Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: After the Encounter with the Unknown - 1
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"Snooore... Zzz..."
"..."
Yoo Euisul was asleep.
Her snoring was so loud it echoed through the massive pit like a reverberation.
Someone had spent hours conversing with that transmitter, completely drained, and here she was, sleeping like she didn't have a care in the world.
A little annoying, honestly.
Huuuup,
Haaaaah.
After taking a deep breath, I bellowed up at Yoo Euisul.
"Euisul seeeiii! It's over!!!!!!"
"Snooore... Zzz..."
"It's over!!!! We solved it!!!!!"
"Zzz... Call me Euisul unnie..."
"Argh, you crazy bitch! Just wake up already, Euisul unnieeee!"
"Yeah, I'm up."
"Gyaack!"
I yelped in shock when Yoo Euisul appeared right in front of me without warning.
What a psycho.
She hadn't been sleeping—she'd just been pretending.
...Annoying as hell, but I was still grateful to her.
Talking to that transmitter had probably taken at least five hours, no exaggeration.
And she'd waited here in this dusty, godawful space without a single complaint the whole time.
Apparently, there was a cooldown on using that item, so she'd told me to hang tight for a bit.
Yeah.
But.
"...What time is it now?"
"12:37."
"Shit!"
Oh crap, big trouble.
A whole day had passed while I was chatting with the transmitter.
I didn't stream today...!
If this kept up, I'd get dragged off to the Omnia Archive and...
...undergo body modification by Reflecting Myriad Stars...
...or not.
Thinking about it, I'd streamed until 2 a.m. last night.
Even though I was exhausted from moving, I'd forced myself to stay up because it felt like I had to.
Who knew it'd pay off like this?
Of course, I'd set up a rebroadcast the moment midnight hit.
Rebroadcasts were basically habit now anyway.
Duty fulfilled.
"Phew... Thank goodness..."
I really thought I'd get hauled to the Omnia Archive and scrapped like yesterday's trash.
I had tons of questions, but I wasn't ready to talk to Reflecting Myriad Stars yet.
Anyway.
Midnight passing meant...
⚙ ARCHIVIST'S DUTY ⚙ 1. No days off unless you're dead. Fail to stream at least once a day, and you'll be forcibly sent back to the Omnia Archive. 1-1. Once you start a stream, it must run for at least 30 minutes. 1-2. Reach 1000+ followers by the end of the month. [Duty Completed]
2. Create at least one new [Item] document per month. 3. Create at least one new [Anomalous Phenomenon] document per month. [Duty Completed]
4. Fail any duty, and you'll immediately lose Archivist status and be scrapped. - Archivist's Duty updates in real time.- "Holy shit, what an insane steal."
"Why?"
"Feels like I got this month's duties for free."
I thought it was overtime hell, but nope.
The day ticked over, month changed.
Duties marked complete for the new month.
...Though, Reflecting Myriad Stars basically handled it for me this time.
Guess that counts as fulfilling it.
"So, spill the details."
"..."
"If it's too tricky to say, you don't have to."
"No, I'll tell you. Euisul unnie... yeah, you'll need to help me process it."
"Hm."
A promise is a promise.
Time to start calling her unnie.
Once I said it out loud, it didn't feel that bad.
If anything, I felt kinda sorry for sticking to the stiff "Euisul-ssi" this whole time.
Yoo Euisul looked pleased.
I explained everything about the transmitter conversation.
Took less than five minutes.
"What do you think?"
"Not 'what do I think'—you summarized it way too much. Not enough info. It'll take time to use the item again. We've got time to kill, so explain it in detail."
"That's everything. We didn't chat nonstop for hours; it was just frustratingly slow."
"Hmm."
Yoo Euisul scratched her head for a sec.
"Hey, Lee Jia."
"Yes?"
Suddenly,
she ruffled my hair with her rough hand.
"Be grateful I value you as a person."
"...Y-Yes?"
Caught off guard.
Didn't know she was capable of this.
Ignoring my baffled look, she continued.
"I'll handle the Association with some vague story, so you just stay quiet. Keep your mouth shut. What you saw and heard here today? Our little secret."
"Why? It didn't seem like super critical info."
I mean, I never even got to ask those four big questions.
If I'd asked them and gotten answers, I could see her wanting to hide it...
But everything I heard was just half-baked stuff related to me anyway.
"...Just don't tell anyone. I'll sort my thoughts and fill you in later. Until then, zip it."
"Even Kim Junghwan-ssi and Chairman Scheduled Hwan?"
"Hate repeating myself. Don't tell anyone."
"Ah. Got it."
"Cooldown's up. Let's head out."
Her tone was as rude as ever.
But her hand ruffling my hair...
was surprisingly gentle.
...A warmth I'd forgotten bubbled up.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Yoo Euisul eyed the big-titted pink-headed girl trailing obediently behind her and thought,
'This is bad.'
Lee Jia.
Didn't seem to grasp how important she was.
Or how dangerous.
She'd always been significant, sure.
But after that transmitter chat,
she'd been upgraded from [Important Person]
to [Dangerous and Important Person].
Just to check, Yoo Euisul asked,
"What do you think about that Fervent Devotee you talked to?"
"Conversation cut off midway, so... nothing much to think."
"Still, say whatever comes to mind."
"Hm... Alien, for one. Lives in a civilization built by intelligent lifeforms. Seems worshipped as a god by them, and..."
"...Enough. Stop there."
Yoo Euisul was a bit surprised.
How could she stay so calm after realizing all that?
A Fervent Devotee worshipped as a god.
Didn't that strike her as weird?
Yoo Euisul wasn't one to beat around the bush.
She asked straight up:
Didn't that mean Lee Jia could get deified by humans someday too?
She made a face like, What kind of insane nonsense is that?
"God? That's blasphemy. I'd have to be insanely superior to humans to get called that—and you're already way superior to me in every way."
"Me?"
"Ah... I mean, Euisul unnie."
Her tone was utterly casual, but she got the point.
Whatever traits that 'Anum - Jihad' race had, who knows.
But on Earth, Lee Jia wouldn't get deified.
Because of Awakeners.
Without Awakeners on Earth, she'd probably be worshipped like that Fervent Devotee with the name Anum - Jihad.
Body tougher than steel.
Able to glean all info just by touching objects.
If that's not omnipotence, what is?
One thing we could infer:
'Awakening' might be exclusive to humans.
Otherwise, it doesn't add up.
But info's too scarce—pure speculation.
Not the real issue anyway.
Suddenly,
Yoo Euisul turned to Lee Jia.
"..."
"What?"
On the surface, she looked like your average woman her age.
Striking looks, but that's just superficial—no sharp edges in personality.
...That's the problem.
Lee Jia should've snapped long ago.
Zero grip on reality, or something.
Watched that massive eyeball explode right in front of her.
Under constant 24/7 threat of 'the price of blasphemy.'
Yet her attitude? Way too chill.
So, madness.
She was clearly half-mad, beyond normal.
Like a fanatic.
...Whatever.
Yoo Euisul lacked reality too.
She wasn't exactly normal-thinking either.
Ironic: immune to mental attacks, yet half-insane.
So,
Yoo Euisul started a reckless experiment no normal person—or even Awakener—would dare.
One she absolutely had to run.
Yoo Euisul spoke.
"Reflecting Myriad Stars doesn't exist."
"Huh?"
"Reflecting Myriad Stars isn't a god."
"W-Wait, hold on!"
"Reflecting Myriad Stars doesn't seek knowledge."
"Are you nuts? Stop, I said stop!"
Yoo Euisul kept blaspheming Reflecting Myriad Stars.
And finally,
"Lee Jia's true name is Lee Jia (VTuber)."
She uttered Lee Jia's true name.