Ch.166Haunted Apartment Survival Log (Complete)

The entire cabin shakes.

This time, a much larger number of “believers” have descended upon the cabin.

Just by their mere presence, the influence of the “Fifth Apostle” begins to spread.

First, Serim was the first to lose consciousness.

Then Yebin, who had shared the burden.

Finally, I too.

My consciousness faded.

When I opened my eyes, everything was already over.

I’m lying on the floor, soaked in blood.

Beside me, Yebin and Serim lie with their eyes closed.

Without even the strength to move a finger, I barely manage to turn my head.

…Sim Ji-hee has collapsed, bleeding from her head and face.

That’s not all. Her chest, abdomen, and lower body. Blood is gushing from wounds hidden beneath her clothes.

“No…”

The sounds of battle are gradually subsiding.

The size of the cabin, the number of people.

Everything is diminishing.

Conversely, the number of “idols” keeps increasing.

Now I can see people who have gone mad under the Fifth Apostle’s influence.

“We need to get blood.”

“Hurry.”

“More blood.”

“And idols for the Fifth Apostle.”

Multiple voices, both male and female, merge together.

They’re attacking their former comrades, craving blood just like the regular believers.

In the final moment.

Everyone is either dying, going mad, or staring blankly ahead.

All wait for death in exhaustion.

Everyone is thinking about the end.

However.

When the true end comes, you can’t even do that, can you?

I was the only one in here who could speak of “what comes next.”

“…Now I’ll tell you properly.”

Whispering while collapsed on the floor.

I prepared for the final deal.

Negotiation condition: Show an intense will to survive.

The negotiation condition with the subject: Show an intense will to survive.

The stronger the will, the more favorable the terms of negotiation.

So our desperate struggle to survive in the apartment.

The despair of countless worldlines collapsed by Seven, and the other Lim Dabin sacrificed before the wrong ending.

The apocalypse.

The war of all people gathered here now.

All resistance for this one moment that comes next.

None of it was in vain.

And now.

The figure of the negotiation subject appears before my eyes.

Negotiation subject: ■■■■■■■■■■■

Though it’s information that can’t be contained in media, I know his name.

I called his name.

Negotiation subject. ■■■■■■■■■■■.

Or,

“Brother.”

***

The story before I entered the apartment.

Dr. Chen faced him.

“I only want one thing. To save us from Seven.”

No answer comes.

To others, Dr. Chen appears to be talking to a wall.

But Dr. Chen can clearly see him.

His true form that cannot be described in any medium.

He is ■■■■■■■■■■■■■.

“So. I propose.”

The only way to stop Seven was through a contract with him.

Dr. Chen knew this.

But everything was still lacking to save the world.

Both the negotiation conditions and the price.

The one who could accomplish this wasn’t someone like Dr. Chen.

Then.

Shouldn’t he at least lay a small foundation?

Dr. Chen thought.

“To bring a being who can change fate. A being who can write a new story, who will become the ‘protagonist.'”

He asks about the price.

Dr. Chen answered with everything he had, but the contract wasn’t established.

Increasingly, Dr. Chen felt something emerging from a corner of his mind.

The most terrible abuse he could inflict on his own soul.

That’s what he wanted.

He fell into thought for a moment.

“If someone comes down from above to this place, someone must go down from here. The price is my descent. I will go down to the lower narrative layer and suffer in eternally repeating time.”

The deal was accepted.

***

At the first moment.

My brother brought me to the apartment.

I, who had been writing stories fighting against nothingness in the upper narrative layer, finally became the protagonist.

All stories began.

***

At the moment of the end.

Now I face him again.

There’s nothing around.

In the empty white space, there’s only one chair for me to sit on.

I must sit in the chair and talk.

I explained to him.

The apartment we had to escape from was the “Library” of everything, transformed by Seven’s influence.

When we realized the truth and escaped, the apartment fulfilled its role and was annihilated by Seven.

In other words, humanity’s disease no longer exists.

“What was the disease?”

He asks.

I answer slowly.

“Fate.”

Humanity relied too much on common sense and reality in their thinking.

They believed everything could be predicted through physical laws.

They eventually discovered the uncertainty principle, but by then it was too late.

Deep in the minds of most humans, “fate” had taken root.

That there are “unrealistic things” in the world.

Anomalies.

Many people didn’t believe in them.

‘Fate gains power when it is believed in.’

[Anomalous Apartment Survival Log. EP.122-128.]

[The Kind Hotel]

That’s why when Seven approached, all humans became infected with the disease.

Humans had to follow fate, even if it had become horrific.

Life was suffering, and death could not be liberation.

However.

“That’s already gone now.”

The library that determined fate has already been destroyed.

Humanity’s disease, bound to the fate of destruction, has completely disappeared.

“Now the old beliefs are gone. All that remains is the will to survive.”

Only in extreme situations did humans abandon their belief in “fate.”

All humans who have survived now believe in “anomalies.”

They were rescued by the “Global Occult Coalition” they didn’t even know existed and evacuated to the cabin.

Those protecting them fight using paranormal abilities.

“Above all, everyone who believed in common sense has died.”

“Yes. By nuclear apocalypse.”

I speak with a trembling voice.

“I… I made it happen.”

It’s as good as if I made it happen.

The professor accepted the ending I proposed and acted accordingly.

He asks again.

“Don’t you feel guilty?”

“Terribly. Enough to want to die right now.”

I held back tears.

“But it had to be done.”

I’ve already changed the story significantly.

“I didn’t lose.”

“True. Seven won’t be able to erase this world. The story will remain. But there’s no chance you’ll survive in that ending. Probably all the other evacuees will die too.”

He states definitively.

“This story ends in tragedy.”

“I didn’t lose.”

“Accept it. The story is already over.”

“That’s why I can do this.”

I make my proposal.

The one who saw his surprised expression must be the only one in the universe.

I stood up from the chair.

The white space that had been empty begins to be painted over with reality.

Everything starts returning to normal.

The world. It begins to restore itself.

“So. What were the terms of the deal?”

Heo Yoon asks.

“My life, and the lives of everyone gathered here as the price of the deal. I can’t tell you the rest.”

“Ah. Why not? Isn’t everything over?”

“Even if I told you, you’d forget immediately.”

“…”

Heo Yoon falls into thought for a moment.

“Tell me anyway.”

“I just did.”

“Ah. Stop lying!”

“I just told you again?”

“Ah. I’m curious!”

“I’m kidding, I’ll tell you for real now.”

“Are you making fun of me?”

Anyway, many things have ended.

Some dangerous memes have already lost their effect.

“Your brother has really improved at this. At first, when I teased him, he just took it without being able to do anything.”

“Hey. Yoon Daju. I learned it all from you.”

“No way. I never went this far?”

I said with a laugh, as if casually throwing it out there.

“I would let Seven win.”

“What!?”

“Was that really it?”

“Yes.”

“Stop lying.”

“It’s true.”

“Then why are we still alive? Shouldn’t the world be completely annihilated?”

I expected this kind of reaction.

If a cosmic being was surprised, shocking two people is nothing.

I added an explanation, as I had done before.

“And as I said earlier, the price would be my life and the lives of everyone gathered here. That was the entire contract.”

“What are you talking about?”

“…?”

Both Heo Yoon and Daju sit with blank faces, not understanding.

Even Seok Hyunmin, who’s known for his quick thinking, and Yebin, who has a connection with me.

This time, they don’t seem to understand properly.

Only Serim smiles at me knowingly.

I smile back and say.

“I used a paradox.”

Thanks to the conditions of the ending I compressed.

The condition for ‘Seven’ to win is for the ‘protagonist’ to die at the hands of the ‘Foundation.’

Conversely, the condition for the ‘protagonist’ to win is to survive until the end.

Here, through the deal, I proposed to “let Seven win.”

The price is also the death of all people, including me, the “protagonist.”

The moment the deal is made, Seven wins by virtue of the deal.

The world is annihilated.

But the problem comes next.

The moment he takes the price of the deal, Seven is stripped of victory.

The world is still in a state of annihilation, but Seven is no longer victorious.

Essentially, it’s similar to the ending that the professor or future Dabin attempted.

The difference between them and me is that I showed the will to fight against nothingness and survive until the end.

Thanks to that, I could borrow the form of a deal.

The moment he takes the price of the deal, Seven cannot win.

This is a breach of contract, so he cannot take the price.

The world is restored.

Everything repeats again.

Seven wins.

The world is annihilated.

Our lives are taken as the price of the deal.

Or the deal itself cannot be established because there is no price to pay. In this case, the story would end with the world still annihilated, but there are still nearly infinite parallel universes created by the “deal.”

If our lives are taken, Seven cannot win.

The contract becomes void.

Everything repeats again.

After endless repetition.

The world maintains balance between annihilation and regeneration.

“Do you understand now?”

“I don’t get it.”

“I don’t understand at all either.”

“If you think about it slowly, you’ll understand.”

I smiled and put on my cardigan.

We were in a cafe.

A place safer than I could have ever imagined before.

A peace I couldn’t have imagined.

People around us are chattering noisily.

Outside the window, spring is in full bloom.

Cherry blossom petals flutter like snowflakes in the wind.

“What? You’re leaving already?”

“Yes.”

Slowly, I got up from my seat.

“I need to go there now.”

There’s a lot of work with the Foundation, and I can’t just play around forever.

“Everyone’s resting!”

“Can’t I come with you?”

“You could, but we haven’t been like this for long. Everyone should rest.”

Heo Yoon glances around and sits back down.

So do Seok Hyunmin, Daju, and Jung Haewon.

They seem to want to savor this long-awaited peace.

“Then take care, Dabin.”

Serim also quietly sits down.

“I’ll be back soon! Let me know if you go somewhere else!”

I waved my hand and stepped out of the cafe.

My secure phone rings.

We escaped from the apartment.

We saved the world once.

But there’s still a lot to do.

That’s what being alive feels like.

After checking who was calling.

I answered in a low voice.

“Hello. Anomaly and Metaphysics Consultant, Lim Dabin speaking.”

A familiar voice comes from the other end of the phone.

[To be continued in the epilogue]