Chapter 145 - The Fortunate One VII

"... Go Yori?"

Noh Doha frowned.

"... Oh, the person you kept telling me I absolutely had to watch out for? But how could she get that big...?"

"Her physical size probably doesn't matter much. I suspect that red tower is visible not just here, but anywhere on Earth."

I stared at the horizon.

"You know those orbital elevators in science fiction? She's manifesting that sort of spectacle itself. That's the kind of anomaly she is."

"Ha..."

I had heard some time ago that Go Yori had crossed over to the Japanese archipelago. Somehow, that incident must have snowballed into this catastrophic result.

"The Japanese archipelago has an Ocean-class anomaly called Eight Million. Just as Hundred Flowers Girls’ High School's School Ghost Stories consists of a hundred ghosts, Eight Million is literally composed of eight million anomalies."

"That's a fuckton of them, isn't it...?"

"Yes. I don't know the details, but I suspect Go Yori claimed the role of a 'god of calamity brought over from across the sea.' My guess is that she swallowed Eight Million whole."

It was a bad matchup. In particular, the archipelago's belief that anything could become a god gave Go Yori an overwhelming advantage. No, if asked to name anyone who matched up well against her in the first place, Yu Jiwon would probably be the best I could offer.

"You're saying she's become a god...?"

"At the very least, she's powerful enough to call herself a God of Alienation. Who knows what would happen if she devoured India's Sands of the Ganges too."

Perhaps my actively courting misfortune through the hate potion was the only reason things had stopped at 'merely' this level.

With the neighborhood next door dyed pink, there was no chance the Korean Peninsula had escaped unscathed.

"Workshop Master Noh Doha. I'll go take a quick look around the Korean Peninsula."

"... Well, off you go. You have no limbs left to cut off, so I suppose you'll come back intact this time."

"I'll do my best."

I undertook a reconnaissance flight to the Korean Peninsula in the Savoia S-21 flying boat.

The aircraft was a kind of anomaly modeled after the Ghibli animated film <Porco Rosso>—a haunted object. Its defenses were stronger in the void than in reality. It even offered a little resistance to 'brainwashing' and 'hypnosis,' because the original film contained a similar scene.

BRRRRRR

The flying boat, modified into a biplane unlike the original, rose into the sky with its engine muttering away. An antique with a fifty-percent chance of its engine cutting out midflight. Even so, my odds of survival aboard it were vastly better than on the ground.

"... It's all over."

The Korean Peninsula had been devastated too.

Expanding out of Manchuria, the aliens' Black Great Wall had now devoured all of North Korea. Alien structures endlessly vomiting pitch-black sludge blanketed the landscape. Anomalies poured out of them without cease.

SKREEEE

SKREE, SKREEECH

The aliens, who had numbered only 120 when they arrived on Earth, had multiplied into a Zergling swarm.

Their forms had changed too. The 'aliens' that had looked clad in full-body armor now resembled more grotesque 'alien life-forms.' Like Zerg Ultras or Hydras.

Had the monster wave and the aliens—two anomalies—merged?

Well, the giants hammering at the walls and the Survey Corps defending them sharing the same DNA was a cliché too, I supposed.

'Even Busan... There's barely a trace of it left.'

The train at Busan Station that served as Three Thousand Worlds' hideout and the National Road Management Corps headquarters had both been destroyed, belching nothing but ominous smoke.

What had happened to Yu Jiwon?

I had prepared an evacuation protocol for Inunaki Tunnel in case of an emergency. The Saintess, Lee Hayul, Sim Aryeon, and Seo Gyu should all have been familiar with it.

"Saintess? Saintess, are you watching?"

Silence. There was no response at all.

"..."

For now, I couldn't tell whether the Saintess was dead or pretending to be dead, waiting to ambush me the moment I landed.

With misfortune unfolding under the hate potion's influence, I could be certain of nothing. I even had to consider the worst-case scenario: that the Saintess had fallen and become the Executor.

BOOOOM!

Gunfire sounded from somewhere. For a moment I tensed, thinking it was antiaircraft fire, but I couldn't find any weapon firing shells into the sky.

It was just like the naval gunfire echoing along Saipan's beaches. Only sound, with nothing behind it.

BOOM! BOOOOM!

The shelling reached its peak near the Nakdong River. Belatedly, I realized which war was being reenacted.

A void called the 'Korean War' was unfolding across the peninsula. Everywhere, people hunted people in the name of ideology, with the chill of an axe meant to distinguish us from them.

But just as at Saipan's seaside cliffs, hunters and hunted alike were merely players in an anomaly's theater.

I found not a single living, breathing human being. Undertaker Trash-Talk Net was offline too.

'Perhaps, from everyone else's perspective, the existence of a regressor like me was an enormous stroke of good fortune?'

The thought suddenly occurred to me.

'If so, Old Man Scho's repeated deaths would be an equally enormous misfortune for them. Perhaps [The Total Fortune System] had been balancing things without our even knowing.'

SKREE?

Just then, the aliens scanned the sky as though they had spotted me.

Haunted object or not, this flying boat would struggle against a UFO straight out of a science-fiction setting. I changed course and returned to Saipan before the aliens could shoot me down.

"Hmm..."

Noh Doha was sitting in the beach hut. She glanced at my face.

"Well, you came back more or less intact..."

She brewed coffee using the beans she had brought when we escaped Busan, then handed me a cup.

And asked nothing.

I was always grateful for her silence.

Incidentally, contrary to what her appearance might suggest, Noh Doha made truly awful coffee.

12

I've done my best to tell this story cheerfully, but I'll be honest with you.

My mental state took quite a blow in my 590th run.

No, 'quite a blow' is too mild. It was badly shaken.

'Did I use the Monkey’s Paw too rashly?'

Of course, I had tested the Monkey’s Paw because there was a goal I absolutely had to achieve. As you'll learn in another two episodes or so, there was an anomaly that was difficult to eliminate without it.

But at this point, that was still in the future. Before it had been proven that my experiment wasn't meaningless—in other words, during my 590th run—I couldn't help feeling cornered in all sorts of ways.

'Yes. This anxiety is itself one of the emotions that brings me misfortune.'

And so I let go.

Normally, I would have restored my mental equilibrium through any number of methods. Leading the aliens overrunning the Korean Peninsula to Japan, for example, to watch the once-in-a-lifetime matchup of Go Yori versus the aliens.

But in my 590th run, I was trying to become as unhappy as possible. So I abused my own mind.

'Even if it was part of finding a way to defeat a God of Alienation, relying on the Total Fortune System was idiotic. My choice brought about this disaster.'

'I should at least have told my companions beforehand. If I had—no. No, even Oh Dokseo's mind was consumed in the end. The result would have been the same.'

'Would it really? The Saintess, for instance, has a mental world far more resilient than Oh Dokseo's. If I'd explained my goals and intentions—'

'This phenomenon was caused by the interference of no fewer than three anomalies: the Savior, the Monkey’s Paw, and the hate potion. How could even the Saintess resist that?'

'Even so, telling them was my duty as a human being. I can't deny that.'

'But trying to fulfill that duty might have brought [Even Greater Misfortune] upon me. If my companions ended up enthralled by the anomalies despite my warning them...'

'I shouldn't have done it.'

Regret. Self-reproach. Fantasies of what might have been.

The notion that ceaselessly drove humans into misery was always the thought, 'I shouldn't have done that back then.'

A master of mental maintenance was also a genius at mental destruction. I tortured myself expertly. Time and again, I took the flying boat around the ruined world, repeating to myself with each trip, 'All of this is the result of my wrong choice.'

"..."

Noh Doha watched me quietly.

In truth, if becoming unfortunate was all I wanted, I should have cut Noh Doha off then too.

But I couldn't bring myself to drive her out of the beach hut. That was when I realized that, knowingly or not, my mind in the 590th run had come to depend on her.

'Yes. Even in the unconscious world, I never did see a fallen Workshop Master Noh Doha.'

One who could not be corrupted.

Perhaps Noh Doha possessed some hidden trait like that? Perhaps that was why she was immune to the hate potion's effects?

Considered dispassionately, there was no chance of that.

If she truly had [Mental Immunity], she should have been unaffected by Go Yori's brainwashing too. Across multiple runs, I had never observed that.

'Still, couldn't she be less affected than the others when it comes specifically to the hate potion?'

But back then, I eagerly indulged such fantasies.

'The hate potion might have had an effect I didn't know about. For example, perhaps Workshop Master Noh Doha now feels friendship toward me in proportion to how much she used to dislike me.'

'Otherwise, would she have suggested leaving with me as soon as she resigned as Commander? Was Noh Doha ever the sort of person to volunteer a proposal like that?'

Fantasy. Fantasy. More fantasy.

Somewhere in my heart, in the deepest reaches of the human psyche, lay the desire [I Want Someone to Lean On Too]. I fed it flesh and meat juices to its heart's content.

The Native American saying was right. The human heart was a hungry wolf, growing stronger the more flesh you fed it.

My heart grew into an unhappy wolf.

'How to use the Savior anomaly. Testing the Monkey’s Paw and the hate potion. And on top of that, Workshop Master Noh Doha's traits.'

'I've gained more than enough from the 590th run.'

'I started this run thinking of it as half a vacation anyway.'

I became much gentler with Noh Doha.

I prepared delicious meals with our limited food supplies. As she herself had said in my hundredth run, my cooking was on par with a four-Michelin-star chef's.

Even on Saipan, now filled with naval gunfire and screams, I cleverly found pleasant walking routes and strolled them with her.

In short, I was employing every means I could to hold on to Noh Doha's affection.

"Hmm..."

She had little to say about these desperate struggles of mine.

No.

"The coffee is delicious again today..."

She actually became kinder.

Her ever-sharp barbs grew softer and softer. Even her customary mocking chuckle somehow became gentle.

She volunteered to take cooking lessons from me, saying she wanted to learn, and chatted with me on our walks.

Small daily routines. Ordinary pleasures.

With my mind driven into a corner and nowhere else to turn, it was only natural that I gravitated toward Noh Doha's little kindnesses and clung to them.

A year passed.

Now Noh Doha was my sole supplier of happiness, transfusing it into me.

"Sleep well, Awakened Undertaker..."

"Ah, yes. Have a good night too, Workshop Master."

I fell asleep in the hut's bedroom as usual.

And when I opened my eyes...

"Ah."

Noh Doha's voice came from nearby.

"Oh dear. You're awake...?"

A little too nearby.

Noh Doha was astride me. I felt a heavy weight.

"You're welcome to go back to sleep..."

I couldn't.

The pressure tightened.

The place bearing most of Noh Doha's weight was none other than my neck.

Former civil servant. Workshop Master. Commander.

Noh Doha, who had called herself my accomplice, was smiling faintly as she strangled me with all her strength.

13

"..., ..."

My mouth opened and closed.

This was Noh Doha. If you ranked awakened purely by fighting strength, she would be the last person mentioned. If I wanted, I could throw off her hands at any moment.

But looking up into her pitch-black eyes right before me, I could read what they were saying.

"Ah, please don't resist..."

Her lips were saying it too.

"That would make things troublesome. The moment you summon your aura, I'll take my own life. You wouldn't like that, would you...?"

"...!"

"Well. You could cut off my limbs and leave me unable even to attempt suicide... Heh. But I don't think you'll sink quite that low."

Noh Doha's weight constricted my airway more and more. I coughed, the breath left in my throat churning like bubbles.

I tried to move my arms and legs, to no avail. For some reason, the prosthetic limbs she had fitted me with wouldn't budge.

"Wh... why...?"

"Ah. My apologies. I made a few modifications to those when I built them."

"..."

"Oh. Those eyes are asking since when, more or less. Well, you don't have much life left, so I'll answer. Awakened Undertaker. I thought of it immediately, back when the awakened started rioting in that Busan bunker..."

Noh Doha grinned.

Her amusement was more concentrated than I had ever seen it. Like poison.

That poison flowed from her eyes into her hands, consuming my airway.

She squeezed. Squeezed harder.

"When you chose to make yourself unhappy, my concern was a little different. Whether you were, in the first place, someone capable of becoming unhappy enough..."

Pressure.

"You're someone who knows how to find happiness in the smallest things. You must have worked painstakingly to become that sort of person. I can only imagine how fucking miserable a regressor's life must have been..."

Compression.

"Your mental defenses are extraordinarily sturdy. If bringing them down is the paramount objective, then it wouldn't do for me to stay on the Korean Peninsula and govern the National Road Management Corps..."

Pressure.

"So I quit..."

Yu Jiwon was competent.

But that competence was maximized in the position of adjutant. The moment she became the head of a vast organization, her tendency to treat all people and things as tools was bound to produce side effects.

The National Road Management Corps, which had to compromise with countless guilds, must have begun running out of control under her.

Cheon Yohwa, leader of Hundred Flowers Girls’ High School, one of the foremost guilds on the peninsula, braving the sea alone and becoming shipwrecked must have been another sign.

Noh Doha had aimed for that outcome.

"If the organization you so carefully planned and nurtured—if the Korean Peninsula—fell into utter ruin, that would bring you a fairly substantial measure of unhappiness..."

She hadn't stopped there.

"The leader of Three Thousand Worlds and the others tried to beat the hell out of you without thinking, but in my opinion, such one-dimensional attacks don't hurt you much. Ah. Of course they do hurt, but they can't deliver the decisive blow, shall we say... It was a good opportunity for me."

An opportunity? What kind?

"Awakened Undertaker."

Noh Doha leaned forward.

Eyes as unfathomably deep as a well. Those black eyes, seemingly incapable of holding a single speck of light, looked down at me from inches away.

"—You ruined my life."

A whisper.

Noh Doha whispered into my ear.

"All I wanted was to live quietly and die quietly, but you dragged me into the National Road Management Corps, trying so hard to save the world somehow... Five hundred times? Six hundred? Heh. How many more versions of me do you intend to make miserable...?"

"..."

"You bastard."

The poison seeped in.

"Awakened Undertaker. I hate you. I've hated you for a long time, and I'll keep cursing you forever. If you're sorry, if you feel even the slightest guilt for ruining my life and my fate..."

"..."

"Let me kill you, here and now."

My body trembled.

Whether it was from the dwindling oxygen or Noh Doha's black poison, I couldn't tell.

KEE-KEE-KEEEK! HEEK! KEEKEEK!

The Monkey’s Paw shrieked in the air.

A rafter in the hut collapsed, threatening to fall on Noh Doha. The Monkey’s Paw was struggling desperately to eradicate the source of my misfortune.

I summoned my aura and shattered the rafter. As the wood turned to powder with barely a sound, Noh Doha gave a little laugh.

My vision was growing dimmer. Through it, I saw Noh Doha lower her head a little further.

"How is it...?"

She whispered.

"Will being murdered by me be enough misfortune for you...?"

I wanted to laugh in disbelief.

More than enough.

But I no longer had the strength even to move my lips. In a field of vision as black as Noh Doha's eyes, I met my end.

That was the cause of my 590th death.

14

There is a short epilogue.

To get straight to the conclusion, the Monkey’s Paw couldn't follow me beyond my regression to demand repayment of my debt.

Apparently, the 'misfortune' Workshop Master Noh Doha gave me as her final gift carried sufficient weight even for the Monkey’s Paw.

Yes.

[The Total Fortune System], which might have grown into an anomaly with a threat level beyond Ocean-class if things had gone wrong, was successfully defeated.

"...? What the hell are you staring at?"

"Nothing."

I considered telling the Noh Doha of my 591st run what had happened in the previous one, but decided against it.

For some reason, I had a premonition that she would be genuinely disgusted if I told her. There was no reason to invite misfortune in this run too.

"Hmm...?"

Watching me from her office desk some distance away, Noh Doha tilted her head.

Then she stood, approached me, and peered up at me with a deep frown.

"What's this all of a sudden?"

"... Hmm. Awakened Undertaker. Looking at you now, I think you're showing signs of hair loss."

"What?"

What kind of bullshit was this?

"Hair loss? What hair loss? I've never lost my hair in all 591 regressions. My hair is perfectly healthy."

"Is that so? Well, I must be mistaken, then. Heh. But in my opinion, you'd better start being careful now..."

Ten years passed.

When I looked in the mirror, acute hair loss was bombarding my head, carving out an M-shaped hairline just as Noh Doha had warned.

"..."

As though this were the collection of the last remaining payment of misfortune I owed.

OOK-KEEK.

Let me emphasize this once again.

Anomalies were dangerous after all.

—The Fortunate One. End.