Chapter 400 |
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The Bereaved VIII
Let’s skip the pleasantries.
Hello, everyone. How have you all been?
I’m not quite sure who I’m speaking to right now. Which makes sense, because my own existence has become rather vague and ambiguous these days.
I was Infinite Void, then the Mastermind's miko, then Cheon Yo-hwa, then the Undertaker, and then Cheon-hwa again.
This level of identity confusion is practically a grand festival.
They say that if you take something too far, it becomes a work of art. If that’s true, then the current 'me' must have far surpassed Leonardo da Vinci.
The world is just a jumbled mess of anomalies and void anyway.
But the world has a nature that seeks balance.
If someone is fast, then someone else must be slow.
That is the way of the world.
Therefore, even I, who has become a complete mess of identity confusion, can confidently declare this one thing.
“That son of a bitch, my sunbae, is taking his goddamn sweet time, ah, fuck.”
“Unni...?”
The rest has been omitted.
It has been five years since I entered this dream.
And still, that sunbae of mine, the Undertaker, has not shown even a single strand of his hair at the grand mansion of the pseudo-religious cult.
On the veranda of the mansion’s annex.
I stared up at the sky, which was sharply cut off by the line of the eaves, and muttered forlornly.
“You’re late, Sunbae... Will I turn into an anomaly at this rate?”
Yo-hwa, who was doing push-ups beside me, turned only her head to speak.
“You know what? Sometimes, unni, you seem like a moron.”
“Oh my. My dearest sister. If I am a moron, then due to the genetic similarities between twins, you would inevitably be registered as a moron too, so why would you spit towards the sky?”
“Ah, sorry. I misspoke. You always seem like a moron, Unni.”
“This can’t be.”
I was slightly shocked.
Where on earth did the child who, just a few years ago, would cry and whine, ‘I don’t want the chocolate ice cream unni brought me! I don’t want it! I’m not eating any more!’ disappear to?
“Well, whose fault do you think it is, huh? It’s the fault of the person who fed me mint ice cream for over half a year while calling it chocolate ice cream, isn’t it?”
“This is all father’s fault.”
I said gloomily.
“He said that as the daughter of a prestigious family and the successor to the cult, we must never forget our dignity and etiquette, and from the moment he forced us to use formal language with each other, your life was already over, little sister. How sad.”
“You use the same formal tone, unni! Yo!”
“I cannot forgive him, father. For the sake of my sister’s normalization, I must perform my filial duty as soon as possible.”
“...When I get married, I’m never having children. Leaving behind that kind of DNA for future generations would be a sin against humanity.”
Well.
Although I have been completely colored by the persona of ‘Cheon-hwa’ in this manner, from my appearance to my inner self, a corner of my mind still remembers the existence of the ‘Undertaker’.
A while ago.
I had a conversation like this with a Tutorial Fairy.
“Hoeee, Comrade Secretary General... We are continuing to extend the time in the dream as you commanded, but it’s starting to get dangerous.”
“What exactly is dangerous about it?”
“Hoek. The only way to increase the time you reside in a dream is to dream again within that dream. You are already at the fourth level, Comrade Secretary General... You are in a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream.”
“A dream within a dream. I see. So you’re saying I’m falling deeper into the world of unconsciousness where the pink entity wanders.”
“An accurate diagnosis, hoeee!”
The fan in my hand snapped shut and gently tapped the tip of my chin.
“It doesn’t matter. Proceed.”
“Hoeek?! I-Is that really okay?!”
“Yes. The world of unconsciousness has seven levels, after all.”
I smiled sweetly.
“We only need to hold out for three more years at most, and a new ‘tutor’ will arrive. Our objective is to endure until then. There’s no need to wait any longer than necessary.”
“Hoeee, if it’s only about three years, we can certainly finish within the fifth level, but...”
I had other calculations as well.
I didn't tell the fairies, but I secretly wanted to get closer to Go Yuri.
‘This is Yo-hwa’s dream. But from the moment Go Yuri appeared, it was no longer just Yo-hwa’s dream.’
The ‘data’ that constitutes this dream.
I had a suspicion, no, a certainty, that this data might have flowed in from Go Yuri’s side.
‘Data that I could never obtain on my own.’
I would use Go Yuri to ‘restore memories.’
To look into not only Yo-hwa’s memories, but Go Yuri’s as well.
It was a truly dangerous plan.
‘In the past, I would never have attempted such an operation, but... now that I've learned how to handle Go Yuri to some extent through the fortunate encounters on SG Net.’
It was a challenge well worth taking.
“Are you really okay, hoe?”
The fairy looked at me with worried, sparkling eyes.
“Comrade Secretary-General. It's not just your appearance, you've really changed a lot.”
“Hmm.”
“Originally, one’s ego is supposed to melt away limply in a dream, da-yeo. The very fact that you’ve endured this much proves your iron will, Comrade Secretary General, but I am still worried!”
Nod.
“It’s fine. I have my memories.”
“Hoeee.”
“Rather than worrying about me, all of you fairies should focus your entire effort on maintaining Yo-hwa’s identity.”
“Hieeek! W-We are already allocating sixty percent of our power to that! Are you saying we should reduce the Comrade Secretary General’s ratio even further from here?!”
“Yes.”
My eyes narrowed unconsciously.
“Discovering the pink entity by chance made the situation interesting, but we must not forget our original purpose.”
“...”
“Yo-hwa. Our objective is to plant the ‘memories with her sister’ into my younger sister’s unconscious, to repair, even if just a little, the abyss-like hole that has been bored through her.”
On the other hand, it doesn't matter if ‘I’ lose a bit of myself.
As mentioned, I have the [Complete Memory] ability, and....... once I eventually wake up from this dream, I will return to my original self anyway.
“B-But...”
“Do it. That is an order from the Secretary General.”
“Hiiik! Y-Yes, I understand!”
The fairies scattered in a hurry.
“...”
I quietly closed one eye and looked up at the sky.
No one in this dream world had noticed, but that sky has looked exactly the same for the past four years.
The color tone of the sky. The shape of the clouds. The intensity of the light.
The fairies had been erasing, one by one, the resources they deemed unnecessary for implementing this world.
‘That’s right. In the end, it’s just like the days I spent with Yo-hwa when we were hunting Infinite Void.’
Back then, too, the world grew progressively smaller, eventually shrinking to the size of the student council room at Baekhwa Girls' High.
‘Back then, I was trying to kill Infinite Void one way or another. Now, I’m trying so hard to restore Infinite Void. ...No, not Infinite Void, but Cheon-hwa.’
The affairs of life are just so cunning.
Unlike the unchanging sky, time continued to flow unpredictably.
“Hoe. Comrade Secretary General. We can no longer match the time even with the fourth level... I am ashamed to say it, but we will have to proceed to the fifth level!”
“Go ahead.”
“However, the synchronization rate between you and the young lady here is unusual. A somewhat strange incident might occur...”
Tilt.
“A strange incident?”
“This is a first for us as well, so we cannot be certain, hoee! But we believe without a doubt that you, Comrade Secretary General, will overcome any difficulty without panicking!”
The nature of the ‘strange incident’ was soon revealed.
“...?”
Immediately after entering the dream within the dream, surrounded by fairies as usual, I opened my eyes to a world that was strangely silent.
“Fairies?”
Silence.
The dream demons, who would always cling to me to the point of annoyance, crying ‘hoeeng hoeng’ whenever they had the chance, were nowhere to be seen.
“Fairy number 264?”
No reply.
“...”
Indeed.
The one who commands the Tutorial Fairies and wields absolute authority in the dream is―― the ‘Undertaker’, after all, not the young ‘Cheon-hwa’ I am now.
“Does this mean that from now on, I am the only one who remembers the real world.”
“Unni? What are you doing over there?”
I turned to face the direction the voice came from.
Yo-hwa. My one and only sister was the sole source of vibrant presence in the void of this dream-within-a-dream, where only shadows roamed.
I can see the ‘aliveness’ in my sister’s eyes as she tilts her head and looks at her unni. Yup.
“Then I suppose it doesn’t matter.”
“...Ah. It’s monologue time again, isn’t it? Sorry. Forgive me for interrupting your precious life as a chuunibyou patient. I’ll just be over here doing my strength training.”
“I’d appreciate it if you’d stop the habit of subtly dropping the formal speech and using informal language.”
“I don’t want to. You should try it later, Unni. It’s fun.”
“Really? Then I’ll try. You’ve finished reading the scriptures, right? You can’t forget that father plans to personally quiz you on passages from the scriptures next week.”
“I love you, Unni! Please pretend to be me and take the test in my place this time, too! I’m off to exercise for a life of slow aging! Bye! Love you!”
“...”
What a naughty little sister.
Where has the sister who used to be so lovely gone? I feel like I should file a claim for damages against the universe.
Regardless of my grumbling, time flowed on.
Around the time it was becoming difficult to access the memories of the ‘Undertaker’ without conscious effort.
“Hah. Take a look at this, Yo-hwa.”
“Yes?”
“An interesting article has come out.”
Tap, tap.
My father flicked the newspaper with his finger.
My goodness, a ‘newspaper’. These days, even the elderly are enjoying a second life as smartphone addicts, father.
As expected, I must perform the traditional filial piety that has been passed down on the Korean peninsula since the Goryeo dynasty as soon as possible.
“This time, only one person got a perfect score on the CSAT. And the interview is quite amusing.”
“...?”
I leaned in, wondering how interesting an interview with a perfect scorer could possibly be.
――――――――――
Q. What is your religion?
A. “Taoism. My friends always look at me strangely when I say I believe in Taoism, but I really do believe in it. It’s deeply connected with self-discipline and cultivating the mind.”
――――――――――
“...”
“What do you think? Yo-hwa?”
My father wore a pleased expression.
“Your sister is always worrying that Taoism lacks expandability, but look. Even a student from another region, not one of our cult’s Naechul, says they believe in Taoism on their own!”
It seemed my father was subtly demanding recognition for his discerning eye.
Well. The fact that he believed I was his younger sister ‘Yo-hwa’ just because I, his older daughter, put on a little disguise, already proved that my father’s eye sockets had a pretty high compatibility rate with knotholes.
“Heeeh. That really is amazing.”
I decided to play the part of my younger sister without reservation and satisfy my father’s desire.
Recently, the faction within the cult that revered ‘Cheon-hwa’ had been growing.
It was only natural. No matter how much of an identity crisis I was going through, I had the knowledge and experience of a ‘protagonist’ to assist me.
Even my father, who wielded absolute power in the cult, had no choice but to be devoured if he granted me this much time over several years.
My father himself must be feeling a strange sense of anxiety.
That’s why he stuck closer to ‘Yo-hwa’ than to ‘Cheon-hwa’, acting as if to show off their intimacy to those around him.
“Sometimes, an outsider like that has to come in for a fresh breeze to blow through the cult. Indeed!”
“Ahaha.”
He wants to advertise that the power to select the successor lies with him, but... does this father of mine know?
That clinging to the right to name a successor is itself a bad move. The fact that it doesn’t suit the ‘Cult Leader’ who should be an agent of a god and the king of the cult at all.
Above all, there is no way my sister could become my rival.
A future where the assets of the cult, including Baekhwa Girls’ High, are handed over to Yo-hwa.
That is truly impossible, unless I were to one day offer myself as a sacrifice to suppress an Outer God and be [Sealed].
Ahahahaha. A Time Sealer joke!
Time passed.
“Miss Cheon-hwa. Miss Yo-hwa.”
One day. During a tutoring session.
Our tutor, Teacher Go Yuri, who had taught us various kinds of ‘external knowledge’ since we were young, once a week, closed the scripture and spoke.
“I’m very sorry, but it will be difficult for me to conduct classes starting next week.”
“What?!”
Yo-hwa, who had been leisurely munching on a chocolate ice bar, was startled.
“What do you mean, Teacher?”
“I’m truly sorry. A family matter has come up.”
Teacher wore an expression that would make anyone feel that she was being completely sincere in her apology.
“Starting next week, my successor will come and conduct the classes.”
“Eh, a successor...”
“Fufu. From now on, you ladies will also have to seriously consider preparing for the CSAT. In that field, my successor will be able to teach you much better than I can.”
I slightly closed one eye.
“It seems you know this person, Teacher?”
“Yes.”
Smile.
Go Yuri-Teacher smiled.
“I know them very very well.”
“...”
“They’re someone who has even received a perfect score on the CSAT. I don’t think you’ll need to have any doubts about their skill!”
What was there to hide.
The person who came to our mansion’s study room a week after Teacher Go Yuri’s sudden resignation.
“――Hello. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Miss Cheon-hwa, Miss Yo-hwa.”
He had the face of someone I knew well.
“My name is ■■■.”
The Undertaker.
“I have been faithfully handed all the materials regarding your academic progress from the previous teacher.”
The ‘me’ from before the world was destroyed.
The ‘me’ from before the advent of the void.
“Your achievements are both excellent.”
“...”
“It’s just that the university your parents want for you is Seoul University, so you need a pacer. Your school records are not a problem. Between us, I was told that the school you both attend is in a very... ‘special situation’.”
The man gave a slight smile.
The one whose whereabouts I could never find, no matter how much I searched through the data, who only revealed a tiny glimpse of himself when I explored Yu Ji-won’s past to fill in the empty canvas.
The missing person of this world.
The secret figure that no one knew.
“Well then, shall we begin our first class?”
Finally.
He appeared before me.
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