Chapter: 628 – The Oldest Wish (9)
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User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 234
Current Location: Searching…
Sage’s Advice: 0
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Han Kain
— Goooooo…!
I could hear a roar shaking the ocean.
In the next moment, the Holy Mother collapsed again, spewing out minerals from her mouth.
“Ah! That, that dream of—”
Another persona of the moon was reconstructing this space.
If only Eunsol were here, she would’ve at least played the flute beside the Holy Mother!
But, wait, would it even matter?
With an opponent as great as this, there’s no way the Holy Mother could resist!
“Right. I can’t stop such a monster with my abilities.”
The Owl’s advice.
If that card was so perfect, why hadn’t the moon used it until now?
This other moon persona isn’t just a minion or subject of the prince.
In a sense, it’s the limit the prince is trying to overcome, a nemesis.
Let’s interpret the advice in this context.
Isn’t it suggesting I negotiate instead of fighting?
“That’s absurd! A deal only works if both parties can give something—what do we have to offer to that thing?”
‘… What’s this phenomenon?’
Feeling an intense alienation, I turned around.
The Holy Mother, the former Wisdom, and Jinchul-hyung were all looking at each other.
Are we, by chance, sharing thoughts?
“It seems so!”
“That’s an odd phenomenon born from the great person’s dream.”
“Look over there! Something’s coming!”
As the voice rang out, everyone’s attention automatically turned to Miro.
She was the only girl in this area who didn’t seem to have any thoughts!
Is this some kind of immutable power?
They say ice that doesn’t melt even in lava is really a fantastic blessing.
‘It’s coming! A nightmarishly gigantic presence…!’
A blend of imagination and reality in the moon’s dream.
An existence that goes even further, mixing my imagination with others!
The other persona of the moon comes closer.
It was like a breathing storm, a living volcano.
A boiling mentality, like bubbling foam.
An unfathomable mind repeatedly wrestling with life and death, creation and destruction.
“The moon’s enemy.”
“No, the prince’s enemy.”
“The prince’s mentor.”
“Praise the liberator of all.”
“Burn the fallen saint.”
“It is the researcher.”
“A being that doesn’t even know who it is.”
I heard all these voices at once, yet I felt not a single sound.
A million minds wanted to share opinions with me, while another million aimed to burn me according to the prince’s commands.
Irreconcilable impulses.
Desires that couldn’t coexist, stemming from conflicting goals.
The very essence of contradiction!
In this moment, I comprehended why the prince had never wielded this entity like a weapon.
‘An eternally unending cycle of life and death—this is its true essence! Truly, like a microcosm!’
A microcosm?
That thought belonged to the former Wisdom.
It makes sense, but it could be viewed differently too.
Some might see the moon as a god afflicted with madness.
In that context, its very nature is the madness itself!
It declared to everyone.
“Call me a contradiction.”
In the next moment, the cluttered mind settled under a single, colossal flow.
It calmed the chaos to converse with us.
For the contradiction, this was just a brief moment of stillness.
“You regard me as mad. But, the prince is just as capricious.”
Capricious prince?
“Just a little while ago, you were calling it a saint and treating it like your closest ally, but now you consider it the world’s villain?”
Just a while ago, I was called a saint and treated as a loyal follower?
That’s before I used “One More Chance!”
“Capricious like a youth.”
The moon’s ruler, judging the prince as an immature being.
My interpretation of the Owl’s advice was spot on.
The contradiction’s interests are different from the prince’s!
“Indeed. I am not the prince.”
As I calmed my boiling heart, a clear thought emerged.
Then, what do you desire?
“I wish to gain wisdom from you, just as the past prince did!”
Just as the past prince did?
At this point, it became clear.
The contradiction remembers the time before “One More Chance”!
It remembers perfectly?
Probably not.
It’s more like it has a vague recollection, like a hazy dream.
That’s not out of the question.
Just like countless experiences in the hotel, convicts can maintain their identities, even disregarding resets.
Also, didn’t the Demon King of Room 206 resist the original “Time Controller” of “One More Chance”?
For a moon nearing the domain of convicts, it’s not entirely impossible.
“You think a lot.”
Sorry about that.
What can I tell you?
How can I obtain permission to go to the prince?
“Look.”
Before long, something brilliantly white started to shine.
‘What is that?’
‘A huge chain?’
‘Contradiction! This chain is binding you!’
As the former Wisdom said, something resembling a chain was constricting the contradiction.
“What is this?”
The contradiction is, after all, the fragmented consciousness of a second-stage soul conglomerate.
The force controlling that fragmented consciousness.
The Crown!
“Indeed, you recognize it instantly.”
I felt the pressure the crown exerted on the contradiction.
Specifically, it allowed the contradiction to feel our awareness of the crown.
Every moment, every minute, every second—controlling without a single pause.
I could also sense the contradiction’s discomfort regarding the crown.
“What thoughts flowed through you?”
I reckon the prince is a royal born of the first civilization.
Though exceptional, he’s still a baser mortal at his core.
“Huh?”
And what about you?
The being awakened from the chaos of countless souls!
You were born great, unlike the prince born of lowly origins.
You, indeed, are the one destined for true nobility.
“Haha! Are you trying to pin me against the prince?”
Did it come off that way?
“Absolutely!”
Did it sound pleasant?
“Haha! Not bad.”
— Boom!
I heard a thunderous sound.
I felt an intense will pouring from the contradiction!
A heartfelt dedication to obey the prince’s commands.
A conclusion that the fallen saint must be slain.
A rejection of a mortal trying to suppress itself with a crown.
Belief that the prince is ultimately the being meant to merge as one.
Hostility toward the prince.
Love for the prince.
Irreconcilable impulses.
A mind brimming with contradictions!
In the dizzying moment, the contradiction again settled the storm to convey its will.
“Do you understand the logic of the crown?”
What is the logic of the crown?
It’s clear the opponent isn’t asking because they don’t know.
It’s a sort of test.
If you’re truly wise, you should be able to figure this much out at a glance.
In the silence, everyone’s gaze turned toward the chain.
“The crown is the supreme treasure created by the first civilization! How could anyone instantly comprehend the logic of such a magnificent item?”
The former Wisdom’s words were entirely logical.
No matter how wise one might be, they wouldn’t instantly grasp the logic of something so transcendent as the crown!
But…
Strangely enough, I felt like I understood it.
Had my mind reached a higher realm than usual?
Or perhaps, being in this moon place constantly stimulated ancient memories drifting back.
“Speak.”
I believe the logic of the crown lies in the very definition of a crown for a king.
A king is someone seated on a throne, above the ordinary.
Not all voices are the same.
An orator on stage is merely one person, yet their voice can sway the hearts of thousands!
How much more powerful must be the voice of the one seated on the throne?
Why does this happen?
Some analyze it evolutionarily and say this:
Humans have an instinct to accept the words of someone above them without doubt.
As children, it was advantageous for survival to heed the voices of parents from heights.
Whether this makes sense or not, the fact is, such a trait exists in people.
“I am not a person.”
You are not a person.
But the soul that makes you up is, after all, human.
The assembly of souls that bowed to authoritative voices since childhood is you.
The crown subjugates you through this understanding.
It does not control you as the collective of a hundred billion souls.
Rather, one by one, weak souls bow to the elevated voice from the throne.
This process has repeated endlessly.
“… ”
Upon finishing my explanation, the contradiction began to whirl like a living tempest.
The explanation I just provided, it seemed the contradiction had already known.
It didn’t ask without understanding; it believed I should be able to glean the true query from here.
Thus, the next question the contradiction poses is the real one.
“I wish to seek an answer from you….”
Please, speak.
“What do I desire?”
What are you saying?
‘This doesn’t sound like a question—what kind of answer should I give?’
Again, the will of the contradiction surged like a storm in all directions.
Distributed psyche.
Never-ending cycles of mutation and destruction.
Impulses spreading in all directions.
Conflicting goals.
Splintered desires.
Wanting to drink while spitting it out.
Wanting to walk forward while also stepping back.
Wanting to sleep while being awake, wishing to have life and death together.
What the heck is this—
“What do I desire?”
‘This is, like, a god and a freaking insane clown show!’
Former Wisdom!
Just thinking this means you can hear everything, so cut it out with the dirty language!
‘What should I do when thoughts just pop up?’
Ah, the former Wisdom’s heart, honestly, I understand.
As absurd as this world can be, how can such a lunatic be deemed a god?
It’s dizzying.
Time is running out!
We gotta escape this deranged god and head to the sanctuary!
“If you provide a reasonable answer, I will gladly send you.”
At the point where I felt like I might go insane.
‘Does that answer have to come from Kain—the researcher?’
Jinchul-hyung’s voice—not just his voice, but his will, came through.
“Anyone is fine. That’s why I invited you all here.”
‘Allow me to give you an easy answer. No, see for yourself!’
Calmly speaking, on hyung’s hand, I saw an amorphous entity wriggling like fog.
The last, the tenth dream shines forth.
The brush of someone weeping for all the worlds painted “Cha Jinchul.”
I’ve had my fill of galbi-jjim and japchae.
I just need to manage my belly fat, and I’ll be happy.
Thanks as always.
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