Chapter 14
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The Unknown Person II
Shin Noah
As expected, chaos was erupting on SG Net.
-Anonymous: Suddenly all the Constellations went silent. Did I get cut off?
-[Three Thousand] WitchTrialJudge: I asked the guild members and confirmed they haven't received any messages from the Constellations since yesterday. The most recent contact was 28 hours ago. Please share the status of other guilds as well.
-dolLHoUse: Anxious.
-Anonymous: Guys, I'm scared. What's happening…….
-GoryeoJang: Retards. You sing "Constellation-nim, Constellation-nim" all day long, then throw tantrums like brats who lost their mommies after just two days of no contact. What are you saving your balls for? To boil egg soup? I bet these bastards don't even have yolks in theirs. Likeㅋ.
└Anonymous: Fuck, this crazy bastard's talent for pissing people off just keeps growing. Where the hell do you live?
└[Yuldokuk] SwordQueen: This Seat's sword is crying out.
It was typical for Sim A-ryeon to be Sim A-ryeon, but the agitation among the Awakened was unusual.
I knocked at the door, but there was no response.
"Wait here. If you sense anyone watching or approaching, shout immediately."
"Yes, hyung-nim."
Hiding my anxiety as best I could, I stepped into the multi-family housing. I had known the front door password since dozens of iterations ago.
A dark living room.
In her private sanctuary where four monitors cast a bluish water-light like a carpet and dozens of aquariums surrounded her like fortress walls, the Saintess lay dead.
"……."
My mind went cold.
'Strangulation.'
The Saintess always kept towels ready since she managed the tanks, and there was a towel rack in the living room. She had hanged herself there.
'Suicide.'
There were no signs of resistance. Yet I knew that no matter what occurred, no matter how desperate the situation, the Saintess was not someone who would ever commit suicide.
Not simply for the emotional reason that "it wasn't in her nature." It was a truth I had obtained through observation after dozens of iterations.
'Murder disguised as suicide.'
The Saintess was the core of my project.
The Constellations had evaporated in an instant. The conscience and ethical lines attached not internally but externally to the Awakened had been severed.
That wasn't all. The communication network that had been continuously exchanged with other guilds using the Constellations as messengers had also disappeared.
It became impossible to wield the convenient sword of "a Constellation vouches for our identity" when needing to earn others' trust.
'No traces of security systems being triggered.'
I had been extremely careful about the Saintess's safety.
Had all the security measures I poured my heart into been rendered useless in one blow?
'Without even a moment to send me a single message?'
I approached one of the aquariums. When I moved the fish tank aside, a USB was hidden beneath a sunken metal bookshelf.
A promise we had made to each other for emergencies.
I plugged the USB into the computer and opened a notepad file.
──────────
Hello, Mr. Z.
If you are reading this, it means I have died.
My death came without any warning. Among the data I have observed through [CLA], there are no factors that could have caused my death.
CCTV may have caught something, but if the culprit who killed me so secretly left meaningful evidence, it would be difficult to expect.
As Mr. Z knows, the most urgent problem now is as follows. Due to the evaporation of the Transcendents, the invisible reins hanging on the Awakened have been released.
The only Transcendent we can currently operate is the anonymous Transcendent known as N's creator.
Using this name, we must post a notice on N with misinformation that "a being interfering with the Transcendents' activities has been born." I think adding a performance of N being attacked and temporarily going offline would increase credibility.
However, it will be impossible to prevent the confusion among the Awakened.
I can only apologize for my insufficient power.
Please have strength for the next time as well.
- S.
──────────
It was the Saintess's final testament.
In case someone else might discover it, she called me "Mr. Z" instead of "Funeral Director."
She marked the Clairvoyance as "CLA" and SG Net as "N." She used the term "Transcendent" instead of Constellation.
"Have strength for the next time as well" — "next" must mean "next iteration."
It couldn't be more like the Saintess's final testament.
Checking the creation date of the notepad file, it was a full year and 6 months ago.
'As expected, she died from a surprise attack.'
If by any chance it was suicide, she would have revised the testament.
And if it wasn't suicide, there were only two suspects.
The first suspect was me.
"Ah, hyung-nim. Is the Saintess-nim doing well?"
And Seo Gyu.
After exiting the multi-family housing, I quietly looked at Seo Gyu.
"Seo Gyu."
"Yes."
"Have you ever told anyone else where the Saintess-nim's residence is?"
Seo Gyu was startled.
"Huh? No? Why would I tell anyone that? Hyung-nim told me absolutely not to tell anyone!"
Could I really trust that?
A considerable amount of time had passed since I started traveling with Seo Gyu. However, if asked whether I trusted him enough to stake my life like I did with the Saintess, our relationship could still be called shallow at best.
"Two days ago, you reported going out and briefly went outside, right?"
"Yes, yees……. But why……."
"Mr. Go Yori spent the entire day in the dormitory that day."
"Did he?"
"But using [Presence Concealment], you can go out secretly from other party members. If you followed along when I went out, the risk of being caught would be much lower."
"Hyung-nim, what are you talking about since earlier……."
"There are countless defenses at the Saintess-nim's house that even you don't know about. One of them scans and stores the footprints of anyone who enters the house. That data is updated on a weekly cycle."
It was a lie.
But my expression and tone didn't waver in the slightest.
"Why are your shoe prints recorded at the Saintess-nim's house?"
"……."
Silence.
"How strange."
An unfamiliar voice flowed from Seo Gyu's mouth.
"I didn't have that information."
A gunshot rang out.
Seo Gyu's body collapsed like a reed.
The bastard had pulled out a pistol and in an instant aimed at his own palate and fired.
Red blood seeped into the asphalt road that, long without maintenance, was cracked like atopic dermatitis.
"……."
I clenched my fist.
Calming my heart once more, I connected to SG Net.
[Cannot connect to the site.]
Seo Gyu, dead before my eyes, was indeed the real Seo Gyu.
The possibility that he was a marionette controlled by the Puppeteer, or an apostle of an Outer God, or some other existence had significantly decreased.
The control towers capable of exerting influence on Awakened nationwide — the two pillars of the Saintess and Seo Gyu had collapsed in an instant.
By this time, my mindset had already shifted to "collect as much information as possible for the next iteration."
It was familiar to me.
I drew my sword and headed toward the guild quarters.
The figures of the two who should always be standing guard were nowhere to be seen.
"……."
It was quiet.
No one was in the vacant lot where the members should be training. Instead, Sim A-ryeon lay dead.
Untouched food was placed in the cafeteria. The wheelchair that a guild member I cherished used to ride rolled empty, having lost its owner.
No presence was felt in the hallway or the dormitories. Only, German words were written here and there on pillars and walls like graffiti.
[Do not trust the pink hair.]
I came out to the vacant lot and flopped down on a bench.
Summer. The cicadas' siren warnings rang fiercely.
Before I knew it, Go Yori was sitting demurely on the seat next to me.
"Did you return, Guild Master?"
"……."
"Wow. This summer is really hot."
Go Yori grabbed her outer garment and fluttered it to create a light breeze. Behind her, the sound of cicadas faded away like a white-out.
"Your ability wasn't [Presence Concealment]."
"Yes."
Go Yori simply affirmed.
I murmured.
"[Presence Concealment] was just the outer layer. When your ability activates, it merely results in the thinning of presence. Analyzing the current situation…… the true ability is [Perception Inhibition]. No, is it [Perception Manipulation] type?"
"Ah, that's right."
Go Yori smiled broadly.
"Guild Master is really amazing! It was like that when we first met too, but you're truly an astonishing person."
"…I should have thought it was strange earlier."
I thought about it again.
In the previous iteration, what kind of evaluation did Go Yori — that is, the Cooking Queen — receive from those around her?
-Cooking Queen? I haven't observed her for that long, but she wasn't a bad person. She took good care of her guild members and even did volunteer work every Sunday. Personally, I think there's no Awakened as trustworthy a person of character as Cooking Queen.
Witness 1. The Saintess.
Just from leaving her final testament in the secret USB, one could tell the Saintess was more cautious than anyone.
She was the person who arranged a meeting with me, thinking from the start that "perhaps there might be a regressor in this world."
Such a person evaluated someone she herself admitted "I haven't observed for long" as "the most trustworthy person of character"?
This was suspicious from the start.
-Ah, Cooking Queen. I know her. She's a really good member. I've seen all sorts of things while operating SG Net, but I've never seen Cooking Queen cause any trouble. But is she boring? Not at all. She writes lots of funny humor posts and doesn't act high and mighty. Sigh. If all the members were like Cooking Queen, I wouldn't have to struggle like this……
Witness 2. Seo Gyu.
Seo Gyu testified that Cooking Queen "writes lots of funny humor posts."
But isn't that strange?
I had never once witnessed Cooking Queen writing funny posts.
-[Satisfaction] CookingQueen: Do you desire peace of mind? Join the Satisfaction Guild! Main base is Seoul!
-[Satisfaction] CookingQueen: Words are a reflection of thought, and thought dampens oneself like mist on a cloudy day. How about using slightly clearer and brighter language?
-[Satisfaction] CookingQueen: Brother, if you have a secret you cannot tell anyone, please consult me anytime. People kill people, but people also live because of people.
-[Satisfaction] CookingQueen: Curses poured out on others eventually return to oneself. How about taking some time to reflect on yourself? Brother surely possesses a bright nature.
A writing style with barely any humor.
Only upright, proper, and correct posture.
In other words — an image belonging to the typical "human type I, Funeral Director, like."
"Go Yori."
"Yes."
"Do you have an ability that shows each person 'the appearance they like most'?"
"……."
To the Saintess who valued ethics — as a moral person.
To Seo Gyu who liked moderately fun things — as a humorous person.
And before me, who believes a person's life ultimately depends on what mentality and attitude they have — as an upright and solid person.
She appears as a different person to different people.
Like a magic mirror.
This was Go Yori's true identity.
The reason she could be loved by all the Awakened with twisted personalities was hidden here as well.
"…As expected of Guild Master. I'm really surprised this time!"
Go Yori clasped her hands and tilted her head.
But did she really strike such a pose?
Was Go Yori smiling when she smiled? Was she using honorifics? Did she have pink hair, tend to the flower beds every morning, and maintain a diligent attitude?
Everything might have been false.
Now that I couldn't trust my own perception, I had no choice but to discard all the information I thought I knew about Go Yori.
"But you don't only have [Perception Manipulation] ability. You made Seo Gyu commit suicide by controlling him."
"Yes. I'm a multi-ability user, you see."
"…Now I understand why the Fairies avoided you. What kind of place is Busan Station waiting room exactly? Enough that the rare multi-ability user could stumble upon it so easily."
"Ahaha. True. Sometimes strange coincidences occur in the world."
"Why did you do this?"
"Hmm, I can tell you. But would Guild Master believe me even if I said it?"
Probably not.
At that moment, a loud noise came from the direction of the guild dormitory.
With a cracking sound, the concrete exterior wall crumbled and the building collapsed at once.
Giant flesh moved atop the building's debris. The size of the flesh swelled to the height of a 7-story building in the blink of an eye.
Red and blue veins constantly surged, and the muscle fibers whipped at the empty air like tentacles, like tails.
-Guildddd Masterrr-nim.
-Hyung-niiim.
-……, …….
-Directooor.
Whenever the ends of the tentacles writhed, the air tore and created bizarre noises.
Those noises resembled the guild members' voices.
Black stripes were etched on the tentacles' surface. Whenever the guild members' voices resonated, the black patterns rippled endlessly.
"……."
A phenomenon that had never appeared once in the previous 88 iterations.
I looked at the being that had created that difference.
"I'm sorry, Guild Master."
Go Yori said "up we go" and stood from the bench, then dusted off her skirt. After walking a few steps forward, she looked back at me with her hands behind her back.
Pink hair flowed down at an angle.
"I think it's better for everyone to be happy. I didn't want to make Guild Master sad. The others too. So I was very careful……. But unlike other people, Guild Master's mind was too solid. So my ability momentarily slipped."
"Let me ask just one thing."
I looked up at Go Yori.
"Did I kill the guild members? While being controlled by you?"
"……."
Go Yori stared straight at me.
"No."
"That's a lie."
"Yes."
The sword drawn from my scabbard slit Go Yori's throat.
A diagonal line was drawn. First, pink hair fell down in clumps. Slightly later than the pink color, Go Yori's head slipped.
Before her head had completely slid off, her lips moved.
"Let's become one, Guild Master."
Behind Go Yori's back, the red flesh spread out enough to cover the sky.
That was the last sight I remember from the 89th iteration.
5
Since that day, I did not contact Go Yori.
At least the number of times we met directly was few enough to count on one hand. Until hundreds of iterations passed, we only crossed paths three or four times at most.
Go Yori's ability was of unknown nature. I judged that if I became stronger than in the 89th iteration, perhaps one day I might be able to subdue her.
I don't know if that judgment was correct.
One certain fact is that, except for the 89th iteration, the "red flesh" never appeared in any iteration.
In iterations where I didn't act together with her, Go Yori was always just an infinitely harmless Awakened who didn't cause major problems and then one day suddenly got killed by a monster or disappeared somewhere.
-Let's become one, Guild Master.
What on earth did those words mean?
Was the red flesh a monster? Or a contamination phenomenon? There was a decisive difference from seeing it as a result of an Awakened's corruption. Then was the red flesh also one of Go Yori's innate abilities?
What is Go Yori's true form, undistorted by [Perception Manipulation] filtering?
Sometimes curiosity sprang up. But I didn't feel the need to urgently dig into that mystery.
At least until a means to completely nullify [Perception Manipulation] was discovered, I had no intention of approaching Go Yori.
-[Satisfaction] CookingQueen: Do you desire peace of mind? Join the Satisfaction Guild! Main base is Daejeon!
However, whenever I occasionally saw the nickname Cooking Queen on SG Net, I would quietly leave a comment.
-ZERO_SUGAR: Your always hardworking appearance is truly wonderful to see^^..
Before long, a notification appeared that a reply had been added.
-[Satisfaction] CookingQueen: Thank you! Even in this world that has become like this, I believe that if we don't give up faith in ourselves and hope for others, good things will surely happen. I hope today becomes a happy day for you too, Sugarless-nim!
"……."
Hmm.
I secretly nodded my head.
Indeed, an admirable attitude.
- The Unknown Person. End.