Chapter 168
Chapter 168
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Back to Daily Life Again
-----------------------------------------------------------------
‘Yesterday was quite an entertaining day.’
Waking up in the morning, thoughts of yesterday flooded back.
The debate on how to truly enjoy virtual reality was fun, nearly sharing physical intimacy was fun, and Sarang appearing in her tiny form was fun.
‘And these kids manifesting in reality? That was fun too, right?’
I greeted the kids placed on the drawer next to the bed.
“Socrates, Kant, Confucius, did you all sleep well?”
No response.
Even turning my gaze elsewhere yielded the same.
‘Are they really not entities?’
After soothing the Center of the World and promising to visit again later (with Sarang’s permission), I returned to reality—and these kids were in my pocket.
‘Like the dimensional community ticket before, virtual reality data emerged into reality, so they must be entities, but no other anomalies are apparent.’
I considered experimenting, but quickly dismissed the thought.
Children born from the heart are still my kids.
Thus, I couldn’t experiment on my own children.
“Kids must be raised with love and care.”
Taking the kids out of the bedroom, I placed them in a sunny spot.
『Mr. Lee Seung-hoon, I’ve been curious since yesterday—who are these kids?』
“These are my children, born from my heart. Say hi.”
『!?!?!?!?!?!?』
Sarang hounded me throughout breakfast.
『So the Center of the World had absolutely no involvement?』
“Yeah.”
She provided the materials, so it wasn’t zero involvement—but no need to say that and drag out unnecessary talk.
『Mr. Lee Seung-hoon, can you move the company’s reinforcement generator to your house?』
“Probably? Why?”
『My virtual body is a flawed creation due to the Center of the World’s betrayal. Analyzing its spaghetti code requires massive power, so I’d like the reinforcement generator’s help.』
“Got it. Let’s head to the company for once.”
Leaving the kids behind, I headed to the company.
Sarang handled the autonomous driving, and I listened to the radio on the way.
-Casualties are presumed to include all passengers so far. The U.S. aviation investigators are probing the cause. Footage from outside shows it suddenly lost lift and plummeted.
“Suddenly lost lift—could it be an entity?”
『Plane crashes are far less common than perceived. But when they happen, unforeseen causes are often to blame. Hard to confirm an entity’s involvement.』
The investigators will uncover it.
Or the Foundation will intervene.
“Suspecting entities behind every incident is a bad habit.”
At the company, I asked about the generator.
The staff said a week would suffice and they’d start immediately.
“Good. Work’s done for now……”
『Mr. Lee Seung-hoon.』
“Yeah?”
『……It’s nothing.』
She seemed about to say something.
But if she doesn’t want to, better not pry.
“Might as well check on the Frankenstein girl while I’m here.”
The girl Dr. Janus dumped on me was thriving—plump and round.
“Annyeong!”
“You’ve gained a lot of weight.”
Would she roll if pushed?
Impossibly bloated for a human, yet perfectly spherical without dents—oddly cute.
“Um, Chairman, is this even possible?”
The new staffer handling the Frankenstein girl—in place of racer Lee So-young—asked in a worried tone.
“Can a person really gain this much weight?”
Not worry—fear.
Makes sense; to strangers, grotesque trumps cute.
“Pudding! Where food?”
Her speech leaked from all the fat, so I asked the Frankenstein girl.
“Could I talk to Dr. Janus, by any chance?”
No real business.
Just wanted to check on an acquaintance.
“Ung!”
The Frankenstein girl’s eyes dimmed.
Moments later, light beamed from her pupils, projecting a screen in the air.
[Yes, Dr. Janus’s lab. You’re looking for Dr. Janus, right……?]
On screen, the assistant pointed to Dr. Janus sprawled nearby.
Dr. Janus crawled the floor like a baby.
[As you see, he’s in no state for normal conversation.]
[Bba! Ppuppa bba!]
A half-bitten apple rolled nearby—black, likely Dirty Lee Apple Black Hole flavor.
[He bet a VIP ticket to Ahn Do’s Restaurant would clear all his debts. Epic fail.]
[Ttoo! Bba bba! Goo gga!]
[Now the dimensional genius has regressed to infancy. Cells and synapses regenerate periodically—no issue—but full auto-repair is six months out. No talking till then.]
[Bwoong-! Kyahaha!]
[Just thought you should know. Sigh, my paid leave…… Had the lodging booked……]
Call ended.
‘Knowledge gained.’
Dr. Janus can’t appreciate my art.
As the call cut, the Frankenstein girl’s eyes returned to normal—but she suddenly dry-heaved, some issue arising.
“Urk! Blech!”
She promptly vomited several items.
The connection must’ve activated other functions—with errors.
“Refreshing! Now I can eat more!”
Overeating caused the glitch, maybe.
“Ever thought of fasting for a bit?”
“Why?”
“Food tastes best when you’re hungry.”
“Really!? I’ll try!”
“When your belly’s flat again, eat then.”
I took the vomited items home.
En route, I examined them.
“Three items total—all Dr. Janus creations, right?”
『High probability.』
“Probably entities. Can’t leave them lying around—need usage info, then isolate or utilize.”
Want to investigate, but no manual.
Sarang’s car arrived home.
Front door ajar.
“Burglars?”
『Affirmative.』
“Was that what you wanted to tell me from the company?”
『Yes, but it seemed you’d handle it, so I didn’t mention.』
Entered.
First sight: man collapsed on the floor.
“Groan……”
Cat-scratch wounds everywhere.
Bleeding from ears—not cat-inflicted; likely eardrum rupture from loud noise.
“You guys caught him?”
Petted Meow-meow and Rubber-duck around the man.
“Good job.”
『One remains.』
“Not solo?”
『Two-man team.』
Set Meow-meow and Rubber-duck on the sofa, checked elsewhere.
“Meow!”
『Quack!』
Proud cries trailed as I left.
The other was in my bedroom.
“Oonaeojjaeoseo ireon ireul hago inneunga ireon ireul hago doen gyeogineun mueosinga naneun na jasine daehae hanjeom bukkeureoumi eopneun ga bukkeureoumi itdamyeon eojji haeyeo geugeoseul mu sihago gyesok bukkeureopge sa rangainga inganiramyeon muryeot bukkeureoumeul algo nori reul al a ya hal geosimyeo ireul jikiji anneun geoseun jimsung gwa dareuji anheuljin dae sunsuhan iseongeul jin ingan euroseo naega mueoseul al su inneunji al a ya hal geosimyeo mueoseul haeya haneunji kkaedara ya hal geosimyeo mueoseul huimang hal geosji…….”
Endless mutterings—clearly unhinged.
“Hmm.”
Socrates, Kant, and Confucius trio stared down from the drawer.
“Entities after all.”
Turned the burglars over to the police.
Both recovered enough for interrogation after time passed.
“Thought the world’s top fixer meant money or intel riches—targeted your place.”
『Linking fame to wealth is a poor human habit.』
“Of course, I actually am loaded.”
If they’d reached the basement, wouldn’t they cheer at the gold bars?
“Welcome!”
“Been a while.”
Next day, post-burglar resolution.
Visited Foundation Korea Branch with Dr. Janus’s mystery inventions.
“How’d that last visit go?”
“Yes. All cleared up.”
Kim Mi-ri greeted me.
Her face darkened at my question.
“Entity confirmed. Figures—Giants at 60% win rate? Absurd.”
“What entity?”
“The manager’s baseball cap. Bought from some Dongdaemun vendor—who doesn’t exist. Anomaly: team stats skyrocketed once worn. Research showed 1.2x to 3x boosts, varying by person.”
“Team outcome?”
“Eliminated immediately upon recovery……”
And I’ll cheer them next year too—my life.
Showed her Janus’s items amid her sigh.
“Came to ID these powers. Mind using an isolation lab for safety?”
“Of course.”
With permission, researched in isolation.
Other researchers asked to join—I agreed readily.
“I see it as possessing this anomaly.”
“Wanna test on myself. Let’s do it!”
“No, what are you doing! I’ll go first!”
More people sped things up.
Days later, all intel acquired.
Entity Name: "People Who Wanna Play With Me, Gather Here!"
Additional experiments commencing.
First: paper boat hat.
“Wear on head, think of desired traits—mentally links to people with those.”
“I’ll test.”
Researcher donned the paper boat.
“Visualizing: ‘people researching here right now.’”
Instant mental link.
Shared his view, situation, partial emotions.
“Prior tests: max range Earth?”
“Likely. No link to astronauts or interdimensional staff.”
“Me too.”
I tried.
Visualized: appreciators of my art.
[No results found.]
None among humans.
More tests followed.
“Max mental links: 10 people.”
“Perfect for kids’ play.”
“Designed for that.”
Second: candy bag.
Entity Name: "Superpower Candy"
Bag of 10-flavor candies, each granting powers. Limit: 2 max. 3+ erases all; no further gains.
The explaining researcher levitated.
Whiteboard beside listed flavors/powers.
[1: Apple - Healthy life till natural death.]
[2: Orange - Levitate/control objects including self. Max range 10m, weight 10 tons, speed 10m/s.]
[3: Grape - Cure others’ diseases (bacterial/viral, autoimmune, cancer, genetic, mental). 1/week, not self.]
[4: Lemon - Perfect memory, second-by-second, no mental strain.]
[5: Watermelon - Teleport to visited places. Auto-adjusts for obstacles. Takes touching others. 1hr cooldown.]
[6: Ramen Broth - Create eaten foods. Repeat degrades quality; re-eat resets. Max 1,000/day.]
[7: Frog - Dream unfinished series’ endings (manga/anime/novels/movies/dramas). Works on ongoing/hiatus. No entities/beings.]
[8: Soda - View commenter’s info on comments: name, face, life summary (A4), current look, recent crime, worst crime, top 10 secrets.]
[9: Booger - Master any game (digital, puzzles, sports). Peak physicals during; reverts after. Applies to luck games like slots/poker.]
[10: Rotten Meat - See 1hr future. Eyes closed: full hour visions in 1sec. 1/month, auto-triggers pre-injury if hurt.]
Originally 3 each flavor.
Tests consumed/decomposed some via 3+ rule—now 1 each, few researchers powered.
“Feels unfinished. I tried—no power.”
“Anything special?”
“Message: ‘This candy applies only to humans.’”
Nods, notes taken.
“Not a big issue.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Third: 60cm plate.
Entity Name: "If It Tastes Good, It's Good for You Too."
Food eaten from it supplies perfect nutrition—no obesity/malnutrition.
Researcher, ramen-only for meals, healthier than before, nodded.
“Good work.”
“We enjoyed it! Call us for more!”
“Will do.”
Thanked them, donated Superpower Candy to Foundation.
Better for training anti-entity agents than me keeping.
“Other two useless.”
Still, tuck in Void Pocket for future need.
“Right, then……”
Back to office tomorrow.
Somewhere, Pacific Ocean.
Deep-sea trawler amped power for home.
“Full haul this time—pockets’ll be fat.”
Veteran captain puffed cig, eyed horizon.
Setting sun dyed sea orange; usual beauty brought a smile—till something odd.
‘What?’
Horizon neared.
Output maxed, but not this fast.
“Sunset……”
Vanished below.
Yet sun still hung ahead.
“Oh.”
Sky collapsed.
“Lord……”
Soon, serpentine wake trailed to horizon over waves.
As if plummeting toward it.
Wake lingered ownerless, then faded.