Chapter 87
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The Intruder Ⅰ
Shin Noah
1
Noh Do-ha sneered at me as some old monster over 1,000 years old, but that assessment was wrong by a long shot.
Originally, Noh Do-ha was the type who, watching autumn raindrops fall prettily from the sky, would describe it as "Heh, the H₂O molecules are committing mass suicide (something he actually said)." A poison-tongued wretch whose very spine walked a crooked line, let alone his tongue.
Why would I bother caring about the critique of such a human scum?
Terms like "old fogey" or "old monster" to describe me, Jang Uisa, are absolutely inappropriate. Curses filled with hatred and contempt for humanity like "has-been," "fossil," or "boomer" need not even be mentioned.
Rather, neutral appellations like "senior" or "teacher" would be far more suitable.
For "senior" (先輩) means one who walks ahead.
I, Jang Uisa, as a regressor, always walk one step further than others. So not to claim any cultivated rank, but literally speaking, I am the senior of all humankind. Why? Am I wrong?
The same goes for "teacher" (先生).
Biologically, there are plenty of people older than me. But in terms of mental age, where is anyone more adult than I? As Noh Do-ha said, I am indeed well over 1,000 years old. Therefore, I am the teacher of all humans. How about that? Am I wrong?
"What is this bastard spouting, this fucking fossil…?"
"…."
But those who actually used the titles "senior" or "teacher" for me were all too rare.
No, if they were merely rare, that would be fine… Rather, there were more old people who dutifully called Noh Do-ha "Teacher Noh Do-ha"!
Alas, the tragedy.
How could I not sigh at this? That human scum, a teacher. Even in this land once called the Land of Eastern Etiquette, the Three Bonds have been torn and the Five Relationships destroyed.
But as heroes appear in chaotic times, so too do sages exist in troubled eras.
"Ah, Senior Uisa!"
The Korean Peninsula's necromancer, yet a patriot who insisted on pure white sailor uniforms true to the White-Clad People rather than black clothes.
The nearly sole person who called me senior, and, the 113th Student Council President of Baekhwa Girls' High School, and, Guild Master of the Baekhwa Guild.
"Senior~!"
Sometimes when walking through the corridors of the National Road Management Headquarters headquarters, I had no choice but to turn around when I heard her calling me. Each time, the owner of that voice would come running with footsteps—tap tap tap—that seemed to be the very concept of vitality given voice, then smile—beam—at me.
Truly a sight to behold.
If only I didn't know the fact that in the turn where she mass-produced zombies on the Korean Peninsula, in the turn where she created an "Academy City," and in the turn where she finally brought about the end of the world, she wore exactly that same smile.
A smile somehow fixed in place. A taxidermied expression.
"Senior Jang Uisa, where are you going~?"
"…."
This is an episode about names. A story about the time it took for the title "senior" to transform into "teacher."
The Apostle of the Alienated God Mugan.
Let's talk about Cheon Yo-hwa.
2
If asked to name just two people I least wanted to associate with on the Korean Peninsula, first place would naturally be the Huashan Sect's Sect Master, the Sword Empress old woman, and second place would be Cheon Yo-hwa.
Ko Yori? Well, we'd need to first define whether that thing is even "human," so let's exclude her from consideration.
If not for the information obtained from the Fairy Monarch in the 89th turn, the misfortune of me deliberately approaching Cheon Yo-hwa wouldn't have occurred either.
-Tutorial Dungeon Baekhwa Girls' High School.
-The survivor there, Cheon Yo-hwa, is the chosen apostle of the entity 'Fairy Monarch' witnessed by this subject.
I felt like Sherlock Holmes upon hearing James Moriarty's name.
Or perhaps the mindset of a general who unwittingly witnessed Cao Cao's taste for married women. 'Ah, my entire life up to now has been lived to catch and beat that bastard'—suddenly awakening to this existential realization.
Moreover, in terms of villain quality alone, Mugan was a cut, no, two or three cuts above Moriarty.
Unlike that old geezer whose demonic nature was immediately exposed by Sherlock Holmes's awakening skill of mind-reading, Mugan hadn't revealed himself even once until the 89th turn. He didn't even have a name to call him by—wasn't it I who gave him the title Mugan (無間, Infinite Hell)?
Cheon Yo-hwa was the only suspect connected to that blackest of black curtains, that villain among villains.
The little detective in my heart had no choice but to heat up and glare covetously.
And naturally, my caliber as a detective was superior to some British drug-addicted hedonist. That bastard can't even turn back time.
"Judging by your hair color, you're Cheon Yo-hwa, right? I've heard a lot about you from the kids."
"Uh…."
109th turn. As I previously described, as soon as the 'Baekhwa Girls' High Tutorial Dungeon' was unlocked, I entered immediately after half a year had passed and confronted Cheon Yo-hwa.
"News that an incredibly smart and sharp junior was elected student council president made the rounds through our alumni network once. For reference, I also worked in the student council and am now the alumni association president."
"…."
Cheon Yo-hwa, capture complete!
Afterwards, thanks to this necromancer, various good effects emerged, such as the development and distribution of an 'AI Judge' throughout the Korean Peninsula… but one minor problem arose.
No, actually it wasn't very minor. It was quite a serious problem.
"Yo-hwa."
"Yes, Senior Uisa!"
"Are you perhaps close with fairies?"
"Huh?"
"Well, you know the tutorial fairies. Or perhaps you've been connected to some greater existence through those fairies. If you have such experience, let me know."
"…."
Blink. Cheon Yo-hwa blinked her eyes.
"Fairies, Senior?"
"Hm?"
"Well. Is that some kind of code? Or… a novel? Aw, Senior really. There's no way things like fairies exist in this world. You're teasing too much~."
"…No, what are you talking about? A tutorial dungeon occurred at Baekhwa Girls' High. Then naturally there would have been tutorial fairies too. You all cleared the tutorial barely surviving for a full 11 months without any contact with the outside world…."
"11 months? Hmm… Ahaha. I'm sorry, Senior. I have no idea what you're talking about. Gasp. Senior… you're not involved with some cult or something like that, are you?"
"…."
"Heavens! No! My family has gotten entangled with cults really often too so I know well, you must absolutely never, no matter what happens, get involved with them!"
Highly developed physiognomy could not be distinguished from mind-reading.
To my eyes, which had studied physiognomy for over 1,000 years, Cheon Yo-hwa did not appear to be lying.
My scholarly achievement hit the mark.
"Kyaaah! Goblins appeared!"
"…? Senior, why are people calling wolves goblins?"
"The Ten Races are invading! Let's fight back!"
"Aaaah! Ea-earthquake! Senior, it's an earthquake! Get down quickly—!"
"…."
Cheon Yo-hwa did not perceive anomalies as anomalies.
Goblins appeared as 'wolves,' and the Ten Races rampaging was understood as a 'great earthquake.'
The same was true for other anomalies. Once, I even captured a fairy alive and brought it right before her eyes.
"Wow! A cat! So cute!"
And she hugged the fairy and rubbed her cheek against it. Even when the fairy said "Hieek" and "Let go of me!" using language, to Cheon Yo-hwa's ears it only sounded like a cat's meowing.
She was broken.
Her brain. Her perception system.
As if the part of the brain that recognizes the phenomenon called 'anomaly' had been surgically removed.
"…I see. That's why no meaningful information comes out even when asking about fairies or Mugan."
"…? What did you just say, Senior?"
"It's nothing."
Watching Cheon Yo-hwa who suffered from selective hearing like a dated light novel protagonist, I furrowed my brows.
Perhaps even this 'perception contamination' was Mugan's doing.
Should I marvel that he is truly a real mastermind, of a different caliber from those attention-seekers in creative works who appear claiming to be villains but actually shout 'Recognize me!' to everyone?
I investigated Cheon Yo-hwa as much as I could.
I discovered that this child's family home was located in Sejong City, was a quite famous local powerful family in the vicinity, and even learned that the mansion scale was enormous.
Magnificently built traditional tile-roofed houses.
The land area was 14,990 square meters. It was a grand mansion situated on the foothills of Wonsu Mountain, overlooking the South Korean government buildings.
The above-ground structures preserved the hanok style passed down from the Joseon era, but modern architecture was hidden in the underground not open to the public.
However, there was no particular harvest. While some documents remained in the grand mansion, there were absolutely no survivors or witnesses.
At best, the fact that Cheon Yo-hwa's father served as a director at Baekhwa Girls' High?
Judging by inference, Baekhwa Girls' High itself seemed to have been built with this family's sponsorship.
Then Cheon Yo-hwa was not a mere student, not a mere student council president, but a position equivalent to a 'young lady' of a private school foundation.
Besides that, the peculiar finding was that Laozi's Tao Te Ching and other Taoism-related books were discovered in large quantities in the underground facility.
Still, with only this information and these circumstances, I couldn't escape from the maze.
"There's one last thing I want to ask. Yo-hwa. I briefly looked into your family background. Your father's surname was the character Cheon meaning 'thousand' (千). But you use the character Cheon meaning 'heaven' (天) as your surname. Do you know how your surname came to change?"
"Eh? No? This is the first time I'm hearing it at all… I don't have any memories of my family to begin with. And family investigation. That's a bit of a scary obsession, Senior…."
…Strategy modification was inevitable.
Contacting Cheon Yo-hwa 'after' she broke through the tutorial dungeon on her own had no effect. Too much information had been lost.
I had to meet Cheon Yo-hwa from an earlier time. Cheon Yo-hwa from the time when she was still wandering in the dungeon called Baekhwa Girls' High.
A feat impossible without going back in time.
"Understood. Yo-hwa. See you next time."
"Huh? Yes, Senior! See you next time!"
And as it happened, I was capable of such acrobatics.
3
As I was the first in humanity to discover, the 'Tutorial Dungeon' was none other than a void artificially created by Mugan—in other words, a human experimentation facility.
Like other laboratories, the tutorial dungeon also strictly controlled outsider entry. Because incidents that would raise a graduate student's blood pressure just hearing the words—virus intrusion, computer theft, data loss—could occur.
Therefore, the tutorial dungeon maintained closure until cleared.
Even the Saintess's 'Clairvoyance' could not examine this closed space. The atrocity of an outside human forcibly prying open the lab door was impossible.
Right. 'Humans' couldn't.
"Let's go, Fairy 264."
"Hoeeh! Loyalty! Following Commander Comrade's orders…!"
Even a laboratory serious about blocking physical viruses was a different story when it came to mental viruses.
Fairy 264, infected with the strongest virus in human history, marched vigorously toward Baekhwa Girls' High School.
Creeeak—
The school gate of Baekhwa Girls' High, which no human could ever cross, did not stop our march either. Like the barricades of Paris in 1832, the gate recognized its revolutionary comrade and gently opened.
(Con) Seoul ■■ University 2 Acceptances! (Con)
An old banner fluttered. For reference, I was firmly opposed to credentialism and the degree-based society, so whenever I saw that banner, I kept the possibilities open whether it was Seoul National University, Sogang University, or Seokyeong University.
Had fierce combat already taken place? Not only the banner but various parts of the gate were destroyed.
The plaque that should have had the school name engraved in elegant Chinese characters was partially damaged, so instead of 'Baekhwa Girls' High School' (白花女子高等學校), only '■■女子高等學校' was written.
"Comrade! The vanguard has opened a bloody path!"
"Hm. Let us advance."
Red spider lilies, also known as hell flowers, bloomed profusely in the flower beds surrounding the school buildings. Beyond the hill of spider lilies, white birch trees formed a forest.
Toward that place, the fairy shouted.
"Full speed ahead! Death to bourgeois oppression! Devote your lives for Commander Comrade Jang Uisa!"
The moment we set foot inside the school grounds.
"Hieeek?"
Pop!
Whether detecting intruders, the person in charge of security came running out in a panic.
Of course, the real security guard was already dead, slumped limply near the gate. This was just a newly armband-wearing fairy of the 'Baekhwa Girls' High Tutorial Dungeon.'
The opposing fairy looked us over and was flustered, eyes going round.
"F-fairy? Human? Hiek? Why a human?"
"Hoek! Distinguishing between humans and fairies by race! People can only be distinguished by ideology…! That is undoubtedly a bourgeois running dog!"
"Hiek? Hiek? Hiek?"
The opposing fairy fell into confusion.
"I-I am Fairy 16 in charge of the tutorial here! Bringing a human intruder without any prior promise is extremely suspicious…! State your name and rank!"
"I am 264! Because Heaven's Command descended upon me, even my number is revolutionary! You vile bourgeois henchman, offer your neck to the guillotine at once!"
"Hieeeek! Rebellion! It's a rebellion! Royal Guard! Royal Guard!"
The moment Fairy 16 drew out a magic wand to kill us, our 264 also gripped a magic wand.
"Where do you think—"
"Hiek!"
Bang!
Both fairies exploded simultaneously. There was not an inch of error in the explosion.
Here lay a sad circumstance. Originally, all fairies were created with exactly identical combat power.
If a fairy decided to fight another fairy, the outcome was destined to end in mutual destruction. If they had been born not in modern fantasy but in martial arts novels, they would have been talents worthy of selection for 'Top 10 Magnificently Dead Supporting Characters,' and if they had possessed into Romance of the Three Kingdoms, they could be called brothers keeping the Peach Garden Oath.
'Now then. Mugan's eye watching Baekhwa Girls' High should have temporarily disappeared.'
From here, speed was life.
I first stripped the uniform from the security guard's corpse and stuffed it into a trunk leather bag. Then I entered the school building.
I had already memorized the building's structure through previous turns, but true to a void, the terrain and features were twisting in real-time.
-Uwoooo….
-Hi, hi, hi, hi.
Look. Even though I only set foot in the entrance, aren't all sorts of bizarre sounds enthusiastically welcoming—no, unwelcoming—the visitor?
This was no longer Baekhwa Girls' High School.
'School Ghost Stories.'
Whether bathroom ghosts or the Seven Mysteries, anyway, all anomalies connected to the location called 'school' had been realized in this demonic realm.
The number of people possessed by the void 'School Ghost Stories' reached as many as 750. All were Baekhwa Girls' High students.
And after 11 months of struggle, the number who would survive until the end was… merely 19.
Moreover, 2 of them would jump from the rooftop and commit suicide before long. Considering that 'jumping suicide' in 'School Ghost Stories' was essentially no different from murder by ghosts, those 2 should also be counted as victims.
Survival rate 2.26%.
The worst tutorial dungeon on the Korean Peninsula.
But… no matter how powerful anomalies and voids might be, no, the more powerful they are, the more gaps are created.
I call this the weak point of anomalies and voids. The so-called 'Void Point' (虛點).
Depending on whether one knows this void point or not, the difficulty of the void varies drastically.
Bacon's old maxim 'Knowledge is power' had transformed into an even greater truth by the end of the century.
Then here's a question.
What would be most suitable as a 'School Ghost Story' void point that an existence intruding from outside—moreover, a man older than Baekhwa Girls' High students—could utilize?
What camouflage should one take to compete with the 'ghosts' rotting and prowling this place, and even force the recognition that 'it's not strange' to constantly wander here and there onto this void?
"…Alright. Found it."
The correct answer was written in the document I now held.
[Baekhwa Girls' High School Security Guard Shift Roster]
Shff. I wrote my name in the very last column with the marker I brought from outside.
Then I quickly changed into the security guard uniform I had gathered from the school gate. A hat on my head. I even attached a name tag engraved with 'Security Guard Jang Uisa' on my chest.
Disguise complete.
"…Ah, this cool, heavy sensation. It's been a while."
Finally, I gripped the 'flashlight,' the must-have item for security guards, in my left hand. My appearance reflected in the duty room mirror was simply perfect.
I, Jang Uisa, will get a job as a school security guard in this turn.
It was the moment when the most powerful job class in 'School Ghost Stories' descended.
A limitless regressor telling a story.