Chapter 204

[Translator - Jjescus]

[Proofreader - Gun]

w

Chapter 204

──────

The Antagonist I

1

This story begins with a nightmare.

"Undertaker! Hey, Mr Undertaker!"

In the dream, someone grabbed my shoulder and shook me violently.

I looked closely to see who it was, and it was none other than the soccer player Kim Joocheol.

A former fullback, known as the "Iron Wall" during his playing days.

Once a successful professional player, he lost his family due to a gambling addiction.

He eventually reunited with his son, but since I had [Time-Sealed] him, he lost the chance to ever apologize to his child.

Now, this man, who has been erased from reality, appeared in my dream, drenched in sweat.

"Please help me! Please, save me!"

"Wait. Calm down. What's going on?"

"Get me out of this hell! I beg you! Get me out of this eternal 24-hour nightmare!"

At that moment, I thought,

‘Ah. Just a normal nightmare.’

I had used [Time-Seal] to erase a total of 500,000 people.

Even though I pride myself on having a stronger mental fortitude than anyone else, as a man with a beautiful mind, even I carry guilt over this matter.

This burden of guilt is one of the two things that make me feel superior to Adolf Hitler.

(The other, of course, is my artistic skills.)

"Mr. Kim Joocheol, this is a dream. You could say that what you're experiencing is also a dream."

"More like a nightmare!"

"Yes. It’s a condensed version of our lives, but aren’t you at least living your happiest day in this dream? In a sense, it's better than real life. After all, you agreed to this, Mr. Kim..."

"No! No, it’s not! I never agreed to this!"

Kim Joocheol cried out.

"You said that after 24 hours, I’d forget everything and live the same day over again!"

"Yes, that’s correct."

"But it’s different! I keep repeating the same 24 hours! Over and over! Yesterday, the day before, the day before that! I’ve been living the same day for 40 days now!"

“...What?”

This was a new nightmare.

"Please, save me, sir. Please save me. No one believes me when I tell them the day is repeating! Even if they do, after 24 hours, everything resets! This is hell! It’s hell!"

Kim Joocheol kept spitting out words, his breath and the angle and thickness of his saliva so vivid that it felt real.

"So... Mr. Kim Joocheol, you should only have one day's worth of memory, but your memories are continuing for some reason. Is that what you’re saying?"

"That’s right! Exactly! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you! ...Oh, no, it’s coming. It’s coming again!"

It’s coming?

Kim Joocheol suddenly started looking around wildly and began to tremble. He was probably someone who liked to show off, but right now, he was clearly terrified.

"Calm down. Please explain it to me slowly. Maybe some sort of anomaly is involved in your situation..."

"He’s coming!"

Kim Joocheol's scream echoed across the neighborhood, on top of buildings, hanging from the ceiling of the sky.

And then, the sky shook.

The outline of the sun melted, and its red blood suddenly formed a sunset, and as lava flowed by, night descended.

All within a mere 5 seconds.

It was an anomaly.

One I knew well.

‘The Night Goddess, Nut?’

One of the world-ending scenarios.

As the horizon narrows, the world is entirely engulfed by night, and eventually, all existence fades into nothingness.

During the 53rd turn, when I was working as an assistant under Factory Owner Noh Doha, the world was destroyed by Nut.

“...If this is just me being overly self-conscious, it’s quite embarrassing.”

The Saintess took a small breath.

“Could it be because of me?”

I blinked.

“Pardon?”

“...As you know, the Constellation system we’ve established is a highly advanced ‘anomaly surveillance system.’ If an Awakened ever comes into contact with a dangerous anomaly, I immediately receive visual information, which I then relay to you.”

“That’s correct.”

I nodded.

Thanks to the protection of the Constellation, I am able to receive ‘emergency alerts’ and respond to disaster areas instantly. Unlike most regressors who adhere strictly to individualism and elitism, I am also a believer in systematic approaches. I take pride in the fact that we have established a fairly effective system.

“Don’t you think that might be something very inconvenient for the anomalies?”

“From the anomalies’ perspective...?”

“Yes. Reality is too unfavorable for them. But it’s different in dreams. Even when I use my [Clairvoyance], all I can see in the eyes of a sleeping Awakened is the darkness behind their eyelids.”

“...!”

My eyes widened.

It was like being lightly struck on the back of the head. I hadn’t considered that perspective.

“You’re saying that the anomalies might be escaping into dreams to avoid your [Clairvoyance]?”

“Perhaps. More accurately, they might be avoiding the alliance between you and me. Once they’re detected by me, they know they’ll be caught by you, so to the anomalies, we probably seem like one being.”

“Oh...”

“Of course, it’s unlikely that the anomalies have human-like intelligence that would allow them to act with a purpose, such as ‘let’s flee into dreams.’ But as a result, some anomalies might be thriving more in dreams than in reality, much like living organisms.”

I rubbed my chin.

That makes sense!

So, let’s consider an anomaly called ‘A.’

A is an anomaly that can operate both in reality and in dreams, much like the tutorial fairy or Koyori.

Now, let’s see it from A’s perspective:

▷ Reality: If it kills a human, soon after, a terrifyingly powerful being (me) will come and retaliate. The strategy to defeat it is shared in the virtual world (SG Net), where no weaknesses are apparent.

▷ Dream: It can wander freely without dying. While there’s a risk of running into a scary older sister (Koyori) if it falls too deeply into the unconscious, it's relatively safe as long as that’s avoided.

If given the choice between an inevitable confrontation with the mortician or a dangerous but avoidable confrontation with Koyori, any rational anomaly would choose the ‘dream’――.

That was the Saintess’s hypothesis.

“To put it more accurately, anomalies that remain in reality are naturally nearing extinction.”

“I see. You’re saying that some form of natural selection is taking place.”

“Yes.”

The Saintess added,

“To the anomalies, you are not just a mere human. You are a part of ‘nature’ itself—a force that exerts evolutionary pressure capable of driving them to extinction.”

“.......”

“To us humans, anomalies have always been that way; perhaps to them, you are that way.”

Should I be pleased about this or not?

On one hand, I felt a sense of pride knowing that I hadn’t wasted my life as a regressor. On the other, I felt repulsed by the thought of these anomalies now thriving even in dreams despite all my efforts.

With mixed emotions, I put down my coffee cup.

“Thank you. That was an excellent hypothesis. I’ll keep your words in mind as I investigate this anomaly.”

“You’re planning to check out the crystal tombstone of that Kim Joocheol, right?”

“Yes. It’s in Busan, so I’ll take the Inunaki Tunnel to get there.”

“I’ll go with you.”

Before I could even respond, I blinked, and in that brief moment, the Saintess’s outfit had completely changed.

Just 0.1 seconds ago, she was wearing a comfortable t-shirt, but now she was fully armed in a long coat for an expedition. Her backpack, filled with the necessary tools for void exploration, and her signature hand axes were hanging from it.

The Saintess spoke with a blank expression.

“I’ve always been interested in your [Time Seal] ability. I’d like to take this opportunity to see the scenery inside the tombstone as well.”

Her tone was so firm that the idea of refusing didn’t even cross my mind, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Alright. I’ll gladly guide you.”

To the graveyard I created in the past.

We set off together to a hell that I had never revealed to any guild members.

[Translator - Jjescus]

[Proofreader - Gun]

w