describing Cheon Yo-hwa's reactions in detail at this point would be unkind.

I just want to note that it's perfectly normal for a high school student to cry during a graduation ceremony.

Boss battle.

Anomaly: Infinite Void.

Aliases:Infinite Hell, School Ghost Stories, Hyakki Yagyo, Night Parade of One Hundred Ghosts, Baekhwa (百話), Baekhwa (白化), Forbidden Four Characters, Heraclitus' Wreath, Backrooms, Cheon Yo-hwa (天寥化).

Threat Level:Lv.5 Outer God-class

Subjugation complete.

There is an epilogue.

Actually, there are many epilogues. The stories related to the Infinite Void are numerous, but those stories can be saved for later.

Today, I'll briefly describe an event that happened not long after the 'graduation ceremony.'

It was while I was walking down the corridor of the National Road Management Corps headquarters.

"Ah! Teacher!"

An energetic voice came from behind, followed by rapid footsteps.

When I turned around, the former basketball team ace quickly closed the distance and skidded to a stop, playfully saluting.

"Yo-hwa. What brings you to the Management Corps?"

"Hehe— I thought it was time for our guild to be recognized for its exclusive control over Sejong City. I'm on my way back from a meeting with the director!"

"I see."

Incidentally, Cheon Yo-hwa was still wearing her white sailor uniform. Not only Cheon Yo-hwa, but the entire Baekhwa Guild... the group formed by Baekhwa Girls' High School graduates all wore it.

Well, uniforms have always been effective in fostering a sense of solidarity among members. There was no reason to abandon the powerful identity of 'Baekhwa Girls' High.'

Or maybe it's just like how Dang Seo-rin was obsessed with her witch cosplay, and Noh Do-hwa was hooked on the uniform cosplay. Magic-related awakeners tended to have strong fetishes.

I tilted my head.

"But why call me 'teacher'? Why not 'ahjussi' as usual?"

"Hehe… You're someone who was born before me and experienced more than me, right? So I want to call you teacher out of respect! Why? Don't you like it?"

"No, I don't dislike it. It's just a bit strange to switch from being a security guard to a teacher all of a sudden."

"Haha. What are you talking about? You even gave me a diploma!"

Cheon Yo-hwa put her hands behind her back and looked up at me. The smile on her face was distinctly different from the expressions of the 'Cheon Yo-hwa' from before the 117th cycle.

A lively and cheerful smile.

"Please take care of me from now on!"

I couldn't object to Cheon Yo-hwa changing her title for me. Because, as I mentioned at the beginning of this episode.

"――My teacher!"

This was the story of the time it took for the title of 'sunbae' to turn into 'teacher.'

Footnotes:

[1] 千謠話 means a thousand folk tales, it's a different interpretation of her name.

-x-X-x-

The Savior A I

The Infinite Void was exterminated in the 117th run.

That marked the grand debut of Cheon Yo-hwa, the awakener who 'led the Baekwha guild', 'sealed the anomaly of the Outer Gods', and 'commanded hundreds of guild members'.

From then on, awakeners on the Korean Peninsula had to make more discerning choices.

-OldManGoryeo: Hmmm... Honestly, the strongest guild on the Korean Peninsula now isn't Samcheon but Baekwha...

Public opinion on SG Net changed immediately.

-OldManGoryeo: Baekwha features) The guild leader is stronger than all the other guild members combined. Guild members are all high school students, so they wear school uniforms. Not cosplay.

-OldManGoryeo: Samcheon features) The guild leader is stronger than all the other guild members combined. Guild members all have to wear witch hats. Every day at 2 PM, they have a mandatory 'broom maintenance time'. Cosplay.

-OldManGoryeo: I believe there's no longer any need to explain which of the two guilds is superior...

└Anonymous: As expected, the fact is godly lololol

└[Samcheon] WitchJudge: Fuck you, bastard.

└Anonymous: I'm a Samcheon guild member and this is true.

-Anonymous: So the Baekwha guild leader and Undertaker are dating?

└dolLHoUse: Not easy.

-Anonymous: Why do they insist on witch cosplay regardless of age and gender? Really don't know.

-[Yuldoguk] SwordMarquess: Oh lament! These days, the young disciples are so obsessed with the dark arts that they neglect their mental and physical training. How lamentable it is.

└Anonymous: Please leave.

└Anonymous: (Said by someone who would've been dead if not for their skill)

-[National Road Management Corps] Officer: Objectively comparing their strength, Baekwha does seem stronger than Samcheonㅇㅇ

-CookingQueen: Interesting.

-Anonymous: So are the Baekwha guild leader and Undertaker dating?

└dolLHoUse: Not easy.

As seen, Dang Seo-rin, who was revered as the top idol on the Korean Peninsula, was shaken.

Coincidentally, Dang Seo-rin's headquarters was in Busan, while Cheon Yo-hwa was based in Sejong. With Seoul's unprecedented drop in real estate prices, these two cities had become symbols of the Korean Peninsula.

"I really don't understand."

Dang Seo-rin's stress level followed the curve of the consumer price index before the end times.

"If you're summoning spirits, you're a Necromancer. Although it's black magic, you're still a mage, right? So why don't you wear mage-like outfits and instead walk around in school uniforms?"

"It's a symbol of belonging. Even if the world ends, it means we're still from the same school."

"I don't like it."

"Hmm. Then how about thinking of it as Hogwarts uniforms? They're mages too, and they wear uniforms."

I thought I gave advice perfectly tailored to the other's taste, but Dang Seo-rin scowled.

"Are you crazy, Undertaker? Hogwarts uniforms are not sailor uniforms. Really—not at all. Sorry, but never utter such nonsense in front of me again."

"..."

As awakeners of the magic branch, Dang Seo-rin and Cheon Yo-hwa created a new competition as 'white mage versus black mage'... but I'll talk more about that later.

For now, let's dive into the story that unfolded during the 126th run.

One day, at the headquarters of the National Road Management Corps, Noh Do-hwa spoke.

"Awakener Undertaker. I don't usually want to say such things, but..."

"Yes?"

"Don't you think you two are spending too much time together...?"

Noh Do-hwa looked at me with a default facial expression that seemed to be carved into her face. It was like she was glaring at rotting garbage left in the summer heat.

Noh Do-hwa had a knack for making her opponents wonder if they were actually centipedes rather than Homo sapiens. If she wasn't so good at managing the organization and winning people's hearts, she wouldn't have lived long.

But at this moment, I had no words to refute Noh Do-hwa's 'eye violence'.

"Hehe, teacher..."

After all, Cheon Yo-hwa was clinging to my left arm like a koala, in a display of excessive affection.

Cheon Yo-hwa was naturally affectionate and often engaged in physical contact, but this was crossing a line.

"I'm honestly at a loss."

"At a loss, my ass. You're actually enjoying it but pretending not to, just to show off to others. You can't fool my eyes. Your shady and sinister instincts are obvious."

"Chief Noh Do-hwa. I've told you before. It's time for you to get new eyeballs."

"Oh, just like your conscience is easily replaceable..."

"Oh lament! You have blurred vision like Liu Bei who couldn't recognize Zhuge Liang even after seeing him thrice."

"Fuck, old man. How many times have I told you not to make those shitty Three Kingdoms analogies...?"

"What? You want references from the Chu-Han Contention instead?"

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

"This is an anomaly. A mental derangement anomaly."

Blink.

Noh Do-hwa looked at my face closely and then turned to Cheon Yo-hwa.

"Hehehe, teacher... Teacher saved me. Teacher. My light, my life, my sin, my soul, my lolita."

"Hmm."

Noh Do-hwa took out her glasses cleaner and meticulously cleaned her glasses. After putting them back on, she nodded.

"This is definitely an anomaly..."

"Right?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, Awakener Undertaker. I thought you were helping people and then trying to establish a mental power hierarchy and turning that relationship into romantic feelings. I didn't mean to offend."

"It's fine. You don't have to apologize for existing. That's offense enough."

After exchanging pleasantries, we got into a serious strategy meeting.

"When did the Baekwha guild leader start this nonsense...?"

"Exactly a week ago. She suddenly came to my hideout without any guild members and clung to me."

"Hmm. They say she handles the hundred ghosts like Pokémon. It's natural for a human to be mentally corrupted when dealing with anomalies..."

"If it were only Yo-hwa, I might have thought so too, but..."

"...?"

Noh Do-hwa tilted her head.

"There are not just one but two entities clinging to you? Where? I don't see them..."

"Ah, you can't hear it—the [voice] of that person."

"Fuck. Here he goes again..."

"If you can't hear it, I have no choice but to translate it myself as the only one who can converse with that person."

"Why does this lunatic act normal around others but becomes such a shitty brat around me...?"

Ignoring her, I wrote on a piece of paper.

[Mr. Undertaker, I can't imagine a world without you.]

[Mr. Undertaker, ethics are societal norms, and society is formed by at least two people.]

[Mr. Undertaker, in that sense, you have become a bridge for me, who was alone.]

The words continued to flow.

"Huh? What is this...?"

Noh Do-hwa's face darkened as she watched.

[Mr. Undertaker, without a regressor in this world, countless lives would have been sacrificed by the Ten Legs.]

[Mr. Undertaker, even if no one else acknowledges it, I know.]

[Mr. Undertaker, I'm sorry for always burdening you.]

[Mr. Undertaker, you are saving the world.]

"..."

Noh Do-hwa's mouth hung open. If Noh Do-hwa's expression were made into a gacha game skin, it would be at least UR rank for its rarity.

"Is this... the Saintess...?"

"Yes."

"Haaaah...?"

"Surprising, right?"

"This is the most shocking thing I've experienced..."

"And she sends these messages in real-time, about one every ten seconds."

"..."

"This is after I begged her to reduce it. A week ago, it was one per second. I never expected telepathy to be used as infinite KakaoTalk. My mental state is like melting chocolate now."

"Hmm..."

Noh Do-hwa groaned. The meeting room fell into a quiet silence (although I was continuously receiving messages from the Saintess, so it wasn't very quiet for me).

Of course, Cheon Yo-hwa kept giggling 'hehe' beside me, providing background noise.

"I get it. So... do you have any idea what kind of anomaly this is...?"

"Yes. We just need to find the common thread between the two showing abnormal symptoms."

Cheon Yo-hwa was clinging to me because I 'saved her.' The Saintess kept praising me for 'saving the world.'

'Savior Syndrome.'

Or 'Savior Narrative Syndrome.'

That was the name of this bizarre anomaly.

Salvation.

A common narrative in genre novels where the protagonist appears just in time to save characters who are persecuted by the world, generating infinite gratitude and affection from those saved.

Naturally, the saved character feels infinite gratitude and affection toward the protagonist who saved them.

Why is that natural? Because, well, try giving 1 million won to a gambler who lost everything at Kangwon Land without asking anything in return.

The difference between a saved character and a gambler at Kangwon Land is that the latter's life doesn't change much in reality, whereas the former, thanks to the help, genuinely escapes the abyss of despair as depicted in fiction.

To pinpoint the essence of a salvation narrative with a simple example:

'Aah! I was originally the daughter of a noble family, but due to the machinations of evil people, my family fell, and I was sold to a slave trader.'

'If you hadn't helped me, I would have become a demon, filled with hatred for all humanity, serving as a minion for the Demon King's army, leading to the worst bad ending. (Point 1)'

'But thanks to your help, I escaped the bad ending route, discovered unknown talents, and awakened to a much stronger existence. (Point 2)'

'You didn't spare any effort or sacrifice for a mere slave like me. You were wounded and bled. You could have ignored me like everyone else. You could have just walked away. Why did you do so much for someone like me? (Point 3)'

'Being with you, I realized you are inherently such a person. A person who sacrifices themselves to save others. Thus, I will assist you from behind. Even if it costs me everything. (Point 4)'

Of course, this cliché has many variations. Just like popular restaurants attract countless 'original' clones next door.

For example, Point 4 could be changed to 'Being with you, I realized you are kind only to me. You treat only me specially. So, I will dedicate everything to you' instead.

The core point is one: to the saved character, the protagonist holds a value comparable to 'the world itself' or bears the 'weight of the world' alone in place of others.

Thus, the protagonist 'deserves to be praised.'

No matter how much you praise the protagonist's achievements and attitude, it is still not enough. Because the world's misfortune is endless, the protagonist continues to bear that infinite misfortune, constantly getting 'wounded.' (Point 5)

"――So, one of our National Road Management Corps employees, well-versed in genre literature, summarized it for us..."

"Impressive."

If I had met Oh Dok-seo (awakened version) by then, I could have figured it out myself, but the 119th run me was still a bit distant from genre literature.

Noh Do-hwa? She hadn't even watched The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter movies?

We, mere ordinary people, were satisfied with reading the [Analysis of Savior Narrative] report perfectly prepared by our management team.

In short, it was similar to office supervisors who, reading a well-summarized report by their subordinates, feel they've mastered a field they've never encountered before, thanks to their superior brains and extensive social experience.

"So the solution is simple."

"Oh, what is it...?"

"Ultimately, it means the person who saved the characters should be 'not so noble,' right? For example, I secretly bully cute fairies or do something petty. This way, the 'Savior Syndrome' won't hold, and the anomaly will lose its effect and disappear."

"Oh..."

"Let's start tormenting fairies today. Then the notion of sanctifying me will quickly collapse, and the anomaly will lose its power."

"Indeed, Awakener Undertaker. Your character is vile, but you grasp anomalies better than anyone. A real scumbag."

"Thank you. I'm still far behind compared to you, Chief."

"Hmmm..."

We confidently praised ourselves, assured of victory.

I reiterate, Noh Do-hwa and I were not experts in genre conventions.

Yet, we were the authorities governing the yin and yang of the Korean Peninsula. Under normal circumstances, the Saintess, who would have appropriately played the role of a supervisor, had completely lost her mind.

History repeats itself.

The combination of lack of expertise and collapse of absolute power surveillance had been amply demonstrated by humanity over thousands of years.

The tragedy was thus foreordained.

-x-X-x-

The Savior A II

As I had declared to Noh Do-hwa, from that day on, I began behaving like a complete jerk.

I kicked fairies for no reason and bullied shop clerks. Whenever I had the chance, I spread rumors about others.

I even started a series on SG Net called [Luxury Series Enjoyed in the Apocalypse], where I insulted all the awakeners on the Korean Peninsula. At first, I did it anonymously. But I subtly hinted that the posts were from "ZERO_SUGAR."

-Anonymous: Breaking news! Evidence that ZERO_SUGAR = LuxuryKing.jpg

-ZERO_SUGAR: Oh no, I've been found out.

Finally, I pretended that my identity had been unintentionally revealed, completing the charade.

I smiled with satisfaction.

Anyone could now call me a jerk without hesitation...!

"Hmm... 6 points."

"...?"

Sim Ah-ryeon, an expert in this field, glanced at the monitor beside me.

"If it were me, I wouldn't just hint at the same identity anonymously. I'd change IPs constantly while praising and commenting on LuxuryKing. Of course, I'd manipulate the upvotes..."

"...!"

"The pinnacle of socializing is when your posts, no matter how trivial, dominate the popular list on the board with a flood of upvotes..."

"...!"

"Yes. You need to create a signature nonsensical post that's uniquely yours. The Luxury series is too well-made to be considered nonsense... It even provides vicarious satisfaction. That's not good. It has to be utterly useless nonsense, so everyone knows it's just manipulated upvotes. Try beatboxing, singing, or posting consistently about something nobody cares about..."

"...!"

三人行必有我師 (Three people walking together must have at least one teacher among them).

Indeed, I learned from Sim Ah-ryeon and transformed into a perfect jerk in the apocalypse.

-OldManGoryeo: ZERO_SUGAR << If you like this bastard, upvote lolol

└OldManGoryeo: Starting with me lmao

└Anonymous: Just upvoted, you bastard

└Anonymous: Just upvoted, you bastard

OldManGoryeo's social circle (surprisingly, a group of followers who revered Sim Ah-ryeon as a named figure on SG Net) began supporting.

If there are those who like you, there must be those who dislike you to maintain balance in the world. Normal SG Net users started to hate me.

-[Samcheon]WitchJudge: What's up with ZERO_SUGAR lately? Is he crazy?

-LiteraryGirl: Fuck, why is half of the popular posts just socializing bullshit? SG Net is ruined. I'm leaving.

└Anonymous: See you tomorrow!

-dolLHoUse: Oppa...

-[National Road Management Corps] Officer: It's not pleasant to see a few people who are nothing but a handful disturbing the whole board.

-CookingQueen: Interesting.

The result was perfect.

Now, it was time for those infected with Savior Narrative Syndrome to come to their senses――

-[Baekwha] SixthGrader: Upvoted hehehe

That moment never came.

When Cheon Yo-hwa, the absolute leader of Baekwha Girls' High, pressed the upvote button, hundreds of Baekwha guild members automatically followed suit.

[Mr. Undertaker, I am not very interested in SG Net activities.]

[But sensing your desire to become a named figure, I have captured and exposed the personal information of four awakeners who tried to slander you.]

[Please continue your activities without worry.]

Why?

I turned to Cheon Yo-hwa, who was evolving from a koala to a sloth, and asked.

"Yo-hwa. Isn't my behavior jerk-like?"

"Huh? No. You must have hurt your brain while overexerting yourself to save us. Don't worry, teacher! Even if the whole world criticizes you, I never will!"

"..."

"We'll take care of you forever!"

My pupils trembled. Responsibility? Forever? Students taking care of their teacher? It felt like one of those gacha games before the apocalypse.

The tragedy didn't end there.

"Undertaker! Did you hear?"

Dang Seo-rin burst into my hideout.

"What?"

"Sorry! For not recognizing it sooner...!"

Suddenly, Dang Seo-rin, like a character from a hot-blooded youth drama, ran over and hugged me tightly.

I was flustered. Dang Seo-rin was not one for physical affection.

"Not recognizing what? Suddenly, what...?"

"They said you hurt your brain dealing with anomalies! And that you were infected with a mental anomaly called Attention-Seeker Syndrome...! Why don't you ever care about yourself and only think of others?"

"...Shit."

"Oh my! Even Anger Management Disorder. I'm sorry, Undertaker. Am I too late? Don't worry. Even if you burn the whole world, I'll always be on your side..."

I was screwed.

"Wait, Dang Seo-rin. That's a misunderstanding. Who fed you that fake news?"

"Huh? The constellations told me?"

"...That's a lie. Think logically. Who's more trustworthy, me or the constellations?"

"Huh? Of course, the constellations."

"...Actually, constellations don't exist. It's all a masquerade controlled by one person."

"Oh."

Dang Seo-rin's eyes softened. She stood on tiptoes and patted my forehead.

"I see. Yes, yes. You're right. The constellations are all lies... Don't worry. You don't need to worry about anything..."

This is insane.

A chill ran down my spine. Cheon Yo-hwa and the Saintess, and Dang Seo-rin were among the strongest awakeners on the Korean Peninsula.

It was no exaggeration to say that half of Korea's power had fallen to the anomaly since all three were simultaneously infected with Savior Narrative Syndrome.

With the other half, including me and Noh Do-hwa, we held another emergency meeting.

"Chief, we're screwed."

"Crazy..."

Noh Do-hwa sighed and then opened her eyes wide.

"No, wait. Isn't it just you who's screwed? I have no problems..."

"Hey."

"Think logically, Undertaker. What harm does this anomaly bring to us? It's just that some powerful awakeners are mentally dependent on you, but wasn't that already the case? Does anyone die? Is there any material damage? Do I get tired? No. The more I think about it, the more I feel like I can just sit this out..."

"If you get infected too, you'll cling to me and cry, 'You were indeed the savior of the world...'"

"Fuck..."

"You know I have [Complete Memory], right? I swear here and now, if you don't help me, I will someday hone my artistic skills to a hyper-realistic level, like a photograph."

"Artistic skills...?"

"Yes. I will draw you clinging to me in excruciating detail. The title will be [Noh Do-hwa Worships the Savior]. I'll post the high-definition picture on SG Net, forever. In every run."

"What the fuck is this crazy bastard talking about...?"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The conference room door shook violently. Despite being designed to withstand a nuclear explosion, voices beyond the steel door were clearly heard.

-Teacher! Open the door!

-Hyung! Are you there, hyung! I made all your posts popular using my admin privileges!

-Oh, what to do... The guild leader seems scared to come out. He's so hurt, mentally collapsed... From the start, the sacrifice was too much for one person to handle...

-Oppa. It's Ha-yul. Sorry. I should have realized when you asked me to install an unbreakable security system from outside. Regret, deep regret.

-We were wrong, Undertaker. Sorry. So please smile like you used to, okay? Please?

Goosebumps rose.

It was pure terror.

Honestly, in recent centuries, no anomaly had scared me this much. It was more frightening than the Infinite Void.

I muttered seriously.

"Should I kill myself?"

"Oh, that's a great method. I'd love to say hurry up and die, but can you guarantee that Savior Narrative Syndrome won't appear in the next run? Are you going to kill yourself every time this anomaly appears...?"

"That's a cheap shot."

"Come up with a plan. I don't want the current run to be ruined by such a stupid anomaly. Aren't you an anomaly expert...?"

Crash! The steel door shook like a piece of paper.

I spoke urgently.

"Chief, how about this?"

"Go on..."

"Let's pretend that the reason I helped those people was because I had ulterior motives. In other words, I approached them with sinister intentions. If it turns out that what they thought was 'salvation' was actually my selfish desire, the foundation of Savior Syndrome will collapse. What do you think? I just came up with it, but isn't it perfect?"

"Don't do it, you bastard..."

"...?"

"Just don't. Do you want to watch Korea crumble? When I said say anything, I didn't mean spout nonsense, you crazy bastard..."

If this were the 555th run, after meeting Oh Dok-seo and getting into web novels, I could have analyzed the situation more coolly.

...This anomaly, which started with 'Savior Syndrome,' triggered guilt in the people around me by my 'sudden strange actions.'

Especially hiding in Noh Do-hwa's secret bunker was the worst move.

By activating the plot of 'the protagonist with mental wounds shuts themselves away,' the guilt of those around me intensified, and the 'salvation' narrative deteriorated into the 'regret·obsession·ruin' genre.

If I chose 'suicide' here, it would be the worst.

This anomaly might evolve beyond my regression ability into a narrative where 'the protagonist died sacrificing for us,' maxing out the guilt. My life's genre would drift into ruin, creating the worst anomaly I couldn't defeat with regression.

In short, the true nature of this anomaly wasn't 'Savior Syndrome.'

It was a 'cliché'. That was the anomaly's true form.

Genre literature had settled into the cliché of avoiding, twisting, and overturning clichés.

Even my rebellion against the salvation narrative was a cliché, making it a much tougher anomaly to tackle than I initially thought.

Thanks to Noh Do-hwa preventing my suicide, I avoided the worst bad ending.

'What should I do? Making myself look like a jerk isn't working? But I can't just kill innocent people or commit evil deeds.'

For the record, if I had committed real 'evil deeds' back then, the situation would have worsened with side effects. That's prime material for a ruin genre plot.

'What should I do...'

Crash!

Finally, the steel door was crushed. Familiar faces reached through the gap.

"Teacher." "Hyung." "Guild leader..." "Oppa." "Undertaker."

Noh Do-hwa was terrified.

"Do something. Anything but the crazy plan you just mentioned..."

"Ah."

In that moment, an inspiration struck my mind like lightning.

It was divine providence.

An act the protagonist of a salvation narrative would never do. Not just that, an act that no work in the world had ever established, thus never considered a cliché.

An act that wouldn't give the impression of 'suddenly becoming a different person' while inherently being unlikable. Something I'd always had as a characteristic.

A strategy like a miracle, and I had only one.

Crack!

The steel door completely crumpled, revealing the exit.

People approached, swaying like a horde of zombies. Indeed, the underground bunker of the National Road Management Corps, the last bastion on the Korean Peninsula, had fallen.

Yet I did not retreat. Like Zhang Fei of Changban, I stood before the salvation zombies.

And I shouted.

"Who wants to talk about [Three Kingdoms] with me!"

Stop.

The salvation zombies hesitated.

"If Wei Yan's plan at Ziwu Valley had been accepted by Zhuge Liang? If Ma Su hadn't climbed the mountain? If Liu Bei hadn't lost the Battle of Yiling?"

"..."

"Was Jiang Wei's Northern Expeditions justified? Was Liu Shan really a foolish ruler? Does anyone here support Cao Cao? The Xuzhou Massacre was an unforgivable crime!"

"..."

Hesitation. Hesitation.

The salvation zombies took steps back from me. My eyes sparkled.

It worked! It really worked!

I shouted even louder and approached the salvation zombies.

"After all, only Shu-Han carries on the true lineage of Han! Wei supporters are psychos, and Cao Cao was just a deranged attention seeker!"

"..."

"Cao Cao killed his father and massacred the people of Xuzhou, but in Wan, he lusted after a widow and caused his son's death! What hypocrisy! This led to the succession of Cao Pi, an unprecedented sociopath, and brought disaster! Cao Cao is the enemy of the world and should be stoned! Dang Seo-rin!"

"W-What?"

"Let's talk about the Three Kingdoms!"

"Uh... sorry. There's a big issue in my guild. That's why I came to see the Chief. But she looks busy. I'll come back later."

"Yo-hwa!"

"Y-Yes?"

"Want to talk about the Three Kingdoms?"

"――Sorry, sunbae! I have a basketball game with the kids soon! I must go!"

"Ha-yul! Seo Gyu! Ah-ryeon! You guys like the Three Kingdoms, right? Let's go to Mount Qi this weekend and see why Ma Su climbed the mountain!"

"Kyaaah!"

Starting with Sim Ah-ryeon's scream, known for its high pitch since the first run, the salvation zombies fled.

The salvation narrative anomaly was defeated.

Only Noh Do-hwa and I remained in the conference room.

"..."

"..."

I turned to Noh Do-hwa.

Noh Do-hwa's expression was indescribable with words.

Despair. Relief. Contempt. Annoyance. Disbelief. Pity. Annoyance. Discomfort.

Only by mastering hyper-realistic painting could I convey the complex emotions Noh Do-hwa directed at me.

"...Chief."

"Yes..."

"Want to talk about the Three Kingdoms?"

Silence.

Noh Do-hwa mumbled.

"...Sure. Whatever."

"..,,,."

"Fine, let's do it..."

Confession: That response hurt more than anything else. The end.

Epilogue.

"――Such things happened in the 126th run, Chief Noh Do-hwa. That's why I bring up the Three Kingdoms whenever I can. It's not because of my old-fashioned taste, but to protect the peace of the Korean Peninsula and the world's safety. As a preventive measure, I bring up the Three Kingdoms. It helps prevent Savior Narrative Syndrome. Do you understand? Will you acknowledge my noble self-sacrifice?"

"Bullshit."

-x-X-x-

The Shareholder I

You might find yourself wondering as you listen to my stories.

"Aren't these people a bit too noble?"

Indeed, even if we set aside the Saintess, who has reached an almost inhuman level of sanctity, people like Dang Seo-rin (excluding her witch cosplay) and Noh Do-hwa (excluding her personality), as well as those around me (excluding Sim Ah-ryeon), are quite virtuous.

But this suspicion is misplaced.

-How is it that everyone around this person is so noble and capable? (X)

-Oh, this person deliberately associates only with noble and capable people! (O)

I, too, have a history of painful betrayals. Rotten personalities, people always ready to backstab, dirty and incompetent characters...

After filtering out such individuals, I finally arrived at my current relationships.

"By the way, mister."

"Hmm?"

So one day during the 669th cycle, Oh Dok-seo asked me a question that left me a bit flustered.

"Now that I think about it, you don't hang out with the early members much anymore, right? You only meet people like Dang Seo-rin or Noh Do-hwa."

"Early members? Who are you talking about? If you mean Old Man Scho…"

"No, no. You meet the Swordmaster in the 6th run. I mean the real early members. Jung So-hee, Kim Si-woon, Uehara Shino."

"Oh."

"In [Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint], those people only appear in the early parts, and then they're never mentioned again. Why don't you meet them nowadays?"

"..."

I felt an unfamiliar sensation, as if hearing the names of elementary school friends I'd long forgotten.

"I don't remember."

"Huh?"

"I don't remember. I gained [Complete Memory] in the 5th run, but I mainly interacted with them in the 4th run. From my perspective, that was thousands of years ago."

"Oh…"

"It seems that the novel you read includes stories from before the 5th run."

"Yeah, well... The stories from the 1st and 3rd cycles were very important. It got serialized up to the point where you enter Baekwha Girls' High and encounter the Infinite Void."

"Hmm."

So this meant that Oh Dok-seo at this point had 'read' my life up to the 117th run.

From my current perspective, this run was the 669th. For Oh Dok-seo, it meant she observed 'me up to the 117th run.'

In other words, Oh Dok-seo was trailing my life with about a 500-cycle gap.

'This is the longest time-lag adaptation in the world.'

[Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint] was an irregularly serialized work. Just because I moved onto the next run didn't mean it was regularly updated like modern web novels.

It wasn't because the author, claiming a slump, took five days off, causing an outrage among working readers with his stress management skills.

The serialization simply had different 'conditions' from other novels.

'When major anomalies are defeated, [ORV] especially increases in serialization.'

Ten Legs. Udumbara. Meteor Shower.

Particularly, when the Infinite Void was defeated, [ORV]'s serialization volume skyrocketed. Naturally, the knowledge of Oh Dok-seo, the sole 'reader' of [ORV], also increased.

Compared to the Oh Dok-seo of the 555th cycle, who thought the Ten Legs was the final boss, the Oh Dok-seo of the 669th cycle possessed an overwhelming amount of information.

Of course, she still had many gaps compared to me. However, Oh Dok-seo had knowledge I didn't possess.

"On the contrary, I want to ask you, Dok-seo, what happened between me and those early characters."

"Huh?"

"I don't remember anything properly. I roughly know who they are, but I don't know what happened in the 4th run. No one, including myself, knows unless you tell us."

"Uh... Should I tell you then? I only read the early parts a month ago, so my memory is a bit fuzzy…"

"It doesn't matter at all."

"Then... Okay, got it. Wow, telling the protagonist his own story feels really strange. It's fascinating. I don't think such a scene has ever appeared in any creative work."

Oh Dok-seo cleared her throat.

"Hmm, alright. So, what happened was..."

"Wait. You don't need to tell me now."

"Huh?"

"I'll ask you in the next run. There's a much better way to know than just hearing it from you."

"...?"

Oh Dok-seo tilted her head.

"Mister, what are you talking about?"

This was what I meant.

"You fucking asshole! What are you talking about!"

"Hoeee…"

Next run. The 670th run.

In the waiting room of the 'Busan Station Tutorial Dungeon,' SG-Man Seo Gyu's loud cursing echoed as usual.

The face of fairy number 264, who received the insult directly, was still blank. The expressions of hundreds of civilians were no different.

A place more familiar, though not nostalgic, than my birthplace, which I could barely remember—a home for the infinitely regressing.

I approached Oh Dok-seo and greeted her with the latest MZ-generation trends.

"Hi-ru. Bang-ga-bang-ga. Hewwo."

"Eek! M-Main character…!"

Of course, the MZ generation included both Millennials (born in the 1980s and 1990s) and Generation Z (born in the 2000s and 2010s), so my greeting was indeed up-to-date.

There used to be controversy over how to lump together 30 years, but personally, I found it puzzling. What's the problem?

I grouped my life in 1,000-year intervals.

Honestly, isn't 30 years just a moment?

But it seemed sudden to Oh Dok-seo.

"W-Why are you coming to me!"

"Calm down, reader. I know you have read [Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint], where I am the protagonist. But that's a lie, a means of an alien seizing control of your mind…"

"…?"

"My name is the Undertaker. Known as the Duke of the Black Library in the secret society, the Library Society. You must trust me completely…"

"…!"

The most fun game in the world, that is, teasing Oh Dok-seo, lasted about ten minutes.

During that time, SG Man's head exploded (sorry, Seo Gyu), Sim Ah-ryeon proved she was the scream queen, and 398 survivors scattered in all directions.

Oh Dok-seo and I were left alone. While everyone was too shocked by the murder they witnessed to notice, the convenience store, souvenir shop, and vending machines in the waiting room were great points to gather supplies.

I scoured the convenience store and shop, taking just enough, as always.

I didn't forget to grab Silver Bells from the souvenir shop and put them in my pocket. I also emptied the vending machines of all drinks, spending all my money.

"Now then…"

Oh Dok-seo invested all her money in the vending machines too. After hearing the whole truth from me, Oh Dok-seo glared at me with a fierce expression.

"So, in an earlier run, I formed an alliance with you? Now, in the 670th cycle, you seek my cooperation to experience something as close as possible to the 4th cycle?"

"That is correct."

"…Mister, I'm confused about many things, but let me ask this first. Why did you play such a prank earlier?"

"Hmm. Reader, imagine you're living your life, and someone comes along, claiming that this world is actually a novel, and they know all its developments. Isn't that fascinating? Don't you feel like teasing them?"

"I don't get it at all…"

Well, expecting a deep understanding from a severe web novel otaku with terminal Gen Z disease and chuunibyou was too much.

"But… isn't it already too different from the 4th run just by hanging out with me like this? I'm an extra whose name isn't even mentioned in [Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint]."

"Ah, an extra, you say. Nonsense. That's because 'that novel' hasn't reached the 555th cycle yet. The 555th run in the novel starts with you as a main character."

"Oh…"

"Anyway, I don't want the exact same progress as the 4th cycle. Just something similar is enough. I want to experience the lost memories."

"Well, in that case… Ah, they're coming."

Oh Dok-seo murmured nervously.

Footsteps echoed from the other side of the waiting room. Seven people.

Leading the group was a man in his twenties wearing a Hawaiian shirt and holding a wooden stick. He scowled when he saw us.

"Oh? What the hell, people are here?"

Lee Baek.

He was a person who, if left alone, would be eliminated later in the tutorial. His awakening ability was also E-rank, not much different from an ordinary person.

That's all I remembered, but Oh Dok-seo seemed to know more. The kid whispered urgently to me.

"That's Lee Baek. He leads the biggest and fiercest group at Busan Station. Because of him, you had a hard time from the very first cycle."

"What? Me?"

"Yeah. He always incited people, created hierarchies among them… When he noticed you, he divided your group to betray you. He caused all the early stress-inducing developments. You seriously considered quitting because of him."

"Oh."

I couldn't imagine being manipulated by an E-rank ordinary guy. It was so surprising that it was more interesting than unpleasant.

"What are you two whispering about?"

Lee Baek seemed annoyed by the sight of Oh Dok-seo and me whispering. He approached, waving his wooden stick.

The rest of his followers also looked menacing. They probably knew each other from before being summoned to the tutorial dungeon, mainly from back alleys.

"How did I act in the 4th run?"

"You waited by the vending machine until Lee Baek approached, then you slit his throat immediately."

"What? Just killed him?"

"Yeah, it was the first cathartic scene in [ORV]. Without it, I would've seriously quit."

"The 4th cycle me was quite a savage…"

"Hey, you in the T-shirt! And the kid in the hat! Can't you hear me?"

As soon as Lee Baek stepped within five paces, I took a step forward, standing right in front of his nose.

"Can't hear――you?"

Tap. I chopped his throat with my hand, knocking him unconscious. I didn't kill him. He just experienced the sorrow of a split vocal cord.

"Huh?"

The remaining followers widened their eyes, but they didn't need to suffer from dry eyes for long. It took just three seconds to destroy their vocal cords and knock them out.

"…Wow."

Oh Dok-seo's delayed exclamation came.

"Are they dead? All of them?"

"No, I only destroyed their vocal cords. They'll live as mutes for the rest of their lives. As you said, he's good at inciting and politicking, so sealing his voice is enough of a penalty."

"Wow, seriously. Wow. You've really been through hundreds of runs. The genre has completely shifted to a munchkin story. Where did that wimpy, stress-inducing character from the early parts go…?"

"Hey, that's harsh. Anyway, what's next?"

"Oh. You got injured in the arm dealing with these seven? At Busan Station, only Uehara Shino and Sim Ah-ryeon can heal you. But Sim Ah-ryeon…"

"Her healing is barely at the level of a burn ointment, considering the current situation."

"No, even so, it's much better than ointment. Anyway, compared to Uehara Shino, her performance is indeed lacking, so you recruit Uehara as an ally…"

Following Oh Dok-seo's guidance, I enjoyed a nostalgic journey.

'Come to think of it, I used to rate Uehara Shino higher than Sim Ah-ryeon.'

It was a novel experience.

Chasing after a long-forgotten past, now just a mirage of déjà vu, step by step.

Even with [Complete Memory], making me remember everything, there was still an unknown past. This feeling wasn't bad at all.

It must have been a mysterious experience for Oh Dok-seo as well.

"Ew. Mister, why are you so good at Japanese?"

"Huh?"

"You just spoke Japanese with Uehara Shino. Originally, you couldn't speak it and used a smartphone translator… Oh, right. You said you've lived for thousands of years. So you'd be good at foreign languages…"

"…?"

Uehara Shino watched our conversation with a puzzled look. She was an alchemist who, in the distant past, I considered an S-rank awakener but would now be classified as a B-rank at best in this run.

A naturally eliminated past connection. A remnant of time.

"..."

"Undertaker-san, is something wrong?"

"No, nothing. By the way, we're challenging the mid-boss tomorrow, so get some rest."

"Oh, okay."

We cleared the tutorial following the 4th run's order.

Rallying the survivors, demanding food and medicine from the fairy as mid-rewards, and killing the seven bosses one by one.

Even though I knew how to forcibly open the 'exit,' it was a perfect waste of time, but it was also a time journey.

Of course, there was a crucial difference from the 'original' 4th cycle. A past history that could never be repeated.

"Hmm, originally, from today, I was supposed to meet the survivors and use [Time Seal] for those who wanted it…"

Glance. Oh Dok-seo looked at me cautiously.

"…I can't follow this. Because everyone you used [Time Seal] on is now trapped in a crystal monument."

I stared blankly at the Busan Station food court. It had been a long time since I visited this place.

Gravestones.

Crystal monuments that only I could see lined up along the food court corridor. To me, it looked more like a cemetery than a food court.

The remains of people sealed in 'the happiest day of their lives' by my power.

I silently put my hands in my pockets. Jingle, I felt the touch of Silver Bells.

Oh Dok-seo asked carefully.

"Hey, mister… Can you see them now? The monuments."

"Yeah."

"Can you tell me exactly how many there are?"

"Well. I'd have to count the ones in this food court, but I can tell you the exact number of monuments in the entire Busan Station dungeon. I memorized that. 101."

"..."

Here, a total of 101 dreams, 101 afterlives, and 101 gravestones were sleeping.

Indeed.

The original number of civilians summoned to the 'Busan Station Tutorial Dungeon' wasn't an ambiguous 399.

500.

It started with 500 survivors.

Among them, 101 people were sealed in time by me.

-x-X-x-

The Shareholder II

The world was an endless hell.

The reason I attached the word "Infinite Void" to the first otherworldly entity I encountered was because that term labeled it correctly in my subconscious.

"Hoee! This stage has seen 31 casualties!"

"..."

"Not a bad number, but compared to other dungeons, it's a poor performance. A bit more effort is required! With such results, the rewards I can offer you are quite insignificant... Hoi."

"...This is."

"It's Pig Slop! I heard it was often eaten by residents during the war here!"

Not many immediately understood that the war referred to the Korean War.

None of the survivors knew that Pig Slop was made from food waste and cigarette butts salvaged from American soldiers' trash bins, boiled without distinguishing between garbage and food.

"The smell is terrible, but I've removed the deadly toxins for you... Though the rules strictly forbid such favoritism and partiality, I decided to make this small concession after witnessing your efforts...!"

"..."

"Anyway, enjoy this meal, your first in two days!"

The fairy vanished. In the basement of Busan Station, on the 6th floor, where a restaurant shouldn't have existed, 56 survivors and 56 bowls of Pig Slop remained.

Even those who were repelled by the smell gradually moved their hands. There were no spoons. Given that all 56 shared the same miserable scent, swallowing food with a similar odor wasn't difficult.

Cries occasionally echoed.

Eating couldn't be a sin.

If eating were a sin, life itself would be a punishment.

An article in the Kyunghyang Newspaper on May 20, 1964, contained such a sentence. The writer's name was Shin Young-gak. The column was titled "Hungry Crowd."

The 56 starving individuals hastily devoured the food to alleviate two days' worth of hunger.

Maintaining historical accuracy, the bowls were actually aluminum cans. The sounds of fingers scraping and rubbing the cans echoed through the cheap aluminum.

Eating couldn't be a sin...

If eating were a sin, life itself would be a punishment...

Hell was a place where condemned sinners lived, so the world was hell.

Occasionally, gagging sounds briefly interrupted the restaurant's atmosphere. These sounds were less about the food and more about the misery of life. Things that couldn't be swallowed or digested traveled down people's throats.

Afterward, sounds like "Mom" or "Fuck" were probably just burps.

Jingle.

The sound of a bell rang out. People who had finished eating turned to look at me.

It was my bell. I couldn't remember if I used my aura to make the bell sound louder before the 5th cycle.

This Silver Bell was an item I farmed in every cycle, even during vacation cycles.

I remembered the farming location clearly. The souvenir shop in the waiting room. Turn left from the entrance, seventh shelf, fourth row from the top.

Even after looters ransacked the shop, this useless bell, which only made noise and attracted monsters, was always left behind.

I needed it.

"It's Undertaker…"

"Where's Jung So-hee? He's alone..."

"Shh, don't look at him."

"He'll drag you into the abyss."

People in the restaurant whispered. Among them were faces I still remembered, and others that had vanished from reality.

Kim Joo-chul, the football player sealed in time during the 4th cycle, would have been among them.

I continued to recall. If this were the 3rd cycle, the number of survivors in this stage would be 11, not 56, and Lee Baek would be among them.

"Hey, Undertaker! Plague!"

Lee Baek would have stood up and shouted.

"Did you come begging for Pig Slop? Sorry, but we don't have enough food to share with a plague like you! Everyone! Don't share your food with him. We don't have the luxury to support a solo player like him!"

In a voice like that. With lines like those.

Reconstructing the novel Oh Dok-seo read, as if restoring an old newspaper, it seemed Lee Baek said those things to me.

According to Oh Dok-seo's analysis, Lee Baek said such things to 'consolidate his power over the survivors,' 'select an outcast to isolate,' 'make eating Pig Slop a privilege,' and 'appear to bear the burden of harsh words for the group's sake.'

My response was simple.

"Does anyone want to escape this hell?"

"..."

"Anyone who wants eternal peace? Anyone?"

The restaurant fell silent.

Even Lee Baek for a moment.

I looked around. Lightly enough not to be intimidating. Thoroughly enough not to miss a single face.

"Shut up and get lost!"

If it were Lee Baek, he would have swung his stick, angry that he hesitated even briefly.

"Um, I..."

In another cycle, someone would have cautiously raised their hand.

"Me too..."

There would have been more hands in the 4th cycle than in the 5th, more in the 3rd cycle than in the 4th, and even more in the 1st cycle.

These hands had scooped Pig Slop, killed monsters, and murdered other humans.

An elderly woman knew she no longer had grandchildren or family to caress with those hands.

"Young man. Do it for me. The funeral, was it?"

"With my ability, if you enter the dream, others will lose all memories of you. No one will remember you."

"It doesn't matter."

The elderly woman muttered.

"It doesn't matter, that stuff."

A transparent tombstone appeared.

Whether I was in Busan Station or beyond, tombstones lined my path. I couldn't remember exactly, but at least 500,000 tombstones had been erected.

Even when the cycle restarted, the tombstones never disappeared.

At the beginning of each new cycle, hundreds of thousands of humans 'vanished in an instant.' No one knew about their disappearance.

Except for one person.

The world was hell, and the bell always rang in that place.

I was the death row inmate who killed the most humans in this hell.

Thousands of years later.

"Mister. I am undoubtedly your only true understanding."

A cheeky kid boldly declared this.

Hairstyle? Short red bob. Weapon? Baseball bat. Fashion? Rapper-style cap, jacket, and jeans with three tears.

Signature pose? Chewing ordinary gum like bubble gum, blowing it until it popped, covering her whole face in gum.

Oh Dok-seo.

In short, an idiot.

This girl, who clearly needed psychological treatment, dared to claim:

"I've read the novel [Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint], which contains your entire life story. I've read your innermost thoughts and monologues. I know you better than you know yourself."

"Really. Should I sue you for invasion of privacy?"

"Huh? No… So, please save me. My shield's about to break."

Bang bang bang bang!

Oh Dok-seo crouched down. A transparent shield formed around her, with three goblins enthusiastically beating it.

-Screech! Screech!

-Eek, quack! Kheek!

These were regular monsters in the tutorial dungeon.

Three-on-one. It was a textbook scene of a gangbang, and Uehara Shino, now part of our party, was stomping her feet.

"Um, Undertaker-san. Shouldn't we help her...?"

"No. This is part of her training."

"Ugh. Go for it, Dok-seo-chan! Ganbare!"

"Ganbare my ass! Help me, dammit!"

Bang clang bang clang!

Initially, the goblins found the transparent drum amusing, but now they treated it like an instrument. Bang! Clang! Bang! Their Dionysian rhythm turned this place into a rock festival.

By the way, Dionysus's followers had a tradition of tearing people apart and eating them after festivals. Judging by the goblins' eyes on Dok-seo, the festival's sacrifice was already decided.

-Keeheeheehee!

"Eek?! M-Mister! Please save me! Only 30 seconds left on my shield!"

Absolute Defense.

She called it the [AT Field]. A shield that nullified attacks.

It was one of Oh Dok-seo's abilities.

I believed it reflected her mindset of seeing herself as a 'reader dropped into a novel world.' Her skill manifested her way of separating herself from this world.

It was an overpowered skill with a fatal flaw: she could only use it once a day, for just one minute.

"Dok-seo, I've told you many times. No matter how OP your skill is, it's useless if you don't train yourself."

"But I've already killed 11 monsters today! I'm exhausted! I'm tired! We've been walking for six hours since dawn. Please help me! Eek? It's cracking, I heard it crack, it's really cracking!"

"Stop whining."

Smash— The shield shattered, and the goblins' clubs rushed in. Oh Dok-seo screamed bizarrely and swung her bat.

"Hiyaaah!"

The bat glowed red with aura. Thwack! A goblin's head burst. Foul.

-Screech?

-Eek?

The goblins, thinking they were up against a KBO batter, were bewildered by the sudden Major League swing.

Regardless, Dok-seo executed the moves I taught her in the past few days, striking with her bat.

"Hyaah! Die! Die! You monster bastard, dieee!"

-Squeegh?

Foul. Foul. With two strikes, no pitchers on the opposing team. The goblins were disqualified, leaving Dok-seo victorious.

Dok-seo dropped her shoulders and bat, panting heavily.

"Huff, wheeze— Huff, wheeze..."

"See? You can do it. These days, kids lack perseverance, whining before even trying…"

"I'll kill you!"

Dok-seo swung her bat at me, but such a slow swing couldn't hit me.

Swing and a miss. Out.

For daring to attack her master, I gave her a flick on the forehead. My dark aura reverberated through her skull with just the right amount of pain.

'Just the right amount' meant, hmm, like getting kicked in the balls for a guy?

"Arghhh!"

Dok-seo threw the bat (throwing a bat after an out, such poor sportsmanship) and rolled on the ground.

"I'm dying! I'm really dying! My head is shattered! Ahhh! I'm dying!"

"You're not dying. It's not shattered. Get up and eat. Uehara, please set up the mat. Let's have lunch."

"Ah, yes."

Uehara Shino, the porter, set up the mat expertly.

This was quite different from the 4th cycle. We didn't have the luxury of carrying a mat back then.

We cooked the retort foods we took from the convenience store deliciously. No need for fire. We used aura to heat, cook, and boil the food. It was the most luxurious cooking method in the world.

Uehara twirled pasta on a fork, her expression melting.

"Wow. It's delicious…"

"The pasta is perfectly cooked, right? I noticed Uehara likes slightly undercooked, al dente pasta."

"Oh, yes. It's exactly to my taste. Your cooking is better than what I've had at professional restaurants!"

"Thanks."

Then, from behind a pillar, the fairy peeked out.

"Hoee. Smells good…"

"Hmm? What? Are you going to eat too?"

"Eek. I am an impartial judge. I cannot accept bribes from the participants…"

"This isn't a bribe; it's a gratuity. It's a gift from the people to the vanguard striving tirelessly for the world revolution."

"Hoee! Food made from the people's blood and sweat… Ignoring it would be bourgeois behavior. As a staunch revolutionary, I cannot refuse…"

"Here. I made salmon steak."

"Hoee! Truly revolutionary taste!"

Japanese and fairy laughter bloomed on the mat. True harmony between past and present enemies.

"Ugh…"

Only the chuunibyou otaku lay sprawled next to the mat, groaning.

"Me too... I'm hungry…"

"Do you have no hands or feet? Get your food from the mat and eat it."

"Why are you so cold to me?"

Dok-seo whined.

"You make me fight monsters alone! Make me train aura alone! What did I do wrong, huh?"

"It's because I expect much from you, kid."

"Ugh. I can't live like this. I'm so upset... Damn, why is the pasta so good? It's retort food."

"Um, Dok-seo-chan. That was mine…"

"Hoee. This BLT rye sandwich is also revolutionary! You deserve the Cooking Hero Medal!"

The balance of protein, carbs, and fats was perfect. It was an overly luxurious lunch for beginners in a tutorial dungeon.

Ultimately, our 4th cycle exploration turned into a luxury trip... But that's fine. I hope these kids enjoy luxuries when they can.

We stood up, neither too full nor too hungry, with our stomachs nicely coated.

"One more floor down, and we'll reach the boss room. Once we defeat the boss, the tutorial dungeon ends."

"Yeah. You'll defeat the boss, right?"

"No? Veterans shouldn't steal newbies' experience. You'll clear it alone, Dok-seo."

"...?"

"...?"

As we continued our cheerful conversation, stepping onto the stairs to the 13th basement floor, I felt a strong presence from the opposite corridor.

"Wait. Everyone, stop."

Our group looked at me. It was amusing that fairy number 264 was included, but my mouth didn't smile.

"People are approaching."

"Approaching? How many?"

"One hundred seventeen."

"..."

"All the remaining survivors. Get ready. Dok-seo, come to my side. Uehara, to the back."

I positioned myself in the middle of the corridor.

"We'll stand our ground here."

After saying that, something strange happened. My right hand instinctively moved to my waist.

To the empty belt, as if weapons like fire axes should have been hanging there.

My fingers groped the air.

"..."

A bizarre sense of déjà vu enveloped me.

A very long time ago, thousands of years past, it felt like I had experienced this exact scene.