Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Although the return magic research failed, one byproduct remained.
Though I couldn't return to Earth, I could at least view it. A magic that observes beyond dimensions, then copies and replays what was observed.
Using that, I scraped and hoarded entire videos and music from Earth. Named the 'Dimensional Archive'.
And a few years ago, I made one more thing just to kill time.
Access engravings distributed across the entire continent. A public bulletin board accessible by connecting one's mind to the engraving.
I named it without a second thought.
<<Content Viewing Gallery>>.
That's right. The first and only internet community in this another world. I am the creator, and I am the operator. My nickname is also 'Operator'.
I will not accept any complaints regarding my naming sense.
The problem was that for the past four months, I had completely neglected the gallery while focusing on finishing up the return magic calculations.
I placed my hand on the crystal ball and logged in. The bulletin board unfolded before my eyes.
【Announcement for the Offline Meetup Celebrating Day 118 of Operator's Disappearance】
【Is the gallery dead? Where did everyone go】
【When was the last screening? I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms】
【Operator-nim, you're alive, right? Please play anything】
【Anonymous(Anon): I'm deleting this engraving and quitting the gallery. Don't try to stop me】
└ Anonymous: Didn't you say you were quitting yesterday too?
└ Anonymous: That's his 132nd declaration of quitting the gallery.
......Sorry, guys.
The corners of my mouth curled up slightly.
There's exactly one thing that even a hundred years of accumulated boredom cannot cure, and it's this.
Watching other people's reactions.
Alright. Since it's to celebrate my return, let's go with something hot.
I searched through the Archive. Not something peaceful, but something that would make the viewers leap out of their chairs.
......This is it.
A speeding express train. A raging plague. People who come back to life as corpses when bitten. And a father trying to protect his daughter.
The zombie movie that flipped the theaters upside down back on Earth as well, 「Train to Ulsan」.
I posted an announcement using my Operator account.
【Notice】 Commencing new screening.
Title: Train to Ulsan
Duration: Approximately two hours
Can be viewed through the top screening room engraving.
Plain and brief. An Operator is originally a person of few words.
Then I poured fresh tea into my teacup.
Now, it's time to watch the show.
Two hours later.
The bulletin board was ablaze.
【Crazy, this is crazy! What was that screening just now? (Spoilers Included)】
Author: Anonymous(Anon)
No, like, what even is this? Corpses getting up and running. Running!! The undead in our fief struggle just to walk, but over there, corpses are sprinting at full force. What are the people of that dimension supposed to do, seriously?
└ Anonymous: I screamed while watching. I grabbed and hugged the guy next to me.
└ Anonymous: Thought my heart stopped during the train door closing scene.
└ Anonymous: But the creepiest part is that this actually happened.
Yeah. That's the key point of watching.
The users of this gallery believe that all the screened content is an actual record from another dimension.
In my defense, I never lied.
Because the Archive is a byproduct of dimension-observation magic, a tag saying 【Dimensional Observation Record】 is automatically attached to the corner of the playback screen.
They just looked at that and jumped to their own mistaken conclusions.
Of course, I could correct them. A single notice saying, "That's just a fake story made for fun by the inhabitants of the observed dimension," would end it.
I won't.
First, the moment I do that, the ultimate spectacle stemming from their dead-serious misunderstanding vanishes.
Second, it's a hassle.
That is all. I do not accept rebuttals.
【Urgent) Corpse Plague Response Manual 1st Draft Summary】
Author: Retired Knight(Anon)
As a former knight, I summarize this. If you don't want to end up like that dimension, familiarize yourselves with this.
1. If you get bitten, it's over. A bitten comrade is no longer a comrade.
2. Those things react to sound and sight. They seem unable to see in dark places.
3. Lock the doors. Those things can't turn door handles.
4. The most dangerous thing isn't the corpses, but the humans next to you. Anyone who watched the screening knows what I mean.
└ Anonymous: Upvoting at number 4.
└ Anonymous: But this is an event in a neighboring dimension, why are we making a manual?
└ Retired Knight(Anon): Think about why the Operator specifically showed us this record. It's a warning.
└ Anonymous: shiver shiver Wow, true.
└ Anonymous: I suddenly got scared.
It's not a warning, though.
I just wanted to see you guys scream.
I sipped my tea and moved to the next post.
【This is a condolence post for the victims of that dimension. No joke comments allowed】
Author: Anonymous(Anon)
To everyone who rode that train, especially that father who threw himself off for his daughter at the end. Even though it's an event in another dimension, may they rest in peace. Let's all observe a moment of silence before leaving.
└ Anonymous: Rest in peace to the deceased.
└ Anonymous: Upvote if you cried during the father's scene.
└ Eternal 20-Year-Old: Truly lamentable and lamentable indeed...... No, it is so sad T_T Fellow friends of our twenties, since we witnessed the perishing of all living creatures, how about abstaining from meat for just today? Wait, how about it? Freaking good, right?
└ Anonymous: ^ Grandma, it's time for bed.
└ Eternal 20-Year-Old: I am twenty years old. Wait, I'm twenty years old;;
└ Anonymous: "I am" lmfaooooo
└ Anonymous: Why are archaic speech forms coming out?
└ Eternal 20-Year-Old: It is a retro tone popular among young people these days. Do you not even know the trends?
└ Anonymous: First time I've heard of retro spanning a millennium.
......Eternal 20-Year-Old-nim.
A fixed nickname user suspected of being the oldest in this gallery. Persistently claiming to be twenty years old, but revealing their true colors every time through their speech pattern.
It's pathetic yet funny, funny yet pathetic. This is what you call a local attraction of the gallery.
Next post.
【Overall Review of Train to Ulsan (Serious)】
Author: Humans Are Bugs
I shall acknowledge the density of the record itself. A closed space called a running train, and within it, a crowd of humans pushing each other away like bugs. Especially the humans in the front car who locked the door against the passengers in the back car. The record of that dimension accurately shows that living humans are more hideous than corpses. I have quite a discerning eye, so I can state with certainty that this is undeniably top-tier among recent screenings.
└ Anonymous: Nice review.
└ Anonymous: But Bug-ah, you always say humans are bugs, so why did you binge-watch the whole two hours?
└ Humans Are Bugs: Even bugs have value to be observed.
└ Anonymous: Observing with 100% focus for two full hours lol You're pretty serious about bugs.
└ Anonymous: Isn't that the guy who posted a photo bragging about jewels last time and got lowballed on the market price by an appraiser?
└ Humans Are Bugs: LOWBALLED????? That appraiser bastard was blind, and that ring is an ancient kingdom artifact that things like you could never even touch in your entire life, a treasure of a realm where the concept of market price itself is meaningless in the first place, how dare you—
└ Anonymous: Look at the sentence getting longer lmfao he got triggered.
└ Anonymous: Triggered triggered.
└ Humans Are Bugs: Who is triggered? I am currently very calm. To correct you in a calm state, the value of that ring is—
There were over forty more comments below that.
"Pfft."
Tea almost went up my nose.
Humans Are Bugs-nim. He tries hard to maintain a cool critic persona, but if a single anon pokes him, he explodes in 3 seconds.
The ultimate laughingstock born from this gallery. For the joy of watching reactions, he is number one on the continent.
I giggled as I scrolled down.
And then I found that post.
【Review of Train to Ulsan - From the Perspective of One Who Knows Destruction】
Author: Destroyer of Worlds
I announce to you, gentlemen submerged in darkness. I have repeatedly examined this record.
First. The true terror of this record is not the corpses, but the speed. If conventional corpses were a death that comes eventually, running corpses are an immediate death. This record reveals in detail how far humans collapse when grace periods vanish.
Second. The person named Yong-pal from the bus company. You gentlemen call him a villain, but I see it differently. He is not particularly evil, just ordinarily terrified. That is why it is even more horrific. In the face of destruction, most humans wear that face.
Third. Even so, the father did not let go of his daughter's hand. The pregnant woman's husband held his ground at the door. Destruction swallows everything, but it cannot swallow the choice made at the moment of being swallowed. That is why I bestow the highest rating upon this record.
......Hence, the conclusion. Having encountered such a splendid Record of Destruction, I can no longer delay it either. Tomorrow, I shall destroy this world. Bye bye.
I read the review twice.
......He really wrote it well.
If only those last two lines weren't there.
The comment section was as expected.
└ Anonymous: Came to press upvote after reading up to the third point, but canceled after seeing the last line.
└ Anonymous: Why do you always sprinkle destruction on a perfectly good review?
└ Anonymous: How many years has this guy been saying he'll destroy the world tomorrow?
└ Anonymous: It was tomorrow when I first came to the gallery too. That was three years ago.
└ Anonymous: Destroyer of Worlds (Job: Unemployed, Specialty: Tomorrow)
└ Anonymous: Mythomaniac laughingstock update.jpg
└ Anonymous: Registered in the Hall of Fame. If the world isn't destroyed tomorrow, I'm coming back to this post.
└ Anonymous: Guys, stop it, he's serious about his persona lmfao
└ Anonymous: A man whose reviews are top-tier in the gallery, but whose life is bottom-tier.
└ Destroyer of Worlds: ......Fools. When that day comes, it will be too late even if you regret it.
└ Anonymous: Yeah, sure, next tomorrow.
└ Anonymous: Yeah, sure, next day after tomorrow.
"Pfft-hahaha."
This time I legitimately choked.
Destroyer of Worlds-nim. The gallery's certified mythomaniac persona user. Writing the most sincere reviews in the gallery, yet always concluding with a world destruction notice.
And as far as I know, that notice has never been kept even once.
When I opened the report inbox, sure enough, twelve reports were stacked on that post.
Reason: Dissemination of false facts.
To call it false facts, he seemed quite sincere about it though.
I rejected all the reports. Personas are gallery culture too.
And above all, it was far too entertaining a spectacle to delete.
At the same time, in the northern part of the continent.
In the heart of the Demon King's Castle, where black spires pierced the sky, not even a breath could be heard in the grand hall.
Thirty-two demon commanders stood lined up in full battle gear.
Because today was that very day. The day when the march order for the human realm invasion, delayed for three years, would finally be issued.
Upon the throne, Demon King Agnasha did not budge in the slightest.
Obsidian-black hair draped over pale cheeks, and red eyes deep as an abyss were half-closed, staring at a single point in empty space.
The commanders knew. That was the posture of the Demon King overlooking beyond the dimensions with his mind's eye.
In reality, Agnasha was looking beyond the dimensions.
At the comment section beyond the access engraving.
'......Mythomaniac.'
└ Yeah, sure, next tomorrow.
'......Laughingstock.'
└ That was three years ago.
'......Hall of Fame.'
It was a review posted after proofreading several times. A critique of a different class that only one who rules over destruction could write.
In fact, up until the third paragraph, upvotes were accumulating. They were accumulating, but—
'Why.'
Why was everyone clinging onto and dragging out only the last line?
I have never uttered false words. Destruction is scheduled. It's just that the schedule is...... flexible.
The greater the plan, the more cautious one must be, and being cautious means tomorrow can become the day after tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow can become three years.
How is that a false word?
'Hall of Fame, of all things.'
His red pupils shook minutely. At the fingertips gripping the armrest of the throne, the hem of the skull-patterned cloak he had personally designed crumpled.
It's not a persona. I am the real deal. A real Demon King, and I can really destroy the world.
Yet, there was...... no way to prove it. To prove it, he had to reveal his identity, and revealing his identity meant forced expulsion from the gallery.
When a new screening might be uploaded tomorrow.
"......Your Majesty."
Unable to endure the silence any longer, the 1st Corps Commander cautiously spoke up.
"The army has completed preparations. Please just give the order."
Agnasha slowly opened his eyes.
All thirty-two commanders prostrated themselves at once. None of them recognized that what lingered in the Demon King's eyes was a deep wound.
"......The invasion."
A low and heavy voice echoed through the grand hall.
"Is postponed."
The grand hall froze.
The 1st Corps Commander dared to raise his head.
"Your—Your Majesty. Today marks the third postponement, might we know the reason......."
"The time."
Agnasha buried his body deep into the throne. Drawing his knees up, he wrapped his body in the skull cloak.
From afar, it was an intimidating posture of silence, but up close, it was a person curled up under a blanket. Fortunately, no demon possessed the nerve to look up close.
"The time has not ripened."
"......However, the logistics......."
"Do not make me say it twice."
"I shall obey your command!"
The commanders withdrew.
Later, they passed down to their subordinates that the Demon King was surely reading some grand flow that even humans could not fathom.
The empty grand hall.
Agnasha, curled inside the cloak, reconnected his mind to the engraving.
Just in case. Wondering if, just maybe, even a single person had recognized my class.
The comments had grown to eighty-seven. All eighty-seven were mockingly playful.
'......Fools.'
However, Agnasha knew. That in this gallery, there was just one existence of a different class.
The Operator.
The one who overlooks beyond dimensions and delivers those records down to this world. That person alone is different.
Has he not refrained from leaving mocking comments on my posts, and never deleted my posts even when reports accumulated?
Does that not mean he recognizes my true worth?
For the abyss recognizes the abyss.
'Yes...... You alone.'
Inside the cloak, the Demon King wore a slightly less hurt expression.
He decided to reschedule the invasion timeline after watching the next screening.
The night deepened.
The bulletin board was still ablaze, and gradually, its heat was concentrating on one spot.
【So what happened to that dimension】
【Did they arrive in Ulsan? Is there no follow-up observation record?】
【Operator-nim, please show us how the survivors are doing, I'm getting dizzy here】
【Operator, I know you're watching. Hand over the sequel】
【Petition post demanding follow-up record (Current signatures: 1,204)】
A sequel, huh.
There is one. Somewhere in the Archive. A story of survivors rolling around in a half-ruined land.
I feigned hesitation for a moment—though in truth I was merely steeping another cup of tea—and posted an announcement using my Operator account.
【Notice】 Announcing the next screening.
Date: In three days
Details: To be announced later
That was all.
I didn't write a single word about which dimension's record it was, or whether it was a sequel.
This is how you cast bait.
Refresh.
【Breaking News) First preview after Operator's return is up!!!】
【It says in three days, this is definitely the sequel to Train to Ulsan. I can see the angle】
【Betting 500 gold it isn't】
【└ Call and raising to 1,000 gold】
Refresh.
New posts +214.
【Seriously, what are we supposed to do to survive three days】
【Corpse Plague Response Manual 2nd Draft Summary (Revised Version)】
【Eternal 20-Year-Old: Friends, how about we all purify our minds and bodies through a vegetarian diet for three days......】
Refresh.
New posts +387.
【Destroyer of Worlds: After viewing the next screening, I shall officially announce the finalized schedule for world destruction.】
【└ World destruction delayed by a screening lmfaooooo】
【└ Now even destruction cares about the gallery's mood】
Every time I refreshed, new posts multiplied in three digits. More than any news on this continent about kingdoms this or wars that, right now this bulletin board was hot.
I released my hand from the crystal ball and leaned deeply back against the chair.
It was dark outside the window, and the empty space of the laboratory was vacant for the first time in 30 years.
Up until this morning, it was the place where return magic formulas floated. Now, nothing remained.
An Earth I could not return to. A 30-year effort that ended in failure. And a single byproduct picked up from those ashes.
Inside that byproduct right now, anonymous weirdos hiding behind anonymity were clamoring for me to hand over the sequel to a zombie movie.
"......Well."
I finished off the remaining cold tea.
If this single spectacle was all that remained after 30 years of wasted effort.
That wasn't such a bad bargain either.