The True Cause
"So this is another way to escape."
Escaping by obtaining the status of the Hospital Director's guest. As long as I have guest status, I can supposedly come and go freely, but I should be extremely careful. Like the teacher said, I have no idea what might happen if the Hospital Director suddenly changes. There's no reason to return to the hospital without a clear purpose.
But in this loop, no escape message appeared. It didn't show up when I defeated the vampire on the subway either. I think it's because I've already received the points. Anything obtained through the status window carries over to the next loop. So the point acquisition history is inherited as well, preventing duplicate rewards.
"Then what about items?"
Don't tell me items can't be obtained multiple times either? That I can only get them once across all loops? I'm not certain yet, but if that's the case, I'm in serious trouble. Even in a single-player RPG, you save good consumables until the final boss fight, and sometimes they end up unused. If I can't re-obtain items, I'll have no choice but to hoard things like the singing flower or the vampire angel's heart.
"I really hope that's not how it works."
Points are one thing, but items need to be obtainable multiple times. Otherwise, this is going to be unbearable. Though, when has this damn status window ever done me any favors...
Anyway. I obtained the grimoire and the medicine from the hospital. I already know what the medicine does, so let's examine the grimoire. Hospital Director's Grimoire. Just the name alone makes it sound incredibly powerful.
I moved to a suitable spot and took the grimoire out of my inventory.
"Hmm."
The book itself doesn't look particularly special. The cover is covered in unreadable characters from the underground world, but I don't sense any indescribable magical power, and I can't decipher it either. Maybe something incredible will happen if I open it?
"..."
A tense moment.
—Rustle.
I carefully opened the book.
"...!"
Something! Something is...! No, nothing. I don't feel any storm of magical power. No suspicious whispers from some entity. Just unreadable characters densely filling every page. It seems there's no convenient feature where the book automatically translates itself just because I've become its owner.
In this age of advanced AI, even the neighborhood idiots can use automatic translation services to study foreign knowledge, yet this insane grimoire doesn't even have that. The sheer, tragic disparity fills me with horror. An era where something taken for granted by some is desperately needed by others.
With that thought, I kept flipping through the pages, but there was nothing special.
"Do I have to figure out how to use it myself?"
That would take forever. How many years would that take? Still, since it's called a grimoire, I have a feeling that once I figure out how to use it, I could accomplish something tremendous. Handling a grimoire means becoming a mage. If this grotesque book originates from some terrifying existence in the underground world, then the mage who wields its power would naturally be an overwhelming being as well.
Maybe my combat abilities will improve. The truth is, even if I'm good with a gun and can take down vampires, I'd be helpless if I got dragged into a human meat factory. That part has always bothered me. If the grimoire can help with that, it would be great.
I can't figure it out right now. I put the grimoire back into my inventory.
"Hmm... What about the GPS?"
I took that out too.
[My Location: 89734154]
My location... doesn't seem to have changed. There wasn't anything notable on the map either. It would be nice if the map showed danger zones, but maybe I'm asking for too much.
Put it away. Inspection complete. Time to head up to Seoul. I have to stop the giant incident.
On the bus heading to Seoul, I thought about what I needed to do to stop the giant incident. Actually, it's an extremely simple task. I already know which building the person who enters the wall—the anomaly that's essentially the star's seed—goes into. If I wait inside that building in advance, I can inject the medicine the moment the incident begins. That would end it in one go. I wouldn't even need to call Gorgodio or Curas.
"..."
This time... I have no intention of joining the Bureau at all. There are far too many suspicious things about it. With agents like Jamtree who specialize in purges, what would I even accomplish by joining? Anyway.
I was thinking of entering the building and waiting in advance, but then I remembered—didn't the building collapse right after I made the seed take the medicine? That could be dangerous. If I could speedrun out of there, maybe, but otherwise everyone inside the building would be wiped out too.
Is there another way... Ah!
"That's it!"
I don't need to enter the building in the first place. I just need to somehow force the medicine down the star seed's throat. Its physical abilities are quite strong, but shoving medicine into its mouth should still be possible.
Good. Let's go with that. If I handle this myself, I won't have any connection to the Bureau at all. After that, I could farm black stones and go find Jin-seop to take care of things. If I move with him and hear when he got involved, I should be able to prevent him from joining the Fake Bureau, assuming things play out the same way.
After that... I haven't decided exactly what to do. But I have a feeling that the grimoire I obtained this time will become something very important. So I should probably focus on learning more about the grimoire... How should I do that?
Oh. Right. Maybe I should ask Teacher Kim Seong-han's wife? Regardless, this grimoire originated from the hospital. I feel a deep connection with Teacher Kim Seong-han. Through him, I was able to meet his wife and receive the black stone. Given that connection, there's a chance his Arabic wife might know something about the grimoire.
Having decided on a plan, I moved without hesitation.
"The time has come...!"
The offspring of the singing star! The time has come for me to personally eliminate it with my own hands!
"Come out...!"
Positioned in the right spot, I waited for the creature to appear. The monster that twists its face and performs bizarre actions before entering the wall. I was going to cling to that bastard and shove the hospital medicine down its throat.
I was ready. I wasn't the same person I was back then. I've crossed loops and fought countless battles. The me from back then and the me now are completely different in combat ability. How could a mere seed that hasn't even become a giant possibly defeat me? Absolutely not.
I'm a vampire hunter powerful enough to rival Han Se-geon, the Bureau's greatest marksman Grong, whose skill even made Curas shed tears. Plus, I'm practically Teacher Kim Seong-han's disciple. I'm also a mage who wields the grimoire I received from him.
I won't lose!
As I burned with fighting spirit...
"...!"
It appeared! From the other side, I spotted the twisted-bodied creature approaching with its grotesque movements. Already prepared, I moved swiftly.
But at that very moment—
"Hup?!"
I had no choice but to throw myself into hiding while still in my ready stance. And for good reason...!
The Fake Bureau! Suddenly, Fake Bureau agents had appeared!
"A foreign entity is wandering around Seoul."
"Looks like a weakling, doesn't it?"
Agents in black suits and sunglasses appeared 'out of nowhere' and began approaching the star's seed. Why the hell did they show up? They didn't do this in the previous loop.
Just as I was wondering if some major anomaly had occurred due to the loop change, I saw it.
"I had high hopes when I heard a foreign entity appeared, but..."
Sleeves rolled up. White hair tied back. Holding a Japanese sword.
"This is it?"
Chief Lee Do-hyeong...! He appeared in perfect condition!
A shiver ran through me. I could only tremble violently. How could Chief Lee Do-hyeong be here? Ah! Like lightning striking my head, a violent realization flashed through my mind.
That's it...! Because I didn't use the Gwan-ster Call at Cheongak Mary Hospital, the living Chief Lee Do-hyeong appeared here! It's not strange at all for the Bureau Chief to be wandering around Seoul!
—Flash!
It happened in an instant. Chief Lee Do-hyeong's figure vanished, and when he reappeared, he was walking casually while flicking blood off his sword with precise movements.
And then—
—Thud, thud, thud.
The star's seed fell to the ground in hundreds of pieces.
"O-oh!"
"As expected of Chief Lee Do-hyeong...!"
"The Bureau's strongest swordsman!"
"Hoo-hyeok!"
The Fake Bureau agents expressed their admiration in my place. I held my breath while hiding.
"Boring. So boring. No satisfaction at all. What a waste of time. Clean this up yourselves. It's annoying."
"Yes, sir!"
"Understood!"
Chief Lee Do-hyeong left, and the Fake Bureau agents began taking measures. The anomaly's corpse was cleanly collected, and even witnesses were eliminated. Just as suddenly as they had appeared, they vanished.
"..."
The sky... remained clear and blue. The world was endlessly quiet. The giant never appeared. No matter how long I waited, there was no news of a giant suddenly emerging.
That's right.
"The Fake Bureau... solved it."
They resolved it. And so easily. That horrific giant apocalypse, handled as casually as picking up trash on the street.
"..."
Strength drained from my legs. I collapsed to my knees on the spot.
"Ah."
Was this how it was supposed to be resolved without any problems...? Did I cause all that unnecessary chaos for nothing? Because I used the Gwan-ster Call at the hospital to vent my frustration, which killed Chief Lee Do-hyeong, did that trigger all that apocalyptic madness?
My choice. Because of the choice I thought was best, the worst possible outcome occurred? The giant trampling the world, killing tens of millions, over and over again—all of it happened because of me...?
"Ah, aah!"
A torrent of mixed emotions tore through my chest and mind. I could only scream while clutching my head.
"Aaaaaaaaah!"
I was the cause! All of it was because of me!
"Hwaaaaaaaaah!"