Chapter 65
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The Sleepwalker Ⅲ
Shin No-ah
4
Thus, in my first encounter with the Meteor Rain, I received a result report titled 'Total Defeat.'
In truth, even the expression 'first encounter' reflected a considerably human-centric way of thinking. From the Meteor Rain's perspective, it was the third time.
Since I've started writing the report, I might as well finish it. Although the 25th-turn me died and couldn't witness it directly, the following scene unfolds after the Meteor Rain descends to the ground.
Flash―――.
The starlight, the moment it lands, instantly 'evaporates' an area ranging narrowly from tens of kilometers in radius to broadly two hundred kilometers.
Evaporation is literally evaporation. A phenomenon occurs that is difficult to replace with any other word.
-QUAAAAAH!
Humans enveloped within the starlight's range—no, not just Homo sapiens but animals and plants, even most grotesqueries—all instantly turn to 'ash.'
The ash isn't even gray but a very pure white, making it look quite lovely.
If you run to where the Meteor Rain first appeared, you can behold a sight where the entire world has turned into white ash mounds, and from the void, countless ash particles flutter like cherry blossom petals. This is quite a spectacular view.
Of course, just because it's pretty, you shouldn't entertain thoughts of approaching it.
Step even a single foot into the 'Territory of Ash,' or even extend just one finger inside, and for some reason, you burn pure white.
Yes, this is addressed to the 26th-turn me. That lunatic filled with experimental spirit.
And so, the Gyeongsangnam-do region of the Korean Peninsula was deleted at once, but regrettably, the Meteor Rain's rampage didn't end there.
After the Korean Peninsula came Hawaii in the Pacific, Russia's Ingria region, China, France, India, Pakistan, Israel, and so on—in order, the Meteor Rain took a world tour.
Naturally, each time, the world became riddled with holes like Swiss cheese frequently appearing in Tom and Jerry. The habitable area for humanity shrank accordingly.
The total time for this world tour was 6 years.
Exactly 6 years after the Meteor Rain first fell on the Korean Peninsula, the entire world amicably turns to ash.
For reference, in the 5th year, the Meteor Rain falls on Seoul. By this time, not just the Korean Peninsula but half of East Asia falls within the 'Territory of Ash.'
The Meteor Rain that killed me during the vacation turn when I was playing convenience store owner was precisely this Seoul-bound Meteor Rain.
There are no exceptions to doom.
No matter how deep you dig underground to build bunkers, no matter if you flee to the sea on a small boat, the day inevitably comes when the entire Earth's surface is covered by the 'Territory of Ash.' Even the ocean, when struck by the Meteor Rain, becomes dyed white.
A beautiful death.
A whitened, bleached end.
A white world.
"……."
In the 27th turn, I succeeded in escaping from the Meteor Rain.
'Scouting to establish strategy for the future' would be a slightly more accurate expression than 'escaping.' Anyway, since I only needed to get out of the Meteor Rain's range, my flight wasn't difficult.
Even accepting that my base of operations, the Korean Peninsula, Dang Seo-rin, and countless connections were turning to ash by starlight, I collected information on that grotesquery with absolute thoroughness.
'For now, I endure.'
This was familiar to me as a regressor.
It was around this time that I started using the term grotesquery instead of monster. While observing the Meteor Rain, I revised a significant number of the preconceptions I had held about monsters until now.
Of course, that didn't mean a miracle to defeat the Meteor Rain immediately occurred.
Because the Korean Peninsula during this period was literally a hellfire peninsula.
"Blaze Immortality! Immortal Avatamsaka! Eon-Palace!"
"Ah! The New Buddha knows! Everyone, if you just wear flowers on your head, you can live even if your limbs fly off!"
"Why do you need to be an Awakened? If you just believe in the New Buddha, you can truly enjoy eternal life!"
By the 7th year, 'Meteor Rain' pours down on Gyeongsangnam-do, and to make matters worse, the World Tree 'Udumbara' fully bloomed.
Is that all? If Baekhwa Girls' High School isn't properly sealed, our black magician junior Cheon Yo-hwa grins widely and turns it into an 'Academy City.'
Honestly, even for a regressor like me, this was excessively unfair.
A Meteor Strike comparable to a nuclear explosion, a powerful end-times cult spreading throughout East Asia, and on top of that, a zombie city? What is this? Are they telling me to just die obediently?
'I endure.'
So I died obediently.
Yeah, a regressor just dies and that's that.
'Someday, a current of change will surely come.'
In other words, I watched for an opportunity.
Sometimes I died from the Meteor Rain's starlight bombing, sometimes I died being bitten by the Academy City's million-strong zombie legion. While refining strategies regarding the ways the world ends, lamenting the lack of masterpieces to execute those strategies, growing impatient, enduring and enduring again, I waited.
Is it really possible to clear such difficult stages—no, multiple stages like these?
I endured.
Even now, shouldn't I, like Old Man Sho, shake off the sense of duty and focus on enjoying small pleasures? Doesn't anyone know better than me that no matter how many times I regress, the world doesn't change much?
I endured.
Rather, should I tell Dang Seo-rin everything.
I endured.
And.
"The Constellations do not exist."
Finally.
"The Saintess of National Salvation, the Conqueror of the Alps, they're all just characters I created alone."
Ripple.
A small wave sound undulated in my world.
――At last, the current of change had arrived.
5
No matter how much the world forced a tragedy genre on me, I, Undertaker, never broke.
If Oh Dok-seo had heard my words, she would have retorted, "Wait, old man, that very unbreakability is precisely the key seasoning that makes tragedies delicious?" but I'll cleanly ignore the nitpicking of that literature-pervert otaku.
Game Changer.
The Saintess, possessing overwhelming awakening abilities, joining completely overturned the battle situation that had been repeated dozens of times until now.
[I found you. Mr. Undertaker.]
[South Chungcheong Province. Asan. Onyang.]
World Tree Udumbara, subjugation complete.
The regressor's 'knowledge' of the future and the Clairvoyant's 'eye' of the present created tremendous synergy.
Even excluding awakening abilities, the Saintess was a reliable partner.
We shared information together, established operations, and eliminated one by one the elements turning the Korean Peninsula into a sea of fire.
"However, I can't get a sense of how to deal with the Meteor Rain. Starlight falling from the sky, with the effect of forcibly putting people to sleep……."
"Don't worry. I have a plan."
I said.
"The role you need to take on now is only prophecy."
"……?"
The Saintess tilted her head.
Before long, translucent letters floated before all Awakened active on the Korean Peninsula.
['The Saintess of National Salvation' issues a quest.]
"Huh?"
"What is this?"
The Awakened tilted their heads as they read through the quest window.
The message content was as follows:
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[Meteor Strike]
In 6 years, a Special Class grotesquery 'Meteor Rain' will fall on the Korean Peninsula. The Meteor Rain will burn the entire southern region of the Korean Peninsula.
Survive the threat of the Meteor Rain.
-Reward: Survival
-Failure: Death
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A quest broadcast omnidirectionally to all Awakened within the Korean Peninsula. This was thanks to the Saintess's [Telepathy] ability, which could transmit not just voice but also text.
Of course, the messages were sent not in the Saintess's own name but under the Constellations' names.
"Huh? Death? Just die?"
"Crazy. What kind of quest is this?"
"Probability of it being a lie… doesn't exist, right?"
The Awakened fell into confusion.
The Saintess acted the Constellations so well that even I, a regressor, was momentarily deceived. It was very difficult to doubt the authenticity of quests bestowed by Constellations. After all, who would imagine some crazy human would simultaneously use [Clairvoyance], [Telepathy], and [Time Stop] abilities to impersonate Constellations?
Above all, this was where it became apparent just how much of a master the Saintess was at manipulating Constellations, and therefore how innately talented she was at inciting the psychology of Awakened.
"Grotesquery? Meteor Rain? …What is that?"
"No, besides '6 years later,' there are no clues at all. How are we supposed to proceed with this quest?"
"Is there anyone with concrete information! If you share information with our guild, we'll compensate you generously!"
From the beginning, the Saintess didn't reveal all information. She诱导ed Awakened to voluntarily piece together clues themselves.
['The Grand Vizier of the Red Cloak' secretly teaches that grotesquery is the Constellations' term for referring to monsters.]
To Awakened particularly devoted to Constellations, she slowly leaked messages in a style of "information only for you."
[A chain quest toward 'Meteor Strike' activates!]
To specific Awakened, she fabricated information about the Meteor Rain as if it were a quest and disclosed it progressively.
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[Identity of Meteor Rain] (2/4)
According to investigations so far, it has been revealed that Meteor Rain is the culprit responsible for destroying countless worlds until now.
If Meteor Rain's starlight contacts the ground, no one can avoid destruction.
Currently, you are the only one who has accurately grasped Meteor Rain's danger level.
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I prepared all the quest rewards that would motivate them.
As I knew from running a convenience store, in case of emergency, I could secure a considerable amount of supplies remaining in South Korea.
I hid the goods in a remote warehouse, and when the Constellation revealed the warehouse location as an 'event reward,' the Awakened excitedly devoured the supplies.
Furthermore, when Cheon Yo-hwa later joined our operation, the truthfulness of 'quests bestowed by Constellations' reached its peak.
"Ah, the Meteor Rain…? Certainly. Those things drove my homeland world to its end."
"I am merely a fugitive. So I don't know the details about Meteor Rain. But according to rumor… before starlight pours from the night sky, a song always echoes."
NPCs that Cheon Yo-hwa created following my orders.
Occasionally, I arranged for villages composed of NPCs to be discovered when delving deep into the Void. The NPCs claimed to be 'refugees from an already destroyed other world.'
"A song? What song?"
"I don't know anything more than that."
"Ha, this seems like really important information……. We're stuck here."
The NPCs had parts of their bodies melted like zombies, and that very visual shock actually added credibility to their statements. Anyone who didn't know would have no choice but to think it was a sign that something truly ominous was about to happen.
About a year passed like that.
-Anonymous: Collection of information on Special Class grotesquery 'Meteor Rain' summary.txt
-[Three Thousand] Witch Trial Judge: Regarding the 'song' consistently reported in Meteor Rain-related quests.
-Anonymous: Uploading messages the Constellations supposedly sent regarding Meteor Rain.
On one side of SG Net, a 'Meteor Rain bulletin board' was established.
There, Awakened not only voluntarily organized information but also actively discussed strategies.
Because they thought they had obtained the information through their own blood and sweat, they became convinced about the Meteor Rain's appearance.
Awakened who doubted the Constellations' true nature like Old Man Sho—well, there would always be one or two, I suppose.
But with the Saintess's [Clairvoyance], [Telepathy], [Time Stop], Cheon Yo-hwa's [NPC Creation], and regressor Undertaker's future knowledge and clever supply distribution combined, a 'truthfulness' that no one could doubt was created.
As a result.
-Anonymous: Only 1 year left until Meteor Rain appears now, shouldn't guilds start gathering for joint training?
-Anonymous: I heard Three Thousand Worlds already periodically convenes allied guilds.
-Anonymous: After all, looking at it objectively, Dang Seo-rin is the only candidate for hegemon of the Korean Peninsula…….
└Anonymous: Are you wearing a cone hat?
The Awakened of the Korean Peninsula had perfectly finished preparing to hunt the Meteor Rain.
Now began the regressor's time.