Chapter 148
Chapter 148
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 148
Chapter Title: Godslayer III
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Namsan Void.
The monstrosity that had taken root here was the Central Intelligence Bureau—or just the Bureau for short.
You could also call it the Agency for National Security Planning.
If you preferred long-winded, fateful names like Dwelling in the Night, then something like [The Gun that Pierces the Heart of Dictatorial Power] or [Priests of the Sacred Water Resisting Communism] would suit just fine.
"What a barbaric country this is!"
It was also the Void Old Man Show hated most in the distant past.
"I'm not a communist advocating bloody revolution—I'm a social democrat pushing for gradual reform through parliament! I'm different from the far-left who want to seize parliamentary power and convert it into monopolistic party rule! Why the hell do I have to get called a Red?!"
There was a special reason Old Man Show testified to his ideology so fervently.
-Catch that Red bastard over there!
-The target's resistance is fierce.
-Director! The opponent's a foreigner—mess this up, and it could turn into a diplomatic incident!
-Hey! Agent Kim! You think different hair color means not a Red? Does that make Stalin a freedom fighter? Quit yapping and grab him if I say so!
Bang bang bang!
Gunfire erupted around Old Man Show.
That's right.
The "Central Intelligence Bureau" monstrosities coiled in Namsan popped out whenever they could to snatch up humans with impure ideologies.
In fact, this Central Intelligence Bureau occupied a position on the peninsula similar to goblins.
No, considering all their traits, they were undoubtedly goblins.
A. They had strength in numbers. Anyone wandering the Void would easily run into uncles whispering, "I'm actually a Bureau agent," or "My relative works at Namsan..."
B. They kidnapped people into underground lairs and never let them go. Screams always echoed from the Namsan bunker.
C. Let your guard down with "How strong can some goblins be?" and you'd get smacked in the back of the head without fail.
The Awakener who suffered most from these Bureau goblins was none other than Old Man Show.
Not just near Namsan—wherever he went, Bureau goblins popped out and peppered him with bullets.
"Damn you sons of bitches!"
The German wailed in savory diction.
If he'd met Seo-gyu, they'd have recognized each other as sworn brothers—the pinnacle of sonic arts.
"I'm a so-cial de-mo-crat who af-firms cap-i-tal-ism and lib-er-al de-mo-cra-cy!"
What Old Man Show hadn't considered was that such nuanced ideological distinctions weren't feasible on this peninsula.
Here, Max Weber's book had once been designated subversive for sounding like "Karl Marx." A social democrat was just a Red with tweaked RGB values, no?
From the Bureau monstrosities' view, "Germany" was a region divided into West and East Germany just like the peninsula—ongoing. To anyone, Old Man Show screamed East German spy.
Bang!
In one regression, he really died from Bureau gunfire.
A monumental death worthy of a Darwin Award across all regressions. I could hardly wait for the next regression reunion.
Barely suppressing suicidal urges to follow normal regression procedures, I rushed to find Old Man Show.
Aware of his shame, he stood with hands behind his back.
I tried footwork to check his face, but he maintained "hands behind back" with ingenious evasion maneuvers.
His first words then were these.
"Undertaker. Huh? How could such a barbaric nation exist? Huh?"
As expected.
The Old Man Show who always yelled at me to stop with the racism actually harbored a European imperialist ego deep in his gloomy brain folds, looking down on Asia. I knew it.
"I guarantee you, back home, Nazi monstrosities are dancing hand-in-hand with the Gestapo."
"Send me home right now! I'll show you what regret means!"
"Well, if you want to watch World War I and II unfold alternately in the Great Void firsthand..."
"Why is humanity so barbaric!"
The classic line of a revolutionary degenerating into a dictator.
"They don't grab baldies. Shave it clean this time."
"Scram! No one touches my hair!"
Anyway, Namsan had been a familiar Void to me for a very long time.
I'd tagged along when Old Man Show ground his teeth and subjugated it. I'd been compiling攻略 methods meticulously since then.
Above all, since the Saintess's abode was in Yongsan, I had to prepare thoroughly for my key ally's safety.
Of course, the Saintess had no political leanings.
Imposing collective thinking on her would've been problematic from the start.
But Bureau agents from the 1960s-80s had minds too classic to grasp "hikikomori."
A suspicious person holed up at home, obsessed with external networks (=internet)? No proper job? Total spy, right?
[I was reading Kant on a walk last week when a humanoid monstrosity approached and asked what book this young lady was reading.]
The Saintess once vented her injustice in a somewhat angry voice.
[It seemed like a communicative type, so I answered: Kant's Critique of Pure Reason.]
[But it grilled me if the book I was reading was subversive.]
[I refuted, of course.]
[Marxism stems from a materialist interpretation of Hegelian philosophy, and Hegel and Kant remain opposing schools even in modern times.]
[Moreover, I advocate Schopenhauer, who notoriously despised Hegel. How could I side with Marxism?]
[But the Bureau agent didn't understand my explanation at all.]
[Such a terribly, terribly barbaric monstrosity.]
"Hmm..."
Even without being a monstrosity, it was a hard explanation to grasp.
Anyway, the Saintess had nearly been dragged off by Namsan goblins several times. Without her top-tier deception skills, she might've really been kidnapped.
Numerous Awakeners and civilians had actually been "enchanted" by that monstrosity.
Registering攻略 methods on SG Net for people was a natural step.
-Hey, you! Suspicious getup. Open your luggage.
"I'm an American citizen."
-What?
American passport!
After countless experiments, the simplest, most cost-effective method I'd found.
No matter how they kidnapped indiscriminately, show a heavenly passport, and they turned meek like clerks spotting a warrant.
-Oh, uh. Sorry, sir. With all the unfortunate incidents lately, higher-ups tightened searches.
"Wow. Korea's still the front line fighting communists. Very interesting."
-Y-yes, yes. Take care!
Bureau monstrosities savage even to Old Man Show transformed into courteous gentlemen.
Thus, forged American passports became essential for everyone on the peninsula.
Now, even if Namsan monstrosities popped out suddenly, people barely panicked. Flash the passport, spit some Konglish, and they vanished.
But this攻略 only safely bypassed Namsan monstrosities.
To exterminate them, you needed a "heavier item."
-Halt!
Like me, heading to Namsan right now.
-You, what are you? Where from?
-Take off the hat! This guy's suspicious.
-Who do you think this place is, barging in? Hey, punk! Head up?
I'd just tried passing the front gate, but hysterical reactions erupted.
From their view, it was natural. Not shooting immediately showed professional restraint.
I wore a newsboy cap pulled low. Suspicious as hell in their eyes.
-Move and we shoot!
-Hands up! Hands up, you punk!
Click. Monstrosities aimed muzzles my way.
I calmly raised both hands.
And just as they exhaled in relief—
I unveiled the newsboy cap.
-Gasp...?
My head gleamed brightly.
Yeah. This happened in the 592nd regression.
The curse from the Monkey's Paw squeezing its last magic.
The sorcery's aftereffect lingered past 591st into 592nd.
Acute alopecia had swept my scalp clean—no trace of the ape charging "ook ook!" through jungles remained.
Seeing my solar-scalp splendor, the monstrosities muttered.
-S-Sir?
I lowered my voice sternly.
"At ease."
-...!
Namsan monstrosities hastily slung rifles and saluted.
I eyed them disdainfully.
Drip.
Sweat trickled from their temples.
"Good work."
-Sir, yes sir!
They shouted enthusiastically, grateful for safe passage.
This was the true攻略 method.
If you were "bald" with exactly "290,000 won in bills," you could free-pass through Namsan Void.
Simple, but discovered by sheer coincidence stacked on coincidence.
Post-civilization collapse, humans carrying 290,000 won cash were rare; even rarer if that human was me, bald, and approaching Namsan Void.
Insanely low odds!
Multiple verifications later, only No Do-ha and I could activate this攻略.
Probably only works for figures implicitly recognized as "peninsula rulers."
I strolled leisurely to the Void's heart. No one could stop me.
[So Undertaker deliberately carried exactly 290,000 won cash to Namsan in past regressions?]
"Yes."
[How on earth?]
"Saintess, after ~590 regressions, you develop a habit of trying everything."
[How, on earth?]
True to her philosophical nature, the Saintess pursued infinite inquiry. But true issues change the world, so I pressed on like a rhinoceros horn.
-S-Sir!
-Sir!
"Good work."
Namsan monstrosities leaped out everywhere, but glimpsing my glorious dome, swore loyalty each time.
Now, only this place's final boss, the "Central Intelligence Director," remained before me.
A formidable monstrosity; even current me would struggle via normal routes.
Namsan Void overlapped Bureau, Agency, Great Investigation Room, etc. Naturally, their boss "Director" wielded authority far beyond real history.
But meaningless.
-Gaaahhh! Y-You bastard!
Sizzle.
The Director melted like meat in bone broth upon seeing my bald head.
Like African sand to Hannibal or Russian snowmen to Napoleon—baldness was the Director's insurmountable weakness.
Prime example: matchups always matter against monstrosities.
Yes, in end-times apocalypse, even baldness had its perks.
[Namsan Void cleared this easily...]
"In this world, knowledge is power, Saintess."
From the slime-puddled Director remains flowed the item I'd sought all episode.
I bent to grasp "that gun."
The peninsula's strongest Noble Phantasm.
German-made Walther PPK pistol.
"Ahh."
This chilling, heavy feel.
I couldn't hold back a smile.
"Good. I've beaten this monstrosity before, but ignored the pistol then. Couldn't fall for Chekhov's gun."
[...]
"But now I have a use for it."
You've waited long.
All conditions finally met.
From 135th regression—"Logout Game" world-ending then—I'd never stopped pondering how to kill that Outsider God.
Project [Zero Requiem] to awaken Sim A-ryeon's powers.
Luck total amount usage, verified through risky experiments.
Finally, proven-acquirable Walther PPK here.
All this: regressor's groundwork and groping in the dark to subjugate the Outsider God.
Thus, no epilogue today.
Comrades.
Now we kill a god.
-Godslayer. End.
