Chapter 77
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The Promoted One Ⅰ
Shin No-Ah
1
Now that wishes have come up in conversation, I'm actually closer to the side that receives wishes rather than the one that makes them.
[Time Seal].
My unique awakening ability, and the reason my alias solidified as "The Undertaker." An ability that traps the target in their "happiest day" and makes them repeat that single day forever.
- Undertaker, it's too difficult. I want to let go of life from my hands now.
- Please. Mr. Undertaker.
- I miss my family. Back when the world was still intact, with my family... Please.
- You're saying no one will remember me in reality? I don't care. Anyway, this damn reality. This kind of reality.
Though they repeat a single day forever, those subjected to [Time Seal] don't realize that fact themselves.
Even if they somehow realize it, like the soccer player Kim Ju-cheol who appeared in a previous episode, it's not a problem. They forget again soon enough.
People just need to play all day long with a free pass ticket in the dream amusement park I, the Undertaker, have prepared for them.
To the humanity of this end times that has been completely ruined, I, the Undertaker, am essentially a legally permitted final sleeping pill (containing narcotic ingredients).
Naturally, there's no shortage of people waiting in line to get a free pass to this amusement park.
Today, I think I'll introduce the most unhinged psychopath among those standing in that waiting line.
2
"Vice Guild Master."
"Hm?"
"My life is too painful."
Rustle.
Silver hair cascaded from across the drinking table.
This hair was truly beautiful. Too white to call gray, yet too lustrous to call pure white. So I could only describe it as silver.
Originally, when an Awakened awakens their ability, their hair color is randomly dyed automatically. The person before me was a case where an SR-grade result came from a single-pull gacha. (For reference, I'm normal-grade black.)
"Honestly, it's hard to hold on with a sound mind anymore. I feel like putting everything down and ending it all."
"..."
Yoo Ji-won (劉地圓).
Such a person exists.
In fact, the name Yoo Ji-won has already appeared multiple times in my stories. I don't know if any readers remember, but her first appearance was right at this moment.
- Vice Guild Master. Do you have time? A guest has come to see you.
- A guest? Who?
- Yes, the name is... Em... Schopenhauer? They seem to be German?
The day I first met Old Man Sho.
The person who first informed me that some German old man had visited at such a historic moment was none other than SSS-class hair beauty Yoo Ji-won. My secretary and adjutant.
That's right. Secretary and adjutant. Long ago, when I was still serving as Tang Seo-rin's underling in Samcheon World, Yoo Ji-won was my underling. Since she was the underling of the Supreme Dignity Guild Master's underling, she also had quite a high rank.
I suppose I'll introduce the secret of how this guy was instantly incorporated into the inner circle, the core layer of power.
It was during the 5th iteration. Yoo Ji-won once said this to me.
"Vice Guild Master, do you happen to like Romance of the Three Kingdoms?"
"What? Don't tell me you too?"
"Yes. I got into it as a child with Yokoyama's Strategic Three Kingdoms, all 60 volumes."
My eyes opened wide. To think I'd found someone with such fundamentals.
The silver-haired, expressionless, cool-chic Awakened moved only her lips and recited methodically.
"After that, I looked through Goh Young's Three Kingdoms, Hwang Seok-young's Three Kingdoms, Lee Moon-yeol's Three Kingdoms, Jang Jung-il's Three Kingdoms, and briefly fell into a demonic text called Three Kingdoms Analysis and spent some dark history there, but my body couldn't be satisfied with novels alone, so I went through Three Kingdoms Battle Records and properly entered the official Records of the Three Kingdoms."
"This can't be."
I became dizzy. A dizziness like drugs.
Was this how an elder of the martial world felt when seeing a late-blooming genius with a bright future ahead!
Unable to hide my trembling voice, I asked a question to test whether this child would truly inherit my legacy.
"Koei...? Or, Santuwa...?"
"Hmm."
As people exchanging zen questions often do, Yoo Ji-won rested her chin and pondered.
Finally, Yoo Ji-won lifted her glasses with a click.
"My cool-headed brain commands Santuwa, but my young heart cries out for Koei. And I believe my soul resides in my heart rather than my brain."
"...Favorite series?"
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms 3, Romance of the Three Kingdoms 5, Romance of the Three Kingdoms 11."
"Heok...!"
I had no choice but to submit to my successor's noble integrity. From this moment, Yoo Ji-won was immediately selected as my confidant.
Of course, there was one final gate remaining.
"Oh my, you kids are bullshitting."
Samcheon World advocated an absolute monarchy instead of democracy, which had finished trending globally. Naturally, personnel rights also belonged exclusively to the Guild Master.
Our Supreme Dignity, the Great Witch Tang Seo-rin Her Highness, snorted and looked back and forth between me and Yoo Ji-won.
"If you recruit someone as a vice guild master's adjutant just because they're a Three Kingdoms otaku, the guild will really go to shit."
"Coming from a witch otaku and steel nerd, that's something..."
"Hm? What did you just say? Vice Guild Master?"
"It's nothing."
"I understand you like the Vice Guild Master, but you can't just promote guild members recklessly without procedure and propriety. Really, someone who should know better, why act like this? Do you think Yoo Ji-won's mind will be at ease after advancing like this? Tsk, her back skin will be all scraped off from her colleagues' glares."
"Though this may be presumptuous, Great Witch Your Highness. May I say something?"
Yoo Ji-won spoke.
As I've described several times, Yoo Ji-won wore an expressionless facial mask year-round and her tone was measured and disciplined. She had a talent for making even whatever bullshit sound plausible once it passed through her tongue and lips.
"Hm? What is it?"
"I was not recommended for the vice guild master's adjutant position simply because I possess knowledge about Three Kingdoms. Great Witch Your Highness. I have various other uses as well."
"What, your awakening ability? Like a minimap or something? I know that. I also evaluate you highly. But as I've said repeatedly, an organization has procedures and propriety..."
"I'm a Latin major and can write freely in Latin. Naturally, I can translate song lyrics into Latin as well."
"Promoted."
Yoo Ji-won, appointed as executive!
3
The reason Yoo Ji-won advanced to the inner circle was of course thanks to her Three Kingdoms knowledge and Latin skills, but that didn't mean Yoo Ji-won was incompetent as an Awakened.
On the contrary, she belonged to the capable side.
"Ji-won."
"Yes, Vice Guild Master."
"I think we need to start the operation soon. Turn on the minimap."
"Understood."
Minimap.
This was Yoo Ji-won's awakening ability. If you were Korean who once sold your soul to a folk game called StarCraft, you would automatically understand what ability 'minimap' was just by seeing this simple three-syllable name.
Swish-
Yoo Ji-won spread a map on the strategy table. Scale 1:50,000. On that map, which was merely printed on paper, Yoo Ji-won placed chess pieces she had prepared in advance.
Then amazingly, the chess pieces began to move on their own.
"Vice Guild Master. The enemy is gathering at the east gate as expected. It reads as a tactic to lie in wait at the east gate and then use boats to target our rear."
"Hmm."
On the chess pieces that looked ordinary at first glance, red sticker labels with names like 'Kim Sung-woo' and 'Park Hyun-mo' were attached.
They were all names of the enemy leadership we were facing.
The chess pieces were mimicking everything, showing on the map the enemies' locations and even their movement destinations. Not just the enemy.
♝ ♛
Yoo Ji-won, Tang Seo-rin
The bishop with 'Yoo Ji-won's name tag and the queen with 'Tang Seo-rin' written on it also indicated their exact positions on the map.
Tang Seo-rin exclaimed.
"It really feels like fighting with the minimap on. Isn't this a completely broken ability? Since Ji-won joined our Samcheon World, guild wars have become too easy."
"You praise me too highly. Great Witch Your Highness."
Bow. Yoo Ji-won, at max level in social life, bowed at a perfect angle, neither too exaggerated nor too arrogant.
"My ability also has clear limitations. Without the Great Witch Your Highness's leadership, how could my ability have been of any use?"
"Hey. That's too much. Do it moderately. Before I want to sew your mouth shut and kill you."
"Yes."
Yoo Ji-won was merely feigning humility while kissing up, but in reality, 'minimap' had some flaws.
1. Only targets that Yoo Ji-won has personally met and knows the names of can be displayed on the minimap.
For example, Yoo Ji-won cannot display the location of the 'Saint.' She has never met the Saint, nor does she know the Saint's name.
2. The minimap only applies to cities that Yoo Ji-won has personally 'stepped on.'
For instance, in the 5th iteration, Yoo Ji-won had never been to Gyeongju in her life. Even though her hobby was bicycle touring across the country, having traveled not just Korea but even Japan as an enthusiast.
So no matter how much she deployed [Minimap], if the enemy fled to Gyeongju, she couldn't track them.
In such cases, the chess piece would move partway, and when it left the map's boundary range, it would collapse lifelessly.
The expression 'stepping on a city' might be ambiguous, but it had a surprisingly clear standard. Stepping on a convenience store in that city.
Strangely, if she stopped by a convenience store in that city and bought something or stayed for more than a minute, that city was treated as a 'stepped-on place.'
So cities where convenience stores had completely vanished without a trace could never be 'stepped on.' For example, in New York, which had been reduced to ruins after an Ocean-class anomaly descended, there was no way to find a convenience store.
In other words?
"Guild Master. I'll consistently attend various guild master meetings with Ji-won and travel around the country."
"Yeah. I'm counting on you."
I dragged Yoo Ji-won around the country under the name of secretary and made her diligently familiarize herself with people's faces.
As a result, the 'huge network' that Yoo Ji-won achieved through me was projected intact onto the entire Korean peninsula map.
"Magnificent."
I looked down at the super-large map and cracked open a beer bottle cap.
The locations of influential guild masters in each city, people who weren't guild master level but possessed special abilities, and those who could potentially influence the direction of power on the Korean peninsula.
The locations of all influential figures were being displayed in real time.
"Thank you. It's all thanks to you, Vice Guild Master."
"What. You were born with good skills. And you chose your major well."
"To be honest, I didn't know my Latin major would shine more after the world ended. When civilization was intact, I worried about going hungry first."
"Isn't it a blessing in disguise?"
I slowly poured beer for Yoo Ji-won, who had extended her arm properly. We raised our glasses to celebrate the completion of the 'national map.'
"Cheers."
"Cheers."
Clink- The glasses rang prettily.
Based on Tang Seo-rin's leadership, my support abilities, and Yoo Ji-won's overwhelming intelligence power, Samcheon World continued its winning streak.
And so the invincible triangular formation lived happily forever... I wish credits would roll like that, but as you all know, this story is quite far from a happy ending.
Not long after ascending to the seat of power on the Korean peninsula, the war situation grew increasingly bleak.
In iterations without Noh Do-ha, cities separated and self-destructed; in iterations without the Sword Empress, food quickly ran out; in iterations without Seo Gyu, Awakened completely lost their communication networks; in iterations without Old Man Sho, we had no strength to break through the monsters' attrition warfare.
We, the executives of Samcheon World, were no exception. No, perhaps we were in an even worse position.
Tang Seo-rin was a rare species harder to find than legendary Pokémon in an absolute monarchy organization, the so-called 'benevolent monarch.'
Executives had to go to the front lines and set an example, and if even one guild member went hungry, the executives had to go hungry too.
Tang Seo-rin endured. I endured well too.
Yoo Ji-won found it hard to endure.
Despite having the character of a silver-haired, expressionless, cool-chic, the four characters 'power' and 'success' were written on her heart in bold Gothic font, so this was a tragic situation for Yoo Ji-won.
The even more cruel truth was that Samcheon World was actually in the best condition on the Korean peninsula.
Caught between her nature that could only be satisfied by seizing power and succeeding wherever she was, and the era's environment that had no intention of ever satisfying that nature, Yoo Ji-won agonized, anguished, and despaired.
If there had only been a guarantee that she could succeed by betraying Tang Seo-rin and going to another guild, Yoo Ji-won might well have followed the example of Imperial Korea's Prime Minister Lee Wan-yong.
In reality, Yoo Ji-won was full of thoughts of inheriting her ancestors' legacy.
"Vice Guild Master."
"Hm?"
"Could you perhaps arrange passage to Japan?"
I didn't bother asking 'Why, running away to Japan? Isn't it embarrassing for someone who's a direct adjutant to the vice guild master?' Instead, I sipped my coffee. By this time, my blinders were starting to come off, and I had a certain understanding of Yoo Ji-won's true nature.
"I could if I tried, but I'd only be able to get a one-way ticket."
"What do you mean?"
"Until recently, Japanese ships occasionally came to Busan. But they've all disappeared for the past 3 months. What do you think this means?"
"..."
We established the Guild Alliance and fought bloody battles against anomalies across the country. In the survival war for humanity, Yoo Ji-won always followed along as my direct subordinate.
"Vice Guild Master, what about China..."
"From what I gathered from what the Constellation said last time, the Shandong Peninsula is gone for now."
"..."
"Plus, you've traveled Korea and Japan by bicycle so [Minimap] works there, but you've never been to China. It's practically like your skill being sealed. Will you be okay?"
"..."
That's right. To betray, there must be someone to accept you; to escape, there must be a paradise to flee to.
The era was making her a loyal subject of the ages.
Like talented people who were born in the wrong era due to a wrong gacha pull, Yoo Ji-won finally acknowledged that her desires would never be satisfied.
She had nowhere to go. Where could she go? The whole world had gone completely bankrupt.
No.
Actually, there was one last place to escape to.
"Vice Guild Master."
"Ah, really. Hey! Vice Adjutant Yoo! Are you scared? Just let's die together, man. Huh? What's life anyway? We're all gonna die soon anyway..."
"Please kill me."
I turned my head.
My expressionless direct adjutant was staring at me from there.
"Please hold my funeral. With your ability, Vice Guild Master. I beg you."
"..."
I groaned.
There had been many, many humans who had asked me for a funeral... in other words, 'Time Seal.'
Yes. Among them were people personally precious to me.
In short, I was a professional undertaker. I had already experienced trapping someone as privately close as Yoo Ji-won in a coffin forever several times.
And I also knew that when receiving a funeral request from someone with whom I'd seen every ugly and beautiful side, more detailed customer consultation was possible than usual.
To summarize the consultation content in one line:
- Actually, I'm a regressor, and when the wheel of time rolls to the next iteration, the world becomes somewhat more intact, but do you still want to be stuffed in a coffin?
Hearing my secret, Yoo Ji-won was shocked. And Yoo Ji-won's mental shock lasted exactly 6 hours.
Not even a day passed before my silver-haired direct adjutant came to me again.
"You said this iteration is the 5th, Vice Guild Master Your Highness."
"..."
Just seeing the word 'Your Highness' attached after my title the moment she heard I was a regressor told me this bastard was truly no ordinary bastard.
"That's right."
"Yes. Then thinking normally, wouldn't the 2nd iteration have more hope than the 1st, the 5th more than the 4th, and the 6th more than the 5th for this world?"
"...I suppose so?"
The silver-haired lunatic nodded with an infinitely serious face.
And then she started spouting lines I'd never heard once in my entire regressor life.
"Your Highness. Then in my judgment, being subjected to Time Seal right now in the 5th iteration would be extremely disadvantageous."
?