Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: The Non-Player II
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Shin Noah
4
While we're on the topic, the author of the novel *The Bird That Drinks Poison* (who actually wrote it in the 766th turn) once said the following.
-The setting of a novel is like the roots of a tree. It needs to be vast and sturdy, but if you expose it, the tree will wither and die.
This applies not only to worldbuilding but to every situation.
The protagonist isn't omniscient. There must always be blank spaces like "white mist" flickering at the edges of their vision, no matter when or where.
Those white wastelands left shrouded in the protagonist's ignorance are, in truth, the sweet soil that continuously nourishes the prose and descriptions with rich sustenance.
Naturally, the characters' information must also be shrouded in some fog. How could you instantly discern someone's intelligence or skills?
Thus, status windows are harmful.
To put it metaphorically, status windows are an atrocity that indiscriminately strips away the minerals from the earth and nitrogen from the air.
This isn't because I'm bitter about Sim A-ryeon. I have a perfectly logical and justified rationale.
Even if I didn't get into subculture until the 555th turn and this is only the 133rd, meaning I actually had no knowledge of status windows, and all this griping is just historical revisionism from later eras—such counterarguments need not be entertained.
This isn't a contradiction; it proves I possessed prophetic intuition even in the 133rd turn. Even back when I was ignorant of subculture, the moment I encountered a status window, I instinctively sensed it was a "harmful" entity.
"Depending on things like status windows makes people weak."
I took immediate action.
Not only did I wage a public opinion war on SG Net, but whenever I met Awakeners privately, I emphasized how awful status windows were.
"Pardon? Big bro?"
"In my day, we gauged our strength by fighting anomalies bit by bit. That process of exploration—testing the enemy while crossing the line between life and death, testing ourselves—is a treasure beyond anything else. But you kids nowadays boldly claim you can easily crush a slime because your strength is B-rank."
"Uh...."
"How ignorant is that? Slimes aren't something you defeat with strength alone. The risk varies wildly depending on whether you're facing one in a swamp or a narrow labyrinth where it might unpredictably drop from the ceiling. The Void—that place can't be quantified in numbers to begin with, which is why it's the Void."
"...."
"How can you gauge your own prowess, the enemy's capabilities, or even the depths of the Void based solely on the flimsy alphabet letters displayed in a status window? The status window itself is an anomaly! It's an undeniable 'idiot box' that pollutes Awakeners' minds with filth and drags down all of humanity! Why can't you see it's a vicious ploy by an anomaly to systematically exterminate Awakeners who've grown complacent from its convenience and neglected their self-training!"
"Um...."
Seo-gyu raised his hand.
"Can I ask one thing, big bro?"
"What?"
"Why are you talking like that?"
"It's a draft for an opinion piece to awaken the Awakeners' consciousness. Thinking of posting it on SG Net like this—what do you think? Seo-gyu. Doesn't it make your chest swell with grandeur and remind you of an Awakener's true duty?"
"Ah, um...."
"You're not one of those chanting for status windows, are you, Seo-gyu? I dragged you from Busan Station and gave you one-on-one training—surely you haven't surrendered your judgment to such a vile anomaly."
Seo-gyu's expression turned peculiar.
By physiognomy standards, it read something like "What's up with big bro this time?"
Beside him, Sim A-ryeon (who was still there) whispered to Seo-gyu.
"Th-the status window popped up, but it looks like you have su-su-super shitty abilities. Gacha total failure...."
"Ah, so that's why he's like that."
"Yeah, yeah.... Ahh? J-just now, I felt an enormous aggro vibe from somewhere? Eek! I didn't do anything, but aggro's piling up in my heart like crazy! I-I can feel my ability strengthening in real-time! D-delicious! So delicious! A delicacy I've never tasted in my whole life.... Wh-who on earth harbors such massive resentment toward me...!"
"No coffee for you two for the next six months."
Seo-gyu and Sim A-ryeon let out a shriek, but I lightly ignored them. These kids needed to grasp the true value of discomfort more acutely.
-ZERO_SUGAR: [Long Post] An Essay on the Ghost "Status Window" Appearing Across the Korean Peninsula ~Awaken, Awakeners of the World!~
With blood-coughing anguish, I sounded the alarm. But the Awakeners, already soaked to the bone in the anomaly's false convenience, showed no response whatsoever.
Instead, they mocked me.
-Anonymous: ? What is this?
-Anonymous: A joke?
-Anonymous: No, this is fucking legendary lololol
-[Baekhwa]High School 10th Grader: >_<);;;;;
-Anonymous: I saw this in elementary school! It's that old story about some Joseon geezer smashing slaves for digging tunnels to avoid winter wind, saying how dare lowly peasants seek comfort?
└[National Highway]Historian: It's an anecdote from the Goryeo era about a scholar named Lee Gyubo. The original text says: '夏熱冬寒, 四時之常數也. 苟反是則爲恠異.' In other words, 'Summer heat and winter cold are constants of the four seasons. Defying this is an anomaly.' Coincidentally, the original uses the word "anomaly" (恠異).
└Anonymous: Who are you to be so smart?
└Literature Girl: O.
-dolLHoUse: Oppa....
-Goryeo Jang: lolololol
-Goryeo Jang: l
-Goryeo Jang: lolololololololololol
-Goryeo Jang: This guy's strength, intelligence, skills all show F-rank on status window, I saw it lololol
└Anonymous: Aha!
└Anonymous: We had no idea ㅠㅠㅠ
"...."
There was no public opinion on SG Net defending me anywhere.
Was this the pain of a clear-sighted pioneer in a city of the blind?
...No, strictly speaking, there was exactly one defense.
-[Yuldo Nation]Sword Marquis: Ah, this young one's words are truly correct! Seeing something only with one's own eyes is an illusion, and since time immemorial, being trapped in illusions has been diagnosed as a sign of madness. Thus, if the martial world's eastern paths are collectively ensnared in illusions, it can only be called collective madness. Oh, what calamity! Inevitable madness is tragedy, but what can one say about madness they choose themselves?
└Anonymous: Geezer duo, come on in
└Anonymous: Romance of the Three Kingdoms Geezer vs. Wuxia Geezer.... My chest swells....
It was a defense better off not existing.
On SG Net, there were scoundrels who often lumped me and the Sword Marquis together, and his covering fire just poured oil on that prejudice.
"...Fine."
I readily admitted it.
"Anomaly, this is your victory."
This wasn't a soliloquy. Since the "status window" was definitely a mental disruption-type anomaly, it was everywhere and nowhere.
"But don't think your victory is sealed here. Next time, and the time after, I'll reappear and eventually topple you."
[....]
"Saintess. Even if you don't say anything, I can hear your breathing when you're watching me."
[Ah. Yes. I'll be careful.]
And so, we advanced to a slightly higher stage—.
To put it bluntly, we moved on to the 134th turn.
"Eeek? Wh-why is this much aggro generating on its own when I didn't do anything...? D-delicious, but scary! G-Guild Leader! Someone whose identity I don't know is hating me for some unknowable reason! In real-time! Every day! H-help meee!"
"...."
For some reason, Sim A-ryeon in the 134th turn had awakened her skill to an all-time high level.
Of course, such minor hiccups weren't important.
I earnestly instructed the Saintess.
"Saintess. Starting three days from now, the status window anomaly will begin being observed nationwide."
"Ah. Yes."
"I explained what kind of anomaly the status window is last time, so you remember, right?"
"Yes. Very well. You ranted for three hours in front of No Do-ha and me."
"Good. Now, time it perfectly and have the Saintess hijack the status window."
The Saintess blinked.
"...Pardon?"
"I'm saying make it look like granting status windows is a Constellation's power. Then, every time Awakeners call for a status window, their gratitude—anyway, their emotions—will all pour toward the Constellations. People will sing praises to the Constellations' greatness, never knowing it was actually an anomaly."
"...Sorry. If I understand your proposal correctly, um.... Are you saying to steal the anomaly's achievements and make them ours?"
"The phrasing is a bit extreme, but yes. Exactly."
"Ah...."
The Saintess let out a groan.
She must have been awestruck by me, the Undertaker, the greatest anomaly hunter who even blasphemes gods.
No Do-ha, who had been quietly listening beside her, set down her coffee cup.
"Impressive. Now you're not just stealing from people—you're hijacking an anomaly's achievements. Didn't you just go on a geezer rant about how status windows make you complacent and lazy? Why hijack it now? Is this the dignity of a Regressor...."
"Hm."
"That's not a compliment, you idiot...."
My plan was flawless.
Naturally, I remembered down to the second when the first status window confirmation post would appear on SG Net, thanks to [Perfect Memory].
Since zero failure was tolerated, I went up to Yongsan and directed operations from the Saintess's home. The Saintess and I sat side by side in gaming chairs, staring at the monitor.
"Standby."
"...."
"Standby, standby. 3 seconds, 2 seconds, 1 second—now! Saintess! Now!"
The Saintess clasped her hands together.
[The Saintess of National Salvation bestows a new power upon you all.]
[From now on, by muttering 'Status Window,' 'Status Open,' etc., you can check your abilities.]
That instant.
-Anonymous: Shouted Status Open first thing this morning, status window appear? (Day 191)
-Anonymous: It did so I'm posting lololol (Day 191)
Incredibly timed, a confirmation post went up on SG Net.
Not just the first witness—Constellation messages were simultaneously sent to Awakeners across the peninsula. SG Net filled with posts like "What?" "Whoa, did everyone just get a Constellation message?" followed by floods of "Status window really appeared?" "Why is this real?" confirmations.
I clenched my fist.
"Success! Saintess! We did it! You were perfect!"
"...Yes."
This one moment's timing. To perfectly ambush and screw over the anomaly, the Saintess had paused time for a bit and messaged every Awakener on the peninsula.
How could this not be exhilarating? Even Xun Yu seeing the lunchbox with sides pilfered by the deliveryman wouldn't have been this shocked.
-Anonymous: Saintess of National Salvation << GOAT among all Constellations, massive respect lololol
-Anonymous: Fr, she's the answer lolol
└Anonymous: "Bitch"?
└Anonymous: Call her ma'am, who do you think you are
-Literature Girl: Tells us skills, development methods, now even gifts status windows—what won't you generously bestow upon us, GOAT....
Naturally, the faith that would have gone to the anomaly all flowed to the Constellations. I.e., to the Saintess.
The anomaly does the work, humans reap the rewards. This is the supreme way of the Regressor.
"How's that? Checkmate. No escape."
"...."
The status window anomaly was neutralized.
What I hadn't anticipated at the time was that the "status window" was merely a side effect—a gap born from subjugating the sidelined god, Infinite Hell.
Like aftershocks from an earthquake, ripples from the Void occur multiple times.
Boom!
Not even days after I'd smugly crushed the status window, Sim A-ryeon burst through my door rolling in.
"G-Guild Leeeader!"
"...A-ryeon. As I've said many times, whether S-rank or whatever, you shouldn't obsess over such vulgar things...."
"Su-su-super shitty. Don't ever get it wrong again."
"Ah."
"Ah! A-anyway! That's not the point right now—no, it is important! B-big trouble! Q-quick, come outside!"
Sim A-ryeon tugged my sleeve.
For a split second, the proposition "E-rank weakling's pull strength means my body won't budge" surged up my throat and brushed my lips, but I barely held it back.
I hadn't fallen that far yet.
Anyway, stepping out to the open lot outside the guild (we hadn't yet conceived of using the undersea tunnel as our base at this point), a half-dead slime was feebly wriggling.
"Aaaah! It's already running! Hit! Hit! Stop! How dare a mere slime...!"
Evidently Sim A-ryeon was the one who'd battered this slime, as it clearly eyed us warily, twitching.
Sim A-ryeon picked up a club.
"L-look at this! Guild Leader! You have to open your eyes wiiiide and see...!"
What did "open wide" mean?
Musing that cryptid lifeforms' language grew more cryptic by the day, Sim A-ryeon swung the club.
And I ended up opening my eyes wiiiide.
"...Huh?"
"S-see? Hehe. You saw it good, right...?"
The reason I was shocked wasn't the profound technique in Sim A-ryeon's swing, nor some unprecedented chemical reaction from the slime.
More precisely, above the slime's body—in the "empty air," the part that should have remained a blank maze of whitespace—a reaction was visible.
[DAMAGE!]
[91!]
It was floating there.
Above the slime's body, in English letters: "DAMAGE." And the "number" of that damage.
In exaggerated bold red font, the letters hovered... then vanished after a moment.
The even more shocking thing happened right after.
*Pring♪*
A comical sound effect rang out. Then Sim A-ryeon went "Ah," and wiggled her fingers as if manipulating a status window in the air.
"E-exp gained, leveled up...."
"Exp? Level?"
"Ah, yes. I smack slimes daily to relieve stress, and suddenly damage numbers and stuff started popping up. Exp and level got added to my status window too...."
"...."
"I-I'm level 13! Ah, just went to 14.... What level are you, Guild Leader? Huh? Ehehe. Bet you're not like level 99 solo or something?"
Sim A-ryeon's eyes sparkled, but I could only stay silent.
From afar, it felt like an anomaly's hallucinated whisper echoed.
-Checkmate? No, checkmated yourself.
-Where are you looking? That's my afterimage.
The status window was merely the tip of the iceberg.
Exp. Level-up system.
The entity freely manipulating all these elements was none other than an RPG... a "role-playing game."