The Regressor Is Too Strong (8)
The Regressor Is Too Strong (8)
The changes in the Association. I already knew about that. To be more precise, I should call it a change in America's political situation.
Back when we were on Floor 15, when we faced that old man—we waited nearly a year to see whether monsters would actually appear, and if they did, how strong they'd be.
At that time, the U.S. government had been conducting some kind of research that failed, and they collapsed miserably. In turn, the Player Association rose massively and became a hub of power. That was also when I heard rumors about America's secret warehouse.
In other words, the U.S. government was the setting sun, and the Association was the rising sun.
That trend took a bizarre turn when I searched for the secret warehouse myself not long ago. The warehouse that was supposed to exist was completely empty, and after regressing, I confirmed that the political situation in America had completely tangled.
Suddenly, both the Association and the U.S. government were in decline. More precisely, it was as if the leadership on both sides had their minds completely elsewhere.
And the cause of all that... was that so-called 'Book of Truth'?
Martin glanced around and then spoke carefully.
"More importantly, is there anyone around? I heard that Miss Ji-won's senses are very sharp."
"Yes. There's no one."
Except for me, hiding here and listening to their conversation.
"Whew, that's a relief. It's ironic that the Tower is safer than reality. Well... first, I'll explain what the Book of Truth is."
Only then did Martin look a little relieved, and he began his story in earnest.
"The Book of Truth... is a trait. Its rank is unknown. The trait holder is a young blond white man, presumed to be either a high-ranking government official or the child of one. What's certain is that the owner of the 'Book of Truth' is one of the first players, like the Association Chairman, and is friendly with the government."
"What do you mean the book is a trait?"
"When the trait is activated... I'm told a very thick, large book is summoned. I've never seen it myself, but apparently it looks like an encyclopedia a giant would use."
"...Go on."
"Yes. Anyway, the book can't be opened by normal means. It can't even be scratched. Whether you use abilities or bring in machinery... though we haven't tested it, probably even a bomb wouldn't damage it. They say the trait was used to survive the Tutorial as well."
Martin spread his arms wide, as if the book were physically in front of him.
"But all that is just secondary. The core... is that if you offer a sacrifice to the book, you can obtain information in return. I hear the pages turn by themselves and stop on the page containing the information you want."
He suddenly dropped to one knee and began drawing on the dirt with his finger.
"At the very start of all this, didn't you ever think the U.S. response was too fast?"
"Huh?"
"I'm not sure about Korea, but in the United States, setting up a government agency isn't easy. Moreover, founding an external organization under government sponsorship is nonsensical. Yet this 'Player Association' was created barely two months after the first Tutorial. Despite being hastily assembled, its organizational structure was solid and its personnel assignments were clean."
"No way..."
"Yes. I believe it was likely the influence of the 'Book of Truth.' They must have received some advice from it."
"Does that make sense?"
Choi Ji-won tilted her head and asked. It was exactly what I was thinking. Is there really such a ridiculously overpowered trait? It sounds even better than regression.
"I think you're overlooking the 'sacrifice' part."
But Martin calmly pointed at the drawing on the ground.
"I don't know about the small questions they used to verify its authenticity, but officially, the very first question asked of the 'Book of Truth' was 'Does the Tower really exist?' Of course, we know it really exists — we're right here, aren't we?"
Martin's finger, which had been tracing the dirt, stopped. Drawn on the ground was...
"The cost of that question was 10 tons of gold bars. Even though it's a simple question you could answer just by capturing a single player."
"Ten tons is..."
"Roughly one trillion won, give or take. One trillion won just vanished into thin air."
He brushed away the drawing of gold bars with his palm, then frowned and met Choi Ji-won's eyes.
"After that, there were several more questions, and each time new facts came to light. The sacrifice doesn't have to be paid in gold alone; questions about the distant future require an ever-increasing sacrifice, and if the question is about a person, the cost increases based on that person's trait grade. Asking about an ordinary person was almost free, and I heard that investigating a player with a B-rank trait cost over 40 tons of gold bars. So you can assume it's impossible to ask the book about players with good traits."
"That means..."
"Yes. The U.S. already has complete information on non-players — at least on everyone they consider important."
"..."
"The fact that all major nations joined the Player Association was also a result of using this information. Didn't you find it strange that the Association's global expansion involved zero conflict?"
The more Martin spoke, the hazier my mind felt.
So, the U.S. was actually playing the role of Big Brother? The unity of international organizations was because of one insane cheat trait? And by paying a price, you could even obtain future information?
Since they can't get information about players, the detailed info on me and Ji-won should be safe... but this was a pretty shocking situation.
"Hold on, hold on. There's something I don't understand."
While I clutched my forehead from a mental headache, Choi Ji-won threw out a question.
"Based on what you've said so far... that 'Book of Truth' belongs to the government, right?"
"Correct."
"But you said the Association has changed... weren't the Association and the U.S. government at odds? Are they connected?"
"It would be more accurate to say that the Association Chairman is at odds with the U.S. government. The key executives of the Association are all government people."
Tap, tap. Martin tapped the ground.
Come to think of it, I remember Michael Jeter once saying, 'The Association's executives seem like their minds are somewhere else.' So the thing they're so focused on must be that 'Book of Truth.' The experiments the U.S. government was running must also be related to that book.
"But a week ago, the Association Chairman secretly called me. All the information I've just told you is what I heard from him."
"...A week ago?"
From our perspective, a lot of time has passed, but in real-world time, only about a month has passed since we cleared Floor 15. That means it's been roughly four months since we entered the Tutorial, and five months since the first Tutorial.
For reference, the monsters appear nine months from now. The secret warehouse in America was supposed to be built five months from now.
Michael Jeter visited us a month ago. But he called you a week ago?
While my head was spinning, Martin continued.
"I'm not sure if you were aware, but the Association Chairman has been secretly gathering and nurturing talented players. All of them are said to possess extremely dangerous abilities."
"...Go on."
"But recently, the Association Chairman reportedly had a conflict with one of them. I don't know if it came to blows or ended in argument... but that conflict is said to have changed the Chairman's mind."
"What do you mean by 'changed'?"
"The Association Chairman intends to completely overturn the Association. Whereas before he was slowly waiting for an opportunity, now he's decided to take an active approach."
Martin spat on the ground and cursed the Association executives.
"Right now, the Association's executives and the U.S. government are only thinking about using the 'Book of Truth.' They believe a golden future awaits if they just follow what the book tells them. Before, they at least pretended to work; now, all their minds are focused on the book. Far from being an independent organization, it's become a subsidiary of the U.S. government."
"..."
"But sooner or later, the U.S. government will run out of resources. To obtain more important and more distant future information, the amount of sacrifice required increases sharply. There's a limit to how much of the budget they can secretly divert."
"Is that going to be a problem?"
"Yes, it will. As I mentioned earlier, the sacrifices you can offer to the book aren't limited to gold. From what I hear, they place high value on things with ritualistic significance."
"...No way."
"Yes. The U.S. government may commit human sacrifice."
A government that depends solely on the book to prepare for the future, pushed to a dead end... they could sacrifice people to spy on the future. Entirely possible. For all I know, it may have already happened in the future I experienced.
"Therefore, the Chairman intends to respond preemptively. First, he'll deliberately halt the Association's functions to foster critical public opinion, and when the time is right, he plans to seize full control of the Association politically and even physically. He's also considering securing and isolating the player with the 'Book of Truth' trait."
Martin pounded his own knee with his fist and looked up at the sky.
"I... intend to leave the Association soon and support the Chairman with all my strength. Because there are things you can do only from the inside, and things you can do only from the outside. I plan to devote myself to condemning the rotten U.S. government and the Association's executive leadership."
So the once-thriving Association's rapid collapse, and the U.S. government's accelerating decline... was it all tied to the 'Book of Truth'? I feel like I've been smacked in the back of the head with a hammer.
But there's still an unexplained part. Why did Michael Jeter's course change? Why did the secret warehouse in America disappear? The only reason that comes to mind is...
...Dok Su-hee?
What if. Really, what if.
During our last meeting, I unknowingly harbored intense emotions toward Dok Su-hee... and as a result, what if Dok Su-hee, who retained memories of the human sacrifice, leaked information to Michael Jeter to prevent the catastrophe? And what if that led to a conflict and changed Michael Jeter's thinking?
Dok Su-hee...
"You... were you actually a good person...?"
Maybe things have changed in a positive direction.