The Winter Soldier III
If you were to ask me to name the most frequent cause of mass human death, excluding those killed by Anomalies, I could answer without hesitation:
Hypothermia.
Literal death by freezing.
Even if we disregard the Ice Age Anomaly that descended upon the new New York of the Korean Peninsula, winter alone—even in its vanilla form—has always been deadly enough.
And what about a winter with an added Anomaly?
Even in this round, where the National Road Management Corps had achieved a uniformly high level of Aura proficiency, withstanding the biting cold was no easy feat.
"It's fucking cold..."
Do-hwa, who hadn't invested any levels into Aura skills on her Awakener path, shivered even more than the others.
It had been 60 minutes since the Ice Age descended. With a blanket draped over her, Do-hwa exhaled a puff of breath, white as chimney smoke was black. She was shivering so much that it made me feel a little sorry for her.
"Commander, come a bit closer."
"...Seriously, if this was how things were going to be, you should've brought the Great Witch of the Samcheon World. I don't understand why you dragged someone who was working peacefully in Busan all the way up here. At least if she were here, she could sing us a song and improve the atmosphere."
"This operation specifically required you, Commander Noh Do-hwa. Bringing Dang Seo-rin would have been disastrous."
"I don't know what the hell this mission is about, but it's cold as hell..."
I took hold of Do-hwa's left hand under the blanket. Her fingers were ice-cold. She twitched, her eyebrows furrowing slightly, but didn't pull her hand away. Gradually, my Aura flowed through our joined hands, sending warmth into Do-hwa's body.
She shivered as if it tickled, unfamiliar with the sensation of Aura. Her lips parted, shaping around words she meant to let escape, but then she pressed them shut, likely aware that I wouldn't stop regardless.
Under the blanket, warmth quickly enveloped her. I made sure to keep the Aura swirling only beneath the cover, ensuring no one noticed.
"..."
"...You could just say thank you."
"Fuck off."
"..."
She sighed. " This feels oddly familiar... Ah. It's like when you turn on the floor heater while under the blanket but keep the air conditioner on. That's exactly how it feels."
"Are you serious? You lived with such extravagance? How could you waste resources like that?"
"Heh. Of course, you wouldn't understand, with your boomer mindset. You can't even remember when civilization was still intact. But in Korea, everyone tried it at least once... By the way, Undertaker, I have a question." Do-hwa pointed with her right hand toward a specific direction. "What's with all those cameras...?"
She was gesturing toward a line of recording devices set up inside the Statue of Liberty. Most of the equipment was haunted artifacts contaminated by Anomalies, but they were whirring away smoothly, recording everything.
"As you can see, they're cameras," I stated matter of factly.
"I know they're cameras. I'm asking why you're using such valuable equipment to film us shivering in the cold..."
"Oh, but of course. It's all part of the ultimate strategy to defeat the Ice Age Anomaly. You don't need to worry about a thing, Commander. Just sit tight."
"Ugh. This feels... unsettling..."
And then it happened.
"We're all doomed!"
A scream pierced the air from among the gathered National Road Management Corps members. The source of the cry had lost focus in his eyes.
"There's no contact with the outside, and we're running out of food! If we stay here, we're all going to die! Every single one of us!"
"H-hey. Jae-hee, what's gotten into you?"
The person causing the commotion had just been doing fine, releasing Aura like a living furnace. But now, they'd gone into a frenzy, ripping off their blanket and winter gear.
"If we're all going to die anyway, I'll make the sacrifice. Yes. If I can reduce the number of mouths to feed by even one, then maybe the others can survive a little longer. Ah, I'll go outside..."
"Shit! He's been Void-poisoned! Stop Cha Jae-hee!"
As expected of well-trained elites, the other Corps members quickly subdued the rogue agent.
I didn't even need to step in. The situation resolved itself, although Do-hwa, whose hand was still in mine, looked at me suspiciously.
"Undertaker."
"Yes."
"Why aren't you helping your subordinates but instead recording the chaos on your phone...?"
That's right. I was calmly sitting there, filming the scene unfolding before me with my phone.
That wasn't the only time I'd do so either. When the Void-poison spread further and more Corps members began showing signs of madness, I didn't intervene then just the same.
"We're all going to die if we stay here! We have to form a strike team and request aid from outside!"
"No, we have plenty of supplies—"
"They're right! Even if we fail to call for help, at least some of us should survive!"
"Let us out!"
They had lost their minds.
Outside, a -120°C blizzard was raging. With visibility near zero, any attempt to leave the bunker would mean certain death, even for the elite members of the National Road Management Corps.
Clearly, they had been robbed of their judgment by the Anomaly. Normally, this would have been the perfect time for the Drill Sergeant, Yu Ji-won, to step in and restore order, but...
A sidelong glance at Yu Ji-won showed that she was waiting for my cue, maintaining a disciplined stance.
Naturally, her primary motive was always to "ingratiate herself with me to maintain her power." Her duties as the operations team leader were far down her list of priorities. If I decided that intervention wasn't necessary, then Ji-won wouldn't step in either. She simply glanced down at her phone, browsing SG Net.
"Ugh... Damn it..." Do-hwa clocked our nonchalant attitude and sighed, apparently coming to some realization. She must have understood that this, too, was part of my plan.
"Let's break through the snow and head south for help! If we reach the base, we can return with reinforcements!"
"Fear not death! If we don't make the sacrifice, who will?"
The Void-poison spread uncontrollably.
Of the 20 National Road Management Corps members, 10 suddenly turned into "escape advocates."
Even considering that Ji-won, Do-hwa, and I had all chosen to ignore the situation, the speed of the spread was unnaturally fast, and the depth of the brainwashing was sinking deeper.
"Team Leader! Undertaker! They're seriously trying to leave!"
"Let them go."
This was precisely why I had brought Ji-won and Do-hwa into this operation: resistance to brainwashing. These two had mental fortitude that surpassed anyone else I knew.
Ji-won was famous for ignoring the nameless pink-haired Voldemort, a feat unmatched in human history. To any Anomaly that specialized in brainwashing, she was an unyielding wall.
Do-hwa was no less remarkable. She had resisted countless Anomalies associated with politicians, such as "All Power Corrupts" or "Dictators Inevitably Fall," without ever succumbing to their influence.
I hadn't appointed these two to lead the National Road Management Corps in spite of their questionable personalities for no reason. When it came to dealing with Anomalies, they were the answer.
And over there, lounging in an armchair, the Saintess was equally beyond rival in mental fortitude.
In short, within the Statue of Liberty bunker, I had assembled the strongest-willed Awakeners in all of Korea.
"Let's go! For our comrades!"
"Let's save humanity!"
"Yeaaah!"
In contrast, the ten brainwashed members threw open the bunker doors themselves.
As soon as the door creaked open, a massive blizzard swept inside. The brainwashed ones, facing the storm without any face coverings, laughed madly in the biting cold and before long, they had vanished into the frozen wilderness, their laughter swallowed by the howling wind.
The remaining survivors turned to me, their expressions stricken with fear.
"Y-Your Excellency..."
"Hmm." It looked like I had enough footage. I stopped recording on my smartphone. "Ji-won, I'll head out for a bit, so take care of keeping the Commander warm."
"Yes, sir. I'll handle it."
Passing on the role of "living furnace" to Yu Ji-won, I dashed out of the bunker to pursue the brainwashed ones.
Outside was a pure white snowfield. But unlike the picturesque scenes from Yasunari Kawabata's Snow Country, the snow in this mysterious New York was unsettling.
All around, white noise flickered like static. It wasn't the kind of flickering like a lighthouse guiding people. It was more like a barrage of camera flashes at a red-carpet event, pushing away any sense of humanity.
This snowfield had been ruined by a tyrant.
Ssssshhhhh.
Beyond the distant white noise, flashes of red shirts occasionally appeared, stark against the snow.
They were half-buried in the snow, like floating debris in a white river.
I followed their trail, stepping on the scattered clothing like stepping stones.
"Hahahahahaha!"
"It's getting warmer. Look over there, the sun! We're heading south!"
"It's not cold. See? It's really not cold!"
"The sun is protecting us!"
The voices of the Void-poisoned wove in strange harmony with the hum of the white noise.
The ten brainwashed Corps members continued their march through the snow, stripping down to their underwear as they went. Their clothes disappeared into the snow like they had sunk into a swamp, while the near-naked humans gradually submerged deeper and deeper into the snowdrifts.
"Good job."
Thud.
I knocked the ten of them out with a quick blow to the head using Aura. They fell without so much as a scream.
I then stacked the unconscious Corps members like a pile of hamburgers, lifted them with one hand, and sprinted south.
"Ah! It's the boss!"
"G-Guild Leader! Over here...!"
After running for a few minutes, I crossed the boundary of New New York and the blizzard abruptly ceased. Turning back, I saw the snowstorm looming like a dome over New New York, encapsulating the entire city.
Waiting near the border were Ah-ryeon, Dok-seo, and the rest of the backup team.
"Ugh, seriously! What's with this, Mister? Why are they all naked? Are they out of their minds?"
"The Ice Age Anomaly has a brainwashing ability. They got caught up in it. If their Aura levels were even slightly lower, they'd have frozen to death by now."
"That's messed up..."
"Ah-ryeon. Start healing them, please."
"O-okay!"
"Even if they regain consciousness, they might try to run back into the snowstorm. Keep a close watch on them until the Anomaly is completely neutralized. And make sure they can't access SG Net. Understood, Dok-seo?"
"Ugh, damn it! I know, I know! Stop nagging!"
"I'm counting on you."
"Make sure you film everything!"
Leaving the recovering members in the hands of the backup team, I returned to the snowy storm. As I made my way back, I carefully gathered the clothes the brainwashed members had discarded.
Thud.
I pushed open the door to the Statue of Liberty bunker, and all eyes turned toward me.
Do-hwa, Ji-won, the Saintess, and the remaining ten Corps members—13 people in total—watched me.
One of the Corps members spoke up.
"Y-Your Excellency? What... What you're holding..."
I glanced around the room. The recording devices were still running.
Good. No problems here.
"These are the missing members' clothes. I found them outside."
"Wh-what? So... So our comrades..."
"I'm sorry. I followed their trail as far as I could, but there was nothing but an endless expanse of snow."
"..."
"Everyone, it appears that the Ice Age Anomaly is more dangerous than I initially anticipated. Remain vigilant."
Fear began to settle on the faces of the Corps members. They didn't seem to doubt me at all, accepting my explanation with convincing sincerity. Even professional actors couldn't have delivered such genuine expressions.
Yeah.
By now, you've probably realized it too.
If you want to deceive your enemy, you have to fool your allies first.
I intended to trick the Ice Age Anomaly that had taken hold of this city.
-x-X-x-
The Winter Soldier IV
You can probably guess by now, but Anomalies have an inherent trait that's similar to severe otaku tendencies: They can't distinguish between 'reality' and 'fiction.'
To be more precise, for Anomalies, everything is the same as reality—another similarity to otaku. Just as otaku believe in the true 2D world beyond their monitors, Anomalies perceive everything they see as being of equal or greater value than reality.
'Of course, each Anomaly has things they like or dislike more.'
I used this 'otaku test' on the Ice Age Anomaly.
When did I start doing that? From the very beginning, when I first encountered it.
"Saintess, use Telepathy on the prisoners, but please act like you're communicating through a real radio."
"Pardon? Why is that?"
"I have my reasons. Also, it would be great if you could add static noise like a real radio."
The radios the prisoners carried out had no real function, and the Saintess had never actually used a radio either. Yet the Ice Age Anomaly still perceived the radio communication with the prisoners as 'real.'
The Anomaly corrupted the radio transmission without hesitation and even added noise that the Saintess never pretended to make.
At this point, I was sure.
'Sure enough, this bastard isn't the type of Anomaly that insists on the physical, real world.'
I had actually felt this way since the moment the Anomaly was lured to New York by the replica of the Statue of Liberty. The more sensory-deficient the Anomaly—think those lacking sight or smell—the more it relied on concepts rather than the physical world. It was similar to how in ancient rituals meant to appease malevolent spirits, instead of real money, people burned a single paper talisman that read "one million dollars."
"...Undertaker, what exactly are you doing right now?"
"Can't you see? I'm editing videos."
A real tragedy unfolding in reality.
A fictional tragedy happening in media.
The Ice Age Anomaly could hardly differentiate between the two.
"Videos? What videos...?"
"Movies."
Click. Click-click-click. Click.
I moused over the screen, still editing. My editing skills weren't on the level of a seasoned expert, but they were good enough for someone who's experienced hundreds of regressions.
The video source material, of course, was all footage we had just filmed inside the Statue of Liberty.
「Forward! For our comrades!」
「Let's go! Rescue humanity!」
「Ooooooh!」
At that moment, the scene of the ten brainwashed individuals leaving the bunker, ignoring their comrades' protests, was playing.
I reassembled the footage filmed from various angles and added sound effects. It certainly wasn't an example of professional cinematography, but I didn't care about that at all.
「Forward! For our comrades!」
「Hehehe, heehee, heeheehee!」
「Let's go! Rescue humanity!」
I didn't even need to try. The Anomaly took over the video, inserting horror elements in between to heighten the atmosphere.
The edited video was completely different from 'reality.'
Behind the ten brainwashed people in the video, corpses frozen in ice clung to their bodies. The brainwashed weren't moving of their own accord. The frozen ghosts were dragging them out of the gates by their wrists and ankles.
"..."
Do-hwa, who had been watching the laptop next to me, looked as if she were about to faint.
It wasn't just the brainwashed. The ghosts clung to all the survivors who hadn't fully succumbed to the Anomaly.
There was a ghost clinging to someone's shoulder, wrapping its hands around their head, another ghost gnawing at Do-hwa's leg, and yet another banging its head against the bunker door repeatedly.
"...What is all this?"
"It's the real reason we feel 'cold.' These ghosts are making us feel cold by attaching themselves to us."
"...The fuck?"
"Even if you try to get rid of them now, it won't work, Commander Noh Do-hwa. The filters are different, so you can't interfere with them."
For the record, I wasn't filming our surroundings at that moment. All the management officers except for the top brass were asleep, anyway. I seized the chance and used our break time to jump into editing the footage I collected.
By the time I finished for the day and played the video back, the Anomaly had automatically started the post-production process. In it, 'Undertaker' and 'Noh Do-hwa' were suddenly spouting lines they'd never said.
「Undertaker.」
「Yes.」
「Now that we're alone, I have something I've been curious about for a while. Do you... like me?」
Beside me, I heard an outraged, "What the fuck?" It wasn't the Noh Do-hwa in the video, but the real one, her voice fresh like squeezed fruit juice.
The fruit in question was probably durian.
"I've never said anything like that in my fucking life."
"Neither have I." It was a fascinating phenomenon to me. "This is probably the Anomaly's perception of reality. From our perspective, it's a distortion."
"Of all the ways to distort things, why the fuck would it choose this?"
"Because it's an Anomaly. Hmm. If I had to guess, maybe it interpreted us holding hands under the blanket as being in a romantic relationship or something."
"Shit. I knew I should've let go back then, even if it meant freezing to death..."
"Why are you overreacting? It's just a harmless distortion by the Anomaly, anyway."
The video continued, with the credits reading, "Script: Ice Age, Editing: Ice Age, Sound: Ice Age."
「Of course I like you. I can't start my day without seeing your rotten eyes, Commander Noh Do-hwa.」
「Hmph. You know that's not what I was asking...」
「...」
「You know the Guild Leader of Samcheon World likes you, right? You're not oblivious. So why do you keep testing them?」
「Hmm. I didn't expect this kind of conversation...」
"..."
"..."
A strange quiet descended over us, the two of us settled side by side, as we stared at the laptop screen.
I'll say it again—those weren't the real Undertaker and Noh Do-hwa in the video. In the real featured moment, we were just having meaningless small talk.
But—
「Unexpected as this may seem, Undertaker, I do find your stories about other cycles somewhat interesting...」
「I thought you weren't interested?」
「For the realism of it, no. But the story where you said I strangled you to death—that one was quite amusing. The important thing, too, is they're pretty decent getting to understand who you are...」
Between Do-hwa and me, our conversations weren't just vocal. There was always an unspoken Telepathy of sorts, like a silent signal in the background. Just as the letter 'G' in the word sign is never pronounced, our unvoiced signal, this Morse code of our minds, always hummed beneath the surface of our exchanges.
Human relationships are defined not just by what can be said, but also by what is left unsaid. By that measure, Do-hwa and I were particularly strong in our shared silence, like comrades attending a concert, quietly appreciating the faint bass together.
So—
「But there is one thing about your stories I just can't get out of my head...」
「Only one? That's a bit disappointing.」
「You never talk about romance...」
In reality, we never had this conversation.
Not ever.
Although neither of us had formally agreed to it, we had an unspoken rule to never cross a certain 'line.'
Do-hwa strangling me to death? That wasn't a violation of our unspoken rules. It was just another joke we could laugh off as part of our bizarre shared history.
If anything―
「Huh. I didn't think Commander Noh Do-hwa would be interested in romantic stories. I'll keep it in mind for next time.」
「Stop pretending. You know full well that's not what I mean. Alright, I'll spell it out so even you can understand. Undertaker, I'm interested in the fact that you never bring up romance.」
「That's because I'm impotent.」
「Oh. That's one theory. But since you seem fine to me, I'll dismiss it.」
That kind of conversation was way beyond the boundary of our usual interactions.
In the video, Do-hwa turned her head to look up at the Undertaker. They were so close that you could almost feel their breath.
「Shall I share my theory then...?」
「...」
「In another cycle, did you ever―」
Click.
Without prompting, both of us reached for the mouse at the same time.
Since I was faster, I clicked on my left hand, and on top of the back of my left hand rested Do-hwa's palm.
The silence lingered.
Oddly enough, the real Do-hwa was now looking up at me from an angle, just like in the paused frame on the screen.
Maybe that's why it felt like time in reality had also stopped.
Even though she was an Awakener, Do-hwa's hair remained a dark black, like mine. Her eyes, too, were the same untouched black. Just like mine.
Black gazing into black.
With both of us locking eyes, it was as though, without words, a silent Morse code was being transmitted.
'Shall we pretend none of this happened?'
'...'
'Or?'
The silence stretched on.
Then, Do-hwa parted her lips.
"I..."
"..."
"No matter how many cycles pass, the way you look at Dang Seo-rin as Dang Seo-rin, or Yu Ji-won as Yu Ji-won, or Lee Ha-yul as Lee Ha-yul... Sometimes, I fucking hate it, but I don't think it's a bad thing. It's what makes you the same person in every cycle, whether it's your 10th or your 100th run."
"Yes. I'm aware."
"The reason it's fucking annoying is that while you remember everything, I don't."
"I know."
"So, if I can't know everything, I'd rather hear nothing at all. For you, with your Complete Memory, any story I tell you is just a rerun of something you've already seen. That pisses me off. How do others feel about this? Do they always find it fun? Do they always think it's fresh?"
"I know."
"You're such a fucking bastard."
She grabbed my tie. It wasn't a yank so much as a clawing motion.
At that moment―
「Do you want to hear my voice?」
Click.
Though neither of us pressed the mouse, the video resumed playing on its own.
「Then save this godforsaken world first. Or, heh. Lose your regression ability. Learn to forget.」
Even so, I couldn't look away from her. Do-hwa, standing right in front of me, demanded my attention.
And besides, I didn't need to look.
「Shall I be completely honest with you?」
Whether it was the Noh Do-hwa in the video or the one in front of me, they were both in the exact same position.
「I don't expect you to save the world. In fact, I expect the opposite.
「Undertaker. I'm the only one who is hoping for your 'failure.' Because that seems far more likely. I'm not the type to bet my life on false hope...」
Do-hwa smiled faintly.
「So the day you stand on the same level as me will be the day you give up regression. When you live your final life. That'll be hell for you. In that final hell, I'll gladly join you, all the way to the bottom...
「I'm really looking forward to that day. What about you? Don't you look forward to the moment when your only funeral will also be your only true life, your own personal hell? You can thank me then.
「It's a pity, you know, that today isn't the day you'll fall into that hell.」
Her hand covered my eyes.
Because of that, I couldn't tell if the final words came from her lips or from the laptop's speakers.
"Don't forget..."
The cold touch of her hand, as black as midnight.
Like a snowstorm swallowing the desolate tundra at night, casting a shadow over everything. A faint echo, like the last note of a fading melody, whispered as it disappeared.
"I'll be waiting for you at your true Bad Ending."
The next day.
We began the full-fledged process of hunting down the Anomaly.
-x-X-x-
The Winter Soldier V
Let's briefly shift focus to the warm haven for Awakeners: SG Net.
As befitting its title as the 'only community in the country,' SG Net always radiated a cozy warmth.
- Anonymous: This guy's probably a loser who can't even get past 200 meters in the tunnel lol
└Anonymous: What's a wannabe Awakener who's only ever had Americanos talking about? haha
└Anonymous: Lol, I'll be having a cafe latte at 600 meters tomorrow. Feel free to join if you've got the guts^^
Maybe a little too warm at times.
The main issue was that title it had, the 'only community in the country.' Back when civilization still stood, the internet addicts had each of them staked out their own turf online, yet now, they were all forced into this one big, messy quarantine zone.
Community identity? That didn't exist.
The members ranged from kids under 10 to elderly over 90, from Inuanki Tunnel newbies at 100 meters deep to veterans at 1,000 meters. Everyone was jumbled together.
There was an old saying from the martial arts world: Beware of the elderly, children, and women. In SG Net, you had to be wary of everyone. The only exception was the administrator, Seo Gyu.
It was truly an age of chaos, with countless factions vying for power.
In this hellish reality, one misstep could send you plummeting into ruin.
(There was still a huge mystery surrounding OldManGoryeo, who had lost both legs but somehow managed to survive with his neck intact. Some even seriously debated whether OldManGoryeo was the strongest entity in Korea.)
Today, as always, everyone was fully engrossed in community activities. Not a single person raised a reasonable question about why anyone would be so dedicated to it.
And then, the post appeared.
- Anonymous: [Live Broadcast]Surviving the Ice Age - Day 1: Current Status of the National Road Management Corps' Northern Expedition.avi
It was a video I, the Undertaker, had posted anonymously.
The reason I didn't upload it under my usual nickname, ZERO_SUGAR, was simple: I was meticulous about managing my posts.
Even in the apocalypse, my posts were packed with high-quality educational content.
Views? Likes? I didn't care about those at all. Did Nietzsche whine about poor sales after writing Thus Spoke Zarathustra?
A sage's words being ignored was just the fate of humanity. And I accepted humanity, foolishness and all.
- Anonymous: ?? What is this?
- Anonymous: I see Noh Do-hwa and Yu Ji-won?
- SergeantNerd: Wow, so Team Leader Yu disappeared from Busan because she got sent on a long-term expedition to the Void? sigh
- Anonymous: Even Undertaker is there lol
- [Baekwha] SixthGrader: Hoeee >_<);;
On the other hand, the video I uploaded quickly gained views.
My editing skills, honed over countless regressions, combined with the Anomaly's distortion, created a terrifyingly immersive atmosphere. Despite not having a professional crew, it had the gritty vibe of found footage, much like a documentary horror film, in the vein of The Blair Witch Project.
- Anonymous: Where the hell is this? Why's the assault team packed with all-stars? Has the Commander of the Road Corps ever gone on an expedition to the Void herself?
└[Samcheon] IceIsMagic: Without Dang Seo-rin or that Baekwha Girls' High cosplayer, it's not really all-stars.
- Anonymous: Still, it's the first time I've seen the Commander on a live stream.
└Anonymous: ?? That person is the Commander? Where's my shadowy tall, mustached figure hiding?
└dolLHOuse: As I've said many times, the Commander of the National Road Management Corps is a petite woman who always wears black gloves and a monocle.
└Anonymous: Why is that actually true???
└[Baekwha] JournalismClub2: Wow, no offense, but she looks completely different from how I imagined.
TheNoh Do-hwa making a personal appearance shocked many of the members.
Surprisingly, what she looked like wasn't well-known. In fact, over on the Busan side of things, most people wouldn't recognize her at all.
I mean, who could identify a workaholic who spent 365 days a year holed up in a dark office at NRMC headquarters, buried in paperwork?
Unlike Seo-rin, who occasionally uploaded photos (usually to show off), or Yo-hwa, who would post pictures of people tied up in front of a campfire while flashing a peace sign, Do-hwa didn't even log into SG Net.
Those who had only ever heard rumors about her but never seen her in person were glued to the video, half-convinced she might not even be real.
- Anonymous: Noh Do-hwa aside, this Ice Age Anomaly? This looks pretty dangerous.
- ZhaoYong-soo: Judging by the Statue of Liberty that appeared in the video, the location is definitely Sinuiju. We've received reports that strange statues have been popping up there recently.
- Anonymous: If it's -120 deg with wide-area freezing and brainwashing abilities, isn't that basically a mobile Great Void? I heard the Commander is basically powerless. Is she even supposed to be there?
└OldManGoryeo: If it's Sinuiju, the Saintess of the North should be nearby, so as long as they don't die, they'll be fine lol
└Anonymous: I'm saying they might die...
- Anonymous: Damn, they just took out all the prisoners in one shot. Nice.
For three days, I uploaded one part of my "docu-series." It amounted to 120 minutes of dense content. Both in length and substance, it had the potential to dominate all discussions on SG Net.
- Anonymous: Holy shit; half the Corps members just got wiped out in one blow!
└[NationalRoad] ForbiddenBookDepartment17: I heard Cha Jae-hee was one of the top aces among her peers...
- Anonymous: Fuck, seeing them get dragged away by ghosts is bringing back trauma. One of our guild members got dragged away like that and came back with just his wrist lol
└Anonymous: Same here...
- [Baekwha] JournalismClub2: Baekwha Girls, please don't reply to posts using your nickname. Log in as guests only; this is Directive 004. And don't respond to this either.
- LiteraryGirl: KYAAAAAA Noh Do-hwa and Undertaker are trending as a couple!!!
└Anonymous: ?
└LiteraryGirl: Everyone, you have to see this black-haired chemistry! I've lived just to witness this moment! I suddenly feel like my life hasn't been wasted, and it's all so moving. 😭😭😭
└Anonymous: ?
└OldManGoryeo: ?
└Anonymous: ??
└Anonymous: What's wrong with this chick all of a sudden?
└dolLHOuse: ──
└[Samcheon] WitchJudge: Hm...
- Anonymous: Who's that blue-haired Awakener over there? Is that a Road Corps member?
└[NationalRoad] ForbiddenBookDepartment17: No? Probably a local collaborator.
As the video progressed, the number of survivors rapidly dwindled.
On Day 1, there were still ten members of the Corps, but as time went on, they grew increasingly mentally unstable. Grabbed by the apparent ghosts, some began self-harming while others destroyed the bunker's supplies.
- Anonymous: Now I get why the National Road Corps elites suddenly went to Sinuiju. If a monster like that showed up, of course they'd have to go.
└[Samcheon] IceIsMagic: Agreed.
└Anonymous: I thought it was an all-star team, but now I'm getting worried...
On SG Net, posts like [Analyzing the Objective Danger of the Ice Age Anomaly] and [Why the Ice Age Assault Team Is Fucked] began flooding in.
By the time the video showed the evening of Day 2, only four survivors remained: Noh Do-hwa, Yu Ji-won, the Saintess, and me.
Just as unease began spreading among the viewers, worrying that the mission would fail, what were we, the flesh-and-blood members in question, actually doing inside the Statue of Liberty?
"It's ready. Let's call Dokseo and Ah-ryeon and get out of here."
"Yes."
We had already leisurely prepared for our escape.
As I said before, the Ice Age Anomaly was an otaku type. It didn't distinguish between 'imagination' and 'reality' and instead treated them as one and the same.
That's why the video I uploaded to SG Net—the Surviving the Ice Age series—wasn't just some made-up tall tale to the Anomaly. To it, the video was a legitimate truth. The Ice Age Anomaly truly believed it had killed the members of the National Road Management Corps.
In reality, after turning off the camera, I had personally carried all the wounded out of New York, one by one.
But from the Anomaly's perspective, there were now two truths:
A. The National Road Management Corps members weren't dead. They had simply been transported beyond the snowstorm's boundary.
B. The National Road Management Corps members were all wiped out, and the remaining survivors would soon be brainwashed and die.
With these two truths coexisting, I edited the live broadcast and uploaded it to SG Net.
Almost immediately, the perception that 'Truth B is real' skyrocketed. No one intervened from the Corps' side to claim the video was fake, and the distortion added by the Anomaly made it feel all too real. Though there were some skeptics, they were a minority. The people who believed in Truth A could be counted on one hand, while those who believed in Truth B numbered well over a thousand.
"With this, we can control the Anomaly's perception," I explained to the remaining team, keeping the camera off. "SG Net works well here, in the Void where the Ice Age Anomaly resides. In other words, the Anomaly sees SG Net as part of reality."
"...So whichever truth the SG Net users believe, that becomes the truth for the Anomaly, right?"
"Exactly, Saintess." I smiled. "The Ice Age Anomaly must be thrilled right now. Well, I'm speaking metaphorically, since it doesn't actually feel emotions. But it thinks it has cornered Noh Do-hwa, the real power behind the peninsula, as well as the Constellations and even me, the Undertaker."
"Right."
"So from the Anomaly's perspective, the best possible ending is playing out. If we all die, it will believe it has reached a perfect ending and will remain forever trapped in the video instead of in reality."
"...I see."
That was why I edited and uploaded the video. This strategy would let us defeat an Anomaly capable of summoning -120°C weather in the middle of summer, all in just three days. The plan was to lull the Anomaly into a sweet dream and seal it away, making it live in that dream forever.
"All that's left is to upload the final ending video. Before that, though, I'll need two of you to take on the roles of attempting an escape and going missing, while the last one will stay with me until the end, freezing to death."
"Ah. In that case, I—"
"I'll do it, " Do-hwa cut off the Saintess. "I'll stay until the end."
"You, Ms. Do-hwa?" the Saintess asked, slightly surprised.
"Yes. If the Saintess of Yongsan is the last one standing, SG Net viewers will think it's strange. No one knows her true identity... Besides, if I leave someone behind to die while I escape, it'll hurt my image as the Commander of the National Road Management Corps."
"Ah. That makes sense."
"I'm not particularly interested in managing my image, but it would be good for people to see that a high-ranking officer of the Corps stays in the most dangerous place until the very end." Do-hwa glanced at me through her monocle. "Isn't that right, Undertaker?"
"Hmm."
Even though we'd had an intense conversation the other night, neither of us brought up that topic again. As if nothing had happened.
It made sense. After all, both Do-hwa and I already knew everything we had discussed. We had merely voiced what we already understood that night.
I nodded. "That makes sense. When the camera starts rolling, Team Leader Yu Ji-won and the Saintess will head out."
"Understood."
"You should pretend to go searching for the missing people, as if you've been hypnotized by the Anomaly."
That left only Do-hwa and me alone in the Statue of Liberty's bunker.
Making it through the raging snowstorm would be no easy feat, but for the Saintess and Ji-won, it was definitely possible.
I filmed their silhouettes as they opened the door and walked out, editing it to be as dramatic as possible. Now, all that was left was to shoot the final ending.
"..."
"..."
Silence fell.
With just the two of us remaining in the bunker, which had once been filled with over 20 people, the frozen air felt even colder.
"So, how are you planning to film the final scene...?"
"Oh, I'm thinking of destroying the Statue of Liberty. The two of us will get trapped under the debris and slowly freeze to death."
"Hmm. And how do you plan to film the freezing part?"
"I'll control my Aura. I'll keep the warmth circulating through my internal organs while letting frost form on the surface of our skin."
"Well, as always, I'll leave it to you to handle the Anomaly..."
"Yes. But I'll need you to handle the filming with your smartphone. My hands will be full."
After distributing our roles, I gently knocked over the miniature Statue of Liberty model that had been placed on the world map.
It tumbled to join the pile of rubble, along with the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben from Paris and London.
Rumble, rumble, rumble...
As expected, the Ice Age Anomaly, which had perceived the Statue of Liberty as the "real deal," began to rage.
The snowstorm intensified, and the entire statue, where the bunker was located, started to shake violently like in an earthquake. In less than ten seconds, the outer walls of the statue began to tear apart, crashing to the ground with a deafening thud-thud-thud.
"Don't leave the range of my Aura under any circumstances."
I pulled Do-hwa close with one arm, shielding her from the falling debris with my Aura.
Thud! Crash! Thud!
The shattered pieces of the statue piled up around us, deflected by the Aura.
Rumble, rumble...
The Statue of Liberty had completely collapsed. We were now trapped between the wreckage, like survivors of a collapsed building. The narrow, dark crevice was filled with dust.
Do-hwa's face was mere inches from mine. Thankfully, she didn't seem hurt.
"Is it recording?"
"Seems to be. Well enough, at least. Not that I have any experience with this kind of thing..."
"As long as it's recording. The editing will take care of itself later. Let me know if you feel any pain or cold."
"Sure."
Do-hwa looked down at her hand and observed the thin layer of frost that had formed on her skin. "This is interesting. It really does look like frost, but I don't feel that cold. Seeing something like this makes me want to learn Aura myself..."
"This is a trick only I can pull off. You don't have the talent for it, so you're better off giving up."
"Hah." She half-closed her eyes. "If you stop controlling your Aura even for a moment, the cold will penetrate my skin and kill me, won't it?"
"..."
Do-hwa placed her hand over my heart, and the outer edges of my chest felt cold.
From that moment on, she said nothing more. She simply rested her hand over my heart, feeling the rhythm of my heartbeat, and gazed into my eyes.
Ssssshhhh...
Snowflakes gently fell through the cracks in the rubble.
When I looked into her eyes, reflected in mine, my skin appeared frozen. Both Do-hwa and I were encased in a layer of fabricated cold, using it like armor to keep the warmth inside.
"Not bad."
After filming for what felt like hours, Do-hwa finally murmured her thoughts.
"It's not bad at all."
There's a short epilogue.
Later that day, I edited the scene of Noh Do-hwa and the Undertaker freezing to death and uploaded it to SG Net. By then, the debris had long been cleared away, and we were sitting on the rubble as if it were a bench.
While sipping warm coffee beside me, Do-hwa commented, "Well, it looks like people will think the two of us are dead for a while. Is that okay?"
"I've already told Seo-rin and Yo-hwa, so if there's any chaos, it'll just be a storm in a teacup. In two days, the Constellations will announce that it was all staged, and that will be the end of it."
I checked my phone and saw SG Net was in absolute chaos, with members going wild over the final video. The apocalypse seemed to have arrived, with people screaming about the fall of Korea, the collapse of Busan, and the doom of the National Road Management Corps.
A perfect success at baiting them!
"I'll let the view count rise for a while, then lock all the videos as private."
"Ohhh..."
"Once that's done, the Anomaly will be trapped inside those private videos, living out its existence only within them, like an urban legend."
"The internet as a prison for Anomalies... How fascinating."
Of course, I had deleted all copies of the videos outside of the SG Net posts.
How would I describe it?
The Ice Age Anomaly had been, quite literally, 'immortalized on the internet.'
No one would ever see it again, but still.
"All we need to do now is wait for more people to click the videos."
"Hm." Do-hwa took another sip of coffee. "So, for the next two days, we'll officially be dead..."
"Yes. Consider it a long-overdue vacation. Any place you'd like to visit?"
"Well..."
She stretched her arms overhead, the winter thawing somewhere in the stretch of her fingertips. Then, she glanced at my hand.
"For now, since the hunt is over, could you turn off your phone? It's distracting."
I shrugged and powered off my phone.
From this point on, everything was off the record. I'll just add that the two busiest people on the Korean peninsula, Do-hwa and I, enjoyed a rare, blissful vacation.
"Hello, Undertaker. Long time no see."
"Oh, hey, Seo-rin. Thanks for taking care of Busan while the Ice Age Anomaly stirred things up."
"Don't mention it. But, about that video..."
"The Surviving the Ice Age series?"
"Yeah. In the last part, you and the Commander shared a kiss just before you died. Care to explain what that was about? I'm just curious, that's all."
"Oh."
...Let's just say that explaining to her that the kiss was not part of reality, but merely a 'fictional scene' distorted by the Anomaly's editing, turned out to be quite the challenge.
-x-X-x-
The One Who Ignites I
As I mentioned briefly before, SG Net was the only internet community in the country. It wasn't the only one in the world, though.
Was it because there were other Ubiquitous ability users like Seo Gyu on other continents? Not really. It was just that the world Seo Gyu had built wasn't exactly vast.
"Hmm. No matter what I try, the internet speed doesn't improve in remote areas, hyung..."
"Yeah, I know."
Although Ubiquitous originally meant 'existing everywhere at once,' the truth was that Seo Gyu wasn't that omnipotent. His coverage extended across the length of the Korean peninsula.
That's it. Wi-Fi worked perfectly within that range.
You could get decent internet speeds in Shandong Peninsula in China and Kyushu in Japan, but beyond that, it slowed down drastically.
Sure, you could technically connect from the other side of the planet. Theoretically. But if you wanted to load a single post from the Uyuni Salt Flats, you'd be staring at a loading screen for over a year.
Though I had lost my memory, I, the Undertaker, was still a Korean at heart. And no one took internet speed more seriously than Koreans.
Over the course of countless regressions, I had repeatedly modified Seo Gyu's abilities, trying to install a 5G network across the globe.
The result?
"I'm sorry, hyung. The Saintess can extend her Aura range just by training, but no matter what I do, I'm stuck in place..."
All of it failed. A complete disaster.
From the start, Seo Gyu's growth was on a different track than the Saintess's.
"No need to apologize. Instead of expanding internet range, you've been improving the community's system capabilities."
"Hmm. Still, it's frustrating..."
Yeah. To use an analogy, as Seo Gyu leveled up, he unlocked features like Improved UI Design, Image Uploads, Video Uploads, and Opening Chat Rooms.
He wasn't about quantity. He was all about quality.
I patted Seo Gyu on the shoulder. "Wisdom is finding balance between ambition and contentment. You and the Saintess may be on different paths, but both of you have incredible abilities. Don't beat yourself up."
"Well... Alright."
"Now, stop digging and come do some leg training with me."
"Ah, sounds good! I'll drag Ah-ryeon along with us!"
That day, Ah-ryeon lost 10 mL of tears in exchange for 1 gram of muscle.
This guild leader doesn't tolerate those modern Awakeners who rely solely on Aura without developing their physical abilities.
To sum up, it was difficult to spread the grace of Ubiquitous to all of humanity, and as such, no foreign members ever appeared whenever SG Net. It was the reason I never mentioned them.
We had made a stopgap page to fill the gap.
[※Emergency Global Rescue Request※]
[Notice: You are seeing this page because you are accessing SG Net from outside the Korean peninsula.]
Report your situation.
When creating a post, avoid attaching images or videos. The smaller the file size, the better.
Do not turn off your phone until the loading screen disappears. If your device loses power during loading, your post will not be uploaded.
If you need to request help, be as specific as possible about the location and time.
We may not be able to respond to rescue requests from the Pacific Island Nations, Small Island Developing States, Oceania, North America, South America, or the British Isles. We apologize in advance.
Even if it seems too late, please describe your situation. It could serve as data for future generations.
This was the global emergency rescue page. In short, a 119 service for the planet.[1]
It was translated into every language I knew—English, French, Spanish, Chinese, and more.
Awakeners casually enjoying SG Net from within Korea couldn't access this page. In fact, only a handful of people even knew it existed.
Maybe that's why the posts were so sparse.
- Mongolia: If a person is smaller than a car wheel, they all die. (Posted 1 year ago)
- Italy: The plague is severe. (Posted 2 years ago)
- France: Shadows come whenever the church bells ring. They kill people. Their clothes look strange. (Posted 4 years ago)
- England: There's been unending smoke in the sky for 5 years. The entire sky is black. Is it clear anywhere else? Atlantis has risen in the Atlantic Ocean. (Posted 4 years ago)
- Nepal: Too much snow is falling. (Posted 5 years ago)
- Palau: Kyaaa! I survived! My house is the only one left! (Posted 5 years ago)
New posts on the emergency page were extremely rare. Sometimes, it went silent for over a year.
There wasn't much anyone could do. To access SG Net, you had to be an Awakener. On top of that, you had to somehow hear rumors about this mysterious website. You had to endure endless loading screens and also own a smartphone, but smartphones and other electronic devices were considered dangerous, tainted by Anomalies—practically ticking time bombs.
'No wonder people can't access it.'
Survivor groups around the world tended to react violently whenever they saw electronics, resembling modern-day Luddite movements.
Even if they learned about SG Net, they were likely to dismiss it with, "Isn't that just a cursed site?"
It left a bitter taste in my mouth.
'What a shame. If only the prophets didn't blow up as soon as I regressed. They could have been natural allies for matters like this...'
Well, what could I do? Even in a ruined game, where my teammates bailed at the start, I had to carry the team.
Then one day, during my 669th cycle, something happened.
- Russia: I know a method for long-distance communication. (Posted 1 year ago) (NEW!)
A post unlike anything I'd ever seen before appeared on the emergency page.
A regressor needs patience. Even if it feels like the world isn't changing and everything is repeating, a subtle wind of change will eventually blow.
That is, as long as you don't give up.
- Russia: I know a method for long-distance communication. (Posted 1 year ago) (NEW!)
This post was one such wind of change.
It came after I had successfully sealed away the Ice Age Anomaly completely. It led to the following conclusion:
'In previous cycles, this person must have died during the Ice Age. But this time, they survived and were able to access SG Net.'
This was why a regressor had to meddle everywhere, spreading their influence like a professional busybody. If I hadn't meddled to save SG Man during the tutorial, SG Net wouldn't exist. If I hadn't interfered to track down the troll villain on the forums, the Saintess of the North wouldn't exist either.
That's the life of a regressor. Even if 99% of your meddling leads to nothing, the remaining 1% will someday bring an abundant harvest.
And the new post on the emergency page was more than enough to ignite my professional meddling spirit.
Russia: I know a method for long-distance communication. (Posted 1 year ago)
A Chinese friend told me about this site. However, since it may be run by monsters, I will not disclose the specifics of the 'long-distance communication method.'
If you truly offer 'emergency rescue,' come to Naryan-Mar (Нарьян-Ма́р).
When you see the city from afar, look for the most noticeable pillar.
If you cannot come, please remember that there were people living here.
From,
The Frozen City
As soon as I read it, my regressor instincts whispered.
'This is probably real.'
There was no unnecessary self-explanation, no exaggeration—just the message they needed to convey. The tone was that of a typical survivor who had given up on hope but wasn't too lazy to cast out a line just in case.
I immediately contacted the administrator.
"Seo Gyu, can you trace where this post was uploaded from? Is it really from Russia?"
"Oh, yes. Just a moment... Oh, it's legit! Posted from way up north. Took 11 months to upload just one post, hyung."
Eleven months.
In that time, the author could have easily perished, swallowed up by the Void. But I didn't hesitate to pack my gear. Even if the author had died in those 11 months, I could always act faster in the next cycle.
"I'm heading to Russia for a bit."
"...You're the only person in the world who talks about casually 'heading to Russia' like that, hyung..."
And so, I set off for the north.
The name Naryan-Mar meant 'Red City.' As you might guess from the name, it was a planned city built during the Soviet era, initially as a coal mining settlement. Later, oil was discovered in the region, and it became quite the wealthy region.
Incidentally, Naryan-Mar was the 44th stop on the torch relay for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Even back then, I suspected that the curse of the number four had already taken root.
"Oh."
After traversing the Void and approaching the far north, I immediately understood what the Russian survivor's post meant.
- When you see the city from afar, look for the most noticeable pillar.
In the middle of the vast, snow-covered plain, where the horizon and sky blended into an endless white expanse, a dark column of smoke rose.
It was the "most noticeable pillar" mentioned in the post.
There were no signs of human life anywhere, but that column of smoke demanded attention, the only mark of civilization in the wasteland.
'I can see it from so far away. Could the author still be alive after 11 months?'
I picked up the pace.
Surprisingly, it would take another 1,000 kilometers to reach the source of the smoke in the 'Red City.' For the smoke to be visible from this far away, it was likely that the column itself was part of the author's ability.
As I approached the smoke, I saw a middle-aged man feeding reindeer nearby.
"Hmm?"
Sensing my presence, the man turned around. Surprise flickered across his snow-covered eyebrows.
The man quickly put down his feed bucket and pulled out a crossbow. He didn't point it at me, though—just held it.
"Who's there? Are you human?"
"I'm human," I answered in Russian.
The man didn't lower his guard. The reindeer continued to shuffle through the snow around us.
"Only things that aren't human claim they are. There's no one alive in the direction you came from."
"Don't jump to conclusions. The Earth is round, after all. Unless, of course, you believe in the Flat Earth theory."
"Flat Earth... What?"
"You posted on SG Net, didn't you?"
The man's hand, holding the crossbow, froze. "SG Net? You mean the internet site?"
"Yes. Your post began uploading a year ago and finished four days ago. I saw it and came here from the Korean peninsula."
"Dear God... That site was real?" the man muttered in disbelief. "Wait a minute... You're saying the post went up four days ago, and you came all the way from Korea in just four days?"
"That's right."
"No way. Do you expect me to believe that? It makes more sense to think that SG Net is cursed by monsters and that you're one of their agents."
"Hmm."
I turned my back to him, showing him that I had no hostile intentions. Then, I drew my sword Do-hwa and slashed at the endless white landscape.
Rumble, rumble, rumble...!
The snowy ground split open. The long-buried earth beneath, hidden from the sun for years, was suddenly exposed to the light.
A clean, precise cut. A ten-centimeter-wide canyon stretched all the way to the horizon.
I sheathed Do-hwa, resting upon it like a staff, and turned back to face him.
The man had dropped his crossbow. Even the reindeer had scattered in panic.
"As you can see, I'm the strongest human alive."
"..."
"I haven't slept for four days to get here, so I'm a bit tired. May I come in?"
The man's lips twitched, then he looked down at the crossbow half-buried in the snow. He picked it up and slung it over his back.
"...It seems I have an honored guest. Follow me."
Once again, Aura solved everything.
If a problem still exists, maybe you're just not using enough Aura.
Footnotes:
[1] The number to dial for emergency services in South Korea, like 911 in the US.
-x-X-x-
The One Who Ignites II
"Call me Nenet."
"I'm Undertaker. A pleasure to meet you."
The man who introduced himself as Nenet lived in a shabby tent whose walls were reinforced with reindeer hide to improve insulation. It was far too crude a structure to survive the apocalypse.
Probably not his main base, I decided, but rather a temporary shelter.
'He doesn't trust me enough to reveal his real home.'
The man was cautious. I had sensed it ever since reading his post.
"Your name is just as unique as mine. Nenet means 'person' in the Nenet language, doesn't it?"
"...You know about the Nenets?" He looked surprised, almost as shocked as when I had split the glacier with my Aura.
Though most Koreans wouldn't recognize the Nenets, they'd feel a sense of familiarity if you mentioned their traditional clothing. The parka we wear in winter comes from the Nenets culture. The man in front of me was also wearing a parka made of reindeer fur.
"Of course. They've lived around here for a long time, a minority group known for their nomadic lifestyle, right?"
"That's right. I am a Nenet."
At that moment, he became much more welcoming. He brought in firewood and lit the stove, then personally brewed tea and served it to me. He even brought out biscuits to go with the tea, along with pieces of Hershey's chocolate. It was probably the finest hospitality one could offer a stranger in the middle of an apocalypse.
I couldn't be outdone, so I pulled four bottles of distilled liquor from my backpack and offered them as gifts.
The man immediately began treating me like a long-lost relative.
"I have another name." His face flushed red from the alcohol as he spoke. "But after the city was destroyed and I was the only one left alive, I changed my name to Nenet. I didn't think anyone would ever call me by that name again... Who would have thought that website was real?"
"Was there a particular reason you chose the name Nenet?"
"Like I said, I was the last one left." A sigh escaped him, causing his beard to quiver. "I used to be just a regular person. Or at least, that's how I saw myself. My parents were Nenets, but I never thought of myself as having any special connection to their bloodline."
But when the Void descended and wiped out the people of his city, one of his surviving relatives said this:
"Hey. We might be the last remaining Nenets on Earth. If we die, who will know that we ever existed?"
The man took another swig of liquor.
"That was my uncle. He was always a bit eccentric. He worked at a bank, but he also ran a small reindeer farm and always wore traditional Nenet clothing... Oh, did you see the reindeer outside? They originally belonged to him."
"I see."
"He was always serious about preserving native culture, but after the world went to hell, he became even more obsessed with tradition. It was kind of ironic—he didn't even speak Nenet as well as I did."
Amusingly, both the man in front of me and his uncle were ordinary city dwellers. Their attempt to live like nomads after all this time was inevitably bumbling.
"And your uncle...?"
"He died two years ago. One of the reindeer he raised turned into a monster. It grew to nearly 10 meters in size, with massive antlers that were absolutely majestic." The man's mouth opened slightly, his gaze distant as he recalled the memory. "Those antlers were magnificent. My uncle was skewered by one of them."
"What happened to the reindeer?"
"I don't know. I couldn't defeat it. I just hid until it wandered off into the snow. Then I rushed over to my uncle, but he was already dead."
"My condolences."
"Don't be. He was killed by the animal he loved so much—it's almost a good death. He was a troublesome guy."
Nenet set the bottle down.
"That's why I'm clumsily trying to preserve the Nenet traditions. Raising reindeer. Living in a tent..."
"I think it's admirable."
"Not really. I'm not proud of my bloodline. But like my uncle said, if I die, the Nenets will be extinct. No one will be left to speak our language..."
"..."
"It's just something I'm doing."
We spent the rest of the night warming the air near the stove with our breath, drinking liquor, nibbling on biscuits, and munching on cheap chocolate.
The next day, after only a few hours of sleep, Nenet guided me to another location.
"Sorry to have kept you in the cold all night. Follow me."
I instinctively sensed that Nenet was finally inviting me to his real home, not just a temporary shelter.
The city once known as the Red City had turned completely white. Even the tops of four- and five-story concrete buildings were mostly buried in snow.
"Looks like the White Army won the second civil war."
"Hm? Ha! Undertaker, your Russian is good, and you know my people well."
Nenet seemed pleased with my dark humor.
The place he led me to was the regional hospital. It used to be a five-story building, but now only the top floor remained above the snow.
Nenet climbed a ladder to the roof of the hospital. A few corpses were frozen there, their foreheads pierced by crossbow bolts, but he paid them no mind.
"Take a look at this," he said, pointing to a structure in the corner of the roof. It looked like a chimney, or maybe a small lighthouse, constantly emitting smoke.
It was the source of the "smoke pillar" I had spotted 1,000 kilometers away.
"This is the 'long-distance communication method' I discovered."
"It's... a beacon?"
"That's right."
A beacon. An ancient long-distance communication method used by humans for centuries. Though criticized during the Imjin War for its limitations, it had always been useful. Most modern people probably recognized it from the movie The Lord of the Rings.
The earliest recorded use of beacons in literature dates back to 458 BCE, in the prologue of Agamemnonby Aeschylus. In the play, the guards spot a beacon and raise an alarm. The scene likely served as inspiration for the LOTR beacon sequence.
In any case―
"Do you mean to say that this primitive method can work for long-distance communication? Wouldn't the Void distort perception across the land?"
"Void? You mean that hell where monsters roam?"
"Exactly."
"Don't worry. The beacon I've lit crosses over that hell without issue. You saw the smoke pillar from a great distance away, didn't you?"
I had.
"It may look like fire, but it's something else." Nenet tossed firewood into the furnace beneath the brick structure. "Take a look inside. You can see the firewood is still intact, can't you?"
"Oh."
"You need to add firewood to make the flame rise, but it doesn't actually burn the wood. Just the act of adding wood is enough to light the fire."
"Even if it snows or rains?"
"It still burns just fine."
My eyes widened. "Wait. I saw the smoke pillar from 1,000 kilometers away. Does that mean that no matter the weather, this beacon can be seen from 1,000 kilometers away?"
"Hm. That's right. Though I'm not sure of the exact distance, it's visible from very far away."
This was incredible!
I excitedly circled the beacon. It looked like an ordinary brick structure, nothing remarkable at first glance. "This is fascinating—truly fascinating, Nenet. What are the specific conditions for your ability to work?"
"First, you need to build a proper beacon. I experimented with torches, but you can't carry the fire while moving. It has to be a stationary structure that anyone would recognize as a beacon. You could stack firewood, but the effect would be weaker."
"Is that all?"
Nenet shook his head. "No, here's the crucial part. Just lighting an ordinary fire won't work. The beacon flame must come from a fire I've lit. Only then does this strange, magical fire appear."
I quickly pieced it together. "So if I were to take a flame from this beacon and use it to light a fire elsewhere..."
"Another pillar of smoke would rise, just like this one. As long as you build the beacon properly."
"Ah."
I immediately put it to the test. I left Naryan-Mar, built a makeshift beacon, and transferred a flame from Nenet's beacon using a torch.
Whoosh...
After adding firewood to the furnace and lighting the flame, it didn't take long for the fire to bloom like a flower. Soon, smoke was rising through the chimney.
"Oh!"
The smoke shot straight up, rising into the sky as if there were no wind at all, stretching endlessly upward like a space elevator.
'...This might be a small revolution for my regressor project.'
A simple ability.
'Light a beacon, and it will be visible from afar.'
It didn't directly aid in survival or enhance combat capabilities.
But this ability carried potential. I felt the same excitement I had when I first discovered Seo Gyu's Ubiquitous.
'If I could build beacons like this every 1,000 kilometers across the world...'
We wouldn't be able to exchange detailed information like we did on the community.
'But at the very least, we'd know instantly which regions are in danger.'
I stayed with Nenet for a few more days, testing the beacons. Just as he had promised, the beacons remained lit even in blizzards.
It was an extraordinary discovery.
"Nenet, I think Sacred Fire would be a fitting name for this ability."
"Sacred Fire? Like the Olympic flame?"
"Exactly."
Legend has it that in ancient Greece, the fire from the temple at Delphi was carried to other city-states.
To the Greeks, Delphi was the center of the world. The fire, which originated from the heart of the earth, was passed from city to city and eventually found its way into the hearths of ordinary citizens' homes. Thus, the fire in each household was linked to every other household, and as the world breathed, so too did the fire in the heart of the earth.
The world was made of fire. Sacred Fire was, in essence, the reality of Ubiquitous—'existing everywhere at once'.
"That name seems a bit grandiose..."
"Not at all. Nenet, I will carry your flame and spread it across the world."
Nenet scratched his cheek. He hadn't expected me to be this enthusiastic.
"Well, if you say so. Make good use of it."
There's a short epilogue.
When it was time for us to part, I asked Nenet, "Would you consider moving to Busan?"
"Busan?"
"Yes. I wouldn't call it a great place to live, but it functions well enough as a city."
Nenet pondered for a moment. "No, I think I'll stay. I don't want to leave my homeland at this point."
"I understand."
"I don't have much attachment to life. Posting that message on SG Net was more for fun. Meeting someone like you at the end feels like a blessing."
Nenet stroked the neck of a nearby reindeer.
"I can't abandon the reindeer my uncle left behind... If you're really grateful, why don't you teach me some of that Aura or whatever?"
"Sure. I'll give you a crash course."
In the end, Nenet chose to live out his days in the White City.
During my 669th cycle, I was extremely busy traveling the world, testing the effectiveness of the Sacred Fire. Perhaps someday I'll get a chance to talk about the global beacon-building project.
After several years, when all the work was done, I returned to Naryan-Mar with a bottle of the finest liquor.
"Nenet?"
But Nenet was nowhere to be found.
He wasn't in the tent where he had served me biscuits and chocolate, nor was he at his hideout on the hospital roof.
Only the ever-burning beacon remained.
I eventually found Nenet's body far away in the snow.
The last Nenet had died, impaled by the antlers of a reindeer that had grown to 15 meters in size. It was a mutual kill.
"..."
The reindeer had grown so enormous that neither Nenet's body nor the reindeer's corpse was fully submerged in the snow.
As I buried the man who had clung to the traditions of his ancestors, even though they were no longer relevant, I had a thought:
It's said that people begin to reflect on their past as death approaches. If so, might something similar happen when an entire race faces extinction?
Perhaps the fires and smoke rising gently across the world were Nenet's final legacy.
-x-X-x-
The Performer I
Talking about remnants of the past suddenly reminded me of another person. But before we dive into that, let me ask you this first:
Have you ever heard of cover song culture?
A cover song is when someone takes a song originally created by someone else and sings it in their own voice. There's no need to look far for an example. If you've ever gone to a karaoke bar and sung a song, that's a cover.
And in Busan, there's a very famous cover artist.
"Hey? Ah-ryeon, where are you going?"
"Oh, uh, I have a concert today. I saved up some rations to buy the ticket..."
"A concert? Dang Seo-rin?"
"Eek! N-no, not that strange Latin chant concert... I'm going to Cecelia's concert!"
The Masked Song Queen.
Stage name: セシリア.
Given that her name is written in Japanese (セシリア) and not English (Cecilia), you could probably guess that she was Japanese. However, that wasn't common knowledge. In fact, fewer than ten people in all of Korea knew that. Even I only found out later from the Saintess.
This secrecy led to endless speculation on SG Net.
- Anonymous: Does anyone know who Cecelia really is?
└[Samcheon] MeteorIsIceMagic: I tried digging into it with some friends, but there's barely any information.
- Anonymous: I don't get why people worship that girl as if she's a music queen. I've heard that she even has private encore performances for VIPs after concerts. I bet there's a backstage deal...
└OldManGoryeo: Idiot. I've bought VIP tickets more than ten times, and that never happened.
└Anonymous: If there's no proof, then it's fake, right?
- CookingQueen: I think her voice is just so beautiful! It's amazing that someone can soothe the hearts of people in such despair with their singing.
- Anonymous: So, is she selling the blue pills now?
Her appearance, origin, age, gender, hobbies—nothing was known about the Masked Singer. She only performed at certain times, in certain places.
How was that possible? Was it because the apocalypse had erased everyone's personal data?
That certainly played a role. But the real reason was something else entirely.
"These days, SG Net is all about Cecelia. Doesn't it get boring, hearing about the same unremarkable singer all the time?"
"Unremarkable? Guild Leader, how could you say that? Cecelia isn't unremarkable—she embodies every single quality there is!"
Cecelia was a cover singer like no other. She had the ability to perfectly imitate any song.
On stage, when she sang Michael Jackson, she became Heavenly Demon Michael. When she belted out Celine Dion, she turned into Celine Empress.
Her ability was one of Endless Transformation. Cecelia could freely change her voice and tone to deliver a 100% accurate rendition of any song.
In short, it was impossible to identify who she really was from her performances. Her voice changed with every song.
"Guild Leader, would you like to come with me? You've saved up so many rations, you could easily buy a ticket from a reseller."
"I'm not much fun at concerts."
"Huh? Why not? I always go alone to these shows, anyway..."
"..."
I ended up going with her.
As expected from one of the most famous singers in Korea after Dang Seo-rin, Cecelia's concert tickets were expensive. Even the concert venue was unusual. While most of the businesses in Busan reused old buildings from the past, Cecelia's performance hall had been completely rebuilt by architects.
A beautifully constructed wooden building. In the center was the stage, with around 50 tables arranged in front of it. You couldn't just buy a ticket either. You had to order a meal to attend.
"If Dang Seo-rin is an idol for the masses, this seems like a more exclusive club..."
"Wow, Guild Leader! This is my first time in the VIP section!"
Ah-ryeon was bouncing with excitement.
VIP guests sat in partitioned balcony seats on the second floor. You could enjoy an expensive meal in private while watching the concert below. It was so luxurious, you'd forget the apocalypse ever happened.
"This is your first time? You make a lot of money. Don't tell me you blew it all gambling again?"
"Hehehe. Well, whenever I win, I get a lot of attention from the people at the table. It's just too satisfying to stop."
"Didn't you get stabbed in an alley because of that last time? You never learn."
"But getting stabbed doesn't matter since I heal with Self-Regeneration, right?"
"..."
Just then, the lights went out.
Staff members moved around with torches, lighting various spots, bringing the atmosphere to life.
Next to me, Ah-ryeon, who had been cutting into her steak, cheered so excitedly that she sprayed spit everywhere. Truly an embarrassment, wherever she went.
- Aaah, aaaaah...
In the middle of the now-dark stage, Cecelia stood holding a microphone.
It wasn't a functioning microphone. Electronics were always at risk of being corrupted by Anomalies.
But for a singer, a microphone was like armor for the soul. No performer would step onto the battlefield of a stage without their armor, even if it didn't work.
- Aaah, aaaaaah ♪
With her face fully covered by a mask and not an inch of skin showing, Cecelia looked like a character from a Venetian carnival as she began to sing.
"Kyaaaah!"
"Ceceliaaa!"
The audience, who had paid a fortune for their tickets, erupted in cheers.
Tonight's concert was dedicated to a legendary British rock band. Every song was from their repertoire.
With most electronics too dangerous to use, Cecelia had become almost the only way to hear beloved music at the original quality. For the fans, it was a dream come true.
- Aaah, aaaaaah ♪
And for Cecelia, it was like winning the lottery.
Think about it. Every day, she could pick a different famous musician from history, perform their songs, and make tons of money. By posting her six-month concert schedule in advance on SG Net, fans of each artist would flock to pay whatever it took for a seat. There was no need to stress about creating new songs or worry that fans might get bored with her setlists. Cecelia's concerts were always sold out.
A win-win for both the fans and the singer.
"Hmm."
But I...
I couldn't get excited about Cecelia's performance. Specifically, I couldn't bring myself to feel any attachment to it.
Even if I set aside my bias as a die-hard Dang Seo-rin fan and the fact that I was Witch Unit No. 0, it was just...
'In the end, isn't she just a highly advanced recorder?'
Granted, it was impressive that this "recorder" performed live on stage. But still, I preferred performances where the singer's true voice came through. Even among cover artists, I liked those who sang with their own voices.
But you should take my harsh judgment with a grain of salt, considering my unique circumstances.
'Whenever I want, I can play any song in my head perfectly using my Complete Memory.'
To me, Cecelia's live performance had almost no value. In fact, the true spectacle that night was Ah-ryeon next to me, squealing with excitement, "Cecelia is the best! I'm so glad I'm alive!" while bawling her eyes out.
After the main concert and the encore, there was a private fan-signing event for VIPs.
Wearing her Venetian mask, Cecelia, Busan's Song Queen, greeted us.
"Hello."
Even her voice was tuned to match the lead vocalist of the British rock band.
"Thank you so much for coming to the concert. Would you like me to sign something for you both?"
"No, just sign for her."
"Alright." Cecelia smoothly autographed Ah-ryeon's poster. "Here you go..."
As she handed over the signed poster and looked up, our eyes met.
For some reason, Cecelia froze for a moment.
Specifically, she hesitated for about half a second. It wasn't a long time, and her expression was hidden by the mask, but I could sense a brief moment of shock.
It wasn't too surprising. My face was well-known. The Hero of the Ten Legs Battle appearing as a VIP would certainly be a surprise.
"...Are you sure you don't want my autograph?"
"Yes, I'm just here to accompany a fan of yours. But your performance was excellent."
"...Thank you."
Her reaction was odd, but honestly, I didn't think much of it. I was too busy calming Ah-ryeon, who was over the moon about getting the autograph.
I barely managed to pull Ah-ryeon away from the fan-signing event.
"Did you enjoy it that much?"
"Yes! Thanks to you, Guild Leader, I got a personal autograph! You're the best, Guild Leader! I'll never forget this concert!"
"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it."
"Hehe... Oh, wait! I need to go back to the VIP section and take some photos!"
"Huh? Why?"
"I need to post proof on SG Net!"
"..."
Later that night, SG Net was graced with a photo of Ah-ryeon flipping the camera off, alongside a post titled: [Can't afford Cecelia concert? Where's your VIP status now, you broke bastards? LOL].
Truly, she was an embarrassment wherever she went.
I glanced at the framed autograph Ah-ryeon proudly displayed like a treasure.
- To Sim Ah-ryeon. I hope it was a wonderful night.
Oddly, there was no "Cecelia" signature anywhere on the poster. I couldn't get it out of my mind, how strange that was.
So, what kind of music do I, Undertaker, prefer?
Setting Dang Seo-rin aside, since she's a unique case, I usually prefer listening to underground musicians while eating lunch or dinner at a local restaurant.
"Hello, I'm Calypso. I'll be singing a song I wrote and composed myself. It's called... Ruins."
Take that musician, Calypso, for example. She'd perform tirelessly at every local restaurant, whether it was a soup place or a BBQ joint, armed with only an acoustic guitar.
"Is that a half-moon breaking, or is it your teary eyes...?"
To be kind, she was an unimpressive talent.
In these times, musicians like her didn't get paid by restaurant owners. They just borrowed the space and survived on whatever tips the customers threw their way.
Comparing her to Song Queen Cecelia wouldn't even be fair. Cecelia performed at one of the most luxurious venues in Busan, while Calypso sang at half-ruined restaurants with signs that simply read "Open for Business."
Naturally, the customers' generosity was on a different level too. Most underwhelming musicians left the restaurant empty-handed after filling the place with sound.
"Thanks for the performance."
"Oh...! Thank you, Undertaker!"
And I liked musicians like her.
Calypso's Korean was clumsy. I suspected she wasn't from here—probably from Japan. It couldn't have been easy adapting to life in a foreign land, yet she showed up at nine out of ten restaurants I visited. That meant she was hustling hard, begging restaurant owners for performance opportunities.
In other words?
It's not like I had some creepy hobby of hoarding little-known performers all for myself.
Unlike Noh Do-hwa, who had a disdain for the younger generation, I always felt the urge to help young people who were struggling and fighting to make it. I didn't tip too much or too little—just enough for them to survive. I wanted to extend their fight, giving them a bit more time in this broken world so they could hold on and maybe find their way.
"Thank you for the performance."
"Oh, yes! Thank you!"
Calypso bowed her head.
But something felt different this time. Normally, we would have parted ways there, but Calypso lifted her head with a determined expression.
"Um, excuse me...!"
"Hmm." I gave a warm smile. "That won't be necessary."
"Huh...? What?"
"There's no need to thank me. You don't even need to remember my name. I'm just an anonymous fan supporting you from afar."
"Uh..."
"Keep going."
I gave her a thumbs-up and walked out of the restaurant. I could sense her confusion, but I cut off any hesitation in my mind.
'Perfect.'
My footsteps echoed with pride. Wasn't this the ideal model of how a fan should behave?
Feeling so pleased with myself, I turned into a deserted alley and started talking to the Saintess.
"Isn't that the right way to do things, Saintess?"
[Hmm...]
"Seeing someone work so hard, regardless of their background, always fills my heart."
[Yes... I suppose.]
"And that fancy restaurant from last time... Ugh, don't get me started. Limiting your audience to just 50 rich people in a world that could collapse any day? Ridiculous."
[...]
"Someday, I'll build a system where everyone can enjoy entertainment."
But the Saintess seemed strangely unresponsive. As someone who spent her days trapped in an aquarium, I was probably the only person she could talk to like this. We should have been bantering more, but today something was off.
[Um, Mr. Undertaker?]
"Yes?"
[I've been debating whether to tell you, but I've decided that keeping this a secret from you would be wrong.]
"What is it?"
The Saintess took a deep breath and said, [The musician you've been supporting, Calypso...]
"Yes?"
[She's actually the same person as Cecelia.]
Blink.
"What?"
[In other words, the unknown artist you've been praising and the famous Song Queen of Busan are the exact same person.]
"..."
[Sorry. I knew how much you enjoyed playing the anonymous patron, so I thought it was better to keep quiet. But in hindsight, I should have told you from the start.]
"...So, Calypso, or rather Cecelia... she recognized me?"
[Of course. She probably wanted to reveal her identity to you just now. She was probably trying to muster the courage.]
"..."
[...]
"..."
[Did I make a mistake by telling you? Should I have kept quiet?]
This is all Ah-ryeon's fault!