Chapter 113
Chapter 113
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: The One Who Is Not a Player I
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Shin Noah
1
Let me say this upfront, but don't expect a clean ending in today's tale.
This time, it's a bona fide bad end.
Let's talk about the shitshow game called reality.
2
Limbo.
Ever since that outcast god was subjugated, many things in the world changed.
I only realized it later, but in fact, each outcast god possessed a kind of domain.
Something like a divine realm.
If the term divine realm feels unfamiliar, you could call it a temple. For Limbo, the representative divine realm and temple was the 'Tutorial Dungeon'. Baekhwa Girls' High School would correspond to the head temple among them.
As the saying goes, when one religion's influence wanes, other religions rush in to fill the void.
The anomalies instinctively declared Earth a Monopoly board for religious wars to propagate their doctrines.
Whether humans died amid the holy crusades was of no concern to the anomalies. After all, it was an age-old Earth tradition not to treat civilians as such if they didn't share the faith.
The important fact is that the moment Limbo was subjugated, the delicately balanced power structure—like a house of cards—shattered in an instant.
Starting from the subjugation of Limbo, previously suppressed anomalies began to rampage bit by bit.
"Huh? Where is this...?"
"I'm not Kim Jun-young from Anyang! I'm Namgoong Moon-cheong, the greatest disciple of the Namgoong family!"
"Please send me back to that world... Huh, why are there tears?"
A prime example was 'Hero Syndrome'.
As I mentioned before, the first time I witnessed Hero Syndrome was in the 118th regression. And Limbo was subjugated in the 117th.
I'm not testing your memory here. It's just that I can recount it in such detail thanks to my [Perfect Memory Ability].
What I want to say to you all is—doesn't the timing feel awfully coincidental?
It was as if they were just waiting for Limbo to be taken down.
Let me recap once more. During this period, the anomalies newly boosted on the Korean Peninsula's gacha pickup weren't limited to Hero Syndrome.
-Bwaaaaaang!
-Bang! Bwang! Bwaaaaaang!
-Bwaaaaaang! Bwang!
The sworn enemy of all writers and readers, the 'Reincarnation Truck', first revealed itself in the 119th regression as well.
Broadening the view, there were plenty of other anomalies. In the 126th, 'Salvation Narrative Syndrome'. In the 141st, the fictional structure 'Korea-Japan Undersea Tunnel' appeared.
Hero Syndrome, Reincarnation Truck, Salvation Narrative Syndrome, imaginary buildings... Don't you sense some common thread?
That's right. All of these were hints and omens of some massive undercurrent.
Every oven-baked dish requires preheating, after all.
Before jumping straight to the answer to that question, how about I talk about the most absurd—and most memorable—omen first.
Virtual reality MMORPG.
What we call 'online games' will be the protagonist of this episode.
3
Occasionally on SG Net, there were steady posts or periodic breadcrumbs like this.
-Anonymous: Status window! Status window! Status window!
-Anonymous: Woke up and yelled 'Status Open' again today, did the status window appear? (Day 31)
-Anonymous: Guys, am I the only one seeing the status window right now??
-Anonymous: Yelled status window and it actually appeared fr
-Literary Girl: TBH if you've secretly yelled status window alone after the world went to shit, upvote lololol
The status window breadcrumb.
Of course, as a mature adult, I never once muttered 'status window' to myself.
You think I did in the 1st or 2nd regression? My memories start from the 5th anyway, so anything before that is ancient history.
I wouldn't hold modern nations accountable for ancient crimes. Did Turkey get treated as a war criminal state because Greece started the Trojan War?
Anyway, in this world, there was no kindly status screen listing out 'ability stats' and 'skill descriptions' in neat rows.
Awakeners had to painstakingly figure out the nature of their abilities through trial and error.
For instance, without SG Net, even Sim A-ryeon wouldn't have realized her healing ability was [Resentment Jade]. That is, it grew stronger the more aggro she drew.
This is also why, especially early in a regression, awakeners with 'simple abilities' had the advantage.
An ability like Yi Baek's [Lion's Roar], which just amplified the voice, was easy to recognize precisely because it was simple.
A world endlessly unfriendly to awakeners.
And that very unfriendliness was the secret to why I, the Undertaker, commanded overwhelming prestige and trust among them.
"Seo-gyu. Your ability is [Ubiquitous], which lets you create an internet community accessible via smartphone no matter what. The more users connect, the more your ability evolves, and the more systems you can add to the boards."
"Yes?"
"A-ryeon. Your ability is [Resentment Jade]. Once Seo-gyu creates SG Net, you'll start there as a founding member and the most infamous villain, drinking in all humanity's aggro to grow."
"Neeet?"
Monopoly of information.
The true nature of abilities even the awakeners themselves didn't know, their strengths and weaknesses, and even 'training methods' for developing them further.
I held all that intel in my grip, able to dole it out to whomever, whenever, and however much I wanted.
No, I didn't even need to step up myself.
['Saintess of National Salvation' bestows an ability upon you.]
With a bit of 'distortion', I could make it seem like the ability was awakened and developed by the constellations.
['Saintess of National Salvation' bestows the 'Lesser Heal' ability upon you.]
['Conqueror of the Alps' bestows the 'Hammer Proficiency' ability upon you.]
['Prime Minister in the Red Cape' bestows the 'Pain Tolerance to the Level of Stubbing Your Pinky Toe Without Hurt' ability upon you.]
Constellation chat performance guaranteed.
To awakeners, it was like receiving a serendipitous boon from the constellations for an ability they didn't even know they had.
['Prime Minister in the Red Cape' hints that intentionally stubbing your toe 999 times on chair legs or door frames will improve your 'Pain Tolerance' ability.]
Sometimes directly from me. Sometimes with the Saintess posing as a constellation.
The regressor schemed from past and future.
Those who awakened (learned of) their abilities through me followed me personally, while those through constellations worshipped the constellations. Either way, they were in my palm.
By revealing info that awakeners might have realized in 2 years, 6 years, or 10 years a bit earlier, we secured absolute loyalty.
This was one reason why Korea's warlord-level guilds were quieter than elsewhere. One military under one leader. They were all practically my indebted disciples. Just look at Dang Seo-rin—she mastered 'Equivalent Exchange' magic quickly thanks to me.
That's why.
-Anonymous: Woke up and yelled 'Status Open' again today, did the status window appear? (Day 191)
-Anonymous: It did so I'm posting lololol (Day 191)
The post that suddenly appeared in the 133rd regression threatened not just my position but Korea's security.
At first, I dismissed it as nonsense and scrolled past.
But about 30 minutes later, it turned out my complacency was a mistake.
[Undertaker. Big trouble.]
"Yes? What is it?"
['Status windows' are sequentially appearing before the eyes of awakeners across Korea.]
"What?"
I immediately logged into SG Net.
-Anonymous: Wait, what? A status screen actually popped up like a hologram in front of me?
-Literary Girl: Rate my status window pls.
-Anonymous: These guys are now doing a group troll? SG Net is doomed? Ban the lame breadcrumbs.
-Anonymous: Martial prowess stat S-rank?? You seeing this??
-Anonymous: Guys guys, my status window says Charm A-rank, is that good?
The community was in chaos.
"What the... "
"Guild masteeeeeer!"
Kwang! Someone kicked open my door and tumbled in.
The statement had two noteworthy points.
First, they flung open the door to my private room without warning—etiquette was foreign to them.
Second, they didn't walk or run in but rolled—their bipedal locomotion was questionable.
A creature mentally and physically unqualified as Homo sapiens. Its designation: Sim A-ryeon.
"Guild masteeeeer! I-it-it-it appeared! It appeared!"
"......"
"St-st-status appeeeeared...!"
From the dialogue, I didn't ask Sim A-ryeon 'What?' or 'Appeared? What do you mean?'
Nor did I ask what 'st-st-status' was.
But cryptids don't follow human conversation norms. The creature whipped out a sketchbook and scribbled furiously with a marker.
"L-l-look!"
I didn't want to.
Yet the regressor's honed senses brought many advantages—and one drawback.
The drawback: Just glancing at Sim A-ryeon's open sketchbook let me parse every word and detail.
――――――――――
[Status]
Name: Sim A-ryeon (沈娥漣)
Title: 'Bird That Drinks Poison'
Occupation: Healer, Pharmacist, Painter, Saintess (Potential), Novelist (Potential)
[Stamina: E] [Strength: E] [Intuition: S-] [Agility: E] [Intelligence: B] [Charm: F]
Personality Traits: [Undivided Loyalty] [Social Phobia] [Carelessness] [Arrogance]
Exclusive Skill: [Bird That Drinks Poison (SSS)]
*Bird That Drinks Poison (SSS): Ability to convert the poison overflowing in this world into medicine.
The more resentment and curses you receive from others, the stronger your healing manifests. Deeper curses and more resentment yield greater healing.
Evil to good. Resentment to opportunity. You were born to be this land's savior, the Saintess.
May fortune be with you.
――――――――――
"Y-you saw it, right? You saw? Guild masteeeeer... Ehehe. Eheee, I-I'm a st-status ability user...!"
"......"
"P-poison bird... Hehe, poison bird... And sa-savior, saintess...!"
Only then did I realize 'st-st-status' meant 'SSS-rank'.
As for why Sim A-ryeon pronounced 'SSS-rank' that way, I had to admit my ignorance.
My ignorance didn't end there.
I only got into web novels, genre fiction in general, starting from the 555th regression. So I couldn't rage or condemn this cryptid creature proudly claiming 'poison bird' amid the world's mockery and the universe's disgrace.
I simply stayed silent. As Wittgenstein said, we must remain silent about what we don't understand.
"G-guild master, try yelling it toooo."
"What?"
"Status window. St-status—open, it works when you yell it... Even just thinking it brings it up, but f-for the first time, you have to say it. Ah! When you say it, really really really focus your intent on wanting to see your stats...!"
What about the mute? This status window anomaly—obviously only an anomaly would pull this crap, so its identity was confirmed as such—but anyway, does it discriminate against the speech-impaired? (Pronounced quickly, it sounds like 'son of a bitch'.)
"C-come on! Guild master! Hurry!"
"...A-ryeon. Rashly yielding your domain to a monster like this is never wise."
"Huh?"
"You've joined our guild and learned plenty about anomalies by now. Like how we don't cross on red lights, calling this status window anomaly's name is likely the 'trigger condition' for its pact. Call it carelessly, and you're done."
"...Ah."
Sim A-ryeon looked convinced.
"G-guild master... You're scared your stats might be lower than mine, so you don't wanna say it... "
"......"
"S-sorry. You know how I lack consideration sometimes... Hehe. I won't brag about my stats in front of you anymoreee."
Sim A-ryeon left my room thinking, 'Ah, gotta go show off to Seo-gyu'.
More precisely, she stepped out, then peeked her head back in.
"Ah, um...! Even if-if you don't have SSS-rank or... S-rank or! Even A-rank! I-I'll never look down on you, Guild masteeeeer...!"
"......"
"Truth is, you shouldn't look down on people with abilities like this, right? Right? Hehe. So... G-guild master! Fighting...!"
Thud.
The cryptid closed the door and left.
The room fell silent.
Silence flowed.
"Saintess."
[Yes.]
"Gather all intel on this anomaly bastard. As fast as possible."
[...Yes.]
I sensed reluctance in the Saintess's tone, but I had no doubts. In hindsight, this was a historic event tied to genre fiction's grammatical revolution.
Thus began my war on the 'status window'.