Chapter 201
Chapter 201
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 201
Chapter Title: 68. Transcender (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Close your eyes.
From a distant corner of the Providence World, something like a comet streaks in. A massive, swift swarm of enormous fragments brimming with heat. Protecting a gigantic something at the center, they pour down from the sky in a steady trajectory, blanketing it.
Gradually, differences begin to emerge in the speed of the fragments.
The one at the forefront accelerates a bit more. Like a fighter jet's scout drone. It picks up speed, surging through the sub-space of the Providence World.
Soon, detailed specs detected by the Apocalyptic Clock appear as numerical data.
It resembled a monster surge from an SS+ grade dungeon. If it erupted without warning, it could flip an entire nation upside down—a true "backflow."
Plague...
As if to prove it, filthy energy trails behind like green tails in his mind's image. Incredibly small and intricate molecules with motility.
7 days?
Why was the detection so late?
It should have warned at least a month ago.
He thought to himself.
In truth, an SS+ grade dungeon was something he could wipe out single-handedly without a trace.
But the moment it exceeded that, no matter how strong he was, he couldn't handle it perfectly alone.
He called this a "host of scale." Humans were like that. Superhumans too. The more they gathered, the stronger they became. Even the top-ranked superhumans at #2, #3, and #4 couldn't defeat certain "calamity-grade demons" if those demons amassed a massive army. That's why they hid in corners, building their forces instead of facing the world's superhumans numbering over 1,000 times their own.
1,000 vs. 10,000 might be manageable,
but 1,000 vs. 1,000,000 was impossible.
Stirring up more than necessary just led to exhaustion.
The opposite held true as well.
Yoo Ji-tae was strong.
Strong enough to handle thousands of monsters.
But tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Millions? How could he block that without casualties? It was the same principle as adult dragons overwhelming Earth to extinction.
He was a thorough individualist. Protecting a few hatchlings posed no issue. But the root cause of the regression was humanity hurtling toward catastrophe. That's why he was here now.
Any info on the new room?
Never mind.
Don't even start.
A string of pitiful messages scrolled up, and he waved his hand dismissively.
Anyway, the timing was perfect.
The "Prime" was still stuck to the Federation like a staffer. But it was time to flip the board. He sent memories, and minutes later, a voice from Clone 1 confirmed receipt.
"Um, so, Season-nim. Shall we proceed with the next schedule?"
That was when it happened.
Yoo Ji-tae's hazy gaze drifted down to Kang A-jin.
"The Federation HQ is a maze, but I'm your human navigator. I'll handle anything today!"
"Anything?"
"Of course! Anything... well, if you ask me to brew coffee, my pride as the top graduate of Seoul Superhuman University might take a hit."
"I was hoping for some coffee."
"Oof... no wonder you're not popular with the ladies...!"
Kang A-jin giggled. She'd grown comfortable with him after just a few days.
Yoo Ji-tae really wanted that coffee...
But he shook his head.
"No. Forget it. Contact the Command Strategy Room right now."
"Pardon?"
Kang A-jin blinked in confusion.
"And inform them: Suspected SS+ grade dungeon break. In 7 days. Location: Likely southern Amazon."
It sounded absurd.
As a Grade 4 agent, she was two levels above the grunts. Compared to Clone 1, the military advisor with Grade 3 status, Yoo Ji-tae was seen as his subordinate in the Federation.
And now this subordinate was declaring war in southern Amazon out of nowhere?
"Wh-what? What's this all of a sudden?"
"Why? Can't do it?"
"No, it's just so out of the blue... A sudden SS+ dungeon rift? What's your source?"
She'd said exactly the right thing.
The source was crucial.
Dealing with the Federation going forward, whenever he shared new facts, he'd face this question dozens of times.
How do you know that?
He was a regressor. In past loops, he'd presented evidence or even revealed his identity. But those approaches backfired.
Rational grounds for unknown events were always rebutted. Once trust formed, vested interests swarmed as details emerged—like Galileo shouting Earth moves, only for the Church to silence him for threatening their power.
Revealing his regressor status outright turned him into the world's enemy. Proving unknown events made him the unknown, alien threat. The unfamiliar and fearful were shunned swiftly.
Thus, from the 5th loop, he found the answer: An "influential figure who foresees the future."
This required three conditions:
1. A superhuman who sees the future.
2. That superhuman protected by an absolute powerhouse, with mutual trust.
3. The absolute powerhouse not seen as an unknown entity.
The absolute powerhouse was Yoo Ji-tae himself.
So the issue was finding an influential figure who could see the future and cooperate unconditionally...
There was one perfect fit.
But now wasn't the time to reveal it.
He needed a more plausible solution now. Over the past two weeks, he'd gathered the pieces for just that puzzle.
"It's based on data from the 11th Search Brigade consultation. August 11th. Check the southern dungeon distribution graph and mana density."
"Ah, okay."
Kang A-jin fumbled but pulled up the data on her watch hologram.
Her fingers moved simultaneously, recording his voice.
Soon, complex theories poured from his mouth.
"See how mana density spikes in the PL section? That happens with axial anomalies or when 500Mla+ rifts close—the aftermath. These precursors usually mismatch the Kendrak rift identification. The spike graph should form over about 15 hours, but here..."
Yoo Ji-tae had 90 years in the Federation.
He'd even served as chairman.
His words, backed by experience, flowed. Kang A-jin felt dizzy trying to match theory to phenomena—barely half made sense.
But cross-checking what she grasped with graphs and data? Spot on. Not baseless rambling.
As a regressor, it was familiar.
When facts existed without proof, weave plausible lies into evidence to prove them.
"Uh, hold on. So the thing you mentioned earlier..."
"Explaining it to you would take all night. But this hits in about a week."
"Ah..."
Kang A-jin's eyes widened.
"What, not calling me a human phone this time?"
"I've never been just a human phone..."
She looked uneasy but nodded obediently. "Got it. I'll relay immediately." Judgment was HQ's job. She hurriedly called someone, transmitting voice and explanations.
Now, just wait.
Yoo Ji-tae and Clone 1 were already hot topics in the Federation. Observed from afar like exotic beasts. But if the beast spoke up, attention would surge.
And as predicted.
Before quitting time that day, a special guest visited Yoo Ji-tae.
Creeeak. Knock knock—
Someone opened the door, then knocked belatedly.
"Got a moment?"
Straight-backed elderly black man.
Thick white hair, wrinkled face half-covered by a stylish white beard. Tall. Fierce aura. Cross necklace and thick rosary on his wrist felt out of place.
Younger days: World Rank 3 during the Great War. Unaffiliated soldier leading fights across battlefields.
Now a elder superhuman. One of Kaliovan's five transcenders.
Alias: "Mercenary King."
Christoph Willibald Freeman.
One of the loudest voices in the Federation.
Yoo Ji-tae was on a couch in his private office from Clone 1, immersed inwardly tending Jeong Tae-baek. He opened his eyes.
Of all people, the most rigid, arbitrary one showed up.
"Yes. Come in."
To maintain proper demeanor, after deliberation, he mimicked deference to a senior elder. Basic wisdom regained from daily life.
"Season, was it?"
"Greetings, Sunbae. Christoph."
The old man's eye twitched.
"Right... I got a bizarre report. Pissed me off reading it. More than three years ago when my old lady nagged while I did internet paperwork."
Words joked, tone didn't. He seemed genuinely displeased.
"What's the issue?"
"This. You personally confirmed the data?"
Thud.
The elder tossed the report on Yoo Ji-tae's desk and sat opposite, crossing long legs.
"Yes. I did."
"Laughable. Tight weave. Impressive insight too. Central Command's in chaos now."
No outward sign, but expected.
"So, what's the problem?"
"But to me... it doesn't add up."
"Your evidence?"
70 years facing this man in the Federation.
Yoo Ji-tae always found one thing intriguing about him.
"Instinct."
His damn gut feeling.
Not ability, authority, or blessing. Not Providence grasp. For someone like Yoo Ji-tae relying on concrete numbers, incomprehensible.
Power to intuitively understand the world.
A genius's honed instinct.
"Feels off. Chief of Staff, advisors, aides, commanders—even Zhuge Hae-yeon aside—all praising: Brilliant, how'd you spot it? But not me."
"..."
"I think it's wrong. Why? None. Just my damn gut."
Yoo Ji-tae held his tongue.
A mercenary who'd dodged thousands of crises on instinct across slaughterfields, now a sage elder with sharpened intuition.
"Young buck might not know, but this old man's hunches hit often."
Yet that's why
he was wrong.
Yoo Ji-tae twisted lies cunningly toward the crisis source.
The elder sensed the falsehood.
But truth lay within.
Truth verified at the principle dominating the world, beyond mere human instinct.
"So?"
"Convince me."
"You say instinct says wrong, but want me to convince you?"
"You can't. So it is wrong."
"...Looks like the old soldier's time to hang up his sword has come."
"Heh heh, cheeky brat."
Christoph grinned. Wrinkles piled up at his mouth.
"You're saying you're turning the entire Federation Rift Detection Department into idiots alone. Claim's slick. But I say no. So it's no. Most of 5th Command will think like me soon."
"5th Command led by gut-living folks like you, huh."
"Not quite. Don't get what I'm saying?"
Politics to make it so. That's it.
Bottom line: He didn't like Yoo Ji-tae.
Why?
He had reasons too. Probably just gut.
Always that type.
Likely many in the Federation resented him and Clone 1 similarly. Parachute with uncanny tracking and military genius? Suspect.
Now a radical elder voiced it outright.
"Then, when the SS+ dungeon breaks, Federation sits it out?"
"Better not expect support from units under my breath."
Yoo Ji-tae smiled faintly.
Silence briefly.
The regressor spoke.
"Christoph. Not sure if you know."
"What?"
"Instinct is credit."
"Ho. 70 years built that. Pretty solid power, eh?"
"Has been so far. But once it shatters, your 70 years of right calls crumble at once."
"Oh? Exciting. When's that?"
The elder beamed. Chuckling like he'd seen the funniest kid.
"When? Look here."
The regressor grinned back. He'd witnessed Christoph's instincts denied multiple times, even his fall from grace in the Federation.
"Your gut's already off, isn't it?"
The smile vanished from the old man's face.