Chapter 587 – The Stolen World (2)
—
– User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 181
Current Location: Delight Hotel, Yeongdeungpo, Seoul
Sage’s Advice: 2
—
– Han Kain
The Administration Bureau is crafting an ark to avoid the apocalypse, but here we are, including our comrades’ families, who have also failed to secure a spot.
Consequently, some comrades began to waver upon hearing Ryan Reynolds’ outlandish suggestion to forcibly claim a seat.
For those of us who haven’t saved our families, like myself, or for those like Songi who take reality lightly, it’s a tempting offer.
But what about Sanghyun Hyung or Grandpa Mooksung?
Could those two just casually toss away normal families?
The answer lies within us.
If those two saw the family they built through dreams as nothing more than worthless illusions, they wouldn’t be causing such a ruckus about evacuating their families to America.
“What do you think?”
A playful voice urged for a response.
I’m betting that this ancient, whimsical man isn’t the type to be swayed by mere mortal family ‘nonsense.’
He must have some other agenda in trying to target the ark.
Sanghyun hesitantly murmured, “I believe we can negotiate with the Administration Bureau. For now, they’re unaware that we’re hotel escapees, so they haven’t been considerate—”
Ryan chuckled, interrupting him.
“Negotiate? Have you thought about the fact that your family would be effectively taken hostage by the Bureau? Do you wholly trust them? If so, why have they kept your participation under wraps until now?”
Sanghyun’s eyes flickered, confronted with the implication that hiding our status as participants meant a lack of trust in the Bureau.
It was clear the opponent had seized the initiative here, and I felt the need to interject.
“Grandpa, Hyung. There’s no need for concern. You know that, right?”
— Whoosh!
With a bright smile, I summoned the sun, causing both of their eyes to widen.
The essence of the holy sun is itself a type of ark, and my comrades seem to be aware of that up to this point.
“Just put your souls in here.”
“Hah! Kain, you’ve forgotten what your inheritance is! Exactly! As long as we keep the soul safe, the body will just be, what, provided by the next loop’s Administration Bureau!”
Grandpa glared at Ryan with renewed confidence.
Instead of getting angry or riled up, Ryan looked on in pure admiration.
“Impressive.”
“…”
“So that fireball acts as a vessel for souls, huh?”
“…”
“Is that how you burned your soul to gain strength in our fight?”
In emphasizing the holy sun to reassure my comrades, Ryan had grasped a part of the sun’s principle as well.
It’s slightly awkward realizing the opponent possesses the same level of understanding in communication, which is difficult for us since he can spy on Grandpa’s chat.
“Amazing! But then, we still have a need to cooperate. Friend, some of your comrades have been taken by the ark, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Have you ever wondered why they were taken? Hotel participants can endure the loop without the ark; why were they tossed onto it?”
“…”
He made a valid point.
Eunsol, Seungyub, Miro, and Jinchul were all hotel participants, so they could handle the loop without relying on the ark.
So, why were they sacrificed for the precious ark?
“To sync up when awakening together.”
“Ah?”
“The awakening timeline after a loop is spread beyond your imagination. Some theorize there’s over a thousand years’ gap between the earliest and latest awakenings. I’ve never experienced that myself.”
“…”
“Assuming only ordinary folk were placed on the ark, only to awaken in the year 800, do they suddenly find themselves surrounded by demons with no agents in sight?”
I got it.
You toss ordinary folk onto the ark and send them to the next loop, only to discover, once awake, that they’re surrounded by demons and no agents?
Such a disaster could mean they’d include some strong reincarnates among the rescued.
Moreover, not all reincarnates are powerful.
Jinchul’s supervisor was a regular agent whose combat prowess Jinchul noted was merely “a weakling who’d die if slapped hard once.”
Thus, the hotel participants were ideal for the guardian role.
“…”
In this context, Eunsol’s combat prowess is kind of dubious, but maybe the Bureau thought a hotel participant meant she had some hidden strength?
“Young friend, I think you grasped it well, so I’ll ask you this. Can you guarantee your awakening in the next loop is simultaneous with your comrades’?”
“Hmm…”
I see what you mean.
If I woke up in the middle ages while Sanghyun and Mooksung woke up in modern times, it’d be hard to meet up with my family.
Sanghyun frowned slightly.
“Kain, even if I’m not around, I believe you’ll take great care of Jin-sol and Baram. So don’t worry about that guy’s words any longer.”
You’re betting I’ll ensure the safety of Jin-sol and Baram on my own?
“It’s the same for me. Don’t let that guy’s pathetic ramblings get to you.”
Both are trusting me a bit much, aren’t they?
— Clap!
I lightly clapped my hands, quieting everyone before addressing Ryan.
“Let’s cooperate.”
“Is that so—wait, you’re saying you’ll cooperate?”
“Is that a problem?”
“Ah, no, that’s not it, but…”
Ryan looked surprised, perhaps expecting me to refuse, judging by the atmosphere of the comrades.
“What are the conditions? Shall we target the ark together? We won’t attack each other until we finish targeting it? Is that about right?”
“…Exactly.”
“It’s hard to trust each other just based on words, isn’t it?”
“That’s—”
“Patrick will come by tomorrow with something like a pact, right?”
“…Have you mastered mind-reading or something?”
“Mind-reading? Come on, it’s obvious. Let’s do it. Since everyone is busy, you bring the pact as soon as possible.”
“…”
Until just moments ago, Ryan had been doing his best to lure us, yet now, he shot wary glances at me, which wasn’t a bad outcome after all.
As long as he’s off-balance, his suspicion would only serve to gradually slow him down.
“Alright then. Tomorrow morning—”
While Ryan nodded in suspicion, his head suddenly tilted.
“…”
“…”
An odd silence hung in the air. Even Ryan seemed flabbergasted, unable to follow the situation.
“What’s going on?”
Still flustered, Ryan replied, “…Sorry. The negotiations have been settled. Patrick will bring the pact tomorrow morning. And, um, I have more to say.”
“More to say?”
After expressing interest, Grandpa Mooksung asked.
“Say, has your ‘wisdom’ delivered some kind of decree?”
“…”
“Oh? Seriously? Now you have my attention! What did it say?”
Ryan mumbled out words like someone tasked with giving an order that’s both unpleasant and impossible to turn down.
“It told me to ask if any of you possess ‘Justice.’”
“Justice?”
“’Protect Justice. If Justice dies, an unmanageable variable will arise.’”
“What does that mean?”
Ryan replied with a sincerity I hadn’t seen before.
“If you understand it, let me know because I’m curious too.”
—
After Ryan left, Grandpa fixed his gaze on me.
“Why did you shake hands with that guy?”
Others seemed curious as well.
“When you can’t be sure of what the right answer is, you should at least eliminate the incorrect ones first.”
When the path ahead is confusing, start by clearing out the wrong paths.
“The Administration Bureau’s plan to create an ark has critical flaws. Fundamentally, it’s a temporary measure.”
“A temporary measure?”
I continued my explanation while looking at my comrades.
“Ultimately, destruction will happen. The Administration Bureau has concluded they cannot stop the apocalypse and are merely preparing to run away with their remaining forces.”
The root of every problem is ultimately the Moon Demon or the light that summons the end.
The Bureau chose to evacuate because they can’t stop the cause of the apocalypse.
“Think of it as a cursed room. If they can’t solve the problem, aren’t they just repeatedly escaping?”
Only then did my comrades, having grasped my words, nod in understanding.
“Quick question! Is there an infinite amount of escape opportunities?”
“…”
“Ryan mentioned that failure in ark production led to civilizations declining multiple times. That’s sort of like ‘countdown,’ isn’t it?”
Songi whispered with horror.
“If they fail to build the ark a few more times, then even by the 21st century, it might just be the Stone Age all over again?”
“That’s possible. If that happens, we won’t be able to stop the Moon Demon or the light that summons the end. Not only that, but we’d keep getting wiped out without even realizing what’s going on.”
In the end, we’d be left with eternal primitivism.
Could this be one of the bad endings of reality?
I bet there are worse endings too, ones worse than the hellish bad endings we don’t even know exist yet.
I looked directly into my comrades’ eyes, trying to lend strength to my voice.
“Let’s clarify our goal. Are we running away on the ark? That’s the objective of the Administration Bureau and Ryan’s side.”
“Our goal is…”
“Not to escape but to resolve. We need to stop the Moon Demon and the light that summons the end.”
The Administration Bureau is stuck in the wrong answer of just escaping.
To pull them out of the mire, we need to target the ark.
In this endeavor, the strength Ryan’s side has built up may prove to be a valuable help.
Thus, I believed that a temporary alliance with Ryan’s faction could be effective.
After convincing them, Elena cautiously murmured.
“That last thing Ryan said…”
“About the mysterious wisdom that was relayed through him?”
“’Protect Justice. If Justice dies, an unmanageable variable will arise.’”
As soon as those words were mentioned, Songi chuckled slightly.
“It’s kind of funny, isn’t it? Some dude orders him to perform actions he doesn’t even understand? Just a way for Ryan to show off, huh? It’s proof that it’s really not a big deal?”
Meanwhile, Sanghyun let out a bitter smile.
“Is it funny, or do you get a sense of déjà vu?”
“Déjà vu?”
“Don’t we sometimes act similarly?”
Before long, everyone turned to look at me with expressions like they just received a hit to the back of the head.
I awkwardly laughed and tried to change the topic.
“Elena, anything come to mind after hearing Ryan’s words?”
“Yeah.”
At that moment, as everyone tilted their heads, Elena brought up an unexpected topic.
“I hadn’t realized it because there hadn’t been a situation to use my powers properly, but earlier—”
“Earlier?”
“When the comrades were being raptured, I tried to activate the ‘self-defense’ ability.”
“Self-defense?”
With this, Elena had gained the third power of Justice, which greatly relaxed the conditions for activating blessings when the enemy strikes first.
Even with that said, how could she even think of applying it in an ambiguous rapture situation where she had no idea who the enemy was?
“It was too ambiguous and ended up failing to activate. I thought about forcing it, but Miro stopped me.”
“Is that so?”
“I was quite sure this was the second time, but… In the Esper Boat, it ended too quickly for me to be certain.”
Elena’s tone wavered, suggesting she wasn’t really sure.
“… It seems the blessing has greatly weakened, huh?”
“Ah?”
Elena continued by saying, “The blessing of Justice has weakened.”
Previously, she primarily used it for support-type powers like lie detection or clarity of mind, but since the fight on the Esper Boat ended in a single blow, it seems she couldn’t ascertain it at that time.
Now that she was trying to properly use the self-defense ability, she became aware of this.
“That means…”
“It seems there’s another Justice apart from me.”
Sanghyun sighed.
“It must be affiliated with the Administration Bureau. That’s why Elena emphasized that you can’t remain dead! Because you would have to contend with the true Justice!”
“Oh no!”
Just as we were all at the juncture of alerting for another participant of ‘Justice’ from the Administration Bureau, I held a different query.
How did the previous Wisdom know that there was a Justice among us?
Did the predecessor know indirectly by observing the weakening of Justice?
—
After the meeting wrapped up late in the evening, while I was lost in thought seated, I sensed a presence.
— Creak!
“Elena?”
“…”
She came in silently, shutting the door firmly behind her.
“Elena?”
With a cautious glance, she directed her eyes to me.
“Kain.”
“Yes?”
“Earlier, during the conversation with Ryan, I used lie detection.”
“Were there any lies?”
“I found his initial declaration—about loving his family—to be false.”
Affected by Ryan’s claims about needing a spot on the ark to save his family, that too was a lie.
“I suspected as much. What kind of guy would genuinely love a family? He definitely has a different motive for targeting the ark.”
Nothing surprised me at this point.
Yet, Elena was not just here to say that.
“And…”
I instinctively sensed what Elena was about to say.
“You lied too, Kain.”
“…”
“The words you spoke when persuading Grandpa and the doctor earlier—that you could protect their families with the holy sun, and that they shouldn’t waver because of Ryan’s words?”
“…”
“Was that a lie?”
“Yes.”
“… Can we not save them?”
“…”
The power of a legacy, coupled with the attributes of the holy sun, includes ‘what can be done’ and ‘what cannot be done,’ which is challenging for someone outside the owner to fully comprehend.
Sometimes, due to the nature of the legacy influenced by the user’s proficiency, things that were impossible in the past could now be feasible, leaving even the ownership in confusion.
Is it possible to contain the souls of others inside the holy sun and then liberate those souls to resurrect them after the loop?
Having expelled countless souls while flying through space to escape from the Demon King in Room 206, I know the answer.
It’s impossible.
The state upon swallowing and the state of expulsion are altogether different, with the latter being abnormal.
To extract a soul vomited by the holy sun and physically transfer it would merely lead to the production of monsters, and nothing more.
The reason?
I have no idea.
I just know it’s impossible.
…
And so, I find myself wondering.
Clearly, the ‘owner’ said the holy sun is also an ark.
I had suspected that the entity of the ‘owner’ bore a resemblance to the ark created in Room 104.
So why, despite being labeled as the same ark, can the one run by the Administration Bureau perform what the holy sun cannot?
“Elena, I’m sorry.”
“Oh, no! That was—wasn’t it just meant to assure the comrades? A good, um, white lie…”
“Thanks for understanding me.”
Suddenly, I had this thought.
Is it valid that the ark belonging to the Administration Bureau can achieve what the holy sun cannot?
Could it be that the ark itself is merely a massive scam?
I still don’t know anything.
But this hypothesis remains one of my implicit reasons for believing that aligning with the Administration Bureau is the wrong answer.
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