Chapter 250
Chapter 250
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 250
Chapter Title: The Monstrosity Hides the World
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1
Do you all know about this?
Every existing title in the world can actually be converted into a "hidden" form.
This is called the Hidden Transformation Theory.
Of course, all the episodes we've gone through so far can be Hidden Transformed as well.
"Village Bus Hides the Liver," "Radio DJ Hides the Genius Singer," "The Last Bloodline of the Nation Hides the Beacon Fire," "The Ice Age Hides People's True Feelings," "Earth Hides the Sun," and so on...
It's truly versatile. You just tack "Hides" onto the end, and it's done.
The person who first came up with these titles must have been a genius.
If you're quick on the uptake, you've probably already noticed, but the outer god we've set out to tackle this time is the perfect fit for Hidden Transformation.
The word "black幕" itself means a culprit hiding their identity.
So, for this outer god that still hasn't been given a proper name, let's apply a makeshift Hidden Transformation: "The Monstrosity Hides the World."
2
The moment I crossed the rift, led by the Endless Pincer Finger, I lost consciousness for a split second.
It felt like about five seconds of blackout.
After that brief lapse, I opened my eyes again. My body had collapsed, and someone was looking down at me.
-Consciousness: Confirmed return.
-Basic language set to Korean. Attempting communication.
-Long time no see, human.
It was a monstrosity.
Something like a slime made of bright red liquid was bubbling and popping. As the bubbles burst, a sound resembling a human voice emerged.
In other words, the line just now was nothing more than discontinuous sound effects like "Lo-ng ti-me no see, hu-man."
"Long time no see...? Who are you?"
-Naming: I am the Fairy Lord.
"Ah."
The Fairy Lord.
It was a monstrosity akin to the AI persona overseeing all tutorial fairies. More precisely, the tutorial fairies were all terminals under the Fairy Lord.
Considering that fairies were actually dream demons in truth, the Fairy Lord could also bear the epithet "Succubus Queen."
Originally an independent monstrosity, but from the point of my regressions, it had already been enslaved by the Endless One. There was no particular danger.
"Why are you here? And what's with that form?"
I looked around.
"Where's the Endless One?"
-Questions separated and processed in reverse order. First: You transferred control over me to the outer god Endless One.
The bubbles popped boisterously.
-The Endless One has currently entered a dispute with the outer god in this region—what you would call the Great Void or the Formless Spirit Realm.
"Dispute."
I rubbed my temple, organizing the Fairy Lord's response as quickly as possible. My head throbbed severely, likely due to excessive aura depletion.
"You're saying the Endless One and the black幕 outer god are fighting? Battling for dominance?"
-Affirmative: Yes.
"Where are they fighting? It was definitely the Endless One's finger that dragged me here."
-They are fighting right now, here, everywhere, at all times.
"......"
-It's not a material battle but a contest of concepts, so you cannot perceive it with your senses.
However, the Fairy Lord intoned.
-Explanation: The Endless One judged that no matter the outcome of the fight, it would be meaningless without you.
-Reason: Even if it wins, the moment your life ends, everything resets.
"Hm."
It was as expected.
The Endless One couldn't preserve data across cycles.
It had barely regained some of its peak authority, so a regressor's "click" would be a huge problem.
Whether persuading, recruiting, or imprisoning me, the Endless One had no choice but to prioritize this regressor.
That was the reason it had pulled only me to safety even after the world ended.
"Then this place really is the black幕 outer god's domain."
-Affirmative: Correct. I descended as a means for the Endless One to maintain material communication with you.
"Like a walkie-talkie."
-Affirmative: You may interpret it that way.
I groaned as I pushed myself up.
We were in a sealed chamber.
A perfect cube. The pristine white room had zero sense of habitation.
'Isolation room? Lab? Experiment chamber?'
No furniture for living.
Behind the Fairy Lord lay a corpse sprawled out, and in the center of the chamber stood a solar system hologram.
"What's that corpse?"
-This relates to the next question. That corpse belonged to a "researcher" in charge of this isolation space.
-Explanation: The Endless One killed the researcher right after exiting the rift, and I assembled a material form using the corpse.
"So in other words......"
I furrowed my brow.
"That slime blob is actually made of blood and flesh from some researcher guy?"
-Affirmative: Precisely.
The slime wriggled. In terms of having a corpse or two as decor without hindering conversation, it and I were alike.
-Warning: Observe this solar system.
I was already looking.
As mentioned, a solar system hologram sat in the chamber's center.
Outside the hologram stretched long "nail marks." Inside floated crumbling Earth and planetary fragments like crushed cookies.
Even an idiot could figure it out.
"No way—this is our solar system?"
-Affirmative: Correct.
"......"
-Explanation: The Earth you lived on is merely a simulation embodied by this hologram.
-Corollary: More precisely, this realm's outer god is forcing it to be "merely a simulation."
It hit me the moment I heard the explanation.
I let out a groan.
"...Simulation cosmology, huh."
The so-called Simulation Hypothesis.
Our world wasn't real but a virtual reality—and that VR was run by someone for "some experiment."
It was similar to the "brain in a vat."
We weren't real humans, just brains trapped in life-support devices, with researchers outside applying electrical stimuli to make us believe "This is the real world!"
"Then that corpse was a researcher manipulating our world?"
-Affirmative: Yes.
"Good riddance."
Suddenly, the very existence of this white chamber became repulsive.
'Treating our undeniably real world as a mere [simulation test site] and observing it.'
If this wasn't the Great Void, what was?
The power to reduce the entire world to a single simulation—that was the black幕 outer god's authority.
The Fairy Lord's explanation reaffirmed my conviction.
'We truly can't live under the same sky as outer gods.'
Enemies of humanity.
To prove our world wasn't some mere simulation, we had to smash this place and the black幕 outer god.
The detailed攻略 method was still shrouded in mystery, but at least the goal was clear.
"Alright. So we just destroy this damn lab? It looks small, so it shouldn't be too hard."
The Fairy Lord slime squirmed. No eyes or mouth, so no readable expression, but it felt like it was staring intently.
-Guidance: Follow me.
The slime tapped the wall.
A door just big enough for a person formed where there had been nothing.
I was surprised. Modern Earth tech couldn't replicate this.
"There's more outside—not just this room."
-Affirmative: Correct.
I stepped through the door on the wall.
Specifically, I stepped out to walk and scout how the outer god's Great Void was structured.
But the instant my foot crossed the threshold, my steps faltered.
"What......"
An endlessly stretching corridor.
Along both sides clung countless cubic labs.
"This is, what the hell......?"
-Explanation: The minimum number of simulation labs the Endless One has identified so far: 1,000.
-Corollary: It has only counted them; it knows nothing of the actual experiments being conducted.
"......"
World-End Simulator.
That was the outer god beyond the rift that I, the regressor, had barely encountered.
3.
-Directive: First, don the corpse's researcher suit.
Before exiting the chamber.
As we prepared in earnest, the Fairy Lord advised me.
-Explanation: I know you aim to prove this place is mere illusion and mirage, a false reality conjured by the Great Void.
-Corollary: But as you know, the Great Void has its own rules.
"...Disguise as a researcher to pass as part of this void's staff."
-Affirmative: Precisely.
Easy enough.
-Originally, this void had no lifeforms in human shape.
-The Endless One "hacked" here, forcing material forms. The white chamber, simulation hologram, researcher—all manifestations of the Endless One's interference.
"So originally, it was a much more abstract space?"
-Unanswerable: Unknown. I formed after the Endless One began invading.
"Hm."
The Endless One's current intentions were unclear.
But for now, it seemed to be helping me. At least until we subjugate the black幕 outer god, cooperation was fine.
"To let a heterogeneous entity like me, popped from a simulation, roam without suspicion, it created this environment."
-Affirmative: And designated me as your guide and aide.
-Self: I have served the Endless One and you in turn. Apt selection.
"...You're not human."
-Counterquestion: Confusion stems from the limits of inferior human language. Not your fault.
I sighed and stripped the clothes from the corpse. I incinerated the remains with aura.
Wriggle wriggle wriggle!
The moment I draped the white coat over my shoulders, the Fairy Lord writhed and clung to my body.
"What."
-Explanation: Form transformation in progress.
The slime spread thin and wide along my body's contours, even covering my face.
Then it suddenly turned transparent and altered my very appearance!
'Silicone mask? Human skin mask?'
Anyway, the tentacle-armor-like slime drastically changed the Undertaker's looks.
No mirror, so I didn't know exactly, but my flat chest shallowly formed, and overall, it turned feminine—that much was sure.
"You bastard! What the hell are you doing!"
-Wearer's emotion: Anger confirmed.
-Explanation: Replicating the appearance of the original lab researcher (now corpse).
-Question: The wearer acknowledged the Great Void's rules. Adjusting body to match researcher's appearance is logical. Anger is inappropriate.
"...At least show me a mirror so I know how you plastic-surgeried me?"
-Affirmative: I follow the Endless One's orders and the wearer's intent to the utmost.
Wriggle wriggle.
Slime crawled from the lab coat sleeve, forming a mirror. Too advanced for human craft—I felt like I'd become a monstrosity myself.
"......"
Peering into the mirror, I widened my eyes.
Not out of shock at my transformed female beauty—nothing clichéd like that.
The reason was far simpler. It was just a face I "remembered seeing before."
"This is...... the female Undertaker."
-Question: What is the female Undertaker?
"......"
The Fairy Lord, reverted from mirror to slime, tilted side to side, but I couldn't answer.
Cycle 664.
I'd traveled to the Uyuni Salt Flats with Dang Seo-rin. On what should have been a safe passenger plane, I met "Undertakers" and "Dang Seo-rins" from parallel worlds.
Impressively, every Undertaker and Dang Seo-rin from other worlds—except us—were couples.
Among them was my female counterpart from a parallel world, dubbed the "female Undertaker."
Her martial prowess matched mine too.
"No way......"
I turned my head, staring blankly. A researcher's corpse had lain there moments ago.
'Parallel world Undertakers were monstrosities born in the black幕 outer god's domain!'
This void探 seemed it wouldn't be easy.