Chapter 98
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Savior Α Ⅰ
Shin Noah
1
Mugan was subjugated starting from the 117th iteration.
This meant that an Awakened—one who "commanded a hundred ghosts," who "sealed an Outer God-level anomaly," and who "led hundreds of guild members as subordinates"—had made a splendid debut on the Korean Peninsula. In other words, Cheon Yohwa.
From now on, Korea's Awakened would need to make a slightly more complicated choice.
-Goryojang: Hmm... Honestly, isn't the strongest guild in Korea now Baekhwa, not Samcheon...?
Right away, public opinion on SG Net shifted.
-Goryojang: Baekhwa Special) Guild Master is stronger than all other guild members combined. All guild members are high schoolers so they go around wearing uniforms. Not cosplay.
-Goryojang: Samcheon Special) Guild Master is stronger than all other guild members combined. All guild members have to wear witch hats. Every day at 2 PM, 'broom maintenance time' is mandatory daily work. Is cosplay.
-Goryojang: I believe just looking at this, there's no longer any need to explain which of the two guilds is superior...
└Anonymous: As expected, facts are Godryojang-ham lol
└[Samcheon]WitchJudge: Fuck this bastard.
└Anonymous: I'm a Samcheon guild member and this is true.
-Anonymous: So are the Baekhwa Guild Master and the Undertaker dating?
└dolLHoUse: Not easy.
-Anonymous: Why do they insist on witch cosplay regardless of age or gender? For real, I don't get it.
-[Yuldokuk]SwordQueen: Oh, how tragic! These days young fellow daoists are only distracted by demonic paths like magic, neglecting the cultivation of body and mind—how could this not be lamentable?
└Anonymous: Get out, please.
└Anonymous: (What someone who would've died long ago without skill buffs actually said)
-[National Road]Historian: Comparing only objective combat power, it seems like a fact that Baekhwa appears stronger than Samcheonㅇㅇ
-CookingQueen: Interesting.
-Anonymous: So are the Baekhwa Guild Master and the Undertaker dating?
└dolLHoUse: Not easy.
As you can see, the position of Dang Seorin, who had been revered as Korea's strongest idol, was shaken.
Coincidentally, Dang Seorin's headquarters was in Busan while Cheon Yohwa's base was in Sejong. Since Seoul land prices faced an unprecedented historic crash, the two cities had each become cities symbolizing the Korean Peninsula.
"I truly don't understand."
Dang Seorin's stress index drew a curve similar to consumer price indices before the end of the century arrived.
"If she summons spirits, she's a necromancer. Even if it's black magic, isn't she still a magician? So why doesn't she wear magician-appropriate clothing and goes around wearing something like a uniform?"
"It's a mark of belonging. Even if the world ends, we're still from the same school—that kind of meaning, probably."
"I don't like it."
"Hmm. If so, how about thinking of them as Hogwarts uniforms? They're magicians too but they go around wearing uniforms."
I thought I gave advice perfectly tailored to the other person's taste, but Dang Seorin made a completely serious face at this.
"Are you crazy, Undertaker? Hogwarts uniforms aren't sailor suits. Really—completely not. Sorry, but please never spew such nonsense in front of me again."
"...."
As magic-type Awakened, Dang Seorin and Cheon Yohwa were creating a new competitive structure called 'White Magician versus Black Magician'.... Well, I'll have a chance to talk about this later.
For now, let me briefly bring up what happened during the 126th iteration.
2
One day at National Road Management Bureau headquarters, No Doha said.
"Undertaker Awakened. Normally I wouldn't want to say this..."
"Yes?"
"Isn't it that you two are sticking together a bit too much...?"
Saying that, No Doha looked this way with an expression engraved as his default setting in his facial muscles.
It meant he looked at me like food waste left abandoned in summer.
No Doha had a talent for making whoever he looked at wonder if their species wasn't Homo sapiens but a millipede. If his talent for managing organizations and grasping people's hearts wasn't superior to that talent, he was a guy who wouldn't have lived long.
But at this very moment, there was no appropriate rebuttal to No Doha's eyeball violence.
"Hehehi, Teacher..."
Simply put, Cheon Yohwa was clinging to my left arm, splendidly degenerating into a koala.
While Cheon Yohwa was originally affectionate and had frequent skin contact, this was indeed crossing the line.
"No, I'm also so troubled I could die."
"Troubled my ass. Actually you like it but by not showing that liking, you're trying to pull off some twisted shit on other people. Heh. You can fool the sky but you can't fool my eyes. Because your sinister and shady instincts are obvious..."
"Director General No Doha. I've told you many times. It's past time to replace those eyeballs, isn't it?"
"Oh. Like your conscience flexibly replaces itself...?"
"Oh, how tragic. Your eyes are clouded like Liu Bei who couldn't recognize Pang Tong's talent even when seeing him."
"Fuck, you old fart. Didn't I say dozens of times not to pull those fucking Three Kingdoms analogies...?"
"What. You want Chu-Han Contention instead of Three Kingdoms?"
"Do you really want to die...?"
"This is an anomaly. A mental confusion type anomaly at that."
Blink.
No Doha quietly looked at my face, then looked at Cheon Yohwa again.
"Hehehehe, Teacher... Teacher saved me. Teacher. The light of my life, the fire of my existence, my sin, my soul, my Lolita."
"Hmm."
No Doha took out a glasses wipe and cleaned his glasses. Thoroughly. Then after putting his glasses on again, he nodded.
"Certainly this is an anomaly..."
"Right?"
"Yes, my apologies, Undertaker Awakened. I thought you were pulling off trash behavior of helping people then establishing a hierarchical power relationship mentally and converting that relationship into romantic feelings. This was truly an unintentional discourtesy..."
"What for. It's fine. You yourself are already a discourtesy to the world by your very existence, so there's no need for you to apologize now."
After exchanging warm compliments, we entered a serious strategy meeting.
"When did the Baekhwa Guild Master start acting like this...?"
"Exactly one week ago she's been like this. Without any guild members, she suddenly came into my hideout and started clinging."
"Hmm. This person, I heard she handles a hundred ghosts like Pokémon. Since a human can't handle anomalies in their right mind, her mind got somewhat contaminated and went a bit crazy...?"
"Well, if only Yohwa was like this, I would've thought that too but..."
"...?"
No Doha tilted his head askance.
"You're saying there's not just one but two beings clinging to you? Where? I don't see them...?"
"Ah, so you can't hear it either—That person's [Voice]."
"Fuck. This bastard is starting his shit again..."
"If you're a commoner who can't hear it, it can't be helped. I, the Undertaker, the only one who can converse with that person, have no choice but to translate personally."
"Why does this psycho bastard act completely normal as a normal person cosplay in front of others but becomes a fucking piece of shit only when he's with me...?"
I ignored him and started writing characters on paper.
[Mr. Undertaker. It is difficult to imagine a world without you.]
[Mr. Undertaker. Ethics are society's norms, and society can only be established when at least two humans gather.]
[Mr. Undertaker. In that sense, it would be no exaggeration to say that Mr. Undertaker has become a bridge for me, who was alone.]
The characters continued.
"Hah? What is this...?"
At first, No Doha looked with eyes wondering what this guy was doing, but gradually deeper shadows fell over his face.
[Mr. Undertaker. If there had been no returner in this world, countless lives would have been sacrificed by the Ten Clans.]
[Mr. Undertaker. Even if no one else acknowledges that fact, I know it.]
[Mr. Undertaker. I can only apologize for always placing too heavy a burden on you.]
[Mr. Undertaker. I, and the world, are being saved by you.]
"..."
No Doha's mouth fell open. If one were to make No Doha's expression into a gacha game skin and sell it, this would be a scene possessing rarity worth at least UR grade recognition.
"Don't tell me this is... Lady Saint...?"
"Yes."
"Haaaaah...?"
"Surprising, right?"
"This is the biggest shock of my life..."
"For reference, it's still coming in real-time like Kakaotalk messages. Once every 10 seconds."
"..."
"This is after I asked her to reduce it. A week ago it was once every second. My, I never knew telepathy ability would be used as infinite Kakaotalk. Thanks to that, my mental state right now is melting chocolate."
"Hmm..."
No Doha groaned. A quiet silence settled in the conference room (of course, since Saint-talk kept arriving for me, it wasn't very quiet).
Of course, next to me, Cheon Yohwa kept going 'hehe' while playing BGM.
"I roughly understand. So... do you have any guess as to exactly what kind of anomaly this fucking phenomenon is...?"
"I do. Anyway, we just need to extract the commonalities of the two people showing abnormal symptoms."
Cheon Yohwa was clinging to me saying I 'saved' her. The Saint kept sending praise saying I was 'saving' the world.
'Salvation Syndrome'.
Or 'Salvation Narrative Syndrome'.
That was the name of this bizarre anomaly.
3
Salvation.
As a narrative frequently appearing in genre novels, it's a cliché where the world fucks someone over and everyone participates in that fucking, then only the protagonist appears ja-ja-jan— and saves the character.
Naturally, the character feels infinite favor and gratitude toward the protagonist who saved them.
Why is that natural? Well. Try giving 100,000 won without asking or questioning to a gambler who lost their entire fortune at Kangwon Land, and you'll understand.
The difference between a saved character and a Kangwon Land gambler is that the latter's life exists in reality so it doesn't change much, whereas the former, being a creative work, actually escapes from the abyss of life thanks to the 100,000 won worth of help.
Let's pinpoint the key points of salvation narrative through a simple example.
'Aaah! I was originally a young lady of a noble family, but due to evil people's schemes my family fell into ruin, and I was sold to a slave merchant.'
'If you hadn't helped me, I would have fallen into a demon who despises and hates all humans, becoming the Demon King's Army's puppet to destroy humanity, meeting the worst bad ending. (Point 1)'
'But thanks to you helping, I escaped the bad ending route, and discovered talents I didn't even know I had, awakening into a much more powerful being. (Point 2)'
'You didn't spare any sacrifice and effort for a mere slave. You were wounded and bled. You could have ignored it like others. You could have just passed by. Why do you do this much for someone like me? (Point 3)'
'Being with you, I came to realize. That you're originally that kind of person. A human who saves someone even at the cost of yourself. Then, I will help you from behind, such a you. Even if it costs me everything. (Point 4)'
Of course, there are countless variations of this cliché. It's similar to how when a popular restaurant does well, 'original' places open up left and right like bamboo shoots.
For example, Point 4 can change to 'Being with you, I came to realize. The fact that you're kind only to me. That you treat only me specially. Then, I will devote everything for such a you.'
The core is one. For the character, the protagonist holds value equal to 'the world itself', or bears 'the weight of the world' alone in place of other humans.
Therefore, the protagonist 'should be praised.'
No, the protagonist's achievements and attitude cannot be praised enough. Because the world's misfortunes are endless, yet the protagonist tries to continuously bear those infinite misfortunes, and therefore receives 'wounds' forever. (Point 5)
"—This is what an otaku among our National Road Management Bureau staff who is well-versed in genre literature grammar summarized..."
"Splendid."
If it had been after I met the Misreader (Awakened version), I could have figured it out myself, but the me of the 119th iteration was somewhat distant from genre literature.
No Doha? This person goes without saying. He hasn't even watched [Lord of the Rings] or [Harry Potter] as movies!
We two, merely ordinary people, read the perfectly written [Analysis of Salvation Narrative] report from the bureau members and were satisfied.
In short, it was exactly similar to bosses ignorant of the field who read just a few scraps of reports their subordinates summarized well, then feel 'Okay, with my excellent brain and rich social experience, I've completely reached expert territory in a field I've never experienced in my life.'
"Then the solution is simple."
"Oh, what is it..."
"Ultimately, doesn't it just mean the person who saved the characters needs to be 'not a very noble human'? For example, I secretly torment cute fairies behind others' backs, or anyway, go around doing petty things. Then 'Salvation Syndrome' won't be established."
"Oh..."
"Let's start abusing fairies from today. Then the view deifying me will quickly collapse too, and the anomaly will lose its effectiveness and evaporate."
"As expected of Undertaker Awakened. A human scum with vicious personality but who understands anomalies better than anyone..."
"Thank you. Even then, compared to the Director General, I still have a long way to go."
"Heuh..."
The two of us praised ourselves, convinced of victory.
I reiterate, No Doha and I were absolutely not experts in genre grammar.
Yet we were rulers and decision-makers overseeing Korea's yin and yang. The Saint, who would normally have performed the role of inspector appropriately, had gone rather severely insane.
History repeats itself.
The absence of professional insight and the collapse of surveillance over absolute power. Humanity has thoroughly proven for thousands of years what kind of shitshow the combination of these two phenomena gives birth to.
The tragedy was destined from this moment.
An infinite returner telling a story.