Chapter 240
Chapter 240
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 240
Chapter Title: The Second Fragment of the Monad
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3
“Hyung-nim.”
“Yeah, Seo-gyu.”
“I— this SG Guy am the true mastermind behind everything. Heh heh heh.”
“…….”
This time, it was a fragment related to ‘mastermind syndrome.’
‘This pattern again.’
I let out a sigh.
For the benefit of anyone who might have forgotten, mastermind syndrome referred to the following bizarre phenomenon in the strictest sense.
‘Coming to unshakeably believe that you manipulated every tragedy from behind the scenes, leading the world to its destruction.’
So, when and how did one contract mastermind syndrome?
The conditions were incredibly simple. Just survive to the end alongside me, the Undertaker, and successfully pull off a harmonious ‘Chicken for dinner tonight!’ together.
Naturally, the more socially integrated you were, the lower your survival rate.
Awakeners who were always out fighting aberrations, like Dang Seo-rin or Cheon Yo-hwa, had an extremely low probability of contracting mastermind syndrome. You had to stay alive first before worrying about corruption, right?
On the other hand, our guild’s proud alliance of extreme introverts became regular customers, getting selected as the mastermind whenever they felt like it.
Sim A-ryeon, who hadn’t taken the ‘Northern Saintess route’; Lee Ha-yul, who hadn’t been led astray by her wild horse fate; O Dok-seo, who’d spent decades in secluded training after her serialization ended....
Seo-gyu wasn’t exactly an introvert, but he was still a prime candidate.
He’d holed up in the base year-round with a 24-hour schedule consisting solely of [Sleep], [Eat], [Lift weights], [Eat], [Cyber aberration prison management], [Eat].
“Yeah. Seo-gyu. If I hadn’t saved you at Busan Station, your head would’ve been lopped off by that fairy, ending your run. Yet somehow, you’re the mastermind who orchestrated every tragedy on earth and massacred people.”
“Heh heh. You know it well, hyung-nim.”
Normally, I would’ve pulverized Seo-gyu’s head into ‘Seo-gyu’ paste right here and moved on to the next loop.
But that day, right at the ending of the 682nd loop, a strange curiosity struck me.
It was a doomed loop anyway. I figured I might as well hang out a bit more with Seo-gyu, who had a real talent for bullshit.
Without any particular thought, without any serious intent or purpose, I casually asked.
“Just one question. You would’ve dropped out early without me. How can you confidently claim you planned and manipulated everything from behind the scenes? Doesn’t dying end it all?”
“What a silly question, hyung-nim.”
And yet, Seo-gyu boldly answered.
“Of course, even my death was part of my calculations.”
“What?”
“Think about it. Heh heh. If I die, it means you, hyung-nim, still lack the power to one-shot the Tutorial Fairy. Or it means you have the personality to stand by and watch a citizen get helplessly slaughtered by the fairy.”
“…….”
“In a world like that, I could never succeed as the mastermind to begin with. There has to be someone powerful enough to suppress aberrations in my place, yet soft-hearted enough to share affection with those around them—a total pushover. In other words, I can only parasitize as the mastermind by riding the stage you’ve set up.”
Tsk tsk tsk— Seo-gyu wagged his finger.
“Why would I go out of my way to suffer for glory in a world without these conditions?”
“What.”
“Hyung-nim. Right after aberrations arrived and we fell into the Tutorial Dungeon, in that short time, I’d already made my sharp judgment. Either become the mastermind controlling all the world’s evils— or die right there and escape all suffering early.”
“…….”
I stared at him, dumbfounded. Why did this sound so plausible coming from this guy?
“No.... You didn’t even know your own ability was ubiquitous. Without my help, you’d struggle to awaken. Let’s say you survived and joined my guild. What guarantee is there that you’d succeed as the mastermind?”
“Heh heh.”
Seo-gyu grinned— a meaningful, sinister smile that no musclebound hunk in human history had ever been permitted.
The urge to beat the crap out of him clashed with the desire to see how far he’d spin his nonsense. The former could be satisfied anytime, so the latter barely won out.
“Did I really not know?”
“What?”
“I awakened my ability in the ultra-early stages. But from your perspective, hyung-nim, there’s no way to confirm if I had or hadn’t..... The later my awakening seems, the more complacent you’d become toward me.”
“Gasp.”
“I just manipulate the timing of my awakening at will. It was obvious you’d put me in an important role anyway. Dodging the liege’s suspicion while seizing a key position.... Isn’t it just like Jia Xu from Romance of the Three Kingdoms?”
“......?”
It was... convincing!
Throwing in a reference to the undisputed strongest classic, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, made him suddenly seem like a different person. Like a ghost had possessed me, I couldn’t help but listen to Seo-gyu’s masterful speech.
“I subtly incited aberrations without you or the Saintess noticing. For example, you ordered me to keep the Three Kingdoms bait running 24/7 by playing it on my smartphone.....”
“You bastard, don’t tell me?”
“That’s right. I deliberately turned off the phone for a bit or tweaked the recording slightly, subtly luring the ‘Savior Narrative aberration’ to descend upon you. Heh heh. Not perfectly, but even a little influence on you and those around you.....”
“......!”
“And beyond that, I schemed countless ploys from the shadows. Hyung-nim, I destroyed the world.”
And so, for about three hours, I listened to Seo-gyu’s monologue on ‘how badass my mastermind role was.’
“I see. That was really fun, Seo-gyu.”
“Heh heh heh. Finally, you acknowledge my greatness......”
“See you next time.”
Slash!
Seo-gyu split in half.
It was a shame that, with the world on the brink of destruction, there was no one left alive to criticize my murder.
‘No way it’s real, is it?’
I briefly suspended his death.
Dodging the endless monster waves, I searched for traces of the crimes Seo-gyu (mastermind ver.) had confessed to himself.
And I discovered something shocking.
‘...It might actually be real?’
For instance, the possibility that Seo-gyu had hidden his awakening timing from me.
From my perspective, I couldn’t prove if it was true or false. It was just like not being able to observe the crown prince’s life without opening the chest.
His claim of deliberately triggering the ‘Savior Narrative syndrome’ was the same.
In the 682nd loop, my comrades did seem a bit more clingy and worshipful toward me than usual.
It wasn’t enough to definitively declare ‘This was all due to Savior Narrative syndrome’......
But neither could I assert ‘Savior Narrative syndrome had zero impact this loop.’
I muttered abruptly.
“It’s like proving the devil.”
Whether Seo-gyu truly committed mastermind acts or not, whether he harbored malice— it was now impossible to prove.
No one but Seo-gyu himself could perceive such actions and intentions.
Crimes no one could prove.
I called such blank spaces the void. Mastermind syndrome was surprisingly faithful to the void.
Unlike in the past, when I’d dismissed it as mere nonsense.
“…….”
It was worth testing.
And so, the next loop.
This time, I made a special request to the Saintess.
[So, what you’re saying, Undertaker, is..... you want me to focus on observing Seo-gyu?]
“That’s right. There’s something to check at the end of this loop. No matter how trivial, if you spot anything suspicious, let me know anytime.”
[Got it. I’ll bump the surveillance rating on target Seo-gyu to 10 seconds.]
The Saintess personally classified awakeners’ surveillance ratings from ‘24 hours’ to ‘10 seconds.’
‘24-hour’ rating meant observing once a day via Clairvoyance.
‘10-second’ rating meant checking every 10 seconds—or more frequently.
Naturally, the number of awakeners on ‘10-second’ rating was extremely limited.
Seo-gyu had been ‘10-minute’ originally, upgraded to maximum threat level just for this loop.
“Nothing suspicious yet?”
[Nope. No signs of him deliberately releasing aberrations from the cyber prison. In my opinion, Seo-gyu is your loyal comrade, Undertaker.]
“…….”
[I don’t know what made you suspect him as the mastermind, but for now, that’s my answer. I’ll keep watching.]
The surveillance continued until the 683rd loop ended.
The last humans standing: me, the Saintess, and Seo-gyu.
Gazing down at the aberration-eroded world, Seo-gyu clicked his tongue.
“Wow. Once those things swell up, there’s no stopping them. How did A-ryeon hold them off alone for years......”
“Seo-gyu. Don’t you suddenly feel like laughing? Like, heh heh.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t you get the urge that you were behind every incident so far?”
“...I have no idea what you’re talking about, hyung-nim.”
“Hmm.”
A failure.
The moment I thought mastermind syndrome might not be worth fretting over that much, a fine line appeared on Seo-gyu’s neck.
“Huh?”
Seo-gyu clutched his thick neck with his hand. Blink. His eyes turned to me.
“Hyung-nim—.”
Thud. Roll roll.
His head slid off at an angle and hit the floor.
“…….”
“Heh heh. Sorry about that, Undertaker.”
The Saintess, who had somehow drawn her axe, shook off the blood and smiled brightly. It was an utterly alien expression on her usually impassive face.
“Surprised?”
“...In a way.”
“To your sense of time, it’s about 20 years ago now. When you ordered me to watch Seo-gyu as the mastermind, I was a little shocked. To suspect your comrades that much.”
I pressed my forehead.
“This time, the Saintess drew the mastermind short straw.”
“Short straw? That hurts my feelings, Undertaker. I planned every destruction. From the start, I’ve been watching you as the mastermind......”
The next instant, the Saintess’s body ignited without a trace. Vaporized in an instant by my aura.
I didn’t want to watch mastermind syndrome mock her as a person.
‘If the Saintess really wanted, playing mastermind would be child’s play.’
Manipulating awakeners via Constellations, subtly distorting reports to me, committing perfect crimes with time stop, and so on.
Only then did I realize the vicious core of mastermind syndrome.
‘...This is unsolvable, isn’t it?’
――――――――――
[Option 1]
No matter who— Seo-gyu or Sim A-ryeon— the last survivor claims to be the ‘mastermind.’
They claim to have plotted their crimes in moments I, the Undertaker, failed to observe.
I didn’t observe those moments. Thus, I can’t judge if the claim is true or false.
[Option 2]
If I rely on the Saintess’s [Clairvoyance] to observe every moment, the ‘mastermind’ becomes the Saintess herself.
I can’t observe events she commits during time stop. Thus, I can’t refute the Saintess mastermind theory.
[Option 3]
To prevent any comrade from claiming ‘mastermind,’ I suppress their growth. Ban their exploits. Prevent free judgment.
I abandon comrades before they can be tagged mastermind. I allow their deaths.
I prioritize control over efficiency.
Then, the cause of the world’s doom becomes my dictatorship. My distrust. My stubbornness. Now, I, the Undertaker, am tagged as mastermind.
Only this much will become provable.
――――――――――
‘...No matter which I choose, mastermind syndrome establishes itself.’
For example, this loop.
The monster wave that Sim A-ryeon, as the Northern Saintess, had been holding back suddenly expanded after a certain point.
New-Sinuiju fell, the Eastern Holy Kingdom collapsed. It didn’t take long for the army of annihilation to swallow Busan.
‘What if the Saintess time-stopped, traveled, and annihilated cities worldwide, suddenly strengthening the monster wave?’
Can I prove such a hypothesis true or false? No.
No matter how much of a regressor I am, observing every event is impossible.
The possibility that— truly, as the ‘mastermind’ claimed— Seo-gyu or the Saintess, or in some loops Lee Ha-yul, Sim A-ryeon, or O Dok-seo hastened the world’s end—.
I could never deny it.
Endlessly.
“…….”
I gazed down at the monster wave forces that had blackened the earth, leaving no room for life.
At that moment, the aberrations were looking up at me, the last human on Earth.
The flesh of the grotesquely twisted-limbed monsters laughed.
-Hyung-nim, I destroyed the world.
-Undertaker, I planned every destruction.
This was the second piece of the puzzle.