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Chapter 145

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A Fortunate One VII

"...Koyori?"

Noh Doha furrowed his brows.

"...Ah, the person I kept telling you to be cautious of? But how did it get so large...?"

"Physical size probably doesn't matter much. It's likely that red tower can be observed not just here, but anywhere on Earth."

I stared at the horizon.

"You know, like those orbital elevators that appear in science fiction. It's creating that kind of scene. It's that kind of anomaly."

"Hmm..."

I had heard earlier that Koyori had crossed over to the Japanese archipelago.

That incident must have snowballed into producing such a catastrophic outcome.

"In the Japanese archipelago, great oceanic-class anomalies are called the Eight Million. Just as the school ghost stories of Baekhwa Girls' High School are composed of 100 ghosts, the Eight Million are literally composed of eight million anomalies."

"That's an absurdly large number, isn't it...?"

"Yes. I don't know the details, but I suspect Koyori has taken on the role of 'a disaster god handed down from across the sea.' If I were to speculate, Koyori might have devoured the Eight Million."

The compatibility wasn't good.

Especially since the concept that anything can become a god in the archipelago was too favorable for Koyori. Then again, if you asked who had good compatibility with Koyori, the only answer would probably be Yoo Jiwon.

"Are you saying she became a god...?"

"At the very least, she's likely at a level where she could call herself a lesser deity. Who knows what will happen if she devours the Hangasa of India."

Perhaps the fact that I actively invited misfortune with the medicine that makes one hated is the reason why things ended up 'only' at this level.

Given that the neighboring area was painted pink, it was unlikely that the Korean Peninsula would remain unaffected.

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

"...Well, go ahead. There's nothing left to cut off, so you'll probably come back in one piece this time."

"I'll try my best."

I boarded a Savoia S-21 seaplane and set out to scout the Korean Peninsula.

This aircraft was a kind of anomaly modeled after the one in the Ghibli animation Porco Rosso. It was a ghostly object.

It boasted stronger defenses in the void than in reality.

It could even resist brainwashing or hypnosis to some extent because similar scenes appeared in the original animation.

Vroom...

Unlike the original, the seaplane had been modified into a biplane, humming as it took to the skies.

There was a 50% chance the engine would fail mid-flight, a relic of an aircraft. Even so, its survival rate was far better than on the ground.

"...This is over."

The Korean Peninsula was also devastated.

The "Black Wall" of aliens, which had expanded from Manchuria, had now devoured the entire North Korean region.

An alien structure, constantly spewing out black sludge, covered the area. Anomalies were pouring out from everywhere.

-Kyaaa.

-Kyaa, kyaaaak.

When they first arrived on Earth, there were only 120 aliens, but now their numbers had multiplied like a swarm of Zerglings.

Their appearance had also changed. The aliens, who once looked like they were covered in armor, now resembled grotesque "alien creatures" more than ever—like Ultralisk or Hydralisk from the Zerg.

Perhaps the Monster Wave and the aliens had fused together into a single anomaly.

Well, it would be a cliché if the giants attacking the wall and the Survey Corps defending it also achieved a DNA fusion.

‘Even Busan... it’s almost unrecognizable.’

The Busan Station train, the hideout of the Three Thousand Worlds, and the headquarters building of the National Road Management Corps were all destroyed, with only ominous smoke rising from them.

I wondered what happened to Yoo Jiwon.

I had written a protocol for emergency evacuation to the Inunaki Tunnel. The Saintess, Lee Hayul, Sim Aryeon, and Seo Gyu were familiar with the protocol.

"Saintess? Saintess, can you hear me?"

No response.

There was no reply at all.

"......"

It was hard to tell whether the Saintess had died, or if she was just pretending to be dead, waiting to ambush me when I landed. In a situation where misfortune spread due to the medicine that makes one hated, nothing could be certain. In the worst case, I had to consider the possibility that the Saintess had fallen into the role of an executioner.

Boom!

A gunshot rang out from somewhere.

For a moment, I thought it was anti-aircraft fire, and I tensed up, but I couldn't find any weapon that had fired a shot.

It was just like the sound of naval gunfire that echoed on the beaches of Saipan. There was only the sound, with no real source.

Boom! Boom!

The sound of gunfire reached its peak near the Nakdong River. I realized belatedly that it was a reenactment of a war.

The void of the "Korean War" was unfolding all over the Korean Peninsula. In every region, people were hunting each other in the name of ideology, wielding axes to distinguish between "us" and "them."

But just like the cliffs on the beach of Saipan, both the hunters and the hunted were nothing more than actors in a play put on by the anomalies.

I couldn't find a single truly living human.

Even the Doctor Jang’s Gossip Net was disconnected.

'Perhaps, to others, my existence as a regressor is a stroke of enormous luck?'

Suddenly, that thought crossed my mind.

'If that's the case, then the repeated deaths of Old Scho must be an equally enormous misfortune for people. Maybe, without us even knowing, balance is being maintained by the [Law of Conservation of Luck].'

-Kyaa?

Just then, the aliens seemed to notice me and began scanning the sky.

No matter how ghostly this seaplane was, it couldn’t withstand UFOs from an SF universe.

Before the aliens could shoot me down, I changed course and returned to Saipan.

"Hmm..."

Noh Doha was sitting in the beach hut.

He glanced at my face.

"Well, you made it back more or less in one piece..."

Noh Doha brewed a cup of coffee with the beans he had taken when she escaped from Busan and handed it to me.

And he didn't ask anything.

I was always grateful for his silence.

By the way, despite his appearance, Noh Doha made terrible coffee.

12

I had tried to keep a cheerful tone in my stories, but I'll confess to you honestly.

In the 590th turn, my mental state was quite shaken.

No, saying it was "quite" shaken is putting it too mildly. It was significantly shaken.

'Did I use the Monkey's Paw too hastily?'

Of course, I had a goal that I absolutely had to achieve, which is why I tested the Monkey's Paw.

As will be revealed in the next episode or so, there was an anomaly that was difficult to exterminate without the Monkey's Paw.

But at this point in time, that was still a story of the future.

Before it was proven that my experiment wasn't in vain, that is, in the 590th turn, my mind was inevitably driven to the brink.

'Yes. This anxiety is probably one of the emotions that bring misfortune upon me.'

And I let go.

Normally, I would have used various methods to restore my mental state. Like guiding the aliens that had taken over the Korean Peninsula to the Japanese archipelago and enjoying the epic showdown between Koyori and the aliens.

But in the 590th turn, I was trying to be as miserable as possible.

So, I tormented myself mentally.

‘No matter how much I wanted to find a strategy against the deity of isolation, relying on the total amount of luck was a foolish thing to do. The disaster was caused by my choice.’

‘I should have at least told my comrades in advance. If I had done that... No, no. Even Odokseo ended up mentally corrupted. The result would have been the same.’

‘But would it really? For example, the Saintess has a far more robust mental world than Odokseo. If I had explained my intentions and goals――.’

‘This is a phenomenon caused by the interference of three strange entities: the Savior, the Monkey’s Paw, and the Hate Pill. Even if it's the Saintess, how could she have resisted that?’

‘Still, speaking up would have been the right thing to do as a human being. I can't deny that.’

‘But by adhering to that principle, perhaps [greater misfortune] would have been invited. If my comrades had been warned by me and still ended up mentally swayed by the strange entities…’

"I shouldn't have done that."

Regret. Self-reproach. Delusions about 'what if.'

The thoughts that continually drive humans into misery always revolve around 'I shouldn't have done that.'

A master of mental management is also a genius at mental destruction. I tortured myself skillfully.

Occasionally, I took the aircraft to look around the devastated world, and each time, I reminded myself, 'This is all the result of my wrong choices.'

“…….”

Noh Doha silently watched me in that state.

In truth, if I had truly wanted to become as unfortunate as possible, I should have driven Noh Doha away as well.

But I couldn’t bring myself to drive Noh Doha out of the beach hut.

I realized then that, unconsciously, I had been relying on Noh Doha during the 590th turn.

"Yeah. Even in the unconscious world, I never saw Noh Doha in a corrupted state."

The incorruptible one.

Perhaps Noh Doha harbours such a trait?

Maybe that's why he was immune to the effects brought by the Hate Pill?

――When I calmly pondered it, there was no way that could be true.

If Noh Doha truly had [mental immunity], he should have been unaffected by Koyori's brainwashing as well. This wasn't observed across several turns.

‘Still, when it comes to the Hate Pill, he might have been more resilient compared to others.’

But back then, I indulged in such delusions.

‘There might have been an effect of the Hate Pill that I didn't know about. For example, the more Noh Doha disliked me, the more he felt friendship towards me.’

‘If that wasn't the case, would he have proposed to leave with me as soon as he resigned from the position of national road manager? Was Noh Doha the type to voluntarily make such a proposal?’

Delusions. Delusions. And more delusions.

Somewhere deep in my heart, in the depths of human psychology, the desire [I too want to rely on someone] was freely fed with flesh and juice.

The Native American proverb was right. The human mind is a hungry wolf, and the more flesh it is fed, the stronger it becomes.

My heart grew into an unhappy wolf.

‘The Savior entity's utilization, verification of the Monkey’s Paw and Hate Pill, and even the characteristics of Noh Doha.’

‘This should be enough to have gained all I needed in the 590th turn.’

‘From the start, I began this turn with the thought that it was half a vacation.’

I became noticeably kinder to Noh Doha.

Using the limited food supplies, I prepared delicious meals. Just like Noh Doha had said in the 100th turn, my cooking skills were Michelin 4-star chef level.

Even in Saipan, which was filled with the sound of cannons and screams, I developed a surprisingly decent walking path and strolled with Noh Doha.

In short, I was employing every means possible to win Noh Doha's favor.

“Hm……”

Despite my desperate mental thrashing, Noh Doha didn’t say much.

Or rather,

“The coffee is delicious today as well……”

He became kinder.

His usually sharp sarcasm softened more and more. Even his usual mocking smile became somehow gentler.

He even asked me to teach him how to cook, and he engaged in small talk during our walks.

The mundane, ordinary pleasures.

It was only natural that my mind, which had been driven to the edge with nowhere to hold onto, gravitated towards and clung to Noh Doha’s small acts of kindness.

A year passed.

By then, Noh Doha had become my sole source of happiness.

“Good night, Doctor Jang……”

“Oh, yes. You too, have a good night, Governor.”

As usual, I went to sleep in the hut's bedroom.

And when I opened my eyes,

“Ah.”

Noh Doha’s voice came from nearby.

“Oh dear. You’re awake……”

A little too close.

Noh Doha was straddling me. I could feel his heavy weight.

“You can go back to sleep if you’d like……”

But that wasn’t possible.

Squeeze-

The main area where Noh Doha’s weight was pressing down was none other than my neck.

A former civil servant. The Governor. The national road manager.

Noh Doha, who claimed to be my accomplice, was choking my neck with all his strength, smiling faintly.

13

“……, …….”

I opened my mouth slightly.

My opponent was Noh Doha. He's mentioned last when the Awakeners are ranked purely by combat power.

If I wanted, I could push his hands away at any moment.

But I couldn’t, because the pitch-black pupils of Noh Doha, staring down at me, were speaking.

“Ah, please don’t resist……”

He also spoke with her lips.

“It’ll be a hassle. The moment you activate your aura, I’ll take my own life. You wouldn’t want that, would you……”

“……!”

“Well. You could cut off my limbs, making it impossible for me to attempt suicide……. Hehe. But I don’t think you’ve fallen that far……”

Noh Doha’s weight pressed down harder on my trachea.

Cough, the breath remaining in my throat bubbled up like a boil.

I tried to move my limbs, but it was useless. For some reason, the prosthetic limbs Noh Doha had fitted me with didn’t budge.

“Wh, en……”

“Oh. Sorry. I’d made some modifications when I first made them.”

“…….”

“Oh. Your eyes seem to ask when. Well, since you probably don’t have much time left, I’ll answer you. Doctor Jang. From the day the Awakeners caused a ruckus at the bunker in Busan, I’ve been planning this……”

Noh Doha sneered.

His smile was more sinister than any I’d seen before. Like poison.

His poison flowed from his eyes down to his hands, seeping into my airways.

Squeeze. Squeeze.

“When you deliberately chose to become unhappy, I worried about something a little different. Whether, to begin with, you were someone who could even ‘become sufficiently unhappy’…”

Pressure.

“You are a human who knows how to feel happiness in the smallest of things. You must have put in tremendous effort to become such a person. I can only guess how miserable the life of a regressor must have been…”

Compression.

“Your mental barriers are strong and resilient. Assuming that breaking them down is a task on earth, it is not desirable for me to continue staying in the Korean Peninsula, ruling over the Road Management Corps…”

Force.

“So, I quit…”

Yoo Jiwon is competent.

But Yoo Jiwon's competence is most maximized in the position of a deputy.

When she rises to the position of head of a large organization, Yoo Jiwon's tendency to treat all people and things as mere tools inevitably causes side effects.

The Road Management Corps, which had to compromise with numerous guilds, must have started running out of control under Yoo Jiwon.

The fact that Cheon Yohwa, the guild leader of Baekhwa High School, the second most powerful in Korea, got stranded while crossing the sea alone must have been a sign.

Noh Doha aimed for that situation.

“If the organization you carefully planned and nurtured, the Korean Peninsula, were to be ruined and messed up, it could have given you quite a significant amount of unhappiness…”

It didn't stop there.

“While other guild leaders like Three Thousand Worlds tried to attack you recklessly, I thought such one-dimensional attacks wouldn't deal much damage to you. Oh. Of course, it would have some impact, but it wouldn’t be a decisive blow... It was a good opportunity for me.”

Opportunity? What kind?

“The Doctor Jang.”

Noh Doha leaned in.

His eyes were like an endless well.

His jet-black eyes, seemingly devoid of any light, looked down at me right in front of me.

“――You ruined my life.”

Whisper.

Noh Doha whispered in my ear.

“I had only the wish to live quietly and die quietly, but you dragged me into the Road Management Corps, trying to save the world somehow... 500 times? 600 times? Heh. How many more times do you plan to make me miserable…?”

“……”

“You bastard.”

The poison seeped in.

“Doctor Jang. I hate you. I’ve hated you from the beginning and will continue cursing you. If you feel even slightly sorry for me, if you harbor even a little guilt for ruining my life and destiny…”

“……”

“Please die here by my hand.”

My body trembled.

I couldn’t tell if it was because of the increasingly thin oxygen or Noh Doha's black poison.

-Screech! Gasp! Screech!

A monkey’s paw cried out in the air.

The rafters of the hut collapsed, trying to crush Noh Doha. The monkey's paw was struggling to eradicate the source of my misfortune.

I raised my aura and shattered the rafter. The wood turned to dust without much noise, and Noh Doha chuckled softly.

My vision was growing dimmer and dimmer.

In that fading vision, I saw Noh Doha bowing her head a little deeper.

“How do you feel…?”

Noh Doha whispered.

“If I kill you, will it bring you sufficient unhappiness…?”

I wanted to laugh bitterly.

Of course, it would.

But I had no strength left to move my lips, and in the darkness of my vision, as black as Noh Doha's eyes, I met my end.

It was the 590th time I had died.

14

There’s a short epilogue.

To put it simply, the monkey's paw did not chase me beyond my regression to demand repayment.

The last ‘unhappiness’ that Noh Doha, the Workshop Master, gifted me seemed to carry enough weight even from the monkey’s paw's perspective.

Yeah.

The [Luck Totalizer], which could have grown into a threat beyond an ocean-class anomaly, was safely eliminated.

“……? What are you staring at?”

“Nothing at all.”

I considered telling the Noh Doha of the 591st turn about the previous turn's events, but I refrained.

I had a feeling that if I told him, he would genuinely hate me for some reason.

There was no need to bring misfortune upon myself in this turn as well.

“Hmm…?”

Noh Doha, who had been staring at me from her desk far away, tilted his head.

Then he stood up, walked over to me, frowned deeply, and stared up at me.

“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”

“…Hmm. Doctor Jang. Now that I look at you, it seems like you’re starting to develop some signs of balding.”

“Pardon?”

What nonsense is this?

“Balding? I’ve never lost hair in all 591 regressions. My hair is very healthy.”

“Is that so? Then it must be my imagination. Hmm. But I think it would be better for you to start being cautious from now on…”

Ten years passed.

When I looked in the mirror, just as Noh Doha had warned, a rapid M-shaped baldness was bombarding my head.

“……”

It was as if this was the last collection of the remaining debt of misfortune to you.

-Screech.

Let me emphasize once more.

The anomaly was indeed dangerous.

-A Fortunate One. End.