Chapter 716 – Conclusion and Choice (3)
—
— Kim Ahri
In the observatory filled with a ghostly white hue, a tense silence enveloped the scene.
While observing the lower world for a long time, I suddenly felt a piercing headache as if a sharp needle was poking my head.
“Ugh…”
“Ahri! Are you struggling?”
“A bit.”
“Well, alright then! Let’s swap places!”
“…”
Where are Kain, Mooksung, Sanghyun, and Elena?
Why is it just Miro next to me since earlier?
This is why I can’t change shifts!
“I’m still okay. I’ll quickly write down the observations.”
I hastily recorded my notes for the next person.
Miro watched intently with an excited expression as I wrote.
“LOL! Did Songyi just wave at Kain from the sky?”
“Yeah. It seems Kain was busy observing.”
“Songyi is such a fool! Wait, what’s this? Another mirror?”
“Yep, another mirror.”
“Hold on! If there’s a mirror, does that mean there’s also an Ark?”
“It seems the Administration Bureau already created an Ark and bounced out.”
“What I mean is, if there’s an Ark, there should be a Moon too, right? Is there a Moon in the underground of Room 301?”
“Of course there is. Room 301 isn’t some simulation world; it’s the old reality itself.”
Miro’s rosy eyes grew wide in surprise.
Watching her facial expressions change so abundantly made me realize how much we, looking so similar on the outside, are so different inside.
Well, I find it hard to look amazed at everything like Miro does.
“So, does that mean the Moon will wake up soon?”
“No need to worry about that now.”
“Why not?”
“Miro, the Moon’s awakening time isn’t fixed. It speeds up each loop. In other words, compared to the ancient past of Room 301, the awakening time is still quite delayed.”
In the latest loop, the awakening time was the 21st century.
If it speeds up further, there’s no turning back, and we need to gamble the fate of humanity.
“When will the Moon awaken in Room 301?”
— Creak!
Just then, I heard the door of the observatory open, and Kain entered.
“I’m curious too. When do you think it will awaken?”
Kain seemed to have overheard my conversation with Miro outside.
“24th century? 25th century? It feels like it will be hundreds of years later, but I’m not sure about the exact time.”
“So, that means it’s not something you need to worry about right now.”
“Exactly. What you should be focusing on right now isn’t the Moon, but the telescope. Let’s swap!”
“Sure -”
“Wait! Ahri, you promised to switch with me!”
“When did I do that?”
“… Even you don’t trust me.”
“Act trustworthy, then.”
The slight pout on Miro’s face was so cute it made Kain chuckle as he approached the telescope.
Just before switching, Kain suddenly mentioned something strange.
“I think Sanghyun’s condition is a bit strange.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means you should go check on him.”
—
— Yu Songee
About seven hours had passed since the second descent.
We arrived at the hideout near Incheon Port, where Duke A had hidden the mirror fragment.
A showed considerable curiosity about the mirror fragment. He seemed to think we had comprehensive knowledge of its origin, properties, and usage.
Eun-sol unni handled the duke’s curiosity very wisely.
Instead of losing her prestige by awkwardly explaining something she didn’t know well, she dodged the questions with vague, airy responses.
“Unfortunately, the profound truth hidden within the mirror of Nitochris cannot be granted to the unworthy.”
“Are you saying I too… lack the qualifications?”
“Only with the permission of those who cry out for the three thousand worlds can it be.”
Of course, that was a lie.
The mirror isn’t even a relic, right? It’s not something the hotel controls.
The origin of the mirror, whether the practitioner or Yaldabaoth, doesn’t really seem like a prisoner either.
After all, it’s not in the Room of Curses but in the Room of Portals.
“We have arrived.”
“We arrived? This is just an open space—oh, I see. There must be a separate entrance just for you.”
“A powerful weapon must be kept in a special place. I know of hardly any weapon more dangerous than this mirror; I even include the 12th-grade weapons stored in the Grand Library.”
The Grand Library? 12th-grade weapons?
There were some unfamiliar terms, but I had a general sense of what he meant.
A dangerous weapon…
Strictly speaking, isn’t Nitochris’s mirror not a weapon at all?
Yaldabaoth didn’t create the mirror out of a desire to bring about mankind’s apocalypse or the destruction of all things.
It is indeed an incredibly dangerous object.
Using it like a powerful weapon is also a possibility.
Kain-oppa had already shown this once.
Just as I was thinking this, Duke A suddenly put a hand on my shoulder.
“Take five steps forward.”
“…?”
“Walk five steps ahead.”
Is he trying to give me the mirror fragment?
Of course, I thought he would pass it to unni, but—
Oh.
Duke A thinks the mirror fragment is a dangerously mysterious object.
What if a shard of glass the size of a child’s palm could unleash the power of a thousand nuclear missiles?
That’s why he wants me to use the glass shard instead of unni.
Because it’s too dangerous, and a king shouldn’t be doing dangerous things.
I felt a mix of incredulity and irritation, but I thought I might need to use it rather than unni.
After all, both the ghost of the king and the duke would pay more attention to unni, so I’d likely have more freedom in my actions.
“… Duke.”
“Do you have something to say?”
“Before I take the mirror fragment, I’d like to confirm something.”
“Confirm?”
Immediately, I attempted to distort the duke’s senses using various perspectives to hide my location.
A looked puzzled at my sudden attack, but just that.
He effortlessly ignored my sensory disruption and found me, as if he disregarded all the illusions.
“I don’t understand why you are using magic all of a sudden.”
“It seems Songyi wants to confirm something. Please cooperate.”
“Understood.”
How did he find me?
Did he identify the part that felt out of place compared to the surrounding landscape?
“… Again.”
This time, I shook the entire perceptual realm of the host the duke was in.
To express it simply, I caused not only my position to shift but confused everything the host could see and hear.
… Again, the duke found me easily.
A seemed to figure something out.
“Are you preparing for the upcoming battle with A’s kind?”
“Exactly. If it doesn’t work against you, it’ll likely not work against other dukes either.”
“That’s a compelling argument.”
“… But.”
“But?”
“Why does the bracelet’s power not work on you?”
“….”
“Is it because you’re not the main body? No, that doesn’t make sense. It worked just fine against other Is types.”
“…”
“Is it because the duke is too strong? Hmm, that’s a bit—”
At that moment, Duke A’s expression twisted in a bizarre way—
“Ugh!”
— Twisted to the point of being repulsive!
One eye looked up, while the other gazed diagonally. His lips slashed across, and his tongue flicked as if to slap his cheek.
Just as I felt like his facial features were distorting grotesquely, unni reacted late.
“Stop! Didn’t you promise not to harm that body?”
Soon, the bizarrely contorted expression returned to normal.
“My apologies. However, that was an answer to your previous question.”
“What do you mean?”
“What kind of expression do you think I just made? Did it look like joy? Sadness? Hate?”
“I wouldn’t know. It just looked really disgusting.”
“Just now, I sent emotions to the host that do not exist in humans, causing a ruckus with the facial muscles. It was an error of sorts.”
“…”
“Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“The Is species feels emotions that are entirely different from humans, making it difficult to define in words since humans cannot perceive them…”
“Emotions are just examples. I possess various senses that do not exist in humans.”
“Nonexistent senses in humans?”
“According to my research on the ecology of this planet, some animals can see temperature differences. Others can feel electromagnetic flow with their tongues.”
“…”
“Such animals could find people even when they are blinded and their ears are blocked. It’s a similar principle.”
I somewhat understood A’s words.
So, the Is species has senses or means of information acquisition that humans lack.
Thus, even if I disturbed some of the information with different perspectives, A could still find me through separate means.
There were parts I couldn’t fully comprehend.
“But, I just took down several Is beings using the previous method.”
“We are guardians of the lineage forged by the late king.”
“What do you mean?”
“Guardians differ from those they protect.”
“Hmm, so dukes and regular Is beings are different? So, is there no way to make the bracelet work on you?”
At that moment, Duke A’s expression became slightly complicated.
“You are…”
“What?”
“You’re asking a duke to tell you how to exploit his weaknesses.”
“Of course, because the duke you’re about to fight is you. And you are the being that understands your weaknesses best.”
At some point, Eun-sol unni silently gazed deeply at A.
“…”
After silence passed, A’s gaze shifted toward me.
.
..
…
Preparation was complete.
Soon, the mirror fragment of Nitochris was safely in my hands.
“Let’s get moving.”
The moment I stood up for the final battle, the host A inhabits joined his hands together in prayer.
I thought it was an action entirely unbefitting the overly rational A.
On the other hand, it felt much more pressuring to do something that would harm the late king even for A.
—
*
— Kim Ahri
A chaotic mess of a room.
Books were thrown around everywhere, and clothes were carelessly strewn across the floor.
At first glance, it looked like the room of someone who didn’t manage themselves well.
Of course, Sanghyun is not someone who doesn’t manage himself at all.
If Seungyeob had been here—ah, he wouldn’t have clothes lying everywhere out of sheer laziness.
“There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“… I didn’t expect you to be looking for me, Ahri.”
“What are you doing?”
“…”
“Kain said your condition isn’t good?”
“Oh no! Seems I’ve worried quite a few people, huh? I should apologize.”
“Hey, don’t just apologize to Kain; apologize to me too.”
“…”
“What’s with all the books lying around? Was there a library in the basement?”
“Apparently, there is one now. It wasn’t particularly special, though.”
“What’s going on? You look like a scruffy hermit.”
“Ahri.”
“Yeah, I’m listening.”
“Recently, I’ve been seeing incomprehensible letters appearing continuously.”
“Letters? Hallucinations?”
“…”
“What is it? Tell me what it says.”
“The tower built with effort shall crumble.”
“…”
“Until now, humanity has been like a child, just starting to walk.”
“…”
“As soon as it was out of the crib, it realized: There’s no hope at all. Therefore…”
“Therefore?”
“Save yourself from hell.”
—
With sincere serialization and entertaining content, I’ll repay you guys!
+ Answers to supporting questions:
1. ‘Is the Pioneer the remaining upper echelon of the Administration Bureau that bounced to the next loop? Or is it just an agent claiming to be the upper echelon after the upper echelon disappeared?’
-> The Pioneer in Room 301 = The Silent Ones in Ahri’s loop. Therefore, the Pioneer mentioned in the story is indeed the upper echelon. They initially avoided punishment from the slab due to the prisoner’s protection and later because the slab itself left for the next loop.
2. ‘There were massive civilian casualties in chapter 712, so why didn’t Eun-sol mention it?’
-> Eun-sol doesn’t feel no pangs of conscience. However, if a similar situation arises again, she would still resort to dishonorable means to protect her life, so it’s more akin to her having laid it aside to some extent.
From one perspective, it also means Eun-sol, who has become aware of her wish, has become even more self-centered than before.
Thank you!
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