Chapter 68
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Sleepwalker VI
Shin Noah
8
-Weeeeeeeeng!
The area formerly known as the Gimhae Plains.
This place had fallen into a state like a chunk of cheese from Tom and Jerry as an urban development boom took hold.
Dug here, dug there. Gnawed this way and that, the region that could properly be called "plains" had narrowed considerably.
In other words, if urban development simply stopped, everything would return to its original state.
When the balance of victory tipped once more toward nature in the elegy that nature and civilization, environment and humanity had waged over their respective fates for the past 10,000 years, the Gimhae Plains rapidly reclaimed their former glory.
Of course, a significant portion of nature's territory had to be handed over to the anomalies as payment for their mercenary participation in the war. Thanks to that, it reached the point where one could hardly tell if this was truly nature or the Void—the way nature died wasn't much different from how human affairs unfolded.
Among them, the Gimhae Plains belonged to a region where civilization was removed rather quickly, perhaps too quickly.
-Weeeeeeeeeeeng!
About 7 years ago, a sudden air raid warning was issued in the western part of the Gimhae Plains, and a small-scale "bombing" took place there.
I couldn't know exactly what circumstances led to the incident occurring in this vicinity.
It was an event that happened precisely at the moment I was forcibly summoned to Busan Station and began living my life as a regressor.
Even the information that a bombing had occurred nearby would have been difficult to obtain if I hadn't been a regressor. There were also testimonies that it was shelling rather than bombing, rumors that a gate had suddenly burst, and whispers that a secret government research facility had exploded.
Truly a mystery.
-Kwaaaaaaaang!
Perhaps a small-scale gate had occurred in the Gimhae Plains, and bombing was carried out to eliminate it.
Perhaps, with Seoul already in ruins, someone made what they considered a patriotic decision—that they couldn't afford to lose Busan as well.
Perhaps, compared to other densely populated urban areas, the sparse population led them to think "this level of sacrifice is unavoidable."
Perhaps it was simply a tragedy caused by an error in command transmission. I actually consider this possibility the highest.
But now it's impossible to uncover the truth. The government and civilian organizations that should investigate the truth have all vanished—what can be done? Let alone obtaining documents or witnesses related to the incident.
It wasn't just nature that was consumed by the Void. Human history also went missing into the Void.
Nevertheless, if there was one self-evident fact, it was that the Gimhae Plains where the bombing occurred couldn't possibly have been just "plains" as the name suggested—it couldn't have been a barren wasteland.
Even in a place where proof had gone missing, people were still living.
9
Let's talk about the aftermath.
[——Mr. Funeral Director.]
[Wake up, Mr. Funeral Director.]
Blink. I opened my eyes.
In the time it took to open my eyes, I realized I had briefly lost consciousness. A momentary blackout. Fortunately, having lived as a regressor, I've experienced fainting countless times. I wasn't newly flustered by something I'd long grown accustomed to.
[Have you come to?]
If I were to guess the reason for fainting, it was probably because my eyes closed involuntarily due to the lullaby that "Meteor Shower" had sung.
Unlike other awakeners, I was flying at the forefront. In other words, I was the farthest from Dang Seo-rin's white magic, the "anti-resonance" song that nullified the lullaby.
"Yes, I'm fine. You don't need to worry. Saintess. How long was I unconscious?"
[Not long. About 1 second.]
"You noticed I fainted in just 1 second? That's impressive."
I was genuinely surprised. As I said earlier, because I at this time didn't know that the Saintess possessed the "time stop" ability.
During such an important battle, the Saintess was stopping time intermittently to observe the battlefield. My momentary swaying on the broom must have been caught in her clairvoyance.
[A problem has occurred, Mr. Funeral Director.]
The Saintess deftly changed the subject. Not simply to avoid my suspicion, but because I could truly sense urgency in her voice.
My spine went cold. Even without Dang Seo-rin's magic, a person's emotions resonate with another person's voice.
"That can't be! Don't tell me, did the subjugation of Meteor Shower fail?"
[No. It's almost certain that the subjugation itself succeeded. However... Look over there.]
Even though the "over there" the Saintess pointed to wasn't specific, I instinctively turned my head.
The night sky where Meteor Shower's starlight had existed until just moments ago.
The blow that 700 awakeners had prepared for years was indeed sharp. Meteor Shower was torn to shreds in the storm of aura we had created.
Yes.
It was torn.
"What...?"
My heart raced.
Meteor Shower was certainly subjugated. The sphere that had gathered in one place and emitted strong starlight no longer existed.
And while there were anomalies that scattered like smoke immediately upon subjugation, there were also many anomalies that left behind corpses like animals.
I muttered blankly.
"A corpse of starlight...?"
Have you perhaps seen white phosphorus?
A scene exactly like that was unfolding before my eyes, no, before our eyes.
Torn starlights.
The starlights that had been reduced to mere forms were falling toward the ground.
"Ah."
And the gooseflesh rising from my spine pierced through my heart and churned ominously.
Why, how did I not anticipate this?
If there was a meteor falling from the sky, intercepting and destroying that meteor was one problem—but.
Even if destruction succeeded, the fact that countless meteor fragments falling to the ground was also a problem.
"Shit!"
That was only natural—I hadn't imagined at all that an anomaly made of 100% pure starlight, not an orc or goblin or anything like that, would leave behind a corpse. A corpse of light? Who could predict such a thing?
So this too was one of those "if you don't know, you get screwed" moments. Damn it.
It was like the final big "fuck you" that Meteor Shower, utterly destroyed by the regressor's surprise attack, had saved for humanity.
In the 42nd iteration where we succeeded in subjugating Meteor Shower for the "first time," we had no choice but to fall for this trap card.
"It's over! It's over! We really hunted a special-grade anomaly!"
"Long live the Korean Peninsula Awakener Federation! Hooray!"
"Crazy... Subjugating a special-grade anomaly is a world first. Did humans really accomplish this...?"
"The Constellation is invincible! The Funeral Director is a god!"
Looking around, there were no combatants concerned about Meteor Shower's corpse in this aerial battlefield.
Everyone was just excited about having won a landslide victory in a great battle that would go down in history.
Only the Saintess and I were paying attention to the strange churning in the night sky, the fragments of starlight that had begun piercing through the night sky and falling.
'If these fragments fall to the ground as is——no, no. It's fine. Even if the Gyeongsangnam-do region becomes an area of ashes, it's not the worst-case scenario.'
I wasn't the type of regressor who had faith in myself. Such self-confidence was a luxury that only those diamond-spoon regressors who saved the world with just 2 or 3 regressions could possess.
Naturally, I had anticipated the possibility of my operation failing and evacuated as many residents as possible throughout Gyeongsangnam-do.
"The infrastructure will all be destroyed, but..."
It was bearable. Well, the true infrastructure of this era wasn't capital or materials but the awakeners, wasn't it.
As I swallowed the bitter taste rising in my mouth, the Saintess spoke in a voice a bit more urgent than before.
[...Mr. Funeral Director. The starlights are spreading even wider.]
"What?"
I quickly stuck my head out and looked down.
The starlights were indeed actively objecting to the concept of vertical falling motion. True to anomalies that question the laws of physics whenever they're bored, it was an anti-intellectualist display.
[It's not just falling over Busan's airspace. It's expected to easily surpass the entire Korean Peninsula.]
"No, how can there be such insane bullshit."
I, in the 42nd iteration, muttered unconsciously, but strictly speaking, it was hard to call it bullshit.
As I've already described, if left alone, Meteor Shower would bomb the entire world over a full 7 years. Hawaii, Ingria, China, France, and so on.
In other words... this guy wasn't a hot-blooded anomaly that poured out all its power from its very first debut. Rather, it was closer to a sinister power-hider. It's similar to the World Tree Udumbara type.
Since I stabbed the belly of such a power-hider in one blow, the aftereffects of the power it had been hiding all along naturally unraveled.
The conclusion was simple.
Meteor Shower, even in death, could easily destroy the Korean Peninsula with just its corpse fragments.
'What should be done?'
Numerous thoughts crossed my mind.
'Abandon the Korean Peninsula?' 'The 700 awakeners are intact. Enough to abandon the main base and expand to other areas.' 'But the 900 non-combat personnel backing up on the ground.' 'Will they die?' 'Dang Seo-rin is fine, isn't she?' 'What about the Saintess?' 'After the trust between Constellations is broken, can the Awakener Federation maintain the same tight unity as now? Even after the last ethical safeguard is removed?' 'The Ash Zone.'
The starlights fell slowly.
The speed of judgment became faster and faster.
'Abandon this iteration.' 'But I must obtain as much information as possible.' 'Do Meteor Shower's corpses also turn the ground into an Ash Zone? Will they simply fall and then vanish without a sound? Or will they remain as mysteries eternally providing light sources without vanishing?' 'Even if I die, I'll struggle until before I die.'
[Mr. Funeral Director.]
A voice quietly resonated in my head.
[Mr. Funeral Director, please give your instructions quickly.]
The black hand behind the Constellations that issued commands to all awakeners was waiting for my orders as a regressor.
I picked up the radio.
"All forces, the battle is not over!"
Gazes concentrated on me.
"Everyone, look below! Meteor Shower's corpse is torn into hundreds, thousands of pieces and falling! Judgment: type that continues to persist rather than vanishing after subjugation!"
The awakeners buzzed. They were all capable elites, but for that buzzing to gather into clear judgment and refine into precise action would take 5, 10 minutes.
A commander was a being that shortened that speed to tens of seconds.
"According to the Constellations' information, Meteor Shower turns an area into ashes the moment it contacts the ground! And according to reports from the 'Saintess of Salvation' and ground observation personnel, Meteor Shower's corpses are falling across the entire Korean Peninsula!"
"What?"
"Damn it..."
Curses erupted here and there. But simultaneously, a remarkable thing happened.
The awakeners' buzzing subsided and silence descended.
I knew this was an important timing. I had to convey to them the conviction that the commander had made a judgment based on accurate data, without any wavering.
'Saintess.'
I hadn't given the Saintess any instructions in advance.
[The 'Saintess of Salvation' issues an urgent quest!]
But she, as if responding to my inner thoughts, immediately displayed a message before all awakeners' eyes.
――――――――――
[Remnants of the Destroyed Meteor]
You have succeeded as the world's first in subjugating the continent-class anomaly 'Meteor Shower'.
However, it's too early to raise a toast. Meteor Shower's corpse is falling.
Stop the Meteor Carnival.
Good luck in battle.
-Reward: Survival
-On Failure: Destruction of the Korean Peninsula
――――――――――
Perfect timing.
At a time when judgment was lost in a maze without any data, the awakeners had no choice but to accept the Constellation's testimony as fact.
I shouted.
"We will stop it!"
The night sky rippled.
"On the ground, 900 non-combat personnel are still remaining! As long as they remain, the Korean Peninsula isn't finished! Here we entrust the future to the non-combat personnel and risk our deaths!"
All awakeners were looking at me. In their pupils, I saw black gunpowder igniting for a moment.
"From Team 1 to Team 12! All combat team members follow your team leaders' commands! Do not allow even a single fragment of the anomaly's corpse to dare fall on our land!"
[Yes!]
[Understood, Mr. Funeral Director!]
The radio crackled, conveying the team leaders' voices.
"Sortie! All forces, sortie! I will lead the way!"
"Waaaaah!"
The 700 combat personnel, gathered like a cone, scattered in an instant. Like fighter jets taking off from an aircraft carrier.
The difference was that we weren't taking off but descending.
"Ahhhhh——ah——ahhh——―."
Dang Seo-rin, who had been at the very rear, didn't miss the timing either. Though it wasn't in the operation or plan, she responded agilely.
The 7th Melody, Swiftness.
The broom we were riding accelerated instantly. We quickly caught up with Meteor Shower's corpses that had started falling first.
"Ahhh―――."
Dang Seo-rin's magic burned brightly while consuming her own lifespan. Therefore, normally she shouldn't sing beyond the 4th Melody, and even in really important times, shouldn't sing beyond the 6th Melody.
The 7th Melody. That was precisely the borderline of stepping into deadly ground.
With the speed obtained from evaporating her life, this time I dove into the diagonal line.
"Ugh!"
I approached one of the corpses torn from Meteor Shower and swung my sword. Just from eliminating a single fragment of the corpse, my entire body suffered severe pain.
Naturally. It was merely 2 minutes ago that I had squeezed out every bit of aura I had, even my life's strength, to deliver the final blow.
The remaining aura in my body had already hit rock bottom. My right hand couldn't withstand the output and all the skin had peeled off, exposing the muscle blatantly.
Fighting on when I should be hospitalized immediately was no different from suicide.
I barely scraped together what little remained and wrapped aura around the blade, yet part of it that contacted Meteor Shower's corpse turned to ash.
But without resting, I immediately charged toward the next corpse.
I wasn't the only moth flying into the flame.
[Aaaaaah!]
[11 o'clock direction! Another team covers 11 o'clock! This bastard, it's getting wider! We have to eliminate it before it spreads!]
[Team 12, annihilated.]
[Die! Die, die! I said die!]
[Lady Archmage, thank you! I love you! Long live the Three Thousand Worlds!]
[Team 10, 2 o'clock clear.]
I won't say all 700 people disregarded their lives.
There were certainly combatants who kept their hands behind their backs, pretended to participate in battle, and saved their own lives. Perhaps there were even awakeners who quickly concluded they would raise their guild's position on the ruined Korean Peninsula.
But at least my pen now existed to describe different people.
[3 o'clock clear. Team 10, destroyed. 6 survivors. Proceeding to 4 o'clock.]
[Team 7, annihilated. Still, 11 o'clock is clear. Now joining 10 o'clock... Ah. One remaining corpse spotted. Unable to join.]
[I'll go first, Brother Funeral Director. I haven't forgotten what happened in Sejong. Thank you always.]
[Team 4, annihilated.]
Stars fell.
Burning the last remaining true energy throughout their bodies, embracing the remnants of starlight, scattering as ash with their entire bodies.
And the night sky was coming to an end. The waves of darkness that Meteor Shower had spread were gradually thinning from the edge of that sky.
Below that thinning night sky, along with countless specks of ash——tip, tip, brooms that had lost their owners were sinking without sound.
[Mr. Funeral Director.]
[Brother Funeral Director!]
[Mr. Funeral Director——.]
Falling. Falling.
Endless falling flowers.
How much time and noise passed?
"Funeral Director!"
Blink.
When I opened my eyes, I was falling. An enormous sound of wind struck my ears.
Losing consciousness in a hellish battlefield wasn't strange at all, but this time there were three very strange points.
First, the world was upside down. I couldn't immediately realize it since I was at high altitude, but I was currently falling. The broom was nowhere to be seen. Probably the cause of death this iteration would be death by falling.
Second, Dang Seo-rin was before my eyes.
Simply saying she was before my eyes was insufficient. The precious conical hat she always wore was gone, and she too was falling from the sky like me.
And at some point, she was embracing me.
"Dang Seo-rin?"
I opened my lips with difficulty. The smell of blood, lead, iron, and ash mixed in my mouth.
Along with the intense certainty that this was reality, for some reason everything was like a dream. Like a sleepwalker uncertain whether they wanted to continue dreaming this dream or not.
"Right now, what's the battle situation..."
Dang Seo-rin smiled broadly. We were falling right now, and death would be waiting at the end of that fall.
Indeed, was it a dream?
Dang Seo-rin's smile came a little closer to me. Closer and closer again.
Soon her smile was felt not as vision but as an outline.
That was the third strange point.
"I——love humans!"
Dang Seo-rin's face, covered in blood, sweat, and ash, smiled broadly once more.
"You, what did you just..."
"I hate people. They're annoying. Actually, I really hate places with lots of people. I'm so sick of humans who try to curry favor with me by wagging their tails."
Flutter—
The sound of wind repeatedly struck both our skins. Squeeze. As we met the water currents of the sky, Dang Seo-rin held my waist a bit more strongly.
"I hate this and hate that, I hated it before the world ended, and I've hated it constantly since the world ended. But, still. Humans are, amazing!"
"..."
"No one will remember, but, yeah. No records will remain, but. We, just saved the world! Right, Funeral Director?"
"..."
"And——I hope you won't hate people too much either."
"..."
Wind.
"I'm originally not the type to ask such things. Ah—I should have asked. Why you keep making that expression. Where and what you did in the past. Why you like café au lait. Why your eyes are sad. I should have asked a lot, and I could have asked."
Waves.
"Do you hate me? Funeral Director?"
"That's not it."
Immediate answer.
"That's not it... Absolutely not."
"Yeah."
Smile.
My dream. My disease. The reason for my sleepwalking, for which I decided to dream of life.
"I knew. So, just as much as you like me. Just that much more, love humans."
And.
Sunset.
The night sky fades.
The sunset spreads.
When Meteor Shower spread across the night sky, the original world was just beginning to set. Our battle took place during the beginning and end of a day's sunset.
Thus, around the time Meteor Shower was subjugated and we were falling, the sunset was still vividly painting the world.
"Ah."
Not a sunset swallowed by the night sky.
A sunset pushing aside the night sky and spreading.
A reverse sunset that could occur only once in this world, on this Earth.
"Ah..."
The redness extending to the eternal horizon.
"Truly, truly——. A beautiful sky——."
10
Let's end the aftermath here.
From the 43rd iteration onward, measures for the corpses weren't neglected either, so the 700 awakeners were able to safely return to the ground.
There were still many stories to share about Meteor Shower. Speculation about where and how Meteor Shower originated, experiments on whether starlight could be captured and utilized.
Nevertheless, today's episode should end here.
Because the sunset of that day was excessively red, and because humans were merely beings flying eternally toward the horizon where the sunset never ends.
Boss Battle.
Anomaly Meteor Shower.
Aliases: Meteor Strike, Armageddon, Baseless Worry, Nuclear Launch, Galaxy
Danger Level: Lv.3 Continent Class
Patterns: 1st Phase Appearance, 2nd Phase Falling, 3rd Phase Wide-Area Sleep, 4th Phase Impact.
Death toll impossible to estimate. Missing persons impossible to estimate.
Multiple world destruction records.
Subjugation complete.
- Sleepwalker. End.
I'm an infinite regressor telling a story.