7 AM. Walter woke up, and after a quick wash, looked down at the bustling scene outside the window with a pleased expression.
“…….”
New York. One of the world’s great metropolises and a hub of the global economy.
True to its many epithets, the streets of New York in the early morning teemed with cars and people.
Tiny humans, indistinguishable from one another when seen from afar, crawled across the ground like swarms of ants, slipping one by one into their respective anthills. Another name for an anthill was the workplace.
“Hmm.”
The lives of humans who had not achieved Eye Opening were all the same. They played the role of one part making up society, repeating only that until death, consoling themselves that ‘it was a happy life’ before they died. Without leaving so much as a name in history, they simply ended their lives as a single worker ant.
It was truly a deplorable thing. Yet at the same time, it was inevitable.
Because humans were fundamentally creatures unable to survive unless they belonged to a herd.
Humans who failed to become parts of an organization, a city, a nation, or the world were unanimously called byproducts. Or else, garbage. The meaning of both was more or less the same. A human who failed to meet even the minimum conditions required for the system called a nation to sustain itself, rather than those for economic activity—what were they if not garbage?
And yet, despite all that, humans were lovely.
The sight of them overcoming hardships that came their way and reaching toward success was beautiful. Noble. Brilliant. The sight of them standing up again after treading upon trials was so holy it was hard to behold without tears.
So how could one not love humans? Only I could truly cherish and love modern humanity, whom even God had abandoned.
Yes, only I. Only I who could elevate the world and raise the stature of humanity one step higher.
“......Hng.”
It was the moment Walter thought this and took a sip of water. Suddenly, the hotel room door opened, and a red-haired man walked in.
“Good morning, Walter. Did you sleep well?”
He was a man characterized by a snow-white suit and a sly smile. Walter turned his head slightly and flashed a bright smile at him.
“Yes, I slept just fine. What about you, Darko?”
Darko.
Laplace’s only superhuman and the possessor of a clone ability, he naturally uncorked the wine bottle on the table and sank into the sofa.
“So-so? I don’t think it was bad. Though no matter how you look at it, the nightly rate was too expensive.”
“It’s New York. It can’t be helped.”
Walter sat across from Darko.
Darko filled two empty glasses with wine and handed the one with a slightly smaller amount to Walter. Walter familiarly accepted the glass, gazing at his own face reflected in the white wine as he moved his lips.
“Is there really no other way to find out what happened in Korea?”
“There isn’t, right? It’s not like all my clones share memories with one another.”
Darko could create a total of one hundred clones. However, the more he divided himself, the more his combat ability drastically fell, and problems occurred in his intelligence as well.
It wasn’t that they couldn’t hold a conversation, but they were excessively impulsive and honest, making them rather poor conversation partners. It wouldn’t be inaccurate to view them as beasts in human form.
Moreover, being clones didn’t mean they all shared memories. Each clone was an arbitrary, independent entity, making the exchange of information impossible unless they communicated amongst themselves.
In addition, including the clones, a human named ‘Darko’ could only exist in a total of four countries. It meant he couldn’t scatter them across the entire world and play dog-antics like “Find Darko!” the way one does with Willy. And the moment the main body entered a country, it couldn’t move for a month.
An extremely peculiar ability. However, just as its weaknesses were definite, it had considerable strengths, so within Laplace, most acknowledged his usefulness itself.
It was simply that many disliked him due to his being a superhuman and his sly yet free-spirited personality.
Darko was aware of this too, but he didn’t leave Laplace because of it. To him, the meaning of life was nothing but amusement, so there was no reason to leave Laplace.
Rubbing shoulders with mages was torture for ordinary people, but to someone already insane, it was no different from an excellent theme park. Each mage had a different trigger button, and pressing it hard produced all sorts of reactions—how could that not be fun?
Thanks to that, Darko didn’t curse or resent his life for being born a superhuman. This too was something that set him apart from typical superhumans.
“But just because they don’t share memories doesn’t mean I can’t make inferences.”
Darko took a sip of white wine, crossed his legs, and spoke.
“Irene is dead. I don’t know what killed her, but it’s certain—she won’t answer any contact, and even the clones that were practically her escorts all died.”
“Hmm... Eddie and Irene, both met their ends in Korea. And by coincidence, both had gone searching for the Outer God’s grimoire.”
“Whether it’s the Outer God’s grimoire or a fluke, I wouldn’t know. I’m not a mage.”
“Moreover, there was even a massive ether reaction recently, wasn’t there? It was an extremely brief moment, but it was to the extent that the detection mystic exploded and died the instant it captured it... There’s definitely something special in Korea.”
“Superhumans don’t understand big words. Ooh ooh ah ah.”
Darko imitated a monkey and gulped down his wine. Walter burst into a chuckle and leaned back against the sofa. His golden hair, which had grown slightly longer than before, swayed gently along with the wine in his hand.
“Darko, could you send more clones to Korea?”
“No. Since the clones in one country have been wiped out, I can only send clones back to Korea after a month. It’s impossible for the time being.”
“Hmm, then we’ll have to use other outside personnel. Since two of Laplace’s mages have already died, we can’t send any of our precious mages.”
“But Marien is still there.”
“Two people died—do you think Marien is safe? Even if she is, that’s strange in its own right. Some ‘thing’ that killed people without hesitation wouldn’t leave Marien alive for no reason, would it?”
“You have a point...”
“Therefore, Marien will be thoroughly excluded from all plans for the time being. If she’s dead, that’s a shame. If she’s alive, we must be suspicious. We can’t afford any setbacks in my grand plan, can we?”
Walter smiled brightly and set down his glass.
“For now, let’s release some grimoire hunters to poke around lightly. And once we’re certain there’s something there and a rough estimate is formed...”
“Once it’s formed?”
“Then I intend to pay a visit myself.”
It was the moment he uttered those words. Suddenly, a humanoid grotesquerie standing in the corner of the room like a folding screen—a grimoire stand, or rather, a human-shaped abomination with a grimoire shoved into the place where its head should be—trudged over and stopped beside him. Then it pulled a ticket from its pocket.
A luxurious red ticket. Walter tilted his head, took the ticket, checked its contents, and smiled brightly.
“Now that I think about it, it was about time for a reopening here too.”
“Reopening? What’s opening?”
Darko tilted his head and asked. Instead of answering, Walter showed him the ticket too.
[♥Everyone! Our happy theme park, which briefly closed due to problem guests, has reopened with a new theme! A thrilling and joyful playground where dozens of people can enjoy together! Eden Theme Park awaits your visit!♥]
On the ticket, along with such wording, dancing jesters were depicted.
*
“T-The price isn’t difficult. I-It said that you and I just have to hug, O-Oppa... that’s what it said...”
Amelia had blushed for quite a while before finally opening her mouth. The price was far more trivial than he had expected, causing Ian to let out a hollow laugh.
“What. So that’s all there is to it?”
“I-I don’t really know either. Last time it asked for basic magical materials first, and when it seemed like I couldn’t pay, it changed it to a coma and bleeding... B-But this time, it says a hug is the end of it...”
“I really can’t figure out its criteria. It’s not like I can even read the grimoire... Tch.”
Ian clicked his tongue once, then grabbed the hesitating Amelia and pulled her into a light embrace. Amelia’s body stiffened at the sudden skinship.
“Hu, huaaah...!”
“Done? Is this enough?”
“Ah, no! We have to do it with the grimoire between us! R-Right now this is just a hug! This is just a hug!”
Amelia flailed her arms and legs while nestled in Ian’s embrace. She looked just like a struggling puppy, causing Ian to burst into laughter unwittingly.
“Didn’t we do this once at the temple too? Why are you so hypersensitive today?”
“Th-that was different from now! That was concern! Th-this is just...!”
“You and the grimoire both have such arbitrary standards.”
Ian chuckled softly and released Amelia. Amelia quickly stepped back, caught her breath for a moment, then began patting Ian’s back with a bright red face. There was no strength in it at all, so it didn’t hurt.
“You terrible person...! You shouldn’t toy with a girl’s heart...!”
“Stop saying weird things. Let’s just get the price over with quickly and be done. Hurry up.”
Ian turned and spread his arms wide.
Amelia puffed out her cheeks as she stared at his embrace, then cautiously approached and sandwiched the grimoire between them as she held Ian tightly. The height difference was quite severe, so her ear pressed exactly against Ian’s chest.
Ian naturally stroked her hair and asked.
“How long do we have to stay like this?”
“...I don’t know. The grimoire will fall away on its own when it’s satisfied.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Ian brushed aside her lovely light purple hair with a nonchalant expression.
The sound of his heartbeat reaching Amelia’s ear was utterly tranquil.
In contrast, Amelia’s heart pounded violently. Ian’s faint body scent dug into her nostrils, and the subtle fragrance of fabric softener and body wash spread gently. All of it pricked at her senses relentlessly.
“Hah.”
A pained sound involuntarily slipped from Amelia’s lips.
Because it was a sound spat out unconsciously, she hurriedly covered her mouth.
But be that as it may, Ian wasn’t particularly interested in her. He simply rested his chin atop her head with a listless expression, thinking only about when it would end.
“....”
Somehow displeased by that, Amelia pouted and buried her face in Ian’s embrace. Then she pinched his side fiercely. Ian looked down at her at the stinging pain.
“...? What’s wrong. What don’t you like?”
“...I don’t know. You terrible person.”
“There’s no one as kind as me in this world.”
“Then the world is doomed...!”
“Who knew Earth was already an apocalypse.”
“Eek...!”
Amelia thumped Ian’s chest with her forehead at his sly answer. After a while, the grimoire wedged between them silently slid out to the side and settled into Amelia’s grasp.
[Satisfied. Ingredient recharge complete.]
The grimoire wrote some unintelligible words on a blank page and then closed its cover on its own.
“Ah, it’s over....”
Amelia muttered in a somewhat regretful voice as she loosened the embrace and stepped back. Ian lightly patted her head and pointed to the water and towel left on the table.
“Drink some water first. You can wipe off the sweat or wash up.”
“I’ll wash up. Just wiping feels a bit uncomfortable.”
Having said so, she approached the table with quick steps.
Just then, the phone in Ian’s pocket vibrated continuously. Leaning against the wall, he took out his phone and checked the message that had arrived.
[Han Yuna: Emergency!!! Super emergency!!!]
[Han Yuna: Photo]
[Han Yuna: A theme park ticket came flying to my sister! For real super super super emergenc!!!!!]
“....”
Ian’s face twisted on its own after reading the messages.