Chapter 100
Chapter 100
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Entity Combination
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"Reversal of information."
From "The World's Greatest Fixer" to "The World's Greatest Troublemaker."
From "An Utterly Ordinary Human" to "The Entity that Toyed with the Foundation."
"It reverses the information that person holds—in reverse."
This was my guess as to the phenomenon currently hitting me.
"My own perception doesn't seem to change. I still see myself as human, as the world's greatest fixer. So, what about you, Love?"
『To be honest, I think Mr. Lee Seung-hoon is human, but he has aspects that go beyond ordinary humans. In the latter case, I still regard Mr. Lee Seung-hoon as the world's greatest fixer.』
"Perception alteration has less effect on machines, huh."
『It's not that it has less effect—I'm just speaking the truth.』
I nodded without arguing with Love's words.
Perception alteration makes you accept false information as truth, so arguing was pointless.
"When did they even use it? If it was an entity without distance limits, they wouldn't have bothered with a bomb terror attack in the first place. So, the time they came directly is the most likely."
『Do you mean the conversation from the start wasn't for talking, but to fulfill the entity's conditions?』
"I got a chance to talk, which was nice for me, but unfortunately, it seems that way."
I didn't know the full scope of the prophecy, but it was clear that my existence was a hindrance.
On top of that, circumstances suggested their goal was on the verge of completion.
"Persuasion carries the risk of betrayal, so killing is much cleaner. The problem is, I have no idea when they used it."
Since the bomb terror, I'd been steadily consuming "Dried Friendship."
My physical abilities had reached their peak, and since she entered, I'd detected every single subtle movement.
『Didn't you think of subduing them before they could set things up?』
"There was a chance it could be resolved through talk. And I figured the opponent wasn't stupid enough to come without any preparations."
And indeed, that was the case.
"According to my senses, she vanished from the hotel the moment she stepped out the door. Not just footsteps—even her heartbeat was erased. Even if I'd subdued her on sight, it probably would've been the same."
『Understood.』
"The source of this power affecting me isn't her own ability. Baal said he gave her something he made himself. An impure holy relic, a corrupted symbol from another religion—so it must be some special kind of object. And there's one that fits..."
There was one.
"The inverted cross."
But that only made it more baffling.
"The inverted cross is a symbol of Peter."
Jesus's disciple and apostle, Peter—when he was martyred, he refused to die in the same manner as his master and was crucified upside down. That's the origin of the inverted cross.
Contrary to popular belief, the inverted cross isn't a symbol of the Antichrist—it's a symbol of Christ.
『But according to existing information, didn't they leave the inverted pentagram and inverted cross as symbols from ancient times?』
"One of the Antichrist's goals is blasphemy against the divine. The cult leader I met actually hated God. I thought they used the inverted cross as a symbol because it was perfect for blasphemy."
In reality, many people see the inverted cross as a symbol of the devil or Antichrist—perhaps the result of their covert influence.
"And Lucifer Company left our dimension right after Jesus removed original sin. Peter's martyrdom was much later. The timelines don't match."
Love, who'd been listening, spoke up.
『There is nothing new under the sun. From Ecclesiastes 1:9.』
"You're saying Lucifer Company created the inverted cross first for blasphemy, and later Peter happened to be hung on one by coincidence?"
『That's highly likely. Or what happened to Peter could have been the Antichrist's doing itself.』
If it was the latter, then Christ would be sanctifying an Antichrist symbol due to falsified history.
"I hope it's the former. The latter means history itself was toyed with."
『Have you determined the inverted cross is the entity?』
"Yeah. The effect is probably perception alteration of the target's information, reversed. Targets are everyone except the user and the subject—only perceptions of information change, not the actual information itself.』
If the actual information changed too, I'd be an entity now, not human, and I'd have caused all sorts of chaos.
"I have no desire to cause trouble, nor any signs of it, so that's certain."
『But if the false prophet actually prophesied, couldn't that be because the above ability made them a real prophet?』
"That could be another entity. Lucifer Company didn't make just one or two. More importantly..."
From the hotel's top floor, I looked down at the ground.
In the concrete jungle, bright sirens flowed toward me along the river of roads.
"Time to get ready. How are the Foundation agents? Still jamming?"
『Jamming released. Surveillance shows they're doing pre-entry checks before entering the interior.』
"Good thing they're competent. Thanks to them, humanity can sleep soundly on both feet."
So, how do I resolve this situation?
"Not hard."
I pulled an item from the Void Pocket.
"Good thing I prepared in advance."
It was a quest ticket.
I should really only use it in the office to help ordinary people.
That was my assessment of the Scales of Equivalent Exchange when I first arrived in Australia.
That hasn't changed, but there is one helpful use once a month: the ability to craft a quest ticket of your choice.
'Quest tickets have high peaks in rewards, but mission difficulty scales accordingly. The biggest issue making them hard to use is that missions are randomly selected.'
Randomly assigned missions across all fields are the greatest barrier to getting good rewards from tickets.
"But with the Scales of Equivalent Exchange, I can solve that."
That was the result of experiments I'd conducted in preparation before coming here.
[Reward: Ability for quest ticket missions to have short completion deadlines and involve paying money.]
[Price]
[1. Both legs, both arms, both eyes.]
[2. All future successes.]
[3. 1 trillion dollars.]
Just wanting the reward demanded a price impossible to pay.
Probably because the subject related to the reward was the same entity.
But the advantage of the Scales of Equivalent Exchange is mitigating the price by adding multiple conditions.
[Reward: Possess the ability for quest ticket missions to have short completion deadlines and involve paying money—for 3 minutes.]
[Price]
[1. Permanent ingrown toenail on left big toe.]
[2. All future beverages always lukewarm.]
[3. 1.2 billion won.]
Temporary possession measured in minutes instead of lifetime was easy to pay.
"Since I can only draw 10 per month anyway, I prepped them and draw them all at once."
Quest ticket deadlines are part of the difficulty.
Shortening them to hours further lowered mission difficulty.
The experiments succeeded, and after a few trials and errors, I completed five quest tickets solvable with money.
"Known as Entity Combination."
『Your naming sense is on life support.』
I pulled out one of the crafted tickets.
[Reward: Everyone chasing or targeting me falls asleep in a safe place for 8 hours.]
[Mission: Donate 112 billion won.]
[Deadline: 12 hours]
Money holds no meaning for me anymore.
In other words, quest tickets are now vouchers for using superpowers ten times a month.
"The opponents are zealots. Naturally, I expected them to brainwash and control civilians."
Tilting my ear, I could feel the Foundation agents gearing up to storm in.
"Love, donate 112 billion won to a random volunteer organization."
I accepted the quest.
『Executing.』
Less than a minute later, everything was done.
『Execution complete.』
The whole world fell asleep.
Near Uluru in Australia.
Above the inverted pentagram drawn next to a temporary tent, the Antichrist's saint, false prophet, and cult leader Jezebel appeared.
"Did you return safely?"
"No major issues with everyone, right?"
"Yes, no problems at all."
Three people waiting.
Greeted by comrades who'd been with her from the distant past to now, she smiled and said,
"Success. He won't hinder us anymore."
"Did you succeed in killing him?"
"No, but he'll probably die."
Jezebel shook the inverted cross hanging around her neck.
"I reversed his concept."
Entity of perception alteration that imprints the reversal of the target's information onto the world.
"However, since the target rejected me, the effect will be weaker."
The better you know the target.
The closer you get to the target.
The longer you spend with the target, the exponentially greater the effect.
"I tried seducing him physically, but no dice."
"Didn't you spray "Harlot's Perfume" before leaving?"
"Didn't work? Guess he's impotent."
Like betrayal from a close friend hurts more.
Like a disciple's betrayal takes the master's life.
It was optimized for dragging close targets into ruin.
"Still, the Inverted Cross starts by changing the parts where the target has the greatest influence in the world, so the fixer part is definitely reversed."
"The news is already out."
One of the three who'd been waiting showed her a smartphone.
It was buzzing about Lee Seung-hoon as the world's strongest troublemaker.
"Now I can relax."
Jezebel let out a sigh of relief.
Lee Seung-hoon, who always disrupted them no matter how many prophecies—no matter how traumatic, haunting her dreams—seemed finally gone.
"But it doesn't specify exactly how he'll betray us?"
"Yes. It just vaguely feels like he'll hinder us—no concrete future visible."
"Remarkable. Impossible unless you're a transcendent."
"Maybe our new god dislikes being watched."
"A good omen."
"Still, I need to check once more. Prepare."
"As the leader wills."
The four entered the tent.
The interior was a massive cathedral.
In the past, there were many Antichrists, but through trials and tribulations, most vanished, leaving only a few.
"Many apostles entered eternal rest due to this incident."
"Sublime sacrifices."
And thirteen more vanished as self-sacrifices to prepare for summoning the new god.
Now, the true Antichrists were just her and the three others.
"We can't let their sacrifices be in vain. 1st Apostle, prepare the prophecy. 2nd Apostle, prepare the dance. 3rd Apostle, prepare for contingencies."
"Yes."
Soon after, the man called the 1st Apostle brought an item.
A massive ceremonial chalice adorned with jewels and a withered eyeball from someone.
She shook the ceremonial chalice, and rotten blood automatically pooled inside.
Rotten blood dripped onto the withered eyeball.
The eyeball absorbed the rotten blood.
The time-regressed eye became like freshly plucked, soon conveying much to her.
"......"
Prophecy isn't seeing—it's feeling with all five senses.
But again, she felt Lee Seung-hoon trying to disrupt their plans in the future.
'Why?'
Hadn't she dealt with him already?
Even worse, the future grew more opaque than before—the sensations just now tangled chaotically and vanished into utter darkness.
"The future changed. Into something even more chaotic."
"What does that mean?"
"Like multiple transcendents clashing in battle—like a war of gods."
"Is it scheming by those displeased with our god's descent?"
"Not sure yet. Wait..."
She poured more rotten blood and commanded once more.
Australia appeared in her eyes.
The chaos that should have erupted to catch Lee Seung-hoon was bizarre instead.
[Ugh, so sleepy. World's greatest troublemaker or whatever—gonna go home and crash first.]
[Hehe! Shift's over for today! Off to bed!]
[Sleep at night! Police duty? Screw it!]
Cops suddenly headed off to sleep.
[Why am I so sleepy today? Ugh, might as well crash in the parking lot...]
[Me too—let's crash together!]
[OK! Group nap!]
Taxi drivers and passengers sought sleep in parking lots too.
[Mm, back to the Foundation.]
[Ugh, th-this perception alteration...]
[No, this is forced control...]
[Damn it, can't sleep, but safest place is the Foundation, Foundation... Sleep at the Foundation...]
[Gotta get 8 hours solid...]
Even the pesky foes called the Foundation retreated to their own dimension.
"Everyone's going to sleep!?"
At that moment, rotten blood surged from the Grail on its own.
"On us too!?"
She and the Antichrists nearly succumbed to drowsiness, but the consumed blood repelled it.
"......Consuming this much corruption. Dangerous."
She dripped more rotten blood into the eye.
Lee Seung-hoon's figure rose in her mind.
[Reinforced the Void Pocket—now it can hold anything.]
[『What's the principle?』]
[Touch the item you want to store, and it shrinks to fit in the pocket automatically. Pull it out shrunk, place in a spot where it can expand, and it grows. Here, watch...]
[『That's the vehicle from the Foundation.』]
[Got permission. They said it's fine to take.]
[『I'll drive.』]
[Can I put my hand on the wheel?]
[『No.』]
[Just resting it?]
[『No.』]
What trick did he use?
Escaping a situation created by the Inverted Cross this easily?
[To Uluru. No matter where the enemy is, things always go down there, right?]
[『Understood.』]
She summoned the apostles.
"The archenemy approaches."
The scheduled descent was in 3 weeks.
They hadn't installed means to "force humans to like" the primordial being as a contingency, but the descent itself was possible now.
"It's a bit early, but I'll begin the descent."
"But that would..."
"No, even without it, He will care for humanity."
She believed in the descending being.
"Because He is neither god nor devil."