Chapter 33
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The Creator III
Shin Noah
3
"You really had your way with me..."
The event time wrapped up roughly, and they moved on to the dinner gathering. In truth, this was the main event of the day. It wasn't often that major guild masters from across the country gathered in one place.
As soon as the drinking session began, I made an excuse about the bathroom and stepped out onto the cruise ship's deck. Noh Do-ha had followed me out like a ghost finding its target.
I feigned ignorance.
"What do you mean, had my way? Me?"
"You've grown the road-related business to this extent..."
"Hey, that wasn't me. That was the Alliance Leader. I don't know why you're blaming an innocent person."
"The Three Thousand Worlds Guild Master, Dang Seo-rin..."
Noh Do-ha murmured.
"She's an incredibly outstanding person, but her pride is extremely strong... She knows how to distinguish between personal and public feelings, but precisely because of that, even when things proceed publicly, the personal feelings remain unresolved and stored in her chest... I deliberately used the word 'cripple' to wound the pride of the Three Thousand Worlds Guild Master, yet she went ahead and introduced me to all the guild masters nationwide... That's impossible without evaluating me highly enough to treat me purely as a public figure..."
Noh Do-ha's eyes narrowed.
"It means the Three Thousand Worlds Guild Master made inquiries about me to someone, and that someone gave an enormously embellished account of me..."
"Indeed. Who could that be?"
"Most likely someone who happened to be in the reception room when I was speaking with the Three Thousand Worlds Guild Master..."
Noh Do-ha held out one of the glass cups in each hand. Iced lemon tea. I accepted it gratefully and drank.
Beyond the Busan Port where the cruise ship was docked, the city at night spread out. The nightscape where electric lights used to steal the starlight from the sky and spread the Milky Way across the ground could no longer be seen. A little light. A little shadow. And abundant moonlight.
The fresh scent of the sea wafted across the deck.
Noh Do-ha and I gazed at the cityscape buried in the sound of water for a while.
"You really had your way with me..."
"You said that already. Earlier."
"Trying to make someone work for free... isn't your conscience a bit absent?"
"It's not free. Whatever resources, funds, manpower, whatever Workshop Master Noh Do-ha requires, I'll accommodate as much as possible."
"Hmph."
Noh Do-ha laughed darkly.
"What I require? Fine. Then return the world to the way it was..."
"..."
"When the Funeral Director Awakened One hears the word 'infinite,' what comes to mind? Space? Time? For me, I believe the only infinite thing in this world is human misfortune..."
Noh Do-ha's tone was slightly darker than this era's nightscape.
"Saving one person's life? I can do that. I've done it. But does it end when you eliminate one person's misfortune? When misfortune disappears, does happiness come? That's entirely up to that person. Another person can't take responsibility for that. Who knows when it will end...?"
This was spoken by someone who handled disabled people that no one paid attention to even in this ruined world, until the very end.
"So the very notion of wanting to help others is wrong. Help must be limited. You shouldn't help that person's entire life, but should think you're just helping their one severed arm. Then you can take responsibility. It's something I can do, something I'm very, very good at... But."
Noh Do-ha craned her neck to look at me.
Like a long-necked snake.
The scent of freshly brewed lemon tea mingled with the fishy smell of the sea and wafted about.
"Not just Busan, but asking me to take responsibility for the entire nation's road network...?"
Two eyeballs, as if the full moon had been split in half and attached to her face, captured mine without a single gap.
"Well, I can do it. I'll probably do it well too. But what comes after? Roads are infrastructure. Funeral Director Awakened One. Do you happen to know what they call those who exclusively handle infrastructure...?"
"The government."
"Looks like you're negative about privatization. Correct answer..."
Noh Do-ha laughed at length.
Clouds cast shadows over the half-moon.
"I have no intention of taking responsibility for people's everything..."
"..."
"I can barely handle dealing with people who've become cripples, so I have absolutely no intention of dealing with a crippled nation. I know. Right now I have to introduce myself in front of guild masters and curry favor, but as roads get laid one by one, conversely the guild masters will have to get on their knees before me. Ooh. The new powerful one of a ruined world. King of the Korean Peninsula. Sounds sweet. But... I don't like it. I don't like myself. Why? Did you think I'd be happy because you're pushing power my way? Go suck your own dick..."
"Workshop Master Noh Do-ha."
"Ah, does self-fellatio damage your dignity? Then ask the Three Thousand Worlds Guild Master to suck it for you. Heh. If you want to save the world, save it among your noble selves, why drag an innocent person into..."
"I'm a regressor."
Waves lightly struck the cruise ship's hull.
Whether from that vibration, Noh Do-ha's head tilted.
The lemon slice, split like a half-moon in the glass cup, also slipped slightly.
"Hmm...?"
"You secretly built a winery in the workshop basement, didn't you? I know you've stocked 20 bottles of Château d'Yquem 1990 there."
"Uh..."
"I also know you secretly opened one of those bottles on the day you decided you'd have to build a road for the elders living in Bansong. Why Bansong of all places? Because the people living there are in the most dire circumstances. Coincidentally, if you establish connections with the guild master controlling that territory, you can intervene when necessary."
"Huh...?"
"During your time as a civil servant, you actually won the lottery first prize but didn't reveal it to anyone, right? With that money, you bought wines and privately collected equipment needed for making prosthetics..."
"..."
Noh Do-ha touched her lips with her index and middle fingers.
"Hmm. Aha? Mmmm. Hmm... A very interesting claim. If that's true..."
Noh Do-ha stared at me intently. Her gaze swept over my legs, hands, chest, and body in turn.
"So that's why you always had that appearance. Aha, certainly. That's right. The Funeral Director Awakened One's actions make sense in many ways..."
Silence.
"But, even if it's true, if the Funeral Director Awakened One is an incompetent human, it means nothing. Ah, I'm not saying you're actually incompetent. What I mean is, you have to be capable enough to restore the world to its original state... I acknowledge your resourcefulness, but that alone is a bit. Do you understand what I'm saying...?"
"I understand."
"Prove it."
I looked up at the night sky.
"Saintess. Are you watching?"
[Yes.]
"Please send a message to Noh Do-ha."
The Saintess didn't question my judgment. Because she knew what kind of being I was.
"...!"
Beside me, Noh Do-ha flinched. A mixture of bewilderment, curiosity, and a certain delight briefly crossed Noh Do-ha's expression.
"The Constellation was actually a lie...?"
"Yes. I operate SG Net as well."
"Huh? Oh, so it's a site created by the Constellation? Aha. Indeed, aha..."
Silence.
"Not bad..."
Noh Do-ha's pupils calmed.
"Monopoly of information doesn't mean conquering the content of information. Securing the window through which information flows is what finally gives it meaning. Hmmm. This could all be a fraud perpetrated through mind-reading or some manipulation, but conversely speaking, if you possess that level of manipulation ability, it's equivalent to being as capable as regression..."
Noh Do-ha suddenly looked back at me.
"If regression, how many times have you regressed? Is this the 2nd time...?"
"It's the 54th cycle. I first met the Workshop Master in the 11th cycle."
"Damn, you've rolled around quite a lot...?"
Noh Do-ha seemed slightly spooked.
"Well, true... The world had to go to shit. But there must have been many other suitable candidates besides me? Aren't there perverted bastards everywhere who'd come crawling drooling if you offered them power...?"
"I've tested most of them roughly."
The Second Provisional Government, the military coup faction. Though unmentioned, the most influential politicians as well.
Noh Do-ha furrowed her brows.
"Among them, I'm the best? That can't be right. Wouldn't it be best to leave it to someone imitating the Constellation...?"
"Ah. That person is a genuine hikikomori, so that won't work."
[....]
I felt the Saintess's silent pressure but shrugged my shoulders.
"If there's one thing I realized while busting my ass through 54 cycles, it's that if I try to do everything myself, there's no end. It's similar to the theory of infinite misfortune the Workshop Master mentioned earlier. Areas I can leave alone, I must leave alone. Then people who survive and climb up on their own appear."
"And that's me...?"
"Even without my interference, the Workshop Master reconstructed the road network in Busan with very high probability. In the previous cycle, you went to meet the Alliance Leader too. I wasn't there then."
"..."
In fact, that wasn't all.
Though it corresponded to a future that hadn't yet arrived at this point in time, in the 90th cycle—the cycle where I coaxed the tutorial fairy into running a convenience store.
Noh Do-ha also attended the Last Supper held in the convenience store's front yard. The person who distributed treasured wines to Awakened Ones and received praise was none other than Noh Do-ha.
And before forming the final raid party with other Awakened Ones and charging into the meteor shower, Noh Do-ha also left a will at my convenience store.
[The way here is too inconvenient. I thought I'd die carrying wine bottles. - NDH]
I don't consider that testament a complaint left for me.
Regret about oneself.
If only she had pushed herself harder and connected roads from city to city before the world was completely ruined, perhaps the world's end could have been delayed even a little—.
I believe such regrets were contained in it.
Ultimately, whether in the past or future, she was someone who would live with such feelings always dwelling in one corner of her heart. Noh Do-ha.
If so, might her words and actions be a form of camouflage?
Anyone knew that Noh Do-ha was an important figure. There were more than a few power holders pondering how to use this talent more usefully. But hearing Noh Do-ha's nonsensical invective, one couldn't help but think 'this human has some issues as a homo sapiens' and step back.
Yet in this world, there was me.
Even I initially thought she was someone I couldn't make much use of when I first saw Noh Do-ha.
What makes me different from others is that opportunities to correct my prejudices are endlessly given to me.
In the last cycle, I entered Noh Do-ha's workshop and observed her character from beginning to end. Her attitude toward patients, her negotiations with other guild masters, even when doom was imminent, checking on her patients first...
For over 9 years.
The result was a pass.
As I told Dang Seo-rin, Noh Do-ha was indeed a good person.
"You don't need to worry about failure. Or rather, please fail in as many different ways as possible. The failures Workshop Master Noh Do-ha experiences this time will be handed over entirely as data to the next Workshop Master Noh Do-ha."
"Ha..."
"Build roads however you want. Conduct business as you please, as your intuition screams. Someday the optimal route will appear. When organizing, try all sorts of people too. Who fits your organization will eventually be determined for all of them."
"Regression is indeed a cheat. Being able to sweet-talk people like this..."
Noh Do-ha scratched the side of her head.
"Mmm. I'm sorry for telling you to go do self-fellatio. And, I feel bad toward the Three Thousand Worlds Guild Master too..."
"I don't mind."
"Can you really return this world to the way it was...?"
That was something Noh Do-ha had said earlier too.
I looked straight at Noh Do-ha.
"I can't do it alone."
"..."
"Please help me."
Noh Do-ha let out a long sigh.
As if resonating with the sound of the night sea's waves, the cruise ship's hull, now docked at the harbor and never to sail again, was struck coldly.
"This is a disease."
The waves untouched by light murmured, and the motionless cruise ship groaned.
"And a vicious epidemic at that. Fucking carriers of infectious disease talking about great causes and good intentions... I've fixed countless cripples until now, but the biggest cripple was actually me. There's no prescription for fixing yourself anywhere you look, and there won't be until the day I die..."
I didn't bother answering.
That too was merely a confession about herself.
Noh Do-ha extended her cup with slumped shoulders.
"Well, fuck it, let's do it. Public works..."
Clink.
Our two glass cups made a small toast.
The lemon scent flowed beneath my nose.
"I'm counting on you."
"Is this going to repeat forever now...?"
"If Workshop Master Noh Do-ha is capable, then yes."
"Fucked..."
4
There is an epilogue.
The next day, a single organization was officially established.
National Road Management Corps (國道管理隊).
True to its simple name, the organization had only one purpose. To restore and maintain the rapidly deteriorating road network. To connect cities that were divided by region and surviving independently with lines.
"The current government is unnecessary. Nor can it be sustained..."
A week later, Noh Do-ha briefed us. 'Us' here didn't refer to the nation's guild masters.
Me. The Saintess.
A secret meeting was held by the group that almost always shared the fact that I was a regressor. Later, people like Oh Dok-seo and a few others would be added to this group, but for now, it was merely a blood alliance of three.
"Cities should be left to the influential guild masters of each region to operate as they have been. These are essentially feudal lords. By analogy, the National Road Management Corps must define its own position as merely a royal family that has contracted with feudal lords, no, a bureaucratic group under the royal family..."
The Saintess raised her hand. Her personality showing.
"Yes, what is it...?"
"Wouldn't power become too small?"
"Yes. The less we stand out, the better. Power originally widens the more areas you occupy, but grows stronger the more you occupy areas no one else can replace. And we don't need broad power. It just lowers efficiency and breeds corruption... In the era of self-sufficiency, an era when other cities can't even be concerned about, our National Road Management Corps exclusively handles the connection and management of the road network..."
Noh Do-ha spoke with conviction.
The National Road Management Corps consisted of laborers, construction workers, and combat squads. After securing a one-lane road, the combat squads scattered and 'patrolled' the roads regularly every month.
"This regular patrol is more important than anything..."
People or merchants wanting to move to other cities naturally tagged along on days when the National Road Management Corps 'patrolled.' Noh Do-ha collected prescribed usage fees from each of them.
"Usage fees, or essentially taxes... But if we call them taxes, there will be immediate backlash, so we insist on calling them usage fees until the end..."
Cities with connected roads also had to pay road usage fees. Of course, they could use them without permission, but in that case, they had to protect their own lives from monsters attacking the roads and such.
"We promote it as if there are plenty of other options available, and actually, they must be able to choose. The belief that this is not coercion but one's own choice is incredibly important. Only then is the raison d'être of the National Road Management Corps repeatedly impressed in people's minds..."
Guilds could also form their own groups and use the roads whenever needed. But to go to distant cities, they had to stop at waypoints, and every time they passed through a city, they had to pay taxes to that city's guild.
"Would be a huge pain in the ass, right...?"
Rather than that, it was much more rational to pay a small tax to the National Road Management Corps and tag along for transportation.
As ordinary people and Awakened Ones alike entrusted their movement to the National Road Management Corps, Noh Do-ha's voice naturally grew stronger.
The members of the National Road Management Corps selected by Noh Do-ha came to perform roles similar to 'diplomats' in themselves. Even hostile guilds that would only fight if put together could communicate relatively well if the National Road Management Corps served as a cushion between them.
Noh Do-ha extracted maximum efficiency by utilizing the relationships, pride, and competitive psychology of the guild masters entrenched in each city.
Of course, there were more than a few trial and error moments. No, there were many.
"These fucking bastards..."
There were plenty of National Road Management Corps members who, sent to conduct diplomacy, sat there embezzling funds. Some, trusted and entrusted, turned out to be spies sent from other guilds. Cases where they chose the fastest road only to find it passed through monster dens were also frequent.
Still, little by little, the National Road Management Corps found its footing.
I told you my eye for people is truly accurate?
For some reason, Noh Do-ha looked at me with resentful eyes though.
"When you go to the next cycle, please pass on the data of my failures to me."
"What should I tell you?"
"Ask if it feels good piggybacking on my hard work, you fucking bastard..."
I passed it on.
The 55th cycle Noh Do-ha's response to that was very composed.
"Bullshit."
- The Creator. 結.
A regressor telling stories.