Chapter 58
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Method
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Now do you get it? How utterly futile the world is."
The administrator gazed at me with pity as I reeled from the truth.
Having struggled to survive the apocalypse herself, she sympathized with me. And from her perspective as a mere chess piece of an administrator, she pitied me as well.
"This is my last role as administrator. Once Earth conquers the Tower, I'll enter eternal rest."
"So that's how it works...."
Her saying this was her last meant that with Earth's destruction, she could finally pass the role on to someone else.
She had shared her personal story unnecessarily because she felt compassion for me.
"You'll definitely become the conqueror, but if any of your surviving acquaintances want to become an administrator, you'd better talk them out of it. Though the best option is probably to kill them before the conquest."
She said it matter-of-factly. It was a horrific suggestion, but I could tell she meant it for my own good.
"What's your name?"
"Lena."
"Moon Byul."
As a gesture of thanks for the information, I offered Lena a handshake.
Lena took my hand.
I had heard the truth. I had come to understand the cosmic law that no one could defy.
But that didn't mean I planned to sit around sucking my thumb.
***
Lena sent me back.
Her original purpose had just been to tell me not to damage the Tower, so she had fulfilled her duty.
Our conversation had been a mere accident.
I flew through the night sky.
Sitting still felt suffocating. No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn't find an answer.
Even if we conquered the Tower as the world intended, humanity would still lose Earth.
The few survivors would live new lives on the 90th floor. But according to Lena, the ecosystem there was nightmarish.
A brutal world ruled by the law of the jungle, where might makes right. It held none of the ideal society I envisioned.
Now I understood why Akasic had been puzzled by my rejection of the Grimoire's power. Once I reached the 90th floor as the conqueror, I wouldn't be able to abandon it.
No one would give up the status of conqueror to face persecution.
Then what if we failed to conquer the Tower?
Earth's fate would end right there.
What choice was there in a situation like this?
The Wanderer had said my goal was his goal as well.
At first, I thought it was simply climbing the Tower. But now that felt a bit off.
I was already climbing the Tower, and with my power, I'd reach the top someday. So why had he sought me out to say that?
Maybe there was another way.
My thoughts spiraled endlessly, but I returned to Mangul without any good answers.
"Moon Byul, you're back?"
"Hello."
The lobby staff member looked at me while struggling with a heavy hose.
"...Need a hand?"
"I'd appreciate it!"
We were on the second floor, in front of the massive aquarium.
"We have to clean it every now and then."
I helped by magically catching the fish that tried to escape.
The staff bagged the countless fish, tied them off, set them aside, and began cleaning.
She drained the water, scrubbed off the buildup, checked the equipment.
Then she filled it back up with fresh water from the hose.
"You're incredibly fast."
"It's my job. I've done it plenty of times."
The lobby staff watched proudly as the tank filled up.
My mind had been a mess, so I just stood by observing the whole process.
I wanted to focus on something mindless.
"Thank you. I wish I could use magic too!"
Enviously, she snapped her fingers, mimicking my spellcasting.
"It is convenient. But that's all it is."
Magic was versatile, but not omnipotent. It followed laws and rules just like physics—humanity simply didn't understand them yet.
"Look, even the fish are jealous."
The fish trapped in the transparent bags stared at me—or rather, at their spacious home filling with water.
Even those tiny fish yearned for the vast tank once moved from their cramped bags.
How much more so for humans? My plastic bag was the Grimoire. No human could be content in a place like that....
"Moon Byul?"
"......"
The reason I'd been agonizing so much was that I couldn't accept this world's ending at all.
Normally, you'd resign yourself to the incomprehensible disaster of the Tower and climb it, even after learning the truth.
Yes. Normally.
But I wasn't normal.
"Moon Byul?"
"Ah..., yes. I was just lost in thought. I'll be going now."
"Thanks again for the help!"
A amusing idea had struck me. It wasn't actually funny, but it seemed worth trying.
I wouldn't lord over the 90th floor like a conqueror, nor scrape by like the other survivors.
The life I wanted was on Earth.
***
The next day, I contacted Alex, saying I had something important to discuss.
Alex gladly met with me.
I explained my plan to him. Of course, I kept the truth about the world hidden.
I wasn't deceiving or belittling him by withholding details.
It was just... if I were a regressor, the truth would be too painful.
You couldn't tell a regressor that all their regressions had been meaningless, right?
"So you're saying you'll look for a way other than conquering the Tower?"
"I don't think the top of the Tower holds the ending we all want."
Alex was skeptical of my idea but didn't outright oppose it.
"I've always believed there are other choices. We don't have to play along with this apocalypse game from the start, do we?"
Alex nodded.
"I respect your view. It's an unreasonable world, but is there really another way?"
"We'll only know if we try. So please help me out, Alex."
I was using his regression as insurance.
"I won't be around for a while."
Back at Mangul, I told my comrades I'd be staying inside my Grimoire.
Their reactions varied, but the conclusion was the same.
"For months? What if the Tower collapses while you're gone!"
Even now in Phase 2, with destruction accelerating, So Seori didn't seem too fazed by the apocalypse itself.
She'd seen my power up close, so she probably thought Korea was safe at least.
"Korea will fall without you, Moon Byul! The Tower will crumble!"
"You're all strong enough on your own. I believe in you."
"We don't believe in ourselves!"
So Seori clung to me unusually desperately.
"You'll come back, right?"
"Whirly-whirly."
"No matter how long it takes, I will return."
I took the time to bid farewell to everyone I was close to.
I ate with Su Young, who had retired from the restaurant but still cooked, and said goodbye to Nana and Alex.
I visited Mangul's comrades, association acquaintances, the White Tiger siblings, and Han Yu Seong to say my farewells.
Some called me dramatic, others parted as if I'd never return.
The Climber Association President clung to me like So Seori.
Before packing up and entering my Grimoire, Iru Ri came by.
"If you need more, come out midway! I'll give you extra. You know, studying works better with snacks—gets better grades and all."
Iru Ri loaded a massive suitcase with fruits and foods for me.
I didn't repeat the goodbyes. I thanked her, grabbed the suitcase, and stood before my Grimoire.
The stand for the Grimoire of the Universe in my room.
Everything that happened to me started with this one small book.
The Wanderer who gave it to me was a being rivaling the gods.
Akasic had said all Grimoires were a mage's final bastion, leaving their magic to the world at life's end.
But was the Wanderer the same?
He called this book a fragment of himself.
In other words, fundamentally different from a mortal's Grimoire.
I still didn't know the Wanderer's intentions in giving me this book, but one thing was clear.
In this universe, the only means to resist the Tower system was this little book.
I was the only mortal who could break this universe's laws.
Because I wielded power from outside this universe.
Would the Wanderer want me, holding this book, to simply climb the Tower like any other conqueror?
His goal was the same as mine. He had given me a hint.
You can do more.
Proof? The Tower was, to exaggerate a bit, like tofu to me.
I'd never unleashed my full magical power, except when I first met the Wanderer.
When I first touched the Grimoire, it said compatibility 99%.
Now I understood what that meant.
I was the perfect match for this Grimoire—but for one incompatibility.
I was human.
In the Grimoire, I slowly lost my body, then my mind.
Even before dreaming, my speck of existence, my spirit, was human.
But once compatibility hit 100%, I dreamed.
After the dream, I was no longer mortal.
I became one with the Grimoire, and the Grimoire was the Wanderer's fragment.
Thus, I became a fragment of the Wanderer.
I too was a transcendent being like him.
With resolve steeled, I entered the Grimoire.
***
My homeland, Etoile, now felt strangely unfamiliar.
Not quite home, nor a place I loved, but I'd grown attached.
Entering the Grimoire, I sensed the Wanderer's intent.
He wanted to shatter this universe, this infinitely cycling perpetual motion machine.
And my goal was the same. Breaking this chain would solve everything.
The first thing I did upon returning to Etoile was manipulate the timeline.
I stretched the Grimoire's time, which flowed the same as Earth's, to extreme lengths.
Longer than my first extended stay inside—much longer.
Ziiiiing.
The timeline stretched to its limit, like a rubber band about to snap.
I wondered what would happen if time broke, but I didn't test it.
At this ratio, one month on Earth would be about ten years in Etoile.
Now, how to dismantle this cosmic perpetual machine?
I wasn't sure if I could destroy it. But I had an idea to shut it down.