Chapter 181
Chapter 181
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 181
Chapter Title: Theseus's Ship
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4
Have you ever wondered what jobs would steadfastly survive even if the world ended?
Soldiers? Mostly wiped out by Chekhov's gun. Artists? Virtually exterminated due to a regressor's favoritism toward writers alone.
"Your Excellency. Operations Control Room Section 2, assembled."
The correct answer was surprisingly "civil servants."
"Good. You've worked hard."
"Not at all, Your Excellency."
Rumble!
Thunder crashed in the night sky. It was because of the autumn rain.
Yoo Ji-won's silver hair gracefully caught and drank the rainwater, while behind her, members of the National Highway Management Corps stood in formation.
A total of 108 operatives from the Operations Control Room Strike Team.
These were the civil servants—and elites—handling public violence in the current Korean Peninsula, where the national military had flown the coop.
Not a single one among them hadn't received aura training from me or the攻略 methods to develop their awakening abilities.
"......"
"......"
Naturally, military discipline was drilled in tight. The gazes directed at me brimmed with near-infinite respect.
I clasped my hands behind my back.
"An unidentified anomaly has spread like a virus. To date, 504 infections have occurred across the Korean Peninsula, with Busan having the most at 311."
"......"
"The condition for infection by the anomaly is 'seeing a ship.' It's fortunate it's night rather than day; otherwise, fishermen would have been wiped out by dawn. In fact, most of the infected were engaged in nighttime fishing operations."
A chilling tension flowed from the operatives' eyes.
It wasn't just because they'd experienced COVID in childhood, leaving trauma from viruses.
In this era where food wasn't abundant, fish was practically a staple. Excluding the fact that every fish's danger level was now baseline pufferfish equivalent, fish was truly a nutrient-packed side dish.
In short, tomorrow's meal was now at risk.
"The anomaly's official designation is 'Theseus's Ship,' and during operations, refer to it as T. T is growing at a terrifying speed. Depending on the case, it can infect not just with ship images but even the pronunciation of 'ship,' so from now on, all words related to ships are forbidden. Understood?"
"Yes, Your Excellency!"
The National Highway Management Corps combat squad responded in unison.
They called me "Your Excellency" because, well, their big boss—the silver-haired psychopath—was standing right next to me.
"T-infected individuals are indiscriminately running through the city streets, luring uninfected citizens toward waterfronts and ships."
"......"
"The Corps has already taken measures, but unexpected damage could occur anywhere. There's a high chance infected are carrying ship-related photos, so be prepared to don blindfolds at any moment. That is all."
Snap. The Corps members saluted. The movements were so precise, Mussolini would be jealous.
I rubbed my forehead. I'd warned them multiple times not to do that, but they wouldn't listen.
But their skills were undeniably solid.
What Mussolini should truly envy wasn't the crisp salutes, but their combat prowess.
"Your Excellency. We've captured them all."
Before the night was even over, all the infected in the Busan area had been rounded up.
"Any casualties?"
"Two. Based on Your Excellency's intel, capture teams were formed in threes, with at least one always wearing a blindfold, minimizing damage."
The reason Corps members wore blindfolds was, of course, because the infected tried to flash ship-related images whenever they had a chance.
Some infected had even tattooed ships on their bodies.
One operative let their guard down when the perp passed out, only to get infected by spotting the ship shape tattooed on their scalp.
In other words, the anomaly had made a balding man tattoo his own scalp.
Now do you all see why I categorically reject coexistence between anomalies and humanity? Anomalies. You shouldn't exist.
"Saintess, what about other regions?"
[Mostly fine. Incheon had the most damage after Busan, but we've nabbed almost all the infected here too. Daejeon and Sejong report zero casualties.]
"As expected, inland areas have lighter damage."
[Yes. At this rate, we can seal off infection routes before dawn.]
I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Then the problem now is......"
[Yeah. SG Net.]
My chest tightened.
In reality, isolating humans was straightforward, but the internet was the issue.
Even now, SG Net was flooded with posts and comments.
-Beautiful ark.jpg
-Click this post and get 3 million won
-Scared? Wanna chat with me??
-No ship pics here, come on in
-[MUST READ] Tips for boarding the ark!!
All bait posts.
Most featured ship photos.
Even posts without images weren't safe—meticulously drawn ASCII art ships in text.
In fact, four Awakeners had ignored the Constellations' warning [DO NOT ACCESS SG NET FOR THE TIME BEING] and gotten infected. Idiots?
"Saintess. Are you sure all the Awakeners with those posting nicknames have been fully captured?"
[Of course. Smartphones confiscated too. No macros running elsewhere either.]
"Yet posts are still going up under their nicknames unscathed......"
[Yes. Likely not just real-world humans, but the 'nicknames' on the internet got infected by T too.]
So-called personas.
Just look at Sim A-ryeon—plenty believed the true world existed inside the monitor.
Not that severely, but many distinguished between 'internet self' and 'real self.'
Theseus's Ship targeted that gap.
-Is the internet me the real one? Or the real-world me? What is the true me? Does the concept of 'me' even exist?
Something like that.
Ultimately, both the 'me living in reality' and the 'me wandering the internet' got infected by the anomaly.
Literally becoming internet ghosts.
We'd successfully apprehended the infected, but there was no way to handle the virus carriers within SG Net.
What could we do? Even Seo-gyu, who held admin rights to SG Net, had lost his marbles.
"Your Excellency. I have a solution."
Yoo Ji-won spoke.
"What is it?"
"SG Net can't be maintained without admin Seo-gyu anyway, right? So—"
"If your solution is to kill Seo-gyu, just don't say it."
Yoo Ji-won obediently shut her mouth.
'What to do?'
Even now, Theseus's Ship was evolving in real time.
The gateway letters 'SG Net' began distorting bizarrely.
'Shiㅈp Net' 'ShixㅏNet' 'YouㅈDie'—wriggling and changing form.
For now, just mangling text, but soon it'd freely edit image files too. Parasitic on Seo-gyu's awakening ability.
Once a ship image got slapped on the site banner, it was over.
Humanity's forbidden internet anomaly would be born. Especially with all other sites down.
'Can't lose Seo-gyu to something this stupid.'
I pondered deeply.
'Ship. Ship. Ship. Charon's ferryman. Carries people to another world. Tool from this shore to the other. How to eliminate it? Ship's weakness? Water? Typhoon?'
Then, a strange sound came from afar.
-Ahhhh......
Singing.
A strand of song drifted from downtown Busan.
"Hm?"
Yoo Ji-won and I turned our heads simultaneously.
Melody resonated from speakers installed throughout Busan.
Miraculously, fatigue eased from my whole body the moment I heard it.
"Ah. The Grand Witch is singing."
"At this hour?"
"Yes. The Corps members, Three Thousand Worlds guildies, and Busan citizens toiled all night. Superhumans like Your Excellency aside, most are complaining of fatigue and pain. She's using Song Enchantment to soothe their sleeplessness a bit."
"Ah...... Indeed. I overlooked that."
I admired Dang Seo-rin's thoughtfulness, but Yoo Ji-won sneered indifferently.
"Singing to show off at moments like this, subtly winning hearts. Classic Grand Witch of Busan survival tactic."
"Hey, Ji-won. I've told you countless times, you need to drop that rotten personality. I know you only act like that in front of me, but if anyone else finds out, you'll really—"
It hit me then.
Lightning bolt of an idea streaked through my brain folds and stabbed down my spine.
'—Wait. Song? Ship starting with T?'
As I'd mentioned several times, my nape had sixth-sense neurons no other Homo sapiens possessed.
Also known as goosebumps. They chorused "Eureka!" in unison.
"Song. Yes, song!"
"Your Excellency? Didn't catch that?"
"Ji-won! Grab recording gear and head to Dang Seo-rin now! I figured out the real way to beat T!"
The expressionless psychopath tilted her head.
5
Besides Noah's Ark, there was another famously doomed ship.
The Titanic.
In 1912, setting sail from Britain, it was the world's largest passenger liner then.
Media dubbed its luxurious grandeur "unsinkable." Meaning it absolutely wouldn't sink.
Of course, in subculture, if anyone but the protagonist holds titles like "invincible" or "unbeatable," it's just Eastern phrasing euphemistically saying "will definitely lose someday" or "will definitely get done in eventually."
In 1912, Britain was still shouldering the protagonist role in the Earth Theater, but across the Atlantic, country-bumpkin miss America was rising fast.
With "unsinkable" sailing between Britain and America, the tragedy was obvious. Prelude to the Earth Theater protagonist swap.
James Cameron's <Titanic> movie was inspired by this true story.
And <Titanic> famously blinded audiences' eyes and ears.
First, eyes blinded by Leonardo DiCaprio's insane looks, then ears by—.
"Uh...... Undertaker. You want me to sing?"
"Yeah."
"And 'that' song?"
"Exactly."
Yes.
.
Composer, James Horner. Singer, Celine Dion.
One of the most successful songs in movie history.
"...Why all of a sudden? That's your favorite, not mine."
"Gonna blast it through speakers. Your voice crushes mine."
"But your English pronunciation is better......"
"No problem. Pronounce it thinking Latin, not English."
"Oh?"
Busan's top idol (TOEIC 560) Dang Seo-rin perfectly nailed the English pop song.
I took the recording straight to Seo-gyu.
"Seo-gyu."
"Yes, bro. But what is Seo-gyu? Does it refer to the SG Net admin? Or, per your claim, the human doomed to die first at Busan Station if you slack off? If so, the Seo-gyu who died first at Busan Station that loop and the current one are different peo—"
"Shut up and listen to the song."
"Kraaaaagh!"
Seo-gyu, limbs bound in ropes, thrashed.
"Get out! Bulkheads closing! Out! Abandon ship! Lower! Lower the boats! Lower! Hwaaaah!"
"......"
Seo-gyu screamed and flailed. As if water was actually flooding in and Titanic sinking before his eyes.
No Do-ha, who'd been up all night on disinfection like us, muttered in disbelief.
"No way, it actually works......?"
"Lucky break. Theseus's Ship starts with T just like Titanic, and the anomaly expanded to virtual space unsatisfied with reality. So sink the movie ship the same way, and the anomaly has no choice but to sink too."
Classic fatal flaw of an anomaly rashly level-upping.
The more concepts it corrupts, the stronger its influence. But its weaknesses sharpen proportionally.
Prime example of how reckless expansion can get you one-shot.
To avoid easy subjugation, anomalies must hide their "true nature" tight. No wonder Outer Gods endure.
"Huek, hueeek...... Huh? B-bro?"
"Yeah. Seo-gyu. Who are you?"
"Huh? Who am I......? Well, I'm Seo-gyu, duh?"
I nodded. Effect confirmed.
With the攻略 verified, we played "My Heart Will Go On" for every infected.
Oh, and set it as SG Net's background music too.
-Kyaaaaagh!
-Sinking! The ship, it's sinking!
-Everyone ruuuun!
But there was no escape on SG Net. The anomaly-turned internet ghosts sank helplessly.
I patted the shoulder of exhausted No Do-ha, who'd worked through the night.
"Good work, Corps Chief."
"......"
"No need to thank me. Even if a new anomaly was born from your fingertips, causing casualties, and only my regressor competence enabled early suppression—there's absolutely no reason for you to thank me."
"Shit......"
Savoring that overwhelming superiority over No Do-ha after so long, I turned to leave.
Then heaven and earth split.
......Thank you. Awakener Undertaker......
In the tiniest voice, No Do-ha muttered it with her back turned.
I froze in shock. No Do-ha expressing genuine thanks? Is she an anomaly?
"......"
Even then, No Do-ha stood still, back turned to me.
I shrugged.
"Hm."
"......"
"You're welcome. Yoo Ji-won will handle follow-ups. Rest today."
And I left the commander's office.
The anomaly that could've endangered the whole Peninsula just from ship image exposure was thus subjugated in one night.
6
Epilogue.
"By the way, A-ryeon."
"Yeah?"
"How'd you avoid getting infected by Theseus's Ship? You're always glued to SG Net all night. No way you just luckily skipped ship-posted threads, right?"
"Huh? Oh, no?"
"Then?"
"I...... saw it. Ship pics......"
What.
"B-but I was fine after seeing them....... Sure, thoughts like 'Who am I? Where am I?' popped up briefly, but th-that's stuff I always think anyway. Hehe. Someone worthless like me, what value could it have anyway? Worthless worries......"
"......"
"Way more important to leave a comment on SG Net......! I was hanging in the forums, then suddenly everything got weird, then back to normal—what gives? So when the guild leader said it was the anomaly, I was like, whoa, really? That happened?"
"......"
Epilogue end.
-Existence. End.