Chapter 138
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The Imposter III
Shin No-A
6
Kuro (黒).
The nickname of the "diary owner" whose name never appeared throughout the testament notes was Kuro.
Let's note that it was a nickname, not a real name. Even Heuk Yo-geum didn't know the diary owner's true name.
"Mr. Kuro didn't talk with anyone."
And probably no one knew.
"Wasn't he in the same group?"
"Yes. Since he was Japanese like us, he belonged to our group. But he always trailed behind at the rear, just following us. Mr. Kuro himself never actively tried to do anything or participate."
"……."
In plain terms, a loner. An outsider.
You know how when elementary school kids go on field trips, there's always that one kid? While all the other children form a tight formation following the teacher, that one kid alone lags at the very back, claiming "Everyone, don't worry. I'm just engrossed in appreciating the scenery, which is the true purpose of this field trip."
Kuro was exactly that type.
The life of a loner became far harsher after the apocalypse than before it.
In this era, social skills weren't a "nice to have but not essential" characteristic—they were a matter directly tied to human survival.
"If he was that much of an outcast, he must have been treated poorly within the group too?"
"Correct. He just stood there blankly watching even when we fought yo-kai. I remember he couldn't even participate in the distribution of spoils that the spirits handed out."
"……."
"Still, we didn't expel him from the group. He didn't cause any trouble separately... To put it bluntly, there was also the calculation that when yo-kai launched surprise attacks from the rear, Mr. Kuro would be the first to be sacrificed."
"So he was a disposable pawn only useful as cannon fodder?"
"Honestly speaking, yes. That's how it was."
...That was a completely contrary impression to what I had felt while reading the testament notes all this time.
Inside the diary, Kuro appeared to be an Awakened who, despite having a twisted nature, at least pulled their own weight within the group.
Above all, as they passed the early portions, there were hints that their combat power had increased. They said Kuro could even fend off a centaur tribe's attack alone.
Was all that testimony lies? Was the diary I picked up nothing more than a loner's delusional notebook?
"However... After hearing Undertaker-nim's words and thinking about it now, there were some strange points."
"Any information, no matter how trivial, is fine. Speak comfortably."
Heuk Yo-geum narrowed her brow. As if struggling to find a photograph already faded in the drawers of memory.
"...Mr. Kuro slept a lot."
I blinked.
"Sleep?"
"Yes. Sleep. You know how when you undergo Kamikakushi, you're always tense because you never know when what yo-kai might pop out? But Mr. Kuro, while always fidgeting when awake, was strangely peaceful only when sleeping."
"……."
"And this might sound like strange talk, but each day when he slept, 'fur' grew more thickly on Mr. Kuro's arm. Yes. Just like in this photograph Undertaker-nim showed me."
Monkey's Hand.
Humans who draw upon the power of grotesqueries grow closer to grotesqueries themselves.
If someone relies on the Monkey's Hand, they too will degenerate into a monkey-like form.
"Seeing fur suddenly growing on a person's arm, we were wary too. It could have been an unidentified infectious disease or curse. So we suppressed Mr. Kuro and searched his belongings..."
"What was in the backpack?"
"...A monster's hand, an ordinary notebook, and some snacks. We naturally tried to confiscate the monster's hand. But."
But they couldn't confiscate it.
"When we tried to take it, that hand started thrashing about with tremendous monstrous strength. Several people in our group were knocked down in an instant."
"Hoh."
"Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt. But taking advantage of the commotion, Mr. Kuro fled. The monster's hand crawled after him as if chasing him. We were bewildered and dumbfounded... but felt even more repulsed beyond that. So we just let Mr. Kuro disappear."
"And you never met Kuro again?"
"No."
Heuk Yo-geum looked down at the photograph placed on the table.
"I was a bit curious about what happened to him, but he ended up becoming such a furball. Probably, it must have been some kind of curse."
"……."
I parted ways with Heuk Yo-geum after chatting about various things until that evening.
Just before leaving the shrine, I asked Heuk Yo-geum who had come out to see me off.
"By the way. Let me ask just one last thing."
"Yes?"
"By any chance, when running the tutorial dungeon on Jeju Island, did a large number of Japanese die in the early stages? Like, say, about 16 people dying near the dungeon entrance."
Heuk Yo-geum shook her head.
"No. Such a thing didn't happen. Our group showed a high survival rate."
"As expected. I see. Thank you."
"……? No. Go safely."
I quietly descended the shrine's stairs.
Now then.
What on earth is the truth of this incident?
First, it was certain that the 'Monkey's Hand' had played some trick. If we trust Heuk Yo-geum's testimony, it was also certain that the diary hadn't described reality as it was.
"Hmm."
I wrote a small sentence on the back of the diary.
[Elder Sho is a fool].
And when I proceeded to the next iteration, I picked up the same diary at Seongsan Ilchulbong.
Even when I flipped through the pages, I couldn't find the words [Elder Sho is a fool].
"——Aha."
Only then did I realize the method by which the Monkey's Hand granted wishes, the true nature of this diary, and the truth of the 'false regressor.'
The solution was simple.
7
"This is a 'dream diary.' Dok-seo."
Oh Dok-seo blinked.
"Uh... Dream diary?"
"Yes. You've probably heard of it. It's sometimes written for psychological counseling purposes, and sometimes used to experience lucid dreaming, but in any case, this item is 'a notebook recording events that happened in dreams.'"
"I've heard of it... But what? So you mean everything written in this notebook is delusions that happened in a dream?"
"Something like that."
I picked up the notebook and lightly waved it.
"Didn't you notice anything strange?"
"Strange things?"
"Yes. The diary says time from day 5 onward repeats infinitely. But for some reason, only this diary 'continues to maintain its contents without getting caught in regression.'"
"……! Ah! Ah!"
"Looks like you've figured it out too."
I smiled gently.
"Whether it's the staff-sword Tohara I possess. Or the laptop from the logout game I gave you. Unless it's such a special unique item, if regression truly occurs, the diary's contents should naturally return to blank. Yet the diary continued as a matter of course."
"Then that diary is also something maintained through regression like uncle's unique item...?"
"That was a possibility, but when I tested it directly, that wasn't the case."
[Elder Sho is a fool].
That sentence I wrote as a test had cleanly disappeared by the next iteration.
In the end, this diary wasn't some amazing item. It was simply nothing more than an ordinary notebook.
"Then the conclusion becomes simple. Someone dreaming that they are repeatedly regressing wrote this diary."
"Ah... Wait? Hold on, uncle. But then didn't the Monkey's Hand deceive Kuro by pretending to grant the wish?"
Oh Dok-seo snatched the notebook from my hand. And flipped to the part marked 《Day 4》.
――――――――――
1. Please do not create any side effects for whatever wish I make.
2. Please remove the limit on the number of wishes. If removing the limit is impossible, please count this wish as not having been made.
3. Please grant me good fortune. Please let me avoid all such 'accidental misfortunes' like being killed by a falling rock.
――――――――――
"Here. This."
Oh Dok-seo's fingertip pressed hard on wish number 1.
"Look. They clearly wished that no side effects be created for their wish."
"They did."
"But if they just showed Kuro a dream of 'Actually I'm a max-luck regressor?!' while in reality they were still nothing more than a loner with no abilities, isn't that fraud?"
I smiled.
"Dok-seo. You lack grotesque sensibility."
"What? What kind of bullshit is that?"
"Think deeply about the grotesquerie called the Monkey's Hand. This thing isn't originally a 'wish-granting existence.' It's an 'existence that causes side effects of wishes.' That is the Monkey's Hand."
Humans always want to take gain without loss.
In short, they have no conscience.
On behalf of the conscience humans have lost, the grotesquerie speaks thus: everything in the world has disadvantages if it has advantages.
That if something is gained, something must also be lost.
'Good fortune and misfortune are equal in total amount.'
This very way of thinking is the law that the grotesquerie called the Monkey's Hand insists upon.
"In that sense, the name [Monkey's Hand] isn't particularly faithful to its essence. Should we call it [Advantages and Disadvantages]? Or perhaps [Law of Total Fortune] would be more appropriate."
"Law of Total Fortune......"
Oh Dok-seo muttered blankly.
I nodded.
Total Luck System.
That was this grotesquerie's true name.
"The principle by which the Total Luck System operates is as follows. First, a person prays for the 'good fortune' they desire. Then the grotesquerie calculates 'misfortune' of equal magnitude to that fortune."
"Aha...?"
In short, the Monkey's Hand is like a merchant's hand that exchanges good fortune and misfortune.
"But one day, a certain customer suddenly demands to be given good fortune for free. This was Kuro. Now. How would you feel if you were a merchant who had been doing business well all this time?"
"...What kind of trash bastard is this?"
"Right. It's difficult."
Of course, grotesqueries don't feel the emotion of 'difficulty.'
They simply experience 'errors.'
When a situation contrary to their essence is forced upon them, the grotesquerie will use any means necessary to correct the error.
The Total Luck System was no different.
"Therefore."
I took out a pen.
Swish swish.
I drew an arrow right next to 《Day 4》 in the diary. And added my interpretation to a blank page.
"The Total Luck System had no choice but to twist Kuro's wish. Like this."
――――――――――
1. Please do not create any side effects for whatever wish I make.
→
(1) Any good fortune must necessarily bring misfortune of comparable magnitude. That is the 'side effect' Kuro spoke of.
(2) If there is no backside or side effect whatsoever, there is no good fortune whatsoever. Kuro's wish essentially means not hoping for any good fortune.
(3) Therefore, Kuro did not pray any wish in this reality. The wishes Kuro made were fulfilled 'somewhere other than reality.'
(4) If it is 'somewhere other than reality,' there is no need for the Law of Total Fortune to be observed. There, Kuro can enjoy fortune close to infinite.
(5) Since there is no need to calculate misfortune for the fortune enjoyed there, no misfortune will befall the real Kuro.
(6) The real Kuro has neither good fortune nor misfortune. Therefore, Kuro's wish to have no 'backside' or 'side effect' was granted.
――――――――――
Oh Dok-seo's jaw dropped.
"No way..."
"How is it? Do you understand?"
"That there's no side effect... Ah, certainly, no matter how sweet a dream you have, you can't really say it causes side effects in reality... Wow, really. You really shouldn't use grotesqueries carelessly...?"
I was satisfied with Oh Dok-seo's muttering. I had hoped they would learn that valuable lesson.
"The problem doesn't end here. Wish number 2 also brought about a tremendous backlash."
――――――――――
2. Please remove the limit on the number of wishes. If removing the limit is impossible, please count this wish as not having been made.
――――――――――
I tapped wish number 2 with the tip of my pen.
"This, unlocked the Monkey's Hand's limit."
"Unlocked the limit?"
"As you know, the Monkey's Hand's fortune-misfortune exchange is only recognized up to 3 times. It's a kind of unwritten rule. But Kuro said it. To remove the limit on wishes."
From Kuro's perspective, they probably thought they were inserting an irregular clause to exploit benefits.
But the 'side effect' she had been so wary of was fulfilled in a completely different way.
"This ended up becoming the act of releasing the chains that had bound the grotesquerie called the Total Luck System."
"...What do you mean?"
"This is what I mean."
――――――――――
2. Please remove the limit on the number of wishes. If removing the limit is impossible, please count this wish as not having been made.
→
(1) A human's wish means 'good fortune.'
(2) Removing the limit on the number of wishes means removing the limit on the 'amount of fortune accumulated.'
(3) But fortune and misfortune must always maintain the same total amount.
(4) Therefore, if the limit on fortune disappears, the limit on misfortune must also disappear. From now on, humans must exchange not just 3 fortunes-misfortunes, but infinite times and infinite amounts of fortunes-misfortunes.
――――――――――
Oh Dok-seo hesitated.
"Huh? Huh? Uhh...?"
"Pay attention to the wish Kuro made. Dok-seo. If Kuro had wished in the style of [Remove the limit just for me], well, there wouldn't have been a major side effect."
But Kuro, whether consciously or unconsciously, made one mistake.
"Kuro requested that the [wish limit] possessed by the Monkey's Hand itself be unlocked."
"Which means...?"
"Which means wish number 2 became a wish applicable not just to Kuro alone, but to all of humanity. You and I are no exception. If we take 'good fortune' beyond what's necessary, 'misfortune' of similar level will immediately visit us."
"EEEEEEEH?"
Oh Dok-seo screamed.
"U-us too?"
"Yes."
"Why!"
"Because an Awakened named Kuro made that wish to the Monkey's Hand."
"Damn, that's totally being a nuisance to others, isn't it?"
"Totally a nuisance."
Exactly.
We came a long way around, but the topic of this episode was simple from the beginning.
-Why does this Undertaker not practice 'monopolizing fortuitous encounters' like protagonists in other creative works?
Now the answer has been revealed to you all.
There is only one reason. Because in this world, a grotesquerie called the 'Total Luck System' is already built into the foundation.
"Didn't you somehow feel it too? That we somehow luckily have two regressors, and we luckily have Noh Do-hara, a workaholic of the ages, and even created an organization called the National Road Management Bureau, and the situation is definitely improving, but somehow inexplicable setbacks keep continuing."
"Gasp. You don't mean?"
"It's because of the Total Luck System. In this world, if you hastily try to freeload, the sledgehammer of setbacks will immediately smash your head."
"AAAAAAH! ACK! AAAAAACK! What kind of trash game is this!"
Oh Dok-seo wailed.
In short, our world was one where 'monopolizing fortuitous encounters' was impossible at the level of natural law.
For Oh Dok-seo who thought of herself as the world's protagonist, this could only be despairing.
I put the café au lait that had already gone cold during the story into my mouth. It was delicious even cold.
"Well, don't worry too much."
As a seasoned regressor, I had always prepared countermeasures for the Total Luck System.
Rather, I was grateful for this grotesquerie. It's useful in many ways.
"How can I not worry... W-wait! Earlier I ate the ten-legged heart steak! So am I going to be that much unhappy from now on? What the hell did you feed me, uncle?!"
But that's another story.
Let's save that tale for a later episode.
8
There's an afterword.
After learning that great voids called 'dreams within dreams,' 'bad endings,' and 'parallel worlds' slumbered in the depths of humanity's unconscious, I occasionally infiltrated the unconscious world.
The purpose was simple. To periodically clean humanity's unconscious warehouse so people could always sleep soundly.
"Hmm?"
"Grr... Grr..."
And so today, while dutifully beating up Elder Sho's bad ending, I sensed a strange energy from far away, in the direction south of the Korean Peninsula.
I finished beating Elder Sho and headed south.
The South Sea of the Korean Peninsula. There, what looked like Seongsan Ilchulbong—copied from reality, enlarged about 50 times, and pasted there—rose towering.
"......"
Rumble rumble-
From a height almost equal to Everest, 'someone' was rolling something down.
It was a human head.
That someone had long black hair. The hair was so long that their face couldn't be seen.
Rumble. Rumble rumble-
She had piled up heads like a mountain beside her and was endlessly dropping them toward the crater of Seongsan Ilchulbong. Expressionlessly. Meaninglessly.
Like an inverted Sisyphus.
Suddenly, I thought.
――――――――――
3. Please grant me good fortune. Please let me avoid all such 'accidental misfortunes' like being killed by a falling rock.
――――――――――
Kuro wished to eliminate all accidental misfortunes from herself.
How did the Monkey's Hand accept that wish?
Would it have considered it fine if it wasn't 'accidental misfortune' but 'inevitable misfortune'?
Countless myths and anecdotes have warned against human arrogance, yet people still lightly think 'if I just change the form of the wish, I can still use grotesqueries, can't I?'
Why be content with only 3 wishes?
Why not ask for infinite wishes?
If it were me, I would have used grotesqueries more wisely.
Even if
Hubris.
That may have been the inevitable misfortune given to the human called Kuro.
I turned my back and moved away from the South Sea.
Rumble rumble-
Today too, in someone's dream, a single girl is probably rolling severed heads.
-The Imposter. End.