Chapter 594 – The Stolen World (9)
—
– User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
– Date: Day 225
– Current Location: Northern Territory, Australia
– Sage’s Advice: 0
—
– Han Kain
The Administration Bureau is this watchful group that keeps their eyes on all of humanity, punishing corruption and slaying demons.
The Silent Ones are the inner leadership that controls the Bureau from within.
So, you could say the Silent Ones are the ultimate watchers over humanity.
At this point, a wise person can’t help but wonder about one thing.
It’s thanks to a saying that’s older than ancient Rome.
Who watches the watchers?
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
If humanity is being watched by the Bureau, and the Bureau is being watched by the Silent Ones, then who’s watching the Silent Ones?
The answer to this riddle is the ‘tablets.’
The act of spilling the secrets of the world as gained from the Silent Ones’ positions, defying decisions from numerous meetings, and running amok.
The very reason for the existence of the tablets is to thoroughly supervise such deviations by the Silent Ones and to maintain order by crushing their souls should they falter.
Understanding this, Grandpa Mooksung was strongly against the destruction of the tablets.
…
To save Ari, we need to disable the tablets, but it’s a tricky situation if we end up breaking them.
What to do?
Luckily or unluckily, a plausible answer was already prepared for us.
Just like in the past, the ‘former Wisdom’ possessed this mysterious power that suppresses all supernatural entities.
—
“Teacher.”
“Magician.”
“Researcher.”
“Traitor.”
“Self-righteous one.”
“Unknowable person.”
As I walked towards the tablets, feeling the dissonance ringing in my ears, Ryan’s voice came from behind.
“Ah! Right now, right now!”
Sanghyun nodded, answering back.
“Is your boss about to show his strength?”
“Yep. And me and that old guy aren’t exactly in a master-servant relationship you know?”
“Understood. Let’s just call it a colleague thing.”
Ryan thinks he’s on equal footing with the former Wisdom, but honestly, none of us think that.
He doesn’t know the name of the former Wisdom, hasn’t seen his face, and he’s just bending the knee to some voice and power coming from who-knows-where.
What kind of colleague is that?
Anyway, where in reality is this former Wisdom even hanging out?
The more I think about it, the more suspicious it starts to sound.
Regardless, I heard the familiar ‘voice’ again.
“It’s been a while.”
“It’s been a while. Please suppress the tablets as promised.”
“Don’t rush things.”
“…”
“You’ve heard it from Ryan I suppose, but the time to suppress the tablets isn’t very long. And thus, whether you can save your comrade remains uncertain.”
“I understand.”
The time the former Wisdom can suppress the tablets isn’t very long.
After that time passes, the tablets will come after Ari again.
So, I need to have contact with Ari for a short time and move her to a separate ‘safe place.’
“Begin—”
“I have something to say.”
“Of all times, now?!”
“Only now will you listen well and do as I say.”
Touché, I was stumped for a moment.
“First, don’t listen to the voice of the moon. Those who contact a great wisdom like you and me should steer clear of unreliable whispers.”
“…”
“Secondly, it’s time for us to have an honest conversation.”
“An honest conversation…?”
“A talk about our objectives.”
When I reunited with Ryan, he tempted us to take the ark’s seats by mentioning family.
From the very first second I heard it, I never believed him once.
Even those like Songee wouldn’t think of families made of dreams as real families.
Does it make sense that those who’ve gone through countless loops are still tangled up in mortal families?
It’s rather strange to be fooled by such flimsy lies.
If the initially revealed purpose was a blatant lie, it means there must be a real objective hidden beneath it.
What could be the reason for the former Wisdom to enlist us to invade the ark?
“You must’ve tried to ascertain me through Ryan. I too have been observing you.”
“How did that go?”
“I found that your judgment isn’t all that different from ours.”
“Ah?”
“If I’d known this from the start, I wouldn’t have spun you any lies.”
I’m apparently sharing a judgment with the former Wisdom?
“You’ve learned a lot about the ark. You’ve come to suspect there’s some kind of trap in there. Am I wrong?”
“… No.”
It’s true.
I view the ark as a trap.
“Focus and listen. What I’m about to say might sound strange…”
Then the explanation regarding the ark began.
“The foundation of the ark combines the soul collection circuits designed in ancient times with the mirror excavated from the Iberian Peninsula underground. The former can gather a person’s soul into a single point, creating a pseudo-deity. You, above anyone else, should know this principle well.”
Now I understand why the former Wisdom saw right through the Holy Sun.
It’s because they knew how the ‘soul collection circuit’ operates in a manner similar to it.
“To endure the coming apocalypse and return everyone to humanity through the mirror’s power—that is the principle of the ark. Do you understand so far?”
“I understand.”
This was already information I knew, but transforming my speculation into certainty isn’t bad at all.
“Logically, there seems to be no problem with the ark’s principle. The pioneers who initially designed it must have thought the same.”
“Were there actually any problems?”
“There were. The distant ancestors of humanity, who are now but a whisper in history, only realized the problem long after awakening in the next world.”
To escape impending doom, they shaped the ark then woke up in the next world.
It’s only after a considerable time that they learned of the fundamental problems within the ark.
“Aha… The mirror, the mirror was the problem. What even is this mirror? I’ve thrown countless questions to the heavens, yet no response was ever provided… Young wisdom, do you know anything about the mirror?”
“…”
“Remember this: A mirror doesn’t merely return things to their original state. It absolutely does not.”
Upon hearing this, I thought of something.
Perhaps, we might actually know about the mirror even more than the Administration Bureau or the former Wisdom.
Room 207 was a distant past in reality, and the mirror was the core keyword.
Yet, the way the progression went is bound to differ immensely from party to party due to Room 207’s nature.
A mirror doesn’t simply revert things back to how they were.
Anyone who’s looked into a mirror realizes that their left and right are reversed, right?
To elaborate further, it’s because the performer on the other side of the mirror distorts whatever they see.
“The first fall occurred because humans stepped away from their original purity.”
From the first ark, the first fall, the first corruption began.
All of humanity didn’t suddenly crumble overnight.
It’s not like everyone turned into cephalopods all at once or tentacles sprouted from where hands used to be.
The norms of the world melted away slowly like ice under sunlight.
Some were enchanted by the distant voices from beyond, summoning bizarre monsters.
Others rose from their graves to avenge those grudges held in life.
And some suddenly dove into the ocean, sprouting fins on their backs.
…
It wasn’t until centuries of such occurrences repeated that the pioneers accepted the truth.
That humanity had stepped ‘slightly’ away from its original purity, and as a result, the norms of the world had ‘slightly’ changed.
“Initially, no one thought it was a big deal. Those tiny monsters could easily be dealt with. So, they built the ark once more.”
The first ‘slight’ change didn’t pose a serious threat, which is why they rebuilt the ark.
Then that ‘slight’ grew into ‘twice,’ and then ‘thrice.’
“Is this the process that’s endlessly repeated today?”
“Yes. You must understand what today’s world is like without needing me to explain it, right?”
The moon, which should have been peacefully illuminating the night sky, has turned into a demon, burrowing into the earth.
Today, we live in a bizarre world where the norms have utterly collapsed.
Once I got this far, the purpose of the former Wisdom started to dawn on me.
“We’re paying for the cosmic punishment of reverse heaven…”
“…”
“Out of fear of the apocalypse, having the sandcastle of civilization collapse, they built the ark… But think again. When summer comes, the ice will naturally melt. When storms rage, the sandcastle will fall.”
“…”
“If the end comes, then it’s the natural order for the sandcastle to crumble. We should’ve just let it collapse…. Instead, trying to forcefully hold it together led to disaster.”
The reason the Bureau built the ark was to avoid humanity returning to its primitive state and reconstructing civilization from scratch after looping.
The former Wisdom claims that this very idea is reverse heaven.
“Then, what is your goal?”
“We must destroy the ark. The sandcastle must crumble, and the ice must melt…”
“…”
“Believe me, this is the true path to helping humanity.”
“Do you think that when you destroy the ark, the moon’s problems will resolve too?”
“It won’t be an immediate fix. Think about pollution. Just because you smash a power plant doesn’t mean the river will magically clear up. But, with time, the waters will surely flow clean again.”
“…”
“I know it’s hard to believe what I’m saying. I get it. Ask someone you trust for confirmation.”
Suddenly, a mysterious, radiant light began illuminating the enclosed underground space.
This is presumably the power spewing forth from the former Wisdom’s legacy, the mystical light suppressing the supernatural, coalescing upon a point on the tablet.
“Ask your friend who’s reached the pinnacle of the Bureau. Ask them if there’s a single error in my words.”
I faintly grasped it.
This is the first path leading me toward the ending—destroying the ark.
But whether that ending leads to a happy conclusion or a bad one is still unclear.
*
– Lee Eunsol
Thinking about what just happened earlier.
My mind conjures up the dark presence that filled the entire corridor, the member of the Silent Ones.
He appears dressed in a suit as if to imitate humans, trying to convince us.
“You are the protectors of humanity. You must shepherd the lamb that will wake in the next world after escaping the apocalypse.”
So, why’s he gonna throw a tantrum instead of following that duty?
The summoned being Ga-in, called forth by the maze, replied, “Because the ark is a trap.”
He was asked why he thought that.
Ga-in stated that the ark is like a demigod forged by gathering human souls, and couldn’t believe the Bureau created something like that.
Then he reached out and unveiled the ark’s biggest secret—the existence of the mirror.
It’s because of the great treasure unearthed from beneath the Iberian Peninsula that the ark could be built.
In that moment, when everyone was ensnared by the overwhelming presence of the mirror—he cried out with utmost sincerity,
“You must believe my words!”
Ga-in was unable to conceal his somewhat baffled expression and asked,
“What should we believe?”
“You’re being played by the sinister ones outside.”
“The sinister ones?”
“Wisdom! Wisdom! I know you’ve gotten entangled with the evil wisdom you brought back from the hotel. Was I wrong?”
“… Are you talking about the former Wisdom?”
“His tongue is like a snake’s, deceiving you to lead you astray. His aim is to destroy the ark!”
Feeling just as lost as Ga-in, I asked,
“So, does that mean our comrades outside are hearing that we need to ‘destroy the ark’?”
“That’s correct.”
“And you’re saying we shouldn’t destroy the ark?”
“That’s right.”
“… How can we know whose words are true?”
“Agent Eunsol, I trust your wise judgment and—”
“No, that’s not it! You need to give reasons, not just that!”
“The sinister one. The identity of the being you call ‘former Wisdom!’”
“…”
“Do you know why he’s never set foot in reality?”
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