The Performer II
What do you think is the most overwhelming advantage of being a regressor?
It's the ability to "correct" embarrassing mistakes in the next cycle.
History is written by the victor. And in the apocalypse, survival is victory.
Now, the mistakes from the previous cycle officially no longer existed.
The embarrassing incident with my favorite street musician? Wiped from history.
In this new cycle, I—along with Ah-ryeon—became a passionate fan of the Masked Song Queen, Cecelia.
"Guild Leader...! I-I can't believe I get to fangirl with you! This feels like a dream!"
Every time there was a concert, regardless of the set, I spent a fortune buying VIP seats. During the show, I'd order the most expensive dishes and buy all the merchandise.
"I'm so happy! Meeting you at Busan Station was the luckiest moment of my life!"
"Because now you get to boast non-stop on SG Net?"
"Yes!"
Ah-ryeon's admiration for me skyrocketed to unprecedented levels.
On the flip side, Seo-rin's gaze toward me grew colder.
Her nickname was the Divine Songstress, while Cecelia was known as the Song Queen. It was a dichotomy ripe for stirring up conflict.
Although my true loyalty as a fan would forever lie with the Divine Songstress, in this cycle, she no longer sang for me when we were alone.
It pained me, but there was no helping it. The purpose of all this was singular: to correct the embarrassing history related to Cecelia = Calypso.
"Oh, you're here again! Undertaker and Ah-ryeon! You'd like an autograph, right?"
"Yes, please."
"The pleasure is all mine! I'm always so grateful!"
In this cycle, Cecelia now clearly saw me as one of her devoted fans.
Not just that. As in previous cycles, I continued to attend Calypso's performances during lunch, day after day. Whether she wore a mask or not, whether she sang covers or originals, I was always there as Cecelia = Calypso's fan.
Naturally, it started to weigh on her mind.
"W-wait, Undertaker!"
One day, after tipping her generously at a live performance in a restaurant, I left. That's when Calypso came running after me.
"Yes? What is it?" I asked.
"Huff... I-I... Huff..."
"Take your time."
Calypso was panting heavily from chasing after me, her acoustic guitar still in hand. When she finally caught her breath, she looked up at me with a resolute expression, as if she had made a difficult decision.
"I-I've been wanting to tell you something for a while, but I never had the chance. The truth is... I'm..."
"I already know."
"Wh-what?"
"You're Cecelia, aren't you?"
Calypso froze, her entire body trembling like she had been struck by lightning. Her blue eyes, wide with disbelief, stared at me.
That was Strike One.
Calm and composed, I smiled warmly yet meaningfully.
Over my countless lives as a regressor, I had mastered the art of facial expressions to the point where I could act with method precision for 24 hours straight. I had honed the ability to convey anything with just my expressions.
I had Dormammu'd my way through cycles for this very moment, and failure was not an option.
"H-how...? Even the restaurant owner doesn't know my identity. I haven't told anyone..."
"A true fan recognizes their singer, no matter what stage they're on."
"...!"
Strike Two.
Artists are often deeply attached to their fans, harboring fantasies of that one fan who truly understands their art.
This dream, deeply ingrained in the psyche of many artists, gave rise to terms like 知音 (지음)—meaning a soulmate who truly understands one's music—dating back to ancient times. It was a sentiment rooted in their very souls.[2]
For someone like Cecelia = Calypso, who had spent her entire life proving herself by mimicking other musicians' songs, my words were nothing short of intoxicating. And the fact that the one person who recognized her was none other than the Hero of the Ten Legs Battle? That was a surefire dopamine overdose.
"B-but..." In halting, awkward Korean, she said, "I... As Calypso, I cannot sing at all. My voice, my tone—they are completely different. How could you possibly recognize me...?"
"Even if the voice you use on the surface is different, the soul behind it remains unchanged. Your songs as Calypso have always brought me comfort."
"But... if you knew, why didn't you ever say anything?"
"I'm just a fan, nothing more. Even if others fail to recognize Calypso, I was content simply to listen just as you were content to keep singing at the restaurants. That's all."
"...!"
Strike Three. Out.
On that day, both the unknown musician Calypso and the Masked Song Queen Cecelia found salvation.
We parted after promising to meet again later. On my way back, the Saintess contacted me through Constellation Telepathy.
[I'm impressed, Mr. Undertaker. Cecelia's singing is so indistinguishable from the original artists that I thought recognizing her true identity would be impossible. But your keen regressor's insight truly shines. I'm in awe.]
"You flatter me."
[I've spent my days observing people with my Clairvoyance, and along the way, I've grown lazy when it comes to reading their hearts. I'll take this as inspiration to re-examine my habits.]
"You'll do wonderfully, Saintess. I'm sure of it."
At no point did I feel any guilt about what I had done.
Manipulative, you might say?
Well, that was fitting for a Guild Leader like Ah-ryeon's, don't you think?
Like guild member, like Guild Leader? Utter nonsense. Beauty only exists when it's perceived, and ugliness, too, ceases to exist if it goes unnoticed. My so-called "ugliness" was no exception. If no one knew, how could they accuse me of it?
"Mission success! History altered!"
However...
At the time, I had no idea.
That one day, a certain brat named Oh Dok-seo would publish a detailed record of my life for all to see...
"At first, I lived in Fukuoka. But everyone around me died, and I just couldn't stand it anymore. I couldn't stay there any longer, so I came to Busan."
"I see."
"Yes. I had some basic knowledge of Korean, and I'd heard rumors here and there that Busan was still relatively safe..."
Cecelia's story = Calypso's story—and I learned that it wasn't particularly unique given the times.
Everyone had lost someone. And as a result, people flocked together, trying to replace the family they had lost.
In apocalyptic fiction, you often hear about how disasters cause bonds to break, leaving everyone to fend for themselves. Sure, such cases existed. But in reality, the opposite was more common.
Survivors banded together. When they had no reason to unite, they created new terms like 空緣 (공연) meaning "fate with no ties" to justify staying together.
"If there's anything unusual about Cecelia = Calypso, it's that she deliberately chose to be an outsider."
In short, she had no clear sense of identity.
Any ties she had to the Korean Peninsula? None.
Any connections in Japan? Dead.
Her acquaintances in the neighborhood? She left them behind.
And to top it all off, her Awakening ability dealt the final blow:
The Masked Song Queen. A skill that allowed her to perfectly mimic other singers' voices.
It was the ideal power for someone who wandered without a place to call home.
"That makes sense. So you threw yourself into performing as Calypso in the hope of building real relationships with those who recognized your true voice."
"Uh... yes. It's a bit embarrassing, but you're right."
"I see."
"Someday, I want to hone my skills, gather fans, and perform as Calypso in the same venues where Cecelia sings! Only then will my true talent shine!"
I rested my chin in my hand, contemplating how best to respond.
It would have been easy to suggest, "You're already making tons of money, so why not just be satisfied?" But the woman before me wasn't content with that.
Calypso was chasing something deeper, looking for a place where she could truly belong, somewhere her voice would be recognized. So, what could I, as a fan, offer her in this situation?
"Must you only perform live?"
She flinched. "Huh?"
"You're ignoring your talent as Cecelia. You think, 'I'm just a recording of other people's voices. That's not my true self.' Right?"
"..."
"I don't mind, but Cecelia's fans would be disappointed."
"...But aren't those fans only interested in the original singers' voices I imitate?"
"No. There are definitely fans of Cecelia as well."
Like Ah-ryeon or OldManGoryeo.
Though I was a bit embarrassed to include them as fellow fans, fans were fans, after all.
"From my perspective... it seems like you're worried that Cecelia's reputation has grown too big compared to your original talent."
"..."
"You want to reveal your true self, sing your own songs. But you're afraid that if you do, your fans will be disappointed."
Calypso bit her lip in silence. Her silence wasn't a rejection, but rather an agreement.
"This dilemma comes from the fact that you don't have your own space. But it's surprisingly easy to solve."
"Are you suggesting I buy a venue and create my own stage? I've thought about that, but..."
"No, that's not it." I sipped my coffee before placing it down. "The ability you possess has incredible value. If you shift your perspective just a bit, you can see how even the songs you cover could become part of who you are."
"Wait... how?" She looked at me with wide eyes.
I smiled. "Have you ever considered becoming a radio DJ?"
Music radio programs.
If I had to pick the most famous one in Korea, it would undoubtedly be Bae Chul-soo's Music Camp.
A DJ's ability to curate songs and lead the show could make or break programs like that. For example, in classical music shows, the DJ's expertise in selecting not only which symphony to play but also which orchestra's recording to use—combined with their commentary—defined their standing as a DJ.
With the rise of internet streaming, radio's golden age had passed into twilight. But in the post-apocalyptic world, the opposite was true.
Radio, Internet, and the Reverse World had reversed roles.
"These days, it's hard to keep broadcast equipment running. Even if you find working gear, Anomalies tend to corrupt it whenever they get the chance."
Whether it was vinyl records or albums, they often contained strange Anomalies like "Satan's Song" or "Music That Puts Holes in Your Brain."
"But Calypso, you're different. You don't need any equipment—you can recreate countless albums using only your voice."
"Ah..."
"You might not be able to completely block Anomalies, but Calypso's music program would be the safest channel in the world."
"Me, hosting a music show..."
"Yes. If you limit yourself to being just a live performer, you'll always feel insecure about being nothing more than a mimic. But if you became a DJ who shares the 'original voices' of these singers...?"
"..."
"That would be an incredible strength as a DJ. Listeners would tune in to your show with joy."
"A DJ's talent..."
"That's right. And you could even slip in your own original songs from time to time. Your channel would be irreplaceable."
Calypso stared blankly into space for a long while. Her coffee had cooled by the time she finally spoke.
"...I'll give it a try. Radio."
"Good decision."
"Yes. I wouldn't have to show my face, and reading listeners' stories sounds like it could be fun."
It turned out that she was naturally suited to it.
I had already helped set up a radio channel called Ravenclaw Busan Branch. So gathering the necessary equipment and assisting with tests wasn't hard.
Once Calypso reached a level of hosting that satisfied her, she came to me with this question:
"Benefactor."
At this point, Calypso had started calling me "Benefactor." I had asked her to avoid using my name, Undertaker, when sharing any stories related to me on air, since it would make me too much of a public figure. Hence, she chose a more ambiguous nickname.
It was an awkward title, but since her Korean wasn't perfect, I let it slide.
"I think it's time to choose a name for the show. What do you think would be good?"
"Oh. You still haven't decided?"
"Haha, no. I kept putting it off, thinking I'd do it tomorrow..."
Despite her hardworking nature, this was surprising.
"Hmm." I tapped my pencil on a notepad. After some thought, I wrote down a name that suddenly came to mind. "How about this?"
"Oh! Did you think of something already? Let me see!"
On the notepad, I had written Nymphocalypse (님프칼립스).
Calypso tilted her head.
"Nymph... Calypse? What does it mean?"
"It hides both Cecelia and Calypso in the name."
Someone like Calypso, who enjoyed hiding her true identity, leaped with joy upon hearing my explanation.
And thus, the music radio show Nymphocalypse was born.
There's a short epilogue.
Attracting listeners to Nymphocalypse didn't require any grand promotion.
Simply posting, "Hey, there's a new music show—tune in if you're bored," on SG Net was enough.
- Anonymous: I tuned in to the frequency from that post. What the hell is this?
- Anonymous: The sound quality is insane.
└[Samcheon] MeteorIsIceMagic: What are you talking about?
└Anonymous: I turned on the radio channel advertised on the board earlier. The sound quality is crazy good, and the DJ's voice is amazing.
└[Samcheon] MeteorIsIceMagic: Could it be an Anomaly?
└Anonymous: Maybe, but it seems safe for now. Check it out yourself.
With Ah-ryeon controlling 12 different anonymous accounts, creating buzz was a piece of cake.
If Calypso had lacked skill, the hype would have died out quickly. But like many hardworking young people, she had the tenacity to seize the opportunity.
- [Samcheon] MeteorIsIceMagic: ? Whoa, this is actually really good.
Within a year, Nymphocalypse, broadcast every evening at 7 PM, became a must-listen for not just Awakeners but regular people as well.
- Hello. This is Nymphocalypse bringing you a beautiful evening. Our first song today is...
- If you'd like to send in a story, please contact your Constellation. They'll pass your message along to me...
- Hello. This is Nymphocalypse. The weather's gotten quite chilly lately, hasn't it?
Even as the world crumbled, Nymphocalypse never missed its 7 PM broadcast.
Whether you were an Awakener fighting Anomalies on the frontlines or a civilian supporting from the rear, people tuned in to the radio to hear the stories and songs of others.
"Hm."
Naturally, I, the Undertaker, was no exception.
One day, I did something unusual. Without telling Calypso, I rented the entire venue where Cecelia had once performed. It cost a fortune, but that didn't matter.
In the middle of the stage, where Cecelia had once stood with a microphone, I placed a wooden chair.
And on that chair, I set a radio. A vintage Zenith K731, made of wood.
- Hello. This is Nymphocalypse, bringing you a beautiful evening.
An empty audience.
A silent stage, save for the radio.
I sat at a table, two rows away from the stage, and waited.
In a place once filled with eager fans, I quietly listened to the "live performance on stage."
- And today's request is...
There was a slight pause.
- ...A song by an artist named Calypso. They were once an unknown singer, wandering from restaurant to restaurant in Busan.
- Haha.
- ...I wonder if anyone remembers them.
- Since it's a request, I'll sing it.
I heard a rustle of someone shifting around. Then, through the radio, the delicate strumming of a classical guitar filled the air.
- Calypso. Ruins.
And the song began.
I sipped my coffee. And as I listened to the voice of a now-renowned DJ, I nodded to myself.
After all, this was still my favorite voice.
Footnotes:
[1] In the Marvel universe, Dr. Strange locks the inter-dimensional entity Dormammu in an infinite time loop and repeatedly tries to subdue it using various methods until it nearly goes insane and admits defeat, begging to be released from the confines of endless time.
[2] The origin of the term comes from a famous story during the Spring and Autumn period in China. The musician Yu Boya had a friend, Zhong Ziqi, who could understand and appreciate his music deeply. After Ziqi's death, Boya broke his instrument, feeling that no one else could truly understand his music, thus symbolizing the depth of their friendship.
[3] Calypso is a nymph from Greek mythology. Her name means "to conceal" and she is known for being cursed to live alone on an island without true recognition or love.
-x-X-x-
The Transplanter I
I've had many jobs in my lifetime.
In the last episode, I found work as a DJ Producer, and over my various cycles, I've taken on roles like convenience store owner, Oh Dokseo's editor, Dang Seo-rin's personal secretary, academy teacher, and even a café barista.
Making ends meet was never easy on a single job, so juggling two, three, or even more jobs at once was common—whether in the past or in this apocalyptic world. Even I, a regressor, could not avoid the flow of this reality. Yet despite all that, my main occupation never changed.
I was, and always would be, an Undertaker—the one who buries the dead.
Today, let's talk about my primary job for the first time in a while.
[Mr. Undertaker, there's an Anomaly detected.]
One day, the Saintess told me this.
True to her nature, she always sensed strange phenomena faster than the likes of a certain "eternally young detective" or a "youth with infinite grandfatherly wisdom."
"What is it?"
[Please head to the National Road Management Corps headquarters. Someone there will explain the details.]
So I went.
In front of the Corps' headquarters lay a wide open square known as Babel Tower Plaza. The nickname for the headquarters was "Babel Tower."
As soon as I arrived, I spotted the Anomaly.
"...A green village bus?"
There, parked right in the middle of the square, was a village bus that had never been there before. It was mostly intact except for a slight dent on one side. Otherwise, it was the exact image of an ordinary village bus, green color and all.[1]
"Oh! Your Excellency, Sir Undertaker—you've arrived."
A crowd of Corps members had already gathered around the bus. Ji-won was the first to spot me and salute.
"So, what's going on?"
"We're not entirely sure. One of the Corps members found it early this morning on their way to work."
"It wasn't there last night?"
"No, sir. The last person to leave headquarters was out at 4 AM, and they said the plaza was empty. The bus must have appeared sometime between 4 AM and 6 AM."
I looked up into the air.
[Ji-won is correct.]
That meant the bus had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
To move a vehicle of that size, you'd either need fuel or the strength of an Awakener. If it was fuel-powered, someone would have noticed the noise, and if an Awakener had carried it, the Saintess's Clairvoyance would have detected it since she shared her sight with the Corps 24/7.
The conclusion was simple.
"It's definitely an Anomaly."
"Yes, sir. We tried applying external force to it, and it took damage."
So, you were the ones who dented the bus.
"What about the inside? Have you checked it out?" I asked.
"No, sir. No one has entered it yet. I only just received the report myself."
"Well, that's fortunate. It might be a trap that looks intact on the outside."
"A wise and prudent judgment, as always. If you give the order, I'll destroy it immediately."
I stroked my chin and pondered for a moment. "No, I'm not comfortable with destroying it outright. Bring me a death row inmate."
"Yes, sir. I'll have one brought at once."
Soon enough, a groggy prisoner, who had been fast asleep, was dragged in. At first, the prisoner wore a face that screamed, "Just five more minutes, Mom..." but as soon as he saw me and Ji-won, his drowsiness disappeared.
"Aaaaaah! Please! Spare me! Spare me!"
"Toss him into the bus."
"Yes, sir."
"Please! I beg you! I was wrong! I know I messed up! Please, just spare my life— Aaaaaah!"
With a clean three-pointer from Ji-won, the inmate, a convicted murderer who had targeted elderly patients, was tossed into the bus.
Pssshhhh...
As soon as the inmate boarded, the automatic doors closed. The prisoner desperately banged on the glass, pounding with both fists.
"Please! Let me out! Please, let me...!"
But his pleading didn't last long.
Splurt!
The convict's body exploded, splattering blood all over the bus's glass doors and windows, painting them a deep crimson. It happened so fast that most of the onlookers probably didn't even register what had occurred.
"Whoa. What just happened? Did you see that?"
"No, not at all."
The Corps members around the bus were just as shocked.
I shrugged. "It's definitely a trap."
"As expected, Your Excellency. Thanks to your insightful command, we've managed to preserve our manpower efficiently."
"Spread the word. Make it clear that no one is to enter anything resembling a village bus. Post the warning on SG Net too."
"Your concern for the public and commitment to post-incident management will surely be praised for generations to come..."
"If you don't want to get hit in front of the men, stop it."
"Did I go too far?"
"Yes."
"Understood. I'll keep it simpler next time."
I left the Anomaly, now dubbed Village Bus No. 44, to the Corps and headed off to handle other matters.
The next day, I was leisurely browsing SG Net at my hideout café when I came across a heartwarming post.
[iJoinedToday]: My father has recovered and is healthy now haha
He's been suffering from heart problems, but today, he's feeling better than ever. He hasn't been this healthy since the Saintess of the North treated him a while back.
He mentioned how grateful he was for the support and encouragement he received from SG Net members. I just signed up today to share my thanks with everyone!
Life's tough right now, but let's get through it together. Thanks, everyone! We can do it!
I hummed, nodding. What a nice story.
By the way, the user iJoinedToday was Lee Ju-ho. He was the young man who had accompanied me when I first dealt with OldManGoryeo. It seemed he was doing well, taking good care of his father, which was comforting to know.
Just as I was feeling all warm and fuzzy, the Saintess spoke to me through Constellation Telepathy.
[Mr. Undertaker, I hate to interrupt your rest.]
"Not at all. What's going on?"
[Village Bus No. 44 has disappeared.]
"What?" I frowned. "It disappeared? I told them to park it near the National Road Management Corps headquarters. Did they mess up?"
[No, they followed your instructions. The bus was parked where you told them, and Corps members kept a close watch, taking turns to guard it.]
[But it vanished.]
I furrowed my brow. "Did it disappear while they were changing shifts? Was it a momentary lapse?"
[No, it was even shorter than that.]
[The guard looked away for a brief moment when he heard children laughing in the distance. When he turned back, the bus had vanished.]
"..."
In other words, it had "vanished into thin air."
The guard was a diligent Corps member, strict about following procedure. Even though the Anomaly had been neutralized, he had stayed vigilant in front of it. He never left his seat in front of the bus, only glancing away when the sound of children's laughter briefly distracted him. When he turned back, the bus was gone.
[And no one saw it disappear. No Awakeners or civilians.]
"That's strange." I rubbed my chin. "Anything unusual besides its disappearance? Any casualties?"
[No, no incidents have been reported so far.]
"Well... It's unsettling, but it should be safe to leave it be for now."
[Really?]
"Yes. The bus is essentially a stationary trap. Traps are most dangerous when they haven't been sprung.
Once people are aware of them, they pose less of a threat. Just make sure to warn everyone to stay away from any village buses they see."
[Got it.]
And with that, the case seemed to be closed.
However, from then on, Village Bus No. 44 kept reappearing in various locations across the country.
It would show up in places like the small community in Yeongwol or at a bus stop in Incheon, even making another appearance in Busan.
Each time it showed up, we couldn't always prevent the casualties.
If it was Awakeners, we could at least warn them in the name of their Constellations, but when civilians encountered the bus first, they were often helpless. Curious bystanders, hoping to salvage some scrap or supplies from the bus, would open the doors only to be crushed or mutilated in seconds.
The bus would vanish again within a day, leaving few clues that anyone had died.
Why did this Anomaly take the form of a village bus? I wondered.
At first, hearing "bus" made me think of the Knight Bus from Harry Potter.[2] But there wasn't much similarity between that and Village Bus No. 44. It didn't fit.
Then I considered the word itself. In Korean, the word "bus" sounds like "verse," which could connect to terms like universe, multiverse, or metaverse. But once again, there seemed to be no direct relation to the nature of this particular Anomaly.
Could it be that passengers who boarded Village Bus No. 44 were transported to another world?
It was just a guess, and I couldn't be sure.
I set that idea aside for now.
Another thought came to mind—an old, tragic incident in which a bus plunged from the Seongsu Bridge when it collapsed. Many passengers, including the driver, died in the accident. If this Anomaly was related to such a tragedy, it should have appeared near a bridge, not randomly in various places.
Again, I dismissed the theory as it seemed unrelated.
'How frustrating. I really can't figure it out.'
No matter how much I wracked my brain, I couldn't pinpoint the origin of the Village Bus No. 44 Anomaly.
If I wanted to solve the mystery by firsthand experience, I could board the bus myself, ready to face whatever came next. But truth be told, it didn't seem worth risking my life for.
At most, the Anomaly only claimed one or two victims each time it appeared. It was a minor nuisance compared to the many other high-risk Anomalies I still had to deal with.
Thus, for the time being, I decided to set aside my unease and leave the bus be.
'Looks like I'll just have to watch and wait.'
With a sigh, I cleared my head and opened SG Net to relax.
Before writing a new educational post about The Three Kingdoms, I browsed the site to check out the day's top recommended posts.
- Anonymous: A miracle happened to my family! My younger sibling was diagnosed with an incurable disease, and we thought there was no hope. But yesterday, they woke up and said they felt fine.
- Anonymous: Bro, you won't believe this. My mom, who went blind five years ago because of some Anomaly, suddenly says she can see again. The first thing she did was ask why I look so thin. She cried right after seeing my face, lol. But hey, I have a question... When my dog died, I secretly replaced it with a similar one. If Mom notices, am I screwed?
- [iJoinedToday]: Update on my father! We went for a walk and jogged together today. He's in perfect health!!!
"Hm."
As I scrolled through the recommended posts, I noticed an unusually high number of heartwarming stories on SG Net. People were sharing tales of miraculous recoveries and restored health.
'This didn't happen in previous cycles. Maybe some new Anomaly is affecting people?'
I was about to move on, but then—
"Wait."
A strange thought struck me.
Quickly, I grabbed a red shirt from my wardrobe and waved it in the air—my signal for emergency contact with the Saintess.
[What is it, Mr. Undertaker?]
"Saintess, could you tell me how many people have died due to Village Bus No. 44?"
[I don't have exact numbers, but so far, we've confirmed five deaths. If we assume the bus has appeared every three days, we can estimate there are between two to four more victims.]
"Thank you."
So, roughly seven to eleven victims in total.
I then searched SG Net for any posts I might have missed.
Sure enough, I found four additional posts describing miraculous recoveries of people who had been suffering from life-threatening conditions. The illnesses ranged from heart problems to lung disease, corneal blindness, and pancreatic failure.
All of the posters were Awakeners, but I realized that if civilians had also experienced similar recoveries, they might not have even posted about it.
[Why do you ask all of a sudden?]
"...Saintess, I think I might have figured out what Village Bus No. 44 really is."
The Anomaly wasn't just causing deaths.
It was harvesting organs.
More specifically...
"It is extracting organs from its victims and transplanting them into others, healing their conditions in the process."
Footnotes:
[1] Village buses are short auxiliary routes that feed local subway stations and other larger lines around major South Korean cities.
[2] A form of public transportation that allows underage wizards, who can't use magic in the human world, to travel discreetly.
-x-X-x-
The Transplanter II
"Hmm. So, you're saying organs are being transplanted automatically? If used well, this seems quite useful..."
That was Do-hwa's initial response after hearing the report on Village Bus No. 44.
As expected of the woman who kept Korea's top psychopath directly under her command. Even after learning that people's organs were being extracted, she reacted as if it were no big deal. What a messed-up world we lived in.
"You were the one who threw a death row convict onto that bus, weren't you?"
She retaliated by hitting me with facts.
In a previous cycle, I had secretly tested Do-hwa's MBTI. She came out as ISTJ. No wonder it was always difficult to deal with people like her.
For anyone curious, Yu Ji-won was an ESTJ. If you think those two share an uncanny likeness, you're not wrong.
"But I still don't get it," Do-hwa said begrudgingly. "What does a bus have to do with organ extraction? How does an Anomaly like this even exist?"
Ah. On that point, I, as a regressor and expert in Anomalous studies, had a theory.
"There was a vehicle used during World War II called a Gaswagen. It was essentially a mobile gas execution chamber. Jews were killed by carbon monoxide emitted from the engine. Once the bus reached its destination, all the passengers were dead."
"Fuck... Something like that actually existed?"
"Yes. Truly inhuman. The Nazi regime was just that brutal."
(Side note: Old Man Scho's ancestors were die-hard supporters of the Socialist Party, so he came from a long line of communists.)
"The Gaswagen was eventually discontinued because the process of cleaning the vehicles was too demanding."
"But what does this have to do with organ extraction? It's not like they harvested organs from bodies that died from gas poisoning..."
"Well, let me tell you about the Execution Bus."
Execution Bus.
It was a real vehicle used in China. Instead of constructing fixed execution chambers, they simply modified a bus for the purpose. Unlike the primitive methods of World War II, executions here were carried out using lethal injections. Since the bodies were in better condition after death, the organs remained intact and suitable for harvesting and distribution.
"Fuck... That's real too?"
"Yes."
Do-hwa's face darkened, as if thinking that maybe humanity deserves to disappear after all.
I quickly changed the subject. "Also, buses frequently appear in urban legends. You've probably heard stories where people wake up to find themselves in a battle royale on a deserted island with explosive collars around their necks. Seen any movies like that?"
"I think I've heard of one..."
"Put all those images together, and you have the Anomaly that is Village Bus No. 44."
To test the theory, we conducted an experiment.
"Okay. Prisoner No. 37, take this book and walk toward the bus."
"What book is it...?"
"Just a regular piece of classic literature. Don't worry about it."
The book in question was a German bestseller titled The Communist Manifesto. I had imported it directly in its original German version, not a translation.
"Now, take the book and start shouting when you're near the bus. Got it?"
"Sure? Uh... So, if I do this, my death sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment, right?"
"Of course! You're talking to the Undertaker here. Best friends with the head of the National Road Management Corps and the mentor of the operations team leader. My word is law! If you want, you can turn back and get your throat cut instead."
"No! I'll do it! I'll do it!"
The death row inmate hesitantly approached Village Bus No. 44 and shouted, "W-workers of the world, unite—!"
He never finished his sentence.
The bus, which had been calmly parked up until that moment, suddenly accelerated and shot forward at a clean 300 kilometers per hour.
Screeeeech—! BOOOOM!
Before the prisoner could react, he was obliterated, his body smashed into a pulp.
Among the remains, his right arm, still holding The Communist Manifesto, flew through the air and landed perfectly between Do-hwa and me. It was a hole-in-one.
The experiment was a success.
"As I suspected, it's influenced by the Nazi Gaswagen. After all, the Nazis hated communists just as much as they hated Jews."
"But... you said China's execution bus was part of it. Wouldn't that contradict the hatred for communists?"
"Well, who knows? Don't expect Anomalies to have logical consistency. Or maybe it's so meticulous that it distinguishes between the Soviet Union and China."
"Damn it..."
We moved on to the next experiment.
"Uh... Guild Leader." Ah-ryeon glanced around nervously, clearly anxious. "If we get caught doing this, we're in serious trouble..."
We were inside the Mo Gwang-seo Christ Cathedral, one of the most sacred sites in Pyongyang. Essentially, it was the heart of the Eastern Holy Nation. Much like the Emperor's Golden Throne in Warhammer 40K, the Eastern Holy Nation also had its own divine seat.
Next to us sat Mo Gwang-seo, the living god, Christ reborn, firmly rooted on his throne.
"If we get caught messing with Mo Gwang-seo, no matter how much power I hold as the Saintess of the North, I'll be executed for treason!"
"Aren't you supposed to trust your guild leader?"
"N-no! I don't trust you!"
"..."
"..."
"Fine. I'll arrange a one-on-one fan meeting with Nymphocalypse's DJ."
"I've always trusted you, Guild Leader! Even in my previous life, for a million years! Let's get this done!"
With that, we kidnapped Mo Gwang-seo.
I had already parked Village Bus No. 44 in an underground garage somewhere in Pyongyang. To prevent any noise from leaking out, we had completely sealed off the surrounding area.
"Wow, Guild Leader. When did you set up such a hideout?"
"Long before the founding of the Eastern Holy Nation. Pyongyang has always had underground bunkers like this."
"Whoooa! You've got to teach me more about this! Recently, I've been dealing with a lot of nonbelievers. It'd be so convenient if I could just bury them in a place like this! Oh, but, Guild Leader..."
"What now?"
"I think Mo Gwang-seo has been mumbling something at you for a while now. Doesn't it sound like he's trying to speak?"
"It's just your imagination. He's an Anomaly in a catatonic state, and without Hayul, he can't speak human languages."
"Oh... I see! I was mistaken, ehehe."
"Now, on the count of three, open the bus doors. One, two, three... Heave!"
Together, we tossed Mo Gwang-seo into the Village Bus No. 44.
Flash!
There came a bright light.
Village Bus No. 44 splattered Mo Gwang-seo's body across the windows, staining them a vivid red. However, even the blood-soaked glass couldn't dim the holy glow of Mo Gwang-seo's divine aura.
"Oooh."
"Aaah! My eyes! My eyes...!"
Ah-ryeon flailed around, shouting, "Glasses! Glasses!" like a character in a retro anime.
But Mo Gwang-seo's holiness didn't end there.
Flash! Flash! Flash!
Every three seconds, a burst of light emanated from inside the bus. Each time, blood splattered, painting the windows like a canvas of red ink.
The Village Bus No. 44 was repeatedly killing Mo Gwang-seo, and each time, he was resurrecting instantly. It was a fierce battle between two Anomalies.
While their struggle might have been entertaining to watch, I had a more pressing matter to address.
"Saintess. How's it looking?"
[...It seems the healing is happening as expected.]
We were monitoring whether patients with incurable diseases were being cured. The Saintess had dispatched several Awakeners to observe the condition of various patients across the region.
[The blind patients are recovering the fastest. One, two, three... The process is accelerating.]
Even though Korea's healthcare system was generally poor, its high-end capacity was world-class thanks to Do-hwa, who could make prosthetics, and Ah-ryeon, who absorbed negative energy. The only issue was that Do-hwa took too long to craft each prosthetic due to her workload. Even with a 72-hour day, it still wouldn't be enough time for her. And Ah-ryeon couldn't absorb all negativity without risk. She had a limit, beyond which she'd transform into a corrupted being, a Fallen One. While I had avoided causing her to fall in any past cycles, the potential danger still loomed.
'If we can confirm that Village Bus No. 44 and Mo Gwang-seo can heal patients with incurable diseases without any side effects...'
If this could be proven, it would revolutionize Korea's medical system. In fact, I would even consider abandoning the concept of the Eastern Holy Nation entirely. It would be far more efficient to place Mo Gwang-seo in the bus rather than on the golden throne.
[The patients are continuing to recover... Wait.]
[Hold on, Mr. Undertaker... Something's wrong.]
Of course, that ideal future was not meant to be.
"What happened?"
[Some of the patients... specifically six of them, are showing strange symptoms.]
[They have halos above their heads.]
Halos. Like the rings that typically depict angels.
[And not just halos... six of the patients are sprouting wings.]
[The six patients are starting to move. Undertaker, stop the Village Bus No. 44 immediately!]
I drew my sword Do-hwa and slashed through the air. My Aura swept over the Village Bus No. 44, turning it into a heap of twisted metal. The Anomaly was instantly destroyed.
The ground was left cratered, as if a bunker-busting missile had detonated, and one, final flash of light indicated Mo Gwang-seo's subsequent resurrection.
[The patients... The winged individuals are flying at an incredible speed.]
[Direction: Pyongyang.]
[They're flying at 300 kilometers per hour... no, 500... and accelerating. They're already nearing Pyongyang airspace.]
[Mr. Undertaker, their destination is likely...]
Here.
"Ah-ryeon," I called.
"Y-yes?"
"Come here."
"O-okay..."
Ah-ryeon hesitated for a second but quickly ran over to me. I wrapped her in my Aura, forming a protective barrier around us both.
Booooom!
At that exact moment, the ceiling split open. Dust and debris fell onto the barrier, scattering harmlessly away. I swung Do-hwa to clear the dust cloud, revealing what had caused the damage.
Hovering in the sky above us was an Anomaly.
"Aaaah, aaaah."
An angel.
Earlier, the Saintess had described the phenomenon as patients growing wings. While that description wasn't wrong, it didn't fully capture what we were seeing now.
The Anomaly before us was made entirely of wings. In the center of this massive cluster of wings was a gigantic, writhing eyeball, surrounded by countless smaller eyes, and each of them was framed by wings that flapped in continuous beats.
The creature resembled the biblical description of an angel.
"Aaaah, aaaah."
The sound echoed as the wings fluttered, and from between the wings, thousands of laser beams shot towards us.
"Hm."
A tremendous roar filled the air.
Even though the underground bunker had been designed to withstand high-intensity attacks, the force of the lasers gouged out an even deeper crater. It was as if a mountain peak had been obliterated by a meteor shower.
'If there are six of these things, each with this kind of power, their attacks would be as deadly as a meteor strike.'
After confirming that I had survived the barrage, the "angel" flapped its wings again, preparing for another round of attacks. There was no cooldown—it could fire the lasers repeatedly without rest.
I swung Do-hwa again.
A single, clam slash of dark energy cut diagonally through the sky, intercepting the incoming lasers and continuing toward the angel.
In complete silence, the slash sliced through dozens of the angel's wings, cutting them off cleanly. Unlike the chaos caused by the angel's attacks, my strike made no sound at all.
With that one quiet move, the angel was bisected.
"Aaaah, aaaaah."
The feathers from its wings floated to the ground, one by one, like a gentle rain of magnolia petals in late spring. When the last of the white feathers fell, the angel dissolved without leaving a trace behind. Only scattered feathers remained, drifting through the silent air.
During the entire battle, Ah-ryeon hadn't said a word. She stood there, staring up at me with wide eyes.
I smiled gently and patted her on the head. Only then did she relax, her face breaking into a relieved grin.
"Sorry about that," I consoled. "Things got a little out of hand."
"I-it's okay! We can just clean it all up!"
"Seems like Pyongyang is cursed..."
"Are you sure you don't want to use Village Bus No. 44 again?"
"I'm sure. Never using that thing again."
"Ehehe..."
Even after that, five more angels attacked in succession.
While defeating them was simple enough, the aftermath was messy.
Every citizen in Pyongyang had witnessed the bizarre creatures with wings descending from the sky. But thankfully, Ah-ryeon was able to calm the citizens down. Her presence was regarded as divine by the people of the Eastern Holy Nation, and they treated her like their savior.
After I returned Mo Gwang-seo to the Golden Throne, I made contact with the command tower in Yongsan.
"Saintess. Do the six patients who turned into angels have anything in common?"
[Yes. As you probably suspected, all six had suffered fatal injuries from the Void and were on the brink of death.]
"I see." I sighed, then said, "It seems that once too many organs are replaced by Mo Gwang-seo's body, the patient turns into an Anomaly."
[That's my theory as well. While one or two transplanted organs appear to be harmless, a certain threshold results in a complete transformation into a Mo Gwang-seo clone, or rather, an angel.]
The bus was a vehicle, after all, and its purpose had been to transport something or someone from one place to another.
In the case of Village Bus No. 44, it had been transporting organs—the passengers were the internal organs themselves.
In other words, the true name of this Anomaly was the Organ Transfer Bus.
-x-X-x-
The Transplanter III
As I mentioned before, I, the Undertaker, never dreamed in the conventional sense. In other words, if I ever did dream, it meant that at least one Anomalyhad intervened.
The dream I had the day after barely stopping the Angel Descending incident in Pyongyang was no different.
"Hello, Guild Leader."
"..."
"Oh my, looking at me like that will hurt my feelings, you know?"
There she was, the pink-haired Lord Voldemort, smiling brightly right in front of me.
I barely managed to suppress a scream.
"...Go Yuri. Please, next time, can you at least change your appearance when you show up? I'm starting to develop a phobia of pink hair."
"Haha, sorry about that. That's beyond my control... The form you're most fond of is this. Perhaps you should try changing first."
"Don't lie. I've never met anyone with your face, and I've never had any particular fetish for pink hair."
"True. It really is strange, isn't it? Maybe we were connected in a past life?"
"Ha, as if. If this life is already such a mess, I can't imagine how bad the last one was," I scoffed, then looked around.
Dreams usually lacked meaning, but this space felt strangely significant. I was sitting in an old village bus, whose air smelled faintly of rubber. Across from me was Go Yuri, sitting primly in her seat. We were about a meter apart, staring at each other.
"So," I began, "what's this about? You rarely pop up in my dreams out of the blue like this."
"Oh my, you say 'pop up' like I'm some kind of vermin. That choice of words really cuts deep, you know..."
Go Yuri put her hand to her cheek and sighed softly.
"When Miss Ah-ryeon calls you 'Guild Leader,' you treat her so gently. But I was the first guild member to call you that, remember?"
"We're long past that. Get to the point."
"I didn't 'pop up' on my own, Guild Leader. You called me here."
I swallowed hard. "...Bus No. 44. Was that Anomaly related to you?"
"That's a funny nickname. You always like giving Anomalies names, don't you, Guild Leader?"
Go Yuri covered her mouth and chuckled. It was the kind of laugh you'd describe as chittering, yet it didn't seem to come from her direction. Instead, the laugh came from the speakers installed inside the bus, sparked with static.
Chh—kuk. Ahahaha—chhh, kuk.
"You know, I think you should actually thank me. If I hadn't shown up in your dream tonight, you would have met me in reality instead. Would you have preferred that?"
"...No, I appreciate the warning."
"You're welcome!"
A streak of red paint appeared on the window behind Go Yuri, forming a crescent moon shape that dripped down like blood.
"Do you know what it means to give something a name? It can mean that you're trapping the existence within the word. However, it can also mean giving something a name like a parent does for a child."
"..."
"There are very few words in the world that haven't passed over your tongue, Guild Leader. Have you realized you're becoming something akin to the Father of All Things, or perhaps the Mother of All Anomalies?"
"...Not at all."
To be honest, I hadn't even considered that. But after hearing Go Yuri—no, after hearing the reflection of Go Yuri from my subconscious—say it, it hit me.
It actually made sense. When I stared into the Void, the Void stared back at me. An unchanging truth.
"The Anomalies don't always appear at the exact moment you return, Guild Leader. In fact, the vast majority go unnoticed by anyone. But even before they appear, they've already been named in your mind."
"...It's like their moment of birth."
"Yes. You recognize the Anomalies earlier than anyone else, and you give them names." Go Yuri put a finger to her lips. "Just saying their names aloud, that alone begins a sort of ritual. Each time you regress, you're calling out to the universe, summoning all the Anomalies by name."
Chzzzzzt!
The speaker spat out noise again.
- Come, Ten Legs, Administrator of the Infinite Metagame. Come, Village Bus No. 44. Come.
I listened silently.
"That's why the Anomalies are drawn to you, Guild Leader. It's like... Well, if I were to put it cutely, it's as if they're little children looking around for their parents. Whether they like their parents or not depends on the Anomaly, though."
"Thanks for the advice. I'll be more careful."
- Ahahahahaha!
I pursed my lips. Instinctively, I understood what that mocking laugh from the speaker meant.
As long as I had Complete Memory, I couldn't forget an Anomaly I had already recognized. The names had already been given. How could I "be careful" now?
"Have you ever felt like this?"
Go Yuri covered her mouth as she spoke.
We were definitely sitting a meter apart, but her voice felt like it was whispering right into my ear.
"Like you're taking a step forward, but the ground gives way beneath you like a swamp, and the deeper you go, the more you sink..."
With her mouth covered, I couldn't tell if Go Yuri's lips were even moving. Yet her voice slid into my ears like molten candy melted under the sun—sticky and sickening.
"Like you're not resetting the world with each regression, but rather, scraping at the edges with your nails, dragging it down bit by bit."
"..."
"There's a way out, Guild Leader. One way to see the ending."
I blinked.
In the next instant, the bus, once occupied by only the two of us, was suddenly packed. The seats were filled with people who all had my face—everyone on the bus looked like an Undertaker. With blank expressions, each 'Undertaker' sat in their seats, paying no attention to Go Yuri or me.
"When you wake up from this dream—"
Whisper.
"Ride Village Bus No. 44, Guild Leader."
"..."
"I don't mean right away. Only after you've fully prepared Miss Ah-ryeon, please. Once you've Stopped Time, ask her if she can briefly wound everyone's internal organs."
Whisper, whisper.
"Then, once time resumes, hop on the bus immediately. Miss Ah-ryeon can keep healing you from the outside while you're on board."
Ta-da...
Go Yuri whispered softly.
"Wow, then everyone in the world will become just like you! A regressor's paradise! After Superhuman Slayer, we'd have a new race: the Race of Regressors."
"..."
"Haha, if the world feels too large, you could start with just one or two people. You often long for Schopenhauer, but who knows? Making companions might be simpler than you think."
Becoming one.
That's what Go Yuri called it.
"What do you think, Guild Leader?"
"Well, it's certainly a strategy I hadn't considered. I'll think about it."
"That's a lie."
"..."
Thud.
The bus began to move. The engine rattled, and it started heading somewhere.
Outside the windows, the scenery blurred by too quickly. Night and day switched without pause, casting fleeting shadows across Go Yuri's face.
"No matter where you go, no matter what your final stop is, Guild Leader, I'll always support you. But you've already passed by quite a few stops."
"..."
"Don't forget that."
Thud, thud, thud.
The sound of the village bus's vibrations shifted into the rumble of a subway, and the interior stretched out into a long train car. The lights flickered. The Undertakers seated around us began to stretch and split apart, bursting as their bodies tore open.
And then, I woke up.
"H-huh."
Before me stood Ah-ryeon, looking at me with wide eyes.
"You're... You're awake..."
"The Saintess's duties?"
"I-I just finished! As you instructed, I used the Blessing of Christ Mo Gwang-seo to cover the traces of the descending angels and turned the area into a sanctuary."
"Good. Our Ah-ryeon has worked hard."
"Hehe, please... P-praise me more."
Ah-ryeon beamed.
Her smile oddly reminded me of Go Yuri's.
It wasn't that I was confusing the two of them. It was just that Go Yuri's warning from the dream kept echoing in my head.
"You give Anomalies their names earlier than anyone else."
Go Yuri had warned me that this would reduce me to the role of 'the parent of Anomalies.'
But was that really true?
The first thoughts that came to mind after my regression weren't just about Anomalies. I thought of the people I couldn't save in previous runs, of Seo Gyu with his head about to be severed, of Ah-ryeon trembling in a corner.
'Do I value human smiles over the extinction of Anomalies?'
The answer was yes. In the early days of my regressions, perhaps I wouldn't have been so sure. But now, the answer was clear.
Like a sail that filled with wind whenever I faced the breeze, this answer wrapped around my heart. As long as that answer remained, I would never lose my way, no matter which seas I crossed.
"Our Ah-ryeon is the best."
"Hehe..."
In the midst of this boundless sea, I patted the head of the woman who had become the wind in my sails.
There is an epilogue.
"Let's draw a bus route map."
Back in Busan, I proposed this during a meeting. Do-hwa, seated at the round table, tilted her head in confusion.
"A bus route map...?"
"Yes. The organs of passengers on Village Bus No. 44 are transferred randomly, without any clear destination. This is likely because the bus doesn't have a defined route."
I drew a quick map on the chalkboard.
Ⓞ Hwang Seo-young's pancreas (54, Busan)
ⓞ Kim Jin-cheol's cornea (11, Sejong)
ⓞ Namgung Hee-young's lungs (37, Pohang)
ⓞ Park Da-ram's kidney (21, Busan)...
The result was a typical bus route map, except that the "stops" were people's names and organs.
"We'll prepare a list of patients in need of transplants and organize them in order. Then, for volunteers, they can freely choose which 'stops'—people—they'd like to donate their organs to."
"Oh..."
"Friends, family, acquaintances, or even someone they've just encountered by chance. It's a way for people to select who they want to give their organs to after they pass."
In the apocalypse, suicide rates had skyrocketed. There were more reasons to leave this world than to stay in it. Even so, many would be willing to donate their organs if it meant helping those left behind.
When people boarded Bus No. 44, they usually died instantly without time to feel any pain. The process of organ donation could become quick, easy, and precise.
"Not just suicides, but even elderly individuals might choose to donate their organs. Since the Village Bus can appear anywhere, it's accessible to everyone."
"Hmm..."
While the term "donation" might evoke the idea of a noble, voluntary act, I saw it as simply the efficient distribution of resources.
The apocalypse was brutal. Even human bodies had to be used efficiently.
Despite the critical flaw of Village Bus No. 44, as long as we were cautious of Anomalies like Mo Gwang-seo's Christ, it was still worth utilizing.
After listening to my entire presentation, Do-hwa sneered an answer.
"Well, it sounds... effective."
Soon after, "bus route maps" and "stop lists" were distributed across the country. Whenever there was a need to update the route, revised versions were uploaded to SG Net first, and guilds all over the country would make the necessary changes so that the public could access the updated stop names.
Occasionally, incidents of innocent people being forcibly pushed onto the bus arose, but the Saintess usually managed to detect and prevent such tragedies in advance.
From that day onward, I sometimes saw elderly people sitting under bus stop signs, a crumpled piece of paper in hand.
Those old men and women would sit there, squinting up and down the street, waiting for the bus to come, with notes listing the names of the stops where they wanted to leave a trace of themselves.
They'd unfold those notes from time to time, reading them over.
Then, at some point, the Village Bus No. 44 would appear, as if out of thin air, in front of the stop.
The elderly person would grip their note tightly in one hand and use the other to support themselves with a cane as they boarded the bus.
And into thin air, the green village bus would vanish, leaving behind only the smell of exhaust.
"..."
Choosing to leave something behind for someone, even as you leave this life.
Perhaps, in the delicate weight of those old people pressing their canes into the ground as they boarded the bus, lay the reason I always chose humans over Anomalies.
Wasn't humanity clinging to the tip of that cane?
'Go Yuri, the day I accept your offer will never come.'
In the end, the terminus for one person might just be a brief stop for another to rest.
That's why I hoped—
That when my journey ended, I wouldn't rule over the final stop for all mankind, but rather, be just another stop along the way for the children who followed.
-x-X-x-
The Monad I
Today's story is a rare one-it's going to list multiple mysteries in sequence.
Well, to be fair, that's how my stories usually unfold, as if laid out like pieces of a puzzle. Not a perfect omnibus, but at least a half-omnibus kind of format.
In that sense, this episode can be likened to an "omnibus within an omnibus," a story within a story-like a Monad reflected in another Monad.
I hope you enjoy the mysteries as they unfold.
First Monad.
First, I'd like to tell you a ghost story related to the Ice Age.
As you may know, the Ice Age Anomaly has been isolated on the internet. After capturing footage of the Ice Age, we sealed it away in a hidden post on SG Net.
However, with Anomalies, you can never afford to rest easy and say, "It's sealed! Done and dusted!" Classic anime like Ghost Stories taught us this lesson well—exorcists had to deal with consequences across generations because they didn't know this.
But I, the Undertaker, who claims to be the world's top Anomaly expert, was always well aware of this.
It's crucial to maintain sustainable isolation after the initial seal.
"Hey, boss."
That's why I had already given Seo Gyu the command to keep monitoring the hidden post related to the Ice Age.
One day, Seo Gyu came to me, looking a bit troubled.
"Hm? What's the matter?"
"Well, you know how you locked up the Ice Age Anomaly on SG Net the other day, right? That one with the... uh, romance?"
"For the last time, there was no romance between me and the Commander. That was just the Anomaly's distorted and edited footage. But yeah, we sealed it. So?"
"Uh, yeah. About that... I think you need to see it for yourself."
So I went to check.
Now that I think about it, I've never really described Seo Gyu's workspace, have I? Let me give you a quick rundown.
To put it simply, Seo Gyu's office looked exactly like a "Chinese mobile game factory." Hundreds of smartphones were spread out on the table, all logged into SG Net. Each phone displayed a "hidden post isolation" scene, where Anomalies were being held, and was set to a low volume, just soft enough that only someone with heightened perception could hear the Anomalies screaming in their final moments.
- Aaaaaahhhhh...
- Hero, if you're reading this, it means you've returned home safely, right? Even if you've lost all your memories, your noble will to return to your original world has moved us...
- This is a picture of a cat lying on a white bed.
- Anyone want to talk about Romance of the Three Kingdoms with me?
What can I say?
This tiny office was, in fact, a cyber Anomaly prison.
The Anomalies that required physical sealing were transferred to the underground prison at the National Road Management Corps headquarters. Meanwhile, the Anomalies that couldn't distinguish between reality and the virtual world were all confined in SG Net.
In a way, the nickname "Special Warden" suited Seo Gyu much better than "Such A Fucking Dumbass." As the Commander of SG Net, Seo Gyu was essentially the world's biggest Anomaly warden.
(There was a good reason he rarely left the base and stayed put like a totem.)
"Hm."
I quietly observed the cyber prison. Each smartphone was practically a solitary cell for the Anomalies.
"So, this is how a scientist must feel when they look at brains in vats."
"Pardon?"
"Just talking to myself. So, what's wrong with the Ice Age?"
"Oh, well, take a look at this..." Seo Gyu held up one of the phones. The tag on the screen read 668-711, and it was playing the familiar Surviving the Ice Age documentary.
Right at the part where the Commander and I kissed.
It was an embarrassing scene, but I didn't care since the footage was heavily distorted by the Anomaly. It wasn't real anyway.
I simply ignored it.
"So what?"
"Well, don't just glance at it, take a closer look, boss."
"...?"
I was slightly taken aback. Was he asking me to focus on the kiss scene with Noh Do-hwa? Had Seo Gyu lost his mind?
"Not the content, the length of the video. Don't you think something's off?"
Fortunately, Seo Gyu hadn't gone crazy yet. He was making a valid point.
The video on SG Net's hidden post was indeed... a little odd.
"Huh?"
I frowned.
'Was this kiss scene always this long?'
Time seemed off.
Originally, Surviving the Ice Age was a three-part series—Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3—with each episode lasting about 20 minutes. In total, the entire video was roughly an hour long. The Commander and my kiss was supposed to be in the final part, and it should have lasted less than 30 seconds.
But for some reason, in Surviving the Ice Age: Anomaly Edition, no matter how long we waited, the kiss scene didn't end.
"...Is the video longer than usual?"
"Yes. I checked multiple times. The displayed time says 20 minutes, right?" Seo Gyu pointed to the screen. "But when you actually play it, it runs for 24 hours."
"What? 24 hours?"
"Yep. The video loops continuously for a full day. I confirmed it twice before coming to you, boss."
I rubbed my chin.
'24 hours... That's 1,440 minutes. A video that was originally 20 minutes had expanded 72 times its length?'
I didn't understand.
"...You said you checked it twice. Is there anything else that's changed?"
"Well, since the video got longer, some of the content has changed too. Hang on, let me turn up the sound. Ah, here. If you rewind a bit, you'll see..."
Seo Gyu rewound the video.
In this part, Yu Ji-won had cornered the Commander against a wall in a classic "kabedon" stance.[1] Surprisingly, Ji-won was much taller than her counterpart, so it looked quite intimidating on screen.
"Commander, even though I acted on my own in that operation, the sacrifice was necessary."
In the video, Ji-won-played by the Anomaly in the Ice Age spoke.
"If you had given the order, the survivors' command structure would have collapsed. That's why I took on the role of the bad cop. There were no personal feelings involved."
"Heh. For a woman full of personal feelings, you sure know how to talk. If that's how you feel, perhaps you should lead the next operation yourself?"
"I am an irreplaceable asset."
"I don't see it that way..."
"..."
An unsettling tension was building between the two characters.
I blinked. "...This scene wasn't in the original."
"Nope." Seo Gyu nodded, looking exhausted. "For the record, there's also a scene where the Saintess and the Commander fight. I didn't show you that because the atmosphere was so intense it made me feel sick. I haven't been feeling well the past two days."
"What the hell... This isn't just edited footage anymore. It's like the video has been remade with CGI from scratch."
"Yeah, it feels like they've extended the timeline. Instead of just three days, it looks like they've been trapped in the Ice Age for weeks."
I rubbed my forehead.
'The video's length has been randomly extended. And to match that, the content has been automatically edited to feel "natural."'
Why?
I couldn't figure out the cause.
Was it simply because we had locked the video in the "virtual reality" of SG Net?
"...Aside from the increased length and content changes, there are no negative effects in the real world, right?"
"None. It's completely isolated."
"Then let's leave it for now."
It left me feeling uneasy, but emotions didn't matter. What mattered was the real world, not some video stuck in a hidden post on SG Net.
But the strange incidents related to the documentary didn't stop.
"Boss."
"What now?"
"Well... the video has changed again."
Some time later, Surviving the Ice Age: Anomaly Edition evolved into Surviving the Ice Age: Anomaly Director's Cut.
"This time... the video is 72 days long. Each episode. If you add up all three, it's over 200 days."
"..."
"The video quality has also worsened a bit. Look here, boss. The smartphone's screen is now showing two layers."
As the video continued to expand, it seemed the total runtime was growing by 72 times each time.
"...As I said before, as long as it doesn't affect the real world, we don't need to check the video anymore, Seo Gyu."
"Got it..."
Seo Gyu seemed uncomfortable.
"But the video now includes Dok-seo and Sim Ah-ryeon. The footage implies that the isolation in Liberty Island has gone on for so long that external support had to come in."
"Hmm."
"I didn't watch the whole thing, just bits and pieces, but apparently, the Ice Age has spread beyond Sinŭiju, wiping out the entire Korean Peninsula. Other regions are starting to freeze too."
"..."
"It feels so real that it's unsettling. Well, like you said, I won't watch it anymore."
Though I didn't know the exact mechanism behind it, the Ice Age Anomaly was indeed conquering the world within the video.
The Ice Age's timeline was expanding rapidly-from 60 minutes to three days, and from three days to 216 days.
So, what would happen if there was just one more Extended Edition?
'...More than 15,000 days.'
About 42 years.
In a world covered by the Ice Age, my team, including the Commander and me, would have to survive for over 40 years.
And even if we made it through that, what would come next?
Only an even more inflated period of 3,000 years awaited us. It was nothing short of despair.
'I don't know the cause...'
But I could guess the outcome.
'That Ice Age Anomaly... it won't be satisfied with just a "60-minute world."'
The virtual reality was drawing closer to real reality. At a terrifying pace.
'...3,000 years, multiplied by 72 again. And then 72 more. Eventually, it'll reach a point where it can claim to be an entire world of its own.'
Sure enough, the next time I secretly visited the Anomaly prison and looked at the smartphone isolating the Ice Age...
Whoooosh.
There were no longer any voices on the screen.
Buried under the snow was the decaying Statue of Liberty.
My frozen corpse, with its eyes wide open, lay next to Noh Do-hwa's, both of us holding hands, silently captured on camera.
Whoooosh.
The camera didn't move anymore. It was simply recording the two of us, long dead, while the speakers emitted nothing but the white noise of a blizzard.
That was the scene of the world's end.
"...So, even though we isolated it for mistaking the virtual world for reality, it ended up conquering the virtual world instead."
Whoooosh.
My mutterings were drowned out by the snowstorm.
The white noise sounded strangely like the Anomaly was laughing.
- Human, I am satisfied with this.
This was the first piece of the puzzle.
Footnotes:
[1] Kabedon or kabe-don refers to the action of slapping a wall fiercely, which produces the sound "don". One meaning is the action of slapping the wall as a protest which occurs in collective housing like condominiums when the next room makes noise.
-x-X-x-
The Monad II
The second Monad.
"Hyung."
"Oh, Seo Gyu."
"I― am this SG Man, fufufu. The mastermind behind everything."
"..."
And so we begin another story linked to Mastermind Syndrome.
'Here we go again with this pattern.'
I sighed.
To remind anyone who might have forgotten: Mastermind Syndrome refers to the phenomenon wherein a person becomes convinced beyond all doubt that they are secretly orchestrating every tragedy from behind the scenes to bring about the end of the world.
So, when and how does one catch Mastermind Syndrome?
The condition was deceptively simple. All you had to do was survive to the end with me, the Undertaker, and cheerfully shout "Chicken for dinner tonight!" in unison.
Naturally, the more sociable a person, the lower their survival rate.
Awakeners who spent their days roaming around and fighting against Anomalies, like Dang Seo-rin and Cheon Yo-hwa, had an extremely low chance of contracting Mastermind Syndrome. After all, survival is the prerequisite to contamination, isn't it?
On the other hand, our guild's proud anti-social union members got selected as masterminds like regulars whenever things got a little boring.
Sim Ah-ryeon, who didn't choose the Saintess of the North route. Lee Ha-yul, who wasn't led by the restless spirit. Oh Dok-seo, who dedicated decades to seclusion training after her serialization stopped...
Seo Gyu, though not exactly anti-social, was also a strong candidate. The guy spent all his time holed up at the base, living his 24-hour routine of sleep, eat,lift,eat,manage the Cyber Anomaly Prison,eat.
"Right, Seo Gyu. Even though your head would've been lopped off by a fairy and you'd be dead if I hadn't saved you at Busan Station, somehow, you're the mastermind that orchestrated every tragedy and massacre on Earth."
"Fufu. You know me well, hyung."
Normally, I would've just smacked Seo Gyu over the head and moved on to the next run.
But this day, precisely as the 682nd cycle was set to end, I felt an odd spark of curiosity.
It was already a lost cause of a run. I figured, why not humor Seo Gyu, who'd always been a certified babbler, a little longer?
Without any serious thought, intent, or purpose, I casually asked him a question.
"Just tell me one thing. You would've been eliminated in the beginning if it weren't for me, so how exactly do you claim you controlled everything behind the scenes? Wouldn't it all end if you died?"
"A foolish question, hyung."
But to my surprise, Seo Gyu answered with full confidence, "Of course, even my own death was part of my calculations."
"What?"
"Think about it, fufu. If I died, it would only mean that you lacked the 'force to defeat the Tutorial Fairy in an instant' or that you possessed the kind of morals that would passively watch a fairy massacre civilians."
"..."
"In such a world, I could never succeed as a mastermind. For me to flourish in this role, I need to latch onto the world you created—a world that requires a protector strong enough to overpower Anomalies and a soft-hearted fool who would willingly share his warmth with those around him. That fool being you, hyung."
Seo Gyu wagged his finger, giving me a disapproving click of his tongue.
"Why would I bother striving for glory in a world that doesn't meet these conditions?"
"What?"
"Hyung. Right after the Anomalies appeared and I was dropped into the Tutorial Dungeon, I quickly made up my mind. I would either become the mastermind controlling all evil, or I would die right then and there and escape from all suffering."
I stared, dumbfounded. Why did this nonsense sound almost... convincing?
"Wait... Isn't it difficult for you to Awaken to your power without my help, let alone pull off an omnipresent scheme? Let's say you did survive and join my guild. How could you be so sure you'd succeed as the mastermind, Seo Gyu?"
"Fufu." He flashed me a sly smile, an expression that a beefy man of his build would normally never be able to pull off.
A part of me wanted to punch the daylights out of him, while another part was curious to see just how far he could twist this absurd story. The latter won, for now, since I could satisfy the former desire anytime.
"Do you really think I didn't know?"
"Come again?"
"I Awakened my power early on. However, you had no way of confirming whether or not I had Awakened... The longer I delayed my Awakening, the more you let your guard down around me."
"Huh?"
"All I had to do was manipulate the timing of my Awakening to my advantage. After all, it was obvious you'd eventually come to rely on me. Securing a critical position without raising the ruler's suspicion... it's a tactic straight out of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, akin to the scheming of Jia Xu, wouldn't you say?"
"...?"
It sounded... convincing!
Adding a comparison to Three Kingdoms, the greatest classic of all, made Seo Gyu's story unexpectedly persuasive. I couldn't help but listen to his eloquent speech, captivated.
"I subtly encouraged Anomalies without you or the Saintess noticing. For example, you ordered me to keep Three Kingdoms content playing on a smartphone around the clock for 'narrative support Anomalies'..."
"Don't tell me—"
"Yes. I would intentionally turn off the smartphone for a moment or slightly alter the recordings, subtly encouraging the arrival of the 'Savior Narrative Anomaly.' Fufu, even if it wasn't complete, I surely influenced you and those around you a bit..."
"...!"
"I've set up many such subtle schemes behind the scenes. Hyung, I was the one who brought about the world's end."
Seo Gyu's grand lecture on his mastermind exploits lasted roughly three hours.
"I see. That was quite entertaining, Seo Gyu."
"Fufufu. So you finally acknowledge how impressive I am―"
"See you next time."
Slash!
Seo Gyu split in two.
With the world nearing its end, I couldn't help but regret that no one was left to criticize me for this murder.
'Could it be real?'
I put a temporary pause on my death.
Dodging the endless Monster Wave, I searched for any traces of the crimes Seo Gyu (mastermind ver.) had so boastfully confessed. And to my surprise, I discovered an incredible fact.
'...There's a chance it could be true?'
For one, I had no way of proving or disproving the theory that Seo Gyu had lied to me about when he had Awakened.
Another example, however, was the claim that Seo Gyu deliberately triggered the Savior Narrative Syndrome. I had actually sensed that my allies held a sense of devotion and reverence toward me that was slightly stronger in the 682nd cycle than in other runs.
It wasn't enough to conclusively say it was all because of Savior Narrative Syndrome but... On the flip side, I also couldn't entirely dismiss the notion that Savior Narrative Syndrome hadn't affected this cycle at all.
I muttered to myself, "It's like the devil's proof."[1]
Whether Seo Gyu actually committed the crimes he claimed to his name, and whether he committed them with malicious intent—proving either was now impossible. No one could perceive those actions or intentions except for Seo Gyu himself.
A crime that no one could ever prove.
This empty void was known as the Void itself. Mastermind Syndrome, surprisingly, was an Anomaly devoted to this Void.
In contrast to how I once dismissed it as mere nonsense.
"..."
It was worth testing.
Thus, in the next cycle, I made a special request to the Saintess.
[So, you want me to focus on observing Seo Gyu, Mr. Undertaker?]
"Yes. There is something I need to verify at the end of this cycle. Please inform me of any suspicious behavior you notice, even if it seems to be just a trivial detail."
[Understood. I'll increase the surveillance level on Seo Gyu to 10-second intervals.]
The Saintess classified the surveillance level for each Awakener from '24 hours' to '10 seconds.' A 24-hour surveillance level meant she would observe an individual only once per day with her Clairvoyance. On the other hand, the 10-second level meant continuous observation every 10 seconds or even more frequently.
Naturally, the number of Awakeners placed on the 10-second surveillance level was extremely limited.
Seo Gyu, originally under a 10-minute surveillance level, was temporarily raised to the highest risk level for this cycle.
"Any suspicious activity yet?"
[None at all. He hasn't once released Anomalies from the Cyber Prison intentionally. As far as I can tell, Seo Gyu is a loyal ally to you, Mr. Undertaker.]
"..."
[I'm not sure why you've suddenly grown suspicious of him, but for now, I have no choice but to give you that answer. I'll keep observing.]
That surveillance level continued until the end of the 683rd cycle.
The last surviving humans were me, the Saintess, and Seo Gyu, just the three of us.
Looking down upon the world, ravaged by the relentless Monster Wave, Seo Gyu clicked his tongue.
"Wow. That thing's a total mess once it gets going. How did Ah-ryeon manage to hold it off for years all by herself...?"
"Seo Gyu. Doesn't something strike you as amusing? Like, oh, I don't know, the thought of 'Fufu, I was behind every incident that happened so far?'"
"...I have no idea what you're talking about, hyung."
"Hmm."
Failure. Maybe Mastermind Syndrome wasn't as troubling an Anomaly as I had thought.
Just as I dismissed the notion, a thin crack appeared on Seo Gyu's neck.
"Huh?"
Seo Gyu reached up with his thick hand to feel his neck.
Blink.
His gaze shifted toward me.
"Hyung—"
Thud. Roll...
His head rolled onto the floor as his neck slipped at an angle.
"..."
"Fufu. My apologies, Mr. Undertaker."
The Saintess, bloody ax in hand, smiled sweetly. An uncharacteristic expression for someone who was usually so stoic.
"Did I startle you?"
"...In a way."
"To you, Mr. Undertaker, it's been around 20 years, I suppose. I was a little surprised back then, too, when you first told me to monitor Seo Gyu as if he were a mastermind. It seemed you'd grown quite wary of those around you."
I rubbed my forehead. "It's the Saintess's turn to be the mastermind this time, isn't it?"
"Mastermind, huh? That's rather hurtful, Mr. Undertaker. I orchestrated every bit of destruction, watching over you from the start as..."
In an instant, her body burst into flames and vanished—my Aura had incinerated her. Watching Mastermind Syndrome toy with the Saintess's personality was too much to bear.
'Anyway, if she set her mind to it, the Saintess could easily pull off the mastermind role.'
Manipulating Awakeners through her Constellations, subtly distorting reports to me, freezing time for the perfect crime, and more.
Only now did I grasp the ruthless nature of Mastermind Syndrome.
'...Is there really no way out of this?'
[Option 1]
Whoever survives until the end, whether it's Seo Gyu, Sim Ah-ryeon, or anyone else, is automatically designated as the "Mastermind."
This Mastermind will claim to have orchestrated all their crimes during moments I, the Undertaker, failed to observe them.
Since I can't monitor those moments, I will have no way of confirming whether the claim is true or false.
[Option 2]
If I rely on the Saintess's Clairvoyance to observe every moment, it is the Saintess herself who ends up designated as the "Mastermind."
Since the Saintess can freeze time and commit acts outside my purview, I won't be able to disprove the Saintess Mastermind Theory.
[Option 3]
I suppress my allies' growth to ensure that none of them ever rise to claim the "Mastermind" title. I forbid them from acting heroically, restrict their judgment, and prevent them from exercising free will.
I abandon my comrades before they can be designated as Masterminds. I stand by and allow them to die.
Efficiency is sacrificed for control.
Then, when the world inevitably falls to ruin, the true cause of its destruction becomes my tyranny, my distrust, my arrogance. And at last, I am the one designated as the Mastermind.
Only this fact would stand proven.
'...Whichever option I choose, the Mastermind Syndrome remains unavoidable.'
Take this current cycle, for instance.
Ah-ryeon had been successfully holding back the Monster Wave as the Saintess of the North when it suddenly surged, overrunning New Shinuiju and causing the Eastern Holy State to fall. The Armies of Annihilation engulfed Busan soon after.
'What if the Saintess froze time and traveled across the globe, wiping out city after city, causing the sudden increase in the Monster Wave's strength?'
Could such a hypothesis be proven or disproven?
No.
No matter how many times I looped, it was impossible to witness every event.
Whether Seo Gyu, the Saintess, Lee Ha-yul, Sim Ah-ryeon, or even Oh Dok-seo, might have hastened the world's end in different cycles—
I could never entirely deny the possibility.
And I never would be able to either.
"..."
I looked down at the earth, now fully blanketed by the Monster Wave, leaving no place for life.
The Anomalies stared back up at me, the last human left on this planet.
The twisted limbs of monstrous beings mocked me with grotesque smiles.
- Hyung, I brought about the end of the world.
- Mr. Undertaker. I orchestrated every bit of destruction.
This was the second piece of the puzzle.
Footnotes:
[1] The devil's proof is a logical dilemma that describes how the presence of evidence can prove something exists or is true but a lack of evidence fails to disprove it.