Chapter 183
Chapter 183
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 183
Chapter Title: The Sage's Mirror
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3
Out of the blue, but I wanted to throw this question out to all of you.
Have you ever had these doubts while reading stories where the protagonist is an infinite regressor?
-Final boss defeated! The protagonist finally reaches a happy ending! THE END!
-So, what now?
-What happens when the protagonist grows old and dies surrounded by the people they love? Do they regress again? Repeat the same life over and over?
That's right.
Surprisingly, for a regressor, a happy ending isn't that important.
Since they hold the infinite regression coin anyway, a happy ending is just like a gacha game—you keep rolling until it comes up.
The true ending waiting beyond the happy ending. That's the real issue.
Perhaps for a regressor, there is no "end," and they might have to eternally repeat the life they've lived so far and the one they'll live from now on—a hypothesis.
Namely, the Never Ending Story hypothesis.
Countless works of fiction have employed all sorts of methods to avoid the Never Ending Story.
The simplest and most brilliant way is to just gift the protagonist immortality.
-If the protagonist dies a natural death, they get trapped in an infinite Tsukuyomi? Then I'll make it so they can't die naturally at all.
This solves all problems. The protagonist won't grow old and die, and thus won't repeat regressions.
The problem is that life is always real combat, and in the world I live in, immortality doesn't exist.
However, there was something like an immortality virus.
"What can you do? If I get infected with Udumbara, I'll lose my regression ability and eventually die like a normal person."
I answered nonchalantly.
I'd pondered this issue myself many times even before Yoo Ji-won asked.
"No, that's a huge problem!"
The one panicking wasn't me—it was Yoo Ji-won. The psycho who'd bet her entire career on my life furrowed her brow like tinfoil crumpling.
"Your Excellency! Such a harmful monster must be eradicated root and stem, eliminated the moment it's spotted!"
"Yeah. I hunt it down in On-yang every regression, so don't worry."
"No! Ah! The very fact that Your Excellency has even the slightest contact with such a monster fills me with utmost concern. Your Excellency, please leave the extermination to me from now on!"
"Sure. If things go south and I need to betray you after storing Udumbara seeds as a trump card?"
"Good heavens! How can you imagine such a tragedy? Why don't you recognize my loyalty to you...?"
I ignored Yoo Ji-won's outburst, as it was par for the course.
I looked at the magic mirror again.
-From now on, infect yourself with Udumbara immediately and die.
"Hmm."
Either way, it was fascinating.
The mirror in front of me had accurately grasped the means to truly kill "me," the regressor.
"Ji-won."
"Yes, Your Excellency! If you wish, I can rip open my chest right now and show you my heart to prove my loyalty..."
"One more bit of nonsense, and I won't tell next round's you that I'm a regressor."
"Upon second thought, it seems my head lacks any concept of loyalty."
"Good. Anyway, this mirror. Doesn't it seem like it knows I'm a regressor?"
"Hmm? Uh-hmm? Hmmm...."
Yoo Ji-won stroked her chin and leaned close to my shoulder.
The full-length mirror reflected us side by side.
-Die right now.
-From now on, infect yourself with Udumbara immediately and die.
Like ChatGPT popped out of a fairy tale, it cleverly provided two versions tailored to the number of users.
"See? You heard what it said to me? It's not telling me to die 'right now,' but advising me to die 'from now on.'"
"Hmm. Correct."
"So, the 'next' it mentions might mean 'next round.' In other words, next round, don't exterminate Udumbara—just get infected and die."
"...Indeed. Now that you mention it, that interpretation fits."
The furrow in Yoo Ji-won's brow deepened.
"That means this monster's power is extraordinary. It pierced Your Excellency's identity and abilities at a glance."
I nodded.
"That's exactly what I think. This isn't an ordinary monster."
"...But still, that's odd. Your Excellency. For a monster with such insight and intelligence to just spew verbal curses telling people to die. There's a limit to wasting ability."
"That's the exact same doubt I have."
"......"
We stared at each other in silence. Both our eyes converged on the same sentence.
What exactly is this monster's true nature?
"...For now, it's certain it's the mirror from the Snow White fairy tale."
"But, Your Excellency. In Snow White, the queen asked the mirror first. Yet we didn't ask anything, and it answered on its own."
"Moreover, the answers are all the same. Its response to me is ultimately the same as to others: 'Die.' What kind of answerbot is this?"
"Could it be a monster whose identity persists across rounds? That's how it learned Your Excellency is a regressor."
"Then it means this monster is powerful enough to transcend rounds, which makes it even weirder. With that level of power, why crawl into your bedroom and just repeat 'die'? A stalker?"
"Hmm. Because I'm that important a talent?"
"The monster's eyes are wonky."
"...No clue about its identity."
"...Yeah. Me neither."
In the end, we of round 41 raised the white flag.
Surrender. Really, we couldn't guess even a single thing about this monster's essence or purpose.
In some rounds, I'd smashed the mirror out of sheer frustration, but it only backfired.
"Your Excellency. Last time, didn't we destroy the magic mirror and throw it out?"
"Yeah."
"The void manifestation rate skyrocketed around where we discarded the glass shards. The number of monsters increased exponentially."
"......"
We later learned it was the so-called "broken windows" effect.
You know, the theory that leaving a broken window leads to rising crime rates around it.
Just like a certain archer's mindset in the Holy Grail War, the magic mirror was made of glass.
Breaking either led to the same phenomenon: the surroundings turning to shit.
"So, to sum up, we know next to nothing about this monster's identity..."
"Meanwhile, the monster grasps Your Excellency's—and probably everyone else's—identity and abilities."
"And destroying it triggers the broken windows effect, drawing monsters like flies?"
"Yes. Ignore it, and it's nagging; destroy it, and disaster strikes."
"And yet, left alone, it just tells whoever looks at it to die, inflicting no actual harm?"
"Precisely."
"Fuck. What the hell is this thing?"
"The riddle deepens."
What kind of monster is this?
Moreover, as rounds progressed, the magic mirror's responses subtly shifted bit by bit.
From round 41 to 116, the answer stayed consistent, but in 117, it suddenly updated.
-Preserve all newly born lives. They're the same anyway. Then infect yourself with Udumbara and die.
"......"
Newly born lives.
These referred to children born in this round who hadn't existed in previous ones.
For example, the little girl at Haeundae who gave me a sugar-coated donut—Jung Seo-ah, daughter of the bakery owner—existed only in round 19.
-Preserve all newly born lives. They're the same anyway. Then infect yourself with Udumbara and die.
The magic mirror urged me to "preserve" such lives.
"Preserve? What does that mean, Your Excellency?"
"......"
Yoo Ji-won tilted her head, utterly baffled.
Probably anyone else in the world would do the same.
But only I perfectly understood the mirror's words.
'...It means use [Time Seal].'
Time preservation. Time seal.
Make the target repeat their happiest day forever, at the cost of being forgotten from everyone's memories.
The mirror was pointing out this ability of mine.
'It sees through not just regression, but Time Seal too. This mirror.'
Jung Seo-ah of round 19 was forgotten by everyone anyway.
Including her parents.
Because in other rounds, different children were born.
So whether I used Time Seal or not, it was '
the same anyway
'. No one but me would remember Jung Seo-ah.
Therefore.
-Preserve all newly born lives. They're the same anyway. Then infect yourself with Udumbara and die.
The outcome of being forgotten by all is the same anyway, so wouldn't it be better to grant them 'eternal repetition of a happy day'—?
Rather than falling into the abyss of death, oh regressor, wouldn't tasting eternity in the grave you've prepared be far happier—?
The magic mirror was whispering thus.
'Ah.'
Only then did I realize this monster's true nature.
No, more precisely, I awoke to the principle behind its actions.
The magic mirror from the Snow White fairy tale.
It might sound bizarre, but this monster was simply telling people their 'happy ending.'
4
King Midas.
A figure appears in Greek mythology.
The king famous for the 'Midas Touch.'
Everything he touched turned to gold. A ancient equivalent to the Federal Reserve Board.
There's a lesser-known legend related to Midas.
One day, the king captured a half-human, half-beast sage.
Upper body human, lower body horse (or goat)—a demihuman.
And as ever, the fate of demihumans captured by humans was pitiable.
The king threatened the sage and bluntly demanded something very human.
-You bastard! Hand over the greatest, finest happiness for us humans right now!
-Hiiieeek....
The sage didn't want to answer. Frankly, he was sick of humans treating him like a lottery ticket.
Daring to defy as a prisoner, the human king resorted to a 'very human' solution.
He force-fed the sage strong liquor until he was dead drunk!
Only then did the inebriated sage comply.
-Y-You stupid mayflies. I was silently thinking of your lowly race out of pity, so why force an answer from me? A-Annoying....
-What?
-For your race, the 'greatest, finest happiness' is impossible from the start.
Because.
-That 'ultimate happiness' is not being born, not existing, remaining in nothingness. For humans, not being born is best. O-Once born, dying quick is second best.
-......
No canonical record remains of what became of the human king after this epic troll comment.
This anecdote, featured in Nietzsche's works, boils down to this:
-Humans always ask about happiness.
-But ultimate happiness doesn't exist for humans. Because life is suffering.
-Thus, absence of suffering is the only happiness, and escaping suffering quickly is wisdom.
-Better not to have been born at all.
A resolute conclusion.
The reason this tale sprang to mind while discussing the magic mirror was simple.
"Ji-won. The magic mirror was actually answering our questions all along."
"Pardon? What do you mean, Your Excellency?"
"Think carefully. No matter what we ask, all questions ultimately boil down to one supreme question."
"One supreme question."
"Yes."
Mirror, mirror.
Tell me how to be happy.
"Which number to pick for the lottery, how to reconcile with family, how to get promoted. All questions humans ask the magic mirror aim at personal happiness and well-being."
"......"
"So from the mirror's perspective, our questions are superficial; the essence is always the same."
"Tell me how to be happy... That's what it hears from us, right, Your Excellency?"
Exactly.
The mirror knew what we'd ask without hearing our voices.
So whenever we passed by, it automatically replied.
-Die right now.
Immediate death.
The only happiness permitted to humans in this void-tainted world.
I tapped the mirror.
"In Snow White, it's called the magic mirror. Mages have long symbolized sages."
"Sage."
"Yes. And in Harry Potter, the magic mirror hides the 'Philosopher's Stone.' Thus, the monster before us is none other than—"
The Mirror of the Sage.
That was its true name.
"The Mirror of the Sage... Indeed. A fitting name."
Yoo Ji-won nodded, stroking her chin.
"As expected of Undertaker Excellency. So, how to deal with this monster..."
"Nothing. It advises death even to humans, so it likely craves nonexistence for itself too—no harm to others."
"......"
"If it's too noisy, cover it with a blanket. For the mirror, total darkness might be true happiness."
"Certainly. Sound advice."
Yoo Ji-won fetched an airplane blanket (probably scavenged somewhere; old habits die hard) and draped it over the mirror.
Just before it was fully shrouded in darkness, it spoke in a voice as emotionless as Yoo Ji-won's.
-Die right now.
Swish.
And the mirror fell silent.
5
Epilogue.
In virtually every round, the 'Mirror of the Sage' appeared near Yoo Ji-won.
Now that its攻略 was known, I didn't pay much mind, but whenever I visited her room, I'd peek under the blanket.
Why? Just in case. Curious if it'd change.
-Preserve all newly born lives. They're the same anyway. Then infect yourself with Udumbara and die.
Of course, the mirror's answer didn't change easily.
I checked once each from round 117 to 430, but the 'sage's' response remained identical.
Die quick, and before that, give those pitiable lives a funeral.
'Useless answer. As expected of sage quotes.'
Even a regressor's curiosity has limits.
Seeing no change, I eventually stopped checking for a while.
Then, in round 593, it crossed my mind.
'Has the answer changed by now?'
Round 593 was when we succeeded in defeating the Mansang Yuheui operator.
The round where brat O Dok-seo boldly declared she'd save me.
The mirror was still in Yoo Ji-won's private room. For the first time in ages, I lifted the blanket.
A reunion after a millennium.
"......"
The mirror was pristine.
And silent.
Yoo Ji-won surely hadn't maintained it, yet it was spotless, as if peering into my face and soul alike.
Silence lingered.
Wondering why it was so quiet, it spoke.
-Keep living.
"......"
-Keep living.
Footsteps approached from behind.
"Hmm? Undertaker Excellency? You're here?"
"......"
"For you to visit me personally—unexpected. Something happen?"
Yoo Ji-won's figure faintly reflected too.
Then the voice resounded lowly again.
-Keep living.
"......"
I quietly covered it with the blanket and stood.
Then smiled at Yoo Ji-won.
"Nah, nothing in particular."
"......?"
"Let's grill some meat and drink after ages."
"Ah, sure."
-Sage. End.