The Eschatologist III
"Don't worry too much, guild leader," Go Yuri said with a bittersweet smile, as if she was genuinely concerned about me.
"You see, this place is a well of dreams descended through you. I am merely a role within the dream within a dream, a manifestation of your subconscious. I have nothing to do with the real me."
"...So, you're just an illusion?"
"Yes. If I had to put it, it's likely your fears and aversions manifesting. It's quite sad that your unconscious fears have taken my form..."
Go Yuri lowered her eyes sadly, but I couldn't let my guard down.
Imagine Godzilla wagging its tail, asking to be petted. Even a light novel protagonist equipped with the 'pat → conquer' internal protocol might question the magic in their hand.
"Really, it wouldn't make sense if I weren't an illusion. No matter how mysterious I am to you, it's absurd for me to sit on a cloud or be 600 meters underground, right?"
"..."
"All these are just manifestations of your fear. The fact that I call you 'guild leader' is itself strange. Because, as you know..."
"...You never accepted me as guild leader. That title only exists in my memories."
"Exactly!"
What should I do?
Trusting Go Yuri was out of the question. I might as well believe that the UFO which fell into the East Sea was an ambassador for friendly interstellar relations.
But it was also true that I couldn't escape from here.
I had to wait for the Tutorial Fairies to rescue me or find a way out myself.
Until then, like it or not, Go Yuri would be closely following me.
"Besides, I can guide you here."
"Guide? That's quite a welcome offer. The guide I hired was just assassinated."
"Ahaha. I'm sorry, but wouldn't a local guide be more reliable than an outsider?"
Go Yuri clasped her hands behind her back and leaned closer.
"The Baku are merely bridges between dreams and reality. It's hard to call them completely 'from this side.' But I, formed from your unconscious, have always existed here."
"..."
"I know almost everything that happens here. guild leader, you came to explore the nightmares, right? I can guide you far better than any Baku."
I was silent for a moment.
"...There are conditions."
"Yes. Please tell me anything."
"Don't try to win my favor unnecessarily. Don't get too close. And don't kill any Baku without warning like you did before. If you violate these conditions, I will escape by any means necessary."
What would happen if I ended my life in this dream?
It was uncertain, but it was worth a try, simply because it was an unknown method of death to me.
Go Yuri's smile turned a bit complicated.
"Understood, guild leader. I will try my best. However..."
"However?"
"Uh, nothing. This place is dangerous, so we should hurry out."
Go Yuri turned around. The light tapping of her loafers echoed through the waiting room.
"Follow me. I'll show you the nightmares."
As soon as we stepped out of Busan Station, the scene before us was a void.
Let me remind you of the terror of the void.
In our reality, before the apocalypse, 'space and time' were always orderly. When you looked left, you saw the left. When you stepped right, you moved to the right.
But the void is different.
There, normal space-time and physical laws mean nothing.
Especially in a deep void.
"…!"
As soon as I stepped outside Busan Station, my head felt dizzy.
Far ahead, about 200 meters away, a yellow traffic light was standing. It caught my attention, and the next moment, it was right in front of me.
Blink, blink, blink—
The yellow light of the traffic signal flashed fiercely before my eyes. When I blinked again, the traffic light had disappeared.
"…..."
Waaah!
Somewhere, I heard children crying. Turning around, it was just a grassy field. The grass swayed in the wind, and with each sway, it wailed like a baby.
"There, there."
A crone was crouched in a flowerbed, picking azalea buds. Waaah! Red blood gushed out as the buds were picked, and the crying grew louder. The crone gently stroked the azalea petals as if soothing a baby, her nails stained with bright red flower juice.
"..."
I steadied my breathing.
In the midst of the endlessly echoing signal light's blinking, the flower baby's crying, and the crone's stroking, I focused solely on the path I walked.
Next to me, Go Yuri blinked.
"Wow. You're amazing. You're really maintaining your self-awareness. How do you do it?"
"...It's a secret. Where are the nightmares?"
"Ah, right over there."
Go Yuri pointed.
I turned my gaze naturally and held my breath.
"What is that...?"
There, a familiar yet unfamiliar scene unfolded.
The building was familiar. The National Road Management Corps Headquarters. It stood tall like the Tower of Babel, a landmark of Busan.
In a cycle where Busan turned into a 'Utopia,' I had watched fireworks with Dang Seo-rin from the terrace.
"Ah――Ah――Ah―――"
Even now, in this dream, Dang Seo-rin was there.
Not on the terrace, but hanging from the spire.
Dang Seo-rin was crucified, nails driven through her wrists and ankles. It was as if she was subjected to a witch trial, bleeding from her limbs, singing without end.
My limbs grew pale.
But the horrific sight didn't end there.
"――Ah――Ah――"
Below Dang Seo-rin, another person was crucified.
It was Sim Ah-ryeon.
She followed her master, singing in Latin, using the techniques Dang Seo-rin had taught her.
Their faces were expressionless. The duo's acapella resonated endlessly through the night sky, shaking the entire universe.
"What on earth…?"
"You already know, don't you?" Go Yuri said.
"It's a perpetual motion machine. The 'Great Witch' sings, burning her lifespan. Though it's an ability bound to end someday, the story changes when 'Saintess of the North' joins."
"..."
"When the Great Witch's lifespan runs out, the Saintess of the North can refill it. This creates an endless fuel for the dream."
"..."
"The Great Witch dies every time she sings, resurrects, and dies again, endlessly singing for the world's peace. That's the nightmare."
I immediately swung my sword.
The Tower of Babel collapsed. The singing of Dang Seo-rin and Sim Ah-ryeon was engulfed by the sound of the falling tower.
Perhaps it was just my imagination, but it felt as though they looked at me, letting out a brief, silent cry before disappearing into the dust cloud.
My heart pounded.
But the nightmare wasn't over.
"...You can't kill dreams, guild leader."
Go Yuri said, looking troubled.
"As I mentioned, these nightmares are just your fears manifested. A wise person like you must have imagined at least once, right? That if those two fell together, an eternal peaceful utopia might be created."
"...What a horrible hobby. I would never choose that."
"Yes. And this place could be called a trash bin of possibilities you didn't choose."
"..."
"Worlds after bad endings, parallel worlds' fates, or simply nightmares. Bad tastes."
Tap. Go Yuri started walking.
The surroundings changed.
Sejong City turned into a white sand desert, and at its center, Cheon Yo-hwa and Lee Ha-yul sat facing each other.
Even from a far distance, their conversation was oddly clear.
"...But, Teacher sometimes randomly brings up comparisons to "Records of the Grand Historian" and "Water Margin". Shouldn't we insert that knowledge into him?"
"Disagree. Prefer to pursue a perfect brother rather than the current one."
"Wow... Ha-yul, sometimes our tastes match, and sometimes they don't."
"Agree. Can't understand why you follow outdated realism."
"What? Doll otaku."
They chatted softly.
It should have been a heartwarming scene, but my mouth felt dry.
Creak—
Something was between Cheon Yo-hwa and Lee Ha-yul. It was 'me.'
A doll resembling the Undertaker, my corpse, stood crooked between them.
"Then let's omit "Records of the Grand Historian" and "Water Margin" and just insert "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Without that, it's hard to call him teacher!"
"Agree."
Creak. Creak.
Cheon Yo-hwa was inputting data into my corpse. Like turning a zombie into an AI judge.
The body of the 'Undertaker,' with its limbs and all muscles, was connected to Lee Ha-yul's puppet strings.
The 'Undertaker' opened its mouth.
-You guys… What do you really think of humans? I've always told you, Yo-hwa. You need to view humans with more warmth.
"Wow! It's just like teacher!"
-And Ha-yul. I've told you not to play with living people like dolls. No, not even with dead people.
"Satisfied."
They were cheerful.
In the white desert world, only those two continued their puppet play forever.
The scene seemed so distant.
"That's another bad ending."
Go Yuri whispered beside me.
"When the Infinite Void was unleashed, covering the world, only a small oasis was allowed for Cheon Yo-hwa and the Puppeteer."
"..."
"Please, whatever you do, don't approach them? Though they seem normal, those versions of Cheon Yo-hwa and the Puppeteer are extremely corrupted. They're anomalies capable of destroying the world alone… Guild leader?"
I ignored Go Yuri's warning.
Crunch. My foot sank into the sand.
With just one step, Cheon Yo-hwa and Lee Ha-yul's gazes instantly focused on me.
"..."
"..."
They stared intently.
My disciples looked at me. I walked towards them slowly but surely.
As I approached, their faces turned completely expressionless, as if they had never been chatting happily.
I stood before them.
And I hugged them.
As tightly as I could without breaking them.
"Yo-hwa."
"..."
"Ha-yul."
"..."
"You shouldn't be here. Let's go home, kids. Let's go home..."
"..."
"..."
Slowly, Yo-hwa and Ha-yul's forms crumbled in my embrace. White sand became a sandstorm and scattered.
Even the desert itself disappeared in the wind. I found myself sitting in the middle of a cracked asphalt road.
"That's amazing…"
Go Yuri murmured.
"Really, how do you maintain your self-awareness so firmly? Here, you could indulge your desires. It's a place where that's inevitable."
"It's nothing special. I sometimes take a vacation to let go."
"Even vacations are just a means to return to reality, right? Why do you never completely let go? Even once. Letting go wouldn't mean anyone could harm you."
If I could answer that my spirit was strong enough, it might have felt a bit better.
But that wasn't the answer.
For one to become strong, it's always insufficient to rely on one's own reasons; the presence of others is necessary.
The reason I could hold out strongly.
"—Ah."
It was paradoxically because there always existed 'others who crumbled before me.'
"We're in trouble, guild leader. That 'ending' is really dangerous."
"..."
"It's one of the most perilous beings in this apocalyptic world. I recommend you escape. Unlike Cheon Yo-hwa or the Puppeteer, it won't be easy to give it a burial."
Even before Go Yuri's warning, I sensed something ominous approaching.
'Something' was coming our way.
The hair on my head stood up. My nape, always ahead of my senses in detecting threats, prickled fiercely.
I strengthened my vision with aura. Beyond the forest of broken buildings, it was walking toward us.
"Hah."
Seeing the figure, I couldn't help but laugh bitterly.
Indeed.
If this place was my nightmare and the collective unconscious of humanity, if it gathered 'the worst bad endings' as Go Yuri said, then naturally, it would include such an ending.
"Really, this old man never does anything helpful in life…"
Emit Schopenhauer.
My long-time comrade.
Awakener Alias: Sword Star.
Corrupted Alias: Sword Demon.
The swordsman, born with the ultimate martial talent, now exuded an aura incomparably more powerful than when he was alive, approaching me.
-x-X-x-
The Eschatologist IV
Let's talk about Old Man Scho.
Flashback. A distant past.
In the distant past, during the 21st cycle, there was a time when Old Man Scho and I laid out a drinking session on a sky-blue bridge and had a heartfelt conversation while drunk.
"Embalmer, what do you think will happen to the world after we die?"
"After we die?"
Old Man Scho and I were probably the only two regressors in this world.
So occasionally, we would excitedly discuss topics that "only regressors could truly immerse themselves in." Just like now.
"Well. At the moment when the two of us die… wouldn't the world also regress as we do? Time would be rewound."
"What if that's not the case?"
"What?"
"What if the world continues even after we die?"
"No, that wouldn't make sense, would it? We die and immediately wake up. How could the world maintain itself?"
"Listen carefully."
The old regressor's theory was this:
A. [The World After the Bad Ending] Hypothesis.
Explanation: Even if the regressor dies, the world does not regress. Time continues until the universe ends. The world is "rolled back" only after complete annihilation. The server reset. However, for some reason, the memories of Old Man Scho and I, the regressors, are preserved without being reset.
"Oh… So, subjectively, we feel like we've woken up right after dying, but objectively, we only open our eyes after the world has ended?"
"Yes. In this case, our ability is closer to [Memory Preservation] rather than [Regression]. Given that you, as Undertaker, have the Complete Memory ability, doesn't it fit well?"
"Oh…"
"There's another hypothesis."
B. [Parallel World] Hypothesis.
Explanation: When a regressor dies, their consciousness and memories are transferred to "another parallel world." Although the new world appears identical, it is entirely separate from the one previously lived in. The differences between the two worlds are simply unobservable to the regressors.
"If the parallel world hypothesis is correct, our ability might be called [World Line Transfer]."
"I've never thought of it from that perspective before."
"That's because you walk around without any thoughts in your head, you ignorant fool. You need to learn. You call socialists communists and mock German history; you're utterly uneducated. You are disqualified as a human, as a person, and in character."
"Hey, what is with this sneak attack?"
"I support the parallel world hypothesis."
I blinked.
"Uh… why?"
"Because does it make sense for the entire world and time itself to regress just because two humans die?"
Old Man Scho swirled his soju glass.
"It's much more plausible that only our consciousnesses are transferred to another world, don't you think?"
"Hmm."
Listening to Old Man Scho, I felt an undefined unease.
If, as Old Man Scho said, "rewinding the world's time" was absurd, then "transferring an individual's self and memories to another parallel world" seemed equally preposterous.
On the contrary, assuming countless parallel worlds existed might be more theoretically burdensome.
"Then, in the original world where we were… all the parallel worlds we've passed through must have all perished? We're just wandering through new worlds after leaving our vanished homeland."
"Exactly! We keep retrying to save the world, but in truth, all those humans are already dead. The anomalies won."
Looking back now, as often happens with drunken ramblings, Old Man Scho's impassioned speech lacked consistency.
If Old Man Scho truly believed in [The World After the Bad Ending] or [Parallel World], shouldn't he have cherished his life even more?
If it wasn't simply about rewinding time, and countless worlds had truly faced their end, the weight of our lives would be comparable to "the entire world."
Each time we failed, another world perished.
Yet, Old Man Scho was about to take a long vacation.
Why?
Did it mean he trusted me that much? Believed that even if he gave up, I wouldn't?
Or was his lover much more precious to him than the world burdened upon us?
Between a world and a love, was the latter ultimately heavier?
Old Man Scho staggered.
"What a damn world it is, Embalmer. I really… really don't understand why this happened. I don't know."
"Ah- old man. Let's get up. If you sleep here, you'll catch a cold. Geez, you always do this because you trust your Heavenly Martial Body too much."
It was as if the old man in front of me, already burdened, was straining to shoulder even more weight like a Sherpa.
It was the double stance chosen by the captain of a sinking ship.
Stance A. He couldn't afford to fail here. If he failed, the world would end.
Stance B. But even if he failed here, it couldn't be helped. The ship carried too much cargo for a single human to bear.
That's right.
Old Man Scho was undoubtedly pushing himself to be able to justify himself either way.
"I'm sorry, Doc… I'm s'rry…"
"No, what's with a German old man suddenly mixing in a dialect? I'm going crazy. Should I just put you in a gas chamber?"
"You crazy, racist bastard…"
"That doesn't work when a white man uses it on an Asian."
In the 21st cycle, I was still young. I couldn't grasp Old Man Scho's psyche.
So, while supporting his drunken body, I couldn't support his heart.
If I had had more experience, faced more anomalies, I would have told Old Man Scho back then.
In a calm voice.
'Old man.'
'Whether it's [The World After the Bad Ending] or [Parallel World], it doesn't matter whether they are true or false right now.'
'Because all of them are void and anomalies.'
End of flashback.
Returning to the present, several thousand years later.
The reunion with Old Man Scho in the unconscious world was the worst.
"Ah. Guild leader, he's been spotted."
Go Yuri muttered, but there was no need for such a kind notification.
Old Man Scho was swinging a steel pipe wildly.
"…!"
The Swordmaster's strike was faster than sound.
Have you ever seen a night sky adorned with a milky way as delicate as jewels?
You can see it every day if you visit the clean apocalypse without pollution or fine dust.
And you could see it in Old Man Scho's aura.
Crash!
The 'night sky' colored aura charged in a straight line, slicing through the debris of buildings in its path.
This was the decisive reason why Old Man Scho was called the Sword Star. Because his blade contained the Milky Way and starlight.
The rumble from the collapsing buildings echoed several beats slower than Old Man Scho's attack.
Only after I barely parried Old Man Scho's strike with Do-hwa did the enormous aftershock hit my ears.
"Crazy…?"
My hand tingled, and my whole body shook. My entire sense of touch vomited.
Just one strike.
In the 261st cycle, my heart pounded just by blocking a single attack. For someone like me, who lived on aura rather than martial arts, it felt like my MP had halved in an instant.
Suddenly, Seo Gyu's spirit possessed me. The words, 'You fucking cheat, stop using hacks,' spilled from my mouth.
"Damn, you weren't this strong before!"
"..."
"No matter how much this is the void and you are an anomaly, the original you didn't show up after the 25th cycle. How can you be this strong?"
Old Man Scho was expressionless. Perhaps, as he fell into anomaly, his small brain wrinkles and facial muscles degenerated together.
-..., ..., ....
Old Man Scho's lips kept moving, muttering something continuously.
Thanks to spending time with Lee Ha-yul, my lip-reading skills were highly developed. Even from a distance, I could roughly decipher what Old Man Scho was muttering. After all, Germans have been somewhat weak in the field of eavesdropping since World War II.
The eavesdropping result was this:
-Adele, Adele, Adele, Adele, Adele, Adele, Adele.
This madman.
The Sword Demon raised his steel pipe again.
The aura emanating from the old man's fingertips gave me chills. It felt like I might end up as the Regressor Chicken on the old man's dinner table tonight.
"Ha."
At that moment, I had a brilliant idea. I grabbed Go Yuri, who was idly watching.
"Huh?"
"Yuri, let's be friends!"
The forbidden technique passed down in Korea. The Friend Shield.
Trying to escape hastily could risk the pursuit of this fallen regressor, the anomaly known as 'Emit Schopenhauer.'
Then, wouldn't it be better to aim for mutual destruction?
As the guardian of human civilization, I always respected the Code of Hammurabi. An eye for an eye. An anomaly for an anomaly. No-show for Go Yuri.
If I could eliminate even one of the regressor anomaly or the brainwashing beam anomaly, it would be a gain for me! How could I care about the means and methods?
"...…"
Hesitation.
Old Man Scho, who had been poised to launch an all-out assault, paused.
I clenched my fist in my mind.
Even Old Man Scho couldn't help but hesitate in front of the brainwashing beam. Even I, who rolled to the 261st cycle, had no countermeasures and could only avoid it, so how could an old man boast so arrogantly?
"Hmm… Guild leader?"
"What? I'm busy now. Don't talk to me."
"But I think I should tell you this."
Go Yuri, reduced to a human shield in my left hand, spoke hesitantly.
"As you know, I am perceived as the most ideal type of person the opponent would be most attracted to, right? So… to that old man who has met his end, who do you think I look like?"
"..."
Ah.
-Adele, Adele, Adele, Adele, Adele, Adele, Adele, Adele, Adele, Adele, Adele, Adele.
The 'night sky' spread around Old Man Scho.
In line with the latest trends, it was like domain expansion. Considering the old man's age, it was a unique barrier.
Old Man Scho's tremendous aura stretched from his toes, staining the ground and the sky. Suddenly, a night sky appeared in the ruins of the city at midday.
Killing intent surpassing sword aura.
The martial talent originally possessed by Emit Schopenhauer. The extreme of that potential.
Even in reality, during his prime, I had never witnessed such a lofty transcendental state unfolding there.
"If he were in his right mind, he wouldn't confuse his beloved wife with me… But having fallen this far and lost his reason in this 'end' state, hmm. I'm in a difficult position…"
"Release your brainwashing technique!"
"Haha, guild leader. That's passive; I can't control it. But this is serious. It's like seeing his beloved wife captured by a kidnapper. Ah, although I'm glad to have become friends with you."
I immediately threw Go Yuri far, far away.
"Huh?"
Go Yuri flew like a missile. It would be great if she exploded at the end, staying true to her origins.
Naturally, the attention of the no-show anomaly shifted from me to the Yuri missile. The romanticist old man threw away the steel pipe and ran toward Go Yuri.
That was the only timing given to me.
I bolted immediately. The protagonist of an infinite regression series must never miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
-Adeleeeeeeeee!
Rumble. Crash. The city was being destroyed in real-time.
I heard Old Man Scho's desperate cries in the distance, but I didn't care.
Please live happily together.
-Adele.
At that moment, I sensed a presence beside me.
There was no time to look back. Slash! Something sliced through my protective aura like tofu and reached my neck.
'Ah.'
I fell forward while still running.
My head floated up, and I barely managed to glance to the side.
Old Man Scho, who I thought I had distanced myself from, was running beside me. His hand was covered in blood.
A close-range strike. My head was severed by a single chop.
Go Yuri was captured by his side. She looked at me—or more precisely, at my head—and gave a bitter smile.
Sensation vanished. Sound and consciousness rapidly faded.
It was rather fortunate. Even if I had lived a bit longer, I would only have witnessed Old Man Scho kissing Adelyuri in a romance scene.
I wanted to at least move my mouth.
'No, this is really too much.'
Simultaneously, I felt like I had returned to the early cycles of the regressor's childhood.
Back then, I didn't have to face the apocalypse alone. The most reliable dealer's back was always in front of me.
See? Old Man Scho's potential was indeed extraordinary.
If we could fully blossom this tremendous talent, not in a bad ending but in reality, old man. We could definitely save this "damned world".
Thud. My consciousness fell to the bottom.
The sensation of death was not much different from a dream.
Everything faded to black.
-x-X-x-
The Eschatologist V
When I opened my eyes, leaving another death in my memories, I was in the waiting room of Busan
Station.
It would have been nice to say that the familiar 399 survivors came into view. However, even the waiting room of Busan Station was not spared from the chilling wind of mass layoffs. Only one person welcomed me this time.
"Ah, guild leader. You're awake?"
"…Hmm."
"Here's some Ceylon tea. Have a drink when you get up."
Go Yuri was sitting on a bench in the waiting room, and I was lying on the same bench.
At the time, I didn't know, but there was a certain genre grammar in the world.
[The same bench] [One sitting] [One lying down]. When these three concepts combined, they always resulted in a certain inevitable outcome, transcending time and space.
Simply put, Go Yuri was giving me a lap pillow.
Her pink hair cascaded before my eyes like an acacia blossom. A subtle scent like bath salts and the sweet fragrance of apples freshly dipped in cold water wafted through the air.
"...…"
I instinctively tried to get up but decided against it.
Perhaps it was because I had used the forbidden technique [Friend Shield] a little while ago. I felt a slight guilt. Surprisingly, there was still room in my heart for feelings of guilt towards Go Yuri.
Not that I could escape the presence before me anyway.
"Did I die?"
"Yes. And no."
Go Yuri brushed her hair back behind her ear. Her hair swayed like bellflowers.
"In terms of having died at the hands of the [Bad Ending], yes, you died. But it's hard to call it a true death. In a dream, one cannot truly die."
"…Indeed."
Even dying in this unconscious world wouldn't trigger a 'regression.' My real self was still sleeping soundly surrounded by the Tutorial Fairies.
It was good information.
"How did you escape? The enemy seemed impossible to fight against."
"Well, if I tried to fight like you, it would have been difficult. But I don't necessarily oppose such beings. I can escape easily."
Of course. Hail to the brainwashing beam.
I sighed.
"That old man, he was too powerful."
"..."
"They say that in this unconscious world, one's greatest fears are reflected. Right. In truth, I was afraid of the old man."
It wasn't that I had an aversion to Emit Schopenhauer as an individual. He was my comrade.
It's just that...
"If the old man hadn't gone on vacation and had stayed by my side, what would have happened… I've imagined that a few times."
IF. A what-if scenario.
The route where Old Man Scho didn't go on vacation.
"Old Man Scho has a gentle heart. Even if he hadn't gone on vacation, his love and despair for his wife would have continued to nest in his heart. If he had forced himself to endure that and still stood by my side to save the world…"
Wouldn't he have broken at some point?
There were plenty of dangerous moments.
For instance, when we exterminated the Outer God Infinite Void. Infinite Void shows people the 'most perfect world line' as an illusion.
Of course, Old Man Scho would have been immersed in days of happiness with his wife.
While I managed to break free from Dang Seo-rin, Noh Do-hwa, and the Saintess, could Old Man Scho have escaped?
Wouldn't he have fallen as a new apostle of Infinite Void?
For example, when it was revealed that the Tutorial Fairy was actually a Baku. Negotiating with the Baku could manipulate dreams as desired.
That too would have been a hard temptation for Old Man Scho to resist.
For example, when the being before us took a real 'interest' in Old Man Scho.
Like the nightmare we just faced, wouldn't Old Man Scho, deluded into thinking he had reunited with his wife, become a villain acting only for Go Yuri?
The best comrade turning into the worst enemy.
A common trope.
"Considering all that, maybe it was a divine move for him to go on vacation and leave with his wife."
"..."
"A problem in death, a problem in life. Seriously, that old man was no help at all."
The waiting room was silent.
As if hundreds, thousands of years had flowed by in an instant, weeds sprouted from the cracks in the floor. Through the holes in the roof and ceiling, the aged sunlight dripped like candle wax.
Go Yuri didn't respond.
She just listened to my story with a troubled smile, as if this 'silent listening' was the form of comfort I desired most at the moment.
"Guild leader."
After a long silence, Go Yuri whispered.
"Can you feel better at any time?"
A hint of green apple scent wafted from her whisper.
"Life is like countless dreams. The last dream a person has is called reality, but you're like the Undertaker who roams forever in the dream, burying each dead dream one by one. This place is a farce where the corpses you buried come back to life and dance."
"A dream within a dream, the world after the bad ending, parallel worlds, the collective unconscious. Roughly those concepts have turned into anomalies and unfolded as void."
"And you can become the master of that void."
"..."
"I will help you."
Go Yuri's thumb caressed my cheekbone.
Like a child peering into a deep well, Go Yuri gazed down into my eyes.
"Help? You will help me?"
"Yes. This place is not only your unconscious but the unconscious of all humanity. What do you think could be possible if you could freely manipulate this place?"
The sound of breathing, scented with apple, settled on my cornea.
My face felt itchy.
With each movement of Go Yuri's lips, her breath drew closer.
"You could impose your dreams on all other humans."
"..."
"That's right. The dreams that no one else can experience, the apocalyptic scenes only you remember. You could share them with others, with those dear to you, with all humanity."
"..."
"Show them your life."
Suddenly, the apple fragrance turned into the scent of wine, like apple wine.
Like petals blossoming and unfolding, the wine scent in Go Yuri's breath spread around instantly.
"Show them how much you suffered, how hard you worked for others, how wise and powerful you were."
"..."
"Make them grieve at your pain, commit to your devotion, marvel at your abilities."
Go Yuri's voice, flowing from her pink lips like honey, was as rich as nectar.
"You could become everyone's dream. If such a dream is called a myth, you would become a miraculous myth blooming at the end of the century."
"You don't think I'm going to nod at this, do you?"
"No."
Go Yuri smiled with her eyes.
"Not now."
Press. Go Yuri's finger pressed gently against my chin.
"But as your suffering matures more and more, won't that nod come closer?"
"..."
"Don't become sweet carelessly, guild leader. If you keep getting tastier, I might want to devour you without realizing it."
The words murmured from right in front of me felt as if Go Yuri had really said them—or were just a whisper of my delusion.
It was impossible to gauge Go Yuri's sincerity in any statement.
She called me the ghost of dreams. But in truth, she was the mirage made entirely of dreams and flesh.
Maybe that was the tragedy assigned to the existence of Go Yuri.
As I looked up into Go Yuri's red well, such a thought struck me.
A week of nights passed.
Although it was quite a shock to offer my neck to an old comrade, my mental state recovered completely after a few rests.
I tossed some Ceylon tea into my mouth and farmed Silver Bells from the souvenir shop. Go Yuri watched me with amusement.
"What are you planning? As you said, the Bad Ending is an unbeatable enemy."
"The Bad Ending has its own uses."
Jingle.
The Silver Bell on my wrist rang softly. My personal item, ingrained even in the unconscious (pre-apocalypse price: 9,900 won), felt special today.
"The old man will return someday."
"Huh?"
"More precisely, I will make him return. The co-representative of the company ran off to be happy by himself; I must bring him back, right? The problem was that even if I caught the old man, I could only listen to the sound of a water rocket for now."
Old Man Scho's potential was extraordinary.
But it was 'only' potential.
When Old Man Scho was alive, it was a time when even the Korea Awakener's Federation couldn't catch Meteor Shower.
Can you believe it? Meteor Shower. That anomaly, now so trivial we call it a mid-boss, was something Old Man Scho would exclaim, "They expect us to clear this?"
Old Man Scho's time stopped at the 23rd cycle. From my perspective, that was more than thousands of years in the past.
No matter how successful or talented a person is, continuous adaptation to new eras is necessary. It would be absurd to claim, "Hey everyone! This is the most popular genre literature these days!" while bringing out the Epic of Gilgamesh now.
"I originally planned to train the old man like crazy if he returned. With his talent, I thought about lightly training him for about 200 years so he could at least be useful."
"Hehe."
"But here in the unconscious world, we have such a great answer sheet provided."
Go Yuri tilted her head.
"Answer sheet?"
Yes. An answer sheet.
I was ready to face Old Man Scho's Bad Ending, the Fallen Alter version, also known as the Sword Demon, again.
Like last time, the Sword Demon was wandering the scorched city of Seoul. Dragging an utterly unglamorous construction steel pipe.
As usual, wasn't he the one swallowing up all the elegance and dignity of the awakened ones?
For the sake of preserving the dignity and character of the awakened, it was inevitable that I, the Undertaker, had to step in.
I took a deep breath.
Then exhaled with all my might.
"Hey, you National Socialist German Workers' Party member bastard!"
"..."
Freeze—
A racial hate speech, which would make a well-educated German (excluding the 1930s) have a seizure, echoed loudly.
By the way, the National Socialist German Workers' Party, commonly known as NSDAP, was better known by its alias among the awakened ones. Nazis.
Incidentally, Old Man Scho was a person who voted for the Social Democratic Party of Germany from birth until the day the world ended. His blood was quite red.
Germany had produced both Karl Marx and Adolf Hitler. In other countries, the battle between fascists and communists might be a simple ideological struggle, but in Germany, it was compounded with feelings of ethnic hatred.
Even if one falls into being an anomaly, a true revolutionary fighter never betrays their ideology.
"Look at this!"
Flutter.
I shook an old banner.
"...."
The Sword Demon's focus wavered wildly upon seeing the symbol majestically depicted on the banner.
卍.
Though it was just a Buddhist symbol in the East, no Occidentalist could comprehend the profound teachings of Buddha.
The DNA of 'Ka' dormant in Old Man Scho's blood began an allergic overreaction to the sound of 'Ad.'
"Uuurgh!"
The German-born super-communist Swordmaster howled. If only his aura had been red, it would have been perfect.
But its power was undeniable.
True to the protocol to destroy the old and outdated world from its inception, Old Man Scho's swordplay—or rather, pipe-play—destroyed the city in an instant.
However, the Sword Demon's hand, aiming to cut me down, suddenly hit the brakes.
"...! ...!"
Where the Sword Demon's aura was heading, there were statues made of clay.
Busts of 'Karl Marx' and 'Rosa Luxemburg'!
The Sword Demon hesitated like a bugged NPC. His expression was like a Japanese Kirishitan ordered to step on a Jesus plaque to prove he wasn't a Christian.
Indeed, to the German-born old man, those two statues were like the holy icons of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.
If he swung his sword left, Marx would be destroyed, and if he attacked right, Luxemburg would be ruined.
"Ugh, uuurgh…!"
My preparations didn't end there.
Just in case, I had displayed all the busts of German leftist politicians I knew: Kurt Schumacher, Willy Brandt, Wilhelm Pieck, Walter Ulbricht, and so on.
Regardless of which faction Old Man Scho supported (though I wasn't interested in German politics, unifying the leftist factions was an illusion and an anomaly in itself), one of them would surely get him!
Yes.
I, the Undertaker, had spent a week hanging around Busan Station's waiting room just to show this.
Thanks to all the pointless efforts during every vacation cycle, my sculpting skills were quite impressive.
"Does the old man think he's the only one who can do domain expansion? This is my domain expansion."
"Uuurgh…"
"I've hidden statues all over this city like mines. Come forth, my unique barrier. The revolutionary space of red massacre."
"Uuuuurgh!"
Come, old communist.
Cry and prove your (ideological) purity.
-x-X-x-
The Eschatologist VI
"Hooah! Urrrrgghh!"
The Sword Demon charged.
However, compared to when he sliced my neck in one move, his movements were now like those of an old caterpillar.
In a bad sense, his footwork had changed. To avoid the mines (statues) I had planted all over the city, the Sword Demon was forced into inefficient paths.
Of course, it was hard to believe that Old Man Scho, who had fallen into corruption, still maintained the same fervent political ideology as before.
In fact, the statues I made the most were of Adele, Old Man Scho's wife.
Statues of her were hiding behind the statues of Marx and Luxemburg.
About 90% of the reason the Sword Demon hesitated in his iconoclasm was because of those statues of his wife.
One might wonder if I really needed the communist statues at all, but such a question would be against the anti-communist ideology of the Korean peninsula.
Why would I pass up the opportunity to legally ridicule and humiliate that senile old man? It was a fun event that came after thousands of years.
Regressors must enjoy things when they can.
Some of the wife's statues weren't just busts but half-body statues. I even added her right arm to make the "fuck you" gesture.
Hundreds of middle fingers were proudly raised at Old Man Scho.
The desolate ruins of the city had become a bit more interesting with these exterior decorations. This was environmental beautification and urban aesthetics at their best.
"...! ...!"
The Sword Demon howled again at my thoroughly prepared gift attack. He must have been touched by the dedication of an old comrade.
I couldn't understand the language of anomalies well, but if translated into German, it would probably have meant 'Danke.'
From behind me, Go Yuri muttered.
"Interesting..."
Leaving the amused observer behind, our exchange of swords—or rather, cane sword and steel pipe—became fierce.
Even if the opponent was Old Man Scho, who had reached max potential, fighting was manageable when his movements were restricted.
"Grrrr!"
The Sword Demon, frustrated, jumped into the air.
His plan was to leave no chance of stepping on the statues!
However, it was a half-baked plan. Apparently, that old man had been on vacation for so long that he had forgotten what kind of person I, the Undertaker, was.
"Look at me—!"
Rip!
I tore off my shirt without hesitation. From behind, Go Yuri laughed, "Oh my."
But my stripping wasn't for fan service. Nor was it to provoke the enemy like some holy knight tank.
It was purely out of a desire to show Old Man Scho the portrait drawn on my underwear.
A canvas-like white undershirt.
On it was a portrait of Mrs. Adele.
"...!"
Old Man Scho stopped mid-air as if he had collided with a car.
His fingers trembled as they clutched the steel pipe. His mouth hung open, producing only monstrous sounds, "Ugh—ugh?"
From his perspective, he had just witnessed a sudden masterpiece, so worship was inevitable.
Moreover, not only on the clothes but also on my forearms, hands, and feet, I had tattoos of Mrs. Adele.
The [Wife Shield], a complete upgrade of the [Friend Shield], had descended here.
"Try to attack, old man. Try to attack! Where will you strike? My neck? Do you see the ADELE tattooed here?"
"Ugh, ugh... Huh?"
"Cut it if you can! You rotten old man!"
The Sword Demon was at a loss. Even the Old Man Scho, who had abandoned friendship and fled, couldn't move against 'love.'
Remember, this is the orthodox way to deal with anomalies.
Servants go to great lengths to hide their true names for a reason. Knowing their identity reveals their weaknesses, and once you grasp that weakness, the stiff neck of the anomaly turns into a chicken neck.
From now on, it was my turn.
I charged with my entire body covered in an AT Field specially designed against the no-show.
"I've wanted to punch you for a thousand years!"
"Urrrrgh!"
Strike. Strike. And strike again.
Each time I swung my cane sword, Do-hwa, the Sword Demon could only dodge.
Even then, Old Man Scho's murky eyes kept scanning my skin, checking for gaps that didn't have a portrait or tattoo of Mrs. Adele.
But I didn't make the mistake of leaving my ankles as the only clean area, unlike a goddess trying to make a baby invincible.
As a Korean who grew up reading stories like 'The Child Warrior Udoori', which taught resilience from an early age, I avoided such fatal mistakes.
"Hrrrgh..."
In the end, Old Man Scho couldn't find any weakness on my body. The Sword Demon couldn't maintain his mid-air hover and fell.
His only option left was to get beaten by me.
And the beating targeted both his body and mind. I wasn't a dualist like Descartes, treating the physical and mental separately.
"Emit, what's wrong?"
"...?!"
"I'm at the conference right now! My God, have you been drinking? Why are you acting like a child? Wait a moment, Emit. I hear something strange in the sky!"
The lines spilling from my mouth.
They were an exact copy-paste of a 30-second phone call Old Man Scho had with his wife.
Highly developed plagiarism is indistinguishable from the original.
I not only copied the dialogue but also perfectly mimicked the voice. I converted the vibrations of the sound waves into aura, successfully reproducing 'Mrs. Adele's voice.'
This strategy was inspired by the 107th cycle when I fought the corrupted version of the Saintess, the Executioner. Using a tactic created by a fallen one against another fallen one was an achievement of human intellect.
"My brother's name is Maximillian! God, Emit, what are you talking about? This is driving me crazy. Hold on, let's talk about this in person later!"
"Ugh, ugh, urgh..."
Old Man Scho was helpless against my 'voice phishing' strategy.
The mental resilience of a German crumbled in real time against a Korean scam attack.
"Well, well..."
Watching our fight, Go Yuri had a look of sheer ecstasy on her face.
It was like the expression of someone who bought a pastry from a subway bakery that smelled amazing and found it tasted just as good. Just watching seemed to satisfy her.
The battle continued for one, two, three, four days.
In this fierce battle, I wasn't just releasing thousands of years of accumulated stress on Old Man Scho. That was only 85% of the purpose.
The remaining 15% was to learn by observing the 'answer sheet,' as I had told Go Yuri.
'This anomaly before me is, after all, a manifestation of the potential talent Old Man Scho might have developed.'
Hoo—
I controlled my breathing as I deflected the opponent's aura and stared straight at the Sword Demon.
Rather than orthodox techniques, it was a mix of unconventional and demonic arts. It was closer to a level built through sinister energy rather than pure martial aura, yet the Sword Demon was undeniably one of the possibilities for 'Emit Schopenhauer' as a martial artist.
My gaze sharpened.
'I must remember as much as possible.'
The grip on the sword handle.
The direction of his swings. The proportion and method of mixing feints into his attacks. The angles at which he added weight to his strikes and the speed at which he deftly parried. The way he utilized aura in his swordsmanship.
If Old Man Scho had not dropped out of the game from the 23rd cycle, he might have eventually developed such sword techniques.
'I'll observe, remember, and pass it on.'
For the Old Man Scho who would return someday.
Therefore, I extended the battle as long as possible, even though I could have ended it faster.
I introduced numerous scenarios. How would he react if attacked from the left?
How would he defend against an ambush of formless aura while pretending to swing a sword?
What if I did this? What about that? Oh, what about this?
I threw countless question marks at my enemy.
"Urrrrgh!"
And my comrade answered with countless exclamation points.
Pounding those curved question marks into his unique exclamation marks, that was the path the martial artist walked.
Even if a human fell into being an anomaly, their blade remained straight.
'I can't quite grasp the subtleties.'
I admitted it honestly. As Old Man Scho said, my martial talent was rather lacking.
I had hoped for something, but my senses weren't dramatically impressed by the dazzling display of swordsmanship and footwork unfolding before me.
Moments of enlightenment or breakthroughs commonly seen in martial arts novels didn't seem to have any connection with me.
As a martial artist, I was less than mediocre.
'But if I accurately imitate and demonstrate it, Old Man Scho will understand the hidden meanings.'
However, as a supporter, I had supreme talent.
I rarely felt more grateful for the [Complete Memory] ability than now.
I was always faithful to the role assigned to me as a regressor in this world. I helped my comrades. Supported them. Connected them.
I used time and death, the absolute barriers for mortal humans, as stepping stones to link the frontline like a thread.
"Old man, you're not fighting me right now, nor are you fighting to defeat me."
The dark aura and the night-sky-colored aura intertwined.
"Ugh! Hrr, hurrrgh!"
"You're fighting to become a better person than you are now. This is quite a fortuitous thing. After all, isn't every battle a duel with oneself?"
"...!"
"I'll make a prediction. Someday, you will lose your life under your own blade."
The battle that had lasted all night for four days was gradually coming to an end.
I thought of it as a long letter that the current Old Man Scho was sending to his future self.
In the past, people exchanged letters with recorded game moves to play Go over long distances.
So it wouldn't be strange for two martial artists to pass on their martial arts across a bit of time.
"... Ugh, ugh..."
The Sword Demon was completely exhausted.
Even a slaughter machine driven solely by 'love for his wife' had its limits.
Due to the inherent limitations of being based on a human body, the Sword Demon's muscles were weary from endless minor wounds, and his heart groaned under relentless fatigue.
The aura was not infinite either.
In the battlefield environment, manipulated to be thoroughly advantageous to me, it was Old Man Scho whose engine cooled down first.
Pop, pop, pop—
The once grand aura of the Sword Demon, enough to turn broad daylight into night sky, had diminished to nothing.
Like a broken TV occasionally showing noise, the night-sky color flickered around Old Man Scho's shoulders.
If the Sword Demon was the fallen form of Old Man Scho.
That sight was the collapse of that anomaly.
Yes. Although it might be paradoxical for a regressor like me to say, many events have an end.
The time to bury the small time capsule in my mind was approaching.
"Ugh, ugh... huh..."
As I stepped back, the Sword Demon reflexively swung his steel pipe.
Sway—
The strike was pathetic, slicing only through the air.
The Sword Demon tried to follow me, but his steps faltered, and he fell. His ankles were slashed with dozens of wounds like a tree stump poorly felled by an unskilled lumberjack.
The Sword Demon tried to crawl with his hands.
But his nails were all broken from the rough handling of aura.
Crunch! Each time the Sword Demon moved, blood gushed from his ten broken nails.
The Sword Demon's blood was pitch black, smelling like charcoal.
A long trail of ash followed.
"..."
I raised Do-hwa.
Determined to deliver the final blow to Old Man Scho, to his remnants, to his bad ending.
If Old Man Scho were to die, I thought for a long time that I would be the only one qualified to conduct his funeral.
But I had to momentarily pause my downward strike.
Old Man Scho wasn't crawling towards me, the one he had fought for four days straight.
"...Ah..."
He was crawling a little further back.
"...Adele... Ah..."
He was heading towards Go Yuri.
-x-X-x-
The Eschatologist VII
I had witnessed the deaths of many comrades. I protected their deaths and watched over them. This was one of the reasons I was given the name "Undertaker."
Looking back now, the death of the Sword Star, Emit Schopenhauer, always happened too quickly, too easily.
-Old man! Watch out for the tentacle!
-Huh?
Old Man Scho fought on the front lines like a true dealer. Thus, he had to die earlier than a supporter like me.
If someone were to request a painting titled "The Death of Old Man Scho" from me, I would capture one of two scenes.
The first would be of him being turned into KFC chicken pieces by the tentacles of the Ten Clans. The second would be of him collapsing headless like a Dullahan in the old Baekje Hospital café.
Either way, his death began too swiftly and ended too abruptly.
Old Man Scho's end never allowed him the leisure to leave a final word.
Even when we agreed to end a cycle mutually, it was the same. Those deaths were not 'Game Over,' but just hitting the 'Continue' button, so there was no reason to leave any last words.
Thus, this was the first time I truly witnessed my friend's end.
"...Adele..."
Plop. Splatter.
Emit Schopenhauer crawled. He crawled towards Go Yuri, bleeding black ink-like blood through his broken nails.
"..."
Seeing my old comrade in such a state, my grip on the sword wavered.
Should I behead him immediately to preserve his last shred of dignity? Or should I allow him to see Adele's face, even in a hallucination, as he closed his eyes?
Click, clack. My sword wobbled somewhere between drawing and sheathing.
At each short step, one side held reality's dignity, while the other held the happiness of dreams.
"Shh."
Go Yuri's whisper was faster than my sword.
"Leave it to me, guild leader."
"..."
Go Yuri placed a finger to her lips with one eye closed, smiling softly.
There was a time I genuinely liked that smile. Now, I couldn't trust Go Yuri.
Still, at that moment, I let go of my sword.
Was it because I had spent a week with Go Yuri and had been subtly brainwashed?
Or was it because, as Undertaker, I instinctively felt that Go Yuri was the right person to give Old Man Scho a proper funeral?
In my silent gaze, Old Man Scho crawled.
"Adele... Adele..."
Finally, his mangled nails touched Go Yuri's foot.
Splurt. The black blood he spilled like ink stained her shoes. The thick, viscous blood ran down her loafers.
"Yes."
Go Yuri crouched down. With her gloved hands, she gently held Old Man Scho's worn-out hand, covered in black.
"Emit."
"..."
Old Man Scho looked up with a blank expression. Go Yuri smiled softly.
"You've worked hard, Emit."
"..."
"My, you look so tired. Where have you been running around like this?"
"...,..."
"Yes. You sometimes get fixated on the strangest things and never listen to others. I always worry about you."
"..."
"Are you okay? You mustn't overdo it. You should always think about your health."
Only "Ah-" and "Hrr-" sounds came from Old Man Scho's mouth.
Thinking about it, few regressors had such a pitiful fate.
His wife was a scholar. She was invited to an academic conference at a university in Korea. Old Man Scho traveled with her to this distant, unfamiliar land.
He had no particular interest in this place. Korea was just a gray zone he had never thought about.
It was merely a place to enjoy a light overseas trip with his wife.
Now, having lost his wife, what meaning could this land hold for Emit Schopenhauer?
I found it hard to imagine the sorrow of those who lose loved ones in a foreign land.
For Emit Schopenhauer, the only path left was to search for his beloved wife.
Their reunion could only happen in two ways. A brief phone call of just a few seconds, or an illusion in the void of this unconscious world.
"..."
"Yes, you."
Go Yuri knelt and gently embraced Old Man Scho.
"I love you too."
"..."
With a final sigh, Old Man Scho's body collapsed.
His flesh turned into a black liquid, and the liquid soon scattered as charcoal dust. It seemed there was a lot to turn into dust in his body, as the black ash spread across the ruins of the city.
Go Yuri knelt, holding the ashes in her embrace.
This was how Go Yuri conducted a funeral for a human.
I moved my lips.
"...Was the old man smiling at the end?"
"..."
Go Yuri stood up with a light grunt and dusted off the ash that had covered her body.
The scattering ash made 'Cough, cough' and 'Achoo' sounds. Go Yuri laughed awkwardly.
"Well, maybe he was having a happy dream. Guild leader, which would you prefer?"
"Prefer?"
"Would you like him to have smiled in my arms? Or would you prefer he regained his senses at the very end, rejecting the false comfort?"
"..."
I had to remain silent.
Go Yuri watched me for a while. Her curved smile seemed to observe my heartbeat, not my face.
I hoped she couldn't hear my heartbeat. It was a reasonably realistic expectation.
Boom.
Just then, the ruins of the city roared, swallowing all surrounding sounds and echoes.
Go Yuri looked up at the sky.
"Ah, this place's bad ending is over."
She put her hands behind her back.
"Really, I can finally breathe a bit. Thank you, guild leader. Thanks to you, I feel a bit more at ease."
"...What do you mean?"
"Haha. Recently, there have been too many powerful nightmares here. If not for you defeating Cheon Yo-hwa and the Puppeteer, I wouldn't have been able to handle it."
"That's strange."
I frowned.
"To Yo-hwa and Ha-yul, you probably appeared as me. Shouldn't that have made it easier to control them?"
"They said there couldn't be two guild leaders, so they left the doll and tried to kill me."
"..."
"Well."
Clap. Go Yuri clapped her hands.
Then we were back in the waiting room of Busan Station.
This was evidence that Go Yuri had taken control of this unconscious world.
"Now you can leave anytime. Before, I didn't have enough power to help you. When you sleep here and wake up, it will be reality."
"..."
"Lie down here, guild leader."
Tap, tap.
Go Yuri playfully patted her thighs as she sat on the bench, seemingly ready to offer another lap pillow.
"Hmm."
Returning to reality was good news.
It meant I had somewhat cleared this vast void, called 'Dream within a Dream,' 'World After the Bad Ending,' and 'Parallel World.'
But Go Yuri's words were problematic.
If she intended to cooperate from the beginning, why did she get rid of the 264 Tutorial Fairies?
Was it to ensure I would rely on her and use my hands to clear the 'Bad Endings'? Did she eliminate the Baku as a variable in advance?
Most importantly...
"You. You're not just an illusion."
"Hmm?"
"A week ago, you introduced yourself as nothing more than a manifestation of my fears and aversions, separate from the real Go Yuri."
Indeed.
This was what Go Yuri had said.
-Wouldn't it be accurate to say I am a manifestation of your fears and aversions, guild leader?
-Of course, it's sad that your unconscious fears took my form.
But just now, she had confessed.
"Then how did you almost get killed by Yo-hwa and Ha-yul? Before I entered this place, my fears wouldn't have been materialized, and you wouldn't have existed."
"..."
Go Yuri's lips emitted a humming sound.
After a while, she smiled.
"That's strange."
She smiled as if in a bind.
"Guild leader, your 'memory' is very, very strong, isn't it?"
"..."
"You don't just have a good memory. Ah. Well, then many things make sense."
"You."
"I'm always here, guild leader. For thousands of years, and for thousands more."
Step.
Go Yuri approached.
"You helped me, so I will help you. Because you lived so diligently, too many sediments have accumulated here."
"Sediments."
"Yes. Think about it. You wouldn't have encountered the 'Logout Game' or met your end there if it weren't for those sediments."
"..."
"But you ended up witnessing it. The nightmare that should have ended with the Ten Legs continued to increase as you kept moving forward. Countless apocalyptic forms have piled up. Ah."
Of course, she said.
"I'm not blaming you. I'm just pointing out that the nightmares you witnessed keep piling up in your unconscious."
"..."
"When you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. Isn't that your favorite quote, guild leader? Yes. You've nurtured such a void in your heart."
Step.
Go Yuri drew closer.
"So—sometimes, I think it would be good for you to come down here and clean up periodically."
"Clean up."
"Yes. Like cleaning a house. When you return, I will sometimes come out to greet you."
"Are you saying you are my collaborator?"
"Of course, guild leader. I am, after all, your guild member."
"Then you can fulfill my request."
I said.
"Yuri, please disappear from my dreams. That would be much better for my mental health."
"Haha."
Go Yuri reached out. Her palm gently covered my eyes.
Warm darkness.
"I'm sorry, but that's not possible, guild leader."
A whisper scented with apples brushed against my nose.
"Because we are already one."
Everything faded to black.
There are epilogues.
The first epilogue.
Afterward, I returned to reality safely as Go Yuri promised.
However, the Tutorial Fairies that should have been around my bed were nowhere to be seen. For some reason, they were back at the casino, working normally.
It was truly baffling. When I asked if they weren't in the middle of performing a ritual to bring me into the unconscious world, they replied.
"Huh?"
Fairy number 264, whose head should have been chopped off in the dream, tilted her head innocently.
"What are you talking about, Secretary? We can show humans the dreams they desire, but we don't have the power to take you to such a scary place."
"..."
"Dreams are meant to be enjoyed, not explored like ruins! We have never received such an order from you, and even if we had, it would have been impossible to fulfill it!"
The fairy giggled.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but it felt like there was a hint of apple scent in the air.
The second epilogue.
Regardless of the fairies' stories, it was certain that I had somewhat conquered the 'Dream within a Dream,' 'World After the Bad Ending,' and 'Parallel World.'
The effects of my conquest began to show from the very next day.
First, there were testimonies on SG Net.
-Anonymous: Had an amazing sleep last night, thumbs up if you did too lol
└Anonymous: You too?? I've been having nightmares since I came back from the void, but last night I slept like a baby, no joke.
└LiteraryGirl: ? Me too, weird.
-[Yuldoguk] SwordMarquis: For arduous training, healthy sleep is essential. Last night, I also slept properly to glimpse the realm of nothingness.
-[National Road] Officer: Habits while awake carry over to sleeping habits. Those who suffer from insomnia should look back at their daily routines and fix any issues.
-Anonymous: I don't care about anything else; I just wish I could sleep like last night every night.
Similar phenomena must have occurred abroad as well.
As I always emphasize, mental health is crucial for humans, and healthy sleep is a significant aspect of it.
In that sense, I, the Undertaker, might as well celebrate for contributing a little to the mental health of all humanity.
"Good morning, guild leader."
"Good morning, my ass. It's a shitty morning. Thanks to someone, I only got three hours of sleep. But you seem very happy...?"
"Oh."
...I suddenly realized I hadn't conquered the bad ending of the person most in need of sleep health.
Next time, I should look for Noh Do-hwa's appearance in the unconscious world first.
The third epilogue.
This last epilogue is not something that actually happened in reality. It's just a scene I, the Undertaker, saw in a dream.
But there are those dreams, aren't there?
Dreams so vivid that it's hard to distinguish them from reality when you look back on them later.
In that dream, I was dreaming of Old Man Scho.
As dreams often go, the perspective was unclear.
Sometimes, I observed Old Man Scho from a third-person perspective.
Sometimes, I possessed him, enjoying a first-person protagonist view.
And beside Emit Schopenhauer, there was Adele.
-...
-...
We spent a delightful day together.
Adele liked to walk, and I liked walking with Adele.
-I know a good path for a walk.
-Really? How?
-Well, just follow me.
I revealed hidden walking routes to Adele, who knew nothing about Korean geography.
Throughout my regressions, I had occasionally found good walking paths for times like this. In Seoul, Sejong, and Busan, I showed my wife the paths I had noted.
Adele was delighted as if she had received a surprise gift.
-You have such good taste!
Hearing that made all the effort of researching worthwhile.
As the day was ending.
We were sitting on a bench together when, suddenly, I saw a familiar face in the distance, beyond the blue hydrangeas and cypress trees.
My friend. The Undertaker was standing against a tree.
'Ah.'
At that moment, I realized.
This sunset-tinged landscape was a dream.
'Yes. I wanted to see my wife before I died.'
I wanted to grow old with you.
I wanted to live with you.
I wanted to die with you, but.
I couldn't.
-Emit?
-...
I held her hand tightly.
In the remaining time, I murmured to Adele.
-Hey. I had a tough day.
-Hmm?
-It was really hard after we parted.
Adele was startled.
She asked if I was okay.
I looked at her face. As long as possible. As deeply as possible.
-Yeah. But it's okay.
I was glad to have survived until now.
For the first time, I thought it was fortunate to have survived so diligently. It might have been closer to escape than survival. Yet, it was good I didn't disappear forever.
Because it allowed this moment.
-Because I'm with you, everything is okay.
I said.
-I love you.
And there, my dream ended.
It was just a dream, but I had to sit on my bed for a while.
Was that dream just a fantasy entirely created in my mind?
Or did I momentarily connect with a scene Old Man Scho had really dreamed of, thanks to the unconscious world's pathways?
Or... perhaps, was that the illusion Go Yuri showed the 'Sword Demon' as she embraced him for the last time?
'Which would you prefer, guild leader?'
Go Yuri's voice echoed in my mind.
'Would you prefer he smiled in my arms?'
'Or would you prefer he regained his senses at the very end, rejecting the false comfort?'
I smiled wryly.
Indeed. Even if Old Man Scho fell into being an anomaly, I wished his end to be peaceful.
If that dream was truly the vision Go Yuri showed, I would have to acknowledge this one thing.
That a demise in Go Yuri's embrace was the coziest end the world could offer.
-x-X-x-
The Impostor I
If you've been following the story this far, you might have vaguely realized it.
There is a certain element essential to genre fiction that is missing from my story.
This element is so important that without it, people would question why the protagonist even bothers to act like a hero.
It's the 'monopolization of fortuitous encounters.'
For example, think about Oh Dok-seo in the 555th cycle. The moment she thought she was inside a novel, didn't she have thoughts like this?
[Oh Dok-seo: Well, anyway. The important thing in the Busan Station part is how early you secure the elixir hidden in Haeundae, that's all.]
Ah, fortuitous encounters! Such a sweet sound.
Like an elixir that instantly raises your state. Or a secret manual buried halfway up a cliff for some reason. Or raising the strongest person in the world from a young age, ensuring they become dependent on you through gaslighting. Or farming an item whose value no one yet knows.
Snatching those things lightly and saying, 'I'm lucky,' in a cool manner is the dignity bestowed upon the protagonist of genre literature.
To be honest, I, the Undertaker, also had a bit of luck in my youth.
I was more of an 'adventurous hunter of fortuitous encounters.'
If I entered a void, it meant there was a rare item to be farmed there.
It was the same with anomalies. Although I kept it secret until now, the 'Heart of Ten Legs' was an extremely rare item. Eating it raw would easily accumulate an era's worth of inner energy (it tastes like tuna belly).
However, unlike the past, I no longer obsess over such items.
In fact, I actively avoid them.
Unless it's absolutely necessary, I decline. If it's too valuable to pass up, I hand it over to someone else instead of taking it myself.
"Why... Why on earth?"
Oh Dok-seo once furrowed her brow upon hearing about my policy.
At that time, Dok-seo was taking a short break while writing my story. She seemed a bit exhausted, so I specially prepared Ten Legs sushi using the heart of Ten Legs for her.
Dok-seo, munching away and saying, 'It really tastes like tuna sashimi,' continued.
"Are you a hipster or something? Do you think monopolizing fortuitous encounters is too clichéd for a protagonist?"
"Not at all. If possible, I would love to monopolize fortuitous encounters. Since I have the [Resume] ability, the more encounters I have, the better."
"Then why... Oh! Is it because it's more efficient for your companions to have them instead of you?"
"Hmm. That's part of it, but... It's easier to show you."
I liked educating Dok-seo about 'anomalies.' It would be helpful later on.
I opened my subspace trunk bag and took out a notebook and an item, placing them on the table.
Dok-seo's eyes widened.
It seemed to be an item familiar to this otaku.
"...What is this? Isn't it the [Monkey's Paw]?"
"Oh. You recognize it immediately."
The Monkey's Paw.
This anomaly, which looks like a monkey's paw, grants three wishes to a person.
However, being an anomaly, it never grants wishes in a normal way.
To the caster who dares to wish for a shortcut in life, some form of 'misfortune' will befall them.
If you wish for 'eternal life,' it won't grant you eternal youth, so you'll enjoy an endless silver life, forever aging.
If you wish for 'eternal youth and life,' it ensures you survive the end of the world to endlessly wander the universe alone.
If you wish for 'eternal youth and life with the ability to end it whenever you want,' it creates countless horrendous and tragic events around you to test if you won't die even then.
Is it absurd?
Yes, it is absurd.
That absurdity is the essence of the [Monkey's Paw] anomaly.
Wishing without side effects is impossible. It's the dark evolved alter version of the magic lamp with the genie.
"Strictly speaking, it's both a monkey's paw and a human's hand."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"By the time I found it, someone had already made three wishes."
"Yikes."
Unfortunately, this end-of-the-world scenario had fully implemented the curse of the Monkey's Paw.
"Dok-seo, if someone who thinks they're smart but doesn't know what anomalies are found the [Monkey's Paw], what kind of wishes do you think they would make?"
"...There are three wish slots. So first, 'Please remove the side effects of the wishes.'"
I smiled faintly.
"Good. And next?"
"Uh... Remove the limit on the number of wishes? Three wishes aren't enough. Although many stories don't grant such a wish, it's worth trying."
"Wow. How can you be so predictable?"
"Huh?"
"I'll explain later. Anyway, what's the final wish?"
"Um..."
Dok-seo, after eating another piece of Ten Legs sushi, opened her mouth.
"It's a tough choice, but I'd wish for 'luck.'"
"..."
"The Monkey's Paw brings misfortune to its user, right? This is a counterattack. If I'm extremely lucky from the start, the misfortune itself will be suppressed."
I had a hard time suppressing a bitter smile.
Dok-seo's answer was textbook. Cheon Yo-hwa, Lee Ha-yul, and Seo Gyu gave similar answers when I asked them.
Though the details of their wishes varied, their goals were the same. 'To eliminate the limitations and side effects of the Monkey's Paw.'
"You're right. No matter who found it, they would have made similar wishes."
"Oh, yeah."
I took a sip of my café au lait.
Then, I looked at the notebook placed next to the Monkey's Paw on the table.
"That's why monopolizing fortuitous encounters became impossible for me."
I first discovered the Monkey's Paw in Jeju Island.
At the time, I was exploring the tutorial dungeon that appeared at Seongsan Ilchulbong.
The dungeon had a [School Trip] concept, and along with [Baekhwa Girls' High], it was one of the earliest tutorial dungeons to appear.
In the tutorial dungeon, Seongsan Ilchulbong's elevation grew to the height of Mount Everest.
By the time I arrived, the tutorial had long ended, and Seongsan Ilchulbong had returned to its normal size.
I was searching around the long-concluded tutorial site, hoping to find any salvageable items.
'There are quite a few corpses.'
There were no noticeable items. But as expected from a tutorial dungeon, skeletons and corpses were scattered from the entrance of the hiking trail.
'Are there any familiar faces among the dead?'
Checking the corpses' ID cards and badges, most of the bodies near the entrance were Japanese.
There were about 16 corpses in total.
It wasn't unusual. There were a few Japanese, like Uehara Shino, in the Busan Station tutorial dungeon.
More Japanese would have been summoned forcibly in Jeju Island, which is closer to Japan than Busan.
"Hmm?"
It was then.
I found a slightly 'peculiar corpse' near the summit.
First, the corpse was covered in thick hair.
No, it went beyond thick; it looked like it was smeared with hair growth lotion all over. At first glance, it could be mistaken for an animal carcass or a bush.
Most notably, the corpse was in an odd position.
Hidden in a slope far away from the tourist trail, it was at an angle just out of sight.
'Is this also a victim of the tutorial?'
The corpse was clutching a thick notebook in both hands.
I picked up the notebook, thinking it might be the person's last will.
"Day 1"
I'm writing this diary just in case something happens.
The will was written in Japanese, not Korean.
Flip. Without much thought, I turned the first page of the will.
The world has gone strange.
It was strange before, but now it's even stranger. People are dying absurdly easily.
But I'm lucky! When I was pulled into this mysterious place, a 'Monkey's Paw' was right in front of me.
Thanks to watching the
It's amazing that my ex-girlfriend's otaku hobby helped me now.
Thank you, Sena. I'll forgive you for cheating on me with others.
The Koreans around me didn't seem to know what it was. I quickly put it in my backpack, afraid someone might notice.
Monkey's Paw?
I looked at the corpse again. The body was so hairy it was hard to recognize its face.
'Hmm. Now that I think about it, it does look like monkey hair...'
Did this person make wishes on the Monkey's Paw and end up enchanted by the anomaly?
Flip. I kept turning the pages.
"Day 2"
What wishes should I make if I had a 'Monkey's Paw'?
I once talked about this with Sena.
I thought it was just a silly conversation, but I never expected to be given such luck.
I feel destined.
No matter how many side effects the Monkey's Paw has, it would be foolish not to use it. People are dropping dead left and right. I have to survive somehow.
Thinking like this is the only way to endure, with so many people dying around me. I want to eat gyudon and pineapple.
Borrowing the power of an anomaly.
"Mm."
This was a thought one might have before fully acclimating to the end-of-the-world scenario.
Even I, who had experienced hundreds of cycles, could only use the likes of tutorial fairies and the Inunaki Tunnel, and even those with many restrictions.
A path a beginner should not tread lightly.
But I could understand the desperation to take a gamble in a life-threatening situation.
Flip. I continued reading.
"Day 3"
The Japanese gathered and formed a party. A girl named Yō was particularly strong.
But she insisted that we share our resources by opening our backpacks to each other. Is she crazy? These are personal belongings.
I wanted to join another group, but most of them were Koreans, and communication was difficult. I asked for a day to think about it.
Yō looked at me expressionlessly and said to do as I wished.
She really creeps me out. Fine, have it your way.
Tonight, I plan to use the Monkey's Paw.
Flip.
"Day 4"
I have meticulously planned my wishes for the Monkey's Paw over the past few days.
Here they are in order:
1. Please don't create any side effects for my wishes.
2. Remove the limit on the number of wishes. If removing the limit is impossible, pretend this wish wasn't made.
3. Give me luck. Prevent any 'accidental misfortunes' from befalling me, like getting hit by a falling rock.
The core of these wishes is the third one: 'luck.'
I considered other cheat abilities but ultimately dismissed them all. No matter how powerful an ability, if the Monkey's Paw brings misfortune, it would be pointless.
Luck. With overwhelming luck, any ability or misfortune would pale in comparison.
Maybe the Monkey's Paw will play some trick while I'm making my wishes.
It's a devil, after all.
So, I'm thinking of writing my three wishes on a piece of paper and presenting them all at once.
Honestly, I don't know what will happen. I think I've prepared well, but just in case, I'm leaving this diary like a will.
If I fail, I hope whoever finds this diary can use it more wisely.
Here goes.
"..."
I found myself deeply engrossed in the diary of this unknown awakener.
Judging by the fact they ended up a corpse, it seemed they failed. But there's as much to learn from failure as from success.
This awakener adhered to a fundamental principle in dealing with anomalies and voids: 'Leave records for others.'
This corpse and I were comrades navigating the apocalypse together.
Flip. My handling of the diary grew more respectful.
"Day 5"
I did it!
While on watch, centaur monsters attacked, but for some reason, they didn't notice me at all and went after everyone else.
Half the group died, but I didn't get a scratch. Even Yō, the strongest among us, got injured.
Surprisingly, the second wish also came true! Unlimited wishes! Hooray!
With the certainty that I'd never die an absurd death, I felt at ease. Yō's face didn't bother me anymore.
Amazing. It's real.
I wished to eat gyudon, and after killing a monster, gyudon dropped. It was so absurd I laughed.
I got six bowls of gyudon and shared them with the group. Yō's expressionless face looked surprised.
Yeah. That's the role that suits you. Just an extra.
Though our numbers halved, the power of gyudon lifted everyone's spirits. I realized anew the importance of food.
Thank you, Sena! It's all thanks to you! I'll forgive you for dating four other guys while with me!
The excitement in the handwriting was palpable.
In my mind, I pictured someone who had risked everything on a final gamble and succeeded, cheering in victory.
But unlike the diary's owner, I remained cautious.
'If this person truly succeeded, they wouldn't have ended up a corpse.'
The joy continued on the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th days. After the 11th day, the diary entries became sporadic.
When I finally flipped to the later pages.
The diary resumed, and her handwriting trembled from a different kind of emotion.
"Day 6??"
Something's wrong. Something's very wrong.
When I woke up today, centaur monsters were attacking. Everything felt familiar, as if it was a repeat of the 5th day.
Half the group died. Yō got injured in the same place. Everything repeated exactly.
The diary's owner seemed to maintain some composure for a while.
She became diligent in recording the details, noting every event and sign meticulously.
But as the '6th day??' repeated, she could no longer keep her sanity. Her mental strength wasn't that strong to begin with.
Something's wrong something's wrong something's wrong something's wrong something's wrong something's wrong something's wrong something's wrong
One page was filled with the word 'wrong' written over and over.
Then, after a long gap, a sudden cold sentence appeared in the middle of a blank page.
Time is looping?