Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Ruler IV
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Shin Noah
5
After the trial ended, we went out for a sundae set meal together.
I just didn't feel like going back to the guild building, and besides, Dang Seo-rin and my relationship was no longer "guild leader-deputy guild leader," but "foodie friends."
And before the assorted sundae even arrived, I couldn't hold back my question any longer.
"Dang Seo-rin. What the hell was that earlier?"
"Huh? What?"
Dang Seo-rin tilted her head with a somewhat vacant expression. I frowned and scooped some fermented soybean paste into the small dipping bowl before handing it over.
"Here. The trial, I mean the trial. When exactly did you start using Equivalent Exchange to pass judgment on people? There was nothing like that the last time I came."
"You must not have known because you hardly ever show your face in Busan. We've been doing this for nearly half a year already. Here."
Dang Seo-rin mixed salt, chili powder, and pepper in the perfect golden ratio in the dipping bowl and handed it to me.
"The citizens love it. Nowadays, along with the anomaly dismantling shows, it's one of Busan's top three attractions."
"No, what does that... Tell me in a bit more detail. Boss, the makgeolli first, please."
"Coming right up~"
I took the makgeolli jug and immediately mixed in half a cup of ice-cold water. This was Dang Seo-rin's favorite ratio. That was the dignity of a friend who'd been backing her up for hundreds of years.
"What's there to explain at length? An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. It's just applying the Code of Hammurabi to the letter."
"Hmm."
"When the country was intact, you could punish an eye with prison and a tooth with prison. But now there's no prison, right? And just arbitrarily chopping off fingers or strangling necks would waste labor power needlessly... So I'm just proxying 'vengeance everyone can accept.'"
"...Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay."
"Huh?"
"It's a verse from Romans 12. Damn. Can't take my eyes off you for a second without you pulling some absurd stunt."
"What? You picking a fight?"
"The one who's been robbed is my sanity. This is truly ridiculous."
The assorted sundae, sundae soup, makgeolli, and well-fermented kimchi vanished beyond our chopsticks and bites. My appetite returned in full. In these times, it was a feast you could only taste in Busan.
"I'm the one who thinks the old society, which tried to lump everything into prison time, was the weird one."
Dang Seo-rin raised her chopsticks.
"Think about it. How can theft and murder receive the same punishment? The feeling of having your stuff stolen by someone else is totally different from getting stabbed. It's a qualitative difference—a difference in quality."
"Hmm."
"And theft varies in detail too. The feeling of having your daily bread stolen, the feeling of losing that radio you kept secret from other survivors, the feeling of having your kidney stolen..."
"Does the last one count as theft?"
"Of course. Anyway, punishment has to be judged differently every time, based on severity and circumstances, the personalities of the perpetrator and victim—everything unique. For example, Jesus would turn the other cheek if slapped on one, but you, Undertaker, wouldn't call it a 'fair trade' unless you took not just the other cheek but maybe a molar too. Right?"
"I get the point."
"And surprisingly... the greatest witch in history, the unprecedented and unparalleled Dang Seo-rin, can arrange a fair trade for anyone."
Just then, a kid shyly approached from the restaurant and held out a pointed hat, saying, "Great Witch!" Dang Seo-rin smiled brightly and signed the brim of the hat.
As soon as the fan service ended, Dang Seo-rin's expression drooped like a loofah soaked in hot water. It was a constant occurrence wherever our Busan idol went.
"Aww, so cute."
"But that fairness is just 'fair in your eyes.' People always risk misjudging."
"That's why 'Equivalent Exchange' doesn't activate without others' agreement. If they think the trade I propose isn't fair, they just don't agree from the start."
"Who would dare refuse a judgment from Busan's ruler?"
"Hey, in this world, be grateful we're even holding trials. If I don't judge, it's witch hunts and everyone dies anyway. No matter the crime, it ends in the same tragedy. Better than death, right?"
"Hmm."
"If you're that uneasy, come spectate the trial next month too."
Dang Seo-rin grumbled.
"Anyway, what have you been up to lately that it's so hard to see your face?"
"......"
...Truth be told, around this time, I was a bit adrift.
Readers with exceptional memories might have already figured it out, but the 26th round was the exact one where Old Man Show officially declared his "vacation."
When a teammate I'd believed would navigate this shit game called world destruction with me for life retired, my mental state was like Barcelona right after Lionel Messi transferred.
For the first time in ages as a true regressor, I showed some unsightly sides... But let's skip the dark history.
"Got it. I'll come again in a month."
"Yeah. Bring melona."
Exactly one month later, I arrived at Busan's "Execution Square" with homemade ice cream made by pureeing melons myself.
"Here."
"Ah, thanks... Whoa. What? It looks exactly like real melona!"
Dang Seo-rin marveled at my versatility.
For reference, I could recreate cup ramen, bagged ramen, and snacks from intact civilization days with over 92% similarity. I stormed the snack company HQs myself for those recipes, so trust them.
What? What else would an infinite regressor do with overflowing time? This was the most productive hobby.
"I saved seats over there."
Unlike last time, this time I could watch the entire trial from the premium spectator seats with a great view.
As I sucked on my melona—Dang Seo-rin on the trial bench across the way casually chewed hers too—the result was surprisingly... Busan's witch trials were quite rational.
"Since you severed someone else's leg, the criminal shall serve the victim for life. [Regarding all tasks the victim's two legs would have performed, the victim may direct the criminal]. The criminal cannot leave of their own accord without the victim's permission. Do you agree?"
"The sole remaining newspaper in Busan misused its pen against an innocent citizen, who then committed suicide. Though no family declared vengeance, the newspaper's reputational damage from one person's mistake must be restored. From now on, everything the criminal does must be recorded in a newspaper column and published. [All the wrongs you've committed in the past, and all the mistakes you'll make in the future, shall be reported without deviation]. Thus, all Busan citizens will know what kind of person you are. Do you agree?"
"A person worked but wasn't paid the promised wages. Labor is an investment of time. [The criminal shall obey the victim's orders for exactly the same amount of time the victim labored]. Of course, orders like 'suicide' or severely unreasonable ones are impossible. The criminal will eat the same meals provided to the victim before, sleep in the same bed, wake at the same time, and rest at the same time. Do you agree?"
Judgments unimaginable in an intact modern civilization.
No, trades that could never be realized without Dang Seo-rin's magic.
Her judgments were cruel and harsh—and yet, strangely, they held a persuasiveness that made the hundreds gathered in the vast square "accept" them.
Each time a judgment was made, a blue scale in the air glimmered.
The trial that impressed me most was against the defendant who killed someone. That is, the response to murder.
"......"
Dang Seo-rin chewed on the stick of her finished ice cream stick.
On one side stood the defendant charged with murder, on the other, the bereaved family. Dang Seo-rin's deep blue eyes scanned them.
"Criminal, do you repent the murder?"
"...Yes."
"Do you truly feel sorry to the bereaved family?"
"Yes....... I'm sorry......"
"Then, [no matter what the bereaved family does to you, you cannot resist them in any way]. You cannot complain to anyone or vent your grievances. You must simply accept it."
"......"
"How about it? Do you agree?"
"......"
A long silence passed. Compared to that length, the defendant's nod was excessively brief.
"Yes. I agree. Please... do it that way. Great Witch."
The scale glowed.
"You bastard!"
At that moment, one of the bereaved leaped over the railing and charged at the defendant. Thud! The sound of fist crushing bone rang clearly in my ears.
"How could you! To our child! You promised marriage, how could you! You scum! I'll chew you up, you filthy dog!"
In normal circumstances, someone would intervene, and in uncivilized times, court guards would stop it.
But in Execution Square, no one—not a soul—stopped the bereaved. The others who followed also kicked the fallen defendant relentlessly.
Busan's high-rises were mostly collapsed, offering an open view. What hadn't changed was the red sunset reflecting off the sea onto the city.
In the sunset-dyed Execution Square, drops of the defendant's blood fell around. Soon, breathing stopped.
"......"
And in that moment—I was seized by a powerful intuition that all this might just be a landscape painting of Dang Seo-rin's heart projected outward.
While all spectators watched the bereaved's punishment, only I turned to look at Dang Seo-rin.
Dang Seo-rin was looking at me too.
Between us, the sunset glowed red.
6
Epilogue.
I don't believe I have the right to judge worldly affairs.
Thus, I didn't stop Dang Seo-rin's "witch trials." She had her own rationality and fairness.
Objectively, that rationality and fairness were the best in the apocalypse.
Other cities? Private sanctions based on guild leaders' personal gains. As everyone knows, even AI judges came much later.
Not just the 26th round, but in every subsequent round where I taught her the completed "Equivalent Exchange" magic, Dang Seo-rin unfailingly held witch trials.
"So... how was it?"
"How was what."
"You know. The trial."
We returned on the Three Thousand Worlds train that day and drank.
Usually, bar-hopping outside was our way of maintaining friendship.
But if Dang Seo-rin said, "Want to drink on the train tonight?" it meant she wanted to get blackout drunk.
Busan's ruler, Korean Peninsula Guild Alliance leader, and progenitor of Song Enchantment—the great witch couldn't stagger drunk on the streets. Not even in front of guildmates.
Only someone like me—slayer of the Ten Tribes, awakener who recaptured south of Seoul's Han River, master with countless disciples via SG Net—could hang with her without tarnishing her authority.
"I think it's fine."
"Which part?"
"The fact that I'm asking someone else if it's fine—that point makes me think it's all fine."
"Pfft."
Dang Seo-rin laughed.
"What? That's dumb."
But her expression visibly relaxed.
While listening to my friend's drunken ramblings for a while after, Dang Seo-rin suddenly activated Equivalent Exchange.
"Undertaker. Put how you feel about me on the scale once."
"What, we're not kids... What parent asks which they like more, mom or dad?"
"Ugh, whatever. Hurry up and do it, mister. Agree?"
I sighed and said, "Fine."
Then, from my chest emerged a snake tail, half black shadow and half bright light.
Dang Seo-rin flicked her finger. From around her heart climbed a pure white silk snake, coiling on the opposite scale.
Screeech—
An impossible physical noise rang out, and the scales slowly balanced. Soon, they achieved perfect equilibrium.
Dang Seo-rin curled her lips like a cat.
"Hmm."
"What was that?"
Late night. Inside the train, Dang Seo-rin's scale glowed faintly like starlight, while outside the window, the Milky Way poured down.
A meteor shower.
Against the night sky's rain, Dang Seo-rin smiled brightly.
"Secret."
It was a very witch-like answer.
- Ruler. End.
Infinite Regressor Storytelling