[Proofreader – Gun]
Chapter 14 – The Unknown Being II
To everyone’s surprise, there was chaos on SGNet.
– Anonymous: Did all the Constellations suddenly go silent? Did I get cut off?
– [Three Thousand] WitchTribunal: I asked guild mbers, and we confird that there has been no communication from the Constellations since yesterday. The most recent contact from a guild mber was 28 hours ago. We hope other guilds can share their status too.
– dolLHoUse: Feeling uneasy.
– Anonymous: Guys, I’m scared. What’s happening…?
– KoreanVillage: Idiots. They sing praises to the Constellations all day long, and when there’s no contact for two days, they whine like kids who lost their mom. What are you saving your praises for? To make egg soup? These guys don’t even have yolks in their praises, just empty shells, lol.
└ Anonymous: Damn, this crazy guy keeps getting better at making people feel miserable as ti goes on. Where are you really from?
└ [Yuldo Country] Geomho: Seems like my sword is crying out.
It was a usual day, albeit with the usual faint chaos, but the agitation of the Awakened was quite noticeable.
Knocking on the door yielded no response.
“You wait here. If you sense anyone watching or approaching, scream imdiately.”
“Yes, brother.”
With a forced calm, I entered the apartnt complex. I had known the front door passcode for dozens of rounds already.
The dimly lit living room.
With four monitors emitting a bluish hue like phosphorescent waves and dozens of aquariums surrounding her like fortress walls, she, the Saintess, lay dead.
“…”
My mind went cold.
‘Assassination.’
As she managed the tanks, towels were always ready, and there was a towel rack in the living room. She was hanged there.
‘Suicide.’
There were no signs of resistance. Yet, no matter what had happened, I knew for a fact that the Saintess would never commit suicide, no matter how dire the circumstances.
It wasn’t simply because of emotional reasons like “it’s not her personality.” It was the truth I had obtained through repeated observation over dozens of rounds.
‘A murder disguised as suicide.’
The Saintess was the core of my project.
The Constellations vanished in an instant. The external conscience, the ethical line attached to the Awakened, was severed.
And it didn’t stop there. The communication network that used the Constellations as ssengers to exchange information with other guilds vanished as well.
Having to rely on the endorsent of the Constellations to gain trust from others beca impossible.
“There’s no trace of any security asures being triggered.”
The Saintess’s safety had been a top priority.
Had the painstaking efforts of the security been nullified all at once?
‘She couldn’t even send a single ssage?’
Approaching one of the aquariums, I moved it aside and found a USB hidden under a hollowed-out tal shelf.
It was a precautionary asure we had agreed upon in case of ergencies.
I plugged the USB into the computer and opened a notepad.
──────────
Hello, Z.
If you’re reading this, it ans I’m dead.
My death ca without any warning. Among the data I’ve been observing through [CLA], there are no elents that could have led to my death.
There may have been sothing caught on CCTV, but if the perpetrator who killed so discreetly is involved, it’s unlikely that any aningful evidence remains.
As you know, the most pressing issue now is as follows: With the disappearance of the Transcendents, the intangible reins that held the Awakened in check have been loosened.
Currently, the only Transcendent we can mobilize is the one known as the apostle of N, an anonymous Constellation.
Using this na, we need to post a notice on N, disseminating misinformation stating that “an entity disrupting the activities of the Transcendents has erged.” I believe adding a scenario where N is attacked and temporarily goes offline will increase credibility.
But it will be impossible to prevent the confusion among the Awakened.
I apologize for my inadequate strength.
I hope you’ll continue to persevere next ti.
– S.
──────────
It was the Saintess’s testant.
In case soone else found it, she referred to as “Z” instead of “Doctor Jang” to prepare for potential exposure.
She labeled Clairvoyance as “CLA” and SGNet as “N.” Instead of using the term “Constellations,” she used “Transcendents.”
The phrase “continue to persevere next ti” undoubtedly referred to the “next turn.”
It couldn’t be anything other than a testant befitting the Saintess.
Checking the date of the notepad file, it was a staggering 1 year and 6 months ago.
‘As expected, she died from an unexpected blow.’
If it had been a suicide, she would have edited the testant.
And if it wasn’t a suicide, there were only two suspects.
The first suspect was .
“Oh, brother. Is the Saintess doing well?”
And then there was Seo Gyu.
I stepped out of the apartnt complex and silently watched Seo Gyu.
“Seo Gyu.”
“Yes?”
“Have you ever told anyone else where the Saintess’s residence is?”
Seo Gyu was startled.
“What? No? There’s no way I would say that. You made it clear not to tell anyone, right?”
Can he really be trusted?
We’ve spent quite a lot of ti together with Seo Gyu. But if asked if I trust him enough to risk his life like the Saintess, our relationship was still light enough to be considered that.
“You reported going out two days ago and ca back shortly afterward, right?”
“Yes, yes… But why…?”
“Koyori spent the whole day at the dormitory that day.”
“Is that so?”
“But if you use [Sensation Block], you can go out without the other party mbers knowing. If you follow soone going out, the risk of being caught is greatly reduced.”
“Brother, what have you been talking about since earlier…?”
“There are countless hidden asures in the Saintess’s residence that even you don’t know about. One of them is a system that scans and stores the footprints of those who enter the residence. This data is updated weekly.”
It was a lie.
But my expression and tone remained unwavering.
“Why are your footprints found in the Saintess’s residence?”
“….”
Silence.
“Is sothing wrong?”
A strange voice ca from Seo Gyu’s mouth.
“I didn’t have that information?”
A gunshot echoed.
Seo Gyu’s body collapsed like a reed.
He pulled out a gun and fired it at the roof of his mouth in an instant.
Blood seeped onto the cracked asphalt road like untreated atopic dermatitis.
“…”
I clenched my fist.
I suppressed my heart again and connected to SGNet.
[Cannot connect to the site.]
The dead Seo Gyu in front of was indeed the real Seo Gyu.
The possibility of being manipulated by a doll handler, a disciple of the Outsider God, or any other entity had greatly diminished.
The two axes that could influence Awakened nationwide ― the Saintess and Seo Gyu ― collapsed in an instant.
By now, my mindset had already shifted to ‘collect as much information as possible for the next round.’
It was sothing I was familiar with.
Drawing my sword, I headed to the guild lodge.
[Proofreader – Gun]
There was no sign of the two people who should always be on surveillance duty.
“…”
It was quiet.
There was no one in the training grounds where mbers should be training. Instead, Sim Aryeon lay dead.
In the dining hall, untouched food lay on the table. The wheelchair my cherished guild mber usually used was left alone without its owner.
There was no sense of presence in the corridors or dormitories. Only sporadic German graffiti adorned the pillars and walls.
[Don’t trust pink hair.]
I walked out to the open space and sat down on a bench.
It was sumr. The sirens of cicadas blared loudly.
Suddenly, I noticed Koyori sitting sowhat quietly next to the bench.
“Did you go out, Guild Leader?”
“…”
“Whew. It’s really hot this sumr.”
Koyori flapped her coat sleeves in the wind. The cicada cries faded like a whiteout against her backdrop.
“Your ability wasn’t [Sensation Block], huh.”
“Yes.”
Koyori simply confird.
I murmured, “Your ability was just superficial. When your ability was activated, it rely made your presence less noticeable. Analyzing the current situation… your true ability is [Perception Manipulation]. No, it’s part of the [Perception Distortion] category.”
“Oh, right.”
Koyori grinned.
“Guild Leader, you’re really amazing! You were impressive when we first t, and you still are.”
“…I should have thought sothing was strange earlier.”
I thought back once again.
In the previous round, Koyori, or the CookingQueen, received what kind of evaluation from those around her?
– CookingQueen? I haven’t observed her for very long, but she’s not a bad person. She takes good care of her guild mbers and even volunteers every Sunday. Personally, I think there’s no one as trustworthy among the Awakened as the CookingQueen.
Witness 1: The Saintess.
Just from leaving a testant on the secret USB, it was clear that the Saintess was more cautious than anyone else.
From the start, she thought, ‘There might be a regressor in this world,’ and she was the one who arranged our eting.
So, soone who claid they had never observed the person themselves evaluated the other person as the ‘most trustworthy individual’?
That was suspicious from the start.
– Oh, the CookingQueen. You know her, right? She’s an amazing mber. I’ve seen all sorts of things while running SGNet, but I’ve never seen the CookingQueen cause any trouble. Boring? Not at all. She writes plenty of entertaining posts and doesn’t act all high and mighty. Ah, if only all mbers were like CookingQueen, I wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble…
Witness 2: Seo Gyu.
Seo Gyu testified that Koyori ‘writes a lot of entertaining posts.’
But isn’t that strange?
I had never witnessed the CookingQueen writing an entertaining post even once.
– [Satisfaction] CookingQueen: Do you seek peace of mind? Join the Satisfaction Guild! Our main base is in Seoul!
– [Satisfaction] CookingQueen: Words reflect thoughts, and thoughts cloud oneself like mist on a foggy day. Why not try using clearer and brighter language?
– [Satisfaction] CookingQueen: Brother, if you have a secret you can’t tell anyone, feel free to consult with anyti. People can kill each other, but they can also live because of each other.
– [Satisfaction] CookingQueen: Curses poured onto others tend to co back to oneself eventually. How about taking so ti to reflect on yourself a little more? Brother, you surely have a bright nature within you.
Writing devoid of any amusent.
Only straightforward, proper, and upright behavior.
In other words — the image of a person I, as a doctor, typically liked.
“Koyori.”
“Yes?”
“Do you have the ability to show ‘the most liked aspect of a person’ depending on the individual?”
“….”
To the Saintess who valued ethics, a moral individual.
To Seo Gyu, who liked things moderately entertaining, a humorous individual.
Ultimately, in front of , who believed that a person’s life depended on their ntality and attitude, she appeared as a straightforward and solid individual.
Each person is reflected differently depending on the observer.
Like a magical mirror.
That was Koyori’s true nature.
The reason why she could be loved by Awakened with twisted personalities also lay here, I believed.
“…As expected, Guild Leader. I was really surprised this ti!”
Koyori clasped her hands and tilted her head.
But did she really strike that pose?
Did Koyori smile when she was smiling? Did she use polite language? Did she have pink hair, tend the garden every morning, and maintain a diligent attitude?
I didn’t know whether everything was a lie.
Now that my perception has been shaken, I had no choice but to discard all the information I thought I knew about Koyori.
“But surely, you don’t just have the ability of ‘perception manipulation.’ You controlled Seo Gyu to make him commit suicide, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I, well, I’m a multiple ability user, you see.”
“…Now I understand why the fairies were wary of you. How on earth did the Busan Station plaza turn out like that? There seem to be so many rare multiple ability users around.”
“Ahaha. Yes, indeed. Sotis strange coincidences happen in this world.”
“Why did you do such a thing?”
“Well, I could tell you. But even if I did, would you trust , Guild Leader?”
Probably not.
At that mont, a deafening noise ca from the direction of the guild dormitory.
With a crash, the concrete outer wall shattered, and the building collapsed in an instant.
Upon the rubble of the building, a huge mass of flesh moved. It swelled up to the height of seven floors in the blink of an eye.
Red and blue veins constantly pulsated, and muscle fibers whipped through the air like tentacles, tails, lashing out into the void.
– Guildleeeadeerr, niim.
– Hhhhh, niiiiim.
– ……., ……
– Uuusaaaa.
Every ti the tip of the tentacle wriggled, the air tore apart, emitting a bizarre noise.
That noise resembled the voices of guild mbers.
The surface of the tentacles was marked with dark stripes. Whenever the voices of guild mbers rang out, countless black stripes undulated.
…A phenonon that never appeared even once in the past 88 turns.
I gazed at the being that caused this difference.
“I’m sorry, Guild Leader.”
Koyori got up from the bench with a “whiff” and dusted off her skirt. Then, she took a few steps forward, turned around with her back to .
Her pink hair flowed down at an angle.
“I think it’s better if everyone is happy. I never wanted to make you sad, Guild Leader. Or anyone else. So, I tried really hard… but unlike others, your mind is too strong. So, my ability slipped out for a mont.”
“Let ask you one thing.”
I looked up at Koyori.
“Did I kill guild mbers? Did you manipulate ?”
“….”
Koyori stared at intently.
“No.”
“It’s a lie.”
“Yes.”
The sword drawn from my scabbard hovered at Koyori’s neck.
A line was drawn. The first thing to fall was her pink hair, cascading softly downwards. Slightly later, Koyori’s head followed suit.
Before her head could fully fall, her lips moved.
“We’ll beco one, Guild Leader.”
Behind Koyori, crimson flesh spread out, covering the sky.
That was the last sight I rembered from the 89th turn.
After that day, I didn’t make contact with Koyori.
At least not directly. We barely crossed paths a handful of tis, even over hundreds of turns.
Koyori’s ability remained mysterious. I judged that if she beca stronger than she was in the 89th turn, I might eventually have to subdue her.
I’m not sure if that judgnt was correct.
One definite fact was that, except for the 89th turn, there was no appearance of ‘crimson flesh.’
In turns where Koyori didn’t act with , she was always harmless, causing no trouble, until one day she would suddenly be killed by a monster or disappear sowhere, just a harmless Awakener.
-We’ll beco one, Guild Leader.
What did that phrase really an?
Was the crimson flesh a monster? Or a contamination phenonon? There was a crucial difference from seeing it as a result of an Awakener’s corruption. So, was the crimson flesh also Koyori’s unique ability?
What was Koyori’s true nature, not distorted by the filtering of ‘perception manipulation’?
Curiosity sotis arose. But I didn’t feel the need to hastily delve into that mystery.
At least until a ans to completely nullify ‘perception manipulation’ was discovered, I had no intention of approaching Koyori.
Whenever I saw the nickna ‘CookingQueen’ on SGNet, I would quietly leave a comnt.
-Always admirable to see your hard work^^.
Not long after, a notification popped up indicating that a comnt had been left.
-Thank you! Even in a world like this, if we live without giving up hope for ourselves and others, good things will definitely happen. I hope today will be a happy day for you too, ZeroSugar!”
“….”
Hmm.
I silently nodded in agreent.
Indeed, it was an excellent attitude.
[Proofreader – Gun]
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