The Oracle's Revelation
The path down to the basement of the missionary wasn't particularly complicated. It had originally been built as a bunker or warehouse, just in case the people inside ever became isolated. I no longer felt the urge to nitpick the modern knowledge my daughter spoke of. I simply accepted it with a quiet so that's how it is and obediently let the wheelchair carry me along the passage leading underground.
The place had once served as living quarters as well. According to Maribella, the Blood Clan had discovered it by chance.
“The Oracle says it wasn’t chance at all.”
“The Oracle is probably right.”
“Father, whose side are you even on?”
It wasn’t the kind of question that had sides. Flustered, I could only shrug.
“My daughter…”
“Then how should I phrase it?”
“It was a coincidence…”
“Good enough.”
Only after her expression settled into satisfaction did Maribella push my wheelchair again. I glanced at Vertea, but—
“This unit has no means of assisting Master even if you look upon it with such pitiful eyes.”
The halfling who called herself my servant turned her face away without a shred of mercy. How utterly heartbreaking.
Even so, she didn’t flip the wheelchair over or shove it down the stairs. I entered a laboratory lined with sterilization chambers.
There, I met the Oracle.
It is an honor to meet you, Brigadier General Ha Jinwoo.
The voice was natural, almost human. Even so, I couldn’t answer. I simply couldn’t.
Confident eyes. Black hair, black irises. The long lab coat, the necklace, even the turtleneck sweater worn against the cold. The hologram before me wore the exact face of Baek Seolah.
As expected, you are reacting strongly to this form. I am relieved.
“…How?”
To explain in full would take too long, so I will be brief. This laboratory’s Oracle was designed to analyze and support Brigadier General Ha Jinwoo’s genetic structure. For that purpose, it incorporated the brain-scan data of Dr. Baek Seolah.
My expression darkened before I could stop it. I could accept them gathering my genetic material to create copies, but this—
If you are angry, I will apologize in their stead. As you know, the South Korean government was… desperate.
The thought that they wouldn’t even let her rest in death left a bitter taste in my mouth.
“Don’t apologize.”
I see. She must have been that precious to you—so precious you were willing to become a wanted man. In that case, I will refrain from apologizing.
“Is that… Father’s…?”
What let me regain control of my emotions was entirely thanks to Maribella. The unfamiliar voice coming from behind me belonged to my daughter, a sound I still hadn’t grown used to. I drew in a slow breath at the sound of it.
“That’s right.”
Dr. Baek Seolah. The woman in charge of the Zeus Project, my first love, and the scientist who remained humane even as the world drowned in madness. The first person who taught me what an adult should be. The first person who planted that conviction inside me.
“That is Sister Baek Seolah’s face.”
It felt complicated. I never imagined I would see her again like this. Her expression looked a little more self-assured than I remembered. I had always recalled her as gentler. Perhaps that gentleness had only existed inside my memory.
“What did you mean by wanted notice? What exactly did you do?”
Brigadier General Ha Jinwoo slaughtered three hundred and fifty-four high-ranking military officers during the victory ceremony that also commemorated his eighty-three years of service. The reason—as the South Korean government itself suspected at the time—was revenge for Dr. Baek Seolah.
It was the truth.
“That’s right.”
They hadn’t liked what she was doing. She had informed the orphan volunteers of the Zeus Project that there was a risk of death. She had insisted on reconsidering the procedures again and again if there was any chance of fatal injury during modification, always choosing the path that would place the least burden on their lives. Even then, she had shed tears whenever someone died. In the end, once the government realized the Zeus Project’s mortality rate was catastrophically high and that only a single successful subject would ever emerge, they tried to shut the entire thing down. They wanted to prevent countless more children from dying in the pursuit of a second or third Ha Jinwoo. The result was death.
After seeing her cold corpse, how long had I sat there turning it over in my mind?
“I killed everyone even slightly involved.”
I had agonized, verified, reviewed every scrap of information. After gathering data by every possible means and finally acting, nothing could stop me. Three hundred and fifty-four generals—some begging, some cursing, some raging, some simply accepting their fate with cold eyes. I kicked open the doors of their hotel rooms and pulled the trigger of my shotgun. I had already read the rifle rounds fired at me, dodged them, returned fire, and killed. I shot the bodyguards in their hands, beat them down, and incapacitated them with electricity. I made every effort to kill only those who had taken part. After it was over, I left Korea.
“Why would you go that far…”
Yes. Why had I gone that far? Even I didn’t fully understand. Maybe I had simply wanted to. But none of that mattered now. It was in the past. I had no intention of digging up a revenge that had already ended. As I stared at the hologram wearing her face, another voice reached me.
“Couldn’t the Oracle be trying to harm you from the beginning?”
Maribella’s grip on the wheelchair tightened. Her crimson eyes shone with worry as they fixed on me.
“I will protect you if anything tries to harm you, Father, but aren’t you being far too careless?”
Ah. Perhaps the Oracle’s almost human demeanor had caused the misunderstanding. It was understandable. I shook my head and clarified.
“The Oracle doesn’t harbor such petty emotions. Revenge for the South Korean government, revenge for the generals… it was never even South Korea’s property to begin with.”
It had only been temporarily loaned from the United States. They simply hadn’t been able to retrieve it, so it remained here in this laboratory. Therefore, I trusted the Oracle. More precisely, I trusted its rationality.
“So?”
It could not happen. Leaning back in the wheelchair made the face of the woman inside the hologram easier to look at.
“Why did you want to see me? You even told Maribella where I would appear and asked her to bring me here. There must be a reason.”
It wouldn’t be revenge. The Oracles had been created to assist with the calculations of America’s anti-resonance device. Once the device was fully completed they became unnecessary and were sold off to support various defense and research facilities. They could perform limited future prediction, but that was all. If it had called for me, it could not be for something as trivial as revenge against a government that would have collapsed with or without me.
There is a message… and information I must convey.
A message? Information? Seeing my puzzled look, the hologram offered a heartbreaking smile.
First… this labyrinth is not simply Seoul.
The Oracle waved its hand. A map appeared, following the motion. It was a map of Seoul—yet not quite the Seoul I remembered. At the city’s outskirts, where other regions should have continued, unfamiliar shapes had been grafted on.
🏛 North: Chernobyl (Nymph territory)
🏛 West: Pacific Ocean
🏛 East: Yellowstone National Park
🏛 Internal Singularities: Tokyo, Russia, others
The labyrinth is the Earth. More precisely, what remains of it.
A possibility I had already half-suspected. Inside the hologram wearing Baek Seolah’s face, I saw the same gentle teacher who had once tutored me.
After you entered hibernation, Earth merged with this labyrinth. It was not a complete union, however.
“What do you mean?”
It would be accurate to say the labyrinth has swallowed the whole of Earth—shattered into countless fragments.
A memory flickered. Chernobyl, the place where nymphs were said to appear. A region in Ukraine, the world’s most infamous irradiated zone. The site of a catastrophe that had spawned countless games and stories. The northern section of Seoul on the hologram’s map looked exactly like a map of that region.
The outskirts of Seoul connect to entirely different spaces. Chernobyl to the north, the Pacific to the west, Yellowstone National Park to the east.
None of it made logical sense. But the age in which logic could explain everything had already passed.
Nor is that all. Even inside Seoul there are spatial singularities leading elsewhere—Tokyo, Russia, and more.
The way the hologram clapped its hands was so similar to Baek Seolah, yet somehow different. With a lively tone, the Oracle declared:
This complete spatial chaos is what we now call both Earth and the labyrinth.
In other words, I had not simply fallen into a land that resembled Seoul but was entirely different.
“…I drifted into this labyrinth together with the Earth itself.”
Correct. As expected, you’re quick.
I rubbed my face with a complicated expression. I didn’t know whether I should feel relief or despair. How? And why? None of the questions had answers, yet the Oracle moved smoothly to the next matter.
Now, following the information is the message entrusted to me by the Darkness.
“…What?”
“Huh?”
Not only Maribella and I—even Vertea, who had been listening in silence, widened her eyes. The prophet wearing Baek Seolah’s face spoke.
‘Avatar of Darkness.’
The outstretched hand pointed straight at me. Along with the realization I had already come to accept—that I was that very avatar—the Oracle continued.
‘Overcome every trial the labyrinth has to offer and proceed beyond the darkness to its heart.’
The Oracle finished speaking and gave a bright smile.
That is everything. Ah, no—there is one more thing.
The base of the massive circular machine projecting the hologram opened. What emerged was something painfully familiar.
“This is—”
A gift.
Recovery medicine developed for super-soldiers. Ampoules filled to the brim with it.
Your internal organs and muscles are severely damaged. There is brain trauma as well, correct? Your Micro-current sensory ability is likely not functioning normally either. Natural recovery would take a full month, however…
Even if every limb had been blown off and everything below the waist erased, a single injection would restore the body in under five minutes. It was the ultimate trump card.
Even amid all the confusion, its intention was crystal clear.
If you use this, you can begin immediately, yes?
The Darkness—and the Oracle—wanted me to keep adventuring. I still didn’t understand why they wanted me to explore the labyrinth, or why I was the Avatar of Darkness. Many questions remained, yet I could not refuse the offer.
Just as my hand reached for the ampoule—
“Are you joking?”
“Ah.”
“Ah.”
Maribella stepped in and snatched the ampoule away. Her brows were furrowed in clear anger.
“One arm gone, both legs broken, and now you tell me your organs, muscles, and brain are all damaged?”
Her glare was downright terrifying.
“I would normally let it slide, but what exactly did you say earlier?”
Maribella shook the ampoule at me.
“You wanted to use magic that spreads the wound across your entire body? Have you actually gone insane? Did the brain damage lower your intelligence too?”
“N-no… that’s not…”
“You’re planning to heal yourself with this and then immediately go torture your body again. Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”
Maribella continued to wave the ampoule back and forth, glaring at me with undisguised fury.
“I’m confiscating this. I’ll return it once your body has fully recovered, so keep that in mind.”
Arms crossed, Maribella looked down at me. Behind her the Oracle wore a troubled expression, but—
“This unit concurs. Master has experienced numerous battles in a short span of time. I believe sufficient rest would be advisable.”
Even Vertea had spoken up. In that case… there was nothing I could do.
“I understand…”
“Is that all?”
“…I’m sorry?”
“Yes. I won’t overlook it next time, so remember that.”
With a little “hmph,” Maribella hid the ampoule. Yeah… it was probably time to rest anyway. Something like that was better saved for a truly critical moment.
Thinking that, I let Maribella push my wheelchair and obediently returned to the bed.