Chapter 42
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The One Who Was a Watcher IV
Shin No-a
6
For reference, most of the proper nouns I use in the main text were created by me.
It wasn't that I suffered from some god complex delusion, believing I alone had the right to name all creation. It was simply because I was the first to witness most of the mysterious phenomena.
Think about it. Who else but me had watched an Awakened transform into a monster in real-time?
Therefore, the phenomenon of 'Corruption' and the term 'Corrupted One' were both names I had to come up with myself.
It wasn't just terminology that I had to create. Every time powerful boss-level monsters appeared, I had to write 'strategy guides' to defeat them.
I hope others never make the same mistakes I did.
Thus, here and now, I will write a strategy guide for the Enforcer—a monster created when the Saint, one of the strongest Awakened, became corrupted.
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[Saint's Corruption]
[Enforcer Route: Route Liberation Conditions]
1. When at least 15 years have passed with the Saint alive.
2. When the number of civilian victims the Saint has witnessed exceeds 'at least' one million. Particularly when she has observed the dying or torture of helpless elderly people and children more than 100,000 times.
3. When the Saint masters aura manipulation.
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Also known as the 'Enforcer Route.'
If even one of these conditions is not met, the Enforcer Route will not occur.
This is knowledge I obtained through countless regressions. In fact, conditions 1 and 2 are nearly identical, so they can be considered the same.
At this point, the existence of SG Net is not important. Even if SG Net, which can distribute videos, disappears, the Saint does not stop her 'executions.' Only the location where executions take place changes.
When the path to distribute videos online is blocked, the Saint hangs the corpses of villains in city squares instead of underground parking lots. She even procures cassette players to play recordings of villains confessing their sins, or if that's not possible, she uses paper to attach to the bodies like notices.
Have you ever seen corpses hanging simultaneously in 12 cities across the nation, on the same day at the same time?
I'll say it again—the Saint is a multi-ability Awakened approaching cheat-level. She must never be taken lightly.
The best approach is to not enter the Enforcer Route in the first place. But if you have entered it, you must subdue the Saint as quickly as possible.
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[Enforcer's Abilities]
1. Time Stop
2. Telepathy
3. Clairvoyance
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Let's start by explaining Time Stop.
Our time and the Saint's time are not the same.
From my perspective, I may have only delayed a single day, but for the Saint, two days, a week, a month, perhaps even a year may have been granted. With every second that passes, the Saint is given an opportunity close to eternity.
For example, right now.
"This is...!"
It was impossible to dodge all thousands of bullets and dozens of axes. I ran with all my might, but like clothes getting soaked in drizzle—no, like getting completely drenched in a torrential downpour—I was hit by the barrage.
I surrounded my entire body with aura to block the damage, but aura was never infinite. My mental strength was being chipped away in real-time.
[I think Mr. Undertaker's combat ability is impressive.]
As the battle continued, hundreds of footprints multiplied on the snowy ground.
In front of me. Behind me. In all directions.
The footprints I hadn't stepped in or seen were increasingly tightening around me.
[But how long can you hold out?]
The Saint's aura was infinite.
Despite having just poured out countless attacks, the Saint showed no signs of exhaustion as she once again channeled aura into dozens of hand axes one by one and sent them flying toward me.
Aura manipulation that made no logical sense.
"Surely you're not stopping time to recharge your aura?"
[Yes.]
The Saint's indifferent tone pierced directly into my head. Even though her tone was exactly the same as usual, for some reason it sounded infuriating to my ears.
[After resting for ten days, I was recharged. While Mr. Undertaker was stopped, I rested well.]
I cursed internally. This was essentially no different from fighting someone who had activated infinite HP and MP cheat codes.
'Is this how Shizuoku felt when facing me?'
Shizuoku wouldn't remember, but from his perspective, I was a being who would come back to life no matter how many times he killed me, crying out for another attempt. He must have wanted to complain about me cutting back on the cheating.
I felt exactly that way right now. Unintentionally, my monster sensibilities were sprouting up.
However, just as my regression wasn't perfect, the Enforcer's [Time Stop] wasn't a perfect ability either. It definitely had weaknesses.
'If she had kept hitting me while time was stopped, she could have easily subdued me, but she didn't do that.'
The fact that she didn't meant she couldn't.
Above all, the Saint didn't use weapons that could directly strike the opponent like 'swords' or 'spears,' but instead used 'hand axes' as throwing weapons. She persistently insisted on long-range combat rather than close combat.
The implication was clear.
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[Enforcer's Abilities]
1. Time Stop: An ability that allows pouring out near-infinite attacks while always being able to evade enemy attacks. However, it is estimated that time stop releases when 'directly contacting the opponent.'
2. Telepathy
3. Clairvoyance
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This was likely the vulnerability in the Time Stop ability.
Also, the Saint had just said she 'rested well for ten days,' but this was likely an exaggeration.
In this era, firearms and ammunition were never abundantly stockpiled. Gathering those rare resources, bringing them here, and firing them at me alone would have taken considerable time.
While it was merely a split second for me, the Saint must have traveled across the country preparing her attacks during that time.
Of course, if she stopped time for a full year, or even 10 years, it wouldn't matter. But even for the Saint, that would be difficult.
Because living alone for years in a world where no one moves and no one speaks to you would be hard.
At the very least, if she didn't release time occasionally—about once every ten days—the Saint's mental strength would clearly wear down quickly.
That was why battling the Saint was like playing a shooting game. Or perhaps a bullet hell game would be more accurate.
Even closing and opening my eyes for a moment, countless bullets obscured my vision. A game where I somehow had to dodge the barrage of bullets and the shower of hand axes, and ultimately 'touch' the Saint.
One might think the clear conditions are excessively difficult, but unfortunately, the Saint's gimmick wasn't over yet.
[KWAAAAANG!]
Flinch—
I stumbled at the sudden explosion sound from my left hearing. Had the Saint finally become unsatisfied with guns and resorted to bombs as well?
But something was strange. I quickly turned my gaze to check, but I couldn't find any explosion anywhere I looked.
Naturally, hesitation during combat was quite fatal. In the moment I flinched, countless bullets poured onto my body.
My entire body vibrated. My head spun. I could feel the remaining aura had dropped significantly from that single blow.
'What? What was that explosion sound?'
I moved quickly while thinking incessantly. Before I could even deduce the identity of the explosion sound, a new noise tore through my brain with force.
[Kiiiieeeeek-!]
My face twisted. A sound like dragging an iron awl straight across an iron plate. Since my senses were infinitely more developed than an ordinary person's, the unpleasantness grew even greater.
But unlike an explosion sound, there was no way a metal plate sound could be heard so loudly while bullets were raining from all directions.
'Telepathy ability!'
I ground my teeth. This was noise the Saint was directly jamming into my head.
"Since when could telepathy transmit more than just voices!"
[As I mentioned, my abilities grow over time. I can replay any sound I've memorized at any time. Would you like me to play a song?]
Damn it.
If the Saint personally served as a radio DJ, I would have gratefully listened and even sent fan letters regularly. The problem was that the DJ was currently inflicting noise pollution on me continuously.
It wasn't just explosion sounds and scraping sounds tormenting me.
[Undertaker! I've come to help!]
This was Dang Seo-rin's voice.
No matter how much my head knew the real Dang Seo-rin wasn't here, my body couldn't help but react. Taking advantage of the moment I hesitated, another barrage of countless bullets poured onto my aura barrier. It was enough to drive me crazy.
[Brother!]
This was Seo Gyu. I grit my teeth and ignored it.
But the next moment, when I heard a whispering voice right next to my ear, I thought I'd truly go mad.
[Guild Master?]
It was none other than Ko Yori's voice. Goosebumps rose all over my body.
'I'm going to lose my mind.'
There was no villain worse than this. The Saint knew me as well as I knew her.
Closing my senses was useless. How could I dodge telepathy that was being jammed directly into my brain?
In the end, I couldn't even trust my own hearing anymore. I continued the battle with my senses thoroughly disrupted.
[No matter how much you run, it's meaningless, Mr. Undertaker. Have you forgotten that I'm still revered as a Saint by others?]
I glared. Don't tell me?
[As soon as the battle started, I designated Mr. Undertaker as a 'subjugation target' to Awakened across the country. Of course, I announced the location too. Using my clairvoyance, I can see hundreds of Awakened heading this way.]
"Every Awakened likes me!"
[No, only 50% of Awakened like Mr. Undertaker. It's just that the strong ones are mostly positioned in that 50%. Among the remaining Awakened, there are many who have been eyeing Mr. Undertaker covetously. Like the Sword Empress of Yuldo-guk. Now that I've publicly declared 'Undertaker has been corrupted' in the name of a Saint, they've been given justification, at least temporarily.]
"Dang Seo-rin..."
[Naturally, I didn't plant messages on the Three Thousand Worlds Guild Master and those around her. The National Road Management Commander is the same. But I prepared a surprise gift in secret, in case Mr. Undertaker might be disappointed that I didn't invite both of them.]
This is insane.
"Please tell me it's not Ko Yori!"
[As expected, Mr. Undertaker knows me well.]
My head went blank. Dealing with the Saint who had become a Corrupted One already felt like death, but now Ko Yori was joining the fight? Were they really planning to turn a regressor into a stew?
[3 hours remaining.]
A time attack had been added to the bullet hell game. It might simply be bluffing to make me anxious.
Ultimately, when I synthesized the Saint's abilities:
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[Enforcer's Abilities]
1. Time Stop: An ability that allows pouring out near-infinite attacks while always being able to evade enemy attacks. However, it is estimated that time stop releases when 'directly contacting the opponent.'
2. Telepathy: Originally transmitted only the Saint's own voice, but with ability upgrade, it changes to 'sound reproduction.' Not only other people's voices but also noises like explosions can be reproduced.
3. Clairvoyance
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How do you win against this?
Honestly, even if I judged it impossible to strategize, I'd have nothing to say.
"...."
But there's always a way.
Shizuoku, Udambara, Galaxy too—when I first encountered them, I always thought there was no answer. But as I recalled with Udambara's case, problems were sometimes resolved in completely unexpected ways.
I gave up.
More precisely, I gave up on winning against the Saint.
Instead, I erased the aura that had been covering my entire body 'all at once.'
"...!"
I saw the Saint's eyes widen from afar.