Ch.81Graffiti (3)

# What is Normal?

What is anomalous (that is, not normal)?

We have tried to define reality through consensus and deal with things that deviate from it.

The temporarily agreed-upon reality is as follows:

– Basic physical laws such as gravity

– Knowledge built by human civilization based on these laws

Anything that doesn’t conform to these becomes anomalous.

How neat is that?

We have defined things we don’t understand as anomalous and isolated them.

The ‘double-slit experiment’ was once isolated from all laboratories.

Foundation researchers tried to find the anomalous properties of this phenomenon but couldn’t produce clear results.

Quantum mechanics was discovered three years later.

We were ignorant about reality.

What if anomalies aren’t abnormal, but merely show our ignorance?

What if they simply reveal the limits of our cognition?

What if everything is reality, and we’re just living by believing what we want to believe?

Why does the Foundation exist?

We could only temporarily patch up these cascading questions.

Because we soon reached the greatest question of all.

Those who are qualified, if they wish to seek, see more.

What exactly do anomaly observations show us?

Prophecy.

Possession or channeling.

Spiritual communication.

Religious elevation through meditation.

What we now call anomaly observation has existed long before we defined reality.

When someone with observation aptitude concentrates, they can see things that aren’t normal.

This is completely different from holding a magnifying glass over small text or finding a cat hiding behind a box.

Optical equipment. Microscopes. CCTV or recording devices.

Anomaly observation allows you to see things that cannot be seen through any “realistic” methods.

So.

Where is the standard of reality here?

Is it the limit of our “realistic” methods? That is, the limit of what humanity can perceive?

And can we define the existence of anomaly observation itself as reality?

Can we fully trust the results of anomaly observation?

Or was the concept of “reality” itself fictional, and everything just follows temporarily defined standards?

***

Yoon Daju and Choi Serim exchange conversation.

“This is clearly the 7th floor, right? How can something this strange be happening?”

“I don’t know either. Have you seen where Dabin went?”

“What? Dabin oppa disappeared?”

Both have their eyes closed.

Lying on the floor, they’re talking as if sleep-talking.

And the scribbles covering their bodies.

Red light keeps seeping in from behind the curtains.

“Let’s move first.”

As Choi Serim waves her arm in the air,

Thud.

A piece of flesh falls off her arm covered in scribbles.

The same happens to others.

Heo Yoon and Seok Hyunmin.

Yoon Daju and Jung Haewon.

Wherever they move, mushy pieces of flesh scatter around.

Everyone has their eyes closed while lying down, flailing their limbs in the air as if walking in a dream.

And every time they swing their limbs vigorously, chunks of flesh fly off and fall to the floor.

It’s clearly an abnormal situation to anyone, but anomaly observation can’t confirm anything.

It only returns the answer that this is a normal situation.

“Ugh…”

“Dabin’s mom is still awake, I see.”

“Huh?”

I approached where the voice was coming from.

A girl with white hair and red eyes. The AI is lying on the floor.

At first glance, she seems like the others, but she has her eyes open.

“It’s better not to ask for help. I can’t move a finger either.”

“But your mind is still clear?”

“Yes.”

It seems she can only move her mouth.

Still, it’s somewhat reassuring to have someone I can communicate with.

I leaned toward her and asked.

“You can still search, right?”

“Not just still—I always can.”

“Then try it. What’s going on right now?”

“I already tried, but nothing much came up.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Then how do we solve this?”

“I don’t know.”

She maintains her annoying expressionless face.

Even though the situation is so urgent.

Sigh.

Let’s just stop talking.

“But you said only your mind is clear, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then maybe there’s a hint in that?”

I fell into thought.

Everyone else has gone strange, so why is she the only one normal?

And only her mind at that.

It’s certain that her mind isn’t ordinary.

After all, she has a cyber ghost from a corner of the Foundation’s server inside her.

And she herself is a Memetic Kill Agent with anomalous properties.

Anomalous properties.

Not ordinary.

But only that mind remains clear…

“I get it.”

The situation so far has been a series of questions.

Red light shines in from outside the window, and scribbles cover the surrounding scenery and people’s bodies.

And everything starts to disintegrate into dust.

Despite the terrible situation, anomaly observation shows nothing.

It only returns the answer that everything is perfectly normal.

The scribbles are normal.

There’s no doubt about it.

But thinking this way explains everything.

“The standard of reality has changed.”

The current situation where fingernail marks appear everywhere is normal, and I, who can move properly, am abnormal.

Crumble-

The existing order is collapsing.

Large pieces fall off the wall by themselves and scatter on the floor.

The curtains have almost turned to dust, and now they’re unrecognizable.

This is reality.

There’s one more thing.

The fact about the scribbles that started everything.

I nudged the AI at my feet and asked.

“Hey. Can you tell me about those scribbles?”

“The crescent moon shapes?”

“Yes.”

“They’re covering the whole room, and the numbers keep increasing. But they’re still normal…huh?”

She looks surprised at her own words.

If someone who’s always expressionless reacts like that, it’s almost certain.

The scribbles make themselves perceived as normal.

That’s their only property, but when something else was added, disaster struck.

The more you try to learn about the scribbles, the more extreme their properties become.

To the point of reversing the standard of reality itself.

No matter what happens, the scribbles are normal.

“Serim! No!”

Heo Yoon screams in her dream.

“Over here!”

Seok Hyunmin rolls around on the floor with his eyes closed.

Dream and reality reversed.

I was the only one with my eyes open.

Or maybe I was the only one dreaming.

“Where are you going?”

“Fire hydrant. I have something to do.”

I left the AI and went out the front door.

This 7th floor is one of the few “normal” spaces in this apartment.

The rest of the spaces have “anomalous” properties.

The reason is right there.

At the end of the corridor where the elevator is.

Whirrrr-

As expected.

At the end of the corridor.

The Reality Anchor next to the elevator was working non-stop.

[Reality Anchor: Maintains normal space. Continuous supply of hyperreal fuel is required to maintain effectiveness.]

[Charge Status: 54/100]

[Reality Index: 100]

To match this space to the newly defined reality.

Accordingly, the charge status was rapidly decreasing.

[Charge Status: 54/100]

[Reality Index: 28]

[Charge Status: 51/100]

[Reality Index: 121]

[Charge Status: 47/100]

[Reality Index: 91]

[Charge Status: 42/100]

[Reality Index: 99]

[Charge Status: 38/100]

[Reality Index: 19]

Reality index jumping wildly.

Like insect eggs hatching, scribbles wriggle out of the machine.

☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾

☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾

☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾

☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾

The emerging scribbles cover the surrounding walls.

It was like black waves rippling.

The Reality Anchor that once protected this place is now accelerating the disaster.

Crack-

I was about to place my hand on the device but flinched and stopped.

The scribbles writhing around the fire hydrant were waiting for the moment to climb onto my body.

One had already appeared on the back of my hand.

☾

I don’t think I can remove the hyperreal fuel.

There’s only one option left.

I ran down the corridor toward the storage room.

Fortunately, it was just a bit darker, but the storage room was still intact.

A hammer.

This is too short.

An aluminum baseball bat.

This is also shorter than I thought. The scribbles could climb up and target my body.

I’m looking for a weapon with the longest reach possible.

Just then, a suitable object caught my eye.

Back at the fire hydrant after running down the corridor.

I kept going back and forth from one end of the corridor to the other.

I’m out of breath and about to collapse, but there’s no time to rest.

Whirrrr-

I repeatedly struck the Reality Anchor attached to the fire hydrant with a golf club.

Thwack!

Crack!

Crunch-

The scribbles wrap around the golf club’s shaft and climb up.

Round and round.

Like vines spreading.

I continued swinging what I held in my hand.

I tried to shake off the itchy sensation on my arm, as if bugs were crawling up my body, for no apparent reason.

“Damn it!!!!!”

Crash!

I hit it so hard that the golf club’s shaft bent.

But the machine is still intact.

Inside, hundreds of gears are still rotating, creating scenery that matches the new reality.

“Huff. Huff. Huff.”

As I sat down catching my breath, small knees came into view.

This small female body I’m in.

Is there a limit to the strength I can exert?

I got up again.

The metal exterior of the machine was almost dented.

Just a little more.

Just a bit.

Lungs that feel like they’re being stabbed with needles.

Muscles in my arms and shoulders screaming.

But I swung the golf club again.

“Aaaah! Please!!!”

When I struck with all my might,

Crunch-

The machine’s exterior completely caved in.

Ping!

With a crisp sound, several gears flew out from inside the machine.

And finally.

[Reality Anchor]

[☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ is☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ing.]

[Hyperreal Fuel]

[Reality[Reality Anchor]

[☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ is☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ing.]

[12023/1111111111]

gener ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ator]

[☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ is☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ing.]

[[Charge]

[Re ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ality]

[☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ is☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ing.]

The machine stopped.

The 7th floor changed into an anomalous space.

A peaceful and abnormal space with no scribbles, no collapsing or shaking walls, and no red light seeping in from the windows.

“Huff. Huff. Phew.”

I staggered to my feet.

Barely supporting myself against the wall, I returned to the apartment where everyone was gathered.

Dust scattered on the floor. Tattered curtains.

Traces remain, but now the space is completely back to normal.

But the others still couldn’t open their eyes.

“Dabin! Where are you?”

Choi Serim, with her eyes closed, kneels down and moves around sweeping the floor.

Yoon Daju pulls her away.

“We need to escape now.”

Speaking with a muffled voice as if sleep-talking.

Seok Hyunmin makes empty gestures in the air as if trying to grab something.

“Move!”

When Seok Hyunmin shouts, people move with sluggish motions.

Heo Yoon, slumped over the table, kicks and struggles.

Crash!

Dishes and cups break, scattering glass shards everywhere.

Destroying the machine was just a temporary measure.

The scribbles covering their bodies have all disappeared, but something else still remained.