Chapter 70 |
The Recorder II
I, the Undertaker, never choose people to associate with carelessly, but I am extremely selective when it comes to talent. This means I am thorough in both public and private affairs.
In the context of Koei's Romance of the Three Kingdoms, I wouldn’t even consider generals with martial strength of 70 or strategists with intelligence of 70. That’s my gaming style.
Through dozens of regressions, I carefully selected and created what I call the "Regression Alliance" — an ultra-secret society that understands I am a regressor and strategizes accordingly.
As for the personnel? Simple. By the 95th regression, it was even simpler.
Me, the Saintess, and Noh Do-hwa. That’s it.
Among us, the Saintess manipulated all the awakeners in the Korean Peninsula as a puppet master for the constellations, while Noh Do-hwa extorted every awakener by saying things like, “Oh, you want to use the roads in the apocalypse? Then you’ll need to show us some respect.” Each could be called the ruler of the peninsula’s mind and material, respectively.
Therefore, the executive members of the Regression Alliance at that time, besides me, were basically just those two. Occasionally, Seo Gyu or Yu Ji-won joined as non-permanent members, but that was a rare exception.
Naturally, it was absolutely impossible for someone like Sim Ah-ryeon, with [Martial Strength 4] [Political Power 3] [Charm 16] [Intelligence 77] and only barely A+ level skills, to join our Regression Alliance.
But, surprise! There’s no such thing as “absolute.”
Sim Ah-ryeon, holding the cafe mocha I made for her with both hands, had her mouth open wide in an O shape.
“Yes.”
“So, you’re saying you’re not just someone who was born with an extremely lucky streak, monopolizing all sorts of serendipitous opportunities while others struggled, and even unnecessarily generous, making people envious and miserable with your diamond spoon Awakening Ability?”
“…Yes.”
What the hell did she think of me all this time?
Fortunately or unfortunately, Sim Ah-ryeon's shock didn’t last long. By the time she had drunk half of her cafe mocha, her expression relaxed as if she had entered a hot spring.
When I asked her why, her answer was absurd.
“Well… uh, honestly, I feel like I understand a lot more now. You figured out the conditions for my ability [Grudge Orb] to activate, didn’t you…?”
“Hmm.”
“Moreover, thinking that your current position is not just due to innate talent or luck but a result of repeatedly struggling through regressions… it makes me feel a bit more at ease. Though, seeing how hard you’ve worked is something else….”
“…….”
“By the way, guild leader. Can I post this anonymously on SG Net?”
“Do you think you can?”
“It would definitely become a top recommendation post….”
The ghost of this community.
“It’s too risky because of Go Yurii.”
“Go Yuri? Ah, the Satisfaction Society… Actually, I’m not too fond of that person either. Don’t you think their character overlaps with mine? It’s like they’re imitating me… Though, that part isn’t entirely un-cute….”
“……?”
“……?”
Whenever I talked to her, the number of question marks increased exponentially. Was this perhaps Sim Ah-ryeon's hidden awakening ability?
I constantly twisted the question marks in my mind as I continued explaining. SG Net was actually created by Seo Gyu, and the constellations were nothing more than puppets controlled by a single person.
“Hiek. Hieeeek…!”
Sim Ah-ryeon, having witnessed the truth of the world, once again had her sanity points drained. Her hands, holding the cafe mocha cup, trembled.
“Wh-Why are you sharing these secrets with me? It’s overwhelming! I didn’t want to know this much…!”
“Calm down, Ah-ryeon. What if your bizarre drawings were recognized as ‘official illustrations’?”
Sim Ah-ryeon’s ears perked up.
“Official…?”
“Yes. I’ve been posting the strategies I’ve learned through regressions on SG Net, but starting next cycle, I’m thinking of refining these strategy posts. I plan to use your drawing skills for this purpose.”
“How…?”
Like this.
A few days later, I gathered the Saintess and Noh Do-hwa and handed out a small booklet.
The Saintess tilted her head in curiosity.
“Undertaker, what is this?”
“Take your time reading it.”
The booklet, produced by a rare printer, contained both text and illustrations.
――――――――――
[Library Society’s Encyclopedia of Anomalies]
‘Ten Legs’
Aliases: Crawling Baby Cthulhu, Lord of Shadows, Thorny Hell, Lurker
Threat Level: Polis
Contamination Level: None
Habitat: Throughout the Korean Peninsula
Characteristics: It is characterized by tentacles that resemble human fingers. Contrary to its name, ‘Ten Legs’ actually has hundreds, thousands of tentacles. Not all tentacles are attached to the main body; smaller tentacles grow from the larger ones.
The tentacles continuously grow and break off in real-time. They rapidly extend to tear apart their target or fire off to pierce the target.
In addition to the visible tentacles, dozens of tentacles always burrow underground. Therefore, when fighting Ten Legs, one must never let their guard down, as tentacles can emerge from behind or below at any time. Due to the ‘spikes emerging from the ground,’ Koreans widely know it by the alias ‘Lurker.’
The main body is quite small compared to the tentacles. The main body consists of two hearts, and both hearts must be struck simultaneously to…
――――――――――
The Saintess blinked.
“Library Society’s Encyclopedia of Anomalies?”
“That’s right. A kind of strategy guide. Starting from the next cycle, I plan to distribute such guides under the name of a new constellation.”
“……!”
In other words, a ‘constellation that oversees information.’
Until now, the Constellations manipulated by the Saintess had names borrowed from real human history. The ‘Saint of Salvation’ was Joan of Arc, and the ‘Conqueror of the Alps’ was Hannibal.
While this method had the intuitive advantage of borrowing originality from history… I thought it was time to flesh out the identities of the constellations a bit more.
“Are you planning to establish a new constellation responsible for information on anomalies and strategies?”
“Yes. While it’s not bad for me, a regressor, to monopolize information, it draws too much attention to me. Entities like Go Yuri become unnecessarily interested in me.”
Not just Go Yuri; there were countless unknown entities in the world whose identities even I didn’t know.
“I will create an encyclopedia board on SG Net and make it seem like a new Constellation manages it. Of course.”
I pointed to Sim Ah-ryeon, who was quietly sitting beside me.
“The person who will actually manage that board is this guild member, Sim Ah-ryeon.”
“…Indeed.”
“It will be more credible for others to accept information distributed under the name of a Constellation rather than information I personally release. Especially if accompanied by such vivid visual materials.”
“Huh. So the one posting those anonymous anomaly drawings was her….”
With their attention focused on her, the Saintess and Noh Do-hwa's eyes made Sim Ah-ryeon’s shoulders twitch.
“So, you’re planning to appoint Sim Ah-ryeon as the co-moderator of SG Net, in addition to Seo Gyu, who has been the main moderator…?”
“Yes, sort of.”
“That’s quite a significant role. While Seo Gyu hardly participates, Sim Ah-ryeon here is quite infamous in the community. I’m sorry to say this in front of her, but do you think she can handle the position…?”
“It’s fine. We’ll test it in the next cycle.”
“Indeed…”
Noh Do-hwa’s laughter echoed softly in the meeting room like a shadow.
“I, too, was tested in ‘that manner.’ Heh, sometimes even I can’t keep up with the Undertaker’s sense of time….”
Thus, the next 96th cycle began.
I took Sim Ah-ryeon around the entire country. The purpose? To gather illustrations for the anomaly encyclopedia.
I showed her the continental-level anomaly ‘Udumbara’ in Onyang, Chungcheongnam-do, and the village-level anomaly ‘Trolley Dilemma’ on the Donghae Line. I selected anomalies that were difficult for ordinary people to encounter and showed them to her one by one.
“A-Amazing…!”
Every time she encountered a bizarre anomaly, Sim Ah-ryeon busily painted.
For half a year, we collected illustrations.
-The Playground of Constellations!
-The Only Safe Internet Community!
-Welcome to SG Net!
Finally, SG Net was opened.
It was slightly later than usual in other cycles, but it had been prepared so thoroughly that SG Net was almost like a 'renewal.'
“What? Library Society’s Encyclopedia of Anomalies…?”
“What’s this?”
The full-scale introduction of the ‘anomaly encyclopedia,’ planned since the last cycle.
Previously, SG Net had only [Freeboard], [Creative Board], [Group Board], [Guild Recruitment Board], and [Chat Room]. Now, there was a prominent [Library Society’s Encyclopedia of Anomalies] at the top.
All other boards were displayed in gray, but the encyclopedia was
in red. It was eye-catching.
The content was even more eye-catching.
“There’s information about monsters…?”
“What?”
“Ten Legs, Gremlins… Udumbara? Trolley? Wow. There were monsters like these?”
With visual materials collected over the past half year and the data accumulated over dozens of cycles, the flood of information began.
[The Librarian of the Great Library manages the encyclopedia.]
Thus, a new Constellation made its debut.
[The Librarian of the Great Library comprehensively oversees information about all things, especially collecting data on anomalies.]
[The Librarian of the Great Library wants you to share information with others. Sharing is the way to praise and honor the Librarian of the Great Library.]
[The deeper your faith in the Librarian of the Great Library, the more information you didn’t know will be unlocked.]
As planned by the Saintess, messages were sent to awakeners across the country.
In the monitoring room, Sim Ah-ryeon nervously chewed her nails and fiddled with her smartphone.
“Stop looking at it. You’ll wear out the screen.”
“B-But… We’re fooling so many people so thoroughly. C-can I really do this…?”
“Yes. You’ll do great.”
“Really?”
“Ah-ryeon, you have a natural talent for this.”
“Really?”
From my experience over dozens of cycles, you’re a genius at this anonymous masquerade.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before there was a commotion among SG Net members.
-Anonymous: I went to Onyang as the encyclopedia said, and there was a flower tree growing on a corpse, just like in the picture. What should I do?
└LiteraryGirl: What do you mean, what should you do, you idiot? That’s a zombie virus! Burn it!
└Anonymous: But it grants immortality?
└Officer: Stay right there. I’m coming to burn the whole inn down with you.
└Anonymous: Gulp.
-CookingQueen: Interesting.
-Anonymous: Hey, I always thought these green bugs were goblins, but they’re actually gremlins. When I broke the machine as the encyclopedia said, they just disappeared on their own.
Endless testimonies.
People were reporting that when they went to certain locations described in the encyclopedia, they found anomalies exactly as depicted in the illustrations, and when they followed the strategy, they were really able to defeat them.
Eventually, The Librarian of the Great Library quickly gained recognition among the awakeners.
Even if they didn’t want to acknowledge it, there were occasional incidents that forced them to.
-Anonymous: If the constellation truly manages all information, shouldn’t it know my personal information too? Hey, Librarian, if you’re really a Constellation, guess who I am.
└[The Librarian of the Great Library]: Park Sang-soon. 37 years old. Guild leader of the Blue Sea Guild. Currently accessing from Yeongdo, Busan.
└Anonymous: ?
└LiteraryGirl: ?
└Anonymous: Wow, really? He was the Blue Sea guild leader?
└[Samcheon] WitchJudge: LOL
└[Samcheon] Officer: Is this what represents one of Busan’s top guilds? Embarrassing.
Doxxing!
It was revealed that anonymity on SG Net was futile in the face of the ‘Librarian of the Great Library.’
Of course, all anonymous non-members accessing SG Net had their identities visible to Seo Gyu, who could use that information to accurately identify them through the Saintess’s [Clairvoyance].
But the awakeners, who didn’t know this secret, must have found the Librarian of the Great Library terrifying.
After the incident where a non-member’s identity was exposed, any criticism or doubt about the Librarian of the Great Library vanished from SG Net.
“G-Guild leader…! This is fun!”
Sim Ah-ryeon also accepted that her soul had ‘community spirit’ emblazoned across it. Yeah. I figured as much.
Unlike Seo Gyu, who somewhat reluctantly managed SG Net, Sim Ah-ryeon energetically took on the ‘constellation’s duties.’
Naturally, more awakeners began to follow the Librarian of the Great Library.
-Anonymous: I found a way to defeat gremlins without breaking machines.
-Anonymous: Trolley <<< I've encountered it three times already. If you follow my instructions, you'll never be in danger.
Thanks to this, spreading strategies about anomalies became much easier, and the tendency of awakeners to hoard valuable information also lessened significantly.
‘This should continue to work well in future cycles.’
A highly satisfying outcome.
I watched Sim Ah-ryeon busily working on her smartphone with a pleased smile.
Of course, unexpected incidents occurred because of the ‘anomaly encyclopedia,’ but that story is for another time.
“…Ah, guild leader. There’s a problem.”
“Hmm? What’s the matter?”
“I accidentally posted a comment as [Librarian of the Great Library] instead of [OldManGoryeo]….”
“……”
“I deleted it immediately, but several members saw it. Eek. Real-time posts are flooding in! They even took screenshots! These community ghosts. How did they capture it so quickly in that short moment…? They should live their real lives instead of being on the community… What should we do…?”
“……”
Yeah.
I’ll have to remind her to be more careful with comments in the next cycle.
Ah, there’s no epilogue.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
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