The Exponential Nightmare
Not three, but more.
Anomalies had appeared in Sejong and Gwangju.
The one in Sejong was a type that scattered powerful mental attacks in every direction, making it impossible to resolve before Yoo Iseul and I arrived. However, the one in Gwangju, no matter how lethal its physical damage, was reportedly being handled with relative ease as the Awakened combined their strengths.
And then.
It had been about ten minutes since the Gwangju anomaly was resolved.
Exactly one hour after the anomalies first appeared in Sejong and Gwangju, new ones had emerged in Daegu and Ulsan.
If there was any silver lining, it was that Daegu and Ulsan were geographically close, allowing for a swift response, but...
...Does that even matter?
Four anomalies had appeared in a single day.
And all within the span of an hour.
Looking up past precedents had become entirely meaningless.
The appearance of four anomalies in such a short period was equivalent to an unprecedented, historic catastrophe.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind: "What if?"
What if.
"If another hour passes from here..."
"..."
I was momentarily speechless after hearing Kim Junghwan’s urgent briefing, and Yoo Iseul pressed the pedal harder instead of saying a word.
Kim Junghwan continued.
"Th-that’s impossible! We don't even know what kind of anomaly appeared next, and to resolve or seal it..."
"What? How..."
"Oh...?"
"Bullshit."
It wasn't me, but Yoo Iseul who responded to Kim Junghwan.
"Either you guys fucked up the job, or it's a trap. It's one of the two."
The reason Yoo Iseul said that was simple.
What Kim Junghwan just said didn't make sense.
Four anomalies appearing in a day was a near-catastrophic event, but that didn't mean it was impossible. If they appeared four times, they appeared four times. That made sense.
But 'exactly identical' anomalies appearing in multiple places? That shouldn't make...
...Wait, no. Actually, it does.
"Now that I think about it, it actually makes sense."
"What?"
"I mean... if a Fervent Follower created the anomalies directly, it makes sense. They could just create multiple copies of the same anomaly."
For example, suppose 'Anum-Jihad' mass-produced 'Transmitters'.
That makes sense. Of course, he said he sacrificed much of himself to create those, but setting aside the difficulty of production, it wasn't impossible.
Kim Junghwan continued as if he had been waiting for my input.
"...So there's a high possibility it's a Fervent Follower? And that Fervent Follower is creating and summoning anomalies in other locations?"
It was a reasonable deduction.
So, to sum it up:
"Whether it's an anomaly or a Fervent Follower, you're saying Iseul-unnie and I need to resolve it as quickly as possible."
"You're just making me feel more pressured, Junghwan-nim."
Whether it was an anomaly or a Fervent Follower, we were already determined to resolve it as fast as we could. Why did he have to call and rush us?
New anomalies were appearing every hour.
Excluding the Sejong anomaly, at first, one appeared. This time, two appeared.
If three appeared an hour from now... well, like Kim Junghwan said, I didn't think I needed to worry about the other Awakened.
But if...
What if four appeared instead of three? And then eight an hour later?
If the concept was that it doubled every hour, the time we had left was...
...Damn it.
If we couldn't resolve the anomaly within the next hour, South Korea was effectively doomed.
However, Yoo Iseul dismissed my anxiety.
"Use your head, you idiot. They said the same anomalies came out again."
"I... know...? But so what?"
"An anomaly that's been dealt with once is just a toy to the Awakened. If you can't end that in 5 minutes, are you even an Awakened? You're just a useless cripple."
"U-unnie! Even so, that's too harsh..."
"Ugh."
Yoo Iseul snatched my phone while driving and said:
"Why would I worry about other bastards? We're almost there, so hang up."
Click.
The call ended.
Yoo Iseul said to me, as I sat there looking dazed:
"Do I look like a joke to you?"
...Was the Fervent Follower countermeasures meeting more meaningful than I thought? Only now did it feel like we were sharing the burden.
When we arrived at the Sejong anomaly occurrence zone, a gloomy aura greeted us.
Not even a single ant was visible in the vicinity, and not the slightest sound could be heard.
Ugh.
As an Awakened of six months, I could identify the cause of this unpleasant silence on my own.
It was because of a mental attack.
An anomaly's mental attack doesn't just affect people; it affects 'all moving creatures' within its range.
Therefore, due to the mental attack from the anomaly or the Fervent Follower that appeared in Sejong, every living thing in the area, including every single ant, must have already been wiped out.
That was why not even the sound of an insect could be heard.
Yoo Iseul opened the trunk of the sports car and checked her armaments. She hadn't just brought a sword.
"You came armed with items."
Rings. A lantern. A five-colored waist cord. A strange-looking sphere, and so on.
She had brought a pile of unfamiliar objects that were clearly items.
Yoo Iseul replied to my comment:
"Preparing for variables. If we enter that place called a Sanctum, I feel like I'll definitely be separated from you again this time."
"I think so too."
Fervent Followers aren't stupid. They would immediately realize that if Yoo Iseul and I stayed together, we would create extreme synergy and become a highly dangerous target. They would probably do whatever it took to keep us apart.
As soon as we stepped into the anomaly occurrence zone:
Throb, throb.
"Jiaaaaaaah!"
My head started to ring.
The fundamental nature of this mental attack was different from any I had suffered before.
Unpleasant whispering? Curses directed at me? Illusions? Hallucinations?
None of that.
The sole purpose of this mental attack was malicious, pure and simple: to destroy my brain. Nothing more, nothing less.
"Ughhh-aaaaah..."
I collapsed to the ground, groaning in pain. Yoo Iseul looked at me with a dry expression and spoke:
"No time. Get up."
"Y-you heartless person... Ughhh-aaaaah... Unnie, you're completely immune to mental attacks, so you don't know... Jiaaaaaaah! I feel like I'm losing my mind!"
Although my body was durable, I wasn't accustomed to pain. This mental attack from the anomaly—or the Fervent Follower—was, I could say with certainty, the most painful one I had ever encountered.
Yoo Iseul sighed, looking at me, and then pulled something from her pocket and handed it to me.
This is...
"Jiaaaaaaah. Ah. An item...?"
"Shut up and just use it. I brought it just in case, and of course, it's needed."
The pain was so intense that I used the spherical item Yoo Iseul handed me without a second thought.
Then.
"Ah."
The pain vanished completely.
"W-what is the identity of this god-sent item?"
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
"Jiaaaaaaah!"
Yoo Iseul, who had been looking down at me with pity after I received the price of my blasphemy, said:
"An item that removes pain. In a word, trash. You're probably the only Awakened who can't endure pain."
"Kuek..."
"This mental attack is powerful because it literally destroys the brain, but you're going to collapse because you can't stand a little pain? Get up, we don't have time."
"I-I'm getting up, okay..."
I had heard during my anomaly training with Yoo Iseul that there were levels to mental attacks.
Mental attacks that simply cause pain are the lowest grade. Mental attacks that directly destroy the 'mind' are the highest grade.
The Sejong anomaly was both directly destroying the mind and causing pain, so it could be seen as a mix of the highest and lowest grades. And I had almost been rendered combat-incapable by that lowest-grade mental attack.
...Perhaps.
The moment I realized that my only weakness might be 'pain', I decided: I’m keeping this item.
Hmm.
I'll keep it in my pocket from now on.