The Explosive One II
'There was a person in Japan who called out the Undertaker's name and then self-destructed!'
What in the world had happened?
On the surface, it made no sense. The mysterious woman (who I'll refer to as "Y" from now on) and I were separated by an insurmountable physical distance. I had been pulled into the Tutorial Dungeon in Busan, while the stage where Great Priestess and Y were located was in Kyoto. Even if we took it as a straight line, we were 600 kilometers apart.
How could a complete stranger, a Japanese person I didn't even know, call out the name of Undertaker as they self-destructed?
"Couldn't they have been an acquaintance of yours?"
Surprisingly, Noh Do-hwa, who regularly forced me to attend swimming lessons, showed interest in this curious mystery.
"An acquaintance, huh? Well, I managed to obtain degraded data through the Tutorial Fairies, but I have no memory of this person as they describe them."
"Just because you don't remember doesn't mean they weren't an acquaintance. Didn't you say your memory from ages 1 to 20 was completely erased? You have terrible memory, right?"
"Oh."
"There are quite a few Koreans who have relatives or acquaintances in Japan. It wouldn't be strange if you had one or two as well..."
It was an opinion I hadn't considered.
As Noh Do-hwa said, my childhood was like Schrödinger's box. Until I opened it, anyone could have been an acquaintance.
But soon enough, I was shaking my head. "...No, I don't think that's likely."
The words "Why not?" appeared in Do-hwa's eyes as she floated in the pool.
"All the people close to me, whether family or friends, have been placed under Time Seal. That would leave only those weak connections, mere acquaintances. It'd be strange for someone like that to scream my name in their final moments."
"Ah. Hmm. That's true..."
Thus, I discarded the theory that it was someone from my past.
Do-hwa seemed to lose interest and began to swim gracefully like a dolphin across the pool. Her elegant backstroke made her look so relaxed.
She had no idea that once her stamina improved just a little more, I planned to convert these swimming lessons into personal training (PT) sessions as part of my five-year project to turn Do-hwa into a proper person.
"...? Undertaker. Just now, were you thinking of something really irritating?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh, shit. You totally were. Hey, hey. What kind of crap are you scheming this time...?"
"I'm telling you, you're mistaken."
I feigned ignorance.
Anyway.
Compared to the [*Noh Do-hwa Five-Year Human Transformation Project~], which would require every dirty trick in the book to succeed, the answer to Y's mystery appeared sooner and much more easily than expected.
"Huh? A person whose head exploded as soon as the Void arrival began in Japan?"
The person holding the key to this answer was Oh Dok-seo.
Do-hwa and I had told her about our swimming lessons, to which she'd responded with excitement, "What? Swimming? Private lessons? Is there some hidden spicy drama going on between you and the National Road Management Corps commander?"
But upon arriving and seeing it was just swimming, she sulked, complaining, "Ugh, is it seriously just regular swimming lessons...?"
However, her ears perked up once she overheard our conversation.
"It's them, from the prologue. The fake protagonist."
"...?"
"...?"
Prologue? Fake protagonist?
Once again, the eternal 7th-grader Dok-seo spoke in her own strange language, causing question marks to appear over both my and Do-hwa's heads.
Dok-seo's expression twisted in frustration like the problem was that we were being dense. "It's from my Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint. The same thing happens in the prologue, just like what you're describing."
This was turning out to be quite the odd coincidence. Someone who had fallen into the same Tutorial Dungeon as the Great Priestess had also appeared in Oh Dok-seo's ORV?
"Does it explain why their head exploded so suddenly in that novel?"
"Of course." Dok-seo's tone was casual as she said, "That person was a real Prophet."
Until now, I hadn't asked Dok-seo much about the contents of her ORV.
The reason was simple.
Unlike the autobiography that Dok-seo had written and edited about my life, ORV was originally written by the Admin of the Infinite Metagame. In other words, it was a cursed, corrupted artifact created by the Outer God.
'If I read Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint and gain insight into myself from the 1st to the 4th cycle, it would be like handing over the power to define Undertaker to the Outer God.'
That was exactly the kind of twisted scheme the Admin of the Infinite Metagame would come up with.
Of course, it was possible that the Admin had written the truth out of the goodness of their heart. But my suspicion of anything related to the Outer Gods was as high as the fear the German army felt during World War II about the supposedly invincible French army. You always had to prepare for the worst.
If you need a reference on what happens when you don't account for the worst-case scenario, consider the Monkey's Paw story.
Still, from what Dok-seo told me, the part about the mysterious woman Y seemed relatively safe from the curse.
"So, in Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint, you don't show up as the main character right away."
"Really? That's surprising."
"Yeah. In the prologue, there's someone completely different from you, tricking the readers into thinking they're the protagonist."
A fake protagonist.
It wasn't a trope that appeared often, but when it did, it surprised readers.
One famous example of this was the Three Kingdoms Masterpiece, where the legendary Romance of the Three Kingdoms told the story of Jia Xu.
"I don't care about Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Anyway, as soon as the prologue starts, people get summoned into the Tutorial Dungeon, including the fake protagonist."
"Hmm."
"But while everyone else is panicking, the fake protagonist immediately Awakens to the power of 'Prophecy.' Or more precisely, Foresight."
Foresight. Seeing the future.
For Y, it meant that events to come unfolded before her eyes like a VR video.
Just like Oh Dok-seo, Y was a person well-versed in subcultures. Prophets weren't rare characters in novels, whether in Korea or Japan, so Y quickly realized how incredibly fortunate she was and became overjoyed.
- I can see it! I know exactly how to clear this dungeon and escape!
- Over there, that person will one day be called the Great Priestess and lead all the Magical Girls of Japan. - I have to befriend her!
- Ah, yes! When the Ya-o-yorozu no kami descend and the islands fall into ruin...
- It's terribly sad... but!
- With this ability, with the power to foresee the future this vividly, I can save countless people! Yes! I must!
- I can do anything.
"At this point, it felt like the prologue of an ordinary overpowered character story."
But then, immediately after, the twist came.
- Huh?
Y, who had been foreseeing how she could save the survivors in the Tutorial Dungeon, the citizens of Japan, and even the world, suddenly stopped. It wasn't over.
- What?
The vision didn't end. More importantly, the perspective had changed.
At first, the vision had centered around Y. But now, it began to focus on someone else. A man with pitch-black eyes, dark like the depths of a well.
He died. Over and over again.
Sometimes he died as soon as he was summoned to the Tutorial Dungeon. Other times, he wandered the world for hundreds of years, all alone.
- Huh? Huh? Huh?
Everyone the man cherished met horrible fates, whether it was death or something worse.
Some were torn limb from limb in a witch hunt by a mob possessed by anomalies. Others committed endless suicides. Some lost their human forms and became anomalies themselves, eventually killing the man.
It happened countless times.
- Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?
And Y, the Prophet, saw every single one of these deaths, vividly foreseen.
It wasn't just seeing, though. Y heard it, smelled it, tasted it, felt it, sensed it. She foresensed and forefelt it all, as it flooded her brain.
Thousands, tens of thousands of years of the man's deaths and suffering condensed into Y's mind in an instant.
- Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh!
Y screamed. No, she didn't even realize she was screaming.
The process of Awakening to her prophetic abilities was happening in real-time. The fact that her hair was turning white from the ends to the roots was proof of that.
- I... I don't want this.
She didn't want to Awaken.
- Please stop, please, stop! Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!
The whiter her hair became, the stronger the visions grew. The pain and torment she felt from the man's experiences were becoming more and more real, as if she were living them herself.
She couldn't Awaken any further. She shouldn't have. No human, born into a human body, should experience something like this. Not this much.
- Ah.
That's when Y foresaw.
For the rest of her life as an Awakener, until the moment she died, she would have to watch the man's story over and over, endlessly repeating.
- Ah, haha. Hahaha.
Her power was a curse.
Life was nothing but suffering.
And so, at the exact moment her hair turned completely white, completing her Awakening, Y foresaw how to use Aura, something she had never learned or mastered.
And she used it—on her own head.
Crack!
Y died instantly.
"That day, at that exact same moment, all six people around the world who had Awakened to the power of Prophecy killed themselves... or so it's described in Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint. Pop, pop, pop-pop-pop. Six heads exploded."
Each of them could have saved the world.
And somewhere, in the middle of nowhere, a man quietly opened his eyes.
The Undertaker.
Every time he opened his eyes, he would bury six Prometheuses.[1]
"That's how the prologue ends."
"..."
"Isn't it amazing? The scenes of the suffering and pain you'll go through later just fly by in a breathtaking panorama during the prologue," Dok-seo said excitedly. "Just from the prologue, I knew this was a masterpiece! The fake protagonist might have turned off other readers, but I loved it!"
I see.
So, at the starting point of my regression, it wasn't only the tens of thousands of people placed under Time Seal who were removed from the world. The six prophets, including Y, were also erased from history.
That is, assuming ORV was written truthfully by the Admin of the Infinite Metagame.
"Amazing..."
Do-hwa, who had been listening with her head out of the water, snickered.
"In the end, you managed to wipe out six incredibly powerful Awakeners, each of whom could have saved a nation, without even lifting a finger. As expected of Undertaker. Even your seedlings are different from the rest of us anomalies-in-the-making."
"That's slander." I shrugged. "Those six were probably candidates the Admin was evaluating for who to make their Miko. The Admin had been targeting me from the start. They must have carefully selected the top six candidates, each with the potential to Awaken prophetic abilities capable of opposing a regressor."
But as an anomaly, the Admin didn't account for human limitations. The Awakeners, overwhelmed by visions that were too vivid, chose death over becoming involved with me.
"And so, the Admin simplified the prophecy and showed it to Oh Dok-seo in a form her brain could handle, filtering out the overwhelming realism. The result was Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint, written as a novel."
"Oh! That actually makes sense, Mister!"
"Hmph..."
Of course, this theory had its flaws, but escaping Do-hwa's slander was more important at the moment.
Anyway, the ones at fault were the anomalies.
From the perspective of the six prophets who were tragically sacrificed, wasn't it a more honorable death to be caught in the Outer God's scheme than to die after countless failed attempts to save the world like I had?
There is an epilogue.
As I said earlier, I didn't trust the Outer Gods. So, when I entered the next cycle, I made sure to visit the Tutorial Dungeon in Kyoto, where the Great Priestess had said Y had perished. Even if ORV contained some truths, there would be parts the Admin deliberately twisted for their benefit.
For example—
'No matter how much pain Y felt from her prophecy, there were at least 30 seconds between the time she started to self-destruct and the moment she actually exploded.'
Thirty seconds.
That may seem short, but it's still quite a bit of time.
For an Awakener who successfully foresaw my destiny as a regressor, those 30 seconds would have felt even longer.
'Wouldn't she have left some kind of trace?'
A dying message, if you will.
Prophets, especially someone like Y, who had the determination to try to save the world, must have left some kind of message for me. Something like "stay strong" or "I'm sorry." If she was more spiteful, maybe "die." At the very least, even a curse would have sufficed.
'This must be the place.'
Sneaking past the Great Priestess, who still lacked the power she would later gain through her contract with the Nine-Tailed Fox, I arrived at the site of Y's death.
The scene was surprisingly well-preserved.
"Oh."
Even the corpse was intact. Aside from the upper half of her body being pixelated [Mosaic] [Mosaic].
Of course, witnessing someone's head explode would leave anyone traumatized, which explained why no one had approached the area. Back when Seo Gyu died in the Busan Station concourse, everyone had been too terrified to stick around.
"Let's see..."
Sure enough, it didn't take long to find what appeared to be a message left by Y. It was written in her own blood, which had likely come from her clawing at her scalp, and it read:
S U
I tilted my head in confusion.
'SU? Is that some kind of code?'
It was impossible to decipher.
Perhaps Y had intended to write more letters, but in the end, unable to endure the pain, she had died before finishing her message.
'SU... SU... Hmm. Let's assume it's a short word or phrase. What words start with SU...'
I tried to think from her perspective.
She would have known she had little time left. She would have known that the agony would soon claim her life. So the message she left for me would have had to be brief but deeply meaningful.
In other words...
'A prophecy about my fate.'
Would I, as a regressor, ultimately save the world or fail to do so? That was the core issue.
Even though I still didn't have the answer, the Prophet who had glimpsed the future could have provided it.
With that in mind, I came up with three possible interpretations for "SU."
① SUCCESS: You will succeed. Keep going.
② SUICIDE: You will fail. You should kill yourself immediately.
③ SUKI: I love you! I'm your fan!
④ SUCK YOU: Seo Gyu is the culprit.
I eliminated the last option—it was too absurd.
The third possibility was also unlikely. There was no reason to write it in the alphabet, as I could understand Japanese.
That left options one and two. There was no clear evidence for either.
"Hmm."
So, the choice between 1 and 2 was a matter of personal taste.
I bit my finger lightly.
Using the blood from my fingertip as ink and my finger as a brush, I added to Y's word—the "prophecy," or "final message," she had left behind.
S U C C E S S
I gave Y's headless corpse a proper burial, holding a small funeral for her. And then, with a lighter heart, I left.
Ultimately, how we choose to interpret a prophecy is up to us, isn't it?
Footnotes:
[1] Prometheus is the Greek god of forethought, best known for gifting fire to humanity.
-x-X-x-
The Concealer I
By now, you all know there are some topics I deliberately avoid discussing in these stories. For example, the exact moment when the world was destroyed. I'm always singing about how it all went to hell, but surprisingly, there are very few times when a "world_destruction_1_second_before.avi" file gets recorded on my camera.
There are two legitimate reasons for this, as I am the embodiment of rationality.
The first reason is quite altruistic. I do it to protect the honor and reputation of my comrades.
For example, in a few cycles, Lee Ha-yul killed me.
Of course, it wasn't actually Ha-yul. It only looked like her on the outside. In reality, she had been completely corrupted by the Void Poison and had turned into a full-fledged anomaly. It wasn't as if Ha-yul had an intense Oedipus complex and specifically tried to kill me in some father-figure execution ritual.
- Guild leader, please just die.
- Undertaker. I'm sorry, but could you die with me?
- Please go to hell, teacher.
- ...
Sim Ah-ryeon, Dang Seo-rin, Cheon Yo-hwa, the Saintess, and many others. No matter the cycle, those who survived with me until the end, more often than not, turned dark and delivered the finishing blow to me.
(Do-hwa, by the way, didn't need to fulfill that condition to randomly try to kill me whenever she felt like it.)
Just to clarify, I don't hold any grudges. There's no way my comrades would have done this by their own will. None of this was their fault. It was all the fault of the vile anomalies that manipulated and controlled them against their will.
But how would the rest of you—my dear readers—feel about it?
"They— They blew up the protagonist's head! How evil!"
"I can feel the rage building. Let's kill them before they join the group."
"Get them out! Get them out now!"
I could easily foresee such witch hunts and baseless slander lighting up the forums, given my understanding of subcultures. There would probably be something like, "Only Go Yuri, who killed the protagonist just once, is the true comrade!" What a terrible scene. As a regressor with both common sense and decency, I simply couldn't allow it.
So, from the perspective of national interest, I decided to erase most of the cycles where my comrades killed me. I'm sure this decision will sadden fans of grimdark novels, but I ask for your understanding.
Now, what's the second reason?
"Hyung."
"Oh, Seo Gyu."
"It's me—SG Man. I'm the mastermind behind everything."
The second reason is, well...
Sometimes, it's just fucking hilarious.
No matter how dire the situation, even if the world was about to end, whenever SG Man Seo Gyu suddenly pulled a straight face and delivered lines like that, it made me wonder, "Is the end of the world really such a heavy topic?"
This was what I call Mastermind Syndrome. Whenever someone other than me survived until the end, they'd start acting weird, convinced that they were the one who orchestrated the world's end, becoming the "mastermind."
It just so happened that in the 243rd cycle, that person was Seo Gyu. It was also the first time in my life as Undertaker that Seo Gyu (aside from me) was the last survivor.
For someone like SG Man, who was usually the first to get his head blown off, to survive until the end of the world—it was truly awe-inspiring.
"Seo Gyu."
"Yes, hyung."
"If I weren't here, the Tutorial Fairy would have blown your head off, right? I mean, come on, you can't seriously think you're the mastermind?"
Seo Gyu clicked his tongue and waved his finger left and right. "You just don't get it. As always."
"..."
For that brief moment, I almost killed him right then and there. The fact that he could break my tranquil, regressor's composure with such a simple provocation—his trolling skills were truly formidable.
"As with all stories, the true mastermind always appears in the prologue, hyung. And your prologue was at the Busan Station Concourse, wasn't it? Now, who was the very first character to leave a strong impression on the readers there?"
"Well... that would be you, right?"
"Exactly. So, naturally, I'm the most qualified to be the mastermind. I've been hiding the truth all this time."
"No..."
You were destined to die there, you lunatic.
I tried to convey my thoughts to him by deliberately manipulating my facial muscles, but it didn't work on Seo Gyu, who had been completely consumed by Mastermind Syndrome.
"I was treated as nothing more than an errand boy for the SG Net. That was just part of my disguise. I appeared first, but my true importance was hidden... Isn't that the very definition of a mastermind?"
"Or maybe you just weren't that important."
"Hoh." Seo Gyu gave me a deadly smile. "What if I made you think that?"
I decided to return that deadliness to its owner. I squeezed my Aura into my fist and punched him.
"Fufu, how savage, hyung."—cough—"But it's too late."—cough, cough—"No matter how much violence you use, nothing will change... Hic, ack, hoo..."
It didn't do much good.
Mastermind Syndrome instilled its victim with limitless confidence, made them say "fufu" every time they laughed, reduced their pupils to 1% of their usual size, and instilled in them the false belief that everything was going according to their plan.
But it didn't give them any power.
I lifted Seo Gyu into the air.
"Fufu. Even if you get rid of me now, I will return one day..."
Then I threw him off the cliff.
This wasn't just any cliff. In the 243rd cycle, the Flat Earth Theory had become a reality, and the Earth was literally flat. I had thrown him off the edge of the world.
Laughing creepily with his "fufufu" laugh, Seo Gyu fell into the Void.
At least he didn't die alone. Not long after, I died too.
In that cycle, the edge of the world kept closing in, and eventually, all of Korea fell off. I couldn't escape the Falling-to-My-Death ending.
Normally, Mastermind Syndrome was just a minor nuisance that annoyed me during the final stages of certain cycles. That is, until something changed.
The anomaly occurred in the very next cycle, the 244th.
The moment I opened my eyes in the Busan Station Concourse, I immediately felt that something was horribly wrong.
'What the hell?'
It didn't happen often. The only other time I'd felt something similar was after the 135th cycle, when the world was destroyed by the Admin of the Infinite Metagame, and I found a laptop resting on my thigh.
But this time, the feeling was different. It wasn't that something had been "added" to my regression. It was the opposite.
"You fucking garbage! What the hell are you talking about?!"
Seo Gyu was yelling at the Tutorial Fairy again, just like always, but... something was missing from his head.
His hair was gone.
It might sound strange to say his hair was missing from his head, but basically, his hair was all gone.
In other words, his scalp was completely bald.
"Pfft—!"
"Huh? What's going on?"
"That's disgusting..."
I couldn't help but spit out the Ceylon Tea I had just bought from the vending machine, and the people around me recoiled in disgust. But I didn't even have time to wipe my mouth. Not only had tea come out, but my soul had almost slipped out as well.
What the hell was that?
"You bastard! If you're going to drag us here, you should start by apologizing. Where do you get off running your mouth like that...?"
"Excuse me. Just a moment. Uh, pardon me. Can I have a word with you, Mr. Seo Gyu?"
"Huh?"
I pushed through the crowd and approached Seo Gyu. He was mid-tirade, angrily shouting at the Fairy, but when I called his name, he hesitated.
Confusion flashed across Seo Gyu's eyes as he looked at me. Of course, since in this cycle, we were complete strangers to each other, that made sense.
"...Who are you, and why are you butting in?"
"Don't you remember me? I took personal training (PT) lessons with you a while ago."
"Oh?"
"Down in Nam-gu. At that 4th-floor PT center. Don't you remember?"
Seo Gyu looked flustered. He had actually worked as a PT trainer at a center. The address I gave was also where he used to work.
Naturally, the anger melted from his eyes, replaced by fear—the fear of a PT trainer who couldn't recognize his own client.
"Oh, right. Yes. It's been a while. I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you at first."
"No worries. You taught me so well back then that I actually became really interested in PT. I used to be a twig, but thanks to you, I became a new person."
Seo Gyu's eyes quickly scanned my upper and lower body, calling upon the natural ability of a PT trainer to assess someone's physique. Of course, the muscles I had developed through the [Resume] ability across various cycles were incredibly refined and optimized for combat.
Seo Gyu's face darkened. Was it possible that he had truly forgotten such an excellent trainee?
"Ah, well... thank you..."
"Instead of fighting with that strange fairy, why don't we go have a little chat?"
"Huh? Strange? What do you mean strange? These humans, accusing me out of nowhere... The unfairness of it all is truly terrifying..."
For the record, this was the fastest and most effective way to prevent SG Man Seo Gyu from having his head blown off and stop Fairy No.264 from getting him killed. Despite being reckless, Seo Gyu had a surprisingly strong sense of responsibility for the roles he took on.
Anyway, I pulled Seo Gyu aside, and using the most roundabout, polite, and non-offensive language possible, I asked him:
Q: When did you go bald?
A: Huh? I've always been bald.
What the hell?
Before his expression could shift to one of suspicion—wondering if I really had been his PT client—I quickly moved on.
Finally, I had a moment to look at the other people in the concourse, the ones who were, in MZ-generation terms, bound together by this shared fate.
And soon enough, I realized that it wasn't just Seo Gyu who had been altered.
"I don't want to join Lee Baek's group!"
"Whaaaat?"
"No matter how much you glare at me, threatening won't change my mind. I said no, and I mean it!"
Ah-ryeon no longer stuttered. If I hadn't intervened, she would have been dragged off by Lee Baek, but in this 244th cycle, she clearly voiced her own convictions.
Could this be the work of an anomaly?
"Hmm, interesting..."
And Go Yuri no longer had a shadow.
No one else had noticed yet, but I could see it clearly. Her clothes cast a shadow, but her hair, limbs, and the rest of her body did not.
Definitely the work of an anomaly.
'What the hell is going on? This is way too early in the cycle for the Butterfly Effect to have kicked in.'
I was completely bewildered. Had the timeline somehow changed in this 244th cycle?
But the Busan Station Concourse was just the tutorial. The real shock came after I left the station.
"Hello. My name is Dang Seo-rin."
"..."
"I'm gathering people to try and survive in this messed-up world. Undertaker, would you like to join me?"
Seo-rin extended her hand, inviting me to join her in co-founding something together—but there was no witch's hat.
There was no broomstick either.
With a trembling voice, I asked her, "Excuse me, this may sound odd, but... didn't you use to like Harry Potter and trains?"
"Huh? What are you talking about? I like Pokémon and cars."
"..."
ANOMALY ALERT!
-x-X-x-
The Concealer II
Seo Gyu hiding his hair and Dang Seo-rin hiding her nerdy interests left me reeling from mental exhaustion.
Especially the latter—Dang Seo-rin giving up her witch cosplay and train obsession? How could that possibly be Dang Seo-rin?
The Great Witch of the Samcheon World was someone who led with both witchcraft and steam locomotives. She held symbols of the medieval and modern eras in either hand, and by doing so, she became a transcendent figure that embodied human history.
In other words, Dang Seo-rin of the 244th cycle had lost her very soul and become a soulless being. We decided to call that a Yu Ji-won.
"Is there no one normal this cycle? Seriously, not a single one?"
Of course, when I say "normal," I mean it by my standards: a person who was the same as in other cycles.
Leaving behind my comrades who had lost pieces of themselves, I desperately searched for someone normal.
"Your Excellency, why are you so anxious?"
"Ji-won, you were always hiding your morality and humanity, so stay out of this."
"I don't know what you mean, but I'll take your word for it. I'll consult you about my concerns later."
Once again leaving behind Ji-won, the ever-constant psychopath, I continued my search, but the results were disappointing.
"Commander Noh Do-hwa, why are you being kind to both old and young patients alike? Where did your MZ-generation disdain go? Why aren't you discriminating based on age?"
"Huh...? What kind of bastard would discriminate against patients based on age?"
"Right, you're not Noh Do-hwa."
"Wanna die?"
Do-hwa—OUT.
"Saintess, why haven't you set up any aquariums in your home? Don't you plan on keeping fish?"
"Fish...? I've heard that aquariums are too hard to maintain, so I'm not really interested. Lizards are cuter, you know."
"Ah, so you're fake too..."
"Sorry, what?"
Saintess—OUT.
"Yo-hwa, why do you keep calling me 'sunbae' instead of 'teacher' after I handed you your diploma?"
"Huh? Haha. Well, you don't look that much older than me, sunbae! At least not on the outside. It'd be weird to start calling you 'teacher' now, wouldn't it?"
"...I see. Then why don't you wear your white sailor uniform after graduating?"
"Come on, sunbae. Who wears a sailor uniform after graduation? That'd be crazy, not to mention super tacky."
"Infinite Void! You brat, you dare defy me!"
"Eh?"
Cheon Yo-hwa—OUT.
"Manyo Neko! Why aren't you ending every sentence with 'nya' or 'meow'? Are those cat ears just for show?!"
"Are you picking a fight, Undertaker?"
Even the Magical Girls from the Islands were all OUT.
It was a small detail, but even the coffee left behind by Old Man Scho in this cycle was hazelnut Americano instead of café au lait.
A German! (German!) Barista with incredible pride! (An old man!) Drinking Americano! (Americano!)
The shock echoed like an a cappella choir in my head.
I despaired. Something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.
I retreated to the Inunaki Tunnel, muttering in anguish.
"...Something's off. This isn't right. How could there be such big differences right after regressing? This is before the Butterfly Effect even has a chance to kick in. Could I have fallen into a dream without realizing it? Oh, the horror... Am I just a brain in a jar, with my consciousness trapped in a dream..."
"Your Excellency, are you alright?"
"Ji-won, stay out of it. I may be cornered, but I haven't fallen so low that I'd seek empathy from you."
"I still don't understand, but if Your Excellency says so, I will remain silent."
How was I supposed to fix this unprecedented disaster?
Looking back now, I was still relatively inexperienced in the 244th cycle. I had yet to defeat the Goddess of Night, Nut, and I hadn't even taken down the Admin of the Infinite Metagame. At that point, I hadn't fully realized that if something was powerful enough to interfere with my regression, it had to be an Outer God-level anomaly.
(The Saintess sealing herself to place an impenetrable barrier around my regression was something that would happen much later.)
"Alright... Yes. I'll help them recover what they've lost. If I can restore what's been hidden, it should counter the anomaly's tricks."
"Even if Your Excellency mutters incomprehensible things to yourself, it won't diminish my admiration for you in the slightest. Feel free to command me."
"Go get a wig, Ji-won."
I got the wig and placed it on Seo Gyu's bald head. I styled it carefully, making sure it matched his usual hair from previous cycles to 99.99% accuracy.
"How does it feel, Seo Gyu? Do you feel like you've regained something you lost, like you're finally returning to your true self?"
"..."
"Come on, remember your true identity! You can do it, Seo Gyu!"
"...Hyung, I'm really sorry, but... are you asking to get hit?"
It failed.
In other stories, when a regressor caused this kind of commotion, their comrades would murmur things like, "Huh? Why do I have memories of something I've never experienced...?" and recover their memories of past cycles.
But not in my particular brand of regression. In fact, Seo Gyu was one of the better ones.
When I ran up to Noh Do-hwa and said, "Commander! You should start cursing out young people right away! Yell at them! Start throwing all kinds of insults like you used to!" I ended up getting beaten like a dog and thrown out.
With Dang Seo-rin, I personally brought her a witch's hat, witch's robe, and broomstick, saying, "Dang Seo-rin! Isn't this stirring your passion for fashion again?" and her response was, "Hmm, are you asking me to strip you in a very sophisticated way?" She almost ate me alive.
As for Cheon Yo-hwa, I couldn't bring myself to wear a school uniform and visit her. As the Undertaker, I hadn't completely abandoned my humanity. Besides, while her titles and fashion had changed, Cheon Yo-hwa was still as unpredictable as ever.
I failed. I failed. I failed. I failed.
My regressor mentality, once steeled against the suffering of time, was cracking with a resounding creak. To my surprise, I discovered that I was more shocked by my comrades' changing hobbies than by the world getting destroyed by anomalies.
"Well, even if Your Excellency is right, there's no way for us to confirm it. As you've mentioned, we're only aware of the 244th cycle."
"...Yeah."
Ironically, I could only have these kinds of discussions comfortably with Ji-won for the simple reason that she didn't care about my mental state at all, so we could talk without any regard to sensitivity or tact.
"Have you considered the possibility that your mind is the one that's changed?"
"...So you're saying Seo Gyu was bald in every cycle, but my memory was warped to see him as having a full head of hair?"
"Yes. That's much more reasonable," Ji-won said while carving a chess piece with a sharp knife. "It's practically Occam's razor.[1] If you assume everyone but you has changed, then the anomaly responsible for this would need to be incredibly powerful, capable of reaching across cycles to tamper with things."
"Hmm."
"On the other hand, if only your mind has been tampered with, it's a much simpler explanation. The anomaly would only need powers related to mind control or perception distortion. It wouldn't even need to cross cycles."
"..."
Right.
As much as I didn't want to admit it, Ji-won's analysis was correct. Chances were high that I was currently under some form of mental manipulation, that at some point, my Complete Memory had been hacked, causing my perception to become distorted. Everything wrapped up in one, neat explanation.
Not to mention, everyone else had some trait of theirs hidden away, so why was I the only one left untouched? This would answer that question as well.
It was just that I was the one who had become strange.
"Of course, Your Excellency is flawless and never makes mistakes. But sometimes, it's worth flipping the board and considering the opposite."
"..."
Actually, I wasn't the only one who remained unchanged.
Ji-won. The silver-haired psychopath in front of me was as consistent as she always was. Her speech, hobbies, fashion sense, and way of thinking—not a single part of Ji-won's personality had been hidden. She was the same ace of the Samcheon World and operations commander of the National Road Management Corps that I remembered.
She was the exact same, if not for the fact that her ability had been altered ever so slightly.
That's why I was suspicious. What if the mysterious anomaly, which I had labeled "X hides Y," had actually attached itself to Ji-won?
"Waiting until the next cycle might not be a bad strategy." Ji-won placed the newly finished chess piece on the map.
"Wait until the next cycle? Why?"
"If this anomaly really has the power to hide something from people, then by the next cycle, more things will be hidden."
"..."
"I imagine it will start small, hiding things like hair or fashion. That way, it can stay under your radar for as long as possible."
"My mental state is already on the verge of collapse."
"That part, the anomaly probably didn't predict. I think from the next cycle onward, it will start hiding people's abilities, personalities, or even their core behaviors."
"...Then it really will be dangerous."
"Yes. It's an effective strategy, lulling the target into complacency before striking."
Then something strange happened with the map.
Sssssk—
The chess piece Ji-won had placed on the map moved toward another chess piece, as if drawn by a magnet.
The one Ji-won had just carved moved to the upper part of the map, while another, invisible piece pulled toward the lower part.
It formed an image, taking a shape similar to a Taegeuk symbol.
illustration
The paper map, pinched by the chess pieces, began to float in mid-air.
It was an unusual sight, but this was part of the subtle changes in Ji-won's ability in the 244th cycle. Aside from the map floating a little, the Mini Map ability still worked fine. Ji-won's chess pieces continued to track people's locations perfectly.
Just a minor error.
"This is still strange..." I muttered to myself. Dang Seo-rin and the others seemed like they had a trait "missing," but Ji-won felt more like something was "off."
The difference kept nagging at me. Why was Ji-won so different from everyone else?
"Perhaps what Your Excellency calls my psychopathic tendencies are what's been hidden. In this cycle, I've regained the ability to deeply empathize with others."
"Why don't you try showing some emotions in your eyes while you say that?"
"My eyes are already full of respect for you, Your Excellency. There's no room for any other emotion. I ask for your understanding."
"There's nothing to understand. You've had that same dead-eyed look ever since we met in the 5th cycle—"
I stopped mid-sentence.
"Wait a second."
I didn't mean to do it. My instincts—my sixth sense—forced me to stop.
My vision was still filled with the image of the chess pieces pinching the map, forming a Taegeuk shape.
"Space? Space...?"
If Ji-won's ability wasn't malfunctioning...
If the chess pieces were showing the precise locations of people on the map...
Then what did it mean?
I shot to my feet. "Ji-won."
"Yes?"
"Grab the map and the trunk and follow me. I want to test something."
Ji-won glanced at her analog wristwatch. 11 p.m. Back when human civilization still thrived, some people might have thought of it as morning, but now it was a time considered far too late for going outside.
"Understood."
Without asking any questions, Ji-won followed me out of the Inunaki Tunnel.
I led us to a clearing far from the coast and grabbed a shovel instead of a sword. "We're going to dig down."
"Dig... down, Your Excellency?"
"Yes. It sounds ridiculous, but I have a hunch. We're going to dig through the ground until we reach the bottom. You watch the map and track our progress."
"Understood, Your Excellency."
And so, I carried out my plan.
Thwack!
The shovel sank into the ground like pudding. It was an impressive feat, thanks to my liberal use of Aura.
Down. Further down. Even deeper—
This was no ordinary digging operation. As the ground grew harder, any other Awakener would have ruined their shovel by now.
'This is way too solid.'
Despite using Aura, the ground was unusually dense, and progress slowed.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Still, I continued digging without hesitation. At this moment, I wasn't a regressor—I was nothing more than a human drill.
After digging for so long I lost track of time, I had gone so deep that I wouldn't have been surprised to hit upon magma. Sweat had begun to pour down my forehead.
"Your Excellency, please hydrate yourself."
"Ah, thanks."
Ji-won pulled out a bottle of water from the trunk and brought it to my lips.
For the record, while I was digging, Ji-won stood by, illuminating the area with Aura. If it weren't for her lack of humanity, she would've been the perfect assistant.
Spent on words, I continued silently breaking through the earth until finally—
"Phew, phew... Huh?"
Fsss!
There was a strange sound as the shovel pierced through something. It seemed I had finally broken through to a hollow space after digging through what felt like an endless layer of rock.
"Is this another layer of bedrock?"
"I'm not sure, Your Excellency."
"Could be a cave. Let's widen the hole and take a look."
As I expanded the hole, a faint light began to seep through.
The larger the hole grew, the stronger the light became, and by the time it was big enough for a person to pass through, we no longer needed Ji-won's illumination.
Then, like sticking your head out of a Mario pipe, I poked my head through the hole and looked outside.
"..."
"..."
I fell silent.
Ji-won poked her head through the hole beside me, then froze as well in a rare display of "shock" and "astonishment."
We were both silent for a long time. The sheer visual impact of what we saw left us speechless.
"Ji-won. Is that...?"
"...Yes."
Deep beneath the ground.
No, beyond the hole.
"By any measure... that's the sun."
There was a sun.
A massive underground space stretched out before us, on a scale beyond comprehension. It wasn't just as large as Korea. No, the space defied imagination.
In the middle of this vast, empty space, there was a small sun illuminating the underground world.
In other words—
"No way..."
'The Earth is hiding a sun.'
"This is insane... That's not something you hide."
It was the Hollow Earth Theory.
This was the anomaly that had descended in this cycle.
Footnotes:
[1] Occam's razor is a philosophical principle that essentially boils down to the simplest explanation is usually the most accurate.
[2] The Taeguek symbol is the symbol found on the South Korean flag, similar to a yin-yang symbol.
-x-X-x-
The Concealer III
The Hollow Earth Theory claims the inside of the Earth is hollow in the form of a massive cavern. It follows the lines of similar conspiracy theories like "Nazis on the Moon" or the "Underwater City of Atlantis."
In short, conspiracies with zero academic value. Nothing more than gossip.
Unfortunately, after the Void Descent, physicists turned into conspiracy theorists. There really was a secret Nazi base on the dark side of the moon, and Atlantis still existed in the Atlantic Ocean. In the same vein, the Earth's interior was, of course, hollow. It was embarrassing as an intellectual to have been unaware of such a simple geological truth.
"Your Excellency."
"Hmm."
"There's a village down here, in the underground."
"...Hmm."
"There are people living here too. Should we call them 'subterraneans'? They look like Homo sapiens at first glance."
The so-called Homo sapiens that Ji-won mentioned, however, looked quite different from modern humans.
- Euw? Aaa, euw!
- Euwooahh! Ooooho!
The subterraneans spotted the two of us peering in from the ground, and they swarmed us with crude, wooden spears drawn. They stomped their feet and stretched their necks as they let out a barbaric chorus of "ohohoho."
What could I say? Their civilization was clearly stuck at the primitive tribal stage. They didn't even bother covering the lower half of their bodies.
- Euwooo! Wahoooo!
One of the subterraneans, who appeared to be their leader, pointed his spear at us, shouting in a language I couldn't understand. Even with my multilingual abilities, I couldn't fully translate what he was saying, but judging by the tone, it seemed to be something like, "Get out of there, you monsters!"
But unfortunately, they had chosen the wrong person to threaten.
"Excuse me for a moment, Your Excellency."
Thwack!
Before I could stop her, Ji-won darted out, drew her dagger, and plunged it straight into the leader's throat.
- Ugh... Uho...!
- Ooooooh! Ugh! Ughhh!
A few brave subterraneans attempted to fight back, but it was pointless. Ji-won drew another dagger and threw it, and the blade landed squarely between their eyes. In a matter of seconds, four of them had been killed. The rest, terrified, ran for their lives, fleeing from the psycho invader from the surface.
The entire ordeal lasted no more than 30 seconds—a clean, efficient operation befitting the National Road Management Corps' operation commander.
"Hmph." Ji-won brushed the dust off her uniform. "They were nothing but rabble. Not even worth Your Excellency's effort."
"...Ji-won, I've told you countless times—stop revealing your psycho tendencies so casually."
"They were the ones who threatened us first. Now, let me check the body."
Shing!
Once again, before I could stop her, Ji-won sliced open the leader's skull. The sight was gruesome enough to warrant an R-rating on any platform, but fortunately, we didn't have to worry about censors.
Inside the subterranean's body, there wasn't a drop of blood or even organs.
"They're empty inside."
"An anomaly, then?"
"Yes, it's confirmed. Just as this land is hollow, they're hollow inside as well."
It wasn't restricted to the head either. The torso, too, was completely empty. It would have been stranger if these weren't anomalies.
"But Your Excellency. If you look closely, doesn't this primitive look a lot like you?"
"What?"
"I'm not joking, Your Excellency. Look carefully."
"..."
It was true.
The leader Ji-won had killed first, the one who seemed to be their chief, had a face eerily similar to mine. The difference in the level of civilization between us was the only reason I hadn't noticed it earlier.
"...Wait. The one lying over there looks a lot like you, Ji-won."
"Oh." Ji-won blinked, looking down at the corpse. "You're right. I've always wondered what it would feel like to kill myself, but I didn't expect my curiosity to be satisfied this way."
"Not something to brag about."
"Thank you for the compliment."
The rest of the subterraneans Ji-won had killed also looked strangely familiar. That's when it hit me.
"Take out the map."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
I had Ji-won place the chess piece marked "Undertaker" onto the map, and sure enough—
illustration
The chess piece stood upright on the map without issue. The strange phenomenon of another chess piece being drawn to it from the opposite side was gone.
"...As I thought."
"What's going on, Your Excellency?"
"It seems these subterraneans were copies of us. Your Mini Map ability was treating me and these copies as the same person."
"Ah, I see. So, it displayed both the 'surface person' and the 'underground person' together on the map." Ji-won's blue eyes scanned the corpses. Her gaze was unsettling. To the untrained eye, it might seem like her usual expressionless face, but I could tell. Ji-won had a slight twitch in her left eyebrow whenever she was plotting something nefarious.
"Hey. What are you thinking?"
"Oh, nothing. Just that... if your theory is correct, there must be an anomaly counterpart for every surface human down here."
"Most likely."
"Which means there are primitive versions of Dang Seo-rin, the Great Witch of the Samcheon World, and Cheon Yo-hwa, the president of Baekhwa High's student council."
"...So what?"
"I cannot stand for these anomalies to impersonate Your Excellency's dear comrades. Please allow me to exterminate them."
This lunatic.
"Wait. You're not excited about the idea of killing copies of Dang Seo-rin and Cheon Yo-hwa without any risk, are you?"
"Of course not, Your Excellency. It's purely out of loyalty to you."
"You psycho!"
But Ji-won wasn't going to miss her chance. She launched into a massacre of the subterraneans.
- Uuuugh! Euwhooook?
- Ooooooooh! Hoh! Euwhoooo!
Like she had been bottling up her bloodlust all this time, she rampaged through the underground, hunting down the likes of "Subterranean Dang Seo-rin" and "Subterranean Cheon Yo-hwa." The underground civilization, which had only just begun to form, was almost entirely wiped out that day. And when Ji-won finally skinned the hide off "Subterranean Dang Seo-rin," a surprise item appeared.
"...A witch's hat?"
"It's a pointed hat. And there's a model of a train further inside."
"Why is this stuff inside their bodies?"
Indeed, hidden inside the body of the Dang Seo-rin mimic were a witch's hat and a toy train. No normal human would have such things inside their body.
"Ah. There's a school uniform inside the body of Subterranean Cheon Yo-hwa. It's the Baekhwa High uniform."
"...I have no idea how this works."
I didn't understand how the subterraneans had gotten hold of these items, but everything people had lost—their personalities, hobbies—was all hidden here.
"There's a pile of hair in Seo Gyu's body."
"..."
"In Sim Ah-ryeon's body... Oh, it's a sketchbook with a short tongue drawn inside. If we burn or destroy these, the surface people should return to normal."
In some cases, rather than symbolic items, there were simple objects like a notebook hidden inside the bodies. For example, in Subterranean Noh Do-hwa's body was a piece of paper with "Hatred for Humans" written on it. Even after losing her Hatred for Humans, Noh Do-hwa had continued to glare at me with utter disdain. At this point, her consistency was more frightening than anything.
After going through several stomachs, Ji-won seemed satisfied. She cleaned her dagger and returned to my side.
"Your Excellency, I've been thinking... wouldn't this anomaly be useful to us?"
"Useful? How?"
"This place is the opposite of the Earth. Without your powerful Aura, no Awakener would have been able to find it."
In short, Ji-won continued, "This is the perfect place for the perfect crime."
A sense of foreboding crept over me.
"You don't need to look so concerned," Ji-won reassured. "All I'm suggesting is that we could use this anomaly to correct the many flaws in human nature."
"Flaws in human nature, you say...?"
"For example, if we put a notebook inside Sim Ah-ryeon's copy that says 'Narcissism,' then wouldn't we be able to easily solve one of the issues that's been tormenting her?"
"Hmm."
"Your Excellency could use this place as a sort of editor. You could correct and modify the personality flaws of your comrades, making them more functional, perfect versions of themselves."
"...No. That's the fastest way to become an anomaly. A being that manipulates the personalities of those around them at will? You're trying to make me into a dictator!"
"I still think it's highly practical."
"No. Absolutely not." I waved her off with a firm hand. Ji-won's suggestion was eerily similar to something Dang Seo-rin had attempted in a previous round. The result had been the birth of a Corrupted.
"Hmm. Is that so...?"
Though she looked disappointed (a face only I could read), Ji-won scanned the area around us. The only scenery left to observe was the aftermath of the massacre she had unleashed upon the subterraneans.
"If that is your wish, Your Excellency, I'll be content with simply exterminating these anomalies," she concluded.
"Right. We should be thankful we caught them before they stole anything crucial, like our hearts or minds."
"Understood." Ji-won obediently packed up and we returned to the surface through the hole we had dug.
She gave up on her suggestion so quickly that, for a moment, I almost let my guard down and followed her back to the surface without thinking twice.
But then something felt off.
Trusting my instincts, I walked over to the corpse of the "Subterranean Undertaker" and pried open its mouth. And there, tucked inside, was a note written in Ji-won's handwriting.
Suspicions about Ji-won
Doubts about Ji-won's loyalty
Complete mistrust of Ji-won's character, personality, and words
"..."
"...Ah."
As I held the note, my eyes locked onto Ji-won, who had half-crawled into the hole.
Our gazes met.
And then, like a mole, she scurried deeper into the hole, disappearing from sight. The only sound that followed was the faint tap-tap-tap of her running at full speed.
If I were to describe that scene in a single phrase, it would be:
『Ji-won hid her conscience.』
I couldn't help but shout after her.
"Ji-won! Stop right there, you little brat!"
There is a short epilogue.
"Hyunnnng! Thank you so muuuuuch!"
"Uh, yeah."
With his hair restored, Seo Gyu clung to my waist, sobbing.
Not only had his hair grown back, but his sense of identity—his once-proud self—had returned as well.
It wasn't just Seo Gyu. Others also benefited from the "normalization." Dang Seo-rin had reverted back to her rail enthusiast ways and even held a public burning ceremony of scrapped trains in the station square.
"Well, I, uh... I think I would've been fine if you just left me alone..."
Only Ah-ryeon, who had been enjoying her newfound extroverted life, felt a bit regretful. Most people, however, treated the whole incident as an embarrassing part of their past.
Just when I thought the strange story about our underground counterparts had come to an end and we had all returned to normalcy—
A sudden question crossed my mind.
'Wait. If the underground world was stealing things from the surface, then... what about the sun?'
There had been a sun in the subterranean world, yet the sun in the sky above us was still shining brightly.
In other words, there were now two suns coexisting on Earth—one that had been stolen and another that was still in place.
One sun that had lost something.
Another sun that had stolen something.
"..."
As I sipped my café au lait, I gazed up at the clear sky, focusing on the bright sun.
What had been stolen from our sun by the anomaly?
-x-X-x-
The Winter Soldier I
What's your favorite season?
Summer? Fall? Spring? Winter?
For the record, I myself am not particularly fond of any season.
Once upon a time, people in Korea used to take pride in the country's distinct four seasons, but that was long ago. After the collapse of civilization, the four seasons truly became well-defined again.
But, as with everything, there were pros and cons. Just because the seasons had become more distinct didn't mean we could rejoice.
First, let's talk about spring.
"Your Excellency, we've observed a large, yellow cloud approaching from the west and the north."
"A yellow dust storm? Send a cooperation request to Samcheon World to monitor the movement of the cloud immediately. Order all citizens to wear masks."
"Is it really that serious? As far as I know, breathing in a little fine dust won't kill you."
"It's not just ordinary yellow dust. Each fine dust particle has been transformed into a deadly toxin by the anomaly. Without a mask, you'll be dead in three minutes."
"Ah."
Then there's summer.
"Undertaker! A typhoon is heading straight for us!"
"Calm down. Let's start building an ark."
Next is fall.
"G-Guild leader, why does it smell like blood, instead of leaves, when the autumn foliage falls?"
"Just ignore it."
"But lately, when I walk down the street and the leaves brush past me, I keep hearing faint whispers, like 'Save me...' And the ginkgo trees, when their fruits drop, there's this awful stench, like human innards—"
"I said ignore it."
"...Yes, sir."
Ah! The wonderful Korean Peninsula!
Not that this hellish landscape was limited to Korea alone. The more appropriate thing for us to say would be, "The wonderful planet Earth!"
But no matter how harsh spring, summer, or fall became with these extreme weather phenomena, they could never claim the title of the ultimate boss. That honor belonged to winter.
The cruel, white tyrant.
From the dawn of civilization to its end, humanity's greatest enemy had always been winter.
One day, Cheon Yo-hwa and I were walking down the hallway of Baekhwa High when a student stepped in front of us.
"Huh? What's going on? I told you not to interrupt when I'm with Teacher... Oh, wait. It's So-yeon." Yo-hwa's eyes momentarily turned cold, but upon recognizing the student, her expression softened. "What's the matter?"
"..."
The short-haired student, Joo So-yeon, bowed her head slightly in greeting. She was one of the original members of Baekhwa High. Had I not intervened to defeat Infinite Void, she would have been one of the many who died.
Remember, out of the 750 students at Baekhwa High, only 19 survived, and 2 of them eventually died by suicide. The student standing before us, Joo So-yeon, was one of the ones who took her own life.
Of course, in the rounds where Infinite Void was defeated, that tragedy was averted.
Now, So-yeon was just a quiet, shy underclassman suffering from mutism. Her special status lay in the fact that she was one of the few who could speak candidly to the student council president.
"..."
"Take your time. It's okay, you can speak slowly."
"..."
Unlike Lee Ha-yul, who also struggled with speech but excelled in controlling Aura, So-yeon lacked such abilities. She didn't have any overpowered skills, like controlling threads to make puppets speak on her behalf. Thus, she resorted to using a different method.
Slowly, painstakingly, So-yeon scratched letters into Yo-hwa's palm with her nails, one by one.
The letters read:
W I N T E R
As soon as Yo-hwa saw the word, her face stiffened. I glanced at her palm from the side and found my expression matching hers.
Yo-hwa asked, her tone serious, "Winter? Are you sure? But it's only June."
Joo So-yeon nodded.
"That can't be right. Wait... So-yeon, could you show us?"
So-yeon nodded again, then clasped her hands together in a prayer-like gesture. Yo-hwa and I stood on either side of her, forming a protective barrier.
A few seconds passed.
Crack! Crackle!
Suddenly, the sound of ice breaking echoed through the halls of Baekhwa High. Frost began forming around us, spreading out in a three-meter radius, with So-yeon at the center.
"Yo-hwa."
"Yes, teacher."
We both released Aura to protect ourselves from the cold. The temperature was dropping rapidly, to the point that it would be unbearable for So-yeon alone.
But the temperature wasn't the only concern.
Crack! Crackle!
The windows lining the hall instantly froze over before shattering into pieces. Snow piled up rapidly in the three-meter radius around us.
Yo-hwa, So-yeon, and I stood in a small, safe zone. However, everywhere else—to our legs, then waist, then shoulders—snow rose higher and higher. Eventually, the snow towered over even our heads.
It was freezing.
"..."
"..."
Huff.
When Yo-hwa exhaled, her breath looked like dry ice in the frigid air.
Out of curiosity, I briefly released the Aura protecting my forearm. The surrounding cold bit into my skin with ferocity. It was easily -120°C.
"So-yeon. Are we done?"
She shook her head. We weren't finished yet.
"Alright, then. Can you stop?"
With a small nod, So-yeon released her ability.
The bitter cold vanished. The broken window fragments crumbled to dust, and the snow that had piled up around us began to melt away.
Baekhwa High's Awakener, Joo So-yeon.
Her ability was called Weather Forecast. She could predict and summon the season and weather that would occur up to one month in advance.
Her accuracy? Just 50%.
As you can imagine, it wasn't the most useful ability in everyday situations. Telling someone, "It will either rain tomorrow or it won't," would only get you a response like, "And how exactly does that help?"
But in emergencies, her ability was invaluable.
"...Teacher."
"Yes. It looks like we need to prepare."
Winter was coming.
In a month's time, there was a 50% chance that a -120°C winter would descend upon the Korean Peninsula.
As expected, the National Road Management Corps was thrown into chaos.
"A temperature of -120°C? In the middle of summer? Can we even survive a winter like that...?"
"Of course not. That's why they call it 'killer weather,' Commander Noh Do-hwa. You've seen 100-meter-high tsunamis in summer, didn't you? Was that normal?"
"Goddamn. Living on Earth really sucks..." Do-hwa grumbled and swore, but had the Russians heard her, they'd have scoffed. The average yearly temperature there hovered around -100°C.
Still, expecting Do-hwa to sympathize with the Russians when she had no empathy for her fellow Koreans was a bit of a stretch. She was probably already planning to sacrifice half the city's population.
"So, anyone got any brilliant ideas? This city's mostly shantytowns. If a -120°C blizzard hits, everyone here, including you and me, will freeze to death."
"First, we need to remain calm. This is just another phenomenon caused by the Void. There's no reason to sit here in Busan waiting for winter to arrive."
"And?"
"We head north, past Pyongyang. We face the winter head-on."
"Wait... we?"
Literally.
We issued a telepathic command through the constellation, The Morning Star of the Second Coming, telling the citizens of Dongbang Singuk to stay indoors. Thanks to the overwhelming authority of the Star, the evacuation went smoothly.
As for us, a party of 50—including Noh Do-hwa, Yu Ji-won, the Saintess, and the National Road Management Corps' operations team—headed north in a two-week expedition.
"Haaa."
Wearing fur hats and gloves, the Saintess exhaled deeply, her breath hanging in the air like a balloon before dispersing into white mist.
"It's chilly here already, and it's only July. The air here feels different from Seoul."
Do-hwa stood silently beside her, arms crossed, glaring at me. She had led her team all the way to Sinuiju, where I had arrived earlier.
Spreading my arms wide, I welcomed them. "Welcome, O King of Korea. Thank you for bringing your people all this way."
"Forget that. What the hell is that?"
"Oh, that? Don't worry about it. It's just a sort of totem."
"What the hell?! How am I supposed to ignore that?!"
Do-hwa was pointing at the Statue of Liberty, standing tall and proud, holding her torch high.
Yes, I had built a replica of the Statue of Liberty in Sinuiju.
While Do-hwa had been leading her party north, I had arrived ahead of them and busied myself building the monument. Of course, it wasn't made of the same expensive copper and steel as the original. I had scavenged stone from around Sinuiju. But the sculpture was well-made, a near-perfect replica, standing at the original height of 93.5 meters.
Confronted by this overwhelming structure, Do-hwa stared at me like an Irish immigrant arriving in America for the first time, her face a mix of awe, anxiety, and hope.
"For fuck's sake. Why the hell did you build the Statue of Liberty in Sinuiju?!"
For the record, I've never been great at reading Do-hwa's expressions.
"You just don't understand, Commander."
"Huh?"
"The Statue of Liberty, no matter the medium, is always the first monument to be attacked. More specifically, wherever the Statue of Liberty stands, disaster always strikes first."
"What kind of nonsense is that...?"
"If you're skeptical, take a quick trip across the Tumen River. It's colder here than it is there."
Do-hwa lowered her head, muttering something under her breath. Probably cursing my brilliant foresight.
The Saintess, who had been listening, nodded thoughtfully. "It's like a lightning rod, isn't it?"
"Exactly. Especially when it comes to weather-related disasters, like climate change or eco-apocalypses. The Statue of Liberty is always the first thing to get destroyed."
"I remember seeing that in a few movies."
"Which leads us to the hypothesis: all climate disasters target the Statue of Liberty." I pointed dramatically at the towering statue. "In other words, as long as we protect the Statue of Liberty, any climate disaster will be nothing but a fleeting nuisance."
"..."
"All the residents of Sinuiju and our soldiers have already been relocated to Pyongyang. Now, the only things left here are us and the Statue of Liberty."
Thus, the strategy for countering this anomaly, known as "Blizzard" or "Winter General," was simple.
On our side, we just needed to protect the Statue of Liberty.
On the Anomaly's side, they had to destroy it. Because as long as the Statue of Liberty stood intact, it was the same as the climate disaster not having arrived yet.
In short—
"From now on, this place isn't Sinuiju anymore—it's New York. Commander Noh Do-hwa, here's your official appointment as Mayor of New York."
"Wha—"
I handed her a prepared certificate and a nameplate.
The first Korean to become the mayor of New York. Of course, being the mayor of New York came with its perks. Even though Do-hwa didn't speak much English, it didn't matter. In our New New York, she could do her job as mayor without getting caught up in silly prejudices about nationality or language.
Thus, the place evolved into a country that boasted not only "The Jerusalem of the East" but also "The New York of the East." A region that had once been the poorest in Asia had now flourished.
Clearly, this world was an alternate history, and Dongbang Singuk was the true protagonist of the story.
"Look at the Amnok River. Doesn't it resemble Manhattan? With its islands and everything. It's basically New York."
"..."
"You all will be appointed as police chiefs, federal judges, and other important officials. Your task is to protect the Statue of Liberty at all costs, understood?"
Whack!
Do-hwa picked up the nameplate that read "Mayor of New York, Noh Do-hwa" and smacked me in the back of the head.
Let the defense game begin.
-x-X-x-
The Winter Soldier II
「Once, I was just a regular Grade 7 civil servant working at a rehabilitation hospital. Now, after the collapse of the world, I'm the Ruler of Busan, Master of the National Road Management Corps, De facto ruler of the Korean Peninsula, and now, the Mayor of New York? For some reason, the one who looks like the savior of the world is obsessed with me. What is this?」
Leaving Noh Do-hwa to continue her light novel lifestyle, it was time to start the real defense game.
"Listen up, everyone. Here's the situation. When the blizzard from the north hits, it's predicted to bring a winter of -120°C that could last a while."
I tapped on the chalkboard, which had a map of Sinuiju pinned to it while addressing about thirty members of the National Road Management Corps.
"No one knows how long this winter will last. It could be over in a day, or it could continue for a year. In the worst-case scenario, we might be cut off from all outside communication, except for SG Net, and we'll need to endure this severe weather."
"..."
"For this operation, the Corps has selected elite members with large amounts of Aura. Each of you is essentially a human furnace. You'll need to take turns keeping the temperature of the living quarters stable, so treat fuel like it's precious."
Faint laughter rippled through the group. Despite the harsh conditions, no one openly complained. After all, the difficulty of this mission wasn't necessarily about surviving the cold. The true challenge lay in enduring the -120°C blizzard as Awakeners.
"Tomorrow, we'll start the operation, but let's take some questions before we proceed."
A few members of the Corps raised their hands.
"Yes, Lee Ha-seong."
"Sir, we have about three months' worth of food rations stored. What should we do if the winter lasts longer than that?"
"I'll temporarily leave Sinuiju and fetch Sword Marquess. I've already secured land to build a greenhouse farm. In the meantime, we'll organize hunting teams to secure more food."
I called on another member.
"Next, Cha Jae-hee."
"Thank you. What should we do if the anomaly known as Winter General expands beyond Sinuiju or starts to move?"
"If it turns out there's a core or source to the anomaly, I'll take care of it myself. Next question."
The briefing continued smoothly.
The members of the Corps asked only practical questions, focusing on what they needed to know for the mission. Of course, the 30 people here had unknowingly become my disciples—they had been indirectly trained through the constellations and learned my ways.
(Though they themselves were largely unaware of that fact.)
"Alright. That's it for today. Get some rest, and we'll start the operation tomorrow."
"Yes, sir!"
The next day, the temperature noticeably dropped after just one night. Yesterday's weather was like early winter, but by dawn, the air was sharply cold.
Do-hwa finally had to let go of her hopeful optimism.
"Damn. That Weather Forecast ability might be unreliable with normal weather predictions, but it's always accurate with weird ones like this."
"Oh, it's actually 100% accurate."
"Wait, what? How?"
"Think about it. Predicting normal weather like rain or snow is something anyone can guess without needing Weather Forecast. It's nothing special. But if someone predicts a -120°C blizzard, that's unusual in itself, isn't it?"
"Ohhh..."
Do-hwa finally accepted the explanation, taking a sip of her warm coffee.
By 8 a.m., the operations team had gathered in the command center, located inside the Statue of Liberty. Everyone was bundled up in thick winter clothes.
One of the most fashion-conscious celebrities in Busan, Ji-won, was wearing her signature white uniform with a fur cloak. She looked over at me.
"Your Excellency, everything is ready."
I nodded. "Deploy the prisoners."
"Yes, sir."
Some of you may have noticed a gap in the headcount. There were 50 people who came up to Sinuiju, but only 30 of them were members of the National Road Management Corps. The remaining 20 were prisoners I had brought up from places like Busan. Our good ol' prisoners, who had been useful during the Inunaki Tunnel mission, were about to be put to work again today.
"Prisoners, listen up. Pay attention to His Excellency's orders," Ji-won addressed the 20 prisoners in front of her.
"Ah, fuck..."
"What kind of bullshit is this at this time of day..."
Their attitude was, to put it mildly, terrible. They stared at Ji-won with half-lidded, irritated eyes.
Within ten seconds, blood splattered.
Without batting an eye, Ji-won slit one of the prisoners' throats with her dagger. She shook the blood off her blade and repeated her earlier words in the same monotone voice and expressionless face.
"Prisoners, pay attention to His Excellency's orders."
Now down to 19, the prisoners straightened up like model citizens, their eyes wide and alert like little kids at a school assembly.
...I sometimes wondered if Yu Ji-won swore loyalty to me just so she could legally kill people without consequences.
Anyway, with the tension rising, I opened my mouth and said, "From now on, each of you will be assigned a number from 1 to 19. As your numbers are called, you'll go outside."
I tapped on the map to point out the designated path. "The task is simple. Cross the Amnokgang Bridge and keep walking north."
"The Amnokgang Bridge?"
"Yes. As you walk, you'll receive instructions via radio. All you need to do is follow those instructions and keep responding. That's it."
"..."
"Just so you know, I wouldn't recommend trying to escape. You all know what Ji-won's ability is. She'll track you to the ends of hell, and you'll experience a hell far worse than death."
Ji-won twirled her dagger in her hand from where she stood beside me, and the prisoners' faces paled. I could practically see their thoughts written across their faces. Why the hell are we treated like dirt while this silver-haired psycho enjoys a high-ranking position? I had been wondering the same thing for quite some time myself.
To ease their concerns, I added, "But don't worry. There's a reward for you as well. See this river here? It's called the Aiha River, about 30 kilometers north of the Amnokgang Bridge."
"..."
"If you make it there and return, I'll reduce your sentence by 250 years. And, depending on your behavior, you might receive further reductions."
"...!"
For the first time, a spark lit in their eyes.
The prisoners I had brought here were all serving sentences of over 500 years. The chance to shave off half of that was a tempting offer they couldn't pass up. They were Awakeners before they became criminals, and walking a mere 30 kilometers to earn their freedom sounded like a good deal.
"Are you really going to reduce our sentences?"
"I promise in the name of Team Leader Yu Ji-won."
Their faces instantly soured again.
I cleared my throat and quickly amended my statement. "...I promise in the name of Commander Noh Do-hwa."
"Yeah! Hell yeah!"
"Awesome! Sixty-kilometer round trip? Easy!"
The prisoners, now fully motivated, started gearing up like students who had just binge-watched motivational videos on YouTube.
And so, from prisoner number 1 to 19, they were each sent out, spaced 50 meters apart, into the cold wilderness.
For the record, we supplied them with radios and U.S. military uniforms. If you've ever watched an apocalypse movie, you know these poor guys are the ones who usually get the short end of the stick.
"Saintess, I leave it to you."
"Okay."
In the corner of the command center, away from the rest of the group, sat the Saintess, bundled up in fur hats, blankets, and sleeping bags. She clasped her hands together in prayer.
What she was doing could be described like this:
[Scout 1, come in. Scout 1, do you copy?]
[Proceed directly north. We've received reports that an ally is stranded 6 kilometers ahead with no communication. Locate them and assist if possible.]
The Saintess was using her telepathy to make the prisoners believe they were hearing this message through their radios. The idea of "an ally stranded" came as a surprise to the prisoners, but...
- Shit, what kind of bullshit is this now?
[Scout 1, do you copy? Please continue reporting as you proceed.]
- Uh, yeah. Nothing much to report yet. Just a flimsy-looking bridge. Is this the Amnokgang Bridge?
[That's correct. It was partially destroyed, but our previous scouting confirmed that it's still safe to cross. Proceed with caution.]
- Tch. Got it.
Meanwhile, I continued laying down "artifacts" at the Saintess's feet.
A small model of the Statue of Liberty. A model of the Eiffel Tower. A model of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. A model of Big Ben. A model of the Taj Mahal. A model of Tokyo Tower...
Like a shaman laying out cursed totems, or kids playing with an Ouija board, I carefully arranged each landmark onto the world map at her feet.
"..."
Do-hwa, sitting comfortably in an armchair beside us, wrapped in layers of winter gear, watched me in silence.
- Huh?
[Scout 1, is something wrong?]
- No, I crossed the bridge, but I'm starting to see snow. Weird...
The world map was hand-drawn by Ji-won, so its accuracy wasn't perfect. However, the map carried a portion of her power.
After positioning all the landmarks, I casually flicked the Eiffel Tower, knocking it over.
[That's an expected anomaly. We suspect the Void in that area is causing a sudden onset of the Ice Age.]
- What the fuck. So that's why it's this cold.
[The longer you remain in the Void, the more dangerous it becomes. After locating the ally, return as quickly as possible.]
- Alright, fine. But this feels kinda—
I toppled St. Peter's Basilica.
I knocked over Big Ben.
- Huh?
[What's wrong?]
- The wind's picking up! There's a snowstorm! I can't see shit!
[Our radar still shows your position as stable. Keep moving forward.]
- Fine, I'll keep moving, but this is insane! I can't see a thing!
Finally, I knocked over the Taj Mahal.
- Shit! I can't see anything! I'm freezing to death out here! This isn't a joke! I'm serious! I think I'm really going to die—
Static crackled over the radio.
The Saintess looked down at me. I caught her gaze and nodded in acknowledgment.
"It's here."
The radios we had given to the prisoners were just for show. The real communication was happening telepathically through the Saintess.
And, of course, there was no reason for any static interference. That meant the source of the interference wasn't us but something else.
Whatever was causing the static was the Anomaly.
- I can't see... I can't feel...
Fzzt.
Scout 1's signal went dark.
The Saintess remained calm and continued working with a neutral expression.
[Scout 2, come in. Scout 1's transmission is unstable. Do you have a visual on them 50 meters ahead?]
- No. The snowstorm's too thick to see anything.
Scout 2, lost.
Scout 3, lost.
Scout 4, lost.
On Yu Ji-won's Mini Map, the chess pieces representing the prisoners fell one after the other like dominoes.
Finally, when I knocked over Tokyo Tower...
Only the Statue of Liberty remained standing on the world map.
At that moment, the Saintess opened her mouth.
"Scout 19, lost."
"..."
"It's here."
Where? No one asked that foolish question.
The sound of something scratching echoed from the world map. The paper, which had been blank except for the chess pieces, suddenly started to freeze over, a layer of frost rapidly forming around the remaining landmarks. The ice moved, creeping toward the Statue of Liberty.
"Undertaker."
"Yes." I picked up the Statue of Liberty and placed it over Sinuiju.
Immediately, the frost that had been spreading across the map shifted course, converging on Sinuiju, as if drawn to the sacrifice we had placed on the map. It was ravenous, consuming everything in its path.
Crack! Crackle!
The radio, which should have been dead silent, began to buzz with loud static.
The thermometer, specially made for this operation, showed the temperature plummeting rapidly.
-10°C.
-20°C.
-40°C.
-80°C.
"National Road Management Corps! Release your Aura!"
"Yes, sir!"
-120°C.
At that exact moment, a heavy impact reverberated through the base. The door, which had been securely locked after we sent the prisoners outside, groaned under the pressure.
It sounded like something was clawing at it, as if a giant's nails were scraping at the surface, demanding to be let inside.
We all knew what it meant.
Winter had come.