"Why on earth are you doing this?"
Yu-hyun had sothing he absolutely wanted to ask Logos if he ever t him again.
What exactly was the Ultimate Story that would justify committing such horrific acts for its sake?
Erasing and restarting the universe over and over again.
Destroying countless living beings that existed within it.
[Didn't I tell you back then? It's to create the Ultimate Story.]
"I'm asking if that's worth all this."
[Hmph? On the contrary, I find it difficult to understand you. Do authors writing a story pay attention to each and every extra character they create?]
"What?"
It felt like Yu-hyun had just been hit on the head.
"So, are you saying that everyone living in this hybrid universe…?"
[Yes. To , they’re nothing more than re extras.]
Extras.
That word, which he thought he had forgotten, struck Yu-hyun's heart forcefully.
"Are you kidding right now?"
[I originally created the world this way. I made a select few and allowed them to run freely across this vast world. That was indeed enjoyable. Various stories unfolded that even I hadn't anticipated. However, there was a serious problem with that approach.]
Logos did not rember every single cycle. However, he could vividly recall certain parts of the stories recorded in the initial pages of the massive book, Codex.
[Those who grew at an incredible pace eventually started to aim for the seat beyond the heavens, where I reside. Had I been a bit slower in reacting, they would have taken over my position. An author dethroned by his own creations? Isn’t that a ridiculous story?]
The experience at that ti gave Logos a profound realization.
Afterward, instead of creating a chosen few, Logos chose a thod of granting smaller authority to a broader, more diverse array of individuals.
He diluted the level of depth in the characters while increasing their numbers.
Thus, the universe entered an era of ensemble drama.
[It was the right decision. Previously, the world had been accelerating toward the singularity at a radical pace. Afterward, things started to progress at a slower, more gradual rate. I was able to gather even more stories, and such stories ca to fill the most pages in the Codex.]
The only drawback was that with only trivial incidents filling the story in the absence of major events, it beca challenging for Logos to detect subtle changes with his perspective.
And as more pages accumulated, it beca impossible for him to rember every cycle, so he decided to create sothing new.
That was how the Bookmark ca to be.
A asure to observe changes between previous and subsequent universes, between worlds and worlds.
He periodically retrieved the Bookmarks to read through the stories recorded on them and analyze changes.
[Well, I got tired of it later on, so I almost abandoned it entirely.]
Soon after being created, the Bookmark quickly lost its original purpose.
However, due to Logos' neglect, the Bookmark remained in the universe, persisting through the recurring worlds.
The owners of the Bookmarks were bound to repeat each mont from a certain point in the world, regardless of their will. There was no way to escape it, not unless Logos stopped the universe from recurring.
Or unless an ‘appropriate individual’ forcibly passed the ownership of the existing Bookmark to soone else.
In the current era, Kwon Jia, who had repeated over 600 worlds, was the owner of the Bookmark.
But even before her, and before that, other Bookmark holders had existed in this universe.
[Yet, there was still a problem.]
Through the ensemble drama, Logos had managed to lower the risk posed by beings in the lower realms. However, it rely slowed down the speed at which they reached a level capable of challenging him rather than fully resolving the issue.
In the end, the final destination that beings in the lower realms aid to reach was no different from when there were only a select few chosen ones.
Each ti that happened, Logos erased the world and started anew. But despite the repetition, not much changed.
Amusingly enough.
The beings of the lower realms, particularly humans, were always like that. They behaved as if sothing was chasing them, always aiming upward.
Aiming for a higher place, a higher level, a higher stage.
Not all humans were like that, but there were always so who aspired to reach higher, and it was almost always humans.
They weren't climbing because they knew of the existence of Logos beyond the heavens.
It was simply an instinct engraved deep in their souls.
To grasp the stars with their hands, they climbed endlessly.
Displeased with this, Logos tried implenting changes several tis. At one point, he even attempted to take away free will. But Logos eventually had to reverse that decision.
It was aningless.
Beings without free will were nothing more than machines performing only what they were told. Their daily lives lacked depth. Characters in the Ultimate Story couldn’t be flat.
But most importantly, even among humans who were supposed to lack free will, a few rare individuals occasionally erged, retaining their free will.
Those individuals spread their will to those around them like an infection.
Observing this, Logos felt an inexplicable sensation he couldn't resist for the first ti.
It felt dangerous. With that thought in mind, Logos overturned the universe once more. He decided to leave free will alone this ti.
Instead, he created his own loyal Elohim modeled after those humans who had lost their free will.
At least they would be useful.
The next thing Logos pondered deeply and finally settled on was a new answer.
[No matter what I did, there were always those who sought a higher position. Instead of suppressing and stopping them, I decided to divert their attention elsewhere. I created an illusory throne called the Seat of Stars.]
That was how the Divine Spirits ca into existence.
It was a seat prepared for those who, as humans, possessed special power and transcended their species to reach a higher level.
The seat of a Divine Spirit was not that of a great being or a transcendental Star Seat.
It was simply a shackle to keep volatile elents with potential for advancent from daring to reach the creator, Logos’ position.
This was the truth behind the Divine Spirits that everyone so revered.
[That’s how I completed the most fitting structure. Of course, so among the Divine Spirits still weren’t satisfied with their position and attempted rebellion, but they couldn’t resist once they reached that position.]
The seats of the Divine Spirits and the Genesis system to bind them.
To solidify it further, Logos created the Genesis Network and Foundation.
And in the orderly environnt he had crafted, he next thought about efficiently collecting stories scattered across the universe.
[For that, I created my faithful children.]
That was how the Tellers ca into being.
Beyond the deliberately scattered Fragnts of the Codex, he needed a process to gather all the miscellaneous stories and select the worthwhile ones.
The Tellers were the perfect entities to handle such miscellaneous tasks.
Thus, Logos created the five Kings of Stories, the initial Tellers.
And with each end of the universe, he dismantled these five Kings of Stories to make them the Kings of the next universe.
In the midst of this, he decided to add variety to relieve the boredom.
Logos assigned attributes to each of the kings.
The joy, sorrow, worth, and freedom of stories.
And the autonomy needed to bring such stories together into one cohesive narrative.
[Well, that also repeated too much, and eventually, a defective product was born.]
This era’s Praytion was an unexpected variant that erged from an unforeseen situation.
Perhaps it was because he had granted too much authority to organize and consolidate the Codex's stories in his stead.
Eventually, that individual rejected his will and rebelled.
Even Oello, symbolizing freedom, was moved by this and showed hostility towards him.
[Thus, over and over, I repeated.]
"Just how long are you going to keep this up?"
[Until the perfect, Ultimate Story is completed. Until now, and forevermore.]
His purpose was singular: to give birth to the Ultimate Story, one that anyone could deem the best.
All his actions up until now had been solely for that purpose.
"You're insane. Do you really think that’s possible?"
[This entire process is to make that happen. Don’t humans have a similar theory? Are you familiar with the infinite monkey theorem?]
The infinite monkey theorem is a theory proposed by mathematician Émile Borel.
If you give a monkey a typewriter and let it type random letters indefinitely, it would mostly result in aningless, useless strings of text.
However, if there were an infinite number of monkeys?
And if those monkeys were given an infinite amount of ti?
If the process is repeated infinitely close to that point, a masterpiece-level result is bound to erge.
If the simulation of this universe is conducted nearly infinitely.
Surely, sowhere within that, the Ultimate Story will erge.
[Of course, not every single possibility turns out differently. No matter how many tis the universe repeats, Earth, where you humans live, has always existed, and no matter how many tis the universe repeats, human history flows similarly. From there, I decided to find possibility in another way.]
That thod was none other than Eternal Recurrence (Ewige Wiederkunft).
Like a wheel spinning in endless cycles, even though the sa process repeats infinitely, in the fleeting monts between each cycle, various possibilities and combinations inevitably arise.
The wheel begins to turn, and ultimately, there is a mont when it returns to the starting point.
However, in the anti, countless small combinations, flows, and changes are born.
And the number of these combinations that are born is infinite.
[In that way, the stories of this world continue to progress toward a single, unique value.]
If there were a paradise on earth, all humans would follow the path to reach that paradise.
In the sa way.
If there were an Ultimate Story in the world.
If this world were repeated infinitely, wouldn’t it soday reach the absolute process of the Ultimate Story?
In other words.
All of this was nothing more than a process aid at reaching a single unified conclusion.
[Of course, that day is still far off. I don’t know how many tis I've repeated this process, but still.]
Within that imnse flow, the aningless deaths of humans living in the universe were never a matter of consideration for Logos.
[Even so, there are indeed plenty of amusing things. Especially in this world, the level of unpredictability is unprecedented. Praytion, the fifth, betrayed, and Oello, influenced by him, beca corrupted. And now, even a human like you, who surpassed all beings, stands before .]
To avoid such outcos, the position of the Divine Spirit was prepared.
To instill false admiration.
To preemptively prevent those who would oppose him.
But even such deception could not seem to prevent humans, who had the ambition derived from free will.
[You rejected even the position of a Divine Spirit, transcended the role of a Teller, and descended to the position of a re human. I can't believe it. I didn’t know things would turn out like this. You just made choices at every mont, and those choices accumulated until you ended up here.]
The process Yu-hyun followed to reach this point was, ironically, remarkably similar to the path that might lead to the Ultimate Story that Logos had longed for.
It wasn’t that he thought a single human's achievent was the sa as his vision of the Ultimate Form.
To think that would be an insult to himself and the beliefs he held.
But, just as one can learn even from insignificant microbes, Logos decided to recognize Yu-hyun with his boundless generosity.
[So, I will give you an opportunity.]
"An opportunity?"
[You have provided with great inspiration. Surely, it will have a significant impact on the stories that unfold in the future. So, in the Ultimate Story that will one day be completed, I will inscribe your na as a co-author.]
"What?"
[So join . Add your unpredictability to the Ultimate Story. This is a rare opportunity.]
Logos extended his hand to Yu-hyun as he said this.
The Creator, the Absolute One, held out his hand to a human, the lowest-ranked of all his creations.
This was unprecedented, making any comparison aningless.
[If you take my hand, I can ensure that the precious humans you care about will remain without disappearing.]
As Logos said this, he projected multiple images into the air.
They were scenes of his comrades fighting outside the Foundation, in Armageddon.
In the fierce battles, so were injured, and others fell.
On the screen, Yoo Young-min could be seen being injured by the light arrow fired by Ahura Mazda.
Odin’s spear pierced through one of Kwon Jia’s arms, and Zeus’s lightning scorched Kang Hye-rim’s forearm. The corrupted demon army summoned by Mara Papias inflicted wounds on Seo Sumin.
They had all told him to trust them and go on ahead.
But reality was rciless.
[If you don't, they might all die. The choice is yours.]
Yu-hyun's gaze remained fixed on the children with whom he had contracts.
[With just a single gesture from , I can stop the attacks from the Elohim and the Judicators. I can make sure no one else dies. Their fate hinges on your answer.]
The whisper was like a sweet, alluring scent.
It stirred Yu-hyun’s heart deeply.
[Only you can save them.]
“I can… save them?”
[Yes. Only you can. You are the only one who can stand as a co-author with , Logos.]
“I….”
In response to Yu-hyun’s bewildered mumbling, Logos nodded.
[Yes. You can. Their future….]
You can change it.
At those words, Yu-hyun twisted his lips into a smirk.
"Do you think I ca here just to see this pathetic display?"
The atmosphere shifted in an instant.
The hostility pouring out from Yu-hyun beca even more directed and purposeful, aid straight at Logos.
[Hm?]
Strange. His persuasion should have worked.
“I see you don’t rember. You forced a similar decision before, didn’t you?”
That story was one of lasting regret for a certain being.
If he had fought without accepting that proposal.
If he hadn’t given up until the end.
Then the outco might have been different.
“It seems you've forgotten. There was soone who fell prey to your deceit and replayed his regrets over and over.”
He chose to die himself to make the right choice, even if it was too late.
All of his regrets, despair, and even his chances.
He passed them on to one person.
-Don’t repeat my failures.
“I made a promise. I won’t fall for such a trick again.”
[Heh. That’s rather fascinating. Is that unpredictability?]
“And another thing. Their fate is ultimately their own. The choices they made, the endings they anticipated, those are all their decisions.”
Surrendering everything just to save them?
Only he could decide their future?
Yu-hyun twisted his lips as he retorted sharply.
“It’s disgusting.”
[…]
“That attitude of looking down from above. That self-assured confidence that you know everything and can do anything.”
Every person's life belongs solely to themselves.
No one has the right to dictate another's life.
“So stop spouting nonsense.”
Yu-hyun’s sword, shedding all hesitation, glinted sharply.
“Let’s fight.”
That’s why I ca here.
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