Chapter 617 – The Stolen World (32)
—
User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 226
Current Location: Searching…
Sage’s Advice: 0
– Han Kain
“Call Grandpa and tell him to get ‘ready’ now.”
I demonstrated a coin flip to Ari.
Since the Wise One has shown such an elusive ability, it seemed better to avoid clear words like ‘one more chance.’
“… It should be fine for now. The Ark isn’t complete yet.”
Ari nodded at my hand and made the call.
— Diiing!
“Mooksung!”
“Whoa! Ari! Finally escaping—”
“Ping~!”
The sound of a tongue clicking.
Was it some sort of password made by Grandpa and Ari?
Without a moment’s hesitation, Grandpa replied.
“Done.”
Now, the rewind point for the one more chance is set—
…
…
…
Ah, we’re back.
“Let’s go!”
“…”
“What are you doing? I’m fine now.”
“…”
“Kain, there’s still fighting happening in the depths of the Ark—”
“I’m already back.”
A moment of silence passed.
Soon, Ari’s eyes widened in surprise.
“No way, it’s now—”
She pointed at the air.
There were many more memos in the status window than before.
“I’ve already turned back time.”
“Wh-what do we do now?”
“You stay here and call Grandpa again to catch up. Also, take care of Eunsol.”
With that, I dashed off towards the depths of the Ark.
“Hey!”
I heard Ari’s voice from behind, but I had nothing to say for now.
I hadn’t finished reading the status window’s memos yet.
…
As time passed, I began to understand a lot more.
The Moon, the plunderer, the former Wisdom, the Holy Mother, the prince, the soul conglomerate, and the crown.
I realized the picture my past self, or the one lost to time, had painted.
I could vaguely grasp the meaning of the ‘game where everyone can win’ the Owl had mentioned.
The part where I gather information and plan was the role that my past self had to fulfill, and I felt I had done well enough for now.
From this point forward, my role is to implement that plan!
— Duddududu…!
That was the sound of the former Wisdom showing up.
*
When I arrived at the center of the Ark, the two silent ones and my allies’ fight had already quieted.
A powerful being exuding terrifying magical energy had crashed the scene.
「You’ve come.」
A voice utterly calm.
“…”
As I locked eyes with the former Wisdom, my whole body froze for a moment.
An entity that gained power beyond the participant realm by merging with the Ark.
It looked void of reality while yearning for the Hotel’s third floor.
There were snippets of information about the opponent written down, but seeing it in text and experiencing it firsthand was a whole other ballgame.
The former Wisdom was truly a being of outrageous intimidation.
…
Ha! Intimidation, my foot!
It’s clearly stated in the status window!
It may be impressive, but the former Wisdom can’t even handle the tongue of the Moon!
There’s no reason for me, targeting the Moon, to feel intimidated by some former Wisdom.
To buy some time, I signaled to Seungyub and Jinchul.
They seemed perplexed by the situation, but nodded and backed off.
“G-Gain! Suddenly, Miro disappeared!”
“I know. She’s behind.”
Miro disappeared suddenly?
No.
She didn’t just vanish; she hasn’t returned from the Moon!
Miro is a contingency for the most crucial moment.
First concern:
How much should I let the other factions know?
We can’t hide the rewind itself.
The souls devoured by the evil god can’t even be restored with a one more chance.
The Administration Bureau will soon realize that tens of millions of people suddenly went missing.
Considering there are things in the Moon that contain food never consumed, it’s already sensing something’s off.
The plunderer’s side will also learn of the anomaly through the former Wisdom soon.
This situation is different from the previous cursed room’s multiple plays.
“…”
Currently, the former Wisdom is silently observing me while imposing pressure.
It’s a vibe that says, “Do as you wish,” or “I’ll go along with whatever you do.”
Since they don’t know exactly what I witnessed in the Moon, they must be careful.
Should I hide from the other factions the fact that ‘we’ turned back time?
Shall I just play coy and gain from it while they’re oblivious?
No, that’s a foolish judgment, looking down on the opponent.
Although the next loop, post-apocalypse, is seen as a natural law, the one more chance’s time reversal is a clearly different phenomenon.
The Moon and the Administration Bureau have fought for ages,
but they’ve never experienced a sudden rewind in time.
The fact that they themselves lack the ability to rewind the universe’s time implies they know it very well.
Reversing time in the universe?
Only one place in the world could grant such an unbelievable miracle—the Hotel.
And it’s common knowledge that a party has recently escaped from the hotel.
If a new faction joins in, they could create variables that didn’t previously exist.
Conclusion:
It’s better to boldly reveal that we rewound time rather than fabricating shallow lies.
After all, only we have precise information!
When I lifted my head, the former Wisdom sent me a meaningful look.
‘Have you finished contemplating?’
“All eyes on me.”
All eyes, including the silence of those who had been curious for ages, turned to me, as well as my allies and the former Wisdom.
“I’ve returned from seeing the future.”
The former Wisdom, already aware of its existence through the status window, and my allies who know about the one more chance were unsurprised.
“What do you mean all of a sudden…!”
“Where’s this nonsense coming from?”
However, the Domination and Osdoork couldn’t hide their panic.
「It’s true.」
The former Wisdom calmly confirmed my statement, but he wasn’t someone to convince the Administration Bureau.
“Shut it! You mindless one, I don’t know what scheme you have drawn up this time—”
「Foolish…」
Just looking at the chilling light in the former Wisdom’s eyes, I could infer his thoughts.
This was getting interesting for him since he had plenty of questions too, and the foolish ones were wasting time, so he probably wanted to knock them out and talk to me.
Yet, I needed the Administration Bureau for my plans.
“Domination, I’ll give you about 30 seconds; inform the outside.”
“What?”
“There must be a cell phone to contact the outside. It must be ringing right now.”
Although a significant portion of the Administration Bureau gathered in the Ark, there’s no way there weren’t any lower-tier forces outside.
The unknowing bottom dwellers would be busily reporting that they were abandoned.
Suddenly, tens of millions of people have gone missing!
With a stiff expression, Domination took out the phone from his pocket and soon gaped.
Osdoork, observing the scene, had also transformed back to a human form.
“What is…. this….”
“They were devoured by the Moon.”
Domination’s voice was numb.
“Even if we rewind time, those whose souls were consumed by the evil god cannot be saved.”
“Are you really saying time was turned back? How could there be such a power…!”
“You know where I came from, right?”
“…”
Just from the look in their eyes, I could tell that Domination and Oswald had started to accept my words inwardly.
Since they too were participants of the Hotel, they likely wondered if time travel was possible.
Why? Because they had gone through similar phenomena multiple times in the cursed room!
Osdoork wasn’t convinced.
“Lies! Don’t be deceived, Oswald! This is their scam—”
“Then die here.”
“Do you think I’ll bow to threats?”
“Not a threat; I’m just stating the truth.”
“What?”
“The Moon awakens soon, even before the Ark you rely on is complete!”
“What nonsense—”
“I already told you, right? The Moon has swallowed millions upon millions of souls. Hence, the awakening time has sped up.”
Osdoork’s expression momentarily stiffened.
He too felt the validity of my words.
Seeing the turmoil in his eyes, I decided to throw in a bold line.
“Whether you know it or not, the ‘Delight’ is already transforming into ‘Hotel Pioneer.’”
Another shocking revelation.
Since this was information that couldn’t be hidden anyway, I outright said it, and the surroundings stirred.
Even the former Wisdom, who would already know through the status window, began to squirm in his clear blue glowing form.
After pursuing the third floor for countless aeons, it must be hard to endure even for him.
“Osdoork, if you’re not going to converse, fine. We’ll just return to the Pioneer. Watching the Moon’s victory from there sounds fun too, doesn’t it?”
As I said this, I thought, can this really happen?
Can we ignore the crumbling of the world and just live in the Hotel?
Hmm…
Given that the Hotel prepped the hourglass and the one more chance for reality’s sake
and considering one of the conditions for the third-floor challenge is to save reality,
perhaps the Hotel wouldn’t allow us to run away to avoid problems.
What does it matter?
Nobody knows what decision the Hotel will make, so I can throw it out there.
Lo and behold, Domination’s eyes widened as he stepped up.
“Osdoork! Don’t make this extreme! Young participant, truly. Osdoork doesn’t share your perspective, since he’s not from the Hotel.”
“Strange, isn’t it? The person with the most eyeballs who isn’t a human is the one with the narrowest perspective.”
I retorted with a little sarcasm to test their attitudes, but both Domination and Osdoork remained silent.
At this point, the initiative had clearly shifted to my side.
“Young participant. If you’ve seen the future, you must have a plan, right?”
“Firstly.”
In a split second, silence fell over the assembly.
“Let’s dismantle the Ark currently in production. We can still do that, right?”
That was something the Administration Bureau wouldn’t accept.
Wow, Osdoork, who had been crouching, gasped audibly.
“You crazy bastards! I knew it would come to this! I’ll rip you to shreds—”
“Alien, keep your mouth shut and think. What significance lies in the Ark you can’t finish before the Moon awakens?”
“…?”
“Are you trying to assemble souvenirs for the Moon or something? Is the Ark aimed at making soul patties?”
While Osdoork was lost for words, Domination queried.
“What’s the reason for dismantling the Ark?”
“To extract the mirror.”
“Why extract it?”
“Because the mirror is a useful weapon against the Moon.”
“…?”
“Didn’t you know this? Or did you know just enough to avoid giving up the Ark?”
“The power of the mirror is…. not sufficient to deal with the Moon.”
This was indeed true.
“If it were just the mirror, then yes.”
“Are there other means? Did you find that?”
“Correct.”
“What is it?”
“Must I say it? There are others who belong to different factions present.”
As I pointed at the former Wisdom, even Domination flinched.
The former Wisdom inserted himself into the situation as if finding it amusing.
「I’m curious too.」
“… I’ll just let you listen later. Alright, if it’s your intent—”
“O-Oswald! Are you really going to dismantle the Ark just like that?”
“Is there anything incorrect in what he’s saying? If the Ark cannot be completed before the Moon awakens, there’s no reason to finalize it. Dismantling it and utilizing the mirror as a weapon seems plausible.”
“The claim of the Moon awakening sooner is just this guy’s assertion!”
“The reality is that millions have vanished! And it’s also probable that the Moon has devoured them.”
“…”
Domination was swayed by my words due to the points laid out:
1. Mass disappearance of people
2. Accelerated awakening of the Moon
3. Inability to complete the Ark before the Moon’s awakening.
He accepted that syllogism.
But really, did the Moon’s awakening time speed up?
Honestly, I wasn’t sure.
Rumor says that Sanghyun fired a final laser that instantly woke the Moon.
Without such a special event, the exact moment it awakens wasn’t written in the status window either.
But whether I knew or not, it didn’t matter as long as Domination felt ‘plausible’ about my words.
“You’re lying! Isn’t there a gap in your logic? There’s no guarantee that the Moon devoured those missing people, and even if it did, that doesn’t guarantee the awakening time will speed up—”
Convincing Osdoork seemed like it would be tough.
Just as I felt a sigh escape me, Domination glanced at me and the former Wisdom with a piercing look.
As if to say, ‘Stop wasting time!’
“Osdoork, just give up.”
A bizarre rhythm escaped Domination’s lips.
Osdoork, caught off guard by the ally’s sudden assault, froze like a stone.
It was enough to silence the differing opinions.
Truly a ‘democratic’ decision-making process.
“If the awakening of the Moon is near, we don’t have time. Let’s go.”
At that moment, the former Wisdom, intrigued, asked.
「Domination, don’t you think this is something the `stone plate` will judge?」
“Well, dying would be the end. Did you expect I would obsess over transcending while the world crumbles?”
Domination seemed to have an inkling of the former Wisdom’s objective here.
For this moment, Domination felt like the head of a secret organization guarding the world from the shadows.
Just before we moved toward the place with the mirror, Domination suddenly queried.
“I’m suddenly curious.”
“Go ahead.”
“Before you turned back time, the Moon devoured millions, prompting its awakening to speed up, right?”
“Precisely.”
“Then why did the Moon awaken sooner than expected in the original timeline?”
“…”
1. The Moon awakened early in the original timeline.
2. The world fell apart, and it devoured countless human souls.
3. We rewound time, but the soul consumption remains. Thus, the Moon’s awakening time may have sped up.
Point number two could be the cause for number three, but it can’t cause number one.
So that means there must be another explanation for why the Moon awakened early in the original timeline.
And there actually is.
Sanghyun fired a final shine downward.
“The former Wisdom… It’s due to the author’s magic! I can’t say more here!”
“Truly! That monster has managed to devour the world!”
「Could it be me…?」
The former Wisdom looked at me, bewildered.
*
In that final moment, the young Ark felt joy instead of despair.
Assured by my words, ‘I’ll stop the apocalypse—it’s just not your time to be born yet.’
I managed to convince the Administration Bureau and get the mirror from the young Ark.
Who would’ve thought all this could happen in a matter of just a couple of hours!
I was once again reminded of how magnificent the power to rewind time is.
…
Next, I’ll be bringing in the plunderer.
— Click!
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.