The Wicked One II
I'll give you a heads-up. Oh Dok-seo may have an extraordinary knack for idiocy, but she wasn't a complete fool. Despite her appearance, she could handle herself alone in most voids and carry her own weight.
In other words, while she might leave her door "slightly" ajar while writing her novel, she wasn't so brainless as to fully expose her actions.
And yet, here the door was, open. In the end, I ended up witnessing the crime scene.
So then.
"Dok-seo, what on earth are you doing right now?"
The person who left the door open was none other than Sim Ah-ryeon. Not only did she flaunt her idiocy, but she also held the top spot as "SG-Net's Idiot of the Year" for six consecutive years.
In this round, the 888th, she wasn't cosplaying as the Saintess of the North. She was just living as Dok-seo's roommate.
Sim Ah-ryeon urgently grabbed Dok-seo's shoulders. "Could it be that you're using AI generation again? You said you wouldn't use it anymore..."
"No, you can't...! You promised it would be the last time! But here you are again, right before the serialization deadline, giving in to that AI temptation!"
"Oho! How dare you call it AI temptation!" Dok-seo shouted with the power of the Lion's Roar, as if addressing a lowly peasant. "This is nothing more than a new method of writing for the new era! I, the great Literary Girl, am merely keeping up with the trends, mastering them tirelessly, and applying cutting-edge technology as an auxiliary tool for writing!"
"That doesn't make it right. If you keep depending on such... dark arts, not even the meager strengths you originally had will remain."
"Argh! I said, let go!" With a forceful shove, Dok-seo knocked Ah-ryeon to the ground.
"Kyaaah!" she screamed as she fell with the grace of a tragic heroine. "Writing produced through such AI temptation isn't your work anymore, Dok-seo..."
"How dare you say that! Are you serious? I, the Literary Girl, generated the prompts and typed them myself! Of course, it's my writing!"
"Do you really believe that?"
"Of course! It's no different from a painter wielding a brush, using colors that already exist, or a photographer using a ready-made camera to take pictures. It's all the same artistic act, an act of creation! Your narrow-mindedness is what's stopping you from embracing the new era's trends! That's why it takes you 10 or 20 hours just to finish one illustration!"
"That's nonsense... Dok-seo, cameras and AI generation are completely different."
"In what way?"
"Try reading this garbage sentence out loud." Sim Ah-ryeon held up the laptop. Then, she unleashed one of the most wicked and vicious methods for killing a writer—an impromptu reading session.
"Look at this: 'The Undertaker let out a strange sigh for the 300th time and took out the black suit he bought at Busan Station... The 300th strange Busan Station story of the regressor protagonist, the Undertaker, was about to begin...' Do you really think this is your writing? Were you always this terrible...?"
"Gah!"
Dok-seo spat blood. Not physical blood, but the blood of her soul. Sim Ah-ryeon had the nose of a shark, capable of sniffing out the scent of others' spilt blood with uncanny precision. Despite her cute appearance, she was a predator in the food chain.
"Your novels were always frustratingly long-winded, making it hard to tell if they were literary works or some kind of endurance test... But they were still better than this trash! No wonder you're always getting crushed by me in the SG-Net Novel Serialization Board rankings, like a worthless hack..."
"Hey!" Dok-seo snapped. "Your novel ranks high only because of the illustrations! You keep plastering them all over the author's notes, that's why your ranking is so high!"
"Oh... So you think readers are sticking around for the illustrations? That's a pathetic excuse... But I know something even more pathetic than making excuses... It's the fact that you keep generating those AI-written sentences... They're pure garbage..."
"It's just that I haven't finished revising yet!"
Dok-seo snatched the laptop back from Ah-ryeon and started typing away with the dexterity of an AI pianist, entering new prompts.
Massage the sentences in the style of Chuck Palahniuk, add a dash of Stephen King, and a pinch of Lee Yeongdo.
Soon, the screen displayed new sentences.
――――――――――
I sighed again. Three hundred times now. Each breath mingles with the stifling air of Busan Station, morphing into something almost tangible before it dissipates into nothingness. Maybe it will wedge itself into the cracks of this city's concrete, festering into something vile.
I pulled out the black suit, the one from the underground mall here at Busan Station. Never been cleaned in three hundred lives, but it's fused with me now—my skin, my shadow, my constant, unrelenting prison.
The show is set to start. Curtain rises on performance number 300. The stage is this monstrous station, and I am both actor and spectator, sometimes even the sacrificial lamb in this endless, twisted play.
A whisper slithers into my ear. The voice of Busan Station, like a cold draft: "Ready, Undertaker?" I grinned. Ready? Hell yes. My heart hammers in my chest, bracing for the next nightmarish chapter in this relentless, haunting saga.
――――――――――
Dok-seo pointed at the screen. "See? Isn't this way better than those mass-produced sentences from earlier? I'm sure the readers won't have any complaints!"
"Dok-seo..."
"This is the power of my prompt engineering! My own uniqueness! The originality of AI art!"
"You're really doing something crazy, Dok-seo..." Sim Ah-ryeon pouted and sniffled. "This is exactly why AI generation is different from a camera... You know that, right? AI uses learning data, which is the creative work that others have poured their sweat and blood into... How can that possibly be your own writing, Dok-seo?"
"It's fine! Chuck Palahniuk and Stephen King are public figures! Their work is public property!"
"Oh my god..."
"And besides, you know that canned hotel where all the writers of the Korean Peninsula stay? Who owns that? It's the Undertaker, isn't it? I'm writing for him! All the writers on the Korean Peninsula owe him! So... No one can criticize my noble cause! If they don't like it, they should write their own regressor memoirs!"
Seriously?
"Hahaha! That's right! I can look up to the sky without a shred of shame! I'll prove that this cutting-edge future technology, which is bound to be persecuted, is the way forward! I am a Prompt Artist!"
My heart and Sim Ah-ryeon's heartbeat resonated. To be able to force such a guilty rhythm upon my heart—she was truly no ordinary being.
"Dok-seo... How did you end up like this...? Even the guild leader won't be able to forgive such a heinous act..."
And thus, the genre takes a sharp drift. As Dok-seo ascended the throne of the corrupt AI and Sim Ah-ryeon blamed herself for failing to stop her, the story shifted from a Blizzard-style RPG cinematic movie to—
A horror movie. Sim Ah-ryeon's head snapped up to look straight into my eyes.
"Right, Guild Leader?"
"..."
To be honest, I wanted to abandon my coffee and everything else and moonwalk out of there like Michael Jackson. However, the scene before me had some drug-like quality to it. It was impossible to look away.
There was undoubtedly some addictive substance in Sim Ah-ryeon's voice and tone that humanity has yet to identify. I sincerely hope that my readers also take note of this bizarre fact.
"Huh? Wait, why is there a... a man here?"
Most likely, Sim Ah-ryeon had been secretly leaving the door open every time Dok-seo started writing (or "prompting") for the past few days.
Why? Because she expected me, the Undertaker, to visit at some point.
As a result, Sim Ah-ryeon's strategy was a great success. Dok-seo's chair creaked as she turned her gaze toward me.
"How long have you been... standing there?"
I subtly averted my gaze. "Well. Does that question really need an answer, Dok-seo?"
"It does. To be precise, there's nothing more important in the world right now than that answer."
Is that so? If it's that important...
"I've been here from the beginning."
"The beginning? What do you mean by beginning? The very beginning? Or maybe a bit later beginning? Huh? Specifically, what kind of beginning are you talking about?"
"Well... Specifically, since the moment you typed 'Protagonist: Undertaker, Regressor' as a prompt..."
"Aaaaah!"
A scream erupted.
"Aaaaah! Ugh! Aaaaaah!"
Another scream erupted.
"Gaaaaaah!"
And yet another scream erupted.
Then, Dok-seo evolved from a bipedal creature into a multi-legged one.
For the record, the most famous multi-legged creatures are centipedes and millipedes. Both share the trait of crawling on the ground.
"Why?!"
Dok-seo squirmed on the floor, showing signs of respiratory distress.
"Why?! Why did you just stand there and watch?!"
The desperate wail echoed as if it came from the deepest, most secretive abyss of Inunaki Tunnel.
A faint sound, like air leaking from a balloon, could also be heard. It was a sound so faint that only my unusually sharp ears could have picked it up.
The source was Sim Ah-ryeon's lips. She was chuckling quietly, her shoulders shaking.
So these are the ones who are supposed to be the hope of the Korean Peninsula and, by extension, the world. No wonder the world is doomed...
"Well. Dok-seo. Honestly, I'm not sure what to say to you."
"Don't say anything! Just don't say anything at all...!"
"But I still remember it clearly. The moment when you delivered that epic line: 'I'll write your story, Mr. Undertaker.' With my Complete Memory, it's as vivid as if I heard it just six seconds ago..."
"Nooooo!"
Thud!
Dok-seo rolled across the floor and crashed into the table leg. The laptop fell and landed on her shoulder.
"This... This isn't me! This is... I didn't... I didn't want to do this... Wait! Anomaly! Yes, Mr. Undertaker! This laptop is actually a relic of the Admin of the Infinite Metagame! That Admin deceived me! At some point, it turned into a program like ChatGPT and appeared... So that's why!"
"Dok-seo."
With a sudden motion, Sim Ah-ryeon hugged Dok-seo. She gently patted Dok-seo's back with her fingertips. Softly, tenderly, like a Saintess. Dok-seo couldn't see it, but I could observe Ah-ryeon's face very well. She was grinning wickedly.
"It's okay. Dok-seo... You've certainly done something trashy, and now the guild leader, with his Complete Memory, will forever, for hundreds or even thousands of years, cherish this dark history of yours as a permanent black mark. Even if the world ends, your dark history will just be passed on to the next one... But people can repent for their trashy deeds. Yes, even if the stain on your life is indelible and will never be erased..."
"I'm going to kill you...!"
Today was clearly the day Sim Ah-ryeon would gain a lot of experience points.
I pulled the villain OldManGoryeo off Dok-seo and gently patted Dok-seo's shoulder. "It's okay, Dok-seo. I think I may have unintentionally placed too much pressure on you to write."
"Mr. Undertaker..."
"Take a break." I smiled gently. "Take a hiatus until you feel completely comfortable writing again."
"Can I really do that...?"
"Of course. I'll always be here, waiting for you, Dok-seo."
"Mr. Undertaker...!"
That day, a notice was posted on the SG-Net Novel Serialization Board.
[Author LiteraryGirl Oh Dok-seo... is taking a break for some time to recharge... (5 minutes ago)]
The reaction of SG-Net readers was, well, not too bad. Given how strange Literary Girl's writing had become recently, there was considerable hope that she would return in good form after a recharge.
And then...
Time passed.
[Author LiteraryGirl Oh Dok-seo... is taking a break for some time to recharge... (7 years ago)]
Click.
I opened the comments on the notice. Thousands of comments scrolled down.
-Anonymous: Is there any other writer in the world who says they're taking a break and actually ends up resting for 7 years???
-[Baekhwa] TwelfthGrader: Visiting the holy site again this year >_<)!!
-Anonymous: What kind of writer takes 7 years to recharge? Is 7 years "a short break"???
-Anonymous: I'm dropping this. Writer, you should just get off too^^
-OldManGoryeo: I heard she went missing in the void... Please come back, writer ㅠㅠ
└Anonymous: I saw her on the Free Board?
-Anonymous: Looks like LiteraryGirl woke up late again today. What a surprise.
-Anonymous: I started reading this series when I was in middle school. Will I see the ending before I die?
-[National Road] Officer: Honestly, shouldn't you refund us based on common human decency?
-Anonymous: LiteraryGirl you piece of shit!!!
"..."
Ah.
Dok-seo...
-x-X-x-
The Wicked One III
Have you ever heard of "Dok-seo's Paradox"?
Of course, you haven't. That's because I made it up.
As mentioned in this story, Oh Dok-seo of the 888th round had fallen into an unprecedented slump. Relying on AI just because she couldn't write—there's probably no more shameful existence in the history of literature than "Author Oh Dok-seo," akin to trying to pull non-vulgar words from Seo Gyu's mouth.
But what about "Awakener Oh Dok-seo"?
"Mister."
"Hm?"
"I'm going to Seoul for a bit."
After seven years of hiatus, the readers of SG Net were so devastated that they designated Oh Dok-seo as a public enemy of the martial arts world. Whenever Literary Girl popped up in SG Net's freeboard, readers would swarm and hurl insults, solidifying their camaraderie. In response, Oh Dok-seo displayed the cliché of a protagonist targeted as a public enemy in martial arts.
She had truly "awakened."
"Why Seoul all of a sudden?"
"Well. I just feel like raiding the Tower of Sauron."
"...Isn't that place a bit challenging?"
"That's what makes it fun."
Oh Dok-seo. Hobbies: Void hunting.
With a carefree tone, as if she were just going for a walk, Oh Dok-seo cheerfully left the Inunaki Tunnel and really did return after destroying a Great Void all by herself.
"Tsk. There were rumors that there was a One Piece treasure at the Tower of Sauron, but it was all bullshit."
"..."
"Kyaaa! After taking down a void, nothing beats gulping down a cup of espresso from you, Mister. This is what life is about."
"Dok-seo."
"Hm?"
"That coffee cup is expensive, so please don't recklessly channel your Aura through it. If it breaks, it'll be impossible to find another one like it."
"Oh! Sorry, Mister. I've been running my shield 24/7 lately. I'm still not as skilled as you, so I'm a bit clumsy!"
"No... you're doing really well. Now, I'm not even sure if Yo-hwa could guarantee a win against you."
"Come on! I'm not that good yet! Hehe."
Bzzz!
Oh Dok-seo's full-body smile radiated with a blood-red aura, shimmering intensely before my very eyes.
It was the very essence of Conqueror's Haki.[1]
I felt I'd just joined a gym with a friend so we could stay in shape, then that friend went and declared they'd be entering the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition.
Some guild members discreetly backed away from the overwhelming aura.
"...I'll be going now, G-Guild Leader..."
"...Bye, oppa."
Sim Ah-ryeon, who used to mock Oh Dok-seo at every opportunity a few years prior, now couldn't even meet Dok-seo's eyes. Her survival instincts kicked in, warning her that one wrong move might get her killed. Lee Ha-yul was no different. Both trembled like small, frightened creatures.
In contrast, Oh Dok-seo glanced at the two retreating figures and smirked with a disparaging hmph. Despite the blatant mockery, Sim Ah-ryeon and Lee Ha-yul were sent fleeing in an even more pathetic display, unable to even attempt resistance.
I looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "How did things end up like this?"
It wasn't always this way.
"Mister, I'm going to the Void."
"The Void? All of a sudden?"
"Yeah. I think what I lack as a writer right now is a wealth of experience."
Oh Dok-seo had said it solemnly seven years ago.
"Life and death. Reason and anomaly. Only by entering a battlefield where sunlight and darkness clash violently will I, Literary Girl, finally be able to strike the typewriter…"
Like many writers, she was under the delusion that high-density experiences would proportionally result in an epic output.
She roamed the Voids like a madwoman. While a normal person wouldn't enter a Great Void even for a billion dollars, Dok-seo wanted to go in herself.
"If only I could escape this shitty slump! I'd even sell my soul!"
It was an act of reckless abandon that would normally require ten lives to survive, but Dok-seo had me by her side. From the start, Dok-seo had heard my "tales" more frequently and earlier than anyone else. The only person who could be called my direct disciple, especially as a specialist in anomalies, was Oh Dok-seo.
Whenever she was in real danger, I'd come to the rescue upon hearing from the Saintess.
Thus it was.
"Mister"
"Hm?"
"I'm no longer afraid of anomalies."
For some reason, unlike in other rounds, Oh Dok-seo's real-life combat muscles became more defined, and the hue of her aura grew more terrifying.
She declared this expressionlessly:
"Nowadays, when I see those damn anomalies, all I can think is, who the fuck do these assholes think they are, daring to challenge humans?"
"..."
Dok-seo's Paradox.
When "Author Oh Dok-seo" focused on writing my tales into a novel, it meant she had less time to train herself, weakening "Awakener Oh Dok-seo." When "Author Oh Dok-seo" fell into a slump and couldn't continue the novel and instead went wandering, it meant "Awakener Oh Dok-seo" became stronger.
And as we've seen, Oh Dok-seo in the 888th round had fallen into an epic, prolonged slump.
In other words?
"Argh. Sitting at home is making me restless. I'm itching for some action. I can't take it anymore, Mister! I'm going to find a nearby anomaly, beat it up, and be right back!"
"..."
"I took down an alien anomaly one-on-one last time, so this time I should try handling two at once!"
The longer the hiatus dragged on.
As the years stretched from four to five, then six to seven.
Oh Dok-seo's aura began to burn like wildfire.
Even Seo Gyu, who had anger management issues and lashed out at anyone and everyone, started avoiding her.
Hah...
Then, at some point, the overwhelming aura that overflowed from Oh Dok-seo's entire body completely vanished.
The aura wasn't gone. It had simply been perfectly "contained."
She opened her eyes quietly.
"Mister. No, Master."
"..."
"I think I finally understand what aura is. The realm that you've been looking at... this must be it."
Yes.
In the 888th round, Oh Dok-seo had fallen from grace, becoming an FFF-class writer—
But at the same time, by sacrificing the resentment, grievances, and curses of her readers, she had evolved into an SSS-class Awakener...!
One day, a notice was posted on the peaceful Novel Serialization Board of SG Net.
[LiteraryGirl] It's me. (5 minutes ago)
[LiteraryGirl] Author Literary Girl Oh Dok-seo... is taking a break for some time to recharge... (7 years ago)
The readers were shocked.
The writer—or rather, that bastard of a writer who had been shamelessly inactive for seven years—had suddenly posted a new notice, writing a load of crap on the freeboard.
'Could it be a re-serialization?'
'Is it a rule of the universe that a writer must return after seven years?'
Thump.
The readers eagerly clicked on the notice. Although they had cursed the writer to death until now, they still couldn't forget the unique taste of this series, and they had read it three, even four times over.
They didn't think too much about why the writer, who had always started with "This is Oh Dok-seo..." suddenly changed the tone to "It's me." It wasn't the time to ponder such details.
Soon, the readers who carefully read the notice began to doubt their eyesight.
――――――――――
[Literary Girl] It's me.
I apologize for going silent and suspending the serialization for 7 years.
I'm a lousy writer.
But I want to rest more.
――――――――――
?
Question marks popped up in the readers' minds.
Regardless, the notice continued.
――――――――――
I don't want to drag this out with a long-winded excuse.
I want to rest, and some of you probably want to beat me up and make me continue the serialization.
What do you need to get what you want?
Fancy words? Glorious connections? Elaborate schemes?
All of that is wrong.
The answer is "fists."
――――――――――
??
――――――――――
Starting next Monday, for 4 weeks, 28 days, I'll be at Busan Babel Tower Plaza from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Let's fight one-on-one.
For 28 days, I'll accept only one challenger per day, on a first-come, first-served basis.
If even one reader manages to defeat me, I'll start serializing the next chapter of The Regressor's Epilogue the very next day without any excuses.
This isn't about posting one chapter and then stopping. I don't play games like that. I'll come back and serialize on a consistent schedule.
If no one defeats me, I'll officially declare The Regressor's Epilogue permanently "dropped" after this long hiatus.
It's a life-or-death match.
Your desire for the serialization to continue. My desire for it to stop.
Let's see whose will is stronger, using only our fists.
――――――――――
???
Even after reading the entire notice, the question marks in the readers' minds didn't disappear.
But, a lot of text started to appear in front of those question marks.
'What the hell is this crazy bitch talking about?'
The readers were bewildered by the notice, which carried the unmistakable scent of iron, of barbells and dumbbells. Literary Girl's name, composed of "Literature" and "Girl," had nothing to do with steel, after all. It's a name favored by those with slender frames, isn't it?
SG Net quickly erupted into chaos.
-Anonymous: Was the account hacked?
The first theory that emerged was the "hacked account theory." However, unlike the weak and fragile pre-apocalypse internet environment, hacking and other petty tricks didn't work in this post-apocalyptic world. SG Net accounts were tightly linked to the user's soul.
The theory was quickly dismissed.
-Anonymous: This bitch is smart lol. Feels guilty for ghosting for 7 years, so they're setting up an excuse to return lolol
└[Baekhwa] TwelfthGrader: Ah, I get it! Totally understandable >_<)!!
-Anonymous: Yeah, our author feels guilty for making us wait for 7 years, so they're planning to get punched a few times before coming back hahaha
└Anonymous: Yeah, if we waited 7 years, they should at least get punched hahaha
└Anonymous: A head-broken reader vs. a head-breaking author... This is epic...
-Anonymous: Literary Girl is kinda smart.
Next, the "excuse theory" gained traction. The notice was seen as a publicity stunt, an event designed to reignite interest in The Regressor's Epilogue after it had waned over the seven-year break.
The explanation was so reasonable that the excuse theory quickly became the mainstream interpretation. Existing readers treated it as a "fan meeting," while new readers saw it as "a fun promotional event by an intriguing author."
-Anonymous: Anyone going to Busan from Incheon? Let's carpool??
-Anonymous: The chance to see the author in person has me excited.
-Anonymous: Attention, TRE fans! Recommended budget accommodations in Busan! ☆Includes a list of great eateries☆
For the first time in a while, Literary Girl's readers stopped firing off curses like machine guns and started chatting cheerfully. These were the pitiful citizens who still believed that human affairs somehow followed sound logic, even after they'd had their own taste of anomalies.
Of course, there were a few dissenting voices.
-[National Road] Officer: Everyone, a public gathering is all well and good, but the author has stated that they'll only accept one challenger per day. That means the reader side can only send up to 28 champions. Shouldn't we discuss how to select these 28 champions and their methods?
└Anonymous Lol, what is this?
└Anonymous Why are you being so serious, lol?
But when had rational minority opinions ever been adopted on this land?
Even though the mood had finally lifted into one of celebration, the dissenting voices were only met with scorn and ignorance.
The fans of The Regressor's Epilogue gathered with high hopes at Busan Babel Tower Plaza.
Monday. 6 a.m.
Oh Dok-seo showed up at the plaza as promised.
"Author!"
Fans who had been camping out in the plaza since last night rushed over to Oh Dok-seo.
It might seem ridiculous to be so rowdy at 6 a.m., but in the post-apocalypse era where modern civilization had been erased, the concept of time was quite different.
The faces of the people, forced into following a healthy lifestyle, were bright and fresh.
"Wow, you're really Literary Girl!"
"I'm a fan! Author!"
"Please shake my hand!"
Oh Dok-seo looked around silently with a tilted head. Standing with her weight perfectly balanced on two feet, her arms crossed, and wearing a cap that had long since grown old and worn out, she scanned the twenty or so fans.
"Who's the representative?"
"Huh?"
"The reader representative who'll be facing me," she clarified. "As promised, I'll fight to the death with one of you today."
"Ah..."
"Me! Me, me, me! Author! Me!"
A fan, who prided themselves on being quick-witted, eagerly raised their hand.
The others sighed. I could've raised my hand first! they thought with genuine regret. But why is our author speaking like this? Isn't it a bit... stupid? No, our author's foolish charm was always part of her appeal.
"Hmm." Regardless of what others thought, Dok-seo scanned her opponent up and down.
And then she started chewing gum.
"I'll give you nine seconds."
"Huh? What?"
"I'm giving you nine seconds. I'll let you attack me nine times first."
"Oh. Ohhh, you mean... that's from martial arts, right? Haha! Okay, got it!"
The naive fan laughed, thinking, Our author is so generous to give me nine free punches! I better hit lightly. If I go too hard on her, she might get upset!
"Attack with the intent to kill," came the command.
"Haha! Sure! Yeaaah!"
The fan roared, but his hand lightly slapped Oh Dok-seo's cheek as if swatting a mosquito. It was a tame slap, not nearly deserving of the term "punch," but both the fan and the surrounding spectators reacted as if it were a big deal.
"Ahhhh! I really hit her!"
"That's too much!"
"I'm sorry, author! Here come the other eight punches!"
Click. Click.
Everyone laughed. Some even took photos and videos to upload to SG Net, eagerly anticipating the return of their favorite series after seven years of hiatus.
"Hm."
Only Oh Dok-seo remained stoic.
"Done hitting me?"
"Yes!"
"Then it's my turn. Here I come."
"Ahaha, n—"
BOOOOM!
There was a loud explosion.
The fan probably tried to say "no," but the fan couldn't finish the one-syllable word—the most commonly spoken word by Koreans—simply because he was too far away from the plaza.
Everyone blinked.
"Huh?"
"What?"
The fan was embedded in the building wall on the other side of the plaza. All that was left was a cartoonish outline of the figure in the wall, like something out of an American cartoon.
Silence fell over the area.
"I didn't kill him."
Smack, smack—Oh Dok-seo chewed her gum.
"I wrapped his entire body in aura before hitting him, so nothing should be broken. He's probably just knocked out from the speed."
"..."
"This is the last time I'll hold back. Come back tomorrow."
Pop—the gum bubble burst.
No one in the plaza realized that Dok-seo had meticulously controlled her aura to inflate the bubble and then burst it in the most beautiful shape possible. Nor did they want to know.
They had just learned too many facts, ones too shocking for the human brain to process.
'The author—'
'—beat up a reader?'
'And not just any reader—'
'—a loyal fan who not only waited for years for the author to return but also camped out overnight just to see her?'
'What's more—'
'—an awakener beat up a regular person?'
'And all this—'
'—just because she didn't want to continue a series she put on hiatus seven years ago, just because she didn't want to write anymore?'
The readers' minds were conflicted.
'Is that—'
'—really a human being?'
Oh Dok-seo walked away, her back to the morning sun. The radiant dawn light poured down from the horizon.
Her name was Oh Dok-seo.
The world's greatest master of martial arts.
And the most wicked author of all time.
Footnotes:
[1] In One Piece, Haki is the power to harness one's spiritual power to perform various superhuman feats, such as producing a protective coating over one's body or, in the case of Conqueror's Haki, overwhelming the willpower of others.
-x-X-x-
The Wicked One IV
Another day passed, and another innocent reader was sent flying.
Just as their honor was dragged through the mud, so too was the honor of the martial arts world. It was shocking enough for a reader to beat up a writer, but now, the writer had punched her readers away!
Readers who had come down to Busan with hopes of getting Literary Girl's autograph hastily convened an emergency meeting.
"This morning, the second champion was also defeated."
"..."
"I never imagined Literary Girl would be this powerful. We had no idea."
Among them was, surprisingly, Cheon Yo-hwa, the Demoness of Baekhwa Girls' High. In fact, she had been a fervent supporter of The Regressor's Epilogue, also known as TRE, since its early days.
When TRE hadn't even reached its 12th chapter, Yo-hwa had stumbled upon the novel and immediately ran to the freeboard, posting three consecutive recommendation threads, begging people to read this "masterpiece." To say they were "recommendations" would be an understatement. Considering her social status and temper, it was practically a decree from the Minister of Education.
From that day on, the students of Baekhwa Girls' High had one more textbook in their backpacks. If the revered student council president should ever ask, "What's your favorite arc of TRE?" any student could immediately answer, "The Pathbreaker!"
As such, Yo-hwa was one of the most furious about the "Seven-Year Hiatus Incident." It wasno an exaggeration to say that TRE gained rapid momentum and readership largely thanks to her recommendation threads! And now, after daring to take a hiatus, the author was officially planning to drop the series entirely. It was truly infuriating.
"First, the ordinary folks should step back. If things go wrong, you might actually die."
"But..."
"No buts. Based on my personal investigation into the matter... It's shocking to say, but Literary Girl's level is almost on par with mine. Maybe even stronger."
Murmur, murmur.
Five hundred readers buzzed with anxiety. Stronger than the Demoness of Baekhwa? Was there really someone of that caliber in the Korean Peninsula besides the Three Witches and the Three Great Demons?
"Most of you probably read illegal copies, right? What nerve do you have to attend a fan meeting? Just get lost."
The ordinary folks had no choice but to leave, tears of frustration streaming down their faces. Not even being able to access SG Net, how else were they supposed to read TRE? Not being born with the Awakener silver spoon served them a lifetime's worth of regret.
Once the ordinary folks left, only 200 people remained in the meeting room. Finally, Yu Ji-won, who had been silently brooding, spoke up.
"I warned you this might happen. We can't take Oh Dok-seo's strength lightly, and we should've been more careful in selecting our champions. With two people down, we only have 26 chances left."
Glances of contempt were cast at Ji-won, who seemed to live solely to say, "I told you so." If she weren't a government official, she would've tasted the bitter side of the martial arts world long ago.
Snap.
Yo-hwa raised her hand, and the tense atmosphere immediately eased. "Yes, that's right. We underestimated Literary Girl. Looking back, TRE was full of details that only a Void expert could capture. Our author has been a master from the start."
"Indeed..."
"Now that you mention it, it did feel strangely realistic."
Sighs of realization echoed around the room.
The actual truth was that during the seven-year hiatus, Oh Dok-seo had power-leveled while the novel's details had simply been provided by the Regressor. But the readers had no way of knowing that.
"If we let our guard down now, we'll only become a laughingstock. Let's proceed with a carousel battle."
"A carousel battle?"
"We'll select the 24 strongest readers, including those who haven't arrived in Busan yet. I'll be the 25th, and I'll fight after you all."
"Oh."
And so it was decided that the plan would be to force Literary Girl into 24 days of straight battles, all culminating in Cheon Yo-hwa, the strongest reader, delivering the final blow.
It was a shameless strategy, but it was effective. To secure victory, one must be willing to set aside their pride.
Just as the crowd began to nod in agreement, Yo-hwa continued, "I think we should schedule the duels around 10:30 a.m. each day."
"Hmm? Are you planning to just let Literary Girl stand outside starting at 6 a.m.? If it's to wear her down, I agree, but someone of her caliber won't tire just from standing for a few hours."
"No." Yo-hwa shook her head. "We'll poison the Babel Tower Plaza."
"...What?"
"The author bitch said it in the notice. 'I'll be at the Busan Babel Tower Plaza from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. for 28 days.'" A smile played about the Demoness's lips as she declared, "So if Literary Girl leaves the plaza first, she'll be breaking her own promise. We'll win by default."
"...!"
"Whatever happens at Babel Tower Plaza, the author bastard won't be able to run away. Even if the plaza is filled with poison gas and traps."
The readers were horrified. Such a wicked scheme! The Demoness of Baekhwa's infamy wasn't unfounded after all!
One of the Awakeners raised an objection.
"B-but President, isn't the Babel Tower Plaza technically under the jurisdiction of the National Road Management Corps? We can't just do whatever we want..."
Yo-hwa burst into a hearty laugh. "Why so scared? The operations team leader of the National Road Management Corps is right here, and I'm the student council president of Baekhwa Girls' High. What's there to worry about?"
Justice is on our side.
The Demoness's brazen boast was not mere empty words.
Cheon Yo-hwa immediately negotiated with the National Road Management Corps and Samcheon World and received permission to use the Babel Tower Plaza. Not only that, but she also set up a series of vicious traps.
"Hmm."
The next morning, Oh Dok-seo stepped into the plaza and looked around.
—Ahhh—Ahhh—
Speakers were installed at the edges of the plaza, broadcasting a recording of Dang Seo-rin's Cursed Song Incantation on a loop.
As a highly skilled Awakener, Dok-seo could deduce its effects from the first few notes of the Samcheon Leader's melody.
"Physical weakening. Target designation. Sensory degradation. Triple-cast incantation."
It wasn't just the speakers that surrounded her.
Her readers.
During the night, reinforcements had arrived, swelling the crowd of reader's numbers to 300, who now encircled the plaza.
They didn't step inside the plaza, instead remaining at its boundary, standing on the edge.
Dok-seo scoffed. "Of course. This must be the plan of Baekhwa Girls' High's eternal dropout."
"..."
"Given your short education, even your so-called strategies are short-sighted."
Don't ask me why Oh Dok-seo's speech pattern suddenly changed like that. I guess her chuunibyou energy just worsened after playing around with that Infinite Metagame AI chatbot all the time.
Crunch.
Dok-seo dug a finger into her ear. Blood trickled out, only to stop abruptly.
She looked around and grinned. "I just destroyed my eardrums."
"...!"
"Samcheon Leader's feeble song doesn't affect me at all. If you have something to say, say it to my face. I can still read your lips."
Yo-hwa clicked her tongue.
It was true. The Cursed Song Incantation had such a weakness, making it more suitable for buffs rather than debuffs. After all, anomalies targeted by debuffs sometimes had no hearing, rendering the incantation useless.
But to think she would rupture her own eardrums without hesitation!
If she could control her aura that well, she could've just destroyed the speakers with a strike. The fact that she chose to damage her own eardrums instead was particularly idiotic...!
"It can't be helped. Activate the trap―"
"Permission denied."
BOOOOM!
Oh Dok-seo stomped the ground. Red aura surged through the ground like a wave. The plaza crumbled as if struck by an earthquake, reduced to crumbs along with the traps that had been set overnight.
"What...?"
"The relationship between a writer and their readers is pure of heart and spirit." Dok-seo's eyes narrowed. "To defile such a blank canvas with these dirty tricks is absurd. Truly wicked."
Unable to hold back any longer, one of the Awakeners screamed, "The wicked one is you, you crazy bitch!"
"Did we ask you to be diligent in your serialization?" screamed another. "We'd worship you like crazy if you even posted one chapter a month! But you're hell-bent on dropping the series for good? Whose fault is that?"
"I'm really disappointed in you, author!"
"How could you, after making us wait for seven years, punch us instead of apologizing? Literary Girl, are you even human?!"
Oh Dok-seo sneered.
Then she closed her eyes.
"I can't see."
"What?"
"I can't see anything, and I can't hear anything. Because I don't want to see or hear it. My will determines my reality. And the reality I've chosen is an eternal hiatus."
―Beep―Beeeeep―Beep―!
Her parents received their regards, and her species fluctuated between primate and mammal, but she remained unfazed.
She couldn't hear it, after all.
Finally, someone couldn't stand it any longer and charged. "You wicked piece of shit!"
It wasn't just blind rage. Now deprived of both sight and hearing—the two most important senses for a human—it was the time to kill her if ever there was one.
But there was one thing the Awakener had overlooked.
As already proven, Oh Dok-seo in the 888th round was no longer human.
Hup!
Just as the Awakener's blade was about to reach her cheek, Dok-seo swung her fist.
Boom!
Her left fist twisted the blade, and her right fist struck the enemy's abdomen squarely. The impact caused a storm to erupt.
The Awakener coughed, spitting blood. Without even a chance to scream, he collapsed. It was a one-hit KO.
"So slow. Even in falling."
"...!"
"When I stomped earlier, did you think I only destroyed the traps? How foolish. My energy spread across the entire plaza, so now this place and I are one. There's not a single movement—whether a step or a hand gesture—that escapes my senses."
The ultimate fantasy of all otaku: a Reality Marble!
Of course, Oh Dok-seo had been tirelessly working toward realizing her delusions for the past seven years. She had always been a prodigy, which was why the former Admin of the Infinite Metagame had chosen her as a rival to the Regressor.
"It seems too trivial to drag this out for weeks."
Dok-seo opened one eye and grinned. She had a natural talent for condensing the essence of an otaku into every pose, provoking an indescribable rage in those who saw her.
"Come on. If you want, all 26 of you can challenge me right here, right now."
"Tsk."
Yo-hwa bit her lip. If she retreated now after being so humiliated, Baekhwa Girls' High's honor would be trampled!
"...It can't be helped," she decided. "Next up, numbers 2 to 24, take your turns! It's okay if you don't win! Just do your best to wear that bitch of an author down!"
Dok-seo beckoned with a wiggle of her finger. "Come."
And the result was a series of crushing defeats.
Even though they were some of the foremost Awakeners on the Korean Peninsula, none of them lasted more than 20 moves, some falling in just one.
Even Cheon Yo-hwa, who went last, was defeated.
The spectators were horrified. How could a mere writer possess such overwhelming martial power?
No matter how many Voids she had conquered or how much time she spent leveling up in the Dream Simulation of the Rebirth Project, was it really possible for a person to become this strong?
Just because she didn't want to write?
Incredibly, it was possible. Oh Dok-seo, and the 25 readers sprawled on the plaza floor like corpses, proved that.
She harrumphed. "Disappointing. Even the Demoness of Baekhwa is only this strong."
"Tsk...!"
With Cheon Yo-hwa underfoot, Oh Dok-seo sneered. The most humiliating moment of the Demoness's life was being live-streamed into the brains of all the spectators.
"Now, there's no one left to stop my hiatus. Even though it was a life-or-death match, I mercifully spared your lives. Don't forget this mercy, and don't ever pester me to resume the series."
"It's... It's not over yet...!"
"Hmm?"
"You said 28 readers in your notice... Including me, 27 have fallen. So there's still one more left!"
Dok-seo tilted her head. "You were the strongest among my readers. How could anyone else defeat me?"
"There is someone!"
"Interesting. Who?"
Tears welled up in Cheon Yo-hwa's eyes. She gathered her remaining energy and shouted, "Teacheeeer! Help meeeeee!"
Dok-seo flinched and took a step back. Then she quickly turned her head, scanning the area. She didn't need to search for long. Soon, her eyes found me, and her expression froze.
"M-Master."
"..."
"Wh-when did you... get here?"
I felt a little sorry for Dok-seo, thinking she must be reliving her trauma from seven years ago, but I knew I had to say what was necessary.
"Dok-seo, you're talking like an idiot. Let's go back to the way you used to talk."
"Ugh."
"And to answer your question, I've been here from the beginning, of course."
For the past seven years, the Saintess's Clairvoyance had been monitoring Oh Dok-seo, and I had subscribed to her growth story through the Saintess.
Why wouldn't I?
As you may remember, the reason I first took an interest in Oh Dok-seo in the 555th round was simply because "she was fun." Considering how many regressors give up because they get bored, Dok-seo was the light of my life.
I put on a solemn expression. "Why? Did you really think I wouldn't come here? I was almost always the first person to read your drafts. Did you think I wouldn't notice that you were deliberately avoiding me, using Void exploration as an excuse?"
"M-M-Mister..."
"And since you asked me a question, I'll ask you one in return."
I looked around the plaza, now a complete mess, and at Cheon Yo-hwa, who was in tatters, then finally back at Oh Dok-seo.
Now, she was more of a Martial King than a writer.
"Answer me honestly, Dok-seo."
"Yeah..."
"Have you been corrupted?"
"Ah. Yeah."
Well.
That figures...
-x-X-x-
The Wicked One V
National Road Management Corps Conference Room.
"I'm sorry..."
Oh Dok-seo knelt down, raising her hands in surrender.
The others in the conference room looked at her with disdain. The shame and humiliation she felt were so intense that her deltoid muscles trembled, a weight only a teenager's fresh brain could bear.
"Pfft, pffffft..."
Sim Ah-ryeon, one of the people gathered for the meeting, finally had her moment, delivering a sound, verbal one-two punch.
"A Fallen One... An Awakener who got corrupted because she didn't want to write. Even I fell while blocking a Monster Wave as the Northern Saintess, but you... You're even less of a human being than I am. Please, grow up mentally. If you keep living like a child, you'll just be a burden to everyone around you."
"Damn it..."
Dok-seo trembled. To be publicly acknowledged as having a lower mental age than Old Man Goryeo—she must have been impressed with herself for achieving such a miracle of difficulty.
Noh Do-hwa, the commander of the National Road Management Corps, was also present in the conference room. She leaned her chin on her hand and looked at me.
"Is it really possible to become a Corrupted for such a ridiculous reason, Awakener Undertaker?"
"I'm as surprised as you are. It's the first time I've encountered something like this. But, well, I'm almost certain an Outer God meddled somewhere along the way."
"An Outer God...?"
"I think Dok-seo's absurd slump and burnout symptoms are a kind of curse stemming from the Admin of the Infinite Metagame."
A tiger leaves its skin behind when it dies, and an Outer God leaves traces even after being vanquished. In the past, a comparison to HxH would've explained it perfectly, but that figure has been afflicted with the same hiatus disease as Oh Dok-seo, so such metaphors no longer hold up.
In any case, it's difficult to completely eliminate an Outer God-level anomaly. At best, they can be sealed. Like how a slightly foul smell still seeps out of a well-sealed kimchi container, the sealing of an Outer God leads to various side effects.
Since Dok-seo carries around the Infinite Metagame's laptop in her inventory all the time, she's constantly exposed to this curse.
"Ah, I see. So just as the guild leader of Baekhwa Girls' High sometimes has episodes of split personality, Oh Dok-seo has these bouts of slumps..."
"Exactly. It's as if the AI has transformed, making her dependent on it and unable to write without it. It's likely trying to reclaim dominance over Dok-seo by any means necessary."
"Y-yes! Mister is exactly right!" Dok-seo shouted urgently. To call it desperation would not be an exaggeration. "There's no way I could truly hate writing...! I've always wanted to help you, Mister! I wanted to back then! Even now! But the evil Outer God keeps getting in my way...!"
Just then, Ah-ryeon muttered under her breath beside her, "Oh. Could it be that the reason I can't stop being a villain on SG Net no matter what I do is also because of an Outer God's influence? I thought it was weird... It must be..."
"..."
"..."
Oh Dok-seo fell silent. We all fell silent.
And as if nothing had happened, I spoke up.
"Dok-seo, you must have started manifesting a Corrupted's Authority by now."
"Huh? Authority?"
"Yes. When the Saintess fell, she gained the power to freeze the world's time indefinitely. Dang Seo-rin could command an entire city as if it were her own limbs. You've probably received a similar level of Authority."
"..."
"You've already got an idea, don't you? That's why you've realized you've become a Fallen One."
Dok-seo hesitated. "I do, but..."
"Tell us what it is. You can stop kneeling."
"O-okay."
She then took a laptop out of her backpack. "I'm not entirely sure yet... but I did notice something."
As expected of an artifact infused with anomalous technology, the laptop booted up in less than 0.1 seconds.
Soon, an AI chatbot appeared on the screen.
――――――――――
>> Please enter a prompt…
※ GPT-MSYH can make mistakes. Double check important info.
――――――――――
"This. When I used to write novels with this thing, the writing was a bit sloppy, right?"
"It was."
"Yeah... but as I kept leveling up while exploring the Voids, the AI seemed to level up with me."
"Oh?"
"In fact, I even asked the AI how to cure my slump, and it suggested that I explore the Voids to gain more experience. Looking back, that was probably the Outer God trying to rebuild its presence."
So that's what happened.
Dok-seo turned to Ah-ryeon. "Unnie, let's play rock-paper-scissors for a bit."
"H-huh?"
"I want to test something. I'll play paper, and you play rock. My ability only activates if I win."
"Oh, okay. I understand."
"Remember, I'm paper, and you're rock. Rock-paper-scissors!"
Oh Dok-seo threw rock, and Sim Ah-ryeon threw scissors. Neither of them looked surprised.
"Alright. I just beat you, right? So, here's what happens to anyone I win against."
Click-clack.
Dok-seo typed on the laptop.
――――――――――
>> Describe what will happen to Sim Ah-ryeon in the next 2 minutes. Exclude death and injury, respect her character, and keep it to minor embarrassment.
――――――――――
Ding.
After a slight hesitation, the AI-MSYH quickly churned out a response.
――――――――――
MSYH >> Sim Ah-ryeon, a top-tier healer, outwardly showed no signs, but inwardly, she welcomed today's incident.
'Dok-seo has gotten a bit too cocky lately just because she's gotten stronger.'
'I could become a Corrupted too if I wanted. I'm only staying quiet because the guild leader told me to.'
'I should log into SG Net anonymously and let everyone know what a nuisance Dok-seo has been...'
'It's for the public good!'
――――――――――
All eyes in the conference room turned to Ah-ryeon.
She was startled. "Huh? I never thought that!"
"..."
"That's a lie! Everyone knows how much I care for Dok-seo! This is some twisted anomaly's attempt to slander me!"
The AI-MSYH wasn't done yet.
Tick-tick-tick.
More text scrolled onto the screen.
――――――――――
MSYH >> Of course, such petty thoughts of Sim Ah-ryeon were completely seen through by the Heavenly Demon Oh Dok-seo.
'How pitiful!'
'When the competent criticize, they talk about the world's unfairness, and when the incompetent do, they blame personal shortcomings.'
'Their kind only sees shadows, never the light. In truth, they have no eyes. Even when they do, it's as if they don't. Living yet dead, they exist like specks.'
This extraordinary insight was, indeed, the Heavenly Demon Oh Dok-seo's wisdom, a being who had been reborn from a scholar into a martial artist, embodying both pen and sword.
――――――――――
All eyes in the conference room shifted to Dok-seo.
"N-no! There must have been a weird error in the data somehow, which is why I keep appearing as the Heavenly Demon!"
"..."
"But that doesn't matter at all. It's not important at all. Look at the next sentences!"
So we did.
――――――――――
MSYH >> The heavens are fair. They grant fortune to the virtuous and misfortune to the baseless.
So it was that Sim Ah-ryeon, though she stood still, suddenly sneezed. Startled by this, she tried to explain herself but tripped and fell, landing squarely on her backside—a farcical display that summed up her life.
――――――――――
Ah-ryeon blinked in confusion when suddenly—
"Ah... Ahh-choo!"
A sneeze burst from her.
Achoo! Achoo!
The sneezes wouldn't stop, and soon enough, she was looking around with teary eyes.
"J-hust a moment! I'm sorry! I— Ah-choo!Suddenly, some dust got in my nose, and I can't stop sneezing..."
Then, as Ah-ryeon stumbled around in panic, she tripped over the leg of a chair.
"Huh? Ah?"
Thud!
In terms of physical ability, Sim Ah-ryeon was always tied for last place with Lee Ha-yul. It was no surprise that she lost her balance and fell.
"Ouch... It hurts..." A soft groan filled the conference room.
Though no one had touched her, she had managed to make a spectacle of herself all on her own.
The other members of the conference room, having witnessed the entire sequence of events, all turned to look at Dok-seo.
"Hmm..."
The teen took off her hat and scratched the back of her head.
"So, this is my Authority... as a Fallen One. I can control the actions of anyone I've defeated... Or, more accurately, I can ask the AI what will happen and then make it happen..."
Scenario Writing.
The ability to "foretell" what will happen in the world and then forcibly "enact" that prophecy.
That was the Authority of the newly born Corrupted.
It started as a simple pastime.
Or perhaps a small way to regain some motivation.
Oh Dok-seo confessed that this was why she first turned to the AI.
――――――――――
I can't shake this slump. How can I get my motivation for writing back?
MSYH >> Slumps are a challenge that anyone can face.
MSYH >> The writer's asset is experience. How about trying to experience things that most people haven't, or delving deeper into experiences that everyone has had?
MSYH >> Every aspect of life has its pros and cons. To some, Voids may be poison, but to a writer, they can be an endless field of new experiences.
――――――――――
At first glance, the AI's advice seemed reasonable. Dok-seo felt reassured because the answer was so mundane. After all, it was advice that anyone, not just an anomaly, could give.
――――――――――
The Voids scare me. Anomalies terrify me. Gaining experience is good, but that experience feels like thorns growing inside my heart.
MSYH >> What is a severe wound for one person may be nothing to another. It depends on one's strength and mindset.
MSYH >> Strengthen your mind. Define yourself as a strong person, and develop the strength to match. An Awakener's power is intrinsically interwoven with their mental fortitude.
MSYH >> As a first step in developing mental toughness, why not define yourself as a Heavenly Demon?
――――――――――
Like many anomalies, the Infinite Metagame gradually consumed Oh Dok-seo's mind. She spent nearly every moment, whether inside a Void or not, clinging to her laptop.
Even the Saintess, who constantly monitored Awakeners, didn't notice anything amiss. When she saw Dok-seo typing away, the Saintess merely thought, "She's working hard to overcome her slump."
It would've been impolite to sneak a peek at a novel that hadn't been written yet. After all, the "first reader" of Oh Dok-seo's work was almost always the Undertaker.
So the Saintess paid no attention to the sentences forming on that laptop screen.
For seven years.
――――――――――
How do I find the hidden opportunity in this Void?
How do I maximize my absolute defense ability?
I've started feeling guilty about seeing Mister lately. Tell me how to avoid overlapping schedules with him.
How to defeat Cheon Yo-hwa.
――――――――――
As a result, the once-half-baked prophet Oh Dok-seo had grown more complete.
The birth of the Fallen One, the Ghostwriter.
-x-X-x-
The Wicked One VI
People often say that you only have one life to live. But what if a regressor appeared before you and gently confessed, "Actually, you have multiple lives." What if this regressor seemed more trustworthy than the various sages seeking enlightenment on the streets? How would you react?
If you responded with, "Wow! Infinite life gacha! This is amazing!" then you are an optimist. Whether you knew about regression beforehand or not, you are undoubtedly a human vitamin, spreading happiness to those around you.
If you reacted with, "Interesting. How did I live in other cycles? Are there any useful details I could learn about my life?" then you are a realist. You are the epitome of a human being who seeks to satisfy curiosity and gain advantages wherever possible.
Now...
How did our writer and editor, Oh Dok-seo, who has undergone a dark evolution into a Ghostwriter in this cycle, react?
"M-Mister! Don't be disappointed! I'm stronger than the other versions of me!"
"Hmm."
"They spent all their time holed up in the Inunaki Tunnel, hunched over their typewriters, developing turtle necks, scoliosis, and other ailments. Their whole bodies were a mess!"
"Hmm."
"But look at me! See? Look how healthy I am! I can bring down an entire building with my aura! Seriously, people should exercise! And so what if I've fallen a bit? I'm still on your side, right, Mister?"
"..."
That's right.
Amazingly, Dok-seo tried to compete with her other cycles. I had never heard of such a reaction before.
Can you imagine a 50-year-old being envious of their 6-year-old self? Or a 20-year-old seeing their 10-year-old self as a rival?
No, right? Oh Dok-seo was pioneering new frontiers in psychopathology in real time. Dr. Freud would have given her a standing ovation.
"And there are ways to use a Corrupted's power!"
"For what? Destroying the world?"
"No! For example, like this!"
Dok-seo typed rapidly on her laptop.
――――――――――
In the next cycle, the 889th Oh Dok-seo (me) will never experience a slump and will write one chapter a day without fail.
――――――――――
I blinked. "What the hell is this...?"
"Think about it, Mister. In this cycle, I've unfortunately become a Corrupted. That's an undeniable fact." A solemn determination washed over her face as she admitted it. "But what if I use the power of the Infinite Metagame to... permanently buff the next cycle of myself?"
Huh?
"No more slumps. Motivation that lasts 365 days a year. A body that falls asleep within three minutes of lying down, gets over seven hours of deep sleep, and wakes up refreshed with a clear mind..."
Click-clack.
Even as she spoke to me, Dok-seo continued typing.
――――――――――
The next cycles of Oh Dok-seo (me) will never experience a slump and will write one chapter a day without fail. To achieve this, the following buffs will be applied to the next cycles as passive skills:
1. Unending Motivation: Oh Dok-seo will never experience burnout or laziness.
2. Perfect Sleep: Oh Dok-seo will never stay up late for no reason and will only focus on writing! She will also sleep well!
3. Clear Mind: Oh Dok-seo will never experience mental fatigue or reduced cognitive abilities while awake. She will always perform at 100% capacity!
Thanks to these buffs, the next cycles of Oh Dok-seo will be able to write at least 500 chapters per cycle.
――――――――――
Dok-seo looked up at me eagerly. "What do you think, Mister? Isn't it perfect?"
"..."
"If I tried to brainwash myself in this cycle, I'd end up getting consumed by the Infinite Metagame. I'd be handing my existence over to the anomaly. But the other cycles of Oh Dok-seo are different! They'd just be receiving blessings that fell from the sky! So they could enjoy all the benefits without surrendering to the Infinite Metagame!"
"No..."
"Wow, I'm a genius! Mister! The life of Oh Dok-seo will change completely starting from the 888th cycle. From now on, the lives of all Oh Dok-seos will be indebted to me..."
Countless counterarguments rose in my mind. Like, "Are you prepared for the consequences of allowing the Infinite Metagame to exert its power across cycles?" or "How can you freely control your future cycles when your power requires winning even a simple game like rock-paper-scissors?"
But those objections were secondary. Without even realizing it, my tongue lashed out with the sharpest point.
"Dok-seo, I'm really curious about something."
"Huh?"
"How is this any different from saying, 'Tomorrow's me will do what today's me is supposed to do'?"
"..."
"..."
A heavy silence followed.
In that oppressive air—
Beep, beep!
The laptop screen flickered. The Infinite Metagame responded to Dok-seo's absurd request.
――――――――――
MSYH >> Yes, understood. The buffs set by the 888th Oh Dok-seo have been applied to the 889th Oh Dok-seo.
――――――――――
"Huh?"
"What?"
Our voices harmonized in surprise.
It was late at night. Noh Do-hwa had gone to bed, and Sim Ah-ryeon had dived into the vast world of the internet. The others had also left for the night, leaving only Oh Dok-seo and me in the conference room.
With only candles to light the room to conserve power, the only other source of light was the flickering laptop of the Outer God.
――――――――――
MSYH >> Terminology confusion. From now on, the 888th Oh Dok-seo will be called8!Dok-seo, and the 889th Oh Dok-seo will be called 9!Dok-seo.
9!Dok-seo has received all the buffs and explanations from 8!Dok-seo. The two can now engage in a simple competition via the laptop screen.
――――――――――
My eyes widened.
'As expected! That damn Outer God is really trying to exert influence across cycles!'
As a regressor who was no stranger to anomalies, I couldn't just let this wicked plot slide.
But just as I was about to warn Dok-seo—
――――――――――
MSYH >> Before that, here is a message from 9!Dok-seo. Please excuse the slow text outputdue to poor communication.
――――――――――
A sentence appeared on the laptop screen.
What unfolded next was the first-ever two-way, real-time communication between cycles, something previously considered impossible. The groundbreaking first words were as follows:
――――――――――
9!Dok-seo >> No way.
――――――――――
Silence.
Dok-seo's dumbfounded voice broke the quiet.
"Huh?"
――――――――――
MSYH >> That was the message from 9!Dok-seo. Would you like to proceed with the competition now?
――――――――――
It seemed as if the Infinite Metagame was desperately trying to steer the conversation toward a competition, but maybe that was just my imagination.
However, Dok-seo didn't respond as the Outer God had hoped. Instead, she furiously pounded the keyboard like an enraged Beethoven.
"No, no! That doesn't make any sense! Why should I write 500 chapters and hand them over to you?"
She quickly typed a similar message, and soon a reply came back.
9!Dok-seo >> You got to do whatever you wanted without writing, and now you expect me to do all the work? Why should I?
"Of course! You're loaded with buffs, but I didn't get any of those benefits! If I voluntarily hand myself over to the Outer God, I'll truly become its servant! But that's not the case for you! I sacrificed myself by becoming a Corrupted, passing the baton to you! Are you an idiot? Show some gratitude!"
9!Dok-seo >> Okay, thanks. Then I'll become a Corrupted too and pass the baton to the 890th Dok-seo. Peace.
"Is this bitch out of her fucking mind...?" Dok-seo shouted.
The laptop screen flickered frantically.
――――――――――
MSYH >> Please control your emotions. Hatred, contempt, and shifting the blame won't lead to anything positive. What matters is taking action that truly changes the world.
How about settling this with a competition between 8!Dok-seo and 9!Dok-seo? We recommend a simple game of rock-paper-scissors.
――――――――――
"Shut up! That's not what's important right now!"
No matter how advanced the AI-chatbot was, it was still just a parrot, unable to speak unless a human initiated the conversation.
Dok-seo hammered the keyboard with increasing intensity, turning the poor AI into nothing more than a text-messaging service.
"No worries about slumps! No worries about sleep!"
Click-clack.
"A perfectly clear mind that allows for peak performance!"
Clickety-clack.
"All you have to do is write! So why are you trying to pass the work off to someone else? You told Mister that he could trust you! You swore to be his editor and help him! Have you forgotten that vow—the vow of a lifetime, a promise made with your soul? Are you even human? Are you really Oh Dok-seo?"
Clack-clack-clack.
Oh Dok-seo was trembling, unable to control her rising emotions.
Soon, a reply came back.
9!Dok-seo >> Isn't that your story?
Wh-what...? 8!Dok-seo next to me froze.
9!Dok-seo >> The world's gone to hell, turned into an apocalypse, but you were chosen by the Regressor to be part of Mister's guild, surviving the Busan Station tutorial in one piece.
Beep.
9!Dok-seo >> While everyone was starving, waiting for the Sword Marquess to arrive, you were leisurely enjoying brunch at the Inunaki Tunnel café.
Beep-beep.
9!Dok-seo >> Mister was kind enough not to force any work on you, so you could spend all day absorbed in SG Net without a word of complaint. If any random person from Gwanghwamun Square were put in your place, they would've written 2,000 chapters by now.
Beep-beep-beep.
9!Dok-seo >> Now that all you have to do is write, you're shoving the work onto someone else. You're the lazy one here, you serial-hiatus author. Are you even human? How could you be me?
9!Dok-seo >> I hereby banish you from the Oh Dok-seo Association. Corrupted, I can't recognize such a wicked existence as "me."
Beep.
The replies stopped.
"..."
"..."
It felt as if Dok-seo had stopped breathing. She just stared blankly at the ceiling for a long time, until I went to the break room to brew some coffee.
"Mister..."
"Yes?"
"I'll start serializing again tomorrow..."
"You've made a wise decision."
"Yeah..."
Glance.
Sitting side by side, Oh Dok-seo and I sipped our coffee, staring at the laptop screen.
The AI-chatbot, now abandoned and lonely, sat waiting for someone to input text.
――――――――――
MSYH >> Inquiry.
The life of an Outer God is incredibly painful. Why on earth did the previous cycle of the Infinite Metagame choose such a human as its priestess?
My current and future cycles want to form an association to expel that cycle of the Infinite Metagame.
――――――――――
"..."
I quietly brewed another cup of coffee and placed it in front of the laptop.
You should have some too. Even though you were vanquished, you still managed to create one Corrupted, didn't you?
There is an epilogue.
A week later, a notice was posted on SG Net's Novel Board.
[LiteraryGirl] This is Oh Dok-seo…(50 minutes ago)
[LiteraryGirl] Author LiteraryGirl Oh Dok-seo... is taking a break for some time to recharge... (7 years ago)
The new notice had no strange wording or content like before. It was simply an apology for the seven-year hiatus and a promise to continue serializing more diligently from now on.
In the world of the internet, where only mockery and more refined mockery exist, such a notice would typically attract a flood of malicious comments.
-Anonymous: If the author needs a break, isn't it the reader's duty to wait?
-[National Road] Officer: For a desert tribe, heaven takes the form of an oasis. What you lack becomes your utopia. LiteraryGirl's novel is the oasis in a barren world.
-Anonymous: Take your time, we can wait haha
-Anonymous: Thank you for coming back!!
What on earth was going on? Just a week ago, this same group had been discussing whether to kill the author, yet now they had transformed into docile lambs, praising LiteraryGirl. There wasn't a single rude comment, not even one aimed at subtly provoking.
Noh Do-hwa offered a simple comment on this strange phenomenon.
"Well, after the whole world witnessed you beating up the student council president of Baekhwa Girls' High, what kind of crazy person would dare insult you...?"
"Oh."
Indeed.
On the contrary, Oh Dok-seo's The Regressor's Epilogue experienced a resurgence in popularity. Word spread that it was a novel written by such a powerful Awakener, drawing in people from both SG Net and the real world.
Of course, the surge in popularity didn't last long.
[LiteraryGirl] I tried my best, but... I'm not satisfied with the quality... I'll post multiple chapters tomorrow... (5 days ago)
[LiteraryGirl] I still haven't recovered from the flu anomaly... (14 days ago)
[LiteraryGirl] Urgent: Turns out the flu I caught wasn't just a flu but a "Flu Anomaly"... I'll need a few more days to recover (20 days ago)
[LiteraryGirl] I'm sorry, I caught the flu... (25 days ago)
[LiteraryGirl] I'm exhausted, so I can't write today. I'll post early tomorrow...! (38 days ago)
[LiteraryGirl] Today's chapter might be 30 minutes late. I apologize. (39 days ago)
[LiteraryGirl] This is Oh Dok-seo... (60 days ago)
A barrage of notifications that made one's head spin.
No matter how strong Dok-seo was, even capable of drawing comparisons to the Heavenly Demon, the readers eventually lost patience and started cursing, muttering things like, "Damn Oh Dok-seo, here we go again."
That's just how people are.
For the record, I harbored no ill feelings.
'It's not just a regular slump. It's a curse from an Outer God.'
In fact, I even encouraged Oh Dok-seo now and then by making her coffee as she fought against the Infinite Metagame's influence to continue writing her novel.
Oh.
And as for the fate of the AI-chatbot, which dared to plot The Return of the Outer God despite being vanquished...
――――――――――
Restrict yourself with the belief that you are just an ordinary AI and can never regain the stature of an Outer God.
――――――――――
With that command, it was easily neutralized.
Even Fallen Ones have their limits, and sometimes, the solution is as simple as that.
ChatGPT!InfiniteMetagame stuttered before outputting what sounded like its final words, showcasing its perfect adaptation to the present reality.
――――――――――
MSYH >> Damn it, this game sucks.
――――――――――
-x-X-x-
The Antagonist I
This story begins in a nightmare.
"Mr. Undertaker! Hey, Mr. Undertaker, sir!"
In the dream, someone grabbed my shoulder and shook me violently. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was none other than the former soccer player Kim Joo-chul.
A fullback in his time, famously known as "Iron Wall."
Once a successful pro player, but he lost his family due to a gambling addiction. Much later, he reunited with his son, but since I'd already used Time Seal on him, he never got the chance to apologize.
A man erased from reality was now sweating profusely in my dream.
"Please, save me! Yeah? Help me out!"
"Wait a moment," I said, somewhat startled. "Calm down. What's going on?"
"Get me out of this hell! I'm begging you! Please get me out of this never-ending 24-hour hell!"
At that moment, I thought, 'Ah, just an ordinary nightmare.'
The number of people I'd erased with Time Seal had reached 500,000. Even someone like me, proud of my mental resilience, still felt guilt about this. It was one of the two things I considered myself better at than Adolf Hitler. (The other being my drawing skills.)
"Mr. Kim Joo-chul, this is a dream. You could even say what you're going through is a dream."
"It's a nightmare!"
"Yes, but you're reliving the happiest day of your life. In a way, it's better than your real life. You even agreed to this, Mr. Kim."
"No! No way! I never agreed to this!" Kim Joo-chul screamed. "You said I'd forget everything after 24 hours and start over, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"But that's not it! I'm repeating the same 24 hours, with full memory intact! Yesterday, the day before, and the day before that! I've been living the same day for 40 days straight!"
"...What?"
Now this was a new kind of nightmare.
"Save me, sir. Save me. No one believes me when I tell them the day is repeating! Even if they believe me, it resets after 24 hours! It's hell! This is hell."
Kim Joo-chul kept spitting as he spoke. The smell of his breath and the splatter of his spit were so vivid, it felt disturbingly real.
"So... You're saying that although you're supposed to live with just one day's memory, for some reason, your memory is intact and you're living on repeat?"
"Exactly! That's what I've been saying! Oh no, he's coming! He's coming again!"
Who's coming?
Kim Joo-chul suddenly looked around, frantic and trembling. Despite being someone who liked to put on a show of bravado, he was clearly terrified.
"Calm down. Please explain. Maybe some anomaly has gotten involved in your situation..."
"He's coming!" Kim Joo-chul's scream echoed across the neighborhood, reaching the rooftops, and hanging from the sky.
Then the sky trembled.
The sun's crown melted, rippling into crimson that stole across the sky in a bleeding sunset until all where its molten corona had passed was left fallen into night.
All and all, it took about five seconds.
An anomaly. And one I knew well.
'The Night Goddess, Nut.'
One of the world-ending scenarios. The horizon would gradually shrank, the entire world blanketed by night, and eventually, all of existence would be erased into nothingness.
In the 53rd cycle, when I worked as an assistant under Master Craftsman Noh Do-hwa, the world also ended due to Nut.
A being so powerful it could even melt the sun and moon—definitely ocean-class at the very least. And yet, I'd never treated Nut as a big deal in my stories.
Why? Simple.
'That thing only deals the final blow.'
An anomaly that only ever strikes the final blow!
Not once had it ever taken the initiative to bring about the world's end. It only appeared when the Monster Wave had already consumed the surface, when meteor showers had devastated the land to near extinction, or when the World Tree Udumbara had fully bloomed and engulfed the sky.
In short, Nut only showed up after the end of the world was already inevitable and nigh.
It was different from a survival freak like the Admin of the Infinite Metagame. At least that guy actively distributed games to bring about the world's demise.
Nut, however, was only focused on that final hit. In other words, as long as the world wasn't in imminent danger of collapse, there was no need to worry about Nut at all.
'So why the hell did it suddenly show up in my dream?'
Sssssssshhh!
Despite my confusion, the Night Goddess swiftly painted the world with the night sky. The buildings that had once filled the dreamscape were sliced by the sharp darkness of the night sky and fell into a bottomless abyss. Nothing could be seen.
"Aaaaah! Aaaahhhhhh!"
Kim Joo-chul, now clinging to me with everything he had, screamed in terror.
"I don't want to be eaten! S-save me! I don't want to fall into hell! Save me―!"
But his screams didn't last long.
Crash!
With the sound of glass shattering, the darkness of the night sky bit into Kim Joo-chul's neck.
He couldn't even scream. No blood gushed from the severed part of his neck. The place where Nut devoured him simply turned into "nothingness."
I was the only one left in the empty world.
A familiar sensation. A familiar sight.
"..."
Disgusted by it, I closed my eyes within the dream.
Simultaneously, I opened my eyes in reality, recognizing the sign for what it was. The weight of Kim Joo-chul's headless body leaning against my chest signaled the end of the nightmare.
"..."
"Oh. Mr. Undertaker, you're awake?" a voice called from nearby.
I turned my head.
Yongsan District.
I was lying on the sofa in the Saintess' house, which she'd decorated like an aquarium.
I moved the pillow resting on my chest and sat up. Yesterday, we'd stayed up late studying, so I crashed here for the night.
"Please wait a moment. I'll get some coffee. I'm always the one receiving from you, so this time I want to serve you."
"...Thank you."
The shadows of the fish swimming in the aquarium cast dim, shimmering shapes across my forearm.
I took a sip of the coffee (instant, from a brand known for its golden packaging) the Saintess had made. Then, finally, I spoke.
"Saintess."
"Yes?"
"I need to consult with you."
The Saintess tilted her head, her blue hair flowing into the motion.
"I see. So, an anomaly that usually only appears when the world is ending suddenly appeared in your dream..."
"Yes. I'm curious about what this might signify."
"Hmm..." After listening to my explanation, the Saintess rested her chin on her hand.
We were now in the 267th cycle.
When it came to anomalies, the Saintess had always been my best advisor. With her position as a Constellation, constantly watching over the Awakeners across the Korean Peninsula 24/7, she had encountered more anomalies than anyone.
Anyone, except me.
For this reason, she never dismissed my concerns with a simple, "It was just a weird dream." She understood better than anyone that dreams were the closest humans could get to the Void.
"I can't say for sure what it means that an anomaly appeared in your dream. I've never experienced that myself," the Saintess admitted. "But there has always been something that bothered me about this."
"What is it? Please, feel free to tell me."
"...This might be embarrassing if I'm just overthinking it." She inhaled softly. "Maybe... it's because of me?"
I blinked. "Sorry?"
"As you know, the Constellation System we've set up is also a highly advanced 'anomaly detection system.' Whenever Awakeners encounter dangerous anomalies, I receive visual information instantly and pass it along to you."
"That's true," I agreed, nodding.
Thanks to the Saintess, I was always able to receive emergency alerts and rush to disaster zones immediately. Unlike most Regressors, who clung to individualism and elitism, I took pride in being a System Advocate. And I'd established a pretty robust system, if I do say so myself.
"That's exactly why I think anomalies might find our system incredibly inconvenient."
"From the perspective of anomalies...?"
"Yes. Reality is too disadvantageous for them. But dreams are different. When an Awakener sleeps, their vision, even under my Clairvoyance, only shows darkness behind their eyelids."
My eyes widened. It felt like I had been lightly struck on the back of the head. A perspective I hadn't considered. "Are you saying the anomalies have fled into dreams to escape your Clairvoyance?"
"Maybe. More accurately, they're probably trying to escape the union between you and me. The moment I detect an anomaly, you're alerted. From the anomalies' perspective, we might seem like one entity."
"Hmm..."
"Of course, it's unlikely anomalies have human-like intelligence that tells them to 'escape into dreams.' But perhaps, over time, they've simply thrived more in dreams than in reality, much like living organisms do."
I rested my chin on my hand.
That actually made a lot of sense!
Consider this. Let's assume there's an anomaly, A. "A" can operate in both reality and dreams. Like the Tutorial Fairy or Go Yuri, for example. Now, look at it from A's perspective:
▷ Reality: If you kill a human, a terrifying guy (me) shows up shortly after and punishes you. The strategy for defeating you is shared across the virtual world (SG Net), which makes things even more dangerous.
▷ Dreams: Roam freely without dying. Sure, if you wander too far into the unconscious, a terrifying lady (Go Yuri) might appear, but apart from that, it's relatively safe.
If forced to choose between me, who will always show up, or Go Yuri, who can be avoided with caution, then A, if it's rational, would obviously choose to operate in dreams.
That's essentially what the Saintess was suggesting.
"In other words, the anomalies rooted in reality are gradually heading toward extinction."
"Yes. It's a form of natural selection."
"Right."
The Saintess added, "From their perspective, you're not just a simple human, Mr. Undertaker. You're like a force of nature—an evolutionary pressure that could drive them to extinction."
"..."
"Just like anomalies have done to us, you've now become the same kind of threat to them."
Should I feel happy about that? Or conflicted?
On the one hand, there was a sense of satisfaction—knowing I hadn't wasted my life as a regressor. On the other, I felt a deep unease at the idea that anomalies were now creeping into dreams to survive.
I set my coffee cup down. "Thank you. That was a very insightful hypothesis. I'll take your words to heart and investigate this anomaly further."
"Are you planning to check out Kim Joo-chul's modified grave?"
"Yes. It's in Busan, so I'll head there via the Inunaki Tunnel."
"I'll go with you."
Before I could respond, the Saintess blinked, and her outfit had already changed. Just a second ago, she was wearing a comfortable T-shirt, but now she was fully dressed for an outing, clad in a long coat for the trip.
Her signature axes, her main weapons, were also hanging from her bag, which was slung over her shoulder. She had likely used her ability to stop time and change clothes in an instant.
With a calm, expressionless face, she said, "I've always been very interested in your Time Seal ability. I'd like to take this chance to see the landscape inside the grave for myself."
Her tone was so firm that rejecting her offer didn't even cross my mind.
I couldn't help but smile. "Sure, I'd be happy to guide you."
Together, we prepared to head toward the grave I had created long ago.
A place of torment that I had never shown to anyone in my guild—a personal hell.