Chapter 154
Chapter 154
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 154
Chapter Title: The Outsider God Descends
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Finally, the [Operator of Myriad Phenomena and Play] had sent a notification message, but it still hadn’t fully revealed itself.
If compared to a hikikomori, the current state was akin to the “door slightly ajar.”
It was somewhat lacking to truly show the bitterness of the real world.
To drag this severe recluse out into the brilliant light of the outside world, one final decisive blow was needed.
First, I logged into SG Net to check the current situation.
-Anonymous: Status window up??
As planned, a festival was in full swing across the community.
-Anonymous: Thought my ability was ignition, but status window says it’s thought-image. Turns out I was a pathetic Awakener who didn’t even know my own power properly until now….
└Goryeo Jang: What’s the difference between ignition and thought-image? Both fire, right?
└Anonymous: Ignition just sets physical objects ablaze, but thought-image can set communities on fire too….
└Goryeo Jang: ?
└Anonymous: The bigger the thought-image gets, the stronger my ability becomes. I’ll show you starting now, so wait….
-Anonymous: Seeing the status window makes life worth living now.
-Anonymous: Kyaa, O Dok-seo, you kept this gem to yourself lololol
-Cooking Queen: How intriguing.
-Historian: Just out of curiosity, but among those who posted proof of becoming magical girls, were they all female?
└Anonymous: lol
└Historian: ?
└Anonymous: You’ll find out when you go lol
I nodded.
Among the Awakeners right now, “status windows” were spreading like a trend.
Even normal people who’d initially felt instinctive aversion toward the enigmatic group called the Magical Girl Council changed their minds once reviews poured in like “This place is a hidden gem, 5 stars.”
If the strategy proceeded smoothly like this, it wouldn’t be long before we could lure the hikikomori Outsider God out from behind its door.
“By the way.”
Just to be sure, I asked the Saintess.
“Saintess. Among the Awakeners who’ve gotten status windows, any with useful abilities?”
[I’m continuing to check. But nothing confirmed yet.]
The Saintess in charge of monitoring replied calmly.
[The ‘teleport’ ability you asked about last time hasn’t shown up either.]
[There are people who awakened ‘lightness skill’ or ‘stepping technique’ series, but they’re nowhere near teleport level.]
“Hmm.”
As expected.
I’d searched several times up to the 593rd cycle for someone with instant movement ability to save Old Man Show’s wife.
Yet if no trace of such a person had appeared even now, the likelihood was high that no teleport Awakener truly existed.
There might be one on the opposite side of the Earth…. But at such a distance, even finding one would render it meaningless.
I tucked the old disappointment away in a drawer in my mind. Then I turned to O Dok-seo.
“How’s it going, Dok-seo?”
“…….”
“Can you feel the connection to the Outsider God?”
O Dok-seo was sitting cross-legged in meditation. It was a rather difficult posture for a modern otaku like her.
“Ugh… I kinda feel it, but also kinda don’t…?”
O Dok-seo scrunched up her face in all sorts of ways while her legs trembled.
While the Saintess and I handled the strategy from behind the scenes, O Dok-seo was in charge of approaching the [Operator of Myriad Phenomena and Play].
“Focus a bit harder. The Outsider God has already extended its tentacles toward you. You just haven’t noticed.”
“No, but mister. This posture hurts so much, can’t I switch…? I’ll kneel instead. Forget focus, my leg bones feel like they’re gonna snap, for real….”
“No. Since ancient times, the cross-legged position has been renowned as the most effective for attaining enlightenment. Tens of thousands of protagonists from creative works achieved great awakening in that posture. To connect with Myriad Phenomena and Play, cross-legged is the optimal position.”
“Ughhhh, it hurts…. It fucking hurts so bad….”
She couldn’t adjust her posture despite the discomfort.
Three hours later. Forced into prolonged cross-legged meditation, O Dok-seo raged and thrashed about in fury.
“Fuck, how am I supposed to focus in this uncomfortable position! You crazy mister! I can’t feel any connection to the Outsider God—only my legs and hips separating!”
“With the Outsider God’s peculiar energy already dwelling within you, you truly can’t sense it?”
“The pain’s worse! Pain! Agony! I can’t focus because my leg bones feel like they’re breaking—how many times do I have to say it!”
“Hah. Goodness me.”
This is why the young ones nowadays.
If she says she can’t, what can I do? Change the environment around her.
[Now constructing a temple to summon the ‘Operator of Myriad Phenomena and Play.’]
First, I kidnapped three hundred writers and opened a “canned hotel.”
With the help of the Tutorial Fairies, it only took two days.
Suddenly invited to a luxury hotel, the writers let out cheers of joy.
“Spare us!”
“You all just write. Oh, and when starting new novels, make sure a god appears in the introduction. Fix the god’s name as [Operator of Myriad Phenomena and Play].”
“Let us out of here!”
“Then good luck, writers.”
A worker faithful to their profession is a happy being. Under my leadership, the writers were reborn as happy beings.
A week later. Urging the writers to produce serialized posts, those things soon began appearing around the hotel.
-Booooom!
-Bang! Boom! Bangbangbangbangbang!
Reincarnation Trucks.
Each one was a bizarre entity tied to creative works, directly affiliated with the [Operator of Myriad Phenomena and Play].
This area, dense with “hundreds of writers” and “hundreds of Reincarnation Trucks,” was gradually transforming into fertile ground ideal for the Outsider God’s descent.
It was functioning as a sort of temple specialized in serving creative work bizarre entities.
And that wasn’t all.
“You lot dance around Dok-seo too.”
“Yes, Secretary-General Comrade! We shall carry out the orders!”
The Tutorial Fairies also had strong creative work attributes in their lineage.
The self-proclaimed dream demons joined hands and began a grand circle dance. At the center, O Dok-seo struggled to maintain her cross-legged position.
The Fairies hopped about, singing in chorus.
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles-♪”
“Free men and slaves, patricians and plebeians, lords and serfs-♪”
“Proletarians of all countries-♪”
“Unite-♪”
“…….”
O Dok-seo, eyes closed trying to focus on meditation, wore a shit-eating grimace.
And that wasn’t all.
I altered the terrain in the backyard of the canned hotel to create a waterfall. It took considerable effort to divert the water, but for a regressor of the 593rd cycle, it was mere half-day labor.
-Roooaaarrrrr!
As a result, cool cascade poured down over O Dok-seo’s head.
Had O Dok-seo not trained with me in the “Room of Spirit and Time,” it would have dealt serious damage to her spine health.
And that wasn’t all.
[The ‘Operator of Myriad Phenomena and Play’ announces a surprise event.]
[Offer prayers praising the ‘Operator of Myriad Phenomena and Play’ in the garden of the newly opened hotel!]
[The 200 most devout believers will receive a 3x rare item drop rate event for the next year!]
These messages weren’t from the Outsider God.
They were texts sent by the Saintess impersonating the Outsider God.
Of course, ordinary Awakeners had no way to distinguish the real from a voice phishing scam.
“Ah, don’t push! Don’t push!”
Murmurs.
Soon, the canned hotel swarmed with “magical girls” gathered to snag the event rewards.
“Why’s there a waterfall in the hotel garden?”
“Look over there! It’s O Dok-seo! She’s meditating under the waterfall!”
“Damn, she’s hardcore. Raced here the moment the event notice dropped and snagged the prime spot.”
“Well, that’s the level of dedication needed to be the top Awakener on the peninsula….”
“Taking down the Ten Tribes was impressive, but honestly, she’s a bit much. Lacks human touch, doesn’t she?”
“The Fairies are dancing something weird….”
“Feel it coming. This is a historic event.”
“Operator of Myriad Phenomena and Play! My faith in you is the deepest!”
Swarms.
Around five hundred magical girls crammed into the garden.
Thinking there was some secret to O Dok-seo’s posture, they mimicked her cross-legged position. Some magical girls even stood under the waterfall together, murmuring the name of Myriad Phenomena and Play.
O Dok-seo, stuck in the midst of the magical girls, grew increasingly ashen-faced.
I nodded.
“Hmm.”
A truly perfect scene.
Even if the ‘Operator of Myriad Phenomena and Play’ wanted to hide no matter what, it couldn’t resist descending now!
[With this, the temple is complete.]
Let me sketch a simple layout.
At the center: O Dok-seo in her shaman role, cross-legged.
Above: The cascade of “enlightenment water” poured down, while around five hundred magical girls chanted sutras.
Encircling that: Hundreds of Fairies danced a revolutionary circle dance.
Beyond that: Three hundred writers engaged in fervent creative activity, and on the horizon, hundreds, thousands of Reincarnation Trucks endlessly respawned.
In other words.
The 4D sound effects assaulting the eardrums of O Dok-seo, who needed to concentrate maximally on meditation, described in realist literary style, were as follows.
-Roooaaarrrrr!
“Operator of Myriad Phenomena and Play! Look at me!”
“The proletariat has nothing to lose but its chains-♪”
-Booooom! Bang! Bangbangbang!
“And a world to win-♪”
“Operator of Myriad Phenomena and Play!”
-Roooaaar! Bangbang!
Had any artist ever depicted such a moving scene?
This was a temple of its own kind. No landscape was more fitting for summoning a blasphemous Outsider God over a holy guardian deity.
And that wasn’t all.
While the heretics’ festival raged at the canned hotel, I quietly visited Namsan. Naturally, to make use of “Chekhov’s gun.”
I tucked a Walther PPK pistol into my bosom and pulled down a fur hat firmly.
[Undertaker, your hair…]
“There’s nothing wrong with my hair.]
[…Yes.]
What is life?
Life is suffering.
The falling waterfall, the Fairies howling revolution, the Reincarnation Trucks forced into overtime, the magical girls chanting sutras to the Outsider God, O Dok-seo cross-legged amidst it all, and above all, I, the Undertaker, who’d willingly shaved my roots to kill bizarre entities—all were wrapped in suffering.
Only that hikikomori Outsider God escaped this worldly torment.
I couldn’t contain my rage.
To let that bizarre entity taste life’s bitterness soon, I broadcast my lines.
[Now, I’ve gathered nearly all available creative work elements at my disposal.]
[Even if O Dok-seo meditates cross-legged poorly, she’ll inevitably feel the connection to the Outsider God now.]
[If this isn’t enough, I’ll assemble creative work elements from not just the peninsula but the Japanese archipelago too.]
[It’ll be a bit tough, but not impossible. Simply catch Godzilla from the Pacific and release it here.]
[Shall we watch leisurely to see if O Dok-seo succeeds or fails this meditation?]
“…….”
O Dok-seo desperately immersed herself in meditation.
From her profile flowed liquid indistinguishable as waterfall water or cold sweat.
With my S-rank hearing enhanced by aura, I could clearly hear O Dok-seo’s constant mutterings.
“…Fuck, please, just come out already. Yeah? Feel it. Outsider God or whatever, you said I’m your shaman! So appear! Pretty please! Fuuuuck…!”
And.
The earnest prayer reached the cosmos.
[The ‘Operator of Myriad Phenomena and Play’ descends.]
Light spread above O Dok-seo’s head.
Within the glow, a tiny “blue butterfly” descended in a dance.
The butterfly that briefly appeared at the final moment when this world ended due to server shutdown.
The Outsider God’s true body.
‘It’s here.’
My mind instantly cooled.
Unaware or not of my steadying cold breath, the blue butterfly flapped its wings contentedly.
Zzzzzzt—
With each flap, noise-mixed colors infected the surroundings.
8-bit, 16-bit, 2-bit. Countless resolutions flickered. The Outsider God polluted the area with void by its mere existence.
[The ‘Operator of Myriad Phenomena and Play’ has been closely observing several instances lately of users employing near-cheat methods in the game.]
[The so-called ‘drop item probability enhancement event’ is not planned and will not be serviced in the future.]
[We apologize for not disclosing accurate information sooner to you users.]
At the Outsider God’s statement, the magical girls murmured.
“What? What’s that mean?”
“Fake info?”
Indeed.
The ploy of impersonating the Outsider God via the Saintess’s telepathy was a double-edged sword. A strategy usable only once.
Once Awakeners realized notifications could be distorted, they wouldn’t easily trust even real telepathy henceforth.
So now was the best chance.
‘Operator of Myriad Phenomena and Play.’
I glared at the butterfly overhead.
It was a bizarre entity that only appeared after such pandemonium, with spawn rate like a legendary Pokémon.
Here. Now. Had to catch it.
Of course, I wasn’t a Pokémon trainer. No Master Ball to capture any legendary in one go.
Instead.
“――Yo-hwa unniiiii!”
Among our incorporated members was a Pokémon Master.
O Dok-seo shouted Cheon Yo-hwa’s name. Having endured the waterfall until moments ago, her legs cramped from cross-legged, so she stumbled while rising.
Even tumbling, she yelled.
“Unni! Zigzaaaaaam! Now!”
“Yeah.”
Leaving behind O Dok-seo’s drenched scream, Cheon Yo-hwa flashed past like wind.
No dramatic line or pose. Without hesitation, Cheon Yo-hwa pulled out an hourglass and smashed it to the ground.
Crash!
The hourglass shattered. From the broken glass fragments, uncontrollable blackness spread like ink—an utterly dark domain.
The bizarre entity contained in that hourglass was Avīci.