Chapter 157
Chapter 157
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Records
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Joo-ho,
By the time you're reading this, I'll already be dead.
First off, I'm sorry. I didn't want to deceive you, but I had no other choice.
I've come too far already. Your kind heart might extend equally to this cursed planet and its monsters without discrimination, but I could never do that. I lack the confidence to forgive.
From the day my sibling died, this moment of revenge I've desperately awaited has finally arrived. I can't even remember how many more years I endured just for this single day.
They say revenge always brings emptiness in its wake, but do you really think I'd stop for such foolish nonsense?
When there's nothing left inside the shell I've cloaked myself in, what's the point of pontificating about the emptiness of revenge?
But lately, old emotions I'd long forgotten have started resurfacing.
Joo-ho,
Isn't this filthy grave too dirty for a boy like you to die in?
When you get back home, pry the Ember crystal out of the escape pod and research it. Even that size should yield meaningful results. You're a scholar, after all—might even make a living off it till the day you die.
Write up that... [paper] you mentioned properly.
You'll manage fine on your own, Joo-ho. You've got talent. Who knows, you might even create something like Ember there someday. Though it could take a few hundred years...
Anyway, I'd appreciate it if you uncovered the Ember functions I never figured out. Just in case, I've tucked in some of my research notes. Flip through them whenever you hit a wall.
Well, that's it.
Live well,
Your friend.
—————————
"Elder, this is truly..."
Nephyr licked her lips with her long tongue. At the end of her gaze, the glistening Ember crystal vibrated rapidly, emitting light.
"Incredible."
Her elongated brown eyes captured the brilliant glow of the Ember. Nephyr often passed the time like this, mesmerized by watching me, Amy, and Isaac at work.
"I can even understand how a weapon using Ember reached the moon. And it's already exuding such a chilling aura without even being properly processed—"
"Nephyr, shouldn't you be studying?"
"Ah. My apologies."
But she had one task that took priority over Ember: learning the language and adapting to her new life.
Smooth communication formed the foundation of all relationships—it was something she absolutely couldn't neglect.
Fortunately, our language and the isolated desert dialect were structurally quite similar, so the learning process wasn't overly difficult. It wouldn't take long, either.
"Hoo..."
But studying in the chilly, humid forest—unlike the hot, dry desert climate—was undoubtedly grueling.
It wasn't hard to understand. In a way, Amy and I might be the abnormal ones.
Situations or locations didn't matter to us.
We poured ourselves endlessly into what we held in our hands, pursuing relentless inquiry. Even breaks felt like a waste.
"Joo-ho, why not take a short break?"
"I'm good. Isaac, could you back up for a bit? It might be dangerous."
Drag—
Isaac retreated using the makeshift wheelchair that substituted for his severed lower half.
It was less a wheelchair and more like a sled or travois, but his arm strength was more than sufficient to maneuver it freely with just a few wheels.
"Alright. Here goes..."
Only after confirming Isaac and Nephyr's safety did I finally overload the Ember crystal.
It would have been incredibly dangerous under normal circumstances, but this Ember crystal—infused with a controllable level of energy—acted not as a volatile bomb, but as a precious generator.
"...Got it."
Whirr—
The five long tubes attached to the Ember crystal transferred the energy it emitted directly into the storage units, accumulating it steadily.
This storage device—made by slightly adapting the techniques Rophuk used for his cannon—was essentially a giant battery, in simple terms.
Unlike Rophuk's methods, which maximized Ember's destructive power, we focused on handling its energy more stably.
Someday we'd need to develop a weapon to shatter the moon, but for now, exploring and utilizing Ember in various ways took precedence.
"My word. Remarkable."
Isaac dragged his wheels back over to our storage device (henceforth, the battery). His wrinkled eyes sparkled with boyish curiosity.
"To think that one tiny crystal could fill this battery to the brim and then some..."
"No, it's not just one. Amy? Connect the next battery."
"Yes."
Amy, who could handle direct exposure to Ember energy without issue, oversaw the entire process.
Under her precise, unflinching touch—without even a tremor—the Ember fully charged all five batteries and kept vibrating, ready for more.
This stuff was insane.
Started with just a flick of the finger, overloaded, and yet it produced enough energy to more than cover the Paradise Ship's single fueling—
"Joo-ho, you've brought us something utterly ridiculous."
"Right?"
We celebrated the successful experiment with faint smiles.
With this, killing the moon might not be impossible.
No—it had to not be impossible. Please.
"Amy, what do you think?"
"It's a wondrous new material, but comparing it to the cannon Rophuk built and its power output, we're still woefully short. Dr., the moon survived that rampaging light beam from the Ember unscathed."
Amy delivered her cool analysis in place of the excited humans.
It poured cold water on the high spirits, but her unflinching judgment and straightforward critiques were exactly what Isaac and I needed.
"...Why didn't it die? Was there an error in Rophuk's calculations?"
"No. The formulas themselves are sound. The moon's abilities seem to have played a major variable role."
While Amy carefully laid down the fully charged batteries, we reviewed Rophuk's records once more.
Detailed processes for creating Ember, all sorts of experiments using it, their results, lingering questions, even his own speculations on those questions—scrawled in a jumble...
Rophuk had documented it all in impeccably neat handwriting.
A precise script fitting his meticulous personality.
And alongside it, simple diagrams that captured every detail without needless complexity.
"Can't read this part yet, but I must've felt this guy's amazing a hundred times over just from what I can grasp. Joo-ho, you really beat this monster?"
"Well... something like that?"
"What a freak."
Isaac nudged me with his elbow. Looked impressed.
Or maybe guilty. Perhaps he pitied me after all I'd been through in the desert.
"If we ever make it back to HQ, you'll be filthy rich, Joo-ho. I guarantee it. Whatever you do, you're the type that succeeds."
"Quit the flattery. Time to study with Nephyr again, right? Can't play interpreter forever."
"Aigoo, my legs ache!"
"You don't even have legs. Open the book. I'll teach you myself. Nephyr, listen in too. Want to do a quick quiz?"
I felt perfectly fine. Just grateful for these moments together.
Finally, things felt like they were falling into place. The broken gears meshing and turning at last.
"From now on, name what I point to. What's this?"
"Hmm... Well, that is..."
"Wait! Elder, I know this one. Uh, it's..."
I played teacher, gripping the glowstick [he] left behind. Not a bad feeling. Maybe I could've been a teacher.
In our makeshift shelter, we shared knowledge, exchanged insights, and grew together.
A sort of [group] had formed around me now. At least no monsters around here could threaten us.
Arachne or Nephyr could handle it first. If two weren't enough, Amy or Jenny stepped in. Aquatic ones, Aria would chase off.
Amy's bizarre experiments mixing semen and Ember whenever she had spare time.
Jenny, still reeling from abdominal pain, stumbling around half-asleep.
Arachne, spinning webs all over the surrounding forest like she was venting stress, even while sipping tea leisurely.
Aria, singing by the lakeside as she swam at her leisure.
Not everyone got along, but at least they didn't fight in front of me.
"Write it fifty times each on the floor and erase. Studying's all about repetition and memorization, after all."
"Eee..."
"Damn. When you're as old as me, you won't be able to do this stuff. Brain gets too stiff."
At the center, I read Rophuk's records, tracing his footsteps.
"Hmm..."
In the barren desert, he'd ground down the blood and lives of ancient Guide creatures to make Ember, but on its fundamental energy and unnatural vitality, he'd left these words:
[Ember stems from the endless vitality possessed by the monsters rampant on this planet. Could it be a special property born from the interplay of the moon, sun, and planet?]
[In theory, Ember can be extracted from any lifeform. All the planet's monsters possess at least a fraction of Ember's potent vitality.]
[Natural Ember might exist somewhere. But it can't crystallize without immense pressure and sufficient heat. In the desert, sourcing Ember requires extraction from living beings—]
Natural-state Ember.
Rophuk had strived to supplement his Ember shortage but apparently found none naturally forming in the desert.
"..."
Extreme heat,
Pressure.
Volcanoes,
Ocean floor.
"Hmm."
One location suddenly flashed in my mind.
In the end, the ocean.
To fully kill the moon and get everyone home, we'd need far more Ember...
I didn't want to kidnap something like a Guide for live extraction experiments. No repeating Rophuk's mistakes.
But the moon wouldn't die from simple interception. We desperately needed more Ember.
Rophuk's cannon had already failed to eliminate it, so we required a more innovative approach.
"..."
Maybe,
if we embedded Ember directly into its body and detonated it...
"Elder! All done!"
"Fifty more times."
"Pardon...?"
Would that work?
If we could find just a bit more Ember,
Neutralize the moon with something like a cannon,
Then implant an Ember bomb directly inside via projectile,
And shatter it from within?
...Then, could we finally return to HQ?