Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 99 Paths to the Foundation
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“There are a total of 99 paths leading to the Foundation.”
Sinking deep into the back seat of the antique sedan, I listened intently to Ms. Seong Yura's words.
“Of those, 80 were permanently destroyed just recently due to an unfortunate accident at the Foundation.”
“You mean the Munchkin Mary Sue Constellation, right?”
“...I never imagined you'd even know about that. As a result, only 19 routes remain, and we're heading to the Foundation now via one of them.”
But my eyes couldn't leave Mr. Kim Dong-wook, who gripped the steering wheel.
“This route can only be used by vehicles possessing a special item, so I'm warning you in advance in hopes no one tries to copy it later.”
“What happens if a vehicle without that special item attempts it?”
“If you're lucky, it ends with dirty looks from bystanders, but if not, you'll wander the dimensional cracks forever.”
Smooth driving without a single shake even on curves.
Boldly flooring the accelerator amid the flow of surrounding traffic, without a hint of fear, maintaining perfect spacing.
Hands moving in perfect sync with the vehicle, no delay whatsoever, as if fused as one.
“Oh no! I forgot the dimensional stabilizer!”
“Mr. Dong-wook, I've told you not to make jokes like that.”
“Haha, the mood felt too stiff, so it slipped out.”
And above all, the leisure to crack jokes while driving.
‘Beautiful.’
His driving skills, the motion of his hands on the wheel, that dominating unity with the car—it drove me mad with envy.
“...Y-you're not actually gay, are you?”
“I swear I'm not.”
“You clearly said earlier you weren't looking at my body...”
“I meant I don't judge women by their lower backs.”
“Then why have you been glaring at me nonstop...”
“It's envy of your driving skills.”
To soothe my regret, I made one proposal to Ms. Seong Yura.
“Ms. Seong Yura, could we review our contract again?”
I'd already decided to hand over the last remaining monkey's paw to the Foundation. However, since we'd agreed to sign a special contract there turning it into a unique entity, the paw was still with me, and our deal was only verbal so far—I figured now was the time to add one more condition.
“Yes, Mr. Lee Seung-hoon will transfer the last monkey's paw to us. In exchange, Mr. Lee Seung-hoon may take one safe entity from those held by the Foundation.”
It might seem like I was taking a loss, but reviving the Foundation would benefit me and the world, so I didn't mind at all.
“Could we add one more condition?”
“What is it?”
I shot Mr. Kim Dong-wook a burning gaze, and he shuddered visibly.
“I'd like driving lessons from Mr. Kim Dong-wook.”
“You're really okay with just that?”
“Yes, since I'm already getting one entity.”
Only then did Mr. Kim Dong-wook catch on and ham it up.
“Come to think of it, you've racked up quite a few points on your license, haven't you?”
“Yes, somehow it ended up that way.”
“Haha, at first I thought we'd investigated wrong, but meeting you in person like this, I get it now.”
He wiped under his nose.
“Some entity-related incidents, right? One that messes with records? Or manipulates vehicles? Or maybe you got tangled with a bad-luck or accident-causing entity and piled up points unluckily.”
“No, I'm just bad at driving.”
“Haha, good one! How does anyone rack up over a thousand points in a day? Anyway, proposing this condition tells me you've always been a lousy driver—don't worry! You've got great taste! I've got some buddies who took lessons from me, and now they drive accident-free even in Busan!”
“I can hardly wait.”
“Once this job's done, we'll schedule it? I'll take leave accordingly.”
“Mr. Dong-wook, since it'll be in the contract, we can count it as work. Or would you prefer paid vacation?”
“Ooh, paid vacation! Thank you, Director!”
His passion nearly brought tears to my eyes.
“Thank you.”
This must be what they call loyalty.
“We're now commencing entry to the Foundation.”
The moment we entered the rotary roundabout near Songui in Incheon's Michuhol-gu, Mr. Kim Dong-wook secured himself to the seat.
“Buckle up!”
We kept circling the roundabout. The dashboard needle shot up to 200 km/h.
‘We won't hit any cars?’
Amid the spinning vehicles, others passed through us like ghosts. The speedometer needle kept climbing, lapping the gauge without stopping.
The entire world turned into solid lines. In that infinitely accelerating speed, there was nothing a mere mortal like me could do—I simply entrusted myself to the seat and waited for it to end.
‘Dark.’
In that instant, beyond my right eye, a world unfolded.
Like being hurled into the heart of space, amid the darkness I beheld radiant light.
Hundreds, billions, trillions of stars streaked by as shooting stars, and beyond them, an infinite Milky Way unseen from Earth embroidered the void, proclaiming its majestic presence.
In that expanse, I was less than dust—a grain of sand the world would never remember, adrift in the current, unable to move as I wished.
“We've arrived.”
And without warning, the world snapped back to normal.
“Are you alright? Studies show 99.9% of first-time space jumpers suffer severe lethargy.”
“Is that so?”
“Nothing's been pinpointed yet, but it's believed to overload the body.”
It wasn't a physical issue.
But whether I knew or not, I felt no major effects.
“I'm fine.”
“Good to hear.”
I'd long accepted the fragility of human existence.
“We'll arrive shortly.”
The vehicle carrying us raced across a barren desert. The desert turned to grasslands, then to vast mountain ridges.
“It takes a bit, but time here flows 100 times slower than outside, so no worries.”
“Not Earth, then.”
Ms. Seong Yura spoke with pride.
“This is a multidimensional nexus. Precisely, we've fixed an intersection of infinite multidimensional layers with the Foundation's power to serve as headquarters.”
“A multidimensional nexus...”
“We originally had 27 dimensional branch intersections, but all were destroyed by the Munchkin Mary Sue Constellation.”
“Almost there.”
Hearing Mr. Kim Dong-wook's voice, I asked something I'd wondered for a while.
“How much damage did the Foundation suffer from the Munchkin Mary Sue Constellation? Feel free to skip if it's too sensitive.”
“No, it's fine. Trust is built on sharing secrets, especially with someone who trusts us.”
As expected, she must possess some entity or ability to discern truth from lies.
“The damage from that Constellation was unprecedented in Foundation history. Of the apocalypse-class entities we contained and utilized, 246 vanished, were destroyed, irreversibly damaged, permanently sealed, banished to outer space, or lost to other dimensions.”
As she spoke, our destination drew near, revealing new scenery.
“1,024 safe entities became unusable for similar reasons, and 100 unclassified special entities met the same fate.”
And I saw them.
Three suns hanging in the sky.
“Contact with 274,689 dimensions was severed, and 89% of the tech we'd received from them was irretrievably lost.”
Each sun was girded by massive structures like rings. As if greedily devouring the stars' energy to transmit to someone, transmission towers jutted prominently from the bands, enormous enough to see clearly from the ground.
‘Dyson spheres.’
Other surreal sights appeared one after another.
“The Foundation's top directors and executives all permanently ceased to exist. Now, including me, nine directors lead it, and 90% of prior personnel are dead.”
Three moons crossed the sky. Their metallic surfaces marked them as artificially modified planetoid spacecraft.
“Of our symbiosis-class entities, 88 vanished. Of the rest, 127 grew uneasy and severed ties with us, fleeing to other dimensions.”
A colossal dragon straight out of fantasy spread its wings and soared, pursued by women in mage robes.
“Ten higher-dimensional beings we owned were destroyed, 200 spaces deleted, and all starship weapons and dimensional armaments lost or irreparably damaged.”
A city-sized saucer UFO appeared and vanished in a blink without even a sonic boom along their path, while a futuristic city in the distance evoked cyberpunk vibes.
“Ultimately, the Foundation suffered about 99.8% damage from the Munchkin Mary Sue Constellation. Three months later, we've recovered 10%, but the remaining 88.8% is irreversible, so our policy now focuses on recruiting new talent and securing tech.”
Finally, at that city's heart, I saw a massive charred tree stabbing toward the heavens.
“Even so, we won't give up. For humanity.”
We arrived at the city.
“Mr. Lee Seung-hoon, welcome to the Humanity Protection Foundation.”
And this is just 10% of their original strength.
“The honor is mine.”
In the midst of desolate ruins, I stood alone.
“Hmm.”
I racked my brain.
‘I definitely shook hands with Ms. Seong Yura and entered the city.’
Then, the moment I blinked, here I was.
“An entity's doing?”
But an entity causing trouble at Foundation HQ? Even weakened, they wouldn't be so sloppy as to let that happen.
“Then it must be the Foundation.”
Whether intentional or a mistake, I didn't blame them.
‘So holding off escape with the last monkey's paw.’
This place was ruins. Like a once-thriving city abandoned for a decade after collapse.
‘At least the power's on.’
I strolled the street by lamplight, searching while recalling Foundation info from the game.
‘Joining the Foundation shifts your goal from surviving entities to protecting humanity from them.’
Signs were in Korean, but road markers read nonsense like “British National Road” or “London Traditional Market.”
‘Entering via a Foundation route changed the genre to a tycoon sim: character buffs, entity utilization, talent recruitment, etc.’
Far off, I spotted a lit building and headed there.
Passing the entrance marked “Moscow University Hospital,” I entered.
‘Among those, relevant now is the defense system. After final upgrades, it hid itself and caught even embedded spies without extra checks.’
I passed exam rooms into the sole lit hallway.
“But it never showed what happened to captured spies—maybe they get tossed into places like this.”
Then I opened the door to the only room with noise: the operating theater.
“Who?”
“Who are you?”
“Who's this?”
“Doctors and nurses who had been dissecting some unknowable creature all turned to me in unison.
“New patient?”
“Surgery?”
“Patient?”
I greeted those staring with pitch-black eyes.
“Hello?”
Scalpels flew through the air.
“I'm Lee Seung-hoon.”
Is that an electric bone saw?
“Could I ask for directions?”