Chapter 589 – The Stolen World (4)
—
– User: Han Kain
Date: Day 186
Current Location: Unknown house near a major Chinese city
Sage’s Advice: 4
—
– Han Kain
Humans are indeed complicated creatures; one cannot grasp the whole truth with just superficial glimpses.
Songee no longer seriously regards ordinary humans, and she doesn’t even try to hide it. But when it comes to us, her attitude is sincere, and she sees the hotel party as a real family.
Recently, I’ve come to realize that Ryan Reynolds and Songee share quite a similar demeanor. Of course, I haven’t mentioned this to Songee.
Ryan, too, doesn’t take common folks seriously, seeing even his own son and daughter-in-law as merely tools for base management.
However, just like we have our group, Ryan also had a “true comrade.”
*
— Swoosh!
“We’ve arrived.”
“Caw-caw~!”
“…”
As I squawked like a bird jokingly, Ryan looked somewhat unsettled. His expression seemed to say, ‘After leading me this far, don’t tell me it’s just a regular parrot again?’
If they were true comrades, they wouldn’t fall for my antics, but Ryan doesn’t know me all that well.
“Caw caw~!”
“… Don’t mess around.”
I felt tempted to keep joking, but I decided to stop there.
“Alright then. Is your hidden lover nearby?”
“She’s not a lover! I told you, Yeo-hwa has been married in the past, so let’s avoid such strange talk.”
“Haha! You really are anxious, aren’t you?”
“Anxious?!”
Normally, Ryan is quite slick, but now he’s lost his usual composure. Since the owner of Clairvoyance, ‘Jin Yeo-hwa,’ is a participant who has almost zero combat power.
Naturally, Ryan wanted to keep her location a secret, which is why we had to come here, borrowing Pelo’s body to make it appear in a cage.
— Flap!
“Don’t shake your wings.”
“I’m a bit itchy—”
“Don’t tell me you plan to scatter feathers around and have them tracked later?”
“…”
Wow! Talk about suspicion! Seems like you’ve had experiences like that before.
While I stayed flabbergasted, Ryan began picking up Pelo’s hair from the ground and stuffing it into his bag.
— Thud!
“Yeo-hwa! I’m here.”
— Flap!
“You brat—”
“别做没用的事 进来吧. (Don’t do useless things, just come in.)”
*
Of course, in reality, there’s no automatic translation system like in the hotel. While Ryan is fluent in Korean since “The Unforgettable World” is based in Korea, Jin Yeo-hwa is not.
Fortunately, I had brought a high-end AI translator from the Administration Bureau, so communication shouldn’t be a big problem.
Soon, the cage opened.
“Ah? Can I come out? Didn’t you just say not to drop feathers?”
“Just come out. He’s telling you not to fuss.”
As soon as I got out, I discreetly surveyed the area.
It seems we’re not in a city but rather a standalone house near a major city in China.
Jin Yeo-hwa looked like a stunning woman in her mid-30s, with dark, braided hair and somewhat neurotic eyes.
“You’re constantly on your toes, just like Ryan.”
“Haha! It’s rare to finally meet you in person.”
“With your charm, if you appeared on YouTube, you’d surely gather a hundred million subscribers; you’d fit better in a zoo than a hotel.”
“What are you saying?”
“… They say you’re an exceptionally mysterious bird.”
“That’s totally not true! You mentioned YouTube, didn’t you? You’re speaking too fast for the translator to keep up.”
“Yeo-hwa, slow down a bit. And you should explain your memories in detail again.”
Feeling a bit awkward, I nonetheless had to explain the moment when the Tablet sought to kill Ahri and me since we need to save her.
After listening to my explanation, Jin Yeo-hwa touched my head for a moment and then began to focus.
“If I crush the parrot’s head, what happens? Does it die?”
“Don’t act on impulse. It’s a formidable entity.”
“Now that I can hear properly, let’s just ease off a bit.”
Really, can this explanation truly help in pinpointing the Tablet’s location? If all we needed was just the explanation, Ryan had no reason to come to fetch me, even with his anxiety.
There must be additional conditions in play.
Someone connected to our target, the Tablet—perhaps I’m needed?
Or maybe—
“I think I found it.”
Already?
Slightly surprised, Jin Yeo-hwa scribbled down some unknown numbers on a piece of paper. It looked like a kind of coordinate, and Ryan tilted his head as he saw it.
“It seems the location isn’t on the surface?”
“The entrance is near the central desert basin in Australia. There’s no natural way to reach it.”
“What do you mean?”
“From here, it’s up to you. The remarkable entity, the parrot, could surely level the desert terrain.”
The entrance to the path leading to the Tablet is in the Australian desert!
Seeing written coordinates makes it seem like we’ve pinpointed the exact location.
I couldn’t help but marvel at the extraordinary search abilities that none of us could replicate.
“That’s enough. Ryan, I’ll dissolve my possession and return to Korea. You take Pelo with you—”
At that moment, Jin Yeo-hwa suddenly approached me.
“Do you have more to say?”
“…”
Her eyes spinning in a peculiar manner. She seems to want to delve into something using her ‘Clairvoyance’…
“Ryan, leave.”
“What? Yeo-hwa! You seem to have forgotten, he’s—”
— Clap!
Jin Yeo-hwa casually clapped her hands. In an instant, Ryan’s body vanished somewhere as if it had just been a lie.
“…”
Did she just chase Ryan away?
What kind of trick is this, considering she claimed to have no combat capabilities?
“Do you have something you want to say only to me?”
“Ryan is my comrade.”
“I’ve heard.”
“He’s not someone who’s nowhere to be found.”
“Nowhere to be found?”
“Since a while back, he’s been following someone. A real old trickster who’s been playing weird games in the real world for a long time.”
“… The former Wisdom?”
“Exactly. I’m not fond of him.”
“So you’re hiding in a place like this?”
“I heard from Ryan about your story. A comrade who escaped together got promoted to become a Silent One yet has violated their secrecy duties, now being hunted by the Tablet?”
“That’s right. So I asked you to find the Tablet.”
She paused for a moment, thinking deeply, before unexpectedly blurting out something.
“I married one of the Silent Ones long ago.”
“Is that so—”
“He died in the previous loop. His very essence shattered, leading to his eternal demise.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“From now on, it’s going to cost you.”
“…?”
“I assure you it will be valuable information.”
She has some further information exclusively for me, but she’s seeking a separate price.
“What do you want?”
“If you ever clash with someone that is nowhere to be found…”
“Clash?”
“He could use Ryan as a minion to try and kill you.”
“Seems quite plausible.”
“Then—save Ryan just once for me.”
“…?”
“The former Wisdom, that old man, I don’t care whether he’s boiled or grilled. Just save Ryan.”
I suddenly felt it.
Ryan, who seemingly had no humanity, had been wary of my approach to Jin Yeo-hwa, right?
That means he holds her dear.
Likewise, this woman seems to care for Ryan.
Seeing that she was married to another person suggests that her feelings lean more towards comradeship than romantic love.
“Let me hear it all out before deciding.”
“…”
“You can’t set a price on something without presenting what it is.”
“The number of Silent Ones in the Bureau is fixed at nine.”
“Fixed at nine?”
“When my husband died in the previous loop, a position became vacant. Your girlfriend filled that position.”
“Understood.”
“During the death of my husband, I discovered something peculiar. Their decision-making works through a strict majority rule.”
“That just sounds… obvious, doesn’t it?”
“It’s a majority rule that enforces a tremendous coercive force. If five vote in favor and four against, even the four must comply, no matter how strongly they oppose. If they outright reject, they’ll face punishment and die.”
She learned this during her husband’s dying moments…
It seems Jin Yeo-hwa’s husband died because he opposed the majority and was punished by the Tablet.
“The Tablet’s punishment?”
“Most likely.”
“Hmm…”
“Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“…”
“If you want to change the Bureau’s direction, you need exactly five votes.”
“…”
“Your girlfriend would be on your side, so you’ve already secured one vote, right?”
Girlfriend, huh…
At any rate, I got the message she is trying to convey.
“If you can persuade or threaten just four more, you can steer the Bureau whichever way you want.”
“There are other methods, like reducing the number of members.”
“…”
“What do you think?”
“No more? That’s a 0.7 life donation for Ryan at this point.”
“… To save your girlfriend, you need to figure out the Tablet.”
“Exactly. That’s quite the headache. A comrade told me it’s best not to break the Tablet. Oh, did your husband manage to find a way to avoid the Tablet’s punishment before he passed?”
“If he had, he would still be alive.”
“True.”
“However…”
“However?”
“This part, I can’t guarantee. My husband failed in that regard.”
“Well, even if you’re wrong, I’ll throw in 0.3 of Ryan’s life as a discount.”
“… After the apocalypse.”
“What?”
“Endure until the time of the apocalypse. If you can last until then, you will become free from the Tablet.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
As the conversation came to a close, Jin Yeo-hwa gazed at me intently.
She seemingly wanted confirmation regarding my intentions towards Ryan.
“I’ll consider it as 0.99999 of Ryan’s life.”
“What the—”
As I flew out the door of Jin Yeo-hwa’s house, I pondered.
Is 0.99999999~ equal to 1 or not?
The answer is whatever I want it to be!
*
– Miro
Guided by ‘Domination,’ I arrived at a place with transparent glass walls.
Beyond the walls was a hazy-eyed girl, barely looking 12 or 13 years old.
She looked even younger than me.
Well, considering she’s a hotel participant, she could actually be 1,200 years old.
“Yae-ji hasn’t been able to communicate normally for a long time.”
“What’s with that glass wall and the machines?”
“They’re devices for sharing consciousness with the being inside.”
“Is this the equipment we use because we can’t talk to Yae-ji?”
“Exactly.”
Poor Yae-ji, who has lost her sanity and can no longer speak—this equipment is necessary just to communicate with her.
“What do I do now?”
“Approach Yae-ji.”
“… Is it dangerous to get close?”
“You should be fine. Just approach.”
The moment I heard that voice, a strange pressure enveloped me. It felt like if I disobeyed, something terrible would happen.
“It’s useless.”
“…?”
“Was that just now, your ability?”
“Sorry. When I think, my words tend to carry strength. It’s not intentional. I just became more certain through this conversation. You can withstand Yae-ji’s madness.”
“… What should I ask?”
“I believe she’ll answer on her own. We’ve asked countless questions already.”
I feel anxious, but I’ll trust my Unchanging power for now.
Above all, I’m also curious.
While the power of foresight that Kain obtained as a sort of ‘bonus’ is already a fragment of greatness that’s hard for us to handle, how powerful will the actual seer be?
As I thought that, entering the interior of the glass capsule!
“…!”
In unbearable pain that even Unchanging couldn’t fully contain—an incomprehensible flood of information burst forth!
I saw texts.
I heard voices.
I felt the transition of consciousness.
I realized that I had met the seer long ago.
I’m currently in conversation with the seer.
My fate of meeting the seer in the future has been sealed.
Since I’m conversing right now, the seer from the past is bound to meet me.
Having witnessed the experience of the seer conversing with the future me, my current meeting has been predetermined.
Then, when is our conversation taking place, in the present, past, or future?
Am I talking right now?
Did I have a conversation in the seer’s dream back then?
Or will it be in the future—
Ahh…!
So that’s why she’s gone mad!
This is fundamentally beyond what a human brain can manage!
“Finally, you’ve arrived. I’ve seen you countless times, am seeing you now, and will see you in the future. I’ve known the beginning and end of your long wait.”
I heard the voice.
I couldn’t distinguish whether I was hearing the girl’s words in the past, present, or if I was to hear them in the future.
—
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